August 29th Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders & Elwer Fence Sprints King at Limaland

Darren finished out the Limaland racing season with a good 6th place finish. Darren also ran in the Elwer Fence Sprints King race which he qualified for by winning a race at Limaland and finished 5th out of 6 drivers. Darren ended up 15th in the Limaland points with 674 while driving a limited local schedule.

Results:
Limaland Motorsports Park - Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders & Elwer Fence Sprints King
Engine Pro Sprint Invaders Feature:
1) Dale Blaney 2) Greg Wilson 3) Butch Schroeder 4) Tim Allison 5) Dustin Daggett 6) Darren Long 7) Luke Hall 8) Mike Miller 9) Mike Brecht 10) Neil Shephard 11) Jeff Williams 12) Mike Dunlap 13) Rob Chaney 14) Sheldon Haudenschild 15) Dennis Yoakam 16) Dallas Hewitt 17) Rick Boughan 18) Caleb Helms 19) Craig Keel 20) Jared Horstman

Engine Pro Sprint Invaders B-main:
1) Rick Boughan 2) Mike Brecht 3) Craig Keel 4) Jared Horstman 5) JR Stewart 6) Brent Gehr 7) Zach Ames 8) Jarred Delong 9) Bob Gehr Jr. 10) Ethan Hoy 11) Hud Horton 12) Noah Walkup 13) Kent Wolters

Elwer Fence Sprints King:
1) Rob Chaney 2) JR Stewart 3) Dale Blaney 4) Greg Wilson 5) Darren Long 6) Tim Allison

Summary from Limaland.com
Mother Nature postponed an awesome night of racing by a mere 24 hours. On Saturday, Limaland Motorsports Park concluded an incredible season of racing with two division championships being decided in the final features of the year. In addition to the evenings thrilling divisional competition, the annual King of the Quarter-Mile showdowns became the icing on the cake. By night’s end, Limaland Motorsports Park had four champions and three kings while the fans left with enough memories to hopefully get them through the off-season!

In the Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders feature, Dallas Hewitt took an early lead over Dale Blaney. On lap seven, Jared Horstman hit the wall in turn three and launched his car high into the catch fence. The fence held and stopped Horstman from flipping out of the park. Horstman came to rest back on the track, wheels down. Jared walked away from the car dejected but it is important to note the great strides he made in 2009. Once racing resumed, Blaney made quick work of Hewitt and set sail for the checkered flag. What Blaney didn’t see was Rob Chaney charging to second place and narrowing the gap to Blaney. Just as Chaney looked to be in position to challenge Blaney on lap twenty, contact with Neil Shephard’s lapped car caused Chaney to spin to a stop with some front-end damage. Blaney held the lead for the final five laps and recorded another victory at Limaland with Greg Wilson, Butch Schroeder, Tim Allison, and Dustin Daggett rounding out the top five. JR Stewart was unable to make the feature after a mishap in his heat race and his inability to transfer out of the B-main. That result was by no means a reflection of his second stellar year in the Hammons Motorsports #6s. Stewart, who had the Elwer Fence Sprints and Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders titles wrapped up the moment the green waved in his heat race, became the repeat champion in both series.

With all the championships finally decided, the King of the Quarter-Mile races were finally held. Rob Chaney passed JR Stewart and cruised to his 10-lap, $3000 victory. Todd Sherman and Jeff Babcock resumed their season-long battle in the Modified King race. Sherman claimed his fourth crown and left feeling a little better, and $2000 richer, after losing the championship title. The best race was the Bud Thunderstock King of the Quarter-Mile. Tony Anderson took an early lead and Jeff Babcock did everything possible to pass him. High, low, slidejobs, bumper taps, you name it and Babcock tried it. Unfortunately for Babcock, Anderson has seen it all and then some from his biggest rival and that experience allowed him to maintain his cool and collect the $1000 check to go with his 2009 Championship.

Limaland Motorsports Park would like to thank the fans, race teams, and marketing partners for supporting the racetrack during the 2009 season. This year provided some of the best racing in Limaland’s history. One of the brightest spots was the rise of young talent like Jared Horstman, Sheldon Haudenschild, Jeff Koz, and Schuyler Nahre. We hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable off-season and we look forward to April and the start of a new season. In the mean time, all the latest news and information about America’s premier quarter-mile dirt track can be found at www.limaland.com.

