CLAUSON (MIDGETS) AND BACON (SPRINT) CELEBRATE FOUR CROWN WINS ON STAGE AS COONS, JR. CELEBRATES HIS WIN IN THE PITS
Post-Race Penalty Takes Apparent Silver Crown Win from Caleb Armstrong
ROSSBURG, OH (September 21) – Mandated by a rain postponement Saturday evening, Sunday’s conclusion of the 33rd annual Four Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway did not come without the usual drama that comes with racing under the sun, as Bryan Clauson (USAC Midgets) and Brady Bacon (USAC Sprints) advanced to victory lane along with Caleb Armstrong (USAC Silver Crown). Unfortunately Armstrong’s victory was not long-lived as a post-race one-lap penalty for a tire changing infraction moved him to tenth in the final rundown and gave the win to Jerry Coons, Jr.
When the green flag dropped on the 25-lap Midget finale, it was Clauson jumping out front of Darren Hagen and Tracy Hines to set the early pace; a pace that came to an abrupt halt on lap three when six cars tangled in turn two of the high-banked one-half mile clay oval to bring out the red flag.
Involved in the incident were the top three cars from time trials, Rice Abreu, Christopher Bell and Tanner Thorson, along with Hines, Brady Bacon and Chris Windom. Abreu, Thorson and Bacon had flipped their mounts but quick repairs got Bacon back on the track along with Hines and Bell.
Bell was the quickest to recover as he darted from the tail to fifth on the restart. Four laps later he was up to third behind Clauson and Hagen and rested there until lap 16 when he got by Hagen for the runner-up position. Bell had Clauson in sight during the closing laps, but time ran short in his conquest to grab the coveted victory.
Hagen hung on for third, with Zach Daum and Shane Cockrum completing the top five.
With the Sprint Cars rolling to the track for their 30-lap leg of the Four Crown, the drivers were greeted with a track that was in sharp contrast to what they had competed on just twelve hours earlier. As is common in daytime racing, the track slicked up and began taking rubber quickly and finesse became the key to victory.
It took several starts to get the event underway as the result of multi-car tangles and flips. Once underway it was Robert Ballou in control with a comfortable margin over Brady Bacon and Tracy Hines before Clauson moved into the displace Hines.
With a Four Crown ‘double’ in sight, Clauson soon reeled in Bacon to run second to Ballou. Bacon remained in the hunt as Hines and Justin Grant joined the front-runners to make for a wild five car
battle for supremacy; all with previous jaunts under the sun.
Several tangles continued to plague the chase. Ballou remained in control but behind him the heated battles were between Bacon and Clauson, while Hines and Grant were engaged in their own quest.
The restart with three laps remaining dramatically changed the eventual outcome as Ballou and Clauson made contact and Ballou flipped coming out of turn two. Bacon took advantage of the miscue to inherit the lead he was to hold to the finish as Clauson was unable to double-up on his 2014 Four Crown run.
Bacon sped to a six-car length lead at the finish over Clauson, Grant, Hines and Hunter Schuerenberg.
Tire choice became the name of the game as the Silver Crown cars made their way to the track. Some teams made the wise choice, but many didn’t as the yellow bunting appeared multiple times for blown right rear tires and resulting tire changes.
Armstrong was one of those victims and it was his pit stop to replace the blown tired that eventually cost him the apparent victory. The left rear tire was changed without being flat, which is not a permissible pit stop under USAC procedures. The one-lap penalty, assessed at the finish, sat just fine with Coons, Jr. who crossed the line in runner-up spot before being claimed the winner.
Equally disappointed at the final rundown was current point leader Kody Swanson. Swanson had been in control of the 50-lap chase throughout the majority of the distance only to have a tire go down on the final lap. Fighting to control the car as they came down for the checkered flag, Swanson was freight-trained by the balance of the field to drop to ninth.
With the finish adjusted, Chris Windom, Hines, Cockrum and Clauson completed the top five.
Eldora will sit idle until the three-day (October 2-3-4) DIRTcar UMP Fall Nationals by Allstar Performance and the season-closing UNOH Sprintacular (October 11).
Fans can purchase remaining race tickets for either event by going online to www.EldoraSpeedway.com. Tickets may also be purchased through the Eldora offices during normal business hours by calling (937) 338-3815.
Additionally, race fans and race teams can get behind-the-scenes access by following @EldoraSpeedway on Twitter, hitting ‘Like’ at Facebook.com/EldoraSpeedway and viewing video highlights at YouTube.com/EldoraSpeedwayInc. Mobile device users can access the Eldora Speedway app for the iPhone, iPad and Android, which are available for download via iTunes and Google Play.
