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Larson 2-for-2 in Indiana Midget Week with Gas City Score
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
#86 Kyle Larson won his second straight Indiana Midget Week victory of 2020 Wednesday at Gas City I-69 Speedway.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)
LARSON 2-FOR-2 IN INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WITH GAS CITY SCORE
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Gas City, Indiana (June 17, 2020).........Wednesday morning began with a bounty being placed upon Kyle Larson's head. At the end of the day, he remained elusive to all his challengers vying to catch him.
Larson took over the lead with 13 laps remaining after charging from the 14th starting position to the front in rapid fire succession to win the second round of the 16th annual Indiana Midget Week series Wednesday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway.
The victory was Larson's second-in-a-row at Indiana Midget Week after winning the series opener on Tuesday at Paragon Speedway. And, going back to last year, it's the fifth USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory he's earned in his last five series starts.
He entered Gas City seeking his seventh-straight victory between World of Outlaws, All Star and USAC competition, thus earlier in the day, Richard and Jennifer Marshall of Priority Aviation put up a $1,000 bounty on Larson for the remainder of Indiana Midget Week.
The deal is that anybody who can beat Larson and win a feature this week will collect a minimum extra $1,000 bonus. If Larson does win the feature, the money will be donated to the Indiana Donor Network in Larson's name.
On this night, it appeared at first that the bounty might have a glimmer of hope of being collected by another driver. That came after Larson missed the transfer spot in his heat, then finished third, but still transferred to the feature where he'd have to start on the outside of row seven for the 30-lap feature.
It's a tall task to ask of any driver to accomplish, to pass that many cars in such a short timeframe against such stout competition.
But, then again, haven't we learned time-after-time to never doubt what the Elk Grove, Calif. native can do?
Defending USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champion Tyler Courtney jumped to the lead at the start of the feature and held the top spot convincingly from his pole starting position. However, as you glanced back a few cars into the field, two mid-pack starting cars in particular had made a heady charge to the front: Cannon McIntosh and Larson.
McIntosh sprinted from 12th to 4th by the second lap and was in the top-three by lap four while Larson followed suit into the top-six by the fifth lap and into the top-five by lap eight. Larson was observant in mimicking what McIntosh had found of the track surface, and ultimately helped himself in advancing up through the running order in a hurry.
"Coming from 14th like we did there, that was a lot of fun," Larson exclaimed. "I saw Cannon (McIntosh) get a really good start at the beginning, and I was like, 'man, I've got to get aggressive here.' I saw him work the middle that first lap and pass everybody, so I was able to make that work for me the next few laps and really get by a lot of people there."
On the 11th lap, Larson's Tucker-Boat teammate, Gio Scelzi, slid wide at the exit of turn four and allowed Larson the crack in the door to capitalize underneath for the fourth position. One lap later, Larson ran down McIntosh in turn two, slipping underneath last year's Gas City IMW runner-up finisher for third in the running order.
Moments later, however, McIntosh began to slow dramatically, coasting to a stop between turns three and four. Simultaneously, in the same area of the track, Thomas Meseraull flipped wildly while running in the 17th position - a tumultuous night for the defending Gas City Sprint Car track champion who had flipped earlier in qualifying as well.
When racing resumed, Larson went on the attack toward series Rookie Buddy Kofoid for the runner-up spot, but the 18-year-old Kofoid became one of the few to find an answer for Larson. After being slid by Larson, Kofoid slid him back, then successfully defended his position by keeping his foot on the throttle and retaking the second spot at the start/finish line just prior to a lap 16 caution for a turn two tangle involving Brady Bacon and Shane Golobic, thus reverting the order back to the previous complete lap and sending Larson back in front of Kofoid.
On the following restart, Larson sized up Courtney for the first two circuits, then set up for his winning move entering the bottom of turn three on the 18th lap. Larson blew by, slid up to the middle, found the traction, and launched off the exit of turn four to secure the spot as he cut to the bottom to protect himself from a retaliation slider from Courtney in turn one.
The victory was Kyle Larson's second-in-a-row at Indiana Midget Week after winning the series opener on Tuesday at Paragon Speedway. And, going back to last year, it's the fifth USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory he's earned in his last five series starts.
(Lonnie Wheatley Photo)
Once hitting turn two, Kofoid pounced to take second away from Courtney and inched his way back to Larson in the final third of the race. Kofoid remained within a half second of Larson around the quarter mile, not losing any ground as the laps wound down, but also not gaining much of anything either in the way of closing the interval.
Even when sort of boxed in by Bacon and Robert Dalby on the tail end of the lead lap with just a handful of laps remaining, Larson never turned a wheel wrong and Kofoid was left with peanuts to capitalize on.
Larson's flawless 30-lap run closed out yet another patented masterful performance as he raced to a 0.263 second victory over Kofoid who, with a 2nd place finish, had his best result with the series. Courtney, Tanner Thorson and Gio Scelzi rounded out the top-five.
The seventh career IMW feature victory for Larson brings him to within two of the series' all-time winningest driver, Bryan Clauson with nine. Furthermore, Larson's 21st career USAC National Midget feature triumph elevated him to 28th on the all-time series win list alongside Steve Cannon, Jimmy Caruthers, Rex Easton and Ken Schrader.
In just his second ride in the Tucker-Boat Motorsports/Pristine Auction - K & C Drywall/Spike/Speedway powered No. 86, Larson remains an undefeated two-for-two in IMW with the Gas City win, the second of his career there and first since 2013.
"That car was really, really good," Larson said. "It surprised me. I knew we'd be good; Chad's cars are always good. I didn't know we'd be that good right there in the feature. I got to third by lap 12 and I knew I had a good shot. I got by Buddy and the caution came out, and I got the spot there. I knew I could get runs on people down the backstretch because they weren't sliding all the way to the edge down the backstretch. I could get a little grip to slide them into three. That was my move that worked for me the second half of the race."
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 17, 2020 - Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval - Indiana Midget Week
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-12.360; 2. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-12.386; 3. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.444; 4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 17s, Clauson/Marshall-12.446; 5. Rico Abreu, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.462; 6. Tanner Carrick, 35, Petry-12.473; 7. Kyle Larson, 86, Tucker/Boat-12.486; 8. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.515; 9. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-12.517; 10. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.535; 11. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.577; 12. Maria Cofer, 57, Cofer-12.606; 13. Daryn Pittman, 21, Pittman-12.644; 14. Tanner Thorson, 19, Hayward-12.669; 15. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-12.688; 16. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-12.702; 17. Gio Scelzi, 84, Tucker/Boat-12.703; 18. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-12.710; 19. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-12.730; 20. Brady Bacon, 4B, Klatt-12.790; 21. Dylan Ito, 73, Ford-12.809; 22. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.820; 23. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.820; 24. Carson Macedo, 21T, Tarlton-12.836; 25. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.868; 26. Kyle Cummins, 3G, Yeley-12.880; 27. Clinton Boyles, 98, RMS-12.880; 28. Brody Roa, 7m, Iron Dome/Moonshine-12.894; 29. Chase Johnson, 25, Malloy-12.937; 30. Ace McCarthy, 28, Dave Mac-12.944; 31. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-12.962; 32. Robert Dalby, 4, Dalby-12.997; 33. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-13.065; 34. Dave Darland, 2ND, Harris-13.099; 35. Jake Swanson, 73T, Ford-13.174; 36. Tyler Nelson, 88, Nelson-13.194; 37. Russ Gamester, 46, Gamester-13.209; 38. Noah Gass, 08, Dave Mac-13.248; 39. Jeff Wimmenauer, 15J, Wimmenauer-13.321; 40. Ronnie Gardner, 7R, Iron Dome/Moonshine-13.330; 41. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-13.407; 42. Ryan Hall, 2, Bush-13.487; 43. Kameron Gladish, 20, Nolen-13.553; 44. Steve Buckwalter, 25B, Buckwalter-13.576; 45. Hayden Reinbold, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-13.671; 46. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-14.190; 47. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-14.458; 48. Max McLaughlin, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Gio Scelzi, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Logan Seavey, 4. Shane Golobic, 5. Thomas Meseraull, 6. Rico Abreu, 7. Chase Johnson, 8. Ethan Mitchell, 9. Dylan Ito, 10. Andrew Layser, 11. Russ Gamester, 12. Hayden Reinbold. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Buddy Kofoid, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Tanner Carrick, 5. Jake Neuman, 6. Daison Pursley, 7. Ace McCarthy, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Ryan Hall, 10. Kyle Cummins, 11. Noah Gass, 12. Oliver Akard. NT
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Zach Daum, 3. Cole Bodine, 4. Tyler Courtney, 5. Kyle Larson, 6. Cannon McIntosh, 7. Jason McDougal, 8. Clinton Boyles, 9. Jake Swanson, 10. Kameron Gladish, 11. Jeff Wimmenauer, 12. Justin Dickerson. 2:12.881
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Carson Macedo, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Kaylee Bryson, 4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Steve Buckwalter, 7. Brody Roa, 8. Maria Cofer, 9. Tyler Nelson, 10. Ronnie Gardner, 11. Robert Dalby. 2:13.862
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Jason McDougal, 2. Andrew Layser, 3. Robert Dalby, 4. Russ Gamester, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Tyler Nelson, 7. Ronnie Gardner, 8. Hayden Reinbold, 9. Kameron Gladish, 10. Justin Dickerson, 11. Oliver Akard, 12. Jake Swanson, 13. Jeff Wimmenauer, 14. Ethan Mitchell, 15. Ryan Hall, 16. Steve Buckwalter. NT
INDY METAL FINISHING SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Rico Abreu, 2. Jake Neuman, 3. Kyle Larson, 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5. Cannon McIntosh, 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Maria Cofer, 8. Chase Johnson, 9. Daison Pursley, 10. Jason McDougal, 11. Clinton Boyles, 12. Kyle Cummins, 13. Brody Roa, 14. Ace McCarthy, 15. Robert Dalby, 16. Dylan Ito, 17. Andrew Layser, 18. Russ Gamester. 2:43.872
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kyle Larson (14), 2. Buddy Kofoid (2), 3. Tyler Courtney (1), 4. Tanner Thorson (7), 5. Gio Scelzi (8), 6. Jake Neuman (11), 7. Logan Seavey (6), 8. Carson Macedo (10), 9. Tanner Carrick (4), 10. Kaylee Bryson (3), 11. Rico Abreu (13), 12. Justin Grant (19), 13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (5), 14. Daryn Pittman (16), 15. Chris Windom (18), 16. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9), 17. Daison Pursley (23), 18. Shane Golobic (22), 19. Zach Daum (17), 20. Robert Dalby (24), 21. Brady Bacon (20), 22. Cole Bodine (21), 23. Cannon McIntosh (12), 24. Thomas Meseraull (15). NT
**Max McLaughlin flipped during practice. Thomas Meseraull flipped during qualifying. Noah Gass flipped during the second heat. Ryan Hall flipped during the C-Main. Jake Swanson flipped during the C-Main. Thomas Meseraull flipped on lap 12 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-17 Tyler Courtney, Laps 18-30 Kyle Larson.
