Archive for USAC
Boat Finds the Path to First Victory of 2019
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Eventual winner #84 Chad Boat battles #39BC Zeb Wise for the lead Thursday in round three of Pennsylvania Midget Week at Path Valley Speedway Park.
(Chad Warner Photo)
BOAT FINDS THE PATH TO FIRST VICTORY OF THE SEASON
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Spring Run, Pennsylvania (August 1, 2019).........Chad Boat may have been Arizonian-born and bred, but his Pennsylvania Midget prowess of late has made the Keystone State sort of another adopted state when the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship arrives in the late summer.
Thursday night at Path Valley Speedway Park, Boat, who now actually resides in Mooresville, North Carolina, endured a lap-after-lap attack from Zeb Wise for much of the middle of the 30-lapper to win his first of the year. In fact, it was his first victory with the series since the Pennsylvania Midget Week finale almost exactly one year earlier following an up-and-down first half of 2019.
"It definitely feels good," Boat exclaimed. "We've kind of been just mediocre since the end of Indiana Midget Week. We ended that week strong with a third, a second, and we're knocking on the door. Then we went to Joliet and were decent but blew a tire. We ran fifth the first night out here and had a good run going last night, but it feels good to close one out. When you put yourself in a position to win races, you'll eventually win them."
The victory was Boat's second-straight at the quarter-mile dirt oval dating back to his last visit in 2017. His all-time leading fourth career Pennsylvania Midget Week triumph elevated him past Mel Kenyon as the winningest USAC National Midget driver in the state of Pennsylvania.
The victory was extra special due to the fact that Chad equaled his father, Billy, on the all-time USAC NOS Energy Drink feature win list with nine. It's an impressive accomplishment no matter which way you slice it, but Chad is quick to give credit to pops, a three-time "Turkey Night Grand Prix" Midget winner and Indianapolis 500 pole winner.
"He's got a lot more west coast wins than I do and a lot more overall," Chad said. "To have nine national wins, there's not a lot of people who have that many, and we're still going."
Boat began the feature from the third position, but immediately married himself to the bottom and drove by both pole sitter Tanner Thorson and outside front row starter Chris Windom, with Boat emerging from a three-wide tussle off turn two with the lead.
Boat was the lone occupant in the top-four utilizing the bottom. Second-running Thorson tried to follow suit in turns three and four, but previous night's Kutztown winner Zeb Wise ripped the top around Thorson to gain second as Boat stood tall 1.3 seconds ahead of the fray.
"I really wasn't sure if the bottom was going to be that good when we rolled out there," Boat admitted. "The top didn't look great; it was kind of dusty, but in one and two, there was a little bit of a lip to run on. I was pretty tight and thought I could run anywhere, then I got a good start and got by those guys on the first lap."
By lap ten, Boat cut through lapped traffic to build his advantage to over two seconds before the yellow fell for the stopped car of Bobby Butler in turn four, forcing a restart with 16 to go and the path now clear of traffic.
On the restart, Boat retook his chosen place on the bottom as Wise jumped back up top, resuming an early mid-race battle from the previous night when Wise took the lead from Boat in the same time frame, just before halfway. Tonight, Boat aimed to mold that narrative in his favor, although Wise pasted himself right to Boat about a car length behind and a car width to the right.
Wise kept after it, gaining closer and closer with a sweet run against the rail through turns three and four to nip Boat at the line by a sliver of chrome. The two remained wheel-to-wheel throughout the duration of the following three laps with Boat on the bottom and Wise up top, Wise eke-ing out the lead at the line again on the 18th lap.
The victory was Boat's second-straight at Path Valley. His fourth career Pennsylvania triumph elevated him past Mel Kenyon as the winningest USAC National Midget driver in the state. He also tied his father, Billy, as a nine-time winner with the series. (Michael Fry Photo)
Boat proved the low line still had everything he desired, returning to the lead with authority to beat Wise by inches at the line on lap 19. However, Wise was game, and surged back to the front on lap 20 by the narrowest of margins at the stripe. Boat got a run on the bottom going again between turns one and two as Wise bobbled atop the cushion, losing valuable real estate to Boat. Just behind, though, in fifth, Kyle Larson biked at the top of one before coming a to a rest. His car was towed back to the work area where repairs were made, and he returned for a 13th place finish.
The yellow reverted Wise to the head of the pack in front of Boat for the lap 21 restart. Rinse and repeat as the two stayed in their lanes and waged war once again. On the 23rd lap, Boat moved back ahead for good, beating Wise to the line by a car length.
