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Saturday, August 2, 2008
Big Bird 94
A few notes from the Robbie Dean/Big Bird 94 at Kil-Kare Speedway on Friday, Aug. 1.
Donnie Renner running with the big yellow No. 94 decals on his car was a nice touch. Renner said his crew surprised him with the number change.
The trophies donated by Donnie and Kelly Renner and family were great. John Vallo, winner of the Big Bird 94, said the nearly 6-foot tall trophy was probably the tallest he’s won. Smaller versions went to modified (Chad Poole), sports stock (Mike South Jr.) and compact (Bo Hoelscher) winners.
Mike Stacy piloted Robbie Dean’s No. 77. Before the late model feature, Stacy and Renner led the parade lap side-by-side and with the pace truck and rest of the field following. Very cool.
I learned Vallo’s nickname could have easily been ‘Lights Out.’ Track photographer Earl Isaacs told me the Fairborn Flash needed three tries before completing just one lap at Kil-Kare when starting out. Two of those weeks Vallo took out a pole and the lights to the entire track. “The electrician at the time was Sonny Pencil,” Vallo said. “He was looking for some punk named John Vallo that keeps putting the lights out. I kept avoiding him.”
Cars couldn’t avoid Vallo on Friday. After the first 36 laps of the 94-lap event just four cars were on the lead lap: Vallo, Mike Stacy, Tim Allensworth and Scott Drake. Only Vallo, Allenworth and Stacy finished on the lead lap.
Vallo wasn’t sure he’d make the feature after an accident at Columbus Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 26. With two laps left in the John Nuckles Memorial, Vallo was battling Renner for the lead when Vallo lost his power steering in Turn 3 and hit the wall hard. The car bent the nose more than foot, spun around and bent the rear and tore out the suspension.
“This car was in bad shape last Saturday night. I said no way they are going to fix this car in a week. They sure did,” Vallo said. “The car with all those new parts, (the crew) was worried hoping everything would stay together. Usually the first race after a big wreck you got your fingers crossed. I’m proud of those guys with the car finishing as well as it did.”
Stacy led the first three laps. Vallo led the rest. He was consistently running 1-2 mph faster than Stacy and Allensworth, but once Allensworth got past Stacy, had a challenge from the No. 24. “I watched the board on the cautions and I saw where (Stacy) stayed in second for a long, long time,” Vallo said. “Then the last couple restarts I noticed (Allensworth) got around him. You gotta worry then because I knew he was coming. All the cards are on the table. You gotta go for it.”
The win was the ninth of the season for Vallo in 19 starts. He entered the race with a 186-point lead over Renner in the Whelen All-American Series points for Ohio.
The crowd count was pretty good, but the car count was down. All nine of Kil-Kare’s regular late model drivers ran, while Russ Bobb has his car going again. Modified driver Chad Poole jumped in a late model. I can understand with gas prices and the economy, but it would have been nice to see a few more Columbus cars in the show.
