Untitled Document

BF's B.S. 06/08/2000

Hello once again from rainy??? California. Yes it is the beginning of June and it is raining here. I thought I was in Washington....oh wait that is where we go next week. I have not written a column for a long time so I have some catching up to do. Since I wrote last, Steve Kinser had taken over the World Of Outlaws point lead from Danny Lasoski who had a miserable trip through Pennsylvania and New York. Tyler Walker has subbed for the injured Greg Hodnett and now Walker is in the Apple Chevrolet car with Crew Chief Lee Stauffer. Hodnett has returned to victory lane already since coming back with a win at Hagerstown.

Sammy Swindell has shown signs of returning to his old self with wins at Lernerville,Charlotte and Rolling Wheels. Mark Kinser also has been on the upswing lately winning televised events at Terre Haute and Charlotte and also took a race last week in Eldora. Fred Rahmer has taken the upset of the year so far with a stirring win at Williams Grove after which Sammy Swindell protested his motor to no avail. Stevie Smith has been going good lately with wins at Hagerstown and Rolling Wheels. Randy Hannagan was given his pink slip from Junior Holbrook in a very unprofessional way. Junior decided to have the TNN crew announce it. Hannagan is now back in California getting ready for the Super Dirt Cup in Skagit, Washington. This is a very bad trend that is going on lately with drivers and crew members changing teams like underwear. It happens every year at about this time so I guess it is nothing new. Dean "Bonzai" Bruns was shown the door by the Elden team recently and is looking for future employment. It won't take him long as he is very talented at what he does.

Kenny Woodruff has also split the sheets with Daryn Pittman and returned to his home in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. Dave Yingst split with Donnie Schatz which could make for an even longer year for Donnie. I hope Donnie can snap out of it soon, he is a very good driver that has had some bad breaks this year. Anybody notice that Dale Blaney is running strong in the top 10? This weekend is Bristol and I wish I could be there but I will have to settle for the TNN Broadcast.

The World Of Outlaws Gumout Series and the All-Star Series have showcased some new young talent this year. In the Gumout Series, Jeff Shepard is off to a strong start with wins at Buckeye Speedway and Bloomington. Paul McMahan has been running strong with the Support Series and the Pennzoil World Of Outlaws as he has been a consistent top 5 runner until a win last night over fellow Californian Jason Meyers, who continues to impress in his first visits to most of these tracks. Brad Furr has had several fast times this year and picked up a 3rd at the opener at Lernerville. Craig Dollansky has also been tough with the WoO as well as the Support group, picking up a win at the opener and a 2nd at Buckeye.

On the All-Star tour Rodney Duncan leads the series and picked up a win at K-C Speedway in May. Consistency has been his trademark with numerous top 5's to his credit. Danny Smith also seems to have resurrected his career this year with his first All-Star win in 5 years at Rolling Wheels. That along with a few strong runs in USAC non-wing races has Smith going strong. Kenny Jacobs keeps rolling along with wins at Lincoln and Attica.

In Pennsylvania strong early season runs by Dave Ely has propelled him into the upper end of the Pennsylvania Posse. Fred Rahmer still has a firm grip on the throne but young guns like Dave Ely, Len Thompson(who won his first ever race at Williams Grove),Todd Hestor (Also scoring his first win at The Grove),Mike Erdley and Brook Weibley,Chris Knoop and Jimmy McBee have also broken into the top 5 often. Veterans like Don Kreitz, Lance DeWease, Keith Kauffman and Todd Shaffer have also been right there this season with numerous wins and top 5's.

The SCRA for non-winged sprinters have stayed status quo with Richard Griffin dominating the point standings and picking up 6 wins already. Rickie Gaunt has been fast week in and week out as well as Tony Jones. Cory Kruseman has struggled a bit but look for him to break out soon. Rip Williams hasn't won a race yet, which is news in itself. Brad Noffsinger started out strong but has cooled lately and took a nasty spill last weekend in Perris. The non-wingers are headed to the east for some races in the non-wing world championship and USAC.

In California Brent Kaeding has the most wins with 5 and has been fast at most of the NARC races, not finishing out of the top 5 yet. Tommy Tarlton has been very fast picking up a win at Oildale but flipped lining up for the main event last week in Tulare hurting his points chase. Blake Robertson might be the hottest driver in California, well at least at Tulare as he has won the last two races there and had a 2nd at Oildale. Steve Kent picked off a pair of wins at Calistoga, the 2nd coming after Tim Kaeding took the hardest hit I have EVER seen at Stoga, he was sore but OK.

Most of the California 410's will be off to Skagit Speedway in a couple of weeks to try to take home the lions share of the big purse.

In the California 360's there is no clear cut favorite this year as Roger Crockett, Colby Wiesz, Dave Lindt, Monte Faccinto, Brent Dothage and Jon Allard have all taken multiple wins. The suprise so far in the 360's are Randy Lathrop at Petaluma, Herman Klein, Kevin and Jon Lovell at Marysville, Gary Morgan and Mark Mackay at Placerville and Kurt Nelson in the Rebel Cup Series picking up his first win ever at Hanford.

In USAC, one young driver stands out.....Kasey Kahne. He has been very impressive picking up wins in the Midget division and also had strong runs in the Pavement and Dirt Sprint Cars as well as the Silver Bullet series. This isn't even counting the strong runs in the winged sprint car with a win at Williams Grove earlier this year. Tracy Hines has been fast on pavement winning in the Silver Bullet Series as well as the Sprint Car Series. Dave Steele has returned to the Pavement Series and look for strong runs from him in the future. ...That Silver Bullet TV race from Knoxville last weekend was the best Silver Bullet race I have ever seen and probably will ever see. ... Tony Eliott has shown signs of coming around with a win at Eldora a couple of weeks ago. Brian Tyler stayed strong with a win at Hawkeye Downs in Iowa. The non-winged sprint cars and midget really start to get going now with big races coming up throughout the midwest.

On the NCRA-ASCS circuit Gary Wright continues to dominate when he races. Aaron Berryhill has been a worthy opponent in the early part of the year. Congratulations go out to Aaron and Brandi Berryhill on the birth of their new child. Mike Goodman has been strong after a disappointing run in the Gumout Series. Randy Nygaard has also been strong in the Northern Tour so far. On the ASCS front, a pair of Johnson's have risen to the top. Jason Johnson leads the points so far with wins at Sedalia and Houston and Wayne Johnson has been strong also with a win at Sedalia and numerous top 5's. You can never rule out Terry Gray or Tim Crawley as they will be there all season. Garry Lee Maier had a U-Joint explode and hurt his legs earlier and he will have a lengthy recovery. Props to Jason Sides, Dale Howard, Zach Chappel and Larry Neighbors with fast racers so far.

That is it for my mid-season review, as for me, I am ready to get back in the racer again as soon as my car and motor will let me. My injuries have healed and I hope to be back out on the pavement by July. I hope to hear from all my friends from across the country that sent me such kind words while I was recuperating. See ya at the races....BF

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