Two laps later, 14th running Karsyn Elledge tipped over on the bottom of turn two, an incident which also collected both Larson and Steven Drevicki. That left one final restart for Boat to fend off Wise.
Boat trekked back to the bottom as Wise went to the top, bouncing off the curb, thus allowing both Windom and Thorson by on the bottom. The front of the field followed Boat on the bottom as he built a one second advantage over second in the final laps to carry onward to a victory by 1.079 sec. over Windom, Tyler Courtney, Thorson and Logan Seavey.
Contingency award winners Thursday night at Path Valley Speedway Park were Zeb Wise (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Logan Seavey (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tanner Carrick (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Jerry Coons, Jr. (AutoMeter/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Timmy Buckwalter (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Kyle Larson (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 1, 2019 - Path Valley Speedway Park - Spring Run, Pennsylvania - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval - Pennsylvania Midget Week
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.057 (New Track Record); 2. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.080; 3. Kyle Larson, 24, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.115; 4. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-11.124; 5. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.150; 6. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.217; 7. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.239; 8. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.256; 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-11.277; 10. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.286; 11. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.318; 12. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-11.341; 13. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-11.352; 14. Jason McDougal, 76m, FMR-11.548; 15. Ryan Greth, 4, Mullet-11.572; 16. Timmy Buckwalter, 29B, Seymour-11.670; 17. Steven Drevicki, 12, Heckman-11.743; 18. Bobby Butler, 5B, Myers-11.981; 19. Shawn Jackson, 7J, Jackson-12.003; 20. Kevin Woody, Jr., 25B, Buckwalter-12.012; 21. Alex Yankowski, 0, Buckwalter-12.085; 22. Zach Curtis, 75, Curtis-12.212; 23. Steve Craig, 55, Craig-12.266; 24. Alex Bright, 29A, Seymour-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Tyler Courtney, 3. Zeb Wise, 4. Chad Boat, 5. Karsyn Elledge, 6. Timmy Buckwalter, 7. Shawn Jackson, 8. Zach Curtis. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Tanner Carrick, 2. Jason McDougal, 3. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Andrew Layser, 6. Steven Drevicki, 7. Kevin Woody, Jr., 8. Steve Craig. 1:57.93 (New Track Record)
AUTOMETER/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Jerry Coons, Jr., 2. Kyle Larson, 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5. Ryan Greth, 6. Alex Yankowski, 7. Bobby Butler. 1:58.52
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Chad Boat (3), 2. Chris Windom (2), 3. Tyler Courtney (7), 4. Tanner Thorson (1), 5. Logan Seavey (10), 6. Zeb Wise (6), 7. Jerry Coons, Jr. (9), 8. Tanner Carrick (8), 9. Timmy Buckwalter (16), 10. Andrew Layser (11), 11. Tucker Klaasmeyer (5), 12. Jason McDougal (14), 13. Kyle Larson (4), 14. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (12), 15. Alex Yankowski (21), 16. Steven Drevicki (17), 17. Kevin Woody, Jr. (20), 18. Steve Craig (23), 19. Zach Curtis (22), 20. Karsyn Elledge (13), 21. Ryan Greth (15), 22. Bobby Butler (18), 23. Shawn Jackson (19). NT
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**Karsyn Elledge flipped on lap 25 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-16 Chad Boat, Laps 17-18 Zeb Wise, Lap 19 Chad Boat, Laps 20-22 Zeb Wise, Laps 23-30 Chad Boat.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Timmy Buckwalter (16th to 9th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Kyle Larson
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-1,309, 2-Chris Windom-1,222, 3-Logan Seavey-1,162, 4-Zeb Wise-1,112, 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,089, 6-Chad Boat-1,057, 7-Tanner Carrick-974, 8-Jerry Coons, Jr.-972, 9-Tucker Klaasmeyer-901, 10-Jason McDougal-877.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: August 2, 2019 - Linda's Speedway - Jonestown, Pennsylvania - "Pennsylvania Midget Week" - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval
Different Direction for This Earnhardt Family Member ???
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Karsyn Elledge time trial lap USAC Midgets in Tuesday night's Pennsylvania Midget Week opener at Grandview Speedway.
(WOS Photo)
Karsyn Elledge daughter of Kelley Earnhardt Miller, granddaughter of Dale Earnhardt and niece of Dale Jr., has been running the USAC National Midget Series. The above photo was taken Tuesday July 30th at the Grandview Speedway during the USAC Midget race.