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-478, 2-Chris Windom-448, 3-Tanner Thorson-438, 4-Buddy Kofoid-424, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-367, 6-Tanner Carrick-357, 7-Cannon McIntosh-340, 8-Logan Seavey-332, 9-Andrew Layser-318, 10-Cole Bodine-312.
NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Kyle Larson-155, 2-Tanner Thorson-144, 3-Buddy Kofoid-129, 4-Tyler Courtney-129, 5-Tanner Carrick-117, 6-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.-116, 7-Logan Seavey-114, 8-Justin Grant-111, 9-Chris Windom-105, 10-Jake Neuman-97.
NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Kyle Larson-18, 2-Logan Seavey-14, 3-Chris Windom-11, 4-Thomas Meseraull-10, 5-Justin Grant-9, 6-Zach Daum-6, 7-Jake Neuman-5, 8-Shane Golobic-5, 9-Daison Pursley-4, 10-Tanner Thorson-3.
NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-43, 2-Chris Windom-34, 3-Andrew Layser-31, 4-Tanner Thorson-26, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-25, 6-Daison Pursley-22, 7-Brady Bacon-20, 8-Mario Clouser-19, 9-Tyler Courtney-18, 10-Tyler Thomas-16.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 18, 2020 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 5/16-Mile Dirt Oval - Indiana Midget Week
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Logan Seavey
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Gio Scelzi
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Tanner Thorson
AutoMeter Third Heat Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.
Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner: Carson Macedo
Indy Metal Finishing Semi Winner: Rico Abreu
Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Maria Cofer
KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart/Irvin King Hard Charger: Kyle Larson (14th to 1st)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
ProSource Hard Work: Shane Golobic
Unstoppable Larson Wins Paragon Indiana Midget Week Opener
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Kyle Larson won Tuesday night's Indiana Midget Week opener at Paragon Speedway.
(Rich Forman Photo)
UNSTOPPABLE LARSON WINS PARAGON INDIANA MIDGET WEEK OPENER
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Paragon, Indiana (June 16, 2020).........When you're hot, you're hot, and Kyle Larson is absolutely untouchable at the moment.
Larson (Elk Grove, Calif.) won Tuesday's opening round of the 16th annual Indiana Midget Week at Paragon Speedway with a late-race pass of Tanner Thorson four laps from the finish to claim his sixth consecutive win behind the wheel between World of Outlaws, All Star and USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition over the past couple of weeks.
The victory also marked Larson's sixth-straight victory when competing in a midget inside the United States, with victories in the final three USAC National Midget features to conclude the 2019 season in California at Placerville, Bakersfield and Ventura. He then promptly won his first two starts of 2020 in January with a prelim win and a final night triumph at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in Tulsa, Okla.
Larson's sixth career Indiana Midget Week win, which ranks second all-time behind Bryan Clauson's nine, was also the 20th of his USAC National Midget career, tying him with A.J. Foyt for 32nd all-time. And it came in the first USAC National Midget race held at Paragon since 1985.
Prior to Tuesday night, only once had Larson visited Paragon Speedway. That occasion came as a spectator of a sprint car race at the 3/8-mile several years ago.
"I've been waiting a long to come here to Paragon to get my chance to race," Larson said. "I'm glad I could add my name to the winner's list here."
In Fatheadz Eyewear qualifying, Larson laid down a new one-lap track record for the series at Paragon in his Tucker-Boat Motorsports/Pristine Auction - K & C Drywall/Spike/Speedway-powered machine, setting the new mark of 14.813 seconds and shattering the former record held by seven-time USAC National Midget champ Mel Kenyon for three-and-a-half decades at 16.442.
That placed Larson in the third row for the 30-lap feature while pole sitter Gio Scelzi, the last driver to beat Larson head-to-head in a USAC Midget race, jut out to an early five-car length lead in the beginning stages over outside front row starter Thorson.
Thorson closed the gap on Scelzi, and on lap six, made his first attempted slider for the lead in turn one, to no avail. The move ultimately cost Thorson substantial ground in the immediate aftermath, dropping him back 10 lengths before regrouping and incrementally began to reel Scelzi back in.
On the 11th lap, Thorson hit the slide to perfection on his second shot, slinging past Scelzi to take over the race lead.
One lap later, USAC western standout Chase Johnson flipped off the turn two banking in his first series start of the year. He walked away without injury.
One lap into the ensuing restart, now third-running Larson put Scelzi on notice with a slider on both ends of the racetrack, in both turn one and three. Each time, however, Scelzi masterfully cut back under to retain the position while Thorson opened up his advantage at the head of the field.
A yellow on lap 14 for a Brady Bacon turn two spin reset the deck, and on the following lap, Larson stuck the slider in turn one to corral the second position from Scelzi. At that point - the halfway mark - Thorson's advantage was 1.1 second, but that margin dwindled with each tick of the clock down to half a second when third-running Scelzi met his race's demise when he flipped in turn two, emerging uninjured.
Kyle Larson's sixth career Indiana Midget Week win, which ranks second all-time behind Bryan Clauson's nine, was also the 20th of his USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget career, tying him with A.J. Foyt for 32nd all-time.
(Lonnie Wheatley Photo)
With just nine to go, leader Thorson went on the defensive, sliding himself into turn one, thus trying to prevent Larson from doing the job himself. But Larson stuck to his instincts and went even lower than Thorson in turn one and the two made very slight contact as they drifted in unison to the top of turn two.
The pair kept each other in check, and with six to go, Larson took another run at Thorson in turn one, diving to the bottom and sliding up in front of Thorson by the time the two reached the second turn. Thorson ducked underneath and there, Thorson's right rear wheel and Larson's left front wheel had a meeting of the minds, knocking Larson askew and allowing Thorson to open his lead back up to 10 car lengths.
It took but just one lap before Larson was right back on Thorson's tail tank, following the 2016 series champ for a full circuit before changing up his approach.
There, Larson utilized a line which he had found just a few laps earlier as he drove it in a bit over the turn one cushion, then drove downhill off the banking and met wheel-to-wheel with Thorson exiting turn two, likewise leaving Thorson little room off the corner as they made slight contact similar to what had transpired just two laps prior with the roles now reversed.
From there, Larson quest for victory was undisputedly undenied as he extended the interval to 1.696 seconds over Thorson at the checkered to win his first Indiana Midget Week event since the 2018 opener at Montpelier Motor Speedway.
Thorson finished second ahead of NASCAR Cup Series regular Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chris Windom with Justin Grant rounding out the top-five.
"That was a fun race there," Larson exclaimed. "(Turns) one and two were a lot of fun, throwing slide jobs like that and getting to race hard with a lot of my friends was cool. My car just kept getting better and better throughout the race, especially there at the end when it got a little bit of patchiness of rubber at the exit of both ends. I happened to open my entry there on the last restart in one and could make up a lot of time on Tanner there. I threw a slider on him with four or five laps to go, and he didn't leave me much room, so when I got my opportunity, I didn't leave him any at all either."
