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SEAVEY PICKS UP PEPSI NATIONALS TRIUMPH AT ANGELL PARK
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POWRi Racing
SEAVEY PICKS UP PEPSI NATIONALS TRIUMPH AT ANGELL PARK
SUN PRAIRIE, WISC. (July 7, 2019) - Adding "Pepsi Nationals Champion" to his resume, Logan Seavey of Sutter, Calif. won the 38th running of the iconic event on Sunday night at Wisconsin's famed Angell Park Speedway. Advancing from fifth-to-first by lap 14, the Keith Kunz Motorsports No. 67 gasser fended off a final lap haymaker from Cannon McIntosh to secure his seventh POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League victory of 2019.
Bringing the 22-car field to the green flag, McIntosh of Bixby, Okla. in the Dave Mac Motorsports, Drive WFX, Spike/Toyota No. 08 paced the front row alongside Tucker Klaasmeyer of Paola, Kans. aboard the Keith Kunz Motorsports, Link-Belt Excavators, Bullet/Toyota No. 27. Assuming early command, Klaasmeyer bolted to the lead and brought McIntosh along with Zach Daum of Pocahontas, Ill. in tow.
As the battle for the lead heated up with ten laps down, attention turned to the front pack as Klaasmeyer, Daum and Seavey started a duel for the top spot. Nearly going three-wide on the ever-changing 1/3rd-mile surface, Seavey forged ahead on the 14th circuit and began to sneak away while McIntosh regained his composure and maneuvered by Daum and Klaasmeyer into second.
"When they work it like that the bottom normally slicks off and gets hard to run like it did there," noted Seavey. "I got on top too early and Tracy slipped by me, then I started wondering if it was ever going to clean off. I kept working it and working it after those restarts, my car was great on the long run once we got some heat in the tires."
Tracking Seavey down in the closing stages, McIntosh approached the No. 67 and was ready to attack for a shot at his first-career POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League victory with two laps to go. Showing his nose around the bottom of turns one and two, McIntosh lost some ground, but recovered quickly to set up one final run on the final lap.
Flying to the bottom of turn three on the last circuit, McIntosh was set to force a decision upon Seavey, but a last-minute diversion to avoid an infield tire sent the No. 08 up the race track and gave Seavey clean room to find the checkered flag.
"That was a really fun race track, I always love coming to this place and seeing the atmosphere the fans create," said Seavey in victory lane. "Connor [Ridge] kept telling me all day how much he really wanted to win this one, and I really wanted it too. I led a bunch of laps here last year and lost it on the last lap, so it's nice to come back and redeem ourselves.
For the Sutter, Calif. driver of the Keith Kunz Motorsports, Mobil 1, Bullet/Toyota No. 67, Sunday's victory in the 38th annual Pepsi Nationals marked Seavey's first-ever victory at Angell Park Speedway, the seventh of his stellar 2019 POWRi campaign, and the 15th of his Lucas Oil National Midget League career.
Following Seavey to the stripe was Cannon McIntosh with a close second-place finish, a young man who continues to be oh, so close to breaking through for his first-career victory. Early leader Tucker Klaasmeyer slipped back to round out the podium, while Tanner Carrick and Chase Jones closed out the top five.
Cannon McIntosh (Auto Meter Heat 1), Holley Hollan (KSE Racing Products Heat 2) and Zach Daum (Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat 3) topped heat race action on Sunday night at Angell Park Speedway.
Up next for the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League is a trio of races in the "Show-Me State" next weekend. The tripleheader begins with back-to-back nights at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo. on Friday and Saturday, July 12-13 with a Sunday, July 14 appearance at Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex in Sweet Springs, Mo.
For more information on the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League, you can visit www.powri.com online, like @POWRi_Racing on Twitter and Instagram, or like POWRi on Facebook.
Auto Meter Heat One (8 Laps):
1. 08-Cannon McIntosh, Bixby, OK (4); 2. 71K-Tanner Carrick, Lincoln, CA (2); 3. 98-Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (3); 4. 21KS-Tracy Hines, Wilkinson, IN (6); 5. 57-Chase Jones, Greenwood, IN (8); 6. 9-Daison Pursley, Locust Grove, OK (7); 7. 31-David Budres, Janesville, WI (1); 8. 11-Tyler Baran, Joliet, IL (5).
KSE Racing Products Heat Two (8 Laps):
1. 67K-Holley Hollan, Broken Arrow, OK (1); 2. 28-Ace McCarthy, Tahlequah, OK (2); 3. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer, Paola, KS (6); 4. 3B-Shelby Bosie, Sherman, IL (4); 5. 3-Davey Ray, Davenport, IA (5); 6. 3W-Brandon Waelti, Sun Prairie, WI (7); 7. 82-Mike Hess, Riverton, IL (3).
Advanced Racing Suspensions Heat Three (8 Laps):
1. 5D-Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL (1); 2. 67-Logan Seavey, Sutter, CA (3); 3. 7X-Thomas Meseraull (2); 4. 71-Jesse Colwell, Red Bluff, CA (7); 5. 3N-Jake Neuman, New Berlin, IL (6); 6. 97K-Jesse Love, Redwood City, CA (5); 7. 20-Cody Weisensel (4).
Lucas Oil Products Main Event (30 Laps):
1. 67-Logan Seavey (5); 2. 08-Cannon McIntosh (1); 3. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer (2); 4. 71K-Tanner Carrick (7); 5. 57-Chase Jones (14); 6. 5D-Zach Daum (4); 7. 71-Jesse Colwell (6); 8. 98-Tanner Thorson (10); 9. 3-Davey Ray (15); 10. 9-Daison Pursley (16); 11. 28-Ace McCarthy (8); 12. 97K-Jesse Love (18); 13. 3N-Jake Neuman (13); 14. 67K-Holley Hollan (3); 15. 31-David Budres (21); 16. 21KS-Tracy Hines (9); 17. 3W-Brandon Waelti (17); 18. 11-Tyler Baran (22); 19. 82-Mike Hess (20); 20. 7X-Thomas Meseraull (11); 21. 3B-Shelby Bosie (12); 22. 20-Cody Weisensel (19).
Lap Leader(s): Klaasmeyer 1-13, Seavey 14-30.
Hard Charger(s): Jones +9.
NEW POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League Points:
1. 67-Logan Seavey (3,010); 2. 27-Tucker Klaasmeyer (-480); 3. 5D-Zach Daum (-610); 4. 71-Jesse Colwell (-640); 5. 3N-Jake Neuman (-770); 6. 71K-Tanner Carrick (-860); 7. 08-Cannon McIntosh (-990); 8. 28-Ace McCarthy (-1,030); 9. 67K-Holley Hollan (-1,120); 10. 9-Daison Pursley (1,220).
