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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

C.J. Leary & Charlie
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Haubstadt, Indiana (July 27, 2019).........C.J. Leary's 2019 NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week championship run was indicative of how his entire USAC AMSOIL National Sprint campaign has unfolded thus far.

An ancient proverb states "Go forth, win races, and the points will follow." Leary is proving that to be untrue - about as untrue as the statement that the quote above is actually an ancient proverb.

Winning Indiana Sprint Week is one of the marquees, one of those items that will stand out on a racer's resume for eternity. What makes it so special is the constant challenge of overcoming adversity throughout the eight-races in ten-day trail, enduring late nights of repairs and maintenance, the camaraderie and, yes, the accomplishment, which makes it all worthwhile.

"This is the crown jewel," Leary exclaimed. "This is the one everyone wants to win. It's the hardest two weeks a racecar driver can have. It's a lot of late nights. My crew and I stayed up 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning every night getting the 19AZ prepped and prepared. We got the trophy and that's all I care about."

Leary reeled off top-flight performances night after night throughout ISW, starting from the part of the program that sets the tone, qualifying. Not once did the Greenfield, Ind. driver set overall fast time twice during ISW. Not once did he qualify outside the top-three in his qualifying group on a particular night. Only once did he not transfer through his heat race, at Plymouth, where he proceeded to capture the victory in the semi-feature.

Leary never had to start lower than seventh in any of the events, putting him in position to run at the front by virtue of rolling off the feature ready to compete at a high level. From there, his results were a staggering smattering of consistency in eight starts with a pair of 2nd place finishes at Gas City and Plymouth, three 3rd's at Kokomo, Lawrenceburg and Lincoln Park, a 4th at Bloomington, a 6th at Terre Haute and a 10th the final race at Tri-State that gave him a 12-point cushion over Brady Bacon in the final tally.

Now the owner of 21 consecutive top-ten finishes to begin the 2019 season, ever the perfectionist, Leary is not one to simply rest on his laurels. His strive to become a champ has him refusing to cut any corners or being accepting of an "off-night" every now and then. All that means in his book is a missed opportunity to gain points toward a title whether it's Eastern Storm, Indiana Sprint Week of even the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car title on the line.

"I knew that if we ran on the podium every night, we'd have a good shot at winning the deal," Leary acknowledged. "We started off strong and did everything we could every night. We qualified well, we ran well in the heat races and we've only run one B-Main all year. That's a good accomplishment on its own, but I really wanted to win. What we're here to do is win races and we didn't get it done this week, so we'll have to do a little more homework and if we can get this thing to victory lane, we'll be a bit happier."

Leary's ISW title run began in heartbreaking fashion, leading the first 29 laps of the opening night feature at Gas City before winding up as the runner-up finisher behind Shane Cottle in one of the closest finishes in series history. A moment was given to vent, then it was onward to Plymouth where they'd rebound nicely with another second-place run.

Far from the finish line, but more than halfway there, this year has already proven to be a dream season for Leary and Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports. It's a combination that didn't even exist until just a handful of months ago, combining an emerging gasser from the Hoosier state with an Arizona-based team who had never competed on the full USAC National trail.

"The first time I talked to (car owner) Andy (Reinbold) was last November at the Oval Nationals (in Perris, Calif.)," Leary recalled. The next weekend, I was sitting on the beach in Ventura, Calif. waiting for Turkey Night to roll around. Andy gave me a ring and said he was interested in putting something together for the 2019 sprint car season. We got everything worked out to where we were happy. I got to bring Davy Jones along with me with me, which I think is where a lot of my success comes from, getting to bring my crew chief from last year on board. We just mesh so well together, and we have fun on and off the racetrack."

With a pair of "mini" series championships in his bank for 2019, Leary's next step is to capture a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car title, which is much in the realm of possibility as he continues to knock down top-rate finishes, which is continuously adding to a 122-point lead.

"(Car owner) Andy (Reinbold) assembled a championship winning team and that's what we set out to do," Leary stated. "We won Eastern Storm and we won Indiana Sprint Week. I feel whoever can win one, if not both, ends up winning the championship. I feel pretty confident rolling into the rest of the year with our championship hopes."

History has proven Leary correct in recent years. All three drivers who've won Eastern Storm and Indiana Sprint Week in the same season have gone on to win the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car title that year.

From start to finish at Eastern Storm, Leary bumped his National point lead from 32 to 59, and during Indiana Sprint Week from 57 to 122. They say ISW can make or break a team, but Leary and Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports, by all indications, are making it. Car and driver swaps have taken place in some pit areas over the past week, but this combo keeps digging their way to joining that exclusive crew of Clauson, Ballou and Windom with their methodical manner of knocking out top-fives on a near-nightly basis, and keeping it within the top-ten on an "off" night.

If an off-night and a season-worst finish by the end of July is only a 10th with already two titles under their belt, this season is shaping up to be magical for Leary and company.

FINAL 2019 NOS ENERGY INDIANA SPRINT WEEK STANDINGS:
1. (564) C.J. Leary
2. (552) Brady Bacon
3. (541) Justin Grant
4. (479) Kevin Thomas, Jr.
5. (471) Kyle Cummins
6. (466) Tyler Courtney
7. (461) Chris Windom
8. (435) Chase Stockon
9. (422) Jason McDougal
10. (392) Carson Short
11. (300) Max Adams
12. (299) Josh Hodges
13. (268) Brandon Mattox
14. (226) Isaac Chapple
15. (224) Brody Roa
16. (223) Dave Darland
17. (217) Thomas Meseraull
18. (210) Shane Cottle
19. (206) Jarett Andretti
20. (199) Scotty Weir
21. (195) Dakota Jackson
22. (147) Dustin Christie
23. (140) Brian VanMeveren
24. (112) Terry Richards
25. (104) A.J. Hopkins
26. (98) Dickie Gaines
27. (85) Stephen Schnapf
28. (85) Brady Short
29. (81) Anthony D'Alessio
30. (69) Matt Westfall
31. (64) Mario Clouser
32. (64) Jordan Kinser
33. (63) Koby Barksdale
34. (61) Brent Beauchamp
35. (54) Mitchell Davis
36. (53) Kendall Ruble
37. (52) Cole Ketcham
38. (50) Jadon Rogers
39. (50) Eric Perrott
40. (48) Dustin Smith
41. (47) Dustin Ingle & Chayse Hayhurst
43. (44) Clinton Boyles
44. (42) Critter Malone
45. (41) Corey Smith
46. (40) Matt Moore
47. (39) Nate McMillin
48. (39) Zane Hendricks
49. (39) Tony DiMattia
50. (38) Tom Harris
51. (34) Shane Cockrum
52. (30) Matt Goodnight, Matt McCarthy & Joe Stornetta
55. (28) Donny Brackett
56. (24) Kent Schmidt
57. (20) Chad Boespflug, Brandon Long, Harley Burns, Brayden Fox, Kyle Hathaway, Steve Thomas, Sterling Cling & Trey Gropp
65. (10) Dallas Hewitt, Andrew Prather, Joe Liguori, Callie Wolsiffer, Garrett Abrams, Travis Berryhill, Colten Cottle, Alec Sipes, Jesse Vermillion, Lee Underwood, Landon Simon, Josh Cunningham, Bobby Griffitts, Brad Greenup, Ryan Bond, Collin Ambrose & Aric Gentry

