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BOAT PAINTS IT BLACK IN BAPS PA MIDGET WEEK CLOSER
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Phoenix, Arizona's Chad Boat captured Sunday's victory in the 'Pennsylvania Midget Week' opener at BAPS Motor Speedway. (Chad Warner Photo)
BOAT PAINTS IT BLACK IN BAPS PA MIDGET WEEK CLOSER
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
York Haven, Pennsylvania.....August 5, 2018 - Chad Boat's switch from white to black was akin to the flick of a light switch in Sunday night's USAC P1 Insurance National and Eastern "Pennsylvania Midget Week" finale at BAPS Motor Speedway.
There was no trepidation whatsoever, however. The Phoenix, Arizona driver and his team rolled the black car out of the hauler at the 3/8-mile dirt oval with a myriad of confidence after a palate of struggles plagued them in the white ride during recent trips to Mid-America and the launch of the Pennsylvania swing.
Boat led all 30 laps and was undeniably dominant from start to finish despite a lengthy open-red situation that may have seemed like a three-hour tour to him as he sat in his seat, anticipating the final six-lap stretch.
However, Boat, as he had done time and time again on each restart throughout the 30-lapper, motored away from the competition to win his eighth career series feature.
"Honestly, we've been struggling these last five races," Boat admitted. "We knew we had this car sitting here and we knew it was fast. We ran it the last race of 'Indiana Midget Week' at Kokomo in early June, so, we said 'why not?' Obviously, when you're struggling, you have to change something. We brought it out and it worked. We have a lot of confidence in our cars, so there wasn't any worry."
Boat immediately grabbed the lead on the start from his outside front row starting position, surging past point leader and pole sitter Logan Seavey on the initial lap to gain a lengthy advantage that would be the theme throughout the whole deal.
The first stoppage for a calamity occurred on the eighth lap when series Rookie and fifth-running Kyle Craker flipped between turns three and four, catching up Tyler Courtney and Spencer Bayston in the carnage as well. Miraculously, all three were able to restart.
Throughout the mid-portion, Boat partook in no less than eight starts and restarts following yellows and reds, but each time, it would play out in a similar manner with Boat running roughshod on the field and splitting away.
"I knew the start would be crucial with Logan (Seavey)," Boat recalled. "On a big track like this, clean air is huge. Not from the standpoint of changing the car setup, but just being able to run your own race and not being in traffic, being able to run anywhere you want and do whatever you want to do with the car. I knew that was going to be huge, and once I got out front, I just tried to run my race. Obviously, with the restarts, I couldn't see behind me to see how close or how far they were. I never really saw anyone, so I kind of knew I was okay. But all the restarts had me worried."
Chad Boat (middle) stands in BAPS Motor Speedway victory lane following his 'Pennsylvania Midget Week' win alongside 2nd place finisher Zeb Wise (right) and 3rd place Brady Bacon (left). (Chad Warner Photo)
The only one able to hang in Boat's neighborhood for more than a moment was Saturday night's Lanco winner Zeb Wise. On the lap 23 restart, he set up shop about four lengths from the tail of Boat, but Boat slammed that opening for opportunity and was gonzo once again.
Two laps later, the final stoppage came in the most serious accident of the night when ninth-place Kenny Miller flipped over the turn three guardrail, coming to a rest upside down nestled between the back side of the wall and the sponsor billboards. Though Miller was awake and alert when emergency personnel arrived at the scene, he was transported via ambulance for further observation.
The ensuing cleanup and the transportation of Miller led to a lengthy, 40-minute red flag period in which crews were permitted to tend to their machines to tinker and make adjustments that could alter the outcome of the race.
Boat knew what he had to do. He had to run six laps as hard as he could - six qualifying laps as he put it - to close out the contest. However, with all the talent behind the wrenches entering the fray to make their impact, it became an open invitation to get beat, as Boat points out. But, that didn't kill the vibe in the driver who's won seven of his eight career races in the month of August, three of which have come in the "Keystone State."
"I was pretty confident in what we had," Boat said. "But we made a couple changes just because Zeb was coming and, obviously, the track had changed since the beginning of the race, so we could tighten it up a little bit. The big thing was just keeping me comfortable where I could run that high line and make speed up there."
It didn't make a difference before or after the changes during the red, Boat was headed out of Pennsylvania with a fatter wallet and another trophy in his case as he once again throttled away from Wise on the restart, closing out a pretty flawless performance with a 1.812 second victory over Wise, Brady Bacon, Eastern point leader Alex Bright and Tanner Carrick.
Contingency award winners Sunday night at BAPS Motor Speedway were Spencer Bayston (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Andrew Layser (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Zeb Wise (Chalk Stix/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Kyle Craker (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP & USAC EASTERN MIDGET RACE RESULTS: August 5, 2018 - BAPS Motor Speedway - York Haven, Pennsylvania - 4th Annual "Pennsylvania Midget Week"
QUALIFYING: 1. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-18.257; 2. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian- 18.298; 3. Justin Grant, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall/Wood-18.305; 4. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-18.316; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-18.339; 6. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-18.345; 7. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-18.352; 8. Alex Bright, 77, Bright-18.428; 9. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-18.494; 10. Kyle Craker, 76E, FMR-18.584; 11. Andrew Layser, 35, Bright-18.803; 12. Shawn Jackson, 7, Jackson-18.834; 13. Adam Pierson, 74m, Mancini-18.856; 14. Brayton Lynch, 1K, RKR-18.917; 15. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, BundyBuilt-18.965; 16. Kenny Miller, 23m, Miller-19.104; 17. Ryan Wilson, 29, Clover-19.696; 18. Jason Rice, 57, Rice-20.069; 19. Brett Conkling, 0NJ, Conkling-20.347; 20. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 63, Dooling-NT; 21. Brett Arndt, 12, Heckman-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Bayston, 2. Bacon, 3. Craker, 4. Seavey, 5. Miller, 6. Conkling. 2:30.50
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Layser, 2. Bright, 3. Carrick, 4. Lynch, 5. Courtney, 6. Wilson, 7. Arndt. 2:29.98
CHALK STIX/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Wise, 2. Boat, 3. Grant, 4. Jackson, 5. Mitchell, 6. Rice. 2:28.72 (New Track Record)
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Chad Boat (2), 2. Zeb Wise (8), 3. Brady Bacon (3), 4. Alex Bright (7), 5. Tanner Carrick (5), 6. Andrew Layser (10), 7. Adam Pierson (12), 8. Spencer Bayston (6), 9. Logan Seavey (1), 10. Shawn Jackson (11), 11. Jason Rice (17), 12. Kenny Miller (15), 13. Kyle Craker (9), 14. Tyler Courtney (19), 15. Ethan Mitchell (14), 16. Brayton Lynch (13), 17. Ryan Wilson (16), 18. Brett Conkling (18), 19. Justin Grant (4). NT
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**Craker flipped on lap 8 of the feature. Miller flipped over the turn 3 guardrail on lap 25 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Boat.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Zeb Wise (8th to 2nd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Kyle Craker
NEW USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Seavey-820, 2-Bacon-722, 3-Bayston-718, 4-Boat-717, 5-Grant-679, 6-Courtney-669, 7-Carrick-642, 8-Thomas-624, 9-Wise-523, 10-Ryan Robinson-470.
NEW USAC EASTERN MIDGET POINTS: 1-Bright-1138, 2-Layser-1093, 3-Jackson-990, 4-Miller-908, 5-Pierson-901, 6-Wilson-581, 7-Ryan Greth-578, 8-Conkling-558, 9-Rice-544, 10-John Anderika-456.
