Hoseheads Sprint Car Photos & News

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Grant Marches From Eighth To Win $10,000 Final At Ocala

Saturday, February 14 – Valentine’s Day dawned with bright and sunny skies with temperatures rising into the
high 70’s. The final night of the six race Winter Dirt Games XVII was scheduled for Ocala Speedway with $10,000
awaiting the victor on this evening and another $12,000 awaiting the overall point champion of the series. But first
the motorhome gang had planned a big picnic set up between the motorhomes of Steve and Maggi Kimmel and
Irvin and Mary Jane King. Everyone invited brought some kind of sides or desserts with Irvin providing the beef for
the hamburgers. Everyone attending had a great time and plenty of good times and good fellowship were had by all.

The main reason we were all gathered here tonight was the $10,000 to win, 40 lap finale of the six race Winter Dirt
Games XVII. A different format was in effect for tonight’s racing with the top five in accumulated points over the past
three days locked into the 40 lap feature. Those sprinters and drivers were Kyle Cummins, Chase Stockon, Logan
Seavey, Brady Bacon and Mitchel Moles. They would run a six lap dash joined by the three qualifier winners to
determine the top eight starters in the main event.

The first of three qualifiers took to the track at 7:25 with 16 cars running with everyone advancing to the feature event.
CJ Leary, who crashed heavily the night before was scheduled to run the Hunter Maddox #24 on the evening but mechanical
woes kept the sprinter from being able to compete on the evening. Briggs Danner surged to the front in qualifier one easily
winning over Trey Osborne, Harley Burns, Gunnar Setser, Ryan Harrison and Logan Calderwood. Qualifier two fell to Justin
Grant winning over Kevin Thomas Jr, Robert Ballou, Tom Harris, Ricky Lewis and Chase Howard. Qualifier three was taken by
Jake Swanson beating Chelby Hinton, Jadon Rogers and Cale Coons with only four cars racing in this one.

The mod lites would run their three qualifiers for their 26 car field before the USAC sprints would return to compete in their six lap
dash race setting the first four rows for the 40 lap feature. Brady Bacon would triumph in this race besting Mitchel Moles, Kyle
Cummins, Chase Stockon, Briggs Danner, Logan Seavey, Jake Swanson and Justin Grant in the rundown.

The mod lites who had run their features last all week long got a chance to showcase their cars and talents in front of the largest
crowd of the week running their 25 lap feature first before the sprint car main. These smaller cars with 1000cc stock motorcycle
engines are fast and nimble. They were running a competitive event until disaster struck about halfway through the race when third
running Ryan Mckinney of Delaware turned sideways on the homestretch with the resulting crash looking like the “Big One” at
Talladega. About ten cars were involved in the melee with Mckinney receiving the brunt of the hard hits. He was carried sitting up by
two EMT’s to the ambulance and transported to the hospital. Racing resumed after everything was cleaned up and Corey Babbit of
New Caney, Texas would go on to win their championship race Ronnie Choate from Tennessee advancing from ninth to second at the
finish and Brandon Dennis from Delaware rounding out the top three after starting fifteenth. With the exception of the scary crash, it was
a good race.

That led us up to the 40 lap USAC National sprint car feature with the 21 car field brought to the green flag at 9 PM by Brady Bacon and
Mitchel Moles. Brady Bacon jumped to the early lead chased by Kyle Cummins and Mitchel Moles. A lot of slicing and dicing was happening
between the lead trio and the chief surgeon of the advancers was Justin Grant slicing his way forward from his eighth starting position. Bacon looked like the man to beat as he paced the field lap after lap. Cummins made a bid for the lead, exiting turn four on lap fourteen using a slider to get past Bacon for the lead but slid all the way up to the cushion allowing Bacon to drive back under. Grant meanwhile had worked his way up to fifth at the halfway mark past Jake Swanson and into fourth on lap eighteen surging by Logan Seavey for fourth. The top four ran in that order until lap twenty three when Grant slid Moles for third in turn three but Moles quickly countered and retained third at that point. In fact, he pulled away from Grant and began to pressure Cummins for second. Lap thirty two saw the caution wave when Briggs Danner made right rear contact with the wall in turn three while running ninth and came to a halt just as Cummins made a rare mistake slipping off the flat edge of turn four losing two spots to Moles and Grant. The caution saved Cummins as the passes were negated by the stoppage.

With nine to go it was Bacon, Cummins, Moles, Grant and Seavey. On the restart Grant discovered a new lane around the D-shaped oval going hard into turn one, using the diamond maneuver off turn two and getting a massive run down the dogleg. It immediately paid dividends as he streaked by Moles to take third and went after Cummins next. On lap later the same maneuver found him moving by Cummins for second in turn three and only Bacon stood between him and the lead. Bacon was not going to be as easy as the other two because he was still six car lengths ahead of Grant. He went to work and tracked down Bacon and on lap thirty seven blasted by Bacon down the backstretch into the race lead. Only the remaining three laps Grant pulled away to an impressive 1.5 second lead when the checkers waved at 9:22 to complete his surgical precision like slicing to the front. It was Grant’s first win of 2026 and it could not have come at a better time with $10,000 big ones at the end of the rainbow. Grant garnered his ninth career win at Ocala, most of any driver, and also increased his USAC National sprint car win total to 66, also the most of any driver. Bacon would have to settle for a disappointing second after leading the first 36 laps with Cummins third, Moles fourth and Seavey rounding out the top five. Seavey would capture the Winter Dirt Games XVII point title and go home with an extra $12,000 in his pocket. Jake Swanson would lead the second five across the line in sixth with Robert Ballou moving from 13th to seventh with Chase Stockon eighth, Kevin Thomas Jr ninth and Jadon Rogers with his second straight tenth after starting 14th. Grant also won the hard charger award after starting eighth in the field. It was a good race with an impressive surgical like run to the front by Justin Grant.

That’s all for us from Florida as we make our way back to Indiana Sunday as the temperatures there are suppose to rise into the fifties and sixties in the next two weeks. Comments, positive or negative along with anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Get ready for a good year of racing in 2026 and be safe out there. As always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope that you continue to do so and enjoy them. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what that stranger might be struggling with in his or her life and maybe you can put something positive into their day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

The Moose Is Loose As Stockon Wins At Ocala Speedway

Friday, February 13 – We met Dale O’Brien for a large Mexican lunch before heading to the track
for night three of the Winter Dirt Games XVII at the Ocala Speedway featuring the USAC National
sprint cars. Twenty four sprinters were assembled along with 25 mod lites for tonight’s racing.
Unfortunately, two of the sprints owned by Chase Howard, one driven by him and the other tonight
to be wheeled by Kobe Simpson never made it out of hot laps so the field was reduced to 22. Time
trials pushed off at 6:29 and by 6:44 Justin Grant was being interviewed for the 41st time in his career,
7th on the all-time list, after turning a lap of 13.910 seconds around the D-shaped 3/8 mile dirt oval.

Three USAC sprint car heats were the next order of business with the top six advancing to the 35 lap
feature event. Ricky Lewis would garner his third heat win of the Florida tour outrunning Briggs Danner,
Jake Swanson, Kyle Cummins, Tom Harris and Justin Grant in heat one. Brady Bacon wheeled the Dyson
#20 to victory in heat two beating Robert Ballou, Gunnar Setser, Logan Seavey, Mitchel Moles and Kevin
Thomas Jr to the finish. Heat three was captured by CJ Leary outbattling Jadon Rogers for the win with
Chase Stockon, Chelby Hinton, Trey Osborne and Harley Burns chasing. Three heat races for the mod lites were contested and with no semi feature needed the next race on the dance card was the 35 lap main event
for the USAC sprints.

The green flag waved on the 22 car starting field with Chase Stockon quick to motor into the lead from the
first starting spot. Kevin Thomas Jr and Kyle Cummins took up the early chase of Chase. Lap four saw tenth running Logan Seavey tag the homestretch wall with his right rear tire and spin backwards in front of the field. Jake Swanson attempted to avoid Seavey but touched wheels with Robert Ballou sending Swanson in the air landing on all fours on the apron of the track with front end damage. Both Seavey and Swanson were surprisingly able to rejoin the field after trips to the work area.

On the restart havoc reigned as Robert Ballou slipped off the turn four edge catching the wall and sending him into a series of nasty end over end flips flying right past the starter in the scary incident. Ballou quickly climbed from his sprinter uninjured but with a lot of damage needing to be repaired. Ricky Lewis got caught up in the accident suffering front end damage and ending his evening prematurely. On the next restart Stockon surged out front back into the lead with Thomas and Cummins in pursuit. Lap six saw Cummins executed a pass on the dogleg in the backstretch to snatch second from Thomas and begin the pursuit of Stockon. Lap seven saw Stockon drift high in turn four getting all four tires over the cushion allowing Cummins to move past him for the lead but Stockon quickly recovered steering his sprinter inside Cummins off turn four and barely beating Cummins to the line retaining his lead. Stockon would lead the race past the halfway mark trailed by Cummins, Thomas and Brady Bacon moving forward from eighth into fourth. Lap traffic became an issue with ten to go. Gunnar Setser and Greg Mitchell loomed ahead and Stockon would split the pair racing down the homestretch to gain some breathing room but Cummins was not done yet. He stuck his nose underneath Stockon several times over the remaining ten circuits but Stockon was up to the challenge and fended him off. On lap twenty nine CJ Leary, running eighth at the time, bounced off the wall between turns one and two ending up backwards facing traffic with everyone missing him.

With a clear track ahead on the restart Stockon had clear sailing over the last seven laps though Cummins was right there looking for a chance to strike. Even though the right rear was slipping off the rim on Stockon’s sprinter he was able to hang on to cross the finish line almost a second in front in the Tom and Laurie Sertich Moose Racing #92 earning them their second career USAC National sprint car owner’s win and Stockon’s first win at Ocala since 2018. It was a sweet victory for all as the team celebrated in victory lane. Cummins would finish second with Thomas third, Bacon fourth and Mitchel Moles rounding out the top five. Justin Grant could make up no ground after starting sixth ending up there with Briggs Danner notching the hard charger award moving from 13th to seventh with Trey Osborne eighth, Jake Swanson rebounding from his accident to finish ninth with Jadon Rogers finally getting some luck and finishing tenth after various mechanical woes. For Stockon that was his 16th career USAC National sprint car win tying him with Jud Larson and Damion Gardener for 39th on the all-time win list.

With the first three nights in the books the top five in accumulated points are now locked into the 40 lap, $10,000 to win feature on Saturday and will compete in a dash race to determine the starting order for the top five.

That’s it for this column and check back to see what happens on the final night of USAC racing in Florida at the Ocala Speedway. In the meantime, plot your 2026 racing schedule and be safe out there. Comments, news, stories or rumors can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Wins First Of Career In Night Two USAC Action At Ocala

Thursday, February 12 – The gang decided to meet in downtown Ocala and dine at Brick City
Southern Kitchen and what a fine meal it was. Large portions including the sides and very tasty
to boot. And the company was the best of course. From there it was over to the track to witness
night two of Winter Dirt Games XVII at the Ocala Speedway.

It was a cloudy day but late in the afternoon the sun broke through with temperatures in the low
70’s. Everyone settled in for another night of racing with 24 USAC sprint cars joined by 26 mod lites.
Time trials were the first order of business on the evening with Briggs Danner, the last man out, nailing
down the quick time with a lap of 13.907 seconds around the D-shaped 3/8 mile dirt oval. That dropped
Logan Seavey to seventh in the time trials and the opportunity if he qualified in the heat to start first in
the 30 lap feature. But it again gave Trey Osborne that opportunity for the second night in a row.

