Lower Powers HOSS into Rockford

Veteran Hank Lower of Angola, Indiana won the first ever winged sprint car race at Rockford Speedway Friday evening. Lower’s MHE, Grosbeck Trucking, Grate’s Wreckers Service, Booth Tree Farm, Smith Enterprise, Howard Insurance, Piranha Graphics Barb and Stan Lahnum sponsored number 37 started on the inside of the front row alongside rookie Michael Tarlton and was never headed in the forty lap affair. Second was Joe Rebman and Dave Baumgartner was third ahead of Tarlton with Park City, IL, driver Tim Cox coming home fifth.

The event, sanctioned by the Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series along with Marathon, drew a full grandstand of Rockford race fans to witness the inevitable rewriting of history as the pavement kings with wings prepared their assault upon the quarter mile speed bowl. The weather was beautiful with temperatures in the mid 70’s in the afternoon as the HOSS/Marathon teams readied for hot laps. Everyone quickly found the Rockford facility is truly a “push here” speedway with the front ends refusing to hook up to the track surface. Changes abounded up and down pit row as crews switched springs and shocks, along with gear swaps and tire selections, trying to get beat the learning curve before the second round of hot laps.

When the time came to qualify, everyone with any sense of speed and timing knew the track record (12.848 seconds/Jimmy McCune) was soon to fall. The first car on the speedway to qualify took Rockford by storm as the Buckeye Bandit Joe Rebman punched his black Beaberbuilt Kistler powered RTS sponsored 77 into the history books with an 11.672 second clocking. Tim Cox (D&B 40) qualified second ahead of Jeff Bloom (Bloom 26) as Doug Berryman (Rebman 1R) and Michael Tarlton (Tarlton 9) were the fast five. In all fifteen drivers qualified under the previous track record. Joe Rebman received a fifty dollar bonus from event sponsor Instant Jungle for his work in addition to the Indy RV Center Fast Qualifier Award.

The crowd continued to file in as the first of the three heat races pushed off. Roger Anderson (Anderson 17) was alongside Dale Wood (Wood 46) an brought the field down to the green flag. Greg Wheeler (Swanson 7) lunged from his fourth starting position into second early then overtook Anderson for the lead of the eight lap race. The push was still in effect for Wood as he greased the turn four wall without incident, eventually finishing fifth. Wheeler led RTS teammates Rebman and Berryman to the line with two time series champ Ron Koehler finishing fourth.

The second heat race paired Ed Kenens in the 35 car with Sam Davis’ yellow 43. At the green Davis pulled into the lead and began driving away as the field circulated the speedway. On lap six Tim Cox went into the lead and on to win ahead of Davis with Sondi Eden, Michael Tarlton, and Dave Baumgartner (Blake 81) rounding out the top five.

The third and heat saw Ted McKibben in the 38 and Tom Paterson’s 11 on the front row. A wild first corner produced John Witter the lead in his blue number 28 and he opened a comfortable gap in the first four laps. In the final laps Hank Lower (MHE 37) closed to within two lengths but couldn’t reel in Witter. Jerry Caryer was third with Paterson fourth and McKibben fifth.

The Rockford Speedway staff went all out for the fans Friday including driver introductions on the front stretch before they strapped in to do battle for forty laps. Leading the field to the green was Hank lower and Michael Tarlton ahead of Doug Berryman and Jeff Bloom with Tim Cox and fast qualifier Joe Rebman in the third row. The start went off perfectly as the field sort itself out in the early going. After five laps the top five were within a second and preparing to laps cars on the small but spectacular speedway. The leaders worked through traffic, keeping their positions secure until midrace when the action heated up. Lower continued to show the way as Tarlton held off Doug Berryman for second . Rebman outfoxed Cox and began his charge to the front but on lap 33 caution appeared for the 1R of Berryman as braking woes would sideline the bright yellow car from third position. The field restarted with seven laps to go and the Bandit Rebman jumped into second with guns leveled at Lower. Lower proved to be untouchable as he came under the checkered flags a half second ahead of Rebman. Dave Baumgartner was third after starting eleventh. Rookie Tarlton started second and finished fourth, impressing many in Rockford. Park City native Tim Cox was scored fifth although clearly the Rockford fan favorite. Cox had raced Rockford in the late model division and was no stranger to locals. Jeff Bloom was sixth ahead of Wheeler, Sondi Eden, John Witter and Ron Koehler who finished tenth.

Indy RV Fast Qualifier Trophy went to #77 Joe Rebman with a new track record. Julian Construction Hard Charger award went to Dave Bumgartner who started 11^th and finished third. The Weld racing certificate went to #43 Sam Davis.

Qualifications: 1. #77 Joe Rebman NTR 11.672, 2. #40 Tim Cox, 3. #26 Jeff Bloom, 4. 1R Doug Berryman, 5. #9 Michael Tarlton, 6. #37 Hank Lower, 7. #7 Greg Wheeler, 8. #6 Sondi Eden, 9. #28 John Witter, 10. #10 Ron Koehler, 11. #81 Dave Bumgartner, 12. #75C Jerry Caryer, 13. #46 Dale Wood, 14. #43 Sam Davis, 15. #11 Tom Paterson, 16. #17 Roger Anderson, 17. #35 Ed Kenens, 18. #38 Ted McKibben, 19. #77B Steve Burch, 20. #27 Chris Jagger

Heat One: 1. #7 Wheeler, 2. #77 Rebman, 3. #1R Berryman, 4. #10 Koehler, 5. #46 Wood, 6. #17 Anderson, 7. #77B Burch

Heat Two: 1. #40 Cox, 2. #43 Davis, 3. #6 Eden, 4. #9 Tarlton, 5. #81 Bumgartner, 6. #35 Kenens

Heat Three: 1. #28 Witter, 2. #37 Lower, 3. #75C Caryer, 4. #11 Paterson, 5. #38 McKibben, 6. #26 Bloom

Feature: 1. #37 Lower, 2. #77 Rebman, 3. #81 Bumgartner, 4. #9 Tarlton, 5. #40 Cox, 6. #26 Bloom, 7. #7 Wheeler, 8. #6 Eden, 9. #28 Witter, 10. #10 Koehler, 11. #75C Caryer, 12. #43 Davis, 13. #46 Wood, 14. #11 Paterson, 15. #1R Berryman, 16. #35 Kenens, 17. #38 McKibben, 18. #17 Anderson, 19. #77B Burch, 20. #27 Jagger