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 16, 2020 - Paragon Speedway - Paragon, Indiana - Indiana Midget Week
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Larson, 86, Tucker/Boat-14.813 (New Track Record); 2. Rico Abreu, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.089; 3. Buddy Kofoid, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-15.159; 4. Tanner Carrick, 35, Petry-15.359; 5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 17s, Clauson/Marshall-15.401; 6. Tanner Thorson, 19, Hayward-15.441; 7. Chris Windom, 89, Tucker/Boat-15.495; 8. Gio Scelzi, 84, Tucker/Boat-15.519; 9. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-15.574; 10. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-15.744; 11. Brady Bacon, 4B, Klatt-15.793; 12. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-15.816; 13. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-15.816; 14. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-15.829; 15. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-15.853; 16. Chase Johnson, 25, Malloy-15.878; 17. Noah Gass, 08, Dave Mac-15.894; 18. Cannon McIntosh, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.001; 19. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-16.022; 20. Ryan Hall, 2, Bush-16.023; 21. Cole Bodine, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-16.077; 22. Dave Darland, 2ND, Harris-16.083; 23. Steve Buckwalter, 25B, Buckwalter-16.097; 24. Jadon Rogers, 4J, 4J-16.130; 25. Clinton Boyles, 98, RMS-16.162; 26. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-16.198; 27. Ronnie Gardner, 7R, Iron Dome/Moonshine-16.205; 28. Maria Cofer, 57, Cofer-16.236; 29. Dylan Ito, 73, Ford-16.295; 30. Kyle Cummins, 3G, Yeley-16.297; 31. Jake Swanson, 73T, Ford-16.316; 32. Daison Pursley, 9, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.380; 33. Max McLaughlin, 97K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.432; 34. Ace McCarthy, 28, Dave Mac-16.461; 35. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-16.504; 36. Andrew Layser, 82, Tucker/Boat-16.574; 37. Kaylee Bryson, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-16.599; 38. Robert Dalby, 4, Dalby-16.605; 39. Russ Gamester, 46, Gamester-16.654; 40. Jeff Wimmenauer, 15J, Wimmenauer-16.686; 41. Hayden Reinbold, 19A, Reinbold/Underwood-16.833; 42. Brody Roa, 7m, Iron Dome/Moonshine-16.942; 43. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-17.181; 44. Shane Cottle, 86c, Stamper-17.440; 45. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-NT; 46. Zeb Wise, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Kyle Larson, 3. Noah Gass, 4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Clinton Boyles, 7. Max McLaughlin, 8. Cole Bodine, 9. Dylan Ito, 10. Jake Neuman, 11. Kaylee Bryson, 12. Hayden Reinbold. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Cannon McIntosh, 2. Tanner Thorson, 3. Shane Golobic, 4. Zach Daum, 5. Rico Abreu, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Kyle Cummins, 8. Robert Dalby, 9. Ethan Mitchell, 10. Ace McCarthy, 11. Brody Roa. NT
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Steve Buckwalter, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Buddy Kofoid, 5. Chris Windom, 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Jason McDougal, 8. Ronnie Gardner, 9. Justin Dickerson, 10. Jake Swanson, 11. Russ Gamester. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Tanner Carrick, 3. Gio Scelzi, 4. Daison Pursley, 5. Zeb Wise, 6. Jadon Rogers, 7. Ryan Hall, 8. Chase Johnson, 9. Maria Cofer, 10. Andrew Layser, 11. Jeff Wimmenauer. NT
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Jake Swanson, 3. Ace McCarthy, 4. Zeb Wise, 5. Russ Gamester, 6. Andrew Layser, 7. Kaylee Bryson, 8. Dylan Ito, 9. Jeff Wimmenauer, 10. Brody Roa, 11. Hayden Reinbold, 12. Justin Dickerson, 13. Max McLaughlin, 14. Kyle Cummins, 15. Robert Dalby. NT
INDY METAL FINISHING SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Chris Windom, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Chase Johnson, 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Rico Abreu, 6. Jake Neuman, 7. Clinton Boyles, 8. Ethan Mitchell, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Jadon Rogers, 11. Cole Bodine, 12. Jason McDougal, 13. Jake Swanson, 14. Zeb Wise, 15. Ronnie Gardner, 16. Ace McCarthy, 17. Ryan Hall, 18. Maria Cofer. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kyle Larson (6), 2. Tanner Thorson (2), 3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (3), 4. Chris Windom (12), 5. Justin Grant (7), 6. Tanner Carrick (4), 7. Tyler Courtney (9), 8. Logan Seavey (22), 9. Buddy Kofoid (5), 10. Kevin Thomas Jr. (8), 11. Thomas Meseraull (21), 12. Rico Abreu (11), 13. Zach Daum (19), 14. Shane Golobic (15), 15. Jake Neuman (14), 16. Daison Pursley (20), 17. Cole Bodine (24), 18. Brady Bacon (13), 19. Noah Gass (17), 20. Gio Scelzi (1), 21. Andrew Layser (23), 22. Chase Johnson (16), 23. Steve Buckwalter (18), 24. Cannon McIntosh (10). NT
**Cannon McIntosh flipped during practice. Zeb Wise flipped during qualifying. Jake Swanson flipped during the third heat. Robert Dalby flipped during the C-Main. Max McLaughlin flipped during the C-Main. Chase Johnson flipped on lap 12 of the feature. Gio Scelzi flipped on lap 22 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Gio Scelzi, Laps 11-26 Tanner Thorson, Laps 27-30 Kyle Larson.
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Tyler Courtney-409, 2-Chris Windom-408, 3-Tanner Thorson-369, 4-Buddy Kofoid-350, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-328, 6-Cannon McIntosh-312, 7-Andrew Layser-308, 8-Tanner Carrick-305, 9-Cole Bodine-283, 10-Daison Pursley-280.
NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Kyle Larson-83, 2-Tanner Thorson-75, 3-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.-71, 4-Justin Grant-66, 5-Chris Windom-65, 6-Tanner Carrick-65, 7-Tyler Courtney-60, 8-Buddy Kofoid-55, 9-Kevin Thomas Jr.-51, 10-Logan Seavey-50.
NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-14, 2-Thomas Meseraull-10, 3-Chris Windom-8, 4-Zach Daum-6, 5-Kyle Larson-5, 6-Daison Pursley-4, 7-Justin Grant-2, 8-Tyler Courtney-2, 9-Shane Golobic-1.
NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-43, 2-Chris Windom-31, 3-Andrew Layser-31, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-25, 5-Tanner Thorson-23, 6-Daison Pursley-22, 7-Brady Bacon-20, 8-Mario Clouser-19, 9-Tyler Courtney-18, 10-Tyler Thomas-16.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 17, 2020 - Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana - Indiana Midget Week
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Kyle Larson
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Justin Grant
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Cannon McIntosh
AutoMeter Third Heat Winner: Tyler Courtney
Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.
Indy Metal Finishing Semi Winner: Chris Windom
Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Clinton Boyles
KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger: Logan Seavey (22nd to 8th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Zach Daum
ProSource Hard Work: Logan Seavey
The Storylines: Indiana Midget Week
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. making his first Indiana Midget Week appearance in 13 years is one of the plethora of storylines to take note of as the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midgets head into a weeklong set of races in the Hoosier state June 16-21. (Rich Forman Photo)
THE STORYLINES: INDIANA MIDGET WEEK
Speedway, Indiana (June 15, 2020).........With six races in a six-night span, the storylines and scenarios run rampant with the possibilities of what can and will transpire over this next week of USAC Nos Energy Drink National Midget racing June 16-21, Tuesday at Paragon, Wednesday at Gas City, Thursday and Friday at Lincoln Park, Saturday at Lawrenceburg and Sunday at Kokomo.
That's why we love it, and that's why we watch. One of the ultimate tests of racing, the 16th annual edition of Indiana Midget Week, has finally arrived.
THE OUTSIDERS
Okay, okay, they're not really outsiders, per se. But what makes Indiana Midget Week competition so grand is witnessing those individuals who are regulars in series outside of USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition battling against those who run with the series on a regular basis.
For instance, Kyle Larson (Elk Grove, Calif.), who will compete in all six events of 2020 Indiana Midget Week for Tucker-Boat Motorsports as he aims for his first career title in the mini-series. He's arguably the hottest driver in all of racing right now with five consecutive wing sprint car wins between the World of Outlaws and All Stars. But, likewise, he's won the three most recent USAC Midget races he's entered as well, as well as the only two he's run in the state this year at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla.
Daryn Pittman, the 2013 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car champion, will compete in a single event at Gas City, the same place he made his last Indiana Midget Week start eight years earlier in 2012.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., a former USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year and Talladega and Daytona 400-mile NASCAR Cup series winner, will compete in the first four events of IMW, his first appearance in the weeklong series since 2007.
Carson Macedo, he too a past USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year and also a World of Outlaws Rookie of the Year, will compete in three of the six IMW events at Gas City, Lincoln Park Night #1 and the final night at Kokomo.
FIELD FILLED TO THE BRIM
In a taxing mini-series such as Indiana Midget Week, it's a pleasure to see how many teams can weather the heat, the elements, the long nights and the mechanical and emotional hardships that can come with traveling and racing night-after-night. Entering this year's IMW, 36 teams have announced their intentions to compete on the full trail throughout the Hoosier state.