Saturday Night Racing!

Since Lima Land cancelled last night, due to rain, we will be racing tonight at Lima Land. This is the last race of the season there.

Friday Night Racing

We will be racing at Lima Land this Friday night. We will also be running the King of the Quarter Mile. This will take place right after the regular night of racing there. This is Lima Land's last race of the season.

August 15th NRA/305 Challenge, Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders vs. 305 Sprints at Fremont

Darren followed up a good night at Limaland by narrowly missing the A Main at Fremont Speedway.

Full Results
NRA/305 Challenge, Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders vs 305 Sprints
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 3 Transfer)1. 9-Jimmy Colvin; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver; 3. 95-Craig Kays; 4. 1D-Nate Dussel; 5. 6S-J.R. Stewart; 6. 94-John Ivy; 7. 7L-Darren Long; 8. 27P-Paige Polyak; 9. 97-Mike Brecht; 10. 3B-Tim Bottles
Heat 2 - Bell Racing Products (8 Laps - Top 3 Transfer)1. 6M-Brock Mayes; 2. 17-Jared Horstman; 3. 28-Hud Horton; 4. B20-Butch Schroeder; 5. 2DH-Dallas Hewitt; 6. M28-Josh Muntz; 7. 3J-Kevin Lee; 8. 5W-Jeff Williams; 9. 83X-Nate Reeser; 10. 36X-Josh Burdette
Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 3 Transfer)1. 35B-Stuart Brubaker; 2. 18-Todd Heuerman; 3. 71-Bill Kraylek; 4. 11F-D.J. Foos; 5. 15-Matt Merrill; 6. 22DH-Dan Hammond; 7. 19R-Steve Rando; 8. 2P-Jerrid Potter; 9. 35-Ronnie Blair; 10. 49-Coty Runion
Heat 4 - (8 Laps - Top 3 Transfer)1. 34-Luke Hall; 2. 82-Mike Miller; 3. 40-Bobby Clark; 4. 7C-Neil Shepherd; 5. 24-Craig Keel; 6. 77-Tim Viles; 7. 2M-Ethan Hoy; 8. 2N-Brian Neeb; 9. 8J-Jess Stiger; 10. 30-Adam Ollom
Heat 5 - (8 Laps - Top 3 Transfer)1. 80-Jake Trevino; 2. 51-Brad Bowman; 3. 23-Ben Rutan; 4. 28V-Shawn Valenti; 5. 99X-Tim Buchanan; 6. 31-Chad Wilson; 7. 8K-Zack Kramer; 8. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 9. 11-Tim Allison; 10. 1-Kent Walters
B-Main #1 - (10 Laps - Top 4 Transfer)1. 94-John Ivy; 2. 1D-Nate Dussel; 3. 11F-D.J. Foos; 4. 28V-Shawn Valenti; 5. 22DH-Dan Hammond; 6. 24-Craig Keel; 7. 2DH-Dallas Hewitt; 8. 3J-Kevin Lee; 9. 27P-Paige Polyak; 10. 49-Coty Runion; 11. 2P-Jerrid Potter; 12. 31-Chad Wilson; 13. 8J-Jess Stiger; 14. 1-Kent Walters; 15. 2M-Ethan Hoy; 16. 83X-Nate Reeser; 17. 3B-Tim Bottles
B-Main #2 - (10 Laps - Top 4 Transfer)1. 7C-Neil Shepherd; 2. 6S-J.R. Stewart; 3. M28-Josh Muntz; 4. 8K-Zack Kramer; 5. 7L-Darren Long; 6. B20-Butch Schroeder; 7. 19R-Steve Rando; 8. 97-Mike Brecht; 9. 77-Tim Viles; 10. 5W-Jeff Williams; 11. 2N-Brian Neeb; 12. 36X-Josh Burdette; 13. 30-Adam Ollom; 14. 35-Ronnie Blair; 15. 11-Tim Allison; 16. 15-Matt Merrill; 17. 99X-Tim Buchanan
A-Main - (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1]; 2. 6M-Brock Mayes[5]; 3. 94-John Ivy[16]; 4. 51-Brad Bowman[10]; 5. 18-Todd Heuerman[8]; 6. 82-Mike Miller[9]; 7. 35B-Stuart Brubaker[4]; 8. 17-Jared Horstman[7]; 9. 80-Jake Trevino[2]; 10. 28-Hud Horton[12]; 11. 11F-D.J. Foos[20]; 12. 71-Bill Kraylek[13]; 13. 1D-Nate Dussel[18]; 14. 7C-Neil Shepherd[17]; 15. M28-Josh Muntz[21]; 16. 6S-J.R. Stewart[19]; 17. 8K-Zack Kramer[23]; 18. 9-Jimmy Colvin[6]; 19. 23-Ben Rutan[15]; 20. 28V-Shawn Valenti[22]; 21. 95-Craig Kays[11]; 22. 34-Luke Hall[3]; 23. 40-Bobby Clark[14]