The first of three heat races for the USAC National sprint cars took to the track at 7:27 with the top six
locking directly into the main event. Logan Seavey came into the evening never having won here but having
numerous podium finishes in years past, scored the win in heat one over Jadon Rogers, Jake Swanson, Briggs
Danner, Justin Grant and Ryan Harrison. Kyle Cummins looked strong in heat two winning over Gunnar Setser,
Chelby Hinton, Harley Burns, Brady Bacon and Tom Harris. During the second heat Hayden Reinbold’s right rear
tire clipped the backstretch wall sending him into a long series of barrel rolls about eight in total before coming
to rest almost into turn three. Safety crews attended to Reinbold who was taken to the hospital for observation
and later returned to the track before the feature started. Heat three saw Ricky Lewis getting the win over
Robert Ballou, Mitchel Moles, CJ Leary, making his 500th career USAC sprint car start, Chase Stockon and Trey
Osborne.

The mod lites ran their three heats in good order and the semi was scratched with the remainder of the field
starting behind the heat qualifiers.

By 8:37 it was time to go USAC feature racing with the front row of Trey Osborne and Brady Bacon bringing the
23 car field to the green flag. Osborne once again grabbed the early lead with Bacon, Justin Grant and Kyle
Cummins in tow. The first caution would appear on lap seven when Briggs Danner was able to slow on the
Backstretch, the victim of no brakes ending his night earlier than expected. At that time also Grant ducked into
the work area to change a deflated left rear shoe and was able to return to the race after a change.

When action resumed seventh starting Logan Seavey began to make his presence felt as working his way into
the top five and moving forward. By lap twelve Seavey had caught and passed Bacon for third off turn four and
went after Cummins and Osborne who still was pacing the field. The track started to dust up a bit though it was
real racy allowing plenty of passing throughout the field. Osborne continued to lead at the halfway mark and many
were thinking maybe the kid could make it two in a row. Kyle Cummins on the other hand had other plans as he
closed the gap on the leader and stuck his nose underneath a few times. Osborne would lead through the first
seventeen circuits but Cummins got a good run down the backstretch pulling along side and made the lead pass
entering turn three and for the first time in two nights we had a new race leader.

Lap twenty saw two successive cautions happen, the first involving Jadon Rogers running ninth at the time. Rogers’
luck has been terrible with his sprinter letting him down in several races while running strong. Ryan Harrison brought
out the next caution so the field was restacked for the next restart. Cummins was at the point with Osborne and
Seavey close behind. Seavey dove under Osborne in turn three on the restart and second was now his and he went
to work to reel in Cummins. Bacon, Mitchel Moles and Chase Stockon also followed Seavey’s lead and slipped by
Osborne dropping last night’s winner out of the top five. Seavey meanwhile was over a second behind Cummins and
began to chip away at the lead. With five to go Seavey made a massive lunge down the backstretch up against the
fence and was right on Cummins entering turn three. Seavey proceeded to drive by Cummins between turns three and
four into the lead and it is not often that you see Cummins passed for the lead once he is out front but tonight was one
of them. Seavey surged to a second lead over the remaining five laps with Bacon slipping by Cummins with four to go to
claim second. At the line at 8:56 it was Seavey across first for his second win of the season and first ever at Ocala with
Bacon second, Cummins third, Moles fourth and Stockon fifth after starting ninth. It was Seavey’s 35th career USAC National
Sprint car win and sixth straight podium finish dating back to the end of 2025.

Trey Osborne would lead the second five across the line for his second best USAC sprint finishing in sixth with Jake Swanson
seventh, Robert Ballou eighth as he is looking better each time out shaking that rust off after being sidelined for the
second half of 2025 due to injuries. Gunnar Setser ended up ninth with Kevin Thomas Jr battling car woes all evening
bounced back to earn the hard charger award advancing from 19th to tenth at the finish. It was a competitive night of
racing with an early ending which is always appreciated.

That’s it for this report and remember to check back tomorrow for night three of USAC sprint car action coming to you
from the uniquely shaped 3/8 mile dirt oval of the Ocala Speedway. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy any racing
that might be running in your area and be safe out there. News, words of wisdom, rumors and anything else of interest
can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and continue to do so as we enjoy bringing
our reports to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what they are
going through and a simple hello or nice smile could turn around their day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Tall & His Magic Driving Uniform Break Through For His First USAC Sprint Win At Ocala

Wednesday, February 11 – Another nice day with temperatures in the mid 70’s greeted us on Wednesday
as the racing action for the USAC sprint cars moved out of the east coast of Florida over toward the west
coast to the Ocala Speedway for the next four nights. A stop at our favorite seafood restaurant, the Essex
Seafood House, 12 miles west of the Volusia Speedway Park on Route 40 found us enjoying our seafood
meals immensely. Pat had fried haddock while I dined on my favorite, grilled scallops, 10 big tasty morsels
of heaven. Add in the onion rings, cole slaw and mac n cheese and it is truly great dining experience.

We arrived at our new digs for the next three days, the Homewood Suites in Ocala, unpacked our gear and
Headed out the door north for eight miles to the 3/8 mile D-shaped dirt oval of the Ocala Speedway. Parking
Is at a premium as semi-trailers are taking up valuable parking space. This could be a problem when the Lucas
Oil late models arrive in town in another week. Fields of 26 USAC sprint cars and 26 mod lites greeted us for
night one of four of Winter Dirt Games XVII at Ocala. The track was in real good condition, heavy and tacky, but
for the entire evening it did not widen out enough so only a groove and a half was available to race on. With the
smaller mod lite cars as the undercard they were not much of a help widening the racing grooves. But it was what
it was and everyone had the same conditions so let’s go racing.

USAC time trials would open up the program taking the first green flag at 7:04 with the last sprinter stopping the
clock at 7:24. Kyle Cummins, the defending USAC National sprint car champion, would set his 19th career fast time
with a lap of 14.675 around the 3/8 mile oval. That would tie him with Greg Weld for 28th on the all-time time trial
list. Mod lite hot laps followed and after they were completed the first of three heat races for the 28 USAC sprint cars
were called to the post. By 8:02 the first racing green flag of the evening dropped with Briggs Danner jumping out
front and leading the distance pressured by Brady Bacon with Kyle Cummins third, Jake Swanson fourth, the UK’s Tom
Harris fifth and Ricky Lewis grabbing the last qualifying spot. Harley Burns almost won the second heat but he and
Kevin Thomas Jr banged wheels racing to the checkered with Thomas edging Burns for the top spot. Mitchel Moles
would finish third, Gunnar Setser fourth, Chase Stockon fifth and Jadon Rogers sixth. The third heat was captured by
CJ Leary in his own #30 beating Logan Calderwood, Robert Ballou, Justin Grant, Logan Seavey and Trey Osborne.

The mod lites spun off three heats for their 26 car field before the USAC sprints returned for their semi event. Saban
Bibent getting the opportunity to sub for JJ Yeley in the second Petty #3J copped the semi win besting Hayden Reinbold,
Chelby Hinton, Cale Coons, Kobe Simpson and Ryan Harrison, another Brit from across the pond, locking into the 30
lap main event.

Trey Osborne is a 23 year old 6’8” tall youngster that runs his sprint car operation on a shoestring budget and has endured
many struggles and tribulations including a serious crash here at Ocala two years ago in which he suffered a broken vertebra
in his back along with two compression fractures in two other vertebras and actually shearing off a fourth vertebra in the
crash. Several months of wearing a back brace and various tests and so forth kept he on the sidelines. During the fall tour of
Kansas, Texas and Arizona, our friends, Steve and Maggi Kimmel, befriended Trey meeting him in Amarillo where he was sleeping in his trailer during the southwest tour. Steve told him that he needed a new driving uniform since his current one was worn and faded so the Kimmel’s told Trey or “Tall” as he goes by to design one and they would pay for it. It was suppose to be delivered before the Florida tour but did not arrive until yesterday afternoon and Tall chose to place Steve’s former trucking business, Rocking K Ranch LLC, prominently on the front and back of the uniform. He wore it for the first time this evening. Qualifying sixth in time trials and qualifying through his heat race found Tall on the inside of the front row to start the feature event. I turned to Steve and Maggi before the race and asked if they were going to join him in victory lane ceremonies after the race. I must be some kind of Nostradamus or something!!

The green flag would wave on the front row of Osborne and Chase Stockon at 9:24 when Osborne quickly jumping out front
Into the early lead. Osborne pulled away in the opening laps to a comfortable lead as the pack chased him. The red flag would wave on lap two when Kobe Simpson tagged the third turn wall and launched into a series of flips with Saban Bibent with nowhere to go colliding with the flipping Simpson. Both drivers were OK but both cars were severely damaged and finished for the evening. Bibent was upset and embarrassed over wrecking the car and his opportunity but it was not fault of his own so young man stand tall and you have nothing to be ashamed of.

On the ensuing restart Osborne was quick on the throttle and leaped back out front into the lead. By lap ten Osborne was able to open up a second and a half lead over Stockon as they worked their way through lap traffic. Ricky Lewis stopped on the track on lap thirteen to bring out the caution and restack the deck on the field. On this restart Osborne was able to again pull away from the pack with some smoke emitting from his left side headers of the Mopar powered self-built engine. Osborne approached Ryan Harrison and had problems clearing the tail end car allowing Stockon to close to his tail tank in the process. Disaster almost struck on lap twenty two exiting turn four when Osborne ducked low on Harrison with Stockon diving one lane lower making it three wide on the homestretch. Contact was made between Osborne and Stockon with Stockon getting sideways and Osborne bouncing in the air but fortunately both we were able to retain control not damaging their sprinters and not losing any positions after the tangle. Osborne was finally able to clear Harrison with a turn one slider which gave him some breathing room with five to go. Gunnar Setser would bring out another caution shortly thereafter resetting the stage for the last five laps but on the restart but things didn’t stay green for long as entering turn one Jadon Rogers slowed causing a pileup with Robert Ballou bouncing skyward but landing on all fours and Justin Grant also involved. Grant was the only one able to return to the race after the stoppage.

Under way once again Osborne stomped on the gas pedal and pulled away over the remaining five circuits flashing under the checkers at 9:54 with an almost two second lead to score his first career USAC sprint car victory in his 23rd series start and the first to win his initial race in Florida since Emerson Axsom in 2022. Another note was it was the first time that Osborne had ever led a lap in USAC feature competition. Osborne was excited in victory lane and said he was really tired and was barely able to hold onto the wheel over the last few laps but his adrenaline was enough to get him to the finish. Stockon would come home second with Logan Seavey third, Kyle Cummins fourth and Jake Swanson fifth. Kevin Thomas Jr would advance from ninth to sixth at the finish with CJ Leary seventh, Brady Bacon eighth, Briggs Danner ninth and Mitchel Moles restarting from the rear after an earlier caution to salvage a tenth at the end.

Steve and Maggi and the rest of our group were ecstatic for Tall winning and Maggi claimed it was his magical driving uniform that helped him to victory lane!! It was indeed a magical moment and probably erased some of the hardships experienced along the way for Trey “Tall” Osborne. It was surely a feel good moment for a lot of people as many others stood, cheered and waved their arms as the true underdog pulled off the big upset!!

