Archive for Short Track
LEARY REIGNS FOR 2ND STRAIGHT NIGHT AT GAS CITY
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
LEARY REIGNS FOR 2ND STRAIGHT NIGHT AT GAS CITY
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Gas City, Indiana………July 10, 2017 – "Once you win one, the floodgates will open and you’ll begin to win a bunch of them.”
That’s the sentiment C.J. Leary had heard time and time again over the past few seasons, much to his chagrin, as he came within a whisker of breaking through on several occasions.
“I’ve heard it my whole career,” Leary admits. ‘Once you get the monkey off your back, the wins will come easier.’ I didn’t believe them. It took me 140 starts to get my first USAC National Sprint Car victory and it took me 28 to get the second one.”
But, it only took one more start to go from win number two to USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory number three on the third Monday night event in Indiana Sprint Week history, blitzing around the outside of Robert Ballou with five laps remaining to win round three of Indiana Sprint Week presented by Camping World at Gas City I-69 Speedway.
Leary, Sunday’s Lawrenceburg winner, became the first driver to win consecutive Indiana Sprint Week features since Bryan Clauson in 2013. Leary’s seen fire and he’s seen rain, but one or the other would have to win over the other on this night.
Lately, the fire has been Leary who has been en fuego since the beginning of ISW while the rain has been, well, it’s usual self lately. Monday night’s makeup was originally intended as the opener prior to being washed away by the elements last Friday. Yet, on this night, each driver was competing in a pair of races: the 30-lap main event and a race versus Mother Nature that saw the program proceed at a rapid pace with a checkered flag that dropped before nightfall, 8:50pm local time to be precise.
Leary began the race from the outside of the front row, yet, early on, an encore performance from the night before did not appear to be in the cards as he dropped from the front row to fifth on the opening lap. But the 21-year-old second generation driver dug into the high side and went to work as Shane Cottle zipped away on the bottom to lead the opening pair of laps.
On the third circuit, Kokomo winner Thomas Meseraull ripped the top around the outside of Cottle to claim the lead exiting turn four. Robert Ballou followed suit, making the same maneuver to get to the runner-up spot off the second turn. Like he did two nights earlier, Meseraull hurried to the front and appeared to be in total control as he built a more than one-second lead ten laps in.
By halfway, the frontrunners had entered traffic where Meseraull leaned on the cush and Ballou tip-toed around the infield tires. The track’s equilibrium was in perfect balance with the top and bottom proving perfectly equal as Meseraull’s and Ballou’s machines rode in unison as if they were bolted down to a carnival carousel on laps 19, 20 and 21. Neither had budged an inch in either direction as the two shadowed one another with Meseraull leading each time at the stripe by a slim margin.
The action would come to a halt with 10 laps remaining as Ryan Bernal’s mount nosed into the outside turn four guardrail with 10 laps remaining, necessitating a yellow and a lap 21 restart with Meseraull at the head of the class and a surging Robert Ballou right on his rear bumper.
However, under caution, third-running Leary made a key adjustment that would ultimately pay large dividends.
“This thing was digging hard on the top,” Leary explains. We were just kind of riding along. I didn’t think we were going to have anything for them at the end really, but when the yellow came out, we adjusted on the shocks after starting off kind of tight. The car finally came to us. We adjusted from there and became a lot better.”
Still mired in third, Leary would still have to find a way around superstar veterans Meseraull and Ballou on the restart, a tall task to ask from anybody. Leary’s first domino fell when Meseraull drifted high at the exit of turn two, falling off the shelf and over the cushion, dropping him out of the lead as Ballou slipped by on the bottom for the lead and Leary was there to strike as well, taking advantage of the fortuitous occurrence to grab second.
Ballou firmly planted his talons on the bottom while Leary took ownership of the top lane, the only place he felt he needed to be down the stretch.
“It was treacherous around the top,” Leary detailed. “I had to hit my marks, but I really had to run it hard to keep the rest of the field behind us. I think I might’ve stumbled a little bit on the top a time or two, but it was so easy to make a mistake and not get the run down the straightaway that we needed. On the bottom, you could tiptoe around the tires and you could get a pretty good spurt off. But, the longer the race went on, the slicker the bottom got. The top pretty much stayed the same.”
Leary took the long way around, but little-by-little, it began to pay off as he shrunk Ballou’s lead down to a sliver and eventually grabbed the top spot with five to go. Meanwhile, Chris Windom had entered the fray and was able to limbo past Ballou between turns one and two with just four to go. It was a rubber match as the two made contact on exit with Windom’s right rear and Ballou’s left front meeting face-to-face. Ballou’s front wheels took a hop as he lost momentum and fell to a distant third momentarily. Windom then used a big drive on the bottom to surge underneath Leary off of four to take the lead at the line.
However, before the completion of the lap, Hunter Schuerenberg and Tyler Thomas made contact back in the pack, sending Thomas into a 360 spin. Though he managed to keep it rolling, by rule, the spin required a yellow, which meant the lineup would revert to the most-recently scored lap, relegating Windom all the way back to third for the restart behind Leary and Ballou.
Ballou wasn’t keen on letting Leary slip away down the final stretch, keeping tabs on the black 30 and getting a drive off the bottom to come within inches of leading the 27th lap despite clipping one of the infield tires exiting four that briefly lifted his front wheels.
Ballou kept at it, though, and was able to take a two car-length advantage over Leary into turn three on lap 28. However, once again, the infield tires proved a nemesis for “The Madman” as Ballou clipped the same tire with the left front, forcing him sideways and his wheels pointing toward the sky. When he came back to the earth on all fours, he clipped a second tire at the exit of four, slowing him down just enough to allow the unfettered Leary to break free by five car-lengths, an advantage he would not surrender in the final two laps to win for the second night in a row aboard the family-owned Leary Racing/Leary Construction – Highsmith Guns/DRC/1-Way Chevy over Ballou, Windom, Chad Boespflug and Brady Bacon.
When It rains, it pours, figuratively speaking, of course. As the race against the rain was defeated, Leary’s confidence is at an all-time high right now after changes in personnel as well as bits and pieces on the car prior to Indiana Sprint Week where he now holds a 13-point lead in the series with four races remaining, picking back up at the Terre Haute Action Track Wednesday following a day off Tuesday.
“(The changes) are really paying off,” Leary said. “My confidence is up and I think it kind of showed tonight. We got her qualified up-front at a track that’s not really one of my better tracks. Last night, people could’ve said it was my best racetrack and blah, blah, blah, but not tonight. To go back-to-back in Indiana Sprint Week is unreal. I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. I really wish we were racing tomorrow. We got the roll going and I don’t want to stop now.”
“We’re going to take it night-by-night and we’re not going to start counting the points until the end,” Leary added. “We can pat ourselves on the back for a little bit Tuesday on our day off, then get prepared for the final four nights and we’ll see where we end up.”
Rocklin, California’s Robert Ballou led five laps on his way to a runner-up result in his Robert Ballou Motorsports/Deaton’s Waterfront Services – Lucas Oil/Don Ott-powered Twister-X chassis, a car that Ballou estimates is around 15 years old, but still gets the job done.
“Unfortunately, if you can’t find your comfort level, you’ve got to try something else,” Ballou explains. “I put these Twister-X cars together from Jimmy Crawford who sent them out here from California. We’re just trying to get things back in line with some old cars. I’ve ran this car before. They’re good cars and I’m comfortable in them. We pulled a car out the first night at Kokomo on Saturday and you just can’t pull a car out and expect to pick back up where you left off. It’s been years since we’ve run it. But I knew if we could put it together in time, it would be good and it’s been pretty good so far.”
On a wild lap scramble for position at the front with four laps to go, Ballou dropped from first to third in one sequence. But a yellow flag fell in his favor moments later, serving as his saving grace and placed him back in position with an opportunity to win on the final restart.
“I got lucky. I got lucky,” Ballou reiterated. “A lot of times things fall in your favor and a lot of times they don’t fall in your favor. Tonight was one that fell in my favor. When the track is slick and you have to drive it off the right front, rotate around the tires and get off the corner, that’s not Robert Ballou. We were a tick off all night. I couldn’t get the thing stuck on the right rear the way I wanted to and to where I feel comfortable. I couldn’t hit my marks as good as I wanted. It got so narrow and tedious that I’d lose the right rear, then I’d have to wait on it. I was holding everybody up, let’s be honest. But it’s racing and C.J. found a way around me.”
“Hats off to the O’Connors,” Ballou praised the family operating the track. “Everything was against them weather-wise, so I have to commend them for taking on the task and doing what they did. But we missed the setup a little bit. We’re inching closer and closer every night. I still feel a little rusty and I feel I haven’t quite caught my stride yet. We’re getting closer and we’re getting the racecar more comfortable. If I’m not comfortable, it’s kind of like what Donny Schatz says along the lines of ‘if the driver isn’t comfortable, it’s over with.’ I just haven’t found that perfect comfort level yet that makes me fast every night. We’re almost there at certain tracks and I believe the rest of this week should show that.”