About 5 years ago she was racing winged Outlaw Karts and during an interview for Speed Sport Magazine she was asked what form of racing she would like to do, her answer was she would like to drive Sprint Cars but her mom wont let her .
On July 31st at the Kutztown , Pa Action Track USA she may have started up front in her heat and went on to win it in record time, but the other drivers in the heat were no slouches.
AUTOMETER/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Karsyn Elledge, 2. Jason McDougal, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Zeb Wise, 5. Chad Boat, 6. Steven Drevicki, 7. Alex Bright, 8. Alex Yankowski. 2:01.97 (New Track Record)
If she could learn to qualify better, she would start the features closer to the front. I hope she sticks to open wheel although the odds and family pressures of that are slim.
Wise Outduels Larson Down to the Wire at Kutztown
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
#39BC Zeb Wise beats #24 Kyle Larson to the line by a half car length to win Wednesday's Pennsylvania Midget Week feature at Action Track USA.
(Ty Garl Photo)
WISE OUTDUELS LARSON DOWN TO THE WIRE AT KUTZTOWN
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kutztown, Pennsylvania (July 31, 2019).........Zeb Wise is becoming accustomed to logging his most memorable USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget moments in the state of Pennsylvania.
After bagging his first career series win after a two-month layoff due to injury and becoming the youngest winner in series history to boot, last August at Lanco, Wise might've one-upped himself in his second act in Wednesday's series debut at Action Track USA for round two of Pennsylvania Midget Week.
In this one, the 16-year-old Angola, Ind. native looked the part of a savvy, seasoned veteran having to hold off a relentless attack from Kyle Larson lap-after-lap-after-lap, down to the final corner.
"I told (Kyle) I literally closed my eyes about halfway through it when we were side-by-side because I didn't know what was going to happen," Wise admitted. "As I drove it into three, I saw him on the bottom throwing a slider. I knew it was coming regardless. He just kept going and I got to the middle and I'm like, 'I'm going to win or we're going to junk a racecar here.' I just put my foot to the floor and prayed to God that he stayed down and left me an inch or two up top and he gave me just enough room."
An inch or two was all Wise needed to fend off the hard-charging Larson on the final corner, bouncing off the outside concrete to break free on the outside and beat Larson to the line by a half-car length at the finish line, 0.078 of a second to be exact, for his second career series win in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.
Wise started fourth but occupied the third position from the opening lap for the first nine laps as he watched outside front row starter Logan Seavey lead the first seven circuits, then polesitter Chad Boat take over up front on the eighth lap. Wise ripped his way to the second spot past Seavey on the tenth go-around.
On the 11th lap, Larson began his charge toward the front, clearing teammates Tanner Thorson and Seavey in turn three to move from fifth to third.
"Those guys got to sliding each other early and I was able to sneak by a couple on the bottom," Larson said. "People just kept committing coming off two, then they'd fall off the shelf and I was able to get by. I was hoping Zeb would do that eventually."
The following lap, Wise utilized the high line off turn four as leader Boat took the middle road down the front straight. Wise crossed over from the top of turn four to the bottom of turn one where he slid by for the race lead with 18 to go.
After riding by Boat at the midway point for the runner-up spot, Larson made gains on Wise as he rolled the bottom in turns one and two while taking the high road in turns three and four. As the laps ticked away around the tight 1/5-mile dirt oval, Larson inched closer to Wise just as traffic began to factor in.
As the white streak of Larson ducked underneath Wise time-after-time off turn two, Wise's attention was piqued, and he decided to put his fate into his own hands. With eight laps remaining, Wise switched lanes and locked up the bottom line in turns one and two.
With traffic occupying the bottom line on the following lap, Wise was forced back to the top of one and two. Larson tried the middle in one and two with three to go, pulling even with Wise at the exit of turn two as the lapped car of Karsyn Elledge clung to the bottom, briefly making it three-wide. Wise stuck to the top in three and four while Larson rode through the middle wheel-to-wheel through the exit of four.
Moments later, Boat spun to a stop in turn two while battling for fourth with Thorson, forcing a yellow flag and a restart with Wise leading and Larson right on his tail in second.
On the restart, Wise knew he had to throw a changeup in order to prevent Larson from continuing his continuous lurch toward him on the bottom of turns one and two, so he went with his intuition.
"Through lapped traffic, I was running the top in one and two and I could see Kyle on the bottom peeking," Wise recalled. "I felt like I held my speed through three and four really well, so I didn't want to change anything there. I made the decision to stick to the bottom in one and two and still run the top in three and four."
