Eldora Four Crown Results and Stories

Eldora is packed for the Four Crown Nationals 9/25/2016
 
Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH
 
4 Crown Nationals
 
USAC National Sprint Cars
USAC National Midgets
All Stars
USAC Silver Crown
 
40 USAC National Sprint Cars
25 USAC National Midgets
37 All Stars
24 USAC Silver Crown Cars
 
The first ever 4-Crown event with winged sprint cars joining the three USAC classes resulted in 126 entries, and from what regulars said, the largest crowd in some time at the 4-Crown.  Brady Bacon and Tyler Courtney were the only drivers to pull quadruple-duty.
 
The infield pits were overflowing, and the decision was made to pit cars outside turn three.  The staff did a pretty seamless job of getting cars in and out, with the most delays coming during qualifying.  All four classes hot lapped and qualified starting at 4:30 p.m.  There was some confusion with USAC qualifying not being connected to the scoreboard, and announced times not jiving with those displayed on the video board.  Our US Cellular coverage was not good in the house, so we couldn’t use our Race Monitor either, but all these are First World problems.  We got through it.
 
Qualifying was completed shortly after 8 p.m.  After almost two hours of track prep (which was necessary), heats pushed off at 10:01.  With eighteen events scheduled, many patrons hit the concession stand for caffeine, knowing they were in for a long one.  A little less than five hours later, the last checkers fell, and only the diehards remained!

Justin Grant USAC National Sprint Cars
 
Chase Stockon (6th car out to time) set quick time at 16.514 seconds.  Brady Bacon (3rd car out) was second quick, followed by Chris Windom (40th), Tyler Courtney (11th), Chad Boespflug (4th), Dave Darland (12th), Justin Grant (31st), Dallas Hewitt (5th), Matt Westfall (15th) and Nick Bilbee (22nd).  It looked like coming out early would be imperative, until Grant and Windom came out late and proved otherwise.
 
Heat one (started): 1. Kody Swanson 63 (1) 2. Landon Simon 24 (2) 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. 1 (3) 4. Westfall 33m (4) / 5. Boespflug 98E (5) 6. Stockon 32 (6) 7. Carson Short 66 (8) 8. Tony DiMattia 50 (7) 9. Jake Blackhurst 37 (9) 10. Lee Underwood 24L (10)
 
Heats were eight laps and took the top four to the main event.  The track was still lightning fast in this one.
 
Heat two (started): 1. Aaron Farney 17GP (2) 2. Bacon 69 (6) 3. Darland 11 (5) 4. Brandon Whited 15 (1) / 5. Bilbee 17N (4) 6. Jerry Coons Jr. 20 (7) 7. Jarett Andretti 18 (3) 8. Bill Rose 320 (8) 9. Kyle Wissmiller 3w (10) 10. Drew Rader 74 (9)
 
Bacon jumped to second on the first lap.  Darland grabbed third from Whited on the fourth lap.
 
Heat three (started): 1. Matt Goodnight 39 (2) 2. Josh Hodges 74x (1) 3. Grant 17 (5) 4. Thomas Meseraull 9x (4) / 5. Shane Cottle 57 (3) 6. Travis Hery 21 (9) 7. Logan Hupp 7x (8) 8. Dustin Ingle 2DI (10) 9. Corey Smith 66s (7) 10. Windom 5 (6)
 
Windom drove over Goodnight’s right rear and flipped to start row one.  He made repairs for the B.  Grant was on the move in this one, grabbing fourth from Cottle on lap two and third from Meseraull on lap four.
 
Heat four (started): 1. CJ Leary 30 (2) 2. Isaac Chapple 52 (1) 3. Scotty Weir 22s (3) 4. Hewitt 18K (5) / 5. Bret Mellenberndt 97 (4) 6. Luke Hall 9N (8) 7. Joe Bares 19 (9) 8. Tim Creech 2c (7) 9. Courtney 23c (8) DNS – Mitch Wissmiller 1w
 
Courtney contacted Hall’s right rear and went for a ride on the second lap.  He would return for the B.
 