NEXT USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: September 5-6 - The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Speedway, Indiana - Driven2SaveLives "BC39" presented by NOS Energy Drink
NEXT USAC EASTERN MIDGET RACE: September 7 - Linda's Speedway - Jonestown, Pennsylvania
WISE RETURNS FROM THE DL TO BECOME USAC’S YOUNGEST WINNER IN LANCO PA MIDGET WEEK OPENER
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Zeb Wise's first race following a collarbone injury two months ago resulted in his first career USAC P1 Insurance National Midget victory. (Rich Forman Photo)
WISE RETURNS FROM THE DL TO BECOME USAC'S YOUNGEST WINNER IN LANCO PA MIDGET WEEK OPENER
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Newmanstown, Pennsylvania.....August 4, 2018 - For the past two months, Zeb Wise waited patiently on the sidelines with a broken collarbone, watching as the summer racing months passed him by without a steering wheel in his grasp.
The long-awaited return for the USAC P1 Insurance National Midget Rookie came Saturday night during the "Pennsylvania Midget Week" opener at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway.
To some, after a long layoff from any circumstance in life, the prevailing thought would be to ease your way back in, dip the those into the water per se, working back in at a tepid pace to get reacclimated to the setting.
No such reacclimating period existed for the young Angola, Indiana native as he slipped on his Clauson-Marshall Racing/Vision Collision - Priority Aviation/Spike/Stanton SR-11 like a comfortable pair of shoes right from the get-go, working his way past reigning series champ Spencer Bayston with 11 laps remaining to win his first career USAC feature.
"I really wasn't expecting to win tonight, to be completely honest," a humble Wise said. "I figured it would take a little time to get back used to. I've always felt comfortable at this track; I've ran a micro here. After qualifying, I thought we might have a shot and we were pretty solid in the heat race. Then, once I got into the lead in the feature, I got into a zone and didn't look back."
At the start, though, it was Kevin Thomas, Jr. racing into the lead from the outside of the front row, sliding in front of series point leader Logan Seavey to take the top spot on the opening lap. Thomas would break away for a half-straightaway lead by the third lap before the first of a brigade of stoppages put the action to a halt when Brayton Lynch and Kenney Johnson collided in turn three on the fourth lap.
Following the restart, Tyler Courtney and Brady Bacon walloped each other in turn four while battling for the fifth position, sending Courtney into a barrel roll. Not only would Courtney return the race, he would race his way back into the top-ten by the end of the 40-lap main event.
Bacon's misfortune came as part of a tumultuous event on lap 17 as Thomas worked lapped traffic, clipping Andrew Layser on the bottom of turn three and sending KTJ sideways toward the top of the track. Bacon had no room to escape the quagmire and flipped to produce another red before rejoining the fray.
That put Bayston in the lead where he would crack open a full-straightaway lead on the ensuing restart while Seavey, Wise and Grant tussled for the second, third and fourth positions as they worked to wade through the lapped traffic that formed a three-car buffer between Bayston and his nearest competition on the restart.
Wise pulled off the slider on Seavey in turn two on the 21st lap while Grant squeaked by the outside of Seavey for third exiting turn four a half-lap later. Grant's charge to the front would be stifled when the lapped car of Kevin Woody, Jr. slipped sideways in turn three. Grant tagged him, sending him into a series of flips that also collected top-five-running Timmy Buckwalter.
After a minor tangle between Chad Boat, Brenden Bright and Jason Rice between turns one and two on lap 28, finally, for Wise, the seas began to part with no lapped traffic separating he and Bayston on the restart.
"I followed Spencer for a little bit," Wise recalled. "I knew if we got into lapped traffic, I wasn't going to get by him. It was just so tight through traffic. Even if there are cars running the bottom, there's really no way to throw a slider. A slider would already be tight, let alone when there's a car on the bottom."
Wise put the full assault on Bayston, sliding him in turn three on lap 29 for the lead, momentarily. Bayston would return the favor in turn three on the following lap, however, Wise countered to the inside and recaptured the flag to secure the spot at the top of the leaderboard.
At 15 years, 8 months & 21 days old, Zeb Wise surpassed the late Bryan Clauson as the youngest driver to win a National feature in the history of USAC. Clauson won his first in a USAC Midget at the age of 16 years, 3 months and 23 days on October 8, 2005 at Ohio's Columbus Motor Speedway. (Michael Fry Photo)
Yet, at a place like this, there's no time to rest on your laurels, set the dials on cruise control and let it ride. Lanco is basically a dirt track jungle with rabid, ravenous racecar drivers salivating at the opportunity to eat you alive if given the opportunity.
Everybody and everything is in play at all times on this 1/8-mile speed bowl. Case in point: Courtney, Bacon and Grant are among the three drivers who flipped during the feature who recovered to finish in the top-ten, perhaps the only occasion of that occurring in USAC history. Courtney finished 10th. Bacon, who flipped on lap 16, finished 5th and Grant, who flipped on the 25th lap, came home with a 7th place finish.
"Anywhere we go with the USAC Midgets, there's no time to rest, especially with a veteran like Spencer," Wise said. "He's a great racecar driver. I knew he'd be there the whole time and, as soon as I passed him, he wanted it back. I think that goes for any racecar driver."
Bayston began reeling Wise in as the laps wore down to two to go, searching high low and middle as the leaders encroached constant traffic. Bayston peeked to the outside on the back straight while Wise refused to relinquish a single grain of sand, trying to split that grain between the two lappers, tapping Kenny Miller around who, in turn, collected Bayston.
Meanwhile, in one of the most amazing, unspeakable moments that you'll ever see, outside of a Travis Pastrana, Evel Knievel, Joie Chitwood or Tommy Bartlett show, occurred when Seavey put "four on the fence" and literally drove on the chain link, completely horizontal, between turns three and four to avoid the carnage unscathed.
On the final restart, Wise had clamped down the lead with vise grips as he drove to a one-second win over hard-charging USAC Eastern Midget point leader Alex Bright and USAC National Midget point leader Logan Seavey, followed by a career-best result for Adam Pierson while Brady Bacon rounded out the top-five.
The victory for Wise was also monumental in the realm of auto racing history as no driver that young has ever won a National Series feature under the USAC banner. At 15 years, 8 months and 21 days old, Wise surpasses the former record held by the late Bryan Clauson, who won his first in a USAC Midget at the age of 16 years, 3 months and 23 days on October 8, 2005 at Ohio's Columbus Motor Speedway.
Wise accomplished the feat in none other than the No. 39BC, the same number that was synonymous with Bryan, sports his initials and is owned by Bryan's father, Tim.
"I'm kind of speechless," Wise acknowledged. "I didn't even know Bryan had that record before me. To do it in the 39BC is very cool. He's the one who picked me, so I'm glad to get a win for him. I know he's watching up there and I'm sure he's happy. Thank you, Bryan, for everything you did for me."
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway were Chad Boat (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Logan Seavey (Chalk Stix/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Andrew Layser (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Brayton Lynch (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 4, 2018 - Lanco's Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway - Newmanstown, Pennsylvania - 4th Annual "Pennsylvania Midget Week"
QUALIFYING: 1. Spencer Bayston, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-10.129 (New Track Record); 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-10.136; 3. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-10.293; 4. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-10.324; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 63, Dooling-10.332; 6. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-10.376; 7. Justin Grant, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall/Wood-10.446; 8. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-10.487; 9. Adam Pierson, 74m, Mancini-10.612; 10. Timmy Buckwalter, 29, Seymour-10.653; 11. Alex Bright, 77, Bright-10.667; 12. Brayton Lynch, 1K, RKR-10.704; 13. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-10.836; 14. Kenny Miller, 23m, Miller-10.965; 15. Tommy Kunsman, 21, TK-11.014; 16. Kenney Johnson, 46, Johnson-11.053; 17. Kevin Woody, Jr., 0, Buckwalter-11.053; 18. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, BundyBuilt-11.231; 19. Andrew Layser, 35, Bright-11.265; 20. Jason Rice, 57, Rice-11.365; 21. Shawn Jackson, 7, Jackson-11.428; 22. Brenden Bright, 92, Bright-11.544; 23. John Anderika, 96, Anderika-14.464; 24. Kyle Craker, 76E, FMR-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Boat, 2. Bayston, 3. Wise, 4. Grant, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Johnson, 7. Layser, 8. B. Bright. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Carrick, 3. Thomas, 4. A. Bright, 5. Miller, 6. Woody, 7. Rice. 1:46.75 (New Track Record)
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Seavey, 2. Mitchell, 3. Bacon, 4. Lynch, 5. Pierson, 6. Kunsman, 7. Jackson. NT
FEATURE: (40 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Zeb Wise (3), 2. Alex Bright (11), 3. Logan Seavey (1), 4. Adam Pierson (9), 5. Brady Bacon (4), 6. Tanner Carrick (8), 7. Justin Grant (7), 8. Andrew Layser (19), 9. Spencer Bayston (6), 10. Tyler Courtney (5), 11. Chad Boat (13), 12. Kenny Miller (14), 13. Brayton Lynch (12), 14. Ethan Mitchell (18), 15. Tommy Kunsman (15), 16. Shawn Jackson (21), 17. Jason Rice (20), 18. Brenden Bright (22), 19. Timmy Buckwalter (10), 20. Kevin Woody, Jr. (17), 21. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2), 22. Kenney Johnson (16). NT
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**Courtney flipped on lap 4 of the feature. Bacon flipped on lap 16 of the feature. Grant flipped on lap 25 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-16 Thomas, Laps 17-28 Bayston, Laps 29-40 Wise.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Andrew Layser (19th to 8th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Brayton Lynch
NEW USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Seavey-769, 2-Bayston-655, 3-Bacon-648, 4-Grant-644, 5-Boat-639, 6-Courtney-628, 7-K. Thomas-614, 8-Carrick-573, 9-Ryan Robinson-470, 10-Jerry Coons, Jr.-464.
