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Illiana Motor Speedway 2008 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. (Sept. 20) With two talented veterans behind him and a block of lapped cars in front of him, Sean Murphy was the epitome of cool Saturday night at Illiana Speedway.
The Evanston native used the tuneup for the Oct. 11 Bettenhausen Classic as a testament to his potential as a contender, capturing the 25-lap non-points event on the half-mile oval.
Murphy took the lead from Bobby Gash on lap 4. He survived a serious mid-race challenge from long-time veteran Robbie Pyle, and at the finish was able to keep his No. 19 in front of five-time track titlist Mike White.
At one point during his battle with Pyle, Murphy went wide out of the groove in Turn 1. But he managed to regroup on the high side, and use a power move on the back straightaway to reclaim the top spot.
"Yeah, we had a little hiccup there when we went around the lapped traffic," Murphy said. "I think I got up in the dust and stuff, and the car got really loose.
"I thought I lost the race right there, but we pulled it back together and got the win."
White, meanwhile, got a bad traffic break early on and was several car-lengths behind the two leaders as late as lap 10. But each time around White made up a car-length or two, and eventually took second place away from Pyle.
With only a few laps remaining, White was right on Murphy's bumper. Ahead of them were lapped cars that were racing side-by-side. Making any kind of move was futile for White, who had to maintain his position.
"The car was pretty awesome," White said. "There was no grip on the outside, so I had to hustle my way past Pyle on the bottom. The 19 car did a pretty good job down there in lapped traffic, and it made for a great race. He did a good job."
Murphy beat White to the finish line by 0.164 seconds. Pyle was a fraction of a second behind White in third. Fourth went to Ricky Baker, followed by Chris Cooling and Gash.
Former track champion John Senerchia made short work of the limited late-model field, jumping to an early lead and running away with the 20-lap event. Phil Splant passed Rita Fields near the finish to claim second, while Paul Zolodz, Joe Balser and Bobbie Jean Wall completed the top six.
Brian Kucaba and Mark Ross Jr., had a good battle to the finish in the 25-lap turbo stox main, with Kucaba posting the win. Bobbie Jean Wall was third, well ahead of Cher Powell, Bill Serviss and Mike Carpenter Jr.
Chris King was tops in the Legends class, beating out Ryan Moore. The pure stocks main went to Mike Jucius over Tim Cronin.
SUMMARY
Late-model
Qualifying: 1. Robbie Pyle (19.666), 2. Mike White (19.689), 3. Sean Murphy (20.034), 4. Ricky Baker (20.067), 5. Chris Cooling (20.131), 6. Keith Tolf (20.301), 7. Bobby Gash (20.334), 8. Vincent Merry (20.340), 9. Earl Counter (20.361), 10. Michael Marden (20.373), 11. Mike Monroe (20.494), 12. Don Sabatino (20.596), 13. Len Nowosel (20.622), 14. Tony Brutti (20.807), 15. Brad Plunket (20.872), 16. Kevin Offdenkamp (20.917), 17. Alex Clubb (21.148).
1st heat: 1. Murphy, 2. Baker, 3. White, 4. Gash, 5. Cooling, 6. Merry, 7. Tolf, 8. Pyle.
2nd heat: 1. Monroe, 2. Counter, 3. Marden, 4. Brutti, 5. Nowosel, 6. Plunket, 7. Sabatino, 8. Clubb, 9. Offdenkamp.
25-lap feature: 1. Murphy, 2. White, 3. Pyle, 4. Baker, 5. Cooling, 6. Gash, 7. Monroe, 8. Nowosel, 9. Marden, 10. Merry, 11. Tolf, 12. Counter, 13. Sabatino, 14. Plunket, 15. Brutti, 16. Clubb, 17. Offdenkamp.
Limited late-model
Qualifying: 1. John Senerchia (20.582), 2. Rita Fields (20.703), 3. Paul Zolodz (20.858), 4. Phil Splant (20.878), 5. Joe Balser (21.252), Bobbie Jean Wall (DNQ).
Heat: 1. Senerchia, 2. Splant, 3. Fields, 4. Zolodz, 5. Balser, 6. Wall.
20-lap feature: 1. Senerchia, 2. Balser, 3. Zolodz, 4. Splant, 5. Fields, 6. Wall.
Turbo stox
Qualifying: 1. Mark Ross Jr. (17.883), 2. Brian Kucaba (17.986), 3. Chris Woodall (18.291), 4. Bobbie Jean Wall (18.321), 5. Bill Serviss (18.425), 6. Mike Carpenter Jr. (18.492), 7. Mike Brandolino (18.757), 8. Cher Powell (19.121), 9. Dean Patterson (24.136).
Heat: 1. Ross, 2. Kucaba, 3. Serviss, 4. Woodall, 5. Carpenter, 6. Powell, 7. Brandolino, 8. Patterson.
25-lap feature: 1. Kucaba, 2. Ross, 3. Powell, 4. Serviss, 5. Carpenter, 6. Brandolino, 7. Woodall.
Legends
Heat: 1. Chris King, 2. Ryan Moore, 3. Jeremie Johnson.
Feature: 1. King, 2. Johnson, 3. Mark Van Drunen, 4. Tim Moore, 5. Ben Fidone.
Pure stocks
Feature: 1. Mike Jucius, 2. Tim Cronin, 3. Steve Wells, 4. Casey Martin, 5. Jim Kunis.
Illiana Speedway Race Results 9-20-08 Now Updated Every Week
NON-POINTS NIGHT
Johnny Senerchia
Brian Kucaba
Sean Murphy
Mike Jucius
Chris King