B main (started): 1. Stockon (1) 2. Courtney (2) 3. Windom (22) 4. Boespflug (3) 5. Mellenberndt (5) 6. Andretti (6) 7. Coons (9) 8. Bilbee (4) / 9. Cottle (7) 10. Short (11) 11. Rose (10) 12. Hall (12) 13. Hupp (13) 14. Rader (14) 15. Bares (20) 16. Blackhurst (15) 17. Hery (17) 18. Creech (16) 19. K. Wissmiller (18) 20. Underwood (19) 21. Ingle (21) 22. DiMattia (8) DNS – C. Smith, K. Wissmiller
 
Stockon left the field behind in the 12-lapper, but Windom was the show, coming from 22nd to third.  The top eight transferred to the A.
 
A main (started): 1. Grant (4) 2. Windom (8) 3. Bacon (6) 4. Darland (5) 5. Courtney (9) 6. Hewitt (3) 7. Stockon (7) 8. Westfall (2) 9. Hodges (24) 10. Bilbee (11) 11. Whited (19) 12. Thomas Jr. (13) 13. Mellenberndt (12) 14. Andretti (14) 15. Chapple (21) 16. Meseraull (1) 17. Coons (24) 18. Goodnight (18) 19. Short (23. Prov.) 20. Farney (17) 21. Boespflug (10) 22. Swanson (20) 23. Weir (15) 24. Simon (16) DNS – Leary
 
Westfall led the 30-lapper over Grant and Meseraull in the early going.  Darland grabbed third fom T-Mez on lap two.  Windom continued his magic from the B, passing Darland for third on lap 10.  On the following circuit, Grant slid by Westfall to lead the pack for good.  Windom would follow him into second on lap 12 and maintain that spot.  On lap 13, Bacon passed Westfall for third, but that, as well as a Courtney pass for fifth, was negated by a Weir spin.  Darland took advantage, passing both Bacon and Westfall for third on the restart.  The lead pack got back in lapped traffic with ten to go.  Bacon and Darland battled hard for third, before Bacon pulled the spot off with two to go.

Rico Abreu USAC National Midgets
 
Rico Abreu (14th car out to time) was a half second better than anyone in qualifying, turning a lap of 17.164 seconds, which would have been ninth quick with the USAC sprints.  Spencer Bayston (15th car out) was second quick, followed by Brady Bacon (10th), Tanner Thorson (8th), Davey Ray (11th), Chad Boat (5th), Ryan Robinson (17th), Holly Shelton (18th), Jerry Coons Jr. (1st) and Jake Blackhurst (16th).  The turn two wall bit two cars and sent them flipping on the dry surface.  Tony DiMattia and Carson Macedo were the victims.  Steve Buckwalter and Ken Drangmeister also failed to get a time in.
 
Heat one (started): 1. Abreu 97K (6) 2. Thorson 67 (5) 3. Andrew Felker 11A (2) 4. Robinson 71 (4) 5. Jake Neuman 3N (1) 6. Blackhurst 37 (3) 6. Eric Hein 3 (7) 7. Tony DiMattia 50 (8) DNS – Ken Drangmeister 76
 
Heats were eight laps and saw the top five finishers eligible for the feature invert.  Abreu seized the lead by turn two and won going away.  Thorson grabbed second from Felker on lap three.
 
Heat two (started): 1. Bayston 97 (2) 2. Dave Darland 11AG (2) 3. Ray 33 (5) 4. Shelton 67K (4) 5. Isaac Chapple 52c (1) 6. Tyler Courtney 7K (3) 7. Robert Bell 71.5 (7) DNS – Steve Buckwalter 25
 
Chapple led Shelton and Darland early.  Darland grabbed second on lap two, while Bayston moved into third.  Darland grabbed the point from Chapple on lap three, and Bayston followed him into second a lap later.  Ray snagged third on lap five.  Bayston would make his winning pass coming for the white flag.
 
Heat three (started): 1. Boat 84 (5) 2. Bacon 76m (6) 3. Carmen Macedo 71K (8) 4. Coons 25x (4) 5. Justin Grant 37x (2) 6. Ryan Greth 4 (3) 7. Bear Wood 8JR (1) 8. Gary Gipson 5 (7)
 
Boat led the distance after seizing the point on the first lap.  Bacon snagged second fro Coons on lap four, and Macedo, who came back from his time trial flip, nailed down third on lap five.
 
A main (started): 1. Abreu (6) 2. Thorson (3) 3. Bacon (4) 4. Boat (1) 5. Shelton (8) 6. Ray (2) 7. Macedo (22) 8. Robinson (7) 9. Coons (9) 10. Darland (14) 11. Felker (23) 12. Grant (13) 13. Neuman (16) 14. Chapple (15) 15. Blackhurst (10) 16. Wood (18) 17. Bell (20) 18. Courtney (11) 19. Hein (17) 20. Gipson (19) 21. Greth (12) 22. Bayston (5) 23. Buckwalter (21) DNS – DiMattia, Drangmeister
 
This one was a picture of domination.  Boat led the first lap and briefly battled Abreu, but the St. Helena, California native was too much, pulling away from there.  Bayston exited on lap five, hurting his points night.  Courtney slowed on lap 22, bringing out the caution.  Abreu led Boat, Thorson, Bacon and Ray back to green.  Thorson and Bacon had been putting on a great battle, but Thorson moved into the runner-up spot on the restart.  Bacon would follow him by Boat with two to go to grab a podium spot.
 
All Stars
 
Randy Hannagan (32nd car out to time) set quick time overall at 14.158 seconds.  Kraig Kinser (12th car out) was second quick, followed by Rico Abreu (24th), Dean Jacobs (37th), Dale Blaney (3rd), Chad Kemenah (23rd), Brady Bacon (2nd), Sheldon Haudenschild (26th), Ian Madsen (17th) and Jac Haudenschild (10th).  Drivers timed in their heat race groups.
 
Heat one (started): 1. J. Haudenschild 35 (2) 2. Bacon 99 (3) 3. Blaney 1 (4) 4. Hunter Schuerenberg 20N (1) 5. DJ Foos 23 (5) / 6. Carson Macedo 09x (6) 7. Jacob Wilson 07 (7) 8. Joe Swanson 7 (8) 9. Bill Rose 6 (10) 10. Kory Crabtree 60 (9)
 
J. Haud led the distance in the 8-lapper.  The top two finishers were eligible for the Dash, while the top five made the feature.  Bacon grabbed second from Schuerenberg on lap two.  Blaney was third by lap three.  Foos snagged the last transfer from Macedo with two laps to go.
 
Heat two (started): 1. Tyler Courtney 23c (1) 2. I. Madsen 18 (3) 3. Kerry Madsen 17w (2) 4. Kinser 11K (4) 5. Paige Polyak 19 (5) / 6. Max Stambaugh 33m (6) 7. Ben Schmidt 59 (7) 8. Chase Ridenour 11R (8) DNS – Chad Blonde 5B
 
Courtney led green to checker.  I. Madsen grabbed second from his brother on lap five.  Polyak slid under Stambaugh for the last transfer on lap five.
 
Heat three (started): 1. S. Haudenschild 93 (2) 2. Kemenah 10H (3) 3. Abreu 24 (4) 4. Cap Henry 21 (1) 5. Lee Jacobs 81 (5) / 6. Paul May 71m (8) 7. Bradley Howard 49H (9) 8. Dane Lorenc 00 (7) 9. Shawn Dancer 49D (6)
 
S. Haud and Kemenah battled for the lead early.  On lap two, Abreu shot to third in front of Henry.
 
Heat four (started): 1. Caleb Helms 40 (1) 2. Randy Hannagan 11N (4) 3. D. Jacobs 70 (3) 4. Caleb Armstrong 7c (5) 5. TJ Michael 8m (2) / 6. Cole Duncan 9x (6) 7. Andrew Palker 57x (7) 8. Adam Cruea 83 (8) 9. Jay Steinebach 10s (9)
 
Helms led the distance in a mostly single-file affair.
 
Dash (started): 1. Abreu (3) 2. Hannagan (1) 3. I. Madsen (5) 4. Kemenah (2) 5. Bacon (6) 6. J. Haudenschild (4) 7. S. Haudenschild (8) 8. Kinser (7)
 
Hannagan led Kemenah and Abreu early in the 6-lapper.  Abreu was on fire, grabbing second from Kemenah on lap two, and after a brief battle, took the point from Hannagan to early the pole on lap four.
 
B main (started): 1. Stambaugh (3) 2. Lorenc (1) 3. Duncan (2) 4. Macedo (6) / 5. May (8) 6. Schmidt (9) 7. Cruea (5) 8. Swanson (10) 9. J. Wilson (7) 10. Crabtree (11) 11. Howard (12) 12. Rose (13) 13. Palker (4) DNS – Steinebach, Ridenour, Blonde
 
Not much to report in this 12-lapper, other than Stambaugh left the rest behind.
 
