England Thunders to Anderson Payday

By Scott Stine. 2003 Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series champ Denny England has picked his battles throughout 2004 and once again came away a winner after the Chappy’s Rent-to-Own 30 lap feature at Anderson Speedway Saturday night. England led all 30 circuit but was challenged at every turn by a host of competitors. Jimmy McCune (Durnwald 19) finished second. Greg Wheeler (Swanson 7) was third with Ron Koehler (10) fourth and Sondi Eden (Batts 6) rounding out the top five.

Indy RV Center qualifying was worth admission alone just to watch the fastest cars of the season circle Anderson’s tight corners and challenge the high line by the fences (does anyone remember the boiler plate days?). Out early to qualify was Michael Tarlton of Albion, IN. The 2004 HOSS rookie nailed the speedway clocks to a 10.814 second lap and the mark would hold until late in the session. Jimmy McCune had the red and white 19 on rails and he powered the Tiffin Academy of Hair Design racer to a 10.444 second lap, erasing Denny England’s 10.678 world record lap set in 1997 competition. Said McCune before the heats, “This is my favorite track to race at. I’ve had good success here with a couple of wins and hope for more tonight. We’ll see how it goes.” Jimmy took home the Indy RV Center Fast Qualifier award for the second consecutive time, having lowered the Mansfield track record to 13.340 seconds.

Heat races rolled off just after the Anthem and Ed Kenens (35) paced Chris Jagger (27) and the field to the green. Kenens looked good early but McCune’s car was just plain dominant as he swept to the point and won by a large margin ahead of Kenens and Ron Koehler. The second heat paired two racers from different sides of the career fence as possible. “Super Snoopy” Sam Davis (43) has raced throughout the area for many years and has been a mainstay of the HOSS since the beginning. Sixteen year old Dale Wood (46) is a rookie who came up from mini-sprints and is looking forward to a bright future in racing. Wood got the jump and pushed his Suspension Spring Specialist backed racecar deep into turn one and the lead. Looking good as the field sorted out, Wood found himself challenged by seventeen year old Billy Wease in his first HOSS event piloting Mike Blake’s orange 81. With three laps to go Wease found Wood and the pair battled incessantly to the checkers. Wood prevailed over Wease and fourth fastest qualifier Doug Berryman (Rebman 1R). The third heat saw Ted McKibben (Kidwell 38) and Dave Lawrence (Julian 14d) on the front row. Lawrence was making his first HOSS go of the season after summertime work conflicts made racing impossible. John Witter pushed to the front and claimed the win over England and Greg Wheeler.

The 30 lap feature was pushed off right after intermission and the front row was pure talent with Denny England and Doug Berryman lined up side by side. The six car inversion put Michael Tarlton starting third and 2004 point leader Greg Wheeler fourth. Row three paired Joe Rebman (Rebman 77) with Jimmy McCune. After a rousing sendoff by track fans circling the speedway the field of winged sprinters danced into the evening air.

England held the pace down to the green and got position on Berryman and the field into turn one. Berryman relentlessly shadowed the leader’s orange and white 84, encountering lap traffic after just six laps. Berryman watched both ends of his racecar as the top five were close together. Wheeler’s number 7 paced the pair in third position. On lap fifteen the caution flag flew as Berryman’s yellow 1R clobbered the first turn fence after touching wheels with a competitor. The car spun to the grass below turn two and the track was quickly pronounced clean and clear. Action resumed with Joe Rebman now on England’s tail and Jimmy McCune nearby. Again England was able to protect the slightest of leads until laps twenty five when the pair flashed into turn one with lapped traffic. Exiting turn two Rebman’s black 77 slammed the backstretch fence, briefly belching fire before coming to a halt well down the straightaway. The Buckeye Bandit emerged unscathed, but had only a bruised racecar to show for his efforts. The red flag flew for the safety team and was withdrawn shortly to resume racing. With five laps to go it appeared to be Denny England’s day but now the fastest quarter mile sprint car in the world was lined directly up behind him. Coming to the green England opened the throttle earlier than ever gaining a few feet over McCune. The duo danced without interference until the white flag. The one lapped car they encountered proved to be no factor in the outcome as England held off the challenger to take his third win of 2004.

Results-8-21-04 Anderson Speedway-Anderson, IN

Qualifying-NTR-19-Jimmy McCune-10.444; 2-77-Joe Rebman; 3-7-Greg Wheeler; 4-9-Michael Tarlton; 5-1r-Doug Berryman; 6-84-Denny England; 7-10-Ron Koehler; 8-6-Sondi Eden; 9-37-Hank Lower; 10-75C-Jerry Caryer; 11-81-Billy Wease; 12-28-John Witter; 13-27-Chris Jagger; 14-46-Dale Wood; 15-14D-Dave Lawrence; 16-35-Ed Kenens; 17-43-Sam Davis; 18-38-Ted McKibben; 19-06-Rodney Ziemek; 20-17-Roger Anderson; 21-11-Tom Paterson

Heat One-19-McCune, 35-Kenens, 10-Koehler, 27-Jagger, 75-Caryer, 9-Tarlton, 06-Ziemek

Heat Two-46-Wood, 81-Wease, 1R-Berryman, 77-Rebman, 6-Eden, 43-Davis, 17-Anderson

Heat Three-28-Witter, 84-England, 7-Wheeler, 37-Lower, 38-Mckibben, 14D-Lawrence, 11-Paterson

Feature:84-England, 19-McCune, 7-Wheeler, 10-Koehler, 6-Eden, 37-Lower, 75C-Caryer, 9-Tarlton, 28-Witter, 35-Kenens, 43-Davis, 14D-Lawrence, 46-Wood, 11-Paterson, 38-McKibben, 06-Ziemek, 77-Rebman, 81-Wease, 27-Jagger, 1R-Berryman, 17-Anderson