Bacon the 20 Grand Man at Corn Belt Nationals
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Brady Bacon took home $20,000 for his win in Saturday night's Brandt Professional Agriculture 'Corn Belt Nationals' at Knoxville Raceway.
(Ryan Sellers Photo)
BACON THE 20 GRAND MAN AT CORN BELT NATIONALS
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Knoxville, Iowa (July 6, 2019).........As it turned out, Brady Bacon's show of strength in Friday's opener was just the warm-up act for what was in store during Saturday night's inaugural Brandt Professional Agriculture "Corn Belt Nationals" finale at Knoxville Raceway.
The two-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion from Broken Arrow, Okla. backed up his Friday night victory at Knoxville with a masterfully dominating win Saturday night, leading all 30 laps en route to an 8.286 sec. triumph worth $20,000 that was never in doubt from start to finish, although at the end, he had to escape a maze of lapped traffic.
But, as it turned out, Bacon was in a race of his own, and the only competitive race for position was long behind, nearly a half-lap behind him. Bacon was A-Okay with that.
"I was like, 'Doug, Doug, throw the white, let's go. I'm done with this," Bacon said referring to flagman Doug Clark. "I was having some trouble with those lapped cars, and the cushion was getting really treacherous. Lapped cars were biking in front of me and I was like, 'man I don't want someone else to collect me up in this.' Obviously, you don't know how good you are. The competition in USAC is so tough right now, I assumed someone was breathing down my neck."
Bacon started from the outside of the front row alongside "Corn Belt" high-point man Justin Grant. Bacon took charge instantly, sweeping across Grant's nose to take the bottom line into turn one before sliding up to the cushion to secure the spot with USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car point leader C.J. Leary in tow.
Leary took his shot at Bacon with a slider in turn one on the third lap, but Bacon was unrattled and swept around the outside of Leary to regain control and blast away for a 10-car-length lead. With five laps in the books, Bacon was up by a half-straightaway and, by lap 10, the lead was a full-straight (4.5 seconds) over Leary with lapped traffic looming.
Initially, the traffic situation was tepid as Bacon ripped above and between the tail end of the field. Yet, seemingly defying the norm, the deeper into traffic Bacon got, the more he built his lead, to more than seven seconds with 10 laps remaining. Leary and 2018 Knoxville USAC winner Tyler Courtney's pursuit of Bacon was like the bystander chasing the proverbial dollar bill on a fishing line, with the lead seemingly out of reach, as those two waged their own war down the stretch.
Yet, unlike stick and ball sports, a blowout lead can literally vanish in the blink of an eye in sprint car racing. With five laps remaining, Bacon entered turn one behind the lapped car of Nick Bilbee. Bilbee biked it on the cushion about six or seven car lengths in front of the leader. Bacon was seemingly unfazed, but it certainly caught his attention as he counted down the dwindling laps.
"I was like, 'Doug, Doug, throw the white, let's go. I'm done with this," Bacon said referring to flagman Doug Clark. "I was having some trouble with those lapped cars, and the cushion was getting really treacherous. Lapped cars were biking in front of me and I was like, 'man I don't want someone else to collect me up in this.' Obviously, you don't know how good you are. The competition in USAC is so tough right now, I assumed someone was breathing down my neck."
However, that wasn't the case at all. Bacon had the field scattered, smothered and covered. Only a caution seemed to be the thing that could put the result in doubt. Behind him, though, Leary and Courtney had their own score to settle with the difference between second and third worth $6,000. Courtney got by Leary on lap 23 in traffic. Leary stayed in the hunt and pounced when Courtney stumbled on the cushion, going underneath Courtney for the position in turn four two laps from the finish.
Brady Bacon's $20,000 Knoxville win Saturday came just ten months after winning the richest USAC Midget race of 2018, a $15,000 victory in the BC39.
(Lee Greenawalt Photo)
Up front, Bacon was harvesting the field to the tune of more than eight seconds, closing out the biggest payday of his USAC Sprint Car career just less than a year after capturing the biggest prize in all of Midget racing in 2018, the $15,000-to-win BC39 at The Dirt Track at IMS.
Trailing Bacon at the finish line were Leary, Courtney, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Chris Windom.
Bacon's recent surge on the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship trail began with a top-flight performance in the Eastern Storm opener at Pennsylvania's Grandview Speedway, which paid the previous season-high series' winner share of $10,000, beginning a string of three wins in the past five races that culminated in Saturday's $20,000 victory.
"We've been working hard, unfortunately we haven't gotten to race a lot," Bacon said, referring to the plague of rain throughout the season. "We picked up some momentum in Eastern Storm and we carried it into here. Anytime you can run well here is awesome. Obviously, the big check makes it a lot better."
Bacon became the first driver to reach three USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victories on Friday night and the first to elevate to the four-win mark with Saturday's win. It was the 27th series win of Bacon's career, moving him past Tony Elliott and Dave Steele into sole possession of 16th on the all-time list, and just one behind the 28-win mark held by Levi Jones and J.J. Yeley.
Contingency award winners Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway included Justin Grant (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Qualifier Winner), Chase Stockon (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Qualifier Winner), Tyler Courtney (AutoMeter Third Qualifier Winner), Brady Bacon (Indy Race Parts Fourth Qualifier Winner), Korey Weyant (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Wyatt Burks (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), C.J. Leary (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier) and Glen Saville (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 6, 2019 - Knoxville Raceway - Knoxville, Iowa - Inaugural Brandt Professional Agriculture "Corn Belt Nationals" - 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval (Co-Sanctioned by the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League)
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP ONE: 1. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-19.312; 2. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-19.719; 3. Riley Kreisel, 90, Smith-19.771; 4. Chad Boespflug, 98e, EZR-19.818; 5. Carson Short, 21, RCM-19.847; 6. Kory Schudy, 28, Sawyer-19.866; 7. Landon Simon, 24s, LSR-19.972; 8. Cody Gardner, 9G, Appco-20.050; 9. Dave Darland, 42, Cheney-20.122; 10. Mitchell Davis, 56, Davis-20.129; 11. Don Droud, Jr., 1m, Burch-20.259; 12. Rob Caho, Jr., 78, Caho-20.311; 13. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-20.320; 14. Ryan Bernal, 17B, Baughman/Reutzel-20.425; 15. Glen Saville, 75x, Saville-20.702; 16. Chris Morgan, 7c, Williams-20.730; 17. Terry Richards, 18, Richards-21.019; 18. Brandon Halverson, 13MJ, Halverson-21.031; 19. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-21.094; 20. Jori Hughes, 19x, Layton-21.125; 21. Braydon Cromwell, 4A, Cromwell-21.846; 22. Steve Thomas, 20, Thomas-22.283; 23. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-NT; 24. Doug Sylvester, 12x, Sylvester-NT (Time of 21.767 disallowed).
