By Larry Boos
ROSSBURG, OH (Sept. 24/25) – With four divisional crowns to wear over the weekend, four different drivers stepped to the plate to accept them at Eldora Speedway; and as if it were staged, it was in chronological order by age. The 29th annual Four Crown Nationals found Jac Haudenschild taking the hard fought World of Outlaw (WoO) main event on Friday, while Saturday’s United States Auto Club (USAC) action found Jerry Coons, Jr. (Midget), Levi Jones (Sprint) and Bryan Clauson (Silver Crown) in victory lane following their respective main events.
In a battle of the ageless veterans, it was Sammy Swindell starting on the pole of the 30-lap WoO finale. He took immediate advantage of that positioning by blasting into the lead in turn one. A spin by Todd Kane brought out an immediate yellow flag; followed by a quick red flag as Joey Saldana made contact with Swindell down the back stretch as the yellow appeared. Saldana went into a series of violent flips.
As a result, Saldana, who had just moved into the WoO points lead following the time trial session, was flown by helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, where he was later released after multiple tests.
On the restart, Swindell continued where he left off, despite front nose wing damage from the Saldana contact. First it was Tim Shaffer hovering in second, with Danny Lasoski in third, before Lasoski kicked up the steam to move into runner-up position on lap five; bringing with him Haudenschild.
Lapped traffic came into play by lap 13 and it was enough to allow Haudenschild to fly past Lasoski, to set his sights on Swindell. A lap 18 rollover by Dean Jacobs again brought out the red bunting, at which time the pits were opened and the crews were allowed on the track to make minor repairs and add fuel.
The Swindell crew immediately went to work on the nose wing; but two laps into the restart action, the temporary repairs broke loose and Swindell was met with an ill-handling machine. That allowed the menacing Haudenschild to move even closer and on the 23rd circuit, he flew by the bewildered Swindell, who hung on for second at the checkered flag.
A high-flying Paul McMahan closed in late in the running to finish third, followed by Lasoski and Shaffer.
With the top mounted aerodynamic wings off and the focus on non-winged open wheel action, USAC took center stage on Saturday.
First to the plate were the Midgets, with Coons, Jr. the apparent class of the field.
The green flag dropped and Coons, Jr. entered into another zip code as the balance of the field battled for positioning behind him.
A lap eight red flag for a Shane Hmiel flip off of turn four stopped the action. Hmiel was not injured and the accident scene was quickly cleaned up; thus the USAC officials opted for a ‘closed’ pit area and no on-track repairs by the crews.
When the green flag re-appeared, Coons, Jr. again set sail for the checkered flag. As the laps began to wind down, a re-energized Clauson appeared to be gaining momentum and with three laps to go in the 25 lap chase, used the lapped traffic to reel in Coons, Jr. The large crowd was then treated to a classic run to the finish as Clauson caught and challenged Coons, Jr. right to the checkered flag, only to fall short by a matter of inches.
Following the duo across the line were Brad Kuhn, Tracy Hines and Bobby East.
Not to be outdone by that showing, the Sprint division took to the clay one-half mile oval next.
Three-time and defending champion Levi Jones earned the outside pole position through his time trial efforts and the veteran rail birds know that is the favored starting position at Eldora.
Jones used it to his advantage as the green flag waved into the night air and he instantly shot into the lead.
As if he didn’t get enough laps as runner-up in the previous Midget main, Clauson immediately dropped behind Jones to follow the leader in close pursuit. Damion Gardner and Jonathan Hendrick followed suit, as several caution periods slowed the pace on the 30-lap affair.
As the checkered flag loomed near, Jones maintained his positioning on top, with Clauson and Garnder comfortable in second and third. Behind that trio, position swapping was going on lap by lap, until the final rundown found Coons, Jr. coming home fourth and Bud Kaeding up to fifth at the finish.
With two runner-up finishes already on his plate, Clauson stepped to the table in the Silver Crown finale to settle the score and head for the main course.
He wasn’t to be denied as he outdistanced Silver Crown team mate Jones into the first turn and never looked back, to capture his first-ever Silver Crown victory.
Although out front the entire distance, the closing stages of the 50-lap chase found defending winner Dave Darland moving into the hunt with his time-honored Foxco machine. Darland began reeling in Clauson in the final ten laps, but ran out of time to get the job done and settled for runner-up honors, followed in order by Levi Jones, Shane Hmiel and Todd Kane.
Capturing the $750 Larry Rice High Performance awards for passing the most cars from start to finish in their respective feature events were Brad Kuhn (Midget), Dave Darland (Sprint) and Todd Kane (Silver Crown).
