LOS ANGELES, California — PAS 15th Oval Nationals: Better late than never for my USAC National/CRA Sprint notes from the November 4-6 PAS Oval Nationals. The weather was beautiful and unseasonably hot for early November in So Cal. and helped boost attendance. Approximate grandstand attendance guesstimates were 2,000 Thursday, 3,000 Friday and 4,000+ Saturday. There were 58 cars entered this year, but eight were no shows. The actual 52 car entry roster (+ a pair of necessary backup cars) was impressive. Drivers came from six states as follows: 32 Calif., 14 Ind., 2 each Ariz. and Ill., plus one each Ala and Nev. This year 17 sprint car teams towed from the Midwest. First time drivers at PAS were Blake Fitzpatrick, Matt Goodnight, Marcus Niemala, Kevin Thomas, Jr., and J. J. Hughes. The 36-page gray and green color cover Oval Nationals program pictured Damion Gardner and his No. 71 2009 Oval Nationals winning car with those colors. It also had a page devoted to the late Jesse Hockett, the 2008 Oval Nationals champion, who lost his life by electrocution this summer at his shop. Seven prior Oval National winning drivers entered the 2010 event.
Highlights of the Oval Nationals each year are the five fully-inverted 8-lap heat races on both Thursday and Friday. They send the first four finishers in each heat to the main event each night. It's fun and difficult to pick the four transferees from each heat race. On Thursday I picked only 11 of 20. On Friday I picked 14 of 20. The full inversion makes it more difficult to predict the transferees than during the usual USAC/CRA races all season. Other promoters present at the 2010 Oval Nationals included Kevin Montgomery, from Tucson's USA Speedway, Chris Kearns, from Santa Maria, and Emmett Hahn of ASCS. PAS starter Eddie Ramirez and his older brother Bob Ramirez were in the starters' stand as usual. Eddie confirmed to me he is thinking of retiring as starter. Retired drivers Jimmy Oskie and Buzz Rose were present. Arizona driver Jeremy Sherman spectated Saturday.
PAS promoter Donnie Kazarian on Saturday night before the first race emotionally introduced the 2010 grand marshal, Ben Kazarian, his father. “He's my best friend. I'm the backbone to keep this place going, but he's the one who has my back. Thank you. I appreciate it very much.” Ben said over the PA system, “Vel Miletich and I started racing about 1960. A guy brought in a sprint car to trade for a new car and we got into racing. Vel's Ford of Torrance sponsored midgets and sprint cars.” Speaking of the PA system, some of the rousing songs played over it this year were: The Boys Are Back in Town; Danger Zone; At the Car Wash; An American Band; Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis); Old Time Rock and Roll (Rod Stewart), and Thunderstruck (AC/DC).
CAR COUNTS: Thur. Nov. 4 – 51; Fri. Nov. 5 – 50, and Sat. Nov. 6 – 41. Time trials on Thursday had 11 drivers set their faster lap on lap 1 of 2 and 39 were faster on their second lap. Friday had eight drivers faster on their first qualifying lap and 38 faster on their second lap. Temperature at mid-afternoon Thursday was 98, Friday 92 and Saturday 72 degrees. Post main event temps on the same three days were 75, 66 and 56 degrees. Stephanie Herbage, 18, drove the PAS white dirt late model car to pace Saturday's main event. The Corona resident knows how to get around the PAS half-mile because she drives the No. 33 factory stock Cutlass. She said the re-bodied pace car was originally a Chevelle.
Dave Darland raced three nights of the Oval Nationals this year with a heavy heart. His mother Joanne, who had been ill, died unexpectedly on Saturday, October 30. Her funeral was Wednesday, and Dave flew west to race in Perris the next day. Dave flipped Friday to the fourth turn wall in the Goodnight 39 “after Robert Ballou (73x) got into me.” Dave added, “My car is junk, the frame was bent six inches to the right.” On Saturday Dave raced the 39G car his owner had raced during the two preliminary nights. ... Casey Shuman drove the No. 4G Gerald Cook car from the Midwest. The G stands for owner Gerald. Casey said he got married in Texas to a girl named Kasey on 10/10/10. He can't forget that anniversary date. His younger sister Kylee got married three weeks before he did. Their divorced parents, Ron and Chris, attended both weddings in Indiana and Texas.
