TNT Sprint Bandits & ASCS Midwest Reactions

In the post-Knoxville glow I-80 played host to what has become one of my favorite events of the year.

Last night the TNT Sprint Bandits and ASCS Midwest 360s ran the 4/10 mile track located near Greenwood and did not disappoint! In fact I think this was the best overall show I've seen to date this season.

The 360s had some great racing and a well deserving victor, while the TNT put on the best feature I've seen all season.

For a sprint car connoisseur it was a spectacular night of open wheel racing.

My Take…

-Congratulations Jack Dover and crew for winning the ASCS Midwest show! Team Dover has tackled the weekly 410 show this season at Knoxville and Lady Luck has not been kind. To say that they were due for an event win would be an understatement.

The victory didn't come easy. After losing his power steering, Dover had to fight off the current 360 Nationals champion Shane Stewart and long time veteran Chuck Swenson.

It was a busy night for Team Dover. They fielded two cars in the 360 show, the other being driven by Jack's sister Trish. Unfortunately for Trish she was taken out after coming into contact with Mike Sitzmann Jr. and had to settle for 21st.

The other car from Team Dover was driven by Australian Brodie Tulloch. Tulloch's evening ended with a sixth place finish in the B Feature. Given some more time it looked like he was getting a grasp on the non-wing car.

-Another nice run came from Larry Pinegar II driving for Doug Lovegrove. Pinegar won his heat, finished fourth in the dash and fifth in the feature.

Hopefully Pinegar's finish gives the team some momentum heading into Eagle Raceway's weekly program on Saturday night.

-Don Droud Jr. once again proved he is one of the most versatile drivers in the Midwest. Running a TNT car for Jack and JJ Yeley, Droud finished fourth in his heat. Unfortunately in his qualifier Droud suffered engine problems and was forced to drop out, finishing seventh.

Forced to run the B, Droud came up one sport short of transferring to the A feature by running fifth. No sooner did the dust settle from the TNT B feature, Droud was in his family-owned 2x ASCS Midwest car and brought it home fourth in the A.

I know Jr. and I'm sure he was disappointed with the evening, but he did everything in his power to put both of cars in the show.

-The track crew at I-80 should receive some high praise for the condition of the track. It was one of the most beautiful surfaces I've seen this year and held up to two sprint car shows and mods in the high temps.

-Last night I had the opportunity to ride along with Mike Peterson in his burgundy Ford Bronco push truck. In all the years I've been going to races this was the first time I've ever gotten to ride in a push truck.

The 410 cars with their higher compression definitely took more to get started than the 360s. It was a rush riding inside the truck almost dancing with the sprinter as Mike pushed them up to speed. It was definitely an interesting perspective and I had a great time. I'm definitely going to do that again!

Mike earns high distinction in my book from his exploits at the Knoxville races last week. He spent both the 360 and 410 Nationals camped out in a tent. I thought I had it bad in an RV, but at least we had air conditioning! Mike is truly an iron man when it comes to sprint car racing!

-Oh yeah I guess I should probably talk about the TNT feature. Watching it from atop Dover's tower in the infield was another first for me. Cool view to watch an amazing feature.

Darland, Tim Kaeding and his brother Bud Kaeding duked it out for thirty laps. I'm a HUGE fan of non-wing racing. Last night provided a perfect example of why.

Darland is an amazing racer and won another hard fought victory last night. He's a Hall of Fame caliber driver and it's a pleasure to watch him drive.

-Tim Kaeding showed his versatility last night by taking the wing off the 10K car after running all last week with the wing.

And Finally…

-I'll admit that I'm glad I have a few days off before the next race. I need some time to get the Knoxville campgrounds mud washed off my car, and to clean up my place a little bit. Some time away from this heat will be nice as well.

-I've had some people ask me last night about why I haven't had any reactions from Knoxville. To be honest I haven’t yet written a piece that I’m happy with about my Knoxville trip. Some of the details are a bit fuzzy. Ten days in a row is a bit of a sensory overload!

-One thing I do remember about the trip is the juicy rumor that stated the track would end its weekly racing for 2008 and run special events only. I can really find a source for where that came from, but it will be interesting to see if there's any truth to that.

-Oh, and Donny Schatz did sign with Tony Stewart Racing.

-Look for some photos from last night's action and from the Nationals as I get them in.

-This weekend I’ll be at Eagle for the Kid’s Night activities. I hope to see a packed house!

Oval Operator Results 8/15/07
1. Jack Dover
4. Don Droud Jr.
5. Larry Pinegar II
7. Toby Chapman
14. Jay Russell
16. Bobby Becker
21. Trish Dover
22. John Klabunde

Next Up…
8/18 Eagle Championship Series, Eagle Raceway