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Searching the Internet and found a little blurb on Kyle from
The Open Wheel Times by Kevin Eckert, Executive Editor. Scroll down to the
highlighted blue text.
Kevin's Editorial
Indianapolis, IN
Chili For Breakfast
January 13, 2008 Tulsa, Oklahoma: How to make sense of it all? Events from five days and
six nights of the 22nd annual Chili Bowl Midget Nationals play through my mind in an
endless loop of fleeting images of wheelstands, bicycles, tricycles, beer, babes and Big
Fun. No building in my world generates as much personal peace, love and understanding as
the International Petroleum Exposition now sold as the QuikTrip Center.
My 20th Chili Bowl odyssey truly began three days before hot laps when brother, nephew and
I departed Pennsylvania to get back home in Indiana. Down the crooked turnpike ($8.75 for
150 miles between Carlisle and New Stanton), we passed the Two Dogs Racing trailer
sporting Virginia tags (ARDC 1) that contained Spikes for Randy Monroe and Billy Pauch Jr.
From a record 274-car field, Monroe would be voted Best Appearing.
Back for a day of washing out New Year stains, Dean Mills fired his Ford Thunderbird
toward Oklahoma with me riding shotgun. Brother joined us Wednesday. We rolled in Monday
and surveyed changes to the beloved Elephant Run saloon. It was not good. No more down
lobby access. No more lobby restroom. No more kickin’ back on the lobby couch as
friends filed past. The only positive was the new breakfast nook sniffed out by Dennis
Moore Jr.
Strategy became simple: party ‘til five o’clock, fry up free waffles and wolf
cereal for half an hour, go to bed, wake, shower, eat, get more ice for more beer, repeat.
The insane amount of cars that enter the Chili Bowl is detrimental. One can point to these
years of 200+ midgets as the point when exceptional racing became the exception rather
than the rule. Now there are so many laps and so many races that shows run long and
thorough reconditioning of the dirt is swept aside. Out of 38 heats this year, there were
maybe five good ones. Maybe.
Last year was the first Chili Bowl to bleed off 69 cars in a Tuesday
“pre-qualifier” for those of minimal distinction. One high plains drifter called
it Green Horn Night. “Hooligan shuffle” was another unkind label.
Again, strategy is simple: trim the roster of many of those likely to bring out cautions
by putting them on jack stands ‘til Saturday morning. Has it worked? Not
significantly. Any gains in efficiency are negated by rising roster numbers.
Tuesday’s third heat was decent when Derrick Myers, another one-armed bandit from
Illinois (viva Chuck Amati) won over Ohio teen Ricky Williams and Chett Gehrke. Toward the
end, his Esslinger began backfiring to turn Derrick’s muffler orange. Though he
earned outside row one, the Myers misfire returned to slay him.
Cheyenne, Wyoming’s Justin Mallo, making his midget debut at Hollywood Hills and
Manzanita at age 15, led Tuesday in an Ellis powered by USA Performance Engines. Mallo was
passed by the first midget start by Indiana’s Anthony Peterman.
Motorsport Video’s John Gibson could not resist references to J.Peterman of Seinfeld
fame. Later, he dropped a little Roseanne Roseannadanna when calling, “Mr. Frank
Polimeda from Fort Lee, New Jersey.” Tough to stay sane in a place where people can
stand in the pits with a margarita and have it knocked clear by a ten-year old on skates.
Josh Most, late model racer from the southwestern Iowa town of Red Oak, started tenth
Tuesday and put a Camfield Pontiac high in the popcorn. He had the lead in nine laps. Up
from the B, local product Chett Gehrke passed Peterman on lap 20. Three laps later, Most
hung upstairs and Gehrke got his Ford Focus out front. Winning admiration (and the race),
Josh kept four wheels over the cushion and circled Chett.
Score one for the Soy City Sock Company! Camfield Racing has been at 20 of 22 Chili Bowls.
This year, they paired Most with Samantha Taylor, who brought sponsorship from the
Wetherington Tractor Service that owns the Gray’s Harbor Raceway Park where Sam has
had Ford Focus success.
Taylor tangled on Tuesday and would not race until Saturday. Also parked were Williams,
Mallo, Chris Coers, Kyle Robbins, Brian Camarillo, Kelly Ferrell, Brandon Knupp, Kurt
Davis, Trish Dover, Brian Carter and Scott Walton. Carter uses his pit as something of a
World of Outlaws promoter workshop. Hall of Fame inductee Glen Niebel built Brian’s
Fontana. It would not be the Chili Bowl without a Quad 4, and this year’s Oklahoma
Oldsmobile was wheeled by Walton.
Coers was a bolt from the blue. The 1999 Summer Sizzle prelim winner had raced once in
four years. Robbins teamed with Indiana neighbor Rex Norris in Predators from the tool
shed of Kenny Irwin Sr. Robbins raced in Fort Wayne near New Years Eve. Being competitive
on that flat concrete of course, hardly gets a dog ready to stand on his hind legs and
bark in Tulsa, as emphasized by Knupp of ARCA.
Chaplin, Connecticut’s Kelly Ferrell, daughter of NEMA jockey John Ferrell, rented an
Esslinger Stealth from California’s Chris Walker. Her teammates were California kids
Shane Golobic, Mason Moore and T.J Smith.
“Trish the Dish” Dover leased a Lance Pierovich Spike with a Wirth Mopar. She
looked better on a splitter skateboard. Bill Rose expressed an interest in sticking The
Dish in an All Star 410 sometime. Her brother Jack Dover (a Tulsa Shootout vet) made his
Chili Bowl debut in a Fontana Spike from which Brett Anderson has allegedly retired.
Odd to see a Wilke wagon (Kurt Davis) and Kunz car (Caleb Armstrong) mixed among
Tuesday’s peasants. Yet just like last year, nothing over the next four nights would
feature a lead battle as tight as that conducted by Tuesday walk-ons.
“Most Def” received two nights off as did fourth-place Peterman, Blake
Fitzpatrick (7), Caleb Armstrong (10) and Kruseman student Austin Mero (13). Gehrke (2)
moved to a Thursday heat with Austin Brown (5), Colorado’s Brent Rees (8), Eric Todd
(11) and Joe Cleveland (14). Noble (3) went to Wednesday alongside modified racer Eddie
Martin (6), Ryan Cole (9), Justin Melton (12) and Brian Portschy (15).
Scooter Ellis, ending two seasons with Cole Whitt (a Kunz racer in 2008), said that $9000
was what Portschy, Fitzpatrick, Garry Lee Maier and Missouri 600 phenom Andrew Felker paid
to drive a red 73. The Chili Bowl has become such a significant event that people pay
$10,000 for a shot at a $10,000 top prize. Madness.
Tuesday’s band in the Elephant Run took a turn down Copperhead Road, which I consider
one of the greatest literary works in music. Steve Earle eloquently meshed moonshine,
Junior Johnson-style bootlegging, post-combat syndrome and the link between Prohibition
and the War on Drugs. Sporting his Revolution Starts Now T-shirt, Justin Zoch is happy
that Earle returns to Minneapolis on March 9. Catching the hardcore troubadour twice in a
week (at Tulsa’s storied Cain’s Ballroom and the Fox Theatre in St. Louis) rates
as a personal music highlight.
