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

C.J. Leary captured his first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature win of the year Friday at Bloomington Speedway in round six of NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week.' (Rich Forman Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Bloomington, Indiana.....July 27, 2018 - C.J. Leary displayed complete domination Friday night at Bloomington Speedway in the penultimate round of NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week," leading all 30 laps in his traditional No. 30 sprinter to win his very first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature event of the year in his Leary Racing/Leary Construction - Highsmith Guns - Gray Auto/DRC/1-Way Chevy.

ISW has been akin to a personal ATM for the Greenfield, Indiana driver who scored a pair of victories during the 2017 series. Admittedly, Bloomington hasn't been as welcoming to Leary as your local neighborhood Walmart greeter. The quarter-mile of red clay has been a challenge throughout his career and, coming into the night, did not foretell that a winning performance was one of the tarot cards he would pull.

"Rolling into Bloomington tonight, I didn't really expect to win," Leary admitted. "It's been one of the tougher tracks throughout my career. I grew up racing here and have a lot of experience here, but it just isn't one my better racetracks. The racetrack was hammer down, had a big cushion and we just ripped it for 30 laps and didn't make any mistakes. I've only won one other feature here and the track was very similar. This is right up my alley, big cushion and just get up there and rip it. Just let it all hang on the line."

By the fifth lap, Leary appeared as if he was one of the competitors on the 200cc level of Mario Kart, breaking away to a straightaway lead and was already working his way through lapped traffic by the eighth lap.

On lap 10, the first stoppage of the main event occurred as Robert Ballou and Tyler Courtney engaged for the ninth position. The two made contact off turn four with Courtney ramping over the left front wheel of Ballou. Courtney became airborne before landing on all fours and continuing. Ballou slid sideways in the path of Justin Grant, who just barely clipped Ballou's right rear tire and dumped it over. A small fire broke out following Grant's exodus, but was extinguished shortly thereafter by the safety crew.

The lap 11 restart saw Leary resume right where his memory card had saved prior to the stoppage, instantly blitzkrieging back out to a straightaway lead over Kevin Thomas, Jr. by the midway point. The only thing that kept Leary from putting this one on ice were the red flags, the second of which arrived on the 18th lap when Carson Short walked away uninjured after banging the cushion and flipping wildly over the turn two banking.

For better or worse, the stoppages may have come at just the right time for Leary, who avoided toiling in lapped traffic for too long and had an open road and the horizon laid out in front of him.

"I really expected lapped traffic to be tougher than it was tonight," Leary thought. "The yellows and the reds kept us out of heavy traffic, though. But there at the end, I saw KT on the restart and became a little worried that the bottom might be a little faster. I kept running the top, got my momentum up and going and tried to not make any mistakes."

Thomas was indeed ready to mount a challenge on the restart with 12 laps remaining, pulling side-by-side with Leary for the lead for a half lap, but the interlude was brief, and Leary maintained the advantage. Leary became the tank engine rather than Thomas down the stretch as he put his car on the rail up top and opened the lead to a straightaway once again.

Leary was unaccompanied for the position for the time being, but like Bob Seger searching for love in the 1970s, someday lapped traffic was going to accomp'ny him. However, Leary had a plan.

Bloomington winner C.J. Leary of Greenfield, Indiana is joined in victory lane by 2nd place finisher Kevin Thomas, Jr. (left) and 3rd place Chris Windom (right). (Ryan Sellers Photo)

"Once the flagman showed me five to go, I could tell I was reeling in the tail end of the field again," Leary recalled. "I backed it down a little bit just to try to stay in clean air so they couldn't come up and disturb my line. I wanted to rip that white flag lap one more time just to make sure there was no possible way of getting a slide job or getting anyone rolling the bottom there at the end."

Leary closed out the near-flawless performance with a 1.046 second advantage over Thomas at the finish line, followed by Windom, Thomas Meseraull and Courtney.

Windom brings an 18-point lead in the ISW standings over Thomas into Saturday's finale at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt. Courtney (-52) sits third ahead of Leary (-53) and Bacon (-61).

Contingency award winners Friday night at Bloomington Speedway were Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award & KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Isaac Chapple (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Carson Short (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Scotty Weir (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Shane Cockrum (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Tyler Thomas (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier) and Chad Boespflug (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 27, 2018 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" - "Sheldon Kinser Memorial"

BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-11.244; 2. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-11.245; 3. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-11.313; 4. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-11.397; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-11.453; 6. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-11.519; 7. Jeff Bland, Jr., 18w, Waltz-11.531; 8. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-11.539; 9. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-11.544; 10. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-11.587; 11. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-11.606; 12. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-11.631; 13. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-11.657; 14. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-11.658; 15. Shane Cockrum, 45, Lawrence-11.732; 16. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-11.733; 17. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-11.740; 18. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-11.741; 19. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-11.770; 20. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-11.776; 21. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-11.823; 22. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-11.834; 23. Carson Short, 21, RCM-11.842; 24. Chad Boespflug, 11p, Pottorff/Short-11.857; 25. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-11.874; 26. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-11.885; 27. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-11.901; 28. Jordan Kinser, 70, Hurst-11.905; 29. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-11.960; 30. Brandon Morin, 98, Morin-11.968; 31. Kody Swanson, 3R, Rock Steady-12.023; 32. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-12.129; 33. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-12.159; 34. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-12.170; 35. Josh Cunningham, 63, Cunningham-12.210; 36. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-12.268; 37. Alec Sipes, 99s, Sipes-12.425; 38. Lee Underwood, 24L, Underwood-12.510; 39. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-12.808; 40. Daylan Chambers, 4c, Chambers-22.591.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Chapple, 2. Windom, 3. Stockon, 4. K. Thomas, 5. T. Thomas, 6. Barksdale, 7. Buckwalter, 8. Mattox, 9. J. Swanson, 10. Sipes. 1:59.52

