Racing Scene Column – (WoO @ PAS) April 23, 2013
By noderel:
Los Angeles, CA. - The World of Outlaws sprint car series 2013 schedule listed 90 actual race dates with three tracks TBA later for a possible 93 race nights (before rain-outs). Events were scheduled in 25 states—AZ, CA, FL, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO, NC, ND, NE, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TX, WA and WI—and three Canadian provinces—Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. Some 57 speedways will host these WoO sprint car races. Williams Grove (PA) has the most WoO races--six. Knoxville (IA) has five, and Eldora Speedway (Rossburg, OH) has four. Three tracks—Chico (CA), Charlotte (NC) and Lernerville (Sarver, PA)--have booked WoO sprinters three times. WoO reportedly has had only 111 different feature winners in 35 years since it ran its first race in March 1978.
“WoO So Cal Showdown” on Saturday, April 13 at Perris Auto Speedway was a World Racing Group promotion, not Don Kazarian's Oval Entertainment, LLC. PAS attendance appeared to be more than 4,000 with the main grandstand from section A to section M full from top to bottom rows. The first and fourth turn bleachers were about a fifth of capacity. Many WoO spectators did not appear to be USAC-CRA non-wing sprint regulars. Hopefully, they will return for that classic action. The 30-lap feature winner received $10,000 from a main event purse of $45,400 for the 21 competitors. Money also went into the WoO championship point fund and towards the sanction fee.
Temps at PAS were 75 degrees at 4:50 pm and 59 at 10:15. The all-green flag race took about eight minutes (9:14-9:22 pm). There was no printed program by the track or WoO. The WoO annual yearbook, sold at the WoO merchandise trailer, was not printed yet, so fans had to pay close attention to respected award-winning WoO tour announcer Johnny Gibson. Open-wheel drivers present were: Parnelli and Page Jones, Ronnie Gardner, Shane Scully, Jerome Rodela and his dad, Shannon McQueen and Damion Gardner. Damion said his Alexander No. 4A sprint car needed a new 777 front clip by John Aden after his USAC-CRA crash at PAS April 6.
Perris was event 14 after the April 6 rain-out at Calistoga. To avoid notorious traffic in Southern California, WoO team haulers towed south from the Friday, April 12 race in Hanford and stayed at motels south of Bakersfield. The No. 51 team arrived at a motel in Moreno Valley, north of Perris, at 5:00 am. They came to PAS by noon to work on their car. That was the common MO by other touring WoO teams. Series sponsor STP set up a large hospitality trailer to entertain and feed guests in the WoO pits, which again were on the paved parking lot beyond the first turn. The California Lightning Sprints support series used the race track infield to pit 22 cars.
RACERS: WoO returned to PAS on March 10, 2012 for the first time since 2007 and had 26 cars. Missing this year were Bobby and Sean McMahan, Lucas Wolfe, Evan Suggs, Rico Abreu, Sam Hafertepe, Jr, Terry McCarl, Jac Haudenschild, Trey Starks, and Tyler Wolf. Newcomers this year for the WoO visit to PAS were David Gravel, Kyle Hirst, Paul McMahan, Greg Wilson, and Daryn Pittman, who won the 30-lap main for car owner/NASCAR Sprint Cup star Kasey Kahne and his long-time sponsor--Great Clips.
The 21 WoO drivers at PAS this year came from 12 states—4 each from CA and IN, 3 TN, 2 OH, and 1 each from CT, IA, MO, MN, ND, OK, PA, and WA. Drivers ages ranged from 20 (Gravel and Austen Wheatley) to 58 (Steve Kinser) and 57 (Sammy Swindell). Group II driver Paul McMahan (No. 51) turned the fastest lap in hot laps at 14.353 (125+ mph). The existing WoO PAS track record is 13.875 (129+ mph). Last year Ohioan Chad Kemenah set FQ time of 14.532. This year Chad again set quick time of 14.232 (126.476 mph) in his No. 63 Maxim on his first of two laps. He was the 20th of 21 qualifiers and 0.300 faster this year on the well-watered, rut-free heavy clay. Jason Sides' No. 7s team lost an engine during hot lapping about 6:15. His team mule pushed their sprinter back to the WoO pits, made a rapid engine change, and returned to the infield staging before qualifying started at 6:40. He was the 16th to qualify and turned the 15th best time of 21 drivers.
WESTERN TOUR: WoO made a three week, three state western tour that visited ten tracks in Las Vegas, Tucson, Tulare, Stockton, Chico, Merced, Antioch, Calistoga (rain), Hanford and Perris. Car counts were: 41, 40, 30, 32, 31, 44, 42, 31, 35, 27 and 21. Eleven main events were completed and eight drivers (four California natives) won features. Tim Kaeding, Pittman, and D. Schatz logged two wins. Solo victories went to C. Dollansky, Kyle Larson, P. McMahan, S. Swindell, and first-time WoO winner Shane Golobic, of Fremont. Shane's dad John is a retired sprint car driver.
