2001 VCS NEWS  STORIES

RECAP OF 2001 LABOR DAY RACE
FROM MIDWEST DIRT TRACK FACTS ARCHIVES

EARL PLESSINGER TAKES 4K AT VCS
By Namgalf
 

(9/2/01)A total of 94 UMP modifieds graced the fairgrounds at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville, Illinois Sunday evening trying to snare the $4000 prize for the winner. Included were the top 3 point men presently in UMP Chad Kinder, Denny Schwartz and Jimmy Owens plus stars from at least 6 states. Indiana driver Dale Hayes turned the fastest lap in qualifing thus earning the pole for the first heat wherefrom the winner would grace the pole of the 40 lap feature. The winners of the following 7 heats would fall in line behind with second place filling out the next 4 rows. Four consi races were ran with the top 2 finishers also making the 24 car feature event. Also there was a non-qualifier feature of 25 laps with the winner given the option of taking the winnings and trophy from that race or tagging the tail of the main event. Enough of that and on to the results:
Fast time: Dale Hayes
First heat: Jeff Houchens, Dale Hayes, John Burdette, Terry Duncan
Second Heat: Scott Weber, Don Kiger, Roger Cary, Danny Schwartz
Third heat: Jimmy Owens, Elvin Herschberger, Matt Bachman, Richie Hedrick
Fourth Heat: Earl Plessinger, Chuck Haga, Bub Patrick, Todd Kirkland
Fifth Heat: Tommy Burnside, Denny Schwartz, Josh Ferguson, Sean Seavers
Sixth Heat: Michael Bradley, Gary Cook Jr., Chad Kinder, John Seets
Seventh Heat: Everett Bradham, Ryan Bowman, Jason Lakey, Mike Chasteen
Eighth Heat, Arby Burton, Wes Steidinger, Bobby Bittle, Mark Moore
Consi One: Roger Cary, John Burdette, Jeff Leka
Consi Two: Todd Kirkland, R.J.Gall, Lance Dehm
Consi Four: Bobby Bittle, Jason Lakey, Mark Moore
Consi Three: Chad Kinder, John Seets, Rob Fuqua
Non-qualifier Feature:
1. Mark Moore 2. Lance Dehm
3. Jeff Leka 4. Danny Schwartz
5. Tim O'Donnell 6. Matt Boknecht
7. Brian McDaniel 8. Tommy Kroll
9. Sean Seavers 10.Joel Funk
11.Brian Shirley 12.John Hudson
13.Leon Rackers 14.Matt Goulden
15.Cory Rolfe 16.John Hollifield
17.Duane Ekright 18.Charlie Phillips
19.Matt Bachman 20.Greg Wright
21.Zack Geist
This race was the 3 thru 8 finishers of the consi races. Three cars did not show for the start. Also the winner was given the option of taking the $300 winnings and trophy or tagging the tail of the A main. Mark Moore told the officials " I came here to race the big feature" thus took the challenge and tagged the A giving the win to Lance Dehm and moving everyone up one position. I believe there were only 2 cautions and a total of 17 cars finished the 25 lap affair. Main event was next and it was a dandy. Jeff Houchens and Scott Weber led the hive of bees to the green with Houchens immediatly jumping to the front with Jimmy Owens and Weber grappling for the second slot. Earl Plessinger, Tommy Burnside, Michael Bradley began tugging for position with all changing many times lap to lap. Houchens rolled to a 5 car length lead by lap 5 by which Owens had grabbed the #2 spot and Weber had fallen to the group behind to have a 4 car battle trying to catch the leaders. The only caution of the 40 lapper would wave at lap 9 allowing the field to close with Houchens still leading Owens followed by Plessinger, Burnside, Bradley and a fading Weber. With the leaders running the three leaders running the bottom of the speedway Burnside clearly had the faster car by going all the way to the very top and was making headway on the restart for a couple of laps when something broke in his automobile right at the flag stand causing him to retire very sportingly by rolling off the turn 2 exit allowing the race to continue. By this time all eyes were on 10th starting Don Kiger and 13th starting Denny Schwartz who were leading the wolves also at the rim of the quarter mile speed plant. At lap 15 Kiger had moved to the 6th spot with Schwartz right there with him 8th showing the top 2 point men at VCS are not slouches by any means. Also at lap 15 Plessinger had motored under Owens for the runnerup spot and was right on the bumper of Houchens for the lead. On lap 17 Plessinger moved around Houchens for the lead by using the middle groove to gain access. Owens would follow suit in the same groove at the halfway marker. Kiger and Schwartz had moved to the 5th and 6th positions with Weber struggling to hold the 4th slot. Just past half way Kiger made short work of Weber and began to make up the 5 lenght lead of the Owens-Houchens battle. By lap 25 Houchens fell victim and Kiger seemed to be the fastest car on the track with Schwartz following suit. Plessinger was coasting (if that can be done in a race like this) and had just caught a two car battle at the rear of the field then seemed to loose a little handle making passing difficult for him. Kiger meanwhile gaining momentum caught Owens and streaked by at lap 30 with Schwartz unable to keep up the pace of Kiger just now getting by Houchens for 4th. On lap 33 Schwartz had caught up to Owens but his charge would end there. Plessinger had built a half straight or more lead but Kiger was making up ground every lap especially with the leader stuck in a 4 car group of lappers that he could do nothing with. With 6 to go Kiger nearly went over the top of turn one but kept it on the track losing a couple of lengths in the process. At lap 35 he had gained over half of the lead but on lap 37 repeated the turn 1 mistake and would eventually fall 2 lengths short of the victory. Owens would hold on for third with Schwartz and Houchens filling out the top 5. Of the 25 starters 20 would finish with none lapped as the lapped cars pulled off just after getting lapped. Feature finish:
1. Earl Plessinger 2. Don Kiger
3. Jimmy Owens 4. Denny Schwartz
5. Jeff Houchens 6. Wes Steidinger
7. Chuck Haga 8. Scott Weber
9. R.J.Gall 10.Michael Bradley
11.Arby Burton 12.Gary Cook Jr.
13.Jason Lakey 14.Bobby Bittle
15.Roger Cary 16.Chad Kinder
17.John Seets 18.Mark Moore
19.Ryan Bowman 20.John Burdette
21.Dale Hayes 22.Elvin Herschberger
23.Everett Bradham 24.Todd Kirkland
25.Tommy Burnside
Track conditions were excellent with the track smooth and racing grooves from top to bottom with 3 and 4 wide racing very common throughout the field. Movers through the field were Kiger from 10th to 2nd, Lakey from 24th starter to 13th, Steidinger from 16th to 6th, Gall from 22nd to 9th. Fallers were Bradham from 7th to 23rd, Herschberger from 10th to 24th, Hayes from 9th to 21st. Great to see a wonderful field of cars and drivers and also a good crowd on hand. Pierce built race cars had 4 of the top 5 with Owens in his Lightning the only different chassis. All racing was finished at 11:25. Thanks to all and congratulations to Earl Plessinger. 