NEXT USAC P1 INSURANCE MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: August 5 - BAPS Motor Speedway - York Haven, Pennsylvania - "Pennsylvania Midget Week"
DARLAND DOES IT AGAIN AT HAUBSTADT; WINDOM WEARS ISW CROWN
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
The top-3 in 2018 NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' points - champion Chris Windom (middle), 2nd place Kevin Thomas, Jr. (right), plus race winner and 3rd place in points, Dave Darland (left). (David Nearpass Photo)
DARLAND DOES IT AGAIN AT HAUBSTADT; WINDOM WEARS ISW CROWN
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Haubstadt, Indiana......July 28, 2018 - For Dave Darland, there aren't many things that one could say would surprise him. After all, the man's seen it all and done it all in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car racing throughout his storied career.
However, Saturday night in the NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" finale, "The People's Champ" did something that surprised even himself - winning at Tri-State Speedway - a track that has proven to be a bugaboo in his craw over the past three decades.
Meanwhile, the driver Darland passed to score Saturday's 20th career ISW victory was none other than Chris Windom, who came into the feature cradling a 15-point lead over reigning champ Kevin Thomas, Jr., meaning a fifth-place finish or better would secure the ISW title regardless of what KTJ did, no questions asked, no fuss, no muss.
Windom held the exclamation point for the bulk of the 30-lap main event from his outside front row starting spot. For a driver who astonishingly hasn't won an ISW race or title since 2011, what better way to plant the flag of punctuational nomenclature than by winning the feature and being fitted for the crown on the same night.
Chase Stockon dogged Windom like a Baskerville Hound as the two pounced toward lapped traffic by lap 10, Stockon did his dirty work through the middle while Windom scraped the lower groove in his Baldwin Brothers Racing/Fox Paving - AMSOIL/DRC/Claxton Mopar. Stockon was taking a peek around the outside of Windom when the first yellow flag fell for the stopped car of Daron Clayton in turn four.
A restart near midway saw Windom and Stockon separated by the lapped car of Mario Clouser, one who had the speed to run the quickest lap of the race at the time and was able to race wheel-to-wheel with Windom until clearing the scene and gaining his lap back.
A handful of laps later, Kokomo ISW winner Thomas Meseraull flipped nose-to-tail off turn four into the catch fencing while running ninth. He was okay, but not his car nor was Ballou's ride, which experienced severe trauma on the front end.
On the ensuing lap 19 restart, Darland surged from third to second past Stockon with a turn one slider. The race was on and here came pride up the backstretch in the form of the Goodnight Racing-Curb-Agajanian/Curb Records - The Pallet Builder/Maxim/Claxton Chevy.
Darland sheared into Windom's lead each trip around the quarter-mile dirt oval and, on lap 24, sharpened his blades and made the attack on Windom with a slider in turn one to snag the lead.
"I hadn't thought much about Chris running for the championship, but I knew he was" Darland admitted. "I didn't want to screw him, obviously. I gave him a clean slider. There's good sliders and there's bad. If you give the guy the option of either lifting or cutting down or fill the gap, that's the only thing you can do."
"I honestly wasn't expecting that big of a slider," Windom recalled. "The track started moving around a bit. I started running the bottom in the first half and I felt like it was slowing down quite a bit. It's tough leading here because you don't really know where to go. I tried to get to the top, but Dave got by us and his car was really hooked up tonight. It was going to be tough to run him down and I don't think I really had anything for him unless I really wanted to start pressuring him. I was looking at the big picture there and thought I was in a really good spot in second behind him. I just rode it out after I didn't think I had anything for him.
One lap later, on lap 25, Clouser's car was found spun backwards close to the outside wall between turns one and two, just in front of the leaders. Windom had to take evasive action, but escaped without any harm.
If being passed for the lead in the closing laps wasn't enough of a Pepto moment for Windom, surely the final five laps following the restart would need a little relief. However, Windom had his CPU set on Expert Mode and remained in check, unfazed as he locked up the second spot with KTJ in fourth, enough of a point cushion to add Indiana Sprint Week titlist to his ever-growing resume.
All the while, up front, Darland was putting the hurtin' on the field, locking up his second victory in a three-day span for his record-extending 62nd career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature win. Windom finished second ahead of Stockon, K. Thomas and C.J. Leary.
"I just won at Haubstadt," Darland exclaimed. "It's unbelievable! I never thought I'd say that. It's a great feeling to win here, let alone anywhere. Haubstadt is an exceptionally good feeling for me because we usually suck here. I had a great racecar and had to take advantage of it. You don't get a chance to win here very often. I just wanted to win, man, like Jason Johnson's famous line from Knoxville a couple years ago."
Windom followed up June's "Eastern Storm" title with a NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" championship in a little in over a span of a month to become just the third driver to accomplish both tasks in a single season (Bryan Clauson in 2013 and Robert Ballou in 2015). Windom was rewarded with a $5000 first-place prize check for winning ISW, plus his second custom, hand-made Bridgeport Rocker courtesy of John and Terri Youngs of Vincennes, Indiana.
"It's so special to do this again with (team owners) Kenny and Margo Baldwin" Windom beamed. "We really wanted to come out and win this race tonight, but looking at the big picture, we wanted another Sprint Week title. It took a huge effort from everybody this week to have the finishes we did. (Crew Chief) Derek Claxton had this thing great all week. It never had any failures. That's what it takes to come out here and win these titles. Everybody else on the team, and all our sponsors, we couldn't do it without all them. We're just really consistent right now. That's what it takes."
