We still have more pics to post. Photos by Gaye Allen and TME Racing Photography
COLE WHATT?
By Windy McDonald
Manzanita Speedway had to crowd a scheduled two night show into one full day of racing in the running of the second annual Sand’s Chevrolet Copper on Dirt but the half mile track held up despite the onslaught of over 200 laps of competition.
The Friday night show fell victim to a steady rain and was postponed until Saturday morning. The field of 57 USAC midgets, 45 USAC/CRA sprints and 17 USAC Silver Crown cars ran time trials and qualifying races and then prepared the track for the Saturday night finals.
The near capacity crowd was not disappointed as local drivers took on the out of state drivers. Darren Hagen edged Cole Witt in the 25 lap midget feature with Jerry Coons, Jr. of Tucson, the defending two time national champion in third.
Shane Cottle of Indiana and three time Arizona champion Jeremy Sherman switched the lead five times in the 40 lap sprint car feature before Cottle managed to pull away for the hard fought win. Two time National champion Levi Jones finished third.
Chad Boat, the 16 year old son of former Indy Car driver Billy Boat, had a great night with a sixth place finish in the midgets and then made a drive from 24th to sixth in the sprints.
Coons chased down two time Silver Crown champion Bud Kaeding and led the final 11 laps in the fifty lap feature to cap off his night. Kaeding finished second and Ricky Stenhouse, winner of the Silver Crown race last year was third.
MOPAR USAC NATIONAL & WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: February 16, 2007 – Phoenix, Arizona – Manzanita Speedway – Sands Chevrolet Presents “The Copper on Dirt”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-19.729; 2. Darren Hagen, 67, Kunz-19.735; 3. Bradley Galedrige, 29, Galedrige-19.809; 4. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-19.869; 5. Gary Taylor, 5x, Tel-Star-19.872; 6. Aaron Fike, 32, RFMS-19.972; 7. Jerome Rodela, 25, Rodela-19.976; 8. Garrett Hansen, 70, Hansen-19.979; 9. Brad Kuhn, 19x, Sala-20.040; 10. Jerry Coons Jr., 11, Wilke-Pak-20.055; 11. Steve Sussex, 21az, Burkhart-20.067; 12. Johnny Rodriguez, 87, Mitchell-20.077; 13. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-20.085; 14. Cole Whitt, 71, Kunz-20.128; 15. Dustin Morgan, 93, Morgan-20.148; 16. Chris Windom, 17, Windom-20.154; 17. Jon Stanbrough, 05s, Loyet-20.182; 18. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-20.189; 19. Jesse Hockett, 29L, Eastwood-20.194; 20. Hunter Scheurenberg, 1H, Triple Crown20.194; -21. Brad Sweet, 49, Kahne-20.239; 22. Dave Darland, 9, Nine Racing-20.310; 23. Russ Harper, 09, Harper-20.314; 24. Brady Bacon, 99, Kahne-20.321; 25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 69, RFMS-20.333; 26. Bud Kaeding, 75, Pedregon-20.346;
