Wease Wins Round 1 of Rumble

Dunn picks up 2 features in cart series
Written By: Matt "Night" Rider
Photo By: Fred Patton (http://www.fredericsphoto.com/)

FORT WAYNE, IN.- "The Rumble in Fort Wayne hit the War Memorial Coliseum this past weekend December 26-27th. An incredible sixteen different sprint and go kart series were in action. It was easily the biggest single race event I've had the previlige of covering. 

Saturday night (December 26th), Noblesville native Billy Wease (Left No. 99) took the  win in the 60 lap midget A-Main feature. Behind the No. 99 was Brian Nuckles, while third went to David Gough. Tony Stewart Racing entry Mike Fredorcak finished the night in fourth place, while Tampa, FL. native Joe Liguori came home in fifth place.

Midget sprint legend Mel Kenyon took sixth in the A-Main on Saturday night. The midget feature win gave Wease third indoor feature wins since 2007.

In early action on Saturday night, Fremont, OH. racer John Ivy (Left No. 02) picked up the 40 lap micro sprint feature win. No. 22 Ryan Smith (Kunkletown, PA.) finished the night right behind Ivy in second place. Chelsea, MI native Paul Price picked up third place honors in his No. 61 micro sprint. Fourth place went to Kendallville, IN. racer No. 19 Ben Taylor, while No. 35z Mark Zumbrun (Larwill, IN.) rounded out the top five in the micro sprint feature.

In the other feature on Saturday night, Sellersburg, Indiana's Cole Williams came home with the IKO MiniCup Stock Car feature. I remember that the IKO MiniCups were sweet. They looked like miniture scales of Nascar Sprint Cup cars. Anyway, Brandon Dunn (Frankfort, KY.) had a special night, as he won both the Senior Medium and Heavy Cart series features for the night in his No. 21 cart.

Noblesville, IN. racer Nathan Dishoungh raced his way to the Senior Caged Kart A-Main feature victory. In the Junior Heavy Kart division, Lima, OH. native Max Stambaugh found victory lane, winning the Heavy Kart feature for Saturday night. Spencerville, IN. racer John Hawley won the Junior Caged Karts feature, with help from his sponsors who were his Mom and Dad. Rounding out the Kart series feature winners for Saturday night was Gabriel Gilbert, Mooresville, IN., who picked up the Kid Karts feature win.

Garrett Johnson came home with the Jr. Sprint feature on Saturday night. USAC Midget Champion Mike Streicher's son Richie Streicher raced his way to the Heavy 160 quarter midget feature. Ohio racers Cooper Clouse (Light 160), Nick Ley (Heavy Honda), and Aaron Leffel (Senior Honda) all picked up feature wins on Saturday night at the "The Rumble in Fort Wayne".

Information and results for Sunday (December 27th)'s races at "The Rumble in Fort Wayne" were not posted at the time I wrote this article. I'm very sorry.

Stay tuned as I move my focus to the 2010 Chili Bowl this weekend in Tulsa, OK.  I will not be there in person, but all the action will be covered on "Through the Gears".  I thank you for taking some time to read my articles.

Kenyon Set to Retire after "The Rumble"

Written By: Matt "Night" Rider

If you have followed midget and sprint car racing, you have probably seen him race or at least heard his name Mel Kenyon (Left). Kenyon and his No. 61 sprint car have been a fixture in the midget divisons for decades, dazzling racers and fans alike.

Kenyon is set to retire after this year's "Rumble in Fort Wayne". Kenyon has shared the race tracks with some of the best racers to come through the divisions, including legendary drivers like Tony Stewart, Dave Darland, and Jon Stanbrough.

Kenyon is a pioneer in the sport of midget sprint racing. In a legendary racing career, that has spained over four decades, Kenyon has seen the checkered flag in over 100 A-Main Features in over 380 career starts.

Midget sprint racing will definitely not be the same without Kenyon. He will be truly missed by not only his many, many race fans but I'm sure by his many competitors as well.

Mel advanced to the A-Main Midget feature last night, by way of the second place transfer spot. In the A-Main, Kenyon avoided some late race accidents to finish the night in 6th place.  Kenyon will try to put his famous No. 61 in the A-Main Feature for the final time today. All the racing action kicks off at 3 pm, live from the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, IN.

I ask you to please go out and support Mel in his last race, if you can make it. There are few drivers that have put together, such a remarkable racing career as Mel did.   

"The Rumble" Hits the Fort

Written By: Matt "Night" Rider
FORT WAYNE, IN- Fort Wayne will be rocking this weekend (December 26-27th) when the midgets do battle in the War Memorial Coliseum, in the "Rumble in Fort Wayne."

"The Rumble in Fort Wayne" is two days chalked full of racing. On the race bill will be winged outlaw midgets, midgets, JEGS quarter midgets MiniCup stock cars,  Jr. Sprints, and karts. The racers will be racing around a 1/6th mile concrete oval in the lower level of the Coliseum.