Chris Windom had an ignition box fall by the wayside prior to his heat race, forcing him to go through the semi to earn a spot in the feature lineup. Windom recovered with a solid third-place run, though it came with a bit of heartache after being caught out by a yellow after taking the lead with four laps remaining. There are no days off for Windom to lick his wounds as he has a test scheduled Tuesday to prepare for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut July 19 at Eldora Speedway before returning to redemption in the Baldwin Brothers Racing/Fox Paving – AMSOIL/DRC/Claxton Mopar sprinter Wednesday at Terre Haute, a place in which he’s won the two most recent times he’s visited.
“It was pretty frustrating knowing we were the best car and had a caution come out soon as we take the lead,” Windom laments. “It was hard to pass and I knew we were dead in the water after that. I’ve got the easy job of driving the car, so I’m always ready to get back in the seat, but my guys definitely need a day off to regroup for the second half of the week.”
Contingency award winners Monday at Gas City I-69 Speedway include Chase Stockon (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Josh Hodges (Simpson Race Products 1st Heat Winner), Aaron Farney (Competition Suspension, Inc. 2nd Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (Chalk Stix 3rd Heat Winner), Kody Swanson (Indy Race Parts 4th Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Jarett Andretti (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 10, 2017 – Gas City, Indiana – Gas City I-69 Speedway – “Indiana Sprint Week” – Presented by Camping World
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-11.837; 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-11.925; 3. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-11.930; 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-12.014; 5. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.032; 6. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-12.057; 7. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-12.138; 8. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-12.144; 9. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-12.158; 10. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-12.183; 11. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling/Hayward-12.198; 12. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-12.203; 13. Hunter Schuerenberg, 44, Pace-12.208; 14. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-12.244; 15. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-12.292; 16. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-12.317; 17. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.359; 18. Aaron Farney, 15F, DCT-12.429; 19. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-12.435; 20. A.J. Hopkins, 4J, 4J Motorsports-12.458; 21. Matt Westfall, 54, Westfall-12.462; 22. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-12.498; 23. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-12.505; 24. Tyler Thomas, 04, Burton-12.596; 25. Ryan Bernal, 17GP, Dutcher-12.596; 26. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-12.625; 27. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-12.643; 28. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-12.766; 29. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-12.772; 30. Tyler Clem, 14, Clem/TSR-12.798; 31. Kyle Robbins, 17R, KR-12.907; 32. Ted Hines, 12x, Hines-12.918.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hodges, 2. Schuerenberg, 3. Leary, 4. Stockon, 5. Westfall, 6. Bernal, 7. Cummins, 8. Goodnight. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Farney, 2. Grant, 3. K. Thomas, 4. Boespflug, 5. Darland, 6. Hewitt, 7. Clem, 8. Chapple. 2:08.22
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Andretti, 3. Cottle, 4. Roa, 5. Bacon, 6. Courtney, 7. Jarrett, 8. Robbins. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Swanson, 2. Meseraull, 3. Hopkins, 4. T. Thomas, 5. Stanbrough, 6. Short, 7. Hines, 8. Windom. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Darland, 3. Windom, 4. Courtney, 5. Short, 6. Cummins, 7. Bernal, 8. Stanbrough, 9. Hewitt, 10. Chapple, 11. Westfall, 12. Jarrett, 13. Hines, 14. Robbins, 15. Clem. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Robert Ballou, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Chad Boespflug, 5. Brady Bacon, 6. Shane Cottle, 7. Thomas Meseraull, 8. Justin Grant, 9. Chase Stockon, 10. Josh Hodges, 11. Tyler Courtney, 12. Dave Darland, 13. Jarett Andretti, 14. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 15. Kody Swanson, 16. Brady Short, 17. Hunter Schuerenberg, 18. Kyle Cummins, 19. Aaron Farney, 20. Tyler Thomas, 21. Brody Roa, 22. Ryan Bernal, 23. A.J. Hopkins. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Cottle, Laps 3-20 Meseraull, Laps 21-25 Ballou, Laps 26-30 Leary.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Tyler Courtney (18th to 11th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Jarett Andretti
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Grant-1186, 2-Windom-1173, 3-Boespflug-1017, 4-Stockon-1014, 5-K. Thomas-964, 6-Courtney-960, 7-Bacon-913, 8-Leary-903, 9-Darland-801, 10-Meseraull-778.
NEW INDIANA SPRINT WEEK Presented by Camping World POINTS: 1-Leary-217, 2-Meseraull-204, 3-Bacon-203, 4-Ballou-188, 5-K. Thomas-181, 6-Windom-180, 7-Darland-178, 8-Courtney-154, 9-Hodges-135, 10-Andretti-128.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: July 12 – Terre Haute, Indiana – Terre Haute Action Track – “Don Smith Classic” – “Indiana Sprint Week” – Presented by Camping World
Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series
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BITNER WINS MID-ATLANTIC SPRINT SERIES EVENT AT BRIDGEPORT BY 0.003 OF A SECOND OVER STIEF
BRIDGEPORT, NJ
By ERIKA PALMAI WAGNER
Mark Bitner, of Columbus, NJ, took home his first win of the 2017 season on Saturday at Bridgeport Speedway by only 0.003 of a second over fifth place starting Rick Stief. Bitner led wire to wire without any challenge, until a late race caution bunched the field back together, allowing Stief to work his magic in the final five laps, creating another exhilarating and crowd-pleasing occasion for the Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series.
Victory Lane Photo Courtesy of Sean Case Graphics
“When we took the green back again, my car prior to that started hanging a little bit in the corners, so I figured I’d just go down to the bottom where the car is driving off straight, and just do the best that I could do,” Bitner said post-race. “I just want to thank my guys Mr. Mo, Roger, Ricky, especially my car owner Brian Nixon, and everyone thats involved in this for giving me a great car that lasted all the way until the end of race”.
With Bitner and Tim Tanner Jr. starting two by two on the pole for the twenty-lap feature event, it would be the Nixon Motorsports #202 winning the drag race into turn one with Tanner, Jeff Geiges, Scott Frack and Stefanie Carberry falling in line behind him. For the first five laps, most of the field was running single file, but it was Eddie Wagner making moves early in the race, advancing to eighth place from his thirteenth starting spot.
By the seventh circuit, Bitner had caught up to lapped traffic, while maintaining a straight away lead over Tim Tanner Jr., who began tracking Bitner down while the leader struggled a bit maneuvering through the slower cars.
“You have to pick and choose a little bit, or you’re going to end up getting wrecked”, Bitner commented about his battle with lapped traffic. “The track was in really good shape though. In the beginning I think there was a little too much water, but once we ran it in, it was really fast and racy where I was able to run where ever, so it was great all around”.
Meanwhile, Rick Stief, who had just swapped positions with Scott Frack, taking fourth, was looking pretty strong in the second half of the race.
“We had a really good hold of the track the entire time, there was just a whole lot of cars just blocking the momentum we had that you need to run fast here at Bridgeport,” Stief recalled. “They weren’t doing it on purpose, not at all, it’s just the nature of the beast when racing with lapped traffic”.
The first and only caution occurred on lap fifteen due to rookie Bobby Scherff coming to a stop after suffering from engine failure.
On the restart, it was Bitner, Tanner, Stief, Geiges and Frack, with Stefanie Carberry and Eddie Wagner looking to crack into the top five. Bitner would once again resume the lead after the green flag was displayed, and Stief quickly inherited second place from Tanner the next time around.
“When we had the restart with five to go, we were driving into the sun, and the cars behind me must have gotten really low and threw water on the track in turns three and four, and when I went in there, hitting the same marks that I’ve been hitting all race long, there was nothing but water in that lane, and my car broke free and I was just sliding sideways,” Tanner recollected. “Rick has something figured out here, I’m not sure what it is, but it’s something good, so he’s been pretty fast so far this year”.
Rick Stief # 9S and Mark Bitner # 202 Photo Courtesy of Sean Case Graphics
With two laps remaining Stief began working the outside lane, edging closer to Bitner in the final moments. As they exited turns three and four, Stief and Bitner gave it all they had running inches away from each other side by side to cross the finish line first. In the end, officials referred back to photographs to name “Mr. Twister” Mark Bitner the victor, with Rick Stief coming home a very close second.
Jeff Geiges #77J and Stefanie Palmai Carberry # 99 Photo by Mike Calla
“I’ll take it,” Stief said after the race. “We had a third going at Grandview before we got took out of that deal, and we ended up finishing thirteenth, so a second here, almost winning, is good considering we pulled aforty-two out of fifty pills earlier tonight, which set us back in qualifying. I just have to thank my crew, Chas and my buddies that come by and help me during the week, Bruce Davis and Bruce Davis (no relation, just happen to have the same name!)”.