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PLESSINGER WINS FINAL NIGHT AT VCS
By Namgalf

Only have the results for the feature but will try to give as much info a possible. 49 UMP mods rolled into the Vermilion County Speedway Saturday to have a run at the $1000 to win payday. Don Kiger motored to the fast time topping all others. Sorry I dont have the heat or consi winners or transfers (Maybe Jack Taylor or Hoosier will post them) so here goes the feature. One other note the heats went pretty well with just a couple of them having major slowdowns for crashes or spins but do remember one car making very hard contact with the first turn light barrier necessitating a red flag situation to make sure of his safety and doing major damage to the car (sure wish I could remember who it was). Also the consis drug out and seemed like they were never gonna end with one eliminating cars right and left until just 6 of the 16 starters were left at the end and 4 tranfering. I remember Aaron Ricketts getting sent to the rear of this particular one after running second and spinning leader Rick Thomas (the officials, 4 of em, determined Aaron should be sent to the rear and Thomas then getting his spot back) after lap 3 or 4 and fighting his way back up to a transfer spot only to lose it then get it back in just a 10 lap affair. Good job Aaron. In the feature Earl Plessinger jumped the first attempt at a start necessitating a restart at which point on the next start he used the pole position to jump to the lead of the 24 car field and second row starter Dave Wheatly following suit with fellow front row man Terry Messenger going to the third slot. Messenger followed Wheatly until getting under him on lap 7 and began to try and real in Plessinger doing so at about lap 11 then cruising at a length or 2 disadvantage. At lap 13 lapped traffic became an issue with Messenger really putting on the pressure and nearly getting by a couple of times but could never pull of the pass. Then the first of just 2 cautions fell with a spinning Terry Duncan in turn 1. On the single file restart Plessinger and Messenger pulled to a large 10 length lead until lap 21 when then third running Jim Farris and fourth running Tim O'Donnell got together coming off turn 4 causing Farris to spin. Per VCS rule of a racing incident both drivers were sent to the rear of the field much to each displeasure. The restart again showed Plessinger and Messenger the class of the field pulling to a substantial lead until lap 29 when again lapped traffic made things really interesting allowing Messinger to pull along side many time but still could not get completely by and also allowing Wheatly, Sean Seavers, and John Hollifield to close up on the leaders for the last 3 laps all 5 could have won if things went right but Plessinger mastered the traffic best and collected the loot followed by Messinger, Wheatly, Seavers, and Hollifield.
Finish:
1. Earl Plessinger 2. Terry Messinger
3. Dave Wheatly 4. Sean Seavers
5. John Hollifield 6. Denny Schwartz
7. Dennis Hux 8. Michael Bradley
9. Mark Moore 10.Matt Bex
11.Arby Burton 12.Daren Friedman
13.Matt Bachman 14.Roger Cary
15.Rick Thomas 16.Jim Farris
17.Terry Duncan 18.Ed Kuhn
19.AArom Ricketts 20.Josh Ferguson
21.Mark Anderson 22.Bob White
23.Tim O'Donnell 24.Roger Cavness
The track was a pretty typical day race track with almost all the passing done on the inside and taking rubber was the norm. Kudos to the VCS track crew for a smooth surface and although not a tacky track it was the same for all from qualfing throughout the evening in the races. All racing was over at 9:30 with the mods finished at about 8:45... See all next year. VCS banquet is scheduled for Nov.10 at the Ramada Inn in Danville with tickets $15 for singles and $25 for a couple. Dinner will be served with dancing to follow. A cash bar will be available. All are welcome including fans and drivers.

THE ONLY GOOD THING AT VCS
By Namgalf

was the victory for one of the nicest guys I have met Tim Reynolds. I believe this is the first victory ever at VCS for him which has been a long time coming. Congrats to Tim. Every thing else seemed to add up to the "Night to Forget". The track was heavy and rough even with many attempts to rectify the situation by the track crew. A massive 9 car pile up in the feature resulted in the destruction of at least 2 cars and heavy damage to as many as 4 more. Plus the cautions and track conditions lead to a later than normal evening. The racing was finished at about 11:30. Not going to go into the laps changes as per usual simply because there were too many stoppages to remember all of them but the highlites follow. Front row outside starter Reynolds took the lead from the start with Phil Johns and the rest of the 22 starters falling behind. I believe 3 yellows in the first 2 laps slowed the going. The next restart had the field charging toward turn 3 when im Farris and Josh Ferguson got tangled making Don Kiger climb the rear tire of Ferguson and getting hung up. After that all hell broke loose with Mark Anderson, Kirk Anderson, Jeff Houchens, Brad Denney, Chuck Haga, and Terry Duncan all piling in to Kiger and Ferguson. Kiger was the proverbial pinball getting hit a minimum of 4 different time according to the sources from the pits after the fact which destroyed his car. Jeff Houchens also had a very hard hit and word was his car was also a write off. The cars of Mark Anderson, Kirk Anderson also appeared to sustain very heavy damage in the carnage. Denney drove his car to the pit area but both left side tires were flat leaving to the imagination what else could be damaged. Duncan and Haga had tire troubles which eliminated them along with Phil Johns. One of the worst accidents at VCS in some time. All 9 cars were eliminated. On the restart Reynolds lead the rest of the way with a few more yellows mixed in with Farris escaping any serious damage along with Sean Seavers, Jesse Simmons, Rick Hufford, Arby Burton, Jerry Hathaway, and Rod Sandage rounding out the remaining cars to finish. Reynolds was probably the only car not to receive any damage at all. Results below:
Fast time: Don Kiger
Heat 1: Phil Johns, Don Kiger, Chuck Haga, Mark Anderson
Heat 2: Tim Reynolds, Mike Gritton, Sean Seavers, Carl Silvey
Heat 3: Josh Ferguson, Jim Farris, Terry Duncan, Jeff Houchens
Consi 1: Rod Sandage, Kirk Anderson
Consi 2: Arby Burton, Jesse Simmons
Feature:
1. Tim Reynolds 2. Jim Farris
3.Sean Seavers 4. Jesse Simmons
5. Rick Hufford 6. Arby Burton
7. Jerry Hathaway 8. Rod Sandage
9. Tim O'Donnell 10.Carl Silvey
11.Cory Rolfe 12.Mike Gritton
13.Phil Johns 14.Terry Duncan
15.Kirk Anderson 16.Mark Anderson
17.Josh Ferguson 18.Don Kiger
19.Jeff Houchens 20.Brad Denney
21.Chuck Haga 22.Roger Cary
The final and next race of the year at VCS will be Saturday Oct. 20 with the final NALMS race of the year paying $5000 to win for the Late Models and also the UMP modifieds paying $1000 to win. Hope to see you here....