WHO'S GOT NEXT
Four USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget regulars have all won feature events with the series in 2020, all of whom have had their share of total victories with the series in their careers: Tanner Thorson (15), Tyler Courtney (14), Justin Grant (5) and Chris Windom (3), and all of whom are aiming to win their first career Indiana Midget Week championship. With all having stellar seasons thus far across the board, perhaps this is their year.
BACON & KLATT
Brady Bacon is the dirt driver on Terry Klatt's 2019 USAC Silver Crown owner championship team. This time, however, Bacon will wheel a midget for the successful Nebraska car owner whose teams have won 17 career USAC National Midget races, but none since 2012 with Bobby East on the pavement at North Carolina's Ace Speedway.
THOMAS' NEW DIGS
Kevin Thomas Jr. and Petry Motorsports have switched over to the DRC chassis for Indiana Midget Week after recent results that have placed the six-time career series winner outside of the top-ten in each of the past three races after producing two top-seven results in the first two events of 2020 in Ocala, Fla.
HERE COME THE CHAMPS
Four past Indiana Midget Week champs have intentions of competing during the week including the champ of the first two years in 2005 and 2006, Shane Cottle, who has pre-entered to race in the Paragon opener on Tuesday. Another two-time IMW champ, Rico Abreu (2014-15) will compete in the first three at Paragon, Gas City and Lincoln Park Night #1 before returning for the finale at Kokomo.
Shane Golobic has made it a tradition in making the annual cross-country trek to Indiana Midget Week, where he'll contest the full series and try to repeat his 2017 IMW title. Only Cottle and Abreu have previously gone back-to-back with consecutive IMW championships, and Logan Seavey intends to become the next to accomplish the feat this year with the team that claimed the other Indiana USAC weeklong championship race last year, Indiana Sprint Week.
J-MAC IS BACK
Jason McDougal revealed his plans to move back to the state of Indiana to resume his driving career after briefly stepping back from full-time driving at the conclusion of the 2019 season. He showed little rust in his one series start at Port City this past May, qualifying 4th before ultimately falling back to 13th at the checkered and now will get plenty of extra work in behind the wheel for all six nights of Indiana Midget Week in Steve Reynolds' and Flea Ruzic's No. 21KS.
FORMER WINNERS
Of the 29 different drivers who've won an Indiana Midget Week feature since its inaugural year in 2005, 14 of them are entered to compete this coming week. Kyle Larson leads all active drivers with 5 victories, four behind the all-time mark of 9 set by Bryan Clauson. With the streak Larson is on at the moment, who knows? That record may very well be attainable in this six-race set. Rico Abreu has four, while Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney and Tanner Thorson each have three. Nine different drivers possess at least one IMW triumph, including Brady Bacon, Steve Buckwalter, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Justin Grant, Logan Seavey, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Thomas Jr. and Chris Windom.
WHAT'S ON ORDER FROM THE VENUE
This year's Indiana Midget Week slate has taken a slightly different look than in recent years with Paragon Speedway becoming the first new track addition to IMW since Montpelier in 2016. Not only that fact, but no drivers on this year's list have any midget experience at Paragon, creating a new ballgame for all. Forged out of necessity is the first-ever occasion in the 16-year history of IMW that a single track has hosted multiple races within the same week, Lincoln Park Speedway on Thursday, June 18, and Friday, June 19. This situation came about due to Friday's original venue, Bloomington Speedway, being restricted to holding no fans due to COVID-19.
THE ROOKS
Indiana Midget Week can be a grind. And when it comes to those attempting the week for the first time, it can be the ultimate challenge in many respects. We've seen the potential from a few who could be contenders for a victory, and possibly a championship with the likes of Gio Scelzi, a World of Outlaws winner and USAC National Midget victor late last year at Placerville (Calif.) Speedway, plus top series Rookie Buddy Kofoid, who's third in the overall standings after five events and has had no finish worse than 11th in that span. Daison Pursley, too, a Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports teammate to Kofoid who has shown flashes in limited runs thus far but resided 9th in the points.
WESTERN CONTINGENT
A mass of western contingent is on its way to IMW to compete throughout the entire week, namely USAC Western series champions Ronnie Gardner (2013-14-15-16-17 Western States Midget), Brody Roa (2009 California Dirt Focus Midget, 2016 West Coast Sprint and 2019 Southwest Sprint) and Jake Swanson (2017 West Coast Sprint), Western series winners Chase Johnson and Maria Cofer, plus Dylan Ito, nephew of longtime TQ Midget success George Ito.
All Indiana Midget Week events will follow state guidelines, limiting seating capacity to 50 percent at all venues. Tickets are expected to sell fast and will only be available online at www.usactickets.com while they last. In fact, the Paragon and Gas City events have already sold out.
There, you will be provided the option to upgrade to a pit pass. You will also have the option to purchase tickets for the full week of Indiana Midget Week events.
On the screen, there will also be a space to reserve children's tickets. All children's ticket prices will be based on each track's policies. Children's tickets will count toward the capacity level and we can keep track of all the numbers to stay within the 50 percent capacity guideline.
There's also an option to order an Indiana Midget Week shirt that you can pick up at one of the Indiana Midget Week events you are attending.
All nights of IMW, along with all USAC National events in 2020, will be live on FloRacing.
2020 INDIANA MIDGET WEEK SCHEDULE
Tue., June 16: Paragon Speedway - Paragon, Indiana
Pits open at 4pm Eastern, grandstands at 5pm and hot laps at 6:30pm
Wed., June 17: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana
Pits open at 3pm Eastern, grandstands at 5pm and hot laps at 6:45pm
Thu., June 18: Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana
Pits open at 3pm Eastern, grandstands at 4:30pm and hot laps at 6:30pm
Fri., June 19: Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana
Pits open at 3pm Eastern, grandstands at 4:30pm and hot laps at 6:30pm
Sat., June 20: Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, Indiana
Pits open at 3pm Eastern, grandstands at 5pm and hot laps at 6pm
Sun., June 21: Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana
Pits open at 3pm Eastern, grandstands at 5pm and hot laps at 6pm
INDIANA MIDGET WEEK CHAMPIONS: (2005-2019)
2005: Shane Cottle
2006: Shane Cottle
2007: Jerry Coons, Jr.
2008: Tracy Hines
2009: Bryan Clauson
2010: Tracy Hines / Brad Kuhn
2011: Bryan Clauson
2012: Darren Hagen
2013: Christopher Bell
2014: Rico Abreu
2015: Rico Abreu
2016: Bryan Clauson
2017: Shane Golobic
2018: Spencer Bayston
2019: Logan Seavey
ALL-TIME INDIANA MIDGET WEEK WINS: (2005-2019)
1. (9) Bryan Clauson
2. (5) Christopher Bell & Kyle Larson
4. (4) Rico Abreu
5. (3) Spencer Bayston, Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney, Darren Hagen, Brad Kuhn, Michael Pickens & Tanner Thorson
12. (2) Jerry Coons, Jr., Davey Ray & Brad Sweet
15. (1) Brady Bacon, Chad Boat, Steve Buckwalter, Dave Darland, Zach Daum, Jay Drake, Justin Grant, Tracy Hines, Levi Jones, Johnny Rodriguez, Logan Seavey, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Kevin Swindell, Kevin Thomas, Jr. & Chris Windom
Schnapf Shot: It’s a First-Time USAC Sprint Winner at Tri-State!
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
#61m Stephen Schnapf, a first-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature winner Sunday night at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. (Rich Forman Photo)
SCHNAPF SHOT:
IT'S A FIRST-TIME USAC SPRINT WINNER AT TRI-STATE!
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Haubstadt, Indiana (June 14, 2020).........Stephen Schnapf knew he had the speed at Tri-State Speedway. He just had to finish that final third.
After last year's oh-so-close second-place finish in midsummer to Kyle Cummins in which Schnapf led all but the final four laps, the Evansville, Ind. native felt a victory on the big stage was just within reach, but just needed to close it out Mariano Rivera style.
"I knew last year we were fast," Schnapf remembered. "I knew we were able to get out and roll early, but Cummins got us every time last year. That last third of the race, he'd always be quicker and was able to get around us and we just couldn't quite hang on."
Sunday night, Schnapf finally found that final third to finish off his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory in the Midwest Sprint Car Series co-sanctioned "Showdown" at Haubstadt, Indiana's Tri-State Speedway, a monumental victory for the 31-year-old just one day shy of his 32nd birthday.
"This is like 22 or 23 years I've been racing now," Schnapf recalled. "We've won local championships, state championships, and have run well. I've been close to a feature win on the national level and this is honestly, truly, my first ever national feature win in any type of race car. It's taken so many years to finally get it, and I've had so many great people behind me over those years, and things just weren't quite able to work out. Finally, tonight, the stars just lined up for me. Tonight, it was kind of destiny, and it was going to be hard to be beaten."
Right from the get go, Schnapf was on point. Despite Schnapf starting from the pole, Cummins, who swept all nine Sprint Car feature victories in USAC and MSCS competition at the ¼-mile dirt oval track in 2019, was the odds-on favorite from the third starting spot and was already challenging Schnapf for the lead at the conclusion of lap one.
Schnapf withstood Cummins' challenge and burst off the top of turn four to beat Cummins to the line and, from there, extended his lead lap-after-lap, eventually carving out a half-straightaway lead in the first half of the 30-lapper.
