The Hoosier Race Report: The Cowboy and the Sheriff

By Danny Burton

Danny Burton’s Hoosier Race Report appears courtesy of OpenWheelRacers.com

Note: This article was written July 16, 2007

Real cowboys and real sheriffs might chuckle at the notion that race car drivers could have nicknames such as “The Modern Day Cowboy” or the “Sheriff.” But Daron Clayton and Jon Stanbrough, nonetheless, have received those names from announcers, writers, and/or fans, with Stanbrough’s title often preceded by the word “real.” And dirt late model racer John Gill was called “The Modern Day Cowboy” when Mr. Clayton was in diapers.

None of this matters much; both gentlemen in question rode into the Gas City/I-69 corral and raced their way to a pair of well-earned wins, Clayton on Friday night in the Hoffman family’s car, and Stanbrough on Saturday night with his usual trusty steed, the Fox Brothers’ 53.

Rounds three and four of Indiana Sprint Week would find the band of gypsies also known as sprint car teams, officials, and fans heading up I-69 to the quarter mile bullring called Gas City/I-69 Speedway, or as I prefer to call it, Jiggs’ Speed Palace. Promoter Jiggs Thomason welcomed 41 sprint cars to his house, with 40 of them taking time trials. Jon Stanbrough turned in quick time with a 12.566 while Jeff Bland Jr. took a mean tumble coming out of turn two on his attempt. He was not hurt, but done for the night.

Brady Short won the non-qualifiers’ race over Michael Trimble, Dave Darland (!), and John Memmer as a four car pileup on the last lap enabled the kid from Evansville to sneak into a heat race.

More fun and games marked the first heat as Kevin Swindell spun, and Sammy Imel along with Robert Ballou both flipped after the yellow flew. Swindell and his teammate Brady Bacon spun a total of five times in this heat as Stanbrough came from eighth to win over Josh Spencer, Chad Boespflug, and Ballou, who made a great comeback to earn his way into the feature. Three more yellows slowed the second heat as Josh Ford won. And more of the same for the third heat as Bret Mellenberndt came home first. Matt Westfall took the fourth heat, which was quite tame in comparison.

The B Main went all green as Shane Cottle led Daron Clayton, subbing for USAC Silver Crown running Jerry Coons Jr., Darren Hagen, Brady Bacon, Scotty Weir, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to the 30 lap main event. Kevin Swindell and Brady Short were saved by the provisional.

Clayton and Weir had the front row as the green flag waved, but the red flag immediately followed as A.J. Anderson tipped over and was hit by Robert Ballou, who had no place else to go. Ballou would re-start. Strangely, the red flag was opened, meaning that pit crews could run out to the parked cars and make adjustments. Yes, after less than a lap, they could fine tune the cars.

On the re-start, Cole Whitt flipped right in front of us and, sure enough, this red flag was open, too. Cole was okay and race fans were not pleased. The announcer’s assertion that the open red would take no longer due to the cleanup was disputed by many. And the air horn that signaled the beginning of the open red flag period gave a few fans a devious idea.

With all of that, Weir had taken the brief, early lead over Clayton. But the kid from Missouri took over on lap three and never looked back, romping to an impressive win. Weir held off Levi Jones until the midway point when Levi took over second. For those wondering where was Jon Stanbrough, he had started sixth and had moved up to fourth when he began to drop back, finally stopping with a flat tire on lap 21, after contact with another car.

Clayton and Jones were followed by Darren Hagen, Weir, Brady Bacon, Shane Cottle (from 15th), Cory Kruseman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Dave Darland (all the way from 22nd), and Stanbrough, who raced hard after getting a new tire and coming from the back.

Bill Lewis won the UMP modified feature.

Post-race Friday/Pre-race Saturday

I made my phone calls after the race on Friday night and headed northeast to stay at a free motel, namely my daughter’s sofa. The lights of Gas City were behind me on State Road 22 and very few lights were in front of me, only the lights of the scattered houses and farms of northern Indiana. Traffic was at a minimum.

A left turn onto State Road 5 and then north to 18, with another right turn, going east again, I was making good time. Off to my right was Hartford City, hometown of one Jack Yeley. Ahead was Montpelier, home of a race track.

A bit past midnight and I’d crossed into Adams County, now going north on U.S. 27. This is Amish country and one could guess that the houses with no lights at all were those of the Amish, who are quite plentiful up here. All except my daughter were asleep so I was as quiet as could be and eventually turned out my light at 2 a.m.

