On a night that saw the lead swapped between five drivers eleven times in just 30 laps, Randy “The Hurricane” Hannagan made a last lap dash around Tim Shaffer to take his second O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions victory of the season. It was definitely an unforgettable night as the lead was swapped early and often during tonight’s main event bringing the crowd to their feet.

Starting on the front row of the features was Dale Blaney and Stevie Smith. Their duel started immediately as the Green Flag flew. Blaney and Smith raced side-by-side for almost the whole first lap, before Smith just edged Blaney out at the line. For the first four laps of the race Smith had the edge, before Blaney slid underneath him to lead the next seven laps.

Smith would power by Blaney on Lap 12, but Blaney battled back and established himself in the lead until disaster struck.  On Lap 18, the Yellow Flag would fly for the two cars that had put on quite a show for the fans during the early part of the race. On the 18th circuit of the oval Blaney slowed with what appeared to be a tire issue. When he slowed in Turn 3 Smith did not have anywhere to go and the two made contact. This would end Blaney’s night and send Smith to the back of the field for the restart.

After the incident with the top two cars, Brock Mayes inherited the lead, but not for long. On the restart Mayes tried to hold on, but second place running Tim Shaffer was able to get the edge and lead Lap 19. While Shaffer led, Mayes had fallen into the clutches of Hannagan who had stormed his way to the font from his tenth place starting position. On Lap 20, Hannagan established himself in the second position and set his eyes on the lead.

Hannagan worked on Shaffer as he was able to close, but not get by. Hannagan saw his chance and stole the lead from Shaffer on Lap 26, but it was short lived as Shaffer battled back to take the lead on Lap 28. In a last lap dash Shaffer had the lead taking the White Flag. Shaffer would have the edge over Hannagan going down the back stretch. Going into Turns 3 and 4 is where Hannagan made his move, sliding under Shaffer. The two would drag race off of the fourth turn, with the two touching wheels as they passed the finish line. 

Hannagan would take the Checkered Flag just inches in front of Shaffer. Mayes would hold on for third with Chad Kemenah and Ed Lynch Jr. rounding out the top-five. This is Hannagan’s eighth career All Star Circuit of Champions victory and his first victory at Lernerville Speedway. In fact until tonight Hannagan had only placed in the top-five once at the Pennsylvania track.

Camargo, IL (6-13-09) by Kelly Brown - Public Relations Director – One thing that you cannot say about the O’Reilly Midwest All Star Series race at Vermilion County Speedway is that it was uneventful. When the night began it was with a rain shower that drenched the track delaying the racing action, but it was definitely worth the wait. At the end of the action packed night it was Bill Rose who was able to endure the slick conditions and take the victory.

The action began at the drop of the Green Flag. Miranda Throckmorton jumped out to the lead from the pole position with Geoff Dodge in tow, but before a single circuit could be scored the Red Flag would wave. The 10v of Matt Vandervere got upside down in Turn 1, causing a complete restart.

When the main event restarted it was 7m of Dodge who jumped out into the lead with Throckmorton, Rose, and Brad Greer in line. It did not take Rose much time to assert himself as he passed Throckmorton in the high line to take the second position. Within a few laps Rose was able to close the gap between himself and Dodge. As he began sizing up Dodge they began to encounter lapped traffic. Several times Rose almost had Dodge, but had to change his line to avoid cars going a lap down.

The second Red Flag of the night came out on Lap 10 when Randy Hannagan was battling Throckmorton for the third position. As they dove into Turn 4, the two touched wheels sending them spinning and when they came to a stop, they were blocking the track. Both would restart the race at the back of the field.

There was yet another short lived Green Flag. This time Rose was able to take the lead away from Dodge on the backstretch, but the red banner would fly again. This time it was for the 44 of AJ Bruns tangled with the 5h of Andy Huston, went tumbling into Turn 1, and ended up landing on his wing.