That’s it for this one but check back tomorrow as we will report on night two of USAC racing at Ocala Speedway during Winter Dirt Games XVII. In the meantime, get ready for your 2026 racing season if you haven’t already caught some racing yet and be good and be safe out there. Correspondence can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. We enjoy hearing from each and everyone of you and always look for suggestions on making this column even better. Thanks for reading our efforts. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Swanson Dominates Night Two USAC Action At Volusia By A Country Mile

Tuesday, February 10 – The weather continues to improve in Florida as the daytime temperatures
pushed into the upper 70’s with plenty of sunshine for this Tuesday. The plan was for the group of
us met at Hull’s Seafood Restaurant in Ormond Beach for a great meal and great fellowship
and conversation. After the gathering it was off to the Volusia Speedway Park in DeLeon Springs
for night two of Winter Dirt Games XVII for the USAC sprint cars running a 30 lap feature this
evening paying a cool $12,000 to win. Twenty seven USAC sprints were joined by fifty six DIRTcar
late models to do battle on the half mile dirt oval. When dust appeared in hot laps for the sprint cars
you knew it was going to be a rough evening of racing. Try as they might the surface would not come
around and track conditions were not ideal on this night.

The USAC sprints were first up for their hot laps and then into qualifying at 5:46 with Kevin Thomas
Jr setting the fast time for the 42nd time in his career solidifying his hold on sixth in the all-time standings.
Two notes from USAC qualifying was one that Trey Osborne set second fastest time two nights in a row.
The second one was that Brady Bacon suffered engine woes in qualifying before he completed a lap and
would have to start from the rear in his heat race. The DIRTcar late model’s turn was next and South Dakota’s Blair Nothdurft surprised the late model contingent by touring the half mile to the tune of 17.431 seconds.

After some track prep the USAC National sprint cars were first up for their heat racing with three of
them scheduled with the top six locking into the 30 lap feature later in the evening. Heat one saw Justin
Grant pull off a last lap pass for the win squeezing by Robert Ballou to score the win with Jake Swanson,
Kevin Thomas Jr, Jadon Rogers and Hayden Reinbold chasing. Heat two went to Ricky Lewis outrunning
Briggs Danner, Trey Osborne, Harley Burns, Chelby Hinton and Saban Bibent. Heat three was taken by
Mitchel Moles over Chase Stockon, Brady Bacon, Kyle Cummins, Logan Seavey and CJ Leary. Bacon would
start 18th in the feature.

Six heats were run for the DIRTcar late models with Hudson O’Neal, Blair Nothdurft, Ryan Gustin, Ricky
Thornton Jr, Cody Overton and Nick Hoffman scoring wins. All heat races were done by 8:32.

The sprint car semi was next on the dance card with Arizona rookie, Logan Calderwood, capturing this one over
Cale Coons, Gunnar Setser, Chase Howard from Mississippi, Tom Harris and Koby Simpson. More track main-
tenance was performed before the three late chance showdowns for the late models and additional time was
needed when the fender group felt it was not race ready. Drake Troutman, rookie Dallon Murty from Iowa and Tyler Erb were the victors here.

It was 10:09 by the time the front row of CJ Leary and Briggs Danner would bring the 24 car starting field to the unfurled green flag of colorful starter, Dave Farney. Leary was the early leader with third starting Jake Swanson motoring by Danner for second. Lap six saw Swanson dive under Leary entering turn three and taking the short lived lead as moments later Ricky Lewis brought out the only caution of the event when a shredded left rear tire left him sitting in turn three. A quick trip to the work area saw the California driver returning to the contest moments later.

On the restart Swanson dove under Leary entering turn one and once again was out front and Logan Seavey disposed of Leary in turn three to garner second. Lap seven saw Kevin Thomas Jr moved by Leary into third in turn three. From this point on it was all Swanson motoring away from the field opening up a huge gap on the rest of the field, increasing to five seconds by the halfway mark. By lap twenty Swanson’s lead was a full straightway advantage so you can see how dominant his drive on this evening was. Seavey and Thomas hooked up in a good race for second after this with Seavey able to hold off Thomas the remainder of the race. By 10:23 it was Swanson by an amazing 6.951 seconds ahead of second scoring his eighth career USAC National sprint car win by a country mile. Seavey would end up second with Thomas sixth to third, Justin Grant fourth and Briggs Danner rounding out the top five. The Big Gator would go to Seavey with his first and second place finishes over the two nights. Brady Bacon was able to salvage a good night starting 18th and crossing the line 6th with Leary dropping to seventh at the end with Chase Stockon eighth, Robert Ballou 14th to ninth and Kyle Cummins coming home tenth.
The DIRTcar late models were ready to run their 25 lap feature with Hudson O’Neal and Blair Nothdurft bringing their 24 car field to the green flag. O’Neal was quick to the lead trailed by Nothdurft and the rest of the pack. Cody Overton quickly disposed of Nothdurft for second and took up the chase. Ricky Thornton Jr moved to third and on a lap nine restart Thornton moved by Overton into second. Lap ten saw Overton diving low in turns one and two making contact with Thornton, right rear to left front causing sheet metal damage on both and bent Thornton’s spindle dropping him back to sixth and out of the hunt. The second half of the race saw the track rubber up so tire conservation was the order of the night. O’Neal would go on to win his fourth race of 2026 (two in Arizona & one in January at VSP) winning over Cody Overton, Ryan Gustin, Brandon Sheppard up from seventh to fourth and Tim McCreadie advancing from ninth to fifth. The final checkered waved at 10:52.

That’s it for this segment but check back tomorrow as we travel over to Ocala for four nights of USAC sprint car racing at Ocala Speedway. In the meantime, get your 2026 plans together and try to stay warm and be good. News, stories or other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Thanks for reading our efforts and we enjoy hearing from you all. In closing remember to be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Takes USAC Sprint Opener At Volusia In Non-Stop Race

Monday, February 9 – It was the warmest day of our vacation with temperatures soaring into
the mid 70’s with plenty of sunshine. The racing gang was all together for the first time in 2026
with Steve and Maggi Kimmell from Arizona, Irvin King down from West Virginia, Coach, a Florida
resident, Max and Suzie Niemann from Indiana, Ron and Jane from Pennsylvania and Bob Swartz
joining us from Pennsylvania. The temperatures dropped into the 50’s once the sun dropped below
the horizon necessitating only a two sweatshirt night.

Volusia Speedway Park was the gathering point for the gang and on the menu tonight was the USAC National sprint car opener with 28 cars in the pit area and the DIRTcar late models with a strong field of 56 cars in the pit area. Time trials (three at a time) for the USAC sprints were first on the dance card starting at 5:43. By 5:55 it was Jake Swanson setting fast time with a lap of 16.489 seconds around the big half mile. Time trials for the Dirtcar late models followed with the same format and at 6:50 Brandon Overton was the fast qualifier with a time of 15.853 seconds.

The USAC sprints would contest three heat race with the top six moving directly into the 25 lap feature go this evening. Kevin Thomas Jr drew first blood by running away with the victory in heat one topping Jake Swanson, Gunnar Setser, Justin Grant, Hayden Reinbold and Robert Ballou. Heat two was claimed by Kyle Cummins over Brady Bacon, Cale Coons, Logan Calderwood, the UK’s Ryan Harrison and Trey Osborne. PA’s Briggs Danner captured heat three over CJ Leary, Chase Stockon, Logan Seavey, Mitchel Moles and Koby Simpson.

Then it was right into the six heat races for the DIRTcar late models with three to qualify for their 25 lap feature race. Brandon Overton, Cade Dillard, Cody Overton, Nick Hoffman, Tyler Erb and Drake Troutman were all heat winners. The sprint semi was next on the agenda with California’s Ricky Lewis taking top honors over Chelby Hinton, Jadon Rogers, Harley Burns, Tom Harris also in from the United Kingdom and Saban Bibent. Three last chance showdowns for the late models followed with Mark Whiteener, Sam Seawright and Chase Junghans prevailing. All prelims were in the books by 9:01 and now it was feature time.

By 9:17 the front row of Logan Seavey and Brady Bacon brought the 24 car field to Dave Farney’s green flag with Bacon getting the early drop on Seavey for the lead. Bacon began to pull away as the Dyson #20 looked strong in the early going. Seavey began to reel in Bacon as the leaders encountered lap traffic by lap ten. Bacon used a nifty move in turns one and two to pass Kobe Simpson and Logan Calderwood to open some breathing room on Seavey for the time being. Seavey was able to track down Bacon by lap fifteen, racing down the homestretch and threw a slider on Bacon entering turn one to take the lead but Bacon countered in turn two as he was not done leading and pulled away again down the backstretch. Lap twenty would be the turning point when Bacon entered turn four low and encountered Chelby Hinton in that groove. Seavey was up high as Bacon slid up a lane and slid up to the cushion. Seavey went to the middle and his momentum saw him move by Bacon to take the lead with five laps to go. Brady was not done yet and ran close entering the last five laps. Coming to the white flag Bacon made a similar move as Seavey did earlier racing back out front in turn one. The car of Trey Osborne lay ahead and was running the groove that Bacon wanted to run. Racing down the backstretch Seavey dove low and cleared Bacon entering turn three as the pair raced to the line with Seavey crossing the line first at 9:25 to garner his third straight win dating back to the last two races in Arizona in 2025. It was also his 34th career USAC sprint race tying him with Rich Vogler and Jon Stambrough for 14th on the all-time win list. That’s some heady company! The race was non-stop in 8:10.705 and Bacon would have to settle for second tonight with Justin Grant third, CJ Leary fourth and Briggs Danner up from eighth to finish fifth. Seavey has now won four out of the last five events staged at Volusia Speedway Park and would have to be rated as the favorite for tomorrow night. Jake Swanson would finish sixth with Kevin Thomas Jr seventh, Chase Stockon eighth after starting 17th and was the hard charger with Mitchel Moles ninth and rookie Cale Coons rounding out the top ten.

We were not done yet as we had a 25 lap DIRTcar late model feature to run. The front row of Brandon Overton and Cade Dillard brought the 24 car field to the start at 9:40 with Dillard getting the early advantage. Overton would catch and pass Dillard at the line on lap two moving out front and never being headed. The race was behind Overton with Dillard, brother Cody Overton, Nick Hoffman and Max Blair battling it out behind the leader. Devin Moran was working his way forward from his 12th starting position and cracked the top five midway through the event. Moran proceeded to pick off Hoffman, Blair and then Cody Overton moved into second late in the affair. Cody Overton executed a nasty slider in turn one with three to go to regain second but there was no catching the high flying Brandon Overton who soared to his fourth win of 2026 with now three different sanctioning bodies as “Big Sexy” is back folks! Overton flashed under the double checkers at 9:54 beating his younger brother, Cody, to the finish with Moran coming home third, Blair fourth and Hoffman fifth. Hudson O’Neal was the hard charger advancing from 17th to 6th at the end as the fans packed up their belongings and headed toward the exits happy with a good night of racing.

That’s it for now but check back tomorrow as we report on night two of USAC and DIRTcar action at Volusia Speedway Park. Remember to be good and stay warm until the Arctic weather passes. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Correspondence can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. In closing be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what they are going through and how much a nice hello and a smile could do for them.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Kofoid Takes The Victory In Good Battle At Volusia Speedway Park

Thursday, February 5 – After a all night rain that started at 1 AM and didn’t stop until 11
AM WOO officials and Volusia Speedway Park management decided to postpone Thursday
night’s racing due to a wet facility and projected low temperatures that would hamper track
drying.