TEN FLIPS: Thursday had three flips—Niemala (TT), R. J. Johnson (H-3), D. Howell (B); Friday had five flips—Mitchell (TT), D. Hagen (H-1), Darland and Ballou (B) and Fitzpatrick (A); Saturday had two flips—both were by Cody Williams in qualifying heat 2 and later in the feature aboard the same No. 44 Viper. Cody and his dad Rip repaired RF suspension damage in the pits. Cody was sidelined in the feature on L 14 during a multi-car crash. Announcer Scott Daloisio said the record is three flips in one evening. Fortunately Cody did not match that dubious distinction. ... To race Saturday Tony Jones' No. 4 Alexander mount used an engine borrowed from J & D Performance Engines of Indiana. It had oil coming out a breather and caught fire in the third heat, ending his night. The No. 4 Alexander team lost two Spike chassis during Jones' flips on October 9 and 23. That shows why sponsorships are so critical for racing teams.
CHASSIS POPULARITY: There were 17 different chassis in use at the 2010 PAS Oval Nationals. They were: Maxim – 15; Viper – 7; DRC and Eagle – 5 each; Bullet – 3; Stinger and Spike – 2 each; plus solos for Competition Welding, Triple 7, Beast, Ellis, J & J, J. May, JEI, Triple X, Buckley and Sled. ... Damion Gardner's No.71 Eagle that won the 2009 PAS Oval Nationals was his ride earlier this season when he led USAC National Sprint points. He crashed that car at Kokomo, IN during the July 2010 Indiana Speed Weeks and it remains in his Indiana shop. The car he raced at the 2010 Oval Nationals had six races on it according to his team. As one might expect, with 15 Maxims in the majority, a Maxim won with Chris Windom, from Canton, IL, driving. He started second and led all 40 laps, giving Jeff Walker his third Oval Nationals car owner crown (following 2005-06 wins by Darland).
SATURDAY: There was an 8-car C-main scheduled, but during hot laps Marty Hawkins' 3M hit the wall and scratched. Tony Everhart broke his engine and Kevin Thomas' 9K car scratched, so officials wisely moved the remaining C-main cars to the back of three qualifying heats that replaced the B-main. Those qualifying heats were a welcome addition this year to the Oval Nationals racing format. Positions 1-4 in each of the three heats joined the top 12 in Thursday and Friday points. Nic Faas replaced injured Darren Hagen in the same Mark Priestley No. 7 that flipped Friday night. Three USAC provisional starters made the 27-car A-main field Saturday. They were Casey Riggs (National), plus C. Williams No. 44 and Faas No. 7 (CRA). The feature had 18 cars racing at the finish, with 12 on the lead lap. Dropouts included “Super” Rickie Gaunt, whose No. 66 pulled into the pits with no brakes, and Blake Fitzpatrick, whose 10F Spike was overheating at 280 degrees and not going forward, causing him to pit. The first Jesse Hockett Hard Charger Award, presented by Shawn Buckley, went to Keith Bloom, Jr. (27kb) for gaining ten positions (P. 23 to P. 13). “Thanks very much,” was his surprised response.