Twenty-three cars made the ticket for the Diversified Machine, Inc. / DMI / BullDog Rears (DMI) sponsored event, with three $25 DMI gift certificates going to Mark Bitner, Keith Andersen, and Bryant Davis. Ten raffle tickets for the DMI and Engler Machine and Tool end of the year giveaways were distributed to the top five feature finishers and five randomly chosen drivers, and the three heat race wins, sponsored by Competition Suspension Inc., Freiberger Excavating and Professional Design Services went to Mark Bitner, Tim Tanner Jr, and Brendon Poff.
Eddie Wagner collected the $25 Bruce's Auto Body award for advancing nine positions (13th-4th) and well as $25 for the worst pill draw, courtesy of Professional Design Services. Jeff Geiges took home the $25 Bitner Automotive “Lightning Fast Time of the Night” award for turning a 19.464 second lap time during his heat race. Other contingencies handed out on Saturday were $50 to Bobby Bulter for being the last car on the lead lap, a $25 gift certificate to Tom Carberry courtesy of Todd's Performance and 5 gallons of FREE fuel to the feature winner Mark Bitner provided by Kelly Racing Fuels.
The Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series returns on Friday, July 21st at Bridgeport Speedway for a double feature event. The Sprints will be completing their make-up feature from June 17th, and also a full night’s program. For more information on MASS, visit www.masprintseries.com and be sure to follow us on Facebook at Mid-Atlantic Sprint Series.
Feature (20 LAPS):
Mark Bitner, Rick Stief, Tim Tanner Jr., Eddie Wagner, Jeff Geiges, Tommy Carberry, Scott Frack, Brendon Poff, Jamie Kostic, Samantha Lieberman, Bryant Davis, Zack Burd, Bobby Butler, David Bonner, Tom Carberry, Dean Conk Jr., Larry McVay, Craig Pellegrini Jr. DNF: Stefanie Palmai Carberry, Bobby Scherff, Austin Bishop, John C Webster, Keith C Andersen
*Photos courtesy of Sean N. Case and Mike Calla*
www.wheelsofspeed.com
Sean Case Graphics
LEARY LOWERS THE BOOM FOR FIRST ISW WIN AT THE BURG
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
LEARY LOWERS THE BOOM FOR FIRST ISW WIN AT THE BURG
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Lawrenceburg, Indiana.....July 9, 2017 - C.J. Leary will be the first to tell you how difficult it is to win a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature. It requires a number of things to line up accordingly leading up to the event and, throughout the night, it takes a combination of skill and even good fortune to have a good run, let alone a winning performance at night's end.
It took 140 long nights to get the elusive first USAC Sprint win last August, but only 28 to earn his second Sunday night in round two of Indiana Sprint Week presented by Camping World at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
However, the drought seemed more prolonged in Leary's eyes as good fortune seemed to elude him regularly this season. Mired back in eighth in the standings and sans a victory throughout the first half of the season, the team thrashed to find the right combination that would pay dividends for them in the immediate future.
"It's been a real trying season," Leary admits. "All year, if it wasn't for bad luck, we'd have no luck at all. We kept trying different stuff and nothing seemed to be working."
Prior to Sprint Week, however, the Leary's made a few changes to the puzzle pieces that make up the core of the team. There were adjustments made to the shock package and the installation of a new engine, but the biggest change was a switch on the one turning the wrenches. Enter Donnie Gentry as the new crew chief, the very same individual C.J. had in his corner when he drove Shane Wade's No. 66 to his career USAC Sprint win at Kokomo Speedway's "Sprint Car Smackdown" 11 months ago.
"Donnie and I had some chemistry last year when we won at the Smackdown together," Leary recalls. "What he does with the racecar works really well with my style. This is one of my best racetracks and Donnie's got a really good setup for it. The biggest key of the night, though, was qualifying up front and getting track position against the best racecars and the best drivers in the country."
Leary's third-place qualifying time was his best run since Eldora in early May, setting him up for a spot on the outside of row two for the start of the 30-lapper. Initially, though, it was Brady Bacon who held down the position on the opening laps as he rode the rim around the outside of pole-sitter Hunter Schuerenberg in turns one and two.
By lap three, Leary, the 2013 Lawrenceburg track champion, was eager to pounce as he slid Bacon for the point at the entrance to turn one. Bacon quickly counterpunched, ducking low to retake the lead as the two hustled down the back straightaway. But that would only prove to be a momentary maneuver as Leary entered the ring once again, ripping the outside between turns three and four to blast around Bacon for the lead exiting the fourth corner to turn the tables - no microphone needed - from the occurrences at the recent "Eastern Storm" stop at Pennsylvania's Grandview Speedway.
Leary's 2017 misfortunes reached a high-water mark in that June event in which a lapped car disrupted his line entering turn one three laps from the end, thus concluding his bid for victory that night after a stirring late-race drive on the high side to rip the lead away from Bacon.
"I've won eight races here at Lawrenceburg in the past," Leary points out. "We kind of got the set up down and we kind of know what the racetrack's going to do. After the heat race, we just knew it was going back to being classic Lawrenceburg, right against the fence with big sliders. That's right up my alley. Passing Bacon early was key before the track went completely slick and we were all running about the same speed at the end."
The Greenfield, Indiana driver was hellbent on avoiding that situation this time around as he absolutely hammered the field for the next several laps. He continued to wreak havoc on the competition even as he began to encounter lapped traffic, constructing a full-straightaway lead on the high-banked half-mile dirt oval when the night's only caution fell on lap 13 for a loose infield tire that successfully rolled its away from the exit of turn four to the entrance of turn one after being clipped and dislodged by a car.
Leary seemed to be synched in rhythm while the remainder of the field sang the blues, but the 21-year-old who paints water towers for a living with the family business, wasn't too bent out of shape when he saw yellow.
"The yellow actually helped bail me out of heavy lapped traffic," Leary said. "It put me back in the clear air and allowed me to pull away a little bit on the restart. I got a little bit of a lead and was able to ride in traffic, so I didn't have to push it too hard. I think if we would have had another yellow somewhere along the way, it would've been the same result."
Leary's large lead was gone, but so was lapped traffic and so was Leary as he instantly reestablished his full-straightaway, 3.5 second lead with just 10 laps remaining. But, just as things seemed well in hand, lady bad luck was leering in the second turn as Leary worked his way through the back of the field. Previous night's Kokomo fifth-place finisher Kyle Cummins was next on Leary's radar when he bounced hard off the turn two concrete and gathered to remain control just as Leary was clamping down on him to put him a lap down.
"It happened right in front of me," Leary remembers. "I was really worried he was going to chock it down or just come right down in front of me. I was hoping to get by him when he did that, but I had to take an extra lap to get back around him."
Luckily, for both Leary and Cummins, it was a case of "no harm, no foul" and both continued without issue. Thirty laps seem so short on paper, but anything and everything can happen in such a small window of time. Leary was wary of that and he wasn't going to allow that to faze him on this occasion.
"I've led a lot a lot of races, but I've given plenty away," Leary acknowledges. "Three or four or five of them, I can't even remember now. It's been so many. I caught lapped traffic and it was tough because everyone's so fast. I had been leading and hadn't heard anybody or seen anybody. Right there at the end with five to go, I was on Carson Short's tail and I couldn't get around him. Lapped traffic was thick on the top and bottom and I finally just drove it in there, but I wasn't completely sure how hard I had to push the racecar at the end."
Everything seemed well in hand coming off the final corner on the final lap, but there was one last scare for good measure that Leary chalks up to a simple racing deal. Carson Short and Jon Stanbrough were racing for the 16th position heading to the stripe just as Leary came off turn four to take the checkered flag. Short occupied the bottom and Stanbrough the middle right at the line as Leary barely squeezed by on the outside of both between Stanbrough's right side wheels and the wall. Leary and Stanbrough banged wheels, but fortunately for both, crisis was averted and Leary was able to celebrate his second career USAC National Sprint Car victory and his first in Indiana Sprint Week.
"He actually came up higher than I expected him to," Leary said. "I thought he might be able to see me up there because I had been next to him a couple laps in a row. They both went to bottom on the last lap and I figured he knew I was going to be up there. But it's just a racing deal. He didn't mean it by any means. I'm just lucky enough I had a good lead and I was just glad I didn't tear up the racecar because it's really fast this week!"
To Leary, his first series win a year ago was one of the most memorable nights of his career. Yet, winning in the family-owned number 30 is at another level of special significance after he and his dad, Chuck, have sacrificed and endured long days and nights of frustration to finally get the Leary Racing/Leary Construction - Highsmith Guns/DRC/1-Way Chevy to victory lane.
"Winning in Shane Wade's car was awesome, especially because it was my first and it was at the Smackdown, another really competitive event," Leary acknowledges. "Dad and I work our butts off all week, every week just so we can get to the racetrack. My mom and dad, we all come to the track together as a family. Picking up a win here tonight is so special for Dad and I both. Mom couldn't make it here tonight. She stayed at home since she wasn't feeling so hot. But all the time and hard work that goes into these racecars makes it all worthwhile and so rewarding. To pick up an Indiana Sprint Week win means the world to me. We've dreamed of winning these races, and to do it as a family at Lawrenceburg, there's isn't anything more fitting than that."