When racing resumed, Larson fired another slider toward Wise in turn three, only to pull even at the exit of four with Wise holding on. Wise shot to the bottom of one and two, but Larson decided not to follow, instead, moving up a lane to the middle which briefly allowed Wise to gain a car length on his lead.
Coming to the white flag, entering turn three, Larson successfully slid past the nose of Wise for the race lead. However, Wise was prepared, and immediately crossed over downhill off turn four to beat Larson to the line by a single car length.
Zeb Wise (Angola, Ind.) earned his second career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature win, both of which have come during Pennsylvania Midget Week.
(Dave Biro Photo)
On the final lap, Larson had Wise lined up to make one last final slider attempt on Wise. Larson slid his car in deep from the bottom of three to the top of four. Instead of crossing over, Wise kept his foot in it, with no room to spare on either side, bouncing his right rear tire off the outside wall, but keeping the car straight as they raced to the line with Wise emerging as the victor by less than a half a car length.
Previous night's Pennsylvania Midget Week opener winner at Grandview, Chris Windom, finished third after starting 12th to earn KSE Racing Products Hard Charger honors. Tanner Thorson was fourth ahead of series point leader Tyler Courtney to round out the top-five.
Larson came up just short in his bid for victory on what was his 27th birthday. The Elk Grove, Calif. native thought he had squeezed Wise just enough off the final corner to stifle his momentum toward the checkered, but it was not to be, instead taking second place for his third top-three finish in five series starts this season.
"On that restart, he did a good job changing his lane," a complimentary Larson said. "I thought he would stay running it all the way up there, but he shut it down and ran the bottom in one and two and I had to try to roll a lane up just do everything I could to try to throw something at him in three and four. (On the last lap) I left him about a quarter of a lane off of four and he somehow squeezed through it."
Contingency award winners Wednesday night at Action Track USA were Tyler Courtney (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Andrew Layser (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Karsyn Elledge (AutoMeter/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Chris Windom (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Tucker Klaasmeyer (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 31, 2019 - Action Track USA - Kutztown, Pennsylvania - 1/5-Mile Dirt Oval - Pennsylvania Midget Week
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.313 (New Track Record); 2. Kyle Larson, 24, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.357; 3. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.380; 4. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.381; 5. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.436; 6. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-11.481; 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-11.509; 8. Timmy Buckwalter, 29B, Seymour-11.545; 9. Jason McDougal, 76m, FMR-11.548; 10. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.576; 11. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-11.588; 12. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.601; 13. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-11.645; 14. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-11.669; 15. Steven Drevicki, 12, Heckman-11.751; 16. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-11.775; 17. Billy Pauch, Jr., 72, Heffner-11.783; 18. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-12.024; 19. Kameron Morral, 4, Mullet-12.031; 20. Bobby Butler, 5B, Myers-12.033; 21. Alex Yankowski, 0, Buckwalter-12.076; 22. Brett Conkling, 0NJ, Conkling-12.409; 23. Shawn Jackson, 7J, Jackson-NT; 24. Alex Bright, 29A, Seymour-(Time of 11.892 disallowed).
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 3. Tanner Thorson, 4. Tanner Carrick, 5. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 6. Kameron Morral, 7. Brett Conkling, 8. Ethan Mitchell. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Andrew Layser, 2. Timmy Buckwalter, 3. Logan Seavey, 4. Jerry Coons, Jr., 5. Kyle Larson, 6. Billy Pauch, Jr., 7. Bobby Butler, 8. Shawn Jackson. NT
AUTOMETER/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Karsyn Elledge, 2. Jason McDougal, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Zeb Wise, 5. Chad Boat, 6. Steven Drevicki, 7. Alex Bright, 8. Alex Yankowski. 2:01.97 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Zeb Wise (4), 2. Kyle Larson (5), 3. Chris Windom (12), 4. Tanner Thorson (3), 5. Tyler Courtney (6), 6. Logan Seavey (2), 7. Andrew Layser (14), 8. Jason McDougal (9), 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (7), 10. Jerry Coons, Jr. (11), 11. Tanner Carrick (10), 12. Billy Pauch, Jr. (17), 13. Tucker Klaasmeyer (16), 14. Chad Boat (1), 15. Steven Drevicki (15), 16. Karsyn Elledge (18), 17. Alex Yankowski (21), 18. Bobby Butler (20), 19. Brett Conkling (22), 20. Timmy Buckwalter (8), 21. Alex Bright (24), 22. Ethan Mitchell (13), 23. Kameron Morral (19), 24. Shawn Jackson (23). NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Logan Seavey, Laps 8-12 Chad Boat, Laps 13-30 Zeb Wise.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Chris Windom (12th to 3rd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Tucker Klaasmeyer
