81 Speedway 2000-09-19 (revised)

All Star Sprint Results - 81 Speedway - Fri. 8/18/00
By David Smith Jr.

WICHITA, KS - Whenever Gary Wright is in a slump, Wichita seems to put him back on track. Coming into the fourth night of the sixth annual 'Thunder Through the Plains Tour', the winningest driver in NCRA history had yet to reach the winners circle. But as has been the case the past two seasons the tour has stopped at 81 Speedway, Gary once again found victory lane as the O'Reilly National Championship Racing Association took on the All Star Circuit of Champions sprint cars Friday night. Not only did the win tie the challenge between the two series at two winners a piece, but it also locked up Wright's eighth consecutive NCRA sprint car championship in his own Chevrolet powered machine. Kelly Kinser started his Kinser Timber No. 4K on the ButlerBuilt Hot Seat pole with Kevin Huntley right beside him for the 30 lap feature. Kinser would take the lead as the green flag fell and led lap one with All Star points leader Kenny Jacobs, Chad Kemenah and Huntley in tow. Kinser used the bottom portion of the track to open up a quick six car length advantage over Jacobs, who was running up top. On lap two the first caution of the feature flew as Ted Lee spun in turn one. The restart saw Kinser again open up a quick margin with the battle still for second through fifth. Behind them Wright, who had started eighth, began making his move to the front, taking over the fifth position on lap five. Wright continued to use the very top of the track to close in on the front runners while up front, Kinser built up to a 12 car length advantage before beginning to catch lapped traffic on lap ten. Three laps later Wright put himself within striking distance, passing Jacobs for the runner up position. Then lap fourteen saw the caution wave for the second time as Kerry Madsen and Todd Gracey got together in turn two. Damage to both sprinters was extensive and both were done for the night. Kinser got a little breather on the restart as two lapped cars were placed between himself and Wright, but the leading feature winner in NCRA history quickly got clear of traffic and continued to use the top groove to catch the low riding Kinser. On lap sixteen Wright got a run off turn two and took the lead briefly, only to have Kinser run deep into turn three and slide up to the cushion Wright was using. But Wright ducked underneath Kinser for the winning pass. It wasn't a sure win at this time, however, as Kinser continued to run fast down low, keeping the distance between himself and the leader to two car lengths. The pace slowed once again on lap twenty when Ryan Flynn went for a spin in turn two. The restart again saw Wright hold the top spot while behind him, Wednesday night's feature winner at Salina, Danny Smith, who had started thirteenth, quickly passed Kemenah for fourth and three laps later passed Jacobs for third. It stayed that way for two laps before the final caution waved when Jason Sides and Steven King got together in turns three and four. King would retire with a broken front end. On the final restart there was no catching Wright as he took advantage of a clear track and a lapped car behind him to take his sixth NCRA feature win of the season and his 68th career with the series. Kinser settled for second, eight car lengths behind and earning the TW Metals $100 nightly top 10 bonus with Kemenah overtaking Smith late to finish a strong third in his first ever visit to the track. Aaron Berryhill moved Court Grandstaff's TropArtic sprinter up from his eleventh starting position to round out the top five. Heat races for the 34 car field were won by Travis Rilat, Madsen, Jerrod Hull and former two time NCRA outlaw champion Terry Gray. In the second heat, Mike Peters tried to pass Madsen up high coming out of turn four, but Peters ran out of room and hit the wall hard, causing his sprinter to flip on his side. Mike was uninjured but damage was enough to put him out for the night. The third heat saw Tuesday night's Sedalia feature winner Mike Goodman lose power coming down for the start. Larry Neighbors and Rodney Duncan, who came into the night second in All Star points, had nowhere to go and collected one another into the front stretch wall. Goodman and Duncan were done for the night while Neighbors attempted to run later in the B main. Greg Wilson won the Commercial Truck and Trailer dash over Kinser, Hull, Kemenah, Huntley and fast qualifier Todd Gracey. For the second consecutive race, opening night Thunder tour winner Jacobs had to compete in the Georgia Marketing and Promotions B feature. The defending series champion took the lead early and looked to be on his way to victory, but NCRA rookie of the year contender Nick Haygood used the bottom of the track to pass the All Stars career feature winner on lap eight and went unchallenged the rest of the way for the win. Jeff Mitrisin and Ted Lee rounded out the top four. T W Metals conducted a "Special Bonus Night" with cash bonuses paid to four finishers in the "A" Main (Wright, Huntley, Travis Whitney and Ted Lee) and one finisher in the "B" Main (Zach Chappell, the first non-transfer). Membership in the All Stars was not required, but the bonuses were contingent upon displaying T W Metals decals on both sides of the car. This is in addition to the nightly "Top 10 Award" bonus at all events, on which membership is required. "We have a large warehouse and sales office in Wichita," stated Joe Darmofal, Manager of the company's Motorsports Alloys Group special business unit, " and we'd like to have our customers who will be attending some of these venues see our logos prominently displayed. Our Special Bonus Nights have been well received in the past and we hope to receive the same support out west by rewarding the teams for displaying our decals."