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Leary, 2. Jackson, 3. Meseraull, 4. Andretti, 5. DiMattia, 6. Bacon, 7. Westfall, 8. Morin, 9. Hodges, 10. Underwood. NT

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Short, 2. Johnson, 3. Cockrum, 4. Bland, 5. Beauchamp, 6. Cummins, 7. Cottle, 8. K. Swanson, 9. Cunningham, 10. Bell. 1:59.31

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Weir, 2. Grant, 3. Darland, 4. Kinser, 5. Ballou, 6. Courtney, 7. Boespflug, 8. Thompson, 9. Chambers. 1:59.31

C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Roa, 2. Mattox, 3. K. Swanson, 4. Westfall, 5. Cunningham, 6. Chambers, 7. Sipes, 8. Underwood, 9. Bell. 2:03.93

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Bacon, 2. Cummins, 3. Courtney, 4. T. Thomas, 5. Beauchamp, 6. Ballou, 7. Boespflug, 8. Buckwalter, 9. Roa, 10. DiMattia, 11. J. Swanson, 12. Morin, 13. Cottle, 14. Mattox, 15. K. Swanson, 16. Hodges, 17. Westfall, 18. Barksdale. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. C.J. Leary (1), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6), 3. Chris Windom (2), 4. Thomas Meseraull (4), 5. Tyler Courtney (9), 6. Brady Bacon (7), 7. Chase Stockon (5), 8. Robert Ballou (10), 9. Jeff Bland, Jr. (3), 10. Brent Beauchamp (8), 11. Kyle Cummins (11), 12. Tyler Thomas (13), 13. Shane Cockrum (15), 14. Timmy Buckwalter (23), 15. Dave Darland (16), 16. Isaac Chapple (17), 17. Jarett Andretti (14), 18. Carson Short (21), 19. Scotty Weir (20), 20. Justin Grant (12), 21. Jordan Kinser (22), 22. Dakota Jackson (18), 23. R.J. Johnson (19), 24. Tony DiMattia (24). NT
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**Grant flipped on lap 10 of the feature. Short flipped on lap 18 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Leary.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6th to 2nd)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Shane Cockrum

BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Kevin Thomas, Jr.

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Chad Boespflug

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Tyler Thomas

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Windom-1666, 2-K. Thomas-1661, 3-Courtney-1633, 4-Bacon-1444, 5-Stockon-1429, 6-Darland-1405, 7-Ballou-1384, 8-Leary-1366, 9-Grant-1322, 10-Boespflug-1027.

NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Windom-425, 2-K. Thomas-407, 3-Courtney-373, 4-Leary-372, 5-Bacon-364, 6-Darland-363, 7-Stockon-343, 8-Grant-314, 9-Meseraull-261, 10-Ballou-257.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 28 - Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"

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

Dave Darland won his record-extending 19th career NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' feature Thursday at Lincoln Park Speedway. (Chad Warner Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Putnamville, Indiana....July 26, 2018 - When thumbing through the major statistical categories of USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car racing history, Dave Darland is the name that'll most likely appear at the top of every list you lay your eyes on.

He's the only driver to reach 60+ wins, the only driver to start at least 700+ feature events and the only driver to win a USAC-sanctioned feature in 26 consecutive seasons.

Thursday night's round five of NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" provided the Lincoln, Indiana driver with one more treasure to add to his overflowing cup of accolades: the first driver to reach 19 ISW wins. Darland wired all 30 laps in relatively dominant fashion at Lincoln Park Speedway for his first ISW win since 2014 aboard the Goodnight Racing-Curb-Agajanian/Curb Records - The Pallet Builder/Maxim/Claxton Chevy.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Darland as the victory came at the same place he won his very first ISW feature, back in 1990. In the process, he became the winningest USAC Sprint Car driver at the 5/16-mile dirt oval, breaking a tie with the great Sheldon Kinser for his sixth win there, all of which have come during ISW.

Yet, despite racking up victory after victory over the decades, the truth is that all of them mean just as much to him, whether it was win number one or win number 61 in USAC competition.

"It was just as satisfying as my first 60," Darland exclaimed. "We've been struggling a bit; we've been good for a fifth or a fourth or a tenth recently. We've been running okay, we just couldn't get over the hump. A good starting spot was key, which gave us an open track. The yellows came out at just the right time and kept me from getting in lapped traffic. Everything just went well for me tonight."

Darland raced to the point from the outside of the front row on the opening lap as Chad Boespflug diced and julienned with Kevin Thomas, Jr. for second with an exchange of sliders until Thomas cleared away for the position in turn two on lap two.

In an instant, Darland established a ten-car length advantage over Thomas until lap seven when Brandon Mattox spun to a stop, backwards in turn one. Darland's theme would repeat itself like the three chords of an AC/DC song, churning out a consistent, dominating riff on every occasion the field was closed up for a restart, which he did again on the lap eight resumption, putting himself in a class of his own with another near half-straightaway lead until leading series Rookie Timmy Buckwalter flipped over the turn three cushion on the 13th lap.

On the ensuing lap 14 restart, Darland's performance would hit a literal snag in turn one, akin to a broken guitar string in the midst of a mind-bending guitar solo in front of a packed house. Darland was able to recover quickly, though, strumming along the cushion to get back in tune with the beat and slide back into the rhythm after Thomas nearly Wally Pipp'd him at the front.

"I really don't know why, but the right rear just snagged too hard in the middle of one and two down there and I lost the front end," Darland recalled. "After it pushed up in turn two, I was way slow in that corner and he gained a lot on me. I saw him slide under me down in three. It just takes a little time to get it back and it varies on the track conditions as to how long that takes, and we did."

It was basically no harm, no foul and Darland was quite confident in his ability and that of his racecar to get the mission accomplished.

"I knew I had the position and it was my race to lose," Darland said. "I had the lead and just didn't want to screw it up myself by overdriving the car. I just had to ease into the corners and pick up the cushion when I could and try to get the exit right, make distance on them and keeping those guys behind me."