Back to the bar, I met lovely pedal pusher Jessica Zemken and her beau Stewart Friesen,
who confirmed that he was indeed from the famous Canadian family. I began to tell them how
I had met his uncle Alex at Syracuse and before I could say exactly where, Stewart and
Jessica both blurted out, “Ghetto!”
As an aside, I have sought every racing party that I can. Even started a few. But nothing
has ever rivaled the Burning Man biker rally that raged outside turn four of the Moody
Mile at Syracuse during Super DIRT Week.
As a promoter, Alex Friesen was just beginning big ideas on Lancaster asphalt and
Ransomville dirt when his life ended on a snowmobile in the winter of 1996-97. His nephew
Stewart (he ran a Styres sprint car around Ransomville in 2003) wondered why he did not
have to pre-qualify. Criteria are cloudy. We agreed that references from former winner and
current teammate Tim McCreadie probably earned a bye more than 13 modified checkereds. The
irrepressible DMJ asked Stewart’s lady how she gets shoulder belts over such
prodigious gifts.
Ohio’s Chad Kemenah captured Wednesday’s opening heat in his second midget in
three winters. His father-in-law Bob Hampshire had 410 and 360 engines tagged For Sale
across from the cheese steak grill. Hamp and Doug Howells (also observing Chili Bowl with
grandson Lee Grosz) are two of 21 hopefuls for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
Of my preliminary picks (Bobbie Adamson, Johnny Anderson, Jimmy Boyd, Walt Chernokal, Jim
Chini Lou Hinchman, Charlie Lloyd and Lee Osborne), only Adamson and Anderson joined Glenn
Fitzcharles on the final ballot.
If Fitz makes the hall, I may throw a few fits. His fellow URC legend Kramer Williamson is
more acceptable because he excelled in Pennsylvania and Ohio before spending twilight
years with URC hobbyists. Fitz? He was a nice guy and good modified racer who won a lot of
sprint races that were not even the biggest event on the card. Osborne or Boyd would have
dusted him in any class of car, including modifieds! I’ll spot him the Frank Rio R10
and a head start and still take Oz in Toby’s super dog or Boyd in Paul Deasey’s
big donkey.
Why do I annually work myself into a lather taking the Hall of Fame so seriously when it
is abundantly clear that others do not?
In a more pleasant turn, four-time Tulsa Shootout hero Jerrod Wilson and his dad purchased
an F5 midget so that Jerrod could do something at Chili Bowl besides grin and bear beads.
J-Rock’s duel for the lead of Wednesday’s fourth heat with mentor Kid Yock (Stan
Yockey) warmed my jaded heart.
Kevin Ramey, champion of Devils Bowl modifieds and sprints, made the first midget heat of
his career worth a Wednesday win. His white Esslinger Spike came in the Commercial Music
trailer complete with ol’ time jukebox, which turned their pit stall into a post-race
dance floor.
Ramey won heat six over Joey Saldana, who ran his second Chili Bowl between tours of New
Zealand and Australia. Kasey Kahne’s Mopar Spike was only Joey’s third midget
ever. He ran Tracy Potter’s Stealth at Bloomington (1995 D.O Racin’ Fes) and a
Terry Caves Lightning at Chili Bowl 2000. Though dad won midget races for Gary Gamester
and Dan Pool, a midget once hurt Joe Saldana, kept him from earning a real living, so he
always told son to steer clear. Other twice in 13 years did Joey go against dad’s
wishes.
It was nice of the four Kahnes to distinguish four midgets in Budweiser red for Kasey,
Open Joist yellow for Joey, and Mopar blue for Sweet (49) and Bacon (99) numbered by more
than skinny strands of tape.
Shock-buildin’ Willis Kahne wanted to know who has the most World of Outlaw wins
since Steve and Karl Kinser split. In the 13 WoO seasons between 1995 and 2007, checkereds
read: 1 Steve Kinser (204), 2 Mark Kinser (169), 3 Danny Lasoski (109), 4 Sammy Swindell
(106), 5 Donny Schatz (88), 6 Stevie Smith (58), 7 Joey Saldana (43), 8 Jac Haudenschild
(42), 9 Dave Blaney (39), 10 Craig Dollansky (33), 11 Daryn Pittman (30), 12 Andy
Hillenburg (27), 13 Jason Meyers (20), 13 Tim Shaffer (20) and 15 Jeff Swindell (15). And
yes, I count all preliminaries and non-point WoO races.
There you go Willy! Now how about throwing some Kahne love across the top of this web
site? Open Joist is Brian Ellenberger’s company. Where else can inquiring minds learn
that Ellenberger has ten wins in eleven years? I’ll eat Sage fruit or spread
Hellman’s mayonnaise. But I will not drink Budweiser. Life is too short for that.
Kasey’s charity of choice is under privileged children. Who has been as under
privileged as long as my sorry ass?
Another of the World of Outlaw grunts, Rob Hart wanted to know where his last boss ranked
in all-time (1978-2007) WoO wins. Ninth is the answer. Club car owner checkereds are
divided: 1 Karl Kinser (672), 2 Steve Kinser (212), 3 Harrold Annett (95), 3 Casey Luna
(95), 3 Sammy Swindell (95), 6 Raymond Beadle (88), 6 Dan Schatz (88), 8 Tony Stewart
(64), 9 Dennis Roth (59), 10 Laverne Nance (56), 11 Andy Hillenburg (48), 12 Stevie Smith
(44), 13 Doug Howells (42), 14 Al Hamilton (39), 14 Tom Wimmer (39), 16 Craig Dollansky
(37), 17 Jack Elden (36), 18 Bob Kramer (33), 19 Bobby Allen (32) and 20 Gary Stanton
(30).
Hart headed to Washington to prep Danny Kirkpatrick cars that he will tote to Florida for
Jason Solwold. Kirkpatrick will evaluate further plans prior to Mini Gold Cup. No more
sponsorship requests of Hart, who has covered more than one round of drinks. Ask him about
The Ghetto at Syracuse.
Of that list of car owners, Swindell, Stewart, Hillenburg, Smith, Howells and Stanton were
all at Chili Bowl. Andy and his beautiful family made the drive from Grand Lake. He
catches Oklahoma State basketball games and never misses “The General” Bob
Knight when Texas Tech comes to Stillwater. He said his boy wants to race but thus far,
father has forbidden it. How did Andy start?
“We waited for mom to go to Hawaii and then me and dad went racing,” remembered
hypocritical Hillenburg, who won one of the two greatest Chili Bowl finals in 1994.
Collinsville, Oklahoma’s Dustin Morgan Motorsports (Ark Wrecking) operated from the
trailer of Indiana’s Jeff Walker, who carried his broken foot in a cast. Willie Ator
and Junior Holbrook were on Walker’s crew. Willie heads to Florida with Morgan’s
new winged 360. Eaton Industrial Coatings also put an Esslinger Spike in Walker’s pit
for Dex Eaton. After racing in Tucson for Bill Camarillo, Dennis Rodriguez spread a little
Agromin fertilizer on a Morgan Stealth.
