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Chili Bowl Thursday 97-01-09
LADY LUCK HELPS BLANEY EARN CHILI BOWL POLE By John Rittenoure A little bit of luck never hurts. Just ask former World of Outlaws champion Dave Blaney. Blaney, of Cortland, Ohio, avoided a lap 12 crash that took out first place ...
Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM
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LADY LUCK HELPS BLANEY EARN CHILI BOWL POLE
By John Rittenoure
A little bit of luck never hurts. Just ask former World of Outlaws champion Dave Blaney. Blaney, of Cortland, Ohio, avoided a lap 12 crash that took out first place Billy Boat and third place Jay Drake and came away with the lead to win the 25-lap qualifying A feature at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals Thursday inide the Expo Square Exposition Center. A crowd of 7,964 watched Blaney lead a 1-2 World of Outlaws finish to earn the pole position for Saturday night's main event. Broken Arrow's Andy Hillenburg finished a straightaway back in second. "A guy just spun in front of Billy Boat and he was way to close to miss him," said Blaney of Boat who was leading at the time. "I was just far enough away to miss it. I kind of stalled the motor then turned down low." Blaney led the first 10 laps of the event before slide under him for the lead in turn one. Boat led two laps before the accident with Blaney in second. Blaney was not sure if he would have caught Boat if the crash had not happened. "I don't know if we could have got back by boat or not," said Blaney. "I went by him when the track was loose but later it tightened up and he could run harder than I could." Hillenburg, who won the event in 1994, moved into second after the restart. "I was running hard trying to get up and kept jumping the front end," said Hillenburg. Six drivers earned they way into the A feature from the three semi features led by winners Boyd Calvert of Mt. Horreb, Wis, Darren Pittman of Owasso and Marty Davis of Racine, Wis. Davis challenged leader Randy Roberts on lap nine and moved out front on the next lap to clinch a victory in the third semi event. Roberts held on to second for the final transfer spot. Roberts led from the opening lap with Davis right behind. Davis never could challenge till just after the half way point. Pittman, a rookie from the ASCS sprint car ranks, was driving in his first midget race and easily won the second semi. Pittman was locked in a battle with early leader Jimmy May of Oxnard, Calf. and second place Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. Pittman came out of the battle with the lead just before the yellow flag waved A.J. Felker who stalled. Hines also stopped on the track. On the restart Pittman resumed the lead with Brad Weber of Juneau, Wis. in second when the yellow waved again when May hit the restart cone. The race went the remaining distance with Weber in second. Hines was working his way from the back and nipped Weber at the checkered for second. Calvert led flag to flag in winning the first semi. Shane Scully of Encino, Calf. chased Calvert and settled for the second A feature transfer position. Friday night the remaining qualifiers will race at 7:30 to determine who gets into the last seven starting spots for Saturday's A feature.
THURSDAY QUALIFYING A FEATURE - 1, Dave Blaney, Cortland, Oh. 2, Andy Hillenburg, Broken Arrow. 3, Danny Lasoski, Dover, Mo. 4 Tony Elliott, Kokomo, Ind 5, Billy Boat, Phoenix, Ariz. 6, Billy Pauch, Frenchtown, N.J. 7, Tracy Hines, New Castle, Ind. 8, Jeremy Sherman, Phoenix, Ariz. 9, Kevin Olson, Rockford, Ill. 10, Boyd Calvert, Mt. Horreb, Wis. THIRD SEMI - 1, Marty Davis, Racine, Wis. 2, Randy Roberts, Bloomfield, Colo. 3, Shane Carson, Oklahoma City. 4, Ricky Johnson, Phoenix, Ariz. 5, Coy White, Friendswood, Tex. 6, Brett Hearn, Vernon, N.J. 7, David Watkins, Houston. 8, Bob Harr, Arvada, Colo. 9, Bob Schroffler, Plainfield, Ill. 10, Walt Stearly, Collegville, Penn. SECOND SEMI - 1, Darren Pittman, Owasso. 2, Tracy Hines, New Castle, Ind. 3, Brad Weber, Juneau, Wis. 4, Jackie Burke, Houston. 5, Butch Middleton, Loveland, Colo. 6, Doug White, Houston. 7, Jeff Jackson, Houston. 8, Jimmy May, Oxnard, Calf. 9, A.J. Felker, Jeffersonville, Ind. 10, Brian Gerster, Indianapolis Ind. FIRST SEMI - 1, Boyd Calvert, Mt. Horreb, Wis. 2, Shane Scully, Encino, Calf. 3, John Lucus, Lebanon, Ind. 4, Doc Parsons, Tulsa. 5 Jim Bean, Oklahoma City. 6, Critter Malone, Indianapolis, Ind. 7, Michael Roselli, Jr., Brodheadsville, Penn. 8, Gary McNabb, Edmond. 9, Bill Baue, Indianapolis, Ind. 10, Jimmy McVay, Lees Summit, Mo. HEAT 8 - 1, Mike Fell. 2, Dave Blaney. 3, Shane Carson. 4, Rich Camfield. 5, Steve Newman. HEAT 7 - 1, Tony Elliott. 2, Dennis Parker. 3, Coy White. 4, Ricky Shelton. 5, John Lucas. HEAT 6 - 1, Kevin Olson. 2, Andy Hillenburg. 3, Jimmy May. 4, Bob Cicconi. 5, Jim Bean. HEAT 5 - 1, Sammy Swindell. 2, Tracy Hines. 3, Boyd Calvert. 4, Bud DeSelle. 5, George Aimone, Jr. HEAT 4 - 1, Danny Lasoski. 2, Rick Hendrix. 3, Gary Wright. 4, Marty Davis. 5, Jackie Burke. HEAT 3 - 1, Billy Boat. 2, Critter Malone. 3, Matt Rogerson. 4, Walt Stearly. 5, Bill Baue. HEAT 2 - 1, Jay Drake. 2, Randy Roberts. 3, Brian Gerster. 4, Daryn Pittman. 5, Bob Shreffler. HEAT 1 - 1, Billy Pauch. 2, Jeremy Sherman. 3, Doug Schenck. 4, Shane Scully. 5, Brad Weber.
posted by Len in Indy
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