Short is Stout in Wednesday Sprint Bandits TNT Go at East Bay
by: Lonnie Wheatley

TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 31, 2007) – Indiana's Brady Short thwarted Jesse Hockett's designs on a second O'Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour 'N Topless series feature event in as many nights of wingless Sprint Car action at East Bay Raceway Park's 31st Annual Winter Nationals, as he battled into the lead on the seventh round en route to winning Wednesday night's 25-lap feature.

In just his second night aboard Scott Benic's Gaerte-powered Lucas Oil Products/Indiana Stone Works No. 2b Maxim, Short withstood a late rush from Jon Stanbrough to post his second career Sprint Bandits TNT victory, this one coming exactly one year after his first win.

"It kept trying to rain on us there for a while so the track was kinda greasy, but Scott had the car working great tonight," Short explained in victory lane.

After winning Monday night's feature, Hockett bolted into the early lead from his outside front row starting slot ahead of polesitter Mike Brecht and third-starter Short. Short worked his way around Brecht for second by the third round, with the red flag then flying for a turn one tumble by Dickie Gaines. Gaines was uninjured but done for the night.

Short immediately went to work on Hockett and raced underneath him entering turn three on the fifth lap, only to have the move negated as the caution flew for debris in turn four from a John Heydenreich-Zach Chappell scrape. Heydenreich was forced pitside under the ensuing caution with a broken torsion arm.

Following another interruption for Shane Cottle's turn three flip, the race for the point was on between Hockett and Short. Having briefly lost the lead prior to the cautions via a Short move to the low side, Hockett protected the low line, thus forcing Short to the high side.

Short was able to make the high side work, pulling alongside Hockett on the sixth lap and finally gaining command a lap later. While Zach Chappell and Stanbrough were among those that appeared to be poised to challenge for the lead, Short denied all bids to reach the checkered flag first.

Chappell, who raced from 12th to fourth in the opening two laps, battled past Hockett for second on the 15th lap and set his sights on Short. But fourth-starter Stanbrough followed Chappell around Hockett and then took second from Chappell on the 18th circuit.

Stanbrough closed in on Short on several occasions, but was forced to settle for runner-up honors in the second Danny Roberts entry. Hockett claimed the show position at the line, with Chappell settling for fourth. After starting 21st, Ohio's Luke Hall made a late move through the field to round out the top five.

Brecht made a late bid for top-five honors but was forced to settle for sixth, with 15th-starter Chris Windom, Tracy Hines, 17th-starter Danny Smith and 16th-starter Cole Whitt completing the top ten.

Stanbrough, Hockett, Heydenreich, Cottle and Brecht topped heat races for Wednesday night's 41-car field, with Gaines, Chappell, Daron Clayton, Whitt and Short victorious in the Qualifying races.

Danny Smith decimated the field in the first "B" Main, with young Hunter Schuerenberg becoming the third and final leader of the second 12-lap "B" Main when he took command on the seventh lap.

The top six drivers in cumulative points from Heat Races, Qualifying Races and Features on both Monday and Wednesday are locked into Friday night's $10,000 to win O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT main event at East Bay Raceway Park's 31st Annual Winter Nationals. Those six drivers are Brady Short, Jesse Hockett, Mike Brecht, Levi Jones, Jon Stanbrough and Tracy Hines. The balance of the field will start from scratch, filling out the 24-car feature field through a series of heat races, qualifying races and "B" Mains.



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

Heat Races:

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 21R-Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN), 2. 2b-Brady Short (Bedford, IN), 3. 17-Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 4. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL), 5. 10-Daron Clayton (Sikeston, MO), 6. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 7. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 8. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 9. 17s-Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA).

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 2. 7-Jon Sciscoe (Bloomington, IN), 3. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL), 4. 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN), 5. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 6. 21s-Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington, IN), 7. 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH), 8, 7a-Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, IN).

