10/29/04
I-30 Speedway
Little Rock, AR
Short-Track Nationals Night #2
84 cars
The Sprint Bandits format was used with heats and qualifiers. In the qualifiers the driver’s with the highest point totals start in the rear. The top twenty in points for the night were put into the A main with no consolations being run. The top two finishers lock themselves into Saturday’s A.
Heat one (started): 1. Toby Brown 61a (1) 2. Nick Smith 15s (6) 3. Raymond Stull 21R (8) 4. Zach Pringle 8 (4) 5. Terry Gray 10T (9) 6. Mitchell Moore 2D (5) 7. Jerry Kamer 5K (3) 8. Travis Rilat 29T (7) 9. DJ Masner D1 (11) 10. Danny Martin Jr. 00m (2) 11. Billy Alley 22 (12) 12. Doc Sloan D12 (10)
T. Brown grabbed the early advantage with Martin in tow. Alley was attempting to move under Rilat on lap five for sixth, when the two made contact, sending Alley spinning. It took two laps for Alley to catch back up to Rilat and punt him over the turn two berm. The move cost both a chance at contention. Lap seven was also costly for Martin, who was running third as he retired with a flat right rear. Stull made some nice moves late to get around Pringle for third. Pringle’s family took exception to the move and after a family altercation in the pits, the Pringles were asked to leave after the heats.
Heat two (started): 1. Mike Ward 88 (2) 2. Claud Estes III 74E (3) 3. Kevin Ramey 7m (10) 4. Clint Garner 40 (6) 5. Sammy Swindell 1 (11) 6. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 15H (4) 7. Johnny Anderson 7a (8) 8. Derek Drown 26 (12) 9. Ricky Logan 7R (5) 10. Eric Lutz 5 (1) 11. Lee Moore 6 (9) 12. Robert Gant 15G (7)
Ward led in dominating fashion for the entirety. Ramey was the man on the move, showing patience on the bottom on a quickly drying track. S. Swindell also did a nice job moving forward.
Heat three (started): 1. Tim Crawley 87 (1) 2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 40R (5) 3. Joey Montgomery 21c (9) 4. Kevin Swindell 1K (8) 5. Danny Wood 44 (12) 6. Robbie Standridge 12x (4) 7. Skip Wilson 65 (2) 8. Tyler Blank 75 (11) 9. Andy Goin 77 (3) 10. Jon Corbin 33c (10) 11. Brett Golik 5G (6) 12. Scott Pursell 77P (7)
Crawley grabbed the early lead before a lap two Goin spin. Crawley led Standridge, Stenhouse, S. Wilson and a charging J. Montgomery on the restart. Three laps later, Pursell spun, collecting Wood, Golik and Corbin. Pursell spun again on lap seven and retired. Now Crawley’s advantage was over Stenhouse, J. Montgomery, K. Swindell and Standridge. Wood came back at the line to grab fifth, recovering from his misfortune earlier.
Heat four (started): 1. Tim Montgomery 23x (1) 2. Steven Tiner 87JR (3) 3. Dusty Zomer 1z (2) 4. Marshall Skinner 26K (8) 5. Preston Peebles II 11P (10) 6. Johnny Miller 71J (7) 7. Eric Schrock 86s (9) 8. Skip Andrews 5P (4) 9. Rick Pringle 38 (12) 10. Sean McClelland 1x (6) 11. Wayne Johnson 94J (5) DNS – Robert Bell 71 (11)
T. Montgomery led the distance in a mostly single-file affair. W. Johnson and Zomer came together on the second lap, sending the 94J to the trailer for the night with a broken front end.
