 FT WAYNE, IN - (Dec. 29/30, 2006) Michael May won both the senior heavy and senior medium kart features. Justin Sondgeroth, Brett Stratford and Cameron Deckard also posted kart wins, while Tyler Allen prevailed in junior sprints for the second night in a row. Quarter midget wins went to Cale Conley, Jordan Conover, Travis Ford, Ross Rankin, Cody Mahoney and Cole Bodine.
In Midget action Tony Stewart almost outdid himself. The two-time NASCAR Nextel Cup champion nearly lapped the field in dominating Saturday night’s 60-lap USAC midget feature in the ninth annual “Rumble in Fort Wayne” indoor race at the Memorial Coliseum Expo Center.
In a virtual repeat of Friday night’s virtuoso performance, Stewart started ninth in the 15-car field, charged into fifth place by the second lap, darted into third by lap four, then shot past pole-sitter Rich Corson on lap seven to claim the lead.
 By lap 38, Stewart had passed everyone except eventual runner-up Dave Darland, whose only consolation came in managing to stay on the lead lap till the end. Mike Fedorcak was a lap down in third -- the exact same top three as in Friday’s race on the 1/6-mile concrete oval.
A gracious Stewart shrugged off compliments about his daring driving by saying he simply was in the right place at the right time.
“It looked real impressive,” he said, allowing himself a slight grin, “but two nights in a row, the breaks just went my way. Last night, we started eighth (on the outside of row four), and the outside line went. Tonight, we started ninth (inside the fifth row), and the inside line went.
“It’s just luck. Then I got a chance to relax and control the pace once I was out front. And he (Darland) has to press hard.
“I’ll tell you this, this is a lot more demanding of a race than people think. You work harder here than anywhere else we race. It’s a very physical race, especially without power steering on these midgets. If you can get out front and relax and run your own pace and hit the lapped traffic right, it’s a lot easier.”
Darland admitted that no one has an answer for Stewart when it comes to the hard-charging style required indoors. High or low, Stewart uncannily sliced through traffic, rarely even brushing the car he was passing.
“His car definitely moves around better than anyone else’s,” said Darland, who will be racing in New Zealand in the coming weeks. “He can move around and get through traffic better than any other driver.
“He’s a great race driver no matter what he drives.”
Stewart’s sweep of the two-night midget program was unprecedented in Rumble Series history. He’s now 4-for-5 at Fort Wayne since purchasing his black No. 2 Munchkin midget from Fedorcak just prior to the December 2004 race.
Darland thought for a moment about how Stewart could be derailed. “Maybe,” he said, “he’ll decide to sell the car.”
John Ivy, a veteran winged sprint car driver, was nearly as dominant in winning the accompanying 50-lap modified outlaw midget feature for the second straight night. He passed Richard Smith on lap nine and easily held off Erick Rudolph for the victory.
A silent auction held in conjunction with the event raised $1,048 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp. The highest bid was for a diecast model featuring -- who else? -- Tony Stewart.
Promoter Tony Barhorst’s Rumble Series continues on Saturday, Jan. 20 with the inaugural “Rumble in the Buckeye State” at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum at the state fairgrounds in Columbus. NASCAR’s Ken Schrader will race in the midget portion, while Indy Racing League driver Sarah Fisher, a Columbus-area native, will greet fans and sign autographs.