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-1,238, 2-Chris Windom-1,148, 3-Logan Seavey-1,096, 4-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-1,049, 5-Zeb Wise-1,045, 6-Chad Boat-979, 7-Tanner Carrick-917, 8-Jerry Coons, Jr.-912, 9-Tucker Klaasmeyer-849, 10-Jason McDougal-831.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: August 1, 2019 - Path Valley Speedway Park - Spring Run, Pennsylvania - "Pennsylvania Midget Week" - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval
Thunder on the Hill Results
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Thunder on the Hill
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JULY 30, 2019
CONTACT: BOB MILLER 443 513 4456
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES
CHRIS WINDOM SHINES AT KEN BRENN USAC MIDGET MASTERS; JEFF STRUNK GRABS GRANDVIEW CAREER WIN NUMBER 200, 14TH THUNDER VICTORY
BECHTELSVILLE, PA (July 30, 2019) – It was a thrilling night of racing Tuesday night at Grandview Speedway for the return of the USAC Midgets – teamed up with the NASCAR 358 Modifeds -- as part of the NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series. The Ken Brenn USAC Midget Masters event was won by Chris Windom, while Jeff Strunk picked up his second consecutive Thunder Modified win and fourteenth career Thunder victory.
The 30 lap victory marked Windom’s second career midget win, battling it out with teammate Tyler Courtney in the late stages of the event.
“I hated to see all those late race restarts,” Windom said in victory lane. “For us (he and Courtney) to finish first and second the first night into Pennsylvania Midget Week is pretty cool.”
Windom inherited the top starting position from Zeb Wise, who moved to a back-up car and was forced to the rear of the field.
At the drop of the green flag, Windom muscled to the front holding off Kevin Thomas Jr. for the initial five circuits around the one-third mile Bechtelsville raceway. With a battle building behind the top competitors, Courtney moved into the third position followed by Jason McDougal, and Kyle Larson.
The top five charged around nose-to-tail swapping race grooves and weaving in and out of lapped traffic, while Windom maintained the top spot.
The red flag flew on lap 23 for Steve Buckwalter, who rolled over after contact with a spinning Zeb Wise.
Courtney moved to second with five laps remaining as Tanner Carrick and Kyle Larson both battled past Kevin Thomas, Jr. With four competitors dicing it out for second position, Windom was able to pull away to a ten-car advantage.
A lap 28 caution slowed the field for the final time, and set up a two-lap dash to the checkered flag.
Windom held the point as the green flag waved, with teammate Tyler Courtney right on his rear bumper.
As the two approached for the white flag, Courtney shot to the bottom of the race track charging inside Windom securing the lead heading into turn 1. But Windom battled back down the backstretch, regained the top spot and scored the Ken Brenn Midget Masters win.
“I knew the slider was coming,” Windom said of Courtney in Victory Lane. “I’m just glad I was able to sneak back by him, I did everything I could to hold him off.”
After a valiant effort, Tyler Courtney would settle for second, Tanner Carrick finished in third, Tanner Thorson came from a 15th starting position to finish fourth, and Chad Boat finished in the fifth position.
Kyle Larson set the Quick Time with a lap of 14.310 setting an initial track record for the USAC Midgets. USAC Midget qualifying events were won by Tanner Thorson, Tyler Courtney, and Jason McDougal.
In the NASCAR 358 Modified event, Doug Manmiller and Tim Buckwalter led the field to the drop of the green flag with Manmiller holding the lead for the initial two laps. Buckwalter would takeover the top spot on lap three with Meme Desantis and Manmiller right on his tail.
All eyes were on Jeff Strunk as he moved into second on the eighth lap of the event – from his fifth-place starting spot. And powered past Buckwalter for the lead, two laps later.
In a race without any caution flags, Strunk was able to steer the Glenn Hyneman-owned number 126 machine around heavy lapped traffic maintaining the lead and claiming his 200th career victory.
Craig VonDohren closed in the late stages – but would settle for second place, Tim Buckwalter finished in third, Kevin Hirthler finished in fourth and Brett Kressley finished in fifth after starting in the 14th position.
NASCAR 358 Modified Heat Races were won by Kevin Hirthler, Tim Buckwalter, and Alex Yankowski
Ken Brenn Sr. was on hand for the event in his honor posing for photographs alongside Kyle Larson – who piloted a Keith Kunz-owned midget painted up like Brenn’s famed number 24 machine.
The NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series returns on Thursday, August 22 with the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions 410 Sprint Cars, alongside the NASCAR 38 Modifieds.
USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Championship
Time Trials - 1 . Kyle Larson - 14.310 , 2 . Tyler Courtney - 14.323 , 3 . Jason McDougal - 14.344 , 4 . Chris Windom - 14.422 , 5 . Kevin Thomas, Jr. - 14.441 , 6 . Tanner Carrick - 14.469 , 7 . Zeb Wise - 14.469 , 8 . Ethan Mitchell - 14.520 , 9 . Chad Boat - 14.534 , 10 . Jerry Coons, Jr. - 14.554 , 11 . Tucker Klaasmeyer - 14.623 , 12 . Steve Drevicki - 14.633 , 13 . Karsyn Elledge - 14.640 , 14 . Andrew Layser - 14.653 , 15 . Logan Seavey - 14.671 , 16 . Tanner Thorson - 14.708 , 17 . Steve Buckwalter - 14.877 , 18 . Shawn Jackson - 15.227 , 19 . Bruce Buckwalter - 15.327 , 20 . Ryan Greth - 15.365 , 21 . Bobby Butler - 15.408 , 22 . Kevin Woody - 15.660 , 23 . Steve Craig - 15.981 , 24 . Brett Conkling - 16.109 , 25 . Zach Curtis - 16.456
Heat 1 (8 Laps) – 1. Tanner Thorson 2. Karsyn Elledge 3. Jerry Coons, Jr. 4. Chris Windom 5. Kyle Larson
Heat 2 (8 Laps) – 1. Tyler Courtney 2. Steve Buckwalter 3. Tucker Klaasmeyer 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. 5. Andrew Layser
Heat 3 (8Laps) – 1. Jason McDougal 2. Zeb Wise 3. Logan Seavey 4. Steven Drevicki 5. Shawn Jackson
Ken Brenn Midget Masters (30 Laps) – 1. Chris Windom 2. Tyler Courtney 3. Tanner Carrick 4. Tanner Thorson 5. Chad Boat 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer 8. Kyle Larson 9. Jerry Coons Jr. 10. Logan Seavey 11. Zeb Wise 12. Andrew Laser 13. Jason McDougal 14. Karsyn Elledge 15. Shawn Jackson 17. Zach Curtis 17. Steven Drevicki 18. Steve Buckwalter 19. Kevin Woody 20. Bruce Buckwalter 21. Steve Craig 22. Brett Conkling 23. Bobby Butler 24. Ryan Greth
NASCAR 358 Modifieds
Heat 1 (10 Laps) – 1. Kevin Hirthler 2. Ryan Lilick 3. Craig VonDohren 4. Doug Manmiller 5. Billy Pauch Jr. 6. Louden Reimert
Heat 2 (10 Laps) – 1. Tim Buckwalter 2. Ray Swinehart 3. Jeff Strunk 4. Brian Hirthler 5. Brett Kressley 6. Rick Laubach
Heat 3 (10 Laps) – 1. Alex Yankowski 2. Duane Howard 3. Mike Lisowski 4. Meme Desantis 5. Briggs Danner 6. Dylan Swinehart
Modified Feature (30 Laps) – 1. Jeff Strunk 2. Craig VonDohren 3. Tim Buckwalter 4. Kevin Hirthler 5. Brett Kressley 6. Duane Howard 7. Mike Gular 8. Meme Desantis 9. Alex Yankowski 10. Brian Hirthler 11. Ryan Lilick 12. Rick Laubach 13. Mike Lisowski 14. Louden Reimert 15. Briggs Danner 16. Frank Cozze 17. Ryan Beltz 18. Justin Grim 19. Don Norris Jr. 20. Billy Pauch Jr. 21. Glenn Strunk 22. Mark Kratz 23. Ray Swinehart 24. Dylan Swinehart 25. Doug Manmiller 26. TJ Lilly
Windom Prevails in Last Lap Duel at Grandview
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Chris Windom celebrates victory in Tuesday night's Pennsylvania Midget Week opener at Grandview Speedway.
(Michael Fry Photo)
WINDOM PREVAILS IN LAST LAP DUEL AT GRANDVIEW
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania (July 30, 2019).........It took 102 starts for Chris Windom to reach USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory lane for the first time in his career this past June.