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Tri-State Speedway were Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award), Thomas Meseraull (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Stephen Schnapf (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Chris Windom (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Carson Short (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Daron Clayton (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier) and Scotty Weir (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 28, 2018 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - 31stNOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"
BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-13.378; 2. Chad Boespflug, 11p, Pottorff/Short-13.593; 3. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.605; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.639; 5. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-13.663; 6. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-13.720; 7. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-13.740; 8. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.752; 9. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.760; 10. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-13.789; 11. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.827; 12. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-13.830; 13. Daron Clayton, 5o, Schmidt-13.837; 14. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-13.846; 15. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.856; 16. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-13.897; 17. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-13.923; 18. Kendall Ruble, 17K, Ruble-13.955; 19. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-13.973; 20. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-14.046; 21. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-14.066; 22. Chet Williams, 38, Williams-14.079; 23. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-14.083; 24. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-14.100; 25. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-14.109; 26. Clinton Boyles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.114; 27. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.126; 28. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-14.127; 29. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.144; 30. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-14.201; 31. Critter Malone, 7c, Seven-14.219; 32. Kody Swanson, 23, Karraker-14.274; 33. Collin Ambrose, 36, Ambrose-14.289; 34. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.309; 35. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-14.331; 36. Brandon Morin, 98, Morin-14.373; 37. Donny Brackett, 4B, Brackett-14.495; 38. Kent Schmidt, 5K, Schmidt-14.698; 39. Brian Wallace, 27, Wallace-14.776; 40. Alec Sipes, 99s, Sipes-15.042; 41. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-14.841; 42. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.498.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Meseraull, 2. Darland, 3. Clayton, 4. K. Thomas, 5. Ballou, 6. Ambrose, 7. Weir, 8. Brackett, 9. Bell, 10. Roa, 11. Johnson. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Williams, 3. Short, 4. Buckwalter, 5. Cummins, 6. Ruble, 7. Schmidt, 8. Mattox, 9. Boespflug, 10. Boyles, 11. Thompson. NT
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Schnapf, 2. Leary, 3. Grant, 4. Bacon, 5. Hodges, 6. Malone, 7. Andretti, 8. Gentry, 9. Chapple, 10. Wallace. 2:18.91
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Windom, 2. Cottle, 3. Stockon, 4. DiMattia, 5. Clouser, 6. Sipes, 7. J. Swanson, 8. K. Swanson, 9. Jackson, 10. Morin. NT
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Malone, 2. Mattox, 3. Ambrose, 4. Schmidt, 5. K. Swanson, 6. Wallace, 7. Thompson, 8. Brackett, 9. Sipes, 10. Bell, NT
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Hodges, 2. Boespflug, 3. Cummins, 4. Andretti, 5. Clouser, 6. Ruble, 7. Weir, 8. J. Swanson, 9. Chapple, 10. Schmidt, 11. Ballou, 12. Boyles, 13. Mattox, 14. Malone, 15. Roa, 16. Johnson, 17. Ambrose, 18. Jackson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Dave Darland (3), 2. Chris Windom (2), 3. Chase Stockon (4), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6), 5. C.J. Leary (10), 6. Justin Grant (5), 7. Kyle Cummins (8), 8. Josh Hodges (9), 9. Tyler Courtney (1), 10. Stephen Schnapf (18), 11. Brady Bacon (21), 12. Chad Boespflug (7), 13. Carson Short (22), 14. Daron Clayton (12), 15. Kendall Ruble (17), 16. Isaac Chapple (24), 17. Jarett Andretti (14), 18. Chet Williams (20), 19. Mario Clouser (19), 20. Tony DiMattia (15), 21. Timmy Buckwalter (13), 22. Robert Ballou (23), 23. Thomas Meseraull (16), 24. Shane Cottle (11). NT
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**Jackson flipped during the semi. Meseraull flipped on lap 18 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-23 Windom, Laps 24-30 Darland.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (21st to 11th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Carson Short
BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Kevin Thomas, Jr.
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Scotty Weir
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Daron Clayton
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Windom-1741, 2-K. Thomas-1733, 3-Courtney-1687, 4-Stockon-1502, 5-Bacon-1490, 6-Darland-1484, 7-Leary-1431, 8-Ballou-1407, 9-Grant-1387, 10-Boespflug-1074.
FINAL NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Windom-500, 2-K. Thomas-479, 3-Darland-442, 4-Leary-437, 5-Courtney-427, 6-Stockon-416, 7-Bacon-410, 8-Grant-379, 9-Meseraull-292, 10-Short-291.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: August 22 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "#GYATK Night" (Special Event)
LEARY DOCUMENTS A 30 FOR 30 PERFORMANCE AT BLOOMINGTON
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
C.J. Leary captured his first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature win of the year Friday at Bloomington Speedway in round six of NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week.' (Rich Forman Photo)
LEARY DOCUMENTS A 30 FOR 30 PERFORMANCE AT BLOOMINGTON
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Bloomington, Indiana.....July 27, 2018 - C.J. Leary displayed complete domination Friday night at Bloomington Speedway in the penultimate round of NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week," leading all 30 laps in his traditional No. 30 sprinter to win his very first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature event of the year in his Leary Racing/Leary Construction - Highsmith Guns - Gray Auto/DRC/1-Way Chevy.
ISW has been akin to a personal ATM for the Greenfield, Indiana driver who scored a pair of victories during the 2017 series. Admittedly, Bloomington hasn't been as welcoming to Leary as your local neighborhood Walmart greeter. The quarter-mile of red clay has been a challenge throughout his career and, coming into the night, did not foretell that a winning performance was one of the tarot cards he would pull.
"Rolling into Bloomington tonight, I didn't really expect to win," Leary admitted. "It's been one of the tougher tracks throughout my career. I grew up racing here and have a lot of experience here, but it just isn't one my better racetracks. The racetrack was hammer down, had a big cushion and we just ripped it for 30 laps and didn't make any mistakes. I've only won one other feature here and the track was very similar. This is right up my alley, big cushion and just get up there and rip it. Just let it all hang on the line."
By the fifth lap, Leary appeared as if he was one of the competitors on the 200cc level of Mario Kart, breaking away to a straightaway lead and was already working his way through lapped traffic by the eighth lap.
On lap 10, the first stoppage of the main event occurred as Robert Ballou and Tyler Courtney engaged for the ninth position. The two made contact off turn four with Courtney ramping over the left front wheel of Ballou. Courtney became airborne before landing on all fours and continuing. Ballou slid sideways in the path of Justin Grant, who just barely clipped Ballou's right rear tire and dumped it over. A small fire broke out following Grant's exodus, but was extinguished shortly thereafter by the safety crew.
The lap 11 restart saw Leary resume right where his memory card had saved prior to the stoppage, instantly blitzkrieging back out to a straightaway lead over Kevin Thomas, Jr. by the midway point. The only thing that kept Leary from putting this one on ice were the red flags, the second of which arrived on the 18th lap when Carson Short walked away uninjured after banging the cushion and flipping wildly over the turn two banking.
For better or worse, the stoppages may have come at just the right time for Leary, who avoided toiling in lapped traffic for too long and had an open road and the horizon laid out in front of him.
"I really expected lapped traffic to be tougher than it was tonight," Leary thought. "The yellows and the reds kept us out of heavy traffic, though. But there at the end, I saw KT on the restart and became a little worried that the bottom might be a little faster. I kept running the top, got my momentum up and going and tried to not make any mistakes."
Thomas was indeed ready to mount a challenge on the restart with 12 laps remaining, pulling side-by-side with Leary for the lead for a half lap, but the interlude was brief, and Leary maintained the advantage. Leary became the tank engine rather than Thomas down the stretch as he put his car on the rail up top and opened the lead to a straightaway once again.
Leary was unaccompanied for the position for the time being, but like Bob Seger searching for love in the 1970s, someday lapped traffic was going to accomp'ny him. However, Leary had a plan.
Bloomington winner C.J. Leary of Greenfield, Indiana is joined in victory lane by 2nd place finisher Kevin Thomas, Jr. (left) and 3rd place Chris Windom (right). (Ryan Sellers Photo)
"Once the flagman showed me five to go, I could tell I was reeling in the tail end of the field again," Leary recalled. "I backed it down a little bit just to try to stay in clean air so they couldn't come up and disturb my line. I wanted to rip that white flag lap one more time just to make sure there was no possible way of getting a slide job or getting anyone rolling the bottom there at the end."
Leary closed out the near-flawless performance with a 1.046 second advantage over Thomas at the finish line, followed by Windom, Thomas Meseraull and Courtney.
Windom brings an 18-point lead in the ISW standings over Thomas into Saturday's finale at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt. Courtney (-52) sits third ahead of Leary (-53) and Bacon (-61).
