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Illiana Motor Speedway 2009 Race Reports & Press Releases
Race Reports Dates In White - Press Release Dates In Red Click Link To Read
7211 U.S. 30
Schererville, IN.
Track Phone 219-322-5311
Located 2 1/2 Miles East of US 41 or 5 Miles West of I-65 on U.S. 30
Saturday Night Racing
Late Model
Limited Late Model
Turbo Stox
Pure Stox
Legends
Pits Open: 3:00 P.M.
Stands Open: 4:00 P.M.
Qualifying: 5:30 P.M.
First Race: 7:00 P.M.
By Tony Baranek
SCHERERVILLE, IND. (May 16) -
Anthony Danta had some issues early on Saturday at the ASA-sanctioned Illiana Speedway when officials found what they though was a rules violation on his late-model and told him he had to add 100 pounds in order to race in the feature. A calm and cool Danta pleaded his case, presented evidence in the rulebook that he wasn't illegal and, in effect, beat city hall. During the 25-lap feature race, Danta faced another challenge in former track champion Jeff Cannon. Cannon raced him tough on the bottom, and eventually tough from the top, before Danta was finally able to flex his muscles and push his No. 51 into the top spot on lap 17. Danta eased away from there, recording his first feature victory of the 2009 season. "We had a good battle there," Danta said. "I was running as hard as I could and I'm sure (Cannon) was. I just got the lucky end of it." Danta was fast all night, setting quick qualifying time with a 19.686 tour of the half-mile oval. He finished third in the fast heat behind winner Mike Monroe and runnerup Bobby Gash, and started 10th in the feature field. Monroe jumped from the first row into the early lead, and was several car-lengths ahead of the pack when debris on the track on lap 8 allowed Cannon to close up on his bumper. Cannon needed little time after the restart to take the lead, but he had Danta in tow. The two put on a nice side-by-side battle for a handful of laps, before Danta took over. "I think I was a little bit better from the center off then he was," Danta said. "When I got under him, he ran me hard side-by-side. I was a little tight in the center, so I couldn't really get back on the gas as much as I needed to clear him." On lap 17, he got the job done. Danta went on to beat Cannon to the finish line by 1.123 seconds. Monroe checked in third, ahead of John Nutley, Len Nowosel and Shawn Wiltjer. Nutley, doing double duty, also raced in the limited late-model main, and was the class of the field there in winning the 25-lap main event. The actual margin was only 0.709 seconds over Johnny Senerchia, but for much of the race Nutley had a several car-lengths lead over the field. A yellow flag five laps from the finish allowed Senerchia to close up for a restart, but Nutley had no problem holding him off. His No. 96 was a rocket. "Yes it was," Nutley said. "We worked hard on the car, worked hard on the suspension. The car was bad fast with a stock GM crate motor. We came out here and had fast time on opening night and third in the feature. Tonight, it was a clean sweep. It was nice." Third place in the main event went to Doug Hayes. Mark Ross Jr., was fourth, followed by Phil Splant and Joe Balser. Alex Arelano continued his good start to the 2009 season with a win in the 25-lap Legends feature. Arelano took the lead from Jimmy Hansen on lap 17, and held off the persistent Hansen at the finish by 0.544 seconds. "I didn't really know if I could catch Jimmy or not," Arelano said. "He's a really good guy and a really good racer. I didn't catch him as fast as I would have liked to. The car finally started coming around after a (late) caution, and it was just unbelievable." Behind the top two at the finish was Cullen Camasta. Mark Vandrunen was fourth, followed by Rachael Pinkerman and Ben Fidone. Turbo stox rookie Bob Rohweder captured his first feature victory with a nearly wire-to-wire run. Rohweder took the lead from Pat Ligue on lap 3, and stayed there to the end of the 25-lap event. Brian Kucaba was a close second, followed by Billy Jarrells, Bill Serviss and Tony Meier. It was a solid finish to a night that started out inauspiciously. "Earlier, in practice, we broke a control arm and bent the drive shaft," Rohweder said. "But we got it back together thanks to Eddie Wolf and Dave Dotter. Eddie really stepped up to the plate and helped me wrench the car." The pure stocks 'A' main went to Michael Martin over Chris Czaszwicz. Justin Vandrunen reigned supreme in the Bandolero main.
SUMMARY Late-modelQualifying: 1. Anthony Danta (19.686), 2. Jeff Cannon (19.861), 3. John Nutley (20.143), 4. Jack Kalwasinski (20.235), 5. Bobby Gash (20.235), 6. Brad Plunkett (20.332), 7. Dean Patterson (20.399), 8. Mike Monroe (20.403), 9. Shawn Wiltjer (20.473), 10. Chris King (20.572), 11. Scott Koerner (20.633), 12. Don Sabatino (20.804), 13. Richard Ruckh (21.299).
