Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (January 9, 2008) – California's Josh Ford outdueled Davey Ray over the early rounds before slipping away from the field over the last half of the race to win Wednesday night's 25-lap Creek Nation Casino Qualifying Showdown feature event at the 22nd Annual Dodge Chili Bowl Nationals atop the Tulsa Expo Raceway clay oval.
Working the top side of the track masterfully, Ford surged into the lead upon the completion of the eighth lap and led the rest of the way aboard Keith Ford's Bob Wirth-powered Berry Pack/VMAR/BR Motorsports No. 73 JFM-chassis for his second career Chili Bowl preliminary feature win.
"Just winning that first heat race got the crew real pumped up and once you get that going sometimes it works in your advantage," Ford commented. "It's gonna be real nice not having to worry about getting in that "A" Main Saturday and just being able to focus on racing that."
Aaron Fiscus scrambled back from Last Chance Race action to snare runner-up honors in front of National Midget Driver of the Year Jerry Coons, Jr., with Bryan Clauson making a last-lap move around Ray to take the fourth and final lock-in position to Saturday night's 50-lap Chili Bowl championship main event.
Ray earned the pole position for the main event by accumulating the most points through heat and qualifying race action, with Ford gridding the field on his outside shoulder. Ray gunned into the early lead, leading the pack of off turn two.
But Ford turned up the heat in short order, racing by on the high side exiting turn two on the third lap for the lead only to have the move negated when two-time USAC Sprint Car champion Levi Jones slid to a stop in turn four.
Following the race's second and final caution one lap later for Joey Saldana, Ray and Ford battled in side-by-side fashion over the next five laps with Coons nipping on their heels all the while.
With Ray hugging the low line and Ford riding the cushion around the ¼-mile oval, Ford finally got a strong run off of turn four to take command on the eighth lap. Coons followed suit, racing past Ray the next time around and set his sights on Ford, only to bicycle in turn four on the tenth lap and fell to fourth behind Ford, Ray and Clauson.
"The track kinda changed as the race went on and just got a little tight I guess," Coons commented. "Once you lose track position you're fighting to pass cars, you're not just out there cruising by yourself so the car drives a little different and a little different attitude."
Out front, Ford gradually slipped away from the field and, despite encountering lapped traffic by the midway point, streaked to the checkered flag with nearly a straightaway advantage.
The action behind him was intense throughout, with Ray holding off Clauson, Fiscus and Coons for second until the 19th circuit, when Fiscus flew by to take the position. Coons took third from Ray a lap later, putting the Badger Midget shoe on the hot seat in front of Clauson, who had lost a pair of positions several laps earlier when he also tripped over the turn four cushion.
Fiscus held off Coons over the final laps to take second in James Fiscus' Esslinger-powered AFS/Fitchburg Plumbing/Ferguson Enterprises No. 7F Spike, with Coons taking the show position in the Wilke-PAK Motorsports Mopar-powered Speedway Motors/Kwik Change No. 11 Spike.
"I'm tickled to be here on this night knowing that on Saturday we can sit back and relax and do the best we can on the main race," Fiscus explained. "It's a dogfight here, I did it to myself in the earlier race when I jumped the berm trying to win the thing and went from second to fifth and ended up fighting back through from that Last Chance race. To be here is just awesome."
Making his first dirt track start since September of 2006, 18-year-old Clauson made a critical last lap move to snare fourth in the Keith Kunz Motorsports Esslinger-powered No. 67 Bullet.
"After being off the dirt for so long, it took me a hot lap session or two to really get comfortable hustling the car," Clauson commented after locking himself into his first career Chili Bowl championship main event. "We weren't real bad when we started, just not quite where we needed to be. We just kept getting better all night and I think if we can keep it going we'll keep getting better and better with more laps."
Ray settled for fifth, one spot shy of a guaranteed starting berth in Saturday night's championship main event, with Bobby East next across the line in sixth.
After winning the first "B" Main, Jesse Hockett charged from 17th to seventh, with Mike Goodman, 2006 Chili Bowl champion Tim McCreadie and 22nd starter Mat Neely completing the top ten.
After landing a ride on Monday night aboard one of the Clifton Blackwell entries that enabled him to compete in his eleventh Chili Bowl Nationals, Tony Elliott finished just outside the top ten in eleventh.