Contingency award winners Friday night at Bloomington Speedway were Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award & KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Isaac Chapple (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Carson Short (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Scotty Weir (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Shane Cockrum (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Tyler Thomas (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier) and Chad Boespflug (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 27, 2018 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" - "Sheldon Kinser Memorial"
BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-11.244; 2. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-11.245; 3. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-11.313; 4. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-11.397; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-11.453; 6. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-11.519; 7. Jeff Bland, Jr., 18w, Waltz-11.531; 8. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-11.539; 9. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-11.544; 10. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-11.587; 11. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-11.606; 12. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-11.631; 13. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-11.657; 14. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-11.658; 15. Shane Cockrum, 45, Lawrence-11.732; 16. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-11.733; 17. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-11.740; 18. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-11.741; 19. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-11.770; 20. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-11.776; 21. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-11.823; 22. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-11.834; 23. Carson Short, 21, RCM-11.842; 24. Chad Boespflug, 11p, Pottorff/Short-11.857; 25. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-11.874; 26. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-11.885; 27. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-11.901; 28. Jordan Kinser, 70, Hurst-11.905; 29. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-11.960; 30. Brandon Morin, 98, Morin-11.968; 31. Kody Swanson, 3R, Rock Steady-12.023; 32. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-12.129; 33. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-12.159; 34. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-12.170; 35. Josh Cunningham, 63, Cunningham-12.210; 36. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-12.268; 37. Alec Sipes, 99s, Sipes-12.425; 38. Lee Underwood, 24L, Underwood-12.510; 39. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-12.808; 40. Daylan Chambers, 4c, Chambers-22.591.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chapple, 2. Windom, 3. Stockon, 4. K. Thomas, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Barksdale, 7. Buckwalter, 8. Mattox, 9. J. Swanson, 10. Sipes. 1:59.52
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Leary, 2. Jackson, 3. Meseraull, 4. Andretti, 5. DiMattia, 6. Bacon, 7. Westfall, 8. Morin, 9. Hodges, 10. Underwood. NT
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Short, 2. Johnson, 3. Cockrum, 4. Bland, 5. Beauchamp, 6. Cummins, 7. Cottle, 8. K. Swanson, 9. Cunningham, 10. Bell. 1:59.31
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Weir, 2. Grant, 3. Darland, 4. Kinser, 5. Ballou, 6. Courtney, 7. Boespflug, 8. Thompson, 9. Chambers. 1:59.31
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Roa, 2. Mattox, 3. K. Swanson, 4. Westfall, 5. Cunningham, 6. Chambers, 7. Sipes, 8. Underwood, 9. Bell. 2:03.93
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Bacon, 2. Cummins, 3. Courtney, 4. T. Thomas, 5. Beauchamp, 6. Ballou, 7. Boespflug, 8. Buckwalter, 9. Roa, 10. DiMattia, 11. J. Swanson, 12. Morin, 13. Cottle, 14. Mattox, 15. K. Swanson, 16. Hodges, 17. Westfall, 18. Barksdale. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. C.J. Leary (1), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6), 3. Chris Windom (2), 4. Thomas Meseraull (4), 5. Tyler Courtney (9), 6. Brady Bacon (7), 7. Chase Stockon (5), 8. Robert Ballou (10), 9. Jeff Bland, Jr. (3), 10. Brent Beauchamp (8), 11. Kyle Cummins (11), 12. Tyler Thomas (13), 13. Shane Cockrum (15), 14. Timmy Buckwalter (23), 15. Dave Darland (16), 16. Isaac Chapple (17), 17. Jarett Andretti (14), 18. Carson Short (21), 19. Scotty Weir (20), 20. Justin Grant (12), 21. Jordan Kinser (22), 22. Dakota Jackson (18), 23. R.J. Johnson (19), 24. Tony DiMattia (24). NT
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**Grant flipped on lap 10 of the feature. Short flipped on lap 18 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Leary.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6th to 2nd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Shane Cockrum
BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Kevin Thomas, Jr.
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Chad Boespflug
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Tyler Thomas
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Windom-1666, 2-K. Thomas-1661, 3-Courtney-1633, 4-Bacon-1444, 5-Stockon-1429, 6-Darland-1405, 7-Ballou-1384, 8-Leary-1366, 9-Grant-1322, 10-Boespflug-1027.
NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Windom-425, 2-K. Thomas-407, 3-Courtney-373, 4-Leary-372, 5-Bacon-364, 6-Darland-363, 7-Stockon-343, 8-Grant-314, 9-Meseraull-261, 10-Ballou-257.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 28 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"
DARLAND DELIVERS ISW CAREER WIN #19 AT LINCOLN PARK
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Dave Darland won his record-extending 19th career NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' feature Thursday at Lincoln Park Speedway. (Chad Warner Photo)
DARLAND DELIVERS ISW CAREER WIN #19 AT LINCOLN PARK
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Putnamville, Indiana....July 26, 2018 - When thumbing through the major statistical categories of USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car racing history, Dave Darland is the name that'll most likely appear at the top of every list you lay your eyes on.
He's the only driver to reach 60+ wins, the only driver to start at least 700+ feature events and the only driver to win a USAC-sanctioned feature in 26 consecutive seasons.
Thursday night's round five of NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" provided the Lincoln, Indiana driver with one more treasure to add to his overflowing cup of accolades: the first driver to reach 19 ISW wins. Darland wired all 30 laps in relatively dominant fashion at Lincoln Park Speedway for his first ISW win since 2014 aboard the Goodnight Racing-Curb-Agajanian/Curb Records - The Pallet Builder/Maxim/Claxton Chevy.
It was a homecoming of sorts for Darland as the victory came at the same place he won his very first ISW feature, back in 1990. In the process, he became the winningest USAC Sprint Car driver at the 5/16-mile dirt oval, breaking a tie with the great Sheldon Kinser for his sixth win there, all of which have come during ISW.
Yet, despite racking up victory after victory over the decades, the truth is that all of them mean just as much to him, whether it was win number one or win number 61 in USAC competition.
"It was just as satisfying as my first 60," Darland exclaimed. "We've been struggling a bit; we've been good for a fifth or a fourth or a tenth recently. We've been running okay, we just couldn't get over the hump. A good starting spot was key, which gave us an open track. The yellows came out at just the right time and kept me from getting in lapped traffic. Everything just went well for me tonight."
Darland raced to the point from the outside of the front row on the opening lap as Chad Boespflug diced and julienned with Kevin Thomas, Jr. for second with an exchange of sliders until Thomas cleared away for the position in turn two on lap two.
In an instant, Darland established a ten-car length advantage over Thomas until lap seven when Brandon Mattox spun to a stop, backwards in turn one. Darland's theme would repeat itself like the three chords of an AC/DC song, churning out a consistent, dominating riff on every occasion the field was closed up for a restart, which he did again on the lap eight resumption, putting himself in a class of his own with another near half-straightaway lead until leading series Rookie Timmy Buckwalter flipped over the turn three cushion on the 13th lap.
On the ensuing lap 14 restart, Darland's performance would hit a literal snag in turn one, akin to a broken guitar string in the midst of a mind-bending guitar solo in front of a packed house. Darland was able to recover quickly, though, strumming along the cushion to get back in tune with the beat and slide back into the rhythm after Thomas nearly Wally Pipp'd him at the front.
"I really don't know why, but the right rear just snagged too hard in the middle of one and two down there and I lost the front end," Darland recalled. "After it pushed up in turn two, I was way slow in that corner and he gained a lot on me. I saw him slide under me down in three. It just takes a little time to get it back and it varies on the track conditions as to how long that takes, and we did."
It was basically no harm, no foul and Darland was quite confident in his ability and that of his racecar to get the mission accomplished.
"I knew I had the position and it was my race to lose," Darland said. "I had the lead and just didn't want to screw it up myself by overdriving the car. I just had to ease into the corners and pick up the cushion when I could and try to get the exit right, make distance on them and keeping those guys behind me."
