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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

Robert Ballou (Left) won the Indiana Sprint Week finale at Lincoln Park Speedway while Kevin Thomas, Jr. (right) captured his first ISW title. (David Nearpass Photos)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Putnamville, Indiana.....July 16, 2017 - Separated by just 23 points entering Sunday night's Indiana Sprint Week presented by Camping World feature at Lincoln Park Speedway, Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Robert Ballou each knew what was on the line.

Win the race and the points will take care of themselves is the motto you'll often hear, but as the race wore on, the two ISW title contenders would find themselves on two separate paths: Ballou with a stranglehold up front and Thomas attempting to overcome a tumultuous beginning that, at one point, had him teetering on the edge of squandering the title.

Ballou maintained his presence at the front for all but the first lap to score his second USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship victory of the season while Thomas, having to finish eighth or better, thrived in the final eight-lap stretch to finish a hard-fought fifth to win the ISW points title, a feat he came so close to accomplishing in 2013 when he led the standings entering the final race of the series before seeing it slip away, something he wasn't going to let happen this time around despite a turbulent road to get there.

"Right before the feature, I knew it was 23 points going in," Thomas said. "It does put a little pressure on you, but I normally like pressure. You don't want to think about points, but at the end of the day, no matter who you are, it's in the back of your head when it's Indiana Sprint Week. This is such a historical week. Everybody wants to win it."

Thomas did what he needed to do early in the night, gaining a coveted six-point bonus for recording ProSource/B & W Auto Mart Fast Qualifying time, which put him on the outside of row three for the 30-lap feature with the six-car invert. On the other hand, that set up his nearest combatant, Robert Ballou, on the pole position, though he wouldn't escape to the point without a fight. On the opening lap, Ballou stuck to the bottom while Chad Boesplfug ripped around the top off turn two to grab the lead momentarily. Ballou fought back on the bottom, hopping his way off the fourth turn and pulling the wheels off the ground, just missing the lead by a small margin as the two crossed the stripe. Ballou stayed true to the bottom on lap two, but this time, much, much smoother as he gunned it off four to blast by Boespflug for the lead.

"We set up to run the curb," Ballou said. "But when I stuck the bottom at the start, it seemed pretty good down there. Chad got around me right away and for some reason, I was able to stick the entry really well which is something I couldn't do all week. I think if we had this setup at Gas City, we would've been a hell of a lot better."

A little further back, things weren't going as pristine for Thomas. On lap nine, Thomas stumbled on the turn two curb, dropping him from sixth to eighth, the furthest back he could run with Ballou leading in order to maintain his slim point lead, which stood at two with a third of the race completed. Thomas was fully aware of the situation as the pressure mounted and the laps clicked away.

"It does put a little pressure on you," Thomas admits. "I normally like pressure, but right there at the start, I got a good jump and I kind of got shuffled around. From there, I just made some bad driving mistakes. I jumped the cushion a few times, then I got flustered. I got a run on Kyle Cummins, jumped his right rear going down the backstretch and almost turned it over. I made a lot of dumb mistakes, to be honest. I knocked my floor pan off and the gas pedal wouldn't even go all the way down. It was touching the brake; I couldn't even use the brakes!"

By the halfway point, last year's Lincoln Park ISW feature winner Brady Short put on a patented charge to the front as he moved into second from his tenth starting spot and began applying pressure to Ballou for the race lead just prior to a yellow for Josh Hodges with ten to go. Thomas remained mired in seventh with a five-point buffer as the caution briefly silenced the beehive of competitors that surrounded him.

On the lap 21 restart, Ballou darted away from Short while Thomas picked up a much-needed spot as he raced into sixth past C.J. Leary. Two laps later, Leary's successful ISW that included a pair of wins, ended with a tumble in the rough in turn three to end his night. The Greenfield, Indiana driver walked away from the incident. Bernal was also involved, but would restart from the tail, practically eliminating multiple contenders who were in the midst of a battle in the trenches with Thomas for positions sixth, seventh and eighth.

But a late red flag period can, at times, make a profound impact on the race whether it knocks a driver off his rhythm or, conversely, allows them to exhale and regroup. Perhaps, it allows teams to make adjustments on the car that can go one of two ways. This time around, it brought about different initial reactions between Ballou and Thomas.

"I was worried to be honest with you," Ballou admits. "We had issues where my tires would get too low. They build up a bunch of heat and, when they cool off, they lose a pound or two. When the bleeder bleeds off to a certain poundage, they cool off and lose more air and its harder for them to build back up when they get too low. I was trying to spin them as much as I could, but nothing helps really. It's tough."

On the other hand, the red flag was a welcome sight through the eyes of Thomas.

"Normally I don't like stoppages like that. This time I did," Thomas explains. "I made a few shock adjustments because I was pretty tight out there for where I was having to run. I just really wasn't running a great enough race to be able to run the cushion the way I'd normally want to. I had to make a few adjustments to be able to rotate on the bottom and to not get myself tight. I knew I had to go get going and I knew I had to do something. I just had to keep myself calm and get back to doing what I wanted to do and pass some race cars. Sometimes you like to see the red, sometimes you don't. This time, I did. I had time to gather my thoughts and had to make a few decisions."

As the green fell for the restart with eight laps to go, Ballou was unsure of what to expect in regards to how his car would react.