O'DONNELL WINS FLAG TO FLAG
By Namgalf

Oh what a night.... whew. A total of 52 UMP modifieds showed Sunday evening and at grand total of 153 cars in the pits along with yellow fever during the evening, a 25 minute delay in getting the program started to make sure all cars were able to get in made for the latest night of the year at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville Illinois Sunday night. The LM feature began approx. 10pm with I believe 7 cautions for spins and some frayed tempers finally finished the 25 lapper at 10:25. The modifieds took their turn and had the feature event go from flag to flag without a caution and finished at 10:40. At the start of the event pole sitter O'Donnell sprinted to the lead with fellow front row man Sean Seavers in a struggle for second along with Chuck Haga, John Hollifield and Jerry Hathaway leading the rest of the 22 car field with many 3 wide battles behind the leaders. O'Donnell would stretch his lead to 5 car lengths at lap 10 by running the hub of the speedway Haga, R.J.Gall and Hathaway changing lanes lap after lap for the second slot. Hathaway from the 5th starting spot continued his impressive finishes by streaking by the rest to the runnerup position at the halfway mark. O'Donnell began catching lappers with a charging Hathaway gaining ground fast and finally catching up at the lap 18 marker in traffic. While mired in the traffic Hathaway nearly got by once on lap 19 but the seas parted allowing O'Donnell to once again stretch the lead to 2 car lengths holding on till the end. In the meantime R.J.Gall motored to the 3rd spot pressuring Hathaway from about lap 17 on but could never pull beside and a consistent Denny Schwartz driving Rick Hufford's car to the 4th finish followed by big mover Rick Roedell in 5th from the 14th starting gate. Results :
Fast time: Don Kiger
1st heat: Tim O'Donnell, Don Kiger, Cory Rolfe, Dave Porth
2nd heat: Sean Seavers, R.J.Gall, Roger Cary,Arby Burton
3rd heat: Chuck Haga, Steve Faust, Kenny Carlson, Josh Ferguson
4th heat: John Hollifield, Denny Schwartz, Rick Roedell, Phil Van Sant
5th heat: Jerry Hathaway, John Hudson, Jason Lakey, Danny Schwartz
Consi #1: Dave Porth, Kyle Logue, Josh Ferguson
Consi #2: Arby Burton, Rob Fuqua, Aaron Ricketts
Feature:
1. Tim O'Donnell 2. Jerry Hathaway
3. R.J.Gall 4. Denny Schwartz
5. Rick Roedell 6. Roger Cary
7. Chuck Haga 8. Jason Lakey
9. John Hudson 10.Don Kiger
11.Sean Seavers 12.Dave Porth
13.Arby Burton 14.Rob Fuqua
15.Aaron Ricketts 16.Kyle Logue
17.John Hollifield 18.Cory Rolfe
19.Steve Faust 20.Kenny Carlson
21.Josh Ferguson
Movers tonight were the afore mentioned Roedell, Cary from 12th, and Lakey from 15th. The other end of the spectrum missing the setup a little were Hollifield from 4th to 17th, Seavers from 2nd to 11th, and Kiger took a hit in the points starting 6th and finishing 10th. Denny Schwartz now leads the points by 6 going into the last night for points which is this Friday's $1000 to win. Track was smooth and black slick with racing able to be had any groove during the feature and 3 wide very common in the pack. Next week is one of the big ones at VCS with $1000 to win Friday and the winner guaranteed a starting spot in Sunday's huge $4000 to win $200 to start 40 lapper. See other posts for more info on those races. Oh yeah the hornet feature was marred by a scary roll over at least 6 times by one of the competetiors whom was eventually taken to the hospital delaying the program about another 15 minutes waiting on the backup. Racing was finally concluded about 11:50. Too late........See ya this weekend..

SCHWARTZ WINS NUMBER 7
By Namgalf

Denny Schwartz captured his 7th feature victory at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville Illinois Sunday night over an overswelled field of 47 UMP modifieds. Using a little luck when front row starter Roger Cary had his car stall while entering the track on the pace lap allowing the outside row to move up and making Schwartz the man next to Dan Hamstra leading the field to the green. After a coming together on the first attempt Hamstra grabbed the lead going to turn 1 by hugging the tires. Schwartz momentarily fell to 3rd when Don Kiger also squirted by in turn 2 then Mr. Excitement got his momentum going motoring by Kiger at the end of the back straight and following Hamstra across the line for lap 1. At the same spot in turn 2 on lap 2 Schwartz moved around Hamstra for the lead. The top 3 stayed the same with Schwartz widening the lead to about 10 lengths and Hamstra another 5 ahead of Kiger until about lap 10. All eyes were on the 6 car battle royale for the 4th spot all this time with Chuck Haga, Tommy Burnside, Kyle Logue, Rob Fuqua, Jason Lakey, and 18th starting Tim O'Donnell all running 3 and sometimes 4 wide for the slot in no certain order everytime they crossed the line. About lap 12 Burnside also took to the top of the track and found a groove to his liking. Making up the 5 car distance between himself and Kiger at halfway and jumping to 3rd. A couple of laps later Hamstra fell victim and the chase was on as he was clearly making up distance on Schwartz. A lap 19 accident between Lakey and O'Donnell where Lakey rode completely over the hood of O'Donnell in turn 4 allowed the field to catch up completely. On the restart with a lapped car between the two leaders (Robin Huffman did the admirable thing and moved to the bottom ... kudos to him) the first restart was aborted when Kyle Logue lost power in turn 2 but the second time around Burnside moved right to the tail of the leader then tried a last lap last corner pass on the bottom to no avail. The racing was hard and the tacky track proved to be hard on drive trains with a few broken drive shafts and some sore motors also. Schwartz and Burnside (the last 2 winners of the David Richardson Memorial) put on a whale of a show with Hamstra and Kiger holding on to the 3 and 4 positions. Rob Fuqua finally battled his way to the 5th finishing spot. Results below:
Fast time: Terry Duncan
Heat 1: Dan Hamstra, Tommy Burnside, Terry Duncan, Phil Line
Heat 2: Roger Cary, Chuck Haga, Kyle Logue, Jason Lakey
Heat 3: Don Kiger, Rick Hufford, Rob Fuqua, Larry Raines
Heat 4: Denny Schwartz, J.R.Coyner, Tim Reynolds, Ryan Bowman
Consi 1: Arby Burton, Robin Huffman, Jesse Simmons
Consi 2: Tim O'Donnell, Sean Seavers, Jerry Danford
Feature:
1. Denny Scwartz 2. Tommy Burnside
3. Dan Hamstra 4. Don Kiger
5. Rob Fuqua 6. Chuck Haga
7. Sean Seavers 8. Ryan Bowman
9. Arby Burton 10.Jerry Danford
11.Robin Huffman 12.Kyle Logue
13.Tim O'Donnell 14.Jesse Simmons
15.Jason Lakey 16.Phil Line
17.Rick Hufford 18.Terry Duncan
19.J.R.Coyner 20.Larry Raines
21.Tim Reynolds 22.Roger Cary
With the respective finishes Schwartz and Kiger are now tied for the yearly point lead with this coming Sunday and Friday Aug.31 being the final points nights at VCS. Good luck to both. Seavers used the attrition and also good racing to finish 7th after starting 20th. O'Donnell was on a mission before his misfortune along with the 14th starting Lakey. Danford started 22nd and stayed out of trouble and rolled to his 10th finshing slot. The track was smooth and tacky with the help of mother nature this weekend and the field of 47 was I think a high for a regular show this year which I'm sure was swelled by all the rainouts on Saturday. The total cars in the pits were 137 and the modified feature rolled to a halt at 10:10. The Late models were finished at 9:45 and all racing finished at 10:50. Hope to see all back again next Sunday evening....