27. Nathan High, 12J, Allen-20.366; 28. Dakoda Armstrong, 7a, C & A-20.441; 29. Chris Rahe, 3, Rahe-20.442; 30. Darren Stewart, 07x, Mentgen-20.475; 31. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-20.487; 32. Danny Stratton, 21a, Burkhart-20.492; 33. Shannon McQueen, 7x, McQueen-20.498; 34. Josh Pelkey, 45, Perry-20.518; 35. Shane Cottle, 47, Bondio-20.553; 36. Nic Faas, 40, Western Speed-20.554; 37. Bob East, 4, Klatt-20.559; 38. Michael Faccinto, 41, Scelzi-20.565; 39. Jonathan Hendrick, 85, Hollingsworth-20.581; 40. Casey Shuman, 37s, Felker-20.592; 41. Alan Ballard, 97x, Martens-20.659; 42. C.J. Sarna, 20x, Sarna-20.719; 43. Tanner Swanson, 35p, Pierovich-20.731; 44. Damion Gardner, 88, McKenney-20.735; 45. Robby Josett, 99x, Josett-20.742; 46. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-20.744; 47. Brent Beauchamp, 112, Beauchamp-20.814; 48. Paul Zimmerly, 60, Western Speed-20.828; 49. Kody Swanson, 19, Nine Racing-20.932; 50. Alfred Galedrige Jr., 26, Galedrige-20.987; 51. Justin Grant, 17x, Thurston-20.988; 52. Ryan Kaplan, 19w, Sala-21.077; 53. Billy Mentgen, 07, Mentgen-21.169; 54. Matt Streeter, 14J, Streeter-21.179; 55. Darrin Bolton, 00, Bolton-21.341; 56. Jordan Weaver, 37x, Felker-22.112; 57. Brad Loyet, 05, Loyet-22.644; 58. #21s, Stewart-NT; 59. #91, Nine Racing-NT; 60. #97, Kunz-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Fike, 2. Jones, 3. Mitchell, 4. Ford, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Harper, 7. Armstrong, 8. Grant, 9. Sussex, 10. Faas, 11. Weaver, 12. Ballard. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Hagen, 3. Whitt, 4. Hockett, 5. East, 6. Rahe, 7. Boat, 8. Kaplan, 9. Sarna, 10. Beauchamp, 11. Loyet, 12. Rodela. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Pierovich, 2. Morgan, 3. Hansen, 4. Stewart, 5. B.Galedrige, 6. Faccinto, 7. T.Swanson, 8. Mentgen, 9. Zimmerly. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Sweet, 2. Hines, 3. Kaeding, 4. Windom, 5. K.Swanson, 6. Streeter, 7. Pelkey, 8. Hendrick, 9. Kuhn, 10. Gardner. 2:53.51
FIFTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Coons, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Darland, 4. Cottle, 5. McQueen, 6. Shuman, 7. Josett, 8. Bolton, 9. A.Galedrige, 10. High, 11. Taylor. NT
C MAIN: (8 laps) 1. High, 2. Stratton, 3. Faas, 4. Stenhouse, 5. Sussex, 6. A.Galedrige, 7. Loyet, 8. Beauchamp, 9. Sarna, 10. Weaver, 11. Zimmerly, 12. Taylor, 13. Gardner. NT
FIRST “B” MAIN (Semi): (12 laps) 1. High, 2. Kuhn (#07 Mentgen), 3. Rodriguez, 4. B.Galedrige, 5. McQueen, 6. Josett, 7. Shuman, 8. Faas, 9. Faccinto, 10. Rahe, 11. Grant, 12. Harper, 13. Bolton, 14. K.Swanson. NT
SECOND “B” MAIN (Semi): (12 laps) 1. Stratton, 2. Boat, 3. A.Galedrige, 4. East, 5. Armstrong, 6. Streeter, 7. Loyet, 8. Hendrick, 9. Beauchamp, 10. T.Swanson, 11. Kaplan, 12. Sussex, 13. Pelkey, 14. Stenhouse. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Darren Hagen, 2. Cole Whitt, 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Brad Sweet, 6. Chad Boat, 7. Jon Stanbrough, 8. Josh Ford, 9. Aaron Fike, 10. Chris Windom, 11. Brady Bacon, 12. Levi Jones, 13. Darren Stewart, 14. Brad Kuhn (#07), 15. Scott Pierovich, 16. Danny Stratton, 17. Dave Darland, 18. Johnny Rodriguez, 19. Matt Mitchell, 20. Bobby East, 21. Alfred Galedrige Jr., 22. Brad Loyet, 23. Bud Kaeding, 24. Bradley Galedrige, 25. Nathan High, 26. Dustin Morgan, 27. Shane Cottle, 28. Garrett Hansen, 29. Jesse Hockett. NT
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**Ballard flipped during the first heat, Rodela flipped during the second heat. Taylor flipped during the fifth heat. Zimmerly flipped during the C Main.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Hansen, Lap 2 Hines, Laps 3-7 Hansen, Laps 8-25 Hagen.
