Saturday, March 18, 2023

Hansen Tops Night One of Spring Chiller at Tulsa

 Due to the unseasonal weather conditions that prevailed over much of the country this weekend, there were not a lot of race tracks and events that were held this weekend. One of the very few in the Midwest that was completed as scheduled was the Spring Chiller at the Tulsa Speedway. This race was scheduled for last weekend but was postponed one week by weather but they were determined to get this show in this weekend, come He** or high water. They did have more than their share of water in the parking lot but that didn't stop them as night number one of the Spring Chiller was held on Friday night, March 17th. 

Running on Friday night would be the USRA sanctioned Modifieds, B Mods and Tuners. But this race was a special event for the only non sanctioned class, the Factory Stocks. This is a class that is run at about a dozen tracks in this region of the country and after this track was built and USRA moved in as the sanctioning body here, it was a "no brainer" to leave the Factory Stocks as they were as it was a very successful class. On this weekend, the Factory Stocks would be running double heat races on Friday night and accumulating passing points. The top twelve would be locked in for Saturday night's finale with the rest of the field racing in a pair of B Features and hoping to join the big show. This race is paying $2,000 to win and $200 to start the thirty lap main on Saturday night and I was told the total purse for the Factory Stocks would be somewhere between $11 and $12 thousand dollars. 

Friday night would be my first visit to the "New" Tulsa Speedway as I visited the old track on 66th Street a number of times over the years before that track was shut down. The Tulsa Speedway saw ground broken for the new track in 2020 and tonight's show will mark the start of the third year of operation for the track. Keith Haney and Todd Martin are the owners of the track and Nathan Hagar is the Operations Manager. If that name sounds familiar, it should, as Nathan is a well known driver of his own USRA #55 Modified when he isn't running things here at Tulsa. When I met Nathan today he could tell I was from up "North" by my accent!!! I don't know where he gets that, I don't have an accent, he does!

The Tulsa Speedway is located just North across the parking lot from the Tulsa Raceway Park, the big time drag strip here in Tulsa. The track is listed as a quarter mile oval but it looks slightly bigger than that to me. It is a real paper clip shaped track with long chutes and very tight corners but it has high banking and wide corners that allow the drivers to race up the track. During this last off season they made some major improvements to the racing surface as they dug up around two feet of clay and underneath fill in the corners, improved the base material and then put new clay in the corners while widening and banking the corners more. So tonight's show would be the first test of the new surface and despite the wet conditions, I thought the track held up pretty well. The track is surrounded by a concrete wall all the way around and the drivers enter the track in turn two and exit off turn one. There is a nice five position scoreboard on the back chute and both the track lighting and sound system are excellent. 

Several large aluminum grandstand sections are available and a new concession/restroom building was completed last Summer. The track grandstand faces North and the track runs West to East so with a strong wind blowing, it was unfortunately right in the faces of the spectators. They did bring in some portable heaters for the fans that turned into a popular resting place. There are, however, to restrooms in the pits including portables, so everyone must hike to the concession building to to "their business." The track is sponsored by the Osage Casino and Hotel that is just down the road from the track and RacinDirt was on hand to broadcast the event. The track was also proud to announce that they were debuting a new weekly track program so I quickly nabbed Vol. 1, Issue 1 for safe keeping. 

There would be no qualifying on this night with everyone drawing a pill and then racing their way into the three mains. The car count for the three USRA classes was not big with a couple heats in each class and only one for the Tuners, who are transitioning over from Mini Stocks that raced here last year. I was very surprised how few of the track regulars, those high in the point standings from last year were in attendance. Only three of the top ten in B Mods, five in Factory Stocks and not a single driver in the top ten in Modified points from last year were on hand!

Mike Hansen shows up just about anywhere in the racing world it seems. If there is a track and they run Modifieds, he's either been there or is planning on going. That's why when we run into each other in the pits, usually it's like "What are you doing here!" Such was the case on Friday as Hansen rolled into the pits just before cut off and we were both surprised to see each other. Hansen, who races out of locations in both Arkansas and North Dakota, is one of the hardest guys to predict when and where he might be racing but if he is at a track, he usually is exciting. 

On Friday night he would lead all fifteen laps of he Modified main, a race that was shortened up by lots of yellows and the late hour. He would start in front and run their for the whole race. Early on he was challenged by Michael Ables who was diving low in the corners on him but when Ables nearly stuck his right front wheel into Hansen's window opening and then had to back off, this triggered a multi car collision that took out Aaron Halpain and Ryan Middaugh and forced William Gould to pit. 

After that it was mostly a matter of Hansen turning smooth laps and not making a mistake through the four more yellows that would slow the event. Hansen did just that as he drove to a comfortable win with Ables coming through to finish second. Gould, who seems to have a car for every class under every sanctioning body, would work his way back up to third over Wyatt Gaggero and Kaleb Gallaway. 

The B Mod feature had a shocking series of events take place midway in the race that totally changed the outcome of the event. Early on it was a two car race with Krew Walburn and Travis Johnson battling for the lead. Walburn had the top spot but Johnson was pressuring him as both pulled away from the rest of the field, making this a strictly two car race. 

Suddenly, just at the midpoint of the race, Walburn slowed suddenly down the back chute, powerless as the yellow flag flew. But just at the same time, Johnson pulled into the infield on the front chute and just like that, the top two cars in the race were down. 

This gave the lead to Hank Brown and he would fight off several challenges from Cason Harris to take the win with Tye Hollingsworth third. Brown was actually driving a USRA Limited Mod/IMCA Southern Sport Mod but was allowed to run with the B Mods on this night. He had never been to Tulsa before so his first visit was a pleasant one. His team mate Jeremy Hodges, another Limited Mod driver from Ok City, was scheduled to start on the pole but scratched out of the event. 

Nikk Sands would lead from start to finish to win the Tuner main event. He started on the pole and was challenged early by Alex Scarlett but when Scarlett was sidelined by a flat  right front tire, it would be easy going for Sands the rest of the way. Robert Tosh would finish second with David Wagner third. 

Thirty four Factory Stocks would sign in to race and the double heats would see eight, ten lap events for them with each driver running twice. It was a rough night mechanically for a number of the drivers with Shawn Brownlee blowing up on the first lap of hot laps and last year's point champion Chris Bales blowing up while leading a second round heat race. Nearly a half dozen drivers couldn't make their second heat after troubles during the first go round. 

The first four heats were marked by much carnage with engines blowing, wheels flying off and drive shafts lancing through the air as action was abundant with no less that eleven yellows flying in the first four heats. Things did smooth out some in the second go round with the diminished fields. Matt Norwood and Chris Wilson would each win a pair of heats and would top the first night point standings. 

It was a long night of racing to be sure. The scheduled start time of 8 pm, which seems rather late to begin with, was exceeded by twenty minutes due to the inevitable opening night issues and with all the races and all the yellows, it was Midnight when the last checkered flew. And for those hearty few still left in the grandstands, the surprise was that the car outside temperature gauge announced a toasty 35 degrees! Yikes. 

Saturday night action will see the big Factory Stock feature along with Tuners and Dwarf Cars and an appearance arranged at the last minute for the OCRS Sprint Cars. 

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