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP TWO: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-19.823; 2. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-20.121; 3. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-20.168; 4. Matt Westfall, 33m Marshall-20.194; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-20.241; 6. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-20.323; 7. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-20.386; 8. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-20.386; 9. Wesley Smith, 12, Helm-20.477; 10. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-20.589; 11. Anthony Nicholson, 16, Nicholson-20.694; 12. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-20.805; 13. Korey Weyant, 99, Weyant-20.965; 14. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-21.024; 15. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-21.196; 16. Logan Faucon, 52F, Faucon-21.319; 17. Slater Helt, 22s, Helt-21.414; 18. Steve Irwin, 0s, Flying Zero-21.461; 19. Dickie Gaines, 44, Soudrette-21.692; 20. T.J. Artz, 57, Artz-21.782; 21. Brandon Stevenson, 0, Stevenson-21.966; 22. Lane Stone, 73, Stone-22.008; 23. Chris Parkinson, 65, Parkinson-22.091; 24. Frank Rodgers III, 6R, Rodgers-NT; 25. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST QUALIFIER: (10 laps) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Carson Short, 3. Nick Bilbee, 4. Riley Kreisel, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Glen Saville, 7. Landon Simon, 8. Terry Richards, 9. Katlynn Leer, 10. Braydon Cromwell, 11. Doug Sylvester, 12. Don Droud, Jr. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND QUALIFIER: (10 laps) 1. Chase Stockon, 2. Ryan Bernal, 3. Mitchell Davis, 4. Kory Schudy, 5. Chad Boespflug, 6. Cody Gardner, 7. Chris Morgan, 8. Rob Caho, Jr., 9. Brandon Halverson, 10. Jori Hughes, 11. Steve Thomas. 3:33.53 (New Track Record)
AUTOMETER THIRD QUALIFIER: (10 laps) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5. Anthony Nicholson, 6. Timmy Buckwalter, 7. Dickie Gaines, 8. Korey Weyant, 9. Slater Helt, 10. Brandon Stevenson, 11. Chris Parkinson, 12. Wesley Smith. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH QUALIFIER: (10 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Wyatt Burks, 3. Jason McDougal, 4. Matt Westfall, 5. Mario Clouser, 6. Josh Hodges, 7. Lane Stone, 8. T.J. Artz, 9. Steve Irwin, 10. Logan Faucon, 11. Frank Rodgers III, 12. Dustin Christie. NT
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-6 transfer to the semi) 1. Chris Morgan, 2. Brandon Stevenson, 3. Lane Stone, 4. Slater Helt, 5. Jori Hughes, 6. Brandon Halverson, 7. Doug Sylvester, 8. Steve Thomas, 9. Braydon Cromwell, 10. Frank Rogers, 11. Chris Parkinson. 3:42.19
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Josh Hodges, 3. Anthony Nicholson, 4. Kory Schudy, 5. Korey Weyant, 6. Steve Irwin, 7. Glen Saville, 8. Cody Gardner, 9. Mitchell Davis, 10. T.J. Artz, 11. Lane Stone, 12. Chris Morgan, 13. Rob Caho, Jr., 14. Katlynn Leer, 15. Dustin Christie, 16. Dickie Gaines, 17. Terry Richards, 18. Brandon Stevenson, 19. Logan Faucon, 20. Jori Hughes, 21. Slater Helt, 22. Brandon Halverson, 23. Landon Simon, 24. Don Droud, Jr. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (2), 2. C.J. Leary (4), 3. Tyler Courtney (6), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (5), 5. Chris Windom (8), 6. Justin Grant (1), 7. Jason McDougal (7), 8. Chase Stockon (3), 9. Ryan Bernal (12), 10. Carson Short (11), 11. Matt Westfall (9), 12. Korey Weyant (23), 13. Wyatt Burks (10), 14. Josh Hodges (20), 15. Nick Bilbee (14), 16. Dave Darland (19), 17. Mario Clouser (16), 18. Steve Irwin (24), 19. Kory Schudy (22), 20. Anthony Nicholson (21), 21. Riley Kreisel (13), 22. Chad Boespflug (15), 23. Timmy Buckwalter (18), 24. Wesley Smith (17). 11:08.75
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**Wesley Smith flipped during the third heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Brady Bacon.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Korey Weyant (23rd to 12th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Wyatt Burks
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: C.J. Leary
SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Glen Saville
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-C.J. Leary-876, 2-Tyler Courtney-816, 3-Chase Stockon-811, 4-Chris Windom-810, 5-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-800, 6-Brady Bacon-770, 7-Justin Grant-742, 8-Carson Short-695, 9-Jason McDougal-681, 10-Chad Boespflug-599.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 17, 2019 - Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, Ohio - #LetsRaceTwo #TakeTwo - 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval
Brad Sweet takes back-up car to World of Outlaws Victory Lane at Cedar Lake Speedway
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World of Outlaws
Contact: Nick Graziano
World of Outlaws PR
ngraziano@dirtcar.com
Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article
Winner Brad Sweet (DB3 Photo)
ROUND TWO REDEMPTION: Brad Sweet takes back-up car to Victory Lane at Cedar Lake Speedway
Sweet rebounds from early night woes to win the second round of the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown
The right rear tire of Brad Sweet’s NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 car sagged lower to the ground with every inch the car rolled into the infield.
Fortunate for Sweet, his infield trip was to Cedar Lake Speedway’s Victory Lane Saturday night. It was his ninth win of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season – tying his win total last year and his record for most wins in a season – and his 43rd career Series win overall.
The image of Sweet waving the checkered flag atop his car with a flat tire was symbolistic of his path to victory.
Rain forced the remaining 28 laps of Friday night’s FVP Platinum Battery Showdown Feature to be run Saturday evening – making Saturday a doubleheader event. Sweet restarted the race in fourth and kept pace with the leaders, eyeing his third win in-a-row and 14th top-five in a row.
But four laps into the race, Sweet slowed to a stop. A U-joint broke in the car, damaging it beyond a quick repair. Sweet was forced to take his first DNF of the season. His Kasey Kahne Racing team had to pull out the back-up car for the second Feature of the night.