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

#3R Kyle Cummins goes side-by-side with #61m Stephen Schnapf for the lead during the final laps of Saturday's NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week finale at Tri-State Speedway.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Haubstadt, Indiana (July 27, 2019).........In a year's time, Kyle Cummins and crew have come along way. In last year's NOS Energy Sprint Week, the Princeton, Ind. driver qualified for only four of the seven features and finished in the top-ten just once.

In 2019, the storyline was redemption with Cummins qualifying for all eight features, finishing in the top-ten in seven and in contention night-after-night, finishing with a flourish after a victory Thursday at Lincoln Park, a near win Friday at Bloomington and closing out the week-plus series with a triumph in Saturday's ISW finale at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.

At Tri-State, Cummins trailed for 26 laps, working his way from the fifth starting spot to track down race-long leader Stephen Schnapf in traffic with four laps remaining to snare the win, the fourth of his ISW career and fifth ever in USAC's AMSOIL National Sprint Car division, one which was worth savoring every second.

"Two in one week feels pretty good," Cummins exclaimed. "I don't know if it's really sunk in yet. I took my helmet off and drove around there one time and watched everyone yell and scream. I just tried to take it in a little bit more than just one and done. To keep winning USAC races, that's what means something to me. When you win one or two, okay. If you keep winning them, it proves you can run with them."

Cummins came into the night's event literally unbeatable at the quarter-mile dirt paperclip with three victories in three tries thus far in 2019. He started fifth, but the initial green had was put on hold following multiple opening lap stackups, first between turns three and four involving Kevin Thomas, Jr., Donny Brackett, Carson Short and Kent Schmidt. On the next try, a melee ensued in the first turn involving Short, Schmidt, Tony DiMattia and Critter Malone.

The third try was the charm as Schnapf, making just his ninth career USAC start, shot to the lead from the outside of the front row, occupying the middle line as he passed pole sitter and west coast star Brody Roa into turn one. Meanwhile, Chase Stockon, a 2016 Tri-State USAC winner, slid under Roa for second in turn four on the opening lap.

By the tenth lap, Schnapf was already working in traffic while, in the distance 2.2 seconds behind him, Cummins utilized the low line to sprint past Stockon for second. Schnapf, a one-time MSCS winner at Tri-State in 2018, was seeking his first USAC win, but now had one of the all-time masters of the southwestern Indiana track sizing him up.

As the race crossed the halfway point, the interval between Schnapf and Cummins dropped from 1.4 sec. on lap 18 to 1.0 on lap 19 and to less than nine tenths with ten laps remaining. Once clearing the lapped car of Malone with seven to go, Cummins' runway was cleared for takeoff.

When Schnapf raced underneath the lapped car of Isaac Chapple in turns three and four with seven laps to go, Cummins was a mere single car length behind. Schnapf maintained the advantage for another full lap until, with just five laps remaining, Cummins gained ground off the bottom of turn two, sticking with Schnapf around turns three and four and missing out on the lead at the stripe by less than a wheel.

The two ran side-by-side, just feet apart for three-quarters of the following lap with four to go, with Cummins using his veteran savviness to slide off the bottom in front of Schnapf off the fourth corner to possess the lead at the line by a single car length.

Massive traffic lie ahead, but Cummins navigated through the gridlock with relative ease, sticking the bottom to roll past both Tyler Courtney and C.J. Leary with two laps remaining, lapping up to tenth, as he pulled away from Schnapf, ultimately winning by a 1.604 margin over Schnapf, Justin Grant, Stockon and KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger Brady Bacon, rounding out the top-five after starting 15th.

Cummins and Rock Steady Racing clicked at the right time during Indiana Sprint Week. The team was able to adjust and adapt when any situation arose, such as when they discovered they had a broken shock from the first four races of ISW. They were already tough at that point but took it to another level in the second half of the week, putting themselves into contention to win in each of the last three nights, culminating with a victory that may have just outdone his most recent.

"Winning Putnamville was big," Cummins explained. "I thought it was the biggest until this one tonight, being able to run (Schnapf) down and pass him without a yellow. He's a buddy of mine and I won one already, so I was thinking I'm actually going to be happy for him if he wins. The last ten laps, I just had to take it up a notch and make sure I hit every mark."

Saturday's victory was the fourth of Kyle Cummins' NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week career and his fifth in USAC's AMSOIL National Sprint Car division.
(David Nearpass Photo)

Saturday at Tri-State, the team ran a different set up than they had all year, and the same situation was at hand at Putnamville during Thursday's victory. The team is in sync and their Midas touch has car and driver's cohesiveness working like clockwork.

"When you have a bad car, you cannot be aggressive," Cummins pointed out. "When you get a good car and you can actually run with them, it sticks, and you can make moves. It just picks your confidence up. Right now, the confidence is pretty high.

Although he was a lap down at the finish, Leary's tenth place run was solid enough to earn him another crown jewel on his 2019 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car campaign just a little more than a month after capturing the Eastern Storm title and in the midst of a USAC title run in which he currently holds a commanding lead.

Always the competitor, Greenfield, Indiana's Leary was kind of perplexed by their results at Tri-State. A consistent ISW performance that saw a pair of 2nd place finishes, three 3rd's, a 4th and a 6th in eight starts sent him into the finale with a 24-point buffer ahead of Bacon, enough to check out of the Hoosier state tour with all the loot and the hardware.

