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CONVINCING COURTNEY CRUSHES ELDORA FIELD
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Tyler Courtney captured a convincing win Friday night at Eldora Speedway's #LetsRaceTwo. (Ryan Sellers Photo)
CONVINCING COURTNEY CRUSHES ELDORA FIELD
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Rossburg, Ohio (May 11, 2019).........Over the past two seasons, Tyler Courtney has experienced the feeling of winning in all three of USAC's National divisions at Eldora Speedway.
Perhaps none of those performances were as impressive as the one the Indianapolis, Ind. driver turned in during Friday's night one of the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship portion of #LetsRaceTwo.
Courtney didn't bat an eye having to start from the inside of row four, charging to the front of the field in rapid-fire succession to the point by lap six with a turn one slider on Kevin Thomas, Jr. From there, Courtney staged a disappearing act from everyone second on back, winning by a whopping 8.704 seconds and lapping up to seventh place.
"We kind of got behind the eight-ball starting seventh there," Courtney explained. "You've got to get your way to the front early and we were fortunate enough to have a really good car. With (crew chief Tyler Ransbottom) on the wrenches, I had one spot-on racecar and that made my job pretty easy."
Right from the get-go, Courtney was on a mission, which was briefly halted following a turn four flip on lap three by Dave Darland, who eventually walked away after the rough and tumble ride into the catch fence.
Following the restart, Courtney put his Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing/NOS Energy Drink - Competition Suspension, Inc./Spike/Rider Chevy up top, racing around Carson Short for second on the fourth circuit, then set forth to challenge Thomas for the race lead.
It didn't take long for Courtney to rope Thomas in, as he sized Thomas up coming to the stripe at the completion of lap five before diving low at the entrance to turn one, sliding up and securing the spot. Thomas took a run back at Courtney in turn three a half lap later to no avail as Courtney extended his rapidly-growing advantage to 2.5 seconds with a third of the race in arrears.
Courtney's interval was wiped clean and re-racked when five-time Eldora USAC winner Robert Ballou slowed coming off turn two while running eighth. His machine limped to the turn four pit entrance, stopping just shy, bringing out the second and final stoppage of the evening.
Courtney's 18th career series win moved him into sole possession of 28th on the all-time list, surpassing Jerry Coons, Jr., Parnelli Jones and Bud Kaeding. (Ryan Sellers Photo)
Courtney slid himself into turn one on the ensuing restart, closing the curtain on any thought of an attempted slider from Thomas. Courtney powered away and took command of a full-straightaway lead past the halfway mark of the 30-lapper.
Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier C.J. Leary and Thomas exchanged the second position multiple times before Leary limbo'd by Thomas on the bottom of turn three on the 18th lap. Thomas contested the spot before Leary ultimately cleared Thomas for the runner-up position on the high side between turns one and two. Brady Bacon mimicked Leary's tactic one lap later to snare third.
Courtney continued to gain ground as the interval increased lap-by-lap while slicing between the lapped cars of Nick Bilbee and Matt Westfall in turn one on the 22nd lap. Courtney drove into the top-ten late in the going, albeit an entire lap ahead of them, with no indication of showing any mercy.
"This is Eldora. You can't relax here," Courtney reiterated. "You've got to get up on the wheel every lap because, if not, this place will bite you. It's done it to me before. This is a place you can't slack off for 30 laps."
With two to go, Courtney drove by eighth place Justin Grant and was closing in on Chase Stockon in seventh and Thomas and sixth when the checkered fell for the defending series champ. Behind Courtney at the line were new point leader Leary in second, followed by Bacon, Chris Windom and Short.
Courtney's 18th career series win was his first of the season and moved him into sole possession of 28th on the all-time list, surpassing Jerry Coons, Jr., Parnelli Jones and Bud Kaeding.
Contingency award winners Friday night at Eldora Speedway were C.J. Leary (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Chad Boespflug (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Carson Short (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Matt Westfall (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Isaac Chapple (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Dallas Hewitt (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: May 10, 2019 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - #LetsRaceTwo
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-15.203; 2. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-15.347; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.535; 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-15.564; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-15.570; 6. Carson Short, 21, RCM-15.613; 7. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-15.644; 8. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-15.683; 9. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-15.692; 10. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-15.734; 11. Dave Darland, 17GP, Dutcher/Curb-Agajanian-15.747; 12. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-15.857; 13. Chad Boespflug, 98e, EZR-15.860; 14. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-15.891; 15. Dallas Hewitt, 18, Keen-16.008; 16. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-16.066; 17. Carmen Perigo, 21p, Perigo-16.067; 18. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-16.107; 19. Ty Tilton, 42, Tilton-16.120; 20. Dustin Ingle, 2DI, Ingle-16.249; 21. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-16.254; 22. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-16.313; 23. Kory Crabtree, 60, Gagliardi-16.416; 24. Corey Smith, 66s, CS-16.426; 25. Lee Underwood, 24L, Underwood-16.444; 26. Dustin Smith, 77s. Smith-16.538; 27. Matt Cooley, 19c, Cooley-16.606; 28. Michael Fischesser, 44, Fischesser-16.689; 29. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-16.885; 30. Gage Etgen, 99, Etgen-16.986; 31. Steve Little, 53, Little-17.066; 32. Mike Burkin, 79, Mahoney-17.069; 33. Mike Miller, 82, Miller-17.091; 34. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-17.096; 35. Justin Owen, 4J, Owen-17.240; 36. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-17.747; 37. Zane Hendricks, 27, Goodnight-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Boespflug, 2. Buckwalter, 3. Thomas, 4. Leary, 5. Bilbee, 6. Hewitt, 7. C. Smith, 8. Burkin, 9. Etgen, 10. Jackson. 2:09.64