NEW NATIONAL MIDGET POINTS: 1-Hagen-72; 2-Whitt-63; 3-Coons-62; 4-Hines-61; 5-Sweet-56; 6-Ford-50; 7-Stanbrough-49; 8-Boat; 9-Fike-45; 10-Bacon-39.
NEW WESTERN MIDGET POINTS: 1-Hagen-72; 2-Whitt-63; 3-Coons-62; 4-Hines-61; 5-Sweet-56; 6-Ford-50; 7-Stanbrough-49; 8-Boat; 9-Fike-45; 10-Bacon-39.
USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: February 16, 2007 – Phoenix, Arizona – Manzanita Speedway – Sands Chevrolet Presents “The Copper on Dirt”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Bret Mellenberndt, 97, Mellenberndt-18.669; 2. Seth Wilson, 17, Wilson-19.143; 3. Levi Jones, 11, Walker/Guiducci-19.228; 4. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-19.268; 5. Rick Ziehl, 33, Tutco-19.349; 6. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-18.374; 7. Jeremy Sherman, 77, Bryan-19.447; 8. Charles Davis Jr., 50az, Massey-19.472; 9. Brad Sweet, 9, Kahne-19.489; 10. Thomas Ogle, 5az, DAR-19.489; 11. Jesse Hockett, 75, VKCC-19.491; 12. Shane Cottle, 4, Contos-19.521; 13. Josh Ford, 73, Ford-19.543; 14. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-19.571; 15. Gary Taylor, 5, Tel-Star-19.606; 16. Dustin Morgan, 11D, Walker/Guiducci-19.689; 17. Cory Kruseman, 21k, Kruseman-19.689; 18. Kyle Wissmiller, 0, Price-19.689; 19. Garrett Hansen, 7, Priestley-19.727; 20. Rickie Gaunt, 2A, Smiley-19.746; 21. Chris Urish, 77u, Urish-19.751; 22. Dave Darland, 2AZ, Massey-19.817; 23. R.J. Johnson, 15, Martin-19.846; 24. Nathan High, 12, Allen-19.857; 25. David Cardey, 83, Crossno-19.865; 26. Chris Windom, 17x, Windom-19.963; 27. Darren Hagen, 67, Kunz-19.970; 28. Tyler Brown, 96, Gardner-19.985; 29. Jerry Coons Jr., 32, Foster-19.987; 30. Nic Faas, 117, Faas-20.007; 31. Davey Pombo, 38, Crossno-20.053; 32. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-20.099; 33. Blake Miller, 93, Gardner-20.190; 34. Mike Leslie, 76, Leslie-20.240; 35. Jonas Reynolds, 48, Reynolds-20.263; 36. Hunter Scheurenberg, 1H, Triple Crown-20.328; 37. Casey Shuman, 61, Carsten-20.343; 38. Brady Bacon, 42, Cheney-20.370; 39. Alex Schutte, 71k, Kruseman-20.448; 40. Dakoda Armstrong, 7a, C & A-20.596; 41. Andrew Reinbold, 19x, Reinbold-20.618; 42. Kenny Perkins, 34, Perkins-20.757, 43. Royal Adderson, 40, Adderson-21.340; 44. Paul Whitehead, 21, Whitehead-23.124; 45. Jon Stanbrough, 5x, Massey-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Morgan, 3. Mellenberndt, 4. Scheurenberg, 5. Pombo, 6. Sheridan, 7. Reinbold, 8. Urish, 9. Hockett. 3:05.01
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Cottle, 2. Sherman, 3. Hagen, 4. Kruseman, 5. Boat, 6. Wilson, 7. Perkins, 8. Darland. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. L.Jones, 2. Davis, 3. Johnson, 4. Ford, 5. Miller, 6. Brown, 7. Wissmiller, 8. Bacon, 9. Adderson. NT
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Coons, 2. Sweet, 3. Whitt, 4. Hansen, 5. Spencer, 6. Leslie, 7. High, 8. Schutte. 3:43.76
FIFTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Taylor, 2. Gaunt, 3. Ziehl, 4. Cardey, 5. Ogle, 6. Armstrong, 7. Reynolds, 8. Faas. 3:37.36
FIRST “B” MAIN (Semi): (12 laps) 1. Hockett, 2. Sheridan, 3. Boat, 4. Schutte, 5. Wissmiller, 6. Wilson, 7. High, 8. Reinbold, 9. Adderson, 10. Faas, 11. Leslie. NT
