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arctic monkey21 (Offline)
  #11 8/3/08 12:37 PM
I thought that Daron and Hunter were racing awfully hard for that early in the race, but it sure was entertaining to watch. The Hud Cone caution was unfortunate, but he continues to impress me every single time I see him at Haubstadt. I don't know if Kyle would have won, but it would have been a spectacular finish if he didn't jump cushion with a couple laps left.
petey (Offline)
  #12 8/3/08 12:57 PM
Just back from prolly the wildest night I've seen at Haubstadt. I'm not gonna gripe about this deal for very long but Brady pretty much got a win handed to him last night. He did drive a good race but he should have went to the tail and Cone was more deserving of getting his spot back when he spun.

I was sure to tell Dallas Mulvaney about a Powri feature at Belle-Clair two years ago when someone spun out almost a half lap ahead of Brad Kuhn who was leading. Kuhn spun to avoid him and stopped and he was sent to the tail. I think if you stop on the track to avoid someone infront of you when the caution is out at anytime then you should go to the tail.

There were a lot of guys that could have won last night. It's just almost unreal that in hindsight Stanbrough, Cottle, Hunter and DC were done before 10 laps were complete in the feature.
wideopenwheelie
  #13 8/3/08 12:59 PM
Originally Posted by J.D.:
Probably the only thing that saved Short, was the red had already come out just before he spun. Cummins would of won if Messeraul hadn't held him up for so many laps.
I think you are absolutely correct. I was loading up and noticed the MSCS flagman talking with the 3C and heard them say "the red was already out, it was thrown for the 4x".

I was watching that incident and I didn't even see anything going on with the 36 car, all I saw was Clayton in the air......IMO if the 36 spun at that point it was probably because he saw the red light and was trying to stop as quickly as possible - I didn't even see him near Clayton.

The Hud Cone thing was both obvious and unfortunate for him - but I think you're comparing apples and oranges here.
SamSr32 (Offline)
  #14 8/3/08 1:18 PM
The comments are about every driver that was in contention, but the one that was the class of the field all evening. Chase Stockon won the first heat and led the feature for 18 laps before his rearend broke while racing with Ballou. Both Hunter and Clayton flipped while trying to catch Chase. It looked like Kyle Cummins had a shot at the win, but jumped the cushion with a lap to go. It was a very entertaining evening. Chase also won the first heat over Short, Kruseman, Bland, and Briscoe.
dirtyd6305 (Offline)
  #15 8/3/08 1:24 PM
Short wasn't even near Clayton? Are you smoking crack? Listen up real well.....Short, Kruser, and Bland were all in line behind Clayton and company when Short spun and collected the other two, they were among the lead cars. Brady Short was running the bottom, Clayton flipped on the cushion, now you tell me how is he going to be affected by a car bouncing off of the wall when he is hugging the marker tires? Did Short spun because of the accident he saw? YES, but the bottom line is he was facing the billboards when he came to a stop, and if you are stopping to avoid an accident he probably would have been facing the normal direction on the track, and more than likely would've moved on to a safer place to stop instead of the same turn as the flip. It doesn't matter what the circumstances are, if a car spins, flips, or comes to any type of complete stop as part of the accident he is sent to the tail of the field. Brady Short spun out, collected 2 other cars, resulting in the DNF of Kruseman; that was part of the initial accident. That is just a horrific job of scoring by MSCS. Almost as sad as the flag man waving the yellow to the leaders, and then giving the 1 to go as they are already on the backstretch. Also, where do they get off letting Bland come back and change a tire after bringing out that yellow on the backstretch...that was total BS he should've had to watch the rest of the race on the hook in the infield.
Jerry Shaw (Offline)
  #16 8/3/08 1:32 PM
Originally Posted by RaceFan:
Hey, first time poster - heard about this messageboard at Haubstadt last night. Thought I'd chime in and say that . . . . . . OR, OR - Stanbrough would have won if Ballou hadn't taken him out in the heat.
That was the best heat I've seen all year! They were both racing hard for the position and got together. That was a racing deal and nobody took anybody else out. And for future reference, since you're a first time poster. If you're going to level an accusation onto someone (especially a driver) you'll be taken a lot more seriously if you sign your name to that post.

Jerry

A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.