Dave Darland (middle) celebrates his 19th NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' victory Thursday at Lincoln Park Speedway alongside 2nd place finisher Chris Windom (left) & 3rd place A.J. Hopkins (right). (David Nearpass Photo)

As Darland slipped away into the distance, Thomas became involved in a tussle with five-time Lincoln Park Speedway winner A.J. Hopkins for the second spot. The two made contact between turns three and four amidst the battle for position and Thomas eventually got shuffled like an iPod back to fifth and out of contention as Hopkins grabbed second and set his sights on Darland for the race lead.

After multiple yellows on lap 16 and lap 21 for spins by Brady Bacon and Brent Beauchamp, respectively, Darland was as smooth as a silkworm each time. But the battle raged on for second, specifically on the lap 21 variety, which had Windom attempt a slider on Hopkins for second. Instead, the two greeted each other with a sprint car version of a fist bump, sending Hopkins over the ledge and dropping him back to fifth for a moment before he clawed his way back to a third by race end.

Up front, though, Darland was making some sweet music of his own, greeted by a hero's cheer from the massive throng of fans on hand as he crossed the finish line, winning by nearly two seconds over Windom, Hopkins, Thomas and Justin Grant.

Meanwhile, Windom not only took over the ISW points lead, but stretched it out to 25 with two races remaining Friday at Bloomington Speedway and Saturday at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt. Lawrenceburg and Terre Haute winner Tyler Courtney struggled mightily to a 21st place finish at Lincoln Park, dropping to fourth in the standings, 44 behind the leader. Thomas resides in second while Darland moved up to third, 30 points out of the lead.

Contingency award winners Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway were Brady Bacon (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award), Chad Boespflug (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Justin Grant (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Tyler Courtney (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Jordan Kinser (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Kyle Cummins (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Isaac Chapple (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jake Swanson (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 26, 2018 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"

BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-12.276; 2. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-12.369; 3. Shane Cockrum, 45, Lawrence-12.425; 4. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-12.436; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.473; 6. A.J. Hopkins, 4J, 4J Motorsports-12.475; 7. Kody Swanson, 23, Karraker-12.478; 8. Colten Cottle, 5c, Cottle-12.480; 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-12.481; 10. Carson Short, 21, RCM-12.503; 11. Tim Creech, 2c, Creech-12.522; 12. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-12.526; 13. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-12.527; 14. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-12.544; 15. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-12.597; 16. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-12.625; 17. Chad Boespflug, 11p, Pottorff/Short-12.639; 18. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-12.670; 19. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-12.682; 20. Jordan Kinser, 70, Hurst-12.709; 21. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.722; 22. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-12.725; 23. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.737; 24. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-12.761; 25. Jason McDougal, 21K, Krockenberger-12.766; 26. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-12.791; 27. Shane Cottle, 5G, Goacher-12.818; 28. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-12.829; 29. Jerry Coons, Jr., 17GP, Dutcher-12.849; 30. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-12.853; 31. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-12.854; 32. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-12.871; 33. Clinton Boyles, 57, Hazen-12.886; 34. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-12.889; 35. Nate McMillin, 24, McMillin-12.912; 36. Jadon Rogers, 14J, Rogers-12.925; 37. Daron Clayton, 5o, Schmidt-12.931; 38. Shelby VanGilder, 22v, VanGilder-12.964; 39. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-12.967; 40. Kevin Studley, 57K, Studley-13.008; 41. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-13.041; 42. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-13.053; 43. Matt McDonald, 5m, McDonald-13.072; 44. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-13.177; 45. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-13.581, 46. Brady Ottinger, 4B, 4J Motorsports-13.669; 47. Harley Burns, 12w, Burns/Maurer/Youngblood-14.084.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Boespflug, 2. Hodges, 3. K. Thomas, 4. Stockon, 5. Bacon, 6. Coons, 7. Barksdale, 8. J. Swanson, 9. Boyles, 10. Bell, 11. Clayton, 12. McDougal. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Grant, 2. Short, 3. Darland, 4. Jackson, 5. Ballou, 6. Hopkins, 7. DiMattia, 8. T. Thomas, 9. Mattox, 10. VanGilder, 11. Ottinger, 12. Thompson. 2:12.84

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Leary, 3. Beauchamp, 4. Cummins, 5. Creech, 6. Cockrum, 7. S. Cottle, 8. Weir, 9. K. Swanson, 10. McMillin, 11. McDonald. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kinser, 2. Roa, 3. Windom, 4. Chapple, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Johnson, 7. C. Cottle, 8. Rogers, 9. Studley, 10. Meseraull, 11. Westfall. NT

C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Westfall, 2. Ballou, 3. DiMattia, 4. Boyles, 5. Barksdale, 6. Rogers, 7. McDonald, 8. Studley, 9. Johnson, 10. Thompson, 11. VanGilder, 12. Bell, 13. Burns, 14. Ottinger. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. T. Thomas, 2. Bacon, 3. Hopkins, 4. Buckwalter, 5. Cockrum, 6. Mattox, 7. Ballou, 8. Meseraull, 9. C. Cottle, 10. Weir, 11. Westfall, 12. S. Cottle, 13. K. Swanson, 14. J. Swanson, 15. Creech, 16. Boyles, 17. Coons, 18. DiMattia. 2:57.07

FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Dave Darland (2), 2. Chris Windom (6), 3. A.J. Hopkins (10), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 5. Justin Grant (12), 6. Carson Short (3), 7. C.J. Leary (17), 8. Chad Boespflug (1), 9. Chase Stockon (5), 10. Brody Roa (18), 11. Kyle Cummins (22), 12. Jordan Kinser (14), 13. Isaac Chapple (20), 14. Robert Ballou (23), 15. Shane Cockrum (9), 16. Brady Bacon (7), 17. Brandon Mattox (19), 18. Timmy Buckwalter (11), 19. Brent Beauchamp (13), 20. Josh Hodges (15), 21. Tyler Courtney (21), 22. Dakota Jackson (16), 23. Tyler Thomas (8). NT
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**Meseraull flipped during the fourth heat. Buckwalter flipped on lap 13 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Darland.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Kyle Cummins (22nd to 11th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Isaac Chapple

BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Brady Bacon

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Robert Ballou

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Jake Swanson

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Windom-1595, 2-K. Thomas-1583, 3-Courtney-1570, 4-Bacon-1380, 5-Stockon-1369, 6-Darland-1366, 7-Ballou-1334, 8-Grant-1292, 9-Leary-1288, 10-Boespflug-1017.

NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Windom-354, 2-K. Thomas-329, 3-Darland-324, 4-Courtney-310, 5-Bacon-300, 6-Leary-294, 7-Grant-284, 8-Stockon-283, 9-Short-213, 10-Ballou-207.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 27 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"

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

Tyler Courtney is joyous after capturing the victory in Wednesday night's Dorsett Automotive 'Don Smith Classic' / NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' feature at the Terre Haute Action Track. (Gene Crucean Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Terre Haute, Indiana.....July 25, 2018 - What looked like a surefire runaway turned into an old-school dog-fight in the final laps of Wednesday's Dorsett Automotive "Don Smith Classic" / NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" round at the Terre Haute Action Track.

Tyler Courtney saw a nearly half-lap lead disappear in the final ten laps of the caution-free race, withstanding a Robert Ballou slider on the final lap to score his second ISW victory in the last three races.

It's another reward for what has truly been a momentous year for Courtney.

Coming into the year, the Indianapolis, Ind. driver possessed six career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car wins. Now just through July, he's already surpassed that, having tacked seven more onto his all-time total. No driver even had seven wins in all of 2017 with the series.

In the process, he's now taken the ISW point lead by a single marker with three races remaining and he's now won at Terre Haute twice this season. But this latest one is special for it coming in the raced named in honor of a man who believed in young Courtney's racing career some years back, helping him get started on this path that has ultimately led to a career year in 2018.

"This is really special," Courtney exclaimed. "Don (Smith) was one of my first sponsors and part of the reason I got to run my first Chili Bowl. He's passed away now, but he made a huge impact on this sport not only as a car owner and a promoter, but he would do anything for anybody. To get another win here at Terre Haute and then one in honor of him tonight, is pretty special."

Courtney began the main event from the fifth position, but the trek to the front appeared as if somebody lit a fuse on the Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/Priority Aviation - NOS Energy Drink/Spike/Rider Chevy. By lap three, he took over the race lead from Kevin Thomas, Jr., who had chosen to rock the low limbo line around the half-mile dirt oval early on. Courtney stayed true to the top and sped by Thomas at the exit of four to secure the lead, though Thomas initially fought back, but to no avail, ultimately deciding to change lanes to the top and follow Courtney's fashion.

In just a few laps, Courtney extended the advantage to a half-straight, then to a full-straightaway by lap 12, putting a hurting on the competition and standing tall as the class of the field.

Meanwhile, flipping channels back to the battle for the second position, K. Thomas and Ballou were tussling for second on the 16th lap with Ballou first taking the spot, K. Thomas re-racking second momentarily with a slider in turn three, then Ballou countering to make second place his own off four.

Courtney rode the waves through lapped traffic with relative ease, at least initially, up on the cushion, and maintained a sizable half-lap lead with a mere seven laps to go. Yet, this thing was far from over as Courtney got caught up in a proverbial orange barrel zone, stuck where he was and unable to maneuver past others as smoothly as he was just moments ago while Ballou served as the sun's rays, evaporating every fluid ounce of a lead Courtney once held.

"I think it was me getting tentative through lapped traffic," Courtney admitted. "I saw a couple guys get over the cushion, in the wall over here, and just tried to make sure they weren't going to do anything too drastic. Dave (Darland) kind of changed lanes on me there and I had to whoa up. He was still racing for position, so he's got to do what he's got to do."

'This is really special. Don (Smith) was one of my first sponsors and part of the reason I got to run my first Chili Bowl. He's passed away now, but he made a huge impact on this sport not only as a car owner and a promoter, but he would do anything for anybody. To get another win here at Terre Haute and then one in honor of him tonight, is pretty special.' - Tyler Courtney (Ryan Sellers Photo)

The sudden sea change was inescapable with Ballou crashing Courtney's party like a bear rifling through a picnic basket. With two laps remaining, Ballou was just one car-length separated from the tail-end of Courtney and sizing him up for one possible shot at glory.

In turn one of the final lap, Ballou fired that shot with a slide for life into turn one, darting to the bottom guardrail and drifting up the track side-by-side with Courtney. Courtney had just enough oomph to push off turn two and separate from Ballou, ultimately scoring the victory over Ballou Justin Grant, Brady Bacon and Kevin Thomas, Jr.

"I didn't see Robert until the middle of the corner and I knew it wasn't a lapped car," Courtney recalled. "I was like, 'Oh, I got to get down the back stretch as quickly as I can.' I knew he was going to be struggling getting off two sliding me like that. I knew I was going to have to be perfect in three and four to not risk anything and getting passed coming to the checkered."

Courtney's 13th career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win tied him with Don Branson and Steve Chassey for 41st on the all-time list.

Courtney exited Terre Haute as the ISW point leader by just one over Windom, followed by K. Thomas, Bacon and Darland.