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. Stockon, 3. Darland, 4. Hodges, 5. Crabtree, 6. Tilton, 7. Little, 8. Underwood, 9. Miller. 2:10.42
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Bacon, 2. Windom, 3. Westfall, 4. Grant, 5. Chapple, 6. VanMeveren, 7. Cooley, 8. Goodnight, 9. Ruhlman. 2:11.70
INDY RACE FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Short, 2. Ballou, 3. McDougal, 4. Ingle, 5. D. Smith, 6. Perigo, 7. Owen, 8. Fischesser. 2:13.01
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Bilbee, 2. Tilton, 3. Perigo, 4. Chapple, 5. VanMeveren, 6. D. Smith, 7. Hewitt, 8. C. Smith, 9. Crabtree, 10. Underwood, 11. Fischesser, 12. Burkin, 13. Owen, 14. Goodnight, 15. Cooley, 16. Little, 17. Etgen, 18. Ruhlman, 19. Miller. 3:36.74
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (7), 2. C.J. Leary (6), 3. Brady Bacon (5), 4. Chris Windom (10), 5. Carson Short (3), 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2), 7. Chase Stockon (4), 8. Justin Grant (1), 9. Jason McDougal (12), 10. Isaac Chapple (18), 11. Ty Tilton (17), 12. Nick Bilbee (20), 13. Matt Westfall (16), 14. Dustin Smith (21), 15. Carmen Perigo (15), 16. Brian VanMeveren (23), 17. Matt Goodnight (22), 18. Dustin Ingle (19), 19. Josh Hodges (14), 20. Timmy Buckwalter (9), 21. Chad Boespflug (13), 22. Robert Ballou (8). 23. Dave Darland (11). NT
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**Hendricks flipped during qualifying. Darland flipped on lap 3 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Thomas, Laps 6-30 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Isaac Chapple (18th to 10th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Matt Westfall
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Dallas Hewitt
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Leary-362, 2-Thomas-351, 3-Courtney-323, 4-Stockon-313, 5-Bacon-306, 6-Grant-299, 7-Windom-298, 8-Short-264, 9-McDougal-260, 10-Ballou-252.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: May 11, 2019 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - #LetsRaceTwo
HOLY TOLEDO! SWANSON WINS 4TH ROLLIE BEALE CLASSIC
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Kody Swanson holds the check after winning Sunday's 'Rollie Beale Classic' at Toledo Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo)
HOLY TOLEDO! SWANSON WINS 4TH ROLLIE BEALE CLASSIC
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Toledo, Ohio (April 28, 2019).........Mother Nature may have delayed Sunday's USAC Silver Crown race at Toledo Speedway by one day, but it still couldn't keep Kody Swanson out of victory lane as he wired all 100 laps to score his fourth career Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness "Rollie Beale Classic" victory, his record-extending 26th overall Silver Crown victory and second-straight in the series to begin the 2019 season.
Granted, any victory is difficult to come by. The Kingsburg, Calif. native always seems to make it look relatively easily, although the backstories certainly tell a different tale.
In the March Memphis opener, Swanson and Nolen Racing endured a number of mechanical issues that forced them to a backup car on raceday. The team went on to win their debut after starting from the pole. To onlookers, the story appeared to unfold much the same Sunday at Toledo, winning his 26th career pole position and leading all 100 laps to win his sixth-straight Silver Crown race on pavement, an all-time record.
However, as with most success stories in racing, chapter one begins "Once upon a time..." somewhere in the race shop, with a crew burning the midnight oil with hour-after-hour of tedious maintenance and improvements. Or, perhaps, on the road, the setting may become a parking lot, as it was with Swanson and Nolen.
"The Nolen Racing 20 and everybody that's involved is just digging harder and harder," Swanson explained. "Yesterday, we worked in the parking lot for six-and-a-half hours before the rain came to make sure we'd be ready. Whether we liked it or not at the time, it's the kind of stuff like that that gives you a chance to finish 100 laps and a chance to win on race day."
Just two days shy of Kody and his wife, and spotter, Jordan's eighth anniversary, Swanson was able to scoot out to the lead at the drop of the green, leading a three-car breakaway with outside front row starter Kyle Hamilton and Eric Gordon in tow.
On the 20th lap, second-running Hamilton encountered an issue and began to slow to bring out the yellow, ending a promising bid for a win after challenging Swanson in the early-going. An inadvertent yellow slotted him back to eighth on the ensuing restart where he was able to gather himself and race back to a sixth-place finish by race's end.
On lap 33, seventh-running C.J. Leary's car blew off a radiator hose in turn two. Chaos developed behind him as the oncoming drivers took evasive action. Justin Grant went right to avoid the spinning Leary. Kevin Thomas, Jr. had no place to go, ramping over Grant's right rear and slamming nose-first into the outside back straightaway wall, sending his car into a 360-degree, mid-air roundabout before landing on all fours. Hamilton was also caught up in the incident, spinning to the inside without contact. Hamilton restarted, but the incident marked the end of the day for both Leary and Thomas.
Following the cleanup, and through the mid-portion of the race, the man on the move was 2017 "Rollie Beale Classic" winner Bobby Santos. Santos started 11th, but before the yellow, was up to sixth before turning up the wick, using the high line to enter the top-five around the outside of 2016 series champ Chris Windom between turns three and four on lap 48.
Three laps later, he used the bottom to drive by David Byrne on the low line for fourth on the 51st lap, then took third on lap 54 when second-running Gordon fell off the pace with a driveline issue, then set forth toward Aaron Pierce for the runner-up position before two-time American LeMans Series champ Chris Dyson spun backward into the infield grass in turn three on lap 59.
In his addition to his 26th win Sunday at Toledo, Kody Swanson also picked up his 26th career USAC Silver Crown pole position. (Rich Forman Photo)
On the lap 67 restart, Windom entered the fray once again as a four-car battle for second ensued between Pierce in second, while Windom and Santos dueled side-by-side for third, with Grant trailing the herd in fifth. Santos finally cleared Windom with just a little more than a quarter of the race left in the tank and set forth once again toward Pierce for second.
