Ballou Back on Top of Sprint Bandits TNT with Sedalia
Score
by: Lonnie Wheatley
SEDALIA, Mo. (August 17, 2010) – In a torrid seesaw battle for the 2010
Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless championship, Robert Ballou
recaptured the TNT points lead by winning Tuesday night’s 25-lap feature at
the Missouri State Fair Speedway.
Ballou battled past
race-long leader Daron Clayton on the 19th round and went on to
win the first wingless, 410-ci Sprint Car event atop the historic ½-mile
dirt oval since Jack Hewitt graced victory lane in 1993.
Ballou’s fourth
series win of the year aboard Dallas Mulvaney’s Don Ott-powered MPHG
Promotions No. 81 Triple-X put him seven points ahead of Brady Bacon, who
finished third behind Bryan Clauson after Clayton crashed out of contention
on what would have been the final lap.
While Ballou
started the feature inside the second row, it was Clayton earning the pole
position for the third night in a row. And, after outgunning reigning TNT
champion Bacon for the lead at the drop of the green flag, it looked much of
the way as if Clayton would take his second win of the week.
Ballou, who slipped
around Bacon for second on the tenth round, explained that, “Early on I
didn’t think I could run him (Clayton) down. But as the fuel load burned
off, the car kept getting better and better.”
After getting
around Bacon, Ballou challenged Clayton several times around the midway
point to no avail. But with heavy traffic a steady factor most of the way,
Ballou pounced on opportunity by diving underneath Clayton entering turn
three on the 19th round.
With Ballou in the
top spot, Clayton tried to climb back into contention, front wheels clawing
at the air exiting turn four on several occasions.
With Clayton within
three car-lengths as the white flag flew, Ballou masterfully sliced through
a pair of lapped cars in turns one and two to apparently seal the deal.
But, before Ballou could get through three and four and motor on down the
stretch to the checkered flag, Clayton tangled with Chris Parkinson’s lapped
machine in turn three.
Parkinson vaulted
over the turn three railing and out of the park, with Clayton tumbling as
well to bring the race to a stop after 24 caution-free laps. Parkinson was
transported to a local hospital for observation, with Clayton walking away
from his mangled machine uninjured.
Set for
green-white-checkered run to the stripe, Ballou had a pair of lapped cars
between himself and the surging Bryan Clauson aboard the Hockett Racing No.
75 and Bacon. Clauson and Bacon both disposed of the lapped cars in turns
one and two and tried to reel in the leader.
Clauson very nearly
pulled off the feat, closing to within a couple of car-lengths before the
checkered flag flew upon Ballou’s tenth career TNT triumph.
Clauson settled for
runner-up honors, with Bacon in the show position aboard the Tel-Star
Communications No. 99.
Up to third behind
Clayton and Ballou at the midway point, New Yorker Coleman Gulick crossed
the stripe fourth, with Mike Hess bringing his 360-ci powerplant across the
stripe fifth for a $500 bonus.
Hunter Schuerenberg
was sixth, with Casey Shuman in seventh. After flipping in the night’s
opening heat race, Cali teen Kyle Larson sloughed off Jack Yeley orders to
pull pitside after one lap and responded with a charge from 22nd
to finish as the final car on the lead lap in eighth.
J.C. Bland was
ninth, with Patrick Stasa completing the top ten.
Bacon, Schuerenberg
and Ballou topped heat race action for the 22-car field, with Clauson,
Clayton and Gulick topping the qualifying races.
The Sixth Annual
Lucas Oil Sprint Bandits TNT Midwest Swing continues with Thursday night’s
feature event at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, NE, before moving on to Kansas
City’s Lakeside Speedway for the $10,000-to-win Ron Shuman Classic on Friday
and Saturday.
Sixth Annual Lucas
Oil Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless Midwest Swing
Missouri State Fair
Speedway Results:
Heat Races:
Heat One (8 Laps):
1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 75-Bryan Clauson, 3. 14-Coleman Gulick, 4. 18-Mike
Hess, 5. 23-Mitch Wissmiller, 6. 91-Jeff Stasa, 7. 93-Taylor Walton, 8.
2-Kyle Larson.
Heat Two (8 Laps):
1. 35-Hunter Schuerenberg, 2. 92-Daron Clayton, 3. 4g-Casey Shuman, 4.
16-Anthony Nicholson, 5. 21-Chris Parkinson, 6. 1p-Curtis Evans, 7.
19-Patrick Stasa.
Heat Three (8
Laps): 1. 81-Robert Ballou, 2. 43-Frank Brown, 3. 98-J.C. Bland, 4. 15-Jeff
Wingate, 5. 19x-Mitchell Moore, 6. 90-Patrick Budde, 7. 9c-Tony Crank.
Qualifying Races:
Qualifier One (8
Laps): 1. 75-Bryan Clauson, 2. 4g-Casey Shuman, 3. 81-Robert Ballou, 4.
98-J.C. Bland, 5. 21-Chris Parkinson, 6. 9c-Tony Crank, 7. 23-Mitch
Wissmiller. DNS: 2-Kyle Larson.
Qualifier Two (8
Laps): 1. 92-Daron Clayton, 2. 18-Mike Hess, 3. 35-Hunter Schuerenberg, 4.
16-Anthony Nicholson, 5. 19x-Mitchell Moore, 6. 91-Jeff Stasa, 7. 19-Patrick
Stasa.
Qualifier Three (8
Laps): 1. 14-Coleman Gulick, 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 3. 15-Jeff Wingate, 4.
43-Frank Brown, 5. 1p-Curtis Evans, 6. 90-Patrick Budde, 7. 93-Taylor
Walton.
Missouri State Fair
Speedway Sprint Bandits TNT Main Event:
“A” Feature (25
Laps): 1. 81-Robert Ballou, 2. 75-Bryan Clauson, 3. 99-Brady Bacon, 4.
14-Coleman Gulick, 5. 18-Mike Hess, 6. 35-Hunter Schuerenberg, 7. 4g-Casey
Shuman, 8. 2-Kyle Larson, 9. 98-J.C. Bland, 10. 19-Patrick Stasa, 11.
43-Frank Brown, 12. 16-Anthony Nicholson, 13. 15-Jeff Wingate, 14. 91-Jeff
Stasa, 15. 90-Patrick Budde, 16. 92-Daron Clayton, 17. 21-Chris Parkinson,
18. 1p-Curtis Evans, 19. 19x-Mitchell Moore, 20. 9c-Tony Crank, 21.
93-Taylor Walton, 22. 23-Mitch Wissmiller.
Lucas Oil Sprint
Bandits TNT Points (Top 10): 1. Robert Ballou 984, 2. Brady Bacon 977, 3.
Casey Shuman 953, 4. J.C. Bland 866, 5. Anthony Nicholson 846, 6. Travis
Rilat 661, 7. Matt Sherrell 572, 8. Patrick Stasa 511, 9. Jeff Stasa 483,
10. Jesse Hockett 412.
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