rebelracewriter Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 Got these results direct from the ever lovely Taz Lady I tried to classify each car by track/series, but I'm not sure what tire/weight package some of the cars were running. Texas Challenge 125, presented by Aramendia Plumbing @ San Antonio Speedway By J M Hallas Blast from the Past, Bendele’s Finish 1-2 San Antonio, Texas., San Antonio Speedway’s venerable old ½ mile paved oval played host to the inaugural Texas Challenge 125 Saturday night. In a unique race with a unique format and multiple rules packages allowing San Antonio regulars, Thunder Hill Raceway(Kyle) late models, Houston Motorsports Park crate engine late models and Texas Super Racing Series late models to compete, 27 car signed in with 26 taking times in qualifying. Late model rookie contender, James Cole was first out and set the standard early with a 19.42 second pass. Going out 17th, the multi-time San Antonio Speedway and NASCAR Sunbelt Region Champion, Brandon Bendele took his turn setting the new mark with a staggering 19.18 lap. Even more amazing was the fact he was in a borrowed car from Lloyd Alexander. Brandon’s father, 2003 San Antonio Speedway Champion, Larry Bendele would grab the second fastest time in a scenario reminiscent of the 2001 season when the father/son team dominated the track. With the Bendele duo on the front row the first 75 lap segment took the green flag. B. Bendele was first into turn 1 as the top five sorted out single file. The yellow waved early when Buck Basey started his bad night off as he slapped the front wall leaving body parts on the track. On the restart, former ASA, NASCAR and San Antonio driver, Joe Aramendia moved around Kevin Bendele for 7th, towing teammate Damon Bean along to 8th. Aramendia continued his charge moving into 6th getting by Jason Oates on lap 9. By lap 10 the Bendele’s had built a slight lead over Danny Garcia who had a small gap to James Cole. Aramendia then got by Jason Smith to move up to the top five. The leaders ran up on lap traffic during the 14th circuit with B. Bendele getting run up high by the lap car of Basey. This allowed L. Bendele to take a shot on the low side as they came three wide out of turn 4. B. Bendele held on to his car and lead, while Garcia and Aramendia were able to get past Cole for third and fourth. Kelly Vinson brought out the caution on lap 16 when he spun into the back stretch grass. As green flew again, Bean lost fifth and sixth to the Jason’s, Oates and Smith. While trying to regain positions, Bean got out of shape, cut through the turn 1 grass and spun up the track to bring out the yellow hankie on lap 21. The Bendele duet took off on the restart and were inching from the Garcia, Aramendia battle by lap 30. Basey’s problems continued on lap 35 when the entire panel off the passenger side blew off in turn 1. Donny Horelka tried to grab 7th from K. Bendele on green as the top three motored ahead to a good lead. After a lap and half of side by side racing Horelka finally was able to complete the pass. By lap 50 B. Bendele had started to get away putting 10 car lengths on L. Bendele who had big gap to Garcia and Aramendia. Oates, Horelka and K. Bendele had their own little battle going for sixth while Bean was closing back in after his spin. The yellow was out on lap 51 for Brad Hudak who got loose after slight contact, David Sevilla did a bank shot off the turn 2 wall and Jeff Wills spun in the back up. B. Bendele got out to good advantage as he had a lap car buffer over the field. The pack started to back up letting Oates get around Cole for fourth. Cole was able to retake the spot on lap 58, but slowed dramatically on lap 61 and coasted to a stop on lap 62. As the race restarted and came to halfway the top eight were separated into two four car packs. B. Bendele, L. Bendele, Garcia and Aramendia were the first four, with Oates, Horelka, K. Bendele and Jason Young the second group. Aramendia was just starting to look inside Garcia on lap 70 when Alvin Stewart slammed the turn 3-4 wall with a flat tire. During the caution period the lap 75 competition red waved allowing teams to pit. During the pit stops teams were able to refuel, and make any changes, except tires, without penalty. As the final 50 lap, all green flag segment lined up, the top eight were all lead lap cars, as 13 car still held lead lap spots. The top four took off as green waved, with Horelka and Oates door to door for fifth. After five laps the top four had spaced out to about 5 car lengths between each. Just as it looked like B. Bendele would run off he ran up into lap traffic giving L. Bendele a chance to close slightly. L. Bendele then got hung behind the lap car of Leland Waddell who squeezed him up high. Garcia and Aramendia checked up to avoid contact, while Oates got into the turn 3 wall as the field scattered and the yellow waved on lap 89. B. Bendele got a huge jump on green as Waddell continued to slow the pack, giving Aramendia the chance to grab third from Garcia. Waddell and fellow lapper, Robert Stewart then battled side by side causing those