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 2. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN), 3. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 4. 21x-Dickie Gaines (Mitchell, IN), 5. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 6. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 7. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN), 8. 22w-Mike Webber (Cincinnati, OH).

Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 36-Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN), 2. 21-Tracy Hines (Greenfield, IN), 3. 20J-Levi Jones (Olney, IL), 4. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH), 5. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 6. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (Mechanicsburg, PA), 7. 22-Mikey Kuemper (Phoenix, AZ), 8. 7R-Riki Likowski (Hollis, NH).

Fifth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 2. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 3. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN), 4. 16s-Lee Stark (Indianapolis, IN), 5. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 6. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 7. 20-Frank Carlsson (Oxford, FL), 8. 6x-Mark Cole (Lebanon, 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. 7-Jon Sciscoe (Bloomington, IN), 3. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 4. 21R-Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN), 5. 17-Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 6. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 7. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 8. 22-Mikey Kuemper (Phoenix, AZ), 9. 17s-Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA).

Second Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 2. 21-Tracy Hines (Greenfield, IN), 3. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 4. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 5. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 6. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL), 7. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 8. 7a-Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, OK).

Third Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 10-Daron Clayton (Sikeston, MO), 2. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 3. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 4. 36-Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN), 5. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 6. 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN), 7. 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH), 8. 22w-Mike Webber (Cincinnati, OH).

Fourth Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 2. 20J-Levi Jones (Olney, IL), 3. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL), 4. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH), 5. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 6. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN), 7. 7R-Riki Likowski (Hollis, NH), 8. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN).

Fifth Qualifier (8 Laps): 1. 2b-Brady Short (Bedford, IN), 2. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (Mechanicsburg, PA), 3. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN), 4. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 5. 21s-Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington, IN), 6. 16s-Lee Stark (Indianapolis, IN), 7. 6x-Mark Cole (Lebanon, NH), 8. 20-Frank Carlsson.



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

First "B" Main (12 Laps): 1. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 2. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN), 3. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 4. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH), 5. 40-Mark Hery (Piqua, OH), 6. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 7. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN), 8. 00-Danny Martin, Jr. (Sarasota, FL), 9. 6x-Mark Cole (Lebanon, NH), 10. 16s-Lee Stark (Indianapolis, IN), 11. 7a-Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, IN), 12. 17s-Steve Buckwalter (Royersford, PA), 13. 22-Mikey Kuemper (Phoenix, AZ).

Second "B" Main (12 Laps): 1. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 2. 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN), 3. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 4. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 5. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 6. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 7. 5w-Lucas Wolfe (Mechanicsburg, PA), 8. 20-Frank Carlsson (Oxford, FL), 9. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 10. 22w-Mike Webber (Cincinnati, OH), 11. 7R-Riki Likowski (Hollis, NH). DNS: 21s-Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington, IN).



O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT “A” Main

“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 2b-Brady Short (Bedford, IN), 2. 21R-Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN), 3. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 4. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 5. 34-Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, OH), 6. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 7. 17-Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 8. 21-Tracy Hines (Greenfield, IN), 9. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 10. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 11. 20J-Levi Jones (Olney, IL), 12. 36-Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN), 13. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN), 14. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 15. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL), 16. 7-Jon Sciscoe (Bloomington, IN), 17. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 18. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH), 19. 10-Daron Clayton (Sikeston, MO), 20. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 21. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 22. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN), 23. 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN), 24. 21x-Dickie Gaines (Mitchell, IN).



Lap Leaders: Jesse Hockett 1-6, Brady Short 7-25.

O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT Points (Top Ten): 1. Brady Short 296, 2. Jesse Hockett 294, 3. Tracy Hines 276, 4. (tie) Mike Brecht and Jon Stanbrough 274, 6. Shane Cottle 270, 7. Levi Jones 268, 8. Chris Windom 266, 9. Danny Smith 264, 10. Zach Chappell 258.