Posted by Kankakee Speedway on 8/18/2005, 2:13 pm
Board Administrator

It was only a matter of weeks ago that paramedics carried a ghost-white Ryan Dauber away from the job site. If anyone dared venture a guess, they would have said this man's Late Model stock car racing career was over. "My arm was crushed in nine different places," Dauber said. "The doctors told me they were probably going to have to amputate." But, instead, they first tried reconstruction. The driver left the hospital with a collection of surgical plates and screws. That hardware is still there, underneath all the bandages. But Dauber was back behind the wheel Friday night at the Kankakee Valley Motor Speedway � and he roared to easy wins in his heat and feature. "It was just my night," he said, modestly after the race. "My fingers were getting a little numb with my arm wrapped so tightly, but driving wasn't really a problem." In fact, Dauber grabbed the lead at the first green flag and was never seriously challenge, even though a flurry of yellow flags erased his leads time and again. Richie Hedrick turned the night's quickest qualifying lap, but his outside charge was no threat to Dauber. He wound up in the runnerup spot in his heat and the feature. In the Open-Wheel Modifieds, Denny Schwartz notched his second feature win in a row and his 32nd main event of the summer, but he was dominating. Matt Bachman was faster, but slipped off the track six laps into the race. In the final two laps of the race, Schwartz seemed to slow dramatically, but runnerup Bob Pohlman appeared too stunned to pass. Joel Funk took third with Jim Farris making a strong run to fourth, just ahead of AJ Dixon. Bachman came all the way from last up to sixth, but couldn't get through the pack to get another shot at Schwartz. In other Late Model action, RJ Gall drove a smooth race in his heat win ahead of second-place Ted Loomis. Loomis battled his way to fourth in the feature and, with Garret Slager in fifth � ahead of sixth-place John Provanzano � Loomis propelled himself into the season point lead. In the Modified prelims, Schwartz and Bachman were heat winners, with Pohlman and newcomer Nick Novell taking the second-place honors. The night also attracted a huge field of Street Stocks racing for a $1,300 first-place prize in the Joe Weaver Memorial Feature. Don McCarty was the night's big winner, but the battle was hard-fought. Darren Kohler took the early lead and raced McCarty side-by-side for most of the first five laps. Then Kevin Lenzen entered the scene. Lenzen made it a three-way battle and appeared to have taken the lead � just as a yellow flag came out on lap six. With the caution flag, the field reverted to the last scored lap and Lenzen went back to third. His challenge would last just seven more laps: He spun out and left with a flat tire with eight laps to go. Meanwhile, McCarty secured first and the focus shifted to a battle between Chad Osterhoff and Jay Hamilton. They were each coming through the field in a hurry, before Osterhoff rocketed away. With four laps to go, Kohler, Osterhoff, Billy Wicker and Brett Peters were bumper to bumper and door handle to door handle for three laps. Finally, Osterhoff � who nearly set a new track record in qualifying � moved to second and Wicker held on to third. Kohler took fourth and Peters settled for fifth. Summaries: LATE MODEL DIVISION Fast Time: Richie Hedrick � 14.350 seconds First Heat: 1. Ryan Dauber; 2. Hedrick; 3. Bob Pohlman Second Heat: 1. RJ Gall; 2. Ted Loomis; 3. Dick Potts Feature: 1. Dauber; 2. Hedrick; 3. Pohlman; 4. Loomis; 5. Garrett Slager OPEN-WHEEL MODIFIEDS Fast Time: Denny Schwartz � 15.868 seconds First Heat: 1. Schwartz; 2. Pohlman; 3. Jammie Wilson Second Heat: 1. Matt Bachman; 2. Nick Novell; 3. AJ Dixon Feature: 1. Schwartz; 2. Pohlman; 3. Joel Funk; 4. Jim Farris; 5. Dixon STREET STOCK DIVISION Fast Time: Chad Osterhoff � 17.569 First Heat: 1. Bill Stevenson; 2. Kevin Lenzen; 3. Osterhoff Second Heat: 1. Darren Kohler; 2. Billy Wicker; 3. Jay Hamilton Third Heat: 1. Don McCarty; 2. Jay Morris; 3. John Hennessy Fourth Heat: 1. Brett Peters; 2. Damon Miller; 3. Don Lutz Semi-Feature: 1. Randy Akers; 2. Mike Cavanaugh; 3. Bill Stevenson Joe Weaver Memorial Feature: 1. McCarty; 2. Osterhoff; 3. Wicker; 4. Kohler; 5. Peters