"The Ultimate Challenge" brought a field of 35 non-winged sprint cars to the Southern Iowa Speedway Tuesday
By Perry Bell

OSKALOOSA, IA. (Aug. 8, 2006) - The show that is billed as "The Ultimate Challenge" brought a field of 35 non-winged sprint cars to the Southern Iowa Speedway Tuesday. The competitors raced for an opportunity to grab the winner's check for $30,000. Fans sat patiently in their seats as workers prepared the track after rain pelted the facility in the afternoon.

The first heat race hit the half-mile dirt oval at 8:20 p.m. A total of 35 cars were on hand for the fifth annual event which was sanctioned by the O'Reilly Sprint Bandits. Two of the previous Ultimate Challenge winners were at the 2006 event. Levi Jones the defending champion and Dickie Gaines the 2004 Ultimate champion. Jerry Coons, Jr., pocketed the top money for the night as he motored on to victory by leading the final 10 laps of the 30-lap feature.

The early race leader in the main event was Jac "The Wild Child" Haudenschild, who led laps one through eight. Bryan Clauson then took over the lead position for circuits nine through 20 before Coons closed out the night in front. Clauson held on for second place followed by Haudenschild in third, Don Droud, Jr. in fourth and Darren Hagan in fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Jon Stanbrough in sixth, Shane Cottle, Jay Drake, Cory Kruseman and Brad Sweet. Defending champion of the Ultimate Challenge, Levi Jones ran 11th.

Heat winners for the four eight lap events were Brad Sweet, from Grass Valley, Calif., Kyle Wissmiller, Saybrook, Ill., Jon Stanbrough, Jamestown, Ind., and Don Droud, Jr. out of Lincoln, Neb. The red flag prevailed in heat number two with Kent Christian, of Clayton, Ind., transported to the Mahaska County Hospital in Oskaloosa after his car tumbled end over end in the back chute.

The red came out again in the second heat after Matt Neely's car flipped between turns three and four. Heat number three also produced a red flag on the opening circuit when the cars of Gaines and Jan Howard touched and flipped in turn one. Jones had much better luck than Gaines the 2004 Ultimate winner. Jones started ninth in his heat and finished in fourth place.

Passing points were used to line up the four qualifying heat races. Points totaled together from the heat races and qualifying heats were added together with the top 18 in points earning a spot in the 30-lap A-Feature. RJ Johnson took a soft rollover to bring out the initial red flag in the first qualifying heat race.

Winning the four qualifying heat races, Jeff Davis, Bryan Clauson, Jerry Coons and Charles Davis, Jr.

Ultimate Challenge
at Southern Iowa Speedway
Oskaloosa - Tuesday, Aug. 8
Non-Winged Sprint Cars

First Heat - 8 Laps (passing points used)
1. Brad Sweet (3J) Grass Valley CA, 2. Shane Cottle (5G) Kokomo IN, 3. Terry Pletch (29P) Frankfort IN, 4. Cory Kruseman (38) Ventura CA, 5. Matt Westfall (54) Ludlow Falls OH, 6. Darron Clayton (92) Sikeston MO, 7. Chris Urish (77U) Elkhart IL, 8. RJ Johnson (15) Phoenix, AZ, 9. Dave Anderson
(53A) Burlington IA.

Second Heat -
1. Kyle Wissmiller (2K) Saybrook IL, 2. Critter Malone (7) Indianapolis IN, 3. Bud Kaeding (29) Campbell CA, 4. Levi Jones (11d) Olney IL, 5. Dale Howard (47) Byhalia MS, 6. Jeff Davis (33) Pittsburg IL, 7. Matt Neely (2B) Robinson IL, 8. Dave Darland (11) Lincoln, IN, 9. Kent Christian (1C) Clayton IN

Third Heat -
1. Jon Stanbrough (53) Jameston IN, 2. J.T. Imperial (6) Mesa AZ, 3. Jay Drake (67K) Brownsburg IN, 4. Charles Davis Jr. (21S) Buckeye AZ, 5. Brian Clausen (67) Noblesville IN, 6. Jerry Cooms Jr (69) Tucson AZ, 7. Darren Hagen (71) Riverside CA, 8. Preston Pebbles (11P) Lubbock TX, 9. Brady Short (36) Bedford IN.