–30—
29th annual 4-Crown Nationals
September 24 & 25, 2010
World of Outlaws Sprints
Qualifying
1) 9-Joey Saldana 13.227 2) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13.248 3) 6-Danny Lasoski 13.299 4) 91-Paul McMahan 13.346 5) 1-Sammy Swindell 13.403 6) 83X-Tim Shaffer 13.410 7) 3-Kerry Madsen 13.415 8) 7S-Jason Sides 13.425 9) R19-Jac Haudenschild 13.445 10) 49-Brad Sweet 13.448 11) 78-Todd Kane 13.461 12) 15-Donny Schatz 13.475 13) 63-Chad Kemenah 13.475 14) 2-Dale Blaney 13.477 15) 3C-Cale Conley 13.529 16) 14-Jason Meyers 13.536 17) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 13.562 18) 11K-Kraig Kinser 13.591 19) 77X-Randy Hannagan 13.600 20) 7K-Kyle Sauder 13.607 21) 6R-Bill Rose 13.610 22) 7-Craig Dollansky 13.611 23) 11-Steve Kinser 13.663 24) 97-Dean Jacobs 13.670 25) 22-Brian Ellenberger 13.727 26) O-Glenn Styres 13.777 27) 4X-Toni Lutar 13.783 28) 71M-Paul May 13.797 29) W20-Greg Wilson 13.815 30) 35-Ronnie Blair 13.833 31) 2B-Ben Gregg 13.868 32) OO-James Nier 13.914 33) 12-Jared Ridge 13.924 34) 34-Luke Hall 13.928 35) 7C-Tim Hunter 14.001
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild[2] 2) 1-Sammy Swindell[3] 3) 63-Chad Kemenah[1] 4) 9-Joey Saldana[4] 5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5] 6) W20-Greg Wilson[8] 7) 22-Brian Ellenberger[7] 8) 6R-Bill Rose[6] 9) 12-Jared Ridge[9]
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 2-Dale Blaney[1] 2) 83X-Tim Shaffer[3] 3) 49-Brad Sweet[2] 4) 11K-Kraig Kinser[5] 5) 7-Craig Dollansky[6] 6) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[4] 7) 35-Ronnie Blair[8] 8) 34-Luke Hall[9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 11-Steve Kinser[6] 2) 3-Kerry Madsen[3] 3) 6-Danny Lasoski[4] 4) 3C-Cale Conley[1] 5) 78-Todd Kane[2] 6) 77X-Randy Hannagan[5] 7) 4X-Toni Lutar[7] 8) 2B-Ben Gregg[8] 9) 7C-Tim Hunter[9]
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15-Donny Schatz[2] 2) 91-Paul McMahan[4] 3) 14-Jason Meyers[1] 4) 7S-Jason Sides[3] 5) 97-Dean Jacobs[6] 6) OO-James Nier[8] 7) 71M-Paul May[7] 8) 7K-Kyle Sauder[5]
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 1-Sammy Swindell[1] 2) 9-Joey Saldana[4] 3) 6-Danny Lasoski[3] 4) 3-Kerry Madsen[6] 5) 91-Paul McMahan[2] 6) 83X-Tim Shaffer[5] 7) R19-Jac Haudenschild[7] 8) 15-Donny Schatz[8] 9) 2-Dale Blaney[9] 10) 11-Steve Kinser[10]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[1] [] 2) 77X-Randy Hannagan[2] [] 3) 22-Brian Ellenberger[5] [] 4) 6R-Bill Rose[4] [] 5) W20-Greg Wilson[8] [$200] 6) 35-Ronnie Blair[9] [$180] 7) 2B-Ben Gregg[10] [$175] 8) 4X-Toni Lutar[6] [$160] 9) 71M-Paul May[7] [$150] 10) OO-James Nier[11] [$150] 11) 7C-Tim Hunter[14] [$150] 12) 12-Jared Ridge[12] [$150] 13) 34-Luke Hall[13] [$150] 14) 7K-Kyle Sauder[3] [$150] 15) O-Glenn Styres[15] [$150]
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild[7] [$10,000] 2) 1-Sammy Swindell[1] [$5,500] 3) 91-Paul McMahan[5] [$3,200] 4) 6-Danny Lasoski[3] [$2,800] 5) 83X-Tim Shaffer[6] [$2,500] 6) 11-Steve Kinser[10] [$2,300] 7) 15-Donny Schatz[8] [$2,200] 8) 2-Dale Blaney[9] [$2,100] 9) 7S-Jason Sides[12] [$2,050] 10) 63-Chad Kemenah[15] [$2,000] 11) 7-Craig Dollansky[22] [$1,500] 12) 11K-Kraig Kinser[19] [$1,200] 13) 14-Jason Meyers[17] [$1,100] 14) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[11] [$1,050] 15) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[18] [$1,000] 16) 3C-Cale Conley[16] [$900] 17) 77X-Randy Hannagan[20] [$800] 18) 49-Brad Sweet[13] [$800] 19) 97-Dean Jacobs[23] [$800] 20) 22-Brian Ellenberger[24] [$800] 21) 78-Todd Kane[14] [$800] 22) 3-Kerry Madsen[4] [$800] 23) 6R-Bill Rose[21] [$800] 24) 9-Joey Saldana[2] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-22, Jac Haudenschild 23-30
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USAC SPRINT CARS