“I was disappointed, but we win as a team, we lose as a team,” Sweet said. “Every now and then you have a mechanical failure. We’ll go back and look at it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
After about an hour turnaround to get the back-up car ready, he Qualified eighth and then finished second in his Dryden Heat race behind Sheldon Haudenschild – who won the first Feature of the night. If there were still any concerns about how the back-up car would run, they were extinguished in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash.
Sweet ran second to Dominic Scelzi for the first half of the Dash, but found grip riding the bottom of the track and reeled Scelzi in lap by lap. On the final lap, the two California-natives charged down the front stretch side-by-side with Sweet edging out Scelzi for the win.
Now with the pole position for the Feature, Sweet was in prime position to rebound from his 23rd-place finish earlier in the night.
He launched to the lead on the initial start. Scelzi didn’t let Sweet get far, though. Five laps into the race, Scelzi snuck underneath Sweet in turns one and two. It wasn’t enough. Sweet charged off the top side of the track and maintained the lead. Scelzi wasn’t ready to give up. He charged back underneath Sweet, but, again, Sweet had the advantage on the high side. He shot to the lead and pulled away from Scelzi.
For the remaining 30 laps, Sweet held command of the race. Scelzi was left to fight for second-place, which he eventually lost to David Gravel. Carson Macedo wasn’t far behind, stealing third from Scelzi, as well.
Lap traffic became an obstacle at times for Sweet, but had little effect on slowing him down. He was denied a chance at a win earlier in the night. That was not going to happen again. He crossed the finish line with about a straightaway lead, ending the long day with a win.
“It was pretty cool that a car that just sits in our trailer we can bring out first night out and get it going that good,” Sweet said. “It’s been a long day, but it’s nice to celebrate another win. I want to keep it rolling. I have a great race car.”
In the first Feature of the night, 10-time Series champion Donny Schatz finished second – cutting Sweet’s points lead in half. However with Schatz finishing seventh in the second Feature of the night, Sweet was able to maintain a 50-point lead over the Fargo, N.D.-native.
Gravel has moved into third – 142 points behind Sweet.
“We’re happy with a second,” said Gravel, who went Quick Time for both Features at Cedar Lake Speedway. “We didn’t have a shot to win there. But happy with second. I think that was the best-case scenario for us. Brad got by a couple of lap cars and just wasn’t able to get back by the cars he did and kind of got stuck there.”
While Sweet dominated the race, leading all 35 laps, he said there is still room for improvement as his car lost grip throughout the run.
“If we keep fine tuning this thing, I think we can win a lot of races this year,” Sweet said.
With nine wins halfway through the season – seven of them in the last 10 races – Sweet is already on track to a career best year.
“We’ve got a good thing going and all we want to do is keep the throttle down,” Sweet said. “We just want to win as many of these races as we can. You don’t get these opportunities like we have very often.”
Sweet made the most of his latest opportunity with minutes to spare before his right rear tire gave out for the night in Victory Lane.
UP NEXT:
The World of Outlaws on Friday, July 12, will be at Hartford Speedway in Hartford, Mich. for the Battle of Michigan.
As always, you can catch all World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action on www.DIRTVision.com.
For tickets and more information, go to www.WorldofOutlaws.com.
Race Results: 7/6/19 - Cedar Lake Speedway
NOS Energy Drink Feature (35 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$10,000]; 2. 41-David Gravel [3][$5,000]; 3. 2-Carson Macedo [5][$3,000]; 4. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2][$2,700]; 5. 18-Ian Madsen [7][$2,500]; 6. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [4][$2,200]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [11][$2,000]; 8. 2M-Kerry Madsen [9][$1,800]; 9. 17B-Bill Balog [6][$1,600]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [10][$1,450]; 11. 5-Shane Stewart [15][$1,300]; 12. 83-Daryn Pittman [8][$1,200]; 13. 19-Brent Marks [19][$1,100]; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart [14][$1,000]; 15. 21-Brian Brown [17][$950]; 16. 7S-Jason Sides [21][$900]; 17. 13-Mark Dobmeier [18][$850]; 18. 3-Jac Haudenschild [22][$750]; 19. 1AJ-Trevor Mell [24][$725]; 20. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12][$700]; 21. 9N-Wade Nygaard [16][$700]; 22. 19P-Paige Polyak [20][$700]; 23. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$700]; 24. 23-Russel Borland [23][$700];
Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet 1-35;
KSE Hard Charger Award: 19-Brent Marks[+6]
Qualifying – 1. 41-David Gravel, 13.015; 2. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.032; 3. 2-Carson Macedo, 13.295; 4. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.32; 5. 83-Daryn Pittman, 13.48; 6. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 13.501; 7. 18-Ian Madsen, 13.551; 8. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.553; 9. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 13.562; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.619; 11. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.657; 12. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.66; 13. 9N-Wade Nygaard, 13.779; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.943; 15. 5-Shane Stewart, 13.958; 16. 19P-Paige Polyak, 13.985; 17. 21-Brian Brown, 14.003; 18. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 14.005; 19. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.382; 20. 7S-Jason Sides, 14.394; 21. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 14.398; 22. 19-Brent Marks, 14.511; 23. 1AJ-Trevor Mell, 15.319; 24. 29-Hunter Custer, 15.385; 25. 23-Russel Borland, 15.589
DRYDENE Heat #1 (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer – 1. 41-David Gravel [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [2]; 3. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 4. 1A-Jacob Allen [4]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7]; 6. 9N-Wade Nygaard [5]; 7. 19P-Paige Polyak [6]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [8]; 9. 23-Russel Borland [9]
DRYDENE Heat #2 (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer – 1. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 3. 83-Daryn Pittman [2]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [4]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [6]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides [7]; 8. 1AJ-Trevor Mell [8]
DRYDENE Heat #3 (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer – 1. 2-Carson Macedo [1]; 2. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [2]; 3. 2M-Kerry Madsen [3]; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 5. 5-Shane Stewart [5]; 6. 13-Mark Dobmeier [7]; 7. 3-Jac Haudenschild [6]; 8. 29-Hunter Custer [8]
DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash (8 Laps) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [5]; 2. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [1]; 3. 41-David Gravel [3]; 4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [2]; 5. 2-Carson Macedo [4]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [6]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer – 1. 19-Brent Marks [4][-]; 2. 19P-Paige Polyak [1][-]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [3][-]; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2][-]; 5. 23-Russel Borland [7][-]; 6. 1AJ-Trevor Mell [5][-]; 7. 29-Hunter Custer [6][$300]
Dale Blaney scores emotional Lou Blaney Memorial victory at Sharon Speedway
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Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
Winner Dale Blaney (Rick Rarer Photo)
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com
Dale Blaney scores emotional Lou Blaney Memorial victory at Sharon Speedway
Courtesy of Mike Leone
Sharon Speedway
HARTFORD, Ohio (July 7, 2019) - Mother Nature tried to intervene like she's done so many times this season including washing out the prior two Ollie's Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 events, but on Saturday night Sharon Speedway stole one back. A hard mid-afternoon rain storm only temporarily dampened the spirits of race goers for the 11th annual "Lou Blaney Memorial" presented by Ollie's Bargain Outlet as all of the other storms stayed just south of the speedway allowing Dale Blaney to celebrate in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply victory lane. The event once again benefitted the Alzheimer's Association. Rain did force the live auction to be postponed to an online version with a date and time TBA.