"I was biting my tongue when I headed into turn one on the restart," Ballou details. "You aren't sure if you're going to tip over, if it's going to toss the nose or what's going to happen. It's a guessing game and I hoped I entered the corner just right. It was tricky, but that's what makes racing racing."

It worked out for Ballou as he was able to distance himself from Short who wound up losing his spot on the restart to Tyler Courtney, who slalomed through turn two to the runner-up spot on the bottom. Yet, he remained a second behind Ballou as the laps waned until a yellow with three to go for the turned around car of Tyler Thomas put a halt to the action. Kevin Thomas, Jr., meanwhile, had found a happy place and resided comfortably in fifth as he settled into a groove after a hectic beginning.

Ballou had yet another solid restart on lap 28, keeping Courtney and Boespflug at bay as those two tussled for the runner-up spot a second behind as he finished off the final three laps handily in his Robert Ballou Motorsports/Deaton's Waterfront Services - Lucas Oil/Twister-X/Ott ahead of Courtney, Boespflug, Short and Kevin Thomas, Jr., who stamped his name in the record books as the champ of the 30th edition of Indiana Sprint Week.

Thomas earned a custom-cut Bridgeport Rocker courtesy of John Youngs and a $5000 dollar award amongst his prizes for the title run that concluded with what he calls "the ugliest fifth-place of (his) racing career." Yet, they don't award points for style in this form of racing. Just results. That result was good enough for an 11-point victory in the most rigorous stretch of the USAC National Sprint Car season.

"It's just a relief to be able to win this thing," Thomas exhaled. It's a lot of hard work not only from myself and my family, but the guys back at the shop. Both of them have day jobs and they are as hard-working and passionate about the team as hard as anybody I've ever seen. Like Saturday night at Haubstadt, we ran second and I think they were as mad, if not madder, than I was. That's what I like to see. It's an intense week and you have to be intense about it."

Over a seven-race stretch, one position here and one position there can make all the difference in a title run. With qualifying, heat races and even the semi-feature offering points toward the final tally, each and every time a driver hits the track, it means something. It's something Thomas took advantage of this time around.

Sunday night's Indiana Sprint Week (presented by Camping World)
feature winner Robert Ballou of Rocklin, California.(Gene Crucean Photo)

"You can't let one little point or one position get away from you because it can be a matter of one, two or three spots in the end," Thomas points out. "Robert and I have raced together for a long time. He's a past Indiana Sprint Week champion and, to be able to do what we did and beat those guys, it's truly remarkable."

It was the Indiana Sprint Week round at Lincoln Park in 2014 where Ballou turned the corner to his string of modern-day success that we have become accustomed to. Yet, the Rocklin, California native and 2015 USAC National Sprint Car champion admits he still struggles here despite the success that also includes a July victory in 2016.

"I struggle here," Ballou acknowledges. "I like my racecar to be tight and you can't have a tight racecar here. I came from winged sprint cars originally. I still like to be straight and fast. That's why I go so well on the big joints. This is one of the first tracks I was able to figure out and was able to run well at consistently. You have to be careful on the curb and you have to tiptoe around the bottom."

Ballou's Indiana Sprint Week certainly had its bright spots with a runner-up result at Gas City and concluded with his first USAC win in over two months in the ISW finale. But, Ballou admits it's still a struggle at times as he and the team attempt to return to the consistency that had become so commonplace over the last three years.

"We changed everything," Ballou said. "We were changing a gear when they blew the eight-minute horn. We never give up. We tried to throw the kitchen sink at it. We're just trying to get our program back together. We've just been a tick off every single night. We're close, but we just got to keep putting one foot in font of the other and we'll get there."

Contingency award winners Sunday night at Lincoln Park Speedway include Kevin Thomas, Jr. (ProSource/B & W Auto Mart Fast Qualifier), Chris Windom (Simpson Race Products 1st Heat Winner), Josh Hodges (Competition Suspension, Inc. 2nd Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (Chalk Stix 3rd Heat Winner), Chase Stockon (Indy Race Parts Semi-Feature Winner), Josh Hodges (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger) and Ryan Bernal (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: July 16, 2017 - Putnamville, Indiana - Lincoln Park Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week" - Presented by Camping World

PROSOURCE/B & W AUTO MART QUALIFYING: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, KT-12.594; 2. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.628; 3. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.638; 4. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-12.643; 5. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-12.662; 6. Aaron Farney, 15F, DCT-12.675; 7. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-12.774; 8. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-12.790; 9. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-12.814; 10. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-12.849; 11. Ryan Bernal, 17GP, Dutcher-12.886; 12. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-12.909; 13. Jerry Coons Jr., 21K, Krockenberger-12.928; 14. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.966; 15. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-12.995; 16. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.013; 17. Dave Darland, 17x, Dutcher-13.065; 18. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-13.081; 19. Tyler Thomas, 04, Burton-13.106; 20. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.163; 21. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-13.181; 22. Jon Stanbrough, 77, Wingo-13.220; 23. Nate McMillin, 24m, McMillin-13.372; 24. Joe B. Miller, 51B, Miller-13.545; 25. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Windom, 2. B.Short, 3. Coons, 4. Boespflug, 5. K.Thomas Jr., 6. T.Thomas, 7. Cummins, 8. Stanbrough. 2:10.33

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hodges, 2. Darland (#17x), 3. Bernal, 4. Courtney, 5. Andretti, 6. Stockon, 7. Grant, 8. McMillin. 2:11.08

