Untitled Document

BF's BS

By Bill Foland

Mountain View, CA. January 13, 2002 ...Here is another late column on my part. I have been getting a lot of heat from some people that have asked me where my column has been. I have just gotten a brand new computer at home so they will be coming more often from here on out. I can't even remember the last column I wrote so I won't pretend to. I am going to write the season review even though it is already 2002, I will give you my random thoughts on some of the mover and shakers during the 2001 season.

After listening to the wonderful SCN broadcast brought to us by Bobby Gerould, Johnny Gibson and produced by Niki Siegel, I can honestly say that I felt like I was at the Tulsa Expo Building. I was pulling for Tony Stewart as he still really enjoys running the midgets, and shows just as much emotion to win that race as he does a Cup race. What a race! There was no fewer than 10 lead changes among 5 drivers. I hope I get a chance to go back there next year.

I have been busy with my racecar after a couple of encounters with the Irwindale wall and a trip to the area hospital for precautions. Anyway, I hope to get a new racecar ready for the 2002 race season as it sounds like there is going to be plenty of action for me to run on the Western States circuit. I can't wait to get going again very soon. So that is it for me and now onto my season in review in no particular order.

What else can be said about the season Danny Lasoski had, after starting a brand new race team with Tony Stewart as car owner he went out and won 13 races including the Knoxville Nationals and also taking home his first WoO Championship. Congrats to everyone involved including Jimmy Carr, Big Al the Thriller and Chris Lasoski. ...James Chesson started out the year running sprints before moving on to the Silver Bullet Series for a few races then ended the year in a awesome looking USAC midget…Billy Pauch ran sparingly in the open wheel ranks this year but did pick off a couple of races including a Thunder race at Grandview…Colby Wiesz won 4 races on the competitive 360 weekly shows in Cali.

…Jeremy Sherman won the Western World Championship after Bud Kaeding had an axle break on the last lap…Destiny Hays won the Wednesday night before the Gold Cup with a stirring victory that left few with a dry eye …Jonathan Allard won the Dave Bradway Jr. race at Chico but also lost a Golden State race to Brent Kaeding on the final lap after spinning into the infield. Jonathan will be strong this year behind the wheel of Duke and Scott McMillen's Maxim…Rickie Wondergem won a couple of races at Marysville…Tim Crawley started out in the Sparks 91 before moving into a different car and winning some big races late in the year…

Dave Darland started out strong and looked to be on his way to a sprint and midget championship until a brutal crash at Eldora sent him to the hospital with a closed head injury, but he returned late in the season to clinch the midget championship…Steve Paden moved from the west coast to run in Indiana…Michael Lewis started off the year strong winning the Copper World Classic, then getting spun by Kasey Kahne on the cool off lap, but his season went downhill from there including a grinding crash at Eldora and his car owner's pavement midget gear getting heisted in California after the season was over…John Starks came down from Washington to pick off two midget races…Mike English lost his ride in the Mark Preistly 7 to Jeremy Sherman as Sherman went on to glory at the Western World, English went to the unemployment line…

Curt Michael had a decent year running both Walt Dyer's 461 and running the URC Circuit…Mike Monahan surprised many with a couple of 360 wins and a fast time at Antioch, but his helmet toss into his trailer was a classic…Mark Monico started the year off with a win at Hanford during a Rebel Cup race and he also ran some USAC Western States Sprint Car Series. Mark Kinser looked to be on his way to yet another WoO Championship but fell short after numerous mechanical failures late in the season derailed him, but he did take home his first ever Gold Cup Championship…Kevin Huntley ran sparingly with the All-Stars…Len Thompson was strong splitting his time between The Grove and Port Royal…Brook Weibley won a race in the Central PA circuit…Ronnie Day unofficially retired from sprint car racing at the end of the year but still ran a few shows in the Wright One 35 and the McMillen 10 to go along with a few races in John Lawson's midget…Blake Robertson won 4 races on the tough California circuit running only selected Central Valley races…

