Jones Banks $10K in East Bay Sprint Bandits TNT Finale!
by: Lonnie Wheatley

TAMPA, Fla. (February 2, 2007) – Levi Jones saved the best for last in the third and final night of O'Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour 'N Topless action at East Bay Raceway Park's 31st Annual Winter Nationals, leading the final 16 circuits to capture the $10,000 winner's share in Friday night's 40-lap feature.

Monday night winner Jesse Hockett paced the opening 24 rounds, with Jones and Mike Brecht shadowing his every move along the way. But the slightest of hesitations in lapped traffic on the 25th lap was just the opening Jones was looking for.

"You've really got to give a lot of credit to the track owners, Al (Varnadore) and Todd (Hutto), at any other track in the country this race would have been cancelled early this afternoon," Jones commented of heavy rains over night. "I'm glad we got to race and I'm going to enjoy their $10,000."

Piloting the Tony Stewart Motorsports Kistler-powered Chevrolet/Bass Pro Shops No. 20J Maxim, the 2005 Sprint Bandits TNT champion notched his fifth career series win in front of Brecht, Hockett, Brady Short and Jon Stanbrough.

Tracy Hines, Jones' teammate, crossed the stripe sixth, with the balance of the top ten including Shane Cottle, Kaley Gharst, Zach Chappell and Dickie Gaines.



More details to follow…

O’Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless East Bay Wingless Showdown Finale Results:

Locked in from Preliminary Events (Top six in cumulate heat, qualifier and feature races from Monday and Wednesday:

2b-Brady Short (Bedford, IN), 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 20J-Levi Jones (Olney, IL), 21R-Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN), 21-Tracy Hines (Greenfield, IN).

Heat Races (Top 14 in Passing Points to "A" Main; Balance to "B" Main:

First Heat (8 Laps): 1. 36-Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN), 2. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 3. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL), 4. 6x-Mark Cole (Lebanon, NH), 5. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH), 6. 22-Mikey Kuemper (Phoenix, AZ). DNS: 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN)>

Second Heat (8 Laps): 1. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 2. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 3. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 4. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 5. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 6. 22w-Mike Webber (Cincinnati, OH), 7. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN).

Third Heat (8 Laps): 1. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN), 2. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN), 3. 7-Jon Sciscoe (Bloomington, IN), 4. 17-Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 5. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 6. 21s-Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington, IN), 7. 7a-Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, IN).

Fourth Heat (8 Laps): 1. 10-Daron Clayton (Sikeston, MO), 2. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 3. 21x-Dickie Gaines (Mitchell, IN), 4. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 5. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 6. 12-David Kelly (Plant City, FL), 7. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN).



"B" Main – Top 4 advance to "A" Main

"B" Main (12 Laps): 1. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 2. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 3. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 4. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA), 5. 10T-Hunter Schuerenberg (Sikeston, MO), 6. 5-Kevin Briscoe (Mitchell, IN), 7. 7a-Dakoda Armstrong (New Castle, IN), 8. 34m-Arin McIntosh (Mitchell, IN), 9. 12-David Kelly (Plant City, FL), 10. 22w-Mike Webber (Cincinnati, OH), 11. 21s-Jeff Bland, Jr. (Bloomington, IN), 12. 57-Rob Chaney (Millersburg, OH). DNS: 22-Mike Kuemper (Phoenix, AZ), 17b-Brett Burdette (Milan, IN).



O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT “A” Main - $10,000 to Win

“A” Main (40 Laps): 1. 20J-Levi Jones (Olney, IL), 2. 97-Mike Brecht (Beaver Dam, OH), 3. 75-Jesse Hockett (Warsaw, MO), 4. 2b-Brady Short (Bedford, IN), 5. 21R-Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN), 6. 21-Tracy Hines (Greenfield, IN), 7. 36-Shane Cottle (Kokomo, IN), 8. 3-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL), 9. 8k-Zach Chappell (Talala, OK), 10. 21x-Dickie Gaines (Mitchell, IN), 11. 7-Jon Sciscoe (Bloomington, IN), 12. 6s-Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA), 13. 16-Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. (Brownsburg, IN), 14. 4-Danny Smith (Danville, IN), 15. 7s-Jason Sides (Bartlett, TN), 16. 17-Chris Windom (Canton, IL), 17. 2k-Roger Rager (Pequot Lake, MN), 18. 4b-Tom Busch (Bedford, IN), 19. 6x-Mark Cole (Lebanon, NH), 20. 4R-Robbie Vaughn (Mt. Vernon, WA), 21. 10-Daron Clayton (Sikeston, MO), 22. 85-Greg Leonard (Gibsonton, FL), 23. 29w-Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA), 24. 57b-John Heydenreich (Bloomsburg, PA).



Lap Leaders: Jesse Hockett 1-24, Levi Jones 25-40.

O'Reilly Sprint Bandits TNT Points (Top Ten): 1. (tie) Brady Short and Jesse Hockett 438, 3. Mike Brecht 420, 4. Levi Jones 418, 5. (tie) Tracy Hines and Jon Stanbrough 414, 7. Shane Cottle 406, 8. Zach Chappell 390, 9. Danny Smith 386, 10. Chris Windom 384.