When the field restarted it did not take Rose long to retake the lead from Dodge and make it stick. Within one lap of the race going green, Rose was able to take the lead as the duo flashed past the start/finish line. The 3b of Brad Greer was also on the move challenging Dodge for the second position. The first yellow flag would fly on Lap 16 when the 39w of Alex Shank got high in Turn 2 and came to a stop on the cushion.

When the track when green again, it was the 1x of Randy Hannagan who made his presence known. At this point Hannagan had come from the back of the field to put himself back in the top ten. By Lap 18 Hannagan had moved from eighth to sixth and was beginning to charge his way into the top-five. It was almost as if fourth place running Kody Kinser could see Hannagan coming as he got past Greer for third as Hannagan moved into fifth.

The second yellow of the evening came out on lap 23 for Greer who saw a promising night go south when his steering broke. This caused him to spin in Turn 4 and ended his night. When the field restarted it was Rose on point, followed by Dodge, Kinser, Hannagan, and Jordan Goldesberry.

When the green flew Hannagan made quick work of the 4k of Kinser and 7m of Dodge, passing both in one lap to take second. It did not take long for Hannagan to close the gap between himself and Rose and for him to make his move.

With the white flag flying in the air Hannagan had one last chance to take the win away from Rose. On the last turn of the final lap, Hannagan attempted to slide under Rose, but Rose barely held on to take the win.  The duo was followed by Goldesberry, Kinser, and Jerrod Hull.

Tulare, CA —

Family has always been a vital part of Randy Hannagan’s racing career. His biggest fan was his mother Margie, who passed away late last year, and he wanted nothing more than to win a race for her in 2009. With his father Jim in attendance, Hannagan was able to do that on Friday night, scoring a thrilling victory in the first of two nights for the World of Outlaws at Thunderbowl Raceway in his home state of California.

The win was the second for Hannagan in his career with the World of Outlaws and his first with the series since 2001. It was his third career win at Thunderbowl Raceway and ironically the second consecutive event that he has edged three-time World of Outlaws champion Sammy Swindell for a victory at the high-banked bullring, also accomplishing that in last year’s Trophy Cup.

“It certainly has been a while, but you have to start somewhere and what better place than in California,” Hannagan said. “I’m really happy to get this win for my mom, who passed away in December. She was riding with me tonight.”

Hannagan started fourth in the 35-lap contest and got around Swindell on the opening lap, before working on Jason Solwold for a number of laps. He was able to power his way around Solwold on the 10^th lap and set his sights on early race leader Peter Murphy who led from the outset.

Hannagan was able to work his way around Murphy on the high side of turn on the 11^th lap, following a restart one lap earlier. He quickly began to pull away before the caution flag flew two laps later. The 1995 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year used another strong restart to jump out to a sizeable lead on Murphy and Solwold, who would battle Swindell for a number of laps after they both got around Murphy to move into second and third.

“The car was really good,” noted the winner. “I was able to go around him on a restart and I just had to go where they weren’t. It just paid off really good.”

Hannagan found himself in heavy lapped traffic as the laps wore on. Swindell tried a slide job off turn four and nearly took the lead on the 22^nd lap prior to a red flag coming out for a Kyle Hirst flip.

On the ensuing restart, Swindell looked low in turns one and two on Hannagan and again in three and four. The next lap was a mirror image as he again looked for a way around the leader. The final caution of the night came out on lap 25, setting up a 10-lap shootout between Hannagan and Swindell.

Hannagan used a strong restart again to retain the lead, with Swindell methodically chipping away at his lead. With seven laps to go the pair was in lapped traffic and Hannagan split two slower machines to put a little gap between himself and Swindell.

With two laps remaining, Swindell was right on Hannagan and drew even with him in turns three and four. On the white flag lap, they were ran side by side in turns one and two, with Hannagan charging down the back straightaway to keep the lead. Swindell went high off turns three and four, with the pair drag racing down the front straightaway, with Hannagan taking the checkered flag by just 0.134 second in the Central Valley Meat Company Maxim.

“I knew he was there,” Hannagan said of Swindell in the closing laps. “He stuck his nose down on me in (turns) one and two on a restart. It just made me get my arms up a little higher and run a little harder.”