Lonnie Wheatley – LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 29, 2004) – Sammy Swindell slipped around Jerrod Hull on the tenth round en route to topping Friday night’s 17th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires 25-lap preliminary feature at I-30 Speedway.
When a lapped car did a quick 360-degree spin directly in front of the leaders on the tenth lap, it was just the opportunity Swindell was looking for as he took quick advantage of Hull’s brief hesitation to take command. Swindell then raced to a straightaway victory over Hull, who fought off Gary Wright for the second and final transfer spot to Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win Short Track Nationals finale.
Hull accumulated the most points through heat and qualifying race action among Friday night’s 84-car field to earn the pole position for the feature after advancing from third to first in his heat race, then charging from tenth to second in his qualifier. Ohio’s Greg Wilson earned the front row outside starting slot after a pair of third place heat and qualifying finishes after eighth and tenth place starts.
As Hull and Wilson led the 20-car feature field to the green flag with Wright and Swindell in the second row, Wilson got a slight jump off turn four at the start. Hull held the low line masterfully however to battle into the lead upon the completion of the first lap.
Hull paced the early rounds in front of Wilson, Swindell, Wright, Danny Wood and Chad Kemenah, with Swindell making his move past Wilson for second on the sixth circuit. Swindell closed on Hull’s bumper and when Marshall Skinner looped his machine in turn four on the tenth lap, Swindell ducked underneath Hull to take command.
Skinner then looped his mount again in turns one and two, collecting fifth-runner Wood and bringing out the race’s first caution. The race’s only other caution appeared seven laps later for Joey Montgomery’s turn four spin, erasing the commanding straightaway advantage Swindell had amassed.
Set for an eight-lap charge to the checkered, Swindell checked out once again and cruised to the line unchallenged aboard the Red Line Oil/York Excavating No. 1 Maxim. While Swindell raced unabated to the stripe, Hull had his hands full fending off Wilson and Wright for the valuable runner-up slot.
Wilson’s bid for second came to an end when his engine expired on the 23rd lap. Wright quickly moved in to challenge Hull for second, making a strong bid on the final round only to have Hull successfully fend off the charge to narrowly beat the three-time STN champion to the stripe for the position. Wright settled for third in front of Kemenah, with Mike Ward charging from 15th to round out the top five.
Terry Gray raced from 19th to claim sixth, with Nick Smith in seventh. Kevin Swindell posted an eighth-place showing, with Tim Montgomery and 20th-starter Kevin Ramey completing the top ten.
Toby Brown, Ward, Tim Crawley, Tim Montgomery, Pete Butler, Brian Brown and Hull each scored 12-lap heat race victories, with Danny Martin, Jr., Jon Corbin, Eric Schrock, Jason Johnson, Sammy Swindell, Ricky Logan and Joe McCarthy victorious in the 12-lap qualifying races.
After his heat race win, Butler flipped violently entering the third turn in his qualifying race after jumping another car’s left wheel. A shaken Butler was transported to the hospital to examine a throbbing ankle.
The evening’s only other flip victim was Travis Rilat, who flew off the turn two embankment and tipped over courtesy of an ill-executed Billy Alley slide job in heat race action. Rilat returned to finish seventh in the heat, only to be collected in a qualifying race tangle.
Former STN winner Wayne Johnson called it a night after front-end damage sustained from contact with an infield tire in heat race action.
A total of 96 cars have competed through the first two nights of the 17th Annual Team Affiliated Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires, with Swindell and Hull joining Thursday night winner Lewis Jenkins, Jr., and runner-up Shane Stewart in Saturday night’s Pack’s Dash for Cash, which will determine their starting position in Saturday night’s finale. The balance of the field will vie for the remaining 16 feature starting positions through a series of heat races, “C†Features and “B†Features.
Should he need it, Wright has a provisional starting position in Saturday night’s main event by virtue of his O’Reilly Sprint Bandits triumph at I-30 Speedway on May 15.
Results:
First Heat (12 Laps): 1. #61a Toby Brown, 2. #15s Nick Smith, 3. #21r Raymond Stull, 4. #10t Terry Gray, 5. #2d Mitchell Moore, 6. #5k Jerry Kamer, 7. #29t Travis Rilat, 8. #d1 D.J. Masner, 9. #00m Danny Martin, Jr., 10. #22 Billy Alley, 11. #d12 Christopher Sloan. Disqualified: #8 Zach Pringle.
Second Heat (12 Laps): 1. #88 Mike Ward, 2. #74e Claud Estes, 3. #7m Kevin Ramey, 4. #40g Clint Garner, 5. #1 Sammy Swindell, 6. #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 7. #7a Johnny Anderson, 8. #26 Derek Drown, 9. #7r Ricky Logan, 10. #5 Eric Lutz, 11. #6 Lee Moore, 12. #15g Robert Gant.
Third Heat (12 Laps): 1. #87 Tim Crawley, 2. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 3. #21c Joey Montgomery, 4. #1k Kevin Swindell, 5. #44 Danny Wood, 6. #12x Robbie Standridge, 7. #65 Skip Wilson, 8. #75 Tyler Blank, 9. #77a Andy Goin, 10. #33c Jon Corbin, 11. #5g Brett Golik, 12. #77p Scott Pursell.
Fourth Heat (12 Laps): 1. #23x Tim Montgomery, 2. #87JR Steven Tiner, 3. #1z Dusty Zomer, 4. #26k Marshall Skinner, 5. #11p Preston Peebles II, 6. #71J Johnny Miller, 7. #86s Eric Schrock, 8. #5p Skip Andrews, 9. #38 Rick Pringle, 10. #1x Sean McClelland, 11. #94J Wayne Johnson. DNS: #71 Robert Bell.