"I think the first seven nights allowed us to have one bad night here," Leary pointed out. "It really wasn't all too terrible, it just wasn't what we'd hoped for. We wanted to cap off the week with a win, but we have the rocking chair, we have the check and we have the trophy. Everybody's happy!"

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Tri-State Speedway were Justin Grant (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Stephen Schnapf (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Chayse Hayhurst (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Donny Brackett (ProSource Hard Work Award), Tony DiMattia (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer) and Critter Malone (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 27, 2019 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - 32nd NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP ONE: 1. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.539; 2. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.863; 3. Kendall Ruble, 17, Ruble-13.875; 4. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-13.939; 5. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.992; 6. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.000; 7. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.180; 8. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-14.218; 9. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.331; 10. Terry Richards, 18m, Richards-14.356; 11. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-14.361; 12. Critter Malone, 7, Seven-14.365; 13. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-14.383; 14. Collin Ambrose, 36, Ambrose-14.385; 15. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-14.407; 16. Donny Brackett, 4B, Brackett-14.561; 17. Trey Gropp, 54, Gropp-15.104; 18. Kyle Hathaway, 7H, Hathaway-15.253; 19. Steve Thomas, 20T, Thomas-15.530; 20. Eric Perrott, 45, Perrott-15.824.

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP TWO: 1. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.561; 2. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.573; 3. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-13.847; 4. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-13.977; 5. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.983; 6. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-13.983; 7. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-14.018; 8. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.077; 9. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-14.139; 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-14.139; 11. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-14.165; 12. Chayse Hayhurst, 20, Hayhurst-14.168; 13. Kent Schmidt, 5K, KO-14.302; 14. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-14.371; 15. Thomas Meseraull, 00, Whitney-14.410; 16. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-14.483; 17. Dave Darland, 17c, Cunningham-14.491; 18. Scotty Weir, 42, Cheney-14.820; 19. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio-14.939; 20. Ryan Bond, 7R, Bond-15.367.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Brody Roa, 3. Brandon Mattox, 4. Dustin Christie, 5. Aric Gentry, 6. Jadon Rogers, 7. Carson Short, 8. Trey Gropp, 9. Steve Thomas, 10. Kendall Ruble. 2:21.92

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Stephen Schnapf, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Critter Malone, 5. Terry Richards, 6. Isaac Chapple, 7. Donny Brackett, 8. Kyle Hathaway, 9. Eric Perrott, 10. Collin Ambrose. 2:20.56

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Tony DiMattia, 4. Jarett Andretti, 5. Kent Schmidt, 6. Anthony D'Alessio, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Sterling Cling, 9. Thomas Meseraull, 10. Max Adams. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chayse Hayhurst, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Jason McDougal, 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 6. Josh Hodges, 7. Mario Clouser, 8. Brian VanMeveren, 9. Scotty Weir, 10. Ryan Bond. NT

C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Donny Brackett, 2. Mario Clouser, 3. Trey Gropp, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Anthony D'Alessio, 6. Kyle Hathaway, 7. Scotty Weir, 8. Steve Thomas, 9. Eric Perrott, 10. Ryan Bond. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Josh Hodges, 2. Kendall Ruble, 3. Isaac Chapple, 4. Kent Schmidt, 5. Max Adams, 6. Donny Brackett, 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 8. Terry Richards, 9. Thomas Meseraull, 10. Jadon Rogers, 11. Collin Ambrose, 12. Brian VanMeveren, 13. Mario Clouser, 14. Trey Gropp, 15. Sterling Cling, 16. Dave Darland, 17. Aric Gentry, 18. Carson Short. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kyle Cummins (5), 2. Stephen Schnapf (2), 3. Justin Grant (6), 4. Chase Stockon (4), 5. Brady Bacon (15), 6. Jarett Andretti (10), 7. Brody Roa (1), 8. Kendall Ruble (7), 9. Jason McDougal (12), 10. C.J. Leary (3), 11. Tyler Courtney (17), 12. Max Adams (8), 13. Critter Malone (18), 14. Isaac Chapple (11), 15. Carson Short (24), 16. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (23), 17. Chayse Hayhurst (19), 18. Donny Brackett (22), 19. Brandon Mattox (16), 20. Josh Hodges (9), 21. Chris Windom (14), 22. Kent Schmidt (20), 23. Tony DiMattia (13), 24. Dustin Christie (21). NT
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**Ryan Bond flipped during heat four.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-26 Stephen Schnapf, Laps 27-30 Kyle Cummins.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (15th to 5th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Critter Malone

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Kevin Thomas, Jr.

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Tony DiMattia

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Donny Brackett

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-1,519, 2-Brady Bacon-1,397, 3-Tyler Courtney-1,364, 4-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,353, 5-Chris Windom-1,335, 6-Justin Grant-1,318, 7-Chase Stockon-1,314, 8-Carson Short-1,151, 9-Jason McDougal-1,139, 10-Isaac Chapple-883.

FINAL NOS ENERGY DRINK INDIANA SPRINT WEEK POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-564, 2-Brady Bacon-552, 3-Justin Grant-541, 4-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-479, 5-Kyle Cummins-471, 6-Tyler Courtney-466, 7-Chris Windom-461, 8-Chase Stockon-435, 9-Jason McDougal-422, 10-Carson Short-392.

FINAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-41, 2-Shane Cottle-30, 3-Brady Bacon-24, 4-Justin Grant-21, 5-Dave Darland-21, 6-Max Adams-17, 7-Kyle Cummins-16, 8-Jarett Andretti-16, 9-Chris Windom-14, 10-Jason McDougal-13.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: August 21, 2019 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - #GYATK Night (Non-Points Special Event)

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Kevin Thomas, Jr. celebrates Friday night's NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week victory at Bloomington Speedway.
(David Nearpass Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Bloomington, Indiana (July 26, 2019).........Kevin Thomas, Jr. led three different times for a total of 13 laps in Friday's Sheldon Kinser Memorial, round seven of NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week from Bloomington Speedway, but it was one final lap that decided his fate.

After swapping the lead multiple times down the stretch, on the final lap, the Cullman, Ala. native rocketed around the outside of Jason McDougal in turns one and two, locked up the bottom in three and four and raced to his third Bloomington ISW victory following triumphs in 2012 and 2017.

