April 30, 2014 -- Tim MCKINNEY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A BIG LOSS FOR THE FRATERNITY When Jerry Castor and Dave Norris decided to start their Oldtimers Reunion, they did it with the realization that we were all getting old. They understood that this might be the last opportunity that we would have to visit racing friends whom we didnt see in our normal activities. The reality of this was brought into focus with the recent passing of Delbert Willoughby. When I called Willie Money of Seymour to talk about Willoughbys racing, he said, I hadnt seen Delbert in years; but we were able to spend an hour visiting with each other at the Oldtimers Reunion in Columbus. He was a great guy; and he will certainly be missed. Willoughby raced dirt late models back in the 60s both as a driver and a car owner. He got out of dirt late model racing when his son, Pete Willoughby, started racing go karts. He returned as a car owner in partnership with C.J. Rayburn when the younger Willoughby moved up to dirt late models. During all of this Willoughby had become more and more involved in his trucking company. As he neared retirement he turned the reins of the trucking company over to his son; but he continued to help with the trucking business until it closed. Willoughby wasnt comfortable in retirement, so he helped with his sons midget racing operation by doing some parts chasing, helping in the pits, driving the hauler, etc. As Keith Kunz Motorsports demands on his time decreased, he got the opportunity to transport IRLs two seated Indy car to tracks where fans could rent a ride in the car driven by an IndyCar driver. Willoughby thus became a fixture at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and race tracks across the country. Willoughby really enjoyed people, particularly racing people. He attended a lot of races, especially midget races. Willoughby, Don Smith, and I attended several Chili Bowls together. If you walked through the pits with Willoughby, it could take half a day; because we would be stopped by people greeting Willoughby. He could tell you who these people were and amazing details about their racing backgrounds, families, businesses, etc. I know that when I walk through the pits I will be stopped by people asking about Willoughby. In the final analysis there is no better measure of a mans worth than the memory of him in those who he left behind. TOUGH NIGHT FOR TONY Richmond International Raceway has always been a favored venue for Tony Stewart. He has won there three times and finished in the top ten nearly two thirds of the time. Consequently, it is understandable that he would find struggling to a 25th place finish more than a little disappointing. And, there was probably little solace in the fact that the rest of the Stewart-Haas Racing team did even worse. Stewarts crew tried everything trying to dial some handling into Stewarts Chevrolet; but nothing worked. Only the checkered flag that awarded the win to Joey Logano would bring Stewarts night to a merciful end. EIGHTH ANNUAL USAC EASTERN STORM The Eighth Annual USAC Eastern Storm will offer sprint car fans, particularly non-winged sprint car fans, an opportunity to watch their favorite cars and drivers battle each other on tracks that are generally used for winged sprint car racing. To be sure, there will be some winged sprint car drivers who will show up to defend their territory. However, when Bryan Clauson, Dave Darland, Chase Stockon, Tracy Hines, unload, they can represent a formidable challenge. The Eastern Storm will consist of five races