Against All Odds – Bruce Goes Back-to-Back in Short
Track Nationals!
by: Lonnie Wheatley
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (November 7, 2009) – Tony Bruce, Jr., of
Liberal, KS, overcame all variety of odds to pocket the hefty $15,000
winner's share in Saturday night's 22nd Annual O'Reilly Short
Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires 40-lap championship finale atop
I-30 Speedway's high-banked, ¼-mile clay oval.
Bruce survived some
unpredictable opening laps that had the capacity crowd abuzz, took command
on the fifth round and then worked traffic to perfection in the final stages
to secure his first Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series presented by K&N Filters
triumph of the season.
The driver of the
Rider-powered No. 18 Maxim beat Wayne Johnson, Shane Stewart, Travis Rilat
and a rallying Sammy Swindell to the stripe to become just the third repeat
winner in the history of the prestigious event, joining the elite ranks of
four-time STN winner Gary Wright and three-time STN champ Steve Kinser.
Bruce also became
just the third back-to-back winner of the Short Track Nationals, a feat
previously accomplished only by Kinser in the inaugural two editions two
decades ago (1988 and 1989) and most recently by Wright in 2003 and 2004.
"I don't think
anybody picked us to win this thing, they all thought last year was a
fluke," an enthused Bruce commented in victory lane. "We showed 'em though,
the No. 18 is for real."
While the stellar
101-car field of entries from throughout the nation as well as Mexico would
have seemingly been enough to deal with, the Bruce team faced another major
obstacle after a hot-lapping incident set them into scramble mode.
"It tore out the
entire rear end, driveline, you name it," Bruce commented of the pre-race
hot lap troubles. "My guys did a great job just getting everything back to
together and the car was still great after that, I just had to drive the
wheels off of it."
Which is exactly
what Bruce did after a fifth-place finish in the Odus Pack Building
Materials Dash for Cash landed him inside the third row of the $78,950
feature event that included a minimum of $2,200 for each of the 22
starters.
Sammy Swindell
earned the pole position for the main event by winning that Dash, with
Oklahoma's Danny Wood running second to earn the front row starting
position. Along with those one-two Dash finishes came the opportunity to
take the COMP Cams Gambler's Challenge that would result in a starting
position of fourth, sixth, eighth or tenth depending upon the card drawn,
which would have upped the winner's share to $20,000 upon acceptance.
Swindell wasted
little time offering up a response of "No", preferring to keep the pole
starting position although he would soon be faced with an even bigger,
unanticipated challenge. Given the same offer, Wood kidded, "Should I take
the challenge or keep my job, I think I'll keep my job," in reference to
Wayne Johnson's acceptance of the Challenge last year and subsequent
dismissal.
As the green flag
flew on the feature field with Swindell and Wood leading the way, the
veteran duo battled through the opening circuit with Wood edging into the
lead upon the completion of the first round.
After a Tommy
Worley, Jr., spin in turn four after two laps, Sammy Swindell battled into
the top position on the third round before another caution flew when
fourth-starter Tim Crawley biked it and bounced to a stop in turn four.
Among the pre-race
favorites, Crawley was towed to the pit area with apparent race-ending
front-end damage.
But, as the field
paced under the caution laps, Swindell's left rear tire began losing air
pressure. And, when action resumed, Swindell struggled in turns one and two
with Wood pouncing into the lead on the low side as Swindell wrestled his
machine. The ensuing chaos sent 2006 event winner Jason Johnson tumbling
off the turn two embankment as he tried to navigate around the jumbled cars
of Swindell, Wayne Johnson and Tony Bruce, Jr.
While Swindell made
a quick trip to the work area to reinflate the left rear tire and remove the
faulty bleeder that could have cost him the $15,000 winner's share before
rejoining the fray, Crawley was able to rejoin the action as well.
Wood found himself
out front again after all the early dramatics in front of 1997 STN king
Wayne Johnson and Bruce. Wood wasn't there for long though, as Bruce needed
little more than a lap to charge by both Sooner State reps on the high side
for the lead.
After a Ricky Logan
spin in turn four with five rounds in the record books, Bruce and Wood
battled for the point over the next several laps as eighth-starter Shane
Stewart soon battled into third only to lose several positions when he did a
quick 360-degree spin in turn two after trying to squeeze underneath Wood.
Another four laps
later, the red lights flickered when Paul McMahan launched off of turn two
in wild fashion after contact with Jonathan Allard. McMahan endo'd over the
retaining fence off the backstretch and landed against the nose of Wayne
Johnson's tow rig, walking away uninjured.
The frenzied
opening 15 circuits were followed by 25 non-stop green flag laps. Bruce
held off Wood on the lap 16 restart, with Wayne Johnson, ninth-starter
Travis Rilat and a resurgent Stewart moving past Wood by the 20th
round as Swindell sliced through the field, even bouncing off brother Jeff
at one point along the way in turn two.
