KAEDING, RODRIQUEZ WIN FIRST NIGHT
OF LOUIE VERMEIL CLASSIC AT CALISTOGA
Calistoga……Tim Kaeding gave himself an early birthday present, winning the Saturday night sprint car main event at the Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway.
Kaeding, a former Golden State Challenge Series champion, snatched the win away from Missouri driver Jesse Hockett, who dominated most of the race but still lost by mere decimal points on the timer at the checkered flag.
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Johnny Rodriquez, a two time Western States midget champion in the United States Auto Club, came out on top of a two-car slugfest to win the midget portion of the Louie Vermeil Classic, after running side by side with Scott Pierovich for most of 20 laps.
In the sprint car main event, Kaeding won a two lap shootout on worn tires to claim the win by an eyeblink of 0.126 seconds, holding off a hard charge by Hockett, who at one time held a commanding lead of almost seven seconds on the half mile oval.
“I held on for dear life for the last five laps because I didn’t have any tires left,” said an exhausted Kaeding in victory circle, just one hour before his 30th birthday. “I knew he was coming,” said Kaeding about the last turn charge by Hockett. “I just gave it all I had.”
In the early stages of the race, as Hockett was running on a clear racetrack, Kaeding worked his way steadily through the field from his ninth starting spot. On a lap 20 restart, Kaeding dove under Hockett in turn one, only to see Hockett return the favor in turn two. Kaeding then drove past Hockett on the backstretch for the lead.
With two laps to go, Hockett dove under Kaeding in turn four in what looked like a pass for the lead, but it was wiped out by a yellow flag for a stalled car on the track. After the restart, the pair tiptoed around the track on worn tires and Hockett made a desperation charge at the leader, falling just 0.126 seconds short at the finish line.
“I think we had the fastest car tonight, but I got cautious to save my tires and we got beat,” said the driver from Warsaw, Mo. “I had one shot at him on the last lap, but it would have been pretty ugly if I had tried to stuff the car under him in turn four.”
For Kaeding, the win was a triumph over adversity all night long. The San Jose area driver lost an engine in practice and got locked out of the race track when his crew returned after changing engines in the work area. He then was the last driver to qualify, running two hurried laps on an untested engine. Kaeding then had to run the semi-main event, or the “last chance” race, just to preserve his ninth starting spot in the main event.
& nbsp; The midget main event was a classic battle between two drivers committed to different lines around the race track. In the end, momentum around the top of the track won out over a more conservative set up on the bottom of the track.
Rodriquez jumped out to the early lead from the pole while Pierovich claimed second spot within two laps. For the next 18 laps, the pair ran side by side, often crossing the finish line in a dead heat, before Rodriquez pulled away in the waning laps for the win.
Lap after lap, the pattern was the same, with Rodriquez running the high line Pierovich racing off the bottom of the track. On many laps, Pierovich would temporarily take the lead with a hard run off turn two, while Rodriquez would retake the advantage running the high line through turns three and four.
& nbsp; ‘I wasn’t going to give up the top,” said Rodriquez . “I was going to live or die up there. When you run on a big track, you need the momentum, but it’s a fine line, because if you bobble up there, you lose it all,” added Rodriquez, who has raced only occasionally this year but has specialized in winning on big tracks.
About his hard charges into turn three lap after lap, Rodriquez said he took his cut from Pierovich. “Where ever he shut off to go into the turn, I went 10 feet deeper.”
Pierovich said he had no choice but to race on the bottom of the track because of the chassis set up he had commited to before the race. “If I had tried to run up on top of the track it would have gotten ugly,” he admitted. Ultimately, he said, the grip on the bottom of turns three and four just went away and he sli d through those corners on worn tires, ultimately conceding the top spot to Rodriquez.
The United State Auto Club sanctioned event marked the return of traditional, or so-called non-wing sprint cars and midgets, on the Calistoga Speedway half mile in 23 years, in a two-day event named in honor of the late Calistoga resident Louie Vermeil, who was key to the operation of the track and the development of sprint car racing throughout Northern California for more than 50 years.
Calistoga Speedway, Louie Vermeil Classic, USAC sprint cars and midgets (Saturday):
Sprint cars: fast time qualifier, Daron Clayton, Sikeston, Mo. (19.904 sec NTR). Heat 1 (10 laps): Danny Sheridan, Santa Maria,Ca.; Kevin Swindell, Germantown, Tenn.; Tyler Brown, Norco, ca.; Brent Kaeding, San Jose. Heat 2: Matt Mitchell,=2 0Yorba Linda, Ca.; Cory Kruseman, Ventura, Ca.; Jason Stattler, San Jose; Dave Cardey, Riverside, Ca. Heat 3: Shane Golobic, Fremont; Jessee Hockett,Warsaw, Mo.; Garrett Hanson, Manhattan Beach, Ca. Alex Shutte, Redding. Heat 4: Henry Clarke, Anaheim, Ca.; Blake Miller, Yorba Linda, Ca.; Damien Gardner, Concord, Ca.; Nic Faas, Manhattan Beach, Ca. Semi-main (10 laps): Tim Kaeding, San Jose; Mike Spencer, Temecula, Ca.; Bill Rose, Plainfield, Ind.; Rip Williams, Yorba Linda, Ca.; Jason York, Chico, Ca.; Darrell Hanestad, Clayton, Ca. MAIN EVENT (30 laps): T. Kaeding, Hockett, B. Kaeding, Swindell, Miller, Spencer, York, Kruseman, Williams, Brown, Stattler, Clark, Bragg, Golobic, Schutte, Rose, Hansen, Faas,Hanestad, Gardner, Mitchell, Sheridan, Cardey, Clayton,
Midgets: MAIN EVENT (20 LAPS): Johnny Rodriquez, Sacramento; Scott Pierovich, Fresno; Shane Golobic, Fremont; John Sarale, Stockton; Randi pankrantz, Atascd ero, Ca.; Shannon McQueen, Bakersfield; Robby Josett, Santa Clarita; Nic Faas, Manhattan Beach; Kyle Larson, Elk Grove; C.J. saran, Palm Desert, Ca’; Matt Streeter, Galt; Earnie Bartley, El Cajon; Quintin Crye, Gridley; Travis Berryhill, American Canyon, Ca., Jimmy Voitel, Covina, Ca., Dave Stoltz, Auburn; Garrett Hansen, Manhattan Beach; Matt Mitchell, Yorba Linda.
Fred Zirzow
