By Ken Wagner
July 30, 2006

I have to admit going to the Midwest is always many types of excitement, but this year’s trip was short, sweet and with some sadness. The racing is usually outstanding wherever the non-wings run, but since I am in the middle of a remodel, the trip interrupted some of that.

Here are my pics from Indiana click here to see.

The first four races of the Indiana Sprint Week were hot, racy, hot, humid, exciting, hot and worth every moment of it. The North Vernon Twin Cities race track started things off under threat of rain, as was the forecast for the next seven days, with some clouds and a lot of heat in the afternoon sun. Over 50 sprinters made things interesting as a number of West Coast based racers began their search for success in the Indiana heat. I doubt any of them came home with visions of great accomplishment because it was a school of hard knocks for them all

Damion Gardner went there with high hopes of making a splash in a new Maxim owned by Pace Electronics. His first night was the best finish of them all, a tenth, but he had some glimpses of brilliance along the way. Damion didn’t have all his normal crew, so those that were there worked their tails off to make the unfamiliar car work. North Vernon saw him use patience and get a lot out of the car for his only main event finish of the five races. In Bloomington he transferred to the heats from a last chance qualifier, but missed the main. At Hausbstaud, he won his heat, but went out after a three car incident and finished 18th. Up to that incident, he had fought his way from 13th to 5th. On the last race I saw, at Kokomo, he was moving forward in his heat when another car basically took him out and he couldn’t repair in time for the semi. He closed out the 5 race shortened series by missing the feature. It wasn’t what he came for, but under the circumstances, it will be considered some success. Like all Californian’s going to the Midwest, experience is what it’s all about.

Cory Kruseman was the best of the westerner’s, but his week wasn’t up to his defending champion brilliance. He started the first night with a crash in qualifying that brought out a back-up car that only netted him 21st after some problems in the main. He was 13th at Bloomington after a 4th in is heat. At Haubstadt he won his heat and got 5th in the main for his best of the week. He was 12th at Kokomo, but missed the main at Gas City to end the deal. Not a great time, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time several times.

Alan Ballard came east with a new hauler courtesy of his grandpa’s will, but as hard as he tried, he didn’t make a main, yet ran strong every race and was so close at times. Josh Ford was 16th in the first main, missed the next main, then 16th, plus 21st and missed the last feature as he too struggled thru it all. Johnny Rodriguez first trip to Indiana was frustrating as he and his crew worked hard thru a tough trip with little to show for it. Danny Sheridan made the Haubstad feature, getting 19th for his best finish in Bob Price’s car from Arizona. Chad Boespflug came for the experience and he got some. He was 18th at Haubstad for his only feature appearance, but was driving hard every time he hit the track. They all learned something along the way, but will it be enough to bring them back next year, and will they be waiting for the two USAC national points race at the end of the year to get even?

My Indiana travel companion, Mike Clark, reported that the two rainouts weren’t from rain, so what’s up with the promoter’s who let racers and fans down, after they travel to support what has become a real competitive week? If you have a plane ticket you can get your money back, what does that say for those who are not willing to stand up for what’s right? This isn’t new, but it might change travel plans for some who do next year.

I liked the racing as it was the best I’ve seen in my many Speed Week trips, but the weather was tough for most. The tracks seemed to have some water on them, especially Haubstad, but only the tough survived. Jon Stanbrough was the class of the field, winning the title in a lesser sponsored car, getting three wins of the five races run. He was second and 11th in the other two and looked like he could have won the first one, he was coming fast. I was lucky to have moved on for the second week, but missed seeing Gas City and Terre Haute.

I knew Damion Gardner would be strong when he came home to Perris for two reasons. One, he had a tough Indiana run and two, his crew chief Bruce Bromme Jr was with his wife Pam who was fighting for her life. It was a long hard fight. Bruce took her home from the hospital on Monday, July 24th, and she passed away before midnight. A celebration of Pam’s life will be held on Aug 27 at the Bromme Residence in Templeton, CA at 24 Dearview Lane from noon on. Any donations are to be sent in her name to: Woods Humane Society Animal Shelter at 875 Oklahoma Ave, San Luis Obispo, 93405. This is the weekend of the CRA’s visit to Santa Maria and everyone is invited.

Damion won the July 22nd Perris CRA race and went to Skagit and made it two in a row. He had a little problem in the main with two stops and finished 18th or something. Jayme Barnes winning, and running second the first night, was amazing because he has little non wing experience. Congratulations to him, I can’t wait to read the race report whenever I can find it.

Jan Gaffney, CRA champion car owner in 1988 with Rip Williams driving, was inducted into the Surfer Walk of Fame this week with five others. This courtesy of Dave Ondo, former CRA & USAC scorekeeper.

So, you might wonder what I have been doing since I got home last week from Indiana and Missouri. I came in late friday night with the intention of heading to Perris in the morning like normal, but……. I found out the Travertine we ordered would be installed starting Monday morning. Lets see, I had about 20 hours of pulling out the carpet, the tack strips, the kitchen floor laminate and the tile underneath it (surprise), plus remove all the furniture, including the stove, and I realized I couldn’t go racing. Most of Saturday and from 7 am until midnight on Sunday was spent doing the above back breaking work everywhere but the bedrooms, with the help of my grandsons. This included getting every little smidge of glue and mortar bits up from the concrete floor for a smooth install. The install was completed today, seven days later, and now the new baseboard and other wood frames around some French doors, plus the carpet install of the bedrooms must be done before the painting begins. Ah remodeling, what a joy. Since I am doing none of the skilled work, it’s like managing a project and getting all the subs in to do their share in a timely manner. In the meantime we have been without a stove and a washer and dryer for a week, so tomorrow will be catching up day before the contractor comes back on Tuesday. I promise I will be at Perris, but probably pooped. I missed Skagit for the second year in a row, but the time to work on the Wagsdash is next on my itinerary.

7/28/06 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Damion Gardner, 2. Jayme Barnes, 3. Rick Ziehl, 4. Josh Ford, 5. Cory Kruseman, 6. J Hicks, 7. Rick Becker/Mike Spencer (#67), 8. Robby Vaughn, 9. Evan Suggs, 10. Michael Harris, 11. Alan Munn, 12. Cory Chamberlain, 13. Danny Sheridan, 14. Shaun Rice, 15. Blake Miller (#16), 16. Brock Lemley, 17. Rip Williams, 18. Alex Hantel, 19. David Cardey, 20. Tony Jones, 21. Mike Spencer (#44), 22. John Tharp. NT

7/29/06 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Jayme Barnes, 2. Cory Kruseman, 3. Brock Lemley, 4. Rick Ziehl, 5. David Cardey, 6. Tony Jones, 7. Mike Spencer, 8. Evan Suggs, 9. Robby Vaughn, 10. Alan Munn, 11. J Hicks, 12. Cory Chamberlain, 13. Michael Harris, 14. Blake Miller, 15. Josh Ford, 16. Tony Thomas, 17. Danny Sheridan, 18. Damion Gardner, 19. Rip Williams, 20. Roy Blumenhagen, 21. Alex Hantel, 22. Jason Bloodgood, 23. Ernie Seager, 24. Colton Heath- NT