9/4/2011
Sprint Source
BALLOU CLAIMS SATURDAY NIGHT LOUIE VERMEIL CLASSIC IN A THRILLER
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (September 4, 2011) – The Madman Robert Ballou finally picked up a Calistoga Speedway win as he snared a thrilling Saturday night portion of the “Louie Vermeil Classic” for USAC/CRA and Western Classic Sprint Cars on the historic half-mile. Ballou led the final 15 laps for the $3,000 victory.
“We’ve only been here in a winged car maybe two or three times, and last year for Ted Finkenbinder,” Ballou said. “Fought it all night and it was a little evil to drive but I was good on the bottom where nobody else was. Luck was on our side tonight.”
Danny Sheridan of Santa Maria led from outside pole ahead of Ballou in the early laps, while the USAC Western Classic drivers Scott Pierovich and Sebastopol’s Geoff Ensign battled for their respective lead for points in eighth.
Ensign began to charge forward in his WCRS legal car with an intake restrictor, passing Roseville teen Colby Copeland on lap five. Nic Faas and Matt Mitchell had a back-and-forth battle for fifth before Mitchell finally took the spot on lap seven.
Lapped traffic was in the mix early by lap eight in the caution free affair for the 22 car starting grid. Ballou jumped underneath Sheridan off of turn two on lap 15 to seize the lead in the thick of the traffic.
USAC/CRA points leader Mike Spencer closed down on the top two and a thrilling duel ensured. Spencer and Sheridan went three-wide splitting lapped cars to the near sellout crowd’s approval. Spencer wrestled his way to second while Ballou built up a small lead.
Spencer eventually faded being passed by not only Sheridan but a very hard-charging Mitchell who reeled in the top-three. Mitchell perhaps had the fastest car on the track in the closing stages.
Ensign engaged in a nice battle with Hollister rookie sensation Ryan Bernal to take the seventh position as highest USAC WCRS car in the field.
Ballou nursed brake issues throughout the race but drove cleanly to defend from a few challenges from Sheridan to take the victory. Sheridan came home second, Mitchell third, with Spencer and Damion Gardner rounding out the top-five. Faas was sixth ahead of Ensign, Bernal, Copeland, and Greg Bragg.
Heat race wins went to Ballou, Spencer, and Bragg while Bernal won the semi. Gardner timed in on top with a 20.011 second lap ahead of the 25 car field on hand.
USAC WCRS points leader Tony Hunt had a pushrod come loose in hot laps that prevented him from qualifying but he recovered to finish 16th in the feature. The finish was good enough for fourth among WCRS cars but his lead over Ensign in the standings fell to just 18 points going into Sunday’s $5,000 to win feature.
Scott Pierovich finished second among WCRS entries with an 11th place effort in his 360 powered entry for Ken Pierson and Dave Vertullo. Pierovich won the $2,000 to win USAC Western Midgets feature leading all 25 laps in his family-owned #35 car.
Fan gates will swing open at 4 p.m. tonight for the conclusion of the 2011 Louie Vermeil Classic with racing at 7 p.m.
More information on the USAC Western Classic Racing Series is available on Facebook at keywords “USAC Western Classic Racing Series”. The United States Auto Club is online at www.usacracing.com
The USAC Western Classic Racing Series is brought to you by: Amsoil, Hoosier Tires West, and Kaeding Performance.
USAC AMSOIL USAC/CRA/WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: September 3, 2011 – Calistoga, California – Calistoga Speedway – “Louie Vermeil Classic”
QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Damion Gardner, 71, DG-20.011; 2. Matt Mitchell, 37, Mitchell-20.298; 3. Nic Faas, 4, Alexander-20.375; 4. Jason York, 25N, York-20.448; 5. Mike Spencer, 50, Chaffin-20.450; 6. Ryan Bernal, 11D, Olmstead-20.530; 7. Colby Copeland, 24, Copeland-20.612; 8. Scott Pierovich, 14, Pierson-20.615; 9. Danny Sheridan, 18, Kittle-20.643; 10. Robert Ballou, 72, Ford-20.660; 11. Cody Williams, 44, Jory-20.766; 12. Rip Williams, 3, Jory-20.809; 13. Austin Williams, 2, Jory-20.878; 14. Geoff Ensign, 3F, Finkenbinder-20.941; 15. Greg Bragg, 92, Sertich-21.084; 16. Jeff Griffin, 50x, Griffin-21.234; 17. Scott Hall, 56x, Hall-21.465; 18. Tim Sherman, 1x, Sherman-21.694; 19. Marty Hawkins, 3m, Hawkins-21.708; 20. Shauna Hogg, 5, Hogg-22.156; 21. Tim Barber, 3T, Finkenbinder-22.330; 22. Jim Richardson, 8, Richardson-22.771; 23. Jerry Cisco, 4B, Basden-23.079; 24. Todd Miller Jr., 96, Miller-NT; 25. Tony Hunt, 56, Phulps-NT.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ballou, D.Gardner, 2. A.Williams, 4. Copeland, 5. Richardson, 6. Hunt, 7. York, 8. Griffin. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Spencer, 2. Ensign, 3. Pierovich, 4. Mitchell, 5. C.Williams, 6. Hall, 7. Hogg, 8. Cisco. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bragg, 2. Sheridan, 3. Faas, 4. R.Williams, 5. Bernal, 6. Barber, 7. T,Sherman, 8. Miller. NT
SEMI: (10 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. C.Williams, 3. York, 4. Hall, 5. Barber, 6. T.Sherman, 7. Hogg, 8. Miller, 9. Cisco, 10. Hunt, 11. Richardson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Danny Sheridan, 3. Matt Mitchell, 4. Mike Spencer, 5. Damion Gardner, 6. Nic Faas, 7. Geoff Ensign, 8. Ryan Bernal, 9. Colby Copeland, 10. Greg Bragg, 11. Scott Pierovich, 12. Jason York, 13. Tim Barber, 14. Austin Williams, 15. Scott Hall, 16. Tony Hunt, 17. Tim Sherman, 18. Shauna Hogg, 19. Jerry Cisco, 20. Cody Williams (#3), 21. Todd Miller Jr., 22. Jim Richardson, 23. Rip Williams (#44). NT
**Griffin flipped during the first heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-15 Sheridan, Laps 16-30 Ballou.
NEW AMSOIL USAC/CRA SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Spencer-683; 2-Faas-643; 3-Mitchell-641; 4-A.Williams-528; 5-Bragg-445; 6-C.Williams-414; 7-Sheridan-397; 8-R.Williams-387; 9-David Cardey-380; 10-Ronnie Gardner-370.
NEW USAC WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Hunt-621; 2-Ensign-603; 3-Hogg-522; 4-Pierovich-506; 5-Barber-466; 6-Audra Sasselli-314; 7-Jerry Kobza-286; 8-Cody Gerhardt-281; 9-Tim Skoglund-263; 10-T.Sherman-244.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL USAC/CRA/WESTERN CLASSIC SPRINT CAR RACE: September 4 – Calistoga (CA) Speedway - “Louie Vermeil Classic”
Article Credit: Steven Blakesley / Blakesley Sports Media
Submitted By: Steven Blakesley