SECOND “B” MAIN (Semi): (12 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Bacon, 3. Ogle, 4. Brown, 5. Miller, 6. Urish, 7. Armstrong, 8. Reynolds, 9. Perkins, 10. Pombo. 4:25.26
FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Jeremy Sherman, 3. Levi Jones, 4. Jesse Hockett,5. Cole Whitt, 6. Chad Boat, 7. Brad Sweet, 8. Bret Mellenberndt, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Cory Kruseman, 11. Danny Sheridan, 12. Ricky Johnson, 13. Darren Hagen, 14. Blake Miller, 15. Garrett Hansen, 16. Chris Windom, 17. David Cardey, 18. Alex Schutte, 19. Thomas Ogle, 20. Hunter Scheurenberg, 21. Rick Ziehl, 22. Tyler Brown, 23. Dustin Morgan, 24. Jerry Coons Jr., 25. Josh Ford, 26. Charles Davis Jr., 27. Gary Taylor, 28. Mike Spencer, 29. Rickie Gaunt. NT
**Hockett flipped during the first heat. Urish flipped during the first heat. Darland flipped during the the second heat. Perkins and Pombo flipped during the second B Main. Taylor flipped on lap 11 of the feature. Ford flipped on lap 13 of the feature. Morgan flipped on lap 19 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Cottle, Laps 8-10 Sherman, Laps 11-15 Cottle, Laps 16-19 Sherman, Laps 20-40 Cottle.
NEW USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Cottle-68; 2-Jones-66; 3-Sherman-64; 4-Hockett-55; 5-Whitt-54; 6-Mellenberndt-51; 7-Sweet-49; 8-Boat-47; 9-Bacon-39; 10-Kruseman-38.
K & N USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES (Presented by Optima Batteries) RACE RESULTS: February 16, 2007 – Phoenix, Arizona – Manzanita Speedway – Sands Chevrolet Presents “The Copper on Dirt”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Jon Stanbrough, 5, Baldwin-20.070; 2. Tracy Hines, 22, Stewart-20.134; 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 27, RW-20.203; 4. Bud Kaeding, 29, BK-20.383; 5. Brian Tyler, 21, Team Six-R-20.403; 6. Shane Cottle, 4, Contos-20.409; 7. Levi Jones, 41, Stewart/Paternoster-20.444; 8. Shane Hollingsworth, 20, Nolen-20.450; 9. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 199, Edwards/RE-20.476; 10. Darren Hagen, 92, DDK-20.479; 11. Dave Darland, 56, Foxco-20.608; 12. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 00, Reutimann-20.695; 13. Aaron Fike, 91, RFMS-20.819; 14. Chris Urish, 77, Urish-21.060; 15. Damion Gardner, 28, Pierson-21.155; 16. Jay Ervine, 42, Pritchett-21.808; 17. Mike Murgoitio, 19, Team Six-R-22.107; 18. Mat Neely, 17, RW-NT.
FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Bud Kaeding, 3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 4. Shane Cottle, 5. Tracy Hines, 6. Mat Neely, 7. Levi Jones, 8. Brian Tyler, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Darren Hagen, 11. Shane Hollingsworth, 12. Aaron Fike, 13. Wayne Reutimann Jr., 14. Damion Gardner, 15. Jay Ervine, 16. Chris Urish, 17. Mike Murgoitio, 18. Jon Stanbrough. 19:13.35
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Stanbrough, Lap 8 Kaeding, Laps 9-13 Stanbrough, Laps 14-38 Kaeding, Laps 39-50 Coons.
NEW SILVER CROWN POINTS: 1-Coons-60; 2-Kaeding-60; 3-Stenhouse-54; 4-Cottle-51; 5-Hines-48; 6-Neely-45; 7-Jones-42; 8-Tyler-39; 9-Darland-36; 10-Hagen-33.