It took just six more for the Canton, Illinois native to get there for the second time Tuesday night in the Pennsylvania Midget Week opener at Grandview Speedway. There, he fought Clauson/Marshall Racing teammate Tyler Courtney for the win on the final lap, losing the lead via a Courtney slider in turn one, then outracing him into turn three to retake the position before sealing the deal to win in the series' first visit to the 1/3-mile dirt oval in three decades.
"Honestly, it took me a little while this year," Windom admitted. "I raced midgets quite a bit in 2011 and 2012, but I felt like I never really ran a lot. Being off six years, these things have changed quite a bit. Most of these guys have gotten to do it two or three years straight. It took me a little bit to get back into the rhythm of it. CMR and (crew chief Tyler Ransbottom) and everybody gives us cars to go out and compete first and second with. You know you have a car to win, so you've got to go figure out how to do it."
Windom was slotted into the pole position for the start of the 30-lapper after originally scheduled pole starter Zeb Wise had to go to a backup car after his engine expired at the finish of his heat race. Wise's misfortune moved him to the tail of the field and fortuitously gave Windom the pole.
Windom slid past outside front row starter Kevin Thomas, Jr. into turn one on the opening lap, with Thomas maintaining a one to two car length distance behind Windom's rear bumper for most of the first third of the race. Windom utilized the higher line between turns one and two but found comfort on the bottom of turns three and four until the ninth lap when he was forced into taking the high road around the lappers hugging the bottom rail.
As Thomas attempted to close on Windom a couple car lengths back, the bottom was no longer an option as a stack of traffic hung to the low side in the ensuing laps. As it turned out, it forced Windom out of the comfort zone and into the track position it turns out he needed to occupy.
"Before I caught lapped traffic, I felt like the bottom was starting to get slower," Windom recalled. "I was actually kind of glad to see lapped traffic because it forced me to go up there and then it just felt like I was gaining more and more momentum, so that's where I stayed. I felt like the only way anyone was going to get us running there was on a caution and a slide job."
With 12 laps remaining, 11th running Karsyn Elledge spun to a stop between turns three and four, putting a lid on the traffic game for the leaders and bringing a resumption of the battle up front which encapsulated the top-five under a blanket just prior to the yellow.
The see-saw battle between Thomas and Courtney picked up the lap 19 restart where Courtney slid by Thomas into turn one. Thomas countered underneath to retake the runner-up spot in turn three. On lap 25, Courtney returned the favor, sliding by Thomas again in turn one. Thomas tapped Courtney on the rear bumper as the pair exited turn two, with Courtney securing the position.
Moments later, Zeb Wise and Steve Buckwalter got together in turn one while racing for 12th, sending Buckwalter flipping. Both drivers were okay. Wise drove back to an 11th place finish after restarting from the tail.
A wild scramble for second on back behind Windom allowed Windom to distance himself from the pack following the restart, building a 1.2 second lead prior to the stoppage with three to go due to a spin by USAC East Coast Sprint Car champ and 16th running Steven Drevicki between turns one and two.
Courtney was now right Windom's tail tank once again for the three-lap sprint to the finish. Though he didn't initially attempt a slider, Courtney began the stint with a decent restart, staying within a couple car lengths of Windom throughout the first lap. A lap later, Windom escaped Courtney, who now appeared to not be close enough to make another last-ditch run at Windom as the leaders passed under the white flag.
Further back in the pack, eighth-running Jason McDougal spun sideways to a stop in turn four to bring a halt to the event, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
When leading in this situation, a driver is fully aware that they are ripe for the picking and a slide job is most likely going to be delivered. Windom was cognizant of that fact and had readied himself for Courtney.
Windom's victory was a breakthrough for him at Grandview where he'd been a frontrunner year-after-year in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition during Eastern Storm, with runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2011, third-place finishes in 2016-17-18-19 and fourth place runs in 2010 and 2012.
(Dave Dellinger Photo)
"He's on top of his game in a midget right now and he's a really aggressive driver, so I wasn't just expecting him to sit back and run second on a restart," Windom said. "I knew whatever line I went to, he was going to the opposite."
Courtney remained a car length back on the first lap following the restart, shadowing Windom and anticipating when he, himself, would shoot his shot while a hard-charging Kyle Larson raced side-by-side with Tanner Carrick for third midway down the back straight.
Courtney took his shot in turn one on the final lap and Windom already had the next half a lap planned out before Courtney even made his move.