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Leary, 3. Meseraull, 4. Beauchamp, 5. Farney, 6. Swanson, 7. Robbins, 8. Miller. NT

INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Cummins, 3. Swanson, 4. Grant, 5. T.Thomas, 6. Stanbrough, 7. McMillin, 8. Robbins, 9. Miller. 2:45.90

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Tyler Courtney, 3. Chad Boespflug, 4. Brady Short, 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 6. Justin Grant, 7. Josh Hodges, 8. Aaron Farney, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Dave Darland, 11. Thomas Meseraull, 12. Chase Stockon, 13. Ryan Bernal, 14. Jerry Coons Jr., 15. Jarett Andretti, 16. Tyler Thomas, 17. Kody Swanson, 18. Nate McMillin, 19. Kyle Cummins, 20. C.J. Leary, 21. Jon Stanbrough, 22. Brent Beauchamp. NT
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**Leary flipped on lap 23 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Boespflug, Laps 2-30 Ballou.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Josh Hodges (14th-7th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Ryan Bernal

NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Grant-1,360, 2-Windom-1,337, 3-Boespflug-1,233, 4-K.Thomas Jr.-1,199, 5-Courtney-1,168, 6-Stockon-1,159, 7-Leary-1,018, 8-Darland-938, 9-Meseraull-932, 10-Brady Bacon-913.

FINAL INDIANA SPRINT WEEK Presented by Camping World POINTS: 1-K.Thomas Jr.-416, 2-Ballou-405, 3-Courtney-362, 4-Meseraull-358, 5-Windom-344, 6-Leary-332, 7-Boespflug-331, 8-Darland-315, 9-B.Short-293, 10-Grant-289.

NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: July 29 - Kansas City, Kansas - Lakeside Speedway

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

CUMMINS' LAST LAP, LAST CORNER MOVE NETS SPECTACULAR HAUBSTADT ISW VICTORY

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Haubstadt, Indiana....July 15, 2017 - As soon as the yellow light switched on for the final caution period of the evening, Kyle Cummins devised a plan.

It was a plan born out of necessity that Cummins felt served as his best bet to compete for a victory in the closing laps of Saturday night's penultimate Indiana Sprint Week presented by Camping World round at Tri-State Speedway.

Kevin Thomas, Jr. seemingly had the event stowed away for safe-keeping after leading the first 27 circuits of the 30-lap event, but a double-dose of yellow flags in the final laps would turn the tide for Cummins of nearby Princeton, Indiana.

Following a yellow for a Donny Brackett spin between turns three and four with three to go, Cummins hatched his plan after deciphering that he had no way of passing Thomas had he maintained his line on the bottom. This time around, Cummins had full intentions of executing his plan of attack, but decided at the last instant to abort the mission.

"I knew on that one yellow (on lap 28), I was going to the top," Cummins remembered. "I looked up there and thought the bottom looked so much better. As soon as we took the green, I went in there on the bottom and I felt like it was already too late."

Cummins would soon receive a reprieve when tenth-running Dave Darland's car went up in smoke as Thomas rounded turns three and four and was seemingly headed home to take the checkered. The plan was renewed and Cummins wasn't going to let this second chance slip away.

"As soon as it went yellow, I knew 100 percent what I was going to do," Cummins exclaimed. "It was so much better up top. The bottom was good, but once everyone was running it, it started getting slick and you really had to chock it up getting in. We got the car to where, once I loosened it up a little bit to be able to get in a little harder on the top, that thing came around there and man, was it good!"

After serving as Thomas' shadow throughout the entire duration of the event prior to the final caution, Cummins decided the lower portion of the track was not among the options if a win was in the cards. On the green-white-checkered restart, Cummins went topside while Thomas remained tried-and-true to the bottom.

Cummins' first shot was fired when he diamonded off of turn two and used a huge run to dive to the bottom of turn three on the white flag lap. Thomas anticipated Cummins' presence and snubbed him from the lead, diving to the bottom simultaneously with Cummins to protect his spot for the time being.

On the final lap, Cummins came off turn two like a Concorde on takeoff, staying to the outside of Thomas rather than diving to the inside this time around. Thomas slid up the track from the entrance of turn three to the exit of four, allowing Cummins to counterpunch underneath. Lines changed, wheels banged, a smoke signal lifting into the sky off Cummins' right rear rubber in a drag race off four to the finish line where Cummins swiftly prevailed for a spectacular single car-length victory in his Rock Steady Racing/ProGlide Bearings/Mach-1/Cummins for his third career USAC National Sprint Car victory and his second ISW win in as many seasons.

"As soon as it went yellow, I'm like, 'okay this is perfect,'" Cummins explained. "I was too tight to run the top, but I decided I was going to run the top and forget about the bottom, so I adjusted my shocks to only run the top. On lap 29, I found out it was way faster to run the top. However, he was up in the way, so I tried to dive him and I had to let off going into three or we would've collided. That set me up for the next lap. I went up to the top and he didn't come out as far, allowing me to get around him on the outside. Going into (turn) three, I had my mind set to run all the way around the top. When I saw him, I figured we were going to run into each other coming out of four, so I tried to diamond her down. He got on her and got a little tight. It let me get down, get the power to the ground and get to the checkered flag first."

Cullman, Alabama's Thomas led the first 29 and three-quarters of a lap before surrendering the position to Cummins, but wasn't able to finish off the one that paid the most in his KT Motorsports/Abreu Vineyards - KT Construction Services/DRC/Speedway Chevy.