In the meantime, Swanson had boosted his lead up to 2.5 seconds and growing while Pierce and Santos duked it out western saloon-style more than a half-straightaway back. Santos aimed low in turns three and four below Pierce on lap 90 of 100 to pull even off the exit of turn four. Santos had the run on Pierce into turn one. Pierce wound up wide in turn two, allowing Santos to breakaway with the runner-up spot. However, dwindling time and hope impeded Santos' opportunity to chase down Swanson who was, by then, more than four seconds ahead.
Swanson closed out yet another "Rollie Beale Classic" victory, following triumphs in 2011, 2015 and 2018. Swanson held the advantage by 4.121 seconds at the checkered over Santos, Pierce, Grant and Windom. Swanson now holds an 18-point lead over Santos, Grant, Hamilton and leading Rookie Joey Schmidt.
Of note, the relatively frosty afternoon got a bit heated between Santos and Pierce during the post-race ceremonies with Santos challenging Pierce to a boxing match on the front straightaway to the delight of the fans. Tempers were tempered, cooler heads prevailed and racing continued with an Auto Value Bumper-to-Bumper Super Sprint Car Series feature. Santos ended upside down after a scary-looking crash on lap four. Under the red flag, Pierce helped tip Santos' damaged ride back on its wheels before Pierce went on to score the 25-lap victory over fellow Silver Crown starters Grant, Schmidt and Russ Gamester.
Contingency award winners Sunday at Toledo Speedway were Kody Swanson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Austin Nemire (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Cody Gerhardt (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 28, 2019 - Toledo Speedway - Toledo, Ohio - Hemelgarn Racing/Super Fitness "Rollie Beale Classic"
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-14.856; 2. Kyle Hamilton, 6, Klatt-15.098; 3. Aaron Pierce, 26, Pierce-15.129; 4. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-15.165; 5. C.J. Leary, 10, DMW-15.201; 6. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-15.202; 7. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-15.220; 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 11, DHR/Byrd-15.233; 9. Jason Conn, 88, DHR-15.324; 10. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-15.327; 11. Bobby Santos, 22, DJ-15.363; 12. Derek Bischak, 131, Bischak-15.376; 13. Joey Schmidt, 25, Pierce-15.460; 14. Chris Dyson, 9, Dyson-15.476; 15. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-15.485; 16. Russ Gamester, 51, Gamester-15.552; 17. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-15.603; 18. Cody Gallogly, 81, Williams-15.624; 19. Brian Gerster, 94, Ram-15.647; 20. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-15.663; 21. Cody Gerhardt, 60, Gerhardt-15.710; 22. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-16.103; 23. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-NT; 24. Jim Anderson, 92, Kazmark-NT.
FEATURE: (100 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kody Swanson (1), 2. Bobby Santos (11), 3. Aaron Pierce (3), 4. Justin Grant (6), 5. Chris Windom (10), 6. Kyle Hamilton (2), 7. Austin Nemire (20), 8. Derek Bischak (12), 9. Joey Schmidt (13), 10. Brian Gerster (19), 11. Russ Gamester (16), 12. Mike Haggenbottom (22), 13. Cody Gerhardt (21), 14. Kyle Robbins (17), 15. Cody Gallogly (18), 16. Chris Dyson (14), 17. Matt Goodnight (15), 18. Eric Gordon (4), 19. David Byrne (7), 20. Jason Conn (9), 21. C.J. Leary (5), 22. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (8).
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-100 Swanson.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Austin Nemire (20th to 7th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Cody Gerhardt
NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Swanson-152, 2-Santos-134, 3-Grant-125, 4-Hamilton-116, 5-Schmidt-104, 6-Bischak-98, 7-Pierce-91, 8-Nemire-85, 9-Windom-81, 10-Gordon-79.
NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: May 23, 2019 - Indiana State Fairgrounds - Indianapolis, Indiana - 64th "Hoosier Hundred"
DREVICKI WIRES LINCOLN IN EAST COAST SPRINT OPENER
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Steven Drevicki celebrates victory at Lincoln Speedway. (USAC Photo)
DREVICKI WIRES LINCOLN IN EAST COAST SPRINT OPENER
By: Jenna Shotz
ABBOTSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA (April 14th, 2019).........The 2018 USAC East Coast Points Champion, Steven Drevicki, started off his 2019 campaign in the best way possible. Drevicki, from Reading, Pennsylvania combined his knowledge of Lincoln Speedway and his expertise in a wingless sprint car and came up with a near flawless night of racing.
Heat #1 went to Carlisle, PA's Chandler Leiby. Late in the race, Leiby felt the heat from Eddie Strada, who came from the sixth starting spot. Leiby ran a consistent and clean line, holding off Strada for the heat win.
Heat #2 went to Eric Jennings, of Bloomingburg, NY. Jennings took the lead from young-gun, Trey Hivner early on. Jennings went on to capture the heat win, despite constant pressure from Steven Drevicki, who came all the way from eight place.
After a six-car redraw, Drevicki found himself on the pole position. Before the race, Drevicki said, "I don't usually like the pole because I never know where to go." After testing a few different lines, Drevicki found comfort in the bottom groove. Carmen Perigo was an early contender, but Strada and Jennings battled him hard, allowing Drevicki to pull away.
On lap 14, Drevicki caught up to lap traffic. He was able to finesse his way through the field with ease, not allowing anyone to gain much ground on him.
The USAC East Coast 360 Sprint Cars will make their next appearance THIS WEDNESDAY April 17th, 2019 at the Delaware International Speedway. More information will be released soon.