Kevin Pylant had his best year of recent memory making several charges through the field…Willie Croft came close to winning on numerous occasions came up just short at Marysville…Wayne Johnson had another strong year splitting time between the ASCS and NCRA Series winning 8 races and earning a seat in the Sonic D1 for the upcoming WoO Season…Tony Elliott won 5 races splitting his time between midgets, sprints and silver bullet cars…Jack Hewitt won 2 more USAC Sprint car races as well as turning several laps in his two-seat sprinter…Sleepy Tripp still runs strong on the Western States Series when his schedule permits…Ed Lynch Jr. kept up his ugliest car of the year for the umpteenth year in a row… Bobby East was shot out of a cannon this year winning three races on pavement in the National Midget Series…Randy Bauer started the year out strong winning two race on the USAC Western States Sprint Car Series in Don Newman's Beast, but a pit squabble ended the strong year for both.

Steve Kinser had another strong year with 9 wins during the tough WoO Season… Danny Smith won a couple of race on the All-Star Circuit then switched rides for the upcoming season to the Webb 51…Todd Hestor had his best season yet on the Central PA circuit winning 2 races with 5 second place finishes…Monte Faccinto retired from Sprint car racing after winning one race in the Rebel Cup Series to spend more time with his racing children…Norm Johns picked off 5 wins on the black gumbo at Petaluma…Tony Hunt culminated a dream season with back to back wins at Tucson and Irwindale to take home the Western States Sprint Car Series Championship for Bob and Lori Scott…

Kasey Kahne started out slow but picked up the pace during the later months to win 5 races running in no less than 6 different racing series, look for Kasey to run selected Busch Series races in 2002…Rick Hendrix drove to a Western States Sprint Car Series win from deep in the pack at Tucson…Mike Kirby won 3 races during the stout SCRA season…Mike Ward won another ASCS race in his storied career…Look for Shauna Hogg to run up front more often after a breakout year on the pavement. Jac Haudenschild had a year to forget after starting out in the Beef Packers 83 he was canned then ended up in the Wise 97 without winning a race, but look for him to return to glory this year in the Forbrook 5…Chad Kemenah led the All-Stars for most of the year and picked off two races, but a late season crash at Eldora helped Kenny Jacobs take the title…

Steve Siegel started a new team and rewarded himself with 2 wins at Lincoln…Craig Keel resurfaced on the Central PA Circuit, winning 3 races and is going to take a shot at the All-Stars this year…Tim Kaeding had a dream season winning 18 races along with getting one taken away at the Trophy Cup, but came up just short in the Golden State Series and won the Chico Championship…Rick Williams won 2 races in the 360's in Walt Branco's car…David Robinson had an up and down season literally after winning 5 races races and get upside down on numerous occasions…Ricci Faria had his best season so far with a main event win and five 2nd's…Zach Chappell won the ASCS Championship after winning one race…

Mike Faria made his first trip to Knoxville a memorable one as he was fed a wheel and took a ride to the hospital after a grinding crash into the guardrail…Jay Drake was on his way to the Sprint Car title until a horrific crash in a midget at Terre Haute sawed his car in half and ended his season prematurely with 5 wins…Josh Wise came home a close 2nd in the Western States Midget Series with a win…Mike Bliss had a few shows in the Snider/Foyt 111 a took home a win in the Silver Bullet Series…John Scott had a dream season winning 3 races during the SCRA season and plans to take on the tough Midwest racing series' this year…

Tony Stewart won a thrilling midget race at South Boston, VA. After coming from the back twice and passing Bobby East on the last lap…Michael Dupuy didn't win a race on the ASCS tour but still had a consistent year… Kevin Ramey had his coming out party in ASCS winning a race during the ASCS Speedweek and taking home the weeklong title…Eddie Gallagher won 4 races in limited ASCS action. Sammy Swindell had his worst season in years and also found the back end of a push truck at Lernerville (it still hurts to watch that crash), look for Sammy to curtail his schedule even more this year following his son Kevin to the Go-Kart and Micro races…

