Kruseman, Miniea take Joliet twinbill features

JOLIET, Ill. (September 10, 2004)

Cory Kruseman of Ventura, Calif. and Travis Miniea of Indianapolis scored 30-lap feature victories late Friday night in USAC Valvoline National Sprint Car Series and National Midget Car Series action at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.

Kruseman, driving the No. 21 Tony Stewart Racing Mopar/Vital Express Eagle/Mopar, inherited the lead from a dominating Dave Darland after the Lincoln, Ind. native broke while leading the race on lap 22.

Darland brought out the caution when his car stopped on the track, and when racing resumed, Kruseman withstood challenges by Levi Jones for his fourth victory of the season.

Kruseman’s Tony Stewart Racing teammate – Josh Wise – paced the field after starting on the front row with the third driver from the TSRE stable, Jay Drake. Jones fell in behind Wise with fellow Californian Josh Ford running in the third position.

Darland, though, came on strong and blew by Ford after Jones backpedaled. Darland set his sights on Wise and by lap 12 was within eight car lengths. On lap 16, Darland stormed by Wise on the high side of turn four and began to build a steady lead.

While Darland pulled away, Kruseman asserted himself to the front and moved past Wise on lap 20. It ended up being the winning move, at least under the green flag.

Darland, whose National Sprint Car Series victory drought dates back to July 2001, broke on the backstretch on lap 22 and he slowly drove around the outside of the track before stopping on the exit of turn two a lap later. The caution allowed Kruseman to move up to the point.

On the restart, Kruseman drove away from Jones who had regained second from Wise on lap 24. Behind Jones came Tracy Hines, Wise and Jon Stanbrough.

Darland set a new track record of 17.557 seconds on the half-mile track, with Marc Jessup, Kruseman, Stanbrough and Dickie Gaines winning eight-lap heats. Series point leader Drake won the 12-lap semifeature.

Drake leads the series into a 77-lap “doubleheader” – the “Music City 150” at Nashville Speedway at the Tennessee Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tenn.

Miniea snookered series point leader Bobby East on a late-race restart to post his first career series victory. The former Floridian slid underneath East on the last lap then led East by a half car length at the flag stand, driving the No. 28 Specialty Metals Processing Stealth/Esslinger Ford.

East led four of the first five laps after a grueling duel with Jay Drake. Following a pair of red-flag periods that saw Brad Kuhn and Teddy Beach flip in separate incidents on lap one and a restart, Drake moved to the inside to challenge the series point leader. East and Drake crossed under the flag stand side-by-side on lap two, and Drake edged East at the flag stand on lap three.

Meanwhile, Travis Miniea was on the move. After starting eighth, Miniea slipped past several competitors into third. He threaded the needle on lap four and breezed into second on lap four. A lap later, Miniea went to the low lane to pass East.

He held the point for the next four circuits, building a six-car advantage, before a three-car pileup on lap 10. On the restart, East drove up next to Miniea, and a fierce battle ensued.

The two drivers unofficially switched first and second place six times over the next two laps with East leading laps 10 and 11. On lap 12, East finally pulled away and pushed his lead to a half straightaway.

East’s lead grew to a straightaway lead by lap 25 while Miniea, Drake and Scott Hatton battled for second. Drake fell from competition on lap 23, relinquishing third to Hatton.

But that lead was cut drastically when the yellow flag flew for debris for the final time on lap 27. When racing resumed, Miniea was all over the rear of East’s car.

He pulled up to East and challenged for the point, then slid underneath him on the backstretch of the final lap. Miniea moved back high in the third turn, allowing East to counteract low, and the two raced side-by-side coming out of turn four. When they crossed underneath the twin-checkered flags, Miniea had won by nearly 20 inches.

It was also the first USAC win for car owner Margaret Owen, who started her role as a car owner in 1978. Scott Hatton, Tony Elliott and Brian Gerster rounded out the “top five.”

Wise scored the night’s fast qualifying time, while teammates Adam Clarke and Elliott, Davey Ray and Cole Carter won eight-lap heats. Wise also scored the 12-lap semifeature win.

The National Midget Car Series continues action Saturday with a 50-lap feature at the quarter-mile Anderson (Ind.) Speedway.