Incredible Night

Wow, all I can say is Wow. We started 12th in the feature and WON!!!! My night wasn't starting off to swell. Before I left my driveway my wife backs into my truck. Then I pull out of my neighborhood to find my truck and trailer on the side of the road by the ditch. The truck blew an oil line. The truck and trailer had to be pulled into the pits by a pick up truck. I thought this is going to be a great night. We finally drew a good number and started 2nd in the first heat and Won that. Then the invert number was 12. I knew the car was fast in the heat race and this was a main concern to me. I just needed to know this car was capable of doing something great since we haven't had a great season so far. Thanks to all you who have been praying for this team. We so needed this win as a team. We are off to Fremont, Ohio to race tonight.

August 14th NRA/305 Challenge, Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders vs 305 Sprints at Limaland

Lima News article: http://varsity.limaohio.com/articles/allentown-2000-limaland-long.html

Full Results/Summary
Limaland’s second big event of the evening was the annual NRA vs. 305 Challenge. Thirty-eight sprint cars registered to compete in this two-night challenge, which culminates in a final race at Fremont Speedway. Darren Long, who has been noticeably absent from Limaland Motorsports Park competition while competing on the ASCS National Touring Series, worked some of his home-track magic and won round one of the NRA/305 Challenge. Feature number one was the Engine Pro NRA Sprint Invaders vs. 305 Challenge. Luke Hall took an early lead with Jared Horstman and John Ivy in tow. The only red flag of the evening came out on lap five after a restart for debris. Stuart Brubaker flipped several times in turn three after making contact with the wall. Brubaker was able to walk away from the scene and racing resumed. Hall was able to maintain a small advantage over Horstman, but both cars were running the high-line against the wall. Long, who started 12th, had worked his way to third by lap fourteen. A few laps later, Long took advantage of traffic, which was running the leaders’ line, and streaked by on the bottom-side to take the lead. From that point on, it was Darren Long’s race to lose and Luke Hall could do nothing to catch him. JR Stewart maintained his stranglehold on the NRA and Limaland season championship as he finished a solid third.

Engine Pro NRA vs. 305
B-main #1: 1) Tim Allison 2) Ron Blair 3) Neil Shephard 4) Todd Heverman 5) Dwain Leiber 6) Brent Gehr 7) Ethan Hoy 8) Ryan Kirkendall 9) Caleb Helms 10) Jarrod Delong Engine Pro NRA vs. 305

B-main #2: 1) James Horton 2) Craig Keel 3) Mike Miller 4) Dallas Hewitt 5) Dan Hammond 6) Shawn Valenti 7) Josh Muntz 8) Tommy Kerce 9) Bob Gehr Jr. 10) Travis Hery

Engine Pro NRA vs. 305 Challenge Feature: 1) Darren Long 2) Luke Hall 3) JR Stewart 4) Jared Horstman 5) Kent Wolters 6) Butch Schroeder 7) John Ivy 8) Neil Shephard 9) Ben Rutan 10) Mike Dunlap 11) Dennis Yoakam 12) Bobby Clark 13) Craig Keel 14) Ronnie Blair 15) James Horton 16) Tim Vile 17) Brock Mayes 18) Mike Miller 19) Tim Allison 20) Jeff Williams 21) Stuart Brubaker 22) Mike Brecht

Friday Racing

We will be racing at Lima Land this Friday night for all you local fans.

August 6th ASCS Knoxville Nationals Thursday Prelim

Darren had a rough night in the prelim.