BRADLEY TAKES IT TO THE TOP
By Namgalf

Paris Ill. native Michael Bradley showed the way to go at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville Illinois on Kids night sponsered by Custom Care Dry Cleaners on Sunday evening. The track dried out and most were on the hub hugging the tires but Bradley was the first to try the middle and high sides to start picking off cars one by one from his 7th starting slot. After 2 false starts front row starters Terry Duncan and Don Kiger led the field of 21 cars to the green (point leader Denny Schwartz fell out on the second attempt) with Duncan grabbing the point. Second row starter Jason Lakey grabbed the second position with Kiger falling into the third slot. Chuck Haga, Roger Cary, Elvin Herschberger along with the rest fell into a bottom line for the first few laps. Bradley and Rob Fuqua moved to the upper portions of the track and slowly made headway. With Lakey applying pressure on Duncan he grabbed the lead at the halfway mark with Kiger following suit a couple laps later on the slowly fading Duncan. Bradley had moved to 4th by now and made little work of Duncan the proceeded to get by Kiger and begin running down the leader who looked like he was going to get his first win of the year at VCS. Using a caution to close a 5 car length lead Bradley jumped to the top and motored around Lakey about lap 20 and go on to take his first VCS feature win of the season. Strong running Lakey and Kiger followed with Duncan and Roger Cary rounding out the top 5. Results below:
Fast time: Elvin Herschberger
First heat: Terry Duncan, Jason Lakey, Roger Cary, Elvin Herschberger
Second heat: Don Kiger, Jerry Hathaway, Chuck Haga, Phil Line
Consi: Greg Wright. Jesse Simmons, Tony Roland, Tim Reynolds
Feature:
1. Michael Bradley 2. Jason Lakey
3. Don Kiger 4. Terry Duncan
5. Roger Cary 6. Rob Fuqua
7. Ryan Bowman 8. Phil Line
9. Dale Hayes 10.Tim Reynolds
11.Tony Roland 12.Chuck Haga
13.Greg Wright 14.Jerry Hathaway
15.Josh Ferguson 16.Brian McDaniel
17.Tim O'Donnell 18.Jesse Simmons
19.Elvin Herschberger 20.Arby Burton
21.John Hollifield 22.Denny Schwartz
Total of 29 UMP modifieds signed in tonight with the mod feature finished at 10:00. LM finished at 10:20 and a total of 133 cars in the pits this evening. Tim Reynolds advanced the most with his 22 starting spot to finish 10th. I believe there were a total of 5 cautions plus the 2 false starts. Also next Sunday the LM will return to VCS. Another note of interest is that there will not be any more 14 car heats with 9 transfers to the feature. The heats will be scaled down to (I think) no more than 10 cars to determine the feature transfers and starting positions. Pay attention as a big weekend of racing at VCS and Charleston Speedway on Labor Day weekend (Fri., Sat., and Sun.) will be posted on here tomorrow evening. Oh yeah.... where the heck did all them kids come from???????

SCHWARTZ GETS FIFTH FEATURE WIN AT VCS
By namgalf
(8/5/01)

Denny Schwartz captured his 5th victory of the season at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville Illinois Sunday evening. By virtue of winning the first heat Schwartz started on the pole of the 25 lap feature and had to use all of his knowledge to hold off a very determined Jason Lakey and veteran Roger Cary for the hard earned win. Jumping out to a lead at the start over fellow front row starter Cary , 3rd starting Blaine Farr began to fade almost immediatly allowing Tim Reynolds and 5th starter Lakey to move to the top 4 positions. Lakey rolled past Reynolds for third on lap 2 joining the battle for the lead with Schwartz on the rim, Cary running the middle and Lakey on the bottom of the speedway. This tug of war lasted until lap 8 with all three keeping the large crowd entertained racing side by side without any sheet metal banging. At lap 8 Cary slipped just enough to let the opposing 2 get a couple car lengths away and struggle with each other for the top spot. The next 4 or 5 laps were classic with Schwartz still on the rim and Lakey hugging the tires and Lakey even getting a nose in front at the line for the completion of lap 11. Schwartz felt that was enough excitement for a while and pulled to a car length lead until a lap 21 caution allowing the field to close on the leaders. Although the racing behind the leaders was just as furious I would think that almost all were focused on the lead 4 cars for the 4 lap dash to the end when Dan Hamstra used the caution to catch up. On lap 19 Schwartz looked as if he saw Lakey out the corner of his eye in turn 2 when Lakey nearly pulled even again and the next time around dropped out of his groove to the bottom and block the advance. Using the bottom on the restart Schwartz lead the remaing laps to capture the win with Lakey running a very strong second. Hamstra got a good run off turn 4 on lap 23 to take the show position away from a fourth finishing Cary. Consistent Tim Reynolds ran 5th with 15th starting Jerry Hathaway moving to the 6th slot. Terry Duncan, Mark Moore, Arby Burton and Tim O'Donnell round out the top 10. Results below:
Fast time: Denny Schwartz
First heat: Denny Schwartz, Tim Reynolds, Dan Hamstra, Terry Duncan
Second heat: Roger Cary, Jason Lakey, Arby Burton, Josh Ferguson
Third heat: Blain Farr, Rick Hufford, Kyle Logue, Bobby Allen
Consi: Tim O'Donnell, Chuck Haga, Sean Seavers, Mike Elliott
Feature:
1. Denny Schwartz 2. Jason Lakey
3. Dan Hamstra 4. Roger Cary
5. Tim Reynolds 6. Jerry Hathaway
7.Terry Duncan 8. Mark Moore
9. Arby Burton 10.Tim O'Donnell
11.Chuck Haga 12.Bobby Allen
13.Sean Seavers 14.Josh Ferguson
15.Brian McDaniel 16.John Hudson
17.Mike Elliott 18.John Hollifield
19.Blaine Farr 20.Charlie Carroll
21.Rick Hufford 22.Kyle Logue
The track with the NALMS LM also running got black this evening but the modifieds running first had the best possible track conditions and used the entire surface racing 3 and sometimes 4 wide deeper in the field. Schwartz used the evening to take over the point lead from Don Kiger who failed to make the feature field with a flat tire in the consi. 17 cars finished with all on the lead lap and only 1 caution slowed the field. A total of 34 cars entered with the modified feature finished at 9:40. A total of 122 cars were in the pits this evening. Next Sunday is Kids night sponsered by Custom Care Cleaners when kids will recieve over 50 bicycles, scooters and tricycles all new and donated by area businesses. Also rides on the cars will be done at intermission. Also announced last evening promoter Bill Marietta is going to try to run the UMP LM on a week to week basis for the month of August as long as the cars and fans support them. If either fail to support then they will not continue. Admission will be $10 at the front gate for adults... See ya Sunday

