BRISTOLVILLE, OH – July 4, 2009 – A trip to Canada sounds like a vacation to most of us. However, it was going to be a “business trip” for Russ and the late model team. Nine nights of racing were scheduled in the short time span of ten days covering Canada, New York and Pennsylvania.
Regular crew chief, Bobby Bachman, would not be with the team on this trip as he and his wife were visiting family in Hawaii. Modified crew member, Mark Bates, was helping out at the races in Canada and Nick Emerson took over for the New York and Pennsylvania races.
BRANTFORD, ONT – June 18 – Forty-two teams signed in at Ohsweken Speedway with a strong group of them being either local or regional teams. Russ qualified twenty-sixth and started seventh in his heat race. A sixth place heat race finish meant he would need to qualify for the feature through the B-Main. He started fourth and went on to win the heat and was set to start seventeenth in the feature.
Unfortunately, they discovered a broken fitting on the fuel cell when re-fueling for the main event. With time running out, they quickly pulled the back-up car out of the hauler and a few quick changes before heading out onto the track. The change in cars meant Russ would have to drop to the tail of the field. He was up to the task and charged to a tenth place finish, his second Top 10 with the Outlaws.
DRUMMONDVILLE, QUE – June 20 – Friday was a day off from racing, but not from travel. It was a little over an eight hour haul to Autodrome Drummond in Quebec Province. The area had been catching the rain that was pelting much of the entire East coast for several days but a clearing allowed the racers to head out onto the track. The hot lap session soon turned into a “wet lap” session and finally a cancellation due to persistent rain and a dire forecast.
This race will not be made up this year but the track officials said they will be scheduling the series in 2010. The team did mention they enjoyed the Putine French fries with gravy and cheese curds on top. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?
LONG SAULT, ONT – June 21 – Struggling to find the right set-up at Cornwall Motor Speedway, Russ qualified twenty-fourth of the twenty-nine teams in the pits. He started next to last in his heat but drove to a sixth place finish which netted him an automatic transfer into the feature.
Russ started eighteenth and finished in the same position. It was not a bad night considering this was another first-time visit to a track. Of course, this is the case at nearly all tracks on the WoO Tour and the team looks forward to next year when they have notes to work from.
On the plus side, while in Canada, he had advanced two positions in the WoO Championship Points race and was now up to the eleventh position.
LAFARGEVILLE, NY – June 22 – Race, travel, race again and then travel some more is the routine for touring series teams. They were now back in the USA and Russ promptly qualified thirteenth of the thirty-one racers at Can-Am Speedway. Can-Am is a slick surface, so the qualifying time was a plus for the team. A sixth place finish in his heat secured another automatic transfer into the A-Main. He started sixteenth but lost four positions and finished twentieth after missing the optimum selection on tires.
CANANDAIGUA, NY – June 23 – Thirty-three cars checked into Canandaigua Speedway and Russ’ time of 18.641 was seventeenth quick. He started sixth in the heat but fell back to finish eighth forcing a B-Main transfer attempt. Slotted into the fifth hole at the dropping of the green flag, he advanced to finish second gaining a transfer into the feature.
In the A-Main, Russ finished eighteenth, up two positions from his twentieth starting spot.
The feature win went to NY driver Tim McCreadie in just his fourth start since returning to racing. Tim had suffered a fractured a vertebrae in a wild crash January 15 at the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, OK. Tim’s dad, the legendary “Bare Foot Bob” McCreadie was on hand to see his son’s win. Welcome back and congratulations to Tim!
MINERSVILLE. PA – June 24 – Big Diamond Raceway lured forty-six late models on a beautiful night for racing. Russ managed only the thirty-second best time as the local drivers were extremely quick on this evening. He raced from an eighth starting spot up to finish sixth in his heat on a night when only four drivers were given automatic transfers into the A-Main. The competition was going to be fierce and they would not be conceding anything.
This was a prime example of a facility where the local drivers who race their track every week just have everything figured out a little better than the touring teams. Russ needed to qualify through the B-Mains along with WoO regulars Rick Eckert, Chub Frank, Clint Smith, Shane Clanton, Brady Smith, and NASCAR driver, Ken Schrader. It was going to be an interesting night for sure.