One year ago it was Dave Blaney becoming the first repeat winner of the "Lou Blaney Memorial" winning on year number 10. On Saturday night, brother Dale Blaney put on a dominating performance leading all 30 laps to win his first "Lou Blaney Memorial" on year number 11 ironically driving car #11. For Dale Blaney, the All Star Circuit of Champions victory was worth $6,000 as he became the event's 10th different winner in 11 years. Blaney also became the fourth different "410" Sprint Car winner in as many events in 2019 at Sharon with his 16th career "410" victory at the Hartford, Ohio oval.
"Before I was done I knew I had to win this race," acknowledged the 55-year-old Hartford, Ohio winner. "To win it back-to-back with Dave is really special. It's weird, I've started on the front row of this race before. I always wore my dad's retro uniform for this race and never did very good so I just went with the old Penske (Shocks uniform) and sure enough it worked. The 11th year of this race, we're number 11 this year- we got it done."
Blaney followed up his victory in dash number two by powering into the lead from his outside pole starting spot on the opening lap over Sye Lynch, Brock Zearfoss, Skylar Gee, and Cory Eliason. Seventh starting Jordan Ryan, was rolling around the bottom as he cracked the top five on lap two driving for Jim Chappel, who won the 2010 event with Mike Lutz driving.
Blaney was flying around the fast 3/8-mile as he caught lapped traffic on lap six with a straightaway lead. While Blaney was working traffic, Zearfoss began to put the pressure on Lynch, a two-time winner at Sharon, on lap eight. Gee was hitting his marks perfectly running the extreme high line as he closed in making it a three-car race for the runner-up spot on lap 10. Zearfoss finally worked around Lynch for second on lap 11, but Gee probably surprised Lynch and Zearfoss as he blew around both to take second at the start-finish line. Ryan's fine run ended when he clobbered the fence and brought out the caution with 15 laps scored, which erased a huge 5.135 second lead for Blaney.
Back under green, Eliason drove around Lynch for fourth on lap 17. It looked like Gee may have something for Blaney, but he got too high racing off turn two and got into the fence allowing Zearfoss to get by. Eliason then threw a big slider on Gee in turns three and four to take third on lap 20. Gee's night then would end as he got into the fence again, this time cutting down a tire and bringing out the event's second caution with 21 laps scored.
When racing resumed, Blaney took off over Zearfoss while a great battle ensued for third between Eliason, Cole Duncan, Lynch, and Aaron Reutzel. Duncan made the pass of Eliason for third before the final stoppage of the event occurred with 25 laps scored when Justin Peck suffered a flat tire. The caution would allow Blaney clean air for the final five circuits as he went unchallenged in the Sam McGhee Motorsports/Mike McGhee & Associates #11 for his third All Star win of the season and all-time leading 137th of his career.
"I was really good down on this end (turns one and two) and I felt like I was losing ground on the top so I cut the corner and drove across to it and felt like I carried more speed," explained Blaney. "Brock (Zearfoss) is a really good racer. I kept looking on the board for the 87 (Reutzel) because I knew he'd be coming up there. Sam and Mike (McGhee) have given me a great car. Last year was a tough year and I didn't get to race much, but I've felt like we've gained a lot on it lately and really looking forward to the rest of the year."
Zearfoss was able to fend off Duncan in the closing laps for his best career Sharon finish in runner-up. "This traveling series deal for the points is tough and you have to stay out of trouble and finish races," stated the Jonestown, Pa. racer. "We've definitely had speed, but I haven't been getting it done on my end and finishing races- same as last night; we drove up to third and spun out. That's on me as a driver and have to get better at it. If we're going to points race, we need to be in contention at the end and we were tonight. Shane and Tye came back and gave me a hell of a car again. I thought I might have a chance on that last restart. I stayed with Dale, but he was just pretty damn good tonight. Congrats to those guys."
Duncan, who has had a tough 2019 season, has been impressive nonetheless at Sharon with a FAST win on May 11, a runner-up in last Saturday's non-sanctioned "410" event to Dave Blaney, and a solid third with the All Stars on Saturday night.
"We needed this," expressed the 27-year-old Grove City, Ohio racer. "It's been a horrible year- I can't say it any other way. We did get a win here. It's mostly been my fault. We had fresh race cars to start the year. I crashed a couple cars and we had some motor issues that we got resolved. It feels good. I can't thank all of my guys enough and my sponsors that stick behind me. It has to be frustrating for them to watch us struggle when they help us so much. Thank you to you guys if you're watching tonight we really appreciate it. And thank you to this great crowd for coming out- it ended up being a great night. Congrats to Dale, Sammy, and Mike- they deserve this."
Eliason was fourth. Aaron Reutzel salvaged his night with a fifth place effort from the 13th starting spot. Reutzel had set fast time in his qualifying flight, but failed to scale which relegated him to the ninth starting spot of his heat race. Reutzel charged from the tail to finish third then advanced eight spots in the feature as the defending All Star champion was able to maintain his points lead.
For Blaney, the $6,000 Lou Blaney Memorial victory capped a two-race weekend that was complete with accomplishment, as well as perseverance, as the pilot of the McGhee Motorsports entry was forced to battle his way through Lernerville Speedway’s B-main to transfer into Friday’s main event, all before charging ahead from 22nd to finish 11th during the 30-lap, All Star feature.
Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions will continue the month of July with a three-race sweep through the Empire State, stretching their legs across much of southern New York before ending the long weekend in West Lebanon - just east of Albany. The weekend schedule will activate with a visit to Utica-Rome Speedway in Vernon on Friday, July 12, followed by a stop at the Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown on Saturday, July 13. The three-day sweep will conclude with a Sunday night invasion of Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon on July 14.
