LITTLE ROCK — Twenty-one years after his first victory at the event, Sammy Swindell was again the best at the Short Track Nationals.
Even on three wheels.
Racing more than half of the 40-lap main event with a flat front tire, Swindell won the 24th annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals on Saturday night at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway.
“We had three wheels and still were better than anyone else,” Swindell said in victory lane on the front straight after the race, drawing a roar — both cheers and boos — from the huge crowd in attendance.
After he took the lead on lap 13, Swindell began pulling away from the rest of the field. But the caution flew on lap 28 when Kyle Larson of Elk Grove, Calif., blew his engine.
While idling under caution, it became obvious that Swindell’s front-left tire was flat, an apparent result of contact between he and Shane Stewart of Bixby, Okla., as they battled for the lead early in the race.
According to American Sprint Car Association rules, the left-front is the only tire on the car that can be flat and a driver still be allowed to continue.
“It was flat even before the caution came out,” said Swindell, of Bartlett, Tenn. “I guess there was just enough contact [with Stewart] to cut the tire down.”
When the race restarted, there were four lapped cars between Swindell and secondplace Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Okla. That was enough of a cushion for Swindell on the restart, and he maintained a lead over Bacon at the checkered flag, although Swindell said it was not an easy drive.
“I had to be really careful getting into the corners because that wheel would want to dig into the track when I got off the throttle,” said Swindell, who collected $15,000. “[The flat] put a lot of leftrear weight into the car, and I had to make it turn with the throttle. If I tried to turn the car otherwise, it would just shoot up the track. Had to be real careful.”
Swindell, a three-time World of Outlaws national champion who turned 56 on Wednesday, won his only other STN title in 1990. Only two other drivers who were in that race — Gary Wright of Hooks, Texas, and Johnny Herrera of Albuquerque, N.M. — were among the 100 drivers who competed at this year’s event. Neither made the field for Saturday night’s main event.
“We’ve always had good cars at this deal ... just never had the luck,” said Swindell, the only five-time winner of the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and who has also competed in NASCAR as well as Indy cars. “We broke a driveshaft here while leading here once — I’ve never broken a driveshaft in one of these cars. The next year, we had a flat while leading after a piece of dirt got stuck in the bleeder valve. We got into a tussle with a guy here last year and got taken out.
“Then when we had flat tonight, I said, ‘Oh no, not again.’ ”
Short Track Nationals
Feature race results from the 24th annual Comp Cams Short Track Nationals, which was held late Saturday night at Little Rock’s Short Track Nationals, including finishing position, driver, hometown, starting position in parentheses, laps completed and earnings: 1. Sammy Swindell, Bartlett, Tenn. (4), 40, $15,000 2. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, Okla. (3), 40, $10,000 3. Shane Stewart, Bixby, Okla. (2), 40, $7,500 4. Danny Lasoski, Dover, Mo. (1), 40, $5,000 5. Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tenn. (5), 40, $2,750 6. Stevie Smith, New Oxford, Pa. (14), 40, $2,700 7. McMahan, Hendersonville, Tenn. (13), 40, $2,650 8. Tim Crawley, Benton (9), 40, $2,600 9. Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, Calif. (20), 40, $2,575 10. Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, Pa. (11), 40, $2,550 11. Travis Rilat, Forney, Texas (6), 40, $2,525 12. Jason Johnson, Eunice, La. (19), 40, $2,500 13. Jo. Saldana, Brownsburg, Ind. (18), 39, $2,475 14. Seth Bergman, Snohomish, Wash. (7), 39, $2,450 15. R. Kulhanek, Conroe, Texas (16), 39, $2,425 16. Kyle Larson, Elk Grove, Calif. (12), 28, $2,400 17. Aaron Reutzel, Clute, Texas (17), 17, $2,400 18. Matt Covington, Glenpool, Okla. (10), 8, $2,400 19. Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, Texas (8), 8, $2,400 20. A.G. Rains, West Memphis (21) 6, $2,400 Lap leaders Stewart 1-12, Swindell 13-40. Dash winner Lasoski. B-Main winners Bergman, Hafertepe. C-Main winners Kyle Bellm, Channin Tankersley. D-Main winners Marshall Skinner, Ernie Ainsworth. E-Main winners Zach Pringle, Rick Pringle.
Sports, Pages 15 on 10/31/2011