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USAC SPRINT
TIME TRIALS – 1. 20-Bryan Clauson [15.557]; 2. 4-Tracy Hines [15.595]; 3. 69-Brady Bacon [15.606]; 4. 10E-Jerry Coons, Jr [15.611]; 5. 40G-Justin Grant [15.634]; 6. 12-Robert Ballou [15.686]; 7. 37RW-Jon Stanbrough [15.735]; 8. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [15.736]; 9. 28-Brandon Mattox [15.844]; 10. 66-Shane Cockrum [15.856]; 11. 1W-Mitch Wissmiller [15.901]; 12. 32-Chase Stockon [15.920]; 13. 30-C.j. Leary [15.944]; 14. 54-Matt Westfall [15.949]; 15. 11-Chris Windom [16.037]; 16. 18A-Jarett Andretti [16.060]; 17. 9K-Kevin Thomas, Jr. [16.113]; 18. 63-Kody Swanson [16.118]; 19. 5-Chad Boespflug [16.138]; 20. 24-Landon Simon [16.199]; 21. 21H-Dallas Hewitt [16.204]; 22. 15-Brandon Whited [16.341]; 23. 9N-Luke Hall [16.357]; 24. 2M-Logan Hupp [16.456]; 25. 82-Mike Miller [16.488]; 26. 59-Scott Hampton [16.532]; 27. 21TH-Travis Hery [16.578]; 28. 33M-Beau Stewart [16.662]; 29. 0-Steve Irwin [16.683]; 30. 24P-Tyler Hewitt [16.837]; 31. 32M-Derek Hastings [16.961]; 32. 3R-Brian Karraker [17.012]; 33. 2H-Brian Hayden [17.146]; 34. 83C-Adam Cruea [17.377]; 35. 53-Steve Little [17.880]; 36. 7M-Brandon Moore [17.892]; 37. 1M-Mike Moore [17.908]; 38. 71P-Dave Darland [21.755]; 39. 18-Scotty Weir [99.999];
HEAT 1 – 1. 20-Bryan Clauson [6]; 2. 21H-Dallas Hewitt [1]; 3. 9K-Kevin Thomas, Jr. [2]; 4. 30-C.j. Leary [3]; 5. 28-Brandon Mattox [4]; 6. 40G-Justin Grant [5]; 7. 82-Mike Miller [7]; 8. 0-Steve Irwin [8]; 9. 2H-Brian Hayden [9]; 10. 1M-Mike Moore [10];
HEAT 2 – 1. 63-Kody Swanson [2]; 2. 12-Robert Ballou [5]; 3. 4-Tracy Hines [6]; 4. 71P-Dave Darland [10]; 5. 66-Shane Cockrum [4]; 6. 54-Matt Westfall [3]; 7. 15-Brandon Whited [1]; 8. 59-Scott Hampton [7]; 9. 24P-Tyler Hewitt [8]; 10. 83C-Adam Cruea [9];
HEAT 3 – 1. 11-Chris Windom [3]; 2. 69-Brady Bacon [6]; 3. 37RW-Jon Stanbrough [5]; 4. 5-Chad Boespflug [2]; 5. 9N-Luke Hall [1]; 6. 21TH-Travis Hery [7]; 7. 32M-Derek Hastings [8]; 8. 53-Steve Little [9]; 9. 1W-Mitch Wissmiller [DNF]; 10. 18-Scotty Weir [DNS];
HEAT 4 – 1. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 2. 10E-Jerry Coons, Jr [6]; 3. 24-Landon Simon [2]; 4. 32-Chase Stockon [4]; 5. 2M-Logan Hupp [1]; 6. 3R-Brian Karraker [8]; 7. 33M-Beau Stewart [7]; 8. 7M-Brandon Moore [9]; 9. 18A-Jarett Andretti [DNF]; 10. 27J-Randy Johns [DNS];
B-FEATURE – 1. 40G-Justin Grant [1]; 2. 28-Brandon Mattox [2]; 3. 66-Shane Cockrum [3]; 4. 59-Scott Hampton [9]; 5. 54-Matt Westfall [4]; 6. 2M-Logan Hupp [7]; 7. 15-Brandon Whited [5]; 8. 0-Steve Irwin [12]; 9. 82-Mike Miller [8]; 10. 83C-Adam Cruea [17]; 11. 21TH-Travis Hery [10]; 12. 32M-Derek Hastings [14]; 13. 53-Steve Little [18]; 14. 33M-Beau Stewart [DNF]; 15. 24P-Tyler Hewitt [DNF]; 16. 1M-Mike Moore [DNS]; 17. 2H-Brian Hayden [DNS]; 18. 3R-Brian Karraker [DNS]; 19. 7M-Brandon Moore [DNS]; 20. 9N-Luke Hall [DNS]; 21. 18A-Jarett Andretti [DNS];
