By Mike O’Leary
May 22, 2011 – Although it took until the next day to make it official, Daron Clayton has been awarded the King of Indiana Sprint Series victory for his run at Lawrenceburg Speedway on Saturday. Jon Stanbrough finished second, ahead of Damion Gardner, Chris Windom and Keith Bloom Jr.
After the KISS redraw, Clayton was slated to start the 30-lap feature on the pole in the Hoffman Mean Green Mopar-powered F-5. But with a miscue on the start, Clayton was ruled to have jumped and moved one row back, and Stanbrough took over the pole. Although the next start was smoother, a first turn tangle took Joshua Clemons out of the race, and sent Dave Darland and Brett Burdette to the work area to change tires. Although a light drizzle started while the track was being cleared, the Lawrenceburg staff was anxious to get the race in and the third start was good enough.
Stanbrough led the field into the first turn and built a dozen car length advantage in the early laps. Chad Boespflug quickly hustled from eighth to challenge Windom for third, using the high groove. On the eighth circuit, Stanbrough appeared to slip slightly going into turn four and Clayton took the lead around the outside as they came off the turn. While Clayton opened eight car lengths, Gardner battled Windom for third, and suddenly cars began slipping and the track became too treacherous to continue. The race was stopped on the 13th lap and cars sent to the pits.
It took until Sunday for officials to declare the race complete. Lawrenceburg Speedway has announced that checks for competitors will be mailed in the coming week.
From a historical perspective, it is Clayton’s third KISS win, having scored back-to-back at Tri-State Speedway in 2007 and 2008. When Brady Short won at Bloomington two weeks ago, it was also his third KISS victory. Clayton and Short join Tony Elliott and Kevin Briscoe with three wins, while only Jon Stanbrough has earned more, 17.
The next KISS event will held be Sunday, June 19th at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt. The 2011 King of Indiana Sprint Series will conclude with a doubleheader at Paragon Speedway and Kokomo Speedway on June 25 and 26.
The King of Indiana Sprint Series
Lawrenceburg Speedway, May 21, 2011
Heat 1: 1. Blake Fitzpatrick 10 (1), 2. Damion Gardner 71 (4), 3. Brady Short 36 (6), 4. Andrew Elson 27a (3), 5. Justin Grant 40 (8), 6. Shawn Westerfeld 89 (2), 7. Michael Fischesser 4 (5), 8. John Race 42 (7)
Heat 2: 1. Chris Windom 5 (1), 2. Scotty Weir 1g (3), 3. Keith Bloom Jr. 27 (4), 4. Jonathan Hendrick 68 (6), 5. Casey Shuman 4g (7), 6. Adam Strausser 65 (2), 7. Mark Perry III 3m (5), Evan Gindling 21e DNS
Heat 3: 1. Chad Boespflug 98 (3), 2. Daron Clayton 69 (4), 3. Logan Hupp 9h (2), 4. John Memmer 4m (5), 5. Robert Ballou 81 (7), 6. Joss Moffatt 5j (1), 7. Mike Weber 22w (6)
Heat 4: 1. Joshua Clemons 71c (3), 2. Jon Stanbrough 53 (7), 3. Dave Darland 21x (6), 4. Casey Riggs 37 (5), 5. Brett Burdette 17b (2), 6. Coleman Gulick 14 (4), 7. Jason Soudrette 44 (1)
B Main: 1. Grant (1), 2. Ballou (3), 3. Shuman (2), 4. Burdette (4), 5.Moffatt (7), 6. Westerfeld (5), 7. Soudrette (12), 8. Fischesser (9), 9. Perry (10), 10. Strausser (6), 11. Gulick (8), 12. Race (13)
Feature (12 laps completed): 1. Clayton (3), 2. Stanbrough (1), 3. Gardner (5), 4. Windom (4), 5. Bloom (10), 6. Fitzpatrick (2), 7. Darland (12), 8. Weir ((7), 9. Boesoflug (8), 10. Short (9), 11. Grant (17), 12. Hendrick (14), 13. Ballou (18), 14. Shuman (19), 15. Memmer (15), 16. Riggs (16), 17. Elson (13), 18. Burdette (20), 19. Hupp (11), 20. Clemons (6)
2011 KISS SCHEDULE
May 6 Bloomington Speedway Brady Short
May 13 Gas City I-69 Speedway Rain
May 21 Lawrenceburg Speedway Daron Clayton
June 19 Tri-State Speedway
June 25 Paragon Speedway
June 26 Kokomo Speedway