Jac
Haudenschild (2V) passes Sheldon Kinser (3) for the lead and the win in the
opening USAC sprint car program of the 1984 season at Eldora Speedway. – Jack
Gladback Photo
Rossburg, Ohio (April 1, 1984) – Jac Haudenschild timed in fastest, won his heat, and the 30-lap feature to score the clean sweep in the season-opening USAC sprint car show at Eldora Speedway on Sunday afternoon.
Former three-time division driving king Sheldon Kinser paced the opening stages of the headliner, while Haudenschild quickly advanced to second place from his sixth starting berth in the 20-car field.
An outside move enabled Haudenschild to wrest the lead from Kinser on lap 8 and then Ricky hood climbed into the runner-up slot moments later.
After dropping a half lap behind the frontrunner, Hood got a break when a Jack Hewitt spin brought out the yellow flag with five laps remaining. Although the field was allowed to bunch up behind the leader for the restart, lapped traffic prevented Hood from seriously challenging Haudenschild in the closing circuits.
Mike Johnson overtook Kinser in the closing laps and trailed Haudenschild and Hood across the finish line to nail down third-place money. Kinser settled for fourth while Mark Alderson took fifth.
Johnny Parsons was the lone flip victim, tumbling his mount end-over-end on the third lap of the first heat. Parsons was taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated and released.
Results –
1. Jac Haudenschild
2. Ricky Hood
3. Mike Johnson
4. Sheldon Kinser
5. Mark Alderson
6. Gary Gray
7. Jack Hewitt
8. Tom Bigelow
9. Danny Milburn
10.Tom Bipes