"On the last restart, I saw Kyle peek underneath me," Thomas recalls. "He's always good here and he's going to find a way that's faster. That's exactly what he did. He waited until the last lap, got a good run off (turns) one and two to pull alongside me going down the backstretch. I probably dove into turn three a little too hard. I didn't necessarily miss my marks, but I maybe could've slowed down a bit more to make my corner a little shorter and not load the right rear so much to where it lifted the front wheels off the ground. That's just the way it goes sometimes. When you give a driver like Kyle that many opportunities, he's going to find the sweet spot and he did."

Although the spectacular highlight-reel, last corner, last lap pass for the win is certainly the moment of the night everyone will remember, the most crucial pass of the night may very well have occurred in the second heat when sixth-quickest qualifier Cummins snagged the fourth and final transfer spot from Critter Malone in the second heat race. Without that pass, Cummins would've been relegated to a feature starting spot outside of the fourth row instead of the outside front row position he would begin from due to the inversion of the fastest six qualifiers to transfer through each of the heat races.

"Track position is crucial, especially when it goes green for a long stretch like that," Cummins said. "We would've been starting a few rows back. We might've gotten there, but without having a yellow, most likely, we wouldn't have been able to catch him. There might've been lapped cars between us too at some point, so that was really important to get that spot."

Despite becoming the most synonymous name in sprint car racing at Tri-State Speedway over the past several years due to his mounting success, surprisingly, he and the team found the early-going to be a struggle to even be able to contend for a transfer spot.

"This thing was like driving a modified," Cummins remembers. "I couldn't get her turned. It was pushing and I was doing all I could do to get into fourth there. On the white flag, I really didn't think I was going to get him. I went in there and it looked like he got tight, just like I did. It's Sprint Week, so I had to drift up. The difference between starting on the front row and starting seventh is a big deal. That was probably the biggest move to put us in position to win.

Following a top-five run at Kokomo on the opening night of Indiana Sprint Week last Saturday, Cummins has had a tumultuous time obtaining the results they expected with finishes of 21st at Lawrenceburg, 18th at Gas City and a DNQ the previous night at Bloomington serving as the lead-in to his epic Haubstadt performance Saturday night, where he feels right at home.

"It seems like even when we're not all that good, we've still got a chance here," Cummins said. "I've raced here enough to where I can manipulate the car or, at least, get it to be competitive. This is my motor. It doesn't run nearly as hot. I knew I could run the whole race and be on the gas hard and not have to worry about it overheating. At Kokomo, we were good, but we had a little problem right before the feature and made a little mistake. At Lawrenceburg, we just had a rough go of it and got into the wall. We didn't know at the time that it bent the rear end. At Gas City, we weren't that good. In Terre haute hot laps, I was terrible. At Bloomington, we were awful. After last night, we all looked at each other and threw everything we had at it. It just wasn't working. We pulled the rear-end out today and it was bent pretty good. We put a new rear-end on and it brought the car back to life. I wish we would've found out about it earlier and it might've turned out to have been a lot better week for us overall."

The sight of Kyle Cummins and Hank Byram's Rock Steady No. 3R hasn't been as prevalent this year as much as it had been during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, only making a smattering of series start in 2017 due to mechanical issues. Cummins was set on running his own No. 3c when time allowed, but an 11th hour agreement between Cummins and Byram pit the dynamic duo back together for ISW and their victory at Haubstadt.

"(Car owner) Hank (Byram) only has his one motor," Cummins explained. "It got hot here in the spring race. The heads were so old, they were giving up. He had to take a break and he actually still hasn't gotten his motor back. I was jumping back and forth between Rick Pollock's car and my own car. I knew I was going to get my motor, so I figured if I was going to get my own motor, I was going to run my own car. We ran down here and won the first night. I was going to run Sprint Week, but I didn't have the equipment, didn't have the time and didn't have any spares. I just had the car I had. Hank offered me a deal where I'd put my motor in his car and we'd make it a bit easier on both of us. I felt comfortable in the car and I knew we'd be pretty good, so we decided to get back together."

"I don't know how much more we'll run," Cummins added. "It depends when he gets his motor back. We haven't raced much, once a month it seems, which makes it tough coming off a year like we had last year. I felt at the beginning of the year that we were battling issues here and there. Now we're throwing different motors in and changing stuff around. This car had to be clipped and redone. We finally got this car running pretty good and ready to finish out the season."

Meanwhile, with his second-place run, Thomas extended his Indiana Sprint Week point lead to 21 heading into the final series event Sunday, July 16 at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana. Though Thomas gained a little bit of breathing room with the uptick in the point differential between he and Robert Ballou, it's certainly not enough for him to breathe easily and

"You just have to be aggressive," Thomas mandates. "You can't points race in this deal because, at the end of the day, you'll get beat. It's just like what happened tonight. I raced defensively instead of offensively and I got beat. That's just something you can't do in racing. Some people are capable of point racing, but I'm not. Sunday at Putnamville, we're going to be aggressive and be the fastest in everything we're in tomorrow. Hopefully it works out. If it does, it does. If it doesn't, it doesn't."

Meanwhile, just behind the leaders, a battle for the third-spot was nearly as furious with Indianapolis, Indiana's Tyler Courtney nabbing the spot from new USAC National Sprint Car point leader Justin Grant on the final lap in his TOPP Motorsports/TOPP Performance Race Parts - Custom Pump & Controls/Maxim/Claxton.

