Kaeding Wins Dusty Sumar Classic/ Points Chase/ Final Thoughts from THAT/ Ralph Sheheen Talking Knoxville
Kaeding Wins Dusty Sumar Classic
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – USAC Silver Crown racing is often a game of who can survive the longest, such was Saturday night’s dust/crashfest at the Terre Haute Action Track. Twenty-five cars started the race, only twelve were on the track at the end. Of those twelve, only six were in the lead lap. When all of the dust settled, literally, Bud Kaeding was the winner and walked out of THAT the points leader. Brian Tyler won the J.D. ByRider 100 Thursday night. Kaeding trailed Tyler by 32 points heading into the Sumar Classic Saturday. In the first practice session Bud Kaeding was 3rd quick while Brian Tyler timed in 8th fastest. Dickie Gaines had the fastest time in practice followed by Jerry Coons Jr. Coons had a good opportunity to move the Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing team up in the points. The team was tied in the owner’s points with the No. 1 driven by Dave Steele. The reigning USAC Silver Crown champ was unable to race according to a crewmember due to mechanical problems.
John “Hot Rod” Heydenreich had the heaviest foot during qualifications turning in a time of 20.658 at 87.133 mph. Bud Kaeding would start outside the pole
Points leader Brian Tyler would be forced to the non-qualifiers race starting third. A foreshadowing of what was to come was evident when rooster tails could be seen during the suitcase race.
Brian Tyler was able to get by Justin Allgaier to finish second in the race. Russ Gamester won from the pole. Tyler would now start 16th, a position he has won from before but Saturday night was different. No water truck on the track made for an extremely dusty event.
So dusty, that when the green flag fell on the feature, some of the drivers in the second row said they couldn’t even see the leaders from all of the dust.
Fans, drivers and teams were in for a long night. The first yellow flag flew before the field could make a full lap. USAC issued the first red flag of the evening for a multi car accident involving Brian Tyler and Jeff Swindell who was making his return to the series. The incident also produced the most bizarre moment of the evening when Aaron Pierce who was probably trying to avoid the accident slipped through a hole in the fence into the infield. The Indiana native flipped his car attempting to cross the guardrail to reenter the track. Most would have thought his day was done but the Sam Pierce Chevrolet/ Fat Head Sunglasses team was able to get their car back out on the track to finish 11th, only 24 laps down. Polesitter John Heydenreich tangled with Dave Darland ending both of their nights on lap 26. There would be more accidents to come, 19 yellow flags and 2 red flags before it was all over. In all eight of the 25 cars that started the race were listed as out of the race due to an accident. All of the yellow flags did bunch up the field, leading to a record number of lead changes for a USAC Silver Crown race on dirt. Bud Kaeding and Shane Cottle battled for 85 laps with Cottle leading at total of 40 and Kaeding 29. Heydenreich led the other 19. Most of the battle between Cottle and Kaeding came in the final laps. Bud Kaeding grabbed the lead back for the final time on lap 82. Levi Jones joined fight but in the end it was Bud Kaeding followed by Shane Cottle and Levi Jones. The win gave Kaeding a 16 point lead over Brian Tyler and an 18 point lead in the owner’s points chase. Wayne Reutiman Jr. remained in 3rd in both the driver’s and owner’s points. Aaron Pierce jumped to 4th in the drivers and owners points leaping past Dave Steele’s team and the No. 199 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing entry. Pierce leads the No. 199 by one point and Dave Steele by 20 headed into Springfield. The race was dusty and filled with accidents but no one can take away the excitement of watching the duels that we saw on the racetrack or Bud Kaeding’s third win of the season.
Points Chase
The points are still tight and it looks like we could see a fight to the finish between Bud Kaeding and Brian Tyler. Both are strong on the dirt as well as the pavement. Don’t count out Wayne Reutiman Jr. who has quietly been there all season. Aaron Pierce showed his fight when he got back out onto the track after his infield detour.
Final Thoughts from the THAT
Terre Haute was an exciting race but the Action Track is not the track it has been in past years. There was only one wrecker to cleanup the mayhem and the water truck was not seen on the track after the event started. I have no idea how to prepare a racetrack but if the drivers up front cannot see, then something is probably wrong.
Give a big had to the teams in the points chase. After driving through the infield and flipping, the No. 26 team got Aaron Pierce back out on the track to finish. The same can be said of the No. 00 team of Wayne Reutiman and the No. 199 team of Jerry Coons Jr. Reutiman finished 12th and Jerry Coons returned for the final 41 laps to gain 4 important positions in the owner’s points championship.
Wayne Reutiman’s crew members tell me the Bob em Bob’s look on his face this week is due to the dirt. Apparently he is not too fond of the dust.
Bob and the rest of the folks in the Silver Crown Series will visit dirt tracks at the next two events, the mile at Springfield and one of my favorite events of the season, DuQuoin. Both events are promoted by Track Enterprises which has a record of promoting first class events. DuQuoin is my favorite because the grandstands are literally at the doorstep of the fair. You can walk two feet to eat fair food and then step back into the racetrack. Mmm, I can taste it now.
We will once again provide updates from the Illinois State Fairgrounds at Springfield in less than two weeks. I hope you will join us then. A photo album from ORP as well as Terre Haute should be up sometime later this week.
