SMRA Supermodifieds

Madera Speedway hosted the fifth Super Saturday Event of 2009 on August 15th.

by Gerald Laurie Contributing OWR3 Staff

Madera Speedway hosted the fifth Super Saturday Event of 2009 on August 15th. The featured divisions were USAC Sprints, SMRA Supermodifieds, and Madera;s 360 Supermodifieds. By the time the shouting was done, Tanner Swanson, Troy Regier, and Willie Northammer had collected winner's trophies in the respective classes.

During the afternoon practice session, Kenny White suffered a mechanical failure which put the number 26 Supermodified into the turn one wall with sufficient damage to end his evening of racing.

The first order of competition were qualifications for all divisions. Kody Swanson was fastest in the United States Auto Club Sprint Cars with a time of 13.494 on the 1/3 mile banking. Tony Hunt was second fast at 13.501 seconds followed by Brian McClish at 13.589, Tanner Swanson at 13.611, and Jo Jo Helberg at 13.613.

The next order of business was 360 Supermodified Time Trials. Dan Vanderpool came out of retirement and jumped in the Hayes Bros. Super to set fast time at 13.336 seconds. Second through fifth were David Tuey at 13.357, Lance Tatro at 13.376, Kyle Vanderpool (Dan's son) at 13.387, and Kenny Kinchen at 13.437.

When the Supermodified Racing Association Supermodifieds hit the track, Jeff Russell cracked off a lap at 12.216 seconds to lead the field. Troy Regier was next at 12.287 followed by Bryan Warf at 12.290, A.J. Russell at 12.436, and Jim Birges at 12.523.

Both Supermodified Divisions had fast car trophy dashes. The 360 Trophy Dash lined up with Kyle Vanderpool and Lance Tatro on the front row followed by David Tuey and Dan Vanderpool in row 2. At the drop of the green, the cars entered turn one three wide sending Dan Vanderpool hard into the turn one wall. The race was restarted with the three remaining cars and Tatro took the lead over Kyle Vanderpool and Tuey. And that was race. The fourth lap checkers flew over Tatro, Vanderpool, and Tuey.

The SMRA Supermod Dash featured Troy Regier and A.J. Russell on row one with Jeff Russell and Jim Birges bringing up the rear. Jeff Russell took off from the high side while Regier tried to split the center on the backstretch but backed out when the hole closed. Lap one ended with Jeff leading A.J., Birges, and Regier. And again, that was the race with Jeff Russell taking the trophy and posing for the pictures.

USAC scheduled two heat races as preliminary events to the fifty lap feature. The first eight lap heat lined up with Audra Sasselli on the pole followed by Shawna Hogg, Brian McClish, Jo Jo Helberg, Jim Riddell and Kody Swanson. Sasselli led lap one over McClish, Hogg, Helberg, and Swanson. McClish took the point on lap two and Swanson moved to fourth on lap four. Finishing order was McClish, Sasselli, Helberg, Swanson, and Hogg.

The second Sprint Car Heat Race featured Marvin Mitchell, Anthony Simone, Eric Humphries, Davey Hamilton, Tanner Swanson, and Tony Hunt. On the drop of the green, Mitchell advanced to the rear leaving Humphries to lead over Simone, Hamilton, Swanson, and Hunt. Hamilton passed Simone on lap two while Swanson and Hunt accomplished the fete on lap three. That completed the passing and Humphries was victorious over Hamilton, Swanson, Hunt, and Simone.

The first Supermodified Heat Lined up with Larry Hinz and Lance Jackson in row one, Doug Gould and Ray Stebbins in row 2, and Willie Northammer in the back. Northammer headed to the pits after the warm up session. The green flag saw Hinz and Stebbins step out front with Gould in third and Jackson heading for the pits. Stebbins took the lead on lap five to lead to the end. Stebbins started smoking out the left bank on lap seven and won with major engine problems with Hinz and Gould rounding out the survivors.

The second Supermodified Heat featured the fast six 360 Supers. Scheduled to start were Carl Johnson, Kenny Kinchen, Kyle Vanderpool, Lance Tatro, David Tuey, and Dan Vanderpool. Dan scratched due to the damage incurred in the dash. Kinchen and Tatro blasted around the top to lead lap one over Johnson, Vanderpool, and Tuey. Again, there was no additional passing and the official finishing order was Kinchen, Tatro, Johnson, Vanderpool, and Tuey.