USAC Midgets
Qualifications -- 1. Tony Stewart, 2, Stewart, 7.920 seconds; 2. Mike Fedorcak, 97, Stewart, 8.298; 3. Tracy Hines, 10, Moore, 8.334; 4. Dave Darland, 0, RAD, 8.390; 5. Arin McIntosh, 8, Reed, 8.397; 6. Mel Kenyon, 61, Kenyon, 8.451; 7. Brandon Knupp, 15x, Knupp, 8.464; 8. Jason Hart, 19, Davis, 8.466; 9. Tony Elliott, 7j, Williams, 8.488; 10. Lou Cicconi, 56, Rencurrel, 8.594; 11. Matt Estep, 25, BRP, 8.498; 12. Patrick Wilda, 33p, Wilda, 8.503; 13. Ryan Miller, 87, Miller, 8.504; 14. Ginny Quinones, 00, Quinones, 8.509; 15. Derek Bischak, 3x, Barnett, 8.573; 16. Kyle Robbins, 17x, Robbins, 8.573; 17. Kyle Hamilton, 33, Hamilton, 8.594; 18. Doug Dietsch, 0x, 8.604; 19. Dakoda Armstrong, 17, Armstrong, 8.610; 20. Kevin Studley, 41, Griffin, 8.610; 21. Bobby Smith, 8x, Epperson, 8.641; 22. Cale Conley, 3, Conley, 8.669; 23. Jacob Wilson, 07, Team WBR, 8.724; 24. Brian Olson, 41x, Griffin-Horn, 8.725; 25. Adam Schuyler, 56x, Schuyler, 8.752; 26. Billy Hulbert, 5, Hulbert, 8.756; 27. Drew Charlson, 21, Fuhrman, 8.763; 28. Jimmy Light, 22, Givens, 8.765; 29. Jeff Wimmenauer, 15j, Wimmenauer, 8.822; 30. Jack Arute, 7, Armstrong, 8.824; 31. Basil Hicks, 22x, Hicks, 8.866; 32. Zach Leeke, 19x, Leeke, 8.904; 33. Rich Corson, 15, Corson-Savage, 8.911; 34. Dave Fuhrman, 32, Fuhrman, 8.973; 35. Jason Therkelsen, 11, Therkelsen, 9.334; 36. Palmer Eicher, 54, Eicher, 9.495; 37. Mike Schenker, 32x, Fuhrman, 9.863; 38. Deano Lennon, 27, Lennon, NT.
First heat (12 laps) -- Corson, Elliott, Wimmenauer, Schuyler, Hamilton, Miller, Stewart, McIntosh, Schenker, Smith.
Second heat (12 laps) -- Kenyon, Fedorcak, Hulbert, Fuhrman, Conley, Arute, Quinones, Dietsch, Cicconi, Lennon.
Third heat (12 laps) -- Hines, Bischak, Knupp, Armstrong, Wilson, Charlson, Hicks, Therkelsen, Estep.
Fourth heat (12 laps) -- Robbins, Studley, Olson, Light, Leeke, Eicher, Wilda, Darland, Hart.
First semi-feature (12 laps) -- Stewart, Knupp, Smith, Hamilton, Fuhrman, Olson, Arute, Schenker, Estep, Charlson.
Second semi-feature (12 laps) -- Darland, Wilda, Hart, Dietsch, Light, Schuyler, Conley, Hicks, Therkelsen.
Third semi-feature (12 laps) -- McIntosh, Wilson, Leeke, Armstrong, Eicher, Quinones, Cicconi, Wimmenauer, Hulbert.
Feature (60 laps) -- 1. Tony Stewart, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Mike Fedocak, 4. Kyle Robbins, 5. Billy Wease, 6. Derek Bischak, 7. Rich Corson, 8. Brandon Knupp, 9. Jacob Wilson, 10. Kevin Studley, 11. Mel Kenyon, 12. Patrick Wilda, 13. Arin McIntosh, 14. Tony Elliott, 15. Tracy Hines. Lap leaders: Corson 1-6, Stewart 7-60.
Modified Outlaw Midgets
Qualifications -- 1. John Ivy, 02, 8.078 seconds; 2. Todd Keiser, 56, 8.118; 3. Danny Shirey, 16, 8.222; 4. Richard Smith, 12, 8.282; 5. Erick Rudolph, 2x, 8.383; 6. Cap Henry, 04, 8.509; 7. Todd Kimmel, 33, 8.540; 8. Gary Klein, 68, 8.601; 9. Dean Gaerte, 16, 8.652; 10. Mark Zumbrun, 35z, 8.672; 11. Tim Morgan, 2tm, 8.733; 12. Russ Belt, 19, 8.763; 13. Rusty Strausbaugh, 29, 8.806; 14. Robbie Starkey, 21s, 8.811; 15. Ben Gaerte, 51g, 8.821; 16. Andrew Prather, 2n, 8.828; 17. Larry Joe Sroufe, 21, 8.838; 18. Matt Laffoon, 8, 8.903; 19. Daniel Robinson, 24d, 8.921; 20. Jake Nagel, 26, 8.933; 21. Todd Kirkman, 28k, 8.948; 22. Austin Archdale, 2aa, 8.953; 23. Danny Williams, 12w, 8.970; 24. A.J. Lesiecki, 14, 9.001; 25. Ryan Nawrocki, 5, 9.001; 26. Michael Kettnich, 25, 9.119; 27. Jason Ormsby, 51, 9.148 seconds; 28. Jacob Kincaid, 28, 9.385; 29. Jordon Lambert, 23, 9.408; 30. Jerry Mack, 25, 9.427; 31. Chris Malaterre, 79, 9.463; 32. Howard McCormick, 26m, 9.501; 33. Jason Holibaugh, 04, 9.541; 34. Aaron Stevens, 311, 9.747; 35. Keith Ousley, 0, 9.818; 36. Cheryl Erwin, 00, 10.411; 37. Tim Moore, 55, 10.679; 38. Gordy Button, 3b, 11.333; 39. Mike Ikes, 711, NT.
