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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.
SCHERERVILLE, Ind. -
Tom Smith is a veteran late-model race car driver, but he's been a relative stranger to Illiana Speedway during his career. The Tinley Park, Ill., native said he learned a lot about the half-mile oval when he finished second in the 2008 season-ending Bettenhausen Classic. Apparently he applied those lessons Saturday night in winning the 2009 season opener. Smith took the lead from Jack Kalwasinski on lap three of the 25-lap main event and held it the rest of the way. He beat a charging Jeff Cannon to the finish line by 0.294 seconds to claim his first career Illiana feature victory. The night ended in a much more positive manner than it began for Smith, who had the sixth-fastest qualifying time and finished dead last in his heat. "In the heat race we kind of got snookered and shuffled to the back," Smith said. "But we thought we had a decent car." Smith started the feature in the second row and quickly worked his way into the lead, while the faster qualifiers fought for position behind him. The ultimate battle for second took place between Cannon and Blake Brown. When Cannon finally passed Brown he was several car-lengths behind Smith with only nine laps remaining. The gap gradually closed. "He was coming pretty good once he got clear of Blake Brown there," Smith said. "We kind of throttled back just a little bit to save (the tires) just in case a yellow flag came out and we'd have a three-lap shootout or something." Cannon got within a car-length at the finish. "One more yellow or five more laps," Cannon said. "(Smith) started up front, got the jump, and good for him, you know. "The longer we went we started to lose rear grip. We overused the tires, but all in all it was a pretty good night." Brown finished third, ahead of Anthony Danta, Eddie Hoffman, John Nutley and Mike Monroe. In the limited late-model feature Johnny Senerchia grabbed the top spot from Phil Splant on lap nine, and wound up in a fight to the 20-lap finish with Hoffman. "I was starting to overdrive a little bit in the corners," Senerchia said. "Josh (spotter Josh Nelms) was on my radio and calmed me down a little bit. "I was able to settle down and keep the car on the bottom. We were pretty equal. I just tried to stay consistent." Defending division champion John Nutley checked in third, ahead of Splant, Tyler Middleton and Mark Ross Jr. A field of 18 legends drivers were paced in the 20-lap feature by Alex Arelano, who was in the right place at the right time when leader Michael Moore and second-running Garrett Goodwin tangled in Turn 2 just five laps from the finish. "Michael and Garerett were a little bit faster," Arelano said later. "But we kept digging for it, and got the win. "This care was unbelievable all during practice here. (The team) really put their hearts and souls into this car and it really shows." Arelano beat Chris King to the line by 0.792 seconds. Third went to Ryan Moore, while Scott Pool, Cullen Camasta and Tim Moore completed the top six. Veteran Scott Gardner had a splendid opening night in the turbo stox class, taking the lead from Bill Serviss on lap 6 and capturing the 25-lap main. Serviss would remain in contention after losing the top spot, holding off Brian Kucaba for second and eventually getting back on Gardner's bumper at the finish. Fourth went to Craig Coglianese, ahead of Bob Rohweder and Tony Meier. The pure stocks "A" feature went to Michael Martin over Tim Cronin and Paul McKeague. Justin Van Drunen was victorious in the bandolero feature.
SUMMARYLate-modelQualifying: 1. Anthony Danta (19.760), 2. Eddie Hoffman (19.807), 3. Jeff Cannon (19.920), 4. Blake Brown (20.047), 5. John Nutley (20.096), 6. Tom Smith (20.149), 7. Bobby Gash (20.210), 8. Jack Kalwasinski (20.211), 9. Chris Cooling (20.225), 10. Tony D'Ambrose (20.306), 11. Mike Monroe (20.529), 12. Dean Patterson (20.697), 13. Richard Ruckh (20.781), 14. Don Sabatino (20.947), 15. Andy Marchiniak (DNQ).
1st heat: 1. Cannon, 2. Nutley, 3. Hoffman, 4. Kalwasinski, 5. Gash, 6. Brown, 7. Danta, 8. Smith.
2nd heat: 1. Monroe, 2. Patterson, 3. Cooling, 4. Ruckh, 5. Sabatino, 6. D'Ambrose, 7. Marchiniak.
25-lap feature: 1. Smith, 2. Cannon, 3. Brown, 4. Danta, 5. Hoffman, 6. Nutley, 7. Monroe, 8. Kalwasinski, 9. Cooling, 10. D'Ambrose, 11. Gash, 12. Sabatino, 13. Ruckh, 14. Patterson.
