9/16/06
Spoon River Speedway
Canton, IL
Tom Knowles Memorial
40 sprints
31 midgets
Sprints
Heat one (started): 1. Robbie Standridge 22x (1) 2. Jim Moughan 1m (2) 3.
Jim Cameron 96c (7) 4. Jimmy Hurley 35 (5) / 5. Chad Branson 71B (3) 6.
Korey Weyant 99w (9) 7. Cory Bruns 42 (8) 8. Tommy Rockwell 95 (6) 9.
Robert Bell 71 (4) DNS - Ryan Jamison 51J
Ji. Moughan took the early lead, battling with Rob. Standridge
side-by-side. Rob. Standridge was able to slingshot around the leader and
held on for good as he won going away in the 8 lapper. Cameron was quick
from row four and challenged for second at the stripe in a strong run.
Hurley came on for the final transfer after a lap four restart for a C.
Bruns spin.
Heat two (started): 1. Don Droud Jr. 86 (1) 2. Skip Jackson 2x (4) 3. Tom
Busch 4B (2) 4. Manny Rockhold 02 (5) / 5. Jimmy Davies 99 (3) 6. John
Schulz 2 (9) 7. Bill Waite Jr. 3JR (7) 8. Tiffany Wyzard 5x (6) 9. Paul
May 71m (8) DNS - Lance Gullo 3G
Droud led flag to flag. One caution, a Wyzard spin, slowed the event on
lap 7. May was challenging Rockhold for the final transfer as he looked
ultra-fast on the high banks before the yellow, but Jacksonville?s winner
a night prior, dropped out under caution.
Heat three (started): 1. Ron Standridge 122 (2) 2. Jerrod Hull 50 (1) 3.
Joey Moughan 2m (3) 4. Matt Sutton 3 (10) / 5. Danny Smith 4 (6) 6. Matt
Harms 53H (8) 7. Bret Tripplett 22 (5) 8. Eddie Lynch 29 (4) 9. Charlie
Gilpin Jr. 9G (9) 10. Terry Babb 2s (7)
Ron Standridge grabbed the point when the green flew, with Hull in a car
numbered in honor of his late car owner Rich DeReu, in tow. In a battle
for third on lap three, Babb was punted by a Smith ill-fated slider,
sending the 2s upside down over turn four. Smith restarted at the rear. On
lap four, Gilpin slowed bringing out another yellow. The restart saw Ron
Standridge leading Hull, Jo. Moughan, the 360 powered Sutton and Harms
back to green. Sutton was able to fend off Smith for the final transfer.
Heat four (started): 1. AJ Bruns 44 (3) 2. Ryan Bunton 6R (2) 3. Kaley
Gharst 44G (9) 4. Ricky Logan 10 (5) / 5. Mike Deavers 72 (8) 6. Bobby
Hawks 5H (7) 7. Patrick Haynes 5 (1) 8. Josh Scheiderman 49 (4) 9. Jeremy
Standridge 10s (10) 10. Michael Strader 7m (6)
AJ Bruns dominated from the outset. Gharst was the man on the move,
rocketing around the heavy cushion in moving up to third from row five in
the non-stop event. Logan was piloting the VanderEcken 10. Haynes spun on
the first try at green. The spin cost him his pole position starting spot.
B main (started): 1. Smith (3) 2. Hawks (8) 3. May (18) 4. Wyzard (14) 5.
Weyant (5) / 6. Schulz (6) 7. Davies (2) 8. Harms (7) 9. J. Standridge
(20) 10. Branson (1) 11. Tripplett (11) 12. Lynch (15) 13. Schneiderman
(16) 14. Haynes (12) 15. Bell (17) 16. Gilpin (19) 17. Deavers (4) 18.
Waite (10) 19. Rockwell (13) 20. C. Bruns (9) 21. Strader (21) DNS -
Jamison, Gullo, Babb
C. Bruns and Haynes contacted and spun before a lap could be completed.
Lynch and Tripplett were also involved, but all restarted. Smith grabbed
the lead at the outset. Hawks moved up to third from row four, by lap five
when the first slowdown of the event occurred. Deavers, who was running
2nd, slowed in turn four and when he tried to turn to the inside of the
track, was struck by May. Deaver retired after the incident. Smith led
Hawks, Schulz in a 360, May and Davies back to green. Three more lpas were
recorded before Gilpin spun and exited. May had moved by Schulz into
third, and now Weyant found himself behind Schulz in a battle for the
final transfer. As those two battled, Wyzard came on and circled both with
two laps to go, grabbing the final ticket into the A.
A main (started): 1. Droud (2) 2. Bunton (8) 3. Hull (7) 4. Rob.
Standridge (1) 5. AJ Bruns (4) 6. Jo. Moughan (11) 7. Ji. Moughan (5) 8.
Ron Standridge (3) 9. Busch (10) 10. Gharst (12) 11. Smith (17) 12. May
(19) 13. Logan (16) 14. Rockhold (14) 15. Hurley (13) 16. Sutton (15) 17.
Weyant (21) 18. Wyzard (20) 19. Jackson (6) 20. Cameron (9) 21. Hawks (18)
On the first lap, Jackson got sideways coming out of turn two and tipped
over. Hawks contacted Cameron, who had slowed for the incident, and the
result was Hawks tipping over in his last Spoon River start. Cameron
visited the work area and restarted, as did Jackson. Hawks was unable to
restart in his last Spoon River appearance and was replaced by Weyant, the
first alternate out of the B. Droud grabbed an early lead in the 25
lapper. Rob. Standridge was on his nerf bar, as the two ran up top. Rubber
was beginning to appear closer to the bottom of the turns and Rob.