Into traffic by the
22nd circuit, Bruce was flawless over the final rounds, never
allowing Johnson the opportunity to close the narrow gap and mount a serious
challenge.
Bruce took the
checkered flag a half dozen car-lengths ahead of Johnson's Fisher-powered
Fattfro Motorsports No. 14aj Maxim mount, with current Lucas Oil Sprint Car
points leader Stewart battling back into the show position aboard Paul
Silva's Wesmar-powered ProBilt Construction No. 57 A.R.T. in the final
circuits.
Rilat crossed the
stripe fourth in the Shark-powered F&J Construction No. 29 Triple-X, with
Swindell rallying from the tail of the field to round out the top five in
the Parker-powered Tom Rolfe Trucking No. 10.
Allard earned STN
Rookie of the Year honors by racing from 13th to sixth in the
Bobby Sparks No. 91 Eagle, with Wood slipping to seventh in the H&H
Enterprises No. 94 over the final half of the race.
After losing an
engine on his qualifying night, Jesse Hockett charged from 20th
to eighth in the Tom Buch/VKCC Motorsports No. 13 JEI, with fellow Show-Me
Stater Jerrod Hull in ninth. Making his first STN appearance since 1989,
Indiana's Danny Smith completed the top ten aboard one of two Doc Sloan
entries.
Four drivers made
their first career STN championship feature start including event rookies
Allard and Donnie Ray Crawford (15th) along with Nebraska's Jack
Dover (16th) and Mexico's Don Grable, whose number was drawn
among the non-qualifiers for the 22nd starting position. Grable
was credited with a 21st place finish after an early exit
followed a lap three spin.
Marshall Skinner
battled amongst the top five much of the way before clipping an infield tire
in the closing laps and pulling to the infield.
After battling from
deep in the field after heat race action to earn an eleventh place finish on
his qualifying night, Derek Hagar was awarded the Shed Road Auto Parts Josh
Howard Determination Award.
A 14th-place
finisher in his first STN championship feature start since 1999, Ricky
Logan's number was drawn to receive a lightened Dart engine block from Wells
Racing Engines, an award worth approximately $4,000.
After 17 top-ten
finishes in 17 previous STN championship feature events, four-time event
winner Gary Wright missed the cut for the main event. "The Texan" was the
only driver ranked among the current top ten in Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series
presented by K&N Filters points to not make it into Saturday night's main
event.
With the top three
finishers from both the Thursday and Friday night preliminary feature events
locked into Saturday night's main event, 92 drivers returned to battle for
the remaining positions through a series of ten heat races and eight
qualifying races. Double passing points were added to preliminary night
point totals with the top six in total points earning positions 7-12 in the
main event (McMahan, Stewart, Rilat, Skinner, Crawford and D. Smith) and the
balance lined up in eight Last Chance Qualifying Races with the winners
advancing to the finale.
Lane Whittington,
Gary Taylor, Kevin Ramey, Donovan Peterson, McMahan, Ray Allen Kulhanek,
Matt Covington, Hagar, Stewart and Jeff Swindell won Saturday night's heat
races, with Claud Estes, Brandon Moseley, Mark Shirshekan and Kaley Gharst
all getting upside down without injury.
Jeff Swindell,
Tommy Worley, Jr., Allard, Hull, Logan, Hockett, Dover and A.G. Rains all
won Qualifying Races to advance to the main event.
The first
Qualifying Race got off to a brutal start with at least two cars tumbling
down the frontstretch in a melee that eliminated Anthony Nicholson, Garry
Bell and Lewis Jenkins, Jr. Clipped in the right shoulder by part of
another car, Jenkins had to be cut out of his car and transported to a local
hospital where he underwent successful surgery for a damaged deltoid
muscle.
With 18 states and
Mexico represented among this year's 101-car field, more than $107,000 in
cash was paid out over the course of the 22nd Annual O'Reilly
Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.
22nd
Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires
Championship Finale Results:
Locked in from
Preliminary Features: 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 41-Jason Johnson, 10s-Sammy
Swindell, 88T-Tim Crawley, 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 94-Danny Wood.
Heat Races – Double
Passing/Finishing Points (Top Six in Combined Points from Qualifying Night
and Saturday Night Heat Race Transfer to Positions 7-12 of "A" Main; Balance
Lined Straight Up According to Point Totals in 8 Last Chance Qualifying
Races):
First Heat (10
Laps): 1. 9w-Lane Whittington, 2. 27-Andy Shouse, 3. 28-Jonathan Cornell,
4. 91a-Jonathan Allard, 5. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 6. 7s-Paul Sides, 7.
88b-Mike Boston, 8. 8m-Mike Wells, 9. 5k-Jerry Kamer, 10. 19-Jay Adams.
