SCHEREVILLE, IN: For the second time in 2008, USAC brought it’s “Open Wheel Extravaganza” to the Calumet Region’s historic Illiana Speedway Wednesday night. For anyone who loves midget racing, it was the right place to be.
The Regional Midgets, Kenyon Midgets and Midwest/Indiana/UMARA Ford Focuses all staged 30-lap feature events. The Midgets competed on the track’s 1/2-mile oval, while the Focuses and Kenyons raced on the 1/4-mile.
The feature event for the Regional Midgets on the big oval saw an excellent battle for the entire distance, as Travis Young jumped to the early lead, which he held until Mike Terry Jr. blew by on lap 14. On the very next lap, Young took the top spot back and began to draw away slightly. At this point, fast qualifier Zach Schiff, driving for legendary owner Bob East, took second place from Terry Jr., and proceeded to run down the leader. Finally, with eight laps to go, Schiff completed his charge, assuming the lead which he held to the end.
On the small oval, Kyle Hamilton scored a dominate victory in the Ford Focus portion of the program, leading all 30 laps of the feature. Hamilton continues to lead the Midwest Ford Focus point standings.
The evening’s third event, featuring the Kenyon Midgets, proved to be another intense battle. In a race that saw the entire field running virtually nose-to-tail, Mike Terry Jr. was able to lead the first 9 laps before Drew Charlson was able to slip by with an inside pass. Charlson managed to hold the top spot for three laps, before Jeff Wimmenauer executed an outside pass to assume a lead he would hold to the finish.. At the checkered flag, the field was still running in freight train-like formation.
Good weather good crowd good racing!
The results:
USAC REGIONAL MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 6, 2008 – Schererville, Indiana – Illiana Motor Speedway – “Open Wheel Extravaganza” presented by The Richard Petty Driving Experience
QUALIFYING: 1. Zach Schiff, 5, East-19.141; 2. Alison MacLeod, 4, East-19.176; 3. Joe Liguori, 28, Owen-19.350; 4. Mario Marietta, 85, Marietta-19.320; 5. Travis Young, 11, Young-19.329; 6. Jim Anderson, 36, Guess-19.396; 7. Kyle Hamilton, 33, Hamilton-19.429; 8. Mario Clouser, 06, Clouser-19.467; 9. Brent Beauchamp, 112, Beauchamp-19.493; 10. David Byrne, 20D, Byrne-19.584; 11. Reeed Ceponis, 79, Ceponis-19.869; 12. Billy Hulbert, 88, Hulbert-20.094; 13. Chris Phillips, 64, Phillips-20.284; 14. Doug Dietsch, 0, Dietsch-20.344; 15. Ryan Hamilton, 80, Hoosier Racing-20.284; 16. Terry Ahern, 4T, Ahern-22.025; 17. Dave Fuhrman, 32, Fuhrman-22.157; 18. James Robertson, 42, Hargitt-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Hamilton, 2. Beauchamp, 3. Young, 4. Liguori, 5. Schiff, 6. Ceponis, 7. Phillips, 8. Fuhrman. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. MacLeod, 2. Anderson, 3. Marietta, 4. Clouser, 5, Byrne, 6. Hulbert, 7. Dietsch, 8. Ahern. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Zach Schiff, 2. Mario Clouser, 3. Travis Young, 4. Mike Terry Jr., 5. Kyle Hamilton, 6. Alison MacLeod, 7. David Byrne (#20x), 8. Doug Dietsch, 9. Jim Anderson, 10. Joe Liguori, 11. Chris Phillips, 12. Terry Ahern, 13. Reed Ceponis, 13. Dave Fuhrman, 14. Steven Mathews, 15. Brent Beauchamp.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-13 Young, Lap 14 Terry, Laps 15-21 Young, Laps 22-30 Schiff
USAC MIDWEST/INDIANA FORD FOCUS MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 6, 2008 – Schererville, Indiana – Illiana Motor Speedway – “Open Wheel Extravaganza” presented by The Richard Petty Driving Experience
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jordan Pennington (#55 Pennington), 2. Steven Mathews (#88 Mathews), 3. Kyle Hamilton (#1 Steele), 4. Nick Grommes (#28x Wachter), 5. Tyler Cottongim (#28 Cottongim), 6. Andy Nock (#51 Nock), 7. Kyle Chady (#57 Chady). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Branden Allen (#12a Wachter), 2. Brad Greenup (#4 Greenup), 3. Katie Hargitt (#79 Hargitt), 4. Bill Kriegbaum (#12 Kriegbaum), 5. Tyler Hewitt (#91 Hewitt), 6. Mike Nigh (#51x Nigh). NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kyle Hamilton, 2. Steven Mathews, 3. Andy Nock, 4. Jordan Pennington, 5. Branden Allen, 6. Nick Grommes, 7. Katie Hargitt, 8. Tyler Cottongim, 9. Tyler Hewitt, 10. Kyle Chady, 11. Bill Kriegbaum, 12. Mike Nigh, 13. Brad Greenup. NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Hamilton.
USAC KENYON MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 6, 2008 – Schererville, Indiana – Illiana Motor Speedway – “Open Wheel Extravaganza” presented by The Richard Petty Driving Experience
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Caleb Armstrong (#7 C & A), 2. Drew Charlson (#21 Charlson), 3. Grant Galloway (#84 Grant), 4. Mike Terry Jr. (#85 Terry), 5. Dalton Armstrong (#17 C & A), 6. Jeff Wimmenauer (#15 Wimmenauer), 7. Dillon Welch (#14 Welch). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps – no points) 1. Wimmenauer, 2. Welch, 3. D.Armstrong, 4. Charlson, 5. Terry, 6. C.Armstrong, 7. Galloway.
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jeff Wimmenauer, 2. Drew Charlson, 3. Mike Terry Jr., 4. Caleb Armstrong, 5. Dillon Welch, 6. Dalton Armstrong, 7. Grant Galloway. NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 Terry, Laps 10-13 Charlson, Laps 14-30 Wimmenauer.
John AtlasThe Dirt GuyUSAC