In 19 previous USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car starts this season, Thomas had finished as the runner-up on four occasions. On this night, he flat out refused to run second, put it all on the line and came away with his first victory since the 2018 season finale in Perris, Calif.

"I didn't think that was ever going to happen," Thomas admitted. "It's been a trying year. I think we've finally overcome our things that have gone wrong and our bad luck. You just have to be in a position to win all the time. You're not going to win every race, but you've got to be there and then things will start going your way."

Thomas began the 30-lapper from the fifth spot, but the early-going was marred by a three-car accident involving a flipping Chris Windom with Carson Short and Jordan Kinser also involved. All were okay, but only Short restarted.

On the restart, Thomas went to the rail, riding the outside line to move into the top-three on lap six underneath Justin Grant. Up front, outside front row starter McDougal was working on race leader Jarett Andretti, pulling even on the outside before clearing Andretti off turn four to grab the race lead. Thomas followed suit and worked inside past Andretti for second on the bottom of turn one.

After working his way to third by lap 11, Brady Bacon encountered trouble as he slid to a stop on the back straightaway with a little bit of flame being thrown from the car. Though he'd restart from the tail, he worked his way back to a seventh-place finish by race end.

McDougal led Thomas into turn one but left the bottom open for Thomas. Thomas took hold of the advantage and cruised underneath McDougal exiting turn two with the lead. Following an incident in which early race leader Jarett Andretti slid to a stop on the front straightaway, the man on the move was Kyle Cummins.

The previous night's winner at Lincoln Park put his ride up top and methodically picked his way past Grant for third on lap 14, by McDougal for second on lap 15 and was literally on the edge for the lead on lap 16. Thomas moved up to protect up top at the exit of turn four. However, Cummins found a line even higher than Thomas and the two banged wheels at the stripe, with Cummins nipping the line mere inches ahead of Thomas. Thomas cut down into one and reclaimed the lead with a slider on Cummins, who ended up getting hung up on the turn four cushion, losing second to McDougal.

"From the start of the race, we were pretty decent on the bottom," Thomas explained. "I tightened myself up with the shocks. I think it was the wrong move for going down there. When I finally got to the lead, my pace was slowing down and I heard a guy up around the top, so I tried to move to the top, and I'm pretty sure it was Kyle Cummins. I didn't think anybody could get any higher, then he tried going around me down the front stretch and we made a little contact. I didn't know anybody could even go up there without running off the track."

With seven laps remaining, second-running McDougal and third-running Cummins began to hunt down Thomas once again. McDougal pulled even to the inside of Thomas between turns one and two on lap 23, but on the 24th circuit, McDougal kept the momentum rolling on the bottom off turn two, edging ahead of Thomas in turn three, then letting his car float to the top, pushing Thomas wide to secure the top spot before pulling ahead by five car lengths into turn one with just five laps to go and a bit of traffic now on the horizon.

With four to go, Thomas began to inch closer to McDougal on the top as McDougal closed in rapidly on the lapped car of Brody Roa between turns three and four with the two nearly making nose-to-tail contact. McDougal was in a sort of no-man's land sliding through the middle, allowing Thomas to close within a car length at the line.

Thomas kept digging, pulling even with McDougal into turn one, and took the outside line into turn three, which nearly proved disastrous, hopping the rear wheels airborne. A rapidly closing Cummins tried to avoid ramming Thomas and spun himself into a 360 over the berm in turn three before coming to a rest.

Now it was down to a duel between just McDougal and Thomas, and only three laps remaining. Thomas knew he needed to turn up the wick, making adjustments and making plans on how he was going to tackle the task.

"I made a little bit more of a shock adjustment on that last restart," Thomas remembered. "I knew I couldn't go to the bottom because you're going to run second. It was either going to stick or I was going to drive right off the end of the track."

McDougal initially had a fine restart and was leading by four car lengths going into turn one on the final lap, but Thomas devoured the high line and ate up the interval in no time flat to take the lead, cut down to the bottom in front of McDougal in turn three, nailed his marks to a T, and drove to victory by 0.388 of a second over McDougal, Grant, ISW point leader C.J. Leary and a career-best fifth-place finish for Brandon Mattox.

For Thomas, it was his 26th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory, moving him ahead of past series champs Steve Butler and Jay Drake for 17th on the all-time list. Furthermore, his sixth Indiana Sprint Week win moved him ahead of Kevin Briscoe, Tony Elliott, Brady Short and Kevin Thomas (no relation) for sixth all-time.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

Thomas and his Hayward/Thomas Motorsports team have upped their performances over the past week, finishing in the top-five in each of their past four starts just after finishing outside the top-five in three of their previous four prior to that.

For Thomas, it was his 26th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory, moving him ahead of past series champs Steve Butler and Jay Drake for 17th on the all-time list. Furthermore, his sixth Indiana Sprint Week win moved him ahead of Kevin Briscoe, Tony Elliott, Brady Short and Kevin Thomas (no relation) for sixth all-time.

"I think the driver just finally showed up," Thomas said. "There's a few little things like
to make somebody comfortable and with everybody being new to the way I like to do things and how I drive, that's just the way it is. It's a learning curve. When everybody's this tough night-in, night-out, that's the way it goes. We haven't been terrible, we've been running top-five, but it just wasn't quite there, but now we're there."

Contingency award winners Friday night at Bloomington Speedway were Brady Bacon (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Justin Grant (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Brady Short (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Carson Short (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger & ProSource Hard Work Award), Brandon Mattox (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Lee Underwood (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer) and Josh Hodges (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 26, 2019 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 32nd NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week - Sheldon Kinser Memorial

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP ONE: 1. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-11.057; 2. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-11.289; 3. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-11.359; 4. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-11.465; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-11.489; 6. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-11.522; 7. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-11.579; 8. Dave Darland, 17c, Cunningham-11.670; 9. Terry Richards, 18m, Richards-11.713; 10. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-11.757; 11. Shane Cottle, 2E, Epperson-11.795; 12. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-11.860; 13. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-11.902; 14. Lee Underwood, 24L, Underwood-11.993; 15. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio-12.019; 16. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-12.041; 17. Dickie Gaines, 44, Soudrette-12.165; 18. Landon Simon, 04, Burton-12.247; 19. Josh Cunningham, 3JC, Cunningham-12.334; 20. Eric Perrott, 45, Perrott-12.743; 21. Bobby Griffitts, 9, Griffitts-12.975.