First heat (8 laps) -- Rudolph, Ivy, Kirkman, Sroufe, D. Gaerte, Lambert, Holibaugh, Moore.
Second heat (8 laps) -- Starkey, Zumbrun, Henry, Keiser, Laffoon, Kettnich, Mack, Stevens, Archdale, Button.
Third heat (8 laps) -- Shirey, Kimmel, Ikes, Robinson, Ousley, Malaterre, B. Gaerte, Williams, Ormsby, Morgan.
Fourth heat (8 laps) -- Prather, Smith, Klein, Nagel, Belt, Lesiecki, McCormick, Erwin, Kincaid.
First semi-feature (10 laps) -- Sroufe, Robinson, Keiser, Kettnich, Lesiecki, Mack, Archdale, Kincaid, Stevens, Nagel, Erwin.
Second semi-feature (10 laps) -- Ormsby, D. Gaerte, Nagel, Laffoon, B. Gaerte, Lambert, Malaterra, Belt, Nawrocki, Holibaugh, Smith.
Feature (50 laps) -- 1. John Ivy, 2. Erick Rudolph, 3. Richard Smith, 4. Danny Shirey, 5. Todd Keiser, 6. Jason Ormsby, 7. Jake Nagel, 8. Mark Zumbrun, 9. Cap Henry, 10. Andrew Prather, 11. Todd Kirkman, 12. Daniel Robinson, 13. Lou Cicconi, 14. Dean Gaerte, 15. Gary Klein, 16. Todd Kimmel, 17. Robbie Starkey, 18. Larry Joe Sroufe. Lap leaders: Smith 1-8, Ivy 9-50.
Junior Sprints
Heat winner, round one -- Tyler Allen.
Heat winner, round two -- Allen.
Feature (15 laps) -- 1. Tyler Allen, 2. Garrett Duff, 3. Dillon Beaman, 4. Collin Campbell, 5. Stanley Abbott, 6. Trevor Marshino.
Senior Heavy Karts
Heat winners, round one -- Brandon Young, Seth Schneider, Dustin Heath, Michael May.
Heat winners, round two -- Young, Josh McKnight, Heath, May.
Semi-feature winners -- Steven Applegate, Derrick Woodbury, Schneider, Chad Schmitmeyer.
Feature (20 laps) -- 1. Michael May, 2. Brandon Dunn, 3. Brandon Young, 4. Dustin Heath, 5. Derrick Woodbury, 6. Josh McKnight, 7. Chad Schmitmeyer, 8. Steven Applegate, 9. Dustin Trost, 10. Seth Schneider, 11. Cory Floor, 12. Jeremy Champion, 13. Patrick Delrymple, 14. Dustin Ingle.
Senior Medium Karts
Heat winners, round one -- Brandon Young, Chris Joy, Brandon Dunn, Michael May, Josh McKnight.
Heat winners, round two -- Derrick Woodbury, A.J. Roderick, Chad Schmitmeyer, May, McKnight.
Semi-feature winners -- Schmitmeyer, Woodbury, Ryan Moran.
Feature (20 laps) -- 1. Michael May, 2. Dustin Heath, 3. Brandon Dunn, 4. Ryan Moran, 5. Josh McKnight, 6. Derrick Woodbury, 7. Chad Schmitmeyer, 8. Steven Dolphin, 9. Dustin Trost, 10. Destiny Sanders, 11. Brandon Young, 12. Jake Shelley.
Junior Heavy Karts
Heat winners, round one -- Zach Wolff, Zakarie Blackwood, Justin Sondgeroth.
Heat winners, round two -- Wolff, Kyle Dugan, Sondgeroth.
Semi-feature winners -- Alexandra Kern, Brad Racer.
Feature (15 laps) -- 1. Justin Sondgeroth, 2. Kyle Dugan, 3. Zakarie Blackwood, 4. Zach Wolff, 5. William Holbrook Jr., 6. Cody Eyster, 7. Alexandra Kern, 8. James Newman, 9. Matt Farnham, 10. Zack Loe, 11. Brad Racer, 12. Cody Wolfe.