Donnie Ray Crawford, last year's top finishing rookie at the Chili Bowl Nationals, claimed 16th in the feature. No 2008 rookies made Wednesday night's feature.
Heat race wins for Wednesday night's 75-car field were claimed by Chad Kemenah, Ray, Neely, Stan Yockey, Ford, Kevin Ramey, Danny Ebberts, McCreadie, Goodman and Dustin Morgan.
Matt Streeter, Jerrod Wilson, Fiscus and C.J. Sarna each scored Last Chance race wins, with Levi Jones, Coons, Ray and East winning the Qualifying Races.
Hockett won an eventful first "B" Main in which several potential transfers encountered late trouble, with A.J. Fike topping the second "B" Main.
The night got off to a rough start for Derek Hagar, who took a hard tumble in hot laps. Hagar returned for the night's action.
Chad McDaniel got upside down in the fifth heat and returned for later action as well. After his heat race win, Morgan flipped in his Qualifier while Stevie Sussex and Kemenah flipped simultaneously in the next Qualifying Race. Sarna flipped in the final Qualifier, with Andrew Felker turning over in turn one in the first "B" Main. There were no injuries.
Wednesday Night's Creek Nation Casino Qualifying Showdown Results from the 22nd Annual Dodge Chili Bowl Midget Nationals
Heat Races (Top 40 in passing points to four A Qualifiers; Balance to four Last Chance races)
Heat 1: 1. #8K Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH; 2. #11 Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, AR; 3. #19S Troy Rutherford, Ojai, CA; 4. #36J Justin Melton, Flower Mound, TX; 5. #81 Shane Carson, Yukon, OK; 6. #11R Ryan Cole, Porter, OK; 7. #5S Shon Deskins, Waddell, AZ; 8. #12C Rick England, Wichita, KS
Heat 2: 1. #33 Davey Ray, Loves Park, IL; 2. #20J Levi Jones, Olney, IL; 3. #51J R.J. Johnson, Phoenix, AZ; 4. #73F Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, MO; 5. #XX Darrin Bolton, El Dorado Hills, CA; 6. #5T Randy Timms, Wheatland, OK DNS - #71N Tim Noble, Madison, WI; #2M Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL
Heat 3: 1. #35 Mat Neely, Robinson, IL; 2. #4E Bobby East, Brownsburg, IN; 3. #67 Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN; 4. #49E Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA; 5. #7R Blake Miller, Anaheim, CA; 6. #14JR Matt Streeter, Galt, CA; 7. #1W Paul White, Temple, TX; 8. #73E Brian Portschy, Plymouth, WI
Heat 4: 1. #11T Stan Yockey, Fresno, CA; 2. #12H Rick Hendrix, Canoga Park, CA; 3. #14 Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH; 4. #55 Donnie Ray Crawford, Broken Arrow, OK; 5. #7J Jerrod Wilson, Tulsa, OK; 6. #20C C.J. Sarna, Palm Desert, CA; 7. #21K Ryan Kaplan, Chico, CA; 8. #4 Michele Miller, Birdsboro, PA
Heat 5: 1. #73 Josh Ford, Oxnard, CA; 2. #39R Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN; 3. #29L Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, MO; 4. #75 Josh Wise, Riverside, CA; 5. #7F Aaron Fiscus, Sun Prairie, WI; 6. #26 Glenn Carson, Concord, CA; 7. #F1 French Grimes, Madison, VA; 8. #1C Chad McDaniel, Concordia, KS
Heat 6: 1. #7M Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 2. #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN; 3. #86C David Camfield Jr., Decatur, IL; 4. #63N Rex Norris III, Knightstown, IN; 5. #10H Eric Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, PA; 6. #97B David Cardey, Perris, CA; 7. #85J Matt Johnson, Oklahoma City, OK
Heat 7: 1. #5E Danny Ebberts, Canyon Lake, CA; 2. #27B Tony Elliott, Warsaw, IN; 3. #21AZ Stevie Sussex, Laveen, AZ; 4. #97 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch, MS; 5. #22J Jasiel Randolph, Tulsa, OK; 6. #00 Coleman Gulick, Binghamton, AZ; 7. #53 Jack Dover, Springfield, NE