Contingency award winners Wednesday night at the Terre Haute Action Track were Chase Stockon (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Chris Windom (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Robert Ballou (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Matt Westfall (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Jerry Coons, Jr. (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner) and Kyle Cummins (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 25, 2018 - Terre Haute Action Track - Terre Haute, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" - Dorsett Automotive "Don Smith Classic"

BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-20.569; 2. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-20.969; 3. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-21.014; 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-21.071; 5. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-21.079; 6. Daron Clayton, 5o, Schmidt-21.211; 7. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-21.312; 8. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-21.356; 9. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-21.417; 10. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-21.448; 11. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-21.507; 12. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-21.549; 13. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-21.604; 14. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-21.630; 15. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-21.641; 16. Jason McDougal, 21K, Krockenberger-21.665; 17. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-21.707; 18. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-21.710; 19. Chad Boespflug, 11p, Pottorff/Short-21.713; 20. Jerry Coons, Jr., 17GP, Dutcher-21.749; 21. Shane Cockrum, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-21.921; 22. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-22.007; 23. Jordan Kinser, 5K, Kinser-22.029; 24. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-22.058; 25. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-22.086; 26. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-22.102; 27. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-22.114; 28. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-22.117; 29. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-22.177; 30. Carson Short, 21, RCM-22.188; 31. Kyle Robbins, 17R, KR-22.251; 32. Tyler Clem, 21x, Pollock-22.347; 33. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-22.354; 34. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-22.529; 35. Clinton Boyles, 57, Hazen-23.011; 36. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-23.159; 37. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-23.662; 38. Aric Gentry, 10, Gentry-23.681; 39. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-24.110; 40. Harley Burns, 12w, Burns/Maurer/Youngblood-25.718; 41. Nate McMillin, 24, McMillin-NT; 42. Eric Burns, 99B, Gasway-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Windom, 2. Cockrum, 3. T. Thomas, 4. Stockon, 5. J. Swanson, 6. Cummins, 7. Roa, 8. Meseraull, 9. Jackson, 10. McMillin, 11. Bell. 2:50.41

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Ballou, 2. Courtney, 3. Hodges, 4. Short, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Johnson, 7. Andretti, 8. DiMattia, 9. Gentry, 10. Clayton. NT

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Westfall, 2. Grant, 3. Leary, 4. Bacon, 5. Boespflug, 6. Boyles, 7. Bilbee, 8. Robbins, 9. Kinser, 10. Thompson. 2:58.50

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Coons, 2. K. Thomas, 3. Darland, 4. Chapple, 5. McDougal, 6. Weir, 7. Barksdale, 8. Mattox, 9. H. Burns, 10. Clem. 3:01.79

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to feature) 1. J. Swanson, 2. Meseraull, 3. Boespflug, 4. McDougal, 5. Weir, 6. Buckwalter, 7. Roa, 8. Cummins, 9. Jackson, 10. Bilbee, 11. Johnson, 12. Boyles, 13. Mattox, 14. DiMattia, 15. Robbins, 16. McMillin, 17. Barksdale, 18. Clayton, 19. Bell, 20. Thompson, 21. H. Burns. 4:32.25

FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (5), 2. Robert Ballou (9), 3. Justin Grant (10), 4. Brady Bacon (2), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 6. Chris Windom (14), 7. Jason McDougal (13), 8. Timmy Buckwalter (15), 9. Jerry Coons, Jr. (17), 10. Dave Darland (11), 11. C.J. Leary (4), 12. Jake Swanson (7), 13. Chase Stockon (6), 14. Chad Boespflug (16), 15. Matt Westfall (12), 16. Thomas Meseraull (21), 17. Isaac Chapple (20), 18. Scotty Weir (8), 19. Josh Hodges (19), 20. Carson Short (22), 21. Tyler Thomas (1), 22. Tony DiMattia (23), 23. Shane Cockrum (18), 24. Robert Bell (24). 12:03.22
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**Clayton flipped during the second heat. Clem flipped during the fourth heat.

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

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Chris Windom (14th to 6th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Chase Stockon

BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Chase Stockon

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Brody Roa

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Kyle Cummins

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-1539, 2-Windom-1519, 3-K. Thomas-1516, 4-Bacon-1340, 5-Stockon-1316, 6-Ballou-1299, 7-Darland-1290, 8-Leary-1229, 9-Grant-1226, 10-Boespflug-960.

NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Courtney-279, 2-Windom-278, 3-K. Thomas-262, 4-Bacon-260, 5-Darland-248, 6-Leary-235, 7-Stockon-230, 8-Grant-218, 9-Ballou-197, 10-Meseraull-183.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 26 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"

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

Thomas Meseraull celebrates following his victory in Tuesday's NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' race at Kokomo Speedway. (Travis Branch Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Kokomo, Indiana.....July 24, 2018 - Thomas Meseraull has a knack for driving a variety of different cars to victory lane.

In 2017, he raced to three wins for three different teams and finished in the top-five for six different teams in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition.

In 2018, the story remains the same as he once again notched the victory at the Kokomo Speedway round of NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" for the Chase Briscoe Racing team. Just as he did last year, the San Jose, California native became the first and, thus far, only driver to win feature events for multiple teams following a victory for Chris Dyson Racing at New York's Weedsport Speedway in June.

But it took a slight unplanned change to get to that point as the team rolled a different machine out of the trailer than it had run in the first two ISW events, the white and red Briscoe family throwback design. Tuesday night, the blue and yellow ride hit the track, which Meseraull just so happens to be undefeated behind the wheel of this year.

"Originally, we were planning on running this car on the big tracks," Meseraull said. "We planned on running this at Lawrenceburg, but with the (Saturday) cancellation (at Kokomo), we just went ahead and ran it tonight. We didn't have a seat in this car, so we just were going with the red car. We're going to look at running this thing the rest of the week. The red and white car seemed to race a lot softer. It seemed to want to bite on entry. I've only driven the blue car two times and we're two for two in it. Sometimes you get that car that just seems to go. Whenever you show up in really good equipment, it's really hard not to run well."

It didn't take too long for fourth-starting Meseraull to pick his way to the front as he got by Grant initially, then diamonded off turn four to nip Jarett Andretti at the line for second by the completion of lap one.