Dave Darland (middle) celebrates his 19th NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' victory Thursday at Lincoln Park Speedway alongside 2nd place finisher Chris Windom (left) & 3rd place A.J. Hopkins (right). (David Nearpass Photo)
As Darland slipped away into the distance, Thomas became involved in a tussle with five-time Lincoln Park Speedway winner A.J. Hopkins for the second spot. The two made contact between turns three and four amidst the battle for position and Thomas eventually got shuffled like an iPod back to fifth and out of contention as Hopkins grabbed second and set his sights on Darland for the race lead.
After multiple yellows on lap 16 and lap 21 for spins by Brady Bacon and Brent Beauchamp, respectively, Darland was as smooth as a silkworm each time. But the battle raged on for second, specifically on the lap 21 variety, which had Windom attempt a slider on Hopkins for second. Instead, the two greeted each other with a sprint car version of a fist bump, sending Hopkins over the ledge and dropping him back to fifth for a moment before he clawed his way back to a third by race end.
Up front, though, Darland was making some sweet music of his own, greeted by a hero's cheer from the massive throng of fans on hand as he crossed the finish line, winning by nearly two seconds over Windom, Hopkins, Thomas and Justin Grant.
Meanwhile, Windom not only took over the ISW points lead, but stretched it out to 25 with two races remaining Friday at Bloomington Speedway and Saturday at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt. Lawrenceburg and Terre Haute winner Tyler Courtney struggled mightily to a 21st place finish at Lincoln Park, dropping to fourth in the standings, 44 behind the leader. Thomas resides in second while Darland moved up to third, 30 points out of the lead.
Contingency award winners Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway were Brady Bacon (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award), Chad Boespflug (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Justin Grant (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Jordan Kinser (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Kyle Cummins (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Isaac Chapple (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jake Swanson (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 26, 2018 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"
BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-12.276; 2. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-12.369; 3. Shane Cockrum, 45, Lawrence-12.425; 4. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-12.436; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.473; 6. A.J. Hopkins, 4J, 4J Motorsports-12.475; 7. Kody Swanson, 23, Karraker-12.478; 8. Colten Cottle, 5c, Cottle-12.480; 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-12.481; 10. Carson Short, 21, RCM-12.503; 11. Tim Creech, 2c, Creech-12.522; 12. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-12.526; 13. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-12.527; 14. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-12.544; 15. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-12.597; 16. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-12.625; 17. Chad Boespflug, 11p, Pottorff/Short-12.639; 18. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-12.670; 19. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-12.682; 20. Jordan Kinser, 70, Hurst-12.709; 21. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.722; 22. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-12.725; 23. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.737; 24. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-12.761; 25. Jason McDougal, 21K, Krockenberger-12.766; 26. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-12.791; 27. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-12.818; 28. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-12.829; 29. Jerry Coons, Jr., 17GP, Dutcher-12.849; 30. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-12.853; 31. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-12.854; 32. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-12.871; 33. Clinton Boyles, 57, Hazen-12.886; 34. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-12.889; 35. Nate McMillin, 24, McMillin-12.912; 36. Jadon Rogers, 14J, Rogers-12.925; 37. Daron Clayton, 5o, Schmidt-12.931; 38. Shelby VanGilder, 22v, VanGilder-12.964; 39. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-12.967; 40. Kevin Studley, 57K, Studley-13.008; 41. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-13.041; 42. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-13.053; 43. Matt McDonald, 5m, McDonald-13.072; 44. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-13.177; 45. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-13.581, 46. Brady Ottinger, 4B, 4J Motorsports-13.669; 47. Harley Burns, 12w, Burns/Maurer/Youngblood-14.084.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Boespflug, 2. Hodges, 3. K. Thomas, 4. Stockon, 5. Bacon, 6. Coons, 7. Barksdale, 8. J. Swanson, 9. Boyles, 10. Bell, 11. Clayton, 12. McDougal. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Grant, 2. Short, 3. Darland, 4. Jackson, 5. Ballou, 6. Hopkins, 7. DiMattia, 8. T. Thomas, 9. Mattox, 10. VanGilder, 11. Ottinger, 12. Thompson. 2:12.84
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Leary, 3. Beauchamp, 4. Cummins, 5. Creech, 6. Cockrum, 7. S. Cottle, 8. Weir, 9. K. Swanson, 10. McMillin, 11. McDonald. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kinser, 2. Roa, 3. Windom, 4. Chapple, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Johnson, 7. C. Cottle, 8. Rogers, 9. Studley, 10. Meseraull, 11. Westfall. NT
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Westfall, 2. Ballou, 3. DiMattia, 4. Boyles, 5. Barksdale, 6. Rogers, 7. McDonald, 8. Studley, 9. Johnson, 10. Thompson, 11. VanGilder, 12. Bell, 13. Burns, 14. Ottinger. NT
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. T. Thomas, 2. Bacon, 3. Hopkins, 4. Buckwalter, 5. Cockrum, 6. Mattox, 7. Ballou, 8. Meseraull, 9. C. Cottle, 10. Weir, 11. Westfall, 12. S. Cottle, 13. K. Swanson, 14. J. Swanson, 15. Creech, 16. Boyles, 17. Coons, 18. DiMattia. 2:57.07
FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Dave Darland (2), 2. Chris Windom (6), 3. A.J. Hopkins (10), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 5. Justin Grant (12), 6. Carson Short (3), 7. C.J. Leary (17), 8. Chad Boespflug (1), 9. Chase Stockon (5), 10. Brody Roa (18), 11. Kyle Cummins (22), 12. Jordan Kinser (14), 13. Isaac Chapple (20), 14. Robert Ballou (23), 15. Shane Cockrum (9), 16. Brady Bacon (7), 17. Brandon Mattox (19), 18. Timmy Buckwalter (11), 19. Brent Beauchamp (13), 20. Josh Hodges (15), 21. Tyler Courtney (21), 22. Dakota Jackson (16), 23. Tyler Thomas (8). NT
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**Meseraull flipped during the fourth heat. Buckwalter flipped on lap 13 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Darland.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Kyle Cummins (22nd to 11th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Isaac Chapple
BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Brady Bacon
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Robert Ballou
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Jake Swanson
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Windom-1595, 2-K. Thomas-1583, 3-Courtney-1570, 4-Bacon-1380, 5-Stockon-1369, 6-Darland-1366, 7-Ballou-1334, 8-Grant-1292, 9-Leary-1288, 10-Boespflug-1017.
NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Windom-354, 2-K. Thomas-329, 3-Darland-324, 4-Courtney-310, 5-Bacon-300, 6-Leary-294, 7-Grant-284, 8-Stockon-283, 9-Short-213, 10-Ballou-207.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 27 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"
COURTNEY COLLECTS TERRE HAUTE TOLL, TAKES OVER ISW POINT LEAD
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Tyler Courtney is joyous after capturing the victory in Wednesday night's Dorsett Automotive 'Don Smith Classic' / NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' feature at the Terre Haute Action Track. (Gene Crucean Photo)
COURTNEY COLLECTS TERRE HAUTE TOLL, TAKES OVER ISW POINT LEAD
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Terre Haute, Indiana.....July 25, 2018 - What looked like a surefire runaway turned into an old-school dog-fight in the final laps of Wednesday's Dorsett Automotive "Don Smith Classic" / NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" round at the Terre Haute Action Track.
Tyler Courtney saw a nearly half-lap lead disappear in the final ten laps of the caution-free race, withstanding a Robert Ballou slider on the final lap to score his second ISW victory in the last three races.
It's another reward for what has truly been a momentous year for Courtney.
Coming into the year, the Indianapolis, Ind. driver possessed six career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car wins. Now just through July, he's already surpassed that, having tacked seven more onto his all-time total. No driver even had seven wins in all of 2017 with the series.
In the process, he's now taken the ISW point lead by a single marker with three races remaining and he's now won at Terre Haute twice this season. But this latest one is special for it coming in the raced named in honor of a man who believed in young Courtney's racing career some years back, helping him get started on this path that has ultimately led to a career year in 2018.
"This is really special," Courtney exclaimed. "Don (Smith) was one of my first sponsors and part of the reason I got to run my first Chili Bowl. He's passed away now, but he made a huge impact on this sport not only as a car owner and a promoter, but he would do anything for anybody. To get another win here at Terre Haute and then one in honor of him tonight, is pretty special."
