6/7/2010
Sprint Source
Zach Bowen Captures First Thunderstocks Win With Steve Brown Memorial
First-time winners are always special because at whatever level of involvement, it marks a culmination of effort put forth to compete in the rough and tumble world of professional motorsports. For young Zach Bowen, his first win just happened to be in the prestigious 11th Annual Steve Brown Memorial Race for the Budweiser Thunderstocks.
Bowen, son of multi-time Thunderstocks feature winner Tim Bowen, started third on the field, with Sam Bodine and Keith Ralston on the front row. By the second lap, Zach Bowen had taken over race leadership and suddenly his father Tim stuck his car into the first turn wall bringing out a caution period. While the elder Bowen’s night was ended, the younger was embarking upon his first-career feature victory.
Zach Bowen was riding the high side of the track to a dominant position although veteran Ernie Woodward of Kentucky was quickly moving up to second place by the 9th lap after starting in the not so enviable ninth position. Lima’s Jeff Koz was challenging Woodward by lap 12 when he suddenly suffered a right front flat tire ending his race. Ironically, one lap later on the 13th circuit, Woodard suffered a mechanical break on his machine and also was sent to the pits. The collective Koz and Woodard misfortunes left Zach Bowen virtually uncontested through the final 5 laps and on his way to the win.
“I felt it might happen this year,” said Bowen, of Liberty Center, Ohio. “To actually win almost leaves me speechless. I just graduated and spent most of my graduation money on new tires, so I can use this ($1,000 to win).”
A twenty car field for the Elwer Fence 360 sprints was led to green by veterans Kent Wolters and Jeff Williams. Williams took the early lead with second row starter Todd Heuerman giving chase. Through the opening eight or nine laps of the feature, Heuerman and Williams were battling in an exciting side-by-side tussle. The orange colored No. 18 of Heuerman made a strong pass on the outside for the lead on lap 10.
For Heuerman, lapped traffic proved to be his next biggest obstacle as he stayed mostly on the top of the track working through the field. A close call for Heuerman coming off of turn four nearly stuck him in the wall before a dive to the bottom allowed him to escape the developing trouble.
Kyle Sauder was moving into contention from his ninth starting position to 2nd behind Heuerman, by the time a caution flag flew from a Butch Schroeder spin in turn four on lap eighteen. The subsequent restart saw Sauder racing closely to Heuerman’s tail until Sauder made the deciding pass on the outside for the lead and win on lap 21. It was Sauder’s first win at Limaland since 2002 and the sixth of his career in sprints all-time at Limaland Motorsports Park.
“It’s been a while since I competed here regularly,” recalled Sauder. “I give this win to all my crew guys and to God for giving me the talent to do this kind of thing. My car was set up real well and one thing I haven’t done this year is worry much about the car.” Looking ahead, Sauder said, “This car won the King of the Quarter mile last year and we’ll see if it can’t be two in a row this year.”
As the K & N UMP Modifieds took the green flag for their 20-lap feature, the big question appeared to be whether Tony Anderson, starting on the pole, might be able to win an elusive first-feature in the modified division. The Bluffton native has won numerous Thunderstocks events over the years, but never a modified main. Little did everyone realize that fellow front row starter John Brooks would eventually take top honors and post his first career modified win.
By lap 3, Brooks made a strong outside pass for the lead and would never succumb to the assault of some of the best drivers and cars in the division Anderson, Brian Post, Terry Hull and Todd Sherman all gave serious chase to Brooks, but never did they catch and pass him.
Following a lap 10 caution and restart, John Brooks again held strong against Anderson’s charge. Brooks drove through lapped cars again by the 15th circuit and led Tony Anderson and Todd Sherman across the line for his first-ever triumph at Limaland’s ¼-mile layout.
“It is awesome to win here,” stated Brooks. “I’ve been trying to win at this place for years. I’ve been trying to win here in a stock car race and even though this is a modified, this win is dedicated to Darrel and Ora Brown. I came through the heat and thought I had a good car tonight. All those long nights in the shop, this win sure makes it worth it.”
On Friday, June 11, Limaland Motorsports Park will have a Meet the Drivers night featuring the NRA Sprint Invaders along with the K & N UMP Modifieds and Budweiser Thunderstocks. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. Racing starts promptly at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the 22nd Annual Brad Doty Classic, July 14, featuring the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, are on sale now. Call the ticket hotline at 419-998-3199. Seating information, plus all the latest news and information about America’s premier quarter-mile dirt track, can be found at www.limaland.com. You can also find 2010 Limaland Motorsports Park on Facebook.
