Eldora Speedway
9/23/2016
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH
WoO
42 cars
The night started with a pretty fast racetrack. Cars were split into two flights of qualifying. David Gravel (1st car out to time) set the standard in the first flight with a lap of 13.108 seconds. He was followed by Logan Schuchart (14th car out), Joey Saldana (7th), Ian Madsen (10th), Chad Kemenah (12th), Jason Johnson (15th), Shane Stewart (16th), Jason Sides (17th), Dale Blaney (20th) and Paige Polyak (19th). Danny Smith had issues and couldn’t get a time in. Brady Bacon was off the pace after his first lap.
Gary Taylor (5th car out to time) set the quickest time of the night to lead the second group at 13.036 seconds. He was followed by Daryn Pittman (17th car out), Jacob Allen (9th), Donny Schatz (13th), Kraig Kinser (16th), Tim Shaffer (2nd), Kerry Madsen (4th), Brad Sweet (14th), Paul McMahan (1st), and Greg Wilson (10th). Andrew Palker went up in smoke in hot laps and was done for the night.
Heat one (started): 1. Gravel 5 (1) 2. Stewart 2 (4) 3. Saldana 83 (2) 4. Kemenah 10H (3) 5. Caleb Armstrong 7c (7) / 6. Blaney 1 (5) 7. Tyler Courtney 23c (6) 8. DJ Foos 23 (8) 9. Clyde Knipp 13 (9) 10. Danny Smith 4 (10) DNS – Brady Bacon 99
Gravel led the distance in the 8-lapper. Stewart took the second Dash spot on the first lap. Armstrong shot by Courtney on the second lap for the fifth and final transfer. Blaney got by Courtnery and reeled in Armstrong, but fell short.
Heat two (started): 1. Schuchart 1s (1) 2. I. Madsen 18 (2) 3. Sides 7s (4) 4. J. Johnson 41 (3) 5. Polyak 19 (5) / 6. Sheldon Haudenschild 93 (6) 7. Bill Rose 6 (7) 8. Dane Lorenc 00 (8) 9. Jacob Wilson 07 (10) 10. TJ Michael 8m (9)
Madsen took the initial lead before Schuchart slid him on lap two to take the point for good. Polyak held off S. Haudenschild for the last transfer.
Heat three (started): 1. K. Madsen 17w (4) 2. Taylor 1st (1) 3. Allen 1a (2) 4. McMahan 7 (5) 5. Kinser 11K (3) / 6. Cap Henry 21 (6) 7. Randy Hannagan 11N (8) 8. Hunter Schuerenberg 20N (9) 9. Ben Schmidt 59 (10) 10. Joe Swanson 7J (7) DNS – Andrew Palker 57x
Swanson hit the turn one wall and tipped over before a lap could be completed. He was o.k. K. Madsen put four wheels above cushion to circle the front row in turns one and two to take the lead. Allen was second to complete lap one, but Taylor battled back by him on the second lap to earn a spot in the Dash. K. Kinser dropped back to sixth, but reeled in Henry for the final transfer. He would find his way around with two laps to go.
Heat four (started): 1. Schatz 15 (2) 2. Pittman 9 (1) 3. Shaffer 49x (3) 4. Jac Haudenschild 35 (6) 5. Sweet 49 (4) / 6. Wilson w20 (5) 7. Max Stambaugh 33M (8) 8. Shawn Dancer 49D (9) 9. Carson Macedo 09x (7) 10. Chad Blonde 5B (10)
While Schatz and Pittman battled side by side for the lead on lap one, J. Haudenschild was putting a move on Sweet to seal him out of the fourth spot. Schatz eventually took control at the point and won it.
C main (started): 1. Schuerenberg (2) 2. Schmidt (6) / 3. Knipp (1) 4. J. Wilson (5) 5. Michael (3) 6. Blonde (7) 7. Dancer (4) DNS – Bacon, D. Smith, Palker
Dancer appeared to jump the start, as he had also done in his heat. Regardless, he took a commanding lead from the second row ahead of Knipp and Schuerenberg. He would slow at the halfway point of the 10-lapper, however. Knipp inherited the lead and took the inside line over Schuerenberg, Schmidt, Blonde and J. Wilson. Schuerenberg shot to the point, while Schmidt wrestled the second transfer from Knipp. Schmidt would tag the turn four wall coming to the checkers. Though he maintained second, he wouldn’t make the call for the B.
Dash (started): 1. Pittman (1) 2. Schatz (3) 3. I. Madsen (2) 4. Schuchart (6) 5. Stewart (4) 6. K. Madsen (5) 7. Gravel (7) DNS – Taylor
Repairs to the rear-end meant Taylor missed the Dash. Pittman led I. Madsen and Stewart on the first lap. Schatz would move by Stewart for third on lap two, and Schuchart followed him into fourth. Schatz would track down I. Madsen for second and a front row starting spot in the A on lap five, but Pittman was the class of the field in this one.
B main (started): 1. G. Wilson (2) 2. S. Haudenschild (5) 3. Blaney (1) 4. Courtney (3) / 5. Henry (4) 6. Macedo (6) 7. Foos (9) 8. Rose (7) 9. Lorenc (11) 10. Schuerenberg (12) 11. Hannagan (8) 12. Stambaugh (10) DNS – Swanson, Schmidt
Contact from Stambaugh sent Hannagan into the turn one wall and into a tip over. He was o.k., but neither car returned. G. Wilson led Blaney, S. Haud, Courtney and Henry early on. The veteran would lead all 12 laps after the green fell for good. S. Haud worked by Blaney for second on la two, but couldn’t reel in the leader.
A main (started): 1. Stewart (5) 2. Schuchart (4) 3. Pittman (1) 4. Schatz (2) 5. Gravel (7) 6. Saldana (9) 7. K. Madsen (6) 8. I. Madsen (3) 9. Sweet (20) 10. Kemenah (13) 11. J. Johnson (15) 12. J. Haudenschild (16) 13. Sides (11) 14. K. Kinser (18) 15. G. Wilson (21) 16. Armstrong (17) 17. Courtney (24) 18. McMahan (14) 19. Taylor (8) 20. Blaney (23) 21. Allen (10) 22. Polyak (19) 23. S. Haudenschild (22) 24. Shaffer (12)
This 30-lapper was a mess to get started. On the first try, Shaffer and Allen tangled on the backstretch and crashed. Both were done. J. Haudenschild came to a stop in turn four on the second try, before S. Haudenschild got the wrong end of contact between Polyak and Armstrong that sent him into a wild flip into the turn one fence. He was unhurt. Finally things got going, with Pittman leading Schatz and Stewart early. On lap three, Stewart began moving forward and passed Schatz for second. He tracked down fellow Okie Pittman and took the point on lap 11. He built a 3.5 second lead before Taylor flipped with six laps to go. McMahan was running ninth but went pitside with issues. Stewart chose the inside line over Pittman, Schatz, Schuchart and K. Madsen. While Stewart pulled away again for a convincing win, Schuchart surged to third, and then slid by Pittman for second with three to go. Sweet was the hard-charger.