The 21 WoO chassis were made by six manufacturers. Maxim led with ten. KPC (Steve Kent) had four cars (21, 29, 83 and 83jr). TI22 (formerly known as JEI) had three cars--(Kahne's No. 4 and 9 and Chad Clemens' No. 51, Fred Rahmer's 2007-2012 ride). Eagle had two cars. Solo cars came from J & J and Doug Wolfgang's Wolfweld. Interestingly, Tony Stewart's team used a J & J for Schatz and Maxim for S. Kinser, who had Bad-Boy Buggies sponsorship. McMahan won the Chico main in the black/red No. 51 TI22 car. Barry Jackson Enterprises, Inc.(JEI) of Carlisle, PA runs the team. Barry, 48, sold his JEI chassis building company to TI22 of E. Pittsburgh, PA in 2011, hence the name change from JEI. The team said open-wheel veteran and current NASCAR rising star Kyle Larson will race a TI22 chassis in WoO in about two weeks for a new car owner.
SPONSORS: Kraig Kinser had Mesilla Valley Transportation on the hood of his dad's No. 11K. Owner Dennis Roth sold his Beef Packers firm in Fresno years ago so his 83 car now has Roth Enterprises on the hood; his 83jr has Roth Motorsports on the hood. Bill Rose had sponsor Fire Text Response on the hoods of his No. 6 and 6r cars. Kahne's light/dark blue No. 4 has SurePointMedical.com sponsorship on the hood and top wing, plus his helmet this season. The firm focuses on meeting the testing and pharmaceutical needs of diabetics nationally. Their expertise is in disease management, new technologies, education and best practices for patients, physicians and staff.
Hoosier Tires succeeded Goodyear Tires (2010-12 WoO contract) as the sole WoO tire supplier. Hoosier Tires has a contract with WoO for three years (2013-15). Rick Gerhardt's Hoosier Tires West, of Fresno, provided the fully-stocked 18-wheeler manned by two men servicing only the WoO western tour. They were in the pits in NV, AZ and CA, but did not go on to El Paso, TX. A Hoosier Tire crewman told me the RR and LR Hoosier tires cost $200 each. The RR tire is good for only one night and depending on track conditions the LR might last two nights. He said the Tulare track was the worst for tire wear during the 2013 western swing.
FORMAT: WoO inverted four in each of three 8-lap heats. P 1-2 in each heat advanced to the 6-lap dash. Schatz, Brown, Kaeding, Swindell, Dollansky and Gravel were top two drivers. The four fastest qualifiers who finished third or lower joined them to complete the ten-car dash field. At PAS the four fastest qualifiers—Kemenah, Saldana, Pittman and Meyers—completed the dash field. A young fan from the grandstand drew a numbered ping pong ball to determine the starting order inversion; he pulled 6, so eighth fastest qualifier Kaeding had the pole and seventh quickest Schatz was alongside. FQ Kemenah launched from P. 6. The ninth and tenth starters were Swindell (11th FQ) and Dollansky (12th FQ). WoO announcer Gibson interviewed all ten dash starters and the starting line. They said the track was too narrow, so seven PAS push trucks were sent onto the track to work in the top half of the track. Dash drivers rode quads or mules back to the pits to their cars. The finishing order in the dash was the feature starting order. Schatz and Kaeding finished 1-2, earning the front row.
The WoO feature paid $10,000, $5,500 and $3,200 to the first three finishers. Winner Pittman told the crowd, “Moisture kept coming up. I ran the bottom and (on lap 18) dive bombed for the lead I got a good run off turn 2 and took a shot. I wanted to leave California with a win. It's always good to win. You never know when you'll get another one or if it will be your last one.” Runner-up Kaeding led the first 17 laps after his lap 1 cross-over pass under pole-sitter Schatz entering the first turn. Still upset about losing a PAS victory, “TK” said on the infield microphone, “I got slid and run into at my left front. I guess I have to become more aggressive. I'll go east and kick all these guys asses back there. I've got 70 races to go after this.” He indicated he would skip the April 16 El Paso race but would make most WoO races. Kaeding then thanked the larger than usual crowd “for supporting 410 racing. This was awesome racing.” Third place Schatz said, “I made a mistake and it cost us. I wasn't sure what the track would do and it cost us.”
Winner Pittman said he won his initial WoO main event at Perris in 2002 by six inches over an upset Steve Kinser. Pittman said Steve still has not won a PAS feature and PAS is one of the few WoO regular tracks where Steve has not won a feature. Joey Saldana won the 3/10/12 PAS feature for the same No. 9 Kasey Kahne team. Pittman drove No. 9 to victory on 4/13/13 with Great Clips sponsorship. Kahne-owned cars this year book-ended the top ten with Pittman first and Cody Darrah, of Red Lion, PA, in P. 10. There were 17 (of 21 starters) racing at the finish with 16 cars on the lead lap. Winner Pittman was close to lapping the dueling P. 15-16 cars of Kerry Madsen and Kraig Kinser.