at five different tracks from June 3rd through June 8th. The series will get underway at Grandview Speedway at Bechtelsville, Pa. with the Jesse Hockett Classic. From there the series goes to Lincoln Speedway at New Oxford, Pa. on June 4th, New Egypt Speedway at New Egypt, N.J. on June 5, Port Royal Speedway at Port Royal, Pa. on June 7, and concluding with Susquenhanna Speedway Park at Newberrytown, Pa on June 8. Each stop on the Eastern Storm tour promises to provide great racing. I had the pleasure of visiting many of these tracks before some demented soul decided that bolting a shed roof on the roll cage of a perfectly good spring car was a good idea. The racing was great; and there are a lot of historical sites to visit during the days. AGATE Bloomington Speedway at Bloomington, Ind. (April 25) Sprint Car Feature: 1. Brady Short 2. Casey Shuman 3. Jordan Kinser 4. Nick Bilbee 5. Seth Parker 6. Dakota Jackson of Elizabethtown 7. Jeff Bland 8. Bub Cummings 9. Carson Short 10. Kent Christian Modified Feature: 1. Devin Gilpin of Columbus 2. Ryan Thomas 3. Brandon Green 4. Roy Bruce, Jr. 5. Kent Robinson 6. Josh Harris 7. Victor Lee 8. Jeff Curl 9. Brad Barrow 10. Chad Combs Super Stock Feature: 1. Tyler Cain 2. Travis Todd 3. Lee Hobbs 4. Steve Hollars 5. Marty Cooper 6. Steve Ham 7. Aaron Fields of Taylorsville 8. Dewayne Gross 9. Jack Frye 10. Josh McDaniel Hornet Feature: 1. Keegan Cox 2. Luke Bland 3. Felisha Deweese of Columbus 4. Matt Hamilton 5 Greg Garrison 6. Jo Matthews 7.Whitney Baldwin 8. James Lane 9. Michael Pruett 10. Tony Robinson Brownstown Speedway at Brownstown, Ind. (April 26) Late Model Feature: 1. Cody Mahoney 2. Mark Barber 3. Brad Barrow 4. Steve Godsey 5. Shannon Reed 6. Logan Mounce 7. Adam Bowman 8. Karlie Holt 9. Mason Covey 10. Matt Patus American Racing Series Modified Feature: 1. Devin Gilpin of Columbus 2. Brian Shaw 3. Jeff Curl 4. Ryan Thomas 5. Joe Godsey 6. David McWilliams 7. Jared Bailey 8. Roy Bruce, Jr. 9. Derek Groomer 10. Michael England Super Stock Feature: 1. Matt Boknecht of Cortland 2. Lee Hobbs 3. Jamey Wilson 4. Tyler Cain 5. Mike Fields 6. Marty Cooper 7. Aaron Fields of Taylorsville 8. Paul Ortman 9. Mitchell Maxie 10. Josh Turner Pure Stock Feature: 1. Jim Ruddick 2. Chris Workman 3. David Palmer 4. Tim Reed 5. Brandon Carr 6. Jason Basham 7. Dusten Carr 8. Michael Cranmer 9. Roger Absher 10. Greg Garrison Hornet Feature: 1. Greg Garrison 2. John Mayer, Jr. 3. Jacob Owens 4. Justin Robertson 5. Jason Hehman 6. Ryan Hehman 7. Austin Burton 8. Brian Mitchell 9. Jon Ortman 10. Keegan Cox Gas City I-69 Speedway at Gas City, Ind. (April 25) USAC Sprint Car Feature: 1. Tracy Hines 2. Bryan Clauson 3. Scotty Weir 4. Shand Cottle 5. Chris Windom 6. Chase Stockon of Elizabethtown 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr. 8. Jerry Coons, Jr. 9. Hunter Schuerenberg 10. C.J. Leary USAC Ford Focus Midgets:1. Patrick Bruns 2. John Heydenreich 3. Alex Watson 4. Austin Nemire 5. Bill Kreigbaum Modified Feature: 1. Derek Losh 2. Bill Lewis 3. Adam Williams 4. Tony Anderson 5. Darek Snyder 6. Zeke McKenzie 7. Andy Bishop 8. Jim Mallory 9. Terry Hull 10. Randy Lines Jacksonville Speedway at Jacksonville, Ill. (April 25) POWRI Midget Feature: 1. Christopher Bell of Columbus in a Keith Kunz Motorsports midget 2. Rico Bell in a Keith Kunz Motorsports midget 3. Tanner Thorson in a Keith Kunz Motorsports midget 4. Tyler Thomas 5. Nick Knepper 6. Alex Bright 7. Zach Daum 8. Daniel Adler 9. Parker Price-Miller 10. Daniel Robinson POWRi 600 c.c. Outlaw Micro: 1. Joe B. Miller 2. Scott Sawyer 