Daryn Pittman won the Gumout Series title with three wins but is still looking for a ride in the big show…Johnny Mackison went winless this year in Central PA …Todd Gracey ran the entire All-Star Series with a few top fives…Sean Fenn won a race Chico but never ventured anywhere else…Korey Lovell won 4 races splitting his time between Marysville and the Civil War Series…Kevin Lovell won 2 races doing the same thing as Korey…Jason Johnson split time between the Lanny Row 41 and the Elden 22 winning 2 races on the Al-Star Circuit then returned to Row's car for this year after Elden sold out…

Chuck Gurney Jr. won 4 races in BCRA pavement midget action, look for Lil' Rim to run the yellow bird for Gary Haynes this year…Eric Gordon won yet another Little 500…Troy Cline split his time between running the USAC Western States Pavement Series and SCRA winning a race in each…Shane Scott closed his career out without winning a race but had several top fives in Chico action. Stevie Smith won 9 races in the WoO Series, then switched to the Selma Shell 11H for the upcoming season…Tim Shaffer had his best year yet in the WoO Series with 5 wins, then switched to the Beef Packers 83 for the new season… Sean Michael won two races in the Zemco 1 and got stronger late in the year… Mark Smith ran a full season on the Central PA Circuit and finished 3rd an astounding 8 times…

Andy Forsberg won the Civil War title and split his time between there, Chico on Friday night and selected SCRA race and won 4 races… Ryan Flynn won the Rookie Of The Year on the competitive USAC Western States Sprint Car Series on pavement…Bobby McMahan ran selected races in Keith Esplindola's Beast pavement car with one win…Brent Dothage won a race at Petaluma in his return to sprint car racing after taking the 2nd half of 2000 off…Travis Rilat took a shot at the All-Star Series and took home a win and numerous top fives on his way to the Rookie Of The Year Title…Aaron Fike won a race and ran up front for most of the year on the USAC National Midget Series…Derek Davidson took home a win at Anderson after returning from painful arm injuries suffered at Terre Haute the year before…Pete Davis returned to BCRA and won a race at Stockton…Robby Flock took home 4 wins on the USAC Western States Midget Series…Danny Sheridan took over the Moose 92 and finished 3rd three times in SCRA…Darren Eash took the Leach 30 to 8 top fives in Central PA…Rob Chaney won 2 races on the All-Stars in the middle of the year.

Paul McMahan won a WoO at Sedalia early in the year and had 22 top 5's during the year…Randy Hannagan won his first WoO race at I-55 then had a savage crash end his year at Calistoga, look for the "Hurricane" to sweep back into the WoO Series this year…Dave Ely started out the year in the Weikert 29, which is usually the kiss of death and this year was no different as Ely barely made it into June…P.J. Chessson won one race and what a BIG ONE it was as he celebrated like never before after his big Eldora upset…Brent Kaeding won 8 races including his 4th Mini-Gold Cup, and his 11th Golden State title, before losing car owner Al Peterson. Look for BK to return to the black 69 with Al's Roofing as a sponsor…Art McCarthy just keeps on winning races, year after year at Petaluma…Joey Magaruh made a late season win snowball into a very good year…Jason Sides ran the entire Gumout Support Series picking off a win but a heartbreaker at East Bay, losing to Jeff Shepard on the last lap was a downer…Steve Ostling switched to the Fischer 29 at mid-season and won a race in SCRA…

Danny Wood won an incredible 5 races with Rob & Kathy Hart turning the wrenches. Look for Wood to run for Lonnie Parsons in the upcoming WoO season. Brad Furr started out strong on the WoO Series and picked off a win late in the year in Las Vegas…Don Kreitz won 5 races including a WoO race at Williams Grove…Tim Worth didn't win a race on the tough Rebel Cup Series but ran up front at most races…Billy Wallace won 8 races in 360 competition in California …Craig Stidham picked off 5 wins including one at Tulare where he flipped across the line to go with a thrilling charge from the back to 2nd to take home the Trophy Cup at Hanford…Lawrence Edlund made several stirring rides on the razor thin cushion at Hanford…