After a third-place run the night before, Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma snared a strong runner-up finish after leading the first two laps at Lawrenceburg in his Dooling-Hayward/B & H Contractors - Dooling Machine/Spike/Stanton Mopar.
"I finally caught the invert right tonight," a relieved Bacon said. "C.J. was just better than us. No one was going to stop him tonight. I was hoping that, maybe, the top would go away and we'd be able to catch him that way, but it didn't and, sometimes, that's the way it goes. He was just really, really fast tonight."
Cullman, Alabama's Kevin Thomas, Jr. earned KSE Racing Products Hard Charger honors, finishing third from his ninth starting spot in his KT Motorsports/Abreu Vineyards - KT Construction Services/DRC/Speedway Chevy.
"Last night, I kind of got caught behind the eight ball as a driver," Thomas recalls. "I didn't keep up with the track. I think we did a much better job of that tonight. We made the right changes on the racecar. I didn't really prefer to start that far back in the feature, so we had to pass some good cars. It's a long, tough week. To knock off a podium finish this early is good for morale. Things can go so well one night and bad the next. We didn't have the finish we wanted last night, but tonight shows that if everybody works hard and makes a good, fast racecar, you can bounce back and have a night like we did tonight."
Contingency award winners Sunday at Lawrenceburg Speedway include Dave Darland (ProSource Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products 1st Heat Winner), Kody Swanson (Competition Suspension, Inc. 2nd Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Chalk Stix 3rd Heat Winner), Carson Short (Indy Race Parts 4th Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Ryan Bernal (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 9, 2017 - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - Lawrenceburg Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week" - Presented by Camping World
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-13.854; 2. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-13.927; 3. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.009; 4. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-14.016; 5. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling/Hayward-14.093; 6. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-14.093; 7. Shawn Westerfeld, 89, Westerfeld-14.157; 8. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.185; 9. Hunter Schuerenberg, 44, Pace-14.191; 10. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-14.223; 11. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.246; 12. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.271; 13. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-14.284; 14. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-14.303; 15. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-14.308; 16. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-14.310; 17. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-14.317; 18. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-14.336; 19. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-14.348; 20. Ryan Bernal, 17GP, Dutcher-14.359; 21. Aaron Farney, 15F, DCT-14.413; 22. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-14.544; 23. Garrett Abrams, 32G, Abrams-14.587; 24. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.653; 25. Dickie Gaines, 44x, Soudrette-14.654; 26. Nick Bilbee, 17N, Bilbee-14.680; 27. Michael Fischesser, 44s, Fischesser-14.736; 28. Kyle Robbins, 17R, KR-14.744; 29. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.798; 30. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.841; 31. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-14.917; 32. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-14.967; 33. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-15.108; 34. Ted Hines, 12x, Hines-15.187; 35. J.J. Hughes, 76, Hughes-15.204; 36. Tyler Clem, 14, Clem/TSR-15.291; 37. Joss Moffatt, 5J, Moffatt-15.324; 38. Tom Harris, 5E, Harris-15.388; 39. Ty Tilton, 42T, Tilton-15.538; 40. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-15.621; 41. Chris Olding, 21M, Olding-18.065.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Courtney, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Bacon, 5. Boespflug, 6. Chapple, 7. Gaines, 8. Mattox, 9. Moffatt, 10. Farney. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Swanson, 2. Meseraull, 3. K. Thomas, 4. B. Short, 5. Cummins, 6. Roa, 7. Bilbee, 8. Stockon, 9. Hines, 10. Harris. 2:26.30
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Leary, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Andretti, 4. Clouser, 5. Westerfeld, 6. Simon, 7. Hughes, 8. Abrams, 9. Fischesser, 10. Tilton. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. C. Short, 2. Hodges, 3. Grant, 4. Windom, 5. Ballou, 6. Bernal, 7. Robbins, 8. Clem, 9. Jarrett, 10. Goodnight. 2:31.10
C-MAIN: (8 laps) 1. Mattox, 2. Simon, 3. Hughes, 4. Harris, 5. Jarrett, 6. Goodnight, 7. Clem, 8. Hines, 9. Moffatt, 10. Olding. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Bernal, 2. Cummins, 3. Ballou, 4. Roa, 5. Farney, 6. Chapple, 7. Bilbee, 8. Boespflug, 9. Westerfeld, 10. Abrams, 11. Harris, 12. Mattox, 13. Fischesser, 14. Hughes, 15. Robbins, 16. Simon, 17. Gaines, 18. Stockon. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 4. Dave Darland, 5. Robert Ballou, 6. Chris Windom, 7. Thomas Meseraull, 8. Brody Roa, 9. Brady Short, 10. Jarett Andretti, 11. Josh Hodges, 12. Tyler Courtney, 13. Ryan Bernal, 14. Justin Grant, 15. Hunter Schuerenberg, 16. Jon Stanbrough, 17. Carson Short, 18. Kody Swanson, 19. Chad Boespflug, 20. Aaron Farney, 21. Kyle Cummins, 22. Chase Stockon, 23. Isaac Chapple, 24. Mario Clouser. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Bacon, Laps 3-30 Leary.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (9th to 3rd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Ryan Bernal
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Grant-1,130, 2-Windom-1,107, 3-Stockon-957, 4-Boespflug-951, 5-Courtney-918, 6-Thomas-918, 7-Bacon-851, 8-Leary-825, 9-Darland-758, 10-Meseraull-716.
NEW INDIANA SPRINT WEEK Presented by Camping World POINTS: 1-Meseraull-142, 2-Bacon-141, 3-Leary-139, 4-Darland & K. Thomas-135, 6-Windom-114, 7-Courtney-112, 8-C. Short-111, 9-Ballou-109, 10-Cummins-93.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: July 10 - Gas City, Indiana - Gas City I-69 Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week" - Presented by Camping World
NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY NEWS
Posted by: | Comments
New Egypt Speedway
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New Egypt Speedway
Route 539, New Egypt, NJ
Track Phone: 609-758-1900
Website: www.newegyptspeedway.net
Facebook: www.facebook.com/newegyptspeedwayofficial
Twitter: www.twitter.com/nesspeedway
Contact: Mike Wisniewski – Wiz Motorsports Communications, 856-982-5137
COMING EVENTS:
Saturday, July 15, 2017 – Hammer Companies Night - 358 Modifieds, Hammer Sportsman and Northeast Wingless Sprint Cars
4:00 p.m. – Pit gates open
4:00 p.m. – Grandstand gates open
6:00 p.m. – Hot laps start
7:00 p.m. – Racing starts
Saturday, July 22, 2017 – Mr. Sportsman Classic – Hammer Sportsman (30 laps), Crate Modifieds, Street Stocks, & Northeast Wingless Sprint Cars
4:00 p.m. – Pit gates open
4:00 p.m. – Grandstand gates open
6:00 p.m. – Hot laps start
7:00 p.m. – Racing starts
CICCONI BECOMES FIFTH DIFFERENT WINNER IN THE PAST FIVE 358 MODIFIED FEATURES AT NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY
New Egypt, NJ (July 9, 2017) – At New Egypt Speedway, Lou Cicconi won the 358 Modified feature and became the fifth different winner over the past five races. The Mr. Street Stock Classic went to Bill Liedtka. Connor King was the victor in the Crate Modified feature.
As the 30-lap 358 Modified feature began, Rocco Infante drove to the front with Lou Cicconi and Ryan Krachun in his tracks. With five revolutions completed, the top three cars of Infante, Cicconi and Krachun were pulling away from the field with John Pakenham in fourth and Steve Davis in fifth. By lap ten, a great multi-car battle for fifth place was underway as Davis was holding off Godown with Doug Ostwald and Kevin Vaclavicek in the mix. On the eleventh circuit just as Godown wrestled fifth away from Davis, Vaclavicek hit the outside wall in turn one and rolled over causing the red flag to be waved. During the stoppage, a brief delay took place due to a light rain shower. Once the rain ceased and action resumed, Cicconi outgunned Infante to take command with Godown advancing into third and Krachun dropping into fourth. Over the next few laps, tight racing action between Krachun, Godown and Infante caused the runner-up position to be exchanged a few times. At the halfway point with Cicconi and Krachun holding the top two positions, the last stoppage of the event occurred as a flat developed on Danny Bouc’s ride. On the restart, Cicconi maintained his edge with Krachun, Infante, Godown and Billy Pauch, Jr. next in line. With ten laps remaining, Cicconi was pulling away slightly from Krachun with Infante and Godown continuing to battle. Five circuits later, Krachun had cut into Cicconi’s advantage and began to approach the leader’s bumper. On lap twenty-seven with the top two runners in traffic, Krachun hopped the cushion and lost ground to Cicconi. Quickly, Krachun regrouped and began to chase down Cicconi. On the final tour, Cicconi had Krachun on his tail once again but held on to win his first 358 Modified feature of the season. The victory was Cicconi’s second career win in the division and his first since July 2015. Krachun’s strong run netted him a second place finish. Godown came home in third. Pauch, Jr. finished in fourth and Infante was fifth. The 358 Modified heat winners were Rocco Infante and Lou Cicconi.