Contingency Awards/Results:
Sharon Speedway - Saturday, July 6, 2019:
Event: 11th Annual Lou Blaney Memorial
Entries: 36
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Aaron Reutzel - 14.315
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Jordan Ryan - 14.568
Ford Performance Heat #1: Cole Duncan
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Skylar Gee
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Jack Sodeman, Jr.
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Brock Zearfoss
JE Pistons Dash #1: Sye Lynch
Fatheadz Eyewear Dash #2: Dale Blaney
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: George Hobaugh
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Dale Blaney
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Greg Wilson [+11]
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Michael Bauer
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 42-Sye Lynch, 14.585; 2. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 14.702; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan, 14.902; 4. 11B-Carl Bowser, 14.944; 5. 4N-Jim Morris, 15.006; 6. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer, 15.249; 7. 13M-Brandon Matus, 15.349; 8. 7N-Andy Priest, 15.485; 9. 81-Lee Jacobs, 15.764
Group (B)
1. 8-Jordan Ryan, 14.569; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 14.720; 3. 3C-Cale Conley, 14.769; 4. 99-Skylar Gee, 14.913; 5. 40-George Hobaugh, 15.265; 6. 23-Darren Pifer, 15.439; 7. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau, 15.804; 8. 22M-Dan McCarron, 15.814; 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 99.999
Group (C)
1. 23S-Russ Sansosti, 14.907; 2. 97-Max Stambaugh, 15.025; 3. K4-Chad Kemenah, 15.212; 4. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr., 15.376; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 15.509; 6. 33-Brent Matus, 15.525; 7. 46-Michael Bauer, 15.876; 8. 1R-Gale Ruth Sr., 17.364; 9. 21N-Frankie Nervo, NT
Group (D)
1. 11-Dale Blaney, 15.122; 2. 7k-Dan Shetler, 15.133; 3. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 15.254; 4. 13-Paul McMahan, 15.300; 5. W20-Greg Wilson, 15.337; 6. O8-Dan Kuriger, 15.350; 7. 70X-Justin Peck, 15.404; 8. 98H-Dave Blaney, 15.607; 9. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi, 15.863
Heat #1 - Group (A) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 22C-Cole Duncan [2]; 2. 11B-Carl Bowser [1]; 3. 42-Sye Lynch [4]; 4. O7-Gerard McIntyre [3]; 5. 4N-Jim Morris [5]; 6. 13M-Brandon Matus [7]; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs [9]; 8. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer [6]; 9. 7N-Andy Priest [8]
Heat #2 - Group (B) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 99-Skylar Gee [1]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [9]; 4. 3C-Cale Conley [2]; 5. 8-Jordan Ryan [4]; 6. 23-Darren Pifer [6]; 7. 40-George Hobaugh [5]; 8. 22M-Dan McCarron [8]; 9. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau [7]
Heat #3 - Group (C) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [1]; 2. K4-Chad Kemenah [2]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler [5]; 4. 97-Max Stambaugh [3]; 5. 23S-Russ Sansosti [4]; 6. 46-Michael Bauer [7]; 7. 1R-Gale Ruth Sr. [8]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [6]
Heat #4 - Group (D) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 70-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [4]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 4. 7K-Dan Shetler [3]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 6. O8-Dan Kuriger [6]; 7. 70X-Justin Peck [7]; 8. 98H-Dave Blaney [8]; 9. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi [9]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 42-Sye Lynch [1]; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [3]; 4. 8-Jordan Ryan [4]; 5. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 11-Dale Blaney [1]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. K4-Chad Kemenah [5]; 5. 11B-Carl Bowser [3]
B-Main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 40-George Hobaugh [2]; 2. O8-Dan Kuriger [4]; 3. 70X-Justin Peck [7]; 4. 13M-Brandon Matus [3]; 5. 46-Michael Bauer [6]; 6. 98H-Dave Blaney [11]; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs [8]; 8. 23-Darren Pifer [5]; 9. 7N-Andy Priest [13]; 10. 35Z-Jared Zimbardi [15]; 11. 22M-Dan McCarron [12]; 12. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau [14]; 13. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer [1]; 14. 1R-Gale Ruth Sr. [9]; 15. 33-Brent Matus [10]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 11-Dale Blaney [2]; 2. 70-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [5]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [13]; 6. 42-Sye Lynch [1]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan [11]; 8. K4-Chad Kemenah [8]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [20]; 10. O7-Gerard McIntyre [14]; 11. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [9]; 12. 7K-Dan Shetler [17]; 13. 97-Max Stambaugh [16]; 14. 11B-Carl Bowser [10]; 15. 22-Brandon Spithaler [12]; 16. 3C-Cale Conley [15]; 17. 4N-Jim Morris [19]; 18. 23S-Russ Sansosti [18]; 19. O8-Dan Kuriger [22]; 20. 40-George Hobaugh [21]; 21. 70X-Justin Peck [23]; 22. 99-Skylar Gee [4]; 23. 13M-Brandon Matus [24]; 24. 8-Jordan Ryan [7]
Lap Leaders: Dale Blaney (1-30)
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 7/6/2019):
1. Aaron Reutzel - 2122
2. Dale Blaney - 2112
3. Cory Eliason - 2038
4. Paul McMahan - 2008
5. Brock Zearfoss - 1974
6. Greg Wilson - 1948
7. Gerard McIntyre - 1896
8. Skylar Gee - 1836
9. George Hobaugh - 1632
10. Spencer Bayston - 1408
2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
Bubba Raceway Park (1/31/2019): Tim Shaffer
Bubba Raceway Park (2/1/2019): Tim Shaffer (2)
Bubba Raceway Park (2/2/2019): Tony Stewart
Volusia Speedway Park (2/6/2019): Shane Stewart
Volusia Speedway Park (2/7/2019): Brad Sweet
Virginia Motor Speedway (4/11/2019): Cory Eliason
Port Royal Speedway (4/13/2019): Lance Dewease
Attica Raceway Park (5/24/2019): Aaron Reutzel
Fremont Speedway (5/26/2019): Aaron Reutzel (2)
Outlaw Speedway (6/7/2019): Brock Zearfoss
Stateline Speedway (6/8/2019): Dale Blaney
Weedsport Speedway (6/9/2019): Danny Dietrich
Attica Raceway Park (6/14/2019): Kyle Larson
Muskingum County Speedway (6/16/2019): Dale Blaney (2)
Wayne County Speedway (6/19/2019): Aaron Reutzel (3)
Wayne County Speedway (6/22/2019): Buddy Kofoid
Dirt Oval at Route 66 (6/29/2019): Aaron Reutzel (4)
Lernerville Speedway (7/5/2019): Aaron Reutzel (5)
Sharon Speedway (7/6/2019): Dale Blaney (3)
About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015. In 2019, MAVTV Motorsports Network will continue to be the official television home of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 and will broadcast ten high-profile events.