Results(7/29/01)
by namgalf
Denny Schwartz took advantage of a lap 20 restart to swing around Tommy Burnside and capture the checkers at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville Illinois. Burnside had taken the lead on lap 7 when early leader Dan Hamstra nearly looped his car in turn 4 leaving Burnside nowhere to go in the process helping Hamstra complete the spin at which time Hamstra left the speedway with a flat tire on the ensuing caution. Schwartz had moved early to the third position challenging the front runners but could not make the move until the lap 20 restart. Front row starter Don Kiger could not keep pace on the start falling to the 4th spot early and holding that position the rest of the way moving him up to the 3rd slot at the finish due to Hamstra falling out. Tim Reynolds, John Hudson and Phil Line kept the pressure on Kiger the entire distance and would cross in that order. Results below:
Fast time: John Hudson
1st heat: Dan Hamstra, Tim Reynolds, John Gurley, John Hudson
2nd heat: Don Kiger, Denny Schwartz, Chuck Haga, Kyle Logue
3rd heat: Tommy Burnside, Sean Seavers, Phil Line, Jerry Hathaway
Consi: Jason Lakey, Chuck Haga, Brian McDaniel, Cory Rolfe, Josh Ferguson
Feature:
1. Denny Schwartz 2. Tommy Burnside
3. Don Kiger 4. Tim Reynolds
5. John Hudson 6. Phil Line
7. Terry Duncan 8. Jason Lakey
9. Jerry Hathaway 10.Kyle Logue
11.Brian McDaniel 12.Doug Canham
13.Josh Ferguson 14.John Gurley
15.Chuck Haga 16.Tim O'Donnell
17.Rob Fuqua 18.Sean Seavers
19.Jesse Simmons 20.Arby Burton
21.Dan Hamstra 22.Cory Rolfe
32 UMP modifieds took time this evening. National point leader Chad Kinder was running second in his heat when he hit the cone on a restart then was put to the tail of the field (VCS rules) at the next caution which left 4 laps to go and failed to make it to a transfer spot then elected to load and head home instead of running the consi. Chuck Haga qualified his regular ride for the feature in his heat but then jumped into a consi car without informing track officials and made the field in that car. Promoter Bill Marietta made the decision that Haga had to run the last car in the feature and forfeit his first car. 14 cars were running at the end and I think I remember a total of 5 caution flags. The track was heavy and somewhat rough tonight caused by heavy rains this week including over 2 inches Saturday evening making for a long day to pump out turn 1 and being able to have the racing this evening. Bill Marietta and a few others deserve cudos for the hard work. A total of 117 cars in the pits this evening with the modified feature concluded at 11:05. Almost an hour behind after running the rained out features in the other 3 classes before starting the regular program. All racing finished at 11:25. Next week the NALMS LM make their final visit to VCS with the final show of the Illinois Speedweek which begins Thursday at Spoon River, then on to Farmer City and Fairbury before coming to VCS Sunday evening. Hope to see ya here as the LM have put on excellent racing at all shows this year at VCS...

Official finish from VCS (7/22/01) Sunday night was:
1/ Jim Shereck
2/ Rick Hufford
3/ Wes Steidinger
4/ Roger Cary
5/ R.J. Gall
6/ Dave Wheatley
7/ Jeff Leka
8/ Don Kiger
9/ Josh Ferguson
10/Jerry Hathaway
Only 10 running at checkered out of 22.
Track was heavy all night/ infield full of mud from previous rains. Rain was heavy again right after feature finished.
Shereck, Dave Porth, and Jeff Leka were 1-2-3 in overall points for three nights of racing. Double features on all other classes next Sunday

Schwartz Gets Third Win At VCS Sunday
By Namgalf (7/15/01)

Ashmore, Illinois driver Denny Schwartz started in the 10th slot for the feature event Sunday evening but sure did not let that hamper him as he moved through the field to take the lead on lap 10 then hang on to take the win over 21 other UMP modified drivers at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville, Ill. At the start of the 25 lap grind front row starters Tim Reynolds and Jerry Hathaway motored side by side for 4 laps with each leading half the early laps before Hathaway stretched out to a car length lead. Third starting Tommy Burnside pulled off on lap 4 while racing for the third position with Chuck Haga and Rick Hufford. The trio were 2 car lengths behind the leaders having their own tug of war when the only caution of the feature fell on lap 5 for a drive shaft left on the top of turn 2 from the car of Burnside. Schwartz had moved to the 5th slot at this juncture using the top of the multi grooved speedway. On the restart Hathaway once again moved to a 2 car length lead over Reynolds with the battle between Haga and Hufford raging Schwartz moved around both the third and forth spots in one fell swoope on top of turn 3 and 4 to earn the 3rd position. At lap 8 Reynolds bad luck at VCS continued with what appeared to be engine trouble when he pulled to the infield on the front stretch handing the runner up slot to Schwartz whom immediatly began the assault on Hathaway for the lead. Finally on lap 10 Mr. Excitement (as he is called by some) slid under the leader in turn 2 for the lead and all expected him to run away. Hathaway however had a different way of thinking trying to win his first feature and picked up the pace putting pressure many times on the lead car even showing his nose 3 or 4 times but was not to be as Schwartz held on for the 25 lap win by about 2 car lengths. Hathaway had his best showing ever by finishing in the runner up slot with the race long tussle between Haga and Hufford finally going to Hufford at the stripe. Point leader Don Kiger moved the final top 5 spot about halfway through and stayed there till the end. Cory Rolfe whom is getting much better every week ended up 6th followed by John Hudson, Roger Cary, Dale Hayes and John Gurley for the top 10. Results below:
Fast time: Don Kiger
1st heat: Tim Reynolds, Chuck Haga, Don Kiger, Denny Schwartz
2nd heat: Jerry Hathaway, Cory Rolfe, Roger Cary, Dale Hayes
3rd heat: Tommy Burnside, Rick Hufford, Rob Fuqua, John Hudson
Consi: Jason Lakey, Arby Burton, Rick Rife, Brad Wright
Feature:
1. Denny Schwartz 2. Jerry Hathaway
3. Rick Hufford 4. Chuck Haga
5. Don Kiger 6. Cory Rolfe
7. John Hudson 8. Roger Cary
9. Dale Hayes 10.John Gurley
11.Tim O'Donnell 12.John Hollifield
13.Jason Lakey 14.Arby Burton
15.Brian McDaniel 16.Jim Moore
17.Brad Wright 18.Tim Reynolds
19.Jesse Simmons 20.Rob Fuqua
21.Rick Rife 22.Tommy Burnside
A total of 29 UMP modifieds took time this evening. The track was exceptional being smooth and able to run all over the track. Hufford and Haga were like a magnet and steel running all 25 laps together with a minimal amount of bumping and good hard racing between the two. Another battle was between the cars of John Hudson, Roger Cary, Dale Hayes , John Gurley and Tim O'Donnell all in a pack slicing and dicing everywhere to try and pick up positions. A total of 107 cars in the pit area tonight with the modified feature finished at 9:10 the LM finished at 9:35 and all racing done at 10:05. Next Sunday the UMP modifieds will be racing for $1000 to win and $100 to start part of a series with Kankakee Friday night (paying $1500 to win) and Fairbury Saturday night (paying $1500 to win) with the top 3 in points from the three races getting point money and or racing supplies. I believe the winner recieves a $1000 bonus on Sunday at VCS. Hot laps begin at 6pm with qualifing at 6:30 and racing at 7pm. Hope to see ya here...

O'DONNELL DOMINATES FIELD AT VCS
By Namgalf

Summary of Results from June 17, 2001

UMP LATE MODEL: Billy Drake, John Gill, Billy Moyer, Shannon Babb, Don Schlieper, Dennis Erb, Dick Phillips, Kevin Weaver, Bob Pierce, Don O'Neal, Rodney Melvin, Steve Hilliard, Scott James, Duke Whisiant, Steve Barnett, Jeff Martin, Matt Taylor, Shane Cottle, CJ Rayburn, Chuck Haga, Ed Dixon, Marvin Burton

UMP MODIFIED: Tim O'Donnell, Don Kiger, Denny Schwartz, Jason Lakey, John Hudson, Rob Fuque, Dean Vickers, Roger Cary, Elvin Herschberger, Jerry Hathaway, Michael Bradley, Kyle Logue, Wes Steidinger, John Hollifield, Mike Elliott, Dale Ayers, Cory Ralfe, Sean Seavers, Jesse Simmons, Tim Reynolds, Chuck Haga, Dan Hamstra