When he was a rookie with CRA, Rodriguez had a blond patch in the front of his dark hair.
When the club came to Hales Corners in 1991, Ron Shuman got squeezed into the backstretch
cement and spun to face traffic. Several cars missed him but D-Rod drilled him hard. Asked
about the accident, Shuman said, “I’d have been fine if Woody Woodpecker
hadn’t hit me.”
Morgan won Wednesday’s tenth and final heat over Chad Boat and Cody Brewer, a
full-blooded Choctaw native who often plays “Choctaw Bingo” by James McMurtry on
his way to the races. Brewer has a buddy who worked on the set of Comanche Moon, the
mini-series written by McMurtry’s father. Cody rented an Esslinger F5 to
Minnesota’s Scott Winters. Boat has ex-Benic hand Brian Sundby to spin sockets on his
rookie USAC effort. Billy Boat Performance Exhaust obtained Curb Records as Chili Bowl
sponsor.
Brett Nausley’s Stealths for Joey Montgomery and Derek Hagar were credited to Rocket
Motorsports and Doc Sloan, who fielded D12 sprints for Jason Meyers in Florida and Jesse
Hockett in Kentucky. Rick Stenhouse’s Dynotech shop built a Ford for Hagar and Chevy
for Montgomery. Hagar hammered his upside-down in Wednesday hot laps. Montgomery was one
of nine to scratch from Saturday.
Darrin Bolton used Wednesday’s last chance to break into a B-main with a chassis
built by Rick Stewart, on his feet and looking good after hip surgery. I introduced Rick
to Terry James, wrench on Blake Miller’s midget. Terry used to tool for Lealand
McSpadden, so they swapped tales of the legend who unfortunately, has had his throat
cancer flare again.
Stewart Fabrication was the first Phoenix classroom for a young elf named Dan Drinan, who
returned to Chili Bowl with five-year old hellion Dan II to flog their Dri Bar anti-roll
system. Drinan had been to the Shootout with a Dri Bar for 600s. Long before cockpit
adjustments became common, Danny fiddled with a flex blade that made “33az” as
fast at Sun Prairie as Winchester. Danny drove in Chili Bowl ‘95 as did brother Jim
in ’99. Sorry to hear how James is in jail for driving without a license. As we
chatted, Dan was surprised to reunite with representatives of IWX, the I-44 trucking
company pasted on the side of Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
J-Rock beat Blake Miller in a Wednesday last chance race to rob Kevin Olson of a transfer.
Olson had run to Wal-Mart for a pack of plain white T-shirts for which he charged $4.89
each, or $5.00 if autographed by his signature conehead. He also posted “Kevin Olson
Autograph Line Starts Here” some 50 yards from his pit in an obvious swipe at his pal
Tony Stewart, who bought two shirts for $40 a piece.
Failing to lift from last chance races Wednesday were Donnie Lehmann, Matt Covington and
Brady Short. Veteran of 19 Chili Bowls, Lehmann brought North Dakota’s Lee Grosz,
Arkansas stocker Larry Campbell, Oklahoma’s Joe Duvall, Daniel Adler and himself in
five Maxims powered by engines he assembled. Local boy Covington contacted Gary Hendrick
to bring a Chevy Stealth from Indiana with the Pink Ford Spike of his son Jonathan
Hendrick.
Short is long on possibilities because his 2007 boss Scott Benic plans no USAC sprint car.
Benic and Rob Hart both auditioned for Tony Stewart’s crew chief vacancy. Benic and
Bob Burkle came to Tulsa with a Fontana F5 for Short, Esslinger Spike for Canada’s
Glenn Styres and a Gaerte Bullet for Justin Hendricks from Stillwater. Last summer when
the World of Outlaws made their Ontario debut at the Ohsweken Speedway of Styres, some
teams were comped rooms in Niagara Falls at the ritzy Cairn Croft hotel owned by SOS
sprint racer Fred Cade.
Fans voiced displeasure when Casey Shuman transferred on a flat left rear after apparently
being disqualified. According to the drivers meeting, competitors were told that they
would be black-flagged for any flat other than the left front tire. But during two caution
periods, Shuman was allowed to stay second, where he finished. His case fell on deaf ears.
Wednesday’s final transfer went to Canyon Lake, California’s Danny Ebberts after
winning a heat for Van Dyne Race Engines and Edmunds Autoresearch. Showing my age, I
called Danny’s car an LTC and he looked at me weird. The death of his sprint car
owner Sal Acosta kept Ebberts away from Perris and off-road racing much of last year.
“Davenport Davey” Ray was unable to hot lap a sprint car left rear on the right
rear of his midget (rules at the Chili Bowl?) but won Wednesday’s heat on acceptable
rubber. Off the prelim pole, Davey and mad doctor Tyler seemed in store for two victories
in two years. But three laps in, Davey was displaced by Josh Ford. They battled
side-by-side to leave no opening for Jerry Coons, who had completed a landmark year at 22
victories on the eve of New Years Eve.
Ford secured the lead on lap eight. Coons passed Ray right away. But before he could
contest the lead, Jerry jumped his left side tires in the air and surrendered two spots.
Pulling away at the end was Josh Ford, who brought a sloping Berry Pack rat of his own
design, crew chief Jimmy May and help from VMAC and BR Motorsports. They took their heat
and pulled away to Ford’s second prelim win in four years. Josh won for Keith Kunz in
2005.
Davey Ray’s green machine surrendered second behind the 16-gallon tank of Coons. Six
laps from the finish, last chance survivor Aaron Fiscus filed under to steal second. And
on the last corner, Davey dropped Saturday’s final transfer to Bryan Clauson, off the
dirt since snapping his neck at Lucas Oil Speedway in September 2006. During the day,
Taylor Weld screened Dick Wallen tapes from 1964 and I caught Clauson paying rapt
attention to Jud Larson of Grand Prairie, Texas.
Bobby East, the Wood Brothers trucker who ran 12 dirt races since the last Chili Bowl,
scored sixth ahead of B-main winner Jesse Hockett and Mike Goodman. Hockett helped build
the DRC owned by Gary Eastwood and powered by RPM All Pro. Joe Devin also monitored his
DRC cars under Dustin Morgan and Russ Harper, who reduced his blind spot suffered at
Granite City in October. Goodman has only ever raced midgets in the expo but has been near
the front of his prelim for three solid years. Mike won his heat and earned eighth-place.
Tim McCreadie (Hawk XXX) and Mat Neely (from row eleven) crossed ninth and tenth. Neely
nailed a heat win with Larry Gardner’s Stealth powered by Frampton Custom Cylinder
Head. In seven straight Chili Bowls, Mat has made five prelim A-mains.
Wheelin’ and dealin’ Tony Elliott entered only eleven races since last
year’s Chili Bowl and by Monday night, had no ride. But by Wednesday (Darren of
Neighbors Coffee gets credit), he had helmet on and Elliott Trailer Sales propaganda over
every urinal in the house. Saddled with one of Cliff
Blackwell’s old Gaerte Stealth bombers with Doug Nunes and wunderkind Kyle
Larson (Hockett and Sparky Howard are only two of eleven to ever make a
prelim A with 27B), the winner of 165 races ran second in his heat and eleventh in the
A-main.