3. Nic Harris 4. Frank Flud 5. Nick Howard 6. Chris Openshaw 7. Joey Wirth 8. Jake Neuman 9. Jeremy Camp 10. Shelby Bosie Lawrenceburg Speedway at Lawrenceburg, Ind. (April 26) Sprint Car Feature: 1. Logan Hupp of Columbus 2. Shawn Westerfeld 3. Kyle Robbins 4. Joss Moffatt of Columbus 5. Dalton Gabbard 6. Landon Simon 7. T.J. Heil 8. Garrett Abrams 9. Jordan Kinser 10. Michael Fischesser Modified Feature: 1. Adam Stricker 2. Adam Hamilton 3. Scotty Kincaid 4. Andrew Corbin 5. Shawn Brown 6. Weasel Rhoades 7. Kyle Herbert 8. Joe Fliehman 9. Duane Lee 10. Mike Weber Pure Stock Feature: 1. Will McRoberts 2. Scott Beeler 3. Jimmy Block 4. Scott Hensley 5. Tony Roland 6. Matt Wheeler 7. Dalton Baird 8. Chris Combs 9. Joel Andrews 10. Don Grace Hornet Feature: 1. Dalton Roark 2. David Daughtery 3. Tim Schumacher 4. Gage Clark 5. Andrew Roark 6. Dave Cooper 7. Joe Smith 8. Pat Tully 9. Chad Ackman 10. Denny Martini Lincoln Park Speedway at Putnamville, Ind. (April 26) Sprint Car Feature: 1. Chad Boespflug 2. Casey Shuman 3. Ethan Barrow 4. Chris Babcock 5. Matt Thompson 6. Kent Christian 7. Brian Hayden 8. Tyler Courtney 9. Robert Cummings 10. Chris Phillips Modified Feature: 1. Kenny Carmichael, Jr. 2. Kenny Carmichael, Sr. 3. Jimmy Hayden 4. Randy Shuman 5. Dan Lewellen 6. Jake Humphrey 7. Wes McClara 8. Jamie Rife 9. Elijah Hemminger 10. Michael Kettnich Super Stock Feature: 1. Kenny Carmichael, Sr. 2. Scott Carrington 3. Jake Leitzman 4. Dustin Shoulders 5. Josh McDaniel 6. Rob Paris 7. Doug McCullough 8. Steve Sutliff 9. Dennis Morgan 10. Jonathan Nwegent Bomber Feature: 1. Blake Cross 2. Tim Wright 3. David Wallen 4. Jeff Beggs 5. Lenny Krupa III 6. Mark Dickerson 7. Mike Fisher, Jr. 8. Mike Reitz 9. Dustin Colvin 10. Chucky Walden Macon Speedway at Macon, Ill. (April 26) Rained Out: The POWRi Midget and 600 c.c. Outlaw features will be added already scheduled May 17 racing program Salem Speedway at Salem, Ind. (April 28) ARCA 200: 1. Grant Enfinger 2. Spencer Gallagher 3. Frank Kimmel 4. Austin Wayne Self 5. Tom Hessert III 6. Josh Williams 7. Mason Mitchell 8. Ken Schrader 9. Cody Coughlin 10. Kyle Weatherman Stock Car Feature: 1. Shawn Smith 2. Kyle Hadley 3. Tony Conway 4. Brent Gardiner 5. Tim Rivers 6. Donnie Woodard 7. Roger Williams 8. Justin Pirtle 9. Greg Hubbuch 10. Kyle Zike Tri-State Speedway at Haubstadt, Ind. -- Spring Showdown (April 26) USAC National Sprint Car Feature: 1. Daron Clayton in the Hank Byram Rock Steady Racing sprinter out of North Vernon 2. Brady Bacon 3. Jon Stanbrough 4. Hunter Schuerenberg 5. Brady Short 6. Justin Grant 7. Bryan Clauson 8. C.J. Leary 9. Jarrett Andretti 10. Chase Stockon of Elizabethtown Modified Feature: 1. Zach Fair 2. Mark Lamont 3. Stephen Schnapf 4. Dustin Beck 5. Joel Jenson 6. Matt Lane 7. Michael Fox Twin Cities Raceway Park at Vernon (April 26) Late Model Feature: 1. Jeremy Hines 2. Chad Stapleton 3. Steve Barnett of Franklin 4. Tim Prince 5. Bill Sheets 6. Marty ONeal 7. Joe Janowski 8. Ben Burton 9. Rick Robinson 10. David Bryant Super Stock Feature: 1. Randy Petro of Columbus 2. Gary Rahe, Jr. 3. Jared Burton 4. Josh Phelps 5. Jerry Adams 6. Cody VanOsdol Pure Stock Feature: 1. Troy Clark of North Vernon 2. Jeff Patterson 3. Willie Sallee of Columbus 4. Bodi Henry 5. Donnie Wilson, 6. Ross Smith 7. David Colvin 8. Mark Hines 9. Justin Walters 10.Mark Bruce Hornet Feature: 1. Bryson Clark 2. Colton Sullivan 3. Cody Perry 4. Todd Cain 5. Trent Wyzard 6.Aptil Pastrick 7. Cordell Moore
Posted on: Thu, 01 May 2014 13:13:37 +0000
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