"We were really good at about the halfway point," Courtney said. "We got to fourth and that put us in position to run down Justin at the end. I just wasn't able to clear him in traffic. Luckily, we got a yellow toward the end and I was able to run it as hard as I could on the top those last couple of laps, then get him there coming to the checkered. We ran second down here at the end of last year, but we kind of struggled in the spring. To run third at a track we're notoriously bad at is like a win for us."

Contingency award winners Saturday at Tri-State Speedway include Justin Grant (ProSource Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products 1st Heat Winner), Josh Hodges (Competition Suspension, Inc. 2nd Heat Winner), Jarett Andretti (Chalk Stix 3rd Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Indy Race Parts 4th Heat Winner), Carson Short (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Brady Short (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 15, 2017 - Haubstadt, Indiana - Tri-State Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week" Presented by Camping World

PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-13.362; 2. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-13.474; 3. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-13.562; 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, KT-13.712; 5. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-13.771; 6. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.788; 7. Ryan Bernal, 17GP, Dutcher-13.791; 8. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-13.838; 9. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-13.859; 10. Jon Stanbrough, 81, Stanbrough-13.860; 11. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.891; 12. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.898; 13. Tyler Thomas, 04, Burton-13.918; 14. Critter Malone, 7, Seven-13.945; 15. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.008; 16. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.021; 17. Kent Schmidt, 5K, Schmidt-14.036; 18. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-14.049; 19. Garrett Aitken, 32A, Aitken-14.051; 20. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.075; 21. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.084; 22. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-14.102; 23. Brian Karraker, 23, Karraker-14.128; 24. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-14.138; 25. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-14.138; 26. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.351; 27. Aaron Farney, 15F, DCT-14.369; 28. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-14.409; 29. Stephen Schnapf, 61m, Edwards-14.417; 30. Donny Brackett, 4B, Brackett-14.421; 31. Brian Wallace, 27, Wallace-14.491; 32. Tyler Clem, 14c, Clem/TSR-14.518; 33. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-15.030; 34. Alec Sipes, 99, Sipes-16.000; 35. Ted Hines, 12x, Hines-16.143.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Grant, 2. C. Short, 3. Roa, 4. Courtney, 5. Darland, 6. T. Thomas, 7. Schnapf, 8. Schmidt, 9. Leer. 2:16.90

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hodges, 2. B. Short, 3. Meseraull, 4. Cummins, 5. Malone, 6. Stanbrough, 7. Mattox, 8. Brackett, 9. Sipes. 2:16.72

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Andretti, 2. Ballou, 3. Boespflug, 4. Bernal, 5. Karraker, 6. Farney, 7. Aitken, 8. Wallace, 9. Hines. 2:17.29

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. K. Thomas, 2. Stockon, 3. Windom, 4. Jackson, 5. Leary, 6. Gentry, 7. Barksdale, 8. Clem. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Brackett, 4. Leary, 5. Karraker, 6. Schnapf, 7. T. Thomas, 8. Wallace, 9. Farney, 10. Clem, 11. Aitken, 12. Schmidt, 13. Gentry, 14. Mattox, 15. Malone, 16. Hines, 17. Barksdale, 18. Sipes. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kyle Cummins, 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 3. Tyler Courtney, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Thomas Meseraull, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Jarett Andretti, 8. Chad Boespflug, 9. Ryan Bernal, 10. Carson Short, 11. Chris Windom, 12. C.J. Leary, 13. Brady Short, 14. Brody Roa, 15. Chase Stockon, 16. Jon Stanbrough, 17. Brian Karraker, 18. Josh Hodges, 19. Aaron Farney, 20. Donny Brackett, 21. Dave Darland, 22. Dakota Jackson, 23. Stephen Schnapf. NT
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**Clem flipped during heat 4.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-29 K. Thomas, Lap 30 Cummins.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Carson Short (16th to 10th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Brady Short

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Grant-1304, 2-Windom-1283, 3-Boespflug-1161, 4-K. Thomas-1131, 5-Stockon-1111, 6-Courtney-1094, 7-Leary-984, 8-Brady Bacon-913, 9-Darland-888, 10-Meseraull-885.

NEW INDIANA SPRINT WEEK Presented by Camping World POINTS: 1-K. Thomas-348, 2-Ballou-327, 3-Meseraull-311, 4-Leary-298, 5-Windom-290, 6-Courtney-288, 7-Darland-265, 8-Boespflug-259, 9-Grant-233, 10-B. Short-225.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 16 - Putnamville, IN - Lincoln Park Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week" - Presented by Camping World

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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com

THOMAS LEAVES NO DOUBT IN BLOOMINGTON "SHELDON KINSER MEMORIAL" SCORE

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Bloomington, Indiana.....July 14, 2017 - Indiana Sprint Week at Bloomington Speedway is pretty much where it began for Kevin Thomas, Jr. five years ago.

Fourteen USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car wins and five Indiana Sprint Week victories later, the Cullman, Alabama native finally made a return visit to Bloomington victory lane, leading the final 28 laps of Friday night's 29th Annual "Sheldon Kinser Memorial" to score his second series victory of the year and vaulting him into the ISW presented by Camping World point lead with two events remaining.

With a full decade under his belt as a mainstay on the USAC Sprint Car scene as well as Bloomington Speedway, the 25-year-old, who made his first Bloomington USAC appearance as a teenager back in 2007, has a fair share of experience on the red, Southern Indiana clay.