The following lap saw the 30-lap main event's lone red flag as Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Jason McDougal and Chad Boespflug all became entangled in turn four, with Ballou taking the brunt of the misfortune, flipping over once, but walking away uninjured.

On the ensuing restart, first and second consisted of the two most recent Kokomo ISW winners in Cummins and Meseraull. Meseraull stuck the top and lurched around the outside of Cummins at the exit of four on lap three to reach the point, bringing Chris Windom along with him on the high side to second.

"The top looked good in the B and they had rolled it in really nice," Meseraull remembered. "Kyle Cummins was running the bottom and I knew I wasn't going to pass him on the bottom. The way the track had been getting really thick up top - I call it thick and loamy - where it's just like loose, thick dirt. I knew I just needed to get up there, get around him and get some distance on him. Anytime I get out front, I feel like I need to go. I need to go! I moved up top and the thing about bounced us upside down. I just sucked up it and was like, 'do it again!'

A lap 12 restart following a Carson Short spin saw Windom take a peek under Meseraull for the race lead to no avail, but the one on the charge was Chase Stockon, who rallied from sixth, and took over possession of second from Windom on the 13th lap.

Thomas Meseraull's victory Tuesday was his 2nd straight in NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' competition at Kokomo. (David Nearpass Photo)

With less than ten to go, Meseraull and Stockon formed a two-car breakaway as they entered lapped traffic. That forced Meseraull to alter his line, diving low and attempting to slide past traffic as Stockon lay in the shadows. Meseraull, though, was practically flawless, even with pressure being applied from Stockon underneath.

"I roll around the top better," Meseraull said matter of factly. The nights we have to run the bottom and we struggle, I pretty much just put that on me. I'm not one of the guys who's good at rolling the bottom. My expertise is at running the top. I'm running the top, I catch lapped traffic and they're all running my line. I'm not that much faster than them. I see guys up, but when you get the move over flag, you know somebody's coming and you've got to protect the lead."

Stockon remained close by, waiting to capitalize on any misstep through traffic by Meseraull. On the 27th lap, Meseraull swung high on the front straight, saw a crevice between the lapped cars of Isaac Chapple and McDougal entering turn one and split them on the bottom, then drifted back to the top. That pinned Stockon behind the two and allowed Meseraull to extend the gap and close out his eighth career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory over Stockon, Justin Grant, new ISW point leader Windom and Kevin Thomas, Jr.

Contingency award winners Tuesday night at Kokomo Speedway were Dave Darland (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award), Jason McDougal (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), C.J. Leary (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Carson Short (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Josh Hodges (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger), Timmy Buckwalter (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Jarett Andretti (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 24, 2018 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"

BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-12.968; 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-12.971; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.976; 4. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-12.989; 5. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-13.005; 6. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.029; 7. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-13.049; 8. Chad Boespflug, 98, NineEight-13.077; 9. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-13.079; 10. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-13.098; 11. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-13.108; 12. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.110; 13. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.129; 14. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-13.131; 15. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-13.146; 16. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-13.174; 17. Jason McDougal, 21K, Krockenberger-13.190; 18. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.198; 19. Kody Swanson, 23, Karraker-13.214; 20. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-13.228; 21. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-13.264; 22. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-13.266; 23. Carson Short, 21, RCM-13.294; 24. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.297; 25. Clinton Boyles, 57, Hazen-13.329; 26. Tom Harris, 5E, Harris-13.336; 27. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-13.348; 28. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-13.391; 29. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-13.422; 30. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-13.430; 31. Joe Bares, 19A, Bares-13.534; 32. Tyler Clem, 21x, Pollock-13.536; 33. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.568; 34. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-13.676; 35. Jordan Kinser, 5K, Kinser-13.704; 36. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-13.961; 37. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-13.986.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. McDougal, 2. Andretti, 3. Boyles, 4. Chapple, 5. Darland, 6. Bacon, 7. T. Thomas, 8. Hodges, 9. Westfall, 10. Bell. 2:13.51

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Leary, 2. Windom, 3. J. Swanson, 4. Cummins, 5. K. Thomas, 6. Johnson, 7. Mattox, 8. Harris, 9. Weir. 2:10.98

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Short, 2. K. Swanson, 3. Stockon, 4. Meseraull, 5. Jackson, 6. DiMattia, 7. Bares, 8. Barksdale, 9. Kinser. 2:12.24

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Ballou, 2. Courtney, 3. Roa, 4. Grant, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Boespflug, 7. Hewitt, 8. Clem, 9. Thompson. 2:17.52

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to feature) 1. K. Thomas, 2. T. Thomas, 3. Bacon, 4. Darland, 5. Hodges, 6. Buckwalter, 7. Boespflug, 8. Barksdale, 9. Jackson, 10. Westfall, 11. Harris, 12. Weir, 13. Hewitt, 14. DiMattia, 15. Mattox, 16. Johnson, 17. Clem, 18. Thompson, 19. Bell, 20. Kinser, 21. Bares. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Thomas Meseraull (4), 2. Chase Stockon (6), 3. Justin Grant (3), 4. Chris Windom (5), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (8), 6. Dave Darland (7), 7. Tyler Courtney (12), 8. Tyler Thomas (10), 9. C.J. Leary (14), 10. Josh Hodges (21), 11. Kyle Cummins (1), 12. Brady Bacon (11), 13. Timmy Buckwalter (9), 14. Brody Roa (16), 15. Kody Swanson (15), 16. Jake Swanson (17), 17. Chad Boespflug (23), 18. Matt Westfall (24), 19. Jason McDougal (13), 20. Carson Short (18), 21. Isaac Chapple (22), 22. Clinton Boyles (20), 23. Jarett Andretti (2), 24. Robert Ballou (19). NT
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**Bares flipped during the semi. Ballou flipped on lap 2 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Cummins, Laps 3-30 Meseraull.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Josh Hodges (21st to 10th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Timmy Buckwalter

BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Dave Darland

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Jarett Andretti

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-1457, 2-Windom-1456, 3-K. Thomas-1448, 4-Bacon-1274, 5-Stockon-1268, 6-Darland-1241, 7-Ballou-1224, 8-Leary-1178, 9-Grant-1155, 10-Boespflug-923.

NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Windom-215, 2-Darland-199, 3-Courtney-197,4-Bacon-194, 5-K. Thomas-194, 6-Leary-184, 7-Stockon-182, 8-Meseraull-149, 9-Grant-147, 10-Hodges-131.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 25 - Terre Haute Action Track - Terre Haute, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"

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

Eventual winner #7BC Tyler Courtney and #30 C.J. Leary battle for the lead late in the feature of Sunday's NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' event at Lawrenceburg Speedway. (Dallas Breeze Photo)

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Lawrenceburg, Indiana.....July 22, 2018 - Tyler Courtney withstood racelong challenges to his throne throughout Sunday's second round NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week" feature at Lawrenceburg Speedway as the Indianapolis, Indiana native went on to score his series-leading sixth win of the year and his second career in ISW.

On paper, Courtney's two career ISW victories appear to be in stark contrast with each other. The one in 2016 at Gas City I-69 Speedway was his first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win of his career. Courtney spun on the opening lap, restarted from the tail in 24th and drove to an unexpected and spectacular victory.

Sunday night at "The Burg," a glance at the stats show that Courtney started from the front row and led all 30 laps. Some say stats don't lie, but sometimes, yeah, they don't actually tell the whole story.

"I think the box score is going to make it look a lot easier than it really was tonight," Courtney pointed out. "I would say tonight was definitely a lot tougher (than the 2016 win). At the last one, I was committed to the bottom and I wasn't going anywhere else. If it didn't work, it didn't work. Tonight, I felt like I had to earn it a lot more than my last Sprint Week win, but they're never easy. I'm not going to say that one was too easy. After all, I had to drive by a guy by the name of Bryan Clauson to do that."

On the initial green, second-starting Courtney and pole sitter Boespflug went nerf bar to nerf bar for the bulk of the first two circuits, with Courtney officially pinning the tail on the first lap by a wheel before trouble ensued on the second lap.

Bloomington 2016 ISW winner Brent Beauchamp flipped over once in turn four after Carson Short got sideways in front of him and Thomas Meseraull clipped the front end of Beauchamp's ride. Beauchamp's crew made repairs in time for him to restart while Meseraull's night was finished.

Following the restart, Dave Darland became an instant challenger, pulling off a two-for-one deal by ripping past Shane Cottle and Boespflug to move from fourth to second on the totem pole in one move on the bottom of turn three. The USAC Triple Crown champ was eager to become the successor, dipping below Courtney on both ends of the racetrack to no avail as Courtney was able to muster enough mustard around the outside to maintain the advantage.

Courtney, meanwhile, wasn't merely satisfied with standing pat. Instead, he was searching, searching, high-low-bottom, whatever he felt could do to stay a step ahead to maintain possession of the coveted lead.

And how he did. Reigning Lawrenceburg ISW winner C.J. Leary was a sparkplug in the third and final frame, rolling by Darland on the inside of the third turn for third, then around the outside, around the outside of Cottle two laps later by the mid-point of the back straightaway. With a mere six to go, Leary began peeking a nose under and above Courtney, which got his attention and the proverbial book of mental notes out for the race to the checkered.

"We had a really good car to start the race and I think we faded a little bit there," Courtney admitted. "I was just kind of running the wrong lines. I felt like I had a good enough car there and could cruise for a little while, but I kept hearing somebody get closer and closer. Then, he finally made a move on me and I got to kind of see what he was doing, so I could change my line up and try to protect as good as possible."

On the 26th lap, Leary found a big wave to ride wheel-to-wheel to the inside of Courtney entering turn one. Leary let the car ride out at the exit of two, leaving a scant amount of room for Courtney to thread the needle between Leary's right-side tires and the concrete. Yet, Courtney stood his ground and regained the upper hand for the meantime as the relentless Leary threw the kitchen sink, the kit and even the kaboodle at him, sliding across Courtney's nose on lap 26 and 27, but each time, Courtney naysayed emphatically, countering back to the lead each time.

"There for a while, I think it was more of a protective line," Courtney recalled. "Then, I figured out how to run it harder so it could become more of a line that I wanted to run. You never want to admit you're protecting, but you got to do everything you can to win these races. It was tough, but we don't do this because it's easy. If it was easy, anyone could do it. Races like that are why we keep doing this. You got to dig down deep and it brings out the competitor in us that we all have and the reason why we do this sport."

Winner Tyler Courtney (middle) is joined by 2nd place finisher Kevin Thomas, Jr. (right) and 3rd place finisher Brady Bacon (left) in victory lane following Sunday's NOS Energy Drink 'Indiana Sprint Week' round at Lawrenceburg Speedway. (Dallas Breeze Photo)

Following a red flag on the white flag lap that involved Cottle and Justin Grant colliding into the turn one wall and Isaac Chapple getting upside down, a green-white-checkered situation was at hand, pitting Leary right on Courtney's tail for the restart. Leary attempted a little mind game, tapping the back-bumper of Courtney under caution to give him a little reminder that he had company.

"I knew what he was trying to do," Courtney said. "We're professionals. We're hired to do what we do. But you got to keep those things out of your head. You got to do your job. I knew I was going to have to hit the bottom of one and two on the restart to make sure that was the only way they were going to get around me. I did my job there on the restart to protect myself and not let anybody slide me."

When the green flag fell, Courtney minded his P's and Q's, sprinting away to a healthy lead while Leary ran roughshod all the way up to the turn two wall, ultimately dropping to fifth at the end as Kevin Thomas, Jr. went on by for second.

