USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 9, 2008 – Bloomington, Indiana – Bloomington Speedway

RACING PROGRAM CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER AND WET GROUNDS

NEXT NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE: – May 10 – Rossburg, OH – Eldora Speedway – “Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic Pole Night Sprints”

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KRUSEMAN EYES #14 SATURDAY AT THE PAS; “POWER OF PURPLE NIGHTS CONTINUE”

USAC/CRA Sprint Car point leader Cory Kruseman of Ventura, Calif. continues his pursuit of a Damion Gardner record Saturday night, hoping to notch his 14th USAC/CRA Sprint win at the 1/2-mile Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway.

Gardner has won 19 USAC/CRA races at the storied oval, while Kruseman moved into second all-time ahead of Tony Jones with his April 26 win. Cory won one in 2004, six in 2005, one in 2006, two in 2007, plus three already this season.

Mike Spencer trails Kruseman in the series standings by 54 points going into Saturday’s event, a continuance of the track’s “Power of Purple Nights,” saluting the American Cancer Society.

Ranking 23rd on the all-time list of USAC feature winners in all series with 54 career triumphs, Kruseman’s next win would tie the mark of 55 wins set by the late Roger McCluskey.

USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1. Cory Kruseman  565
2. Mike Spencer  511
3. Blake Miller  468
4. Garrett Hansen  434
5. Danny Sheridan  429
6. Tyler Brown  355
7. Levi Jones  350
8. Josh Ford  307
9. Jesse Hockett  292
10. Tony Jones  289
 
SPRINTS HEAD FOR BLOOMINGTON & ELDORA; JONES WINS BROWNSTOWN THRILLER

The USAC National Sprint Car Series gains steam this weekend with back-to-back races at Bloomington, Ind. and Rossburg, Ohio. Friday night’s race is at the 1/4-mile dirt Bloomington oval and Saturday night’s race at the 1/2-mile dirt Eldora Speedway is the 26th “Don Branson/Jud Larson Classic.”

Defending USAC National Sprint Car Champ Levi Jones of Avon, Ind. enters the weekend with a 33-point lead over Brady Bacon after winning Saturday night’s 30-lap thriller at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway.

Robert Ballou is the defending winner of the “Branson/Larson” event, while former race winners expected to compete include Jerry Coons Jr. (2006) and Tracy Hines (2001). Dave Peperak won the inaugural in 1981, an event televised by ABC’s “Wide World of Sports.”

Saturday night’s race was the first ever for USAC at the 1/4-mile Brownsburg track. Jones was the fourth and final leader in a race in which the top five was different nearly every lap! He made an outside pass on Dustin Morgan on lap 21 and held off several challengers over the final 10 laps in his Tony Stewart Racing Chevy/Bass Pro Shops Maxim/Kistler Chevy. Brady Short made a late-race charge to take second by three car lengths at the checkered flag. Morgan finished third, followed by Ballou and Hines.

Pole starter Coons led the first two laps, yielded to Ballou on lap three, took the lead back for lap four, then slid behind Ballou on lap five. Morgan slid around Ballou on lap 16 and led five laps before Jones made his winning move. Fast qualifier Bacon finished eighth at Brownstown.

Dave Darland, who led the standings before slipping to an 18th-place finish at Brownstown, won last year’s USAC Sprint feature at Bloomington.

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1. Levi Jones  173
2. Brady Bacon  140
3. Tracy Hines  133
4. Cole Whitt  132
5. Darren Hagen  131
6. Dave Darland  130
7. Jerry Coons Jr.  126
8. Dustin Morgan  124
9. Robert Ballou  117
10. Shane Cottle   101
 

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: May 3, 2008 – Brownstown, Indiana – Brownstown Speedway

