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Bud Kaeding overtakes Shuman in Oval Nationals
Andrew Kunas

PERRIS, Calif. – Bud Kaeding led only one lap and it was the one that
counted in the end as he won his third Budweiser Oval Nationals on Saturday
night at Perris Auto Speedway.

For a time the defending USAC Silver Crown champion out of Campbell, Calif.
didn’t think he had that great a chance at winning, as he started ninth and
had many potent race cars with capable drivers, including his own brother,
ahead of him. Late in the race, Kaeding suddenly found himself in third
place after mishaps by Kevin Swindell and Damion Gardner. He only had his
brother Tim and Casey Shuman in front of him.

On a lap 30 restart Tim Kaeding, who led a race high 21 laps, was loose
going through turns one and two, allowing both Shuman and Bud to drive by.
Shuman pulled away quickly but in the closing laps Kaeding crept back up.
After a caution with 38 out of 40 laps completed, Shuman and Kaeding were
set for a green-white-checkered dash.

After taking the white flag Kaeding made his move. Shuman slid through turns
one and two on the far inside of the 3/8-mile, semi-banked clay oval while
Kaeding swung around on the far outside against the fence, completing the
race winning pass coming out of turn two.

On the front stretch after taking the checkered flag, Kaeding climbed out
the top of his BK Motorsports No. 29 Shaver-powered Maxim and greeted the
fans. The first two-time winner of the event was now the first three-time
winner and $30,000 richer.

“Everything just fell into place,” Kaeding said. “The car was really good on
the bottom early. Shuman and I started passing guys, picking them off one by
one. We passed my brother and I knew he was good up on the top. On the last
lap I got lucky.”

Shuman, who had the most consistent weekend out of the nearly 70 drivers in
the field, knew he had lost the race when he saw Kaeding move by on his
outside.

“I knew it was over then. I knew he’d go to the bottom in three and four
(after the pass),” a clearly disappointed Shuman said after the race. “I
knew to be careful not to do something stupid and run second.”

Shuman, who finished third in both Thursday’s and Friday’s preliminary
features, was the top point scorer and was forced to start sixth in
Saturday’s A-Main due to an invert. The Tempe, Ariz. driver was the only one
to finish on the podium all three nights in the Massey Motorsports No. 2az
Wesmar-powered DRC.

“It’s awesome,” Shuman said. “I used to never run good here. To be on the
podium all three nights with everyone in non-wing racing here, I really
can’t complain too much. Still, it’ll take a while to get over this. One
corner, that’s all it was. Maybe next year.”

For Kaeding, Perris at first wasn’t too kind to him, but in recent years he
has become very fond of the southern California facility.

“I love Perris,” Kaeding said. “This track has been really good to me now. I
was originally the first two-time winner, and now I’m the first three-time
winner. It’s surreal for all of us.”

Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Okla. had one of the best runs of the night,
finishing third in the B-Main and coming from the 15th starting position to
finish third in the A-Main in the Kasey Kahne Racing No. 99 Mopar-powered
JEI. Bacon was not even in the top ten for most of the race, but later was
running fifth with 11 laps remaining. After moving to fourth, Bacon advanced
to third after Tim Kaeding missed a slide job on his brother on lap 32.

Missouri’s Jesse Hockett, who won Friday’s preliminary feature, finished
fourth in the VKCC Motorsports No. 75 DRC. Scotty Weir finished fifth in the
No. 38 Bullet. B-Main winner Danny Sheridan was sixth after starting 13th
with former Oval Nationals winner Cory Kruseman seventh and Jerry Coons Jr.
eighth. Tony Jones, the USAC/CRA point leader, finished ninth after coming
out of the B-Main and starting 17th. Cole Whitt, the 12th and final driver
to transfer out of the B-Main, started 24th and finished tenth.

Ricky Stenhouse, who started the night in the D-Main, made it all the way to
the B-Main but missed the transfer to the A-Main by four positions.
Stenhouse used a USAC provisional to start near the rear of the field and
eventually finished 12th. Former USAC National sprint car champion and
current point leader Levi Jones finished 16th after taking a trip to the
work area midway through the event.

Tim Kaeding was scored 20th after crashing into the turn four wall on lap
39, ending his bid at a victory. The Oval Nationals was his first time
racing at Perris Auto Speedway without wings. Kaeding impressed everyone,
especially after finishing second in Friday’s preliminary. Fans showed their
appreciation for Kaeding’s efforts as they applauded him while he walked
down the front stretch toward the pit area. Despite his own misfortune, Tim
was thrilled to see his brother win, as he walked on the front stretch
pumping his fists as Bud rolled to victory lane following the race.

Indiana’s Dave Darland, who had won the two previous Oval Nationals, had a
rough weekend. Darland uncharacteristically crashed before the B-Main and
for the second time in three nights he had to use a USAC provisional to
start in the A-Main. All three nights saw four provisionals being used to
create a large 28-car field for the A-Main.