After whipping Elliott in Fort Wayne for the sixth straight winter, Tony Stewart moved his
Chili Bowl night forward from Friday to Thursday and still started from pole of the second
heat, which he won. Critter Malone, who made three midget starts since last year’s
Chili Bowl, carried more corner speed but could not handle Smoke on exit.
Bobby Michnowicz illustrated maturity Arizona champ Nathan High brushed Bob for the lead
of Thursday’s fifth heat. Bob did not lose his temper and did not retaliate in the
ensuing corner. He waited, studied, stalked and on the final corner, repaid the favor for
the win. Michnowicz had an accurate analogy about the Chili Bowl being like one of the
200-entry quarter midget nationals of his youth.
Brady Bacon, winning the 600cc portion of the Tulsa Shootout on the eve of New Years Eve,
handled heat five. I wondered why Kevin Olson’s sister Ronda (Mrs. Scott Hatton) was
slingin’ Kasey Kahne swag until meeting Ronda and Scott’s daughter Clarissa, who
is fond of Bacon. Clarissa said her father has indeed retired from racing. When dad won
the Chili Bowl in 1988, she was minus three years old.
Chili Bowl 2008 was the first ever where neither Scott Hatton, Dan Boorse, Ron Hughes nor
Kevin Doty were present. Boorse had been to 17 straight. Scott’s dad Jerry Hatton
finished fourth in the ’87 inaugural with Shane Carson and returned in 2008 with a
Fontana Stealth for MSCS sprint pilot Patrick Bruns.
Zero hero Johnny Murdock started his heat directly in front of Sammy Swindell, creating a
chance of contact and subsequent drama. Everyone dodged zero twice because he was the only
one lapped in a heat all week. Christmas parties buzzed about how the tattooed Texan had
convinced Tyler Walker to run a second midget built by Murdock. But before the week began,
the arm that Tyler broke seven weeks before at Tulare, plus a phone call questioning the
car’s quality conspired to change Walker’s mind. Rockford racer Jason Dull
rented the ride and ultimately finished better than 92 cars.
Auto racing has always known men more skilled behind the torch than the wheel. But when
good drivers never drive experimental cars, innovations never get a chance to breathe.
Example: French Grimes. French is always fun to seek out for a ten-minute rant. An object
of his ire in Tulsa was Casey Minks, who wants to raise 305 wins in New Mexico to $1000
before he wins them all with ringers like Travis Rilat. Grimes told him to go get a 410
because 305s are no place for ringers. French was (is) a 305 pioneer for guys to simply
have fun on a Saturday night. Make no mistake; he can wring horsepower from a 410. I
introduced French to Wayne Johnson and within seconds, he diagnosed Wayne’s motor
issue. Grimes claimed that the sole goal of the 305 class at “Bill Sawyer’s
Virginia Motor Speedway” is put his VSS out of business.
East coast politics are as old as the wheel. While in Pennsylvania, Wally’s News
Stand supply of Area Auto Racing News was exhausted or I‘d be up to date on which
stock car champions are changing tracks because their home track changed the rules.
New York’s Jerry Higbie knows that drill. He is a champion of Accord and the Orange
County Fair Speedway where I watched Bobby Bottcher drive Gremlins owned by Jerry’s
dad. Higbie is a childhood friend of Corey Tucker, car chief to Kyle Busch. Daytona
testing forced Ryan Newman to cancel out of Chili Bowl and cause California’s Chris
Luck to secure Jason Meyers and Randy Hannagan for the other black Bullets. In the first
midget race of his life, Higbie won heat eight.
Thursday’s heats were so weak that I skipped the last one to get a jump on the john.
On the way, I encountered Cary Agajanian, executive producer on the HBO Pay Per View
telecast, a revolutionary concept for auto racing started by Tony Stewart at Eldora.
“Where’s Rico Hawkes when we need him?” I asked the barrister. Rico was
responsible for the legendary sticky smooth coastal clay of Aggie’s Ascot Park. Cary
claimed that Hawkes now handles stadium truck surfaces.
Exiting the restroom to catch the finish on the monitor, we realized that we had walked
out on the best heat as Brad Kuhn used the top to win. Second from sixth in his qualifier
guaranteed Kuhn the pole position. He would not waste it.
Guthrie, Oklahoma’s Michelle Decker teamed with California’s Shannon McQueen to
win her last chance. Out of Thursday last chances were Bud Kaeding, New Jersey’s Nick
Wean, Alan Ballard, Bart Hartman and Cruz Pedregon.
Wean hails from two of my old homes in Phillipsburg and Milford. Like Higbie, I used to
watch Nick’s father Rick race a John Burnett-built modified. They had a 2008 Spike on
display detailed by Scott Kania. You can tell Scottie’s work from a mile away. Check
the graphics in ARDC or URC. Ballard teamed with David Cardey in midgets owned by Calvin
Martens; a Mopar Ryno for Alan and Esslinger Viper for Dave.
Hartman’s dad Butch won five USAC stock car championships (1971-76) and owned track
records at Knoxville, Champaign, Springfield and the Indy mile; all tracks familiar to
Bart’s Chili Bowl backer Junior Knepper, who won on the Indy mile with a midget
driven by Tom Bigelow (’72), sprint car guided by George Snider (’75) and champ
car captained by Larry Rice at the 1981 Hoosier Hundred.
Rice and newlywed son Robbie, along with the former Megan Franklin (sister of 600 star
Tyler Franklin) were in the building. Rob hyped his racing insurance (www.stida.com) and
crewed for ex-roommate Casey Shuman. Larry was part of the broadcast from Chili Bowl,
which began a little late for the 1973 USAC midget king.
Knepper once said of Rice, “He would pull in after hot laps and we’d ask,
‘How’s it feel?’ He’d say, ‘Oh it’s fine.’
“But you’re a second slow,” I’d say. He’d raise an eyebrow and
reply, ‘Really?’ And then he’d go a second faster.”
At the 1992 Hoosier Dome Invitational, Larry Rice retired from 24 USAC seasons that netted
24 wins in midgets (16), sprints (3), champ cars (5) and shared top rookie honors with
Rick Mears at the 1978 Indianapolis 500.
I know Chili Bowl is the new Indy 500 in that everyone wants a go. But has the time come
for drag racers to just drink beer and stand back? Gary Scelzi looked like a feather in a
tempest. And nobody hit the wall harder than Cruz Pedregon, after a last chance checkered
no less.
Until the holidays, Pedregon employed Shane Stewart’s wife Kimberly in the office.
They filed four Chili Bowl entry blanks for Josh Wise, Sammy Swindell, Shane and Cruz
before he tendered her release. In the fallout, Stewart left Pedregon for Jasiel
Randolph’s second Stealth, and Cruz filled the fourth Toyota Spike with Brian
Camarillo.