As Schnapf fenagled his way through the back half of the field, Cummins began to reel him in, shaving a second off Schnapf's 1.6 second lead. On the 20th lap, Schnapf encountered Max Adams, attempting to put him a lap down, but Schnapf was caught up just enough to nearly allow Cummins to take full advantage of the door he left open underneath.
However, Schnapf secured his grasp, denying what ultimately became Cummins' last shot. Leading USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Rookie Anton Hernandez slowed moments later to bring out the caution, thus putting the intensity of traffic and the immediate pressure of Cummins' presence off Schnapf for the time being.
With that said, Schnapf was in a rhythm, and some drivers loathe the thought of restarts. Not so much for Schnapf, who considered it a blessing in a way with how well he could launch each time he saw the green.
Cummins was able to stay within a couple car lengths of Schnapf in the ensuing laps following the last restart, which started the final, crucial third of the race, but Cummins wasn't quite able to get a run. With six to go, however, any thought of Cummins making a run at a 10th consecutive Tri-State victory vanished.
Cummins was disposed of by Donny Brackett for second off turn four on the 24th lap, then a half-lap later, was overtaken for third by Robert Ballou. Suddenly, it was apparent something was amiss as Cummins slowed dramatically and pulled into the infield with an engine issue, ending his astounding winning streak with a 22nd place finish.
With the victory, Schnapf became the initial first-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature winner of 2020, and the first since Logan Seavey at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway in August of 2019. Schnapf was also the first first-time USAC Sprint winner at Tri-State since Carson Short in 2016. (Rich Forman Photo)
Schnapf stretched his lead out over Brackett and Ballou and appeared headed for surefire victory when 16th running Kendall Ruble spun to a stop in turn two, presenting a green-white-checkered finish, and another instance of Schnapf having to display his prowess this night on another restart.
"I knew I could restart," Schnapf confidently stated. "The motor was firing really good and I knew that just getting a restart, we got an opportunity to put three or four car lengths between us. I was happy to see that one, but with two go, I really wasn't as excited to see the caution. But I knew that, even there, just get a good start and don't miss the bottom, and it was ours."
And it was. Schnapf zipped away from the pack, leaving the battle to be fought for the runner-up position. Insanity ensued on the final corner of the final lap behind Schnapf when second-running Brackett, headed for his best career USAC finish, spun sideways in turn four, recovering only by driving through the infield and soldiering on to an 11th place result while Ballou, Kevin Thomas Jr., Carson Short and Justin Grant freight-trained by to take the remainder of the top-five spots at the checkered.
Following a relatively tough start to the night, Schnapf credits his ongoing building of experience to help him forge forward in diagnosing changes to take his ride from a good car to a winning car.
"Tonight, we actually came in way too tight; I couldn't keep the front end down on the ground," Schnapf admitted. "But, now with a few years of experience, we were able to keep traction and make a few tweaks just to make it driveable. That's where it was. It was hard to see Kyle drive away last year. All year, we searched to find that extra speed and we were never able to find it. Even though we didn't find it last year, we finally found that little bit of extra speed we needed here."
With the victory, Schnapf became the initial first-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature winner of 2020, and the first since Logan Seavey at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway in August of 2019. Schnapf was also the first first-time USAC Sprint winner at Tri-State since Carson Short in 2016.
Dave Darland's 61st career fast qualifying time during Fatheadz Eyewear time trials moved him past Tracy Hines for second all-time in series history. Darland, the all-time winningest driver in series history now ranks just four behind Tom Bigelow's record of 65 fast qualifying times.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 14, 2020 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - "The Showdown" - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval - Co-Sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Car Series
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/ADDICTION SOLUTIONS VINCENNES QUALIFYING FLIGHT ONE: 1. Donny Brackett, 4B, Brackett-13.749; 2. Carson Short, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-13.770; 3. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.816; 4. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.843; 5. Kendall Ruble, 17, Ruble/Martin-13.939; 6. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.948; 7. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-13.963; 8. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-13.989; 9. Shane Cottle, 74x, Hodges-14.128; 10. Brayden Fox, 53, Fox-14.158; 11. Jonathan Vennard, 54, KO-14.193; 12. Dustin Clark, 75, Clark-14.224; 13. Stan Beadles, 84, Beadles-14.392; 14. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin-14.490; 15. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.543; 16. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-14.662; 17. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.732; 18. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.926; 19. Harley Burns, 16, Burns-14.938; 20. Mitchell Davis, 56, Davis-15.406; 21. Sam Scott, 7, Scott- 15.648; 22. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-16.490; 23. Eric Perrott, 45, Perrott-16.984.
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/ADDICTION SOLUTIONS VINCENNES QUALIFYING FLIGHT TWO: 1. Dave Darland, 36d, EZR/Curb-Agajanian-13.647; 2. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.717; 3. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.787; 4. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-13.904; 5. Dakota Jackson, 17G, On The Gass-14.003; 6. Chris Windom, 19, Hayward-14.078; 7. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.159; 8. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-14.184; 9. Chayse Hayhurst, 20, Hayhurst-14.243; 10. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.276; 11. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-14.314; 12. Critter Malone, 5s, KO-14.363; 13. Aric Gentry, 10, GBR-14.407; 14. Brady Short, 11p, Short/Pottorff-14.484; 15. Chris Phillips, 6p, Phillips-14.492; 16. Brandon Morin, 98, Morin-14.610; 17. Dustin Smith, 77, LG-14.623; 18. Kent Schmidt, 5K, KO-14.638; 19. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-15.050; 20. Ryan Bond, 7R, Bond-15.282; 21. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio/Parallax-15.655; 22. Steve Thomas, 27, Thomas-16.495.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Donny Brackett, 2. Robert Ballou, 3. Jadon Rogers, 4. Jonathan Vennard, 5. Shane Cottle, 6. Jarett Andretti, 7. Logan Seavey, 8. Harley Burns, 9. Sam Scott, 10. Eric Perrott, 11. Kendall Ruble, 12. Stan Beadles. 2:21.816
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Dustin Clark, 4. Carson Short, 5. Kevin Thomas Jr., 6. Anton Hernandez, 7. Brayden Fox, 8. Mario Clouser, 9. Mitchell Davis, 10. Matt Westfall, 11. Robert Bell. 2:23.946
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Cummins, 2. Aric Gentry, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Dakota Jackson, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Max Adams, 7. Chris Phillips, 8. Dustin Smith, 9. Kurt Gross, 10. Chayse Hayhurst, 11. Anthony D'Alessio. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Stephen Schnapf, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Brandon Mattox, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Kent Schmidt, 6. Charles Davis Jr., 7. Brandon Morin, 8. Brady Short, 9. Ryan Bond, 10. Steve Thomas, 11. Critter Malone. NT
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Mario Clouser, 2. Kent Schmidt, 3. Brandon Morin, 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Mitchell Davis, 6. Dustin Smith, 7. Kurt Gross, 8. Matt Westfall, 9. Anthony D'Alessio, 10. Sam Scott, 11. Steve Thomas, 12. Eric Perrott, 13. Ryan Bond, 14. Robert Bell. 2:26.686
INDY METAL FINISHING SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Kendall Ruble, 3. Charles Davis Jr., 4. Max Adams, 5. Brady Short, 6. Anton Hernandez, 7. Dave Darland, 8. Brandon Morin, 9. Mario Clouser, 10. Shane Cottle, 11. Kent Schmidt, 12. Critter Malone, 13. Stan Beadles, 14. Brayden Fox, 15. Chayse Hayhurst, 16. Chris Phillips, 17. Logan Seavey, 18. Jarett Andretti. 2:56.830
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Stephen Schnapf (1), 2. Robert Ballou (2), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (15), 4. Carson Short (4), 5. Justin Grant (5), 6. Chris Windom (9), 7. Chase Stockon (11), 8. Brady Bacon (10), 9. Jadon Rogers (12), 10. Brady Short (21), 11. Donny Brackett (6), 12. C.J. Leary (7), 13. Brandon Mattox (16), 14. Charles Davis Jr. (14), 15. Kendall Ruble (13), 16. Max Adams (17), 17. Aric Gentry (20), 18. Kent Schmidt (24), 19. Dustin Clark (19), 20. Logan Seavey (23), 21. Dakota Jackson (8), 22. Kyle Cummins (3), 23. Anton Hernandez (22), 24. Jonathan Vennard (18), 25. Dave Darland (25), 26. Chayse Hayhurst (26). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Stephen Schnapf.
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-368, 2-Chris Windom-353, 3-Brady Bacon-344, 4-C.J. Leary-320, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-291, 6-Chase Stockon-283, 7-Carson Short-270, 8-Logan Seavey-253, 9-Dave Darland-234, 10-Robert Ballou-207.
NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Andrew Layser-31, 2-Logan Seavey-29, 3-Kevin Thomas Jr.-25, 4-Tanner Thorson-23, 5-Chris Windom-23, 6-Brady Bacon-20, 7-Mario Clouser-19, 8-Daison Pursley-18, 9-Tyler Courtney-16, 10-Tyler Thomas-16.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 26, 2020 - Plymouth Speedway - Plymouth, Indiana - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear/Addiction Solutions Vincennes Fast Qualifier: Dave Darland
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Donny Brackett
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: C.J. Leary
AutoMeter Third Heat Winner: Kyle Cummins
Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner: Stephen Schnapf
Indy Metal Finishing Semi Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Brady Short (21st to 10th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Brandon Mattox
Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer: Dave Darland
Déjà Vu: Grant Completes Weekend Sweep with I-55 Win
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Justin Grant was victorious for the second time in as many nights in Sunday's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55.
(Rich Forman Photo)
DÉJÀ VU: GRANT COMPLETES WEEKEND SWEEP WITH I-55 WIN
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Pevely, Missouri (June 7, 2020).........Less than 24 hours after driving to his first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory of the season, Justin Grant did the deed again, sweeping the weekend capper Sunday night at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Missouri.
Grant led wire-to-wire on Saturday night at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa after starting from the outside of the front row and leading all 30 laps in his TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink - TOPP Industries - The Bow Foundation/Maxim/Claxton Chevy. On Sunday, he was once again in the same position, outside the front row in the feature starting lineup.
Grant drew the last pill in the qualifying draw, but the Ione, Calif. native went against the grain, shunning conventional wisdom and instilling the idea within that the track would slow him up just enough to eventually put him on the front row for the feature. He believed it, and that's just how it played out after qualifying third fastest in flight two.
After snaring the lead from polesitter Chase Stockon at the line on the second go-around, Grant led the remainder of the 29 laps to score his 18th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory, moving him past Jerry Coons Jr., Parnelli Jones and Bud Kaeding for sole possession of 30th all-time.
Grant's fountain of confidence in current times is quite apparent, and he readily admits a successful run such as this after mighty struggles on occasions, is pretty sweet.
"When you're hot, you're hot. It's like you can't miss," Grant exclaimed. "Car's always perfect. Everything always works out. It's pretty magical when it's like this. It's not always like this, and I've done this enough to know that it can swing back the other way, but we'll work our butts off to make sure it doesn't for as long as we can."
The two Sprint victories come just two weeks after Grant won back-to-back Midget races over consecutive nights, including the final night of the T-Town Midget Showdown at Tulsa, Oklahoma's Port City Raceway on May 23.
Once Grant took the lead Sunday at I-55, from basically the get-go, the race was just as much a race against the ever-changing preferred line as it was against anybody else in the 22-car field. Grant swapped from top to bottom on both ends of the 1/3-mile dirt oval while Brady Bacon, winner of the first two series races in Ocala, Fla. in February, slotted into second and posted a challenge to Grant.
"Early on, the top was dirty," Grant recalled. "The curb hadn't really formed up yet and there was enough moisture on the bottom in three and four that I was running the top, and thought it's pretty dirty up there and looks pretty wide down there, so I dropped to the bottom. A couple of times, I saw Brady's nose down the back stretch. I ran the bottom in three and four until I felt like it was getting slow. I had to slow a fair bit to get off four. I thought I'd be better off blazing around the fence. I was pretty happy about that because I like blazing around the fence."
While Grant was busy searching for happiness against the fence, Matt Westfall became the unhappy one who found misfortune against the turn two wall on the sixth lap, flipping upside down, an incident from which the Pleasant Hill, Ohio driver walked away unscathed.
'Three and four got pretty ledgy,' Grant continued. 'But you'd make really good time getting into the ledge hard exiting four, but it would get you tight if you weren't careful. I got tight a couple times at the fence off four. That was a lot of fun. That's how sprint cars are supposed to race, cowboy up, banging the fence and trying to keep yourself from crashing.'
(Rich Forman Photo)
Grant and Bacon remained right against the wall, albeit of the inside variety, while Chris Windom and Tyler Courtney clung to the high line to make their surge to the front. And when a caution for a Mitchell Davis spin on lap 16 cleared the traffic and the path for the leaders, Grant took off, while Windom and Courtney, in quick succession on laps 17 and 18, powered around Bacon on the topside for the second and third spot, respectively.
Grant then went back to the top while sliding himself on entry into turns one and two. At one point, with it being slick on entry at the top of turn one, he admitted he about backed it into the fence, so he recalculated and changed up his approach. When his tires held their grip across the center, he thought he'd be hard to beat if that component of the track's surface remained.
"It was kind of sketchy because there was a hole on the bottom of one and two where the moisture was," Grant recalled. "I'd come blazing through there wide open and it'd get to bucking and it would bounce all the way across the slick in the middle of one and two, then bash into the cushion off two. Sometimes it'd blow through and bash into the wall."
"Three and four got pretty ledgy," Grant continued. "But you'd make really good time getting into the ledge hard exiting four, but it would get you tight if you weren't careful. I got tight a couple times at the fence off four. That was a lot of fun. That's how sprint cars are supposed to race, cowboy up, banging the fence and trying to keep yourself from crashing."
After a yellow involving Carson Short on the 19th lap, the top-two of Grant and Windom broke away with Grant jetting out to a 1.824 second advantage that was erased when Logan Seavey slowed with seven laps remaining, a victim of a flat left rear tire.
An outstanding restart from Grant on the lap 24 resumption was the final nail for the rest of the field, though Robert Ballou used the moment to split through the gap in turn three to jump from fifth to third.
All the while, Grant put the race on ice, taking the checkered with a 1.639 second advantage over Windom, Ballou, Tyler Courtney and Dave Darland.
Grant elevated himself to the series point lead with the victory. For Windom, it was his second runner-up finish of the season. He and Grant are the only two with top-five finishes in all four series starts. A third for Ballou equaled his third place run at I-55 from two years prior. Courtney's fourth place run in his season debut with the series came one night after finishing third in Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway's weekly wing sprint car racing program. Dave Darland's fifth-place finish was his best with the series since November 2018 at Arizona Speedway where finished second on the final night of the Western World Championships.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 7, 2020 - Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 - Pevely, Missouri - 1/3-Mile Dirt Oval
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING FLIGHT ONE: 1. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-12.971; 2. Chris Windom, 19, Hayward-13.182; 3. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.241; 4. Dave Darland, 36d, EZR/Curb-Agajanian-13.277; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.313; 6. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.410; 7. Dustin Clark, 75, Clark-13.476; 8. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin-13.499; 9. Jonathan Vennard, 54, KO-13.535; 10. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.558; 11. Dustin Smith, 77, Smith-13.558; 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-13.589; 13. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-13.613; 14. Anthony Nicholson, 16, Nicholson-13.704; 15. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio/Parallax-13.729; 16. Blake Vermillion, 73, Vermillion-13.746; 17. Chris Phillips, 6p, Phillips-13.772; 18. Korey Weyant, 99, Weyant-14.446; 19. Patrick Budde, 90, Budde-14.554; 20. Steve Thomas, 27, Thomas-14.611; 21. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-14.723.
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING FLIGHT TWO: 1. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.430; 2. C.J. Leary, 5K, KO-13.642; 3. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.797; 4. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-13.849; 5. Brayden Fox, 53, Fox-14.077; 6. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-14.096; 7. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.149; 8. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-14.207; 9. Carson Short, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-14.239; 10. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.266; 11. Tyler Kendall, 20, Kendall-14.315; 12. Jesse Vermillion, 5v, Vermillion-14.320; 13. Kory Schudy, 28K, Sawyer-14.322; 14. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-14.375; 15. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-14.411; 16. Zach Daum, 57, Artz-14.460; 17. Scotty Weir, 22, Goodnight-14.467; 18. Terry Babb, 88, Babb-14.540; 19. Braydon Cromwell, 4x, Cromwell-14.587; 20. Mitchell Davis, 56, Davis-14.684; 21. Scott Evans, 118, Evans-14.952.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Stockon, 2. Tyler Courtney, 3. Jonathan Vennard, 4. Mario Clouser, 5. Dustin Smith, 6. Anthony D'Alessio, 7. Chris Phillips, 8. Patrick Budde, 9. Robert Bell, 10. Logan Seavey, 11. Dustin Clark. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Anton Hernandez, 3. Robert Ballou, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Anthony Nicholson, 7. Blake Vermillion, 8. Korey Weyant, 9. Steve Thomas, 10. Isaac Chapple. NT
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Carson Short, 4. Matt Westfall, 5. Kory Schudy, 6. Jadon Rogers, 7. Scotty Weir, 8. Tyler Kendall, 9. Brayden Fox, 10. Scott Evans, 11. Braydon Cromwell. 1:56.879
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Brandon Mattox, 3. Sterling Cling, 4. Mitchell Davis, 5. Jesse Vermillion, 6. Zach Daum, 7. Wyatt Burks, 8. Terry Babb, 9. Matt Goodnight, 10. Kurt Gross. 1:59.453
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-5 transfer to the semi) 1. Jadon Rogers, 2. Korey Weyant, 3. Zach Daum, 4. Terry Babb, 5. Scotty Weir, 6. Blake Vermillion, 7. Scott Evans, 8. Braydon Cromwell, 9. Chris Phillips, 10. Robert Bell, 11. Steve Thomas, 12. Patrick Budde. 2:29.867 (New Track Record)
INDY METAL FINISHING SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Brayden Fox, 4. Wyatt Burks, 5. Dustin Clark, 6. Dustin Smith, 7. Matt Goodnight, 8. Isaac Chapple, 9. Anthony D'Alessio, 10. Anthony Nicholson, 11. Tyler Kendall, 12. Zach Daum, 13. Kory Schudy, 14. Jadon Rogers, 15. Scotty Weir, 16. Korey Weyant, 17. Jesse Vermillion, 18. Terry Babb. 2:40.932 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Chris Windom (4), 3. Robert Ballou (11), 4. Tyler Courtney (6), 5. Dave Darland (9), 6. C.J. Leary (3), 7. Brady Bacon (5), 8. Anton Hernandez (15), 9. Kevin Thomas Jr. (7), 10. Mario Clouser (21), 11. Dustin Smith (20), 12. Wyatt Burks (16), 13. Jonathan Vennard (17), 14. Chase Stockon (1), 15. Brandon Mattox (19), 16. Brayden Fox (10), 17. Sterling Cling (12), 18. Dustin Clark (13), 19. Logan Seavey (8), 20. Carson Short (18), 21. Mitchell Davis (22), 22. Matt Westfall (14). NT
**Matt Westfall flipped on lap 6 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Chase Stockon, Laps 2-30 Justin Grant.