Friday, February 6 – Today turned out to be nice with temperatures in the low 70’s but a steady
Wind at 8 to 10 mph made it feel cooler. Tonight was night two of the WOO sprint cars and UMP
Modifieds doubleheader with things kicking off with qualifying for the sprints broken into two
Qualifying groups beginning at 5:46. After the 43 car field had all had their shot at being the
fastest, David Gravel ended up taking the fast time award with a lap of 13.192 seconds around
the half mile dirt oval.

By 7:00 it was time to go heat racing for the WOO sprints with four heats on the agenda with the
top five moving directly to the A main with the top two also moving into the dash race to determine
the front four rows for the 25 lap main event later in the evening.

David Gravel came out strong in heat one after Wednesday night’s crash to dominate in this one
beating Anthony Macri, Tyler Courtney, Sam Hafertepe Jr and Cole Macedo. Heat two went to Justin
Peck winning over Garet Williamson, Brock Zearfoss, Tanner Holmes and Chris Windom. Heat three
was claimed by Carson Macedo besting Parker Price-Miller, Scotty Thiel, Ryan Timms and Austin
McCarl. Logan Schuchart looked good winning heat four over Buddy Kofoid, Chris Martin, Sheldon
Haudenschild and Bill Balog.

Right into the sprint car C main with Gage Pulkrabek winning over Bryce Lucius with both moving to
The tail of the Last Chance Showdown. Next was the 5 lap dash with Garet Williamson surprising
everyone by capturing the win over Buddy Kofoid, David Gravel, Anthony Macri, Logan Schuchart,
Parker Price-Miller, Carson Macedo and Justin Peck. The 12 lap Last Chance Showdown was next up
With Donny Schatz winning this one for the second straight night this time over Spencer Bayston,
Ashton Torgerson and Brenham Crouch. The two Bill Rose cars of Kasey Jedrzejek and Connor Morrall plus Emerson Axsom would tag the field as the three provisionals.

It was time now for the first three of six UMP modified 15 lap features tonight with Will Krup going wire to wire to capture his eight gator over Tyler Nicely and Chris Wilson. Mitch Thomas used a lap seven restart to wrestle the lead away from Zeke McKenzie and went on to victory over McKenzie and David Stremme. Kyle Strickler scored his 19th gator taking feature #3 over Charlie Mefford and Justin Stone. Only Nick Hoffman (21) has more gators in the UMP modifieds.

By 9:16 it was time to go WOO sprint car racing with the 25 lap feature taking Dave Farney’s twirling green flag. Buddy Kofoid off the outside of row one surged out front with Garet Williamson and Anthony Macri dueling it out for second with Macri in the runner-up position by turn two. David Gravel challenged Williamson next on lap three but the caution waved when Tanner Holmes found the turn three wall to bring out the caution. The damage was too much and Holmes’ evening came to an early ending.
The green reappeared but only for a brief moment as a four car pileup among Ryan Timms, Kasey Jedrzejek, Ashton Torgenson and Sam Hafertepe Jr in turn two brought the yellow back on the field. The single file restart saw Kofoid pull away from Macri with Williamson, Gravel and Schuchart hooked up in a good battle for third. Gravel used a slider between turns one and two to take third from Williamson but Garet returned the favor in turns three and four. One lap later Gravel took third back and left Williamson and Schuchart to duke it out for fourth.

Kofoid encountered lap traffic on lap eight which allowed Macri to cut the gap between the two. Kofoid stuck to the high side and made a nice three wide pass in turn two to open some breathing room by lap twelve. Donny Schatz was once again marching from deep in the field to the top five in another impressive run. Gravel was able to pick off Macri for second on lap thirteen and went on the offensive tracking down Kofoid. With ten to go the front two were nose to tail and the battle was on. Going into turn one Gravel dove low and moved by Kofoid for the lead but Kofoid retook the lead in turns three and four. Lap twenty saw Gravel repeat his earlier move on Kofoid but Buddy was up to the challenge and blasted by Gravel in turn three. With two to go Kofoid made the move of the race passing two lappers in turn two putting them between he and Gravel which was the breathing room he needed. Kofoid would flash across the finish line at 9:33 securing a sweet win holding off two of the best with Gravel second and Carson Macedo ending up third. Anthony Macri and Logan Schuchart would round out the top five. Donny Schatz was the hard charger advancing from 21st to finish 6th with Williamson ending up seventh, Justin Peck eighth, Cole Macedo ninth from 17th with Spencer Bayston moving from 22nd to tenth at the end.

That’s it for now and check back Tuesday for our report from Volusia Speedway Park once again as the USAC sprint cars join the UMP late models on Monday and Tuesday. In the meantime, get out there and do something involving racing and be safe and stay warm. As always thanks for reading our efforts and all the kind words sent our way. In closing remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Bayston Snaps Long Winless Streak With Impressive Run In WOO Opener at Volusia

Wednesday, February 4 – Finally a nice day in Florida as the temperatures pushed into the 70’s and tonight was the opener of the 49th season of racing for the WOO sprint cars and their 21st year competing at Volusia Speedway Park. Right off the bat we would like to thank track management for bringing in new clay or as one of the announcers noted it is good clay with a lot less sand content. The racing so far at VSP has been better than anything we have seen here for maybe ever. The surface is very racy with lots of side by side action and oodles of passing and high speed action. A tip of the racing hat to VPS track crew and take a vow for the wow action your hard work has brought the racing fan.

Forty four WOO sprint cars would be joined on the evening by 99 UMP modifieds for a full night of racing which was moved right along with little down time. WOO sprint qualifying was in two groups and pushed off at 5:53. It was 6:33 when the time trial action was completed with Ashton Torgerson placing the Shark Racing #1A on top of the scoring charts with a time of 13.023 seconds around the half mile dirt oval. The next order of activity would be the four heats races for the WOO sprints with the top five locking into the 25 lap main event later in the evening and the top two finishers moving to the dash race where the first four rows of the feature lineup would be determined. The green from starter, Dave Farney, would unfurl on the first heat at 6:56 and Ashton Torgerson would continue his strong run taking down heat one over Ryan Timms, Carson Macedo, Sheldon Haudenschild and Hank Davis. Heat two fell to Shark Racing teammate, Logan Schuchart, beating Buddy Kofoid, Bryce Lucius, Chase Dietz and Austin McCarl. Heat three went to David Gravel, the defending WOO point champion, besting Brent Marks, Spencer Bayston, Brian Brown and Chris Windom. The fourth and final heat was won by Anthony Macri outdistancing Brock Zearfoss, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Connor Morrell and Tyler Courtney. All heat racing was done by 7:27.

Then it was right into the first of six UMP modified 20 lap features at 7:32 with Ricky Thornton Jr taking his third little gator of the series taking the lead on a lap eight restart and going onto victory over Charlie Mefford and Tristan Chamberlain. Evan Koehler of Mount Airy, NC took control on lap eleven and raced away to victory like Barney Fife was chasing him to score the win over Tyler Spalding and Brad DeYoung. In the best of the three UMP events we witnessed on the evening Kyle Strickler, Chris Wilson and Cole Falloway had a race long battle for the front three positions with Strickler prevailed over Wilson and Falloway.

After some track prep it was back to the WOO sprint car action with the C main which would advance the top two finishers to the back of the B main or Last Chance Showdown. Australian Scott Bogucki won the C main trailed by Parker Price-Miller. Next up was the dash race with Brock Zearfoss the victor outrunning Brent Marks, David Gravel, Anthony Macri, Logan Schuchart, Buddy Kofoid, Ryan Timms and Ashton Torgerson. The B main or Last Chance Showdown, 12 laps the distance, would be the last preliminary event of the evening. Donny Schatz would be victorious taking the win over Cole Macedo, Emerson Axsom and Daison Pursley. Bill Balog. Garet Williamson and rookie, Kasey Jedrzejek, would use provisionals to swell the starting field to 27 cars.

At 9:31 the front row of Brock Zearfoss and Brent Marks brought the field to Dave Farney’s green flag with Zearfoss taking the early lead. A quick three car race for the top spot ensued with Zearfoss and Macri swapping the lead over the first three circuits. Zearfoss secured the lead after three until lap seven when Bill Balog slowed with mechanical woes on lap seven. On the restart sixth starting Buddy Kofoid swept to the high side to grab the lead in turn two but Macri slipped by Zearfoss and also passed Kofoid in turn three to retake the lead. Disaster struck on the homestretch when David Gravel and Logan Schuchart made contact while racing for third with Gravel getting the worst of the deal nosing hard into the homestretch wall and spinning wildly, stopping in the middle of turn one with everyone avoiding any additional contact. Also receiving damage in the incident were Brent Marks, Sheldon Haudenschild and Schuchart who headed to pit row to attempt to make repairs along with Gravel. Haudenschild and Schuchart were able to rejoin the field but Gravel and Marks were done for the evening.

Another quick caution appeared when Tyler Courtney slowed on the backstretch with rear suspension damage and retired to the infield, also done for the evening. On the ensuing restart tenth starting Spencer Bayston started to make his presence known after restarting fourth moving forward to second on lap thirteen. Bayston began to track down Macri cutting the gap in big chunks before blasting by Macri passing against the wall off turn two and pulling away like a rocket ship. Bayston would maintain his comfortable lead over the remaining fourteen laps but a lot of racing was going on behind him including big runs from Donny Schatz up from twenty first into the top five and Garet Williamson into the top ten from twenty sixth starting position. Ninth starting Carson Macedo made a late race charge passing Macri for second with five to go.

Bayston would not be caught in this one flashing under the double checkers at 9:55 for his first sprint car win since August 4th of 2023 at I-55 Raceway and his sixth career WOO sprint win. The new Marshall/Stenhouse driver was ecstatic in victory lane after shedding his rough past few years in a new start for him. Macedo would drive home in second with Macri settling for third with Kofoid fourth and Schatz in his first run in his new ride with CJB Motorsports rounding out the top five. Positions six through ten were filled by Logan Schuchart, Ryan Timms, Garet Williamson, the hard charger from 26th, Ashton Torgeson and Brian Brown. It was another fine feature event at Volusia Speedway Park as we look forward to tomorrow night’s action. It was heart warming to see Bayston back in victory lane so thankful for the new start and the appreciation was sincere and came through loud and clear.

That’s it for now but check back tomorrow as we report on night two of the racing action from Volusia Speedway Park with the WOO sprint cars. In the meantime, get prepared for your racing season if it has not began yet and stay warm and be good. Remember to be kind to everyone you meet and be safe and have fun. As always thanks for reading our efforts and if you want to get hold of us send any correspondence to eckel9K77@gmail.com.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Gator’s Galore As Bacon & Eight Others Grab One At Volusia

Monday, February 2 – We would start all over again tonight to complete the third night of the DIRTcar Nationals for the ASCS sprints and UMP modifieds at the Volusia Speedway Park postponed from Saturday night because of high winds and frigid temperatures. Well, the high winds dissipated but it was still plenty cold as the long night of racing began with hot laps at 4 PM. By 10 PM when the 30 lap ASCS feature ended the temperature read 30 degrees! That’s cold indeed!!

Brady Bacon would take home a little gator for the first time and $12,000 for winning the 30 lap ASCS finale while seven others from the UMP modified ranks would do so also. The Big Gator for the champion of the three race ASCS series would be awarded to Tyler Courtney for his two wins and a fourth place finish on the final night of ASCS racing at Volusia. Stay tuned as we break it all down and fill you in on all the night’s activities.

