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Monday, August 9, 2010

Belleville Midget Nationals Friday 8-6-2010

Before he gets in the car, Bryan Clauson is as full of it as anybody, but once he straps in, he is as focused as anyone I've ever seen.
This year's field of drivers. That's promoter C. Ray Hall on the left. Cody Brewer was back in the pits trying to change an engine that had let go on him and at least one other driver is missing.
The first lap of the first heat is always a thrill after a year's wait.This is Jerry Coons Jr. (11), Matt Johnson (85), Josh Pelkey, (12), Zach Daum (5), Brian Postle (22), Davey Ray (67), and Bryan Clauson (39).
This is why I love the non-winged stuff. If these cars had them, you'd see Matt & Bryan and not much else.
Concordia driver Garett Hood leads Levi Roberts (2), Patrick Stasa (91), Brad Loyet (05), Tracy Hines, and Andrew Felker at the start of the third heat.


Garett gets sandwiched between Roberts and Loyet. He said later there was a little banging going on there.
Just another typical Belleville scene. Kyle Neal (38), Ryan Cole (5), Dave Darland (71), Darren Hagen (3), Bobby East (4), and Shane Golobic (26).
If Chevy offered this option on all their cars, they'd sell a LOT more of 'em!
The start of the B. Bobby East (4), CJ Johnson (45), Andrew Felker (11), Josh Pelkey (12), Caleb Armstrong (7),  Andy Shouse (27), and Brian Postle (22).
The track was really dry slick (and dirty) and the guys were backing it through turn one more than I've ever seen them do. This is Billy Boat's son Chad.
There was about a quarter of an inch cushion on top as "B.G. Wood" found out early. I'll explain the quotes later.
Caleb Armstrong looks like he's on a flat track instead of the High Banks. The dust had gotten so bad by this point that I was shooting almost entirely by the track lighting; the flash just made the dust show up worse.
Matt Johnson is so polite that he was even patient with some dips**t who was trying to talk to him as he was rushing around.trying to get in and ready for his heat
I had too much lens to get much of the 4-wide parade lap, but it still looks impressive.
Henry Clarke (67), Felker, East, & Clauson in parade formation.
Brad Sweet (49), Davey Ray (67), Dave Darland (71), and Brad Loyet lead the field around to complete lap one.
The way these guys will run within inches and never flinch always astounds me.
There was zero cushion in four as Loyet learned when he bounced off it racing Bryan Clauson.
Clauson took a turn (or two) playing pinball off the rail too, as almost everyone did here at least once.
While some guys could occasionally run a lot lower, like Chad Boat here, most drivers were right up against the Armco.

Sammy Swindell's son Kevin (8) does a little rail rubbing as he tries to get by Brad Loyet.
Moments later, Swindell drops down a little to try Tracy Hines (11).
Davey Ray ran second for most of the race, but he could never get very close to leader Brad Sweet.
Dave Darland was fast Friday too.
Don Droud Jr. (44) has run the Klatt #4 here several times, but Bobby East has had that ride for several years now. Neither of them would be around for Saturday, but for different reasons.
Near the back of this pack, Kevin Swindell has just exploded his right rear and it really looked like someone would nail his slowed car.
Cj Johnson (yes, THAT CJ Johnson) had room to get by on the outside and Swindell was able to get stopped without causing a crash.
Brad Kuhn (17) was another driver in the hunt Friday night.
Nobody was going to touch Brad Sweet on this night. He was never seriously challenged in the feature.
With just over a lap to go, things got nasty in a hurry when Tracy Hines hit the rail and slowed right in front of Bobby East. Shane Golobic got past, but..........
....Bobby just didn't have time to do anything. There are 25 more shots in the sequence that followed!
Brad Sweet celebrates after the prelim victory.
Legendary "Speedy" Bill Smith was on hand for the trophy presentation along with the lovely trophy queens Nikki Kuhlman and Adrianne Doyle.
As usual, this year's Belleville Midget Nationals had lots of stories with it. Josh Pelkey, from Peoria, Arizona showed back up after about 15 years of missing the Nationals. I'd thought I'd seen him on the midway, but just thought it was someone who looked like him.. He and transplanted Washington driver Gary Taylor were team mates this year. I was glad to see him; I'd gotten to know him pretty well and often wondered if he'd find his way back.
Bryan Clauson has been on a hot streak lately and he's determined to defend his title, but there were several drivers on hand who don't want to let that happen.
Probably my favorite story was Matt Johnson's news that he'd recently won the National hydroplane championship in Illinois. I could tell by the way he talked about it that he was really proud of the accomplishment. Not like you can blame him. Congratulations Matt. Then he told me his grandfather George had won a few national titles during his boat racing days. Very cool. They're both great guys too.

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