Cannon Claims Illiana Checkers
By Tony Baranek
Schererville, IN (June 27, 2009) - Jeff Cannon won
Saturday night's late-model feature at the ASA-sponsored Illiana
Speedway in a car that he pronounced as "mediocre."
He beat Blake Brown to the finish line by 6.580 seconds.
Mediocre? Huh?
"I know," he said, smiling. "I haven't figured
that out yet. They must have been mediocre and fighting behind
me. I'm kind of glad I wasn't back there, from the sounds of
my spotter."
Indeed, there was a ferocious battle for the runner up spot
among Brown, Dave Gentile and Mike White. But it's hard to imagine
that if any of them had actually broken away from the scrum,
he'd have had anything for the No. 33.
The victory was Cannon's first of the 2009 season, and it
was a statement worthy of a former track champion. Cannon, who
qualified fourth-fastest, needed just three laps to bolt past
Shaun Wiltjer and quickly sped out to a several car-lengths lead.
The best battle of the night was for second place. White,
making his first appearance in some time in Ray Wroblewski's
No. 14, held that spot for several laps until finally giving
way to Brown. White never did give up, however, and stayed on
Brown's bumper, all the while with Gentile lurking just a car-length
back.
Gentile was able to wrest third place away from White just
three laps from the finish. Fifth went to Mike Monroe, while
Brian Muick completed the top six.
John Nutley was able to win his fifth limited late-model
feature in a row by a 0.766 margin over Rita Fields. Two top
contenders, Phil Splant and Johnny Senerchia, were eliminated
on lap five in a crash between Turns 1 and 2.
The legends feature saw Alex Arelano return to the winner's
circle, beating Jimmy Hansen to the finish line by 0.5983 seconds.
Garrett Goodwin and Daniel Ivaski followed.
Bobby Blood made a late-race pass of Cheryl Hryn to capture
the 20-lap turbo stox main. Hryn held on for her highest finish
of the season. Bob Rohweder was third, followed by Pat O'Rourke,
Billy Jarrells and Brian Kucaba.
Helen Nester was the winner in the pure stocks main, besting
Paul McKeague and Tim Cronin. Tristan Batson reigned in the bandolero
feature.
SUMMARY
Late-model
Qualifying: 1. Blake Brown (20.150), 2. Dave Gentile
(20.186), 3. Sean Matthuis (20.196), 4. Jeff Cannon (20.257),
5. Mike White (20.282), 6. Shaun Wiltjer (20328), 7. John Nutley
(20.328), 8. Bobby Gash (20.471), 9. Mike Monroe (20.514), 10.
Chris Cooling (20.535), 11. Brian Muick (20.576), 12. Dean Patterson
(20.627).
1st heat: 1. White, 2. Cannon, 3. Brown, 4. Gentile,
5. Wiltjer, 6. Matthuis.
2nd heat: 1. Muick, 2. Nutley, 3. Monroe, 4. Gash,
5. Cooling, 6. Patterson.
25-lap feature: 1. Cannon, 2. Brown, 3. Gentile, 4.
White, 5. Monroe, 6. Muick, 7. Gash, 8. Patterson, 9. Wiltjer,
10. Cooling, 11. Nutley, 12. Matthuis.
Limited late-model
Qualifying: 1. John Nutley (20.634), 2. John Senerchia
(20.807), 3. Phil Splant (20.887), 4. Kevin Offdenkamp (21.052),
5. Rita Fields (21.118), 6. Richard McGill (22.415).
Heat: 1. Nutley, 2. Splant, 3 Senerchia, 4. Fields,
5. Offdenkamp, 6. McGill.
15-lap feature: 1. Nutley, 2. Fields, 3. Offdenkamp,
4. McGill, 5. Splant, 6. Senerchia.
Legends
Qualifying: 1. Alex Arelano (17.420), 2. Chris King
(17.644), 3. Garrett Goodwin (17.682), 4. Jimmy Hansen (17.704),
5. Andrea Hans (17.885), 6. Tim Moore (17.889), 7. Daniel Ivaska
(18.047), 8. Matt O'Leary (18.051), 9. Peter Bult (18.184), 10.
Scott Pool (18.228), 11. Mark Van Drunen (18.231), 12. Paul Barnes
(18.563), 13. Ben Fidone (18.647), 14. Paul Balas (18.737), 15.
Judi Goethal (19.773).
1st heat: 1. Hansen, 2. King, 3. Arelano, 4. Ivaski,
5. Moore, 6. O'Leary, 7. Goodwin.
2nd heat: 1. Van Drunen, 2. Barnes, 3. Balas, 4. Bult,
5. Fidone, 6. Pool.
20-lap feature: 1. Arelano, 2. Hansen, 3. Goodwin,
4. Ivaski, 5 King, 6. Pool, 7. Fidone, 8. O'Leary, 9. Moore,
10. Balas, 11. Barnes, 12. Bult, 3. Van Drunen.
Turbo stox
Qualifying: 1. Bill Serviss (17.973), 2. Billy Jarrells
(17.991), 3. Jacob McKown (18.056), 4. Pat Ligue (18.078), 5.
Brian Kucaba (18.120), 6. Tony Meier (18.149), 7. Bob Rohweder
(18.269), 8. Pat O'Rourke (18.294), 9. Bobby Blood (18.407),
10. Cheryl Hryn (18.414), 11. Dan Witt (18.513), 12. David Cressler
(18.902), 13. Ed Hast (18.937), 14. Vince Van Vossen (18.962),
15. Crystalyn Sehr (19.233), 16. Paul Mackey (19.671).
1st heat: 1. O'Rourke, 2. Meier, 3. Ligue, 4. Jarrells,
5. Serviss, 6. Kucaba, 7. Rohweder, 8. McKown.
2nd heat: 1. Blood, 2. Witt, 3. Hryn, 4. Hast, 5.
Sehr, 6. Van Vossen, 7. Cressler, 8. Mackey.
25-lap feature: 1. Blood, 2. Hryn, 3. Rohweder, 4.
O'Rourke, 5. Jarrells, 6. Kucaba, 7. McKown, 8. Witt, 9. Hast,
10. Serviss, 11. Meier, 12. Sehr, 13. Ligue.
Pure stocks
1st heat: 1. Mark Ross Jr. 2nd heat: 1. Ben McKown. 3rd
heat: 1. Tim Cronin.
'B' feature: 1. Brad Sowinski, 2. Nicholas Foster,
3. Don Borrelli, 4. Matt Moniak.
'A' feature: 1. Helen Nester, 2. Paul McKeague, 3.
Tim Cronin, 4. Ben McKown, 5. Tom Taylor, 6. Michael Martin.
|
