Tuesday, July 15, 2008
By: Matt "Night" Rider
KENDALLVILLE- The Noble County 4-H Fair was the sight of the 1st Kendallville Klassic micro sprint race on Tuesda, July 15th. Drivers from all over northern Indiana came to compete in four classes; Juniors, Open, Nonwing, and Restrictor.
Actually, this amazing transformation began at 5 A.M. on Tuesday morning, when track officials from the Miami County Speedway constructed the race track, with help from the Noble County 4-H Fair workers.
The Noble County 4-H Fair Director and Wawaka, IN. native Jeff Cunningham said, "We hauled in about 28 tri-axle loads of dirt this morning. We packed the dirt down, and watered it."
"The track is an 8th of a mile long", said Miami County Speedway Director and Kokomo native Norm Bailey. Bailey went on to explain, "The turns are a little bit tighter, and the straightaways are a little bit longer, than the Miami County Speedway."
The racers didn't quite know what to expect, because this was a new style of race track, compared to the Miami County Speedway. Amboy racerKC Hughes said, "It's going to be very interesting. The Miami and Noble County guys did a good job, with what they had to work with." Columbia City native Blaine Culp said, "I think the track will be fun and slick. It will be different."
Some drivers had suggestions on how to race this new track. Logansport racer Chris Smith said, "It's going to be a drag race down the straightaways." Smith added, "If you're going to get an advantage, you're going to have to get it off the corner or into the straightaway. That's the only place you're going to be able to pass."
Warsaw native Braxton Hanft (Pictured Above) said, "I think the track will be okay, but we need to watch going into turns three and four, because somebody could run you into the safety blocks, and mess up your car."
Warsaw racers Braxton Hanft, and his brother Stuart (Pictured Below) stole the show, winning both the Restrictor and Nonwing features. Braxton raced his way to the win in the Restrictor Class feature, while Stuart took the win in the Nonwing finale.
It feels pretty sweet to win tonight", said Braxton Hanft. "I liked the way the track was set up. I didn't think the track would be this good but it was", explained Hanft. Finishing second to Braxton in the Restrictor final was the #24 of Andrew Moore, while #11J Jason Montel took a third place finish.
Braxton's brother Stuart won the Nonwing feature. "It feels pretty good to win tonight", said Stuart Hanft. Hanft went on to say, "It was hard to keep the car on the bottom." Placing second was #43 Josh Ross, while Logansport native #32 Cody Fogelsong rounded out the top three finishers.
This wasn't the only time the Hanft brothers have won back-to-back features in one night of racing. "We won back-to-back at Stateline Speedway last year", Braxton recalled.
Larwell native Larry Sroufe drove his #21L open micro sprint to the win in the Open Class feature. "It feels great to win tonight. It always feels great to win. Second place is the first loser", said Sroufe. Sroufe went on to say, "The track was rough. It had a lot of holes." Finishing second behind Sroufe was #41 Cole Ketchum, while #73 Aaron McClure rounded out the top three finishers in the Open Class finale.
Huntington's Trenton Bitzel went on to win the Junior Class finale. "It felt good to win tonight", said Bitzel. Bitzel added, "The track was great." Taking second place honors was #66G Jerod Glasford, while #7 Stanley Abbott raced his way to a third place finish.
As for how the overall race went, Miami County Speedway Director Norm Bailey thought it went good. "I think the night of racing went really good. The people in the grandstands really liked it."
Noble County 4-H Fair Director Jeff Cunningham also thought the race went well. Cunningham said, "I'm pretty sure we'll have micro sprint racing next year."
There are already plans set for next year's Kendallville Klassic micro sprint race next summer.
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