Limited late-modelQualifying: 1. John Nutley (20.432), 2. Eddie Hoffman (20.468), 3. John Senerchia (20.530), 4. Tyler Middleton (20.764), 5. Phil Splant (20.816), 6. Joe Balser (21.047), 7. Kevin Offdenkamp (21.139), 8. Mark Ross Jr. (21.289).
Heat: 1. Senerchia, 2. Splant, 3. Hoffman, 4. Middleton, 5. Ross, 6. Nutley, 7. Balser, 8. Offdenkamp.
20-lap feature: 1. Senerchia, 2. Hoffman, 3. Nutley, 4. Splant, 5. Middleton, 6. Ross, 7. Balser, 8. Offdenkamp.
LegendsQualifying: 1. Alex Arelano (17.508), 2. Chris King (17.810), 3. Garrett Goodwin (17.934), 4. Scott Pool (17.963), 5. Michael Moore (18.010), 6. Cullen Camasta (18.018), 7. Ryan Moore (18.199), 8. Mark Van Drunen (18.382), 9. Paul Barnes (18.447), 10. Tim Moore (18.493), 11. Andrea Hans (18.497), 12. Craig Mahoney (18.593), 13. Ben Fidone (18.653), 14. Dylan Harmon (18.952), 15. Peter Bult (19.016), 16. Michael Inscore (19.076), 17. Paul Balas (19.811), 18. Judi Goethal (29.929).
1st heat: 1. Goodwin, 2. T. Moore, 3. King, 4. R. Moore, 5. M. Moore, 6. Arelano, 7. Pool, 8. Van Drunen, 9. Barnes, 10. Camasta.
2nd heat: 1. Fidone, 2. Hans, 3. Goethal, 4. Balas, 5. Bult, 6. Inscore, 7. Harmon (DQ), 8. Mahoney (DQ).
20-lap feature: 1. Arelano, 2. King, 3. R. Moore, 4. Pool, 5. Camasta, 6. T. Moore, 7. Hans, 8. Goodwin, 9. Fidone, 10. Mahoney, 11. Inscore, 12. VanDrunen, 13. Bult, 14. Balas, 15. Harmon, 16. Barnes, 17. Goethal, 18. M. Moore.
Turbo stoxQualifying: 1. Bob Rohweder (18.097), 2. Tony Meier (18.161), 3. Billy Jarrells (18.181), 4. Scott Gardner (18.201), 5. Craig Coglianese (18.208), 6. Brian Kucaba (18.230), 7. Bill Serviss (18.316), 8. Bobby Blood (18.411), 9. Dan Witt (18.458), 10. Pat Ligue (18.478), 11. David Cressler (18.501), 12. Pat O'Rourke (18.789), 13. Chad Von Vossen (19.023), 14. Richard Hawkins (19.504), 15. Crystalyn Sehr (19.608), 16. Cheryl Hryn (20.239), 17. Mike Schutz (20.315), 18. Paul Mackey (21.790).
1st heat: 1. Serviss, 2. Coglianese, 3. Jarrells, 4. Gardner, 5. Meier, 6. Kucaba, 7. Ligue, 8. Rohweder, 9. Blood.
2nd heat: 1. Cressler, 2. Van Vossen, 3. Sehr, 4. Hryn, 5. Schutz, 6. Mackey, 7. Hawkins.
25-lap feature: 1. Gardner, 2. Serviss, 3. Kucaba, 4. Coglianese, 5. Rohweder, 6. Meier, 7. Cressler, 8. Sehr, 9. Ligue, 10. Van Vossen, 11. Schutz, 12. Witt, 13. Jarrells, 14. O'Rourke, 15. Hryn, 16. Blood.
Pure stocks
1st heat: 1. Brandon Foster. 2nd heat: Michael Martin. 3rd heat: 1. Tim Cronin.
"B" feature: 1. Ryan Lagestee, 2. Joe Moeglin, 3. Karen De St. Jean, 4. Kevin Sisk, 5. Jason Berry.
"A" feature: 1. Martin, 2. Cronin, 3. Paul McKeague, 4. Lee Mose, 5. Casey Martin.
Illiana Speedway Race Results 4-18-09 Now Updated Every Week
Tom Smith
Johnny Senerchia
Scott Gardner
Michael Martin Jr.
Alex Arelano
Chris Goodaker Goodaker Photography
