Late Model Summer Nationals
Vermillion County Speedway
July 5, 2009
After a saturday of no racing...finally we were going to get to see some thanks to Joe Spiker and Team....
The pit was full with late model, modified and street stock...There were 35 late model, 45 modified and 39 street stock...
I headed to the pit...
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I ran into Heather Thomas and her mom and talked for a while..then I talked with B J McCammon... BJ got his first feature win at VCS last weekend....
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While talking with BJ I noticed a black #01 I had not seen before...soooo....introduced myself and asked for an interview....it was Jeremy Nichols...
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I went over to the Team #27 pit area and got a couple of pictures of Rodney Melvin's car but did not find him..
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My next interview was with 17 year old Jimmy Dehm, driver of the #99j.....he is a cousin of Lance Dehm...
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Now it was time for the drivers meeting so no more interviewing for a while...
I grabbed a picture of Dennis Erb at the meeting Click to view attachment
and then went to take some pictures of some cars
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While waiting for the meeting to get over I waited by Donny Walden's rig and asked some questions of some team members.... .. his tire guy was busy working on the tires and I asked him some questions about why they do that to the tires... he was gracious enough to take time to answer them.... he told me they cut them in two directions..up and down and cross wise.... he said it helped keep the tires from getting hot...and sorry... but he told me more and I can't remember... I should have been writing it down...and dummy me did not take a picture of the guy I was talking too.... hope to catch him again.....meeting was over and I got an interview with 25 year old Donny Walden
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The hot laps were starting then qualifying the late model... I headed back to the grandstands..
Qualifying group one:
Dennis Erb.......,,,,..13.606
Ryan Unzicker...,,,,,.13.696
Dustin Linville...,,,,,..13.746
Dillion White.....,,,,,,..13.850
Darren Freidman.,,,,,.13.902
Jason Feger....,,,,....13.965
Steve Sheppard.,,...14.104
Scott Bull..........,,..14.223
Bryant Dickenson....14.729
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group 2
Terry Casey...........13.296
Randy Korte...........13.501
Shannon Babb........13.642
Aaron Ricketts........14.093
Dick Potts.............14.151
Jimmy Dehm...........14.259
Dan Walden............14.396
Lee Thomason...........9999999'
group 3
Jeep VanWormer..........13.623
Donny Walden..............14.014
Brandon Sheppard.........14.119
Brandon Thurlby............14.412
Bobby Pierce................14.627
Marvin Burton...............15.067
Don Hilleary..................15.252
Cory Rolfe....................33.563
Kenny Carmichael..........99999999
group 4
Rodney Melvin...............13.743
Kevin Weaver................14.102
Frank Heckenast,jr.........14.139
Tyler Reddick................14.139
Derek Chandker.............14.300
Scott Schmidt...............14.552
Mitchell Lankford............15.205
It was unbelieveable how Joe Spiker and his team got that track in shape for racing sunday.... I was told that they ran the pumps until 3:00 a.m. to get the water off the track.... Joe Jeffries said the track was in great shape saturday and they would have been able to run if it would have just quit raining...
They also had a spectacular fireworks display...Jenna Bare really enjoyed them as did the other children big and little....
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A couple of balloons also were spotted in the sky...
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There were 35 late model...four heats..top four to feature...
In heat one you had Erb and Unzicker on front line, 2nd row Linville and White, 3rd row was Friedman and Feger, 4th row Steve Sheppard and Bull...tail was Dickenson..
on the green flag start Dennis Erb jumped the cushion in turn one...the #24 of Unzicker takes the lead....caution comes out for the #54 with one lap in...the #28 of Dennis Erb and the #24 of Unzicker are going at it strong....meantime the #25 of Feger is moving up the line.........three to feature are Ryan Unzicker...Dennis Erb...Dustin Linville.....
heat two Casey and Korte on front row, Babb and Ricketts are on 2nd row, 3rd row is Potts and Dehm, 4th row is Walden and Thomason..scheduled to start on tail was Joe Harlan..he dns.......Randy got out in front and never looked back......three to feature Randy Korte...Terry Casey and Shannon Babb...
heat three VanWormer and Donniy Walden on front row, 2nd row is Brandon Sheppard and Thurlby, 3rd row was Bobby Pierce and Marvin Burton, 4th row was Hilleary and Rolfe...Kenny Carmichael dns....
not to far into the race the short cool one pulled off the track with a flat tire...
three going to feature were Jeep VanWormer...Brandon Sheppard and Donny Walden...
heat four front row was Melvin and Weaver, 2nd row was Heckenast,jr and Reddrick, 3rd row is Chandler and Schmidt, 4th row was Heddrick and Lankford...
the #39 of Lanksford pulls off.....the #11 of fourteen year old Tyler Reddrick from California pulls off the track....
three going to feature were Rodney Melvin...Frank Heckenast,jr and Braondon Sheppard....
two from the consi going to feature were:Darren Friedman and Steve Sheppard
The feature was very exciting...40 laps for $6000.... Shannon Babb was a favorite since winning three Summer National events in a row.... however there were a few drivers out there who were not going to make that easy....VanWormer and Korte started on the front row...right from the start you knew it was going to be a good race.... VanWormer and Korte battled the first few laps...the #10s of Scott Schmidt left the track...
a caution comes out for the #42 of Terry Casey who spins in turn 4...he showed displeasure with the #B5 of Brandon Sheppard....Shannon Babb got charged with jumping the start and was penalized two spots...