After taking the lead from Jon Meyer on the sixth circuit, Bill Liedtka survived Mick Search‘s late race challenge to win the 25-lap Mr. Street Stock Classic. With Search in second, Jeramy Doerr completed the race in third. Fourth was captured by Vern McLaughlin and Darren Cox finished in fifth.
Connor King passed Tommy Tanner on the final circuit to take the victory in the 20-lap Crate Modified feature. Johnny Bangs led the opening twelve tours before John Criscione ascended to the top. Criscione lost the lead and caused a caution period when he spun in front of the pack on lap fourteen. On the ensuing restart, Tanner took the lead and appeared to be heading to his first win at New Egypt Speedway. In turn three coming to the checkered flag, King slipped beneath Tanner and sped to his second win of the season. Tanner, Johnny Bangs, Steve Hicks and Eric Palmer completed the top five. Johnny Bangs, Tom Princiotta, and Jason Dunn won the Crate Modified qualifying races.
Hammer Companies Night is set for Saturday, July 15 at New Egypt Speedway. The racing schedule includes the 358 Modifieds, the Hammer Sportsman and Northeast Wingless Sprint Cars. All gates open at 4:00 p.m. Warm-ups start at 6:00 p.m. and racing gets underway at 7:00 p.m. Admission to the grandstand is $20 for adults, $18 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for teens 12-15, $10 for military personal and their spouses with ID, and Kids 11 & under are FREE. Pit admission is $30 with a New Egypt Speedway license and $40 with no license.
New Egypt Speedway is located on Route 539 just minutes from Six Flags Great Adventure and the New Jersey Turnpike. A racy 7/16-mile D-shaped dirt oval, New Egypt Speedway serves Garden State race fans with some of the best competition in the country. New Egypt’s state-of-the-art facilities feature daylight-quality lighting and excellent sightlines from any seat in the house. The grandstands are fully wheelchair accessible with wide, clear, and well-groomed walkways. Concession facilities serve up everything from Jersey Burgers to ice cream treats at family-friendly prices.
For more information, visit online: www.newegyptspeedway.net, “Like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/newegyptspeedwayofficial, or follow us on Twitter @nesspeedway.
NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY RESULTS – SATURDAY, JULY 8, 2017
358 Modifieds
Heat 1 - 1. Rocco Infante 2. David Van Horn 3. Kevin Vaclavicek 4. John McClelland 5. Bryan Kuhl 6. Doug Ostwald 7. Rich Rutski 8. Steve Davis
Heat 2 - 1. Lou Cicconi 2. Ryan Krachun 3. Danny Bouc 4. Billy Pauch, Jr. 5. Chad Barney 6. Tad Cox 7. Ryan Godown 8. John Pakenham 9. Tim Apgar
358 MODIFIEDS - 30 LAPS FEATURE
1. LOU CICCONI 2. Ryan Krachun 3. Ryan Godown 4. Billy Pauch, Jr. 5. Rocco Infante 6. Steve Davis 7. Tad Cox 8. Chad Barney 9. John McClelland 10. Danny Bouc 11. Bryan Kuhl 12. David Van Horn 13. Doug Ostwald 14. Rich Rutski 15. John Pakenham 16. Kevin Vaclavicek 17. Tim Apgar
DNS: PJ Oliver
STREET STOCKS - 25 LAPS FEATURE – MR. STREET STOCK CLASSIC
1. BILL LIEDTKA 2. Mick Search 3. Jermay Doerr 4. Vern McLaughlin 5. Darren Cox 6. Jon Meyer 7. Dennis Seeley 8. Ryan Freshneck
Crate Modifieds
Heat 1 - 1. Johnny Bangs 2. John Aumick 3. Kyle Kania 4. Jeremy Martino 5. Aaron Weaver
Heat 2 - 1. Tom Princiotta 2. Connor King 3. Alonzo Morales 4. Jason Bittner 5. Eric Palmer
Heat 3 - 1. Jason Dunn 2. John Criscione 3. Dan Fleming 4. Steve Hicks 5. Tommy Tanner
CRATE MODIFIEDS - 20 LAPS FEATURE
1. CONNOR KING 2. Tommy Tanner 3. Johnny Bangs 4. Steve Hicks 5. Eric Palmer 6. Kyle Kania 7. Frank Dorry, Jr. 8. David Burns 9. Dan Fleming 10. Alonzo Morales 11. Jason Dunn 12. Joseph Brown 13. Aaron Weaver 14. Jeremy Martino 15. Rick Wegner, Sr. 16. Rob Mancini 17. Tom Princiotta 18. Jason Bittner 19. John Criscione 20. Steve Kemery 21. Ryan Simmons 22. George Gareis, Jr. 23. John Aumick 24. JD Cranstoun 25. Walt McIntyre
HAVE CAR, TMEZ WILL TRAVEL TO THE FRONT; WINS ISW OPENER AT KOKOMO
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
HAVE CAR, TMEZ WILL TRAVEL TO THE FRONT; WINS ISW OPENER AT KOKOMO
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana.....July 8, 2017 - It doesn't seem to matter to Thomas Meseraull one iota which car he's in this season. More than likely, he's going to put it in a position to win.
Thus far in 2017, the San Jose, California driver had already taken the Rick Pollock #21x, SC Racing #9x, SC Racing #00 and the Heffner Racing #27 to top-five finishes with the series. It took two USAC starts for Meseraull to reach victory lane for Heffner at Lincoln Speedway's Eastern Storm stop in June. It took even less time for him to win his first USAC feature aboard Chase Briscoe Racing's No. 5B, which he did Saturday night in the opening round of the 30th Annual Indiana Sprint Week presented by Camping World.
For the high-majority of drivers, the transition to a new team takes some time to jell. There is a familiarity phase to endure in which both driver and crew chief have to discover each other's likes, dislikes and tendencies. There is no waiting room or grace period for Meseraull when he lands a new ride. He immediately puts the car up front, something he's now done for the sixth time in his USAC career.
"I'm fortunate enough that the new cars I've been hopping into lately are top-of-the-line," Meseraull praises. "(The Heffner No. 27) was a brand-new car, had brand-new parts and a fresh motor. Now I get to Chase Briscoe Racing and they built a new car, brand-new motor, rear end, wheels, tires, front end and shocks. I'm actually using the shocks from the 27-car because they felt so good. That makes jumping from one car to the other so much easier. You have to trust the shocks you're running. I got to run those in Pennsylvania. It was a no-brainer. I called (Heffner crew chief) Sean Michael and was like, 'Hey, I need to get those shocks. That car's just sitting there.' When you build brand new stuff, if it's not fast it's you. Obviously, you have to get adapted to it. I mounted my seat the same in both cars. The holes from the 27-car line right up in this 5-car. It almost felt like the same ride."
Minus a turn two, lap one tangle involving Aaron Farney, Josh Hodges and Hunter Schuerenberg, the 30-lap feature went non-stop, green-to-checkered with 2016 Tri-State Indiana Sprint Week winner Carson Short leading the charge on the opening lap after sliding up to the cushion in front of fellow front row starter Ryan Bernal to take the position which he'd hold for the opening nine laps.
Meanwhile, seventh-starting Meseraull was on a tear, picking up three positions on the opening lap and two more on the second circuit to pull to the runner-up spot early in the going.
On the eighth lap, Short found himself slideways at the exit of turn four as Meseraull drew near to the inside. Meseraull dove low, narrowly missing the lead by inches at the line, but set himself up for a big slider on Short for the lead entering turn one.
"He got a little bit hung off four," Meseraull recalls. "You have to capitalize when guys make little mistakes. You have to go for it, but you got to be close enough to go for it and we were."
"If I'm catching you down the straightaway and I'm within a couple car lengths, I'm going to throw a slider, especially when the track's around the top," Meseraull continued. "I saw an opening and just kind of went for it and hoped, at the end of the night, that he wasn't going to be mad at me about it."
"There was a cushion all the way down the straightaway," Short points out. "As soon as I tapped that, it shot me off. (Meseraull) surprised me when he took it in there, but I know T-Mez. He wasn't going to stop. He's coming in there for the win."
Meseraull set a torrid pace as he tried to maneuver his way through gridlock at the tail end of the field, but there was no such luck initially, providing Short a glimmer of hope as he kept Meseraull within earshot.
"I was watching his line," Short explains. "Coming into (turn) three, he would almost slow down more in order to go faster coming off (turn) four. Once I started doing that, I felt like I was able to reel him in. I got hung up behind (a lapped car). We kept, I would say, a five-car length distance between each other. I would love to say that I could've caught him, but I don't really think I could've. I had nothing for that 5-car. It was definitely moving."
In time, Meseraull was able to make some headway as he split between multiple cars, including right through the middle of Kody Swanson and Schuerenberg, with eight laps remaining to achieve a bit of separation from Short as the laps wound down. Mostly, though, Meseraull ripped the top up above the cushion where few souls brave.