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP TWO: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-11.207; 2. A.J. Hopkins, 4J, 4J-11.493; 3. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-11.495; 4. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-11.500; 5. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-11.555; 6. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-11.667; 7. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-11.683; 8. Carson Short, 21, RCM-11.687; 9. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-11.701; 10. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-11.716; 11. Brady Short, 11p, Short/Pottorff-11.757; 12. Jordan Kinser, 70, Hurst-11.759; 13. Thomas Meseraull, 00, Whitney-11.843; 14. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-11.846; 15. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-11.946; 16. Brayden Fox, 53, Fox-11.947; 17. Trey Gropp, 54, Gropp-12.018; 18. Scotty Weir, 42, Cheney-12.422; 19. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-12.427; 20. Brad Greenup, 4G, Greenup-12.589.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Shane Cottle, 5. Brody Roa, 6. Jadon Rogers, 7. Dickie Gaines, 8. Terry Richards, 9. Anthony D'Alessio, 10. Bobby Griffitts. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Max Adams, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Jarett Andretti, 5. Landon Simon, 6. Stephen Schnapf, 7. Sterling Cling, 8. Eric Perrott, 9. Lee Underwood, 10. Dustin Christie. NT

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Brady Short, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 4. Jason McDougal, 5. Josh Hodges, 6. Tyler Courtney, 7. Mario Clouser, 8. Thomas Meseraull, 9. Trey Gropp, 10. Brian VanMeveren. 2:06.68

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Carson Short, 2. Jordan Kinser, 3. Isaac Chapple, 4. Kyle Cummins, 5. Brandon Mattox, 6. A.J. Hopkins, 7. Scotty Weir, 8. Tony DiMattia, 9. Brad Greenup, 10. Brayden Fox. 2:10.67

C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Trey Gropp, 2. Landon Simon, 3. Brayden Fox, 4. Dickie Gaines, 5. Scotty Weir, 6. Brad Greenup, 7. Brian VanMeveren, 8. Eric Perrott, 9. Bobby Griffitts. 2:11.93

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. A.J. Hopkins, 2. Brandon Mattox, 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5. Josh Hodges, 6. Brody Roa, 7. Lee Underwood, 8. Dickie Gaines, 9. Jadon Rogers, 10. Terry Richards, 11. Trey Gropp, 12. Landon Simon, 13. Sterling Cling, 14. Mario Clouser, 15. Brayden Fox, 16. Anthony D'Alessio, 17. Tony DiMattia, 18. Stephen Schnapf. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5), 2. Jason McDougal (2), 3. Justin Grant (3), 4. C.J. Leary (4), 5. Brandon Mattox (11), 6. Chase Stockon (9), 7. Brady Bacon (6), 8. Dave Darland (13), 9. Tyler Courtney (22), 10. Thomas Meseraull (20), 11. A.J. Hopkins (7), 12. Isaac Chapple (21), 13. Josh Hodges (12), 14. Carson Short (14), 15. Brady Short (17), 16. Kyle Cummins (8), 17. Shane Cottle (16), 18. Max Adams (10), 19. Brody Roa (19), 20. Jarett Andretti (1), 21. Chris Windom (15), 22. Jordan Kinser (18). NT
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**Dustin Christie flipped through the turn one fence during the second heat. Sterling Cling flipped at the start of the semi. Chris Windom flipped on lap 2 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Jarett Andretti, Laps 7-11 Jason McDougal, Laps 12-15 Kevin Thomas, Jr., Lap 16 Kyle Cummins, Laps 17-24 Kevin Thomas, Jr., Laps 25-29 Jason McDougal, Lap 30 Kevin Thomas, Jr.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Tyler Courtney (22nd to 9th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Josh Hodges

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Lee Underwood

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Brandon Mattox

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Tyler Courtney

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-1,466, 2-Brady Bacon-1,332, 3-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,322, 4-Tyler Courtney-1,315, 5-Chris Windom-1,306, 6-Chase Stockon-1,244, 7-Justin Grant-1,240, 8-Carson Short-1,118, 9-Jason McDougal-1,088, 10-Isaac Chapple-846.

NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK INDIANA SPRINT WEEK POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-511, 2-Brady Bacon-487, 3-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-469, 4-Justin Grant-463, 5-Chris Windom-432, 6-Tyler Courtney-417, 7-Kyle Cummins-389, 8-Carson Short-382, 9-Jason McDougal-371, 10-Chase Stockon-365.

NEW PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-35, 2-Shane Cottle-30, 3-Dave Darland-21, 4-Justin Grant-18, 5-Max Adams-17, 6-Chris Windom-14, 7-Brady Bacon-14, 8-Brandon Mattox-13, 9-Isaac Chapple-13, 10-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-12.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 27, 2019 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - 32nd NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Kyle Cummins on the curb Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway where he'd win his third career NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week feature.
(David Nearpass Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Putnamville, Indiana (July 25, 2019).........On a night when the lights went out around Lincoln Park Speedway, Kyle Cummins was "lights out" in his NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week round six performance Thursday at the 5/16-mile dirt oval in Putnamville, Ind.

Kyle Cummins led from start to finish, wiring all 30 laps from the pole to win his third career Indiana Sprint Week feature and fourth in the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car division, returning to victory lane following a two-year hiatus.

The veteran racer from Princeton, Ind. has a slew of meaningful victories in his career. His first USAC victory at Kokomo in 2016 was a long-awaited breakthrough while his 2017 triumph came in dramatic fashion on a last lap, last corner pass for the win at Tri-State Speedway.

Thursday night's performance didn't include quite the same drama that came with the other two on the final laps, yet he freely admits that winning at Lincoln Park is bigger than each of those two, signaling just how far he'd come after a tough 2018 season.

"Kokomo was tough, and Haubstadt was a last lap kind of thing," Cummins recalled. "I feel like running here, it's a lot more technical. You can't just throw it in there and get grip. You've got to hit your lines and, if you miss your lines, it can really set you back. Winning here, I feel, is definitely bigger than the other ones I've won before. Kokomo was cool because it was the first one and Haubstadt was good, but this one...we kind of had a year there where we just weren't up there. This year, we got a new car and everywhere we've gone, this thing has been really good."