Saturday morning and there was quite a breeze, even for this part of Indiana, which is so flat one can see car lights or stoplights for miles ahead or behind. My first thoughts were of Jiggs and crew, with the troubles they might have with track preparation. (I needn’t have worried. The dust that had plagued Friday’s heat races was not nearly as prevalent on Saturday. The wind blowing away from the track didn’t hurt.)

My grandson had been up for quite awhile before I could get going, of course. But he was more than happy to walk the two blocks with me to the local deli and tell me things while I drank a cup of coffee. Soon after, we went to the park, another walk of maybe three blocks. The small town setting is a very welcome and peaceful getaway from the rest of the world. It isn’t exactly a Shangri-la, but the pace is a bit slower in these parts.

Landon let me take a nap while he was quietly watching the TV, and then came the hard part. None of us had told him that I was going to the races. Had we told him and then said that he couldn’t go, I’m sure that Jiggs would have heard the screaming from the track. So when he asked me where I was going, I said home, which was true after a fashion.

Off I went, passing through Berne and Geneva, a little slice of Switzerland in northern Indiana. I stopped by the Montpelier Speedway just to take a look at the bullring on the edge of town. And I pulled into the parking lot around 6, ready for…what? Hopefully another night of racin’, Hoosier style, what else?

The Real Sheriff Re-assumes Power

Jon Stanbrough was back in victory lane, after a brief absence on Saturday night at Gas City. Dustin Morgan, full of youth, if not consistency (yet), set a new track record, breaking Tracy Hines’ (seen on crutches in the pits) with a 12.475 second lap.

Cole Whitt won the NQ race over Darren Hagen, Bret Mellenberndt, and Brady Short. Brady would have more to say later, and in a good way.

Brandon Petty, Cory Kruseman, Brad Sweet, and Michael Trimble all won their heat races, and all from the front row with plenty of passing going on behind them.

Brady Bacon won the B over an impressive lineup. Jimmy Light flipped in turn three after contact with Damion Gardner. Slowing for the red, Daron Clayton got together with another car and bent up his front end, ending his night early. In an odd occurrence, on the re-start after the Light wreck, cars numbered 17, started in positions one, three, five, and seven. Two of those 17’s, Mat Neely and Kyle Robbins, made the feature. Once again, Brady Short had to take a provisional along with Darren Hagen.

Levi Jones and Brady Bacon would see the green flag first as the 30 lap feature began with a bang as six cars wrecked on the first lap. Involved were Ballou, Swindell, Darland, Weir, Sweet, and Trimble. All would continue. The resumption of action saw Jones take the early lead, but Jon Stanbrough was in the neighborhood. And three laps after a lap three yellow, the Jamestown, IN native passed Levi to take a lead that, you guessed it, he would not give up.

As is often the case, behind this leader the action was not too shabby. Most notably, Shane Cottle had come from his 14th starting spot to challenge for third when he flipped in turn four with about ten laps to go. Three more yellows and a red flag for a Kevin Swindell flip would only delay the inevitable for the Fox Brothers’ team. Jerry Coons Jr., Dave Darland (with help), and Neil Shepherd all had good runs negated by late spinouts. Darland had moved from 17th to eighth when he was spun. Shepherd was running an impressive fourth when he spun in turn one.

Stanbrough was trailed by Jones, Dustin Morgan, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Jesse Hockett. The “‘attaboy” award goes to Brady Short, who took a provisional, started 24th and finished sixth. The rest of the top ten was Scotty Weir, Cory Kruseman, Shane Hollingsworth, and Kyle Robbins, in what was probably his first top ten in USAC action.

Scott Orr won the modified feature. Gas City will be back in business this coming Friday night with the Wolfpack Modified Challenge coming to town, along with street stocks and TQ midgets.

Kokomo Speedway hosts Indiana Sprint Week as this is written. Family reasons kept me home tonight, but watch owr.com for USAC results from Kokomo.

Elsewhere around the state…

Rohn Moon was the Brownstown winner in dirt late models. Bobby Stines was the sprint car winner at Lincoln Park. Kyle Cummins won at Paragon. In an epic duel at Haubstadt last Sunday night, Daron Clayton won in MSCS action. Brent Londeree was the modified winner at Twin Cities. Dwain Chamberlain was the late model winner at Union County. At Shadyhill, Tony Roland was the modified winner while Toby Howard took home the trophy in IMOD action. Anthony Danta was the ASA Late Model winner of a 75 lapper up at Plymouth. John Gatten Jr. was the modified winner at Angola while Jeff Parr took home a cool $5,000 for winning in late models. Ron Combs was the UMRA/TQ winner at Greensburg.

Trying to convince USAC announcer Rob Klepper that fans with air horns are not USAC officials, I’m…

Danny Burton

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