June 8, 2008

Schuerenberg surges to wild Kokomo victory Headley, Davis also winners By Derek Fisher When Hunter Schuerenberg first found Kokomo Speedway's victory lane in July of 2007, he did so in somewhat mundane fashion. The Missouri driver started at the front of the field on that evening and had only to hold off a late challenge from the runner-up to best the field. This week's second career Schuerenberg triumph at Kokomo was much different. The young driver came from 13th on the starting grid to battle his way to victory through 30 fast and dramatic laps that had the large Kokomo crowd on its feet. 35 sprint cars signed in for the second-to-last leg of the King of Indiana Sprint Series on Sunday, and that field possessed no shortage of heavy hitters. Returning from USAC's recent East Coast trip in time to compete were Robert Ballou, Jerry Coons Jr., Dustin Morgan, Cole Whitt and Josh Spencer, among others. Ballou and Morgan got the evening started on the right foot by winning their respective heat races, as did Bart Grider and Jon Stanbrough. After Scotty Weir wired the B main field, Ballou and Stanbrough commenced a memorable A feature event from the front row. Stanbrough, the obvious pre-race choice to run away with the win, bicycled his machine on the cushion on lap one's second corner, allowing Ballou and second row starter Daron Clayton to dive underneath. Ballou led the first three laps in front of Clayton and Stanbrough until Cole Whitt's spin in turn four brought out the night's first caution period. A second yellow flag period before another lap could be completed saw Spencer, Coons, Brent Beauchamp and A.J. Anderson report to the tail of the field. On the successful restart, Ballou made a bobble of his own in the same spot as Stanbrough and watched the Avon driver and Clayton streak past going down the backstretch. Going three wide into the third turn on the fifth tour of the oval, the trio avoided disaster when Stanbrough lifted enough to give Ballou room to snare second behind Clayton. As the top three began to pull away ever so slightly, Schuerenberg was beginning his march to the front. He began stalking the stout fourth-place mount of Grider on the sixth lap, and gained enough momentum to take that position on lap eight. By the 10 circuit, the eventual winner was closing on third-place Stanbrough, as was second-place Ballou on the leader. The next time around, Ballou saw Clayton complete the cycle of mistakes by the leader on the tough second-turn ledge, and seized the top spot. Just as Ballou began to lengthen his newly-regained advantage, the race was halted on lap 13 by a massive crash involving Shain Matthews. Matthews, who started the event from the last row, had rocketed to the eighth position before tagging the backstretch wall and flipping violently into the third turn. At one point, Matthews' car appeared to sail higher than the catch fence, but luckily came down on the racing surface between the third and fourth turns. Matthews was miraculously unhurt. As the action resumed, Schuerenberg made quick work of Stanbrough and stole third behind Ballou and Clayton. Stanbrough continued to fade, as he lost fourth and then fifth to Grider and a surging Ron Dennis on lap 15. Dennis, much like Matthews, was a man on the move. As Schuerenberg took second from Clayton on the 18th circuit, Dennis darted around Grider and into fourth. One lap later, Dennis was around Clayton for third and suddenly hot on the heels of Schuerenberg for second. Perhaps hearing Dennis coming, Schuerenberg turned up the wick and began to reel in Ballou. As the field completed the 21st and 22nd circuits, the lapped car of Caleb Armstrong came into play in a big way. Running in the middle of turn four on lap 21, Armstrong bottled up Ballou enough to let Schuerenburg around and into the lead. The next time by, Ballou dove underneath Armstrong in the first corner, sending the lapped machine high and into the path of Dennis. Dennis, still charging on the high side, was forced a bit too high in the cushion and found the wall before turning over twice in turn two. Dennis was unhurt, but his run to the front was over. On the restart with just eight laps remaining, the resurgent Ballou began to gain on Schuerenberg. Behind them Clayton and Grider waged a big battle for the third spot while Cole Whitt, recovering from his early spin, and Casey Shuman, who started last, were lurking in fifth and sixth, respectively. Creeping closer and closer as the laps wound down, Ballou executed a huge slide job in the fourth turn of lap 28, briefly taking the lead before Schuerenberg crossed over and darted to the inside of Ballou at high speed. There was one problem with that, however: The lapped car of Kyle Wissmiller was nearly stopped along the top of the race track at the flagstand, necessitating a yellow flag that waved just as Ballou and Schuerenberg passed the stalled machine with just inches to spare. Ultimately, it was that close call that ended Ballou's shot at victory. Aside from a failed slide job in turn one of the last lap, he had nothing for Schuerenberg during the ensuing two-lap shootout, and settled for second. Grider held his ground and took the show position, relegating Clayton to fourth. Whitt was credited with fifth and Shuman, Stanbrough, Anderson, Thomas Meseraull and Jeff Bland rounded out the top 10.