[SHORTBUS]

Daron clayton is a beast

[Jerry Shaw]

I may go all year without seeing a better set of heats than this one! In the first heat, Stanbrough started in the back and one by one, passed em' by, finishing second. Heat two saw Robert Ballou have a similar result. But Robert took a different approach to passing the field and just dive bombed four cars at the same time, going into turn one, right after taking the green! A nice compact slider that he stuck perfectly. He also finished second, as Chase Stockon was a little too far gone by the time Ballou had gotten to second. So heat one was great. Heat 2 was even better, but neither would measure up to what we were about to see. In Heat 3 Levi quickly took the point, until they reached turn three, where Clayton made a quick dive between Levi and the infield tires and the lead was his. Levi had one chance at him, when they reached the same point on the next lap when he threw a big slider at Daron, but didn't have room to clear him and DC was gone. The battle with Daron had allowed KTjr to catch Levi and those two went at it tooth and nail or most of the remaining laps. But their battle also had a cost, as Kyle Cummins had reeled the pair in. As they came to the checker, Kyle snatched third away away from KT. This was one of the best heat races I've ever seen there! I literally had to go take a walk to decompress after that one was over.

In my thinking, this feature was sure to be one of those Haubstadt classics that I had seen so many of. A can't miss, cinch, right? But even though it was a good race, IMO, it didn't live up to that great set of heats. It could have been, but things kept happening to stop it from being that kind of race. First off, within the first 5 laps or so, two major competitors (Ballou and Schuerenberg) seemed to have blown their engines and were out. Then Chase Stockon made a aggressive move that did work for him, went crashing into the cushion, bounced hard enough to damage his car and he was out. But even with all that taking place, there were still about five major pieces in place to make this a great one. Clayton maintained the lead, but Stanbrough was repeatedly reeling him back in. And one of the greatest races ever, was been between these two at this place, so the crowd was still in anticipation mode. You could feel it. And Cummins, Thomas and Short remained within striking distance. Then Clayton jumped the cushion and biked it in turn two. Stanbrough immediately seized the lead and put a little bit of distance between he and Daron. So you had Jon Stanbrough with the lead and the Modern Day Cowboy attempting to chase his ass down, at Haubstadt! Everybody knew, it was now officially "ON"! Especially after the yellow came out. That would give us a restart with these two nose to tail. But then, something happened that was just terrible to see. Stanbrough was pulling into the pits to go to the work area. He had a flat tire. And just like that tire, it was just like someone let the air out of all of us. This was just a feature that bad luck kept visiting. After that, Kyle Cummins, who ran a hell of a race did get one shot at DC. He threw a big, perfect looking slider in turns one and two, but Clayton countered him perfectly, rocketing out of turn two and was never seriously challenged again. And the crowd loved it, because they love Clayton there. Again, this turned out to be a good race, but the bar is set real high for it to be a great Haubstadt race and this one didn't quite make it to that.

One major impression of this weekend is that they better look out for that red #66 car, with that guy in it. Because come Sprint Week, that team, with that driver, with the ol' One Armed Bandit looking out for them is going to be a major force.

[racephoto1]

God smiled on Tommy's place tonight. Rained from Indy to Freedom, then blue skies all night. Heats were spectacular. It's a shame Chase Stockon ran into Clayton and put himself out, because that would have been a heckuva race if he hadn't.

Daron was hard on the gas, and elbows up on the wheel. made one miscue and Stanbrough got him. Too bad he got a flat. I'll say this about Jon, he's hungrier than a fox in a henhouse right now.

Another night were it was worth the drive from Indy, but it always is.

[3Cfan]

Just curious....was the passing points format not used because of the race also being sanctioned by KISS ?

[johnnythunderhead]

wish it weren't so far away

Posted via Mobile Device

[J.D.]

There's no doubt Cowboy's the one to beat at TSS, but Ballou looked unreal last night and yes Stanbrough is back, wow! Cummins, Hunter, Short, KT, they all brought their "A" game.

Funny how they all noticed Cowboy was missing a RR shock! Like a pack of wolfs chasing a wounded animal, lmao

Cowboy didn't bring any donuts lastnite! lol

[J.D.]

I forgot to mention Stockon, very fast as well. And Brisco was hooked up, very lucky he didn't end up in the bean field when Gross come up on him at full speed down the backstretch. 2b car from Ft. Branch put on a show in the B, coming from last to 2nd and almost won, awesome run.

And to TSS, gr8 track. Nice to see guys like Shuman showing up. It was a gr8 field of cars.

[bigmac32]

[bigmac32]

Mdc

[Tailgater]

Originally Posted by J.D. I forgot to mention Stockon, very fast as well. And Brisco was hooked up, very lucky he didn't end up in the bean field when Gross come up on him at full speed down the backstretch. 2b car from Ft. Branch put on a show in the B, coming from last to 2nd and almost won, awesome run. And to TSS, gr8 track. Nice to see guys like Shuman showing up. It was a gr8 field of cars.

That was the 4b Donny Brackett, Great run at his home track! 8th in feature.