Miller, Danburg follow right line to victory at Champion

Perhaps you've seen "Whose Line is it Anyway?," the improvisation television show hosted by Drew Carey.

Chet Danburg and Rick Miller gave pretty good performances of their own Saturday night at Champion Motor Speedway. Both showed their knack for improvising and both followed the right line en route to winning their respective divisions in the Late Model/Street Stock main event.

Miller posted his 10th straight Street Stock main event victory when he passed John White with five laps to go in a duel between the division's season points leaders. Meanwhile, Danburg came out ahead in an exchange between Quicksilver Racing teammate Al Goss for the lead with nine laps to go and went on to post his second Late Model main event victory in as many weeks.

Another highlight on a cool and overcast night saw Jason Newhouse of Twin Falls, Idaho, hold off his brother, John Newhouse, to win the 50-lap Gold Rush Region Allstar Race Truck Series feature race.

Danburg watched Goss make a move through lapped traffic to take the lead at the start of Lap 21, but then caught a break moments later that enabled him to regain the lead in the 15-car, 30-lap Late Model/Street Stock main event.

Goss was close behind coming out of Turn 4 when Danburg got caught behind lapped traffic on the inside. Goss went by on the outside, but his lead was shortlived because he encountered heavy traffic at the other end of the homestretch.

"I was past Chet. I was free and clear," Goss said, flashing a smile afterward. "And then the 8 car in front of me just lost it, he got sideways and I had to stop."

That's all it took for Danburg, who stayed low and reclaimed his lead coming out of Turn 2.

"There were five of us right there, it was either follow Al or find another line," he said. "I just happened to be on the right line.

"You get out there in the lead, then get slowed down by lapped traffic, you lose your lead and then have to come right back and get it. That's what makes it so much fun," Danburg said. "I hope it was fun for the fans to watch, too."

At the same time, Miller was in pursuit of White in a race for the Street Stock lead. The caution flag dropped on Lap 23 after Bud Tackit slid into the homestretch wall coming out of Turn 4, setting the stage for Miller to make his move.

"It was a really good race. I couldn't get around John for the longest time," Miller said. "It was the fast guys (Danburg and Goss) that helped me get around him. They went underneath and I just followed them."

Miller went on to take a win that increased his lead to 20 points in the Street Stock season standings. The Sun Valley driver is bidding for his first division title - and to join his father, Tom Miller, along with brothers Randy and Robert as championship winners at the Carson City track.

White finished second in the race, followed by Matt Collier, Glen Davidson and Allen Hunter to round out the top five. White beat Collier to win the trophy dash, while Miller and Hunter took the top two spots in the heat race.

Goss finished second in the Late Model race, followed by Joel Worley, Ed Goss and Tackit. Worley held off a late charge on the outside by Danburg to win the trophy dash. Al Goss won the heat race ahead of Worley.

The Gold Rush Allstar Race Truck Series turned into a family feud between the Newhouse brothers.

Jason Newhouse surged into the lead to start Lap 10 and never looked back in the 12-car, 50-lap feature race. Two caution flags in the final eight laps made things interesting, but Jason held on to take the checker, ahead of his brother and Keith Hopkinson from Newcastle, Calif.

Jason Newhouse led wire-to-wire to win $50 in the dash for cash ahead of Randy Maas. John Newhouse beat his brother to win one heat race and Alan Larson won the other heat race.

Andy McCool took the lead on Lap 4 in the Hornet division main event and went on to post his third victory in four weeks. Robert Miller finished second, followed by Steve Moore, Kim Robbins and Bill Bernard during a 30-lap race in which seven of the 14 starters were still on the track at the end (four black flags were issued). Chuck Beaty, last week's main event winner, took the trophy dash and also won his heat race. Robert Miller won the other heat race, ahead of Robbins.

Sandy Clark won her second straight Queen Beez/Junior Hornet main event, followed by Harris Heller, Joy Coleman and Tiffany Mann. Clark also won her heat race, just ahead of Heller. Coleman took the trophy dash, with Heller again in second-place.

Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-1220.