Limaland Motorsports Park - 6/4/2010
Bud Thunderstocks
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- O1W-Earnie Woodard; 2. 99-Andy King; 3. 88-Zach Bowen; 4. 3Z-Tony Zuppardo; 5. 19-Bill Reimund; 6. 52G-Stacey Gazarek; 7. 32M-Denny Miller
Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 7B-Tim Bowen; 2. 22T-Tony Anderson; 3. 71-Keith Ralston; 4. 21Z-Pete Zuppardo; 5. 21K-Billy Siferd; 6. 26-Justin Long
Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 16-Jeff Koz; 2. 21H-Dave Hollon; 3. 52-Sam Bodine; 4. 27-Frank Paladino; 5. 58P-Jim Post; 6. 3-Randy Crossley
A-Main - (18 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. 88-Zach Bowen[3]; 2. 52B-Sam Bodine[1]; 3. 58P-Jim Post[15]; 4. 21H-Dave Hollon[4]; 5. 99-Andy King[6]; 6. 27-Frank Paladino[12]; 7. 21Z-Pete Zuppardo[11]; 8. 19-Bill Reimund[13]; 9. 22T-Tony Anderson[5]; 10. 32M-Denny Miller[19]; 11. O1W-Earnie Woodard[9]; 12. 3-Randy Crossley[18]; 13. 16-Jeff Koz[7]; 14. 71-Keith Ralston[2]; 15. 7B-Tim Bowen[8]; 16. 52G-Stacey Gazarek[16]; 17. 21K-Billy Siferd[14]; 18. 3Z-Tony Zuppardo[10]; 19. 26-Justin Long[17]
Elwer Fence Sprints
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 6S-Jr Stewart; 2. 34-Luke Hall; 3. 11-Tim Allison; 4. 5W-Jeff Williams; 5. 10-Pete Ischi; 6. 98-John Kettlewell; 7. 4B-Andrew Bowsher; 8. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.; 9. 2M-Ethan Hoy
Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 6-Mike Dussel; 2. 17-Jared Horstman; 3. 57-Mike Dunlap; 4. 1W-Kent Wolters; 5. 28H-Hud Horton; 6. 6N-Dain Naida; 7. 35-Ron Blair; 8. 6Z-Zach Ames; 9. 21-Traviis Hery
Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 7K-Kyle Sauder; 2. B20-Butch Schroeder; 3. 18-Todd Heuerman; 4. 2H-Dallas Hewitt; 5. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild; 7. 2-Brent Gehr; 8. 32M-Derek Hastings
B-Main - (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 6N-Dain Naida; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild; 3. 35-Ron Blair; 4. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.; 5. 98-John Kettlewell; 6. 4B-Andrew Bowsher; 7. 2-Brent Gehr; 8. 32M-Derek Hastings; 9. 2M-Ethan Hoy; 10. 6Z-Zach Ames; 11. 21-Traviis Hery
A-Main - (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. 7K-Kyle Sauder[9]; 2. 18-Todd Heuerman[3]; 3. 11-Tim Allison[5]; 4. 5W-Jeff Williams[2]; 5. 6-Mike Dussel[10]; 6. 57-Mike Dunlap[4]; 7. 6S-Jr Stewart[11]; 8. 1W-Kent Wolters[1]; 9. 6N-Dain Naida[16]; 10. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 11. 34-Luke Hall[8]; 12. 28H-Hud Horton[14]; 13. B20-Butch Schroeder[6]; 14. 35-Ron Blair[18]; 15. 10J-Jarrod Delong[15]; 16. 10-Pete Ischi[13]; 17. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.[19]; 18. 2H-Dallas Hewitt[12]; 19. 17-Jared Horstman[7]; 20. 98-John Kettlewell[20]
K&N UMP Modifieds
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 45P-Brian Post; 2. 40-Terry Hull; 3. L5-Casey Luedeke; 4. 19-Ryan Ordway; 5. 5S-Tom Stauffer; 6. 15-Nick Katterhenry; 7. 12-Buzz Jacobs
Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 22B-Andy Bibler; 2. OO-John Brooks; 3. 42-Bob Baldwin; 4. 28-Chad Rosenbeck; 5. 17-Nick Rosselit; 6. 10-Scott Bowersock; 7. 13-Bill Stuttz
Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)
- 65-Todd Sherman; 2. 22T-Tony Anderson; 3. 5X-Shawn Bayliff; 4. 20K-Bill Keeler; 5. 33-Clint Reagle; 6. 36-Kelly Bowlby
Dash - (6 Laps - Top - Transfer)
- L5-Casey Luedeke; 2. 5X-Shawn Bayliff; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson; 4. 28-Chad Rosenbeck
A-Main - (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. OO-John Brooks[2]; 2. 22T-Tony Anderson[1]; 3. 65-Todd Sherman[4]; 4. 40-Terry Hull[3]; 5. L5-Casey Luedeke[7]; 6. 22B-Andy Bibler[5]; 7. 42-Bob Baldwin[8]; 8. 28-Chad Rosenbeck[11]; 9. 45P-Brian Post[6]; 10. 19-Ryan Ordway[10]; 11. 17-Nick Rosselit[14]; 12. 10-Scott Bowersock[17]; 13. 33-Clint Reagle[15]; 14. 12-Buzz Jacobs[19]; 15. 5X-Shawn Bayliff[9]; 16. 15-Nick Katterhenry[16]; 17. 20K-Bill Keeler[12]; 18. 13-Bill Stuttz[20]; 19. 36-Kelly Bowlby[18]; 20. 5S-Tom Stauffer[13]
Submitted By: Bob Fricke