Racers including Ronnie Wuerdeman (Pictured Upper Left in Red #33) will put their talents on display in this two day racing jamboree. Sarah Fisher has entered her midget team in the Rumble this year, and will be on hand to take pictures and sign autographes in the Fan Zone Sunday, December 27th from 2-3 pm. Many well- known racers will be take part in the event, including 14 year old up and comer Kyle O'Gara. O'Gara is the younger brother of Fisher's husband Andy O'Gara. Kyle will be taking part in the event, as a member of Fisher's midget team.

Personally, this will be my first time covering the "Rumble in Fort Wayne." I am pumped up go see some of my good race friends take part in such an exciting racing weekend.  You can catch a full recap of the "Rumble in  Fort Wayne" on Monday or Tuesday. To all my Through the Gears fans, I wish each and everyone of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years.

Smoke Hits Australia for the Holidays

Written By: Matt "Night" Rider

Tony Stewart will be celebrating the Christmas and New Year's season out of the United States. Smoke, as many call him, will be heading to Australia to race the No. 14 Outlaw sprint car in a big four race event at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway (Sydney, Australia).

Tony Stewart Racing's Donny Schatz will accompany Stewart in the holiday trip to Australia. Stewart's first race down under will be December 26th. Smoke will race in the Valvoline Australian Sprintcar Grand Prix at the Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway. After the December 26th race, Smoke will take part in the Hogs Breath Sprintcar International on December 29th.

Then Schatz and Stewart will compete in the big $50,000 to win Scott Darley race on January 2nd and 3th. Schatz and Stewart will be accompanied by American racing greats Tim Shaffer and Jason Johnson. Many Australian racing greats will take part in the two-day race including Max Dumesny, Ryan Farrell, and Robbie Farr.

Busch Motorsports Makes Some Moves for 2010

Written By: Matt "Night" Rider

Kyle Busch (Left) is a proven winner in the Craftsman Truck Series. On Friday, Busch made some important announcements concerning his truck series motorsports teams.

Kyle Busch Motorsports are bringing two truck teams to the table in 2010. Busch himself will race the No. 18 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Toyota when the Craftsman Truck Series and the Sprint Cup Series run at the same tracks during the race season. Busch will then hand over the keys to the No. 18 to Brian Ickler (Lower Left), when the series head to separate tracks.

The other KBM entiree will be the No. 56 Toyota Tundra, driven by Taylor Malsam (Left in helmet). Malsam will be competing the full 2010 Craftsman Truck Series for KBM.

Look for KBM to be very competitive in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2010, with the trio of Busch, Ickler, and Malsam.

Busch Brothers Switch Crew Chief

Written By: Matt "Night" Rider

On Monday, Penske Racing announced the new hire of Steve Addington (Left). Addington will be the new crew chief for Kurt Busch and the famous No.2 Miller Lite blue duece next season. Addington comes to Penske Racing from Joe Gibbs Racing, where he was the head crewman for Kurt's little brother Kyle Busch. Addington and the No. 2 team will look to get that famous No.2 blue duece back in victory lane next season.

It is not yet known who will replace Addington as Kyle Busch's new crew chief in 2010.

Danica Mania Hits the Nationwide Series

Ex-IRL Star hopes for second shot in Nationwide
Written By: Matt "Night" Rider

Danica Patrick made her first step to stock races on Tuesday, by announcing her move to the Nationwide Series starting in 2010. The Ex-IRL star will pilot the No. 7 Go-Daddy.com sponsored Chevy for JR Motorsports this coming season.

Patrick is slated to start in the February 6 ARCA race at Daytona, with tests at the famed track on February 18-20. I am for women breaking into stock car racing and it will be interesting to see what Danica can do.Her experiences in the Indy Racing League will only help her as she hopes to find a refreshed start to her new style of racing career with JR Motorsports.

Nascar Banquet 2009 Live From Las Vegas

Martin steals the show
Written By: Matt "Night" Rider

LAS VEGAS, NV.- Nascar owners, drivers, and their respective teams packed the Wynn Ballroom for the 2009 Nascar Awards Ceremony.  The night belonged to Jimmie Johnson, who collected his earnings (6.6 million)  for an amazing season, which saw him win his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Series Championship.

Various drivers and owners spoke about their year in Nascar, but the speech of the night came from an unlikely source in some eyes.  After two years of running a limited Nascar program, Mark Martin (Upper Left) returned this past season with a vengence, racing the No. 5 for Hendrick Motorsports.

As Martin took the stage, the crowd came to a silence, only to hear one of the most memorable Nascar Ceremony speeches ever given . Martin stole the show, reflecting upon one heck of a Nascar run to the Championship this past season. Th e Nascar legend collected a total of five victories on his quest to the Cup.

Mark continued his speech by noting a little bit about the unending value of quality time that he was able to spend with his various crew members, along with his own family. You can never replace quality time with your family. This is just one of the many valuable lessons that Martin displayed throughout an unforgettable 2009 run to the Championship.

Stay tuned for various updates from the world of racing, along with driver Q&A's, all courtesy of "Through the Gears"