After hot laps for both divisions qualifying via four at once time trials began for the growing field of 97 UMP modifieds who would run six features based off the time trial results. It was 6:13 when the first of three heats for the ASCS sprint cars came trackside for their 31 car field, downs from 44 on Saturday as many had to return home for various reasons. Iowa’s Chris Martin would score the win in heat one besting Danny Sams III, Cole Schroeder and Austyn Gossel. Ontario’s Nick Sheridan took a nasty flip in turn one in heat one after a hole between two others disappeared and Sheridan went for a ride. He was OK but done for the evening. The second heat fell to California’s Cole Macedo triumphing over Kyler Johnson, Hank Davis and Ryder Laplante. The third and final heat was taken by Oklahoma’s Matt Covington racing past Davie Franek, D.J. Christie and Seth Bergman.

After the heats the action switched over to the UMP modifieds for their first three of six total 20 lap features. Charlie Mefford of Kentucky drove by Pierce McCarter in lap traffic with four to go to score the first little gator of the evening. Mike McKinney of Illinois passed Trevor Neville with six to go and held off his charges to take home the win and gator in feature #2. The Herminator, Kenny Wallace, dominated feature #3 to capture his sixth career gator holding off Chris Wilson in the process.

Now it was back to the sprint cars with the 5 lap dash to determine the order of the top eight starters that were locked in from points from the previous two nights. Sam Hafertepe Jr, the defending ASCS point champ, came out of the fourth slot to nail down the dash win over Brian Brown, Brady Bacon, Tyler Courtney, Austin McCarl, Whit Gastineau, Emerson Axsom and Brock Zearfoss. Next on the agenda was the sprint B main which would determine the final four drivers joining the big 30 lap, $12,000 to win main event. Florida’s Tyler Clem would lay claim to the B main win over New Mexico’s Ryder McCutcheon, New York’s Paulie Colagiovanni and Minnesota’s Gage Pulkrabek. Now the field was set with the addition of two provisionals of a pair of #88’s, Terry Easum and Brogan Carder for a 26 car starting field.

Back to the UMP modifieds for their next three features with sixth starting Treb Jacoby scoring his first ever little gator passing and then fending off the veteran Ray Bollinger in a good run. In feature #5 it was a spirited battle between Mitch Thomas and Will Krup with Thomas prevailing. In feature #6 Tristan Chamberlain, a WOO late model series regular, ran away with the final feature for his first ever little gator.

As the thermometer continued to drop into the low 30’s it was time for the 30 lap finale for the ASCS sprint cars. At the drop of the green flag at 9:44 second starting Brian Brown got the jump on Sam Hafertepe Jr with Brady Bacon third right in their tire tracks. Brown continued to lead as the front runners reached lap traffic on lap nine. Bacon made a two for one pass entering turn one on lap ten to grab the lead over Brown and Hafertepe. Brown was quick to respond to the move, retaking the lead with a big run in turn two roaring back out front down the backstretch. Hafertepe was also not done yet as he raced into turns three and four grabbing second back. Hafertepe and Bacon made contact at the flagger’s stand with both getting sideways and recovered without losing any positions. Bacon used turn two to wrestle second back from Hafertepe and raced down the backstretch to try to track down Brown. By lap thirteen Bacon was right on Brown’s tail tank as they raced down the backstretch. A slider in turn three by Bacon saw move by both Brown and a lap car to assume the lead for the first time in the event.

Two cautions would slow the action in the second half but Bacon was up to the challenge. Behind him there was a battle royale among Emerson Axsom, Tyler Courtney, Austin McCarl and Brian Brown for positions two through five. When it was all said and done at 10:04 it was Bacon in victory lane with his first little gator and a big check for $12,000 in another spectacular race with Axsom in a strong run from seventh to second, McCarl third, Courtney fourth and Brown ending up fifth as the temperature dipped to 30 degrees. Courtney would walk off with the big gator for the first time becoming the ASCS DIRTcar Nationals point champion. Cole Macedo capped off a good night advancing from tenth to finish sixth with Hafertepe dropping to seventh, Ryder Laplante in a fine run from eighteenth to eighth, Danny Sams III to ninth and Brock Zearfoss rounding out the top ten.

With four LCQ’s and a UMP modified feature still to go, these old bones had had enough of the cold and we packed up the gear and headed to the SUV to warm up on the road back to Daytona. Ricky Thornton Jr by the way won the last UMP modified feature which was his second little gator of the week.

That’s it for now but check back Thursday as we take Tuesday off and return to Volusia on Wednesday for the 2026 debut of the WOO sprint cars who will run four straight nights of racing at the big half mile. In the meantime, try to stay warm and plot out your 2026 racing schedule. As always thanks for reading our efforts and I hope you continue to enjoy these reports as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Remember to be safe and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Volusia Falls To Strong Winds & Frigid Temperatures

Friday, January 31 – The forecast for today was record lows starting in the evening with high winds sweeping across the area. DIRTcar officials decided to move the starting time up to 4 PM so we decided to give it a go. Dressed like two Antarctic explorers, we entered the grandstands to find about 250 other brave souls that were going to attempt to beat the weather. After hot laps for the ASCS sprinters it was time for the first of four heats for the sprint cars. Forty four ASCS sprint cars were ready to do battle with the top three qualifying for the $12,000 to win feature joining the top eight in points over the two days and the LCQ additions for the starting field.

The first ASCS heat took the green flag at 4:40 and everything seemed to be OK with Chris Martin walking away with heat one over Tyler Clem and Nick Sheridan. The second heat was won by Cole Macedo outrunning Hank Davis and Ryder Laplante. The warning signs were there when in the victor’s interview Macedo said that the track was sketchy with the wind blowing you up toward the wall in turns one and two and down toward the infield wall in turns three and four. Heat three began with veteran Dale Blaney drifting up higher and higher in turns one and two making contact with Bryan Gossel with Gossel going end over end after making contact with the rear of Blaney’s car. Officials then called the third heat to the infield as the winds worsened. The call at this point was to suspend the sprint car racing because of the dangerous conditions and try to run the UMP modified (81) heats. That was quickly dashed in the second heat when leader, Ricky Thornton Jr, was blown into the turn one and two wall causing him to head pit side. The UMP modifieds were then held on pit road and the decision was to suspend racing to see if the winds would subside but that was not going to happen. We will give management an A for effort but just looking at the Weather Channel app would give you the story of the rest of the day. For the next three hours the forecast was for dropping temperatures and winds at 20 mph with gusts to 34 mph at times. We decided at this time that we were done and headed toward the SUV and started the trip back to the Daytona area. About 15 minutes later after 6 PM the decision was made to postpone the program to Monday afternoon starting the show at 4 PM. The decision was the right one but we felt in the interest of the fans and drivers it could have been made sooner. The weather was only going to get worse.

That’s it for now and check back on Tuesday to see how Monday’s program at Volusia Speedway Park unfolds. In the meantime, if any racing is happening in your area get out there and watch it and plot your 2026 racing season on your calendar. Keep warm and safe and be good. Remember to be kind to everyone you meet and give them a nice hello and smile because you don’t know what they may be going through on that particular day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Courtney Goes Back To Back In Awesome ASCS Contest At Volusia Speedway Park

Friday, January 30 – Temptures pushed into the low 70’s as we crossed the Florida state line out of Georgia surely beating the -7 degree cold, we had left the day earlier from Indiana. It was time to go racing again as our 2026 season would kick off tonight at the fast ½ mile dirt oval at the Volusia Speedway Park with ASCS sprints (43) and UMP modifieds (71) joining the alligator in the pit area for night two of the 55th Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals. What we didn’t know was what awaited us in the 25 lap ASCS sprint car feature with a fantastic race unfolding which we will detail you on coming up after filling you in on all the moments leading up to that. So sit back and enjoy reading about this one.

The ASCS sprints would contest five heat races for their fine 43 car field with the top four advancing to the main event with the rest either running in a C main or the Last Chance Qualifier to work their way into the main event. The UMP modifieds would schedule eight heat races with the top two advancing with four LCQ’s with two each advancing.

The sprint cars would kick off time trials with Iowa’s Chris Martin setting a new track record for the 360 sprint car class with a time of 14.046 around the sweeping half mile.
Then it was into the first of five heat races with the first green flag dropping on the field at 7:49. St. Petersburg, Florida’s Tyler Clem would give the Florida locals something to cheer about when he captured the first heat race of the evening outdistancing the persistent Davie Franek, Austin McCarl and Brogan Carder from South Dakota for first heat honors. Emerson Axsom from Indiana would sweep from fourth on the start to the race lead by midway through turns one and two and pull away from the field in a dominant performance outrunning Hank Davis in the Dutcher #17GP, Ryder Laplante and Cole Schoroeder in from the Big Sky state of Montana. Heat three would see Missouri’s Brian Brown work the high side in this one to defeat PA’s Brock Zearfoss, defending ASCS point champion, Sam Hafertepe Jr and Chris Martin. Heat four went to the impressive Whit Gastineau riding out of Oklahoma besting Cameron Martin, Kyler Johnson and Austyn Gossel from Colorado making his first feature at Volusia. The fifth and final heat contest fell to Cole Macedo, back from Australia, winning over Tyler Courtney, last night’s winner, Dale Blaney and Canadian Glenn Styres.

Then it was the UMP modifieds spinning off nine heats in good order for their impressive 71 car field before the ASCS sprints returned for their eight lap C main with the top two finishers advancing to the rear of the LCQ. Joshua Kuntsbeck, another Floridian out of Deland captured the win over Ontario’s Tyler Powless to both move on. The dash was next with this race determining the starting position of the first nine cars in the event. Brian Brown would score the win over Cameron Martin, Whit Gastineau, Cole Macedo, Emerson Axsom, Tyler Courtney, Davie Franek, Tyler Clem and Chris Martin.
Four UMP modified LCQ’s followed and finally after all that racing, we were ready (or were we) for the 25 lap ASCS sprint car main event. On the drop of the green flag at 10:21 it was second starting Camerson Martin getting the hole shot using the high side against the fence to take the lead from Brian Brown with Tyler Courtney getting a great start moving from sixth to third on the opening lap. While Martin was pounding the fence and opening up the lead Courtney was able to slip by Brown for second on lap six and took up the chase of the high flying Martin who had opened a 2 ½ second gap at this point. Cole Macedo suddenly looked like he was shot out of a cannon blasting by Courtney for second on lap sixteen and two laps later tracked down and passed the high flying Martin for the lead. Courtney’s run was stalled by Martin who was making it difficult to pass him until Courtney did on lap twenty. The amount of dicing and slicing throughout this feature was a sight to behold and we don’t believe we seen so much action at Volusia as tonight from front to back. All of a sudden on lap twenty one tenth starting Brock Zearfoss came out of nowhere and made a two for one pass of both Martin and Courtney to take over second. The leaders approached lap traffic with a handful of laps remaining and Courtney decided to hang it all out on the top side and blasted by Zearfoss and a lap car exiting turn four to take second coming to two to go. Going high in turn one he dusted off Macedo in turn two to take the improbable lead and make it back to back victories to start off the season in his return from serious injuries suffered at Eldora in the fall. Courtney led everyone to the white and checker flags at 10:31 to wrap up an awesome show for the 360 sprinters on the evening. Macedo would have to settle for second with Zearfoss third, Cameron Martin ending up in fourth after dominating over half of the event with Austin McCarl coming from fourteenth to round out the top five. Whit Gastineau would lead the second five to the line with Emerson Axsom up to as high as fourth slipping back to finish seventh with Brady Bacon the hard charger from twenty third to eighth, Tyler Clem ninth and Brian Brown ending up tenth. It was a fantastic race and what a way to start out the 2026 season!! People will be talking about this one for the entire year! It turned cold after nine thirty but the action all over the half mile in this one made you forget all about the cold for ten minutes.

