SWINDELL & COONS CAPTURE WINS IN WESTERN WORLD OPENER!
TUCSON, Ariz. (November 19, 2009) -- The 42nd Annual
Kronik Energy Western World Championships presented by Old Tucson Studios
kicked off with Sammy Swindell and Jerry Coons, Jr., racing to victory
lane in Thursday night's 25-lap qualifying features atop the 3/8-mile USA
Raceway clay oval.
Sprint Car legend Swindell bested the Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by
K&N Filters ranks in the 25-lap winged main event to earn the pole
position for Saturday night's $15,000-to-win championship finale, with
Coons decimating the Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region ranks for the
pole in Saturday's $5,000-to-win main event.
With 64 drivers taking part in Thursday night's Old Tucson Studios
preliminary action, including 39 winged competitors and 25 wingless
racers, the second half of the Western World field will take to the track
in Friday's Kronik Energy Qualifying event.
Lucas Oil Sprint Cars presented by K&N Filters (Winged)
After making a last-lap pass of Sam Hafertepe, Jr., to win the night's
third winged Sprint Car heat race, Swindell drew the pole position for
the main event with 15-year-old northern California shoe Justyn Cox
alongside.
With Swindell jumping the first start, the field stacked up on the second
start with fourth-row starter Cale Conley getting turned around to bring
out the caution. It got worse for Conley on the next try when he got
into a flipping Sean McClelland on the backstretch, with both McClelland
and Conley done before a lap was in the books.
With the green flag finally flying, Swindell gunned into the lead with
fifth-starter and current Lucas Oil Sprint Car points leader Shane
Stewart racing into second past Johnny Herrera upon the completion of the
second round.
Swindell and Stewart reached the tail of the field after just six laps
and raced through traffic until the caution flew after eleven laps when
Herrera clipped an infield tire and spun to a stop in turn two.
Stewart kept pace with Swindell over the next ten-lap stretch of green
flag action with the lapped car of Brady Bacon in between the pair until
a final caution flew after 21 laps for Seth Bergman, who came to a stop
in turn three.
Stewart disposed of Bacon on the final restart and while he kept pace
with the fleet Swindell on the top side of the track, was unable to mount
a charge. Swindell flashed underneath the checkered flag aboard Tom
Rolfe's Parker-powered No. 10 for his third career Lucas Oil Sprint Car
feature win.
Runner-up honors aboard Paul Silva's Wesmar-powered ProBilt
Construction/Palmero Properties No. 57 A.R.T. proved good enough for
Stewart to put a virtual lock on the $60,000 Lucas Oil Sprint Car
championship.
Moving into fifth when Herrera spun on the eleventh round, Wayne Johnson
charged up to third on the ensuing restart and kept the Fisher-powered
FattFro Motorsports No. 14aj Maxim in the show position the rest of the
way, with Gary Wright working up to fourth in the final rounds aboard
Scott Brown's ASI-powered Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 9x Maxim.
Ricky Logan rounded out the top five in the Lucas Oil No. 10a, with Jack
Dover, 13th-starter Sam Hafertepe, Jr., and 19th-starter Paul McMahan
earning starting positions in Saturday's main event by finishing sixth
through eighth, respectively.
Jesse Hockett raced from 20th to ninth, with Lucas Wolfe completing the
top ten.
Conley, W. Johnson, Swindell, Wright and Herrera topped heat race action
for Thursday night's 39 winged competitors, with Bergman and Bacon
winning the "B" Mains.
Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region (Non-Wing)
Tucson, AZ, native Jerry Coons, Jr., left little doubt about his first
career American Sprint Car Series feature win by unleashing a dominant
performance in Thursday night's 25-lap Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon
Region main event at USA Raceway.
Coons took the checkered flag aboard Rex Foster's No. 32 entry with more
than a half-lap advantage, lapping all the way up to seventh in the
process. And, if not for a red flag eleven laps into the race, Coons
likely would have lapped the entire field.
While he probably didn't need it, Coons caught a break before the green
flag even flew on the feature field when scheduled pole starter Travis
Rilat pulled to the infield when a leaking fuel valve ignited. The fire
burned through Rilat's safety belts, forcing him pitside and moving Coons
to the pole position.
Moving alongside outside front row starter and current ASCS Canyon Region
points leader Charles Davis, Jr., Coons gunned into the lead and opened
up half-lap advantage in just a handful of laps as Daniel Hutto, R.J.
Johnson and Rick Ziehl moved past Davis.
Slicing through traffic, Coons lapped up to eleventh by the time the red
flag flew after eleven laps when Dalten Gabbard went yard in turn four.JGabbard walked away uninjured.
With several lapped cars between Coons and Hutto, it was more of the same
over the final 14 circuits as Coons circled the oval at an unmatched
pace.
While Coons ultimately took the checkered flag on the heels of the trio
battling for positions fifth through seventh, the battle for position
well behind him was wild with Robert Ballou wasting little time racing
from fifth into second after the lap 12 restart.
Ballou held the runner-up spot to the line, with Arkansas shoe Tim
Crawley charging from the 19th starting position to claim the show
position.After exiting a heat race when his Yeley-owned mount ignited, Jon
Stanbrough transferred through "B" Main action along with Crawley and
then raced from 18th to fourth in the feature with Ziehl rounding out the
top five.
Davis was sixth, while R.J. Johnson took the seventh and final lock-in
position to Saturday night's main event as the final car on the lead lap.
Stevie Sussex was eighth, with Casey Shuman and Joshua Hodges competing
the top ten.
Rilat, Ballou and Joshua Hodges won Thursday night's non-wing heat races,
with Thomas Ogle victorious in the "B" Main.
