Fan Notes from the Eldora Four Crown Nationals

The Keith Kunz midget stable at the Four Crown (Tom Myers)  9-24-2016  -  This was my first time to the Four Crown Nationals and I was eager to see, not only the USAC Sprints, but the Midgets and Silver Crown cars. I have never been to a USAC Midget or Silver Crown race. When I was a kid, the Speed Sport news would arrive every Thursday in the mailbox. I waited all week for Thursdays! I remember the pictures of the Champ Cars on dirt and was always intrigued by their different look. They had different engine configurations, large oil coolers hanging all over the roll cages and some had primitive down tubes. Same thing with the midgets, with the engine intake stacks, sticking up at the sides.....it was over the top. Thank you Mr. Economaki!    

Years ago, when we first started watching sprints, Pops went everywhere to watch any kind of open wheel action. We got started watching the old All Stars. Back in 1976, those were the days of Harold McGilton, Fred and Jim Linder, Rick Ferkel, Johnny Beaber, Kramer Williamson, Bobby Allen, Paul Pitzer, Lynn Paxton, Dub May, Steve Smith and a host of others. Then we went asphalt racing. The supermodified action at Sandusky and Lorain was really cool. Some of the notable drivers I remember were Warren Conium, Gary Albrittain and Ollie Silva. Ollie had an old black sprinter with duct tape on it and he would drive around all of them! Then we went to Millstream and saw the USAC sprints. Gary Bettenhausen, Larry Dickson, Pancho Carter, and of course, Jan Opperman.  Followed that up with a trip to Wayne County Speedway and saw one of the best races I ever attended. Duke Cook and Tom Bigelow raced side by side until Duke got to the checkers first...by a whisker!  Then we went to Toledo for the USAC sprints on asphalt and then saw them again on asphalt at Sandusky. I can remember standing by the front stretch fence and during time trials, I could see Bubby Jones' face and eyes through his helmet visor as he streaked by. 

In recent years, we have gravitated to the winged sprints, thanks to Steve, Sammy and Doug. I estimate it's been a good 27 years or so since seeing a non-wing race. Last summer I took in the BOSS show at Wayne County and that was really neat so the wingless guys at Eldora would be a treat for sure.

Roger McCluskey's #51 The pits were full and the crowd was filing in when we got there around 3:30. I read that hot laps would be starting at 4:30 but that didn't happen. The infield was completely full of cars and there were about 25 or so haulers parked behind the 3rd turn stands as well. There were 37 All Star sprints on hand and 40 USAC sprints. The total number of cars competing in the program was 125 or so. Danny Holtgraver was not feeling well so Dean Jacobs was in his car for the evening. Jac Haudenschild was in attendance in a blue and purple 35 car. I don't know where that ride came from but Jac ran well with it the night before in the WoO show. Rico Abreu's winged sprinter is here as well as Kerry and Ian Madsen. Paige Polyak was in the house too, good to see her compete. Carman Macedo, Tyler Courtney and Brady Bacon had their winged rides ready as well. And of course, Dale Blaney and Chad Kemenah were on hand to duke it out with Sheldon Haudenschild for the All Star points lead. The Silver Crown cars were neat to look at while I toured the pits. Yep, I saw different engine configurations as well as funny looking headers and big fuel tanks. Open wheel bliss! 

Where was Brad Doty? He would have loved seeing those big fuel tanks!  I also noticed a large number of Claxton made engines in the non-wing sprints and Silver Crown cars.
 
The USAC sprints took hot laps first. Wow!  They really back it in, starting to broad slide even before they get to the turns. Man, I am getting a healthy respect for these daredevils!  In the midget time trials, a couple of guys get upside down. One of them is Carman Macedo who takes a tumble but is okay. He would return to compete later on. During All Star time trials, Dale Blaney, the 3rd timer out, lays down a set of fast laps. I thought he would hold on to the fastest time but Randy Hannigan, Kraig Kinser, Abreu, and Dean Jacobs timed faster. And Hannigan and Jacobs were almost the last guys out to time!. Brian Tyler takes a nasty flip in turn 3 of his Silver Crown time trial. He was okay but the famous, red and white number 12 Gales wrenched dirt car was not.  Abreu grabbed the fast time in the midgets, Chase Stockton was fastest in the USAC sprints, Hannigan was the fast timer in the winged sprints and Courtney timed fastest in the Silver Crown cars. 

