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Kicking Up The Dirt
Joanne White posted Saturday January 2, 2010.
Sprintcars Queensland, and our three American friends, returned to Brisbane International Speedway last night, and, despite light rain that began falling on the track early in the evening, several program reshuffles and the cancellation of the dash event, the boys still put on a thrilling show for the large BIS crowd who had braved the weather. Bud Kaeding took the win at the end of an intensely exciting 30-lap A-Main, with team-mates Peter Thorley and Todd Wanless filling the rest of the podium, coming home in second and third respectively. Kevin Titman and Allan Woods completed the top five finishers.
Twenty-four Sprintcars turned up at BIS to put on a show. David Muir was absent after his crash within sight of the chequered flag on Wednesday night. Luke Rowell, who had mechanical problems in Wednesday night’s hot laps that put him out for the rest of the evening, also put him out of last night’s affairs. And Darren Jensen, who was injured in a heat race incident on Wednesday night, remains in hospital. Reports have it that Darren had surgery on his broken left leg late on Thursday evening, and is now recovering well. The recovery process is not going to be an easy one though and Darren, while doing well and keeping in high spirits, is expected to be off his feet for at least the next eight to twelve weeks.
American Bud Kaeding was the fastest man on the race track for time trials, recording a 12.434 second lap. Brent Kaeding was second quickest, with Peter Thorley, Steven White and Paul Rooks rounding out the fastest five. Matthew Butler unfortunately suffered mechanical problems in the #71 racer and did not record a time. A blown head gasket in the #71 car put the car out for the evening, so Matthew jumped straight on the phone and organized for his spare car, the #72 campaigned by American Cap Henry a few weeks ago, to be brought down from Toowoomba. He would miss the first round of heats, but made it trackside in time for the next.
Heat one saw Tim Garrett, still pumped after his career-best performance on Wednesday night, get the jump off the start, leaving pole-sitter Brent Kratzmann in second. Kratzmann fought hard to hold onto second, but Bud Kaeding was a man on a mission and within a few laps had come from the tail of the field, slipped by Kratzmann and was chasing down race leader Garrett. Three laps down and Garrett was way out in front when Wednesday night’s winner Jesse Hockett had a spin in turn four, bringing out the yellows. Seven laps left to run, and light rain beginning to fall over the circuit, Tim Garrett led the restart, getting a fantastic start and opening a few cars lengths advantage over Kaeding. With five laps still to run, the race was brought under caution again, this time for Ray Eager who had spun in turn four. Heading into turn three, ready for a restart, the track was suddenly plunged into semi-darkness. An electrical problem took out all track lights and while it was still early enough and light enough for the drivers to see where they were going, racing under those conditions was just too dangerous and the race was once again brought to a stop. In the unexpected delay, and with the weather radar showing rain headed towards the track, BIS promoter John Kelly decided to bring the monster trucks out to entertain the crowd while we waited for the lights to come back on. Devils Dodge promptly lost his left rear wheel, right in the middle of turn four. After being further delayed, and a tricky removal of the broken monster truck, the lights were back on and heat one could continue. Tim Garrett led the restart, under increasing pressure from Bud Kaeding, but things went pear-shaped for Garrett on the second lap of the restart. Garrett hit a rut in turn two, sending him headed straight for the wall. He clipped the wall on the exit of the turn, and while he lost the lead, and several other positions, he was able to recover well and rejoin the race. Bud Kaeding went on to win the event from Jesse Hockett, Kevin Titman, Brett Thomas and Tim Garrett. Craig Stevenson and Brent Kratzmann also finished the event. Ray Eager exited the race after two spins in eight laps.
