KODY SWANSON AND TROY REGIER TAKE VUKY VICTORIES

MADERA, California — Saturday, May 9, 2009 was the date for the 32nd annual Vukovich Memorial Classic at Madera Speedway. This race was originally set to honor two time Indy 500 winner Bill Vukovich. After the death of Vukovich’s grandson, Billy Vukovich III in 1990, it was expanded to honor both Indy veterans. Billy III was a many time winner at Madera in Supermodifieds as well as an Indy Rookie of the Year. The 2009 version featured the Bay Cities Racing Association / United States Auto Club Midgets and the Supermodified Racing Association / Madera Speedway 360 Supermodifieds as the feature divisions. Also on the bill but not covered in this article were the Legends of the Pacific, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, and the Northern California Modified Association Sprint Cars.

After two practice sessions for each division and much complaining by all of the open wheel classes of a very loose race track, Kody Swanson took the number 11 Midget out for two quick laps and bettered his own track qualifying record with a lap at 13.728 seconds on the 1/3 mile banking. Garrett Hanson (70) was second fast at 13.894, followed by Levis Roberts (2) at 13.939, Tanner Swanson (88) at 13.961, and Alex Bowman(21) at 14.019.

Next up were the SMRA Supermodifieds. Jeff Russell (85) set fast time at 12.677 seconds, followed by A.J. Russell (7) at 12.723, Jim Birges (89) at 12.724, Troy Regier (98) at 12.728, and Bobby Dalton(36) at 12.920. The Supers were not without some drama on the track as Dalton arrived just before qualifications having just installed the engine Friday evening and Jim Birges was back in the car after breaking his left ankle and crushing three vertebrae in his back four weeks ago, the day after winning the SMRA opener at Madera. Birges had back surgery on May 4th to repair the vertebrae.

The Madera 360 Supermodifieds were paced by David Tuey (6) at 13.355 seconds with Lance Tatro (72) at 13.459, Kenny Kinchen (5) at 13.602, Lance Jackson (18) at 13.645, and Willie Northammer(15) at 13.997 rounding out the top five.

Both Supermodified groups ran trophy dashes with the 360’s lining up with Lance Jackson on the pole followed by Kenny Kinchen, Lance Tatro, and David Tuey. At the drop of the green, Kinchen took to the high side to lead over Jackson, Tatro, and a rapidly slowing Tuey who headed for the pits after a single lap. Kinchen pulled out a slight lead on Jackson as Tatro began his attack. Tatro took second on the final circuit of the four lapper to make the finish Kinchen, Tatro, and Jackson. Tuey headed to the pits with fuel delivery problems.

The SMRA Dash lined up with Bobby Dalton on the pole, flanked by Troy Regier. They were followed by Jim Birges and A.J. Russell. Dalton immediately headed to the pits to find two broken radius rod bolts. This put Regier and Birges on the front row. The two went side by side into one with Birges having the advantage at the line when the yellow flew for flying air filters being shed by the 7 car. Russell headed for the pits. On the restart, the two remaining cars went side by side with Birges maintaining the lead. Birges finally drooped down in front of Regier on lap four and got nailed in the rear going into turn three. Birges spun and Regier slipped by to take the yellow and checkers. However, track officials awarded the win to Birges, penalizing Regier for the bump and run.

The Midgets lined up their first Heat race with David Prickett (15) and Alex Schutte (12) on the front row. They were pursued by Scott Pierovich (35), Alex Bowman (21), Levi Roberts(2), and Kody Swanson (11).On the start, Schutte and Bowman took to the outside ahead of Pricket, Pierovich, and Swanson. On the second lap, Swanson took third and Roberts jumped to fifth. A lap later, Pierovich retook fifth and then passed Prickett for fourth on the fourth circuit. Roberts took fifth on lap five and that was the end of the passing. Schutte won over Bowman, Swanson, Pierovich, and Roberts.

The second Midget Heat included Nick Foster, Jr. (1), Chad Nichols (17), Jerome Rodela (25), Bobby Grewohl (10), Tanner Swanson (88), and Garrett Hanson(70). Again the outside proved fast and Foster jammed everyone up in turn one while Tanner Swanson passed three cars on the high side. Nichols led lap one with Swanson second over Rodela, Grewohl and Foster. Lap two saw Hansen pass both Foster and Grewohl to move to fourth. On lap four, Swanson swept around Nichols for the lead. Hansen displaced Rodela from third on the fifth go-around and that was the show. The younger Swanson brother took the lap eight checkers over Nichols, Hansen, Rodela, and Grewohl.

The 360 Supermodified Heat was paced by Willie Northammer(15) followed by Kyle Vanderpool (1C), Lance Jackson(18), Kenny Kinchen (5), Lance Tatro (72), David Tuey (6), and Larry Hinz(4). This time the inside row worked better as Northammer and Jackson led the first lap over Vanderpool, Kinchen, and Tatro. Tatro took fourth on lap two and Tatro and Kinchen both passed Vanderpool on lap three. Tuey was still having mechanical issues at the back of the field. Lap seven saw Hinz head for the pits and Northammer took the win over Jackson, Tatro, Kinchen, and Vanderpool.