Gary Wright had 11 more wins and his 9th straight NCRA Championship to add to his stellar career…Brian Tyler won 2 races, splitting his time between the Silver Bullet Series and the USAC Sprint Car Series…Thomas Meseraul won 4 races between the USAC Western States Midget Series and BCRA…Troy Rutherford took home 2 wins in SCRA including a big win on the NWWCS…Donnie Crawford keeps on going winning races in Tulsa every year. The "Crowd Pleaser" Craig Dollansky had a breakout year on the WoO Tour with six wins and 14 2nd's…Johnny Herrera started the year off running the Cormack 20 and ended it in the Parsons 6 with 4 2nd's between the two cars…

Greg Hodnett won 4 races splitting his time between the Central PA Circuit and the All-Stars in the Apple Chevrolet 12…Alan Cole returned to the winner's circle in Central PA with a win at Port Royal…Tommy Tarlton parlayed a switch to Maxim Chassis into 2 late season wins in California…Mike Henry won 2 races in California 360 action…Kenny Adams continued to impress winning numerous races in the Florida area…Tyler Walker returned to the open wheel ranks and ran Johnny Vance's Mopar Silver Bullet, look for Tyler to run the Ledford car on the Gumout Support Series…Ed Carpenter took a late season win on the high banks in a USAC Pavement Sprint Car…

Paul White won three races and the Silver Bullet title…Shain Matthews won 3 BCRA races and ran strong in some Chico Friday night Sprint Car races…Rip Williams won a couple of races late in the year to avoid being shut out in SCRA…Shane Stewart began the season on Andy Hillenburg's pit crew and left at mid-season to run Jr. Holbrook's car on the Gumout series and garnered 9 wins after steeping in the chair. Jeff Shepard started out the season with a last lap pass to win the big 360 race at East Bay in the Nickles Bros 31, then ran the Forbrook 5 to five more wins including a domination of Calistoga and a prelim win at the Gold Cup…Dean Jacobs took the Daugherty 7 car to three wins on the All-Star Circuit…Cris Eash won five races in Central PA to go along with 28 top 5's…Brian Montieth took home 2 wins at Lincoln on a shoe string budget…Dave Lindt ran the entire GSRS tour to finish in the top ten, then went home to Petaluma and collected three 360 races…Luke Beberia won two races in the Rebel Cup Series…

Brian Coelho had 7 top 5's to go along with numerous fast times to run in the top five in the final Golden State points tally…Ronald Laney didn't win a race on the Gumout Support Series but still took home 11 top 5's…Bud Kaeding went on a tear winning races at Terre Haute, Joliet, Manzanita and the Perris Oval Nationals ($25,000), but a broken axle at the Western World was a heart breaker on the last lap while leading…Dave Steele won 5 races splitting time between sprints and midgets on pavement in USAC and took home the historical Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale in Dino Tomassi's Mopar…Jim Christian took home two BCRA midget wins…Tony Jones switched from the Cowherd 48 to the Mike Wall 37 and picked off 4 wins in SCRA…Terry McCarl had a dream season winning the Knoxville Championship along with the Husets title along with over 20 main event wins…

Danny Faria Jr. won his first race ever in 360 competition and look for him and the Hasebe's to get together for the upcoming year…Don Droud Jr. won quite a few races including a very controversial win at the Knoxville special event. Kenny Jacobs won 5 races and a All-Star title but had two race taken away for being light with one being the 1200 lb Nationals at Knoxville…Dale Blaney won an All-Star race then a WoO race later in the year but will run sparingly this year after taking over the promoting duties at Sharon Speedway…Todd Shaffer had a great year winning 14 races in Central PA….

Steve Kent ran a limited schedule, but was fast almost every night, winning 6 races including the Skagit Super Dirt Cup as well as dominating the Northen Sprint Tour Speedweek…Brian Bullard won two races in Ken Pierson's 14 in his first full year on pavement…Damion Gardner ran in the entire USAC Pavement Sprint Car Series on the West Coast, winning a race in New Mexico…Terry Gray won one ASCS race to go along with several other 360 main event wins…Floyd Alvis had a stellar year after turning 67 he won 4 races, including a USAC races at Madera…Alex Harris led the USAC Western States Midget Series for most of the year before mechanical failures late in the year spelled disaster for him… Jason McCord won a USAC National Pavement race…Richard Griffin won 9 races and the Non-Wing World Championship despite an accident at work that severely damaged his arm…Jerrod Hull had a strong year running most of the All-Star Series…Jan Howard ran sparingly on the ASCS tour.