"I was running that line in the B-Main," Meseraull recalls. "(Crew Chief) Kevin (Briscoe) said, 'You think we could pull the right rear in and you could still run above the cushion?' I was a little worried about it, but you know, if you're the fastest car in the beginning, not usually are you the fastest car in the end. We took a gamble and pulled the right rear wheel in and just went for it. We were starting a little bit deep and you have to be good if you want to go forward. The car was really on kill tonight."
The Briscoe No. 5 has a long, illustrious history with sprint car racing in Indiana over the past several decades, including five Indiana Sprint Week victories with Chase's grandfather Richard as the team owner between 1990 and 2004. The baton for the No. 5 has been passed down to Chase, a recent USAC Sprint Car driver himself, the reigning ARCA champion and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series frontrunner, who entered his own name onto USAC's win list as a car owner when Meseraull closed the deal down the stretch for a commanding 2.5 second win over Carson Short, Brady Bacon, Tyler Courtney and Kyle Cummins.
Chase's father, Kevin Briscoe, earned all five of those Indiana Sprint Week wins as a driver in the storied No. 5. Now, Kevin is the one masterfully turning the wrenches on the Chase Briscoe Racing/Cunningham - Tex-A-Con Cut Stone/Maxim/Fisher, a talent that Meseraull wholeheartedly admires.
"We've been friends for a long time," Meseraull begins. "I watched Kevin when I first moved to Indiana in 2006. I was on the sidelines just watching Kevin beat people up on the racetrack. He was Mr. Smooth, so good in the slick. He really knew how to get the car tight when it needed to be. He's so good at reading the car. Last weekend, we go down to Haubstadt and he says the car looked tight. I'm like, 'No I think the car's free.' He says, 'Why are you shaking it loose getting it in?' We start going back and forth. He really sees stuff that other guys don't necessariIy see. I feel like that's a big part of tuning the thing in. He really can see what he feels like the car is doing. I can tell him what I think the car is doing. A lot of times, you just don't know on a grand scheme of what the track is or what the car's doing because you're just feeling what's in the moment. He can see if other guys are gaining here or if you're pulling them there. You make the best of both worlds and get the car to where it's a little better on entry in the B because that's where I was losing ground. So, we got the car better on entry and I just did my thing off the corners."
Carson Short's appearances at Kokomo Speedway have been few and far-between, but the Marion, Illinois native looked a like a longtime veteran at the quarter-mile Saturday night, leading eight laps and finishing in the runner-up position in his RCM Motorsports/RASS Restoration/DRC/SPEC.
"It's been three years since we've been here and this is only the third race I've ever run here," Short admitted. "It's good to have a run like this, especially on the first night of Indiana Sprint Week. Everyone one here is good and there's so many with a chance to win. Thomas showed me the line when he passed me. I was trying to run him back down, but he's so good on that rough cushion."
"Hopefully we have enough money to hit the next one," Short stated. "We're a little short on help. I took off work. Hopefully I have a job next week. My crewmembers all have to go back to work. We're a little shorthanded, but we're still going to try to keep going, though."
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's Brady Bacon quietly made up quite a bit of ground in a hurry, using the bottom for much of the event to race to a third-place finish from 11th in his Dooling-Hayward/B & H Contractors - Dooling Machine/Spike/Stanton Mopar.
"I was down there in the B and it felt pretty good," Bacon recalls. "I knew it was going to get pretty hard to run. It took probably 10 laps to get everyone spread out to where we could really get to work. Once we passed a guy, we could catch the next guy, but for the first part of the race, it took us a long time to pass each car. The car was really good, but we just couldn't get all the way there from 11th without a caution. It's just one of them deals. We should've made it out of the heat race to get into the invert."
Bacon is running a truly outlaw sprint car schedule this season, competing in several USAC Sprint Car events, a smattering of wing sprint shows and everything in-between without chasing points in any of them. The reigning Indiana Sprint Week champ intends to run just the first half of Indiana Sprint Week, which brings about a different mentality for the two-time USAC National Sprint titlist.
"I can afford to take more risks than I'd usually take," Bacon admits. "When you're not racing for points, you might squeeze a guy here or dive to the top a little earlier if you're running sixth because it doesn't really matter if you're sixth or tenth. But you could make a move that could win you the race whereas you might not make not that type of move if you're running for points. It's less stressful, but we just want to come out here and win every night."
Contingency award winners Saturday at Kokomo Speedway include Kevin Thomas, Jr. (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Jarett Andretti (Simpson Race Products 1st Heat Winner), Kyle Cummins (Competition Suspension, Inc. 2nd Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Chalk Stix 3rd Heat Winner), Chris Windom (Indy Race Parts 4th Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Chase Stockon (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 8, 2017 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week" - Presented by Camping World
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-13.050; 2. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-13.064; 3. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-13.138; 4. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-13.173; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.249; 6. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.281; 7. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.313; 8. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-13.325; 9. A.J. Hopkins, 4J, 4J Motorsports-13.333; 10. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling/Hayward-13.346; 11. Ryan Bernal, 17GP, Dutcher-13.351; 12. Carson Short, 21, RCM-13.355; 13. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.391; 14. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-13.399; 15. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.441; 16. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.444; 17. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.458; 18. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-13.480; 19. Shane Cottle, 57 Hazen-13.495; 20. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-13.496; 21. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-13.504; 22. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-13.516; 23. Ted Hines, 12x, Hines-13.526; 24. Shawn Westerfeld, 89, Westerfeld-13.539; 25. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-13.540; 26. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-13.560; 27. Garrett Aitken, 32A, Aitken-13.561; 28. Aaron Farney, 15F, DCT-13.623; 29. Hunter Schuerenberg, 44, Pace-13.635; 30. Tyler Thomas, 04, Burton-13.641; 31. Colten Cottle, 1RL, RL-13.695; 32. Cole Ketcham, 41, Ketcham-13.728; 33. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-13.757; 34. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-13.757; 35. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.770; 36. Landon Simon, 24, Simon-13.814; 37. Corey Smith, 66s, CS-13.817; 38. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-13.838; 39. Tom Harris, 5E, Harris-13.886; 40. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-13.892; 41. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-13.915; 42. Dickie Gaines, 44x, Soudrette-13.966; 43. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-13.995; 44. Tyler Clem, 14. Clem/TSR-14.032; 45. Josh Spencer, 66J, Spencer-14.095.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Andretti, 2. K. Thomas, 3. Chapple, 4. Swanson, 5. Robbins, 6. Stanbrough, 7. Smith, 8. Spencer, 9. Stockon, 10. Hopkins, 11. Goodnight. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Cummins, 2. Hodges, 3. Beauchamp, 4. B. Short, 5. Bacon, 6. Grant, 7. Clouser, 8. T. Thomas, 9. Gaines, 10. Barksdale, 11. Jarrett. 2:12.40
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Leary, 2. Bernal, 3. Ballou, 4. Roa, 5. Hines, 6. Hewitt, 7. Harris, 8. Aitken, 9. Meseraull, 10. S. Cottle, 11. C. Cottle. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Windom, 2. C. Short, 3. Boespflug, 4. Courtney, 5. Darland, 6. Farney, 7. Simon, 8. Mattox, 9. Ketcham, 10. Clem, 11. Westerfeld. 2:14.00
C MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Barksdale, 2. Mattox, 3. Ketcham, 4. Hewitt, 5. Harris, 6. Clouser, 7. Smith, 8. Clem, 9. Gaines, 10. Simon., 11. Spencer. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Meseraull, 2. Bacon, 3. Darland, 4. Hopkins, 5. Farney, 6. Stockon, 7. Harris, 8. Jarrett, 9. Schuerenberg, 10. Aitken, 11. Hewitt, 12. T.Thomas, 13. Robbins, 14. Mattox, 15. Hines, 16. Barksdale, 17. Grant, 18. C. Cottle. 19. Ketcham. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Carson Short, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Tyler Courtney, 5. Kyle Cummins, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 8. C.J. Leary, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Robert Ballou, 11. Ryan Bernal. 12. A.J. Hopkins, 13. Chase Stockon, 14. Brady Short, 15. Chad Boespflug, 16. Aaron Farney, 17. Josh Hodges, 18. Jarett Andretti, 19. Kody Swanson, 20. Hunter Schuerenberg, 21. Justin Grant, 22. Brody Roa, 23. Isaac Chapple, 24. Brent Beauchamp. NT
----------------------------
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 C. Short, Laps 9-30 Meseraull.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Robert Ballou (22nd to 10th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Chase Stockon
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Grant-1,086, 2-Windom-1,047, 3-Stockon-934, 4-Boespflug-926, 5-Courtney-872, 6-K. Thomas-848, 7-Bacon-777, 8-Leary-743, 9-Darland-683, 10-Meseraull-652.