The SMRA fast heat had Lonnie Adamson on the pole flanked by Jim Birges. Rounding out the field were A.J. Russell, Bryan Warf, Troy Regier, and Jeff Russell. Birges took to the high side while A.J. stuck the nose under Adamson in turn two on lap one. Birges led over A.J., Warf, Regier, and Adamson. Warf took second on lap two and Jeff Russell snookered Adamson. The race went nonstop from green to checkers with Birges winning over Warf, Russell the younger, Regier, and Russell the elder.

The Sprint Car feature lined up with Davey Hamilton pacing the field over Jo Jo Helberg, Tanner Swanson, Brian McClish, Tony Hunt, and Kody Swanson. Audra Sasselli, Eric Humphries, Shawna Hogg, Anthony Simone, Jimmy Riddell, and Marvin Mitchell rounded out the field. At the green, Helberg got the best of Hamilton on the high side with McClish third and the Swanson Brothers, Kody and then Tanner, filling the top five. On lap nine, Tanner got the better of his older sibling to grab fourth. At ten laps, the top five were Helberg, Hamilton, McClish, T. Swanson, and K. Swanson.

On the thirteenth circuit, both of the Swanson boys got around McClish and set off in pursuit of Helberg and Hamilton. Lap seventeen saw a scramble in the top five as the leaders encountered lapped traffic Tanner moved to second and McClish retook fourth from Kody. Swanson returned the favor on lap twenty making the order Helberg, T. Swanson, Hamilton, K. Swanson, and McClish. Kody passed Hamilton on the twenty first go around and McClish repeated the act a lap later. Lap twenty three saw Hunt enter the top five as Hamilton faded further back. Hunt got the best of McClish on lap thirty with top five reading Helberg, Swanson the younger, Swanson the Elder, Hunt, and McClish.

The yellow flag flew on lap thirty three when Helberg spun off the exit of turn four when Swanson stuck the nose underneath him. The restart had Tanner in front of Kody, then Hunt, McClish, and Humphries. The yellow light blinked again on lap thirty seven when Riddell and Simone had a coming together in turn four that resulted in Riddell's Ride receiving a ride on the hook And the order at the forty lap juncture was still Swanson, Swanson, Hunt, McClish, and Humphries. The final ten laps went uninterrupted with no additional passing at the point. Tanner Swanson won over brother Kody with Hunt, McClish, and Humphries completing the top five.

The combined SMRA and 360 Supermodified fifty lap feature inverted the top twelve qualifiers. Lance Jackson and Carl Johnson occupied the front row followed by Kenny Kinchen, Kyle Vanderpool, Lance Tatro, and David Tuey. Next up were the fast six SMRA cars of Lonnie Adamson, Jim Birges, A.J. Russell, Bryan Warf, Troy Regier, and Jeff Russell. Rounding out the starters were Doug Gould, Larry Hinz, and Willie Northammer. Kinchen led the first lap over Jackson, Tatro, Adamson, and Johnson. Adamson moved up two on the second lap and A.J. moved to fifth. By lap three, Lonnie was leading over Kinchen, Russell, and Regier. Lap five saw A.J. and Regier pass Kinchen and Birges move to fifth. Birges was fourth by lap six with Kinchen fifth. A.J. Russell took the lead and Jeff Russell moved into the top five on lap nine. Order after ten laps was A.J. over Adamson, Regier, Birges, and Jeff Russell. Kinchen, Tatro, Tuey, Johnson, and Northammer were the top five 360's.

The yellow flew on lap eleven when Gould spun in turn three. Regier and Birges got the jump on Adamson on the restart and Warf grabbed fifth from Russell. This started two very intense battles with Regier hounding A.J. and Warf trying every line in the book to displace Adamson. These battles were temporarily interrupted on lap thirteen when Johnson spun in turn four. On lap eighteen Warf finally managed a pass on Adamson and set sail after Birges. After twenty laps, Russell led over Regier, Birges, Warf, and Adamson. Kinchen still held sway in the 360's over Tatro, Tuey, Northammer, and Vanderpool.