Complete Results:
19th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals Thursday Night Preliminary Results:
Qualifying:
1. 22-Billy Alley (Lincoln, NE) 16.142, 2. 18T-Tony Bruce, Jr. (Liberal, KS) 16.292, 3. w20-Greg Wilson (Benton Ridge, OH) 16.311, 4. 95-Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK) 16.325, 5. 2a-Johnny Anderson (Indianola, IA) 16.337, 6. 41-Jason Johnson (Eunice, LA) 16.380, 7. 40-Clint Garner (Sioux Falls, SD) 16.392, 8. 11-Chad Corken (Highlands Ranch, CO) 16.399, 9. 4-Eric Baldaccini (Keller, TX) 16.404, 10. 44w-Austen Wheatley (Lake Stevens, WA) 16.430, 11. 6b-Dale Blaney (Hartford, OH) 16.447, 12. 14aj-Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) 16.454, 13. 33a-Austin Alumbaugh (Higginsville, MO) 16.483, 14. 57-Shane Stewart (Bixby, OK) 16.509, 15. X-Chuck Swenson (Watertown, SD) 16.528, 16. 71-R.J. Johnson (Tampa, FL) 16.537, 17. 4x-Jon Corbin (Carrollton, MO) 16.546, 18. 51-Dave Hall (Des Moines, IA) 16.630, 19. 26-Tayler Malsam (Monroe, WA) 16.633, 20. 2mx-Dustin Daggett (Portland, MI) 16.656, 21. 71r-Ryan Anderson (Charter Oak, IA) 16.665, 22. 28-Jonathan Cornell (Sedalia, MO) 16.665, 23. 6-Danny Heskin (St. Michael, MN) 16.690, 24. 22n-Nate Mosher (Prairie City, IA) 16.709, 25. 10a-Ricky Logan (Little Rock, AR) 16.717, 26. 3-Nate Van Haaften (Otley, IA) 16.746, 27. 17-Austin McCarl (Altoona, IA) 16.795, 28. 7k-Kaley Gharst (Decatur, IL) 16.814, 29. 99jr-Justin Henderson (Sioux Falls, SD) 16.855, 30. 54-Jon Agan (Knoxville, IA) 16.879, 31. 14-Randy Martin (California, MO) 16.905, 32. 98-J.D. Johnson (Goddard, KS) 16.914, 33. 4J-Lee Grosz (Harwood, ND) 16.937, 34. 2m-Matt Moro (Des Moines, IA) 16.955, 35. 20k-Thomas Kennedy (Winnipeg, MB) 16.975, 36. 3d-Paul McMahan (Hendersonville, TN) 16.996, 37. 7taz-Tasker Phillips (Pleasantville, IA) 17.059, 38. 33-Alan Zoutte (Knoxville, IA) 17.065, 39. 51s-Lee Sowell (Nesbit, MS) 17.071, 40. 20ks-Kyle Sager (Alto, NM) 17.072, 41. 34b-Brad Barickman (Richfield, MN) 17.140, 42. 1m-Chad Humston (Giltner, NE) 17.143, 43. 27-Jody Rosenboom (Rock Rapids, IA) 17.198, 44. 18v-Tim Newman (Cameron, MO) 17.208, 45. 9-Brian Parker (Midlothian, TX) 17.208, 46. 7L-Darren Long (Elida, OH) 17.332, 47. 12-Rod Richards (Runnels, IA) 17.421, 48. 9m-Ricky Montgomery (Lakewood, CO) 17.594, 49. 5-Kyle McCutcheon (Alamogordo, NM) 18.109, 50. 2k-Kevin Ingle (Huron, SD) 18.471, 51. 7-Dustin Selvage (Indianola, IA) No Time, 52. 78-Joe Miller (Vail, IA) No Time.

Heat Races (Top 4 Advance to "A" Main; Positions 5-8 to "B" Main; Positions 9-10 to "C" Main)
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 3-Nate Van Haaften, 2. 6b-Dale Blaney, 3. 22-Billy Alley, 4. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 5. 41-Jason Johnson, 6. 14-Randy Martin, 7. 3d-Paul McMahan, 8. 71-R.J. Johnson, 9. 34b-Brad Barickman, 10. 7L-Darren Long.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 2. 17-Austin McCarl, 3. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 4. 18T-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 7taz-Tasker Phillips, 6. 1m-Chad Humston, 7. 4x-Jon Corbin, 8. 98-J.D. Johnson, 9. 40-Clint Garner, 10. 7taz-Tasker Phillips.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 7k-Kaley Gharst, 2. 33a-Austin Alumbaugh, 3. 4J-Lee Grosz, 4. 6-Danny Heskin, 5. 51-Dave Hall, 6. 9m-Ricky Montgomery, 7. 11-Chad Corken, 8. 27-Jody Rosenboom, 9. 33-Alan Zoutte, 10. w20-Greg Wilson (DNS).