Joey Saldana started the year out in his own 17 before switching to the Beef Packers 83 and winning 4 races between the two, look for Joey to be back in his own car this year with help from Craig Cormack…Kelly Kinser didn't win an All-Star race for the first time in many years, but still took home 10 top 5 finishes…Keith Kauffman took home 11 wins and had 11 2nd's in Central PA…

Johnny Rodriguez won a main event splitting time between 360's and 410's in Cali…Eric Rossi took home two wins including an awesome drive from mid pack on Saturday night of the Trophy Cup…Mike Wasina Jr. won 4 races and led the Civil War Series for most of the year until losing out on the final night to Andy Forsberg…J.J. Yeley took home his first USAC Sprint Car title and also ran 3rd in the USAC National midgets with 6 wins…Wally Pankratz keeps on putting up good numbers, running midgets on the west coast…Russ Gamester won 2 more races on the Silver Bullet Series…Cory Kruseman won 15 races between the NWWC and SCRA and took home his first SCRA title…Chad Riolo came back from heart surgery to have a very good year running 360's in California.

Jason Meyers started the year out in his own 14 then went to Jr. Holbrook 8, then ended up in the Cormack 20 and took home a win at Knoxville before losing his ride and returning to the 14 car for this year…Rodney Duncan won a race and ran up front in the All-Stars…Lance Dewease took home 21 wins in the Harz 88 on the Central PA Circuit then switched to the Hamilton 77 for the end of the year and the coming year…Roger Crockett won 5 races in California and added the Northern Sprint Tour Championship to his hat…Randy Lathrop took home 10 top 5 finishes at Petaluma…Jeff Gardner won 2 races and had 11 top 5's on the USAC Western States Pavement Series…Jim Van Lare won a race and had some strong runs at the end of the year in California…Larry Neighbors took home 2 ASCS races to go along with 15 top 5's…Danny Stratton came out of nowhere to win a couple of dirt race on the USAC Western States Midget Series… Rickie Gaunt lost his ride in the Gardner car and picked up a ride in a 2nd Geurin car to finish the year…Greg Wilson won 5 races on the All-Star Circuit. Donny Schatz had a breakout year winning 10 races on the WoO Tour…

Andy Hillenburg also won 10 races and is looking for sponsor help after losing Luxaire…Fred Rahmer won 15 races but split with Al Hamilton late in the year and will drive for Joe Harz this year…Peter Murphy won a race at Chico and had several strongs runs in GSRS competiton…Jason York won a race at Chico and ventured out to every Golden State race…Davey Hamilton won a Sprint car race before being severely injured in and Indy car and he looks to run some open wheel cars this year…Gary Geving won 2 races at Petaluma…Mike Goodman won a race on the Gumout Support Series then lost his ride in the Ledford 3 and looks to run the Tanger 07 this year…Tracy Hines won 9 races splitting his time between midgets, sprints and silver bullet cars in USAC and looked to be on his way to the Midget title before breaking his ankle in a crash at Perris in the Tamale Wagon…Jerry Coons Jr. took home 2 wins and 12 top 5's running all three USAC divisions…A.J. Fike won 2 races running in USAC…Rob Russell won his first ever BCRA midget race in Orland…Byron Reed won three races on the All-Star circuit.

Please say a prayer for former California modified and sprint car driver Rod Furtado who has been diagnosed with Cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.

Well that is it for my year in review, I hope to be writing more often now and I appreciate all the kind words that have come my way concerning my column on Hammerdownusa.com and Hoseheads.com.

Thanks to Bobby Gerould and Allen Holland for the opportunity to write for your great websites. Also, if there is anybody looking to help a USAC Pavement team on the west coast my dad and myself are trying to put a new car together for the upcoming season and any help would be great. If you are interested, feel free to e-mail me at autobiff2m@aol.com I would appreciate the help in any way that you could contribute to our efforts for the upcoming season…….."BF" Bill Foland

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