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USAC RAPID TIRE EAST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: April 13, 2019 - Lincoln Speedway - Abbottstown, Pennsylvania
FIRST HEAT: (8 Laps, All Qualify, Top 3 to Redraw) 1. Chandler Leiby (119), 2. Eddie Strada (5G), 3. Carmen Perigo (21), 4. Ryan Quackenbush (5Q), 5. Mark Bitner (15), 6. Bill Unglert (33B), 7. David Swanson (117), 8. Heidi Hedin (3H), 9. Craig Pelligrini (11A) (DNS)
SECOND HEAT: (8 Laps, All Qualify, Top 3 to Redraw) 1. Eric Jennings (32), 2. Steven Drevicki (19), 3. Trey Hivner (7), 4. Chris Allen Jr (71), 5. Matt Boland (22T), 6. Trevor Kobylarz (14), 7. Johnathon Swanson (17J), 8. Larry Drake (8), 9. Joey Biasi (B1) (DNS)
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Steven Drevicki (19), 2. Eddie Strada (5G), 3. Carmen Perigo (21), 4. Chris Allen Jr (71), 5. Chandler Leiby (119), 6. Eric Jennings (32), 7. Trey Hivner (7), 8. Trevor Kobylarz (14), 9. Bill Ungler (33B), 10. Johnathon Swanson (17J), 11. Matt Boland (22T), 12. Heidi Hedin (3H), 13. Larry Drake (8), 14. Ryan Quackenbush (5Q), 15. David Swanson (117), 16. Mark Bitner (15), 17. Craig Pelligrini (11A)
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: 1-25 Steven Drevicki
SCOTTY SIGNS HARD CHARGER: Chris Allen Jr. (+4)
BACON BANKS LARRY RICE CLASSIC AT BLOOMINGTON
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Brady Bacon celebrates Friday's 'Larry Rice Classic' victory at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway. (David Nearpass Photo)
BACON BANKS LARRY RICE CLASSIC AT BLOOMINGTON
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Bloomington, Indiana (April 12, 2019).........Following a sluggish start to the season in Ocala, Fla. in the first three races of the year, Brady Bacon made doubly sure he saw the checkered flag in Friday night's "Larry Rice Classic" USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature at Bloomington Speedway.
After results of 7th, 15th and 11th back in February amidst his return to the famed Hoffman Auto Racing/Dynamics, Inc. No. 69, the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native was anxious to get off the schneid, so to speak, corralling the 24th win of his career with the series, surpassing A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey to move into sole position of 21st on the all-time list.
Bacon led all 30 laps from the pole and, in the process, broke an 18-year-old 30-lap track record on the quarter-mile of red clay, previously held by A.J. Anderson, showing that the two-time series champ remains at the top of his game.
"We put our heads together after Florida and tried not to get in panic mode yet because Ocala is just a different place," Bacon explained. "We just made sure we had our i's dotted and our t's crossed when we came here."
There was no stopping Bacon on this evening, even if the reflection of the lights were trying to trick his mind.
"I actually thought I saw the white flag with the way the lights were reflecting off the move over flag," Bacon said. "The flag man was waving it pretty vigorously and I thought it was the white. Luckily, I kept going another lap and I saw it again, so I knew I wasn't right. I just kept going until I knew I saw the double checkers."
From the get-go, Bacon was the class of the field, instantly building his advantage to a half-straightaway over outside front row starter Kevin Thomas, Jr. by lap four. Bacon continued to increase the interval until meeting the tail end of a highway jam on lap nine with a seven-car gaggle jostling for position at the back, pairing down Bacon's lead to a half-second on a closing Thomas.
The winningest driver for the Hoffman family in USAC National Sprint Car competition, Bacon ringed the top in turns three and four and the bottom of one and two as he navigated the narrow crevices between the lappers. With 11 laps to go, Bacon sought daylight between the cars of Stephen Schnapf and Isaac Chapple in turn three. Bacon grabbed the rays, splitting the two to find the welcome view of an unoccupied road out of his visor with two-thirds of the race in the books.
"I was fortunate enough to sneak through a couple times," Bacon recalled. "Your mental clock gets ticking and I kind of had to force the issue a couple times to get by a couple guys. It's part of racing here. It gets a little narrow, but usually there's two grooves here. The bottom was not as prevalent as it typically is here. Usually, you can sneak by lapped cars on the bottom. I was having a tough time doing that, so I had to slide up out of the way."
Bacon's 24th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory Friday night at Bloomington moved him by A.J. Foyt and Roger McCluskey for sole position of 21st on the all-time series win list. (David Nearpass Photo)
From that point forward, Bacon was by his lonesome as he lapped up to 13th place on his way to his first career feature victory of any kind at Bloomington aboard his Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green - Fatheadz Eyewear - Tel-Star/Triple X/Hershey Chevy.
Second went to a distant Thomas 2.158 seconds behind Bacon at the finish. Rounding out the top-five were Jason McDougal, KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger Tyler Courtney (from 9th) and Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier and new one-lap track record holder C.J. Leary.
It's a sense of sweet redemption for Bacon at Bloomington, picking up his first win at the southern Indiana staple after being on the brink of victory earlier in his career.
"I've run second here a couple times," Bacon remembered. "In 2007 or 2008, I led almost the whole race in the spring like this and slid off the track. I've been coming here for so long, you kind of take it for granted. But it's cool to win at a historic place like this. The green grass in the spring here is always the sign that it's time to go racing. This is a tough racetrack to win at and I'm happy we could do it and to be back with the Hoffman team. I'm glad to shake off our rough start and get back to our usual results."