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 69, Dynamics-15.602; 2. Thomas Meseraull, 71x, Meseraull-15.715; 3. Bryan Clauson, 2B, RWB-15.739; 4. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-15.754; 5. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-15.805; 6. Jonathan Hendrick, 68, Hendrick-15.883; 7. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-15.894; 8. Dave Darland, 39, Goodnight-15.906; 9. Shane Hmiel, 17s, 56 Inc.-15.923; 10. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-15.954; 11. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-16.111; 12. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-16.157; 13. John Memmer, 4m, Memmer-16.177; 14. Matt Westfall, 22, Simon-16.277; 15. Jeff Bland Jr., 38s, Bland-16.292; 16. Robert Ballou, 81, MPHG-16.357; 17. Mike Brecht, 8, Wood-16.390; 18. Henry Clarke, 67, Kunz-16.424; 19. J.J. Hughes, 76, Hughes-16.467; 20. Scotty Weir, 1G, Gorby-16.476; 21. Chris Windom, 11, Walker-16.491; 22. Randy Hannagan, 77x, Hill-16.621; 23. Brett Burdette, 17B, Burdette-16.683; 24. Casey Riggs, 37, Indiana Underground-16.687; 25. Mike Miller, 82, Miller-16.749; 26. Mitch Wissmiller, 1x, Wissmiller-16.763; 27. Bill Rose, 9x, SC-16.795; 28. Matt Goodnight, 39G, Goodnight-17.212; 29. Logan Hupp, 9H, Hupp-17.245; 30. Steve Irwin, 0, Flying O-27.398; 31. Chett Gehrke, 59, Gehrke-17.465; 32. Toby Alfrey, 5, Alfrey-17.563; 33. Dallas Hewitt, 40, Hery-17.880; 34. Dwayne Spille, 71s, Spille-18.128; 35. Kirk Jeffries, 78L, Jeffries-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Coons, 3. Windom, 4. Brecht, 5. Memmer, 6. Hmiel, 7. Hupp, 8. Miller, 9. Hewitt. 2:15.38
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Kaeding, 2. Clarke, 3. Hendrick, 4. Meseraull, 5. Westfall, 6. Hannagan, 7. Wissmiller, 8. Spille. 2:18.64
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Schuerenberg, 2. Bland, 3. Clauson, 4. Hines, 5. Hughes, 6. Burdette, 7. Rose, 8. Gehrke. 2:21.42
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Weir, 2. Ballou, 3. Riggs, 4. Gardner, 5. Stockon, 6. Alfrey, 7. Goodnight, 8. Darland. 2:22.77
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Hmiel, 2. Westfall, 3. Stockon, 4. Hughes, 5. Darland (#39G), 6. Burdette, 7. Hannagan, 8. Wissmiller, 9. Miller, 10. Alfrey, 11. Hupp, 12. Gehrke, 13. Hewitt, 14. Spille. 3:41.31
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Levi Jones, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Bud Kaeding, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Mike Brecht, 8. Thomas Meseraull, 9. Matt Westfall, 10. Dave Darland (#39G), 11. Scotty Weir, 12. Hunter Schuerenberg, 13. Jeff Bland Jr., 14. Chase Stockon, 15. J.J. Hughes, 16. Casey Riggs, 17. Brett Burdette, 18. Shane Hmiel, 19. Jonathan Hendrick, 20. Randy Hannagan, 21. Tracy Hines, 22. Henry Clarke, 23. Chris Windom, 24. Mitch Wissmiller. NT
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USAC MIDGETS
QUALIFICATIONS: (Held Sept 24) 1. Bryan Clauson, 39, Tucker/Kunz/BCI-16.431; 2. Shane Hmiel, 8x, Guardian-16.452; 3. Darren Hagen, 3, RFMS-16.524; 4. Bobby East, 4, Klatt-16.734; 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 11, Wilke-Pak-16.737; 6. Levi Jones, 21, Stewart-16.773; 7. Tracy Hines, 24, Parker-16.775; 8. Brad Kuhn, 17B, RW-16.839; 9. Dave Darland, 71, Kunz-16.895; 10. Brad Sweet, 49, Kahne/Curb-16.902; 11. Matt Westfall, 14w, Bordner-17.191; 12. Zach Daum, 5, Daum-17.195; 13. Levi Roberts, 2D, Roberts-17.371; 14. Henry Clarke, 67, Kunz-17.405; 15. Jonathan Hendrick, 0, 2B-17.547; 16. Chase Barber, 90, Barber-17.944; 17. Bob Shreffler, 21s, Shreffler-19.599; 18. Mario Clouser, 06, MCM-NT; 19. Craig Heathcote, 86, Stamper-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (Held Sept 25 – 8 laps) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Darren Hagen, 3. Bryan Clauson, 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Zach Daum, 6. Tracy Hines, 7. Chase Barber, 8. Henry Clarke.