SAT. TOP THREE QUOTES: Oval Nationals 40-lap feature winner Windom is a young sprint car veteran at age 19. His $12,500 victory was the biggest of his career. His car already had nine Hoosier Tire main event winner decals atop its tail. When he alighted from his winning No. 11 Jam It In Storage car Chris thanked his girl friend and car owner, Jeff Walker “It was nice I got out in the lead and stayed there. I didn't know if anyone was getting close. I ran as hard as I could. I thought I might be getting low on fuel.” That fate befell him February 10 while leading the USAC sprint feature at USA Speedway in Tucson. Infield announcer Chris Holt interviewed owner Walker who said, “I hired him last year. He does things he's not suppose to do. These guys (PAS staff) do a great job getting this track in great shape. We like coming out here and kicking California ass.” ... Runner-up Damion Gardner said, ”Thanks to my guys and sponsor Pace Electronics. The car was great and I had fun. I had to run hard and hope they'd make a mistake. I'll be back here at the end of the year (November 27 CRA race). Thanks to the fans for coming out. Come back and bring friends.” ... P. 3 Bobby East stated, “I was hoping to win. I was good early. This is an awesome track. We're going to Tulare next Saturday (Nov. 13) for the midget/sprint doubleheader and hope to win at least one.”
FRIDAY: Bryan Clauson parked his blue No. 2B because of an overheating problem Thursday and drove his yellow 2B. East, best known for his success on paved tracks, was 39th to qualify and set FQ time of 16.534, compared to Mitchell's 16.388 Thursday. Mitchell, after being the FQ, P. 3 in the main and the Oval Nat'ls point leader after Thursday action, was 20th out to qualify Friday. He bicycled entering turn 1 and flipped 4-times in cartwheels along the wall, landing overturned. He was OK but his 37 car was a mess. His team brought out their back-up 37 and paid another entry for it to be legal. With three cars scratched (Cardey, Thomas and Cottle), Mitchell qualified as the 47th car to face the clock, but it wouldn't fire. He had three minutes to come back and he just made it, running a conservative 17.534, the 37th fastest of 46 times. Officials canceled the C-main and added cars to row five of the heats. Winner of the five 10-lap heats came from starting positions 1, 6, 7, 5 and 2. The FQ in each heat started 8th and finished in P. 3, 3, 5, 2 and 7, so three of five made the A-main directly.
Heat 1started with a wild crash after a row 3 car got loose, causing Robert Ballou and Darren Hagen to collide. Hagen's yellow Priestley 7 flipped and landed upright atop the concrete barrier protecting the front of tow rigs parked in the pits. Row 5 cars of Rusty Carlile (51) and Matt Goodnight (39G) also were involved and stopped at the crash-site. A wrecker had to lift Hagen's car off the barrier and an ambulance took him in pain to a Riverside hospital. He received a broken back in two places and a torn muscle near his spine. He was fitted with a back brace and discharged within a week. Nine of ten cars restarted and Seth Wilson led all 10-laps in his No. 1X Competition Welding chassis. Heat 2 was an outstanding battle with Bud Kaeding prevailing over newcomer Blake Fitzpatrick. The H-3 field represented six past Oval National victories with Rip Williams, Cory Kruseman (2), Darland (2) and Tony Jones the past champs. The 27-car A-main included three provisional spots and ran from 9:21-10:01 pm with 5 yellows and 1 red flag after P. 6 Fitzpatrick hit the turn 4 cushion on L 18 and flipped without injury. There were two leaders—Levi Jones L 1-8, 12 & 22 and D. Gardner L 9-11, 13-21 & 23-25. Controversy struck on L 23 as Levi tried to pass Damion on the inside at turn 2 as Damion came down. His Eagle rode up and over Levi's Maxim LF tire and continued as Levi bounced to a halt at turn 2 with a flat LF tire. Under caution Levi returned from the work area with a new LF tire and as payback Levi ran Damion's car up to the turn 2 outside wall under caution. USAC's Steve Ostling correctly ordered the starter to black-flag Levi's STP 20 and he did so. Before pitting for the night, Levi again ran Damion's 71 up to the turn 2 wall under caution, but without contact this time. Levi then pulled into his infield pit stall and placed 20th. During the final three laps Gardner opened a 30-yard victory margin over East, as 19 of 27 starters finished; all ran 25 laps.