We decided to head for the parking lot as the coldness and realization of what we saw was not going to be repeated in the UMP modified feature made it the right call. Tomorrow’s start time has been pushed up to 4 PM as the temperatures are scheduled to drop into the thirties by 8 PM with twenty to thirty mile an hour winds making Florida as cold as much of the Midwest and Northeast. Check back tomorrow to see what happens on the final day/night of the ASCS series.

In the meantime, start planning your 2026 race schedule or get down to Atlantic City for some indoor TQ racing. Whatever you do this weekend be safe and try to stay warm in this Arctic blast. Remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet. As always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Sweeps Western World To The Tune Of $43,750

Saturday, October 25 – Temperatures were in the mid 80’s today for night two of the 58th Annual Western World Championships with 44 USAC National/USAC CRA sprints making the call minus Justin Grant’s team who ran out of motors for the weekend. Also 40 Sands Chevrolet Wild West wingless 360 sprints were in town to do battle on the 3/8 mile dirt oval on the Pinal County Fairgrounds. But before venturing to Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande, a lunch stop was made at Blue 32 Sports Grill in Chandler for some excellent food with friends, Steve and Maggi Kimmel, Coach and Andy and Sarah. Good food and good conversation were the order of the day before heading to the race track.

A good sized crowd filled the concrete covered grandstands and the wooden grandstands in turns one and four for tonight’s racing which had a different format. No time trials were run tonight and the top four finishers from last night in the USAC divisions were locked into the 35 lap, $35,000 to win plus lap money feature event. The remaining 40 drivers would compete in three qualifiers with the top five moving into the main event. The remaining five drivers would come out of the semi.

The 360 sprints would get the honors to open up the night of competition with four heat races with the top four moving into their 25 lap feature event. Heat one went to veteran Arizona runner, Josh Pelkey, outrunning Grant Sexton, Kevin Thomas Jr and Racin Silva from Henderson, NV. Heat two was won by J.J. Yeley in Cactus Jack’s entry beating Bryan Ledbetter Jr, BJ Fernandez III and Brady Bacon. Heat three saw Daison Pursley beating out Briggs Danner, Chaz Baca and Travis DeGaton. The final heat win was scored by Stevie Sussex III over David Gasper, Brent Yarnal and Daylin Perreira.

Next were the three qualifiers for the USAC contingent with Brady Bacon wheeling a Calderwood entry to victory in the first qualifier besting Briggs Danner, Stevie Sussex III, Tye Mihocko and Ricky Lewis.in a new track record for the eight lap distance of 2:06:39. Chase Stockon raced the Sertich Moose mobile to victory in qualifier two over Ryan Bernal, Braden Chiaramonte, Eddie Tafoya Jr and Hayden Reinbold. Mitchel Moles in the Reinbold/Underwood entry drove to victory in qualifier three beating Jake Swanson, Gunnar Setser, Charles Davis Jr and Logan Calderwood taking the last qualifying spot off the last corner. All heat racing with completed by 7:34.

The 360 sprint B main was next on the agenda with Travis DeGaton winning this one over Caleb Stelzig, Joshua Shipley and AJ Hernandez in a very competitive race. The 410 sprint C main was up next and only made two of the scheduled eight laps completed before a Dayton Shelton turn three flip had the event checkered with Brecken Guerrero, Marty Hawkins, Wayne Siddle and Verne Sweeney moved to the tail of the semi.

The novelty Underwood Dash was next on the dance card with top starters (top four finishers from last night & top two finishers from each qualifier) making for ten starters with $5000 going to the winner of the Australian Pursuit style race. The format was three laps were run with the last two eliminated. Three more laps were spun off with the back two going pitside. Another three laps were contested dropping the last two from the event leaving four cars to race the last three lap segment. Logan Seavey led the first three segments but Kyle Cummins passed him in the last segment and went on to claim the $5000 top prize.

The USAC semi was next up and Kevin Thomas Jr who destroyed a car last night came back to win the semi over Trey Osborne, Daison Pursley, R.J. Johnson and Blake Bower making his first ever Western World making the transfer pass off turn four after being passed for the spot on the backstretch.

The Wild West 360 sprints would contest their 25 lap feature first and the front row of Stevie Sussex III and Daison Pursley brought the 26 car field to the green flag at 9:07. Pursley was quick to the lead with Sussex and fourth starting Briggs Danner in hot pursuit. Two reds for rollovers would stop the early racing but once those were cleaned up the race went non-stop the rest of the distance. Pursley paced the field until Danner slipped by him once with ten to go but Pursley countered and regained the lead but two laps later Danner made the move stick. Brady Bacon had worked his way from ninth to join the front two in the race battle as the race waned down. It looked like Danner was going to win this one after last night’s heartbreak but heartbreak struck once again was Danner shredded a right rear tire between turns three and four on the last lap and was passed by Bacon who slid by Pursley in the chaos to steal the win with Pursley second and Danner with a disappointing third at the finish at 9:30. J.J. Yeley and Kevin Thomas Jr up from 13th to finish fifth. It was definitely the race of the weekend!

After some track prep by Reece O’Connor and the rest of the track crew it was time to go USAC feature racing with a cool $35,000 on the line for the winner. After driver introductions of the entire field adorned in black cowboy hats it was time to push off for the 35 lap grand finale. By 10:24 the 27 car field with the addition of two USAC/CRA drivers, AJ Bender and Austin Williams, and the one USAC National provisional of Kobe Simpson came to the green flag to start the race. Seavey got the jump on the start and led the opening lap until Logan Calderwood rolled over in turn three to bring out the red. Calderwood was OK after the light rollover and was able to return to the race as the field was reassembled for the restart.

Seavey was quick on the ensuing restart was not going to let what happen in the dash happen again with Cummins slipping by. In fact, Seavey would lead the entire 35 laps collecting an additional $8750 dollars added to the winner’s share for a grand total of $43,750!! Seavey would lead with Cummins in tow followed by Brady Bacon and Ricky Thornton Jr. Chase Stockon who started sixth became a player moving by Thornton for third at lap thirteen and joined in the chase of Seavey. Cummins pulled to the tail tank of Seavey at the halfway mark as the pair entered lap traffic. The caution would appear on lap twenty two when Kevin Thomas Jr shredded a right rear off turn four doing some additional damage to the Rock Steady #3R as he pulled to the infield out of the race.

On the restart it was Seavey out front again but Cummins made an inside run to the line to start lap twenty three almost making a pass on Seavey but coming up short. Seavey blasted the top side and thwarted the challenge of Cummins and moving away from Cummins by over a second. Another caution appeared on lap thirty as Jake Swanson shredded a right rear exiting turn four. At this point Seavey had to be concerned about his tire and probably his fuel situation as the added five laps could make a big difference.

The race went back green as Seavey paced the field with Cummins and Stockon in tow. On the white flag lap, the fuel situation raised its ugly head when ninth running Ryan Bernal slowed with a fuel issue and under caution fourth running CJ Leary and eighth running Briggs Danner drove to the infield also fuel starved. This is a good reason to shorten next year’s version of the Western World to 30 laps and hopefully eliminate some of this heartbreak! On the restart Seavey went to the point chased by Cummins and Stockon. At 10:53 Seavey passed under the double checkers first for the ninth time in 2025 and 33rd time in his USAC sprint career, moving by Rolle Beale into 16th on the all-time win list. Later in an interview Seavey stated he was low on fuel the last two laps but was able to make it to the finish as the thought of losing $35,000 + were dancing though his head.

Kyle Cummins would have to settle for second with a strong run for Chase Stockon finishing third with Brady Bacon fourth and Ricky Thornton Jr rounding out the top five. With finishes of fourth and fifth in the two nights of racing Thornton was awarded the Rookie of the Race garnering an extra $1500 for his fine runs. While on the subject of awards R.J. Johnson earned the hard charger award by starting 23rd and finishing 9th and pocketing an additional $3,131,98 for this run. The Lafond Jar of Change collected during the entire year on the west coast totaled $2,461.98 while an extra $520 came from the Western World Passing Master and $150 more from Rod End Supply. It was nice to see one of the west coast drivers win this money. Gunnar Setser won the USAC National sprint car Rookie of the Year award in the closest finish in USAC history winning the title by a mere 4 points over Hayden Reinbold who came on strong through the second half of the year.

Mitchel Moles finished sixth with teammate, Hayden Reinbold, seventh from 18th with Stevie Sussex III eighth, R.J Johnson 18th to ninth and Tye Mihocko rounding out the top ten.

That’s it for this report and nothing planned for next weekend but check back after that as future plans have not been solidified going forward. In the meantime, get out there and catch some racing in your area or go on the road to catch some of the remaining races of the 2025 racing season. As always thanks for reading our efforts and write to us with comments, news, rumors or anything else you might want to say to us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. In closing, be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey & Thomas Open 58th Western World With Wins

Friday, October 24 – We arrived in Phoenix in the early evening of Thursday, collected our luggage and rode the tram over to the rental car center to pick up our Sixt Toyota Camry Hybrid. Then it was over to Villa Mirage where we will be spending the next 10 days enjoying the Arizona sun. Our main reason for the trip is to attend the 58th annual Western World sprint car championships being held this year at the Central Arizona Raceway in Casa Grande. There have been numerous improvements to the 3/8 mile dirt oval with new reinforced fencing through the corners on both ends of the speedway, better lighting and regular steps in between the high concrete rows of the covered grandstands where we were sitting. Fellow trackchaser and friend, Jon Jay Mooney, was also in attendance and we chatted before we settled into our seats for the night of racing.

Tonight was the first night of two of Western World racing action. The USAC National sprints would be joined by the USAC/CRA sprints for a co-sanctioned show for the first time in three years. Forty six 410 sprints were joined by thirty nine 360 sprints on the evening. After hot laps for the USAC sprinters it was time for qualifying with the first three sprints taking the green flag at 5:45. They quickly spun off the time trials in 14 minutes with Mitchel Moles posting his 15th quick time tying Kevin Thomas Jr for the most quick times in a season with a time of 15.024 seconds around the 3/8 mile oval. Hot laps for the 360 sprints were next on the agenda before the USAC sprints returned for their five heat races with the top four cars moving directly into the 30 lap main event later in the evening.

The action would start early as in heat one Daison Pursley, who was announced today as the new driver of the Kasey Kahe Racing #49 on the High Limit circuit in 2026 slid from the bottom of turn two to the top catching the wall and rolling the Chad Boat #86 several times in the process. He was OK after his tumble but the team had some work to do before he was ready for the semi. Ricky Thornton Jr, making his USAC sprint car debut in a Petty entry numbered 20RT, showed his versatility as the top notch late model driver wired the field to score the win in heat one over Braden Chiaramonte, Briggs Danner and Stevie Sussex behind the wheel of the Michael Dutcher #17GP. Heat two was won by Max Adams in the Cheney #42 beating Kyle Cummins, Brady Bacon in a Calderwood #4C and Trey “Tall” Osborne making the trek west. Heat three was taken by the impressive rookie, Gunnar Setser, outrunning Justin Grant, Jake Swanson and JJ Yeley. James Turnbull III took a tumble at the end of the homestretch after contact with Justin Grant and in his interview was throwing the F bomb every third word or so stating his disapproval of Grant’s driving style. Kevin Thomas Jr would guide the Hank Bryam #3R to victory in heat four over Logan Seavey, Connor Lundy and Ryan Bernal. Charles Davis Jr would claim heat five winning over Chase Stockon, CJ Leary and Eddie Tafoya Jr.