Fifth Heat (12 Laps): 1. #29h Pete Butler, 2. #0 Wade Oliver, 3. #98 Greg Wilson, 4. #X Chuck Swenson, 5. #8a Ernie Ainsworth, 6. #15b Jim Bowden, 7. #97 Kelly Kinser, 8. #1h Matt Folstad, 9. #1gm Eddie Gallagher, 10. #19 Joe McCarthy, 11. #4a Kenny Adams, 12. #35 Hunter Schuerenberg.
Sixth Heat (12 Laps): 1. #21b Brian Brown, 2. #9 Gary Wright, 3. #44c Ronny Howard, 4. #20k Chad Kemenah, 5. #9c Kenny Conrad, 6. #51 Lee Sowell, 7. #46 Jan Howard, 8. #1* Kent Buckley, 9. #33b Josh Baker, 10. #4r Jody Roland, 11. #18 Tony Bruce, Jr., 12. #16s Donnie Steward.
Seventh Heat (12 Laps): 1. #50 Jerrod Hull, 2. #47 Dale Howard, 3. #21t Ray Allen Kulhanek, 4. #91 Darren Stewart, 5. #41 Jason Johnson, 6. #24J Josh Higday, 7. #59 Dex Eaton, 8. #3 A.G. Rains, 9. #24w Kenny Coke, 10. #4t Justin Sturch, 11. #46a Arlen Stewart, 12. #27 Wesley Hale.
First Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #00m Danny Martin, Jr., 2. #44 Danny Wood, 3. #26k Marshall Skinner, 4. #21c Joey Montgomery, 5. #1x Sean McClelland, 6. #47 Dale Howard, 7. #65 Skip Wilson, 8. #2d Mitchell Moore, 9. #1* Kent Buckley. DNS: #46 Jan Howard, #94J Wayne Johnson, #27 Wesley Hale.
Second Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #33c Jon Corbin, 2. #24w Kenny Coke, 3. #98 Greg Wilson, 4. #0 Wade Oliver, 5. #15s Nick Smith, 6. #X Chuck Swenson, 7. #74e Claud Estes, 8. #16s Donnie Steward, 9. #29t Travis Rilat, 10. #15b Jim Bowden, 11. #51 Lee Sowell. DNS: #5g Brett Golik.
Third Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #86s Eric Schrock, 2. #3 A.G. Rains, 3. #1z Dusty Zomer, 4. #26k Marshall Skinner, 5. #10t Terry Gray, 6. #5 Eric Lutz, 7. #7m Kevin Ramey, 8. #40r Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 9. #59 Dex Eaton, 10. #71J Johnny Miller. DNS: #6 Lee Moore, #35 Hunter Schuerenberg.
Fourth Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #41 Jason Johnson, 2. #1k Kevin Swindell, 3. #12x Robbie Standridge, 4. #9 Gary Wright, 5. #88 Mike Ward, 6. #40g Clint Garner, 7. #75 Tyler Blank, 8. #d12 Christopher Sloan, 9. #29h Pete Butler. DNS: #38 Rick Pringle, #33b Josh Baker, #77p Scott Pursell.
Fifth Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #1 Sammy Swindell, 2. #7a Johnny Anderson, 3. #23x Tim Montgomery, 4. #21r Raymond Stull, 5. #91 Darren Stewart, 6. #77a Andy Goin, 7. #46a Arlen Stewart, 8. #26 Derek Drown, 9. #9c Kenny Conrad. DNS: #5p Skip Andrews, #4t Justin Sturch, #15g Robert Gant.
Sixth Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #7r Ricky Logan, 2. #50 Jerrod Hull, 3. #18 Tony Bruce, Jr., 4. #87 Tim Crawley, 5. #1gm Eddie Gallagher, 6. #11p Preston Peebles II, 7. #97 Kelly Kinser, 8. #4r Jody Roland, 9. #d1 D.J. Masner, 10. #44c Ronny Howard. DNS: #15h Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
Seventh Qualifier (12 Laps): 1. #19 Joe McCarthy, 2. #8a Ernie Ainsworth, 3. #5k Jerry Kamer, 4. #21b Brian Brown, 5. #61a Toby Brown, 6. #21t Ray Allen Kulhanek, 7. #87JR Steven Tiner, 8. #22 Billy Alley. DNS: #94J Wayne Johnson, #1h Matt Folstad, #4a Kenny Adams.
A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. #1 Sammy Swindell (4), 2. #50 Jerrod Hull (1), 3. #9 Gary Wright (3), 4. #20k Chad Kemenah (6), 5. #88 Mike Ward (15), 6. #10t Terry Gray (19), 7. #15s Nick Smith (8), 8. #1k Kevin Swindell (9), 9. #23x Tim Montgomery (10), 10. #7m Kevin Ramey (20), 11. #21r Raymond Stull (12), 12. #21b Brian Brown (11), 13. #1z Dusty Zomer (16), 14. #41 Jason Johnson (18), 15. #98 Greg Wilson (2), 16. #0 Wade Oliver (14), 17. #21c Joey Montgomery (7), 18. #44 Danny Wood (5), 19. #26k Marshall Skinner (17), 20. #87 Tim Crawley (13).
Slammin’ Sammy Scores Friday STN Prelim Win
Started by Donna Jones, Oct 29 2004 11:59 PM
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