FRIDAY TOP THREE QUOTES: Winner Gardner said, “I reminded myself to be patient. I was able to search (the track) and race. I had a good race with Levi. I ran over him when he got under me. Sometimes he does it to me or I do it to someone else. Keep score, that's racing.” ... Runner-up East stated, “Second place is good. Thanks to my wife Courtney, my dad who is here, and to owner Terry Klatt. We should be in the top 12 in points. The car handles good and just needs a new paint job.” ... P. 3 Tracy Hines (4x) stated, “We were a fourth or fifth place car until Levi got knocked out. I was too tight, but we freed it up on the red. We should be locked into the top 12 in points for the main event tomorrow.” ... The 12 highest drivers in PAS Oval Nat'l points from Thursday & Friday events advanced directly to Saturday's A-main. They were Kaeding (29)-266 pts; Gardner (71)-260; East (5)-254; Mike Spencer (50)-249; Windom (11)-240; Hines (4X)-239; Jones (20)-238; Jon Stanbrough (53)-231; Kyle Larson (38)-228; Fitzpatrick (10F)-223; Danny Sheridan (18)-214 and Mitchell (37)-202. Just missing the coveted top dozen position were P. 13 Cory Kruseman (21K) with 198 points and P. 14 Justin Grant (5X) with 197. Stanbrough is the 5-time King of Indiana sprint car racing and 2-time USAC Indiana Sprint Week champ including 2010. He is the leading non-wing sprint car feature winner this decade with 130 victories according to a PAS PA announcement.
THURSDAY: Opening night had 5 fully inverted 8-car heat races for the 40 fastest qualifiers. Winners came from starting positions 2, 4, 2, 1 and 6. The FQ in each heat started 8th and finished in P. 2, 8 (DNF), 6, 2 and 4, so three of five made the Thursday main. In the 12-lap B-main Tony Jones (4) started 7th with Dennis Howell (62) 8th. A computer video replay that night showed on lap 1 Jones came up the track leaving turn 2 and into Howell's car. Howell flipped high 3 or 4 times to the mid-backstretch as other cars scattered. Angry Howell said he walked up to Jones, who stopped on the front straight under the red flag, and said, “Thanks a lot for nothing.” He said Jones reacted angrily. Howell later said at his hauler, “As a veteran I thought he could control his car better than that.” The crash bent the RF frame of Howell's best and favorite car, a black & blue, white numeral Maxim, in which he qualified his PAS career-best 16.856 (14th FQ time of 50 qualifiers). Dennis, 23, came back the next night in an all black, white numeral 62 backup car--the ex-No. 53 Jon Stanbrough J & J chassis that he raced only three times before selling it to Howell late last year. Dennis put his backup car together overnight and returned to Perris after a sleepless thrash to put his best engine in his J & J. The J & J has an 87” wheelbase vs the 86” wheelbase for his Maxim. He said the Maxim was more comfortable to drive. Dennis found out later that his personal injuries were two separated ribs and a chipped bone in his right forearm. Dennis Howell, Sr., who operates his San Pedro Auto Body near his Rancho Palos Verdes home, raced a No. 62 CRA sprint car at Ascot from 1985-87. It was the ex-No. 74 Leal Wasson car that had been the No. 6 Famighetti Bros Chevy raced by Allen Heath. Jones continued in the B and finished 6th (only the top four transferred to the 25-lap A-main), so Jones missed the A. David Cardey (59) raced past Jones on L 9 for P. 5. On the final mad dash for P 3-4-5 on L 12 of 12 Cardey shot to the inside entering turn 1 and passed Chris Windom and P. 3 Robert Ballou. Cardey jumped from 5th to 3rd, while Windom remained 4th and Ballou dropped from 3rd to 5th. Seventeen of 22 cars finished and all ran 12 laps.
