In the quest for a season point’s championship, race car drivers are most interested in the best possible result week-to week. But all drivers will attest that there is nothing as good as taking the checkered flag. For Limaland stock car veteran Tony Anderson, his second win of the season solidifies his lead in the Budweiser Thunderstock division, while Butch Schroeder’s second success of the early season may serve to change his plans over the course of the young, yet developing campaign.
The Budweiser Thunderstock 15-lap feature appeared as if it might bring a rare first time win. Keith Ralston had the pole on the 20-car field, but only held the lead position for a single circuit. Veteran Frank Paladino made a strong outside pass and held race leadership from lap 2 through 10. Paladino was noticeably powerful on the high side of the track.
The challenge for Paladino was to stay up-front while navigating lapped traffic. Stock car ace Tony Anderson worked his way to the leaders after starting in the seventh position. The co-points leader found himself running second to Paladino as the yellow flag flew at the mid-point of the race. The subsequent restart proved to be defining as Anderson blasted past Paladino on the bottom during lap 11. Front that point forward, Anderson simply was too fast and too cagey, holding the lead the duration of the race, including a white flag final lap restart to the finish.
“We had the engine out of this car until 10 o’clock last night,” stated Anderson. “We lost the oil pump. If you told me last night we would win this race I would have told you to wash your ears out.”
It marked Tony Anderson’s 2nd consecutive win and the 27th of his Limaland career in a stock car. Paladino’s runner-up result was the best of his career at Limaland Motorsports Park. The win also allowed Anderson to take over top position in the points chase for Thunderstocks supremacy.
The Elwer Fence Sprints saw Mike Dussel and Dennis Yoakam hold the coveted front row starting positions and they became engaged in a stirring battle that lasted for the opening 12 laps of the 25-lap showdown. Butch Schroeder and Tim Allison, the season’s two previous feature winners, were racing closely to Dussel and Yoakam, but staying out of trouble.
On lap 12, Dennis Yoakam became loose and put his machine sideways in turn two, triggering a caution period and sending Yoakam to the tail of the field. Mike Dussel maintained the lead on the restart very briefly, until Butch Schroeder blew past him on the high side. Schroeder was impressive in lapped traffic as he roared to the win over Tim Allison and Jared Horstman.
“Doug Niese and Todd Schroeder threw their wrenches on this thing and made it good,” said Schroeder to the Limaland grandstand crowd. “I just had to wait and bide my time for an opportunity as we were good on the topside.”
Butch Schroeder’s original plan for this season was to compete in NRA Sprint Invader races, but with his early season success at Limaland, he may elect to complete the full season at the track. “Pretty good chance, we will be here, probably,” said Schroeder, after his triumph.
The K & N Modified 20-lap feature saw former track champion Terry Hull start on the front row for a second consecutive time and he didn’t disappoint with a record breaking 29th career win. It didn’t however come without a thrilling 10-lap side-by-side sequence with Shawn Bayliff. “Shawn gets better every week,” acknowledged Hull. “The (lap 10) caution kind of saved me. After that I never saw him.”
The early race action was entertaining to the fans as both Hull and Bayliff led the feature on multiple occasions. A three-car collision in turn 3 triggered the defining caution period and allowed Hull to set up for his trademark dominance in the second half of the race. Bayliff eventually lost his position to Brian Post with Hull proceeding to check-out on the field.
Brian Post, at the end, had posted a career-best runner-up finish, with Casey Luedeke, Shawn Bayliff and points leader Todd Sherman rounding out the top-5 finishers.
“I doesn’t hurt to start on the front row,” Hull joked, after the win. “I only made 10 or 12 mistakes the whole night.”
On Friday, May 21, Limaland Motorsports Park will be the scene for Modified Mayhem, a $1,500 to win K & N UMP Modified 20-lap feature. The ¼-mile track will also present the visiting 305 Sprints and Budweiser Thunderstocks. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. Racing starts promptly at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the 22nd Annual Brad Doty Classic, July 14, featuring the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, are on sale now. Call the ticket hotline at 419-998-3199. Seating information, plus all the latest news and information about America’s premier quarter-mile dirt track, can be found at www.limaland.com. You can also find Limaland Motorsports Park on Facebook and Twitter.
