Cannon
Repeats Double-Duty Victories Two Weeks in a Row
By Tony Baranek
 Schererville,
Ind (July 24, 2010) - Jeff Cannon was cruising toward
victory with 11 laps remaining in Saturday's 25-lap late-model
feature at the ASA-sanctioned Illiana Speedway when things
suddenly got kind of crazy.
A yellow flag took away his big lead, and on the double-file
restart alongside second-place Dean Patterson, there was contact.
Patterson fell back as a third party got involved.
"I'm not sure what happened," Cannon said later. "My
spotter told me I wasn't clear of Patterson yet, so it was my
fault. Then Sean Murphy just shot up through there. I don't know
where he came from. He took me by surprise."
Murphy also took the lead. It didn't last long, however. Cannon
regained his bearings and two laps later retook the top spot.
He would eventually hold off Jack Kalwasinski by 0.733 seconds.
For Kalwasinski, it was a night of relief after his two previous
appearances at Illiana in 2010 ended in crashes.
"This was my first complete race (this season). I have
to give thanks to my team," said Kalwasinski, who inherited
second place when Murphy spun out between Turns 1 and 2 and kept
it the rest of the way.
"The car was a little loose," Kalwasinski said. "If
it wasn't, I probably could have run with (Cannon). He's the
guy to beat out here now. We've been working hard in the garage."
Veteran Bobby Gash had a solid third-place finish, while Patterson,
in one of his best drives of the season, was fourth. Danny Darnell
was fifth, while Murphy came from the back of the pack to claim
sixth.
 Cannon was a force in the 25-lap limited late-model main as
well, breezing through the pack and passing Paul Zolodz via the
outside groove on lap 7. He went on to capture his fourth consecutive
limited victory.
Nutley grabbed the runnerup spot on lap 8, but the points leader
wasn't making up much ground on Cannon. Potential drama was created
one lap from the finish when a yellow flag tightened the field,
but Cannon simply pulled away on the restart and prevailed by
0.527 seconds. Phil Splant was third, followed by Marc Hankosky,
Mark Ross Jr., and Rita Fields.
 In the Legends feature, Alex Arelano was a runaway leader for
the first 10 laps. A series of yellow flags, however, resulted
in a tight battle during the second half of the event, with Chris
King eventually taking the lead just five laps from the finish.
King went on to beat Casey Martin to the finish line by 0.920
seconds. Arelano, Scott Pool, Matt O'Leary and Andrea Hans completed
the top six.
 A gruelling battle in the turbo stox feature saw three-time
track champ Bill Serviss spend a lot of laps in a light drizzle
working over leader Craig Amptmeyer. Finally, he bumped Amptmeyer
out of the way and getting by with six laps remaining.
Serviss was wide-eyed and exhausted as he recounted his efforts
in trying to get by Amptmeyer, a former track titlist in his
own right.
"Wow," Serviss said. "You know, it was a real
tough battle out there. Craig was kind of slowing down in the
turns a little bit (sooner) than he usually does, and he was
guarding the bottom.
"I understand that fully, but it was getting a little wet
out there. One time I went into Turn 3 kind of hard and I hit
some water. I slid right up. I didn't mean to do that, but I
didn't even know if we were going to (finish) this race!"
Eddie Wolf claimed the runner up spot with five laps left. Brian
Kucaba finished third, followed by Amptmeyer, Chris Woodall and
Billy Jarrells.
 The pure stocks feature was contested in a steady rain. "Lightnin'" Lee
Mose was able to maneuver his way into the top spot, and held
off a charging Helen Nester at the finish.
Late-model
Fast time: Jeff Cannon (19.884).
Heat: 1. Danny Darnell, 2. John
Nutley, 3. Jack Kalwasinski.
25-lap feature: 1. Cannon, 2.
Kalwasinski, 3. Bobby Gash, 4. Dean Patterson, 5. Darnell,
6. Sean Murphy. Limited late-model
Fast time: Jeff Cannon (21.225).
Heat: 1. Paul Zolodz, 2. John
Nutley, 3. Mark Ross Jr.
25-lap feature: 1. Cannon, 2. Nutley,
3. Phil Splant, 4. Marc Hankosky, 5. Ross, 6. Rita Fields.
Turbo stox
Fast time: Chris Woodall (18.108).
1st heat: 1. Billy Jarrells,
2. Eddie Wolf, 3. Woodall.
2nd heat: 1. Cheryl Hryn, 2. Tony
Meier, 3. Ben McKown.
25-lap feature: 1. Bill Serviss, 2. Wolf,
3. Brian Kucaba, 4. Craig Amptmeyer, 5. Woodall, 6. Jarrells.
Legends
Fast time: Michael Martin Jr. (17.743).
1st heat: 1. Chris King,
2. Craig Mahoney, 3. Casey Martin.
2nd heat: 1. Matt O'Leary,
2. Andrea Hans, 3. Jimmy Uteg III.
20-lap feature: 1. King,
2. Casey Martin, 3. Alex Arelano, 4. Scott Pool, 5. O'Leary,
6. Hans.
Pure stocks
1st heat: 1. Neil Kerner, 2. Lee Mose, 3. Jason Moorehead.
2nd
heat: 1. Mike Jucius, 2. Helen Nester, 3. Shane Hildreth.
12-lap
feature: 1. Mose, 2. Nester, 3. Brad Bush, 4. Chris Czaszwicz,
5. Moorehead, 6. Ryan Hoffman.
For more information, call the speedway at (219) 322-5311 or
go to www.illianaspeedway.com.
The track is located at 7211 Lincoln Hwy on U.S. Highway 30,
about two miles east of U.S. Highway 41 or five miles west of
Interstate 65.
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