The 25-lap preliminary A-main for USAC Nat'l and CRA points ran from 9:09-9:33 pm and had two cautions (L 3 & 8) . Four provisional spots were used (2 Nat'l & 2 CRA) for a 28 car field. The main had three leaders: Sheridan (L 1-3), Bud Kaeding (L 4-22) and Levi Jones (L 23-25). Sheridan faded to 14th with “a bent jacob's ladder and the car got too tight, like it dropped an anchor.” At the checkers, 22 cars were racing on the lead lap. P. 23 Greg Alexander was lapped on L 23 by the leaders. In H-2 Greg started on the pole in the oldest car present and ran 4th from lap 2-10 and just held off P. 5 Ronnie Gardner (93) by a car length. Greg said he lost his brakes during the race, making his run even more impressive.
THURSDAY TOP THREE QUOTES: Winner Levi Jones (20) said, “He (Kaeding) definitely made a mistake. Bud is one of the best drivers in the country. I was able to get in lower than him. I was in the cat-bird seat.” Levi raced Tony Stewart's only entry--a Maxim sponsored by STP (a subsidiary of Clorox). Levi, 28, and his wife Heidi became parents of son Cru on October 28. He arrived at 7' 11”. ... P. 2 Kaeding (29) stated: “Yeah, I kind-of made a mistake. I saw him down there. I saw the lapped car (23) and pushed up. I'm lucky to have fun driving. Thanks to all the fans for coming out. Bring all your friends Saturday, it'll be a helluva race.” ... P. 3 Mitchell (37) said: “We've been doing pretty well lately. Thanks to Garrett Hansen (sprint car driver) for all his help to our team. I figured staying up there (high groove) was my best bet. Congratulations to Bud and Levi. Thanks to my crew and team.” Matt had raced the same No. 37 2010 Maxim all year. Matt is a senior at Concordia University in Irvine and is majoring in Business/Finance. ... The top 12 in Oval Nat'l points after Thursday action were: Mitchell-143, Jones-141, Kaeding-134, Spencer-132, Fitzpatrick-129, Stanbrough-125, Windom-117, Cardey-116, D. Gardner-114, Darland-111, East-110, Kyle Larson and Hines tied at 108.
MISCELLANEOUS DRIVER & CAR INFO: Blake Fitzpatrick, 19, of West Terre Haute, IN, picked up local sponsorship from Zanzabuku Sports Lounge in Lakewood. He won five of his six 2010 features in his No. 10F Spike including his lone USAC victory at Haubstadt, IN. His other Indiana wins came at Putnamville, Lawrenceburg, Kokomo (2) and at a Haubstadt non-USAC main. Asked about PAS, Blake said, “This track is pretty fast getting into the corners. I like it.” He raced impressively on his first PAS visit with Oval Nat'ls. He finished 5th (Thur.), 21st with a flip while in P. 6 on L 18 (Fri.), and 20th with a DNF (overheating) while running 10th (Sat.). ... Hoosier Jon Stanbrough's DRC No. 53 is owned by Brad & Steve Fox, sons of long-time USAC car owner Galen Fox. Jon won 20 of his 21 features this year in the No. 53 and one in the Phillips Motorsports DRC that Jerry Coons, Jr. raced as No. 69 at Perris. ... John Molloy's Trench Shoring in Corona was his local sponsor at The PAS. ... The No. 39 cars raced by Dave Darland (11 feature wins in 2010) are owned by Matt Goodnight, of Winchester, IN. Matt drove 39G and relinquished it Saturday to his hired gun Darland after Dave's 39 got flipped Friday and was a write-off. ... Kevin Thomas, Jr. is a 19-year old Cullman, Alabama driver whose 9K Maxiim/Claxton is sponsored by Blackjack Oil Co. ... The two No. 73 Keith Ford Berry Pack sprint cars did not have memorable Oval Nat'ls. Josh Ford's 73 is a new older car that Jimmy May rebuilt to his liking. Robert Ballou, from Rocklin, CA and now from Noblesville, IN, drove the 73x JEI chassis. ... Gardena's Greg Alexander, 21, gave the older Beast/RC Performance No. 23 owned by John & Bette Bellegante a good ride. It was his 6th time in the car and he said he made all six main events in the car. Parts of it are 20 years old. They towed it to Perris on an open trailer. ... Cory Kruseman's Lucas Oil three-car team had Cory in a new Eagle (21K), Stockton's Jonathan Henry, 19, in an older Eagle (71K), and “Flyin Finn” Marcus Niemala in a Maxim (21x).