Heat five (started): 1. Pete Butler 29H (1) 2. Wade Oliver 0 (2) 3. Greg Wilson 98 (8) 4. Chuck Swenson X (3) 5. Ernie Ainsworth 8A (5) 6. Jim Bowden 15B (6) 7. Kelly Kinser 97 (11) 8. Matt Folstad 1H (10) 9. Eddie Gallagher 1N (12) 10. Joe McCarthy 19 (9) 11. Hunter Schuerenberg 35 (4) 12. Kenny Adams 4A (7)
Butler led flag to flag with Oliver in tow. The lone caution came for a spun Schuerenberg, who collected Adams on lap two. The incident ended Adams night. Adams has been caught up in three tangles this weekend, none of them his fault. Despite a one lane track, Oliver and G. Wilson battled for second, with G. Wilson coming up just short of the spot from eighth.
Heat six (started): 1. Brian Brown 21B (3) 2. Gary Wright 9 (8) 3. Ronnie Howard 44C (6) 4. Chad Kemenah 20K (11) 5. Kenny Conrad 9c (1) 6. Lee Sowell 51 (7) 7. Jan Howard 46 (10) 8. Kent Buckley 1* (12) 9. Jody Roland 4R (9) 10. Josh Baker 33B (5) 11. Tony Bruce Jr. 18 (4) 12. Donnie Steward 16s (2)
B. Brown slid around the front row starters to take the point early. Baker spun on lap two, collecting Steward and J. Howard. Steward went pitside. Wright had moved into third and roared around Conrad to challenge B. Brown. He was on his tail when Steward spun on lap four. B. Brown roared away to lead the final six laps. Kemenah was also on a roll, but couldn’t find room to get by R. Howard, finishing on his nerf bar.
Heat seven (started): 1. Jerrod Hull 50 (3) 2. Dale Howard 47 (1) 3. Ray Allen Kulhanek 21T (5) 4. Darren Stewart 91 (7) 5. Jason Johnson 41 (2) 6. Josh Higday 24 (4) 7. Dex Eaton 59 (8) 8. AG Rains 3 (6) 9. Kenny Coke 24w (11) 10. Justin Sturch 4T (10) 11. Arlen Stewart 46A 12. Wesley Hale 27 (9)
Hull split D. Howard and J. Johnson to take the early lead. As rubber developed on the bottom of the turns, Hull hugged it and rode home first in one of the few non-stop affairs you’ll see at the STN.
Qualifier one (started): 1. Martin (4) 2. Wood (10) 3. Kemenah (11) 4. J. Montgomery (12) 5. D. Howard (9) 6. McClelland (3) 7. S. Wilson (5) 8. M. Moore (8) 9. Buckley (6) DNS – Hale (1), W. Johnson (2), J. Howard (7)
Following a brief rain delay, McClelland took advantage of inheriting the pole for the early lead. A lap three M. Moore spin slowed things. McClelland led Martin, S. Wilson, Wood and Kemenah back to green flag racing. On lap six, young Martin made his winning move. Wood and Kemenah completed fine runs from the back, followed by J. Montgomery.
Qualifier two (started): 1. Corbin (3) 2. Coke (4) 3. G. Wilson (11) 4. Oliver (9) 5. Smith (12) 6. Swenson (8) 7. Estes (10) 8. Steward (1) 9. Rilat (5) 10. Bowden (6) 11. Sowell (7) DNS – Golik (2)
Corbin took the early lead and won in convincing fashion. Before a lap could be completed, however, his front row mate, Steward spun in front of the field and collected Rilat and Sowell, ending their nights. G. Wilson was impressive again, and grabbed third with two to go.
Qualifier three (started): 1. Schrock (6) 2. Rains (4) 3. Zomer (8) 4. Skinner (9) 5. Gray (10) 6. Lutz (3) 7. Ramey (12) 8. Stenhouse (11) 9. Eaton (5) 10. Miller (7) DNS – Schuerenberg (1), L. Moore (2)
Lutz grabbed the early lead, but Schrock ran him down on the third lap. Zomer ran a steady race, picking his way to third, while Skinner also showed well, using all parts of the track to come home fourth after a last lap pass of Gray.
