2006kiss.htm

December 18, 2006 - Christmas came early for King of Indiana Sprint Series racers this year.  Bedford’s Indiana Stone Works has agreed to a sponsorship arrangement that increases the payoff for B Main starters to a minimum $100 for each KISS series event, if they don't transfer to the feature. 

KISS competed seven events at as many different Hoosier tracks in 2006.  Jon Stanbrough captured three victories and the series crown in a season that saw him named the “Driver of the Year” by the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame for non-wing sprint car competition.  Other race winners were Kevin Briscoe and A. J. Anderson.

SCHEDULE.  The 2007 KISS schedule is still being developed and will be released early in the New Year.  It will be posted at www.kissracing.com when finalized.

SPONSORS.  Indiana Stone Works joins Elliottbrand Web Designs, in Westport, IN, creator of the KISS website, and Bloomington’s Kiva Technology Solutions as sponsors of the 2007 KISS tour.  Visit them at www.Elliottbrand.com and www.Kiva.net for information about their fine services.

KISS is continuing to look for sponsorships for the upcoming series.  Not only will a sponsor actively participate in one of the most exciting sprint car programs of the coming season, but their investment will also garner the benefits of broad visibility and productive publicity among a growing segment of motorsports enthusiasts in Indiana’s most active metropolitan areas.  For more information contact the promoter at your closest KISS racing track.

The King of Indiana Sprint Series is organized and conducted by the individual Indiana sprint car race track promoters to put the best racing in the state on a heavy metal wheel-to-wheel tour.  Information is now available on our website, www.kissracing.com.
 


Stanbrough Outruns Terre Haute KISS Field
Earns Second Crown
 

        

July 1, 2006 -- Jon Stanbrough doesn't like to do things by half-measures.  While he would have secured his second King of Indiana Sprint Series championship by simply taking the green flag in the main event at the Terre Haute Action Track, instead he led every lap, thoroughly dominating the big finale.  Shane Cottle finished two seconds behind, followed by Brad Sweet, Jon Sciscoe and Mitch Wissmiller.

After the victory ceremonies, Stanbrough explained what winning a second KISS title meant to him.  “I’ve won a few championships here and there and never repeated,” he said.  “It’s really exciting to be a two-time champion and even more exciting to have gotten the most wins in the series.  Hopefully I can continue with that.”

Starting fifth for the 30-lap feature, Stanbrough hugged the bottom through turn two and grabbed the lead when the front cars slid up.  He admitted that he was surprised, “I always kind of have in mind what I’m going to do and if somebody opens the door for me, then I’m going to go for it.  If it’s somewhere I can get through - my car was hooked up, I got to it and it just took off.”

At the completion of the first lap, Stanbrough had the Fox Brothers DRC a dozen car-lengths ahead of Cottle, with pole-sitter Bryan Stanfill ahead of Hud Cone, Sciscoe, Sweet and Shane Hollingsworth.  Clearly Brad and Steve Fox had found the car’s sweet spot, as Stanbrough kept the FOXCO powerplant wound up, as he smoothly negotiated the cushion at each end.  He owned a two-second lead and had just caught the tail-enders by lap 13 when the yellow came out for Hunter Schuerenberg, who had come to a stop while running in the top ten.

Stanfill challenged Cottle for second at the restart, grabbing the spot in turn four.  But Cottle battled back and Stanfill began falling back and dropped out several laps later when his engine began overheating.  At 20 laps, Stanbrough was a half-straightaway ahead and extended his advantage to a full straightaway while negotiating slower cars with just a handful of laps remaining.  Cottle closed the gap to two seconds at the end, but no one had been able to challenge Stanbrough.

“I have to give credit to the guys who put a great setup on it,” Stanbrough said.  “They got the tire pressures and the stagger and everything right.  I’m just the guy turning the wheel and they make me look good.  I definitely have to give all of the credit to Brad and Steve Fox.  They build the motor and take care of the car.  They do a great job, obviously.  It showed tonight.”

For the third time, Cottle finished second to Stanbrough in a KISS race.  If not for missing the Lawrenceburg round when he was competing in the Little 500, he certainly would have been in the thick of the point fight.  After the feature, he candidly noted, “Down in three and four it was up on the high side, that was about the only place to run.  Coming off of two on the high side, it was real slow.  So I got down on the bottom and I was a little bit faster than he was, but I just couldn’t keep the momentum up on the straightaway.  I was kind of hard on my tires early and burned them off when I was trying to get out in front of him and I used up a lot of my tires.  I was kind of just hanging around there at the end.”

Brad Sweet had a strong run in Jack Yeley’s DRC.  He finished a strong third after starting seventh.  “It looks like we finally got the car kind of figured out.  It took us a few weeks, but we’re starting to run better.  The track was definitely hooked up tonight.  We started in the fourth row, and just kind of picked them off as we went along.  But once we got up to Stanbrough and Cottle, I don’t think we had anything for them.  It was a good run for our team and we definitely needed it.”