The SMRA Supermodified heat lined up with Pat Whittet (1B) and Lonnie Adamson(13) in the first row. Jim Birges (89), Troy Regier(98), Jeff Russell (85), A.J. Russell (7), and George Greenway (8) rounded out the field. Bobby Dalton (36) scratched as they were still fabricating radius rod mounting hardware after having to drill out the two broken bolts. The green flag saw Adamson and Regier slip by Whittet before he got 1B car gathered up. Lap one was led by Adamson over Regier, A. Russell, Whittet, and Birges. On lap two, Whittet forced Birges high and Jeff Russell slipped past. Meanwhile, Greenway headed for the pits. Lap three saw A.J. take second from Regier (yes, they are forming icicles in Hades) with J. Russell moving to fourth. Birges finally got the tires clean enough to get around Whittet on lap four. At half way, the order was Adamson, A.J. Russell, Regier, J. Russell and Birges. On lap six, the 7 car slowed dramatically and headed for the pits when the magneto slipped and the power dropped off. Final order at the checkers was Adamson, Regier, Jeff Russell, Birges, and Whittet.

The combined BCRA/USAC Midgets lined up for their thirty lap feature race with Chad Nichols and Alex Schutte in the front row, Jerome Rodela and Scott Pierovich in row two, and Tanner Swanson and Alex Bowman in row three. The last three rows were occupied by Garrett Hansen, Levi Roberts, David Prickett, Kody Swanson, Bobby Grewohl, and Nick Foster, Jr. Nichols, Rodela, and Swanson all made good moves on lap one to lead over Schutte and Pierovich. Rodela took the lead on round two while Pierovich assumed fourth place. Hansen knocked Schutte out of the top five on lap three. Order after five was Rodela, Nichols, T. Swanson, Pierovich, and Hansen with K. Swanson lurking just outside the top five. Tanner took second from Nichols on lap six. Older brother Kody grabbed fifth on lap eight and fourth on lap nine. Order after ten laps was Rodela, T. Swanson, Nichols, K. Swanson, and Pierovich.

Kody snagged third on lap eleven and Pierovich took fourth from Nichols on lap thirteen. On lap seventeen, Bowman displaced Nichols from the top five. One lap later, Kody Swanson got the best of younger brother Tanner to take second. Order after twenty laps was Rodela, K. Swanson, T. Swanson, Pierovich, and Bowman. The yellow flew on lap twenty one when Schutte spun in turn one. The 12 car headed for the pits. On the restart, Bowman went side by side with Pierovich and finally prevailed on lap twenty two. Kody Swanson yanked the lead from Rodela on lap twenty four and Levi Roberts moved up and took fifth. At the lap thirty checkers, the top five were Kody Swanson, Jerome Rodela, Tanner Swanson, Alex Bowman, and Levi Roberts.

The SMRA and Madera 360 Supermodifieds combined for a fifty lap feature that proved to be the barn burner for the evening. With qualifying times intermingled and a twelve car invert, Willie Northammer started on the pole flanked by Pat Whittet. In hot pursuit were Lance Jackson, Kenny Kinchen, Lance Tatro, and David Tuey. Completing the invert were Lonnie Adamson, Bobby Dalton, Troy Regier, Jim Birges, A.J. Russell, and Jeff Russell. Rounding out the field were Kyle Vanderpool, Larry Hinz, and George Greenway. Just before the green flag, Hinz headed for the pits with what appeared to be a broken tie rod on the right front.

With most of the 360’s lining up in the front of the pack, there were bound to be some interesting traffic situations. Whittet led lap one over Northammer, Kinchen, Jackson, and Tuey. With Jackson fighting a racecar that couldn’t decide if it wanted to be tight or loose, Tuey, Dalton, Adamson, Tatro, and Regier all passed Jackson on lap two. Adamson passed Dalton on lap three and the order was Whittet over Northammer, Kinchen, Tuey and Adamson. Lonnie took fourth on lap six and then Adamson, Tuey, and Dalton freight trained Kinchen on lap seven. Lap eight saw Adamson move to second, Dalton to third, Northammer back to fourth and Tuey to fifth. Whittet was still out front when the yellow light blinked on during lap ten when Northammer spun in turn two.