Jasiel’s teammate played a pivotal role in Thursday’s win, according to sore
loser Jon Stanbrough. In his first Chili Bowl in seven years, Shane Stewart was lapped by
front row starters Kuhn and Shane Cottle but not by Stanbrough. Stewart restarted third,
took it upstairs and passed Cottle. On lap 23, Stanbrough also overcame Cottle. And on lap
24 of 25, Jon nearly speared Stewart on the cushion. After the race, Jon was livid.
"He should have got out of the way," Stanbrough said. "His race was over.
I'm gonna have to control myself because I really want to go punch him in the mouth. I
don’t know how many times I've finished second in a midget (four) and I'm dying to
get a win.”
Jon’s answers were provoked at the post-race press conference by my mouthy brother
Steve Eckert, seizing the program gig with obsessive odds-making and Tracy Hines medical
chart. Attending media members of the year remained mute, Steve told me, excluding Dr.
Patrick Sullivan. “I’m indispensable,” he modestly informed turn two
cameraman Kris Krohn.
No one could keep Kuhn from Thursday’s triumph. This winter, Kuhn convinced
Nebraska’s Doctor Love to prescribe a black Spike with Stanton Mopar massaged Kurt
Gunderson, who helped Brad become Badger champ in 2007. In sixth straight Chili Bowls,
Brad has started five prelim finals. And the only year when he did not (2005) merely set
the stage for a dramatic drive from E-to-D-to-C-to-B.
Cottle connected with his sixth prelim final in nine Chili Bowls by taking Thursday’s
third heat and third-place driving the DSR Fuel Systems Chevy Beast. Between laps 17 and
20, red-headed sprite Cole Whitt whipped his Red Bull Bullet by Garrett Hansen, Nathan
High, Sammy Swindell and Tony Stewart for make Saturday’s final. Stewart, Hansen,
Michnowicz, Swindell, Gary Taylor and High hit the top ten. Hansen had a carbon fiber
airbox ($3000 from Kenny Components) illegal in USAC. Stanbrough’s host Brad Loyet
came from last chance hell to first in his B, and eleventh in the A-main that included
rookie Dennis Rodriguez.
Tuesday transfer Austin Brown broke into Thursday's final, which was surprising for a kid
who missed more than half of his POWRi finals last season. The son of POWRi prez Kenny
Brown (who flipped Thursday) earned a spot in Saturday’s B-main in a marked
improvement over the J of 2007.
Protesting the police harassment Wednesday at the Elephant Run, we sought a Thursday
alternative at the Cattleman’s Caravan, where I toasted my new friend Randy Fiscus
with a shot from Dr. McGillicuddy. Randy was ecstatic that brother Aaron had made his
first final in 13 years. It would be the fourth such start by their dad Jim Fiscus, who
did so with Dean Erfurth (’94), Randy Koch (2001) and Chad DeSelle in 2005. This
year, Wide Open Racing sent Spikes for Aaron and Tim Noble while Brandon Waelti got a
Stealth.
“People are line-dancing to rap,” said my amazed brother from the cowboy bar.
“This is why Barack Obama is gonna be president!”
We only boycotted the Elephant Run until last call when the Fuck Last Call (FLC)
festivities commenced. After an absence of one cold winter, its organizer (he told me to
keep his name free from Google searches) was back with a vengeance. Flush with the cash of
hanging drapes, I fell easy prey to a long-legged vixen that pushed me down on an
inflatable couch and demanded $20 to grind on me.
Just before the end of the song, she reached into her purse and told me that I was in
store for a treat. Had I had been a dog, my tail would have been wagging. But what she had
in her hot little hand was not a biscuit but a little joy buzzer that delightfully
stretched the law regarding employee/customer contact. Of course, it coaxed another $20
for another song (plus $10 tip) after which I snapped back to fiscal reality and wriggled
free.
Chili Bowl is the best mix of real racing and simulated sex in motorsports.
“I’ve spent a lot of time watching tapes of past Chili Bowl events and I learned
quite a bit from studying that material,” West Virginia stock car star Josh Richards
told publicist Misha Geisert. But on the first lap of Friday’s heat, Kid Rocket stuck
his right rear in grippy turn four and shot into the air. Bet his late model never did
that. In response to Thursday’s tepid heats, Friday found a heavier surface.
Friday cameras were clickin’ when Jason Meyers edged Kasey Kahne in dueling
wheelstands off the final corner. After an E-main, Meyers flew back to Fresno, swapped
suitcases, and headed for Australia to finish fourth and sixth with "Mad Harry”
Delamont in a rain-plagued Parramatta City spectacular. Meyers will return to California
in time to ship his rig to Florida for the World of Outlaw openers on February 8-9-10.
Australia’s Mark Brown won his heat, took third in a qualifier and sat fifth in
Friday’s final before spinning. Saturday saw the Rondalee Rocket progress from C-to-B
but fall four spots short. Seven nights later, Brown was home third in New South Wales in
a Lismore race won by Nathan Smee, a 2004 Belleville Nationals racer for Steve Smith.
Pennsylvania’s Andy Martin looked like a Friday heat winner until jumping the
leader’s right rear and slamming the wall hard enough to break the rear. ARDC members
pitched in to swap it before the last chance, where Martin crashed again. He would win his
H-main before banging to a stop in the G.
One of the ARDC faces was Jeff Acquilini, formerly of the Mega Motorsports behind Ray
Bull. “Milt” made his ninth consecutive Chili Bowl trip from Berks County, PA. I
introduced him to Robert Ballou (his arm yet to heal from Manzanita) and if Robert runs a
Mega midget at Grandview on June 3, you’ll know who to thank.
ARDC prez Ron Lauer was in the Two Dogs yard and introduced me to Florida’s Jack
Duffy, star of ATQMRA three quarter midgets before finding modifieds. I told Duffy that I
used to watch him race around Nazareth in an ex-Buzzie Reutimann coupe circa 1976.
It was around 1976 when Don Edmunds ruled the midget world. Only two of the 274 midgets at
Chili Bowl came from Edmunds Autoresearch. Ebberts and Van Dyne had one, while Randi
Pankratz (wrenched by father Wally) had the other. Nowhere is Randi as fast as she is in
Tulsa.
Tuesday transfer Austin Mero won Friday’s heat in a Van Dyne TCR from Cory
Kruseman’s Sprint Car Driving School. In an A-main preview, Kruseman won his heat
over Damion Gardner and Don Droud, who drove an ex-John Wolfe Spike with Dri Bar and
Brannon Chevy owned by Bernie Stuebgen. Bernie’s www.indyraceparts.com sits three
doors down from Drinan on Gasoline Alley. All of the Pace drivers from last year’s
Chili Bowl (Droud, Cottle and McCarl) carried Pace sponsorship to their new teams in an
admirable severance package of sorts.
In the first Chili Bowl heat race in ten years by Steve Lewis and crew chief Kelly Drake,
Dave Darland and Toyota were winners. Until recent winters, Lewis and Drake were annually
immersed in Copper Classic testing. It looked odd to see an X inside the nine rather than
19 or 91, and still seems strange that something other than a Beast is behind their
trailer.