NEW INDIANA SPRINT WEEK Presented by Camping World POINTS: 1-Meseraull-78, 2-C. Short-74, 3-Bacon & Cummins-67, 5-Courtney-66, 6-K. Thomas Jr.-65, 7-Darland-60, 8-Leary-57, 9-Windom-54, 10-Ballou-49.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 9 - Lawrenceburg (IN) Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week" - Presented by Camping World
Madsen Breaks out the Broom at Cedar Lake Speedway
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World of Outlaws
Contact: Cristina Cordova
World of Outlaws PR
704-707-0229 | ccordova@dirtcar.com
Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article
Deja Vu?
Madsen Sweeps the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown; Sweet and Schatz Round out Podium
NEW RICHMOND, WI - July 8, 2017 - In what looked a bit like a repeat of the night before, Kerry "The Madman" Madsen took the checkers on night two of the FVP Platinum Battery Showdown at Cedar Lake Speedway with Brad Sweet and Donny Schatz behind him.
"I just enjoy racing with the World of Outlaws so much," said Madsen from Victory Lane. "I mean, you just have to be on point all the way."
Certainly the Kasey Kahne Racing driver and the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver never let up. They came prepared to do battle with the Big Game Motorsports 2M after the previous night's finish.
"Last night I took a swing but then gave him the room," said Sweet. "And tonight I thought, 'Well, I'm going to try a little bit harder.'"
In fact, everything was a little harder for Madsen the second time around. Jason Johnson started on the pole and maintained his lead for the first 11 laps of the race while Schatz took Madsen on from third, passing him seven laps in, only to lose his advantage in the following lap, just as Sweet started pressing on him.
With Sweet and Schatz battling it out for third, Madsen focused his attention on the Priority Aviation No. 41, passing him with 29 laps to go. Five laps later, after Johnson slowed off the bottom of turn two, Sweet charged past Schatz and continued onward past Johnson to resume the battle with Madsen from the night before.
Schatz followed suit, and by lap 20, halfway into the race, the top four positions were set, with David Gravel holding the rear. Though Madsen had a strong lead, a caution on Jac Haudenschild (who lost a wheel) gave the drivers a final opportunity to steal the lead.
"Brad [Sweet] had a hell of a run, and he put a big move on in one and two," said Madsen. "Fortunately, in that corner I had enough time to turn back down and try to tuck right in down the backstretch and repay the favor in three and four. Then I was just trying to mix it up and run a different line here or there to keep him guessing. I feel like I didn't have much ties there at the end. There was a lot of wheel spin going on, but with two to go you're just foot to the floor, and you're like, 'I'm not losing this now.' So that was a great run.
"I got up in front of him," said Sweet, "but he turned down. And then he did what he had to do those last few laps. You know, he kind of played defense. We were trying to search to get the run on him, but his car was good all weekend.
Sweet, who is second in points standings behind Donny Schatz (-80) has more top-10 finishes than him so far this season, and almost as many top-fives, but he's nine wins behind him and hasn't taken the checkers since exactly one month ago, at Knoxville Raceway. .
"My guys keep giving me great race cars," said the No. 49 Napa Auto Parts driver. "We just have to figure out how to win some of these. They come down to the last five laps like that, and we're just a hair off. If we can just find it, we'll get some more of these wins. I know I keep saying that every night, but it's the truth. As long as we're up here on the podium we're happy though."
Schatz had less to say from Victory Lane, but expressed a similar sentiment. "When you can't win you gotta do the best you can . . . That's why they call it racing, so we'll learn from our mistakes and move on."
Behind Gravel at the finish was Jason Sides rounding out the top five. While Sides started in 16, his fifth place finish is even more impressive given the fact that he was pushed to the back (24) on a reset after a collision before completing the first lap of the race. Sadly, his 19-position charge only counted as 11, and the KSE Hard Charger Award went to Bill Balog for another impressive charge - from 24 to 10.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series takes on Attica Raceway Park on Tuesday, July 11 for the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic before heading to Eldora Speedway for the Kings Royal, July 13-15.
RESULTS FROM CEDAR LAKE SPEEDWAY, NIGHT TWO
Feature (40 Laps) - 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2][$10,000]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [5][$5,000]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$3,000]; 4. 5-David Gravel [10][$2,700]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [16][$2,500]; 6. 41-Jason Johnson [1][$2,200]; 7. 3-Tim Kaeding [9][$2,000]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$1,800]; 9. 2-Shane Stewart [7][$1,600]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog [24][$1,450]; 11. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [6][$1,300]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21][$1,200]; 13. 21-Brian Brown [18][$1,100]; 14. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [11][$1,000]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson [22][$950]; 16. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [8][$900]; 17. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [17][$850]; 18. 4-Paul McMahan [14][$750]; 19. 9-Daryn Pittman [3][$725]; 20. 84-Scott Bogucki [20][$700]; 21. 1A-Jacob Allen [12][$700]; 22. 26-Tayler Malsam [19][$700]; 23. 17-Jac Haudenschild [15][$700]; 24. 19-Brent Marks [23][$700]; Lap Leaders: Jason Johnson 1-11, Kerry Madsen 12-40; KSE Hard Charger Award: 17B-Bill Balog[+14]
Qualifying - 1. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.116; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.207; 3. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier, 12.269; 4. 2-Shane Stewart, 12.326; 5. 2X-Parker Price-Miller, 12.35; 6. 19-Brent Marks, 12.355; 7. 2M-Kerry Madsen, 12.403; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.508; 9. 3-Tim Kaeding, 12.517; 10. 5-David Gravel, 12.56; 11. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.586; 12. 84-Scott Bogucki, 12.597; 13. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 12.61; 14. 9-Daryn Pittman, 12.65; 15. 17-Jac Haudenschild, 12.688; 16. 41-Jason Johnson, 12.688; 17. 23W-Scott Winters, 12.732; 18. 4-Paul McMahan, 12.755; 19. 13-Clyde Knipp, 12.755; 20. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.764; 21. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.77; 22. 21-Brian Brown, 12.797; 23. 82-Craig Dollansky, 12.84; 24. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 12.842; 25. 19P-Paige Polyak, 12.872; 26. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.874; 27. 26-Tayler Malsam, 13.183; 28. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.298; 29. 23-Russel Borland, 13.305; 30. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.368; 31. 9Z-Jared Goerges, 13.393; 32. 85-Jason Tostenson, 13.4; 33. 19L-Todd King, 13.803
Heat #1 (10 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer - 1. 15-Donny Schatz [1]; 2. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 3. 3-Tim Kaeding [3]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 5. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [4]; 6. 23W-Scott Winters [5]; 7. 19P-Paige Polyak [7]; 8. 19L-Todd King [9]; 9. 23-Russel Borland [8]
Heat #2 (10 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer - 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [4]; 3. 5-David Gravel [3]; 4. 4-Paul McMahan [5]; 5. 21-Brian Brown [6]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [7]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [8]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [2]
Heat #3 (10 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer - 1. 2M-Kerry Madsen [2]; 2. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [1]; 3. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 4. 17-Jac Haudenschild [4]; 5. 26-Tayler Malsam [7]; 6. 9Z-Jared Goerges [8]; 7. 82-Craig Dollansky [6]; 8. 13-Clyde Knipp [5]
Heat #4 (10 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer - 1. 2-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 41-Jason Johnson [4]; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen [2]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [7]; 5. 84-Scott Bogucki [3]; 6. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 7. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [6]; 8. 85-Jason Tostenson [8]
Craftsman Club Dash (8 Laps) - 1. 41-Jason Johnson [1]; 2. 2M-Kerry Madsen [6]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [3]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [8]; 5. 49-Brad Sweet [7]; 6. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier [2]; 7. 2-Shane Stewart [5]; 8. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [4]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer - 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4][-]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [10][-]; 3. 19-Brent Marks [1][-]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [8][-]; 5. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [6][$300]; 6. 19P-Paige Polyak [7][$250]; 7. 13-Clyde Knipp [3][$225]; 8. 82-Craig Dollansky [5][$200]; 9. 85-Jason Tostenson [12][$200]; 10. 9Z-Jared Goerges [11][$200]; 11. 23W-Scott Winters [2][$200]; 12. 19L-Todd King [13][$200]; 13. 23-Russel Borland [9][$200]
CONTINGENCY WINNERS: MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Brent Marks; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Brad Sweet; JE Pistons ($50 cash) Jason Sides; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Kraig Kinser; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Shane Stewart; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Logan Schuchart; Extended Stay America ($50 cash): Logan Schuchart; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Logan Schuchart; Super Flow ($50 cash): Sheldon Haudenschild; Craftsman Club Fast Five ($100 cash): Jason Johnson, Daryn Pittman, Brad Sweet, Shane Stewart; Craftsman/Sears: Kerry Madsen; KSE Hard Charger: Bill Balog; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Brad Sweet; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Parker Price-Miller; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Jacob Allen.