SUPER STREET: Randy Shurman, Ed Lahey, Mike Roundtree, Marcus Phelps, Tim McEwon, Brian Cook, Lee J. Hall, Jeff Watts, Chris Dick, Kyle Vogel

Herschberger Takes VCS Win
By Namgalf

(6/10/01)Elvin Herschberger made the trip from Peru, Ind. worthwhile Sunday night by capturing the 25 lap UMP modified feature event at Vermilion County Speedway. Herschberger used the heat win to grab the pole spot and out raced front row starter Don Kiger to the lower groove and the lead then went on to lead all 25 laps for the win although he was pressured numerous times throughout. The first chance at sending the 22 car field off was aborted when second row outside starter Denny Schwartz dove to the pole going into turn one and proceeded to turn a 360 in front of most of the field leaving a quartet of drivers sitting in a pile behind him. Sean Seavers, Jeff Houchens, Roger Cary and Cory Rolfe all were able to continue on but had to go to the rear of the field per VCS rules for stopping. Also involved but no so lucky was Terry Duncan who received damage and was through for the evening. Schwartz however was able to keep his car moving and received his position back on the restart. On the second attempt Herschberger again jumped to the lead with Kiger on top, Schwartz on the bottom and Chuck Haga right on the bumper of the leader. Kiger was able to keep up with Herschberger for the first three laps until it appeared the handling changed some when he also fell to the bottom of the speedway. At about this time 8th starting Tim O'Donnell was gaining momentum around the outside and commenced to pass consistent running Tim Reynolds and battle with Haga for the 5th spot. A caution at lap 6 closed the field again and allowed O'Donnell to once again jump to the top and blow by Haga and Kiger into the third spot at about lap 9 then proceed to chase down Schwartz and Herschberger whom were engrossed on the their own battle for the lead with Schwartz trying all grooves except the very top of the oval and find a way around the leader to no avail. The trio put on a spirited battle for the top spot but the trailing 2 could get no closer than the rear quarter panel of Herschberger when on lap 20 another caution flew. On the restart the leader pulled to a 2 car length lead which he held for the remainder. O'Donnell had changed his lane also going to the bottom for some reason and followed Schwartz across the line for 3rd. Following behind and finishing out the top 5 were Don Kiger and Chuck Haga. Results below:
Fast time:Roger Cary
1st heat: Elvin Herschberger, Denny Schwartz, Terry Duncan, Tony Roland
2nd heat: Don Kiger, Arby Burton, Tim O'Donnell, Jeff Houchens
3rd heat: Sean Seavers, Tim Reynolds, Chuck Haga, Jason Lakey
Consi: Rick Rife, Josh Ferguson, Jerry Hathaway, Chris Richards
Feature:
1. Elvin Herschberger 2. Denny Schwartz
3. Tim O'Donnell 4. Don Kiger
5. Chuck Haga 6. Tim Reynolds
7. Tony Roland 8. Jason Lakey
9. Brian McDaniel 10.Jeff Houchens
11.Jesse Simmons 12.Roger Cary
13.Josh Ferguson 14.Corey Rolfe
15.Jerry Hathaway 16.Brad Wright
17.Arby Burton 18.Bobby Allen
19.Sean Seavers 20.Rick Rife
21.Chris Richards 22.Terry Duncan
Congrats to rookies Brian McDaniel , Josh Ferguson, Brad Wright and Chris Richards for making their first VCS feature event of the year. McDaniel would also qualify for the hard charger award by coming from the 16th starting spot to a solid place finish. A total of 88 cars were in the pits with 28 modifieds taking time trials. Mods were finished at 9:25 tonite with all regular classes finished at 10pm and the powder puff races completed by 10:20. Next Sunday the UMP Summernationals for late models invade the speedway along with the UMP modifieds and super street classes. See ya then...

FOUR IN A ROW FOR SCHWARTZ
By namgalf

Denny Schwartz extended his personal winning streak to 4 in a row with a convincing win at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville, Illinois Sunday night over a field of 36 UMP modifieds. Using his 2nd heat win to start on the outside front row Schwartz surged ahead of Terry Duncan at the start rolling to a comfortable lead until a lap 4 caution for a spinning Steve Evans in turn 3 to allow Duncan and the rest of the field to close up. However on the restart Schwartz once again showed his dominance by stretching to a 6-8 car length lead. Behind the leader Duncan, Roger Cary, and Michael Bradley were fighting for the runner-up spot hot and heavy with Bradley taking over the 3rd spot near the halfway point of the 25 lap grind from Cary. Coming out of turn 4 on lap 19 Bradley used a little slip of Duncan's to latch on to the place position. Behind that bunch Jason Lakey was picking off cars one at a time to advance from his 12th starting spot to claim the 5th spot late in the race after racing hard with a group including John Hudson, Chuck Haga and Larry Raines. With Schwartz holding a lead of about 10 car lengths at the white flag the car of Brian McDaniel got the chrome horn of another competitor between 1 and 2 leaving Schwartz with no where to go but into the spun McDaniel with the right door panel he however was able to keep rolling and continued on to take the checkered with a fast closing Bradley coming within 3 lengths and having to settle for the runner-up spot just ahead of Duncan. Cary and Lakey filled out the top 5. Results follow:
Fast time: Mark Anderson
1st heat: Terry Duncan, Roger Cary, Don Kiger, Jesse Simmons
2nd heat: Denny Schwartz, Michael Bradley, John Hudson, Cory Rolfe
3rd heat: Jeff Houchens, Larry Raines, Arby Burton, Jason Lakey
Consi: Dale Hayes, Rob Fuqua, Brandon Raef, Brian McDaniel
Feature:
1. Denny Schwartz 2. Michael Bradley
3. Terry Duncan 4. Roger Cary
5. Jason Lakey 6. John Hudson
7. Larry Raines 8. Chuck Haga
9. Blaine Farr 10.Jesse Simmons
11.Jeff Houchens 12.John Gurley
13.Don Kiger 14.Dale Hayes
15.Brandon Raef 16.Rob Fuqua
17.Mike Elliott 18.Brian McDaniel
19.Arby Burton 20.Jerry Hathaway
21.Steve Evans 22.Cory Rolfe
Fast timer Mark Anderson was involved in a skirmish in the first heat when he got turned and another car nailed the rear end of his car eliminating the first time visitor for the evening. Other than the McDaniel car involved in the last lap spin all cars running were on the lead lap with 17 completing the 25 laps. There were 111 total race cars in the pits with the modified feature ending at 8:50pm and all racing was over at 9:20. Jason Lakey advanced from 12th to the 5th spot and Blaine Farr advanced from the 8th row to the 9th spot. Best personal finishes for the year went to Bradley, Duncan, Cary, Lakey, Raines, and Simmons. I believe all are best for the year at VCS.. Next Sunday gates open at 4 with hot laps at 5:45 and qualifing at 6pm also the ladies get to race in the powder puff races... See all Sunday.