Running order was VanWormer, Korte, Unzicker, Erb, Sheppard, Melvin, Heckenast, Feger, Walden, Linville, Weaver, Ricketts, Babb, S Sheppard, Thulby, Friedman, Chandler, Heddrick, Bull, and Casey...
on restart the #55 of Jeep VanWormer and Randy Korte was going at it side by side...
Randy Korte slips past Jeep....now top five are Korte, VanWormer, Unzicker, Erb and Feger...
the #83 of Scott Bull pulls off
Jeep gets too high on the burm and loses some spots....
now the #24 of Unzicker and #00 are doing battle side by side....
caution comes out....#95 of Ricketts pulls off to change a tire..tags the tail...
top five are Korte, Unzicker, Erb, Feger, VanWormer...
the #89 of Friedman pulls off..
VanWormer pulls off with a flat...tags the tail....
top five now are Korte, Unzicker, Erb, Feger and Babb..
the #35 pulls off...
Korte held on to take the win with Dennis Erb taking over the second spot..Unzicker settled for 3rd...Jason Feger came all the way up from 13th to finish in 4th spot..Babb had to settle in at 5th..Brandon Sheppard took 6th.....
Was a very good race and lot of changing in position.... Korte did a great job getting the lead and holding on........
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The modified count was 45.....five heats...top three to feature....will be two B Mains.
In heat one you had Kohler and J Hayden on front row, 2nd row was Shoulders and Ransom,, 3rd row was Stipp and Blair, 4th row you found Denny Schwartz and Overmeyer..brining up the tail was Chad Kinder and Simmons...
On the take off going round turn two the #808 got into the back of Kinder doing some sheet metal damage......the #808 pulls off.....the #64 of Kohler got out in front with Shoulders on his tail, then Hayden........... Denny Schwartz quickly slipped up through the field falling in 4th, then Ransom and Kinder, Stipp..
At about half way through Schwartz had taken the lead from Kohler...Kinder had made his way from the tail of the pack up to the last transfer spot....3 to advance were Denny Schwartz, Don Kohler,jr and Chad Kinder...just missing out was Jimmy Hayden...he will be heading to the B Main...
in heat two you had Jeremy Nichols and Wakeley on front row, 2nd row was Gabe Menser and Baldwin, 3rd row was Beau Cooley and Michael Brown, 4th row was AJ Cooley and Losh,,,bringing up the tail was Michael Bradley..
the #08 of Chris Wakeley pulls off track....
the #01 of Jeremy Nichols is out in front with Gabe Menser right on his bumper...the #12 of Beau Cooley is smoking badly......top three to transfer are Nichols, Menser and Baldwin....the #21 of Derek Losh just missing out....
in heat three front row was Ryan Cary and BJ McCammon, 2nd row was Roger Cary and D Hufford, 3rd row was Gummere and Nolon,jr, last row was Ian Keller and Danny Schwartz...
the #66 of Steve Nolan,jr pulls off track...the #23c of BJ McCammon got out in the lead and stayed there til the checkered flag... the #144 of Ryan gave him a good run for his money but settling for second...third was Ryan's dad Roger....just missing out was the #P51 of Derrick Hufford...
in heat four front row is Ryan Thomas and Albright, 2nd row is Myszkiewiz and Schreck, 3rd row is Black and Sullivan, 4th row is Lilja #1 and Wenger, on the tail is Jason Lakey..
the #83 goes over burm and back on track..no caution....
the #42 of Wenger and the #1 of Lilja get together and bring out the first caution..one laps recorded...
the #42 and #1 tangle again when the #42 spins collecting the #1... #1 keeps going..
Ryan Thomas led all laps with the #10 of Blair taking 2nd and the 16 of Lakey coming from the tail to finish third......Bradley was fourth..
in heat five front row was Sandiford and Kiger, 2nd row Dixon and Reynolds, 3rd row was J Demoss and Shuman , last row was Toby Howard and VanSant...
Don Kiger got out to an early lead but did not stay there long...Tim Reynolds slipped past him with Mike Spatola following suit....three to feature were Tim Reynolds, Mike Spatola and Don Kiger...Phil VanSant crossed over 4th...
B Main #1 you had Hayden and Losh on front row....Losh got out to the early lead...a caution comes out for the #21d of Danny Schwartz when he sipin in front stretch..
after running very strong the #21 of Losh for some reason slows up on the track then starts going again..but... causes the #79d of John Demoss to spin out....the #24 of Ransom spins out bringing out a caution..he goies to tail...the three advancing to feature are Derek Losh, Jimmy Hayden and Michael Bradley...