The circle 76 Triple X chassis was driven by J. J. Hughes, from Columbus, IN. The 17-year old red-haired driver is short and could be mistaken for driver Cole Whitt. The Hughes family lived in Rancho Cucamonga and his mom told me they all moved to Indiana so J. J. could race. Sounds like what Jeff Gordon did in the mid-1980s. J. J. earned 2009 rookie of the year honors at Lawrenceburg, IN. ... Tracy Hines' No. 4 MP Environmental sprint car is Bakersfield Dave Calderwood's entry. Jimmy Sills raced Dave's No. 4 USAC midget during the 1990s. ... The Kershaw brothers, Cody, 21, and Dakota, 18, raced only Thursday and did not return. ... The No. 8 Parker Store Viper chassis had Shane “the Throttle” Cottle, of Kokomo, IN driving the Arizona car. The owner is BRAT, which stands for the three co-owners—Gordon Beeding, Bob Ream And Bill Thompson. They said a broken drive-shaft part ($200 to repair) caused their car to be in the DNF column during the October 23 Legends of Ascot PAS feature. Jerry Coons' black & gold No. 69 DRC sprint ride ran as Hoffman racing for points, but the owners are Carl & Steve Phillips Motorsports, of Indianapolis. Stanbrough won one of his 21 mains in it this year as No. 71 or 17. ... Justin Grant, 19, is a 2-time BCRA Midget champion from Ione, CA. He now lives and races out of Lafayette, IN. He raced his season-long ride, the orange 5X Baldwin Bros. Green's Truck & Auto Service Maxim/Claxton Mopar out of Indiana. The Baldwins said it was their first racing trip to California.
The 27KB Maxim driven by Keith Bloom, Jr, a 17-year old from Anderson, CA, is sponsored by Abreu Vineyards, of St. Helena, just south of Calistoga on Hwy 29 (Napa County). It is not connected with former Nor Cal sprint car driver Tom Abreu. However, former racing drivers Jack Epperson, 72, and his auctioneer brother Donnie are related to Bloom. Grandpa Jack is the father of Keith, Jr's mother. ... Marty Hawkins, 17, of Santa Rosa, is the son of Chad Hawkins, who raced sprint cars to 1995. Their Stinger 3M chassis, sponsored by Blakeley Landscaping of Calistoga, has a Bailey Bros-built 410 ci Chevy. ... The all red, black number 5 without number trim was hard to see the number. It is the Terry Klatt Maxim Gaerte/Chevy driven by Bobby East. Bobby's wife made the number for the car so they agreed to race it as she made it. ... The No. 0K yellow & black Bumble Bee Plastics driven by Victorville's Kenny Perkins, 19, is a Triple 7 chassis by John Aden. Kenny is attending American Career College currently to become a respiratory therapist. ... Glenn Crossno's No. 38 Viper had Shane Hmiel, 30, as the original listed driver for the Oval Nat'ls. However, Shane's flip while qualifying the No. 17 Silver Crown car at Terre Haute on October 9 left him with serious injuries and a long recuperation period. Kevin Swindell and Cole Whitt were sought as replacement drivers, but their expanding NASCAR stock car involvement prevented them from coming to Perris. Whitt has raced the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota in the K & N Grand National East and Nationwide Series with success. Swindell has also started up front and led K & N East races and scored top ten finishes. Kyle Larson, 18, from Elk Grove, was recommended to Glenn and he got the ride and performed well as expected at the Oval Nat'ls. Larson won the 2010 winged sprint 410 Golden State Championship and also has run well in 360 ci winged sprint events and is a real comer and driver to watch in 2011.
That concludes my Oval Nationals notebook.