"I've run a lot of laps here," Thomas admits. "It's pretty special to come back here and do this again. We run here as much as we can, local shows and with other organizations and, over 10 years here now, it's been a pretty good bit. It's just the number of laps. I'm just really comfortable here."

"Tonight was nice and slick to a big ol' curb," Thomas continued. "We made good decisions. We've been trying some things at local shows to help us out whenever it gets like that here. My crew made all the right calls in the pits and gave me a great racecar. It was pretty nice to drive tonight, especially up there against that treacherous curb. It's hard to keep your concentration for that many laps in a row, but having a car like I had makes it easier. Once you're out front, you have to keep your nose clean and run a smart race, pick off lapped cars whenever you can and try not to make any mistakes, which is hard to do up there. Everything with our package we have right now runs well. It's just a joy to drive."

Thomas would begin the 30-lap event from outside of the second row, and took quick action to get to the front. Coming off the second turn on the opening lap, pole sitter Chad Boespflug spurted away to the lead while Robert Ballou (bottom), Thomas (middle) and Thomas Meseraull (top) battled three-wide for second. Bloomington's tight confines made it a tough proposition for all three to successfully make it to turn three unscathed, and that would prove to be the case.

2017 Sheldon Kinser Memorial winner Kevin Thomas, Jr. (David Nearpass Photo)

Midway down the back straight, Thomas and Meseraull made contact. Meseraull's left front wheel served as a launching pad for Thomas who hopped his right rear tire over Meseraull's wheel, collapsing Meseraull's front end and concluding a night that proved crushing to the San Jose, California's Indiana Sprint Week title hopes, dropping him from second in the standings (13 back) to fifth and 28 out of the lead with just two events remaining.

It was an incident in which Kevin Thomas, Jr. put the full blame squarely on his own shoulders.

"I got a decent start," Thomas recalls. "I rolled the middle and got up beside Thomas. Honestly, it's just a lack of concentration on my part. I caught myself looking at the bottom at Boespflug and I let my right rear slide out a little bit too far and I ran Thomas out of room. That was 100% my fault. He didn't do anything wrong and it's just unfortunate what happened to him. They've been good all week. It's not the way we want to race because he doesn't race like that and I try not to race like that. It's just an unfortunate circumstance for him. He's been good all week and he was good tonight. I just lost concentration on my end."

With the incident occurring on the opening lap, there were still 30 laps to try to retain that focus that is so sorely needed to compete at a winning level. With that situation weighing on his mind, Thomas had to regain his composure and get back to the task at hand.

"When you make contact, then yellow comes out immediately and you see his front end knocked out like that, it's a disheartening because he and I have raced for a long, long time. We don't usually make contact. He's got a wife and kids. He's here to make a living too. To take his night away from him like that is not cool on my part."

When action resumed, many believed the race would be won on the bottom including leader Boespflug, but Kevin Thomas, Jr. had his car set up to run the top and he didn't intend to stray from that notion. Thomas was able to inch a bit closer on the first three circuits as the two ran side-by-side, Boespflug around the infield tires and Thomas riding the ledge.

Boespflug clung to the lead by a car length at the line at the conclusion of lap three, but Thomas made some headway on the following lap and, coming off four, surged ahead of Boespflug as he hung his right-side tires off the front straightaway curb at the start/finish line to secure the point. Boespflug took one more run at Thomas on lap four, attempting a half-slider in turn three to no avail, allowing Thomas to step through the door and slam it shut as he left the rest of the field behind.

By the tenth lap, Thomas had built up a full-straightaway lead with Troy, Ohio's Lee Underwood holding down the second spot in one of the most remarkable drives all week, one lap after he blew by Boespflug on the bottom for the runner-up position. By halfway, lappers were everywhere, suffocating the high and low-lines on each end of the quarter-mile, but Thomas had no intentions of leaving his comfort zone up top.

"I just don't run the bottom," Thomas said without hesitation. "It's just one of those things. If I could run in the top-five on the top and not have to run the bottom, it's probably what I'm going to try to do. I just don't have enough patience to run the bottom. I'm not very good at it. We set up to run the top as much as we can. It's just a comfort level up there for me. I thought about going to the bottom a few times in lapped traffic. I think I tried it one time and I completely missed the bottom. I knew I couldn't do this any longer, so I just stuck it out, tried to get a little bit closer to the lappers, then I just slid them."

Just after halfway, Boespflug found his second wind, discovering his groove on the high-side to sweep past Underwood for second on lap 18 with eyes affixed on catching Thomas in the gridlock of lapped traffic that lie ahead. Still trailing by nearly three seconds, Boespflug would need a caution or something drastic to occur in front of Thomas in the closing laps, and it nearly did.

With six to go, the cars of Max McGhee and C.J. Leary became hooked together rear bumper to front bumper, respectively, right in front of Thomas, which briefly caused a bit of consternation for the race leader. The two eventually were able untangle at the exit of turn four before continuing, but luckily for Thomas, he was able to take evasive action to avoid catastrophe.

"I did see that," Thomas recalls. "It's just one of those deals. You have to look far enough ahead, but you still have to concentrate as much as you can on the cushion you're running. It can bite you just as much as those two beating and banging on each other. Something can happen and you might get into them. It's a little bit of both. You have to concentrate really hard on what the cars are doing in front of you. You have to get your momentum up before you get there, then whenever they make a mistake, just squirt by and get yourself out of the problem. That's really all you can do in that situation."