Courtney began the main event from the fifth position, but the trek to the front appeared as if somebody lit a fuse on the Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/Priority Aviation - NOS Energy Drink/Spike/Rider Chevy. By lap three, he took over the race lead from Kevin Thomas, Jr., who had chosen to rock the low limbo line around the half-mile dirt oval early on. Courtney stayed true to the top and sped by Thomas at the exit of four to secure the lead, though Thomas initially fought back, but to no avail, ultimately deciding to change lanes to the top and follow Courtney's fashion.
In just a few laps, Courtney extended the advantage to a half-straight, then to a full-straightaway by lap 12, putting a hurting on the competition and standing tall as the class of the field.
Meanwhile, flipping channels back to the battle for the second position, K. Thomas and Ballou were tussling for second on the 16th lap with Ballou first taking the spot, K. Thomas re-racking second momentarily with a slider in turn three, then Ballou countering to make second place his own off four.
Courtney rode the waves through lapped traffic with relative ease, at least initially, up on the cushion, and maintained a sizable half-lap lead with a mere seven laps to go. Yet, this thing was far from over as Courtney got caught up in a proverbial orange barrel zone, stuck where he was and unable to maneuver past others as smoothly as he was just moments ago while Ballou served as the sun's rays, evaporating every fluid ounce of a lead Courtney once held.
"I think it was me getting tentative through lapped traffic," Courtney admitted. "I saw a couple guys get over the cushion, in the wall over here, and just tried to make sure they weren't going to do anything too drastic. Dave (Darland) kind of changed lanes on me there and I had to whoa up. He was still racing for position, so he's got to do what he's got to do."
'This is really special. Don (Smith) was one of my first sponsors and part of the reason I got to run my first Chili Bowl. He's passed away now, but he made a huge impact on this sport not only as a car owner and a promoter, but he would do anything for anybody. To get another win here at Terre Haute and then one in honor of him tonight, is pretty special.' - Tyler Courtney (Ryan Sellers Photo)
The sudden sea change was inescapable with Ballou crashing Courtney's party like a bear rifling through a picnic basket. With two laps remaining, Ballou was just one car-length separated from the tail-end of Courtney and sizing him up for one possible shot at glory.
In turn one of the final lap, Ballou fired that shot with a slide for life into turn one, darting to the bottom guardrail and drifting up the track side-by-side with Courtney. Courtney had just enough oomph to push off turn two and separate from Ballou, ultimately scoring the victory over Ballou Justin Grant, Brady Bacon and Kevin Thomas, Jr.
"I didn't see Robert until the middle of the corner and I knew it wasn't a lapped car," Courtney recalled. "I was like, 'Oh, I got to get down the back stretch as quickly as I can.' I knew he was going to be struggling getting off two sliding me like that. I knew I was going to have to be perfect in three and four to not risk anything and getting passed coming to the checkered."
Courtney's 13th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win tied him with Don Branson and Steve Chassey for 41st on the all-time list.
Courtney exited Terre Haute as the ISW point leader by just one over Windom, followed by K. Thomas, Bacon and Darland.
Contingency award winners Wednesday night at the Terre Haute Action Track were Chase Stockon (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Chris Windom (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Robert Ballou (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Matt Westfall (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Jerry Coons, Jr. (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner) and Kyle Cummins (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 25, 2018 - Terre Haute Action Track - Terre Haute, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" - Dorsett Automotive "Don Smith Classic"
BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-20.569; 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-20.969; 3. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-21.014; 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-21.071; 5. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-21.079; 6. Daron Clayton, 5o, Schmidt-21.211; 7. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-21.312; 8. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-21.356; 9. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-21.417; 10. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-21.448; 11. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-21.507; 12. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-21.549; 13. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-21.604; 14. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-21.630; 15. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-21.641; 16. Jason McDougal, 21K, Krockenberger-21.665; 17. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-21.707; 18. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-21.710; 19. Chad Boespflug, 11p, Pottorff/Short-21.713; 20. Jerry Coons, Jr., 17GP, Dutcher-21.749; 21. Shane Cockrum, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-21.921; 22. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-22.007; 23. Jordan Kinser, 5K, Kinser-22.029; 24. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-22.058; 25. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-22.086; 26. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-22.102; 27. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-22.114; 28. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-22.117; 29. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-22.177; 30. Carson Short, 21, RCM-22.188; 31. Kyle Robbins, 17R, KR-22.251; 32. Tyler Clem, 21x, Pollock-22.347; 33. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-22.354; 34. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-22.529; 35. Clinton Boyles, 57, Hazen-23.011; 36. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-23.159; 37. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-23.662; 38. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-23.681; 39. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-24.110; 40. Harley Burns, 12w, Burns/Maurer/Youngblood-25.718; 41. Nate McMillin, 24, McMillin-NT; 42. Eric Burns, 99B, Gasway-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Windom, 2. Cockrum, 3. T. Thomas, 4. Stockon, 5. J. Swanson, 6. Cummins, 7. Roa, 8. Meseraull, 9. Jackson, 10. McMillin, 11. Bell. 2:50.41
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Ballou, 2. Courtney, 3. Hodges, 4. Short, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Johnson, 7. Andretti, 8. DiMattia, 9. Gentry, 10. Clayton. NT
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Westfall, 2. Grant, 3. Leary, 4. Bacon, 5. Boespflug, 6. Boyles, 7. Bilbee, 8. Robbins, 9. Kinser, 10. Thompson. 2:58.50
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Coons, 2. K. Thomas, 3. Darland, 4. Chapple, 5. McDougal, 6. Weir, 7. Barksdale, 8. Mattox, 9. H. Burns, 10. Clem. 3:01.79
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to feature) 1. J. Swanson, 2. Meseraull, 3. Boespflug, 4. McDougal, 5. Weir, 6. Buckwalter, 7. Roa, 8. Cummins, 9. Jackson, 10. Bilbee, 11. Johnson, 12. Boyles, 13. Mattox, 14. DiMattia, 15. Robbins, 16. McMillin, 17. Barksdale, 18. Clayton, 19. Bell, 20. Thompson, 21. H. Burns. 4:32.25
FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (5), 2. Robert Ballou (9), 3. Justin Grant (10), 4. Brady Bacon (2), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 6. Chris Windom (14), 7. Jason McDougal (13), 8. Timmy Buckwalter (15), 9. Jerry Coons, Jr. (17), 10. Dave Darland (11), 11. C.J. Leary (4), 12. Jake Swanson (7), 13. Chase Stockon (6), 14. Chad Boespflug (16), 15. Matt Westfall (12), 16. Thomas Meseraull (21), 17. Isaac Chapple (20), 18. Scotty Weir (8), 19. Josh Hodges (19), 20. Carson Short (22), 21. Tyler Thomas (1), 22. Tony DiMattia (23), 23. Shane Cockrum (18), 24. Robert Bell (24). 12:03.22
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**Clayton flipped during the second heat. Clem flipped during the fourth heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 K. Thomas, Laps 3-30 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Chris Windom (14th to 6th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Chase Stockon
BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Chase Stockon
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Brody Roa
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Kyle Cummins
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-1539, 2-Windom-1519, 3-K. Thomas-1516, 4-Bacon-1340, 5-Stockon-1316, 6-Ballou-1299, 7-Darland-1290, 8-Leary-1229, 9-Grant-1226, 10-Boespflug-960.
NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Courtney-279, 2-Windom-278, 3-K. Thomas-262, 4-Bacon-260, 5-Darland-248, 6-Leary-235, 7-Stockon-230, 8-Grant-218, 9-Ballou-197, 10-Meseraull-183.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 26 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"
T-MEZ TOO MUCH IN 2ND STRAIGHT KOKOMO ISW WIN
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Thomas Meseraull celebrates following his victory in Tuesday's NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' race at Kokomo Speedway. (Travis Branch Photo)
T-MEZ TOO MUCH IN 2ND STRAIGHT KOKOMO ISW WIN
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana.....July 24, 2018 - Thomas Meseraull has a knack for driving a variety of different cars to victory lane.