A FEATURE – 1. 69-Brady Bacon [4]; 2. 20-Bryan Clauson [6]; 3. 40G-Justin Grant [7]; 4. 4-Tracy Hines [5]; 5. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 6. 10E-Jerry Coons, Jr [3]; 7. 30-C.j. Leary [12]; 8. 11-Chris Windom [14]; 9. 66-Shane Cockrum [10]; 10. 63-Kody Swanson [16]; 11. 54-Matt Westfall [13]; 12. 2M-Logan Hupp [21]; 13. 71P-Dave Darland [24]; 14. 12-Robert Ballou [DNF]; 15. 28-Brandon Mattox [DNF]; 16. 9K-Kevin Thomas, Jr. [DNF]; 17. 32-Chase Stockon [DNF]; 18. 0-Steve Irwin [DNF]; 19. 21H-Dallas Hewitt [DNF]; 20. 15-Brandon Whited [DNF]; 21. 24-Landon Simon [DNF]; 22. 37RW-Jon Stanbrough [DNF]; 23. 59-Scott Hampton [DNF]; 24. 5-Chad Boespflug [DNS];
USAC Silver Crown
TIME TRIALS – 1. 98-Jerry Coons, Jr [16.513]; 2. 63S-Kody Swanson [16.607]; 3. 10-Bobby East [16.637]; 4. 16-Tracy Hines [16.658]; 5. 17-Chris Windom [16.883]; 6. 20C-Bryan Clauson [16.898]; 7. 35-C.j. Leary [17.081]; 8. 26P-Aaron Pierce [17.215]; 9. 9-Caleb Armstrong [17.340]; 10. 66-Shane Cockrum [17.342]; 11. 25R-Davey Ray [17.421]; 12. 07-Jacob Wilson [17.615]; 13. 53-Robert Ballou [18.336]; 14. 21-Jack Hewitt [18.391]; 15. 02-Patrick Lawson [24.150]; 16. 51-Russ Gamester [99.999]; 17. 99B-Chris Bell [99.999]; 18. 14B-Brady Bacon [99.999]; 19. 19D-Dave Darland [99.999]; 20. 31-Jake Simmons [99.999];
A FEATURE – 1. 98-Jerry Coons, Jr [1]; 2. 17-Chris Windom [5]; 3. 16-Tracy Hines [4]; 4. 66-Shane Cockrum [10]; 5. 10-Bobby East [3]; 6. 20C-Bryan Clauson [6]; 7. 26P-Aaron Pierce [8]; 8. 07-Jacob Wilson [12]; 9. 63S-Kody Swanson [2]; 10. 9-Caleb Armstrong [9]; 11. 51-Russ Gamester [18]; 12. 35-C.j. Leary [7]; 13. 02-Patrick Lawson [15]; 14. 99B-Chris Bell [16]; 15. 25R-Davey Ray [11]; 16. 21-Jack Hewitt [14]; 17. 53-Robert Ballou [13]; 18. 14B-Brady Bacon [DNS]; 19. 19D-Dave Darland [DNS]; 20. 31-Jake Simmons [DNS];
USAC Midgets
TIME TRIALS – 1. 97-Rico Abreu [16.369]; 2. 71-Chris Bell [16.416]; 3. 67-Tanner Thorson [16.423]; 4. 56-Darren Hagen [16.570]; 5. 63-Bryan Clauson [16.605]; 6. 24-Tracy Hines [16.605]; 7. 5D-Zach Daum [16.643]; 8. 3-Chris Windom [16.725]; 9. 11-Brady Bacon [16.823]; 10. 19-Steve Drevicki [17.302]; 11. 50-Tony Dimattia [17.394]; 12. 16-Thomas Meseraull [17.411]; 13. 88-Terry Babb [17.441]; 14. 9P-Parker Price-miller [17.491]; 15. 52-Issac Chapple [17.703]; 16. 46-Brett Arndt [18.112]; 17. 17-Dave Darland [99.999]; 18. 66-Shane Cockrum [99.999];
HEAT 1 – 1. 97-Rico Abreu [6]; 2. 63-Bryan Clauson [4]; 3. 5D-Zach Daum [3]; 4. 67-Tanner Thorson [5]; 5. 11-Brady Bacon [2]; 6. 66-Shane Cockrum [9]; 7. 52-Issac Chapple [8]; 8. 50-Tony Dimattia [1]; 9. 88-Terry Babb [DNS];
HEAT 2 – 1. 3-Chris Windom [3]; 2. 24-Tracy Hines [4]; 3. 56-Darren Hagen [5]; 4. 71-Chris Bell [6]; 5. 19-Steve Drevicki [2]; 6. 16-Thomas Meseraull [1]; 7. 9P-Parker Price-miller [7]; 8. 46-Brett Arndt [8];
A FEATURE – 1. 63-Bryan Clauson [2]; 2. 71-Chris Bell [5]; 3. 56-Darren Hagen [3]; 4. 5D-Zach Daum [7]; 5. 66-Shane Cockrum [16]; 6. 11-Brady Bacon [9]; 7. 52-Issac Chapple [14]; 8. 24-Tracy Hines [1]; 9. 19-Steve Drevicki [10]; 10. 9P-Parker Price-miller [DNF]; 11. 97-Rico Abreu [DNF]; 12. 67-Tanner Thorson [DNF]; 13. 3-Chris Windom [DNF]; 14. 16-Thomas Meseraull [DNS]; 15. 46-Brett Arndt [DNS]; 16. 50-Tony Dimattia [DNS];