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View From the Tower
By Ken de la Bastide
(May
12, 2011) –
Just a little over a month into the 2011
season and there has been plenty of good racing at Anderson Speedway in all
of the divisions.
This past weekend the Champion Racing Association Super Late Models kicked
off the 2011 campaign at Anderson and put on a good show.
Had it not been for 14 caution periods the Seal Wrap 125 would have been
considered a great race in many respects.
The CRA drivers were getting their first taste of double file restarts. The
new format, used for all Anderson Speedway divisions, achieved the desired
result of tight racing for position. Although impatience caused numerous
caution periods triggered by one-car spins.
Knightstown driver Jeff Lane and defending CRA champion John VanDoorn waged
a classic battle for the lead for most of the second half of the race.
VanDoorn beat and banged on the back of Lane’s Ed Martin sponsored
Chevrolet, but was unable to gain the low line.
Van Doorn’s night ended on lap 107 with a mechanical problem, but that
didn’t make the run to the checkers any easier for Lane. Mason Mingus and
Terry Fisher Jr., both looking for their first Super Series win, raced side
by side for several laps battling for the second spot. Mingus finally
prevailed when Fisher’s car developed a tight condition in the corners.
Jenny White, making her first appearance at Anderson Speedway, turned in an
impressive run. White competes in Missouri and raced at the now closed I-70
Speedway.
White received the “Lucky Dog” several times, finishing seventh the last car
on the lead lap.
Something else took place over the weekend that won’t appear in a box score,
money being brought into the local economy by the speedway.
There were approximately 20 CRA teams that attended an open practice last
Friday. Many of those teams were from outside the immediate area.
What that meant was money spent on hotel rooms, meals and gasoline. With the
Pay Less Little 500 only slightly more than two weeks away it will mean the
speedway will be providing more customers for local businesses.
This Saturday the CRA Sullivan RV Sportsman Late Models return for their
second visit of the year. The earlier race attracted 35 racecars and the
drivers provided good racing in three heat races and the 50-lap feature.
Keith Sterkowitz took the lead on a lap 26 restart and than held off Jason
Atkinson and Brett Robinson.
I expect to see more of the same on Saturday.
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