Contingency award winners Friday night at Bloomington Speedway were C.J. Leary (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Robert Ballou (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Brady Bacon (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Chase Stockon (Indy Race Parts Semi Winner) and Dakota Jackson (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 12, 2019 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - "Larry Rice Classic"
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-10.685 (New Track Record); 2. Chad Boespflug, 98e, EZR-10.713; 3. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-10.860; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-10.880; 5. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-10.908; 6. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-10.920; 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-10.943; 8. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-10.961; 9. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, CMNR-10.977; 10. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-11.050; 11. Jordan Kinser, 70, Hurst-11.087; 12. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-11.119; 13. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-11.150; 14. Lee Underwood, 24L, Underwood-11.175; 15. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-11.212; 16. Carson Short, 21, RCM-11.214; 17. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-11.291; 18. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-11.305; 19. T.J. Artz, 57, Artz-11.392; 20. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-11.410; 21. Joe Stornetta, 04, Burton-11.427; 22. Michael Koontz, 17K, Koontz-11.508; 23. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-11.614; 24. Dave Darland, 2E, Epperson-11.648; 25. Kyle Hathaway, 7H, Hathaway-11.854; 26. Eric Perrott, 45, Perrott-12.891.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Ballou, 2. Short, 3. K. Thomas, 4. Schnapf, 5. Leary, 6. Stockon, 7. Koontz, 8. Artz, 9. Hathaway. 1:57.27
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Bacon, 2. Kinser, 3. Chapple, 4. Boespflug, 5. Christie, 6. Daum, 7. Underwood, 8. Hodges, 9. Perrott. NT
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. McDougal, 3. Grant, 4. Stornetta, 5. Jackson, 6. Darland, 7. Windom. NT
INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer) 1. Stockon, 2. Windom, 3. Underwood, 4. Darland, 5. Artz, 6. Daum, 7. Hodges, 8. Koontz, 9. Hathaway, 10. Perrott. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (1), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2), 3. Jason McDougal (4), 4. Tyler Courtney (9), 5. C.J. Leary (6), 6. Justin Grant (3), 7. Chad Boespflug (5), 8. Chase Stockon (7), 9. Chris Windom (12), 10. Robert Ballou (13), 11. Jordan Kinser (11), 12. Josh Hodges (8), 13. Dakota Jackson (15), 14. Carson Short (16), 15. Dave Darland (20), 16. Isaac Chapple (17), 17. Stephen Schnapf (10), 18. Joe Stornetta (19), 19. Lee Underwood (14), 20. T.J. Artz (21), 21. Dustin Christie (18), 22. Zach Daum (22). 6:47.18 (New Track Record)
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**VanMeveren flipped during qualifying.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Bacon.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Tyler Courtney (9th to 4th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dakota Jackson
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Thomas-287, 2-Leary-284, 3-Stockon-250, 4-Grant-245, 5-Courtney-243, 6-Windom-230, 7-Bacon-229, 8-Ballou-222, 9-Boespflug-215, 10-McDougal-208.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: April 13, 2019 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - "Spring Showdown" (Co-Sanctioned by MSCS)
THOMAS’ LAST LAP REDEMPTION PAYS OFF WITH KOKOMO GP WIN
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Kevin Thomas, Jr. scored a thrilling last-lap, last corner win during Saturday night's USAC NOS Energy Drink 'Kokomo Grand Prix.' (David Nearpass Photo)
THOMAS' LAST LAP REDEMPTION PAYS OFF WITH KOKOMO GP WIN
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana (April 6, 2019).........After an incident on the final lap of the Kokomo Speedway Sprint Car race that preceded Saturday night's USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature, perhaps it was fate that we would see Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Justin Grant meet again in some form or fashion on the second night of the "Kokomo Grand Prix."
Justin Grant got the best of Thomas in the sprint tilt, picking up the victory following a last-lap, side-by-side battle that wound up with Thomas on his head before making a beeline to the opposite end of the track to confront Grant.
When cooler heads prevailed, as luck would have it, a look at the starting lineup showed the two starting side-by-side in the second row of the midget main, setting the stage for round two of the duel which would once again come down to the final lap, but this time with the outcome the mirror opposite.
Thomas ran down Grant late in the going and, on the final corner of the final lap, reversed his fortunes with redemption, nipping Grant by half a front wheel at the stripe - or 0.015 seconds to be precise - to collect the fifth victory of his USAC National Midget career.
During the downtime for his early sprint car exit, the fire was burning inside KTJ, but instead of dwelling too much, he and his Petry Motorsports crew used the few extra minutes to reclaim focus on the next task at hand.
"We had a little bit of a mishap, but it happens," Thomas acknowledged. "It was unfortunate, but we had a little bit of time to get back here and make some changes to the midget because we had a decent idea of what it was going to do."
"I know people are going to want to pick at me and Grant because we crashed each other or whatever the case is," Thomas continued. "It's racing. We both race hard. It is what it is. We talked to each other in the podium picture and it's all good. It's just the way it goes. He's been my friend for a long time. He didn't crash me on purpose, but I'd get mad at my grandma if she crashed me. It's nothing against him; it's just my nature."
Thomas' desire and motivation for redemption was evident from the word 'go' as he charged from his fourth starting spot to slide to the point momentarily in the third turn on lap one, but the move wouldn't stick as Jason McDougal crossed over to reclaim the lead while Thomas fell back into line in fourth.
McDougal, the runner-up from the night before, would lay claim to the lead for the first seven circuits. Yet, on the lap eight restart, the door was open for Grant to slide past McDougal for the lead in the first turn. Grant was seeking a little redemption of his own following a heat race flip during Friday night's action.
Just prior to halfway, Friday winner Tyler Courtney began to make his surge, getting around teammate Chris Windom for the third position on lap 12. Three laps later, the series point leader found himself upside down in turn one. Incredibly, he was able to charge back to ninth at the checkered following repairs from the Clauson/Marshall Racing crew.
Restarts would play a starring role in the second half of the 30-lapper with a multitude of spins and stoppages taking place, the most serious of which came on the 21st lap when series Rookie Ethan Mitchell flipped wildly after tagging the turn one concrete. He walked away unscathed.
On the lap 21 restart, a scramble for position saw Windom attempt to slide McDougal for second, but it was one step forward, two steps back, as he fell back to fourth behind Thomas who took advantage of the opening to crack into third. With two to go, Thomas ripped by McDougal for second and the pursuit was set in motion toward Grant. Thomas blazed a trail to pull to the inside of Grant into turn one just moments after taking the white flag.