Second Heat (10
Laps): 1. 61a-Gary Taylor, 2. 32-Garry Bell, 3. 13-Jesse Hockett, 4.
1m-Sean McClelland, 5. 87r-Aaron Reutzel, 6. 7L-Darren Long, 7. 16p-Dewayne
Prince, 8. w20-Greg Wilson, 9. 9x-Gary Wright, 10. 87x-Billy Melton.
Third Heat (10
Laps): 1. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 2. 1g-Cody Gardner, 3. 3a-A.G. Rains, 4.
10a-Ricky Logan, 5. 29r-Travis Rilat, 6. 5L-Eric Lutz, 7. 16n-Anthony
Nicholson, 8. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 9. 1jm-Jim Moughan.
Fourth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 11xs-Donovan Peterson, 2. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 1xp-Chad Pitts, 4.
86-Josh Fisher, 5. 8xx-Don Grable, 6. 31-Brandon Berryman, 7. 91m-Marty
Stanford, 8. 87b-Kent Buckley, 9. 74e-Claud Estes.
Fifth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 3d-Paul McMahan, 2. 40a-Ernie Ainsworth, 3. 14T-Tyler Brown, 4.
39-Brad Bowden, 5. 8s-Steve Short, 6. 71-Channin Tankersley, 7. 29h-Lyle
Howey III, 8. 17g-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 9. 165-Haley Arnold.
Sixth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 17c-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 2. 75-Don Young, 3. 87m-Brian McClelland,
4. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford, 5. 74c-Brandon Corn, 6. 11c-Chad Corken, 7.
2a-Randy Hibbs, 8. 11m-Brandon Moseley. DNS: 77-Kyle Larson.
Seventh Heat (10
Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 26m-Marshall Skinner, 4.
12h-Jerrod Hull, 5. 93-Dustin Morgan, 6. 4x-Jan Howard, 7. 23-Seth Bergman,
8. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 9. 10h-Josh Higday.
Eighth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 9jr-Derek Hagar, 2. d12-Danny Smith, 3. 8x-Chris Williams, 4.
21T-Tommy Bryant, 5. 58-Wade Oliver, 6. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 7. 12d-Dalton
Davis, 8. 40j-Junior Jenkins, 9. 1r-Scott Reneau.
Ninth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 51s-Lee Sowell, 3. 88k-J. Kinder, 4.
16a-Koty Adams, 5. 2d-Dusty Ballenger, 6. 9s-Justin Sturch, 7. 8z-Zach
Pringle, 8. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 9. 3x-Mark Shirshekan.
Tenth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 12s-Jeff Swindell, 2. 53-Jack Dover, 3. 7h-Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 4.
2w-Kenneth Walker, 5. a12-Tommy Worley, Jr., 6. 20-Kyle Sager, 7. 6s-Kaley
Gharst, 8. 72-Sherman Davis, 9. 14k-Kyle Bellm.
Odus Pack Building Materials Dash for Cash - Finishing Order
Determines Front Three Rows of “A” Feature:
Pack’s Dash for
Cash (6 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. 10s-Sammy Swindell (1)
[$500], 2. 94-Danny Wood (2) [$250], 3. 14aj-Wayne Johnson (4) [$200], 4.
88T-Tim Crawley (3) [$150], 5. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr. (5) [$125], 6. 41-Jason
Johnson (6) [$100].
Last Chance Qualifying Races – Winner from Each Last Chance
Qualifier Advances to "A" Main, Lined Up by Total Points from Qualifying
Night and Saturday Night Heat Race:
First Qualifier (10
Laps): 1. 12s-Jeff Swindell, 2. 61a-Gary Taylor, 3. 95-Matt Covington, 4.
39-Brad Bowden, 5. 31-Brandon Berryman, 6. 11m-Brandon Moseley, 7.
16n-Anthony Nicholson, 8. 32-Garry Bell, 9. 7h-Lewis Jenkins, Jr. DNS:
8m-Mike Wells, 2a-Randy Hibbs.
Second Qualifier
(10 Laps): 1. a12-Tommy Worley, Jr., 2. 17c-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 3.
14T-Tyler Brown, 4. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 9s-Justin Sturch, 6. 8z-Zach
Pringle, 7. 5L-Eric Lutz, 8. 7L-Darren Long, 9. 1xp-Chad Pitts, 10.
165-Haley Arnold. DNS: 14k-Kyle Bellm.
Third Qualifier (10
Laps): 1. 91a-Jonathan Allard, 2. 86-Josh Fisher, 3. 40r-Ricky Stenhouse,
Jr., 4. 93-Dustin Morgan, 5. 58-Wade Oliver, 6. 20-Kyle Sager, 7. 11c-Chad
Corken, 8. 74c-Brandon Corn, 9. 91m-Marty Stanford, 10. 40j-Junior Jenkins,
11. 19-Jay Adams.