About Ollie’s Bargain Outlet:
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, Inc., founded in 1982, is one of America’s largest retailers of closeouts and excess inventory, offering real brands at real bargain prices. Famous for its signature catch-phrase Good Stuff Cheap, Ollie’s has a huge variety of famous brand-name merchandise in every department – food, books, housewares, toys, electronics, domestics, clothing, furniture, health and beauty, flooring, seasonal items and so much more – at up to 70 percent off the fancy stores’ prices. You never know what you’ll find at one of Ollie’s 327 “semi-lovely” stores in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. For more information, visit www.ollies.us. Like us on Facebook or find us on Twitter at @OlliesOutlet. Ollie’s is a publicly-traded company on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol OLLI.
About Mobil 1:
The world's leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1™ features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life.
For more information, visit www.mobiloil.com, on Twitter @Mobil1 and, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/mobil1.
Mobil, Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 Racing are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.
Article Credit: Mike Leone
Photo Credit: Rick Rarer/SprintCarNews.com
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com
Mike Won At Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway!
Posted by: | CommentsBacon Crisp on Night 1 of the Corn Belt Nationals
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
Brady Bacon was victorious on night one of the Brandt Professional Agriculture 'Corn Belt Nationals' Friday night at Knoxville Raceway.
(Rich Forman Photo)
BACON CRISP ON NIGHT 1 OF THE CORN BELT NATIONALS
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Knoxville, Iowa (July 5, 2019).........Following qualifying, Brady Bacon and the Dynamics, Inc. team certainly had their work cut out for them. On the second of two qualifying laps, the engine began to sound sour. Immediately after pulling into the infield pit area, the team immediately went to work to swap out the engine for a new bullet under the hood.
Under time constraints, the team prevailed. Under duress for much of the caution-free 25-lap main event, the team once again prevailed, firing on all cylinders figuratively and literally to capture the victory on night one of the inaugural Brandt Professional Agriculture "Corn Belt Nationals" Friday night at Knoxville Raceway.
The 26th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win for the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma native moved the two-time series champion into a three-way tie for 16th on the all-time list alongside Tony Elliott and Dave Steele.
Additionally, he became the first two-time winner in the 11 USAC National Sprint Car events held at Knoxville, his first at the half-mile dirt oval since 2011. He also became the first driver to win three series races this year following an April victory at Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway and in June at Pennsylvania's Grandview Speedway.
In his heat race, Bacon drove from 5th to 1st in the relative blink of an eye, displaying that the setback was only momentary, and that they were back in play as contenders where the No. 69 lined up 6th for the 25-lap feature.
In the early laps, the show was the side-by-side battle between pole sitter Chris Windom and third-starting Kevin Thomas, Jr. Windom slid up to the top line in front of outside front row starter Matt Westfall to lead the field into turn one as Thomas surged on the bottom.
The two maintained the high/low show on the 2nd lap as Windom lunged ahead by a bumper at the line to take the lead and would retain a nose-length lead over Thomas on the ensuing two laps as well. On the 5th lap, Thomas reversed the roles and found enough of a run off the bottom of four to take his turn at the front.
Just as Thomas found himself up front, Bacon made the Thomas/Windom tussle a three-way battle as he became the hot knife slicing right through the middle in turns three and four. First, sliding up in front of Windom off of four and putting the chase on Thomas. The middle was something Bacon anticipated coming in with extensive experience at Knoxville in the seat of USAC Sprint Cars, Midgets and wing sprint cars.
"I think just having a lot of laps around here, more than the competition, has helped a little bit there to know that that middle could come in," Bacon explained. "I was having to run a little bit different line, but luckily, I was able to catch the marbles in the middle and get the speed to pass a couple guys."
The top-three order was a juggling act the following lap with Windom rushing from 3rd to 1st utilizing the high line in three and four to zip by both Bacon and Thomas before cutting down to the now-preferred bottom in turn one.
On the 12th lap, Windom slipped off the bottom in turn one just enough to allow Bacon to capitalize, cutting under Windom between turns one and two to take over the lead. On the following lap, Bacon did the same as Windom, just narrowly missing the traction in turn one to allow Windom to once again lead.
Some say running the bottom is like having a job, but Bacon is certainly an expert at his craft. The bottom can be a test that can be unforgiving, but Bacon was determined to stick with it until it paid its dividends despite the slight hiccups.
"It's really hard to run the bottom here and I'm usually really good at it," Bacon said. "The cushion gets so big and it's flat up there. These cars don't really like that too much. It is really testing to run the bottom and slow down that much. I missed it a couple of times and Windom almost got back by me. Fortunately, I had a car good enough to make up for my mistakes and be able to get a little grip in the middle."
Windom went back to the top in turns three and four on lap 14, but this time, it was the top that wreaked a little havoc as he bobbled a tad atop the cushion. Bacon shot by underneath for the sixth lead change of the race and created a little separation between he and Windom with lapped traffic on the horizon and ten laps to go.
With five laps remaining, Bacon was amidst the throes of 5pm interstate traffic. He took the occasion to split the lapped cars of Carson Short and Mario Clouser entering turn three to get some distance on Windom. But that was just as short-lived as Bacon became pinned behind the lapped car of Josh Hodges exiting turn two. Bacon ventured to the outside of Hodges just as Windom was on the path up top midway down the back straightaway. Bacon and Windom swapped lines with Windom diving low into three and Bacon remained topside holding on to the advantage.
With two laps to go, Bacon cleared Hodges, yet Windom remained in his shadow down the stretch, only trailing Bacon by a half-car-length off turn four with the white flag in sight. Bacon was undeterred on the final lap as he found his way to another victory by 0.621 margin over Windom, Thomas, Tyler Courtney and Justin Grant.
Of note, in the C-Main, Kory Schudy broke the 47-year-old 10-lap USAC National Sprint Car track record at Knoxville, formerly held by Billy Thrasher in 1972, with a time of 3:39.34. The night's main event was the first 25-lap USAC National Sprint Car event at Knoxville to go caution-free, giving Bacon the new standard for the distance and his place in the record books at a time of 9:11.86.