A main (started): 1. I. Madsen (3) 2. Kemenah (4) 3. Hannagan (2) 4. Kinser (8) 5. Bacon (5) 6. J. Haudenschild (6) 7. Henry (15) 8. Armstrong (16) 9. Stambaugh (21) 10. K. Madsen (12) 11. D. Jacobs (13) 12. Courtney (10) 13. Schuerenberg (14) 14. Macedo (24) 15. Duncan (23) 16. Foos (17) 17. Palker (25, prov.) 18. Helms (9) 19. Abreu (1) 20. S. Haudenschild (7) 21. Michael (20) 22. L. Jacobs (19) 23. Blaney (11) 24. Polyak (18) 25. Lorenc (22)
 
This 30-lapper took a while.  Hannagan jumped into the lead early over Kemenah and Abreu early.  Kemenah and Abreu would exchange second four times before Abreu earned it on lap four.  Foos spun with six laps in the books.  Hannagan led Abreu, Kemenah, Blaney and I. Madsen back to green.  Meanwhile, a tenth running K. Madsen ducked into the work area to replace mag box.  Blaney shot to third on the restart, but it was negated when Lorenc got into the turn three wall, debilitating his sprinter.  Abreu shot under Hannagan on the restart to take the lead.  S. Haud slammed the back gate to flatten his right rear, brining another yellow with 13 laps down.  Abreu maintained ahead of Hannagan, Kemenah, Blaney and I. Madsen.  Blaney would slam the wall with ten laps to go while battling Hannagan for second.  Abreu led Hannagan, a surging I. Madsen, Kemenah and Kinser back to green.  I. Madsen would get to second after a good battle with Hannagan before Abreu spun out of the lead and collected L. Jacobs.  After an open red, I. Madsen cruised the last three laps to nail down his first ever Eldora win.

Chris Windom USAC Silver Crown
 
Tyler Courtney (21st car to time) set quick time, tying his teammate Chris Windom (3rd car out) at 18.099 seconds , but getting the nod thanks to his second lap being quicker.  Jeff Swindell (15th) was third quick, followed by Kody Swanson (10th), Brady Bacon (23rd), Dave Darland (18th), Justin Grant (7th), Steve Buckwalter (11th), Jerry Coons Jr. (9th) and Davey Ray (6th).  Brian Tyler tumbled hard in time trials.  He was unhurt.  Dave Berkheimer failed to get a time in.
 
A main (started): 1. Windom 98 (2) 2. Grant 8 (7) 3. Courtney 99 (1) 4. Bacon 48 (5) 5. Swanson 63 (4) 6. Swindell 21 (3) 7. Darland 6 (6) 8. Coons 20 (9) 9. Shane Cottle 81 (20) 10. Bill Rose 66 (11) 11. Chris Fetter 89 (12) 12. Buckwalter 53 (8) 13. Joe Ligouri 58 (16) 14. Dakota Jackson 120 (19) 15. Austin Nemire 91 (13) 16. Ray 25 (10) 17. Mitch Wissmiller 0 (21) 18. Billy Puterbaugh Jr. 27 (18) 19. David Byrne 40 (15) 20. Dave Berkheimer 31 (22) 21. Aaron Pierce 26 (17) 22. CJ Leary 30 (14) DNS – Casey Shuman 55, Brian Tyler 12
 
Windom shot out to the lead in the 50-lapper, and would never be challenged.  Swanson tangled with the lapped car of Jackson with 15 laps down.  After lengthy repairs in the work area, the race finally resumed with Windom leading Courtney, Swindell, Bacon and Grant.  Swanson spun on the restart, but rejoined the field with steering issues.  Grant took third from Swindell on lap 15.  Three laps later, Swindell would surge back into the spot.  On lap 20, it was Grant again grabbing third, while Bacon snagged fourth from Swindell on lap 21.  Grant snagged second from Courtney at the halfway point.  Meanwhile, Windom built a sixteen second lead, and lapped up to the third place car of his teammate, Courtney, before Ray slowed on lap 27 to bring the final caution.  Windom would not be headed in a dominating performance that nailed down the 2016 Silver Crown championship.  Swanson would battle back to fifth.