"I felt like, at some point, it had to be coming," Windom expected. "I was trying to get as good of a restart as I could, but when guys running second get two and three opportunities at you in the last three laps, they're going to figure out something normally. He was able to get in front of me there and I knew my only option was to cross him over and beat him to turn three. So, that was my plan when I saw him come across my front end there. I knew I had to cross him over and just hope we got to turns three and four smoothly."
Windom did just that, after turning his car down at the exit of two to sneak back under Courtney, drive past him on the back straight and clear him high into turn three. Courtney ducked low off turn four underneath Windom, but it wasn't enough as Windom closed out the victory by a car length (0.191 sec.) over Courtney, Carrick, KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Tanner Thorson (from 15th) and Chad Boat.
Windom's victory was a breakthrough for him at Grandview where he'd been a frontrunner year-after-year in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition during Eastern Storm, with runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2011, third-place finishes in 2016-17-18-19 and fourth place runs in 2010 and 2012.
Contingency award winners Tuesday night at Grandview Speedway were Kyle Larson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tanner Thorson (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Jason McDougal (AutoMeter/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner & (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 30, 2019 - Grandview Speedway - Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania - 1/3-Mile Dirt Oval - Pennsylvania Midget Week / Ken Brenn Midget Masters
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Larson, 24, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.310 (New Track Record); 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.323; 3. Jason McDougal, 76m, FMR-14.344; 4. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.422; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-14.441; 6. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.469; 7. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.469; 8. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-14.520; 9. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-14.534; 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-14.554; 11. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.623; 12. Steven Drevicki, 12, Heckman-14.633; 13. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-14.640; 14. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.653; 15. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.671; 16. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.708; 17. Steve Buckwalter, 25B, Buckwalter-14.877; 18. Shawn Jackson, 7J, Jackson-15.227; 19. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr., 83, Buckwalter-15.327; 20. Ryan Greth, 4, Mullet-15.365; 21. Bobby Butler, 5B, Myers-15.408; 22. Kevin Woody, Jr., 0, Buckwalter-15.660; 23. Steve Craig, 55, Craig-15.981; 24. Brett Conkling, 0NJ, Conkling-16.109; 25. Zach Curtis, 75, Curtis-16.456.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Karsyn Elledge, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Jerry Coons, Jr., 5. Kyle Larson, 6. Tanner Carrick, 7. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr., 8. Kevin Woody, Jr., 9. Zach Curtis. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Steve Buckwalter, 3. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5. Andrew Layser, 6. Ryan Greth, 7. Ethan Mitchell, 8. Steve Craig. 1:58.97 (New Track Record)
AUTOMETER/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to the feature) 1. Jason McDougal, 2. Zeb Wise, 3. Logan Seavey, 4. Steven Drevicki, 5. Shawn Jackson, 6. Brett Conkling, 7. Chad Boat, 8. Bobby Butler. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Chris Windom (3), 2. Tyler Courtney (5), 3. Tanner Carrick (7), 4. Tanner Thorson (15), 5. Chad Boat (8), 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (10), 8. Kyle Larson (6), 9. Jerry Coons, Jr. (9), 10. Logan Seavey (14), 11. Zeb Wise (1), 12. Andrew Layser (13), 13. Jason McDougal (4), 14. Karsyn Elledge (12), 15. Shawn Jackson (17), 16. Zach Curtis (24), 17. Steven Drevicki (11), 18. Steve Buckwalter (16), 19. Kevin Woody, Jr. (21), 20. Bruce Buckwalter, Jr. (18), 21. Steve Craig (22), 22. Brett Conkling (23), 23. Bobby Butler (20), 24. Ryan Greth (19). NT
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**Steve Buckwalter flipped on lap 24 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Chris Windom.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Tanner Thorson (15th to 4th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Jason McDougal
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-1,166, 2-Chris Windom-1,078, 3-Logan Seavey-1,033, 4-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-996, 5-Zeb Wise-966, 6-Chad Boat-939, 7-Tanner Carrick-871, 8-Jerry Coons, Jr.-864, 9-Tucker Klaasmeyer-808, 10-Jason McDougal-775.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 31, 2019 - Action Track USA - Kutztown, Pennsylvania - "Pennsylvania Midget Week" - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval
Leary Lands Title of Indiana Sprint Week Champ
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
C.J. Leary & Charlie
(Ryan Sellers Photo)
LEARY LANDS TITLE OF INDIANA SPRINT WEEK CHAMP
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
Cummins Collects Tri-State Finale; Leary the ISW Champ
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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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)
CUMMINS COLLECTS TRI-STATE FINALE; LEARY THE ISW CHAMP
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)