Darrah, 23, is dating Natalie Sather, a former ASCA 360-sprint car driver to 2008 and NASCAR late model stock car driver to 2012. She follows the WoO tour and sells merchandise at the Kahne team trailer. Darrah, who started racing micro-sprints at at age 13, had to sit out the 2010 season after a highway accident. He won the 2011 WoO sprint car rookie of the year title when he placed tenth in points; he has three WoO feature triumphs to date. Darrah comes from a racing family. His mom Kitty was a local stock car driver and he has uncles, aunts, grandparents and great-grandparents who raced. His uncle Rick Eckert is a winning and leading WoO Late Model Series dirt stock car driver.
The blond girl friend of driver Kyle Larson, 20, is Katelyn Sweet, of Grass Valley, CA. She is the sister of open-wheel and NASCAR driver Brad Sweet, who races for Kahne. Larson and Sweet are close buddies of Kasey, who is mentoring both young northern Californians. It is interesting to read Facebook and Twitter posts of upcoming young drivers and their families to see how close the young racing crowd is these days. Kyle's older sister, Andrea, also moved from California to N.C at the start of 2013. The young Nor Cal racers on Twitter remain vocal fans of the SG Giants and SF 49ers.
Bill Rose, of Plainfield, IN, has been sidelined since he was injured Saturday, Feb. 16 in a WoO race at Volusia Speedway in Barberville, FL. The 48-year old personable owner/driver said his LR tire exploded on the last lap of his heat race and debris came into his cockpit. He received a broken bone in his left forearm. He was taken to a local hospital and had surgery a day later. He left Florida for home February 18. At PAS Bill showed me his left forearm and the 4 or 5 inch scar. He drove his backup No. 6r Maxim at Hanford Friday, April 12 and said his elbow was locking up and his left wrist was swollen. Rose qualified slowest at PAS, started at the back of his heat and main, and was basically a start and park addition to the 21-car field--lowest WoO car count in 14 races this season. He said he will see a doctor back home soon for further evaluation of his arm injury.
GRAVEL: David Gravel, of Watertown, CT, made his first racing trip west as sub-driver of recuperating Rose's Maxim. The 20-year old veteran, who will turn 21 on June 23, performed well and ranked seventh in WoO points after Perris. He raced his family-owned, black No. 89g J & J chassis with Kistler engines successfully last season on the All-Star Circuit of Champions in the east and Midwest. He set one fastest qualifying time, had one feature win, 28 top ten feature finishes, and earned third in All-Star points. Gravel ran a limited 2012 WoO schedule and had ten top ten finishes, including eight top fives. He said he won the Knoxville Nationals rookie of the year in 2010 when he finished 12th in the B-main. He finished 22nd in the 2012 Knoxville National A-main. He said he uses 89 as his number because that is the year his dad, a body shop owner, started racing. Gravel (pronounced like small rocks) said he likes going to new speedways and is a fast learner. He liked Kings Speedway in Hanford best of the California tracks and said Tulare was the very rough. The personable driver said Perris was very heavy and WoO teams prefer slicker, wider tracks that allow more passing. Tyler Swank is his crew chief on his No. 89g and Rose No. 6.
WoO teams signed autographs for fans in the PAS pits from 9:30 to about 10 pm. Some teams loaded quickly and pulled out to begin their long tow to the next WoO race on Tuesday night, April 16 in El Paso, TX. The tow from Perris to El Paso is about 750 miles via I-10 and takes about 11+ hours. No wonder they made hasty departures. PAS to Phoenix is 320 or so (5+ hours) and Phoenix to El Paso Speedway Park is about 430 miles (6:20 hours). P. McMahan tweeted that he just crossed the New Mexico border at 8:40 pm Sunday night. The El Paso to Paducah, KY trip for the next WoO race on Friday, April 19 is another marathon drive (1,269 miles) that requires about 18 or 19 hours. The next race is Saturday, April 20 at Haubstadt, IN. Even WoO teams were concerned about that lengthy drive considering truck speed limits. WoO life on the road is not glamorous, it's a grind.
The WoO race at El Paso had only 21 cars, tying Perris for low car count in 2013. Cars in the 21 car PAS field that did not go to El Paso were: Nos. 83 (Kaeding) 83jr (Hirst), 21M (Jason Meyers), 21 (Brian Brown), 0 (Jonathan Allard) and 44w (Austen Wheatley). Six cars at El Paso that were not at PAS were: No. 15H (Sam Hafertepe, Jr.), 7c (John Carney), 74x (Josh Hodges), 20z (Rick Ziehl), 17 (Josh Baughman), and 131 (Royal Jones). It was the first-ever WoO visit to the El Paso track Gravel set fast time 13.453 on the three-eighths mile oval. Steve Kinser, the 20-time WoO champion, entered the El Paso event with 574 feature victories at 125 different speedways. He won the dash and from the pole and led all 30-laps of the feature, giving him 575 triumphs at 126 tracks. The competitive 2013 WoO season has had 15 features and 11 different winners.