Fourth Heat -
1. Don Droud Jr (44) Lincoln NE, 2. Jac Haudenschild (35) Wooster OH, 3. Jesse Hockett (75) Warsaw MO, 4. Ray Allen Kulhanek (41) Danbury TX, 5. Scotty Weir (22) Marion IL, 6. Dickie Gaines (21X) Mitchell IN, 7. Jan Howard (46) Byhalia MS.

Qualifier Heat 1 - 8 Laps
1. Jeff Davis (33) Pittsburg IL, 2. Jac Haudenschild (35) Wooster OH, 3. Darren Hagen (71) Riverside CA, 4. Jesse Hockett (75) Warsaw MO, 5. Don Droud Jr (44) Lincoln NE, 6. Dale Howard (47) Byhalia MS, 7. Ray Allen Kulhanek (41) Danbury TX, 8. Brady Short (36) Bedford IN, 9. RJ Johnson
(15) Phoenix, AZ

Qualifier Heat 2 -
1. Brian Clausen (67) Noblesville IN, 2. Brad Sweet (3J) Grass Valley CA, 3. Terry Pletch (29P) Frankfort IN, 4. Shane Cottle (5G) Kokomo IN, 5. Chris Urish (77U) Elkhart IL, 6. Dave Darland (11) Lincoln IN, 7. Critter Malone (7) Indianapolis IN

Qualifier Heat 3 -
1. Jerry Cooms Jr (69) Tucson AZ, 2. Darron Clayton (92) Sikeston MO, 3. Bud Kaeding (29) Campbell CA, 4. Levi Jones (11D) Olney IL, 5. Cory Kruseman (38) Ventura CA, 6. Kyle Wissmiller (2K) Saybrook IL, 7. Preston Pebbles (11P) Lubbock TX, 8. Matt Neely (2B) Robinson IL.

Qualifier Heat 4 -
1. Charles Davis Jr. (21S) Buckeye AZ, 2. Jay Drake (67K) Brownsburg IN, 3. Matt Westfall (54) Ludlow Falls OH, 4. J.T. Imperial (6) Mesa AZ, 5. Jon Stanbrough (53) Jameston IN, 6. Scotty Weir (22) Marion IL, 7. Dave Anderson (53A) Burlington IA

B-Feature - 12 Laps
1. Critter Malone (7) Indianapolis IN, 2. Cory Kruseman (38) Ventura CA, 3. Scotty Weir (22) Marion IL, 4. Matt Westfall (54) Ludlow Falls OH, 5. Ray Allen Kulhanek (41) Danbury TX, 6. Preston Pebbles (11P) Lubbock TX, 7. Matt Neely (2B) Robinson IL, 8. Dale Howard (47) Byhalia MS, 9. Chris Urish
(77U) Elkhart IL, 10. Dave Anderson (53A) Burlington IA

A-Feature -30 Laps
1. Jerry Cooms Jr (69) Tucson AZ, 2. Bryan Clausen (67) Noblesville IN, 3. Jac Haudenschild (35) Wooster OH, 4. Don Droud Jr (44) Lincoln NE, 5. Darren Hagen (71) Riverside CA, 6. Jon Stanbrough (53) Jameston IN, 7. Shane Cottle (5G) Kokomo IN, 8. Jay Drake (67K) Brownsburg IN, 9. Cory Kruseman (38) Ventura CA, 10. Brad Sweet (3J) Grass Valley CA, 11. Levi Jones (11D) Olney IL, 12. Jesse Hockett (75) Warsaw MO, 13. Matt Westfall
(54) Ludlow Falls OH, 14. Terry Pletch (29P) Frankfort IN, 15. Darron Clayton (92) Sikeston MO, 16. Critter Malone (7) Indianapolis IN, 17. Ray Allen Kulhanek (41) Danbury TX, 18. Jeff Davis (33) Pittsburg IL, 19. Preston Pebbles (11P) Lubbock TX, 20. J.T. Imperial (6) Mesa AZ, 21. Kyle Wissmiller (2K) Saybrook IL, 22. Charles Davis Jr. (21S) Buckeye AZ, 23. Scotty Weir (22) Marion IL, 24. Bud Kaeding (29) Campbell, CA.