Elwer Fence Sprints
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 11-Tim Allison; 2. 6N-Dain Naida; 3. 57-Mike Dunlap; 4. 24-Jermey Keegan; 5. 38-Aaron Smith; 6. 32M-Derek Hastings; 7. 2-Brent Gehr; 8. 35-Ron Blair; 9. 3G-Darren Long
Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 28H-Hud Horton; 2. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 3. 2H-Dallas Hewitt; 4. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.; 5. 1K-John Kettlewell; 6. 5W-Jeff Williams; 7. 4B-Andrew Bowsher; 8. 10-Pete Ischi; 9. 2M-Ethan Hoy
Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- B20-Butch Schroeder; 2. 6-Mike Dussel; 3. 17-Jared Horstman; 4. 34-Luke Hall; 5. 18-Todd Heuerman; 6. 1W-Kent Wolters; 7. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 8. 6S-Jr Stewart
B-Main - (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 5W-Jeff Williams; 2. 1W-Kent Wolters; 3. 35-Ron Blair; 4. 6S-Jr Stewart; 5. 4B-Andrew Bowsher; 6. 32M-Derek Hastings; 7. 2-Brent Gehr; 8. 10-Pete Ischi; 9. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 10. 3G-Darren Long; 11. 2M-Ethan Hoy
A-Main - (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. B20-Butch Schroeder[4]; 2. 11-Tim Allison[6]; 3. 17-Jared Horstman[9]; 4. 34-Luke Hall[12]; 5. 57-Mike Dunlap[7]; 6. 28H-Hud Horton[5]; 7. 2H-Dallas Hewitt[8]; 8. 6N-Dain Naida[3]; 9. 6S-Jr Stewart[19]; 10. 5W-Jeff Williams[16]; 11. 18-Todd Heuerman[15]; 12. 1W-Kent Wolters[17]; 13. 38-Aaron Smith[13]; 14. 35-Ron Blair[18]; 15. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.[11]; 16. 4B-Andrew Bowsher[20]; 17. 22D-Dennis Yoakam[2]; 18. 24-Jermey Keegan[10]; 19. 1K-John Kettlewell[14];. 6-Mike Dussel[1] DQ failed to scale
Bud Thunderstocks
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 7B-Tim Bowen; 2. 99-Andy King; 3. 27-Frank Paladino; 4. 42-Bob Mayer; 5. O1-Andy Mattord; 6. 19-Bill Reimund; 7. 32M-Denny Miller
Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 22T-Tony Anderson; 2. 21Z-Pete Zuppardo; 3. 71-Keith Ralston; 4. 58P-Jim Post; 5. 16-Jeff Koz; 6. 22M-Bob Miller; 7. 3-Randy Crossley
Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 88-Zach Bowen; 2. 52-Sam Bodine; 3. 1-Kody Weisner; 4. 3Z-Tony Zuppardo; 5. 2-Kevin Gladman; 6. 26-Justin Long
A-Main - (15 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. 22T-Tony Anderson[7]; 2. 27-Frank Paladino[2]; 3. 71-Keith Ralston[1]; 4. 52-Sam Bodine[3]; 5. 58P-Jim Post[11]; 6. 99-Andy King[5]; 7. 16-Jeff Koz[14]; 8. 42-Bob Mayer[10]; 9. O1-Andy Mattord[13]; 10. 3Z-Tony Zuppardo[12]; 11. 3-Randy Crossley[20]; 12. 32M-Denny Miller[19]; 13. 22M-Bob Miller[17]; 14. 26-Justin Long[18]; 15. 2-Kevin Gladman[15]; 16. 21Z-Pete Zuppardo[4]; 17. 88-Zach Bowen[6]; 18. 7B-Tim Bowen[8]; 19. 1-Kody Weisner[9]; 20. 19-Bill Reimund[16]
K&N UMP Modifieds
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- OO-John Brooks; 2. 42-Bob Baldwin; 3. 36-Kelly Bowlby; 4. O1-Chris Puskas; 5. 35C-Tim Cornett; 6. 12-Tom Jacobs; 7. 22B-Andy Bibler
Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 5X-Shawn Bayliff; 2. 45P-Brian Post; 3. 28-Chad Rosenbeck; 4. 15-Nick Katterhenry; 5. OOM-Brian Martin; 6. 20K-Bill Keeler
Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 40-Terry Hull; 2. L5-Casey Luedeke; 3. 65-Todd Sherman; 4. 22T-Tony Anderson; 5. 1-Andy Strait; 6. 19-Ryan Ordway
A-Main - (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. 40-Terry Hull[1]; 2. 45P-Brian Post[5]; 3. L5-Casey Luedeke[6]; 4. 5X-Shawn Bayliff[2]; 5. 65-Todd Sherman[9]; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson[12]; 7. 42-Bob Baldwin[4]; 8. OO-John Brooks[3]; 9. 22B-Andy Bibler[18]; 10. 36-Kelly Bowlby[7]; 11. 35C-Tim Cornett[13]; 12. 12-Tom Jacobs[16]; 13. 1-Andy Strait[15]; 14. 28-Chad Rosenbeck[8]; 15. OOM-Brian Martin[14]; 16. O1-Chris Puskas[10]; 17. 15-Nick Katterhenry[11]
- Bob Fricke on May 17, 2010
- Article Date: 5/14/2010