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USAC: The Week in Sprints, Midgets, Silver Crown, and F2000

11 August 1998

STOOPS FREIGHTLINER SPRINT CAR SERIES
ELLIOTT WINS RICH "VINCE OSMAN CLASSIC;" RAIN HALTS ELDORA
"JIM HURTUBISE CLASSIC" FRIDAY, PUTNAMVILLE SPRINTS SATURDAY

Tony Elliott scored one of his richest career victories Sunday night at his "home" track, the Evans Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway, as he raked in $8,802, including contingency and lap prizes, for his victory in the "Vince Osman Classic."

Elliott trailed J.J. Yeley for the first 20 laps, then led the final 20 to win the 40-lap Stoops Freightliner contest on the 1/4-mie dirt oval in the Stealth/Murray's Body Shop/Jam It In Storage Special. Yeley finished second, followed by Turbines, Inc. fast qualifier Cary Faas, Bill Rose and Brad Fox. The win boosted Elliott to within 47 points of series leader Kevin Thomas going into two races this weekend.

The Wabash Valley Homes "Jim Hurtubise Classic" is slated Friday night at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track, followed by Saturday night's events at the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. A 30-lap feature caps both programs. Practice at Terre Haute begins at 6 p.m., with qualifying at 7 and racing at 8. Practice at Putnamville starts at 5:30, followed by qualifying at 6 and racing at 7:30.

Rains forced cancellation of last Wednesday night's Stoops Freightliner Sprint car event at the Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, originally scheduled for live telecast on ESPN2.

Stoops Freightliner Sprint Car Point Standings: 1-Kevin Thomas-1,390, 2-Tony Elliott-1,343, 3-Derek Davidson-1,099, 4-J.J. Yeley-1,077, 5-Tim Cox-996, 6-Dave Darland-970, 7-Kevin Doty-967, 8-Jason McCord-932, 9-Brian Tyler-902, 10-Brian Hayden-844.

NATIONAL/16TH STREET/SPEEDROME MIDGET SERIES
DRAKE, LEFFLER WIN, STAY 1-2; IRP'S "KENYON CLASSIC", NEW CASTLE UP NEXT
SPEEDROME, 16TH STREET RESUME THURSDAY, SATURDAY AFTER RAINOUTS

Jay Drake and Jason Leffler continued their torrid duel for the USAC National Midget title with feature victories in weekend action in the Kansas City area. Drake leads Leffler by just three points going into this Wednesday night's "Mel Kenyon Classic" at Indianapolis Raceway Park and Sunday night's races at Mount Lawn Speedway in New Castle, Ind.

A 40-lap feature caps the "Mel Kenyon Classic" activities, which begin with practice at 6 p.m. Qualifying is slated for 7 and racing gets under way at 8. Sunday's events at New Castle open with practice at 5 p.m., followed by qualifying at 6 and racing at 7. A 40-lapper is also on tap at the 3/10-mile paved New Castle oval.

Drake won Friday night's 30-lap race at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, leading all but the first lap in his Keco/Stealth Esslinger to beat Brian Gerster, Jerry Coons, Jr., Leffler and Ronnie Johncox. Leffler came back Saturday night to take the 30-lapper at I-70 Speedway in Odessa, Mo. in his Wynn's/PRI/ASE/Beast Pink Ford, trailed by Drake, Johncox, Tracy Hines and Coons. Sarah McCune, Hines and Coons all led before Leffler took over on lap 11.

Ryan Newman won last year's "Mel Kenyon Classic" and Robby Flock won last year's Midget race at New Castle.

Rains forced cancellation of both USAC "regional" Midget events in Indianapolis, Ind. last week. The Indianapolis Speedrome, which got wet Thursday night, resumes its weekly action this Thursday night, with a 50-lap feature on tap. The 16th Street Speedway, which suffered a Saturday night rainout, lights up again this Saturday night, with a 30-lapper scheduled. Michael Lang of Indianapolis leads both series standings.

National Midget Standings: 1-Jay Drake-611; 2-Jason Leffler-608; 3-Ricky Shelton-573; 4-Jerry Coons, Jr.-452; 5-Jimmy McCune-396; 6-Tracy Hines-316; 7-Ronnie Johncox-262; 8-Travis Welpott-225; 9-Dave Steele-204; 10-Robby Flock-180.

16th Street Midget Standings: 1-Michael Lang-198; 2-Critter Malone-165; 3-Andy Pierce-164; 4-Ron Smoker-154; 5-Jeff Hampton-142; 6-Roy Caruthers-139; 7-Rick Treadway-133; 8-Jay Drake-124; 9-Jerry Coons, Jr.-124; 10-Steve Knepper-122.

Speedrome Midget Standings: 1-Michael Lang-5,140; 2-John Sluss-4,050; 3-Dean Franklin-1,830; 4-Daryl Campbell-1,410; 5-Gregg Cory-1,400; 6-Brad Kuhn-1,385; 7-Robbie Parish-1,320; 8-Ron Hamm-1,320; 9-Norm Young-1,280; 10-John Mount-1,210.