Fourth Qualifier
(10 Laps): 1. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 2. 1g-Cody Gardner, 3. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 4.
2d-Dusty Ballenger, 5. 8s-Steve Short, 6. 97-Aaron Berryhill, 7. 51s-Lee
Sowell, 8. 87a-Andrew Marshala, 9. 17g-Bruce Griffith, Jr., 10. 5k-Jerry
Kamer. DNS: 88b-Mike Boston.
Fifth Qualifier (10
Laps): 1. 10a-Ricky Logan, 2. 9jr-Derek Hagar, 3. w20-Greg Wilson, 4.
71-Channin Tankersley, 5. 28-Jonahan Cornell, 6. 16p-Dewayne Prince, 7.
8x-Chris Williams, 8. 12d-Dalton Davis, 9. 1r-Scott Reneau, 10. 27-Andy
Shouse. DNS: 87b-Kent Buckley.
Sixth Qualifier (10
Laps): 1. 13-Jesse Hockett, 2. 4x-Jan Howard, 3. 23-Seth Bergman, 4.
17b-Ryan Bickett, 5. 8xx-Don Grable, 6. 16a-Koty Adams, 7. 29h-Lyle Howey
Iii, 8. 87x-Billy Melton, 9. 8k-J. Kinder, 10. 75-Don Young, 11. 2w-Kenneth
Walker.
Seventh Qualifier
(10 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover, 2. 21T-Tommy Bryant, 3. 9x-Gary Wright, 4.
1jm-Jim Moughan, 5. 40a-Ernie Ainsworth, 6. 87r-Aaron Reutzel, 7.
11xs-Donovan Peterson, 8. 7s-Paul Sides. DNS: 74e-Claud Estes, 77-Kyle
Larson.
Eighth Qualifier
(10 Laps): 1. 3a-A.G. Rains, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 4.
87m-Brian McClelland, 5. 10h-Josh Higday, 6. 72-Sherman Davis, 7. 1m-Sean
McClelland, 8. 9w-Lane Whittington. DNS: 6s-Kaley Gharst, 3x-Mark Shirshekan.
Twenty-first
starting position awarded to I-30 Speedway track champion Justin Sturch
(track champion provisional), 22nd position awarded to Don Grable
via draw of drivers that competed in both preliminary and Saturday night
competition.
22nd
Annual O'Reilly Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires
Championship “A” Feature:
A Feature (40 Laps
– Starting position in parentheses): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr. (5) [$15,000],
2. 14aj-Wayne Johnson (3) [$10,000], 3. 57-Shane Stewart (8) [$7,500], 4.
29r-Travis Rilat (9) [$5,000], 5. 10s-Sammy Swindell (1) [$2,600], 6.
91a-Jonathan Allard (13) [$2,500], 7. 94-Danny Wood (2) [$2,450], 8.
13-Jesse Hockett (20) [$2,400], 9. 12h-Jerrod Hull (14) [$2,375], 10.
d12-Danny Smith (12) [$2,350], 11. 12s-Jeff Swindell (16) [$2,325], 12.
88T-Tim Crawley (4) [$2,300], 13. 9s-Justin Sturch (21) [$2,275], 14.
10a-Ricky Logan (19) [$2,250], 15. 55-Donnie Ray Crawford (11) [$2,225], 16.
53-Jack Dover (15) [$2,200], 17. 26m-Marshall Skinner (10) [$2,200], 18.
3a-A.G. Rains (18) [$2,200], 19. a12-Tommy Worley, Jr. (17) [$2,200], 20.
3d-Paul McMahan (7) [$2,200], 21. 8xx-Don Grable (22) [$2,200], 22. 41-Jason
Johnson (6) [$2,200].
Lap Leaders: Danny
Wood 1-2, Sammy Swindell 3, Wood 4, Tony Bruce, Jr. 5-40.
Lucas Oil Sprint
Car Presented by K&N Filters Points (Top Twenty): 1. Shane Stewart 2,428,
2. Jason Johnson 2,404, 3. Gary Wright 2,378, 4. Travis Rilat 2,267, 5. Paul
McMahan 2,216, 6. Tim Crawley 2,193, 7. Danny Wood 2,170, 8. Tony Bruce, Jr.
2,132, 9. Jack Dover 2,113, 10. Jesse Hockett 2,111, 11. Sean McClelland
1,834, 12. Kenneth Walker 1,768, 13. Darren Long 1,659, 14. Chad Corken
1,627, 15. Gary Taylor 1,611, 16. Seth Bergman 1,537, 17. Brady Bacon 1,355,
18. Gavin Punch 1,344, 19. Wayne Johnson 1,268, 20. Ricky Logan 1,124.
 |