As in the 30-lap finale, Stanbrough grabbed the KISS point lead with back-to-back victories in the opening races and no one was able to mount a credible challenge.  With a fifth place finish at Lawrenceburg, and third at Paragon, the Terre Haute victory gave him a 135-point advantage in the final standings.  Jonathan Vennard trailed by 99 points when the evening began, but after fighting engine problems during his heat race, he switched to Chris Gentry’s team car for the main event.  A ninth-place run from the tail solidified second in the final points.

Results: King of Indiana Sprint Series at Terre Haute Action Track, July 1, 2006

Heat 1 (5 transfer): 1. Hud Cone (2), 2. Bryan Stanfill (1), 3. Brad Sweet (6), 4. Jeff Davis (3), 5. Chase Stockon (5), 6. A.J. Anderson (4), 7. Hunter Schuerenberg (9), 8. Alex Shanks (10), 9. Randy Bateman (8), 10. Patrick Bruns (7)
Heat 2: 1. Shane Cottle (3), 2. Jon Stanbrough (6), 3. Critter Malone (7), 4. Chris Windom (5), 5. Chris Gentry (1), 6. Mitch Wissmiller (10), 7. Kyle Wissmiller (9), 8. Jerry Ruble (8), 9. Bob Botts (4), 10. Jonathan Vennard (2)
Heat 3: 1. Kyle Cummins (1), 2. Jon Sciscoe (2), 3. Shane Hollingsworth (6), 4. Chris Urish (3), 5. Danny Brackett (4), 6. Justin Marvel (5), 7. Derek O’Dell (7), 8. Matt Westfall (9), 9. Dale Christian (8), 10. Sam Stockon (10)
Semi  (5 transfer): 1. M. Wissmiller (2), 2. Marvel (3), 3. Shanks (7), 4. Schuerenberg (4), 5. Anderson (1), 6. O’Dell (6), 7. Westfall (9), 8. Ruble (8), 9. Christian (12), 10. Botts (11)
Feature (30 laps): 1. Stanbrough (5), 2. Cottle (4), 3. Sweet (7), 4. Sciscoe (2), 5. M. Wissmiller (14), 6. Windom (11), 7. Hollingsworth (9), 8. Marvel (17), 9. Vennard (20), 10. Malone (8), 11. Cone (3), 12. Shanks (16), 13. Brackett (15), 14. Anderson (18), 15. Davis (10), 16. C. Stockon (13), 17. Urish (12), 18. Cummins (6), 19. Stanfill (1), 20. Schuerenberg (19)

Final Points: Stanbrough 645, Vennard 510, Windom 495, Cottle 485, Marvel 484

2006 King Of Indiana Sprint Series Winners
Gas City I-69Speedway           Friday, May 12  Rain Out
Bloomington Speedway            Friday, May 19 -- Stanbrough
Lincoln Park Speedway           Saturday, May 20 -- Stanbrough
Lawrenceburg Speedway           Saturday, May 27  Anderson
Kokomo Speedway                 Sunday, June 18  Rain Out
Paragon Speedway                        Saturday, June 24 -- Briscoe
Terre Haute Action Track                Saturday, July 1 -- Stanbrough


SPONSORS.
  Elliottbrand Web Designs, in Westport, IN, created the KISS website, which provides a highly functional and effective tool that places the King Of Indiana Sprint Series within arms length of racing fans around town and around the world.  Visit them at www.Elliottbrand.com.

The King of Indiana Sprint Series is organized and conducted by the individual Indiana sprint car race track promoters to put the best racing in the state on a heavy metal wheel-to-wheel tour.  Information is now available on our website, www.kissracing.com.
 


2006 King Will Be Crowned At Terre Haute Action Track

June 27, 2006 -- It may sound contradictory, but a King will be crowned on Independence Day weekend.  The 2006 King of Indiana Sprint Series (KISS) concludes with a 30-lap feature event at the Terre Haute Action Track on Saturday.  For the first time in six years, it appears likely that the coronation will be a repeat, as the 2003 KISS champion, Jon Stanbrough, holds a commanding lead going into the final event.  However commanding leads are nothing new to Stanbrough, who has already won twice this year and his six career KISS victories are double the second place record. 

Stanbrough leads Jonathan Vennard by 99 points and will lock up the KISS title (and it’s $1,400 bonus) simply by transferring to the feature race.  Second in the points is worth $1,000 and that battle is a lot closer.  Chris Windom trails Vennard by only 27 points, and defending KISS King Justin Marvel is just 30 points behind.  The winner of the most recent KISS race, Kevin Briscoe climbed to fifth in the standings, fifty points out of second.  Third, fourth and fifth positions will pay $700, $600 and $500, and Shane Cottle and Derek O’Dell are only a handful of points from collecting a bonus.