With no caution coming out for the incident, it became a split-second decision that could've ultimately decided the race. As Boespflug charged at Thomas with a full-head of steam, it was the line Thomas had already established that he believes helped him navigate through the potential hazards as they occurred.

"If you try to wait and go to the bottom, say somebody knocks their front end out, then turns down the track and you get taken out of the lead, that's just one thing you don't want to happen. I feel like the top is the easiest way out of trouble. There's normally so much banking on these tracks that when something happens, it usually ends up going to the bottom. I think you have a little bit more space if something does happen, so I just stick to the top. If something happens, you can drive off the top of the track, especially here since there's no walls. If you can get slowed down and turn underneath it, you've got to stick to the top. You can't open yourself up too much for the guy behind you. It's just a fine line right there, but it's a gamble you have to take."

No such trouble stood in Thomas' path on the final five revolutions around the oval, though he did have to contend with a three-way battle for 16th between Justin Grant, Carson Short and Shane Cottle that formed a Red Rover Wall of sorts with two to go that prevented him from breaking free. The pack would thin out and Thomas would win out, finishing off a dominating performance in his KT Motorsports/Abreu Vineyards - KT Construction Services/DRC/Speedway Chevy over Boespflug, a series-best performance for the unrelated Tyler Thomas, followed by the surprise of ISW - Lee Underwood - who came home a career-best fourth while Robert Ballou rounded out the top-five.

With the victory, Thomas now holds down a five-point advantage in the ISW standings. With two shows remaining, Thomas plans to block out any thoughts on so-called "points racing."

"In the first part of the week, I was actually paying attention to the points," Thomas recalls. "I'd been running (terrible). Tonight, it was another gameplan, a different mindset. We're just here to win now. If you win the race, the points will take care of themselves. As far as that old points racing crap, I'm kind of over it. That's not what I do. Whenever I do, I don't make good decisions and I'm not aggressive. It's just not the way I like to run races. We're just going to go out there to win every race. If we do, we do. If we don't, we don't. If something happens and we get taken out like Meseraull did tonight, that is what it is. It's just the way this week can go. It's a tough week. You want to be in position to capitalize on the opportunities you do have and hope that nothing bad happens to you."

After a tumultuous past month that hadn't seen a top-five finish in the last 30 days, Hanford, California's Chad Boespflug has seemingly gotten back on a track, following up a fourth-place run Monday night at Gas City with a runner-up finish Friday night at Bloomington in his Dynamics, Inc./Mean Green - PAC Springs/Maxim/Claxton. It's been a turnaround a long-time coming after their confidence was shaken following a string of results that had not lived up to their expectations.

"When things don't go the way you want them to go and the late nights at the shop and the early mornings come and go, things can seem like they're falling apart," Boespflug explains. "(Crewmen) Davey (Jones), Richard (Hoffman) and myself have had to pep talk each other at times to try and get things going. We all believe in each other and that's the key. I think saying what we did to each other lit a fire under our butts and got us going again."

Like many, Boespflug stayed on the bottom early before gravitating to the top where he seemed to pick up speed about halfway through and worked his way back to second.

"I just hung out on the bottom too long," Boespflug laments. "Early on, I thought that was going to be the place. The top cleaned off pretty good for Kevin, so I jumped up there and ran one lap in one corner at the top, then went to the bottom and vice-versa. I kind of jumped around a bunch, but that didn't seem to work, so I just stuck to the top. I was kind of tip-toeing, getting my speed up. Lee (Underwood) got underneath me and I really had to hustle to get back around him. I was getting closer to KT about halfway through, then the rubber came and we were all running the same speed around the top."

Collinsville, Oklahoma's Tyler Thomas' last few weeks revolved around rebuilding a car that had been heavily-damaged in the non-sanctioned "No Way Out 40" at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway a few weeks back. That comes in addition to minor setbacks and missing a few shows that proved a setback to the 21-year-old who first stepped into a USAC Sprint Car at this point one year ago. On Friday night, all the pieces came together for T. Thomas and his Jerry Burton-owned/Jerry Burton Masonry - Johnson's Taxidermy/DRC/Foxco to record a best-career USAC National Sprint Car finish of third.

"It's really special to me, especially to do it in the Jerry Burton car," Thomas beamed. "We've been battling so many small problems that's kept us from qualifying well and getting through our heat race. Plus, we missed a couple nights and, prior to all of this, we had to rebuild the car a couple weeks ago after a crash. We got it together tonight. We qualified really well and got through the heat race and ran up front in the feature tonight. I just tried to be real patient there. I rolled around the bottom - felt like for maybe too long - but once we got up to the top and got around Ballou and Underwood, this car was on a roll.

"We've been battling a lot of different issues all year," Thomas explains. "There's nothing we could've done. It's just been bad luck, really. We were finally able to get everything dialed in tonight. This is by far the best night we've had all year. I never would've dreamed we would've run top-three at Sprint Week this week, but it feels pretty damn cool."

Brownsburg, Indiana driver A.J. Hopkins was released from the hospital early Saturday morning after a frightening semi-feature incident in which he ramped over the right rear wheel of another car, sending him flipping through a fence located between turns one and two where he eventually came to a rest in a parking area, making contact with a couple of pickup trucks along the way.