behind, fighting for position, to group up into a wolfpack. James Reeder was the big loser as he was three wide before slamming the wall and destroying his car, which leads the points at Thunder Hill Raceway. The restart saw the Bendele’s once again move ahead of Aramendia, Garcia and Horelka. With 25 to go B. Bendele was stretching out his lead over L. Bendele who had a good advantage over Aramendia and Garcia. By lap 110 B. Bendele had built nearly a half straightaway gap, while Aramendia was cutting the gap to L. Bendele for second. B. Bendele was running off and hiding with almost a full straight advantage on lap 115 as Horelka closed in on Garcia. With five to go, B. Bendele was on cruise control, with dad hardly in sight. As the white flag waved B. Bendele was nearly ½ lap ahead and was probably already counting the $3000 payday. When the checkers flew it was B. Bendele in the Premier Minerals/AAA House Leveling/Longs Racing Engines/A-Affordable Foundation/Royal Purple/Awesome Lube/Matco Tools by Ronnie Smith/Ford Taurus rolling into the winners circle, a place very familiar to him. “It was a big win for us”, said B. Bendele. “We put this deal together with Lloyd(Alexander) last week at Texas Motor Speedway and I wanted to win for him. The team got the car on Monday and changed some bar angles that we knew worked on our car before, so my past experience helped out a lot. At the break we loosened it up a bit all the way around, since I knew what the car was going to need” 1 5 Brandon Bendele TSRS 2 23 Larry Bendele SAS 3 50 Joe Aramendia TSRS 4 97 Danny Garcia SAS 5 41 Donny Horelka SAS 6 21 Kevin Bendele SAS 7 8 David Sevilla TSRS 8 127 Jason Young HMP 9 55 Michael Cullen THR 10 77 Mike Balzer SAS 11 14 James Cole SAS 12 22 Robert Stewart TSRS 13 20 Jeff Wills SAS 14 10 Scott Jerkins SAS 15 128 Leland Waddell TSRS 16 4 James Reeder THR 17 27 Michael Jones TSRS 18 0 Jason Oates SAS 19 04 Brad Hudak TSRS 20 7 Chris Schild TSRS 21 110 Alvin Stewart THR 22 44 Damon Bean SAS`? 23 1 Ronny New TSRS 24 3 Buck Basey TSRS 25 29 Jason Smith SAS 26 70 Kelly Vinson HMP 74 Jarod Benker SAS Did Not Start In the Sportsman feature, Vince Trietch grabbed the early lead in the 16 car, 25 lap event. Trietch was pressured by Frank Johnson who made the pass for the top spot on lap 5. Eric Knudtson closed in on Trietch, while Justin Oates grabbed third and Kenny Hurley charged from the rear to seventh. Knudtson and Oates got past Trietch and were side by for second on lap 10. The top three of Johnson, Knudtson and Oates, were nose to tail coming to halfway with Trietch and Hurley rounding out the top five. Lap 14 saw Oates snag second from Knudtson at the same time Hurley was getting by Trietch for fourth. Both Oates and Knudtson were able to pass Johnson on lap 16, as Oates got the point. Hurley closed in on Johnson for third with the duo door to door on lap 18. With five to go Oates had a ten car lead over Knudtson. Hurley closed on Knudtson, but slowed in the final laps Allowing Johnson to retake third. Oates was able to grab the win and possibly the SAS points lead in his Affordable Trailers/Kutzer Race Engines/Oval Componants/Ultimate Truck Assessories/Texas T’s/Chevy Camero Sportsman 1 0 Justin Oates 2 27 Eric Knudtson 3 16 Frank Johnson 4 20 Kenny Hurley 5 11 Vince Trietch 6 15 Tommy Casey 7 12 Tater Mason 8 00 George Reyes 9 3 Dwayne Markgraf 10 22 Rodney Rodriguez 11 31 Tom Reynolds 12 4 Craig Crawley 13 6 Garfield Shanklin 14 72 Jeremy Hernandez 15 46 Mark Rahn 16 29 Jamie Evans Polesitter John Kelly jr and Greg Rohmer laed the 10 car Road Runner feature to green with Jn. Kelly getting out front on lap 1. Rohmer moved along side on lap 2 with the two door to door at the line. A spin by Roy Barnel slowed the action giving Jn Kelly the point back. Jn Kelly continued to hold off Rohmer until lap 6 when Rohmer got the top spot. As Rohmer inched away Mark Mathias got into the quarter panel of Jn Kelly as both came rest at the top of turn 1. Rohmer got a good lead over Johnny Torres after the restart as Jn Kelly worked his way back up. As the white waved, Rohmer held an advantage over Torres while the two Kelly brothers Jason and John battled for third. Rohmer grabbed the victory with the Kelly’s finishing side by side and John getting third by about an inch. Road Runner 1 13 Greg Rohmer 2 74 Johnny Torres 3 75 John Kelly jr 4 5 Jason Kelly 5 35 Anne Freudiger 6 79 Michael Odom 7 55 Irish O’Leary 8 20 Mark Mathias 9 15 Roy Barnel 10 10 Ken Jones 73 Kelly Earnhardt DNS 00 Randy Frautchi DNS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 Thanks Reb! Since you helped me out with my results, I will help you out with yours. LOL Us Kerrverts need to stick together! Damon Bean is a registered TSRS driver. But since I wasn't there, I do not know if he was in his TSRS car, nor do I know if he races anywhere else and might have a second car. Hope that helps? I can e-mail you his bio info if you need it. Bill "Sarge" Masom Hardest working race announcer in Texas! Have microphone, will travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerjim2 Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 