However, the pursuit had to wait as Cole Bodine's ride stopped in turn two, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
Cullman, Alabama's Kevin Thomas, Jr. celebrates his fifth career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory and the first for Petry Motorsports following Saturday night's 'Kokomo Grand Prix' at Kokomo Speedway. (Adam Mollenkopf Photo)
Leading up to the final showdown, Thomas had been playing around with his shocks from the cockpit and altered his line until he found something that worked. Everything was clicking for the Cullman, Ala. native, and he had his eyes and ears open to any advantage he could find, even if it came from the other side of the fence.
"Once we got to second, I saw Grant's guys giving him the motion to go to the top in three and four," Thomas recalled. "I knew that it was going to be such a long way around that it would open up a slider. I knew where he was going to go because his guys told him to go there. He ran a good line around there and he was fast up there. It's just such a shorter point to drive straight across the track."
On the final restart, Thomas took a line lower than Grant into turns one and two on the 29th lap before following him up top between turns three and four as a surging Zeb Wise joined the fray, going high on entry before diamonding off below Thomas. Thomas held serve in second and remained within three car lengths of Grant in one and two on the final go-around.
Entering turn three for the final time, Grant remained topside as Thomas drove it in deeper than he had on any other lap, sliding right across the nose of Grant in turn four. Grant countered underneath in a race to the line, coming up inches short of Thomas and his Petry Motorsports/Bolted Spine Designs - Petry Excavating - Gray Auto/Bullet/Speedway Toyota. Grant took second ahead of Wise, McDougal and C.J. Leary.
Thomas rejoined Petry at the beginning of the 2019 season following a brief stint driving for the Greenfield, Ind. based team at the conclusion of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, rewarding the team with its first ever USAC National Midget victory.
"Getting a win for those guys is a big momentum builder," Thomas exclaimed. "Scott Petry has never seen his car win before (with USAC). That was pretty cool. I really enjoyed doing that for them. They bust their butts and I'm just glad it paid off. They've been wanting to win a USAC feature for so long and they've been close. They've just never really got there. But once you get that monkey off your back, they start coming easier."
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Kokomo Speedway were Zeb Wise (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Jason McDougal (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Auto Meter Third Heat Winner), Tucker Klaasmeyer (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Andrew Layser (KSE Racing Products/Sundollar Restoration Hard Charger), Jake Neuman (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Ethan Mitchell (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 6, 2019 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "Kokomo Grand Prix" - 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.542; 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.663; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-13.890; 4. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-13.908; 5. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-13.928; 6. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.990; 7. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.991; 8. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-14.049; 9. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.113; 10. Thomas Meseraull, 7R, RMS-14.154; 11. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-14.211; 12. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.236; 13. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.245; 14. Ace McCarthy, 28, Neuman-14.278; 15. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.300; 16. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-14.335; 17. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.374; 18. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-14.374; 19. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-14.375; 20. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-14.413; 21. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-14.435; 22. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-14.535; 23. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-14.659; 24. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.751; 25. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-14.805; 26. Kyle O'Gara, 67F, SFH-15.005; 27. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-15.039; 28. Brent Watson, 17K, Watson-15.850; 29. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-16.088.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. McDougal, 2. Carrick, 3. Wise, 4. Seavey, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Hollan, 7. Elledge, 8. Akard. 2:20.65
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. Windom, 3. Darland, 4. Meseraull, 5. McCarthy, 6. Bodine, 7. O'Gara. 2:20.24
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. K. Thomas, 2. Colwell, 3. Boat, 4. Welch, 5. Hendricks, 6. Mitchell, 7. Cling. 2:25.39
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Klaasmeyer, 2. Grant, 3. Leary, 4. Coons, 5. Neuman, 6. Layser, 7. Watson. NT
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Neuman, 2. Hendricks, 3. Hollan, 4. McCarthy, 5. Layser, 6. Bodine, 7. Mitchell, 8. T. Thomas, 9. O'Gara, 10. Elledge, 11. Cling, 12. Watson, 13. Akard. 2:48.13
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 2. Justin Grant (3), 3. Zeb Wise (6), 4. Jason McDougal (2), 5. C.J. Leary (8), 6. Chris Windom (1), 7. Tucker Klaasmeyer (12), 8. Logan Seavey (13), 9. Tyler Courtney (5), 10. Thomas Meseraull (10), 11. Jesse Colwell (15), 12. Chad Boat (7), 13. Jake Neuman (16), 14. Ace McCarthy (14), 15. Dillon Welch (11), 16. Andrew Layser (22), 17. Holley Hollan (17), 18. Jerry Coons, Jr. (20), 19. Zane Hendricks (19), 20. Cole Bodine (21), 21. Tanner Carrick (9), 22. Sterling Cling (24), 23. Dave Darland (18), 24. Ethan Mitchell (23). NT
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**Courtney flipped on lap 15 of the feature. Mitchell flipped on lap 21 of the feature. Carrick flipped on lap 30 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 McDougal, Laps 8-29 Grant, Lap 30 K. Thomas.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/SUNDOLLAR RESTORATION HARD CHARGER: Andrew Layser (16th to 22nd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Jake Neuman
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Ethan Mitchell
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-358, 2-K. Thomas-354, 3-Leary-308, 4-Windom-305, 5-Wise-290, 6-Klaasmeyer-274, 7-Boat-273, 8-Seavey-266, 9-Carrick-243, 10-Colwell-234.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: May 17, 2019 - Tri-City Speedway - Granite City, Illinois - "River Town Showdown" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval
COURTNEY CLAIMS KOKOMO GP OPENER
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
#7BC Tyler Courtney passes Kevin Thomas, Jr. en route to Friday's 'Kokomo Grand Prix' opening night win at Kokomo Speedway. (David Nearpass Photo)
COURTNEY CLAIMS KOKOMO GP OPENER
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana (April 5, 2019).........Tyler Courtney's grip of the "Kokomo Grand Prix" seems to be as firm as the grip he currently holds on the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship following Friday night's victory at Kokomo Speedway, his second straight in the "GP" and his third in the first four races on the 2019 series' trail.