Winston Churchill
Eck (Offline)
  #17 8/3/08 1:34 PM
Clayton flipped in turn one, Ballou cut left to miss him and clipped Brady's right front tire, spinning Short to the bottom of the track where he collected two others. I thought the only way MSCS could justify placing Short back in third was by saying the red was already out. First of all, we are talking about split seconds here. Most sane clubs make no distinction between stopping on your own, or stopping to avoid something. A stop is a stop, otherwise they open themselves up to judgement calls.

As for Cone, he half spun and went the wrong way up the track. He deserved that yellow. As for Kevin Thomas, he only brought out four cautions in one night and stopped the best battle of the night between Meseraull and Cummins. Get it together kid. You're becoming a menace. Oh yeah, Cummins jumped the cushion in turn four when he had an honest shot at $10,000. Don't blame Meseraull. And if there was anyone who didn't think Chase Stockon's lead was temporary, they weren't sitting on the backstretch.

Haubstadt is great, but that was a mess.

Eck
Jerry Shaw (Offline)
  #18 8/3/08 1:42 PM
Originally Posted by 3Cfan:
Heres some food for thought. How is it that Hud Cone can spin, yet continue under power, only losing a minimum of positions bring out a yellow flag, forcing him to the tail, while Brady Short can spin and get his position back?

This was noticed by many fans and even car owners and drivers. Nothing against Short, who lined up where officials told him to go. But with 10 grand on the line, I think that more consistant rulings should apply. It was as if USAC were calling the shots. Brady drove a great race, but what if?
In Hud Cone's situation, I think they had to send him to the tail, since that spin had brought out the yellow. Now, at the time that I saw it, I thought Mo might have been just a bit quick with the yellow. That would be the only issue, IMO. But, those kind of things have to be at the split-second judgement of the flag man. They can only do what they think is best at that instant, with driver safety being the top consideration. Brady spun after the red had been thrown, so that incident was a horse of a different color.

Jerry

A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.

Winston Churchill
RaceFan
  #19 8/3/08 1:43 PM
When they told me about this message board they didn't tell about all the rules and they certainly didn't tell me that Jerry was the IOW message board policeman. From where I was sitting it looked to me that Ballou turned down into the 5 car by at least 2 lines. Jerry it would not be level 'onto someone' it would be towards or at someone. I am not leveling an accusation simply stating what I saw. From the cheers after Ballou lost his tire/wheel, I'd say I sit on the side of the majority. Maybe you need to read your quote from Churchill.
sceckert (Offline)
  #20 8/3/08 1:45 PM
Well, as far as the incident that gifted Short with his spot back goes: Clayton flipped in front of Ballou, and in exactly the groove Ballou was in. Ballou cranked down low to avoid plowing into him, and hit Short, who spun and collected two more cars. No "The Red Was Already Out." nonsense overrules that fact. It was all in the same sequence. Flip-Avoidance-Contact-Spin.
I recall no precedent where a car clearly caught up in a chain of events derived from a wreck gets to go back to his spot with impunity. Again: Short got caught up in the Clayton wreck. Just because nearly all eyes were on the skyhigh #4x doesn't mean there is some nuance that can be interpreted here. He didn't turn it around to avoid contact; He turned it around AS A RESULT of contact.
I bear no grudge upon Short, whose tactical stay-on-the-bottom style paid off handsomely at a track with a cushion that swallowed Sikeston's fastest, wrenched Ballou's wheel off (carryover from the earlier Stanbrough contact, perhaps?) turned Ruble into Jesus' slowest apostle, drained Cummins' last gasp at victory, and frankly dissolved Kevin Thomas Jr into a VERY junior Jr.
And I bristle at the notion that Cummins was "held up" by Messeraul since that was unquestionably the high point of the event, watching those two tear at each other on every turn like a pair of wolverines defending their den. In an event marred by so many mistakes and periods of inactivity (A 15-minute Fuel Stop? Sheesh...) lap after lap of high speed one-upsmanship from that pair went some way towards washing away the sour taste of watching nearly every bona fide contender exit Most Unceremoniously from the evening.
Let's be honest: Short wouldn't have finished in the top five of that race on pace alone. But he kept his head while all around him others lost their's.
For that he banks the extra zero...
Oh, and just a side note: In the last four weekends, Stanbrough has gotten wiped out by Burdette (17 yrs old), Whitt (17 yrs old), Thomas Jr. (17 yrs old), and Ballou (20 yrs old). Safe to say this is one Veteran for whom the Hoosier Youth Racing Program leaves something to be desired. At least Ballou was passing him when their contact happened.
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