How those trailers were aligned made Mike Hess curious. Lewis and fellow Toyota factory
boy Cruz Pedregon had been to a combined five Chili Bowls (Hess has ten armbands) yet were
waved ahead to prime slots. IRA’s Steve Sinclair admitted slotting trailers where
told and ignorance of what happens outside the door. Mike feels that the edge occupied by
Two Dogs is best because you are out of the dust, noise and paparazzi with an unobstructed
clear view of the video feed. Hess plans to follow the lead of his Illinois neighbors
Lehmann, Knepper and Camfield by leasing Buzzards for Chili Bowl 2009.
Dex Eaton edged Nick Knepper to win Friday’s fifth heat race. Only the Kneppers of
St. Louis and McVays of Kansas City have competed in all 22 Chili Bowls.
In the first midget race of his life, Jason Holt was upside-down. In his second midget
race, Holt won a last chance. His ride was a Fontana fielded by Don O’Keefe, who made
first midget start since Watsonville 2002. Daron Clayton’s brother-in-law Justin
Kinser crewed on the sky blue Linda O’Keefe (LOK) Enterprises entries lettered In
Memory of Travis Bickel, an Oklahoma City native who became a road racing technician for
Chip Ganassi. Travis was a victim of cardiac arrest in August. His father Mike was a
100-inch supermod racer who once (1987) allowed me into his home at 7am to send a Speedway
Scene column through his phone as Travis readied for high school.
The first midget race of Jeff Bland’s career topped Travis Rilat and Darren Hagen to
win Friday’s last heat. Steve Arnold had Chris Coers for his Fontana; Kevin Arnold
went with Bland and a Gaerte. Service Drywall’s Dan Roberts and crew chief Daryl Tate
were in the Arnold pit of their Bloomington sprint champ. Knepper did keep Bland flavor
from Friday’s final.
Hometown boy Darren Stewart landed a last chance in one of three Fontana Spikes belonging
to Golden, Colorado’s Billy Mentgen. Gary Wright had one and Mentgen raced the other.
Tulsa’s Nick Smith is now Gary’s son-in-law after marrying Lauren. As for
Stewart, he will not return to Bobby Sparks for a sixth ASCS season.
Friday’s last chance mayhem sent Hunter Schuerenberg and Wayne Johnson flipping down
the front chute. Three days before Chili Bowl, new dad Wayne was one of 25 some test
pilots at Will Rogers Speedway in Claremore. “Best car count of the year,” said
one sarcastic local. Johnson used it to uncross the lines on his Esslinger. Hunter has
five months of high school remaining as a Sikeston Bulldog. By the time he graduates, Jack
Yeley may have poisoned him already.
I wish my high school had a tough nickname like bulldogs, rather than William Allen’s
effeminate canary. Home for the holidays, a bartender at the new brew pub in center city
Allentown told me why. The crosstown rivals were the hurricanes and only canaries survive
hurricanes. Later, our rival became Dieruff Huskies. Here’s hoping Dieruff’s
Andre Reed cracks the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Had his Buffalo Bills won any of those
four Super Bowls, he’d be there already.
Reading, Pennsylvania’s Miller sisters were once an ARDC marketing dream. They were
semi-fast and very pretty. Danny Stratton thought so too. He and Michele Miller moved to
Indiana to be together. But she and Tracy no longer race. They are now two reasons why the
entry list is 274. The secure feeling that no one has ever been seriously injured at Chili
Bowl is why drivers feel compelled to come out of retirement.
“This race is about 75 percent luck and 25 percent other variables,” Tracy Hines
told Miss Geisert. By winning a Friday B, Hines kept his record in prelims to a perfect 12
straight A-mains.
Tuesday transfer Caleb Armstrong flipped in his Friday qualifier yet rebounded to become
the only rookie in its prelim final. Caleb and cousin Dakoda conspired to keep a Friday
transfer from 12-year Chili Bowl warrior P.J Jones. Ohio’s Kevin Besecker and his
lovely family were in the building as crew chief on the Armstrong Farms Spike. Indoor
winner in Indianapolis and Toledo in 1999, Kevin retired in 2005 after his lone sprint win
at Lawrenceburg.
Tel-Star Communications of Mike Eubanks entered three Esslingers: a beautiful pearl and
blue XXX for Gary Taylor, Spike for Sam Hafertepe and an Eagle for Donnie Ray Crawford.
Last year, Texas Sam teamed with Cody Brewer for an H-main. This year, Hafertepe missed
Friday’s final by two spots but improved to Saturday’s D. Crawford competed in
the family “55” bathed in local Ferguson Pontiac red. He was last year’s
top Chili Bowl rookie before falling from favor with Keith Kunz at Eldora and Haubstadt.
Donnie Ray’s sister Cassie Crawford used to sing the National Anthem at Chili Bowl.
This year, Chris Windom’s sister Jennifer performed the Friday honors.
Saturday’s song was done by trumpet, always a nice touch.
Darren Hagen won Friday’s qualifier and flirted with the front five until flipping a
Don Fike Spike. Thomas Meseraull and A.J Fike filled Don’s other pair. Falling just
short of the 2007 USAC midget championship for Fike, Hagen returns to Keith Kunz in 2008.
Tulsa winner with John Lawson (‘98) and Dino Tomassi (2004) in 12 tries, Jason
Leffler led off the pole until five-time prelim winner Cory Kruseman cut down “The
Demon” for second and Leffler on lap three. Kruseman paced the three black 71 cars of
Leffler, Droud and Gardner, who drove an old Stealth for Jason.
"That car was just sitting in my garage on jack stands,” said Leffler. “I
felt bad. It's such a nice car.” He toyed with the idea of putting marketing buddy
Jeff Dickerson of MMI (an Agajanian concern) in it for Jeff’s first Chili Bowl in
nine years. “I called Damion and said, 'Why don't you come get this thing and either
bring it back with a trophy or in a bucket.'”
The 2005 Stealth was finished by Damion and Daryl Saucier, who will serve as
Gardner’s crew chief on the 2008 USAC sprint trail. They plugged in an Esslinger and
rubbed Pace Electronic decals on the bonnet. The Demon posed no threat to Friday’s
win until startled by Dave Darland, which Damion did dispute.
Double-D started in the seventh row and elevated the excitement of a race that opened
single-file. On a pivotal lap 18, Darland circled Damion before Demon cut him on the
cushion and went elbows up. One lap later, Leffler passed Kruseman for command. After
banging wheels with The Demon, The Cruiser collected Droud with a spin.
On the restart, Leffler could not contain his unruly employee. "I could hear him out
there,” Jason recalled. “But it'll take you a lap and a half or two laps to
figure the top out and by then, you'd get slid three or four times.” Gardner grabbed
the lead on lap 22 of 25 for the second midget win of his career, having won for Pedregon
at Bakersfield in 2005.
Darland passed Leffler on the last lap to lock into a ninth straight Chili Bowl final.
Steve Lewis is pleased that Dave’s wife Brenda Darland still works for USAC, contrary
to what was written here.
