Darland wins Smackdown – takes USAC Sprint record at Kokomo

Darland claims Smackdown, tops Bigelow’s USAC record with 53 career Sprint wins

dave Darland wins Smackdown at Kokomp 214  Pic credit USAC

dave Darland wins Smackdown at Kokomp 214 Pic credit USAC

Mother nature tried so hard to wash out the 2014 Smackdown at Kokomo, but the peoples Champion Dave Darland defied the conditions to win two of the Smackdown Features . first tying the all time win list record of USAC all time great Jim Bigelow’s 52 wins before taking the field apart on the final night for win 53 and to stand a top of the all time USAC Sprint winning list and the Smackdown Title.

The promoter. Race teams and fans were left wondering all weekend how the weather would behave and thankfully the skies cleared and the final night of Smackdown 2014 delivered the locals, most fans of Darland the chance to get behind the Phillips Motorsports – Racer’s Advantage Store #71P DRC/Foxco cushion cruising Kokomo local.

Brady Bacon put the challenge in front of Darland early when he jumped into the lead from pole in Sundays Feature but under a heavy track and with Darland grinding out a high race line it was a short lived race lead. Darland made ground quickly on the top of the track and by the end of lap 5 had worked the outside line to the lead in lap 6 and would never he headed in the 40 lap Smackdown final.

Three race cautions, the last involving Leary when he lost air in his right rear and stopped. , Robert Ballou came calling on Brady Bacon and with Jon Stanbrough fought a torrid battle for the second spot.
The final restart with 3 laps to run it was Ballou who looked like he might have a chance at Darland when he placed his Deaton’s Waterfront Services – Don Ott Engines #12x Maxim/Ott down on bottom and managed to get alongside the peoples Champ, momentum is everything and the Kokomo local kept his shape and managed to keep the lead .The final dash to the flag was tight but Darland had it covered to take the double triumph of the Smackdown Title and the Bigelow long standing record of USAC Sprint wins .Darland was welcomed by the frenzied fans when he arrive in victory lane .
Bryan Clauson made a late charge on the bottom to round out the podium in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing – Chevy Performance #20 Beast/Kistler.
After such lousy weather which presented two wash out nights the final night was all about the peoples Champion –Dave Darland

Dave Darland after passing Tom Bigelow's USAC Sprint reord at Smackdown

Dave Darland after passing Tom Bigelow’s USAC Sprint reord at Smackdown

Driver quotes  Dave Darland “53 feels great! Breaking Tom’s record is special enough, but to do it here with my family and so many friends and fans at Kokomo Speedway, it just couldn’t be better. This place has been really good to me, and it’s nice to get it done. There’s a lot of attention that comes with the chase, so it’s a bit of a relief. We’ve got a lot of races left this season, and it’s off my mind now,” Darland contimued
“I actually was happy to be in traffic because they were mostly blocking the bottom for me. There late in the race, I had all kinds of cars underneath me and made me feel a little better, so I hated to see that last caution. Usually, I would be the other way around. Luckily, we got a good restart and I was able to get my momentum up to get those last three laps over,” Darland said.
Robert Ballou “We’ve had a great weekend and we ended up running second to the best guy in the business at his home track where he never makes mistakes. We’ve had a great stretch and finished strong this weekend. We just needed to keep a mud cover on it to the end and we may have had a better chance, but our best bet was probably to stay in traffic to the end,” Ballou said.
Bryan Clauson “I’d say we probably needed the race to be a little longer to have a shot, but a hundred laps might not have been enough to beat Dave. We were just a tick off there, but we kept digging all weekend and got all we could, so we focus our attention on defending our championship down the stretch and try to give Dave and Brady all they can handle,” Clauson said.
Rich Forman designed a commemorative photo for the All-Time Win Record with help from John Mahoney and presented to Dave Darland .

Dave Darland and Rich Forman and the Photo Photo credit USAC-Rich Forman

Dave Darland and Rich Forman and the Photo
Photo credit USAC-Rich Forman

The points from his Kokomo results have moved Darland to the head of the Title chase for the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car Title from early leader Brady Bacon .Current standing as the team’s head to Terre Haute for the Jim Hurtubise Classic
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Darland-1,520, 2-Bacon-1,515, 3-Clauson-1,480, 4-Stanbrough-1,428, 5-Stockon-1,297, 6-Grant-1,230, 7-Windom-1,206, 8-Hines-1,195, 9-Ballou-1,085, 10-Hunter Schuerenberg-1,067.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: August 29 – Terre Haute (IN) Action Track – “Jim Hurtubise Classic”

Share Button

Leave a Reply