SECOND HEAT: (Held Sept 25 – 8 laps) 1. Brad Kuhn, 2. Shane Hmiel, 3. Levi Jones, 4. Bobby East, 5. Matt Westfall, 6. Jonathan Hendrick, 7. Levi Roberts, 8. Bob Shreffler.
FEATURE: (Held Sept.25 – 25 laps) 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Brad Kuhn, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Bobby East, 6. Darren Hagen, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Matt Westfall, 9. Jonathan Hendrick, 10. Zach Daum, 11. Levi Roberts, 12. Henry Clarke, 13. Bob Shreffler, 14. Chase Barber, 15. Shane Hmiel, 16. Levi Jones, 17. Craig Heathcote. NT
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USAC SILVER CROWN
QUALIFICATIONS: (Held Sept. 24) 1. Levi Jones, 10, Stewart-16.759; 2. Bryan Clauson, 22, Stewart-16.861; 3. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-16.909; 4. Shane Hmiel, 17, RW-16.939; 5. Jeff Swindell, 199, Edwards/RE-16.969; 6. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-17.126; 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 27, RW-17.176; 8. Jon Stanbrough, 37, Indiana Underground-17.293; 9. Shane Cottle, 5, Baldwin-17.380; 10. Justin Carver, 991, Edwards/RE-17.433; 11. Bobby East, 6, Klatt-17.469; 12. Brian Tyler, 21, Team 6R-17.491; 13. Derek Hagar, 91, Hagar-17.566; 14. Todd Kane, 63, DePalma-17.576; 15. Tracy Hines, 16, Lightfoot-17.701; 16. Shane Hollingsworth, 20, Nolen-17.710; 17. Tanner Swanson, 19, Team 6R-17.818; 18. A.J. Fike, 3, RFMS-17.921; 19. Mike Hess, 39, Aqualini-18.010; 20. Bill Rose, 97, SC-18.025; 21. Zach Daum, 50, Daum-18.156; 22. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-18.248; 23. Robert Ballou, 125, Sachs/Yermal-18.388; 24. Kody Swanson, 23, Team 6R/TK-18.453; 25. Randy Bateman, 55, Bateman-19.326; 26. Kellen Conover, 76, Conover-20.130.
QUALIFYING RACE: (Held Sept. 25 – 15 laps) 1. Kane, 2. Hollingsworth, 3. Hagar, 4. Ballou, 5. T.Swanson, 6. K.Swanson, 7. Rose, 8. Daum, 9. Hines, 10. Bateman, 11. Conover, 12. Hess, 13. Gamester, 14. Fike. NT
FEATURE: (Held Sept. 25 – 50 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Levi Jones, 4. Shane Hmiel, 5. Todd Kane, 6. Bud Kaeding, 7. Jon Stanbrough, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. Shane Hollingsworth, 10. Brian Tyler, 11. Derek Hagar, 12. Kody Swanson, 13. Jeff Swindell, 14. Jerry Coons Jr., 15. Bill Rose, 16. Bobby East, 17. Zach Daum, 18. Tracy Hines, 19. Randy Bateman, 20. A.J. Fike, 21. Kellen Conover, 22. Mike Hess, 23. Shane Cottle, 24. Russ Gamester, 25. Justin Carver, 26. Tanner Swanson. NT