Heat 8: 1. #1AU Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY; 2. #7S Shannon McQueen, Tehachapi, CA; 3. #22 Ray Bull, Bloomsburg, PA; 4. #5D Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL; 5. #41 Gary Scelzi, Fresno, CA; 6. #4KO Kevin Olson, Machesney Park, IL; 7. #2B Brady Short, Bedford, IN
Heat 9: 1. #5F Mike Goodman, Tulsa, OK; 2. #69 A.J. Fike, Galesburg, IL; 3. #37X Casey Shuman, Tempe, AZ; 4. #1X Eddie Martin, Ada, OK; 5. #87 Johnny Rodriguez, Elk Grove, CA; 6. #31 Donnie Lehmann, Springfield, IL; 7. #14S Chris Sheil, Lakewood, CO
Heat 10: 1. #93 Dustin Morgan, Collinsville, OK; 2. #30 Chad Boat, Phoenix, AZ; 3. #96 Cody Brewer, Choctaw, OK; 4. #05L Danny Lasoski, Higginsville, MO; 5. #68C Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK; 6. #52D Derek Hagar, Marion, AR; 7. #2 Mark Bush, Cumming, GA
Last Chance Races (Top 2 in each transfer to back of corresponding A Qualifier)
Last Chance 1: 1. #14JR Matt Streeter, Galt, CA; 2. #XX Darrin Bolton, El Dorado Hills, CA; 3. #26 Glenn Carson, Concord, CA; 4. #00 Coleman Gulick, Binghamton, NY; 5. #97B David Cardey, Perris, CA; 6. #41 Gary Scelzi, Fresno, CA; 7. #1C Chad McDaniel, Concordia, KS; 8. #F1 French Grimes, Madison, VA; #9. #2 Mark Bush, Cumming, GA
Last Chance 2: 1. #7J Jerrod Wilson, Tulsa, OK; 2. #7R Blake Miller, Anaheim, CA; 3. #4KO Kevin Olson, Machesney Park, IL; 4. #11R Ryan Cole, Pryor, OK; 5. #5S Shon Deskins, Waddell, AZ; 6. #53 Jack Dover, Springfield, NE; 7. #12C Rick England, Wichita, KS; 8. #71N Mark Noble, Madison, WI; 9. #87 Johnny Rodriguez, Elk Grove, CA
Last Chance 3: 1. #7F Aaron Fiscus, Sun Prairie, WI; 2. #10H Eric Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, PA; 3. #31 Donnie Lehmann, Springfield, IL; 4. #1W Paul White, Temple, TX; 5. #68C Matt Covington, Glenpool, OK; 6. #2B Brady Short, Bedford, IN; 7. #73E Brian Portschy, Plymouth, WI; 8. #5T Randy Timms, Wheatland, OK; DNS - #2M Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL
Last Chance 4: 1. #20C C.J. Sarna, Palm Desert, CA; 2. #22J Jasiel Randolph, Tulsa, OK; 3. #52D Derek Hagar, Marion, AR; 4. #4 Michele Miller, Birdsboro, PA; 5. #14S Chris Sheil, Lakewood, Co; 6. #21K Ryan Kaplan, Chico, CA; DNS - #81 Shane Carson, Yukon, OK; #85J Matt Johnson, Oklahoma City, OK
A Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined passing points to A Main; Balance to twin B Mains)
A Qualifier 1: 1. #20J Levi Jones, Olney, IL; 2. #73 Josh Ford, Oxnard, CA; 3. #5F Mike Goodman, Tulsa, OK; 4. #86C Dave Camfield Jr., Decatur, IL; 5. #XX Darrin Bolton, El Dorado Hills, CA; 6. #14JR Matt Streeter, Galt, CA; 7. #37X Casey Shuman, Tempe, AZ; 8. #51J R.J. Johnson, Phoenix, AZ; 9. #35 Mat Neely, Robinson, IL; 10. #12h Rick Hendrix, Canoga Park, CA; 11. #22 Ray Bull, Bloomsburg, PA DNS - #36J Justin Melton, Flower Mound, TX
A Qualifier 2: 1. #11 Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, AZ; 2. #55 Donnie Ray Crawford, Broken Arrow, OK; 3. #67 Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN; 4. #63N Rex Norris III, Knightstown, IN; 5. #69 A.J. Fike, Galesburg, IL; 6. #1X Eddie Martin, Ada, OK; 7. #14 Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH; 8. #73F Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, MO; 9. #7R Blake Miller, Anaheim, CA; 10. #7M Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 11. #7J Jerrod Wilson, Tulsa, OK; 12. #93 Dustin Morgan, Collinsville, OK