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Brady Bacon, 99, Kahne-14.305; 2. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-14.338; 3. Daron Clayton, 10, R & B-14.402; 4. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-14.488; 5. Dustin Morgan, 93, M & M-14.567; 6. Robert Ballou, 81, MPHG-14.579; 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 69, Dynamics-14.579; 8. Damion Gardner, 71, Leffler-14.596; 9. Kyle Cummins, 3c, Cummins-14.701; 10. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-14.707; 11. Brett Burdette, 17B, Burdette-14.716; 12. Kenny Biro, 22, Biro-14.720; 13. Jon Stanbrough, 53, Fox-14.767; 14. Hud Cone, 14, Cone-14.820; 15. A.J. Anderson, 11, Walker/Guiducci-14.843; 16. Josh Spencer, 66, Batcheldor-14.865; 17. Shane Cottle, 4, Contos-14.866; 18. Jeff Bland, 21s, Stewart-14.875; 19. Blake Fitzpatrick, 10F, Fitzpatrick-14.944; 20. Darren Hagen, 67, Kunz-14.984; 21. Sammy Imel, 35, Imel-15.004; 22. Thomas Meseraull, 10T, R & B-15.013; 23. Ryan Pace, 44p, Pace-15.043; 24. Randy Hannagan, 1x, THR-15.055; 25. Hunter Scheurenberg, 1H, Triple Crown-15.090; 26. Brady Short, 36, Short-15.115; 27. Kevin Studley, 57, Studley-15.169; 28. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-15.247; 29. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-15.256; 30. Dave Darland, 44, Pace-15.312; 31. Bill Rose, 6, Rose-15.344; 32. Rex Norris III, 63, Norris-15.352; 33. Kevin Briscoe, 5, Briscoe-15.388; 34. Dakoda Armstrong, 7A, C & A-15.391; 35. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9k, Thomas-15.426; 36. Mat Neely, 73, Ellis-15.438; 37. Jesse Hockett, 75, VKCC-15.446; 38. Chris Windom, 17, Windom-15.583; 39. Tommy Bush, 5x, Briscoe-15.598; 40. Brad Sweet, 9, Kahne-15.646; 41. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-15.648; 42. #67x, Kunz-NT; 43. #36x, Short-NT; 44. #67H, Kunz-NT.

NON-QUALIFIERS RACE: (8 laps) 1. Neely, 2. Sweet, 3. Hockett, 4. Windom, 5. Boat, 6. Briscoe, 7. Armstrong, 8. Thomas, 9. Bush. 2:01.93

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Scheurenberg, 3. Morgan, 4. Cummins, 5. Bacon, 6. Imel, 7. Neely, 8. Robbins, 9. Cottle. NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Short, 3. Sweet, 4. Hines, 5. Darland, 6. Meseraull, 7. Cone, 8. Bland, 9. Jones. NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Coons, 2. Rose, 3. Clayton, 4. Hockett, 5. Anderson, 6. Burdette, 7. Fitzpatrick, 8. Pace, 9. Studley. 2:41.01

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Whitt, 2. Gardner, 3. Spencer, 4. Norris, 5. Hagen, 6. Biro, 7. Mellenberndt, 8. Hannagan, 9. Windom. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Cone, 2. Jones, 3. Bacon, 4. Anderson, 5. Windom, 6. Fitzpatrick, 7. Darland, 8. Imel, 9. Cottle, 10. Burdette, 11. Pace, 12. Hannagan, 13. Robbins, 14. Neely, 15. Studley, 16. Meseraull, 17. Biro, 18. Hagen, 19. Bland, 20. Mellenberndt. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Levi Jones, 2. Brady Short, 3. Dustin Morgan, 4. Robert Ballou, 5. Tracy Hines, 6. Jon Stanbrough, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Brady Bacon, 9. Cole Whitt, 10. Kyle Cummins, 11. Darren Hagen, 12. Damion Gardner, 13. Hud Cone, 14. A.J. Anderson, 15. Daron Clayton, 16. Bill Rose, 17. Chris Windom, 18. Dave Darland, 19. Brad Sweet, 20. Jesse Hockett, 21. Blake Fitzpatrick, 22. Hunter Scheurenberg, 23. Rex Norris III, 24. Josh Spencer. NT

**Cottle flipped during the first heat.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Coons, Lap 3 Ballou, Lap 4 Coons, Laps 5-15 Ballou, Laps 16-20 Morgan, Laps 21-30 Jones.

NEW NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Jones-173; 2-Bacon-140; 3-Hines-133; 4-Whitt-132; 5-Hagen-131; 6-Darland-130; 7-Coons-126; 8-Morgan-124; 9-Ballou-117; 10-Cottle-101.

NEXT NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE: – May 9 – Bloomington (IN) Speedway

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Cory Kruseman on his way to this 3rd USAC/CRA win of 2008 at the Perris Auto Speedway. Photo © Doug Allen Photos 

BROWNSTOWN USAC DEBUT SATURDAY; HAGEN WINS “RICH VOGLER CLASSIC”

The USAC National Sprint Car Series is headed for the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Brownstown, Ind. Saturday night for the first USAC Sprint race in the quarter-mile dirt track’s history.

Dave Darland of Lincoln, Ind. leads the series standings in search of his second series title, holding an eight-point edge over two-time defending series champion Levi Jones. Darland finished second in Sunday’s race at the Winchester (Ind.) Speedway.