For the third year, the Terre Haute Action Track combines KISS with a Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS) event.  Most of the MSCS top-runners have competed in KISS this season and Kevin Briscoe sits in the top five in both group’s point standings.

Points: Stanbrough 510, Vennard 411, Windom 384, Marvel 381, Briscoe 363, Cottle 355, O’Dell 346

SCHEDULE.  The 2006 KISS championship will kick off Independence Day weekend at the Terre Haute Action Track on Saturday, July 1.  By the time the last firework has exploded, a new (or returning) King of Indiana Sprints will be on his throne.  Ticket prices are $15 general grandstand admission, $20 reserved grandstand and $10 for children in the grandstand.  Infield admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children.  Pit passes are $30 each.  Gates will open at 5 pm, with racing at 7 pm.  Wabash Valley Harley Davidson sponsors the program, which includes UMP Modifieds and a huge fireworks show.


2006 King Of Indiana Sprint Series Schedule
Gas City I-69Speedway           Friday, May 12  Rain Out
Bloomington Speedway            Friday, May 19 -- Stanbrough
Lincoln Park Speedway           Saturday, May 20 -- Stanbrough
Lawrenceburg Speedway           Saturday, May 27  Anderson
Kokomo Speedway                 Sunday, June 18  Rain Out
Paragon Speedway                        Saturday, June 24 -- Briscoe
Terre Haute Action Track                Saturday, July 1


THE PURSE.
  The total KISS purse for 2006 exceeds $80,000.  Each feature pays $2,500-to win.  As in previous years, the teams will forgo qualifying and draw for heat race starting spots.  And as last year, the top two finishers in each heat will re-draw for their feature starting spots.  Features pay $250 to start, while B-Main competitors will take home a minimum of $50.

POINT FUND.  The point fund will pay $1,400 to the King Of Indiana Sprint Series champion.  Additionally, the point fund pays the top five in the standings, with second place receiving $1000, while third receives $700, fourth $600 and fifth $500.

SPONSORS.  Elliottbrand Web Designs, in Westport, IN, created the KISS website, which provides a highly functional and effective tool that places the King Of Indiana Sprint Series within arms length of racing fans around town and around the world.  Visit them at www.Elliottbrand.com.

The King of Indiana Sprint Series is organized and conducted by the individual Indiana sprint car race track promoters to put the best racing in the state on a heavy metal wheel-to-wheel tour.  Information is now available on our website, www.kissracing.com.


Briscoe Outruns Huge KISS Field At Paragon Speedway

June 24, 2006 -- Kevin Briscoe scored his third King of Indiana Sprint Series (KISS) feature win at Paragon Speedway, Saturday, with a timely move up into the rubber that had built up in the turns.  The veteran racer from Mitchell, IN, passed point leader Jon Stanbrough with three laps remaining, and was ahead of Jon Sciscoe by seven car lengths when the race ended.  Stanbrough earned a third place finish, followed by Dave Darland and Josh Cunningham.

“It’s good to get a win,” he said after the victory photos.  “We’ve had a bad year.  It’s our fourth win, and we’ve had a lot of top-5’s.  But the draw has been killing us.  I just wish they had passing points.”

With 68 cars in the pits, competition for the 22 KISS feature starting spots was intense.  Briscoe and Critter Malone were among the heat race winners, even though both started from the tail.  Before the main event, Dawn Kirchner drew the number 2 pill for the Briscoe Homes Stealth, giving Kevin the outside of the front row. 

From the pole, Sciscoe shoved the Pottorff Logging machine into the lead in the first turn, with Stanbrough and Briscoe glued to his tail, and Arin McIntosh running fourth.   Sciscoe was in command through the first half of the race, working the bottom lane and preventing anyone from getting inside of him.  On the fourth circuit, Shane Hollingsworth nicked a turn two marker tire and somersaulted the Truckers 24-Hour Service Twister on the backstretch. 

Sciscoe continued to show the way following the restart, but while the leaders seemed married to the bottom groove, others were making progress around the top of the track.  Jonathan Vennard used the cushion to stay in fifth, and Dave Darland and Darren Hagen raced into the top ten from the ninth and sixth rows, in Jeff Walker’s machines.  When Donnie Gentry spun to bring a caution flag at the half-way point, the lineup was Sciscoe, Briscoe, Stanbrough, McIntosh, Vennard, Hud Cone, Darland, Hagen, Danny Holtsclaw and Joe Roush.

Sciscoe tried the high route through the first turn on the restart allowing Briscoe to pull even on the bottom.  When Sciscoe regained the l