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O'DONNELL TOPS IN STELLAR FIELD OF CARS
By Rick Isaacson
(click on web page above for race summary)

Champaign,Ill. driver Tim O'Donnell bested 40 other UMP modifieds to take the win at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville,Ill. Sunday night. Ran in conjunction with the Hoosier UMP late model series the large crowd was treated to an excellent show. Starting outside the front row by virtue of winning the second heat O'Donnell snatched the lead from fellow front row mate Dan Hamstra at the drop of the green banner and dropping to the bottom of the black slickened surface to lead the 22 car field at the end of lap one. Hamstra followed on the hub with second row chauffers John DeMoss and Don Kiger beginning a race long battle for the second position along with 8th starting Roger Cary. O'Donnell began to stretch out the lead to almost 5 car lengths by lap 5 leaving the all out war behind. Hamstra protecting the hub with DeMoss forcing the issue in the same line. Kiger meanwhile jumped to the long way around the big 1/4 mile to begin building momentum and gradually gaining ground. Cary meanwhile had worked his way through Bub Patrick, Rob Fuqua, Tim Reynolds and Dennis Hux to make the joust for second an all out heavy weight fight amongst 4 cars with Cary most of the time using the middle of the speedway. Although none of them could get all the way up to Hamstra at the halfway marker Kiger was making headway on the rim where he would pass DeMoss on the backstraight but could not hold the spot at the start finish line until a little bobble by DeMoss at about lap 15. DeMoss fought back by moving under Kiger at lap 17 to regain the show position. Kiger again got the momentum going passing DeMoss on lap 18 and getting alongside the second running Hamstra pulling even again on the back stretch and losing a little on the front straight. Lap 21 rolled around where O'Donnell was comfortably ahead by nearly 8 car lengths and going into turn 3 DeMoss made a move under Hamstra and contact was made causing Hamstra to spin and Cary to also come to a stop causing a caution. Infield officials from VCS determined DeMoss was a little too agressive and sent him to the rear of the field and allowing Hamstra to restart 2nd and Cary 4th. All this time Tim Reynolds and Rob Fuqua were also putting on an excellent race changing positions time after time for 6th and 7th spots. On the restart with 5 to go O'Donnell was temporarially challenged by Hamstra but again moved out to a 3 car lead but Cary made a move under Kiger allowing him the 3 spot for a lap. Kiger again got the momentum going and at the white flag got enough to get by both Cary and Hamstra for the #2 slot at the finsh. Of the 22 cars 20 finished and all were on the lead lap at the end. Excellent racing on the smooth and black speedway this evening. Feature was finished at 10:10. Results:
Fast time: Tie: Wes Steidinger and Brandon Raef
Transfers:
1st heat: Dan Hamstra, Bub Patrick, Tim Reynolds, Chuck Haga
2nd heat: Tim O'Donnell, Rob Fuqua, Rick Hufford, Wes Steidinger
3rd heat: John DeMoss, Dennis Hux, Sean Seavers, Clint DeMoss
4th heat: Don Kiger, Roger Cary, Nick Gough, Tommy Burnside
Consi #1: Brandon Raef, Kyle Logue, Cory Rolfe
Consi #2: Jeff Houchens, Elvin Herschbeger, Tony Roland
Feature:
1. Tim O'Donnell 2. Don Kiger
3. Dan Hamstra 4. Roger Cary
5. Rob Fuqua 6. Tim Reynolds
7. Dennis Hux 8. Bub Patrick
9. Rick Hufford 10.Chuck Haga
11.Wes Steidinger 12.Sean Seavers
13.Clint DeMoss 14.Nick Gough
15.Jeff Houchens 16.Kyle Logue
17.Tony Roland 18.Brandon Raef
19.Elvin Herschberger 20.John DeMoss
21.Tommy Burnside 22.Cory Rolfe
With a total of 133 cars in the pit area the 10:10 finish time was pretty good the LM feature was finished at 9:45 and all racing done by 10:45. Just to show how tough tonites field was point leader going into the night Arby Burton could not make the field along with Jason Lakey, Terry Duncan, Steve Faust,J.R.Coyner just to name a few. The drivers did a comendable job tonite with the cautions at a minimum and great racing side by side all over the track. Racing resumes this coming Sunday with hot laps at 6 and racing at 6:30. The UMP mods ,Super streets, Bombers and Hornets on the card. Thank you and cya next Sunday.....

SEAN SEAVERS WINS AGAIN AT VCS
(click on website above for summary)
By Rick Isaacson
Threats of heavy rain (missed the track by about 2 miles) a massive wind and dust storm, a full moon, and 33 other UMP modified drivers could not deny Sean Seavers the victory at VCS in Danville,Illinois Sunday night. For "Humpty" (his 4m handle) this would be his second of the season at the oversized 1/4 mile oval and also his second in a row here making him one of the early favorites for the upcoming $5000 to win David Richardson Memorial on Memorial Day weekend. Terry Duncan and Elvin Herschberger led the 22 car field to the green flag with Herschberger jumping to the front right off the bat and Duncan on his tail early. By the end of the first lap Seavers had bolted from his 6th starting spot to latch onto the runner-up spot leaving Duncan, Dennis Hux, Arby Burton and Chuck Haga battling for the 3rd on back slots. Herschberger looked to have all in command and widened his lead to as much as half a straight lead over Seavers up to the 15 lap when the handle seemed to slightly go away allowing Seavers to close the gap slowly lap by lap. Behind the lead duo the battle for 3rd really got hot and heavy as Hux, Tim O'Donnell and Don Kiger all in Pierce built mods changed hands many times with each in the show position at one time or another. O'Donnell had come from his 12th starting spot to slice and dice for 3rd. By this time Duncan had slid back to a fight for 6th thru 8th with Arby Burton, Chuck Haga and Kyle Logue joining in the fun. The track although a little odd in that there was plenty of tack in the corners and the straights a dry slick condition allowed for 3 grooves of racing throughout the feature event. With 5 laps to go the lead duo encountered the car of Brad Crosby ,the first car to go a lap down, and all three running the top of the track Herschberger waited just a little to long to make the move to pass allowing Seavers to box the leader behind and going on to post the 25 lap victory. The struggle for third went right down to the wire with Dennis Hux capturing his best finish ever at VCS then Kiger nosing O'Donnell for the 4th spot but still on right rear quarter panel of Hux. Burton held on for 6th followed by Duncan, Haga, and Logue.
Results :
Fast time; Brandon Raef
Top 4 in heats:
First heat: Terry Duncan, Dennis Hux, Don Kiger, Cory Rolfe
Second heat: Elvin Herschberger, Chuck Haga, Richard Wood, Kyle Logue
Third heat: Arby Burton, Sean Seavers, J.R.Coyner, Tim O'Donnell
Consi: Brad Crosby, Brad Wright, Gabe Menser, Ryan Young
Feature:
1. Sean Seavers 2. Elvin Herschberger 3. Dennis Hux 4. Don Kiger
5. Tim O'Donnell 6. Arby Burton 7. Terry Duncan 8. Chuck Haga
9. Kyle Logue 10.Rob Fuqua 11.Jeff Houchens 12.Cory Rolfe
13.Jim Moore 14.J.R.Coyner 15.Brian McDaniel 16.Gabe Menser
17.Ryan Young 18.Brad Crosby 19.Richard Wood 20.Roger Cary
21.Brad Wright 22.Scott Wang
A total of 34 modifieds signed in Sunday. With 97 total cars in the pit area the modified feature was finished at 9:00 and all racing was done at 9:50. I'm sure the car count was held down some by the threat of weather and this was the first night this year that over 100 cars was not in attendance. Next Sunday the UMP Late models invade VCS with at $2000 to win show along with the UMP modifieds, super streets, and bombers. The finish time was very good taking into account the weather, skirmishes in the pits (attribute that to the moon... lol), and at least 2 different red flags so far the attempts to get the travelling folks out at an early hour on Sunday has worked out. We're trying.