In 2017, he raced to three wins for three different teams and finished in the top-five for six different teams in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition.
In 2018, the story remains the same as he once again notched the victory at the Kokomo Speedway round of NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" for the Chase Briscoe Racing team. Just as he did last year, the San Jose, California native became the first and, thus far, only driver to win feature events for multiple teams following a victory for Chris Dyson Racing at New York's Weedsport Speedway in June.
But it took a slight unplanned change to get to that point as the team rolled a different machine out of the trailer than it had run in the first two ISW events, the white and red Briscoe family throwback design. Tuesday night, the blue and yellow ride hit the track, which Meseraull just so happens to be undefeated behind the wheel of this year.
"Originally, we were planning on running this car on the big tracks," Meseraull said. "We planned on running this at Lawrenceburg, but with the (Saturday) cancellation (at Kokomo), we just went ahead and ran it tonight. We didn't have a seat in this car, so we just were going with the red car. We're going to look at running this thing the rest of the week. The red and white car seemed to race a lot softer. It seemed to want to bite on entry. I've only driven the blue car two times and we're two for two in it. Sometimes you get that car that just seems to go. Whenever you show up in really good equipment, it's really hard not to run well."
It didn't take too long for fourth-starting Meseraull to pick his way to the front as he got by Grant initially, then diamonded off turn four to nip Jarett Andretti at the line for second by the completion of lap one.
The following lap saw the 30-lap main event's lone red flag as Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Jason McDougal and Chad Boespflug all became entangled in turn four, with Ballou taking the brunt of the misfortune, flipping over once, but walking away uninjured.
On the ensuing restart, first and second consisted of the two most recent Kokomo ISW winners in Cummins and Meseraull. Meseraull stuck the top and lurched around the outside of Cummins at the exit of four on lap three to reach the point, bringing Chris Windom along with him on the high side to second.
"The top looked good in the B and they had rolled it in really nice," Meseraull remembered. "Kyle Cummins was running the bottom and I knew I wasn't going to pass him on the bottom. The way the track had been getting really thick up top - I call it thick and loamy - where it's just like loose, thick dirt. I knew I just needed to get up there, get around him and get some distance on him. Anytime I get out front, I feel like I need to go. I need to go! I moved up top and the thing about bounced us upside down. I just sucked up it and was like, 'do it again!'
A lap 12 restart following a Carson Short spin saw Windom take a peek under Meseraull for the race lead to no avail, but the one on the charge was Chase Stockon, who rallied from sixth, and took over possession of second from Windom on the 13th lap.
Thomas Meseraull's victory Tuesday was his 2nd straight in NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' competition at Kokomo. (David Nearpass Photo)
With less than ten to go, Meseraull and Stockon formed a two-car breakaway as they entered lapped traffic. That forced Meseraull to alter his line, diving low and attempting to slide past traffic as Stockon lay in the shadows. Meseraull, though, was practically flawless, even with pressure being applied from Stockon underneath.
"I roll around the top better," Meseraull said matter of factly. The nights we have to run the bottom and we struggle, I pretty much just put that on me. I'm not one of the guys who's good at rolling the bottom. My expertise is at running the top. I'm running the top, I catch lapped traffic and they're all running my line. I'm not that much faster than them. I see guys up, but when you get the move over flag, you know somebody's coming and you've got to protect the lead."
Stockon remained close by, waiting to capitalize on any misstep through traffic by Meseraull. On the 27th lap, Meseraull swung high on the front straight, saw a crevice between the lapped cars of Isaac Chapple and McDougal entering turn one and split them on the bottom, then drifted back to the top. That pinned Stockon behind the two and allowed Meseraull to extend the gap and close out his eighth career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory over Stockon, Justin Grant, new ISW point leader Windom and Kevin Thomas, Jr.
Contingency award winners Tuesday night at Kokomo Speedway were Dave Darland (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award), Jason McDougal (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Carson Short (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Josh Hodges (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Timmy Buckwalter (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jarett Andretti (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 24, 2018 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"
BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-12.968; 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-12.971; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.976; 4. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-12.989; 5. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-13.005; 6. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.029; 7. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-13.049; 8. Chad Boespflug, 98, NineEight-13.077; 9. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-13.079; 10. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-13.098; 11. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-13.108; 12. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.110; 13. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.129; 14. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-13.131; 15. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-13.146; 16. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-13.174; 17. Jason McDougal, 21K, Krockenberger-13.190; 18. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.198; 19. Kody Swanson, 23, Karraker-13.214; 20. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.228; 21. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-13.264; 22. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-13.266; 23. Carson Short, 21, RCM-13.294; 24. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.297; 25. Clinton Boyles, 57, Hazen-13.329; 26. Tom Harris, 5E, Harris-13.336; 27. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-13.348; 28. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-13.391; 29. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-13.422; 30. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-13.430; 31. Joe Bares, 19A, Bares-13.534; 32. Tyler Clem, 21x, Pollock-13.536; 33. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.568; 34. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-13.676; 35. Jordan Kinser, 5K, Kinser-13.704; 36. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-13.961; 37. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-13.986.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. McDougal, 2. Andretti, 3. Boyles, 4. Chapple, 5. Darland, 6. Bacon, 7. T. Thomas, 8. Hodges, 9. Westfall, 10. Bell. 2:13.51
COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Leary, 2. Windom, 3. J. Swanson, 4. Cummins, 5. K. Thomas, 6. Johnson, 7. Mattox, 8. Harris, 9. Weir. 2:10.98
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Short, 2. K. Swanson, 3. Stockon, 4. Meseraull, 5. Jackson, 6. DiMattia, 7. Bares, 8. Barksdale, 9. Kinser. 2:12.24
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Ballou, 2. Courtney, 3. Roa, 4. Grant, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Boespflug, 7. Hewitt, 8. Clem, 9. Thompson. 2:17.52
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to feature) 1. K. Thomas, 2. T. Thomas, 3. Bacon, 4. Darland, 5. Hodges, 6. Buckwalter, 7. Boespflug, 8. Barksdale, 9. Jackson, 10. Westfall, 11. Harris, 12. Weir, 13. Hewitt, 14. DiMattia, 15. Mattox, 16. Johnson, 17. Clem, 18. Thompson, 19. Bell, 20. Kinser, 21. Bares. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Thomas Meseraull (4), 2. Chase Stockon (6), 3. Justin Grant (3), 4. Chris Windom (5), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (8), 6. Dave Darland (7), 7. Tyler Courtney (12), 8. Tyler Thomas (10), 9. C.J. Leary (14), 10. Josh Hodges (21), 11. Kyle Cummins (1), 12. Brady Bacon (11), 13. Timmy Buckwalter (9), 14. Brody Roa (16), 15. Kody Swanson (15), 16. Jake Swanson (17), 17. Chad Boespflug (23), 18. Matt Westfall (24), 19. Jason McDougal (13), 20. Carson Short (18), 21. Isaac Chapple (22), 22. Clinton Boyles (20), 23. Jarett Andretti (2), 24. Robert Ballou (19). NT
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**Bares flipped during the semi. Ballou flipped on lap 2 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Cummins, Laps 3-30 Meseraull.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Josh Hodges (21st to 10th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Timmy Buckwalter
BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Dave Darland
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Jarett Andretti
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-1457, 2-Windom-1456, 3-K. Thomas-1448, 4-Bacon-1274, 5-Stockon-1268, 6-Darland-1241, 7-Ballou-1224, 8-Leary-1178, 9-Grant-1155, 10-Boespflug-923.
NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Windom-215, 2-Darland-199, 3-Courtney-197,4-Bacon-194, 5-K. Thomas-194, 6-Leary-184, 7-Stockon-182, 8-Meseraull-149, 9-Grant-147, 10-Hodges-131.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 25 - Terre Haute Action Track - Terre Haute, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"