Russ finished second to Ken Schrader in his B-Main after starting fourth thereby gaining one of the coveted feature starting spots. He was slotted for the twentieth starting position in the feature for his efforts. Russ was able to move up four spots to finish sixteenth. More importantly, he picked up another position in the WoO Points Championship race and is also became the leading Rookie of the Year candidate.
Russ, said, “If holding onto this spot is as difficult as it was getting here, I have a real tough fight on my hands. This group of rookies is just not giving up at all. Then we have all of the WoO regulars to contend and the Big Diamond regulars were extremely strong this evening. Wow, what a night!”
SARVER, PA – June 25 – The field was pretty much set for Lernerville Speedway’s Showdown at Sarvertown back on May 5. Rain had curtailed that program and the remaining B-Main and feature were re-scheduled for this night. Russ had already earned the sixteenth starting position by virtue of his fourth place heat race finish back in May.
Teams had to consider the possibility of a shortened event as lightening could be seen in the distance. A light rain fell during the first twenty laps but the threat subsided and the entire distance went into the books.
Russ was the only Rookie of the Year candidate to qualify through a heat race and he went on to finish fourteenth in the main event.
WoO Championship points from this race were transitioned into the current list which now showed Russ solidly in the tenth spot in the standings and also at the top of the ROY list.
An open practice for competitors followed the feature but thunderstorms took charge forty minutes into the session.
SARVER, PA – June 26-27 – The Firecracker 100 is rapidly becoming one of the premier dirt late model racing events in the country. Fans begin filing into Lernerville Speedway several days in advance just to set up their campsites. SPEED TV was on hand to tape the action with telecast scheduled for July 25. Joining the World of Outlaws teams were some of the top independent teams in the country as they began setting up shop in the pits on Thursday. Sixty-one racers were in place to see who would take home the $30,000 winner’s purse.
Russ’ time of 18.571 was thirty-third quick in the large field. His qualifying effort set him into the sixth spot of the third heat which included independent stars Brian Birkhofer, Scott Bloomquist and Jimmy Owens. With only the top three transferring to the A-Main, this was looking to be very difficult.
Russ held on for a sixth in the heat which was good enough to bypass the C-Main and he started eighth in the first of two B-Mains. He was charging to the front but got tangled up with Ron Davies about midway through the race. Fortunately, his position in the Championship Points qualified him for a WoO provisional in the feature along with Shane Clanton.
One hundred laps is a test of speed and endurance for dirt late models and The Firecracker 100 would prove to be just that. Flat tires and a few part failures to go along with several racing incidents tested the grit of all twenty-eight starters. Russ held his own but was forced out with six laps to go when a pulley broke on the oil pump. His performance was still good enough for a sixteenth finish spot and the Rookie of the Race award.
Friday night the King Motor Sport’s crew of Nick Emerson and Shane Winans participated in the Crew Chief Challenge and made it into the quarter-final round before being eliminated. Saturday afternoon Russ participated in the driver/fan horseshoe competition. They had a great time but were eliminated by eventual winners, Team Chub Frank, in the first round.
Wrap Up:
The King Motor Sports #56 team traveled over 1800 miles on this trip with more than thirty-five hours being spent on the road. Pulling into Lernerville Speedway, a track they have raced at on occasion, was almost like being at home. Arriving home in Bristolville Saturday night was better yet!
After taking over the rookie points lead at Big Diamond, the Lernerville finish added a cushion of fifty-three points over second place ROY candidate Kentuckian Jordan Bland. The 2009 competition is certainly shaping up looks to be a tough battle right to the end.
Up Next:
A week at home will be welcome indeed after being on the road for eleven days during the Great Northern Tour. It will be a great time to sleep in their own beds but not really a time for rest. This will very busy time as the team prepares the cars for the next series of races with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
Just after the Fourth of July holiday, Sis will be taking the hauler on the road for the Wild West Tour. They are scheduled to race twice in Minnesota, once in Wyoming, South Dakota and North Dakota along with another trip north of the border into Saskatchewan, CAN. Six races in nine days, it’s another tough grind coming up.
Thank You:
King Bros Racing #56 team would like to thank their 2009 marketing partners A-1 Racing Products, King Bros Ready-Mix, and Keizer Aluminum Wheels.
For additional information or to inquire about motorsport’s marketing opportunities with King Bros Racing, please contact Sis King (330)727-0565. http://www.kingbrosracing.com/
Prepared by Joe Secka – JMS ProPhoto – www.jmsprophoto.com