How ‘bout that Ron Shuman? Pulling on the throwback helmet for the first time in ten
years, the 56-year old legend belted into one of five midgets built and owned by A.J
Felker, who had Esslingers for Tyler Brown, Colby Copeland and Casey Shuman, Pontiac for
Joe Walker and Fontana for Ron. Smooth and steady for second in his heat, the 1994-95
prelim winner beat Kruseman in a qualifier. In nine Chili Bowls, he never missed
Saturday’s final and saw no reason to start now. Last lap confusion caused Ron to
drop the Saturday transfer to Kasey Kahne, who did admit following Darland to the top.
Kevin Swindell, carrying York County Excavating on the beautiful blue Spike owned and
built by John Godfrey, turned a last chance into fifth in Friday’s final. Kevin was
clean all week. His only Swindell move was kickin’ it out of gear after a bad start.
Levin crossed ahead of Billy Wease, Bubba Altig and the original Flyin’ Shu. B-main
winner Trey Robb reached ninth from the ninth row.
Leffler became the third Keith Kunz choice to lock into Saturday’s final. The day may
arrive when all 24 Chili Bowl starters are fielded by Keith or brother Rusty Kunz. Rusty
really stacked the deck by filling three extra Esslinger Spikes with Lasoski, Stanbrough
and P.J Jones. Between Lasoski (357), Stanbrough (117), Jones (18) and Brad Loyet (14),
there were at least 506 A-main checkereds in one orange pit. Keith too went crazy, packing
eight Bullets for Leffler, Clauson, Whitt, Windom, Caleb Armstrong, Matt Sherrell,
Stenhouse and Rilat, who handed Keith ten grand in Casey Minks money for the privilege.
Sleepy Tripp, dismissed by Keith Kunz from Gary Zarounian in 1994, was in the house with
wife Erin, a native of New Zealand. It was Tripp’s tours of that island that forever
kept him from competing at Chili Bowl, which was too bad because Sleepy’s spirit of
intimidation would have worked on the rowdy raceway. Zarounian also strolled the building
where Donnie Beechler brought Gary’s car from row eight to first in 1995, still the
deepest start by any Chili Bowl winner. Asked about the set-up, Zarounian advised to call
Frankie Kerr, another Hall of Fame finalist.
The National Midget Hall of Fame tapped Tulsa for a Friday ceremony. One inductee was New
Jersey’s Ken Brenn, president and champion of ARDC before starting his sons in
modifieds. Brenn’s first stock car was Budd Olsen’s last zero. For his second
one in 1972, Ken contacted Floyd Trevis to build a car for Stan Ploski. It only recently
occurred to me that since Kenny Weld raced Trevis Craft sprint cars, it is likely that
Floyd’s coupe did influence the first Weld Gremlin of 1974. My absolute favorite
modifieds were those built in Indianapolis by Grant King. The first one came to Flemington
in 1976 for Ken Brenn Jr. Last column’s Flemington story uncovered a link to
wonderful old memories at www.3widespicturevault.com.
Texas legends Lloyd Ruby and Jim McElreath were at Chili Bowl. Ruby of Wichita Falls got
his first USAC midget win at Oklahoma City in 1957. McElreath of Arlington won his only
one in Houston’s Meyer Stadium in 1962 driving for Tulsa’s Jack Zink. Ruby and
McElreath both made their final midget starts at Pocono in October 1974 as did Bobby
Unser, Roger McCluskey, Wally Dallenbach, Steve Krisiloff and A.J Foyt, who failed to show
for the second straight Chili Bowl.
Something that I thought I would never see: Scotty Cook driving around Chili Bowl on a
golf cart carrying Duke Cook, who made three Hut Hundreds between ‘71 and ‘79.
My loosely connected thoughts strike random chords. Kaukauna, Wisconsin’s list of
open wheel winners included Dick St. John, who is battling stomach cancer and Milwaukee
traffic as a taxi driver. His friend Kevin Clark is trying to locate folks like Jim
Dinsmore, car owner Cliff Jacobs (injured in the Hoosier Dome tragedy of 1994) and a
dentist from Cincinnati appropriately nicknamed Doc. Can anyone help?
Chili Bowl is truly an oasis. You can haul your own cooler through any gate except the
front and drag in all the outside food you wish. Multi-car teams establish dining areas
and crock pots simmer all week. I also heard the throttle of margaritas made by motorcycle
engines.
Saturday’s first race for 274 competitors from 29 states and three countries was a
K-main containing Trish Dover. California’s James Sweeney rented a Meents midget for
the second K. Sweeney’s fellow Chico sprint stomper Brett Miller failed to fire to
Friday’s last chance and had to get deep in the cushion to advance from I-to-H in the
midget owned, built and powered by Rod Fauver, a Washington native off to Australia to
assist Craig Dollansky.
South Dakota’s Justin Henderson won H2 with the F5 midget of Dan Oswalt before
embarking on his first Australian adventure. Justin pitted with neighbor Jody Rosenboom,
who had an F5 for regional sponsors Lunstra, Folkens and Rosy’s Raceland.
Henderson’s first ride in the R19 of Lon Carnahan in over four years made the A-main
at Parramatta City from a 64-car cast.
Jessica Zemken’s promising practice session at Ventura Raceway in Jesse Denome’s
Spike did not spell Chili Bowl success. Crew chief Steve “Biggie” Watt
graciously allowed space for my cooler in the strategically located trailer of Denome, who
grew fond of my Smutty Nose from New Hampshire and Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat.
Zemken was also assisted by Mike Woodring, a 2003 Chili Bowl E-main racer who resumes WoO
crew chief duty for Craig Dollansky and new boss Larry Woodward. Racers headed to Florida
are reminded that the Sunshine State has decreed that any truck and trailer combination
longer than 65 feet must obtain $20 permits at www.fdotmaint.com/permit. The fine for not
having one is $1000.
Always ready to play to an audience, Kevin Olson reprised his open face helmet and goggles
of 2007. This year however, he went one step further by convincing officials to allow him
to run a G-main in a T-shirt. K.O has socks older than Coleman Gulick, the 14-year old who
robbed him of victory. Olson made an F, which had not happened since high school. To
complete his ensemble, I suggested a rag in the mouth like Johnnie Parsons or a rolled up
pack of smokes like Andy Linden.
Olson revealed that Mel Cornett died in Brownsville, Texas at age 17 on January 5. As the
Terre Haute driver for Ralph Wilke in 1973, Cornett was the last man to win a USAC sprint
race with an Offenhauser engine.
Arizona’s Bob Ream teamed for an E-main in a Gamester midget sponsored by the
Brownstown Concrete of Pennsylvania that employs Bill Brian Jr. Ream raced Brian’s
sprint car at last year’s Grandview USAC event. John Heydenreich and Tom Burkey had
the only other Gamester at the Chili Bowl besides Ream.
Another Arizona entry, R.J Johnson subbed for Jeremy Reagles at Tucson in December and ran
an Ellis in Tulsa for Bobby Martin of Manzanita Speedway. Son of ten-time Chili Bowl racer
Ricky Johnson, R.J was powered by a ProFlyer Buick built by Pat Fly, who also owned the
car and Ford engine that he built for Danny Sheridan. Saturday saw Johnson edge Sheridan
to go D-to-C.