The evening got off to a peculiar start as, prior to the main event, a transformer blew, knocking out power to several lights around the racetrack. After a delay, the track was lit, and Cummins led the field to the green, wheelstanding his way into turn one with outside front row starter and ISW point leader C.J. Leary to his right on the topside.

Cummins was committed to the lowest of lines even, at moments, kicking up infield dirt as he scratched the surface with his front wheels through the corners.

By lap four, the most competitive battle on the racetrack was for second. Brady Bacon dug his way on the bottom underneath Leary lap-after-lap on both ends of the speedway. Leary utilized a unique line, backing into the turn one curb and cutting a straight, 45-degree angle line toward turn two, keeping Bacon from being able to slide him and allowing himself to carry maximum momentum and drive the shortest distance between two points from turn one to two.

On the 13th lap, Bacon was close enough to push Leary up a tad between turns one and two. Leary lost the momentum and Bacon gained the position of second with Cummins in front of him by six car lengths. One lap later, Isaac Chapple walked away uninjured after flipping atop the cushion between turns three and four while running 22nd.

For Cummins, it was all about repetition from that point onward, getting in a groove and hitting the same exact spot lap-after-lap. But, sometimes, even the slightest change can alter those plans.

"I was slowly moving the shocks, nothing crazy, on the restart there," Cummins remembered. "I probably untied the shock a little bit too much and got a big ol' wheelie. When you bounce the front end, you miss your lines, so I just had to be patient and calm and hit my marks."

Meanwhile, behind Cummins, Leary was able to slip back by under Bacon on the lap 14 restart, momentarily, but Bacon briskly worked his way back around for the spot in three and four while Cummins snapped away to a five-car-length advantage where he would remain for most of the final stretch.

With six laps to go, Bacon was on a scavenger hunt for the raciest line to reel in Cummins. Bacon searched high in turns three and four on lap 24, and the bottom of one, two, three and four on the ensuing trip as the front two encountered lapped traffic.

Kyle Cummins fourth career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway was also his third career NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week feature win.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)

With Brian VanMeveren low and Jadon Rogers high, Cummins stuck to his guns, never wavered from the bottom and followed VanMeveren before clearing him entering turn three with four to go. Cummins gained some emancipation from Bacon as he dealt with traffic while Cummins frolicked freely from Bacon for the final two laps, scoring the victory by 0.940 sec. over Bacon, Leary, Tyler Courtney and Kevin Thomas, Jr.

Cummins was near perfection on the bottom line although he admits there were times when he thought he might've cost himself. With a past two-time champ in Bacon and the current championship leader in Leary on his trail, you can't be much less than perfect if you're expecting to win an Indiana Sprint Week feature.

"I felt like they were right on me the whole time," Cummins explained. "When they said Brady was there, I know he's good around the bottom. A couple times, I thought I missed the bottom, so I decided I was going to make them have to pass me around the top. If I get tight, I'd just make sure to stay on the bottom. The car was actually fairly loose, which let me kind of get in there and not get tight."

Contingency award winners Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway were Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Max Adams (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), A.J. Hopkins (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Shane Cottle (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger & ProSource Hard Work Award), Thomas Meseraull (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Isaac Chapple (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer) & Jason McDougal (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 25, 2019 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 32nd NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP ONE: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-12.558; 2. Jordan Kinser, 70, Hurst-12.570; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-12.712; 4. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-12.774; 5. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-12.872; 6. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.885; 7. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.911; 8. A.J. Hopkins, 4J, 4J-12.919; 9. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-12.948; 10. Nate McMillin, 24m, McMillin-13.021; 11. Brayden Fox, 53, Fox-13.027; 12. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-13.030; 13. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-13.059; 14. Joe Stornetta, 04, Burton-13.082; 15. Dickie Gaines, 44, Soudrette-13.117; 16. Shane Cottle, 2E, Epperson-13.182; 17. Dustin Smith, 77, Smith-13.200; 18. Terry Richards, 18m, Richards-13.299; 19. Scotty Weir, 42, Cheney-13.339; 20. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.523.

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP TWO: 1. Carson Short, 21, RCM-12.662; 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-12.749; 3. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-12.782; 4. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-12.813; 5. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-12.878; 6. Thomas Meseraull, 00, Whitney-12.913; 7. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-13.068; 8. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-13.085; 9. Dave Darland, 17c, Cunningham-13.089; 10. Travis Berryhill, 77s, Sturgeon-13.114; 11. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-13.136; 12. Colten Cottle, 5c, Cottle-13.277; 13. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.311; 14. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-13.313; 15. Brady Short, 11p, Short/Pottorff-13.413; 16. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-13.474; 17. Alec Sipes, 99, Sipes-13.494; 18. Jesse Vermillion, 5, Vermillion-13.549; 19. Harley Burns, 12w, Burns-13.847; 20. Eric Perrott, 45, Perrott-14.102.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Max Adams, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Josh Hodges, 5. Brayden Fox, 6. Jason McDougal, 7. Scotty Weir, 8. Dustin Smith, 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 10. Dickie Gaines. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. A.J. Hopkins, 2. Jadon Rogers, 3. Jordan Kinser, 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Mario Clouser, 6. Nate McMillin, 7. Joe Stornetta, 8. Shane Cottle, 9. Brody Roa, 10. Terry Richards. 2:11.02

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Carson Short, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Brady Short, 5. Brent Beauchamp, 6. Isaac Chapple, 7. Alec Sipes, 8. Brian VanMeveren, 9. Brandon Mattox, 10. Harley Burns. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Kyle Cummins, 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5. Travis Berryhill, 6. Colten Cottle, 7. Dakota Jackson, 8. Dustin Christie, 9. Jesse Vermillion, 10. Eric Perrott. NT

