Here is a story of what happened on day 1. Fine writing by Kenny Clark
With 38 midgets and 37 600's entering at the Rumble this year the action was going to raise the temps in late December. Starting off the night was the 600 quals with Chris Knox setting the pace with a fast time of 8.376. The Ligonier,Indiana driver showed that even though he hasn't ran a rumble in over 5 years he still knows how to get it done.
This setup a format of 4 heats taking the top 3 and two consies only taking the top 2. Heat 1 was won by Lorain, Ohio's A.J. Lesiecki who led from green to checkers with Tyler Ross from PA and Clay Sanders from MI also transferring. It showed how strong the field was when fast qualifier Chris Knox had to settle for 4th and would have to run the consy(houligan)race to get in.
Heat 2 was led by polesitter and last year's feature winner from Walnutport,PA's Ryan Smith, who looked to once again be a strong contender. Transferring behind him was Chris Stockham from NY and Paul Lotier from PA. Heat 3 was won by Cap Henry from Bellevue,OH followed by Jason Ormsby from Pierceton and Howard McCormick from Martinsville. It was also a shocker to the crowed that the 02 of John Ivy had problems and would settle for 4th, sending him to a consy.
Heat 4 had the most passing as Matt Janisch from Nazareth, PA went from the back to the front to take the final heats checkers. Following him and transferring was Larry Joe Sroufe and Amanda Quinones. This would setup the 2 consies and would determine which 21 drivers were not going to make the main dance. Consy 1 went to fast qualifier Chris Knox with Camden's Chris Miller transferring also. Consy 2 went to Oberlin, Ohio's Danny Shirey with Tyler Underwood from MI also transferring.
This would setup the main dance and getting the pole was the veteren Larry Joe Sroufe. Anytime you see the 21S on the pole it usually means trouble for the other 15 competitors. At the start of the race the 21s led the way and got an early caution with the 21C slowing in the backstretch and ending Clay Sanders' night. Then on the restart after 10 laps the #7 of Tyler Underwood slowed in turn 4 with a flat making him the 2nd casualty. The race then got a long green flag with the 21s holding strong but being pressured by the #44 of Chris Stockham. Right before the 1/2 way point the 04 of Cap Henry brought out a caution and then Chris Miller and Danny Shirey collected each other ending all 3 drivers' night and bringing the field down to only 12 cars. At the halfway point it was Sroufe,Stockham, Ormsby, Quinones, and Smith rounding out the top 5. The hard charger so far was Janisch who had come from 12th to 6th. With just 17 laps to go the 00 of Quinones pulled off and the hard charging Janisch got together with McCormick ending Janischs' charge to the front and his evening. On the final restart the last 15 laps ran green to checkers and the Larwill native held off Stockham, Ormsby, Miller and Smith. Chris Knox finished 6th which would put him in the drivers seat for the overall rumble points if he could make the A main saturday night. Congrats to Sroufe as he continues to show that his experience indoors is hard to beat no matter what other equipment he is up against.
The midgets night started off with Chris de Ritis from Philadelphia, PA setting the fast time with a 8.078 as the track was laying rubber and getting faster and faster. This setup 5 heats taking the top 2 with 3 consies only taking 1. You talk about a tough deal with an invert of 3 the heats would be intense. Heat 1 was won from the pole by Independence Ohio's Tim Jedzejek with the youngster from Danville Nick Hamilton transferring from the 4th starting spot.
Heat 2 would be dominated by last years' winner Noblesvilles' Billy Wease by a 1/2 lap over Joliet,IL driver Jim Anderson. Heat 3 would be won from the 3rd starting spot by Avon's Jon Stanbrough over Howell, MI driver Adam Wilsdon. After the checkers the Wilsdon car had a fire and pulled in the pits as the fireman hit it with an extinguisher.
Heat 4 was won from the pole by Danvilles' Nick Hamilton followed by hometown favorite Geoff Kaiser transferring.
The final heat was won by Pocahontas, IL driver Zach Daum over Lincolns' Dave Darland. This would setup the final 3 spots plus the fast qualifier that didn't make it through.
Consies 1 and 2 were won from the pole by fast qualifier Ritis and David Gough transferring through. Consy 3 had the most passing as Markham, Illinois driver veteran Rich Corson came from the 4th starting spot to win and move on to the main dance.
This setup the 60 lap A with the front row being Kaiser and Stanbrough. On the start of the feature contact was the top action with an early yellow when Kaiser got sideways then Stanbrough slowed to miss him with Darland taping the #7 of Stanbrough spinning him. On the restart the winner of last year Wease stormed from 3rd to 1st to take the lead. He looked to be the class of the field early. On lap 20 the #10 of Kaiser spun in turn 2 while he was running 5th. Then on the 23rd lap the #99 of Wease slowed while leading and ending his night with what was found out to be a broken gear. This gave the lead to the #0 of Dave Darland. Right after the half way point the 8up of Tim Jedrzejek spun in 4 while running 2nd. Then on the restart the #0 of Darland looked to slow down and gave up the lead on the 43rd lap to Joliets' Jim Anderson from the 6th starting spot. On the 47th lap Darland lost another spot to Howell Michigan driver Adam Wilsdon. Anderson would hold on for the final 17 laps to pick up a huge win. The quote from the Joliet driver was " I had hoped to at least make one of the A mains during the weekend so I could pay for my gas over here". Following him was Wilsdon, Darland, Corson, Kaiser, Gough, Jedrzejek, Nick Hamilton, Setser and Daum rounding out the top 10. The races friday night ended at 10:30 with the Pitbull Stunt driver NOT making his jump of 10 Evans Toyota's and crashing hard in front of the crowd about 11:15. |