Following Sheridan in the 20-lap B-Main also transferring were Charles Davis
Jr., Bacon, Josh Ford, Tony Jones, Coons, Mike Spencer, Rip Williams, Dustin
Morgan, Troy Rutherford and Whitt. R.J. Johnson, who also used a provisional
to get into the A-Main, won the 20-lap C-Main and transferred to the B-Main
with Four Crown Nationals winner Robert Ballou, Whitt, Davey Pombo, Rodney
Argo, Matt Mitchell, Morgan and Stenhouse.

Peter Murphy, who won this year’s SCRA championship in wingless 360 sprint
cars, won the 15-lap D-Main race. Jimmy Crawford finished second but
scratched for the C-Main, allowing ninth-finishing Matt Rossi to transfer as
well. Garrett Hansen, Stenhouse, Jason York, Chris Wakim, Critter Malone and
Mike Martin also transferred.

Both USAC National and USAC/CRA will race together again Friday and Saturday
at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz. in the Western World Championships.
USAC will crown its National champion there, but USAC/CRA will close its
season on November 17 at Perris with the Jack Kindoll Classic.

- - -

USAC Nationals & CRA sprint cars
Budweiser Oval Nationals
Perris Auto Speedway
Perris, CA
November 3, 2007

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

D-Main (15 laps): 1. 21t Peter Murphy, 2. 51 Jimmy Crawford, 3. 7 Garrett
Hansen, 4. 21s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 5. 25n Jason York, 6. 9w Chris Wakim, 7.
11 Critter Malone, 8. 16m Mike Martin, 9. 02 Matt Rossi, 10. 22c Brian
Camarillo, 11. 6 Todd Hunsaker, 12. 33 Jonny Bates, 13. 16 Nadine Gardner,
14. 48 Jonas Reynolds, 15. 10x Lawrence O’Connor, 16. 397 Kyle Bates, 17. 40
Royal Adderson, 18. 17x Seth Wilson, 19. 91 Brandon Thomson, 20. 55 Tony
Everhart. First eight finishers transfer to C-Main. 02 Matt Rossi also
transfers due to scratch from C-Main.

C-Main (20 laps): 1. 15 R.J. Johnson, 2. 81 Robert Ballou, 3. 29w Cole
Whitt, 4. 38s Davey Pombo, 5. 19 Rodney Argo, 6. 29k Matt Mitchell, 7. 11d
Dustin Morgan, 8. 21a Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 9. 17n Mat Neely, 10. 21t Peter
Murphy, 11. 67k Brad Sweet, 12. 93 Blake Miller, 13. 7 Garrett Hansen, 14.
92 Luis Espinoza, 15. 16m Mike Martin, 16. 11 Critter Malone, 17. 25n Jason
York, 18. 57 Shane Golobic, 19. 76 Mike Leslie, 20. 97 Bret Mellenberndt,
21. 47 Greg Taylor, 22. 9w Chris Wakim, 23. 02 Matt Rossi, 24. 2h Sammy
Swindell, DNS – 51 Jimmy Crawford. First eight finishers transfer to B-Main.

B-Main (20 laps): 1. 18 Danny Sheridan, 2. 50az Charles Davis Jr., 3. 99
Brady Bacon, 4. 73 Josh Ford, 5. 4 Tony Jones, 6. 67x Darren Hagen, 7. 69
Jerry Coons Jr., 8. 50 Mike Spencer, 9. 3 Rip Williams, 10. 11d Dustin
Morgan, 11. 111 Troy Rutherford, 12. 29w Cole Whitt, 13. 29k Matt Mitchell,
14. 21 Michael Trimble, 15. 97x Jon Stanbrough, 16. 21s Ricky Stenhouse Jr.,
17. 81 Robert Ballou, 18. 15 R.J. Johnson, 19. 38s Davey Pombo, 20. 2b Brady
Short, 21. 71x Thomas Messeraull, 22. 19 Rodney Argo, DNS – 10t Shane
Cottle, 44 Dave Darland (crash). First 12 finishers transfer to A-Main.

15 R.J. Johnson, 21s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 44 Dave Darland and 93 Blake
Miller use USAC provisionals to start A-Main.

A-Main (40 laps): 1. 29 Bud Kaeding, 2. 2az Casey Shuman, 3. 99 Brady Bacon,
4. 75 Jesse Hockett, 5. 38 Scotty Weir, 6. 18 Danny Sheridan, 7. 21k Cory
Kruseman, 8. 69 Jerry Coons Jr., 9. 4 Tony Jones, 10. 29w Cole Whitt, 11.
67x Darren Hagen, 12. 21s Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., 13. 93 Blake Miller, 14.
50az Charles Davis Jr., 15. 11d Dustin Morgan, 16. 20 Levi Jones, 17. 83
David Cardy, 18. 73 Josh Ford, 19. 15 R.J. Johnson, 20. 10 Tim Kaeding, 21.
71 Damion Gardner, 22. 3 Rip Williams, 23. 9 Kevin Swindell, 24. 50 Mike
Spencer, 25. 94 Rickie Gaunt, 26. 10c Daron Clayton, 27. 44 Dave Darland,
28. 111 Troy Rutherford.

Lap leaders (unofficial): Tim Kaeding 1-11, Damion Gardner 12-19, Tim
Kaeding 20-29, Casey Shuman 30-39, Bud Kaeding 40

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