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 57-Shane Stewart, 2. 99jr-Justin Henderson, 3. 22n-Nate Mosher, 4. 2m-Matt Moro, 5. 95-Matt Covington, 6. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 7. 26-Tayler Malsam, 8. 51s-Lee Sowell, 9. 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 10. 18v-Tim Newman.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 54-Jon Agan, 2. 10a-Ricky Logan, 3. X-Chuck Swenson, 4. 2mx-Dustin Daggett, 5. 2a-Johnny Anderson, 6. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 7. 20ks-Kyle Sager, 8. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 9. 2k-Kevin Ingle, 10. 9-Brian Parker.

"C" Main – Top 2 Advance to "B" Main
"C" Feature (6 Laps): 1. 34b-Brad Barickman, 2. 33-Alan Zoutte, 3. 2k-Kevin Ingle, 4. 18v-Tim Newman, 5. 9-Brian Parker, 6. 7L-Darren Long. DNS: w20-Greg Wilson, 40-Clint Garner, 12-Rod Richards, 5-Kyle McCutcheon, 78-Joe Miller, 7-Dustin Selvage.

"B" Main – Top 4 Advance to “A” Main
"B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 2a-Johnny Anderson, 2. 95-Matt Covington, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 5. 3d-Paul McMahan, 6. 44w-Austen Wheatley, 7. 4x-Jon Corbin, 8. 51-Dave Hall, 9. 26-Tayler Malsam, 10. 1m-Chad Humston, 11. 14-Randy Martin, 12. 34b-Brad Barickman, 13. 71-R.J. Johnson, 14. 11-Chad Corken, 15. 7taz-Tasker Phillips, 16. 20ks-Kyle Sager, 17. 98-J.D. Johnson, 18. 51s-Lee Sowell, 19. 27-Jody Rosenboom, 20. 9m-Ricky Montgomery, 21. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 22. 33-Alan Zoutte (DNS).

19th Annual ASCS Knoxville Nationals Thursday Preliminary "A" Main Event:
“A” Feature (20 Laps): 1. 14aj-Wayne Johnson, 2. 57-Shane Stewart, 3. 22-Billy Alley, 4. 18T-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 2mx-Dustin Daggett, 6. 7k-Kaley Gharst, 7. 41-Jason Johnson, 8. X-Chuck Swenson, 9. 10a-Ricky Logan, 10. 2a-Johnny Anderson, 11. 54-Jon Agan, 12. 22n-Nate Mosher, 13. 71r-Ryan Anderson, 14. 4j-Lee Grosz, 15. 6-Danny Heskin, 16. 33a-Austin Alumbaugh, 17. 17-Austin McCarl, 18. 3-Nate Van Haaften, 19. 4-Eric Baldaccini, 20. 2m-Matt Moro, 21. 99jr-Justin Henderson, 22. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 23. 95-Matt Covington, 24. 6b-Dale Blaney (DNS).
Lap Leaders: Shane Stewart 1-9, Wayne Johnson 10-20.

Iowa Bound

Leaving later today for Knoxville, Iowa. Just a reminder we are racing Thursday night in hopes of making it to the final race Saturday night. (The other half of the cars registered will race Friday night) You can listen Live all nights on www.knoxvilleraceway.com or www.racinboys.com

360 Nationals

My dad and I arrived back home last Tuesday afternoon from Oregon. We were so excited to be back home and with family again.   It has been go, go, go since we have been home. Both of my cars came back from out west needing repairs. Two of my frames have been at the welders and will be back tomorrow. The last few days have been reorganizing and putting together another car.   We will be heading out to Knoxville, Iowa this Wed. for the 360 Nationals.  I have been chosen to race Thursday night for the chance to race in the final race Saturday night. You can listen Live Thursday - Saturday on www.knoxvillespeedway.com or www.racinboys.com