Contingency award winners Friday night at Knoxville Raceway included C.J. Leary (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Wesley Smith (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Jason McDougal (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Don Droud, Jr. (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Matt Westfall (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 5, 2019 - Knoxville Raceway - Knoxville, Iowa - Inaugural Brandt Professional Agriculture "Corn Belt Nationals" - 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval (Co-Sanctioned by the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League)
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP ONE: 1. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-19.297; 2. Carson Short, 21, RCM-19.313; 3. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-19.635; 4. Kory Schudy, 28, Sawyer-19.638; 5. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-19.675; 6. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-19.724; 7. Matt Westfall, 33m Marshall-19.741; 8. Ryan Bernal, 17B, Baughman/Reutzel-19.766; 9. Wesley Smith, 12, Helm-19.777; 10. Don Droud, Jr., 1m, Burch-19.780; 11. Mitchell Davis, 56, Davis-19.793; 12. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-19.818; 13. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-19.834; 14. Dave Darland, 42, Cheney-19.957; 15. Landon Simon, 24s, LSR-20.121; 16. Steve Irwin, 0s, Flying Zero-20.185; 17. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-20.235; 18. Lane Stone, 73, Stone-20.472; 19. Chris Parkinson, 65, Parkinson-20.503; 20. Dickie Gaines, 44, Soudrette-20.508; 21. Doug Schenck, 71s, Final Effort-20.517; 22. Logan Faucon, 52F, Faucon-20.701; 23. Jori Hughes, 19x, Layton-21.162; 24. Steve Thomas, 20, Thomas-21.307; 25. Brandon Halverson, 13MJ, Halverson-21.714; 26. Braydon Cromwell, 4A, Cromwell-22.135.
FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING GROUP TWO: 1. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-19.297; 2. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-19.535; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-19.573; 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-19.583; 5. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-19.642; 6. Riley Kreisel, 90, Smith-19.675; 7. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-19.749; 8. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-19.882; 9. Chad Boespflug, 98e, EZR-19.980; 10. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-19.986; 11. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-19.988; 12. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-20.128; 13. Slater Helt, 22s, Helt-20.277; 14. Korey Weyant, 99, Weyant-20.286; 15. Anthony Nicholson, 16, Nicholson-20.434; 16. T.J. Artz, 57, Artz-20.442; 17. Cody Gardner, 9G, Appco-20.487; 18. Glen Saville, 75x, Saville-20.516; 19. Rob Caho, Jr., 78, Caho-20.552; 20. Brandon Stevenson, 0, Stevenson-20.720; 21. Craig Campton, 7s, Final Effort-20.771; 22. Chris Morgan, 7c, Williams-20.775; 23. Terry Richards, 18, Richards-21.572; 24. Doug Sylvester, 12x, Sylvester-22.092; 25. Frank Rodgers III, 6R, Rodgers-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-3 transfer to feature) 1. Leary, 2. Westfall, 3. Droud, 4. Irwin, 5. Parkinson, 6. Faucon, 7. Halverson, 8. Schudy, 9. Chapple. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-3 transfer to feature) 1. Bacon, 2. Darland, 3. Bernal, 4. Short, 5. Davis, 6. Leer, 7. Gaines, 8. Cromwell, 9. Hughes. 2:42.55
AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-3 transfer to feature) 1. Smith, 2. Simon, 3. Buckwalter, 4. Christie, 5. Clouser, 6. Schenck, 7. S. Thomas, 8. Stone. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-3 transfer to feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Grant, 3. K. Thomas, 4. Hodges, 5. Artz, 6. Morgan, 7. Caho, 8. Helt, 9. Rodgers. 2:39.33
FIFTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-3 transfer to feature) 1. Bilbee, 2. Burks, 3. Windom, 4. McDougal, 5. Weyant, 6. Gardner, 7. Richards, 8. Stevenson. 2:45.83
SIXTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-3 transfer to feature) 1. Stockon, 2. Boespflug, 3. Nicholson, 4. Kreisel, 5. Saville, 6. Campton, 7. Sylvester, 8. VanMeveren. 2:46.13
C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-6 transfer to semi) 1. Schudy, 2. Chapple, 3. Caho, 4. Gaines, 5. Richards, 6. Stevenson, 7. Stone, 8. Hughes, 9. Thomas, 10. Sylvester, 11. Halverson. 3:39.34 (New Track Record)
SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to feature) 1. Short, 2. McDougal, 3. Weyant, 4. Hodges, 5. Clouser, 6. Kreisel, 7. Irwin, 8. Davis, 9. Gardner, 10. Christie, 11. Gaines, 12. Stevenson, 13. Schudy, 14. Caho, 15. Richards, 16. Faucon, 17. Artz, 18. Leer, 19. Saville, 20. Parkinson, 21. Schenck, 22. Morgan, 23. Chapple, 24. Campton. NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (6), 2. Chris Windom (1), 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 4. Tyler Courtney (10), 5. Justin Grant (7), 6. Ryan Bernal (9), 7. Chase Stockon (5), 8. Jason McDougal (20), 9. C.J. Leary (8), 10. Matt Westfall (2), 11. Wyatt Burks (12), 12. Wesley Smith (11), 13. Don Droud, Jr. (13), 14. Korey Weyant (21), 15. Nick Bilbee (16), 16. Timmy Buckwalter (4), 17. Josh Hodges (22), 18. Mario Clouser (23), 19. Carson Short (19), 20. Dave Darland (15), 21. Anthony Nicholson (18), 22. Riley Kreisel (24), 23. Chad Boespflug (14), 24. Landon Simon (17). 9:11.86 (New Track Record)
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**Saville and Campton flipped during the semi.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 K. Thomas, Laps 2-4 Windom, Laps 5-6 K. Thomas, Laps 7-11 Windom, Lap 12 Bacon, Lap 13 Windom, Laps 14-25 Bacon.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Jason McDougal (20th to 8th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Don Droud, Jr.
ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Matt Westfall
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Leary-826, 2-Courtney-766, 3-Stockon-761, 4-Windom-760, 5-K. Thomas-750, 6-Bacon-720, 7-Grant-692, 8-Short-645, 9-McDougal-631, 10-Robert Ballou-568.
NEW BRANDT PROFESSIONAL AGRICULTURE "CORN BELT NATIONALS" POINTS: 1-Bacon-492, 2-Grant-489, 3-Windom-484, 4-K. Thomas-484, 5-Stockon-484, 6-Leary-484, 7-Courtney-482, 8-McDougal-475, 9-Bernal-470, 10-Westfall-467.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 6, 2019 - Knoxville Raceway - Knoxville, Iowa - Inaugural Brandt Professional Agriculture "Corn Belt Nationals" - 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval
