Diamond Cup Meridian, Idaho Saturday 2008

ASA Northwest Sprint Car Series at Meridian Speedway, Meridian Idaho May 30th and 31st, 2008

The fourth and fifth scheduled race of the season was held at the Meridian Speedway. A major event, the Diamond Cup is a two-day event. For the first time ever the Diamond Cup featured winged sprint cars competing for the custom crafted diamond ring made especially for this event by Direct Diamond Imports. Twenty-six teams from Washington, Idaho, and Oregon once again unloaded their sprint cars at the track and set about preparing the cars for the second day of the weekend event.

While Friday’s racing was perfect, the yellow flag never leaving its holder for the entire night, Saturday’s race was unfortunately just the opposite. The yellow prevailed throughout the day and night with the red flown twice. Additionally, weather played a factor in the race schedule.

Most of the teams spent Saturday morning freshening up their cars but there were a few that were having problems to address from the previous night’s racing. The #44c of Todd Coleman found debris in the oil filter while changing oil. Further investigation led to the determination the debris was pieces of a valve stem seal from a number six valve. Parts and specialty tools were located and the offending valve stem seal changed. With that repaired the car was made ready for the days competition. The #99r car of Cory Lockwood did not have its usual performance the previous night as well as the team noting a miss in the engine. Saturday morning the top end of the engine came off to reveal number six roller lifters and guide plate loose with the valve pushrods for that cylinder lying in the valley of the block. Not sure why that happened but suspecting a hydro lock of the engine due to not being properly backed down the team performed a visual inspection and reassembled the engine for the days activities. The #16r car of Tyler Monroe had found a spun cam bearing from their late night attempted repairs, so brought out another car for Saturday.

During first practice the # 3 car of Robert Beck spun the car on the front stretch but recovered the car to get back out on the track to finish up in his practice session. The second group of cars in first practice had to endure a caution as well for the #82 car of Adam Roduner. Coming off turn four Adam’s car pushed a bit too much and impacted the front straight wall. While not a serious hit it would require replacement of a number of parts to make the car ready for competition. Adam stated,” The car just would not turn, it felt like something may have broke. I got on the brakes when it wouldn’t turn but I still hit the wall.” Back in their pit area the damage was assessed. A new front axle assembly, radius rods, and drag link were needed to make the car right again.

Jim Todd of the #05 car had a miserable Friday night. His car just would not handle at all. Jim had people more knowledgeable about sprint car chassis inspect his car looking for suggestions to get the chassis to “work”. It happened that Jerry Hupp working for ITI Performance Motorsports was up from California for the weekend to observe as that company is developing a pavement sprint car chassis program. With Jerry’s help the #05 car was working much better on the track during practice. Jim commented, “It’s not perfect, but it’s a whole bunch better than it was and we’re headed in the right direction finally!”

During second practice the #51 car of Jake Mann suddenly slowed down the backstretch coasting through turns three and four and coming to rest on the front stretch. A push truck was summoned to remove the #51 from the track. Once back in the pits the discrepancy was found. The driveshaft had disengaged from the rearend, the same ailment that had affected the team at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA two months earlier. With Jim Burrow’s help it was determined the springs that apply pressure to the driveshaft at the front yoke had bound allowing the driveshaft to move forward enough to disengage the splines from the rearend.

Both the #51 and #82 car made safety/checkout laps after their repairs just prior to qualifying. The #82 found the brakes to be weak so set about bleeding the brakes to have a good firm pedal. Since both cars had made laps just prior to qualifying the #51 and #82 were moved to the bottom of the qualifying order to prevent them from having any possible advantage from hot tires.

After qualifying was completed fast time for the night was set by Ken Hamilton in the #01 car at just 11.440 seconds around the quarter-mile low-banked track. From quickest to slowest 1.586 seconds separated the field of twenty-six cars. Second quick in qualifying was the ASA/NSRA tour driver Matt Hein piloting the #98h car to an 11.549 second lap. Other tour drivers Justin Mack #17 qualified fifth at 11.610, Jake Mann #51 at sixth with an 11.631, Cory Lockwood #99r seventh at 11.644, Andy Alberding #76 eighth with an 11.789, Robert Beck #3 eleventh at 11.813, Sierra Jackson #25j with an 11.931, R. J. Fronsman #25z at 12.055, Adam Roduner #82 with a 12.198, Todd Coleman #44c with a 12.347 lap, and Greg Middendorf #4 at 12.366.

Saturday’s B Trophy Dash brought out the #9 car of James Hamilton on the pole, #97 of James Hamilton Jr. on the outside pole, inside second row the #05 of Jim Todd, outside second row was the #26 of Dave Parrie. At the drop of the green the cars made four quick circuits around the quarter mile track finishing in the same positions as they started.

The A Trophy Dash had the #51 car of Jake Mann on the pole, outside pole sat the #17 car of Justin Mack, second row inside the #98h of Matt Hein, outside second row the #01 car of Ken Hamilton. From the green to the checkered the positions of the cars did not change leaving the finishing order the same as the starting order.

As on Friday, Saturday’s heat races would transfer the top three finishers of each race to the A Main. Those finishing fourth on back would have to battle in the B Main to move up to the A Main for the night. The competitors had just eight laps in their heats to either stay in the top three or work their way into the top three.

The first of four Heat races featured the #16 car of Tyler Monroe on the pole, the #4 car of Greg Middendorf on the outside pole, #25z of R. J. Fronsman inside second row, #25j of Sierra Jackson outside second row, #76 of Andy Alberding inside third row, #14j of Brandon Johnson outside third row. At the green the #4 car took the lead from the #16 car within the first lap. The #25j moved around the #16 car in the first lap as well to take over second place. By lap three the #14j car had moved into third position passing the #16, #76, and #25z cars. The #25z car held on to the fourth spot while the #76 moved around the #16 car to take over fifth position. For the next five laps the lineup remained the same with the #4 stretching his lead to a straightaway over the #25j. Once the #14j had moved into the final transfer position for the A Main the driver appeared content just hold that position. The finishing order for Heat one was the #4, #25j, #14j, #25z, #76, and the #16.

The second Heat race started the #13 car of Dave Quick on the pole, #44c of Todd Coleman outside pole, #97 of James Hamilton Jr. inside second row, #3 of Robert Beck outside second row, #99r of Cory Lockwood inside third row, and the #44q of Austin Hager outside third row. At the green the #44c quickly took over the lead from the pole sitter #13. By the second lap the #3 car had moved around the #97 and the #13 to take over second place. Lap three the #44q had come from last to fourth and was challenging the #13 car for third. The #44q continued to challenge the #13 for the next two laps attempting a pass into turn three on the fifth lap but had the door closed on him by the #13. On lap six the #13 pulled off the track into the pits giving the third place and the final transfer position to the A Main to the #44q. At the checkered flag the finishing order was #44c, #3, #44q, #97, #99r and #13.

Heat three featured the #77 of Matt Elliot on the pole, #82 of Adam Roduner outside pole, #05 of Jim Todd inside second row, #7v of Cody Veenstra outside second row, #51of Jake Mann inside third row, #98h of Matt Hein outside third row, and #93 of Greg Nelson inside fourth row. At the start the #82 attempted a pass on the pole sitter #77 but failed in his attempt into turn one. #77 held his lead out of turn two. In the middle of the pack the #7v and #05 touched wheels, the #05 spinning into the infield in turn one. The caution flag flew resulting in no laps completed in Heat three. The #05 was moved to the center of the infield area to help expedite the restart of the race, as the car would require a tow truck to remove from the track. Its left front shock and radius rod were damaged, as well as a cut down left front tire from the contact with the #7v car. Once the track was cleared the cars were reformed into a two wide restart as no green flag laps had been completed. On the restart the #51 and #98h got together with the #51 going up on top of the water barrels in front of the concrete wall in turn one and the #98h flipping onto its left side. The red flag was immediately unfurled to bring the rest of the field to a stop. Both drivers climbed out of their cars to the roaring applause of the crowd. The damage to the #51 car retired it from racing for the night. The damage to the #98h was assessed in its pit area and determined that with replacement of numerous parts and some repairs it could be made ready to race in the B Main. Under red flag conditions the crews are allowed to service the cars on the track subject to certain restrictions. The crew of the #05 assessed the damage to the car and brought out the necessary replacement parts to the infield to make the repairs. The #05 required a new left front shock and radius rod. Rules do not allow for hydraulic jacks to be used under red flag conditions, but do allow hand tools and four crewmembers to attend to a car. The crew simply lifted up the front of the car to change the shock, these cars having a minimum weight requirement of 1650 pounds with driver. With the drivers safely removed from their cars, the cars removed from the track, and the emergency, safety, and track crews having completed their respective jobs the track was once again ready to race. The remaining cars were pushed off to line up for a restart including the now repaired #05 car from the infield.. This time the restart would be single file with the starting order #77, #82, #7v, #93 and #05. This time at the drop of the green all eight laps would be run under green. The top three stayed the same throughout the eight laps, on lap three in turn three the #05 got around the #93 for the only change in position of the race. The finishing order was #77, #82, #7v, #05, #93 with #51 and #98h having DNFs

Heat four saw the #7e of Bob Witte on the pole, outside pole the #9 of James Hamilton Sr., the #26 of Dave Parrie on the inside second row, outside second row the #37 of Mike Cullum, the #17 of Justin Mack inside third row, outside third row the #01 of Ken Hamilton, and the #5 car of Steve Freeman inside fourth row. At the drop of the green flag #9 made a challenge on the outside of #26 going into turn one. Coming out of turn two the #9 took the lead. After the first lap on the backstretch the #26 lost an aluminum panel as well as laying down a stream of oil in turns three and four resulting in a yellow flag, which quickly changed to a red flag in order to clean up the oil on the track through the two corners. During the caution, before the red flag the #9 left the track headed into the pits. The #26 as well coasted into the pits under caution. After the oil was cleaned up the field was reformed, now with five cars. At the restart the #37 led with the #01 second, #7e third, #17 fourth, and the #5 car. During lap two the #17 moved around the #7e for third position. Over the course of the remaining laps the positions stayed the same providing a finishing order of #37, #01, #17, #7e, and #5.