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Justin Grant-300, 2-Chris Windom-291, 3-Brady Bacon-288, 4-C.J. Leary-273, 5-Logan Seavey-230, 6-Chase Stockon-225, 7-Kevin Thomas Jr.-223, 8-Dave Darland-205, 9-Carson Short-201, 10-Anton Hernandez-173.
NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Andrew Layser-31, 2-Logan Seavey-29, 3-Tanner Thorson-23, 4-Chris Windom-20, 5-Mario Clouser-19, 6-Brady Bacon-18, 7-Daison Pursley-18, 8-Tyler Courtney-16, 9-Tyler Thomas-16, 10-Anton Hernandez-14.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 14, 2020 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Tyler Courtney
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Chase Stockon
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.
AutoMeter Third Heat Winner: Justin Grant
Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner: C.J. Leary
Indy Metal Finishing Semi Winner: Dave Darland
KSE Racing Products / American Motor Racing Podcast Hard Charger: Mario Clouser (21st to 10th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Jonathan Vennard
Saldana Racing Products / The Frolic Bar & Grill First Non-Transfer: Matt Goodnight
Lakeland Square Laundry Heat Race Winner Bonus: Chase Stockon, Kevin Thomas Jr., Justin Grant & C.J. Leary
Everything Dirt Racing Hard Luck Award / First Car Out: Matt Westfall
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES NEWS
Posted by: | Comments
Thunder on the Hill
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JUNE 7, 2020
CONTACT: BOB MILLER 443 513 4456
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES
THUNDER ON THE HILL ANTICIPATES GREEN FLAG, 2020 SEASON TO OPEN TUESDAY, JUNE 30 WITH SPEED WEEK 410 SPRINT HODNETT CUP & 358 MODIFIEDS
It has been a long wait, but the NAPA Auto Parts Thunder on the Hill Racing Series should finally open and will showcase one of the premier events of the series, Speed Week for the 410 Sprints plus 358 NASCAR Modifieds, taking place at the Grandview Speedway on Tuesday night, June 30. The show will start at 7:30 PM with gates opening at 5 PM. The 410 sprints will take part in Time Trials, heat race events and a “B” Main leading up to the 35 lap Hodnett Cup feature event. For the 358 NASCAR Modifieds, they’ll be competing under their weekly rules and will qualify through heat race events, a consolation and a 30 lap main event that will carry NASCAR points.
Event sheets and payoff details for both the 410 Sprints and 358 Modifieds are posted on the website at www.thunderonthehillracingseries.com. Grandstand admission for this event is $30 for adults, $10 for children 6 to 11 and kids five and under will be admitted for free. The Pit fee is $40 and a license is not required. For questions on this event please feel free to call 443 513 4456.
The Thunder Series will continue on Tuesday night, August 4 when the USAC National Midgets invade the Hill for the 2nd Annual Ken Brenn Midget Masters also joined by the 358 NASCAR Modifieds with action getting underway at 7:30 PM. On Thursday night, August 27, Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions 410 sprints will bring the party to the Hill with the 358 NASCAR Modifieds being part of this double header on Levan Machine & Truck Night at Grandview.
The Thunder Series will close out 2020 with the Annual October Halloween event on Saturday night, October 17 with the Trick or Treat Triple 20’s for 358 Modifieds joined by the Sportsman with a 6 PM starting time.
The conditions and requirements under the COVID-19 situation are ever changing and we will provide updates as we approach race night. To offer the safest possible conditions for our fans, competitors, officials, safety crew and track employees, we are making the following requests.
Please bring exact change when purchasing general admission tickets or pit passes.
We also advise that you wear a face mask, although not mandatory.
When possible, especially when standing in line, practice social distancing and be consideration of the individuals around you.
Also, as much as we want you to join us, if you are not feeling well, please do not attend.
2020 marks the thirty-first season of the Thunder on the Hill Racing Series at Grandview Speedway. Grandview Speedway is a one-third mile high banked dirt oval located on Passmore Road, just off Route 100 in Bechtelsville, PA.
THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES SCHEDULE
Tuesday, June 30 THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES 7:30 PM
Pennsylvania 410 Sprint Car Speed Week Hodnett Cup & 358 Modifieds*
Tuesday, August 4 THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES 7:30 PM
USAC National Midgets Ken Brenn Midget Masters & 358 Modifieds*
Thursday, August 27 THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES 7:30 PM
Levan Machine & Truck Presents: Tony Stewart's All Star Circuit of Champions 410 Sprints & 358 Modifieds"
Saturday, October 17 THUNDER ON THE HILL RACING SERIES 6 PM
MODS AT THE MADHOUSE Trick or Treat Triple 20's & Sportsman
Grandview Speedway
GPS USERS: 43 Passmore Road, Bechtelsville, PA 19505
Located less than a mile off Route 100, 10 miles north of Pottstown, PA
Speedway Phone: 610-754-7688
Thunder on the Hill Racing Series Phone: 443-513-4456
Series Website: Track Website: www.grandviewspeedway.com
Twitter/Instagram: @TOTHRACING
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thunderonthehill
About Thunder on the Hill Racing Series
The brainchild of Grandview Speedway owner Bruce Rogers, special events promoter Bob Miller and local driving star Dave Kelly, the Thunder on the Hill Racing Series celebrates 31 years of the most anticipated events of the racing calendar year after year. In 137 events, over $4.8 million dollars has been divvied up among the area's fastest racers. What started as a single 410 Sprint Car event in 1990 has blossomed to feature a variety of racing action including 358 Modifieds, USAC Wingless Sprints, All-Star Circuit of Champions, USAC Midgets, 360 & 410 Sprint Cars, Sportsman, Late Models, Midgets, Legend Cars, DIRTcar and ROC Modified events.
About Grandview Speedway
Grandview Speedway is a high-banked one-third mile clay oval, celebrating their 58th Anniversary season in 2020. The facility offers free parking, quality food at reasonable prices (be sure to try the french fries), a program book, Grandview Speedway and Thunder on the Hill race wear and great viewing from every seat in the house. Race fans may take part in the Inside/Out promotion, where you can sign up (no charge) to watch warm-ups from inside turn four. Race fans are also invited to victory lane following the racing program and, race fans may enter the pits after the races to meet the drivers. Be ready to enjoy the spine-tingling fireworks salute on the feature event parade lap.
Grant Gets Back into the Groove at 34 Raceway USAC Sprint Return
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Justin Grant celebrates Saturday's USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. (Brendon Bauman Photo)
GRANT GETS BACK INTO THE GROOVE AT 34 RACEWAY USAC SPRINT RETURN
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
West Burlington, Iowa (June 6, 2020).........The return to racing has been very kind to Justin Grant over the past two weeks. With a pair of midget wins in recent weeks, a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory was next on the serving tray Saturday night at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa as the Ione, Calif. native led wire-to-wire in the first series event in 112 days.
With his 17th career series victory, Grant moved into a tie for 30th on the all-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win list alongside Jerry Coons, Jr., Parnelli Jones and Bud Kaeding.
Grant started from the outside of the front row and utilized the top side to surge past C.J. Leary on the initial aborted start. On the second try, Grant rinsed and repeated to get to the point ahead of Leary, who was making his debut in the KO Motorsports No. 5K normally driven by Kent Schmidt.
Leary's intended ride, the family owned No. 30, was heavily damaged in a high-flying, guardrail-clearing crash Friday night in a POWRi WAR Sprint Car race just a little down the road at Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa. A last-minute deal was struck late Friday night to put Leary in the seat for Saturday.
Grant extended his advantage ahead of Leary to over a second just six laps in as the leaders were already approaching traffic. That allowed Leary to close the gap and get within three-quarters of a second of Grant as they both waded their way through the throng.
Early on, the drivers on the tail end of the lead lap utilized the low line, but by the 10th lap, Grant's torrid pace had brought into the thick of battles for position in the pack, which occupied the lines on both the bottom and middle. As Dakota Jackson and Jonathan Vennard tussled side-by-side for position, Grant got briefly caught behind Vennard, who was making his first USAC National Sprint Car start since 2006, then swung high to get around both as Leary closed to within three car lengths of Grant's rear bumper.
