TRP Results 5/17/08

[rebelracewriter]

Texana Raceway Park, 5/17/08

By J M Hallas

 

Edna, Tx., (May 17th, 2008) Another night of racing on the 1/4 mile, black gumbo paper clip track, with Modifieds, Limited Modifieds, Hot Stock Trucks, Bombers, Texana Classic Dwarf Cars and Jr. Mini Stocks, with 87 competitors signing in for the nights action. Included in the activities for the evening, were kids foot races during intermission.

 

 

Flanagan Fastest for Modified Main Win

Corpus Christi driver Dale Flanagan proved patience and persistence pays off in the end. Flanagan worked his way up to second, stalked race leader Nick Hardcastle, and jumped on an opening in the final laps to snag the victory.

 

 

The start of the 17-car, 20-lap Modified main event saw the front row of John Armstrong and Jesse Manning stay side by side, with lots of rubbing and banging going on in the pack. Armstrong got the point on lap 1, while Manning spun himself from second in turn 2. Miraculously everyone was able to miss Manning as he sat in the middle of the track. Once back to green, Armstrong got away from Hardcastle and Flanagan as they ran wheel to wheel for second.

 

 

Hardcastle got a good bite off turn 2 to secure second and get a run on Armstrong for the lead. Hardcastle got under Armstrong in turn 3 getting the top spot on lap 3, leaving Armstrong and Flanagan side by side for second. In the pack a spirited fight was going on between, Stew Savage, Kali Sellier, Mickey Helms, Vince Kacir for fifth. Tracy Bear and Manning, working his way back up, joined that battle. Helms had just gotten by Sellier for fifth when he spun to bring out yellow on lap 8.

 

 

Armstrong tried to squeeze Flanagan on the restart, while Lawrence Mikulencak lurked in fourth waiting for an opening. Kacir would bring out a yellow on lap 9 when he looped his ride. The restart was clean as the top five of Hardcastle, Flanagan, Armstrong, Mikulencak and Sellier came to the crossed flags with Mikulencak looking inside Armstrong for third and Manning taking sixth from Bear.

 

 

Flanagan then began to put the pressure on Hardcastle for the lead. On lap 13 Flanagan looked low out of turn 2, then took a peek high in turn 3. After a couple of attempts, Hardcastle got a little breathing room on lap 15, but Flanagan was quickly back on the leader. Hardcastle got a bit too high on lap 16 and Flanagan jumped on the chance getting by for the lead on lap 17. From there Flanagan inched ahead to a couple car lengths advantage. At the checkers it was Flanagan in the Flanagan's Muffler Shop, Hughes Chassis powered by dads motor taking the victory.

 

 

“Our car handled great all night long,” said Flanagan. “It never bobbled all night long. He(Hardcastle) had a little trouble getting it turned, we got a bite when we needed it. It took off out of turn 2 and moved on past. It was surprising, usually when someone bobbles, I'm not ready for it or I'll bobble myself. It worked out right tonight. It was picture perfect.”

 

 

“On the last restart he kind of got away from us. I was giving it all I had. I try too hard a lot of times. So it's a lot of mental racing when it's slick. You have to make sure you're not spinning those tires. I could tell when I was doing right, I could gain on him. So I just tried to keep that up and it worked out overall. I didn't know it would, usually it doesn't, but it worked out perfect. I hope I can do it again next race. Dry slick set-ups are hard for me, I like a wet track. You can use a lot of throttle, a lot of brake, get traction, pitch it sideways and run wide open coming out. It takes a lot of effort on these dry slick tracks. I think we got it now.”

 

 

“We love this track, Bruce(Tesch) is great, treats everybody good as far as I've ever seen. We looked forward to coming up here as much as we could anyway. When Corpus(South Texas Speedway) changed their rules this year, it just made more sense to come here. With all the time and money involved in changing the car over, we decided we come up here. Everyone here treats us nice, thanks us for coming and we like that.”

 

 

“It took my dad two years to build that motor, and a lot of headaches. He did a great job. He says he knows it's got to be right, because he rebuilt it three times on everything he did. He was right, this is the second year on it already.”

 

 

 

 

“I think I was using too much rear brake early,” replied runner-up Hardcastle. “I was using it to get the rear turned in the corners and got them too hot. I bobbled a little and Dale(Flanagan) got by.”