C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Alec Sipes, 3. Dustin Smith, 4. Terry Richards, 5. Scotty Weir, 6. Jesse Vermillion, 7. Harley Burns, 8. Eric Perrott, 9. Dakota Jackson. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 2. Brandon Mattox, 3. Mario Clouser, 4. Jason McDougal, 5. Shane Cottle, 6. Brian VanMeveren, 7. Isaac Chapple, 8. Nate McMillin, 9. Joe Stornetta, 10. Brayden Fox, 11. Terry Richards, 12. Dustin Christie, 13. Alec Sipes, 14. Dustin Smith, 15. Travis Berryhill, 16. Brent Beauchamp, 17. Colten Cottle. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kyle Cummins (1), 2. Brady Bacon (3), 3. C.J. Leary (2), 4. Tyler Courtney (4), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (7), 6. Carson Short (6), 7. Brandon Mattox (10), 8. Justin Grant (9), 9. Shane Cottle (22), 10. Chris Windom (16), 11. Mario Clouser (8), 12. Brady Short (21), 13. Jason McDougal (20), 14. Chase Stockon (11), 15. Thomas Meseraull (12), 16. Josh Hodges (13), 17. Max Adams (17), 18. A.J. Hopkins (15), 19. Dave Darland (18), 20. Brian VanMeveren (14), 21. Jadon Rogers (19), 22. Jordan Kinser (5), 23. Isaac Chapple (23), 24. Dustin Christie (24). NT
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**Travis Berryhill flipped during the semi. Isaac Chapple flipped on lap 14 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Kyle Cummins

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Shane Cottle (22nd to 9th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Jason McDougal

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Isaac Chapple

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Thomas Meseraull

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Shane Cottle

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-1,393, 2-Chris Windom-1,276, 3-Brady Bacon-1,268, 4-Tyler Courtney-1,267, 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,241, 6-Chase Stockon-1,181, 7-Justin Grant-1,165, 8-Carson Short-1,075, 9-Jason McDougal-1,016, 10-Isaac Chapple-801.

NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK INDIANA SPRINT WEEK POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-438, 2-Brady Bacon-423, 3-Chris Windom-402, 4-Justin Grant-388, 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-388, 6-Tyler Courtney-369, 7-Kyle Cummins-353, 8-Carson Short-339, 9-Chase Stockon-302, 10-Jason McDougal-299.

NEW PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Shane Cottle-30, 2-Tyler Courtney-22, 3-Justin Grant-18, 4-Max Adams-17, 5-Dave Darland-16, 6-Chris Windom-14, 7-Brady Bacon-14, 8-Kyle Cummins-12, 9-Jarett Andretti-12, 10-C.J. Leary-11.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 26, 2019 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 32nd NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week / Sheldon Kinser Memorial

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Tyler Courtney celebrates Wednesday's NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week victory at the Terre Haute Action Track.
(Chad Warner Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Terre Haute, Indiana (July 24, 2019).........Tyler Courtney's roller coaster ride of a week can just about be summed up by his eventful 30-lap adventure during Wednesday's NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week round five at the Terre Haute Action Track.

During his pursuit of race leader Justin Grant on a restart with 14 laps remaining, Courtney drove around the outside of Grant and held a slight advantage heading into turn three. Grant fought back on the inside where the two banged wheels, popping Courtney airborne at the exit of turn four.

Amazingly enough, Courtney lost very little ground once he landed on all fours. With no time to waste, Courtney got back on the gas and went for broke on the bottom a straightaway later in turn one, biking the car and showing the belly pan to the crowd before coming back down to earth, somehow, someway, avoiding the outside concrete wall as he blasted it with dirt-filled rooster tails. All this without losing a single spot.

Two near calamities that could've taken its toll on Courtney were quickly rebounded from. And there he was once again in a position to win eight laps from the end, lining Grant up in his crosshairs off turn four and sliding past in turn one with mere inches to spare from his rear bumper to Grant's nose.

From there, Courtney spurted away for a near full straightaway victory, becoming the first driver in USAC National competition this year to collect the Saldana Racing Products "Clean Sweep" with fast qualifying time, a heat race win and a feature victory all in one night. It's another peak in a week for the Indianapolis, Ind. native that's had its share of valleys.

Exactly one week earlier, Courtney began a stretch of nine USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car races in an 11-day span with a win at Eldora, followed by being collected in a crash that resulted in a DNF and a 23rd place finish in the ISW opener at Gas City. The night after that, he was back in victory lane at Plymouth. Saturday at Kokomo was a mid-pack ninth place finish followed up with a crash at Lawrenceburg that the team managed to return to and carve out a 10th place finish.

Courtney takes it all in stride as part of the travails, trials and tribulations of auto racing. To keep it together over a stretch of the season, or throughout a single 30-lap race, isn't an easy thing to accomplish, especially when you're involved in two near-catastrophic events that could've served as yet another deep valley to climb out of. Instead, it resulted in him becoming the first two-time winner of ISW in 2019.

"That's racing, with the highs and lows," Courtney deadpanned. "Although, we might be tied in highs and lows with our week now. It's a good rebound from the kind of lackluster second part of last week that we had. We know we're good at tracks like this, so we've got to take advantage of it."

Courtney started sixth and was in third by the end of lap one. Pole sitter Chris Windom led the opening lap on the bottom, but Lawrenceburg ISW winner Grant was on the pursuit and snagged the lead from Windom on the back straightaway on the second lap.

Following a yellow for the stopped car of Tom Harris, on the lap three restart, Courtney got underneath Windom in turn and was shot out of a cannon down the back straight into the second position behind Grant. Grant occupied the middle line as the cushion gradually began to push wider where he maintained a three-quarters of a second lead for much of the of the first half of the 30-lapper until reaching lapped traffic just before the halfway point.

Courtney was able to pull even with Grant on the back straight, but Grant was able to maintain, splitting between the lapped cars of Nate McMillin and Dustin Christie in turn three on lap 15 with Courtney just behind. On the 16th lap, Courtney showed a nose to the outside of Grant midway down the back straightaway. As Grant weaved his way through the forest of machinery, he and Courtney nearly made contact.

A lap later, and still trailing by just a few car lengths, Courtney nearly found trouble in turn one, making slight contact with the slowing car of Isaac Chapple, costing him valuable time and track position. He regained it all less than a lap later as leading series Rookie Brian VanMeveren stopped at the exit of turn four to bring out the caution.

Once reracked, that's where it initially looked like Courtney had made the deciding move, taking command and driving around Grant in turn two. Grant fought back heading into turn three where the two made contact. Courtney became airborne at the exit of turn four, but both continued on. Courtney remained right within striking distance and set up for a slider into one, but, instead, just about dumped it, somehow avoiding the mishap and wall contact to race onward.

