Kruseman Takes Sprint Bandits TNT Tuesday Night Cap at East Bay

Lonnie Wheatley, TAMPA, Fla. (January 31, 2006) – Cory Kruseman put the wraps on a full day of O’Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless wingless 410-ci Sprint Car action by capturing victory honors in Tuesday night’s 25-lap feature at East Bay Raceway Park.

The checkered flag flew none too soon for the Ventura, CA, ace though, as 57-year-old Minnesota veteran racer Roger Rager was on the charge in classic rim-riding style, blasting past Bryan Clauson and Jason Sides on the final lap to finish a close second after starting 21^st.

“I could tell someone was coming on the high side because you could see the top was getting run in pretty good,” Kruseman commented from victory lane.  “But we were good on the bottom and until someone actually passes ya’, you can’t really leave your line.”

Kruseman, who charged from 16^th to fifth in the daytime portion of the Tuesday TNT double, earned the pole position for the nightcap by making a last corner pass of Casey Shuman to win his heat then finishing a close second to Charles Davis, Jr., in his qualifier.

“The Kruser” outgunned young gun and fellow front row starter Bryan Clauson for the point at the drop of the green flag and set the early pace in front of Clauson and Jon Stanbrough, with ninth-starter Jason Sides advancing to fourth by the third lap.

Sides disposed of Stanbrough for third following a lap seven caution for Davis, who came to a halt in turn four, while Bud Kaeding and Terry McCarl diced for position behind Kruseman, Clauson, Sides and Stanbrough.  Kaeding and McCarl swapped positions several times before McCarl looped his mount in turn four at the race’s midway point.  McCarl tagged the field at the rear.

After a restart tangle that eliminated Davis, Justin Marvel, Darren Hagen and Brandon Petty, Kruseman continued to set the pace while Rager had cracked the top ten after starting in the eleventh row.

Riding the rim in dazzling fashion, Rager blasted by a host of competitors to advance to sixth by the 17^th lap.  By the time the red flag flew after 20 laps for Daron Clayton’s turn two tumble, Rager had bypassed Kaeding to crack the top five.

Set for a five-lap dash to the checkered flag, Kruseman stuck to his preferred low line in front of Clauson, Sides, Stanbrough and Rager.  Rager made quick work of Stanbrough for fourth, then after Sides briefly slowed his charge on the 22^nd lap, Rager edged ahead of the Tennessee racer for third as the white flag flew.

While Kruseman flashed under the checkered flag with a five car-length advantage aboard Glenn Crossno’s Downing-powered No. 38 Bullet, the final lap featured Clauson, Rager and Sides battling in spirited fashion for the runner-up slot.  On the extreme high side through the final corners, Rager’s momentum carried him both past Sides and Clauson to snare the runner-up position by little more than a foot.

Clauson settled for the show position, with Sides and Stanbrough rounding out the top five.  Kaeding earned a sixth place finish, with Danny Smith, 16^th-starter Dickie Gaines, Kevin Briscoe and 19^th-starter Dave Darland completing the top ten.

Stanbrough, Clauson, Kenny Carmichael, Kruseman and Shane Cottle topped heat race action for Tuesday night’s 48-car field, with Davis, Kaeding, Petty, Clauson and Sides victorious in qualifying races.

Mat Neely won the first 12-lap “B” Main, with Clayton winning the second “B” Main.

Florida’s Joe Melnick flipped violently down the backstretch during the third qualifying race.  Melnick was transported to a local hospital for observation, complaining of possible rib injuries.

Ed Hassler, who finished third in the afternoon event, was leading his qualifying race when his driveline woes ended his night.  Afternoon winner Brady Short missed the night feature when he fell two positions short of the final transfer in the second “B” Main.

The top six in total points from Tuesday’s Sprint Bandits TNT double are locked into Wednesday night’s $10,000 to win finale.  Drivers locked in include Kruseman, Stanbrough, Danny Smith, Clauson, Kaeding and Zach Chappell.

The balance of the 50-car field will line up according to accumulated points in four heat races, with the top three finishers in each heat race advancing to Wednesday’s “A” Main.  The rest will go to Twin “B” Mains, with the top three from each rounding out the 24-car finale.

O’Reilly Sprint Bandits Tour ‘N Topless Tuesday Night Results:

Heat Races

First Heat (8 Laps):  1. 53-Jon Stanbrough, 2. 11d-Derek O’Dell, 3. 56-Kevin Briscoe, 4. 24-Terry McCarl, 5. 16-Nick Adams, 6. 1T-Tim Shaffer, 7. 5-Donnie Maxwell, 8. 34-Luke Hall, 9. 69x-Mark Cole.

