Hockett Sweeps Through O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT East Bay Opener
by: Lonnie Wheatley

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 29, 2007) – Missouri's Jesse Hockett made a clean sweep of the O'Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour 'N Topless opening night of action at East Bay Raceway Park's 31st Annual Winter Nationals by racing to victory lane in Monday night's 25-lap preliminary feature.

After snaring last lap victories from Roger Rager in both heat and qualifying race action, Hockett found himself chasing the cagey veteran once again in the "A" Main. But when Rager slipped high in turn four on the 12th circuit, "The Rocket" raced into the lead and never surrendered the point aboard the Wesmar-powered VKCC Motorsports No. 75 DRC.

Hockett, last year's Sprint Bandits COMP Cams TNT Midwest swing champion, posted his second career Sprint Bandits TNT feature win in front of Brady Short, Shane Cottle, Tracy Hines and Levi Jones, with Jason Sides, Mike Brecht, Jon Sciscoe, Danny Smith and Chris Windom completing the top ten.

O’Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless East Bay Preliminary Night One Results:

Heat Races:

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 2. 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN), 3. 17-Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 4. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (Mechanicsburg, PA), 5. 22-Mikey Kemper (Phoenix, AZ), 6. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 7. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 8. 7a-Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, IN), 9. 6x-Mark Cole (Lebanon, NH).

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 21x-Dickie Gaines (Mitchell, IN), 2. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 3. 2b-Brady Short (Bedford, IN), 4. 21s-Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington, IN), 5. 7-Jon Sciscoe (Bloomington, IN), 6. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 7. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 8. 20-Frank Carlsson (Oxford, FL), 9. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL).

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 2. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN), 3. 17s-Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA), 4. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN, 5. 21-Tracy Hines (Greenfield, IN), 6. d12-Jason Meyers (Clovis, CA), 7. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH), 8. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL).

Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 20J-Levi Jones (Olney, IL), 2. 36-Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN), 3. 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH), 4. 21R-Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN), 5. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 6. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 7. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN), 8. 22w-Mike Weber (Cincinnati, OH).

Fifth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 10-Daron Clayton (Sikeston, MO), 2. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 3. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 4. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 5. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 6. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 7. 16s-Lee Stark (Indianapolis, IN), 8. 7R-Riki Likowski (Hollis, NH).



Qualifying Races – Top 16 in Combined Passing Points from Heats & Qualifiers to "A" Main; balance to Twin "B" Mains

First Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 21x-Dickie Gaines (Mitchell, IN), 2. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 3. 21s-Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington, IN), 4. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 5. 17s-Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA), 6. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 7. 7a-Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, IN), 8. 10T-Daron Clayton, 9. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL).

Second Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 2. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN), 3. 20J-Levi Jones (Olney, IL), 4. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 5. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 6. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 7. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL), 8. 20-Frank Carlsson (Oxford, FL). DNS: 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH).

Third Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. d12-Jason Meyers (Clovis, CA), 2. 7-Jon Sciscoe (Bloomington, IN), 3. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 4. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN), 5. 17-Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 6. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 7. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL), 8. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH).

Fourth Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 2. 21-Tracy Hines (Greenfield, IN), 3. 21R-Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN), 4. 36-Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN), 5. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 6. 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN), 7. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN). DNS: 22w-Mike Weber (Cincinnati, OH).

Fifth Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 2b-Brady Short (Bedford, IN), 2. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 3. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 4. 22-Mikey Kemper (Phoenix, AZ), 5. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (Mechanicsburg, PA), 6. 16s-Lee Start (Indianapolis, IN), 7. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 8. 7s-Riki Likowski (Hollis, NH).

"B" Mains – Top 4 from each advance to "A" Main

First "B" Main (12 Laps): 1. 17s-Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA), 2. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 3. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 4. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 5. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH), 6. 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH), 7. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (Mechanicsburg, PA), 8. 20-Frank Carlsson (Oxford, FL), 9. 7a-Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, IN), 10. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 11. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 12. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 13. 7R-Riki Likowski (Hollis, NH).

Second "B" Main (12 Laps): 1. 10-Daron Clayton (Sikeston, MO), 2. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN), 3. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 4. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK, 5. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL), 6. 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN), 7. 16s-Lee Stark (Indianapolis, IN), 8. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 9. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN), 10. 6x-Mark Cole (Lebanon, NH), 11. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL), 12. 22-Mikey Kemper (Phoenix, AZ), 13. 22w-Mike Weber (Cincinnati, OH).

Gulf Coast Produce Strawberry Dash – 8 Laps

1. 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH), 2. 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN), 3. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH), 4. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL), 5. 6x-Mark Cole (Lebanon, NH), 6. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN), 7. 20-Frank Carlsson (Oxford, FL), 8. 22w-Mark Weber (Cincinnati, OH).



O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT “A” Main

“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 2. 2b-Brady Short (Bedford, IN), 3. 36-Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN), 4. 21-Tracy Hines (Greenfield, IN), 5. 20J-Levi Jones (Olney, IL), 6. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 7. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 8. 7-Jon Sciscoe (Bloomington, IN), 9. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 10. 17-Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 11. 21R-Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN), 12. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 13. d12-Jason Meyers (Clovis, CA), 14. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 15. 10-Daron Clayton (Sikeston, MO), 16. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN), 17. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 18. 17s-Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA), 19. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 20. 21x-Dickie Gaines (Mitchell, IN), 21. 21s-Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington, IN), 22. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN), 23. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 24. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN).

Lap Leaders: Roger Rager 1-11, Jesse Hockett 12-25.

O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT Points (Top Ten): 1. Jesse Hockett 150, 2. Brady Short 146, 3. Shane Cottle 144, 4. Tracy Hines 142, 5. Levi Jones 140, 6. Jason Sides 138, 7. Mike Brecht 136, 8. Jon Sciscoe 134, 9. Danny Smith 132, 10. Chris Windom 130.