"You want to win these races as badly as he does," Courtney explained. "But you don't want to do anything dumb at the same time. Unfortunately, I almost did something dumb and about cost myself the whole race."

Moments later, May Terre Haute winner and sixth-running Chase Stockon slowed on the back straightaway. Courtney used the opportunity to take a breath and regroup. Initially, Grant commanded the restart while Windom jumped back in to challenge Courtney for second until eighth-place Jason McDougal slowed on the backstretch to bring out the night's final caution.

Tyler Courtney's fifth Indiana Sprint Week win was also the third career series win for him at Terre Haute. It was also his 22nd career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win which moved him past 1967 series champ Greg Weld and into a tie for 25th place all-time alongside Rick Hood, Bubby Jones and Sammy Sessions.
(David Nearpass Photo)

Once racing resumed, Courtney was back in the zone, and stayed right with Grant until making the winning move on the 23rd lap with a slide job into turn one. Grant tried a slider of his own on the opposite end in turn three but came up just short. In turn one on lap 24, Grant saw his bid for a win come to a close as he biked himself in turn one, which expanded the gap between the two from three-tenths of a second to near 1.3 sec. in a mere moment's notice.

"I knew I had been a lot better off of four than he was," Courtney realized. "So, I made sure I got it good that lap. I knew I couldn't go too low down in turn one or I'd end up biking again, so I tried to make sure I got a good enough run to where I could get close to him and try to clear him by the middle of the corner and get to the top where I needed to be. Once I got to the lead, I made sure to run as hard as I could to get away from all that."

By race's end, Courtney had bumped the advantage to 4.093 seconds, winning by that margin over Grant, Kevin Thomas, Jr., ProSource/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Brady Bacon (from 14th) and Chris Windom rounding out the top-five.

Courtney's third career series win at Terre Haute was also his 22nd career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win which moved him past 1967 series champ Greg Weld and into a tie for 25th place all-time alongside Rick Hood, Bubby Jones and Sammy Sessions.

Contingency award winners Wednesday night at the Terre Haute Action Track were Tyler Courtney (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tyler Courtney (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Dakota Jackson (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier & Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer), Dustin Smith (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Nate McMillin (ProSource Hard Work Award).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 24, 2019 - Terre Haute Action Track - Terre Haute, Indiana - 32nd NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week / Dorsett Automotive Don Smith Classic

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-20.329; 2. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-20.342; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-20.462; 4. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-20.872; 5. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-21.133; 6. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-21.312; 7. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-21.315; 8. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-21.324; 9. Tom Harris, 84, Harris-21.435; 10. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-21.463; 11. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-21.550; 12. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-21.605; 13. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-21.762; 14. Carson Short, 21, RCM-21.804; 15. Terry Richards, 18m, Richards-21.806; 16. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-21.942; 17. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-21.945; 18. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-21.966; 19. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-22.019; 20. Dave Darland, 36D, Darland-22.061; 21. Dustin Smith, 77s, Smith-22.130; 22. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-22.191; 23. Scotty Weir, 42, Cheney-22.223; 24. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-22.278; 25. Nate McMillin, 24m, McMillin-22.337; 26. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-22.557; 27. Dickie Gaines, 44, Soudrette-22.793; 28. Harley Burns, 12, Burns-22.797; 29. Steve Thomas, 20T, Thomas-22.850; 30. Chayse Hayhurst, 20, Hayhurst-23.263; 31. Kyle Hathaway, 7H, Hathaway-23.863; 32. Eric Perrott, 45, Perrott-23.924.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Brandon Mattox, 4. Tom Harris, 5. Dakota Jackson, 6. Dustin Smith, 7. Nate McMillin, 8. Steve Thomas. 2:48.83

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Carson Short, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Max Adams, 5. Jason McDougal, 6. Jarett Andretti, 7. Chayse Hayhurst. 2:49.21

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 2. Brody Roa, 3. Josh Hodges, 4. Brian VanMeveren, 5. Scotty Weir, 6. Dickie Gaines, 7. Terry Richards. 2:54.46

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Isaac Chapple, 5. Dustin Christie, 6. Eric Perrott, 7. Harley Burns. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Jason McDougal, 2. Scotty Weir, 3. Nate McMillin, 4. Dustin Christie, 5. Dustin Smith, 6. Terry Richards, 7. Dakota Jackson, 8. Dickie Gaines, 9. Chayse Hayhurst, 10. Steve Thomas, 11. Eric Perrott, 12. Jarett Andretti, 13. Harley Burns. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (6), 2. Justin Grant (2), 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 4. Brady Bacon (14), 5. Chris Windom (1), 6. C.J. Leary (5), 7. Carson Short (12), 8. Max Adams (16), 9. Chase Stockon (8), 10. Kyle Cummins (3), 11. Josh Hodges (10), 12. Isaac Chapple (11), 13. Dustin Smith (18), 14. Scotty Weir (20), 15. Brandon Mattox (15), 16. Brian VanMeveren (7), 17. Brody Roa (17), 18. Nate McMillin (22), 19. Dustin Christie (21), 20. Jason McDougal (19), 21. Terry Richards (13), 22. Tom Harris (9). NT

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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Chris Windom, Laps 2-22 Justin Grant, Laps 23-30 Tyler Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (14th to 4th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dustin Smith

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Dakota Jackson

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Dakota Jackson

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Nate McMillin

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS CLEAN SWEEP: Tyler Courtney

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-1,321, 2-Chris Windom-1,226, 3-Tyler Courtney-1,196, 4-Brady Bacon-1,191, 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,173, 6-Chase Stockon-1,141, 7-Justin Grant-1,110, 8-Carson Short-1,009, 9-Jason McDougal-978, 10-Isaac Chapple-778.

NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK INDIANA SPRINT WEEK POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-366, 2-Chris Windom-352, 3-Brady Bacon-346, 4-Justin Grant-333, 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-320, 6-Tyler Courtney-298, 7-Kyle Cummins-277, 8-Carson Short-273, 9-Chase Stockon-262, 10-Jason McDougal-261.

NEW PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-22, 2-Justin Grant-17, 3-Shane Cottle-17, 4-Max Adams-17, 5-Dave Darland-16, 6-Brady Bacon-13, 7-Kyle Cummins-12, 8-Jarett Andretti-12, 9-C.J. Leary-11, 10-Dakota Jackson-11.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 25, 2019 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 32nd NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week