 

 

Modifieds

1. 57 Dale Flanagan

2. 94 Nick Hardcastle

3. 39 John Armstrong

4. 87 Lawrence Mikulencak

5. 4$ Kalif Sellier

6. 76 Jesse Manning

7. 4 Stew Savage

8. 14 Tracy Bear

9. 06 Mickey Helms

10. 44 Marcus Berndt

11. 155 Vince Kacir

12. 41 Justin Majek

13. 37 Brian Spindelman

14. 96 Forester Ellison

15. 85 Jeff Nix

16. 84 Richard Dechert

17. 29 Max Helms

 

Modified Heat Winners, 39 John Armstrong, 76 Jesse Manning

 

 

Hudgeons Has it Dialed in for Limited Modified win.

Veteran competitor and recent car builder, Aaron Hudgeons swept the Limited Modified class taking both the heat and feature wins. Hudgeons got out front early, then held off charges by Mickey Helms and Vince Louden to snag the well earned win.

 

 

At the start of the 20 lapper, Hudgeons and Helms stayed wheel to wheel through turns 1-2, before Hudgeons secured the spot. Hudgeons, Helms and Louden wasted little time putting distance on Philip Cantu, Brian Brooks and Aaron Lunsford. Cantu broke something in the rear end and spun in turn 4 to bring out yellow on lap 4. On the restart, Louden got by Helms for second. Helms fought back getting along side then finally back by on lap 5 in turns 1-2. Undaunted, Louden wrestled the spot back in turns 3-4.

 

 

As the lead trio settled in, Lunsford, Victor Lindsey, Brooks and Kirk Loos were putting on a show for fourth. Lindsey finally got the spot, with Brooks and Loos side by side for sixth. At halfway it was Hudgeons, Louden, Helms, Lindsey and Lunsford in the top five, with Louden on Hudgeons bumper. Louden got inside Hudgeons and beat him back to the line to lead lap 11, but Hudgeons retook the top spot on lap 12.

 

 

Eric Madden brought out yellow on lap 12 when he tapped the wall in turn 2. On the restart, Helms crossed over on Louden to grab second, while Brooks got by Lunsford for fifth. Louden charged back by Helms for second on lap 13, but Hudgeons had already built a decent lead. Brooks got fourth from Lindsey on lap 15, as the top three checked out. As the white flag waved, Hudgeons in the Hudgeons Paint & Body, Ace Transmissions, Pflugerville Engine & Machine powered Rush Chassis had good gap on Louden and took the win unchallenged.

 

 

“It took a lot patience mainly,” commented Hudgeons. “That yellow near the end really helped us. Our chassis has a little advantage at this track, the top three were all our cars. At other tracks sometimes it's better, sometimes not.”

 

Hudgeons was pretty hush, hush when asked what his secret was. “I can't say” he added chuckling. He did admit a few things, “off the record” and state that if you looked at each of his cars, they are all set up different to suit each drivers style.

 

 

Limited Modifieds

1. 10 Aaron Hudgeons

2. 2 6 Vince Louden

3. 174 Mickey Helm

4. 25 Brian Brooks

5. 21 Victor Lindsey

6. 18 Kirk Loos

7. 888 Aaron Lunsford

8. 16 Eric Madden

9. 3 Philip Cantu

9 David Meredith---DNS

 

 

Limited Modified Heat Winner, 10 Aaron Hudgeons

 

 

As green waved on the 20-lap Hot Stock Truck feature, Jimmy Rogers was out front, a place familiar to him. Justin Bloom spun, backed lightly into the wall and rolled to the infield edge. Caution waved on lap 3 for a spin by John Leita, giving Bloom the chance to get pushed started. On the restart, Bob Ort took a look on Rogers, while Darryl Davis, Stephen Wusterhausen and Gordon Boehm battled for third. Boehm spun from third on lap 5 to bring out a yellow.

 

 

Once back under green, Ort and Davis ran side by side for second, with Davis getting the spot. As the top three separated out and pulled away, Chris Shafer and Wusterhausen fought it out for fourth. With Rogers getting a comfortable advantage and looking to take his third checkers in row, Shafer spun in turn 1 to bring out a caution on the final lap. On the restart Ort and Davis traded some paint in turn 1 with Davis spinning. Deemed a “racing deal” by officials neither was penalized and both held their spots on the restart. Rogers was able to hold both off on the final lap to take another victory.