Time Trials: 1) Todd Gracey, 13.945; 2) Chad Kemenah, 13.977; 3)Travis Whitney, 14.025; 4) Kenny Jacobs, 14.047; 5)Kevin Huntley, 14.048; 6)Kelly Kinser, 14.074; 7)Jerrod Hull, 14.148; 8)Gary Wright, 14.193; 9)Nick Haygood, 14.210; 10)Kerry Madsen, 14.212; 11)Rodney Duncan, 14.254; 12)Aaron Berryhill, 14.257; 13)Greg Wilson, 14.258; 14) Mike Peters, 14.327; 15) Larry Neighbors, 14.353; 16) Danny Smith, 14.384; 17) Steven King, 14.424; 18) Calvin Landis, 14.429; 19) Ryan Flynn, 14.441; 20) Terry Gray, 14.489; 21) Travis Rilat, 14.548; 22) Ryan Craighead, 14.557; 23) Mike Goodman, 14.604; 24) Jason Johnson, 14.629; 25) Jeff Mitrisin,14.732; 26) Matt Saint, 14.771; 27) Jason Sides, 14.855; 28) Leonard Lee, 14.871; 29) Toby Brown, 15.291; 30) Barry Ruble, 15.398; 31) Dan Oswalt, 15.579; 32) Earnest Jennings, 15.725; 33) Zach Chappell, 15.737; 34) Ty Boyles, 15.841

1st Heat: 1)Travis Rilat 2) Greg Wilson 3) Todd Gracey 4) Steve King 5) Kevin Huntley 6) Nick Haygood 7) Jeff Mitrisin 8) Zach Chappell 9) Toby Brown

2nd Heat: 1) Kerry Madsen 2) Calvin Landis 3) Kelly Kinser 4) Ryan Craighead 5) Chad Kemenah 6) Matt Saint 7) Barry Ruble 8) Ty Boyles 9) Mike Peters

3rd Heat: 1) Jerrod Hull 2) Jason Sides 3) Travis Whitney 4) Ryan Flynn 5) Dan Oswalt 6) Rodney Duncan 7) Mike Goodman 8) Larry Neighbors

4th Heat: 1) Terry Gray 2) Aaron Berryhill 3) Gary Wright 4) Jason Johnson 5) Danny Smith 6) Kenny Jacobs 7) Ted Lee 8) Earnest Jennings

Commercial Truck & Trailer Dash: 1) Greg Wilson 2) Kelly Kinser 3) Jerrod Hull 4) Chad Kemenah 5) Kevin Huntley 6) Todd Gracey

Georgia Marketing & Promotions B Feature: 1) Nick Haygood 2) Kenny Jacobs 3) Jeff Mitrisin 4) Ted Lee 5) Zach Chappell 6) Matt Saint 7) Toby Brown 8) Barry Ruble 9) Earnest Jennings 10) Larry Neighbors DNS: Mike Peters, Mike Goodman

A Feature: 1) Gary Wright 2) Kelly Kinser 3) Chad Kemenah 4) Danny Smith 5) Aaron Berryhill 6) Kevin Huntley 7) Kenny Jacobs 8) Nick Haygood 9) Terry Gray 10) Travis Whitney 11) Greg Wilson 12) Calvin Landis 13) Jason Sides 14) Travis Rilat 15) Jason Johnson 16) Ryan Craighead 17) Ryan Flynn 18) Jeff Mitrisin 19) Ted Lee 20) Steve King 21) Dan Oswalt 22) Kerry Madsen 23) Todd Gracey 24) Jerrod Hull*

* Jerrod Hull from 8th to 24th due to not making weight after the event.