The wingless 360 sprints would next contest four heats with the top four advancing to their 25 lap main event which would be the last race of the evening. Briggs Danner doing double duty in a Calderwood #6C blistered heat one winning by a country mile over Joshua Shipley, Caleb Stelzig and Brody Wake. Heat two was won by R.J. Johnson over J.J. Yeley, Grant Sexton and the veteran Bruce St. James. Heat three was taken down by Kevin Thomas Jr besting Brady Bacon, Daison Pursley and Stevie Sussex. Dayton Shelton won heat four beating Josh Pelkey, Chaz Baca, the next star coming out of Arizona, advancing from the IMCA modifieds and AJ Hernandez. After

The 410 C main was the next dance on the dance card with Austin Williams scoring the win over Harley Burns, Brecken Guerrero and Dayton Shelton who all advanced to the tail of the semi race. After a break for some track maintenance the 410 semi was called to the track.

Daison Pursley back from his heat one tumble wired the event beating Mitchel Moles, Hayden Reinbold and Tye Mihocko. R.J. Johnson and Ricky Lewis would use USAC/CRA provisionals to join the feature field while Kobe Simpson would use a USAC National provisional to make the starting field 27 strong.

The 360 sprint B main was captured by Connor Lundy over Wayne Siddle, Jonas Reynolds and Blake Hendricks.

It was now time to go feature racing with the USAC National/CRA sprints brought to the green flag at 9:50 by the front row of Justin Grant and Brady Bacon. Grant went to the early lead over Bacon and CJ Leary. By lap two Seavey had cleared both Leary and Grant moving into second using the high side. Lap three saw Seavey switch grooves diving low on the homestretch and into turn one easing by Bacon for the lead. By lap ten Seavey had opened up a second and a half lead over Kyle Cummins who had moved into second. Seavey caught traffic by lap sixteen but a turn three collision between fifth running Kevin Thomas Jr and fourth running Justin Grant occurred when Thomas was low sliding in and Grant came off the high side meeting each other in a hard crash with Thomas rolling three times and then getting t-boned by seventh running Daison Pursley ending both driver’s nights prematurely. Thomas walked from turn three to the homestretch and had a heated discussion with Grant while he sat in his sprinter.

On the restart Seavey powered to the point and pulled away once again. The cushion was building up and the changing track conditions had many drivers trying different grooves around the 3/8 mile. Seavey held his high side run until just a handful of laps remained and the track began to blacken. Cummins had closed the gap noticeably to just a several car length margin but that was as close as he would get. Seavey would cross the line at 10:14 with a three quarter of a second advantage as the double checkers waved for the eighth time this year and thirty second time of his career tying him with Rollie Beale for sixteenth on the all-time USAC sprint win list. Cummins would cross the line second with CJ Leary third, Ricky Thornton Jr an impressive tenth to fourth run with Ricky Lewis storming from 26th to finish fifth in a great performance. Brady Bacon would finish sixth with Justin Grant seventh, Mitchel Moles eighth, Jake Swanson ninth and Ryan Bernal advancing from 18th to tenth to claim the hard charger award as a provisional starter is not eligible for the award.

We stilled had a 25 lap 360 sprint car feature to run with the front row of Briggs Danner and Chaz Baca bringing the field to the green flag at 10:40. Danner went to the lead like he was shot out of a cannon and steadily pulled away from the rest of the pack. Kevin Thomas Jr and Daison Pursley slotted into second and third respectively quite a distance behind the high flying Danner. Disaster struck Danner on lap ten in turn three when a lap car came off the high side right in Danner’s path causing the leader to spin to avoid him. At this point they announced that the feature would be cut by five laps as the hour drew later. On the restart Thomas inherited the lead with Pursley applying heavy pressure with Brady Bacon arriving on the scene in third. Thomas ran turns one and two on the top and three and four down low as he maintained the lead. All of a sudden Stevie Sussex was a player pounding the big cushion and storming by Pursley for second with two to go but the caution appeared and negated the pass for second.

On the restart Thomas hit the pedal hard and went to the point chased by Pursley and Sussex. Thomas was able to hold off the advances of the pair and flashed across the finish line at 11:15 taking the win. Pursley would finish second with Sussex having to settle for third after starting 20th, R.J. Johnson moving from 10th to fourth and Chaz Baca ending up fifth.

It was a decent night of racing but also was a long night of racing. Onto the finale tomorrow paying a cool $35,000 to win.

Check back Sunday for our report of Saturday’s finale. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy what is left of the 2025 racing season, have fun and be safe. Comments, news, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you are still enjoying our writings as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Gravel Wins In Controversial Finish At Lincoln Park

Friday, October 17 – Today dawned with partly sunny skies with temperatures moving into the 70’s in the afternoon. In other words, a gorgeous fall day! Plans for the evening would find us heading to the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, IN for the eighth time in 2025 but not for non-wing sprint car racing. Tonight, the WOO sprint cars were invading the 5/16 mile dirt oval with the big cushion for the first time in 9 years. Thirty two WOO sprints were joined in the pit area by 14 bombers, a regular class run at LPS during the year. We arrived early around 3:30 and obtained a good parking spot near the pit entrance as we were planning to view the action tonight from the backstretch wooden bleachers.

After hot laps for the sprinters, time trials were the next order of business with the 32 sprints taking the first green at 7. Immediately, Buddy Kofoid, the first man out, set a new track record blistering the track with a time of 10.707 seconds. This time would hold up for the remainder of the time trial session which wrapped up at 7:38 and included one flip when Sheldon Haudenschild slipped over turn three coming to the green and tumbled several times before landing between turns three and four. Quick repairs would find Haudenschild returning at the end of the session to record one lap. The bombers would get track time with their hot laps before the WOO sprints would return to contest their four heats with the top 5 moving directly into the 35 lap main event.

Unfortunately, the “best” sprint car drivers in the country for some reason did not feel the track was in racing condition even though they had set a new track record in qualifying (we thought it was perfect) so the first heat race drivers requested extra hot laps to prepare the racing surface. They were still not satisfied so the second heat race entrants were called to the track to run it in. Finally, at 8:15 the “Greatest Show On Dirt” determined the track was “deemed” raceable and the first heat took the green at that point.

The first heat was taken by Bill Balog making his Lincoln Park debut besting Buddy Kofoid, Logan Schuchart, Hunter Schuerenberg and Skylar Gee. Heat two was claimed by WOO rookie Cole Macedo, the younger brother of Carson, winning over another good rookie in Garet Williamson, Carson Macedo, Cole Duncan in the Landon Simon #24 and Indiana’s Zach Hampton. Heat three went to young Michigan driver, Darin Naida, beating Bryce Norris, Donny Schatz, Australian Scott Bogucki and Chris Windom. The fourth and final heat went to Wisconsin’s Logan Julian in a very strong run besting David Gravel, Parker Price-Miller, Brady Bacon and Emerson Axsom.

The bombers would run two heats and wouldn’t you know it this entertaining weekly division looked the worst we have seen them all year and that’s a shame because they are usually very competitive. The dash was next on the agenda determining the top four rows for the 35 lap feature. David Gravel would win this one over Dain Naida, Buddy Kofoid, Bill Balog, Garet Williamson, Logan Julian, Bryce Norris and Cole Macedo. The last chance showdown or B main in less dramatic terms was won by Kerry Madsen in the Tony Stewart Racing #15X outdistancing Cory Elliason, Sheldon Haudenschild and Sterling Cling, the last man in.

The bomber 15 lap feature would fill the gap between the LCS and the 35 lap main event and multi-time winner, Josh Foxworthy, won another bomber main.

By 9:48 it was time for the WOO 35 lap main event with the front row of David Gravel and Darin Naida bringing the field to the green flag. Gravel went to the early lead but Kofoid found a way around Gravel on lap two to take the lead away before Naida dumped his sprinter flipping off of turn one ending his night prematurely. On the restart Kofoid assumed the point with Gravel and Bill Balog chasing. Meanwhile, from 23rd Sheldon Haudenschild was picking cars off left and right coming forward to the top ten. Kofoid began to encounter lap traffic by lap nine as this gave Gravel a chance to close the gap. On lap thirteen Kofoid bobbled in heavy traffic allowing Gravel to scoot by to regain the lead.

Gravel began to pull away in the middle stages of the event until Kofoid adjusted his line of attack pounding the big cushion and began closing the gap on the leader. Kofoid followed Gravel closely until two to go when Kofoid executed a perfect slider off turn four to steal the lead. Gravel countered in turn two retaking the lead with Gravel moving to the top to take away Kofoid’s line. The two raced to the white flag but the red flag appeared when seventh running Brady Bacon flipped off turn three to bring out the red flag and a fuel stop for the entire field. Haudenschild running eighth at this point headed pitside with a mechanical woe ending a good rebound from earlier troubles to a very disappointing 18th place finish.

This would set up a green, white, checker finish with Gravel the leader, Kofoid second and Balog third. When the green dropped Gravel was quick on the loud pedal and went to the point. Coming to the white flag in turns three and four Kofoid executed a massive slider on Gravel with Gravel diving low off four and retaking the lead as they raced to the white flag. The pair raced side by side down the backstretch and Kofoid hammered the cushion in turns three and four still alongside as Gravel drifted higher and higher from turn three into turn four, making contact with Kofoid and forcing him on top of the massive cushion in turn four causing him to spin. As the announcer stated the yellow was waving and this one was not over, but he was corrected by WOO officials saying what we felt was an incorrect call that the checkered was taken before the yellow appeared so the race was over!

So, at 10:26 it was declared over and David Gravel stood in victory lane for the 16th time in 2025 and his 119th career WOO victory moving him within three of the number six man on the all-time list in Danny “The Dude” Lasoski. Carson Macedo would muscle his way from tenth to finish second with Balog finishing third, Cole Macedo eighth to fourth and Garet Williamson rounding out the top five. Positions six through ten would be filled by Logan Schuchart with Parker Price-Miller seventh, Donny Schatz eighth, Kerry Madsen coming from 21st to ninth and Emerson Axsom advancing from 20th to tenth. Kofoid would end up fourteenth in the final rundown and was diplomatic in his assessment of the final lap while Gravel stuck to his story of, he didn’t do it on purpose which a wave of boos was not buying!!

The feature was a good race but the ending left a sour taste in our mouths and we walked away disappointed in “The Greatest Show On Dirt”. Just our opinion!

