7/30/09
Belleville High Banks
Belleville, KS
Belleville Midget Nationals Night #1
All Stars - Thunder Through the Plains Night #2
11 Midgets
20 410s
Midgets
Cole Whitt (2nd car out to time) set a new track record in qualifying at 17.500 seconds. Billy Boat held the old mark at 17.504. Darren Hagen (5th car out) was second quick, followed by Brad Sweet (11th), Dave Darland (1st), Bobby East (8th), Jerry Coons Jr. (3rd), Josh Wise (7th), Henry Clarke (6th), Tracy Hines (9th), Brad Kuhn (4th) and Zach Daum (10th).
The drivers who competed had USAC Sprint Car/Silver Crown obligations at the Iowa Speedway in Newton on Friday.
Heat one (started): 1. East 4 (2) 2. Whitt 1 (4) 3. Clarke 97 (1) 4. Sweet 49 (3) 5. Coons Jr. 11 (6) 6. Kuhn 17B (5)
Coons Jr. had to pull down a back-up, so started at the rear. 8-lap heats on the high banks were little more than high-speed freight trains.
Heat two (started): 1. Wise 75 (2) 2. Hagen 3 (4) 3. Hines 21 (1) 4. Darland 9 (3) 5. Daum 5D (5)
Wise was gone, while Hagen and Hines battled for second much of the way.
A main (started): 1. Wise (2) 2. Hagen (4) 3. Whitt (3) 4. Clarke (5) 5. Sweet (7) 6. Darland (8) 7. Daum (10) 8. Kuhn (11) 9. East (1) 10. Coons Jr. (9) 11. Hines (6)
The top four locked themselves into Saturday’s finale. East had things in control in the 20-lapper until slowing and exiting on lap 18. Wise assumed the lead, and pulled away. Sweet tried hard at Clarke for fourth, but there was nothing to grip low on the banks, providing little action in the form of passing. Daum and Kuhn did a spinning act on lap 14 for the only caution. Hines fell out on lap 12, and Coons Jr. retired with two to go.
410s
Terry McCarl (2nd car out to time) became the fastest man ever to circle the high banks at 14.321 seconds. Randy Hannagan (5th car out) was second quick, follwed by Ryan Bunton (11th), Ryan Myers (12th), Kerry Madsen (18th), Tim Shaffer (1st), Tim Kaeding (15th), Don Droud Jr. (4th), Shane Stewart (10th) and Sam Hafertepe Jr. (16th).
Greg Wilson and David Gravel had engine issues in hot laps and failed to get a time in.
Heat one (started): 1. Brandon Wimmer 0 (2) 2. Daron Clayton 92 (1) 3. Kaeding 83R (4) 4. Hafertepe Jr. 15H (3) 5. McCarl 24 (6) 6. Myers 56R (5) 7. Greg Wilson w20 (7)
The emphasis in the heats was on tire conservation, but Wimmer took the lead sliding under Clayton on lap three. All three heats ran under the previous 8-lap track record on a cool night.
Heat two (started): 1. Droud Jr. 1 (2) 2. Hannagan 1x (6) 3. Brian Brown 21 (3) 4. Madsen 55 (5) 5. Todd Wanless 2au (1) 6. David Gravel 89G (7) 7. Gary Wright 9x (6)
Wright elected for a start at the tail and exited after the green was thrown. Droud Jr.’s run was the fastest ever for eight laps at 1:57.51.
Heat three (started): 1. Stewart 57 (2) 2. Miranda Throckmorton 22T (1) 3. Shaffer 83 (5) 4. Bunton 6R (4) 5. Brad Greer 3B (3) 6. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (6)
Bruce elected for the tail and exited shortly after the green fell. Stewart led flag to flag. Shaffer and Bunton provided the best racing in a battle for third.
Dash (started): 1. McCarl (4) 2. Shaffer (5) 3. Bunton (2) 4. Hannagan (3) 5. Greer (6) 6. Myers (1)
Myers led the first lap before McCarl took over and cruised. In his interview, he called Belleville “scary fast” on this night.
A main (started): 1. Madsen (6) 2. McCarl (2) 3. Kaeding (7) 4. Hannagan (1) 5. Droud Jr. (8) 6. Wimmer (13) 7. Shaffer (5) 8. Brown (11) 9. Bunton (4) 10. Clayton (14) 11. Wilson (17) 12. Gravel (18) 13. Greer (12) 14. Throckmorton (16) 15. Hafertepe Jr. (10) 16. Wanless (15) 17. Bruce Jr. (19) 18. Myers (3) 19. Wright (20) 20. Stewart (9)
The 410 feature provided the best show of the night. Stewart broke before a lap could be completed in the 30-lapper. McCarl set sail when the green flag flew, with Madsen gaining four spots into second as lap one was in the books. The lead pair separated themselves from the pack by lap eight, when Wanless blew a right rear, and his car veered directly in front of the leader, McCarl. Both drivers did well to stay shiny side up, an dthe restart saw McCarl ahead of Madsen, Hannagan, Droud Jr. and Shaffer. Kaeding restarted seventh and made quick work of Bunton and Shaffer utilizing some rubber in the middle of turns one and two to his advantage. The only other driver to utilize the patch was Wimmer who went by Hafertepe Jr., Brown, Bunton and Shaffer after the restart. Madsen picked up steam, and McCarl was losing it by lap 15, when the “Mad Man” stormed into the lead. He continued to pour it on, distancing himself from second place as the last 22 laps went green. By the checkers, he was a ¼ of a big lap ahead of McCarl and was behind the sixth place car of Wimmer. He lamented that he may have lost a rear-end and a motor afterwards, but was ecstatic by the speeds of the place in victory lane.