2010 News
Iowa Recap
Midget
Pole-sitter Bobby Santos held back a swarm of midgets on Saturday to take the win in the Mopar USAC National Midget portion of the Casey’s General Store “USAC Triple Crown” at Iowa Speedway. The Franklin, Massachusetts driver successfully defended his win from last season in the Santos Motorsports-K&N Beast/Esslinger.
“I knew right from the beginning of the race that I had a good car. I just had to not make any mistakes. Those restarts are tough, because you can just draft right by people. You’re kind of a sitting duck, actually, as the leader. Hagen got me early, and then I saw Sweet’s shadow a couple times peeking under me, but I picked it up a little bit. We had a really, really good car today,” Santos said of his first victory of the season.
Santos and a pack of three- and sometimes four-wide midgets battled for the lead throughout the first half of the race. A strong move by Darren Hagen gave him the lead to end lap five, but Santos re-claimed the spot on lap six.
From there, Santos held a short lead on Hagen and Brad Sweet, who looked to contend for his third win of the season. While Sweet disposed of Hagen, he could not quite muster the speed to surpass Santos. The runner-up finish was Sweet’s fifth top-five of the year in five races aboard the Kasey Kahne-Curb Racing Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Beast/Speedway Mopar.
“My car was really good, and we could move around. I felt like I was good enough to run with Bobby (Santos), but I had to clear a couple guys first. I could ride just behind him, but just couldn’t quite get a good enough run to pass him. We could get alongside, but not all the way past. We had the opportunity, but he just had a little bit left whenever I got a run. It was really fun to draft and have a race that’s a little bit different than other races we run,” Sweet said.
Hagen held on for third in the RFMS Racing-Liberty Village Beast/Esslinger.
“We were good all day and raced for the lead, but just had a little problem. Around halfway, it started running hot and ran on a little bit. That made it a handful getting into the corners. I got to the lead once and thought I was gonna get him (Santos) again later, but the caution came out. We were fast from when we unloaded, though,” Hagen commented.
Behind Hagen, point-leader Bobby East took “Hard Charger” honors by racing from 20th to finish fourth in the Klatt Enterprises-Ford Racing Beast/Esslinger. Henry Clarke finished fifth in the Keith Kunz Motorsports Beast/Esslinger. Sixth was Bryan Clauson in the Corey Tucker Racing-Keith Kunz Motorsports-BCI Beast/Toyota. David Byrne raced as high as third before finishing seventh in the Bytec, Inc. Beast/Esslinger. Daniel Bedford ran eighth in the F&F Mechanical Beast/Esslinger. Alex Bowman was ninth in the Haas Automation Beast/Esslinger, and Dave Darland rounded out the top-ten in the Keith Kunz Motorsports Beast/Toyota.
The series will be back on track this Saturday, May 29th with the annual running of the famed “Night Before the 500” at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Indiana.
SPRINT CAR
Bryan Clauson stayed close over the first half of the race before making his move late in Saturday’s 50-lap AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car leg of the Casey’s General Store “USAC Triple Crown.” Clauson took the lead for good on lap 46 to claim his second victory of the season in the Rotondo Weirich – Benic Enterprises Beast/Gaerte.
“It was one of those races where I felt like I was patient enough to let things come to me. We had a good car from the beginning, and the key was staying in touch with the front two the whole race. Iowa Speedway is about a perfect race track for us – you can go just about anywhere you want to run,” Clauson said of his victory on the ⅞-mile track.
Shane Hmiel set a new Sprint Car world speed record in qualifications by posting an average speed of 146.444 MPH around Iowa Speedway, beating Darren Hagen’s record set in 2006. Hmiel then led from the pole and was in control until Bobby Santos tracked him down on lap 21.
Santos led the field into the designated red flag for a fuel stop on lap 30. Hmiel took the top spot back on the restart, but Santos proved better on the longer run. With less than ten to go, it was a three-car battle for the win when Clauson entered the fray. Santos finally made the move for the lead on lap 44, bringing Clauson along with him, as Hmiel went up in smoke.
“The motor was tightening up when I got passed. The oil pressure was getting a little low, and I guess we eventually broke a valve spring. Glenn Crossno does the motors at ITI, and they’re obviously fast enough to set world records, so it’s just bad luck. It’s really neat to set that record, since I’m not really a guy with a huge sprint-car background. To own that mark that guys have been trying to beat over the years is pretty cool,” Hmiel said of his record-breaking day.
Santos looked to be the guy to beat, but Clauson came to life on the restart, passing for the lead just after the five-to-go signal. Santos held on for second, though, in his Santos Motorsports – K&N Beast/Gaerte.
