Dirt Cup Night 1 notes: Two-time winner Allard sets fast time

ALGER – These guys and gals mean business. That’s only fitting since this is the premier 410 sprint-car race in the Pacific Northwest.

In the blink of an eye, the infield at Skagit Speedway went from quiet and calm, to frantic activity on Friday — the opening night of the 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup.

While some drivers adjusted their helmets or fire suits, attaching tearoffs to visors and taking a last drink of water, the public address system barked out the next activitiy on the program. Cars started, staged and were pushed onto the three-tenths mile banked oval. First to help pack the track, then for hot laps and finally for qualifying, the cars moved into and out of the infield in a precise manner.

As soon as a car pulled off the track and into its pit, the teams swarmed over it with squeegees, sponges and rags to remove the mud. Tire temps were taken, sizes measured. Crew chiefs and drivers stood close to each other, heads bowed, talking about the car and track, mapping out a strategy.

Besides the deep heritage associated with this three-day event – and the enormous prestige associated with winning the Dirt Cup — there is $25,000 to win out of an overall purse of $150,000 here at Skagit Speedway.

No wonder these guys and gals mean business.

Allard sets quick time on Night 1: Two-time Dirt Cup winner Jonathan Allard of Chico, Calif., set the quickest time in qualifying on Friday night with a lap of 11.541 seconds.

“This is a special place to me, all the fans are great and (track owner) Steve Beitler prepares a great track,” said the 2005 and ’06 winner. “It’s a special deal to be quick time; the guys down there prepared a quick car.”

By being the quickest driver on opening night, Allard earned a spot in the Qualifying Challenge on Saturday. In that challenge he will face Friday’s quick driver with $1,000 bonus on the line.

On Saturday, both challengers will made a two-lap qualifying run, take time out to make adjustments, then run another two-lap qualifying run. The fastest overall time wins the bonus donated by Industrial Resources and the Follman Agency.

Travis Rutz (11.564) of Langley B.C., Shane Stewart (11.629) of Pittsboro, Ind., Chad Hillier (11.684) of Burlington, and Colton Heath (11.656) of Marysville rounded out the top five in qualifying on Night 1.

How does it work again? Here’s the rundown on how the Dirt Cup format works on Thursday and Friday:

— Drivers draw for qualifying spots, with qualifying setting the heat race fields.

— Heat races are eight laps and invert four, with the top three finishers going directly to the A main, which is a complete invert with passing points assigned.

— B, C, D and E mains will be based on qualifying. Seven transfer up from the B main, two from the C, D, and E mains. Transfer cars start at the rear.

Back to the future: At last weekend’s Dirt Cup tune-up race, former 410 champion Jesse Whitney of Stanwood said he was going to try a new setup that may help him this weekend.

It didn’t work out the way he wanted, however, so he went back to the setup that had earned him two feature wins at Skagit this weekend.

“We were good at qualifying but the car was too soft in the main,” Whitney said. “We were bouncing all over the place.”

Trouble for Swindell: Veteran racer Sammy Swindell of Germantown, Tenn., had motor problems after going through the low-speed track pack session. He was unable to make his hot lap period, and didn’t get a qualifying run in. His team began working on an engine change before the end of the qualifying session..

Heath on a roll: Colton Heath of Marysville is riding a wave of confidence heading into his third Dirt Cup. In addition to a 410 Sprint victory at Skagit Speedway a couple weeks ago, Heath has won twice at Deming Speedway in a Mini-Sprint and has a Midget win to his credit so far this season.

“It’s been going good,” Heath said, before mapping out his Dirt Cup strategy. “I can’t out-think myself — can’t try to do different stuff. Keep my head on and do what we do.”

Luck plays a part: Looking at his “15th or more” Dirt Cup, longtime Skagit Speedway sprint-car racer Rick Fauver of Everett knows it will take more than just running fast to win the big race.

“You’ve got to let the cards play out – that’s Dirt Cup,” Fauver said. “You’ve got to be good but you need luck, too. There’s a lot of good cars here – too many.”