42nd Annual Kronik Energy Western World presented by Old Tucson Studios
Thursday Night's Old Tucson Studios Qualifier Results
USA Raceway -- Tucson, AZ
Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters (Winged Cars)
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to 2 "B"
Mains):
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 3c-Cale Conley, 2. 94-Danny Wood, 3. 57-Shane
Stewart, 4. 13-Jesse Hockett, 5. 93-Dustin Morgan, 6. 22b-Ben Gregg, 7.
2m-Mike Melwicks, 8. 77m-Billy Chester III.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 2. 57x-Lucas Wolfe, 3.
1p-Curtis Evans, 4. 23-Seth Bergman, 5. 3s-John Carney II, 6. 7-Darren
Long, 7. 22j-John Gaston, 8. 94z-Zach Zimmerly.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 10-Sammy Swindell, 2. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 3.
53-Jack Dover, 4. 3d-Paul McMahan, 5. 99-Brady Bacon, 6. 9-Gary Taylor,
7. 41w-Joshua Williams, 8. 44k-Koty McGullam.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 9x-Gary Wright, 2. 5h-Justyn Cox, 3. 15-Bud
Goodwin, 4. 93k-Brent Kronfuss, 5. 6-Ronnie Clark, 6. 8x-Mike Wells, 7.
71-Bob Schaeffer, 8. 66-Jessica Van Dyke.
Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 2. 10a-Ricky Logan, 3. 1-Sean
McClelland, 4. 99j-Jake Ossenfort, 5. 45-Martin Edwards, 6. 22-Jesse
Baker, 7. 5az-John Van Horn.
"B" Mains (Top 3 From Each Advance to "A" Main):
First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, 2. 3d-Paul McMahan, 3.
22b-Ben Gregg, 4. 9-Gary Taylor, 5. 93-Dustin Morgan, 6. 2m-Mike
Melwicks, 7. 94z-Zach Zimmerly, 8. 22j-John Gaston, 9. 99j-Jake
Ossenfort, 10. 41w-Joshua Williams, 11. 45-Martin Edwards, 12. 77m-Billy
Chester III.
Second "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 13-Jesse Hockett, 3.
7-Darren Long, 4. 6-Ronnie Clark, 5. 22-Jesse Baker, 6. 8x-Mike Wells, 7.
5az-John Van Horn, 8. 15-Bud Goodwin. DNS: 71-Bob Schaeffer, 44k-Koty
McGullam, 66-Jessica Van Dyke.
Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series Western World Thursday Prelim Results (Top 8
Lock into Saturday's "A" Main):
"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 10-Sammy Swindell, 2. 57-Shane
Stewart, 3. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 4. 9x-Gary Wright, 5. 10a-Ricky Logan, 6.
53-Jack Dover, 7. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 8. 3d-Paul McMahan, 9. 13-Jesse
Hockett, 10. 57x-Lucas Wolfe, 11. 94-Danny Wood, 12. 3s-John Carney II,
13. 99-Brady Bacon, 14. 22b-Ben Gregg, 15. 7-Darren Long, 16. 5h-Justyn
Cox, 17. 1p-Curtis Evans, 18. 93k-Brent Kronfuss, 19. 23-Seth Bergman,
20. 45x-Johnny Herrera, 21. 1-Sean McClelland, 22. 3c-Cale Conley.
Lap Leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-25.
Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region (Non-Winged Cars):
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to "B" Main):
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 32-Jerry Coons, Jr., 3.
50-Charles Davis, Jr., 4. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 5. 78-Chris Bonneau, 6.
62-Stevie Sussex, 7. 88-Tim Crawley, 8. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 9. 25c-Don
Grable.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 20-Robert Ballou, 2. 7k-Bruce St. James, 3.
97-Casey Shuman, 4. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 5. 96-Carson Ditsch, 6.
8az-Jordan Stetson, 7. 1-Jon Stanbrough. DNS: 5d-Jerry Johnston.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 2. 8-Daniel Hutto, 3.
77-Dalten Gabbard, 4. 41-Rick Ziehl, 5. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 6. 51-Cody
Cambensy, 7. 6c-Rex Calderwood, 8. 17-Steve Spiak.
"B" Main (Top 4 Advance to "A" Main):
"B" Feature (10 Laps): 1. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 2. 1-Jon Stanbrough, 3.
88-Tim Crawley, 4. 11-Seainn Hendricsen, 5. 25c-Don Grable, 6. 17-Steve
Spiak, 7. 8az-Jordan Stetson, 8. 5d-Jerry Johnston. DNS: 6c-Rex
Calderwood.
Discount Tire Co. ASCS Canyon Region Western World Thursday Prelim
Results (Top 7 Lock into Saturday's "A" Main):
"A" Feature (25 Laps): 1. 32-Jerry Coons, Jr., 2. 20-Robert
Ballou, 3. 88-Tim Crawley, 4. 1-Jon Stanbrough, 5. 41-Rick Ziehl, 6.
50-Charles Davis, Jr., 7. 77m-R.J. Johnson, 8. 62-Stevie Sussex, 9.
97-Casey Shuman, 10. 74x-Joshua Hodges, 11. 8-Daniel Hutto, 12. 7k-Bruce
St. James, 13. 19-Andrew Reinbold, 14. 48T-Thomas Ogle, 15. 11-Seainn
Hendricsen, 16. 96-Carson Ditsch, 17. 51-Cody Cambensy, 18. 77-Dalten
Gabbard, 19. 78-Chris Bonneau, 20. 29-Travis Rilat (DNS).
Lap Leaders: Jerry Coons, Jr. 1-25.
-credit: ascs