 

 

Hot Stock Trucks

1. 9 Jimmy Rogers

2. 43 Bob Ort

3. 3 Darryl Davis

4. 79 Stephen Wusterhausen

5. 76 Justin Airhart

6. 8 Larry Paris

7. 84 Justin Bloom

8. 38 Chris Shafer

9. 24 John Leita

10. 39 Nathan Kildair

11. 15 Gordon Boehm

12.

13.

 

 

Hot Stock Truck Heat Winners, 43 Bob Ort, 9 Jimmy Rogers

 

 

Chris Shafer jumped out into the lead of the Bomber feature, while Charlie Mills and Kassey Champion battled for second. Mills got the spot on lap 4, but Champion got back by on lap 5. In the pack Randy Kacir and Monty Chamberlain were three wide getting by a slower car. The lead trio caught traffic on lap 10, giving Champion a chance to reel in Shafer. Nick Moore joined that trio and got by Mills for third.

 

 

Moore continued to use traffic to his advantage getting by Champion for second on lap 11. As Moore and Champion fought it out for second and through slower cars, Moore got turned around bringing out a yellow, that saw Champion put to the rear. Once back to green, Mills and Moore made contact as they now slugged it out for second, with Mills getting the spot.

 

 

Moore retook second a lap later, with Kacir moving to fourth and Chamberlain battling with David McBride for fifth. Once securing fifth, Chamberlain, who started at the tail after heat race problems, moved by Kacir for fourth but spun himself out in turn 4 loosing all the ground he made up. When the race went back to green, Moore took a look inside Shafer for the lead, while Mills tried the high side nearly going three wide for a second. The trio sorted back out single file with Shafer still holding the point and hanging on to snare the win.

 

 

Bomber

1. 77 Chris Shafer

2. 1 Nick Moore

3. 33 Charlie Mills

4. 26 David McBride

5. 27 Lloyd Williams

6. R4J Danny Bennett

7. 18 Michael Wagner

8. 36 Randy Kacir

9. 91 Kassey Champion

10.89 Ricky Konvicka

11. 55 Monty Chamberlain

12. 88 Sandra Hudgeons

13. 5 Jackie Burnett

14. 76 Gary Wright

15. 357 Brian McDevitt

16. 04 Jacob Burnett

17.

11 Shawn Kline---DNS

 

Bomber Heat Winners, 33 Charlie Mills, 77 Chris Shafer

 

 

Greg Sexton sr. grabbed the lead of the Texana Classic Dwarf Car feature, but Josh Hunt spun to bring out the caution. The restart saw Sexton again jump out front, while Andrew Cline jr. and John Armstrong swapped second position. On lap 3 Mike Christians slipped high in tun 2 falling from fourth to ninth, as Kevin Harvey and Stew Savage now exchanged the fourth spot. Lap 5 saw caution wave for multiple, yet unrelated, spins by J. Hunt, Cline and Don Hunt. D. Hunt was charged with the yellow giving Cline second place back.

 

 

On the restart, Cline took a look inside Sexton going into turn 1, but Sexton held the point. Lap 7 had Douglas Schmidt and Harvey tangle in turns 3-4, with Harvey sent to the back. Once back to green, Cline and Armstrong continue to trade second, while Savage and Victor Vargas battled for fourth. Cline got a run on Sexton grabbing the top spot on lap 11 and inching away. Harvey and Joseph Snow got together on lap 16 with Harvey being black-flagged. Cline, Sexton and Armstrong got away clean on the restart, with Cline holding on to take the victory.

 

 

Texana Classic Dwarf Cars

1. 19 Andrew Cline jr.

2. 1 Greg Sexton sr.