FORMULA 2000 SERIES
BESNARD TAKES #6 AT MID-OHIO TO EXTEND F2000 POINT LEAD

Australian David Besnard scored his sixth USAC/SCCA Formula 200 victory of the season Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, extending his lead in the 1998 series standings to 51 points over Ryan Hampton, who was involved in a 14th-lap accident and failed to finish.

Besnard won the pole on Friday at 95.369 mph and led all 22 laps of Saturday's race, beating Robby McGehee, Tim Duit, Jonathan Bottoms and Marc Antoine Camirand to the checkered flag. He drove the Haase Racing Karts Van Diemen Ford.

Hampton, Andy Lally and Ric Rushton were all involved in the melee just past the start/finish line on the 14th lap but there were no driver injuries.

Michael Durand of Wayland, Mass. won the "B" class for older chassis with a 16th-place finish in the 46-car field, while Larry Vatri won the Competition Data Systems "Drive of the Day" after improving 19 positions to finish 18th.

Formula 2000 National Point Standings: 1-David Besnard-306; 2-Ryan Hampton-255; 3-Robby McGehee-215; 4-Andy Lally-182; 5-Marc Antoine Camirand-171; 6-Mike Johnson-152; 7-Bobby Oergel-151; 8-Jonathan Bottoms-148; 9-Steve Rikert-138; 10-Sam Hornish, Jr.-135. Formula 2000 Oval Crown Point Standings: 1-David Besnard-110; 2-Ryan Hampton-101; 3-Robby McGehee-91; 4-Andy Lally-78; 5-Sam Hornish-68; 6-Jonathan Bottoms-60; 7-Bobby Oergel-56; 8-Mike Johnson-53; 9-Ric Rushton-51; 10-James Yott-44.

WESTERN STATES SERIES
LAKATOS "DOUBLES" IN VENTURA, BAKERSFIELD TQs
SPRINT CARS AT SILVER STATE RACEWAY SATURDAY NIGHT

Josh Lakatos of Pasadena, Calif. finally cracked the winner's circle in the USAC TQ Midget Series last week and he liked it so much he served up an encore two nights later!

Lakatos, who won a silver medal in pistol shooting at the Atlanta Olympics, "shot down" his competition Thursday night at the Ventura County Fair in Ventua, Calif., then came back to win Saturday night's feature at the Bakersfield (Calif.) Speedway. He led all 20 laps at Ventura and passed Paul Krueger on the second lap at Bakersfield, leading the rest of the way. The wins were his first in USAC TQ competition and bolstered his third-place series ranking behind Alex Harris and Gene Godepski.

Harris dropped out of Thursday's Ventura feature and did not compete at Bakersfield his lead over Godepski slipping to 72 points as a result. Godepski was sixth at Ventura and second at Ventura.

Lakatos was chased to the flag at Ventura by Brian Harris, Gary Schroeder, Greg Edenholm and Randi Pankratz, while he and Godepski were followed by Ryan Stone, Edenholm and West Evans at Bakersfield.

Jeff Gardner of Fresno, Calif. leads the "Western States" Sprint Car series to Saturday night's events at the Silver State Raceway in Carson City, Nev. A 30-lap feature is scheduled on the 1/4-mile paved oval. Gardner owns 1998 victories at Las Vegas, Nev. and Madera, Calif. but Rick Williams won the July 25 race on the Carson City pavement.

The TQ Midgets are idle now until the August 29 "tripleheader" at Tucson (Ariz.) Raceway Park featuring the "Western States" Midgets, Sprint Cars and TQs.

Western States Midget Standings: 1-Rick Hendrix-359; 2-Bryan Stanfill-324; 3-Wally Pankratz-317; 4-Shane Scully-271; 5-Jason Leffler-266; 6-Bobby Boone-252; 7-Steve Paden-232; 8-Ricky Shelton-197; 9-Marc DeBeaumont-195; 10-Clay Klepper-193.

Western States Sprint Standings: 1-Jeff Gardner-423; 2-Rick Williams-365; 3-Tyler Haylett-210; 4-Tony Hunt-204; 5-Monte Faccinto-177; 6-Dave Fitzgerald-170; 7-Kirk Wartman-151; 8-Davey Pombo-148; 9-Ray Evans-110; 10-Rick Sipe-108.

TQ Midget Standings: 1-Alex Harris-342; 2-Gene Godepski-270; 3-Josh Lakatos-245; 4-Brian Harris-231; 5-West Evans-227; 6-Randi Pankratz-227; 7-Ron Ahrendt-198; 8-Paul Krueger-192; 9-Joe Bishop-154; 10-Ron Wade-152.

Regional Rebel Sprint Standings: 1-Monte Faccinto-558; 2-Davey Pombo-540; 3-Mark Barroso-402; 4-Lawrence Edlund-394; 5-Craig Stidham-293; 6-Jeff Gardner-278; 7-Larry Brown-223; 8-H.P. Myatt-220; 9-Shane Travioli-199; 10-Glen Rudolph-165.