The schedule was adjusted from Friday to allow the teams more time to prepare for the B Main. The race would run just ten laps with the top eight transferring to the A Main. The B Main started thirteen cars with the #98h of Matt Hein on the pole, the car now repaired from the crash in Heat three, #99r of Cory Lockwood outside pole, #76 Andy Alberding inside second row, #26 Dave Parrie, missing aluminum panel replaced and oil leak repaired, outside second row, #05 Jim Todd inside third row, #97 James Hamilton Jr. outside third row, #25z R. J. Fronsman inside fourth row, #9 James Hamilton Sr., outside fourth row, #7e Bob Witte inside fifth row, #Tyler Monroe outside fifth row, #5 Steve Freeman inside sixth row, #93 Greg Nelson outside sixth row, and #13 Dave Quick inside seventh row. Weather had started playing a role in Saturday’s event with a rain shower that caused a delay in getting the B Main started. With the track dried the B Main was ready to be run. The drop of the green had the 98h car on the pole holding his position through turn one over the #99r retaining his lead down the backstretch. During the first lap the #05 moved past the #26 to take over fourth place. On lap two the #99r started smoking badly on the right side and wisely pointed his nose into the pits, his race over. The balance of the laps were run under green with the #98h car retaining the lead, the #76 finishing second, #05 third, #25z fourth, #97 fifth, #9 sixth, #16 seventh, #7e eighth and into the final transfer slot to the A Main, leaving the #5, #93, #99r, #13, and #26 to pack up for the weekend as their racing was done. The #26 car left the track during the B Main, a victim of a sheared driveshaft at the rearend.

The A Main was hurried to get started as the evening skies were turning ever more menacing. With one rain delay already a valiant attempt was being made to get the A Main run for the evening.

The fifty lap A Main started twenty cars with the top ten inverted putting the #44c of Todd Coleman on the pole, #82 of Adam Roduner outside pole, #25j of Sierra Jackson inside second row, #3 of Robert Beck outside second row, #7v of Cody Veenstra inside third row, #37 of Mike Cullum outside third row, #17 of Justin Mack inside fourth row, 14j of Brandon Johnson outside fourth row, #44q of Austin Hager inside fifth row, #01 of Ken Hamilton outside fifth row, #4 of Greg Middendorf inside sixth row, 77 Matt Elliott outside sixth row, #98h Matt Hein inside seventh row, #76 Andy Alberding outside seventh row, #05 Jim Todd inside eighth row, #25z R. J. Fronsman, outside eighth row, #97 James Hamilton Jr. inside ninth row, # 9 James Hamilton Sr., outside ninth row, #16 Tyler Monroe inside tenth row, and #7e Bob Witte outside tenth row. At the green the #44c kept his pole position and led the opening laps. The #3 car moved around the #25j car in quick fashion with his sights now set on the #82 car. By lap four the #3 car had moved into second and challenged the #44c car for the lead. On the fifth lap the #3 car moved around the outside of the #44c to take the lead. Meanwhile the #14j car had moved from his eighth starting position to fifth on the field. On lap eight the #7e car found himself in the infield just off turn four. Maintaining his momentum he pulled back out on the track collecting the leader, the #3 car just as the #3 completed lap nine. Both cars went into the wall in turn one, the #3 hitting the water barrels, the #7e flipping on its side. A small fire broke out at the tail of the #3 car that quickly extinguished itself. The red flag immediately came out getting the rest of the competitors stopped allowing emergency and safety crews to get to the #3 and #7e cars. The drivers of both cars emerged from their wreckage to the resounding applause from the crowd. Both cars were removed from the track allowing the track crew to start the cleanup process to make the track ready for racing again. Over the course of the red flag condition the skies opened up with rain. Looking at weather radar indicated the rain was not going away for the night thus causing the cancellation of the A Main. The order of the cars at lap nine were #44c, #82, #25j, #37, #7v, #17, #14, #01, #44q, #76, #77, #25z, #4, #98h, #05, #9, #16 and #97. The cars were cleared from the track back to the pits allowing crews to load the cars into their trailers getting them out of the rain. ASA/NSRA declared the nights racing as incomplete for its season championship points. Eventually the first place trophy was awarded to the #44c car of Todd Coleman of the much-abbreviated nine lap A Main. The overall points earner based on Friday’s racing and Saturday’s racing up to the A Main was the #14j of Brandon Johnson netting him the presentation of the custom crafted diamond ring as overall winner of the Diamond Cup.

All in all a very disappointing end to a very exciting weekend at Meridian Speedway and the Diamond Cup.