SEASON WINNERS
Donny Schatz - 13 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, LoneStar Speedway on March 3, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 9, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 10, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 18, Missouri State Fair Speedway on May 5, 81 Speedway on May 6, Eldora Speedway May 13, Knoxville Raceway on June 10, Granite City on June 20, Dirt Oval at Route 66 on June 27, Dakota State Fair Speedway on July 1)
David Gravel - 9 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 17, Placerville Speedway on March 29, Perris Auto Speedway on April 1, Gator Motorplex on April 13, Plymouth Speedway on April 28, Lincoln Speedway on May 17, Williams Grove on May 19, New Egypt Speedway on May 24, River Cities Speedway on June 16)
Brad Sweet - 4 (Stockton Dirt Track on March 25, Devil’s Bowl on April 15, Jackson Motorplex on June 3, Knoxville Raceway on June 9)
Shane Stewart – 4 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 20, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 29, West Liberty Raceway on June 23, Beaver Dam Raceway on June 24)
Logan Schuchart - 3 (Keller Auto Speedway on March 31, Eldora Speedway on May 12, Charlotte on May 26)
Kerry Madsen – 3 (Jackson Motorplex on June 2, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 7 and 8)
Jason Johnson - 2 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 17, Devil’s Bowl on April 14)
Brian Brown – 1 (Cocopah Speedway on April 7)
Rico Abreu – 1 (Arizona Speedway on April 8)
Parker Price-Miller – 1 (Tri-State Speedway on May 14)
Ian Madsen – 1 (Jackson Motorplex on June 1)
Kyle Larson – 1 (Eagle Raceway on June 13)
Kraig Kinser - 1 (Deer Creek Speedway on July 6)
Wayne Johnson Sweeps The Lucas Oil ASCS Grizzly Nationals
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ASCS National Sprint Series
Wayne Johnson Sweeps The Lucas Oil ASCS Grizzly Nationals
BELGRADE, Mont. (July 8, 2017) Riding a wave of momentum into Saturday's finale of the Grizzly Nationals at Gallatin Speedway, Oklahoma's Wayne Johnson completed the weekend sweep with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
"I can't begin to tell you how much this team needed this weekend. Ever since we figured out what was wrong with our car, this thing is back to working like it should," said Johnson of his 50th career National Tour score.
Gridding the lineup fourth, Johnson nearly saw his night end in the first two turns as Kelly Miller shoved up the track. Able to recover and gain momentum, Johnson began picking his way toward the front as Aaron Reutzel and Giovanni Scelzi battled for the lead with the 15 year old of Californian taking the point on Lap 4.
Working past Reutzel on the fifth rotation for second, the caution displayed working Lap 7 for Chauncey Filler who spun to a stop off the fourth turn.
Back to green, Scelzi was in full command as the BDS Motorsports No. 1 pulled the field by a straightaway before hitting traffic at the race's mid-point. Closing the gap to just a few car lengths, Wayne watched and waited for the chance to make a move.
"Once we got into traffic, I just bided my time and watched to see what Gio was going to do. I knew he was going to be tough to pass," commented Johnson.
Caught behind the No. 37 of Trever Kirkland going into the third and fourth turn, Scelzi tried to roll the middle as Johnson shot the low side to make the battle three wide with the advantage to Wayne on Lap 17.
Asked about the race with Scelzi for the lead, Johnson replied, "I just have to say, what a hell of a racer. This only being his second night in that car, he did a great job. He just made a little mistake in traffic, and that was the only chance I had. The bottom was better there towards the end and our car was better on the long run, but hats off to my team. They're doing a heck of a job and like I said, the kid that run second, I think he's 15 years old, and I'm telling you, his name is going to be in this sport for a long time."
Able to use slower traffic to keep Scelzi at bay, Johnson crossed under the checkered flag with a 0.771 second advantage. Coming up from ninth, Blake Hahn put his Griffith Truck and Equipment No. 52 on the final podium step. After leading the first three laps, Aaron Reutzel held on to finish fourth with Matt Covington making the top-five.
Kelly Miller ended up sixth with Seth Bergman seventh. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. followed in eighth with Skylar Gee and Johnny Herrera filling in the top-ten.
A field of 33 returned for the second night of the Grizzly Nationals. Four Heats were topped by Blake Hahn, David Hoiness, Johnny Herrera, and Sam Hafertepe, Jr. The night's B-Main went to Harli White. No provisional starts were used.
Up next of for the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network is the Rushmore Rumble at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D. on Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15.
For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the seven regional tours that make up the over 150 dates across the ASCS Nation in 2017, log onto www.ascsracing.com.
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
ASCS Frontier Region
Gallatin Speedway - Belgrade, Mont.
2nd annual Grizzly Nationals
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Car Count: 33
Event Count: 34
Heat Races (Top 12 in Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn, [2]; 2. 95-Matt Covington, [7]; 3. 74-Chauncey Filler, [3]; 4. 77-Damon McCune, [5]; 5. 75-D.J. Brink, [8]; 6. 33-Robert DeHaan, [6]; 7. 66-Lany Reber, [1]; 8. 00-Roger Cummings, [4]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 27DD-David Hoiness, [3]; 2. 77M-Nate Maxwell, [2]; 3. 11-Mindy McCord, [1]; 4. 37-Trever Kirkland, [4]; 5. 38B-Bryan Brown, [6]; 6. 8X-Randy Dolberg, [5]; 7. 33X-Lance DeHaan, [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [1]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee, [5]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman, [7]; 4. 24M-Rich Martin, [2]; 5. 21-Ryder Olson, [3]; 6. 2-Shad Petersen, [4]; 7. (DNF) 10-Anthony Farnsworth, [6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [2]; 2. 1B-Bill Boyce, [1]; 3. 17W-Harli White, [3]; 4. 0J-Jeremy McCune, [7]; 5. 35M-Cody Masse, [5]; 6. 14-Ben Holmberg, [6]; 7. 7-Mike Sires, [4]
BMRS B-Features (Top 6 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White, [1]; 2. 77-Damon McCune, [2]; 3. 35M-Cody Masse, [7]; 4. 37-Trever Kirkland, [4]; 5. 38B-Bryan Brown, [5]; 6. 24M-Rich Martin, [6]; 7. 21-Ryder Olson, [8]; 8. 8X-Randy Dolberg, [11]; 9. 33-Robert DeHaan, [9]; 10. 00-Roger Cummings, [17]; 11. 11-Mindy McCord, [3]; 12. 14-Ben Holmberg, [10]; 13. 33X-Lance DeHaan, [13]; 14. 2-Shad Petersen, [12]; 15. (DNF) 66-Lany Reber, [16]; 16. (DNF) 7-Mike Sires, [15]; 17. (DNF) 10-Anthony Farnsworth, [14]
Protect the Harvest A-Feature:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [4]; 2. 1-Giovanni Scelzi, [3]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn, [9]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [1]; 5. 95-Matt Covington, [7]; 6. 2JR-Kelly Miller, [2]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman, [8]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [10]; 9. 99-Skylar Gee, [6]; 10. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [11]; 11. 75-D.J. Brink, [15]; 12. 27DD-David Hoiness, [5]; 13. 17W-Harli White, [17]; 14. 38B-Bryan Brown, [21]; 15. 0J-Jeremy McCune, [12]; 16. 1B-Bill Boyce, [14]; 17. 37-Trever Kirkland, [20]; 18. 35M-Cody Masse, [19]; 19. 24M-Rich Martin, [22]; 20. 77M-Nate Maxwell, [13]; 21. (DNF) 74-Chauncey Filler, [16]; 22. (DNF) 77-Damon McCune, [18]
Lap Leader(s): Aaron Reutzel 1-3; Giovanni Scelzi 4-16; Wayne Johnson 17-25
CP-Carrillo Hard Charger: Bryan Brown +7
FSR High Point Driver: Matt Covington
Provisional(s): N/A
2017 Lucas Oil ASCS A-Main Winner(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. - 9 (3/17 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 3/18 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 4/7 - Texas Motor Speedway; 4/8 - Texas Motor Speedway; 4/15 - Missouri State Fair Speedway; 6/13 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 6/14 - Lawton Speedway; 6/23 - Skagit Speedway; 6/24 - Skagit Speedway); Aaron Reutzel - 4 (5/11 - Lakeside Speedway; 6/15 - Creek County Speedway; 6/17 - Lucas Oil Speedway; 6/22 - Skagit Speedway); Wayne Johnson - 2 (7/7 - Gallatin Speedway; 7/8 - Gallatin Speedway); Jake Bubak - 1 (6/9 - West Texas Raceway); Kyle Bellm - 1(6/10 - Route 66 Motor Speedway); Brian Brown - 1 (6/16 - Randolph County Raceway); Matt Covington - 1 (6/30 - Grays Harbor Raceway); Roger Crockett - 1 (7/1 - Grays Harbor Raceway);
2017 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 2,584; 2. Aaron Reutzel 2,534; 3. Matt Covington 2,409; 4. Johnny Herrera 2,386; 5. Wayne Johnson 2,363; 6. Seth Bergman 2,323; 7. Blake Hahn 2,244; 8. Skylar Gee 2,065; 9. Harli White 1,788, 10. Justin Henderson 1,434;