B Main #2 you have Hufford and Myszkiewiz on front row...
the #7k, the #67 and the #10 all spin in turn 4 on start...
the #20m and the #04 spin coming out of turn 3 going into 4..
the #12 pulls off smoking.....the #66 and the #04 spin between 3 and 4...#04 goes off track..his second caution...
the #166 of Shoulders was in the lead and he hit a tire causing him to lose two spots..the three to advance are Derric Hufford, Travis Shoulders and Randy Shuman who came up from tenth...
featire....front row was Schwartz and Nichols, 2nd row was McCammon and Thomas, 3rd row Reynolds and Kohler, 4th row Menser and Ry Cary..5th row Black and Spatola, 6th row Chad Kinder and Baldwin, 7th was Ro Cary and Lakey, 8th was Kiger and Losh, 9th Hufford and Hayden , 10th Shoulders and Bradley... the tail is Randy Shuman...
Well Denny Schwartz was on the pole..got out to the lead and never looked back ..BJ McCammon was holding 2nd with Nichols in 3rd..
first caution had come out for the #10x of Black who stoped on track..
2nd caution was charged to the #6B of Baldwin who spins....
third caution came out when the #15 of Hayden, the #7m of Bradley and the #10x of Black all tangled in turn four..
top five were Schwartz , McCammon, Nichols, Thomas, Ryan Cary...
the #23c of McCammon and the #01 of Nichols are battling it out for that second spot..
caution number four comes out for the #40 of Tim Reynolds...he goes off track...
Schwartz has controlled the whole race so far.... BJ McCammon starts sliding back after running very strong...the #01 of Nichols takes over 2nd and gives Schwartz a run for his money...Ryan Thomas held on for third, and Jason Lakey coming from 14th made it up to the 4th spot... Spatola was 5th from 10th and Chad Kinder settled in for 6th coming from 11th spot, 7th was Losh, 8th was Gabe Menser, 9th was Ryan Cary and tenth was Randy Shuman who had started dead last at 21st..
It was a good race also...
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There were 39 street stock on hand for four heats...top four to feature..will have two B Mains...
(thankyou Nicole Bare for helping with the results...gave me time to run back to pit area and take a breather...very much appreciated !!!!)
heat one you had Holmes and Hope on front line, 2nd was Hamer and Alexander, 3rd row was Rollins and Johnson, 4th row was Funk and Smith..last row was Krick and Houchens...
four going to the feature are #22h of Michael Hope; #91 of Neil Rollins, the #85 of Nathan Alexander and the 1 of Jeff Houchins...
heat two you had Shepherd and Zimmer on front line, 2nd row was Miller and Thomas, 3rd row was McNeese and Maxson, 4th row was Scott Dunlap and Tidwell, last row was Tony Miller and Emerson....
with two laps to go the #9 of Terry Miller had a fire under his car..... the winner of this heat started 4th ...2nd place went to Scott Dunlap who had moved all the way up from 7th spot..3rd went to the #35 of Shepherd..and Ben Maxson finished 4th...
heat three you had Gordon Parson and Lahey on front row, 2nd row was Vaughn and Tony Tidwell, 3rd row was Henson and Darren Kohler, 4th row was Klausner and Jake Emerson, last row was Turner and Simmons..
caution came out when the #66 of Vaughn and another car spins in turn four...
another caution comes out for the #21 of Kohler when he spins in turn one...
cars to go to feature are Tim Henson from 5th, Ed Lahey, Jake Emerson from 8th and Tony Tidwell....
heat four you had Hellman and Josh Griffith on front row, 2nd row Roundtree and Mitchell, 3rd row is Jesse Simmons and Fields, 4th row is Foxworthy and Hall..tail is Matt Dillon....
cars that advance are Josh Griffith who led the heat start to finish, 2nd was Brandon Roundtree , 3rd was Aaron Fields from 6th and 4th was Jesse Simmons..
B Main one top two that went to feature were Jacob Johnson and Joel Funk...just missing out was the #99 of Jared Krick..
B Main two the top two were the #90 of Lee Hall and the #38 of Josh Foxworthy..missing out was the #89 of Matt Dillon...
Feature
the front row was made up of Michael Hope and Rick Thomas, 2nd row was Tim Henson and Josh Griffith, 3rd row was Rollins and Scott Dunlap, 4th was Lahey and Roundtree...
first caution comes out for the #1 of Hutchens who spins in turn 4..one lap is scored...
the #23t of Rick Thomas got in the lead and never looked back...
next caution came out for the #38 of Foxworthy who spins in turn 4...
Rick Thomas held on for win with Josh Griffith taking second, 3rd was Tim Henson, 4th was Scott Dunlap, 5th was Michael Hope, Rollins, Lahey, Roundtree, Maxson, Simmons, Alexander, Hall, Shepherd, Tidwell, Johnson, Houchens, Foxworthy, Emerson, Fields, Funk...
very good race as well...
............going out to eat........will add pictures when i get home.....have quite a few of the street stock...