Ralph Sheheen Talking Knoxville
SPEED TV’s Ralph Sheheen is scheduled to chat live on the network’s website SPEEDTV.com Tuesday at 10am eastern. No doubt the Open Wheel fan will be more than happy to discuss the Knoxville Nationals or Open Wheel racing. Here is the link http://www.speedtv.com/chat/
All images in this update courtesy of RE Technologies.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – USAC Silver Crown racing is often a game of who can survive the longest, such was Saturday night’s dust/crashfest at the Terre Haute Action Track. Twenty-five cars started the race, only twelve were on the track at the end. Of those twelve, only six were in the lead lap. When all of the dust settled, literally, Bud Kaeding was the winner and walked out of THAT the points leader. Brian Tyler won the J.D. ByRider 100 Thursday night. Kaeding trailed Tyler by 32 points heading into the Sumar Classic Saturday. In the first practice session Bud Kaeding was 3rd quick while Brian Tyler timed in 8th fastest. Dickie Gaines had the fastest time in practice followed by Jerry Coons Jr. Coons had a good opportunity to move the Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing team up in the points. The team was tied in the owner’s points with the No. 1 driven by Dave Steele. The reigning USAC Silver Crown champ was unable to race according to a crewmember due to mechanical problems.
John “Hot Rod” Heydenreich had the heaviest foot during qualifications turning in a time of 20.658 at 87.133 mph. Bud Kaeding would start outside the pole
Points leader Brian Tyler would be forced to the non-qualifiers race starting third. A foreshadowing of what was to come was evident when rooster tails could be seen during the suitcase race.
Brian Tyler was able to get by Justin Allgaier to finish second in the race. Russ Gamester won from the pole. Tyler would now start 16th, a position he has won from before but Saturday night was different. No water truck on the track made for an extremely dusty event.
So dusty, that when the green flag fell on the feature, some of the drivers in the second row said they couldn’t even see the leaders from all of the dust.
Fans, drivers and teams were in for a long night. The first yellow flag flew before the field could make a full lap. USAC issued the first red flag of the evening for a multi car accident involving Brian Tyler and Jeff Swindell who was making his return to the series. The incident also produced the most bizarre moment of the evening when Aaron Pierce who was probably trying to avoid the accident slipped through a hole in the fence into the infield. The Indiana native flipped his car attempting to cross the guardrail to reenter the track. Most would have thought his day was done but the Sam Pierce Chevrolet/ Fat Head Sunglasses team was able to get their car back out on the track to finish 11th, only 24 laps down. Polesitter John Heydenreich tangled with Dave Darland ending both of their nights on lap 26. There would be more accidents to come, 19 yellow flags and 2 red flags before it was all over. In all eight of the 25 cars that started the race were listed as out of the race due to an accident. All of the yellow flags did bunch up the field, leading to a record number of lead changes for a USAC Silver Crown race on dirt. Bud Kaeding and Shane Cottle battled for 85 laps with Cottle leading at total of 40 and Kaeding 29. Heydenreich led the other 19. Most of the battle between Cottle and Kaeding came in the final laps. Bud Kaeding grabbed the lead back for the final time on lap 82. Levi Jones joined fight but in the end it was Bud Kaeding followed by Shane Cottle and Levi Jones. The win gave Kaeding a 16 point lead over Brian Tyler and an 18 point lead in the owner’s points chase. Wayne Reutiman Jr. remained in 3rd in both the driver’s and owner’s points. Aaron Pierce jumped to 4th in the drivers and owners points leaping past Dave Steele’s team and the No. 199 Carl Edwards/ R.E. Technologies Racing entry. Pierce leads the No. 199 by one point and Dave Steele by 20 headed into Springfield. The race was dusty and filled with accidents but no one can take away the excitement of watching the duels that we saw on the racetrack or Bud Kaeding’s third win of the season.
Points Chase
The points are still tight and it looks like we could see a fight to the finish between Bud Kaeding and Brian Tyler. Both are strong on the dirt as well as the pavement. Don’t count out Wayne Reutiman Jr. who has quietly been there all season. Aaron Pierce showed his fight when he got back out onto the track after his infield detour.
Final Thoughts from the THAT
Terre Haute was an exciting race but the Action Track is not the track it has been in past years. There was only one wrecker to cleanup the mayhem and the water truck was not seen on the track after the event started. I have no idea how to prepare a racetrack but if the drivers up front cannot see, then something is probably wrong.
Give a big had to the teams in the points chase. After driving through the infield and flipping, the No. 26 team got Aaron Pierce back out on the track to finish. The same can be said of the No. 00 team of Wayne Reutiman and the No. 199 team of Jerry Coons Jr. Reutiman finished 12th and Jerry Coons returned for the final 41 laps to gain 4 important positions in the owner’s points championship.
Wayne Reutiman’s crew members tell me the Bob em Bob’s look on his face this week is due to the dirt. Apparently he is not too fond of the dust.
Bob and the rest of the folks in the Silver Crown Series will visit dirt tracks at the next two events, the mile at Springfield and one of my favorite events of the season, DuQuoin. Both events are promoted by Track Enterprises which has a record of promoting first class events. DuQuoin is my favorite because the grandstands are literally at the doorstep of the fair. You can walk two feet to eat fair food and then step back into the racetrack. Mmm, I can taste it now.
We will once again provide updates from the Illinois State Fairgrounds at Springfield in less than two weeks. I hope you will join us then. A photo album from ORP as well as Terre Haute should be up sometime later this week.
Ralph Sheheen Talking Knoxville
SPEED TV’s Ralph Sheheen is scheduled to chat live on the network’s website SPEEDTV.com Tuesday at 10am eastern. No doubt the Open Wheel fan will be more than happy to discuss the Knoxville Nationals or Open Wheel racing. Here is the link http://www.speedtv.com/chat/
All images in this update courtesy of RE Technologies.
posted by Blake Johnson at 7:55 PM
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