Bloomington, IN.  (Sept. 15)  We had 37 sprint cars on hand last night.  This kind of car count for the last night of the season for the class speaks well for our sprint car competitors.  Kevin Briscoe had already clinched his fifth championship when they rolled the #5 off of the trailer; but he was trying to win another feature on the red clay.

Two of the top teams brought a little something extra for the fans last night.  Danny Roberts was, of course, on hand with Dickie Gaines in the 21x; but he also rolled out the 21R.  Some fans probably thought that he was going to be starting Kevin "Pup" Huntley as well.  However, that wasn't the case.  The 21R cockpit was occupied by modified ace Jeff Bland, Jr.  The second newcomer was even more of a surprise.  Brady Short's backup car was being wheeled by Bedford North Lawrence High School freshman Kenny Niflis, the 14-year-old son of former Tire & Wheel Center super stock ace Trent Niflis.  Niflis has been racing 600 micros; and he and his dad wanted to see how he would like a larger, more powerful car.

Mitch Cunningham started on the pole in the first heat race and drove to a strong heat race win.  In the second heat; Hunter Schuerenberg also won from the pole; and Brady Short drove from his starting spot on the tail to take the final transfer to the feature.  Dickie Gaines won the third heat from the outside of the front row.  However, Cole Whitt drove to a second place finish from his seventh place starting position.  Kenny Niflis got some laps and kept his nose clean.  Of course he didn't prove anything; but he wasn't running to prove anything.  He was there to get the feel of a sprint car; and he almost certainly did that.

With the final heat race things got a little more exciting.  Veteran Jared Fox was starting on the pole; and Jeff Bland, Jr. was starting on the outside of the second row.  As the leaders charged into the second turn, Bland ran over Fox's rear wheel and flipped wildly into the backstretch fence.  Bland was uninjured; and he probably learned that he might want to be a little more patient the next time.

Because of the strong car count, we had to run two "B" features.  Kenny Carmichael and Dakoda Armstrong won them; and John Memmer and Kolt Walker took the final two tickets to the feature event.

The redraw put Bobby Stines and Jason Holt on the front row.  However, when Rusty Nunn waved the green flag to start the feature Cole Whitt charged from the outside of the second row into the lead.  Dickie Gaines had won his heat race; but he had pulled the #8 pill giving him the worst possible starting position.  By the end of the third lap Gaines was running sixth.  On the 11th circuit he passed Chris Windom to take fifth; but, on the following lap, Windom took the position back. 

On the 16th circuit, Gaines passed Windom and Jared Fox to take fourth place.  On the 17th lap, Bobby Stines car began to slow; and Gaines, Fox, and Windom all streaked past him.  Gaines continued to ride in third place until lap 22 when he passed Hunter Schuerenberg to take second place. 

Gaines then began to stalk Whitt in earnest.  He pulled alongside of Whitt a few times to show him the nose of the 21x.  After taking the white flag, Gaines strategy paid off.   Whitt made a small bobble in turn to; and that was all of the opportunity that Gaines needed.  He streaked into the lead that he would hold until after the checkered flags had waved. 

Although Whitt narrowly missed his first feature win on the red clay, it is clear that the distance remaining to his first feature win is short indeed.  It is interesting to note that Chuck Gurney, Jr., son of the famous USAC Silver Crown ace, was turning the wrenches on Whitt's mount.  Windom Schuerenberg, and Briscoe rounded out the top five.

AUTO HEAVEN AUTO PARTS HEAT 1: 1.(1) Mitch Cunningham,  2.(3) Jason Holt,  3.(2) Tim Spindler,  4.(6) Kevin Briscoe,  5.(5) Chris Babcock,  6.(9) D.J. Ott.  7.(7) Eric Edwards,  8.(8) Jim Mills,  9.(4) Robert Ballou,  10.(10) Jon Sciscoe

PAUL D. BAUGH LAW OFFICE HEAT 2:  1.(1) Hunter Schuerenberg,  2.(2) Bobby Stines,  3.(6) Chris Windom,  4.(9) Brady Short,  5.(4) Kenny Carmichael,  6.(5) John Memmer,  7.(7) Arin McIntosh,  8.(8) Kevin Studley,  9.(3) Curt Elderidge

WALNUT STREET AUTO SALES/CAMPUS RENTAL HEAT 3:  1.(2) Dickie Gaines,  2.(7) Cole Whitt, 3.(4) Kenny Carmichael, Jr.,  4.(5) Danny Holtsclaw,  5.(8) Dakoda Armstrong,  6.(1) Casey Shuman,  7.(6) Kenny Biro,  8.(9) Kenny Niflis,  9.(3) Scott Hampton

CRYSTAL PURE WATER HEAT 4:  1.(1) Jared Fox,  2.(6) Jimmy Light, 3.(5) Kent Christian,  4.(3) Ty Deckard,  5.(8) Kolt Walker,  6.(9) A.J. Clark,  7.(7) Joe Gilbert,  8.(4) Jeff Bland, Jr.

J.B. Salvage "B" Feature #1:  1.(2) Kenny Carmichael,  2.(4) John Memmer,  3.(1) Chris Babcock,  4.(6) Arin McIntosh,  5.(3) D.J. Ott,  6.(8) Kevin Studley,  7.(5) Eric Edwards,  8.(7) Jim Mills

J.B. Salvage "B" Feature #2:  1.(1) Dakoda Armstrong,  2.(2) Kolt Walker,  3.(3) Casey Shuman, 4.(9) Aric Gentry,  5.(7) Kenny Niflis,  6.(5) Kenny Biro,  7.(6) Joe Gilbert,   8.(8) Scott Hampton

ROOTS RV FEATURE:  1.(8) 21x Dickie Gaines,  2.(4) 29w Cole Whitt, 3.(10) 17 Chris Windom,  4.(6) 35s Hunter Schuerenberg,  5.(13) 5 Kevin Briscoe,  6.(14) 36 Brady Short,  7.(12) 1c Kent Christian,  8.(15) 3H Danny Holtsclaw,  9.(5) 23 Jimmy Light,  10.(17) 92 Kenny Carmichael,  11.(16) 48 Ty Deckard,  12.(11) 92c Kenny Carmichael, Jr.,  13.(1) 88 Bobby Stines,  14.(18) 7A Dakoda Armstrong,  15.(19) 4M John Memmer,  16.(7) 11F Mitch Cunningham,    17.(20) 71P Kolt Walker,  18.(3) 56 Jared Fox,  19.(9) 2c Tim Spindler,  20.(2) 99 Jason Holt