Posted by Kankakee Speedway on 8/21/2005, 9:13 pm
Board Administrator

KANKAKEE -- Ryan Dauber rolled easily to his second straight feature win at the Kankakee Valley Motor Speedway Friday (Aug. 19), but it will be his last of the season. He goes back for more surgery on his right arm this week and with a bone transplant in store, the former motorcycle racing champ knows he won't be behind the wheel again this summer. He took the early lead, but spun himself out on lap five. That gave Richie Hedrick the lead, but it was only temporary. After some fierce side-by-side racing with Hedrick, he regained the lead on lap 15. Dan Hamstra won another Open-Wheel Modified feature. He grabbed the lead on the first green flag and had little problem holding off runnerup Joel Funk and third-place Bob Pohlman. The race was marred by six caution flags. Kevin Lenzen won the Street Stock feature, thanks to a surprising explosion. Point leader Jay Hamilton was comfortably out front when his transmission disintegrated on the front stretch on lap six. That moved Lenzen into first and he had no problem moving on to the winner's circle. In other Late Model action, Dauber held off Frank Heckenast Jr. in their heat, but Heckenast's third-place finish in the feature helped him tighten up the season points chase. John Provenzano, who was second in the points coming into the night and second to RJ Gall in their heat, but his fourth-place finish in the feature added even more interest in the season title drama. The points leader coming into the night, Ted Loomis moved as high as fourth in the feature, but fell well off the pace at the end to lose valuable points ground. Hedrick won his heat, with former track champ Frank Reaber second. It was Reaber's first visit here this summer, but his planned racing retirement has been postponed and he expects to be back in the pits next week when the Northern All-Stars visit the track. Results: Late Model Division Fast Time: Ryan Dauber � 14.158 seconds First Heat: 1. Dauber; 2. Frank Heckenast Jr.; 3. Jaimie Zider Second Heat: 1. Rich Hedrick; 2. Frank Reaber; 3. Bob Pohlman Third Heat: 1. RJ Gall; 2. John Provenzano; 3. Ted Loomis Feature: 1. Dauber; 2. Hedrick; 3. Heckenast; 4. Provenzano; 5. Garrett Slager Open-Wheel Modified Fast Time: Dan Hamstra � 15.409 Frist Heat: 1. Hamstra; 2. Joel Funk; 3. Phil Line Second Heat: 1. Aaron Ricketts; 2. Dave Porth; 3. Mike Mosier Third Heat: 1. Kyle Cooper; 2. Bob Pohlman; 3. AJ Dixon Semi-Feature: 1. George Aimone; 2. Derek Line; 3. Shannon Shutter Feature: 1. Hamstra; 2. Funk; 3. Pohlman; 4. Porth; 5. Ricketts Street Stock Division (No qualifying session) First Heat: 1. Don Lutz; 2. Jay Morris; 3. Steve Dimmick Second Heat: Jay Hamilton; 2. Kevin Lenzen; 3. Billy Wicker Third Heat: 1. Don McCarty; 2. Brett Peters; 3. Bill Stevenson Semi-Feature: 1. Darren Kohler; 2. Brian Wise; 3. Matt Doris Feature: 1. Lenzen; 2. Peters; 3. McCarty; 4. Wicker; 5. Kohler Second story�. if you would like something strange... They call themselves "race chasers." They pick their weekends or take their vacations and jump in a car and plan a trip that takes in as many stock car races as they can find. Terry Bishop and Larry Sherren are those kinds of fans. That's why they arrived at the Kankakee Fairgrounds in the mid-afternoon. They wired up their makeshift flagpole and had Canada's maple leaf flying atop the grandstands before most local fans sat down to dinner. "It was 708 kilometers," Bishop said of this day's journey from their hometown, London, Ontario. "We planned to go to Springfield (for the USAC races at the Illinois State Fair) for Saturday and Sunday, but we needed to catch some races on Friday night, so we looked up your track." The 45-year-old Bishop has made this a summer tradition, venturing as far east as Connecticut and visiting more than 60 tracks. Sherren, his 42-year-old traveling partner on this weekend, is a little behind with 30-plus tracks visited. "And we're not in the top 10 of the serious chasers," Bishop noted. And what did they think of the Kankakee Valley Motor Speedway � with so many other tracks to compare it to? "We like it," Sherren said before the qualifying sessions began. "At five bucks, I feel like we got our money's worth all ready. You've got some good looking cars here. Even your Street Stocks are fast." "And you've got great numbers," Bishop said. "Twenty or so in each division is ideal." The two new fans quickly made friends with some of the regulars and showed knack for recognizing the best cars. They locked on to he winner and former feature winner Kyle Cooper from his first hot laps. They also sow the potential in former track champ Billy Wicker and hard-charging teenager Frankie Heckenast Jr. "At home, we have a micro-sprint track just outside (London). It's pretty good racing. They use snowmobile engines." Bishop said. "We don't have that many cars like you have because all the racing parts are made here and there's an import tax that makes it very expensive to race up north." On the other hand, the visitors felt the balance of trade was slanted their way in terms of prescription drugs and beer. "Yours is a little weak down, isn't it?" Bishop noted. The two visitors sat in their traditional spot, high in turn one; took digital photos of all the action; and even stayed for some of the fan appreciation party. Then, it was on to Springfield for an afternoon race and they lined up a nearby dirt track for their evening entertainment. Sunday afternoon would be more USAC racing in Springfield, then they would look for a Sunday night racing program that fit into a route back home. "He has to be at work by 3 p.m. Monday," Sherren said. "Me � I'm on holiday. I don't care if we don't get back until a week from Monday."