Contingency award winners Friday at Bloomington Speedway include Carson Short (ProSource Fast Qualifier), C.J. Leary (Simpson Race Products 1st Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (Competition Suspension, Inc. 2nd Heat Winner), Brody Roa (Chalk Stix 3rd Heat Winner), Chad Boespflug (Indy Race Parts 4th Heat Winner), Brady Short (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Josh Hodges (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 14, 2017 - Bloomington, Indiana - Bloomington Speedway - 29th "Sheldon Kinser Memorial" - "Indiana Sprint Week" Presented by Camping World

PROSOURCE/B & W AUTO MART QUALIFYING: 1. Carson Short, 21, RCM-10.842; 2. Ryan Bernal, 17G, On The Gass-11.032; 3. Max McGhee, 17, McGhee-11.037; 4. Tyler Thomas, 04, Burton-11.069; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, KT-11.078; 6. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-11,095; 7. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-11.127; 8. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-11.151; 9. Lee Underwood, 24L, Underwood-11.155; 10. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-11.162; 11. Hunter Schuerenberg, 44, Pace-11.170; 12. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-11.181; 13. Jeff Bland, Jr., 66w, Waltz-11.194; 14. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-11.210; 15. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-11.262; 16. Dave Darland, 71p, Phillips/Curb-Agajanian-11.290; 17. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-11.318; 18. Garrett Aitken, 32A, Aitken-11.326; 19. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-11.326; 20. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-11.357; 21. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-11.367; 22. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-11.372; 23. Brody Roa, 91T, BR-11.386; 24. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-11.482; 25. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-11.483; 26. Matt McDonald, 5m, McDonald-11.500; 27. A.J. Hopkins, 4J, 4J Motorsports-11.530; 28. Jon Stanbrough, 77, Wingo-11.551; 29. Brady Short, 11p, Pottorff-11.553; 30. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-11.597; 31. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-11.612; 32. Jerry Coons, Jr., 21K, Krockenberger-11.652; 33. Aaron Farney, 15F, DCT-11.711; 34. Shelby VanGilder, 22v, VanGilder-11.813; 35. Katlynn Leer, 77K, Leer-11.820; 36. Jamie Williams, 31, Williams-11.842; 37. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-11.916; 38. Alec Sipes, 99, Sipes-12.415; 39. Brady Ottinger, 4B, 4J Motorsports-12.630; 40. Tyler Clem, 14c, Clem/TSR-(Time of 11.864 disallowed).

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Leary, 2. K. Thomas, 3. Bland, 4. B. Short, 5. C. Short, 6. Grant, 7. Andretti, 8. Farney, 9. Barksdale, 10. Underwood. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Ballou, 2. Swanson, 3. Bernal, 4. Hodges, 5. McDonald, 6. Sipes, 7. VanGilder, 8. Aitken, 9. Mattox, 10. Windom. NT

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Roa, 2. Jackson, 3. Courtney, 4. Meseraull, 5. Beauchamp, 6. Hopkins, 7. McGhee, 8. Leer, 9. Ottinger, 10. Schuerenberg. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Darland, 3. Cottle, 4. T. Thomas, 5. Stanbrough, 6. Coons, 7. Williams, 8. Clem, 9. Cummins, 10. Stockon. NT

C-MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Coons, 2. Beauchamp, 3. Farney, 4. Williams, 5. Barksdale, 6. Clem, 7. VanGilder, 8. Ottinger, 9. Sipes, 10. Leer. NT

SEMI: (12 laps) 1. McGhee, 2. Schuerenberg, 3. Grant, 4. Underwood, 5. Stockon, 6. Windom, 7. C. Short, 8. Coons, 9. Aitken, 10. Stanbrough, 11. Beauchamp, 12. Mattox, 13. Andretti, 14. Williams, 15. Barksdale, 16. Cummins, 17. Farney, 18. Hopkins. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr. 2. Chad Boespflug, 3. Tyler Thomas, 4. Lee Underwood, 5. Robert Ballou, 6. Jeff Bland, Jr., 7. Chris Windom, 8. Tyler Courtney, 9. Chase Stockon, 10. Brady Short, 11. Dave Darland, 12. Hunter Schuerenberg, 13. Josh Hodges, 14. Ryan Bernal, 15. Kody Swanson, 16. Justin Grant, 17. Carson Short, 18. Shane Cottle, 19. Dakota Jackson, 20. C.J. Leary, 21. Jarett Andretti, 22. Brody Roa, 23. Max McGhee, 24. Thomas Meseraull. NT
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**Hopkins flipped through the fence outside turn two during the semi. He was transported to a local hospital for observation.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Boespflug, Laps 3-30 K. Thomas.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Short (22nd-10th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Josh Hodges

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Windom-1,236, 2-Grant-1,229, 3-Boespflug-1,102, 4-Stockon-1,071, 5-K. Thomas-1,053, 6-Courtney-1,025, 7-Leary-944, 8-Brady Bacon-913, 9-Darland-859, 10-Meseraull-816.

NEW INDIANA SPRINT WEEK Presented by Camping World POINTS: 1-K. Thomas-270, 2-Ballou-265, 3-Leary-258, 4-Windom-243, 5-Meseraull-242, 6-Darland-236, 7-Courtney-219, 8-Brady Bacon-203, 9-Boespflug-200, 10-Hodges-187.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 15 - Haubstadt, IN - Tri-State Speedway - "Indiana Sprint Week" - Presented by Camping World