Late Model Independent Racing Series
kicks off new Cannonball season
Carrier carries on with second IRS win
By LORI PETTIT
ST.
CLAIRSVILLE, Ohio (Sunday, May 25, 2008) – After three weeks of
rainouts, a break in the weather finally let Cannonball Motor Speedway
open the gates on its 2008 season, the first full schedule of racing set
for CMS since 2003.
The
Late Model Independent Racing Series made its second stop at Cannonball
for the Beecher Eaton Memorial $5000-to-win, $400-to-start feature event
Sunday night. Among the entrants was the late Beecher Eaton’s son
Doug, running the 1E Late Model.
Also
slated were Modifieds plus Pure Stocks, 4-Cylinders and Bombers. The
season opener offered double points to all classes.
MODIFIEDS
A
sizeable field of 18 Modifieds lined up to take the green for the first
feature event of Cannonball’s new season, but only eight were still
rolling after going the 20-lap distance. Chris Basich’s 71C sat on the
pole beside the 2 of Rick Aukland, followed by Matt Aber and Mitch
Basich in row two.
It
took flagman Keith Decker two tries to get things going, and on the
first restart Chris Basich jumped out in front early, but a widespread
crash on the backstretch eliminated two vehicles and left the 65 of
Bruce Takach tangled with Rick Schmitt’s 55S. Schmitt rejoined the
lineup but Takach headed for the pits.
Chris
Basich fought off brother Mitch to resume the lead on the restart, and
the race finally began in earnest. Matt Aber got second away from Mitch
Basich then got around Chris for first, as DJ Cline slipped into fourth
spot. By lap 8 Cline had advanced to second and the leaders were
beginning to negotiate lapped traffic when a crash between Aukland and
Blaine Aber brought out the caution. After that it was all fast and
furious – Cline pressured Matt Aber for the lead while Chris Basich
lost ground to Brandon Morrow, Mitch Basich and then Aukland.
Cline
got around Matt Aber for the lead, but suddenly pulled into the infield,
bringing out the yellow. After the restart Matt Aber inherited the lead
with Morrow and Aukland struggling for second and JE Stalder surfacing
in fourth. Mitch Basich left the fray during a lap 15 caution, and again
Matt Aber appeared to have things well in hand on the restart. But a
final caution with two to go made for big changes on the restart:
Aukland and Morrow suddenly overhauled Matt Aber. A crash in turns 1-2
scattered the field further, and the checkered flew for Aukland, Stalder,
and Matt Aber. Chris Basich, Morrow and Don Lewis rounded out the top
six. Schmitt survived his opening-lap mishap to finish seventh, followed
by Randy Bauknecht in eighth.
LATE
MODELS
Four heats and two conseys narrowed the 33 Late Model and Limited Late
Model consolidated entries to a field of 25 for the big 50-lap feature,
led by polesitter Tim Dohm. Beside him in row 1 was ‘The Million
Dollar Man’ – Donnie Moran – looking for his first IRS feature
win. Mike Knight and Eddie Carrier, Jr. followed in row 2.
An opening-lap spin marred the start, but after that action quickly went
into high gear. Dohm grabbed the early lead only to be overhauled by
Knight. The two swapped places twice more but soon Moran began to put
pressure on Dohm. A lap 8 caution set the stage for fifth-starting
Robbie Blair to catch up with Moran on the restart, then swing wide
around Dohm and land in second. Out front Knight managed to extend his
lead while Blair and Dohm matched strides for second, followed by Duane
Chamberlain and Moran. Knight finally gave up the lead to Blair when he
drove hard onto the inside track cushion in turns 1-2 on a lap 16
restart and fell back. Blair remained firmly in control with Chamberlain
second, Dohm third, Josh McGuire up to fourth from a start near the back
of the pack, and Jeremy Canada fifth ahead of the fading Knight. With
the half approaching Chamberlain managed to get by Blair but slipped up
and fell back as the flagman showed the crossed flags.
After
a lap 30 caution Knight’s 9K had begun visibly smoking and expired
just after the restart. When action resumed Chamberlain began an all-out
assault on Blair for the lead, finally shooting to the front. Behind him
Blair was running literally door-to-door with Carrier for second. With
less than 15 to go Carrier hooked up, got by Chamberlain and Blair and
put himself out front to stay.
With five to go Carrier had put lapped traffic between himself and
Chamberlain, and cruised on home to take the checkered and the $5,000
purse. Moran made a last-ditch effort to get to the front but came up
just short, finishing fourth behind Dohm. Blair rounded out the top
five. McGuire advanced furthest – finishing sixth, up 12 spots from an
18th-place start.
Carrier, of Salt Rock, W.Va. also took the IRS’ last feature win on
May 10 at 201 Speedway in Sitka, Ky. It was his first win at Cannonball.
PURE
STOCKS
Compared to the explosive action in the first two features, a mixed
field of Pure Stocks wrapped up the evening in a somewhat leisurely
fashion. Four Bombers joined forces with the Pures for an 11-car field
led by polesitter Jim Hess and Joey Koteles in row one and Tim Skelton
and Tony Sovka in row 2.
Skelton seized the lead in the opening laps, holding off Hess the entire
distance as the rest of the field sorted itself out behind. Three
vehicles took to pit road, again leaving eight to finish all 12 laps.
The checkered flew for Skelton, Hess, Glenn Richea, Jr., Rob Foraker and
Sovka in the top five, with Bob Nolan, DJ Hores and Koteles rounding out
the group.