STEIDINGER WINS WEEK 3 AT VCS
By Rick Isaacson

RACING AT THE VCS FAST TRACK
(4/22/01)
Complete story on news page or V.C.S. website

SUMMARY
NORTHERN ALLSTARS-37 cars
Heat 1-Steve Barnett, B,J, McCammon, Kevin Claycomb, Jeff Martin
Heat 2-Bob Pierce, Doug McCammon, Richie Hedrick, Dennis Erb, Jr.
Heat 3-Steve Hillard, Brian Clendenen, Dick Phillips, Kevin Weaver
Heat 4-Scott James, Roger Long, Joe Harlan, Steve Lance
Semi-Jim Curry, Shawn Negangard
Feature-Pierce, Hillard, Barnett, Doug McCammon, Long, James, Phillips, Weaver, Curry, B.J.McCammon

UMP MODIFIED-46 cars
Heat 1- Tony Roland, Sean Seaver, Wes Steidinger
Heat 2-Shane Cottle, J.R.Coyner, Chuck Haga
Heat 3-Ryan Young, Kyle Cooper, Kyle Logue
Heat 4-Brandon Raef, Dan Hamstra, Arby Burton
Semi 1-John DeMoss, Michael Bradley
Semi 2-Denny Schwartz, Don Kiger
Feature- Sean Seavers, Shane Cottle, Denny Schwartz, Tony Roland, Tim O'Donnell

Super Street Feature- Randy Shuman
Bomber Feature- Rick Baity 

BURTON WINS VCS OPENER
By Rick Isaacson

(4/15/01)Arby Burton of Georgetown,Il. captured the opening UMP modified feature by leading all 25 laps at Vermilion County Speedway in Danville. Using the pole position earned by winning the first heat Burton took the lead immediatly in turn one by outdragging Tim Reynolds. In tow were Tony Rowland, Rob Fuqua, and Dan Hamstra. By lap 5 a hard charging Hamstra had advanced to 2nd spot and proceeded to put the pressure on by almost every lap showing his nose to Burton in turns one and two but could never get enough mustard to pull ahead. Working thru 5 yellow flags Burton kept his cool and the lead while Hamstra perhaps thinking a little too much on the leader third running Tony Roland got a run on the outside at lap 20 and appeared to have the power to grab second position but a bone head move by a wrecker driver pulling a car across the track while the green light was on forced a yellow flag at the most in opportune time sending Roland to the third spot on the restart. Meanwhile Reynolds in the 4th spot had his hands full of Richard Wood who had advanced from the middle of the pack to challenge for 5th. Rob Fuqua held on for 6th with Don Kiger moving up to 7th at the finish. A significant rain Saturday night plus the cloudy and cool temperatures made for a heavy and somewhat rough track particularly during the heats after which the track was graded and made for a much better surface feature time but still not what is expected at VCS. Promoter Bill Marietta not at all happy with these conditions said all attempts will be made to make sure this will not happen again if at all possible. A total of 28 modifieds signed in tonight with J.R.Coyner setting fast time, however his night went steadily downhill from there when he transfered in his heat but forgot to cross the scales thus forfeiting the spot and having to start at near the rear of the feature along with other transfers Don Kiger, Marvin Burton, and Terry Duncan who also did not cross the scales after the heats and forfeited their feature postions and started near the rear of the feature. A hard lesson learned on the new UMP weight rules. Results below:
1st heat: Arby Burton, Rob Fuqua, Cory Rolfe, Tim O'Donnell
2nd heat: Tim Reynolds, Dan Hamstra, Bruce Draper, Mark Flessner
3rd heat: Mike Gritton, Tony Roland, Richard Wood, Steve Evans
Semi-Feature was eliminated allowing 22 cars to start the feature
Feature:
1. Arby Burton 2. Dan Hamstra
3. Tony Roland 4. Tim Reynolds
5. Richard Wood 6. Rob Fuqua
7. Don Kiger 8. Mike Gritton
9. Steve Evans 10.Bruce Draper
11.Mark Flessner 12.Marvin Burton
13.J.R. Coyner 14.Dennis Hux
15.Cory Rolfe 16.Kyle Logue
17.Tim O'Donnell 18.Roger Cary
19.Terry Duncan 20.Jesse Simmons
21.Sean Seavers 22.Rich Isaacson
Nextweek the NALMS late model series invades VCS with hot laps at approx. 5:30 and qualifing at 5:45 and racing at 6:30.
See ya sunday........

BURTON BEST ON OPENING NIGHT AT V.C.S.(4/15/01)
By Jack Taylor 

(4/15/01) One thing that race fans can be sure of in the early part of Spring is to expect Mother Nature to hit you with a few curve balls, weatherwise. That was the case Sunday evening as Vermilion County Speedway raised the 2001 curtain at the "Fast Track". Saturday night rains and early Sunday morning showers, with little drying during the day, left the track a spongy, tacky surface at race time. With temperatures nearing 40 degrees as the evening approached, only the hearty types of race fans were in high spirits, but the crowd was decent for the conditions.

Qualifying got underway for 28 UMP Modified drivers on time and J.R. Coyner of Lafayette, IN set the best mark of the evening, with Dan Hamstra of Fair Oaks, IN (1999 track champion) clocking in second best. Three heats on the spongy surface were enough to convince officials that the track would need to be graded to remove the ruts that the cars were digging on the turns. During intermission, the grading proved to remove enough of the roughage, allowing fans and drivers to enjoy a very fast feature race, which was dotted with six cautions during the 25 laps.

Arby Burton, of Georgetown, IL had the best view through the running of the feature from his pole position. Although he received several challenges, Burton never gave up the position and led from flag to flag. Dan Hamstra, Tony Roland, Tim Reynolds, and Richard Wood all were in striking distance throughout, but Burton survived the cautions and the challenges to gain a well-deserved victory. 

The Super Street feature win went to Chris Dick of Deland, IL and Jeff Barker of Charleston, IL took honors in the Bomber feature. Jim Smith was the victor in the new 4-cylinder Hornet class.

Returning to a Sunday agenda after a few years of Friday racing, officials at the track were pleased with the opening night of fan turnout and driver response. Efforts to start an early program to allow for an early departure from the track proved successful as the Modified feature was over @ 9:15 and all racing had ended by 10:00. Oh, and one other note to help us remember who really controls our activities. Rain began to fall again as the lights were turned out track-side.

Next Sunday night- The Northern AllStar Late Models will be at Danville for a big program of racing on the "Fast Track".

Race Summary-78 Cars
UMP Modified
Fast Qualifier- J.R. Coyner
First Heat-Arby Burton, J.R.Coyner, Rob Fuqua
Second Heat-Tim Reynolds, Dan Hamstra, Don Kiger
Third Heat-Mike Gritten, Tony Roland, Richard Wood
Feature- Burton, Hamstra, Roland, Reynolds, Wood

Hornets
Heat- Jason Brown
Feature-Jim Smith

Super Streets
First Heat- Marcus Phelps, Ed Lahey
Second Heat-Chris Dick, Randy Shuman
Feature-Chris Dick, Marcus Phelps, Randy Shuman

Bombers
First Heat- Dusty Lewsader
Second Heat-Jeff Barker
Third Heat- Mike Hope
Feature- Barker