By BRETT BOWMAN
Avon’s Jon Stanbrough has won his fair share of races over the years at the Kokomo Speedway.
Friday night in the second running of the Kokomo Klash it took a closing-lap mistake for the popular driver to again hit paydirt in the sprint car portion of the event.
The 25-lap feature saw five different drivers in a position to snare the win in what had to be among the most dramatic features in some time. In the early going it was Thomas Meseraull, piloting the Baldwin Brothers Racing/NAPA No. 5 that Stanbrough ran occasionally over the summer, and Cole Whitt waging a spirited duel.
Whitt led the opening six laps until Meseraull shot by on the seventh circuit. The next 12 laps saw the pair slicing and dicing, exchanging the top spot at various spots on the track.
With just six laps left, mechanical woes forced Meseraull into the infield, ending his bid for his first career feature win at the local track. When the race went back to green, Chris Windom, Whitt and Jeff Bland Jr. went three-wide coming off of turn four and almost got together. Stanbrough seized the opportunity and shot to the bottom of the track to take the top spot.
Windom, using the top side of the track, reclaimed the point a lap later and looked to be in control before bouncing off the cushion coming to the white flag. Stanbrough took advantage and held on the remaining lap for yet another win at what he terms “his favorite track.”
“I know it was cold out here [Friday night] but I want to thank the fans for sticking with us this late and in this cold weather,” said Stanbrough. “The team gave me a good car and I was just trying to stay on the bottom and find something that I could get a hold of. Windom bobbled there a little and I took advantage of it.”
Windom came home second and Whitt third. Bland was fourth while Dave Darland worked his way through the pack to take fifth. Tracy Hines, like Darland, came all the way from the last row to finish sixth in Lynn Reid’s Kokomo Honda No. 2. Area drivers Corey Smith (ninth), Dustin Smith (11th) and Marc Arnold (22nd) all made the feature as 43 cars signed in.
In the Mini-Sprint feature it was all youngster Tyler Reddick.
After taking the lead from Mark Perry on the third lap, the young driver simply checked out, leaving the rest of the field to fight for second place.
Ryan Langston was second, Todd Kirkman third, Herb Johnson fourth and Jason Ormsby fifth. Kokomo second-generation driver Conner Donnelson was 13th.
In an attrition-filled Sportsman feature, Ed Lahey turned out to be one of the last drivers standing as he charged to the front to post the win.
Jim Moore was second, Joe Lucas third, Glenn Gamblin fourth and Randy Lines fifth. Track regular Perry Shelton was 21st.
In one of the best Thunder Car features of the year, Corey Johnson dodged the bullet that beset the early leaders and posted the win.
Jimmy Nutter looked to have the race well in hand until a flat right rear tire forced him to the sideline with just 12 laps remaining, handing the lead to Tony Bowman. Bowman then held the top spot until a flat left rear stymied his bid for the win and allowed the hard-charging Paul Whitacre to assume the lead.
With just four laps remaining, Whitacre’s No. 215 went up in a plume of smoke giving Johnson a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.
Mike Fredrick was second, Kevin Fetrow third, Jim Davis Sr. fourth and Mark Keith fifth.