The Indianapolis, Indiana driver raced to the lead just prior to the halfway point, utilizing the bottom of the racetrack to track down early race leader Kevin Thomas, Jr. on lap 15 and carry on to nab the eighth win of his career in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink/Spike/Stanton SR-11x, tying him for 77th all-time.
Courtney began his expedition from the outside of row three while pole sitter K. Thomas slid up past outside front row starter Thomas Meseraull in turn one for the point on the opening lap.
The first stoppage of the night arrived on the fourth lap of the main when Tony DiMattia took a tumble in turn four from which he walked away uninjured.
On the ensuing restart, K. Thomas once again spurted away to a relatively comfortable margin of one second while CMR teammates Chris Windom and Courtney battled side-by-side for the runner-up spot. Courtney found the bottom of the quarter-mile to his liking and quickly ate up enough ground to nip Windom at the line for second on lap six, just before the yellow flag flew for a turn two spin by Justin Peck.
When racing resumed, K. Thomas and Courtney formed a two-car breakaway to distance themselves from the herd. Courtney kept inching closer and closer, sticking right within earshot of Thomas nearing the midway point. On the 14th lap, Courtney's stick-to-itiveness paid off when he ran down K. Thomas, beating him to the entry of turn one before sliding up in front to nail down the lead.
Courtney had a plan and executed it perfectly on the bottom, something he attributes to his extensive experience watching, crewing and racing at Kokomo over the years.
"I ran the bottom all night, especially in (turns) three and four," Courtney explained. "It got pretty rough in one and two, so you had to search to find other ways to go. I knew the bottom was going to be the place to be. I watched a lot of races that were won here on the bottom, especially off of four. Watching those guys and learning from the best, Bryan (Clauson) being one of them, I was fortunate I got to watch him race a lot here and be a part of it. I think I would credit a lot to being a part of it and watching and take notes mentally and using it to capitalize here tonight."
Courtney's lead grew to two seconds by the 20th lap as K. Thomas became mired in lapped traffic, allowing Courtney to break away into his own zip code, albeit briefly, as Zane Hendricks slowed to a stop in turn two, thus resetting the landscape for the finish of the 30-lapper.
However, Courtney was unfazed with the lapped car of Cole Bodine separating he and K. Thomas, Windom and Jason McDougal in second, third and fourth. Courtney said 'sayonara' as a cornucopia of drivers behind him jostled for position. McDougal eventually prevailed with the second spot using a topside pass of K. Thomas in turn four on lap 24. But, with Courtney a distant three seconds ahead, McDougal needed a caution for any shot and, alas, he would receive one when Andrew Layser flipped between turns three and four on the 28th lap. He was uninjured.
The stage was set for a three-lap dash to the finish with Courtney leading and McDougal in second. Rewind back to last Labor Day Weekend and McDougal was in relatively the same position in Pevely, Mo. to win his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car race. He conquered that quest, and now had a similar storyline setting up for his first career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget score in his first ever drive for Steve Reynolds Motorsports.
Courtney had other plans, however.
"I didn't really know what I was going to get with Jason," Courtney pondered. "He's good at the end of races; he proved it last year at Pevely. I was a little bit in defense mode, but I knew I just needed to hit my marks and make three good laps there at the end to put ourselves in position to be where we were."
"I knew he'd be running the top because that's where he loves to be," Courtney continued. "But nobody had passed me on the bottom the whole night, so I knew if I could just run where they were running, nobody was going to go where I was going. It was just a matter of putting yourself in the right place at the right time."
Courtney stuck to his guns and burst away on the restart, never allowing McDougal to get anywhere close enough to throw a haymaker for the win, closing out his fifth career USAC National win at Kokomo (3 sprint, 2 midget) by just a tick under a full second ahead of a wheel-standing McDougal in second, followed by Windom, Zeb Wise and K. Thomas.
Contingency award winners Friday night at Kokomo Speedway were Dillon Welch (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tanner Carrick (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Ethan Mitchell (Auto Meter Third Heat Winner), Zeb Wise (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Dave Darland (KSE Racing Products/Sundollar Restoration Hard Charger), Tyler Thomas (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jake Neuman (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).