After all of the time trials, the track crew came out and re-worked the track for almost  2 hours. It needed it because it was dry and dusty with hardly any cushion. By this time, the bleachers all around the track and the main grandstands were full of folks, with just the bottom rows left empty. The food lines were long and the beer vendors were busy. On the south side of the track behind turn 1, there were about 15 t-shirt and food vendors set up. It reminded me of the county fair when I walked through. The area behind turn 4 is the same as well. Pretty cool. Also on display was the car that Roger McClusky drove to the USAC Sprint Car championship in 1966. 

Kody Swanson When the program finally got started again, the heat races were up next and it was closing in on 10:00 o'clock. We are told before the National Anthem that this is the 35th annual running of the Four Crown Nationals! 35 years, now that's a long time, wow! I thought the National Anthem was really good. The lady that performed it did a wonderful job. She sang it was emotion and she sang it straight with a lovely voice, not too much vibrato or trying to show off her singing skills. I appreciated it.

The USAC Sprint heats ran first and since the track was pretty tacky and fast, the passing was at a minimum. You could see the chunks of dirt fly through the air as the cars exited turn 4. In the midget heats, it was notable how Rico just ran away from the others. No one is even close to being able to keep up with him. In All Star heat 1, Jac runs to the checkers first followed by Bacon, Blaney, Schuerenburg and DJ Foos. The heat 2 finish was Courtney, Ian Madsen, Kerry Madsen, Kinser and Polyak. Paige is smooth. Heat 3 was exciting as Sheldon passes 2 cars on the exit of turn 2 on the opening lap and goes on to take the win. Following him were Kemenah, Abreu, Cap Henry and Lee Jacobs. Heat 4 finished with Caleb Helms out front, followed by Hannigan, Dean Jacobs, Caleb Armstrong and TJ Michaels. 
Michaels is breaking in a new J&J chassis after using a Maxim previously. From what I was told, they like the car but things would be better if they could get the motor to run. 

Abreu wins the All Star dash followed by Hannigan, Ian Madsen, and Chad Kemenah. Man is Rico on fire tonight! He's really hauling the mail around here! Midget, sprint, or roller skates or a foot race, Rico would be the fastest here tonight! In the All Star B main, the finish was Max Stambaugh, Dane Lorenc, Cole Duncan and Macedo.    

Ian Madsen Rico gets the win in the midget feature, lapping up to 5th place. He was just so superior in handling and speed to the other cars. Justin Grant got the USAC sprint win by grabbing the lead on lap 11 and then holding off Chris Windom at the end.  After finishing 3rd in the B main, Windom started at the back of the A main and came roaring to the front finish 2nd. Windom would come back later in the evening and win the Silver Crown event, lapping up to 4th place and overtaking Cody Swanson in the points chase to win the title. I was really impressed with Windom, who  put on one of the best displays of driving skill and aggression all evening.  

In the All Star feature, Hannigan grabbed the lead and held it until a lap 7 caution bunched them up. On the restart, Abreu went around Hannigan and set sail. Meanwhile, Hannigan faded and Blaney worked his way up into 2nd after passing Chad Kemenah. Blaney then had an issue that sent him into the turn 3 wall and to the pits. After the restart, Rico again worked to a big lead. Behind him, Ian Madsen got around  Kemenah for second and with 3 to go it looked like Rico was on his way to his 2nd win of the night. Then disaster struck the leader when he looped it in turn 3 and Lee Jacobs made contact with him wrecking both of their cars so that they could not continue. After a delay for re-fueling, the feature resumed with Ian Madsen now at the front. Madsen would lead the rest of the way and win his first race at Eldora. Chad Kemenah finished second and regained the point lead with just a few events remaining. 

This was a cool event with a large crowd and a healthy car count. Hopefully I can come back for next year's event.  A Thank You goes out to the Eldora Speedway, USAC and the All Star Circuit of Champions.