---

Sprints: Doty Captures Bloomington's Sheldon Kinser Memorial

29 August 1998

BLOOMINGTON, IN - Kevin Doty played Bloomington Speedway's quarter-mile like a fine guitar on Friday night. For the first 27 laps, he played the cushion, climbing from seventh to challenge Kevin Miller for the lead. As soon as he led Miller past the flagstand, Doty took the bottom grove away in the first turn. He quickly raced from the field, playing the low groove in one and two and the high groove at the opposite end, to score a masterful victory in the 10th Annual Sheldon Kinser Memorial.

"I was fortunate enough when I was a kid to watch guys like Sheldon Kinser race," Doty said in victory lane. "And Kenny Schrader, Rich Vogler, Tom Bigelow and Jan Opperman. To win this Sheldon Kinser Memorial is definitely an honor."

Starting from outside the front row, Kevin Miller put on an impressive performance, leading 24 of the 40 laps. Fast qualifier Brad Fox battled Miller for the lead, as did Derek Davidson. Davidson lead laps 13 and 14 before Miller moved back in front. When Fox battled back into the lead on lap 20, a spinning car brought out the caution, giving Miller the lead for the restart.

Doty, who was sixth when racing resumed, quickly started moving toward the front. He recalled, "About the middle of the race we got a little heat in the tire and I could tell we were going forward. Right before that yellow, I was starting to get those guys two at a time. From there it was just keep 'er straight and go to the front."

While the leaders used the quick bottom groove through the turns, Doty was on the edge of the rim. He passed Davidson and Fox on consecutive laps and closed in on Miller. On lap 25, he pulled even and for three circuits they raced every corner side-by-side. Then Doty nosed ahead as they accelerated off turn four, taking the lead. He quickly dropped low in the first turn, and began to race away from Miller. With ten laps remaining, Kevin Thomas, Dave Darland, Tracy Hines and Jack Hewitt were battling their way to the front. Driving Steve Chrisman's Stealth, Doty ran easily a straightaway ahead, as Miller tenaciously kept Thomas and Fox behind him. After starting in the seventh row, Hewitt raced his way into third on the last lap. Behind Doty, Miller and Hewitt, Thomas earned fourth and Hines fifth.

Kerry Norris employed a brave move, slicing between Gary Trammell and Richie Lex to take the lead of the open wheel modified feature on lap 5. Norris opened a straightaway lead as he scored his second consecutive feature win at Bloomington. Brian Campbell edged Ray Humphrey for second at the finish line, with Scott Patman and Trammell filling the top five.

After starting on the pole, Bloomington's Perry Bruce won his second WalMart Tire & Lube Express street stock main event of the season. Bruce led every lap on his way to the checkered flag, and J.D. Francis survived an early race tangle to finish second. Steve Hunt, Terry Arthur and Jack Frye completed the top five.

Finishing fifteenth in the main event, Columbus' Derek Scheffel claimed Bloomington's 1998 Pennzoil Cup sprint car championship, over Eric Burns. Matt Tiller picked up the open wheel modified division title with his eighth place finish. John DeMoss, who went into Friday's competition tied with Tiller, suffered a flat tire when he collided with a spinning car. He returned, a lap behind, to finish fifteenth. With his victory, Bruce locked up the WalMart Tire & Lube Express street stock division season championship.

In addition to the $3,000 first place purse, Doty earned $700 in lap prize money from the Rich Vogler Scholarship Fund. Miller's 24 laps out front earned an additional $1,200, while Davidson lead two laps for $100.

BLOOMINGTON SPEEDWAY SUMMARY

August 28, 1998
The 10th Annual Sheldon Kinser Memorial

Pennzoil Cup Sprint Cars
Fast qualifier: Brad Fox (11.810)
Heat 1: Jon Stanbrough, Brian Hayden, Brian Gerster, Brad Fox
Heat 2: Derek Scheffel, Kevin Thomas, Dave Darland, Derek Davidson
Heat 3: Levi Jones, Robbie Rice, Tony Elliott, Kevin Doty
Heat 4: Jack Hewitt, Rusty McClure, Tracy Hines, Kent Christian
B-Main: Kevin Miller, Sheldon Kinser Jr., Butch Winings, Justin Marvel (Eric Burns - alternate)
Feature: Doty, Miller, Hewitt, Thomas, Hines, Fox, Stanbrough, Darland, Hayden, Rice, Christian, Davidson, Jones, Gerster, Scheffel, Burns, Marvel, Winings, McClure, Kinser Jr.

Open Wheel Modifieds
Heat 1: John DeMoss, Don Shoulders, Troy Jarvis, Scott Patman
Heat 2: Billy Peeden, Richie Lex, Andrew Davis, Albert Webb
Heat 3: Kerry Norris, Terry Trammell, Brad Cummings, Sonny Richardson
Heat 4: Mike Bowersox, Gary Trammell, Brian Campbell, Matt Tiller
B-Main: Ray Humphrey, Bret Barr, Rodney Harris Jr., Troy Woods
Feature: Norris, Campbell, Humphrey, Patman, G. Trammell, Webb, Cummings, Tiller, Lex, T. Trammell, Richardson, Jarvis, Woods, Davis, DeMoss, Barr, Peeden, Shoulders, Harris, Bowersox

WalMart Tire & Lube Express Street Stocks
Heat 1: Steve Hawkins, Don Short, J.D. Francis, Danny Harris, Jack Frye
Heat 2: Perry Bruce, Don Bush, Mike Beatty, Greg Miller, Greg O'Neill
Heat 3: Steve Hunt, Gerald Todd, Terry Arthur, Joe Lucas, Steve Hollars
B-Main: Rick Hines, Steve Gilbert, Cory Brown, Lou Catellier, Mel Bigham
Feature: Bruce, Francis, Hunt, Arthur, Frye, Hawkins, Bigham, Brown, Short, Harris, Beatty, Lucas, Hollars, Gilbert, Catellier, Hines, Bush, Todd, O'Neill, Miller