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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 5, 2019 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "Kokomo Grand Prix" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-12.665 (New Track Record); 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.695; 3. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-12.712; 4. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.747; 5. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.819; 6. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-12.844; 7. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-12.869; 8. Thomas Meseraull, 7R, RMS-12.904; 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-12.921; 10. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-12.936; 11. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.946; 12. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.957; 13. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.980; 14. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.022; 15. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-13.027; 16. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.033; 17. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.066; 18. Ace McCarthy, 28, Neuman-13.100; 19. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-13.107; 20. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-13.118; 21. Justin Peck, 17, Bus-13.146; 22. Tyler Thomas, 91T, Thomas-13.149; 23. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-13.247; 24. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-13.250; 25. Tyler Nelson, 88, Nelson-13.265; 26. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-13.283; 27. Jake Neuman, 3N, Neuman-13.289; 28. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-13.295; 29. Kyle O'Gara, 67F, SFH-13.458; 30. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-13.717; 31. Justin Dickerson, 21D, Dickerson-13.965; 32. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-14.943.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Carrick, 2. K. Thomas, 3. Klaasmeyer, 4. Windom, 5. Welch, 6. Peck, 7. Nelson, 8. O'Gara. 2:10.06 (New Track Record)
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. T. Thomas, 3. McDougal, 4. Boat, 5. McCarthy, 6. Hollan, 7. Cling, 8. Elledge. 2:12.78
AUTO METER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Mitchell, 2. Coons, 3. Leary, 4. Colwell, 5. DiMattia, 6. Neuman, 7. Dickerson, 8. Grant. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer) 1. Wise, 2. Darland, 3. Meseraull, 4. Layser, 5. Seavey, 6. Hendricks, 7. Bodine. 2:13.62
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer) 1. Seavey, 2. Welch, 3. Hollan, 4. Hendricks, 5. Peck, 6. DiMatta, 7. Neuman, 8. Bodine, 9. O'Gara, 10. Cling, 11. Elledge, 12. McCarthy, 13. Nelson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (6), 2. Jason McDougal (3), Chris Windom (4), 4. Zeb Wise (12), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (1), 6. Logan Seavey (8), 7. Thomas Meseraull (2), 8. Dillon Welch (7), 9. C.J. Leary (5), 10. Tanner Carrick (16), 11. Dave Darland (21), 12. Chad Boat (10), 13. Tyler Thomas (20), 14. Jesse Colwell (11), 15. Tucker Klaasmeyer (13), 16. Andrew Layser (15), 17. Holley Hollan (14), 18. Ethan Mitchell (24), 19. Cole Bodine (22), 20. Karsyn Elledge (23), 21. Zane Hendricks (18), 22. Jerry Coons, Jr. (17), 23. Justin Peck (19), 24. Tony DiMattia (9). NT
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**Boat flipped during practice. Grant flipped during the third heat. Nelson flipped during the semi. DiMattia flipped on lap 4 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 K. Thomas, Laps 15-30 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/SUNDOLLAR RESTORATION HARD CHARGER: Dave Darland (21st to 11th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Tyler Thomas
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Jake Neuman
NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-299, 2-K. Thomas-272, 3-Leary-244, 4-Windom-242, 5-Boat-228, 6-Wise-214, 7-Klaasmeyer-214, 8-Carrick-213, 9-Seavey-212, 10-Colwell-186.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: April 6, 2019 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "Kokomo Grand Prix" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval
FINAL HOOSIER HUNDRED AT THE INDY MILE TO BE HELD MAY 23
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
The final 'Hoosier Hundred' at the Indiana State Fairgrounds will be held on Thursday, May 23. (Doug McSchooler Photo)
FINAL HOOSIER HUNDRED AT THE INDY MILE TO BE HELD MAY 23
Indianapolis, Indiana (April 2, 2019).........The Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center has announced that the Indiana State Fairgrounds one-mile dirt track will be converted from a dirt surface to an all-weather track made of crushed limestone to be utilized for year-round harness training and parking for the Indiana State Fair.
The ultimate impact is that the conversion of the surface means that auto racing events will no longer be held on the famed one-mile track following the 2019 Hoosier Hundred. The 64th running of the 100-mile, 100-lap race, scheduled for Thursday, May 23, will be the last running of this grand racing event at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
"USAC, Track Enterprises, Bob Sargent and I have been in meetings with the Fairgrounds staff and in discussion for the last two years about any way to keep auto racing at the historic one-mile oval," USAC Series Coordinator Levi Jones explained. "To no avail, the economics of the horse industry and their desire to use the one-mile track year-round instead of the half-mile currently in the infield won out in the end."
USAC and Track Enterprises are currently exploring possible venues that could host the Hoosier Hundred for the 2020 season and beyond.
The history of the Track of Champions dates back well over a century. On June 20, 1903, Barney Oldfield drove a Henry Ford-designed "999" to the first sub-one-minute lap ever on a one-mile racetrack at 59.6 seconds. In 1917, Oldfield, the 1905 AAA National Champion, prevailed in a match race versus 1915 Indianapolis 500 winner Ralph DePalma.
In 1946, under the AAA National Championship banner, the one and only "Indianapolis 100" was held, with Rex Mays taking the victory. Seven years later, in 1953, a new, long-lasting tradition began with the inaugural running of the "Hoosier Hundred" won by Bob Sweikert.
The Hoosier Hundred has been held annually since 1953, with only a handful of interruptions due to inclement weather. Today, it remains one of the oldest, most tradition-rich racing events on the planet. Many of its winners have gone to achieve legendary status in auto racing with a list that includes A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti who are among the seven drivers to have won both the Hoosier Hundred and the Indianapolis 500 in their careers along with Bob Sweikert, Jimmy Bryan, Rodger Ward, Parnelli Jones and Al Unser.
This year, Kingsburg, California's Kody Swanson has an opportunity to make even more history as he aims for an unprecedented fifth-straight "Hoosier Hundred" victory. The four-time USAC Silver Crown titlist has won the previous four events to tie Unser's streak of four-straight "Hoosier Hundred" wins between 1970-73.
Over the years, the Indy Mile has been home to a myriad of USAC racing events, including Sprint Car, Midget and Stock Car races. In the early-1980s, the "Hulman Hundred" for Silver Crown cars was created, which was added to the schedule as a second annual race for the series at the track each year from 1981-1995.
The "Hulman Hundred" was annually held in May while the Hoosier Hundred was scheduled for September in that era, until 1996 when the Hulman Hundred was discontinued. The Hoosier Hundred then moved to May where it remains today, except for a couple rainouts in the early 2000s that were rescheduled for later that same year.
On Thursday, May 23, be a part of history and witness this great race. "Hoosier Hundred" pit gates will open at noon Eastern, with the Hoosier Lottery Grandstand opening at 3pm and practice at 5. Racing begins for the Modifieds at 6 with Silver Crown Qualifying races to follow and the "Hoosier 100" scheduled for an 8 o'clock green flag.
Reserved seating is available for the Hoosier Hundred by calling the Track Enterprises office at (217) 764-3200, the Indiana State Fairgrounds Box Office, or through Ticketmaster. Reserved seats for adults are being sold for $25 pre-sale or $30 at the gate. Infield tickets will be available for $15 for adults and $5 for kids 11 and under.