Second Heat (8 Laps):  1. 67-Bryan Clauson, 2. 85-Greg Leonard, 3. 2b-Bud Kaeding, 4. 81-Justin Marvel, 5. 21x-Dickie Gaines, 6. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 7. 36-Brady Short, 8. 88-Steven King, 9. 92x-Daron Clayton, 10. 51x-Harley Slotten.

Third Heat (8 Laps):  1. 92-Kenny Carmichael, 2. 4-Danny Smith, 3. 10-Mat Neely, 4. 66h-Ed Hassler, 5. 29p-Terry Pletch, 6. 21-Charles Davis, Jr., 7. 11x-Dave Darland, 8. 11-Brent Beauchamp, 9. 5a-Arin McIntosh, 10. 51-John Sauermilch.

Fourth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 38-Cory Kruseman, 2. 53x-Casey Shuman, 3. 71-Darren Hagen, 4. 1-Jake Scott, 5. 7s-Jason Sides, 6. 57-John Heydenreich, 7. 2k-Roger Rager, 8. 29T-Travis Rilat, 9. 4b-Tom Busch, 10. 20-Frank Carlsson. 

Fifth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 5g-Shane Cottle, 2. 50z-Zach Chappell, 3. 29-Kyle Nicholas, 4. 3R-Brandon Petty, 5. 8m-Joe Melnick, 6. 52-Mark Broughman, 7. 71c-Jack Helget, 8. 22-Mark Weber, 9. 93-Scott Townsend.

First Qualifier (8 Laps):  1. 21-Charles Davis, Jr., 2. 38-Cory Kruseman, 3. 21x-Dickie Gaines, 4. 10-Mat Neely, 5. 56-Kevin Briscoe, 6. 57-John Heydenreich, 7. 88-Steven King, 8. 51x-Harley Slotten, 9. 69x-Mark Cole, 10. 85-Greg Leonard.

Second Qualifier (8 Laps):  1. 2b-Bud Kaeding, 2. 53-Jon Stanbrough, 3. 92-Kenny Carmichael, 4. 92x-Daron Clayton, 5. 1T-Tim Shaffer, 6. 1-Jake Scott, 7. 29-Kyle Nicholas, 8. 34-Luke Hall, 9. 52-Mark Broughman, 10. 51-John Sauermilch.

Third Qualifier (8 Laps):  1. 3R-Brandon Petty, 2. 50z-Zach Chappell, 3. 11d-Derek O’Dell, 4. 53x-Casey Shuman, 5. 11-Brent Beauchamp, 6. 20-Frank Carlsson, 7. 5m-Arin McIntosh, 8. 5-Donnie Maxwell, 9. 71c-Jack Helget, 10. 8m-Joe Melnick.

Fourth Qualifier (8 Laps):  1. 67-Bryan Clauson, 2. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 3. 4-Danny Smith, 4. 29T-Travis Rilat, 5. 71-Darren Hagen, 6. 36-Brady Short, 7. 4b-Tom Busch, 8. 16-Nick Adams, 9. 66h-Ed Hassler.

Fifth Qualifier (8 Laps):  1. 7s-Jason Sides, 2. 24-Terry McCarl, 3. 11x-Dave Darland, 4. 29p-Terry Pletch, 5. 5g-Shane Cottle, 6. 81-Justin Marvel, 7. 2k-Roger Rager, 8. 93-Scott Townsend, 9. 22-Mark Weber.

First “B” Main (12 Laps):  1. 10-Mat Neely, 2. 11x-Dave Darland, 3. 2k-Roger Rager, 4. 29-Kyle Nicholas, 5. 11-Brent Beauchamp, 6. 3b-Scott Bonnell, 7. 29T-Travis Rilat, 8. 34-Luke Hall, 9. 69x-Mark Cole, 10. 52-Mark Broughman, 11. 20-Frank Carlsson, 12. 51x-Harley Slotten, 13. 16-Nick Adams.  DNS: 1T-Tim Shaffer, 66h-Ed Hassler, 71c-Jack Helget.

Second “B” Main (12 Laps):  1. 92x-Daron Clayton, 2. 81-Justin Marvel, 3. 71-Darren Hagen, 4. 1-Jake Scott, 5. 57-John Heydenreich, 6. 36-Brady Short, 7. 29p-Terry Pletch, 8. 88-Steven King, 9. 4b-Tom Busch, 10. 93-Scott Townsend, 11. 5-Donnie Maxwell, 12. 5m-Arin McIntosh, 13. 22-Mark Weber, 14. 51-John Sauermilch.  DNS:  85-Greg Leonard, 8m-Joe Melnick.