Heat two saw Anthony Lambert and Dan Murray share the front row of the grid, with Murray getting the jump on the start. Lambert settled briefly into second before falling prey to Richard Morgan, and then Brent Kaeding. Kaeding was on the move, and quickly made his way into second, putting the pressure on race leader Dan Murray. Kaeding gave it all he had for four laps, Murray doing an exceptional job to hold off the American’s advances. Kaeding was trying to find a way around the outside of Murray through turn four when white smoke began billowing from the engine of the USA#69 racer. With a hole in the sump where there should never be a hole, Kaeding, was now out of the race. It’s the second engine to break in the USA#69 racer in as many nights, and Kaeding would now be out for the rest of the evening. Todd Wanless, sitting in third for the restart, tried for an inside pass on Richard Morgan, but couldn’t pull it off. He spun the #2 racer in turn two, leaving Ronnie Barber with nowhere to go. Barber restarted the event, Wanless did not. Dan Murray went on to take the well-earned win, with Richard Morgan in second, Anthony Lambert in third and Ronnie Barber and Scott Baker rounding out the finishers. Brent Kaeding and Todd Wanless did not finish the event.
Heat three, by comparison to the previous two heats, was relatively uneventful. Clem Hoffmans, driving the #48 racer of Glen Spence, got the jump on the start and led from green to chequer, taking the win from Allan Woods and Peter Thorley. Both Woods and Thorley had a great race, both driving through the field after starting from positions four and six respectively. Jason Bottin gave Peter Thorley a run for his money for most of the race, with Bottin, Thorley and Steven White having an intense battle that lasted almost the entire race. Bottin crossed the line in fourth ahead of Steven White, Paul Morris and Niall Chandler.
Brent Kratzmann got the jump on the start of heat four, and wasting no time in opening up a sizable lead. Behind him the battle raged, with a few yellow light stoppages, but none of that phased Kratzmann. Dan Murray came unstuck in turn two after only six laps were complete. A broken torsion bar heading down the main straight, saw Dan flip the car on the exit of turn one. It looked almost as if Dan’s #44 racer had tripped over its own right front wheel. Unfortunately for Murray it would end his night as well as his race. Brent Kratzmann went on to take the win from Richard Morgan and Jesse Hockett, with Craig Stevenson and Brett Thomas rounding out the finishers. Dan Murray was the only one to fail to finish the ten lap journey.
Heat five rolled out onto the track, the light rain that had been falling non-stop since the first heat was making the surface a little slippery, but BIS Promoter John Kelly was determined to beat the weather. Jason Bottin led the start of heat five, with pole sitter Tim Garrett fading quickly to fourth, just in front of team-mate Steven White. Jason Bottin drove a superb race to hang to for the win, with Paul Morris in second ahead of hard-charging Bud Kaeding. Steven White eventually got the better of team-mate Tim Garrett, with White crossing the line in fourth ahead of Garrett in fifth. Niall Chandler crossed the line in sixth and led Kevin Titman and Ray Eager home.
The final heat of the night was all about Anthony Lambert in his 10-year old low-bar Gambler. Lambert started on the front row of the grid alongside Clem Hoffmans, with Lambert getting the jump on the start. Lambert set about opening a massive lead over the rest of the field, while Peter Thorley, Todd Wanless and Ronnie Barber battled it out for second place. Allan Woods came to grief in turn two, tipping the car over after hitting one of many large ruts that littered the turn. Woods was unscathed and the damage to the car somewhat minimal and he restarted at the tail of the field. Anthony Lambert led the restart and actually drove away from the battle for second to take the win by some 3.060 seconds. Peter Thorley crossed the line in second, having got the better of team-mate Todd Wanless who ultimately finished third. Ronnie Baber finished fourth ahead of Scott Baker, Allan Woods and Matthew Butler. Clem Hoffmans did not finish the race.