Qualifier four (started): 1. J. Johnson (7) 2. K. Swindell (9) 3. Standridge (6) 4. Wright (12) 5. Ward (11) 6. Blank (5) 7. Garner (8) 8. Sloan (2) 9. Butler (10) DNS – Pursell (1), Baker (3), R. Pringle (4)
The pole-sitter Sloan, was slow out of the chute, and touched wheels with a charging Ward on the backstretch. Butler was cruising along and shot over Sloan’s left rear and suffered a ground pounder in a series of flips in a scary incident. He was uninjured. Standridge took the lead after the track was cleared. J. Johnson was trailing him and took the point on lap six. K. Swindell showed the moves of a veteran using the high side for the first time in the weekend to move by Standridge and come home a solid second. Wright was himself at I-30, assuring himself of an A main spot.
Qualifier five (started): 1. S. Swindell (9) 2. Anderson (5) 3. T. Montgomery (10) 4. Stull (11) 5. D. Stewart (8) 6. Goin (3) 7. Stewart (12) 8. Drown (6) 9. Conrad (7) DNS – Gant (1), Sturch (2), Andrews (4)
Before a lap could be completed, Drown and Conrad came together in turn four, with Conrad retiring from the event. S. Swindell narrowly avoided the fray with a quick move over the berm. Anderson led early, but had S. Swindell on his tail when Goin went over the turn four berm on lap six. The Iowan held off the veteran in a great drive, but succumbed on the final lap.
Qualifier six (started): 1. Logan (3) 2. Hull (11) 3. Bruce (1) 4. Crawley (10) 5. Gallagher (4) 6. Peebles (8) 7. Kinser (7) 8. Roland (2) 9. Masner (5) 10. R. Howard (9) DNS – Hafertepe (6)
Roland took the early lead. Logan returning to his hometown, took the point on lap two. R. Howard and Masner came together on lap four bringing out the yellow. Logan led Bruce, Roland, a charging Hull and Gallagher back to green flag racing. Hull continued his assault, but came short of getting by Logan. Crawley used some late moves to secure fourth.
Qualifier seven (started): 1. McCarthy (2) 2. Ainsworth (7) 3. Kamer (6) 4. B. Brown (11) 5. T. Brown (10) 6. Kulhanek (8) 7. Tiner (9) 8. Alley (3) DNS – Adams (1), Folstad (4), Higday (5)
Alley inherited a front row starting spot and led the first three circuits before getting too high in turn four and getting over the berm. He decided to park it back at the trailer. Veteran McCarthy inherited the lead, ahead of Kamer, Ainsworth, B. Brown and Tiner. The track was again rubber down on the bottom with mostly single-file action. Tiner bumped Kulhanek on lap six, ending both of their bids for the A. McCarthy held on, while B. Brown was the biggest mover.
A main (started): 1. S. Swindell (4) 2. Hull (1) / 3. Wright (3) 4. Kemenah (6) 5. Ward (15) 6. Gray (19) 7. Smith (8) 8. K. Swindell (9) 9. T. Montgomery (10) 10. Ramey (20) 11. Stull (12) 12. B. Brown (11) 13. Zomer (16) 14. J. Johnson (18) 15. G. Wilson (2) 16. Oliver (14) 17. J. Montgomery (7) 18. Wood (5) 19. Skinner (17) 20. Crawley (13)
This one promised to be follow the leader around the bottom. Hull shot out from his pole position and led the procession the first nine laps. Skinner was struggling and got sideways on lap nine in front of the leaders. Skinner recovered without causing a caution, but Hull checked up to avoid him, opening the door for S. Swindell to sneak under him for the winning pass. Hull nailed down second and a transfer to Saturday night’s finale. There was little movement forward in the event, save veterans Ward and Gray who found some mistakes by those running in front of them. When competitors tried to enter the turns wide, Ward or Gray would stick their nose in and claim another spot. The race was slowed twice, once when Wood lost his driveshaft on lap ten, and for a lap 15 J. Montgomery spin.