Senior Champ Karts
Heat winners, round one -- Ryan Moran, Seth Schneider.
Heat winners, round two -- Moran, Jay Chapman.
Semi-feature winners -- Schneider, Mickey Mosher.
Feature (20 laps) -- 1. Brett Stratford, 2. Jay Chapman, 3. Moe Lilje, 4. Brad Kraw, 5. Mickey Mosher, 6. Bobby Mercado, 7. Nathan Dishoungh, 8. Seth Schneider, 9. Ryan Moran, 10, Rodd Pickett, 11. Brandon Schnittke, 12. Alexandra Kern.
Junior Champ Karts
Heat winners, round one -- Tyler Strickland, Cameron Deckard.
Heat winners, round two -- Tyler Ransbottom, Breanna Deckard.
Semi-feature winners -- Jacob Frost, Steven Berlin.
Feature (15 laps) -- 1. Cameron Deckard, 2. Tyler Ransbottom, 3. Brad Racer, 4. Evan Finley, 5. Breanna Deckard, 6. Tyler Strickland, 7. David Lawhorne Jr., 8. Steven Berlin, 9. Mihkaya Best, 10. Andrew Yoder, 11. Trey Collins, 12. Jacob Frost.
Heavy 160 Quarter Midgets
Heat winners -- Cannon Konzer, Cale Conley.
Feature (20 laps) -- 1. Cale Conley, 2. Keera Allen, 3. Brandon Mahoney, 4. Chloe Konzer, 5. Ryan Miller, 6. Kelsea Kiene, 7. A.J. Lesiecki, 8. Jessica Bean, 9. Mason Barnes, 10. Zachary Morris, 11. Cannon Konzer, 12. Bryce Dickson, 13. Nicole Bower, 14. Shelby Campbell, 15. Travis Ford, 16. Veronica Wheeler.
Light 160 Quarter Midgets
Heat winners -- Zachary Tribble, Jordan Conover.
Feature (20 laps) -- 1. Jordan Conover, 2. Ryan Fleming, 3. Nick Grodi, 4. Tyler Gunn, 5. Kyle Feeney, 6. Richie Streicher, 7. Zachary Miller, 8. Cole Bodine, 9. Alessa Young, 10. Erik Jones, 11. Zachary Tribble, 12. Logan Parker, 13. Ross Rankin.
Heavy Honda Quarter Midgets
Heat winners -- Chelsea Wheeler, A.J. Lesiecki.
Feature (20 laps) -- 1. Travis Ford, 2. Nash Fry, 3. A.J. Lesiecki, 4. Kory Glassburn, 5. Justin Mroz, 6. Madison Barnes, 7. Andrea Hans, 8. Kyle Bean, 9. Chelsea Wheeler, 10. Lauren Longbrake, 11. Nicole Bower, 12. Kyra Yard, 13. Arica Fleenor, 14. Shelby Campbell, 15. Bandit Brooks, 16. Colin Anderson.
Senior Honda Quarter Midgets
Heat winners -- Ryley Wyans, Nick Grodi, Keera Allen.
“A” Feature (20 laps) -- 1. Ross Rankin, 2. Grant Galloway, 3. Kenton Taylor, 4. Tyler Gunn, 5. Kyle Feeney, 6. Ryley Wyans, 7. Nick Grodi, 8. Alessa Young, 9. Ryan Fleming, 10. Keera Allen, 11. Bryce Dickson, 12. Scotty Goffin, 13. Lindsey Jones, 14. Brandon Mahoney.
“B” Feature (20 laps) -- 1. Cody Mahoney, 2. Dakota Busche, 3. Mason Barnes, 4. Dean Creech, 5. Michael Gass, 6. Amber Slagle, 7. Jonathon Lesiecki, 8. Myles Chandler, 9. Chad Gaddis, 10. A.J. Hoffman, 11. Rhett Long, 12. Nick Katrakis.
Junior Honda Quarter Midgets
Heat winners -- Riley Feeney, Cooper Clouse.
Feature (15 laps) -- 1. Cole Bodine, 2. Cason Konzer, 3. Austin Slagle; 4. T.C. Moore, 5. Riley Feeney, 6. Chastity Butcher, 7. Austin Nemire, 8. Zachary Tribble, 9. Cooper Clouse, 10. Craig Ronk, 11. Mox Price, 12. Starla Parsons, 13. Garrett Johnson, 14. Trenton Besgrov |