The light rain that had been falling consistently over the venue for the past couple of hours continued to fall. The weather radar showed more rain was on it’s way and we weren’t likely to get a break. In an effort to keep racing possible, BIS Promoter John Kelly reshuffled the program, and cancelled the Dash event, in an attempt to keep cars circulating on the surface to disperse the rain as it fell and keep the track raceable. By the time the Sprintcar B-Main event hit the track, the surface was quite slippery and most of the 10 cars to take part in the B-Main race spent the race just trying to hang on. Contact between Scott Baker and Craig Stevenson on the back straight on the second lap of the race saw Stevenson flip the Ace Fireworks #10 racer into turn three. Craig was uninjured, but out of the race. Brett Thomas was leading the race, with Brent Kratzmann in second, and Niall Chandler, towards the tail end of the field, making progress and moving slowly past a few cars, only to complete a 360 degree spin before keeping the car going. Brent Kratzmann slipped past Brett Thomas for the race lead, but had a spin in turn one. The race, only eight laps old, was declared with Brett Thomas being granted the win from Tim Garrett and Scott Baker with Clem Hoffmans in fourth securing the final transfer to the A-Main event. Matthew Butler finished fifth ahead of Niall Chandler, Ray Eager and Brent Kratzmann. Craig Stevenson was the only non-finisher of the race.
Thanks to 30 laps of dirt modifieds shifting a lot of the really wet stuff off the top of the track, we ended up with a reasonably raceable surface for our 30-lap A-Main race. Bud Kaeding and Peter Thorley shared the front row, with both as eager as the other to get the advantage once the green flag dropped. It was local star Thorley who lead the field of 16 when the lights turned green, with Kaeding biding his time in second. Meanwhile, the action was unfolding behind them, with Steven White and Jesse Hockett coming together on the main straight. Both escaped the contact without incident, though White headed towards the infield before rejoining the field, rejoining the race right in front of team-mate Tim Garrett. Hockett ended up in the turn one wall, and out of the race with front end damage, after only two laps. White was determined to make up lost ground and did just that on the restart. He was working his way through the field when he had a spin in turn three. Paul Morris, who was right behind White at the time, did everything he could to avoid contact, but unfortunately tipped the SuperCheap Auto #67 on its side. Morris was unscathed, the car undamaged, and he restarted the race from the tail of the field. Ronnie Barber and Tim Garrett were both left with nowhere to go in the incident, and both became involved. White and Barber restarted the event, with Morris, at the tail of the field, but Garrett’s race was over. Peter Thorley led the restart with twenty-three laps to go and was doing a magnificent job out in front. At about half race distance Bud Kaeding found a way past in lapped traffic, only for the race to be brought under caution when Ronnie Barber had a spin. Thorley got his lead back, but it was not to last, with Bud Kaeding determined to get a win on the board. On lap 25 the race came to an abrupt halt for Brett Thomas who had a massive crash in turn three. The #69 racer ran head-first, straight into the turn three wall, destroying the car. Thomas emerged from the wreck unscathed, but the car suffered extensive chassis damage, particularly the front end. With five laps left to run, and Bud Kaeding in the lead, it was always going to be an exciting end to the race. Richard Morgan was sitting in third, a solid podium position, white flag was in the air, and disaster struck for Morgan. Contact with Todd Wanless, then fourth, left Morgan stopped on the edge of the track halfway down the back straight with rear suspension damage, and a very disappointing way to end his night of competition. Bud Kaeding greeted the chequered flag first ahead of Peter Thorley and Todd Wanless. Kevin Titman was next across the line with Allan Woods in fifth ahead of a very impressive Anthony Lambert. Steven White managed to crawl his way back to seventh in an impressive drive from the rear of the field, while Jason Bottin finished eighth ahead of Paul Morris and Ronnie Barber. Richard Morgan, Brett Thomas, Clem Hoffmans, Tim Garrett, Scott Baker and Jesse Hockett all failed to finish the event.
Sprintcars Queensland will be back at Brisbane International Speedway on Wednesday night, weather permitting, for the Capalaba Wreckers Sprintcar Cup $10,000 to win race, featuring all the local stars plus the likes of Brent and Bud Kaeding and Jesse Hockett plus Donny Schatz, Danny Smith and Jason Sides to name but a few. It will be a night of racing you want to miss so get yourself trackside next Wednesday night for some throttle-stomping Sprintcar racing action
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