Lonnie Wheatley – KANSAS CITY, Kan. (August 20, 2005) –
California’s Bud Kaeding denied Levi Jones a clean sweep of the inaugural
O’Reilly Sprint Bandit Tour ‘N Topless swing by winning Saturday night’s 30-lap
Ron Shuman Classic at Lakeside Speedway, collecting a cool $10,000 paycheck in
the process.
Leading from the outset, Kaeding caught an assist from Lady
Luck when Jones raced into the lead on the 23rd round only to see a
caution fly moments later, thus negating the move. Kaeding took full advantage of the reprieve
and raced to the checkered flag aboard the Jason Leffler Racing Team ASE/Loan
City No. 29F Maxim to secure the victory.
“The money’s all good, but where’s that pedal car trophy,
that’s what I want,” an enthused Kaeding laughed in victory lane. “I won this race in 2002 but my dad got that
car, this time I want it for myself.”
While Kaeding gridded the feature field outside the front
row, it was two-time and defending race winner Jesse Hockett leading the way to
the green flag from the pole position after accumulating the most points in
heat and qualifying race action.
While Hockett had his sights set on a third consecutive $10,000
Back under way, the next 20 laps ran in non-stop fashion
with Kaeding pacing the field. Jones
worked past Stanbrough for third on the seventh round, then took second from
Hockett by the tenth round with his sights set on the leader.
Jones kept the pressure on Kaeding and as the duo raced
through lapped traffic, Kaeding bicycled in turns one and two on the 24th
lap. Jones took quick advantage aboard
Scott Benic’s Gaerte-powered Lucas Oil Products No. 2b Maxim by racing into the
lead down the backstretch, only to see the move negated when
On the ensuing restart, Dickie Gaines took a nasty flip into
the turn two fencing. While his car was destroyed, Gaines walked away with
little more than a throbbing right hand.
Kaeding took off on the restart and beat Jones to the line
to score the prestigious victory. Jones
settled for the runner-up slot and sealed the O’Reilly Sprint Bandits “TNT”
championship after winning the first four events.
Stanbrough earned second in series points by posting a third
place feature finish aboard the R&B 24-Hour Truck Service entry, while Dave
Darland drove Jeff Walker’s Jam-It-In Storage/Hoosier Tire No. 11 to
fourth. Hockett rounded out the top five
in the VKCC Motorsports No. 75.
California’s Tyler Spath turned in his strongest showing of
the week by battling to a sixth place finish, with Casey Shuman advancing from
twelfth to seventh in the race named for his father. Zach Chappell crossed the stripe eighth, with
Bill Rose and Ostling completing the top ten.
Hockett, Chappell and Martin topped heat race action for the
29-car field, with Darland, Don Droud, Jr., and Ostling winning qualifying
races.
Justin Marvel went for a wild qualifying race flip, but was
able to take the green flag in the main event before making an early exit.
Derek O’Dell and Kim Kennedy flipped in tandem in the
opening set of hot laps and while both escaped injury, both machines were done
for the night.
O’Reilly Sprint Bandits “TNT” Results:
First Heat (8 Laps):
1. #75 Jesse Hockett, 2. #10T Bill Rose, 3. #2b Levi Jones, 4. #35 Tyler
Spath, 5. #7c Chris Morgan, 6. #10x Don Droud, Jr., 7. #55 Tony Everhart. DNS: #65 Chris Parkinson, #11d Derek O’Dell,
#1k Kim Kennedy.
Second Heat (8 Laps):
1. #50z Zach Chappell, 2. #29F Bud Kaeding, 3. #96c Jim Cameron, 4. #47
Justin Marvel, 5. #83 John Scott, 6. #11 Dave Darland, 7. #45 Steve Ostling, 8.
#29 Travis Rilat, 9. #5 Joe Boyles, 10. #18 Tim Newman.
Third Heat (8 Laps):
1. #57 Mike Martin, 2. #21x Dickie Gaines, 3. #10 Jon Stanbrough, 4. #53
Casey Shuman, 5. #92J J.R. Topper, 6. #01 Bob Moore, 7. #1 Brad Sweet. DNS: #76 Jay Russell. Disqualified:
#21 Charles Davis, Jr. (Failed to report to scales after finishing
first).
First Qualifier (8 Laps):
1. #11 Dave Darland, 2. #75 Jesse Hockett, 3. #10 Jon Stanbrough, 4. #2b
Levi Jones, 5. #29 Travis Rilat, 6. #01 Bob Moore, 7. #83 John Scott. Disqualified:
#96c Jim Cameron (weighed in below the 1,175 pound minimum after
finishing second).
Second Qualifier (8 Laps):
1. #10x Don Droud, Jr., 2. #29F Bud Kaeding, 3. #50z Zach Chappell, 4.
#10T Bill Rose, 5. #53 Casey Shuman, 6. #7c Chris Morgan, 7. #5 Joe
Boyles. DNS: #1 Brad Sweet.
Third Qualifier (8 Laps):
1. #45 Steve Ostling, 2. #35 Tyler Spath, 3. #92J J.R. Topper, 4. #21
Charles Davis, Jr., 5. #55 Tony Everhart, 6. #57 Mike Martin, 7. #18 Tim
Newman, 8. #47 Justin Marvel, 9. #21x Dickie Gaines.
A Feature (30 Laps):
1. #29F Bud Kaeding, 2. #2b Levi Jones, 3. #10 Jon Stanbrough, 4. #11
Dave Darland, 5. #75 Jesse Hockett, 6. #35 Tyler Spath, 7. #53 Casey Shuman, 8.
#50z Zach Chappell, 9. #10T Bill Rose, 10. #45 Steve Ostling, 11. #1 Brad
Sweet, 12. #29 Travis Rilat, 13. #10x Don Droud, Jr., 14. #21 Charles Davis,
Jr., 15. #7c Chris Morgan, 16. #96c Jim Cameron, 17. #18 Tim Newman, 18. #21x
Dickie Gaines, 19. #57 Mike Martin, 20. #92J J.R. Topper, 21. #55 Tony
Everhart, 22. #83 John Scott, 23. #01 Bob Moore, 24. #47 Justin Marvel. DNS: #5 Joe Boyles, #76 Jay Russell, #1k Kim
Kennedy, #11d Derek O’Dell, #65 Chris Parkinson.
Final O’Reilly Sprint Bandits “TNT” Points (Top
Fifteen): 1. Levi Jones (Olney, IL) 746,
2. Jon Stanbrough (Jamestown, IN) 692, 3. Bud Kaeding (Campbell, CA) 682, 4.
Dave Darland (Lincoln, IN) 664, 5. Dickie Gaines (Mitchell, IN) 660, 6. Justin Marvel
(Pittsboro, IN) 624, 7. Brad Sweet (Grass Valley, CA) 617, 8. Charles Davis,
Jr. (Buckeye, AZ) 610, 9. John Scott (Avon, IN) 597, 10. Travis Rilat (Forney,
TX) 593, 11. Tyler Spath (Chico, CA) 583, 12. Mike Martin (Yuma, AZ) 577, 13.
Zach Chappell (Talala, OK) 570, 14. Steve Ostling (Corona, CA) 494, 15. Casey
Shuman (Phoenix, AZ) 431.