It is become Chili Bowl tradition to watch the axles of Andy Bondio’s float off the
corner. Kruseman had the motorcycle wheel and tail with leading edge squared to center
fuel over the axle. Yeley used neither trick. Unfortunately for J.J, it has also become
tradition for him to slag through the soup. This year, he came from row six to win an E,
hit the cone in the D, and later spun. Kruseman passed a sputtering car before the cone of
his C, another infraction that kept him from advancing.
To have Johnny Beaber and Fred Linder in the building gave Tulsa a Limaland 1976 feel,
along with the Kear’s Speed Shop sponsorship on Beaber’s boy. Tony Beaber got
taken out of an E-main by Troy Rutherford, who teamed with Mike Spencer in Spikes powered
by Bob Wirth for Mike Sala. Beaber wanted a piece of the hard puncher from Ojai. Observers
thought Tony might last a round. Fortunately, no one had to find out.
Here’s the deal: flat-wheeling a guy or girl off the bottom and/or scuffing them with
the right rear or tail tank on the way by is perfectly acceptable Chili Bowl form.
However, drilling them in the ass and spinning them (like Danny Stratton did to Steve
Buckwalter, Ryan Durst did to Trey Robb, or Levi Jones did to Brad Sweet) is nothing but
Stock Car Bullshit.
Buckwalter bagged his heat, took tenth in Friday’s final and on the last lap of the
B-main, had just put his Ott Stealth in the last transfer when Stratton sent him around
and created the confusion that ultimately made a spectator of Ron Shuman.
When he passed Levi for the C-main triumph, Terry McCarl felt compelled to wave. In
retrospect, it probably helped set Levi off. Jones is a good clean driver. But you
couldn’t prove it by his last two races on Saturday. Sweet surged from D-to-C-to-B,
and made a rude pass of Levi, but did not deserve to get looped.
Bobby East looked like he had never been away until crossing Sammy Swindell’s slide
by climbing Sam’s left front into a frontstretch flip. Bob’s contact caused an
oil leak that started Sammy’s car on fire, provoking the week’s loudest cheer.
Once again, Shuman was astounding. Ten years out of uniform, he locked into the final
before some split yellow Tuck Rule was invoked to replace him with Wease. After the
B-mains, Ron calmly presented his case to Emmett Hahn along with son Casey, who was not
quite as calm in lieu of the Wednesday call that ruined his prelim. Ron has to be
pleasantly surprised that despite trying to discourage his son from such a brutal
business, Casey Shuman has become a constant threat to win.
Cracking their first Chili Bowl final was Bacon, High, Hockett, Levi Jones, McCarl,
Michnowicz, Kevin Swindell and Wease. And how ‘bout Bob Michnowicz? Ol’ dude (44
like me) made the dance with an Esslinger TCR for Ron Bach Construction, yet could not get
his name properly pronounced. “Mick-No-Vitch” is how you say it.
How do you say, “You’re fired!” Mecum Auctions kept Doc Tyler busy turning
wrenches on Spikes for Davey Ray, Bubba Altig and Dan Mecum, son of the boss. The first
two made the 24-car cut before the track was cut and watered. Drivers were allowed brief
hot laps to bleed off the slime through which Bubba skated into an abutment. If he
expected an understanding hug from the doctor, a loud pink slip was hard to swallow.
On the first start, Ford beat Gardner but Bacon high-centered in turn one. Josh beat
Damion again on start two. After ten laps, they reached traffic (Terry McCarl) and Gardner
used the blue pick to take the lead. A lap later, Kuhn took second from Ford. Gardner got
rude with McCarl, who popped the leader in the left rear and bounced on the berm to take
out Kuhn. Terry would be involved in two more yellows.
On one of these, The Demon rode a bicycle for the ages. "I got in a little too hot
and caught the edge of it and spiked it up. I just tried to keep it straight, and when we
landed Dave (Darland) was alongside me but he was on the slick and probably gonna get no
traction. From then on, I just entered a little lower and tried to put in good smooth laps
rather than fast ones."
Kahne began billowing smoke and we wondered if the new face of Budweiser would see the
black flag. But on lap 16, he stopped on his own. Ford biked to a stop and Cottle became
third. Shane seemed faster than Darland but could not pass.
The best battle on the track involved Stanbrough’s efforts to unseat Clauson from
fourth while row seven starter Kevin Swindell filled the inside. From last to eighth to
twelfth, Bacon passed Tony Stewart twice to checker seventh. Stewart seemed to work harder
for eighth than he did for last year’s win. Tony’s healing teammate Hines tailed
him from row eight. Nathan High started last, tagged the tail after a four-car jingle, and
netted tenth-place to cap a nice story.
Saturday’s last transfer was netted by High at the expense of Danny Lasoski, not at
all pleased at his dismissal by Dennis Roth and Davey Whitworth. Lasoski holds Kevin
Rudeen to be the silent partner who helped replace him with Shane Stewart, an accusation
that Shane denied. Lasoski later claimed that he will run his own stuff and\ play some
encores with Guy Forbrook.
Five nights after Chili Bowl, Lasoski drove an ex-Dennis Roth JEI to win a Parramatta
preliminary over a field containing fellow Chili Bowl competitors Saldana, Meyers,
Henderson and Sammy Swindell. U.S forces joined Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Jonathan
Allard, Paul McMahan, Jason Sides, Dollansky, Mark Dobmeier and bi-coastal residents
Brooke Tatnell, Kerry Madsen, Skip Jackson, Peter Murphy and Lynton Jeffrey already in
country. After two nights of rain, everyone was defeated by Robbie Farr.
After a destructive start to World Series, Schatz has won five of nine. In his first
Brisbane appearance in six years, Donny started eighth and ran down Daryn Pittman for a
20k ($17,500 U.S) victory. Australia’s Andrew Scheuerle settled for third and
admitted, “Schatz and Pittman are two full-time professional sprintcar drivers. I am
just a patio salesman.” Schatz said that he was ready to jump into his first Chili
Bowl before Brisbane made him an offer that he could not refuse.
Daryl Saucier, who provided the only wingless dirt start in the 169-win career of Donny
Schatz at Oskaloosa in 2004, doesn’t even like midgets yet fielded first and third
out of a Chili Bowl field of 274. He was on top of the podium with The Demon (“I
thought I had a race car driver,” Daryl muttered. “Turns out, I got a rock
star.”) and threw an old Beast beneath Cottle that captured third-place.
And the last time that I saw the winning driver of the 22nd annual Chili Bowl Midget
Nationals, he was shirtless in a pool of spearmint jelly with a slippery girl from Kansas
City. How she got there was anybody’s guess. But the answer wore a long goatee and
shit-eatin’ grin all week long.
Wondering which is more crooked: NASCAR, NFL or U.S voting machines from 4979 West 13th
Street, Speedway, IN, 46224 or (317) 607.7841 or Kevin@openwheeltimes.com.
Kevin Eckert
Executive Editor
The Open Wheel Times
www.openwheeltimes.com
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