The restart order was Whittet, Adamson, Dalton, Tuey and Regier in the top five, with A.J. Russell, Birges, Jeff Russell, Kinchen and Tatro rounding out the top ten. Lonnie took the lead on the restart and led lap ten over Whittet, Dalton, Regier, and A.J. Dalton passed Whittet on lap eleven, Regier repeated the feat on lap twelve. On the thirteenth round, A.J. Russell took Whittet on the low side in turn one and Whittet dived low as Birges was trying to follow A.J. through. The incidental contact sent Whittet spinning and brought out the yellow. Restart order was Adamson, Dalton, Regier, A. Russell, Birges, J. Russell, Tuey, Kinchen, Tatro, and Jackson. Tuey, Tatro, Kinchen, Jackson, and Vanderpool were the top five 360’s at this point. The track went green for two more laps when Northammer spun coming off turn four to fly the yellow again on lap fifteen, This time on the restart, Regier got the best of Dalton to take second. There were good battles going on all over the track as Adamson and Regier went after it at the front. Birges was all over the back of A.J. with Jeff Russell lurking just behind waiting for one of them to make a mistake, Tuey was pretty much in a class by himself as the top 360, but Tatro Kinchen, Jackson, and Vanderpool were jousting with one another while trying to keep ahead of the rapidly approaching leaders. Lap seventeen saw Birges get around the 7 car and set off in pursuit of Dalton. The order at lap twenty was Adamson, Regier, Dalton, Birges, and both Russells. Still on the lead lap and having a great 360 battle were Tuey, Tatro, Kinchen, Jackson, and Vanderpool. Whittet and Northammer were at the back as a result of spins. Regier was running a low line and Adamson was up in the top groove, and although Regier made try after try, he could not make the car stick coming off on the bottom.

Lapping began on lap twenty-one when Northammer dropped behind the leaders. Birges also passed Dalton in the traffic and took off after Regier and Adamson. Vanderpool and Whittet were the next victims of the flying 14 car and Jackson just avoided being lapped when the yellow flew on lap twenty-four. Kinchen had spun in turn three but stopped just short of wall contact. The restart order was Adamson, Regier, Birges, Dalton, A. Russell, the lapped cars of Vanderpool and Whittet, then Jeff Russell, the lapped car of Northammer, then Tuey, Tatro, Jackson, and Kinchen still on the lead lap. After the restart, Regier and Adamson kept going at it tooth and nail, again with Adamson high and Regier low. Birges sat in third waiting for the two to wear out their tires. At the thirty lap juncture, the order was still Adamson over Regier, Birges, Dalton, and A.J. Russell. Jackson went down a lap on circuit thirty one in what can only be described as an evil race car. The battle at the front waned and waxed as Birges would make a run at Troy and then Troy would go after Adamson again. Meanwhile, it seemed like nearly everyone was just trying to hang on to loose race cars.

As the laps wore on, Regier’s attempts to pass became more aggressive and A.J. Russell was slowly drifting back into the clutches of Jeff Russell. Then on lap forty it happened, Lonnie came upon lapped traffic in the high groove and could not hold the car down low to block Regier who finally got around with the moving pick. The order at forty was Regier, Adamson, Birges, Dalton, Russell, and Russell. Tuey was the top 360 and still hanging on to the lead lap. Tatro, Vanderpool, Jackson, and Northammer rounded out the top five for the 360’s, all one or more laps in arrears. Regier began to pull away from the Adamson and Birges battle for second. On lap forty three, Birges finally pulled off the pass for second and then caught a yellow a lap later when Whittet spun on the front stretch. This set up still another epic battle. Regier was in the lead with tires shot from a twenty plus lap battle to get around Adamson, Birges was second with a badly bent front wing from earlier contact. Adamson and Dalton were together on the track, then two lapped cars, both Russells, nose to tail, two more lappers, and then Tuey. It looked to be three pretty good battles over the last seven laps. Birges got the jump off the bottom and led lap forty four. The two went into turn one again, and Troy crossed over and took the lead off the bottom to lead lap forty five. Birges made another go at it and led lap forty-six by a foot and a half and Troy came back to lead forty seven. Meanwhile, Jeff Russell disposed of A.J. Russell on lap forty six to get into the top five. Birges made one more Bonzai run on lap forty eight, but was completely out of tires and couldn’t make it stick. Regier pulled away to about a two car length victory. Jeff Russell also passed Bobby Dalton on lap forty nine to complete the passing. The winner was Regier, with Birges second after a torrid seven laps side by side. Adamson was third, followed by Jeff Russell, Bobby Dalton, and A.J. Russell. The next five finishers were the top 360 runners with David Tuey doing a masterful job of hanging onto the lead lap with Lance Tatro, Kyle Vanderpool, Lance Jackson, and Willie Northammer each a lap or more back.

There was a full moon visible over Madera Speedway, but the only effect I could see was that everyone (except Kody Swanson) was complaining about loose race cars. This was the second Supermodified Race and the third Midget Race of the year at Madera, so there were no real excuses. Everyone was just out to lunch. However, it did make for some great racing. Both the midgets and the Supers had some epic battles and the tides changed with different drivers involved in mini battles throughout the races. If there was anyone in the grandstand who didn’t enjoy all of the Supermodified Main and especially the last seven laps, well, they are just not a race fan. From the Agribusiness Capital of the World, I am the Racing Widow’s Husband.