This one would be Courtney's for the sixth time this season with the series, already equaling Kevin Thomas, Jr.'s series-leading six wins of 2017. Thomas was second ahead of Brady Bacon, Chris Windom and Leary.

Bacon remains the ISW point leader with a seven point leader over Windom, Courtney, Darland and Leary.

Contingency award winners Sunday night at Lawrenceburg Speedway were Nick Bilbee (Bell Helmets Fast Time Award), Carson Short (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Brady Bacon (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Landon Simon (Chalk Stix Third Heat Winner), Josh Hodges (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (KSE Racing Products/B & W Auto Mart Hard Charger) and Chase Stockon (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 22, 2018 - Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - 31st NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"

BELL HELMETS QUALIFYING: 1. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-13.970; 2. Dave Darland, 36D, Goodnight/Curb-Agajanian-13.989; 3. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-14.115; 4. Shane Cottle, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-14.132; 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 69, Dynamics-14.210; 6. Brent Beauchamp, 34, Olson-14.211; 7. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-14.236; 8. Chad Boespflug, 98, NineEight-14.244; 9. Jordan Kinser, 70, Hurst-14.294; 10. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-14.298; 11. R.J. Johnson, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-14.312; 12. Brody Roa, 91R, BR-14.319; 13. Carson Short, 21, RCM-14.355; 14. Jake Swanson, 92, Sertich-14.358; 15. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-14.365; 16. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-14.365; 17. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-14.374; 18. Brady Bacon, 99, Bacon-14.377; 19. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-14.435; 20. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-14.435; 21. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.444; 22. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-14.447; 23. Landon Simon, 24, LSR-14.454; 24. Jerry Coons, Jr., 17GP, Dutcher-14.476; 25. Kyle Cummins, 3c, EZR/Cummins-14.550; 26. Jason McDougal, 21K, Krockenberger-14.572; 27. Tyler Thomas, 2E, Epperson-14.623; 28. Koby Barksdale, 22, Barksdale-14.626; 29. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-14.672; 30. Dakota Jackson, 3, Jackson-14.739; 31. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-14.787; 32. Shawn Westerfeld, 89, Westerfeld-14.839; 33. Kody Swanson, 3R, Rock Steady-14.842; 34. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.962; 35. Tyler Clem, 21x, Pollock-14.970; 36. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-15.057; 37. Riley VanHise, 96, VanHise-15.226; 38. Tony McVey, 7m, McVey-15.372; 39. Brandon Mattox, 2v, Fitzpatrick-15.382; 40. Travis Thompson, 28, Mattox/Nigg-15.618; 41. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.846; 42. Joe Stornetta, 4m, Dawkins-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Short, 2. Weir, 3. Ballou, 4. Bilbee, 5. K. Thomas, 6. Grant, 7. Kinser, 8. K. Swanson, 9. Cummins, 10. VanHise, 11. Bell. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION, INC. (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Bacon, 2. Stockon, 3. McDougal, 4. Darland, 5. Chapple, 6. J. Swanson, 7. Beauchamp, 8. Jackson, 9. Westfall, 10. McVey. 2:31.72

CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Simon, 2. Windom, 3. Leary, 4. Courtney, 5. Meseraull, 6. Johnson, 7. T. Thomas, 8. Mattox, 9. Andretti, 10. Clem. 2:31.05

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to feature) 1. Hodges, 2. Coons, 3. Cottle, 4. Boespflug, 5. Roa, 6. DiMattia, 7. Barksdale, 8. Buckwalter, 9. Thompson, 10. Westerfeld. 2:32.25

C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to Semi) 1. Westfall, 2. Andretti, 3. Buckwalter, 4. K. Swanson, 5. Clem, 6. VanHise, 7. McVey, 8. Thompson, 9. Bell, 10. Mattox. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to feature) 1. K. Thomas, 2. Roa, 3. J. Swanson, 4. Beauchamp, 5. Chapple, 6. Meseraull, 7. Grant, 8. Kinser, 9. Jackson, 10. T. Thomas, 11. Barksdale, 12. K. Swanson, 13. Cummins, 14. Westfall, 15. Andretti, 16. DiMattia, 17. Johnson, 18. Buckwalter. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps - starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (2), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (7), 3. Brady Bacon (14), 4. Chris Windom (15), 5. C.J. Leary (4), 6. Dave Darland (5), 7. Robert Ballou (21), 8. Scotty Weir (13), 9. Brody Roa (10), 10. Josh Hodges (16), 11. Jerry Coons, Jr. (24), 12. Jake Swanson (12), 13. Chase Stockon (18), 14. Justin Grant (22), 15. Shane Cottle (3), 16. Isaac Chapple (9), 17. Jason McDougal (20), 18. Carson Short (11), 19. Brent Beauchamp (8), 20. Chad Boespflug (1), 21. Landon Simon (19), 22. Nick Bilbee (6), 23. Thomas Meseraull (17), 24. Timmy Buckwalter (23). NT
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**Stornetta flipped during qualifying. Beauchamp flipped on lap 2 of the feature. Chapple flipped on lap 30 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Courtney.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/B & W AUTO MART HARD CHARGER: Robert Ballou (21st to 7th)

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Chase Stockon

BELL HELMETS FAST TIME AWARD: Nick Bilbee

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Carson Short

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-1398, 2-Windom-1387, 3-K. Thomas-1381, 4-Bacon-1233, 5-Ballou-1193, 6-Stockon-1191, 7-Darland-1179, 8-Leary-1124, 9-Grant-1086, 10-Boespflug-894.

NEW NOS ENERGY DRINK "INDIANA SPRINT WEEK" POINTS: 1-Bacon-153, 2-Windom-146, 3-Courtney-138, 4-Darland-137, 5-Leary-130, 6-K. Thomas-127, 7-Stockon-105, 8-Short-92, 9-Ballou-91, 10-Hodges-87.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 24 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - 31st Annual NOS Energy Drink "Indiana Sprint Week"