[Jerry Shaw]

You knew this one was going to be a damn good race. First off, you had the two winningest non wing drivers in the country, starting in the very back. You knew The Madman and Brady Short would not be back there for very long. You had the winner from Wednesday night's Sprint Week makeup feature, who was probably the most exciting driver from last night's race in the front row. Chase Stockon, who had the victory snatched away from him late in last night's feature and had looked fast as hell, from hot laps on. There was Dave Darland, in the fourth row, which at this place definitely made him one of the odds on favorites to win.

As soon as they went green, Windom jumped to the early lead running higher in turns one and two and using that same unorthodox method of getting through turns three and four as he had last night. He'd go flying into turn three, looked like he was going to bounce the back end of his car off of the wall in that turn, but would quickly gas it and dive though turn four diagonally. He was dominant early. Chase Stockon seize the runner up spot early, was also fast and would be Windom's chief pursuer for most of this race. Then, after Darland passed Tracy Hines for third, Chase became both a pursuer and a pursuee. All the while, the races most exciting run was underway, as Hunter Scheurenberg was screaming around the track, along the wall and was making quick work of the field from his thirteenth starting position. He was going around cars on the outside in most cases and threading the needle and taking down a pair of cars on a few others. And while this was happening, as expected, Brady Short and Robert Ballou were lap by lap, making their way through the field. Before too long, Hunter made his way all the way up to were Darland was in the field and Dave was under serious assault. And this went on for quote a few laps and even though it seemed like Dave would also fall victim to Hunter, Dave would fight him off, time and time again. And as Windom was getting into serious lapped traffic, these three really began to cut into his once sizable lead. Then, the leader clipped a lapped car, appeared to spin and the yellow came out. I guess because he didn't stop, USAC called it an inadvertent yellow and restarted Chris in fourth, where he had fallen to when the flag came out for his incident. So, with two laps to go, you had Chase Stockon, who had inherited the lead and all he had to do was hold a guy with 200 USAC wins at bay at that guy's home track, along with super fast track ringers, in Chris and Hunter. On the first restart, with two to go, Dave made an aggressive move to try to take the lead away by diving low in turns one and two. Chase would withstand the challenge and keep the lead going down the backstretch. When the all got to the other end of the track, Hunter either jumped the cushion or Windom's tire and flew high into the catch fence, on the track's South end. Which was a shame, because he was so fun to watch and had driven a magnificent race. He would receive a huge applause as the track vehicle rolled in front of the grandstand taking him back to the pits. On the last restart, Dave had already showed his hand on the previous one, so Chase fared better and didn't really come close to losing his lead and sailed home to the victory. Darland was second and Windom third. Brady Short again tonight passed more cars that anybody and finished 6th. And might had done even better than that had he not had to have waged such a long and great battles with Brady Bacon and Thomas Meseraull to get their spots away from them. So, he was the Hard Charger and Ballou salvaged a ninth place finish, after getting off to such a rough start.

Now, we get to come back tomorrow to see the main event and watch all of these guys race for the big check. I'm so looking forward to it! There are so many stories and subpolts in play. You have Darland and Ballou, two of the favorites and all their differences. You have Chase Stockon, who is in peak form right now and who's worst finish all weekend has been fourth. You have Justin Grant, who can win from anywhere in the field at this place, has had back luck both nights and is due. Chris Windom and Hunter Schuerenberg who have both dominated at this track at different times in their careers and are definitely on a roll, right now. You have T Mez who is enjoying the best year of his career, this year and seems to really like this car that he has very few laps in. And you have a driver with 15 wins, who doesn't race here a lot, but is starting to look awfully comfortable at Kokomo Speedway. And those of us who enjoy racing in the Southern part of the state know what a bear Brady Short can be to deal with, at tracks he feels comfortable on. Don't count him out. Especially if he races his way into a better starting position than he has had the first two nights. Can't wait!

Jerry

[streetglider]

Jerry, your recap is always nice to read. You may have missed your calling as a journalist. I just wanted to give you kudos. Well written and spot on.

[J.D.]

Didn't someone say he had to pull out a back-up car? Maybe that's why he tagged the tail.

[Tumey's 55]

Nice recap Jerry. Agree with you on Brady, I don't recall him ever having much succes at Kokomo. This week he has looked strong in spite of some bad luck, definitely one to watch for tonight...along with a bunch of others.

[Jerry Shaw]

Here are the top eight points earners that will be in tonight's King of the Hill match races:

Chase Stockon
Brady Bacon
Chris Windom
Kyle Cummins
Jon Stanbrough
Dave Darland
Thomas Meseraull
Robert Ballou

[cowboyhar69]

Originally Posted by Eric Smith Why did Darland start 7 out of the B? Why did Ballou start last, behind provisional starter Thomas?

From USAC rulebook

Backup Cars
Teams may use a backup car any time between qualifying and the start of the A-Main. Use of backup car must be approved by
Technical director. If a backup car is introduced before qualifications and makes original drawn position in qualifying order there is no penalty. If a backup car is introduced any time after original entry is qualified, the replacement car will start at the rear of all subsequent events qualified for. A backup car does not have to be part of a team’s original equipment however the backup car cannot have already been entered in the event. Once a car has been withdrawn from an event, that car will not be allowed to be re-entered to competition during that event. The replacement car will be credited for points earned as the original entry.

[Jerry Shaw]

Chris Windom in the Pollock 21x, at this point in time, is the best I've EVER seen that car. He is racing lights out right now and is clearly one of the favorites going into the grand finale.

Jerry

[Jerry Shaw]

Brady Short and Robert Ballou have more stickers on their tail tanks than most of the rest of the field tonight will have tonight, collectively. Night in and night out, in 2015, when the checkered flag has waved, one of these two guys were "the baddest of the bad" on that night. And winning begets more winning. That's just how it works.

Jerry

[Jerry Shaw]

Dave Darland and Jon Stanbrough are two of the greatest sprint car drivers we've ever known. Stanbrough was as strong as he has been all week, when it counted last night and Darland was an eyelash away from being the winner. I expect they'll be there at the end tonight, threatening to win.

Jerry

[i love dirt track racing]

Originally Posted by Jerry Shaw Here are the top eight points earners that will be in tonight's King of the Hill match races: Chase Stockon Brady Bacon Chris Windom Kyle Cummins Jon Stanbrough Dave Darland Thomas Meseraull Robert Ballou

I would of thought short would of been in the top 8