Grant continued the forward march in his TOPP Motorsports/NOS Energy Drink - TOPP Industries - The Bow Foundation/Maxim/Claxton Chevy, sliding by to put Dustin Smith a lap down as the track surface began to take rubber following a hot, sun-baked afternoon. Grant ran his - at the time - fastest lap of the race at midway, pulling away to a 1.5 second lead over Leary once again.
With the heaviest of traffic still lying in wait out in front of him, and using lines top to middle to bottom, Grant found it to be tough sledding finding a spot to find his way into even though he knew he had the car on this night to do whatever he needed it to do. Yet, patience, conservation and more patience was the name of the game.
"I was plenty good enough to get a run to slide a lapper and get back to the rubber," Grant recalled. "But it was gridlock, there was nowhere to slip into. I tried it a couple times and about banged wheels with a guy. You can get your right front to their nerf bar, but you can spin yourself out, so you've got to be careful."
"I figured, just get nose-to-tail and nobody else can slide in, I guess, unless they run in and bash somebody," Grant continued. "So, I settled in and figured I'll just stay tight here, and if a hole opens up, I'll take it. If not, I'll just try to fend off what I can. There's not much you can do in that situation except not beat yourself."
With his 17th career series victory, Grant moved into a tie for 30th on the all-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win list alongside Jerry Coons, Jr., Parnelli Jones and Bud Kaeding. (Brendon Bauman Photo)
With five to go, Grant entered turn one on the bottom, then drifted up to the middle, allowing Leary to stick a nose to the inside of Grant for the race lead. When Leary became fully beside him, that caught Grant's attention.
"I saw a right front poke up underneath me and thought it's probably not a lapper trying to drive up alongside me."
It certainly wasn't, and Grant was able to fend Leary off, driving back around the outside off turn two to retain the lead. One lap later, the deck was reshuffled when 16th running Brandon Mattox slowed in turn three with a flat right rear tire, setting up a four-lap dash to the finish, albeit now without the throes of traffic.
"Once the yellow came out, it's like okay, let's get the tires cooled down," Grant said. "Then, you want to keep air in them; you've got to keep them cool, but you also got to keep them hot enough so they keep air in them. I'm trying to do that and not wear them out. When it went back green, I smoked two or three hard ones to get the air back up in the tire, and thought, 'let's get a cushion, settle in and start rolling on the right front through the center.' Once it got quiet, I went back into tire conservation mode."
Grant admitted he's usually not too excited being the leader when the track lays rubber and the yellow comes out, but it was fixing to be a dogfight down the stretch, and this time, he didn't have a problem with the stoppage.
"I was glad to see the yellow come out and get us some open track," Grant said. "Rubber's always nerve wracking because a small miss can cost you a half-second, three quarters of a second a lap. It can be locked in here and an inch and a half over, it's dead slick."
Grant found the groove theoretically, figuratively and literally in the last stint, completing the fastest lap of the race on the final circuit, to reign victorious for the first time with the series in 2020 by 0.845 sec. over Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr., Brady Bacon and Chris Windom.
For fourth-place finisher Bacon, it was his 334th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature start, moving him into the top-ten all-time past 1977-81-82 series champion Sheldon Kinser.
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier: Brady Bacon
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Justin Grant
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Carson Short
AutoMeter Third Heat Winner: Logan Seavey
Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner: Robert Ballou
Indy Metal Finishing Semi Winner: Mario Clouser
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger: Kory Schudy (21st to 14th)
Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher: Dave Darland
Saldana Racing Products / The Frolic Bar & Grill First Non-Transfer: Matt Goodnight
Top California Finisher Courtesy of Stephanie Odom: Justin Grant
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 6, 2020 - 34 Raceway - West Burlington, Iowa
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING FLIGHT ONE: 1. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.982; 2. Chris Windom, 19, Hayward-15.131; 3. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-15.198; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.439; 5. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-15.531; 6. Carson Short, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-15.574; 7. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-15.585; 8. Dustin Smith, 77, Smith-15.663; 9. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-15.751; 10. Slater Helt, 24, Simon-15.808; 11. Jonathan Vennard, 54, KO-15.824; 12. Mitch Wissmiller, 29, RMB-15.831; 13. Terry Babb, 88, Babb-15.920; 14. Dakota Jackson, 17, On The Gass-15.987; 15. Kory Schudy, 28K, Sawyer-15.995; 16. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-16.193; 17. Blake Vermillion, 73, Vermillion-16.201; 18. Dustin Clark, 75, Clark-16.236; 19. Ben Knight, 16K, Knight-16.296; 20. Braydon Cromwell, 4x, Cromwell-16.348; 21. Steve Thomas, 27, Thomas-17.244.
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING FLIGHT TWO: 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-15.229; 2. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-15.493; 3. C.J. Leary, 5K, KO-15.611; 4. Dave Darland, 36d, EZR/Curb-Agajanian-15.722; 5. Logan Seavey, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-15.725; 6. Anthony D'Alessio, 01, D'Alessio/Parallax-15.783; 7. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-15.923; 8. Jadon Rogers, 14, Rogers-16.042; 9. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-16.134; 10. Mitchell Davis, 56, Davis-16.139; 11. Sterling Cling, 34, Cling-16.165; 12. Scotty Weir, 22, Goodnight-16.238; 13. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin-16.253; 14. Zach Daum, 57, Artz-16.315; 15. Chris Phillips, 6p, Phillips-16.475; 16. Anthony Nicholson, 16, Nicholson-16.548; 17. Terry Richards, 18, TR's Tool Service-16.943; 18. Logan Faucon, 52F, Faucon-16.979; 19. Patrick Budde, 90, Budde-17.115; 20. Jesse Vermillion, 5v, Vermillion-17.487; 21. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-17.710.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Jonathan Vennard, 4. Brandon Mattox, 5. Wyatt Burks, 6. Matt Goodnight, 7. Kory Schudy, 8. Ben Knight, 9. Terry Babb, 10. Blake Vermillion, 11. Steve Thomas. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Carson Short, 2. Dustin Smith, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Dakota Jackson, 6. Mitch Wissmiller, 7. Slater Helt, 8. Dustin Clark, 9. Isaac Chapple, 10. Braydon Cromwell. 2:12.911
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. Matt Westfall, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. Mario Clouser, 6. Anton Hernandez, 7. Chris Phillips, 8. Terry Richards, 9. Patrick Budde, 10. Robert Bell, 11. Sterling Cling. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Jadon Rogers, 4. Mitchell Davis, 5. Logan Faucon, 6. Jesse Vermillion, 7. Anthony D'Alessio, 8. Scotty Weir, 9. Anthony Nicholson, 10. Zach Daum. NT
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Anthony Nicholson, 2. Blake Vermillion, 3. Terry Richards, 4. Dustin Clark, 5. Logan Faucon, 6. Jesse Vermillion, 7. Ben Knight, 8. Steve Thomas, 9. Braydon Cromwell, 10. Patrick Budde. NT
INDY METAL FINISHING SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Mario Clouser, 2. Wyatt Burks, 3. Anton Hernandez, 4. Zach Daum, 5. Dakota Jackson, 6. Kory Schudy, 7. Matt Goodnight, 8. Slater Helt, 9. Terry Babb, 10. Chris Phillips, 11. Scotty Weir, 12. Anthony Nicholson, 13. Dustin Clark, 14. Blake Vermillion, 15. Anthony D'Alessio, 16. Isaac Chapple, 17. Terry Richards, 18. Mitch Wissmiller. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. C.J. Leary (1), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (5), 4. Brady Bacon (6), 5. Chris Windom (4), 6. Logan Seavey (7), 7. Robert Ballou (3), 8. Wyatt Burks (10), 9. Carson Short (8), 10. Chase Stockon (9), 11. Mario Clouser (11), 12. Matt Westfall (16), 13. Dave Darland (14), 14. Kory Schudy (21), 15. Jadon Rogers (13), 16. Zach Daum (20), 17. Mitchell Davis (17), 18. Jonathan Vennard (18), 19. Chris Phillips (22), 20. Matt Goodnight (24), 21. Brandon Mattox (15), 22. Dustin Smith (12), 23. Dakota Jackson (19), 24. Anton Hernandez (23). NT
**Sterling Cling flipped during the third heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Justin Grant.
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-229, 2-Justin Grant-222, 3-Chris Windom-214, 4-C.J. Leary-210, 5-Logan Seavey-198, 6-Chase Stockon-180, 7-Carson Short-172, 8-Kevin Thomas Jr.-169, 9-Dave Darland-140, 10-Kyle Cummins-130.
NEW OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Andrew Layser-31, 2-Logan Seavey-29, 3-Tanner Thorson-23, 4-Brady Bacon-18, 5-Chris Windom-18, 6-Daison Pursley-18, 7-Tyler Thomas-16, 8-Kevin Thomas Jr.-13, 9-Tyler Courtney-10, 10-Cannon McIntosh-9.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 7, 2020 - Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 - Pevely, Missouri