Standridge found it to take a lap 10 advantage. Bunton was in the game as
well and took a lead on lap 12. As the three cars diced, Droud was able to
get back by the pair to lead lap 13. On lap 15, Wyzard spun, slowing the
event. Droud led Bunton, Rob. Standridge, Hull and AJ Bruns back to green
flag racing. Hull was able to slip under Rob. Standridge to take the show
position late, but the last 10 laps yielded little passing. The win was
Droud?s first Tom Knowles Memorial tally and earned him $2000.
Midgets
Heat one (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Rich Camfield 87 (2*) 2.
Derrick Myers 25m (3*) 3. Bubba Altig 67 (7*) 4. Chad Branson 71 (8*) 5.
Rob Simpson 3 (4*) 6. David Gough 75 (6) 7. Jason Dull 56 (5) DNS - Jason
Howe 31 (1)
R. Camfield led the distance in the 8 lapper, holding off the challenges
of Myers, who dogged him every step of the way. Dull needed a second push
and started the event at the rear.
Heat two (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Brad Kuhn 74 (6*) 2. Andy
Mason 47 (1*) 3. Bryan Walters 5 (5*) 4. Dean Erfurth 14 (7*) 5. Wally
McDuffey 33m (4*) 6. Donny Callahan 9 (3) 7. Lee Beckwith 39 (2) 8. Jay
Mounce 12J (8)
Mason jumped out to a lead from his pole position, but all eyes were on
Kuhn, who ran the cushion to perfection. A ?slide for life? on lap four
got him the lead, and he pulled away in impressive fashion.
Heat three (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Greg Lueckert 01 (3*) 2.
Steve Knepper 55 (8*) 3. Mike Hess 51 (1*) 4. Donnie Lehmann 31x (2*) 5.
Mark Bush 2 (7*) 6. Aaron Fiscus 7 (5) 7. Michael Pickens 8NZ (4) 8. Kris
Hoegstad 97 (6)
Hess jumped out to an early lead in the most stacked heat of the night.
Pickens had all four wheels of the Fiscus machine above the cushion and
was simply flying. He shot around the leader on lap five, but the pair
contacted on lap six, slowing their progress and allowing Lueckert and S.
Knepper to get by. Pickens stopped on lap seven, bringing a green, white,
checker finish that saw him leading S. Knepper, Hess, Lehmann and Bush
back to green. That would be how they finished.
Heat four (started, *qualified for feature): 1. Danny Stratton 2x (3*) 2.
Chad DeSelle 6 (4*) 3. Nick Knepper 25 (2*) 4. Tim Siner 15 (6*) 5. Kevin
Olson 4KO (7*) 6. Kurt Mayhew 21K (1) 7. Rik Forbes 8 (5)
N. Knepper grabbed an early advantage, but succumbed to a rim riding
DeSelle on lap three. Mayhew spun on lap five, bringing a caution. DeSelle
led Stratton, N. Knepper, Siner and Olson back to green flag racing.
Stratton and DeSelle put on a great race for the lead, with Stratton
getting by late, and before a Mayhew spin. Forbes restarted sixth in the
Icke 8 and moved up a spot, but spun before the checkers.
B main (started): 1. Forbes (6) 2. Pickens (7) 3. Fiscus (3) 4. Dull (5)
5. Callahan (2) / 6. Mounce (9) 7. Hoegstad (8) 8. Gough (1) 9. Mayhew (4)
DNS - Beckwith, Lowe
Fiscus yielded an early lead to a rim riding Forbes in the 12 lapper.
Forbes led Dull, Callahan, Mounce and Hoegstad back to green after a
wicked lap two flip by Gough in the Miller 75. He was uninjured. Pickens
restarted sixth, but hit the high side in breathtaking fashion and
unbelievable speeds, joining the leader with an exciting lap 10 pass of
Fiscus.
A main (started): 1. DeSelle (1) 2. Stratton (3) 3. S. Knepper (2) 4.
Pickens (22) 5. Kuhn (5) 6. Forbes (19) 7. Bush (15) 8. Lehmann (16) 9.
Fiscus (21) 10. Siner (13) 11. Walters (10) 12. Erfurth (12) 13. Olson
(18) 14. Altig (4) 15. Branson (11) 16. Mason (9) 17. McDuffey (20) 18.
Dull (24) 19. Callahan (23) 20. Simpson (17) 21. Camfield (6) 22. N.
Knepper (14) 23. Lueckert (7) 24. Myers (8)
S. Knepper grabbed the early lead in the 25 lapper. On the second
go-around, Lueckert spun over the berm, bringing caution. S. Knepper led
DeSelle, Stratton, Altig and Camfield back to green flag racing. DeSelle
had the Fiscus 6 moving, and shot by S. Knepper on lap five. On lap later,
Lueckert flipped in turn three, bringing out the red flag. He was unhurt.
The restart saw DeSelle and S. Knepper ahead of Stratton, Camfield, Altig
and an extraordinary charge from row 11 for Pickens. Stratton was able to
move by S. Knepper once the green flew again and made a bid for the lead
with a slide that fell short on lap 15. The next lap was a charm, as the
defending champ of this race took the point. As the two dueled, DeSelle
drew close and made a pass for a lead he would not relinquish on lap 19.
Pickens high speed run on the high side would earn him hard-charger
honors. Forbes run on the high side from 19th should also be mentioned.