Darren Hagen gave car owner Keith Kunz Motorsports their third consecutive “Rich Vogler Classic” USAC National Sprint Car victory Sunday afternoon at Winchester, leading the final 25 laps in his IWX/Advanced Racing Beast/Speedway Mopar special. The Riverside, Calif. driver nearly didn’t make it to the checkered flag!

On lap 24 Hagen was being pressured for the lead by Chris Windom when the two cars made contact exiting turn four. Both cars slid to the inside of the front straightaway and while Windom slid to a stop sideways at the end of the straightaway, Hagen was able to continue as the leader. On the restart he pulled away, then withstood a challenge from Tracy Hines and Darland on another restart for the last two laps. Pole starter Brian Gerster led the first five laps of the race before yielding to Hagen. Darland finished second ahead of fast qualifier Hines, Brady Bacon and Gerster.

The Kunz team also won the “Rich Vogler Classic” in 2006 with driver Bryan Clauson and in 2007 with driver Marc Jessup.

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1. Dave Darland 113
2. Levi Jones 105
3. Darren Hagen 100
3. Shane Cottle 100
5. Brady Bacon 93
6. Cole Whitt 88
7. Tracy Hines 80
8. Brad Sweet 79
9. Jerry Coons Jr. 76
10. Dustin Morgan 62

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NEXT USAC/CRA SPRINT RACE AT THE PAS MAY 10; KRUSEMAN NOTCHES 3RD VICTORY IN SATURDAY’S 30-LAPPER

Cory Kruseman of Ventura, Calif. enters the May 10 race at the Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway with a 54-point lead over Mike Spencer in the USAC/CRA Sprint Car standings.

Kruseman extended his lead Saturday night, winning the 30-lap “Power of Purple Night” feature at Perris Auto Speedway. Kruseman passed 2007 series titlist Tony Jones on lap four and led the rest of the way in his Agromin/Lucas Oil Viper/Mopar. Jones finished second ahead of Danny Sheridan, Blake Miller and fast qualifier Spencer.

Kruseman becomes the first driver to win three races in the series this season, having won back-to-back features to open the 2008 campaign. Kruseman is the only driver with more than one win this year, seven other drivers having tasted victory so far.

USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES POINT STANDINGS
1. Cory Kruseman 565
2. Mike Spencer  511
3. Blake Miller  468
4. Garrett Hansen 434
5. Danny Sheridan 429
6. Tyler Brown  355
7. Levi Jones  350
8. Josh Ford  307
9. Jesse Hockett 292
10. Tony Jones  289

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“RICH VOGLER CLASSIC” RESCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY AT WINCHESTER; COTTLE & RAIN PREVAIL AT GAS CITY The 18th running of the “Rich Vogler Classic” is re-scheduled for this Sunday afternoon (April 27) at the Winchester (Ind.) Speedway after persistent showers forced Sunday’s postponement of the race honoring the memory of USAC’s winningest driver of all time. Shane Cottle of Kokomo, Ind. kicked off the 2008 USAC National Sprint Car season with a thrilling victory in Friday night's 30-lap race at the Gas City I-69 Speedway. Driving the Contos Racing Chalk/Frampton, Cottle took the lead from Brad Sweet on lap 18 and led the rest of the way to beat Dustin Morgan, Sweet, Levi Jones and Dave Darland, who came from the last row to take fifth. Rains forced cancellation of Saturday night’s scheduled return to Gas City’s 1/4-mile dirt oval. Brady Bacon was Friday's fastest qualifier. Blake Fitzpatrick won the qualifying race and heats went to Scotty Weir, Jon Stanbrough, Darren Hagen and Jerry Coons Jr. Cottle won the semi. Thomas Meseraull flipped on lap 13 of the feature but escaped injury. Cottle leads the series standings going into Sunday’s return to the 1/2-mile paved Winchester oval. 

SPENCER RESUMES CHASE OF KRUSEMAN WHEN CRA SPRINTS RETURN TO THE PAS SATURDAY Mike Spencer of Temecula, Calif. continues his pursuit of his initial USAC championship Saturday when the USAC/CRA Sprint cars return to Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway. He trails former series champion and 2008 point leader Cory Kruseman by 42 points. It’s “Power of Purple Night” at the 1/2-mile dirt track, saluting the American Cancer Society and a 30-lap feature is on tap. Spencer is one of five drives who have already posted feature wins at the PAS this year. The others are Kruseman (twice), Danny Sheridan and Johnny Rodriguez, who piloted a new car to victory in his first outing two weeks ago. Blake Miller, who has a 2008 win but not at Perris, ranks third in the standings, 82 behind Kruseman.