sarge is correct Damon was in his TSRS car Jarod Benker was also in a TSRS car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The_Greek Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 Thanks Reb! Since you helped me out with my results, I will help you out with yours. LOL Us Kerrverts need to stick together! Damon Bean is a registered TSRS driver. But since I wasn't there, I do not know if he was in his TSRS car, nor do I know if he races anywhere else and might have a second car. Hope that helps? I can e-mail you his bio info if you need it. Bill "Sarge" Masom Hardest working race announcer in Texas! Have microphone, will travel. Damon Bean drove a Joe Armendia car, not his regular TSRS car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted June 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 Thanx guys, SASpeedracer and I argued over what car Damon was running also. Guess we'll have to hope he or Joe car give us a correct answer. Now my PERSONAL commentary on the show, which I'll probably take some beatings over. LOL But it's been a while and certainly won't be the last time either. First to the guys that did show up and put on a race for their fans I say 'Thank you', you should be commended for your efforts! Second, I was kind of disappointed on the late model turn out, yes 27 was a fair enough number that Mr Sepich was pleased, but com'on guys. All you hear on here is how NOBODY pays a decent purse, we DON'T get any recognition, and on and on. Yet Mr Sepich sits down does some homework on rules, then PAYS two guys to help tweek them. Maybe they weren't perfect, but he tried. I know there were a few that recently had babies, which I can understand, but to those that took the defeatist attitude or had other non-credible excuses, before the race ever was run, I say Phooey on you! Nothing personal, but I'll listen to no more crying about payouts. Third, If you threw out Brandons off the chart time and the cars on the 8" package, the qualifying times were pretty close. Out of the top 10 finishers, you had 3 TSRS car, 1 THR car and I HMP car, not too shabby if you ask me. Finally, lap cars! Guys give the leaders the same room and respect as you would want them to give you if roles were reversed. OK fire away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd#5 Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 i agree with you reb about everyone complaining about not having a race with a good purse and when one comes up people just come up with some excuses to not run. i thought it was a good turnout but i think it could have had a little higher car count if it was at the end of the year but who knows. but all in all it was a fun weekend and i want to say thank you to SAS for putting on a race like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SASPEEDRACER24 Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Damon's car was his TSRS car it had been repainted over the break between CC and the Houston race. This came from Damon himself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boerneracehounds50 Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Thanks Reb,got your messege,sorry I didnt get back to ya,great recap,I am kinda disappointed that all the late model cars allways complain about no big money shows,and they get one and only draw 26 cars,this was your chance to show, thats what you wanted,but it could have been worse,could of only had 6 cars....but then again they were not mods either,lol,lol,lol, Reb,sure glad you dont drink or else you would have recaps like mine,lol,lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp17 Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 I, for one, haven't seen much if any complaining amongst late model teams (various types) about being "under paid." The Texas Challenge event was a terrific idea that, by necessity, was formulated on very short notice. I commend Mike and SAS for putting it on and hope that it will become an annual event. Unfortunately, it was that same short notice the precluded a number of cars from showing up. Congratulations Brandon. jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVCMNGR1 Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 Hey Reb, would not having an engine in the car be a "credible excuse"? Cause we sure don't want to be PHOOEYED on! We would have loved to have been there, but putting a new motor together and buying 6 10" tires and wheels was more than a stretch on the ole budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildRacer5 Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 “It was a big win for us”, said B. Bendele. “We put this deal together with Lloyd(Alexander) last week at Texas Motor Speedway and I wanted to win for him. The team got the car on Monday and changed some bar angles that we knew worked on our car before, so my past experience helped out a lot. At the break we loosened it up a bit all the way around, since I knew what the car was going to need” I thought that they couldn't make any adjustement to the cars using jacks? Did they change the air pressures on the tires? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krusty_rusty Posted June 21, 2004 Report Share Posted June 21, 2004 they made adjustments on the springs all the way around, and alot of people in TSRS probably don't want to take their car out there and have a chance of wrecking it, if they're in the points chase, since the series is their main objective and not a race put together in two weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacecar Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 At the drivers' meeting, it was brought up that the non-coilover cars could physically make wedge adjustments without jacking up the car, while the coilover cars couldn't physically make adjustments without jacking the car. It was proposed that either all adjustments be eliminated, or that a jack was legal to use. The decision at the drivers meeting was to allow jacks, but not for changing tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted June 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 haven't seen much if any complaining amongst late model teams (various types) about being "under paid. Jp, You must have absent from class on those days. LOL Over the off season there were several discussions about low car count vs payout. Wasn't it you that said you'd love to race THR every week but couldn't afford it, and how about NO HOUSTON SPEEDWAY, when you raced for trophies? Or am I just reading things into those statements? Besides you were a baby-boomer anyway. LOL PS. The payout comment is echoed across the nation at paved and dirt tracks, on message boards and throughout the pits. don't want to take their car out there and have a chance of wrecking it, if they're in the points chase, Krusty, Larry Bendele is leading at SAS, James Reeder is leading at THR. One of your own TSRS bretheren even stated, "I'd rather have to work on my car for the next two weeks than let it sit for six weeks." would not having an engine in the car be a "credible excuse Svc, What you guys couldn't make ya a Flintstone Flyer? LMAO Yaba-Daba-Do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp17 Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 C'mon Reb, you read something into everything, that's your job right? No doubt we'd all like to race for more money but I haven't seen alot of the THR, SAS, or TSRS guys complaining about the purses. Reality dictates that you can't pay more if it ain't there and I think we all realize that. From what I hear SAS had a good crowd and nearly 30 cars on short notice. Not bad, not bad at all. Can you imagine what they would have come up with had it been a y scheduled event with time to promte it? I know of at least one more car that would have been there. jp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildRacer5 Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 At the drivers' meeting, it was brought up that the non-coilover cars could physically make wedge adjustments without jacking up the car, while the coilover cars couldn't physically make adjustments without jacking the car. It was proposed that either all adjustments be eliminated, or that a jack was legal to use. The decision at the drivers meeting was to allow jacks, but not for changing tires. Thanks, that makes a whole lot more sence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waddell Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 just a short piece on the lapped cars getting out of the way for the leaders,i was one of the lapped cars and until bendele got around me i was racing for position ans once he did we were running so close in a pac if i would have let up at all there would have been a huge wreck; after 3 or 4 of the fast guys got by i was racing the cars that i had been racing all night i never saw the pull over flag and frankly i was up to my ass in race cars i would not intentionly hold anybody up but not knowing whitch car was about to pass me ifigured dont do anything but race and hold my line i,m sorry if i held the fast guys up they were plenty fast and got around me pretty quickly, personally i had agreat time, inb the back i was racing some body the whole time i was out there, great fun with the 55 car he raced me clean and the 22 we had some fun, for me there was,t a dull moment thanks for my guys they worked all day and we made the show not on 8 inch tires or without a mini clutch next time but what a blast proves you don,t have to win all the time to have fun waddy #28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 Leland I have always spoke very highly of you and thought you where a stand up guy. Now you have just proven what I have been saying all along is true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckLicata Posted June 22, 2004 Report Share Posted June 22, 2004 Right on, Kathy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted June 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2004 Awwww JP, I thought our one underlying caveat was being refugees from the Baliles regime at Houston Speedway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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