3. 12 John Armstrong

4. 4 Stew Savage

5. 2 Grant Hanson

6. 13 Mike Christians

7. 01 Joseph Snow

8. 24 Victor Vargas

9. 79 Douglas Schmidt

10. 54 Gary Hanson

11. 8 Don Hunt

12. 82 Brandon Dorsey

13. 1jr Kevin Harvey

14. 12th Josh Hunt

00 Stan Jolliffe---DNS

2EZ Easy Casey---DNS

 

 

TCDC Heat Winners, 19 Andrew Cline jr., 1jr Kevin Harvey

 

 

Ashley Perks and Zachary Bennett tangled on the initial start of the Jr. Mini Stock feature to bring about a complete restart. On the second start, Dakota Taylor got the lead and began to pull away with Garett Hayes and Zachary Tesch in tow. Tesch got sideways on lap 5 allowing Jason Bloom to get third Taylor came up on a slower car during lap 7 and ended up spinning himself trying to get around.

 

 

This handed the lead over to Hayes, putting Taylor on the back. Chris Jewell jr. looped it on the first attempt to restart bringing the yellow quickly back out. Then next try saw Tesch get into the quarter-panel of Hayes and send him around. Tesch immediately moved himself to the tail. Finally back under green, Hayes pulled away from Bloom, while Tesch worked his way back up to fourth. In the final laps Hayes held off Bloom, with Tesch getting third from Perks.

 

 

Mini Stocks

1. 9 Garett Hayes

2. 49 Jason Bloom

3. 72 Zachary Tesch

4. 12 Ashley Perks

5. 16 Chris Jewell jr.

6. 22 Patricia Lucas

7. 24 Sarah Konvicka

8. 5 Zachary Bennett

9. 00 Dakota Taylor

10. 55 Lauren Chamberlain

11. 63 Chase Sanchez

12. 31 Haley Jansky

222 Paige Wenske---DNS

 

 

Mini Stock Heat Winners, 00 Dakota Taylor, 9 Garett Hayes

[thrss1]

only 9 limiteds, what gives???

 

congrats patricia on 6th place in the minis

[TRP]

Thx for coming back Reb. Enjoyed having you at the track again.

[vl racing]

only 9 limiteds, what gives???

 

congrats patricia on 6th place in the minis

I think it had something to do with in part the USMTS show at HRP, and maybe three weekend shows in a row.

[texana55]

Great write-up Reb. Was great having you back. I especially like how you take the time to get post-race quotes from the drivers. Nice job!

 

As for me, I think we've got my car just about dialed in now. Starting to feel like 2006. Next time though, I'm gonna have to not trash all of that distance I make up..... lol...... What a fun race though. Got to test passing low, passing high, and running 3 wide in a turn which was darn fun and exciting. Quite frankly, a competitive group in Bombers with a great group of people to race with. Very fun event for me. I needed that.

 

-Monty

[rebelracewriter]

Thanks Monty, I started adding quotes a few years back. It would be nice to do all the classes, but sometimes it's tough enough to find the top couple of class winners. Sometimes they're already loaded up, or headed down the road. What would even be nicer is if I had some computer program or secratary to transcribe all the quotes.....that's actually the most time consuming part.

 

Most of all, thanks again for donation of dead presidents.......MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!!! Just don't tell Nick, he'll want his cut. LMAO

 

I'd have never thought three wide would work on your paper clip down there. If you'd keep from off-roading during the heat race, you wouldn't have to start so far back in the feature

 

See ya in July for ASCS!!

[Justafan4]

R4J did quite well for only being able to run on 6 cylinders for the entire feature 6th place finish isn't anything to frown upon. Good Job Danny keep up the good work. Its beginning to pay off.

 

Much Props go out to little number 5 in the minis squad, learning that shifter at 13 isn't easy, heck i couldn't do it, slowly beginning to gain that confidence and a slightly heavier right foot, and you should be knocking on the front door of victory lane before the end of the season. keep it up only time and laps will increase the chances.

[dancer52]

R4J did quite well for only being able to run on 6 cylinders for the entire feature 6th place finish isn't anything to frown upon. Good Job Danny keep up the good work. Its beginning to pay off.

 

Much Props go out to little number 5 in the minis squad, learning that shifter at 13 isn't easy, heck i couldn't do it, slowly beginning to gain that confidence and a slightly heavier right foot, and you should be knocking on the front door of victory lane before the end of the season. keep it up only time and laps will increase the chances.

 

 

Yea...Zach is doing a good job...hope his car troubles are over...as for danny...I would suggest checking valve lash every week...lol