Lapping of the faster 360 cars began in the next ten lap segment with no significant changes in the SMRA ranks but with Northammer coming on strong during the traffic scrambles. Birges made a hasty exit to the pits when the Quick Change gears ground themselves into small pieces on lap twenty nine. The order after thirty laps had A.J. Russell in the lead over Regier, Warf, Adamson, and Jeff Russell. Kinchen still led the 360's, but Northammer was now second over Tatro, Tuey and Vanderpool.

The next ten laps saw the Russell - Regier battle continuing with Warf a distant third. However, Northammer passed Kinchen for top honors among the 360's on the thirty-sixth circuit. Order after forty laps had A.J. over Regier, Warf, Adamson, and Russell. Northammer in sixth was the top 360 followed by Tatro, Kinchen, Tuey, and Vanderpool.

Troy got the best of A.J, on lap forty-one and began to pull out a small lead. The red flag flew on lap forty-four when the rear brakes on Johnson's car ignited. Prior to the green, Jeff Russell headed for pits without even a hint of brakes. The restart left A.J. in the clutches of Bryan Warf and he spent the rest of the race fending off the challenge. However, the race finished up the last six laps with no additional drama. The checkers flew over Troy Regier followed by A.J. Russell and Brian Warf. Rounding out the top five, were Lonnie Adamson, and Willie Northammer, the top scoring 360. Next up were the 360's of Kenny Kinchen, Lance Tatro, David Tuey, and Kyle Vanderpool. Rookie Doug Gould finished his first feature event after a good steady run that gained him some valuable experience.

Promoter Kenny Sheppard's Super Saturday Program again proved to be a competitive success for not only the two premier divisions presented, but also for the Legends, Ford Focus Midgets and NCMA Spec Sprint cars which are covered elsewhere. The crowds seem to grow a little with each open wheel show, and they grow more enthusiastic as the year progresses. The last Super Saturday will be the annual Harvest Classic and could be a barn burner. Hopefully, those few damaged cars can be repaired in time for the September Show. Looking forward to more Super Saturdays, I am the Racing Widow's Husband.

Madera Speedway Super Saturday 5, August 15, 2009

360 Supermodifieds

Qualifications:1. 17 Dan Vanderpool, 13.336; 2. 6 David Tuey, 13.357; 3. 72 Lance Tatro, 13.376; 4. 1 Kyle Vanderpool, 13.387; 5. 5 Kenny Kinchen, 13.437; 6. 07 Carl Johnson, 13.573; 7. 15 Willie Northammer, 13.774; 8. 18 Lance Jackson, 13.936; 9. 4 Larry Hinz, 14.039; 10. 60 Doug Gould, 14.589.

Trophy Dash: 1. Tatro,; 2. K. Vanderpool; 3. Tuey; 4. D. Vandrpool.

Heat 1: 1. Stebbins; 2. Hinz; 3. Gould: 4. Jackson; 5. Northammer. (Note:, this was a combined slow heat with both 360 and SMRA Supermods)

Heat 2: 1. Kinchen; 2. Tatro; 3. Johnson; 4. Vanderpool; 5. Tuey.

SMRA Supermodifieds

Qualifications: 1. 85 Jeff Russell, 12.216; 2. 98 Troy Regier, 12.287; 3. 91 Bryan Warf, 12.290; 4. 7 A.J. Russell, 12.436; 5. 89 Jim Birges, 12.523; 6. 14 Lonnie Adamson, 12.689; 7. 28 Ray Stebbins, 14.158; 8. 26 Kenny White, N/T.

Trophy Dash: 1. J. Russell; 2. A. Russell; 3. Birges; 4. Regier.

Heat: 1. Birges; 2. Warf; 3. A. Russell; 4. Regier; 5. J. Russell; 6. Adamson.

Combined Feature: 1. Regier; 2. A. Russell; 3. Warf; 4. Adamson; 5. *Northammer; 6. *Kinchen; 7. *Tatro; 8. *Tuey; 9. *Vanderpool; 10. *Gould; 11. J. Russell; 12. *Johnson; 13. Birges; 14. *Hinz; 15. *Jackson. *designates 360 Supermodified.

The SMRA next races September 19 at Madera Speedway.