NEW TRACK DESIGN
In
the four years since the last races were held at Cannonball, track owner
Roger Barack has had the surface completely replaced and the overall
layout redesigned.
According
to Cody Barack, the new track design incorporates a 70-ft wide racing
surface and 17 degrees of banking in a D-shaped configuration. Expected
to be one of the fastest tracks in the nation, the new track size is
4/10 of a mile on the outside and surrounded entirely with guardrails.
With
these improvements, dirt fans and drivers can now look forward to more
racing action on their favorite local track. Check back to the Web site
for announcements on future events.
_ _ _
Beginning
Saturday, May 31, Cannonball will run a regular slate of racing
featuring Late Models, Limited Lates, Modifieds, Pure Stocks,
4-Cylinders and Bombers. Visit www.cannonballspeedway.com for updates
and information on upcoming events.
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Cannonball $5000 to win $400 to
start
Late Model IRS Beecher Eaton Memorial
Sunday May 25, 2008
season
opener with double points in all classes
RESULTS
LATE
MODELS
Heat
1: 28C Eddie Carrier Jr, 4J John Mollick, 9K Mike Knight, 5M Ryan
Markham,
4 DJ Cline, 61 George Lee 1E Doug Eaton, 991 Dave Wirt, 28 Mike Burriss.
Heat
2: 6T Tim Dohm, 1 Duane Chamberlain, 62 Andy Bond, 17 Chris Wilson,
14 Corey Conley, 59 Tracy Fritter, 6 Jim Lepro, C17 Cody Barack.
Heat
3: 99 Donnie Moran, 71R Rod Conley, 44H Dave Hess Jr, 23C Jeremy Canada,
33 Bob Moskey, 11B Brad Clark, 19 Ryan Twarog, 38K Gary Knollinger.
Heat
4: W11 Robbie Blair, 96F Keith Berner, 12A Rick Aukland, 12F Devin
Friese,
17 Chris Wilson, 41 Josh McGuire, 88 Chuck Maloney, 65 Bruce Takach (LTD
Late).
Dash:
6T Tim Dohm, 99 Donnie Moran, 9K Mike Knight, 28C Eddie Carrier Jr, W11
Robbie Blair.
B
Main 1: 14 Corey Conley, 4 DJ Cline, 59 Tracy Fritter, 61
George Lee, 991 Dave Wirt, 1E Doug Eaton, 6 Jim Lepro, 28 Mike
Burriss, C17 Cody Barack.
B
Main 2: 41 Josh McGuire, 17 Chris Wilson, 38K Gary Knollinger,
33 Bob Moskey, 88 Chuck Maloney, 11B Brad Clark, 19 Ryan Twarog, 65
Bruce Takach LTD (DNS).
FEATURE:
28C Eddie Carrier Jr, 1 Duane Chamberlain, 6T Tim
Dohm, 99 Donnie Moran, W11 Robbie Blair, 41 Josh McGuire, 14 Corey
Conley, 12A Rick Aukland, 61 George Lee, 4J John Mollick, 96F Keith
Berner, 17H Jared Hawkins, 5M Ryan Markham, 23C Jeremy Canada, 12F Devin
Friese, 1E Doug Eaton, 9K Mike Knight, 4 DJ Cline, 991 Dave Wirt, 38K
Gary Knollinger, 71R Rod Conley, 17 Chris Wilson, 44H Dave Hess, Jr , 59
Tracy Fritter, 62 Andy Bond.
MODIFIEDS
Heat
1: 71C Chris Basich, B55 Mitch Basich, M1 Brandon Morrow,
144 Anthony Kinkade, 55S Rick Schmitt, 51 Bill Westlake.
Heat
2: 2A Rick Aukland, 17JE JE Stalder, 42 DJ Cline, R88 Larry
Kugel, 2S Kevin Smith, 77L Don Lewis, 8B Willy Briggs.
Heat
3: 70 Matt Aber, 70P Blaine Aber, 71M Mike Basich, 21R
Randy Bauknecht, 65 Bruce Takach, D2 Nolan Dalton, M0 Josh Morrow (DNS).
FEATURE:
2A Rick Aukland, 17JE JE Stalder, 70 Matt Aber,
71C Chris Basich, M1 Brandon Morrow, 77L Don Lewis, 55S Rick Schmitt,
21R Randy Bauknecht, 8B Willy Briggs, B55 Mitch Basich, 51 Bill
Westlake, 71M Mike Basich, 42 DJ Cline, 70P Blaine Aber, 2S Kevin Smith,
144 Anthony Kinkade, R88 Larry Kugel, 65 Bruce Takach, D2 Nolan Dalton
(DNS), M0 Josh Morrow (DNS).
PURE
STOCKS
Heat
1: 11H Jim Hess, 8* Tim Skelton, 4 Rob Foraker, 77R Glenn
Ritchea Jr, 12 Bob Nolan, 3D Dan Holmes.
Heat
2: 33K Joey Koteles, 56 Tony Sovka, 43 DJ Hores, 2 Sam
Clegg, 08 Rusty Frohnapfel, 777 Donald Morrison.
FEATURE:
8* Tim Skelton, 11H Jim Hess, 77R Glenn Ritchea
Jr, 4 Rob Foraker, 56 Tony Sovka, 12 Bob Nolan, 43 DJ Hores, 33K Joey
Koteles, 3D Dan Holmes, 2
Sam Clegg, 777 Donald Morrison, 08 Rusty Frohnapfel (DNS).
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