“I knew Shane (Hmiel) was gonna be really tough in that race. I was really happy to qualify so well (fifth) and knew we would be fast. I kinda screwed up, and Bryan just beat me. It definitely seems like there’s an advantage to being behind someone at Iowa, and he seemed to get up on the wheel and go where I wasn’t. Honestly, I thought Shane was the guy to beat, and I really thought we were in good shape after I got him. Bryan surprised me a little, but I think we’ve both learned the lesson with each other to never let your guard down because it will come down to the last lap,” Santos said.
Clauson made note of his race strategy being important over the longer distance.
“I spent the first 35 laps or so just kinda hanging out and saving our stuff. I watched those guys and figured out where we were good and where they weren’t. The nice thing about a big race track is that it gives you plenty of time. We worked the high side quite a bit in three and four, so I got a pretty good run through there to get him,” Clauson said.
Jerry Coons, Jr. worked his way up to third at the finish in his Hoffman Auto Racing Beast/Gaerte. Tracy Hines finished fourth in the Aristocrat Products Beast/Chevy, and Levi Jones rounded out the top-five in the Bass Pro Shops Beast/Chevy. Jacob Wilson finished sixth in the Jet Star Beast/Claxton Toyota. Current point leader Damion Gardner took “Hard Charger” honors by claiming seventh after starting 13th in the Pace Lighting Beast/Shaver. Bobby East was eighth in the Klatt Enterprises Beast/Ford. Kody Swanson finished ninth in the Keith Williams, DDS Wysong/Losorwith Brodix, and A.J. Fike rounded out the top-ten in the RFMS Racing Beast/Foxco.
The next race for the series will be this Thursday, May 27th for the prestigious “Tony Hulman Classic” at the Terre Haute (IN) Action Track.
Box Score
SILVER CROWN
A.J. Fike took his first career USAC Silver Crown win after leading the final 85 laps in Saturday’s Casey’s General Store “USAC Triple Crown” event at Iowa Speedway. Fike drove his Liberty Village – McGladrey & Pullen Beast/Foxco to the lead from row two and won comfortably over a charging Kody Swanson.
“I never thought I’d get it, so this means a lot! We’ve been close before and always came up short, so it’s nice to get the monkey off our back. It feels great to get the first win out of the way, and hopefully we’ve got a lot more coming,” Fike said of his initial series victory.
New track-record holder Bobby East led the first two laps before fading quickly due to mechanical problems. Shane Hmiel held the lead from there, but Fike was steady in second. After a caution for Russ Gamester’s hard crash in turn one, Fike took advantage of the restart to gain the lead.
“I was just telling myself to hit my marks and it would be tough to get past me. The restarts worried me a little bit, just because they always get a little tight because of tires. I knew Bud was behind me on the last restart, and he wouldn’t do anything stupid, so I just had to be sure to not spin my tires,” Fike noted.
From there, Fike was in control of the race. After Tracy Hines also hit the turn-one wall, a long green-flag run over the second half of the race saw defending series champion Bud Kaeding move to second in the Alviso Rock – High Five Pizza Beast/Speedway Mopar. Meanwhile, Swanson moved from his row-seven starting position into the top-three with a charge around the outside of several cars.
The last caution flew with 87 laps in the books, and set up a chance for those two pursuers to attack the leader. Fike kept a healthy margin, however, as Swanson moved by Kaeding for second. Fike moved to second in the series standings while keeping Swanson and his Team Six-R – Toyota Beast/Toyota out of his first victory lane.
“We were definitely on the free side, so that pretty much tied me to the outside line coming up through there. It was tough to get by a few just because they were running a line that made it tough for me to go around up high. I thought we might be able to make a run at the lead after the last caution, but we just couldn’t gain on him,” said Swanson.
Kaeding easily held onto third.
“Something was wrong with our fueling, and we were just no good on those restarts. We fell back so far on the first restart, and I probably should have taken a little more time getting back through the field, but the race went green so much last year that I didn’t want to let the leaders get too far away from me. I thought we had something for him at the end if not for the yellow, and at least maybe raced with him a little, but we had another bad restart and that allowed Kody (Swanson) to get a run on the outside,” Kaeding said.
Hmiel came home fourth in the Rotondo Weirich Beast/Toyota. His teammate Jerry Coons, Jr. rounded out the top-five in his Rotondo Weirich Beast/Toyota. Zach Daum was the last car on the lead lap, finishing sixth in the Daum Insurance Beast/Gaerte. Brian Tyler was seventh in the Team Six-R Beast/Toyota. Coleman Gulick took “Hard Charger” honors by racing from 21st to eighth in the Dr. John Deuel Beast/Foxco. Jeff Mitrisin finished ninth in the Mitrisin Motors Beast/Ford, and Bobby Santos rounded out the top-ten in the RE Technologies Beast/Yates Ford.
The next race for the USAC Silver Crown Series will be this Friday, May 28th at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for the annual “Hoosier Hundred.”