A Qualifier 3: 1. #33 Davey Ray, Loves Park, IL; 2. #7F Aaron Fiscus, Sun Prairie, WI; 3. #39R Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN; 4. #96 Cody Brewer, Choctaw, OK; 5. #29L Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, MO; 6. #30 Chad Boat, Phoenix, AZ; 7. #49E Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA; 8. #5E Danny Ebberts, Canyon Lake, CA; 9. #8K Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH; 10. #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN; 11. #21AZ Stevie Sussex, Laveen, AZ; 12. #10H Eric Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, PA
A Qualifier 4: 1. #4E Bobby East, Brownsburg, IN; 2. #27B Tony Elliott, Warsaw, IN; 3. #1AU Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY; 4. #05L Danny Lasoski, Higginsville, MO; 5. #19S Troy Rutherford, Ojai, CA; 6. #97 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch, MS; 7. #7S Shannon McQueen, Tehachapi, CA; 8. #11T Stan Yockey, Fresno, CA; 9. #5D Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL; 10. #22J Jasiel Randolph, Tulsa, OK; 11. #75 Josh Wise, Riverside, CA; 12. #20C C.J. Sarna, Palm Desert, CA
B Mains (Top 4 advance to A Main)
B Main 1: 1. #29L Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, MO; 2. #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN; 3. #11T Stan Yockey, Fresno, CA; 4. #75 Josh Wise, Riverside, CA; 5. #22 Ray Bull, Bloomsburg, PA; 6. #12H Rick Hendrix, Canoga Park, CA; 7. #14JR Matt Streeter, Galt, GA; 8. #49E Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, CA; 9. #7J Jerrod Wilson, Tulsa, OK; 10. #1X Eddie Martin, Ada, OK; 11. #7S Shannon McQueen, Tehachapi, CA; 12. #19S Troy Rutherford, Ojai, CA; 13. #37X Casey Shuman, Tempe, AZ; 14. #93 Dustin Morgan, Collinsville, OK; 15. #73F Andrew Felker, Carl Junction, MO; 16. #21AZ Stevie Sussex, Laveen, AZ
B Main 2: 1. #69 A.J. Fike, Galesburg, IL; 2. #14 Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH; 3. #35 Mat Neely, Robinson, IL; 4. #5E Danny Ebberts, Canyon Lake, CA; 5. #30 Chad Boat, Phoenix, AZ; 6. #51J R.J. Johnson, Phoenix, AZ; 7. #XX Darrin Bolton, El Dorado Hills, CA; 8. #8K Chad Kemenah, Alvada, OH; 9. #97 Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Olive Branch, MS; 10. #10H Eric Heydenreich, Bloomsburg, PA; 11. #5D Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL; 12. #7R Blake Miller, Anaheim, CA; 13. #36J Justin Melton, Flower Mound, TX; 14. #7M Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 15. #22J Jasiel Randolph. DNS - #20C C.J. Sarna, Palm Desert, CA
A Main (25 laps - Top 4 advance to Saturday Night’s Main Event)
1. #73 Josh Ford, Oxnard, CA; 2. #7F Aaron Fiscus, Sun Prairie, WI; 3. #11 Jerry Coons Jr., Tucson, AZ; 4. #67 Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN; 5. #33 Davey Ray, Loves Park, IL; 6. #4E Bobby East, Brownsburg, IN; 7. #29L Jesse Hockett, Warsaw, MO; 8. #5F Mike Goodman, Tulsa, OK; 9. #1AU Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY; 10. #35 Mat Neely, Robinson, IL; 11. #27B Tony Elliott, Warsaw, IN; 12. #86C Dave Camfield Jr., Decatur, IL; 13. #69 A.J. Fike, Galesburg, IL; 14. #05L Danny Lasoski, Higginsville, MO; 15. #96 Cody Brewer, Choctaw, OK; 16. #55 Donnie Ray Crawford, Broken Arrow, OK; 17. #39R Randy Hannagan, Pittsboro, IN; 18. #20J Levi Jones, Olney, IL; 19. #75 Josh Wise, Riverside, CA; 20. #63N Rex Norris III, Knightstown, IN; 21. #5E Danny Ebberts, Canyon Lake, CA; 22. #9 Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, IN; 23. #14 Matt Westfall, Ludlow Falls, OH; 24. #11T Stan Yockey, Fresno, CA
- Admin Account on Nov 07, 2011
- Article Date: 1/9/2008