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Estes III Drives 360C.I. LS Concept Engine to Sprint Car Bandits Victory Lane in Convincing Style at Kennedale Speedway Park
Kennedale TX (9/27/20) by DarinShort.com. When the Sprint Car Bandits® (SCB) series was founded five years ago, at the center of the mission was to offer sustainable 360C.I. sprint car racing through our basic set of rules – that have successfully proven to save racers money – all while providing race fans a great show and race tracks an affordable program. And we’ve accomplished all of these goals without costing teams any added cost.
And last night, the next phase of the sustainability goal ended up coming to fruition: as an LS concept engine built by Allard Racing Engines ended up in victory lane, topping a stacked 30-car SCB field.
The goal of this project is not to duplicate existing engine combinations but rather to offer an affordable, yet very competitive alternative. This LS recipe costs significantly less than other current engine platforms. Yet, all current engine platforms will continue to be legal in Sprint Car Bandits competition. Plus, aftermarket parts are readily available – and at very reasonable prices.
RACE REWIND: 30 Sprint Car Bandits teams assembled at Kennedale Speedway Park's Special event show from as far away as 9 hours away, and would put on an amazing show – from start to finish – for the huge supportive crowd.
Bo Rawdon and the KSP track crew spent an incredible amount of time in preparation to provide a track surface that was second to none from start to finish, resulting in faster cars being able to advance their position in each event.
Backing up that statement, three 10-car, 10-lap heats were staged and in the first one out of the chute included Claud Estes III, with his LS Allard Racing Engines SCB concept engine under the hood, and he established that he didn’t come to play – after advancing from 10th to finish 2nd in his nonstop heat race. That would also just about lock up that Claud would start on the pole of the feature after garnering nearly the maximum amount of passing points. It would also lock him into the $500 to win Cabinets By Tommy Dash for Cash. Marcus Thomas would win heat 1 in the PCR #10 car.
The second heat race would also go green-to-checkered nonstop with Zane Lawrence blasting by six cars to garner the most points in the heat race. USAC Silver Crown driver and all-around nice guy Austin Mundie scorched the field and took the checkers first.
With the track still in lightning fast shape, heat race 3 would fire off with DJ Estes going for a light tumble after bicycling in corner one in the first lap. He would become the only flip victim of the evening – but would make repairs in time for the B-feature. Jett Hays and John Ricketts would battle it out for supremacy, with Jett blasting to the checkers first. Ricketts would be piloting a brand new 360C.I. car fielded by event sponsor, Cabinets By Tommy of Granbury, Texas.
This set the stage for a special added event, the $500 to win Cabinets By Tommy Dash For Cash. Marcus Thomas would draw the pole position on the frontstretch in front of the massive KSP crowd, and when the green dropped, John Ricketts would wrestle the lead from Thomas and take home a super popular win – and collect his own sponsors $500 winners award. Zane Lawrence would start 4th and sneak by Thomas for a 2nd place finish on the final lap.
After a wild and nearly disastrous encounter with the wall in heat race 3, 19-year-old Casey Burkham would start the B-feature in 10th position, piloting the potent Burkham Contracting #45B. Yours truly announced to the KSP fans to keep one eye on Burkham as the race progressed as he was 3rd in points in SCB 2020 and was clearly one of the fastest cars on the track early on.
Sure enough, when the green flag dropped in the nonstop 12-lapper, Burkham would literally be blowing the decals off of other cars as he advanced through the field – much to the delight of the appreciative KSP crowd. On the final lap, Burkham would track down and catch event winner, veteran driver Steve McMackin, but McMackin would seal the win by taking SCB flagman Brad Shirley’s checkers first.
This would set the stage for arguably the most anticipated sprint car feature event in KSP history, as the field was stacked, and literally a dozen starters could easily emerge as the winner – if they paired their setup on the blazing-fast track into reality.
Top qualifier Claud Estes III and Zane Lawrence would bring the field down for the green in perfect military precision, nose-to-tail, side-by-side and no fanning out, and immediately a three-car battle would rage, between Estes III, Lawrence and Jett Hays. Meanwhile, the ultra-fast cars of Chad Wilson and Casey Burkham would be slicing and dicing their way through the field – but each would become sidelined due to contact, with Burkham’s causing the only yellow in the 25-lapper.
Around lap 7, the trio of leaders would encounter lapped traffic and then the intensity turned up to fog horn level, when young Jett Hays would be able to sneak by Estes III to take the lead, officially for a lap, when the wily veteran would dive low to retake the lead the following lap. With the crowd waving and cheering all along, suddenly the 7th place starter of John Ricketts would join the trio of leaders making it a 4-pack battling for the lead, when the yellow light would flash for Casey Burkham.
When the event resumed, Estes III would find himself with a clear racetrack ahead and a hard charging John Ricketts in tow. Ricketts would nearly catch Estes III but the ‘Ambassador’ would not be denied and take home the win, much to the approval of the KSP fans. Ricketts would end up in 2nd – with another huge roar of support for his efforts from the crowd. Marcus Thomas would work his way back to finish in 3rd, while Zane Lawrence and Austin Mundie rounded out the top 5.
Chip Graham would be awarded $200 from Cabinets By Tommy for earning the feature race Hard Charger, advancing 9 spots, while current SCB points leader Michael Day would pick up an extra $100 from Cabinets By Tommy for being the 9th place driver on the 9th lap.
THANK YOU to the great KSP fans, track workers, race teams and SCB staff for such an awesome night at the racetrack, free of ‘outside influences’ – which can be a rarity in this crazy year known as 2020.
NEXT UP for the Sprint Car Bandits series will be a one-night stand at Monarch Motor Speedway in Wichita Falls, Texas on Saturday October 10th at 7pm. The $2,000 to win and $300/start (22nd) feature will also include the same exact Cabinets By Tommy promos – meaning one driver could take home $2,500! Click www.MMSdirt.com or on Facebook @MonarchMotorSpeedway for complete event info, as it’s already posted.
The final scheduled event of the season is the 2nd Annual Paul Peters Memorial event at what I call “The Land of the XL” 82 Speedway in Petty Texas on Saturday, November 7th with a 5pm twilight starting time. It will also be a $2,000 to win and $300 to start affair.
For a video of the A-Feature from Don Cook, please click here: https://youtu.be/MiuyUBAijzA
9/26/20 A-Feature Results – Sprint Car Bandits at Kennedale Speedway Park:
74E – Claud Estes III
99B – John Ricketts
10 – Marcus Thomas
76 – Zane Lawrence
4 – Austin Mundie
01J – Jeb Sessums
67 – Michael Day
83 – Jett Hays
72X – Chris Tarrant
12W – Dale Wester
5 – Chip Graham
41 – Casey Merrell
82S – Austin Saunders
23 – Junior Jenkins
27 – Kodey Keimig
45B – Casey Burkham
82C – Christian Kinnison
41M – Steve McMackin
20 – Chad Wilson
12X – Brandon Howle
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