1st heat: 1. Monroe, 2. Gash, 3. Danta, 4. Cannon, 5. Nutley, 6. Patterson, 7. Kalwasinski, 8. Plunkett. 2nd heat: 1. Koerner, 2. Wiltjer, 3. Nowosel, 4. Ruckh, 5. King, 6. Sabatino. 25-lap
feature: 1. Danta, 2. Cannon, 3. Monroe, 4. Nutley, 5. Len Nowosel, 6. Wiltjer, 7. Kalwasinski, 8. Gash, 9. Patterson, 10. Plunkett, 11. Ruckh, 12. King, 13. Sabatino, 14. Koerner. Limited
Late-modelQualifying: 1. John Nutley (20.153), 2. Johnny Senerchia (20.409), 3. Tyler Middleton (20.552), 4. Phil Splant (20.909), 5. Joe Balser (20.926), 6. Kevin Offdenkamp (20.962), 7. Mark Ross Jr. (20.969), 8. Doug Hayes (21.259). Heat: 1. Nutley, 2. Senerchia, 3. Splant, 4. Ross, 5. Middleton, 6. Hayes, 7. Balser, 8. Offdenkamp.
25-lap feature: 1. Nutley, 2. Senerchia, 3. Hayes, 4. Ross, 5. Splant, 6. Balser, 7. Offdenkamp, 8. Middleton. LegendsQualifying: 1. Alex Arelano (17.514), 2. James Hansen (17.622), 3. Chris King (17.644), 4. Cullen Camasta (17.676), 5. Michael Moore (17.861), 6. Mike Carpenter Jr. (18.210), 7. Ryan Moore (18.358), 8. Scott Pool (18.377), 9. Mark Van Drunen (18.463), 10. Ben Fidone (18.570), 11. Craig Mahoney (18.573), 12. Rachael Pinkerman (18.659), 13. Michael Inscore (18.985), 14. Paul Balas (19.780), 15. Judi Goethal (20.381).
1st heat: 1. Carpenter, 2. Arelano, 3. Hansen, 4. King, 5. Pool, 6. Camasta, 7. Michael Moore, 8. Ryan Moore. 2nd heat: 1. Vandrunen, 2. Pinkerman, 3. Mahoney, 4. Inscore, 5. Fidone, 6. Balas, 7. Goethal.
20-lap feature: 1. Arelano, 2. Hansen, 3. Camasta, 4. Vandrunen, 5. Pinkerman, 6. Fidone, 7. Pool, 8. Mahoney, 9. Inscore, 10. Balas, 11. Goethal, 12. Ryan Moore, 13. Carpenter, 14. Michael Moore, 5. King.
Turbo stoxQualifying: 1. Tony Meier (18.000), 2. Bobby Blood (18.039), 3. Brian Kucaba (18.066), 4. Pat O'Rourke (18.127), 5. Bill Serviss (18.135), 6. Craig Amptmeyer (18.151), 7. Billy Jarrells (18.258), 8. Dan Witt (18.347), 9. Bob Rohweder (18.406), 10. David Cressler (18.489), 11. Vince Von Vossen (18.664), 12. Billy Rud (18.807), 13. Chad Von Vossen (18.969), 14. Ed Hast (19.147), 15. Cheryl Hryn (19.191), 16. Crystalyn Sehr (19.547), 17. Jacob McKown (20.494).
1st heat: 1. O'Rourke, 2. Jarrells, 3. Serviss, 4. Meier, 5. Kucaba, 6. Blood, 7. Rohweder, 8. Witt, 9. Cressler, 10. Amptmeyer. 2nd heat: 1. Ligue, 2. Sehr, 3. Hryn, 4. Chad Van Vossen, 5. Hast, 6. McKown, 7. Vince Van Vossen, DQ. Rudd (weight).
25-lap feature: 1. Rohweder, 2. Kucaba, 3. Jarrells, 4. Serviss, 5. Meier, 6. O'Rourke, 7. McKown, 8. Blood, 10. Rud, 11. Witt, 12. Hryn, 13. Hast, 14. Amptmeyer, 15. Sehr, 16. Cressler, 17. Van Vossen, 18. Ligue.
Pure stock1st heat: 1. Kyle Carlson. 2nd heat: 1. Chris Czaszwicz. 3rd heat: 1. Michael Martin.
'A' feature: 1. Martin, 2. Czaszwicz, 3. George Werner, 4. Paul McKeague, 5. Mark Sontag, 6. Brandon Foster.
'B' feature: 1. Ryan Lagestee, 2. Shaun Bourdelais, 3. John Hensley.
Bandolero feature: 1. Justin Vandrunen.
Illiana Speedway Race Results 5-16-09 Now Updated Every Week
Anthony Danta
John Nutley
Bob Rohweder
Michael Martin Jr.
Alex Arelano
Chris Goodaker Goodaker Photography
Justin VanDrunen