That’s it for this weekend as today’s show at Indianapolis Raceway Park was postponed until next Saturday and a good call as the rain falls in Crawfordsville at 3;30 PM making a long trip for nothing for many of the teams coming a good distance. Comments, news, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Meanwhile, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area if the weather cooperates or catch a show on the road but either way have fun and be safe. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Claims 30 G’s At Fall Nationals At The Burg

Saturday, October 11 – After a good night’s sleep we awoke to sunshine and sparkling water of the Ohio River out our hotel window. We decided to take a leisurely ride down river through the towns of Aurora and Rising Sun. It was a pleasant ride and we stopped to take pictures along the way of a tugboat pushing six barges down the Ohio. A stop at an antique shop found us having a scoop of delicious Hershey’s ice cream before starting the ride back to Lawrenceburg and the Fall Nationals, night two, at the Lawrenceburg Speedway. We drove to the camp site of Steve and Maggi Kimmel and sat around for a while chatting until we decided to go into Lawrenceburg and dine at the Proof 124 Table and Tavern where we enjoyed delicious meals. Back to the track grounds and by 6:15 hot laps for the dismal car count of 18 USAC sprint cars were underway. Can’t understand why drivers go to another track paying $2500 to win while tonight’s program at Lawrenceburg pays $20,000 to win! We believe various factors played into the decision of some teams to head elsewhere. The other race at Brownstown was a Midwest Thunder 410 sprint series race and many of the Indiana contingent were in the point hunt. Also, some did not come to Lawrenceburg because of two factors, one they didn’t feel they could win the $20,000 and the big 3/8 mile dirt oval is tough on motors. Still, it was disappointing to see only 18 cars tow to Lawrenceburg to race on this night.

Time trials would start off the night at 6:42 and by 6:58 Kevin Thomas Jr had spun off the quickest time of the night was a lap of 13.663 seconds and took down his first fast time of 2025 which was a surprise since Thomas holds the single season fast time record of 15 quick times in a year.

Vintage race cars were the other division on hand tonight and various varieties of race cars toured the track in hot laps before the first heat was called to the post for the USAC sprint cars.

Saban Bibent, a local driver from Cincinnati, held off the challenges of Chase Stockon to score the first heat win with Thomas third, CJ Leary fourth, Kyle Shipley (a new entrant) fifth and Koby Simpson, coming off a roll over the night before finishing sixth. Ricky Lewis placed the Benic #2B out front early and claimed heat two over Todd Hobson, Gunnar Setser, Kyle Cummins, Logan Seavey and Kayla Roell. Heat three was captured by Hayden Reinbold outdistancing Jake Swanson, Briggs Danner, Justin Grant, Mitchel Moles and Glen Saville.

The vintage cars reappeared for another exhibition run around the 3/8 mile oval before the starting field for the 18th running of the Fall Nationals was staged on the homestretch with the starting field introduced to the crowd before pushing off for the main event. It was a nice touch and the crowd was enthusiastic in cheering for each of the drivers racing in the 30 lap, $20,000 to win feature race. Two drivers were eligible for a bonus in the Hoosier Trifecta from races held during the year at Tri-State (Haubstadt Hustler), Kokomo (Smackdown) and Lawrenceburg (Fall Nationals). Seavey could pocket an extra $10,000 for a victory while Justin Grant could pocket an extra $20,000 for a victory.

We were ready to go feature racing by 8:39 with the front row of Mitchel Moles and Logan Seavey bringing 16 of their friends to the green flag to get things underway. Seavey would bound into the early lead over Moles and Kyle Shipley. Justin Grant disposed of Shipley for third on the opening lap as the smell of extra greenbacks was in his nostrils. Seavey would pace the field for the first fifteen laps as Grant was able to use a turn three slider to take away second from Moles on lap ten and began to cut into Seavey’s second lead. Grant was coming quickly and passed Seavey for the lead off turn four on lap sixteen to go out front. Grant was looking like an extra $20,000 would be his as the lap count hit lap eighteen. The caution appeared on lap twenty six when a car slowed to a stop in turn four to bring out the caution. At the same time leader, Grant, slowed in turn two with a shredded right rear tire forcing the TOPP #4 to go pitside to change the flat shoe with Grant returning to the rear. How quickly things can change and dreams of $40,000 are replaced by heartbreak as those big bucks disappeared in a flash. You think Hoosier tires are expensive; this one was a $40,000 one!!!

Seavey was handed a gift with Grant’s misfortune and he did not want to lose it either. On the restart Seavey was gone and led the remaining four laps opening up almost a second lead as he flashed under the double checkers at 8:57 to score his seventh win of 2025 and his 31st career USAC National sprint car win tying him with Tyler Courtney for 17th on the all-time win list and collecting $30,000 in the process. Moles would cross the line for another second with Kyle Cummins third, CJ Leary tenth to fourth and Jake Swanson twelfth to fifth earning the hard charger award for that finish.

Lost in all the hoopla of the money was the fact that with his third place finish Kyle Cummins secured enough points to clinch the 2025 USAC sprint car point championship with four races still to run. It was a first for both he and his car owner, Jerry Petty, and well deserved.

Hayden Reinbold paced the second five across the line in sixth with Ricky Lewis seventh, Kevin Thomas Jr eighth, Gunnar Setser ninth and Kyle Shipley rounding out the top ten.

It was time to pack up our belongings and head homeward after spending two nights in Lawrenceburg for the Fall Nationals.

That’s it for now but check back next weekend as we have two races on the agenda locally and they should be two good ones. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area as the season begins to wind down or take your racing on the road and hit a bucket list track. Either way, remember to have fun and be safe. Comments, news, stories, rumors and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you are enjoying them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Takes Ninth Of Year In Staab Memorial Run At Lawrenceburg

Friday, October 10 – Fall is upon us so that means it is time to head down to the southeast corner of Indiana, to the town of Lawrenceburg, for the Fall Nationals at the 3/8 mile, Lawrenceburg Speedway. On tap tonight was the second annual Greg Staab Memorial honoring the former driver and car owner who passed away. Twenty two USAC sprint cars and 11 hornets pulled into the turn four pit area for tonight’s racing with $6544 dollars going to the winner of the 30 lap feature event.

As are the norm time trials would begin, the program starting at 6:46 and wrapping up at 6:58 with Mitchel Moles scoring his 14th quick time of the season moving within one of the all-time single season record held by Kevin Thomas Jr. He toured the 3/8 mile oval in a time of 13.836 seconds and was awarded $294 by Staab’s family and friends for doing so.

Each heat winner would be awarded a sum of $144 for winning their respective heat races with CJ Leary claiming the first heat outrunning Kevin Thomas Jr, Kyle Cummins, Mitchel Moles, Shawn Westerfeld and Hayden Reinbold. Heat two was captured by Logan Seavey besting Gunnar Setser, Ricky Lewis, Chase Stockon, Briggs Danner and Dustin Webber. This heat saw Ryan Barr leading the event early, catching a soft spot in turn one, digging his right front into the surface and then hanging on taking a wild series of end over end flips before coming to rest on the track surface. After a few minutes Barr was able to climb from the mangled machine OK after the nasty spill. The third heat would see Jake Swanson storm from sixth to first in the opening two laps and score the heat win over Saban Bibent, Todd Hobson in a team car to Bibent, Justin Grant, Nate Carle and Koby Simpson. All sprint car heat qualifying was completed by 7:59. Two hornet heats were spun off and after some track prep it was time to go feature racing.

Twenty one sprinters would be brought to the green flag at 8:45 by the front row of Justin Grant and Chase Stockon with Grant getting early advantage. Grant would stake a 1.5 second lead on the field by lap three. Lap four saw two separate spins with Aric Gentry looping it on the backstretch while Kyle Willis spun in turn four to bring out the first caution. Grant was quick to the point on the restart but exiting turn four coming to lap five a puff of smoke emitted from his sprinter and a blown engine would end his evening much too early relegating him to a 21st place finish in a shocking turn of events.

On the restart Chase Stockon would assume the lead chased by Jake Swanson and Kyle Cummins. Lap six saw Cummins pick off Swanson for second and he took up the chase of Chase for the top spot. Lap nine saw the second slowdown of the action when Nate Carle suddenly slowed off turn four with Koby Simpson right in his tire tracks having nowhere to go but into the rear end of the #14C flipping over once and landing on his wheels. Simpson and Carle were both OK after the incident.

On the ensuing restart Stockon retained the lead but Cummins started to show his nose underneath the leader as the pair raced around the 3/8 mile oval. Lap eleven saw Cummins execute his first slider for the lead entering turn one into the lead but Stockon countered off turn two and regained the lead. Lap thirteen saw Cummins pulling the same maneuver in turn one and this time he was able to pull it off and storm into the lead. From this point forward the only question was who was going to finish second as Cummins pulled away by over four seconds. A good battle was going on behind Cummins among Logan Seavey, Ricky Lewis and Briggs Danner for fourth through sixth with each of them out front in various spots on the speedway. With two to go the third caution appeared when the right rear wheel cover of Saban Bibent flew off on the cushion in turn one and brought the field back to Cummins.

On the restart Cummins was quick on the loud pedal and moved away from the field once again. By the time the double checkers would wave at 9:10 it was Cummins across the line first by almost a second over Stockon with Swanson third, Seavey fourth and Ricky Lewis bringing the Benic #2B across the line in fifth in another fine run after starting tenth. It would be Cummins’ ninth USAC victory of 2025 and his 29th career USAC sprint car win moving him into 20th surpassing A. J. Foyt, Levi Jones, Don Branson and JJ Yeley on the all-time win list. Briggs Danner would bring the second five to the line finishing sixth with Thomas seventh, Moles eighth, Bibent ninth and Gunnar Setser rounding out the top ten. The hard charger award went to Kayla Roell, who might have been the first female hard charger in USAC history advancing from 18th to 12th at the end.

It was a quick night of racing and the second half of the feature was decent but the evening was not quite over for us as we ventured to the beautiful motorhome of Steve and Maggi Kimmel where we enjoyed hot chocolate and peanut butter cookies while sitting in front of the electric fireplace enjoying both the warmth and good company.

That’s it for this report but check back Sunday to see who wins the big $20,000 dollars on the line for the Fall National finale. Meanwhile, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or catch a bucket list track show but either way be safe and have fun. Correspondence can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com and we look forward to hearing from you all. And as always, thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to do so. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rain Stops Jacksonville Friday & Phillips Claims Sprint Invader Win At Hawkeye Downs

Friday, October 3 – Our three hour drive from Crawfordsville to Jacksonville, Illinois was completed in partial sunshine but late in the afternoon clouds rolled in and light showers and thunderstorms rolled over Jacksonville. It was enough water for the World Racing group to cancel night one of the Xtreme Outlaw midgets to the disappointment of everyone who gathered on the Morgan County Fairgrounds parking lot. We decided to eat dinner at McAlister’s and when we exited into the parking lot the strangest thing occurred. The sun was shining, there was a huge rainbow in the sky and there was still a light rain falling at 6 PM. Guess some nights are just not meant to be.

Saturday, October 4 – After last night’s rainout we made the 3 ½ hour venture north into Iowa to take in the racing action at the Hawkeye Downs Speedway near Cedar Rapids. Hawkeye Downs normally has a ½ mile asphalt and ¼ mile asphalt ovals but management decided to put good black Iowa dirt down on the quarter mile at the end of September through the month of October and try something different. Well, so far it has been a real success story with the IMCA racing last week drawing between 2500 to 3000 race fans while today the crowd was in the 1500 to 2000 range. It is great to see some promoters take a chance and do something different and we wanted to come to Iowa to support them.

The highlight of the day was meeting up with fellow trackchasers, Jon Jay Mooney, from Illinois and Jim Reeder and his wife, Khris, coming over from Newton, Iowa to watch the races and visit with all of us. That’s what makes racing fun is the friends you make along the way and the good times getting together at a new track.

The schedule for tonight had four divisions of race cars competing with the headliner division being the 360 Sprint Invaders drawing 19 cars which was a little disappointing but POWRi 410 Outlaw sprints might have taken five cars away from their total. Also on the dance card were vintage cars (10), mostly old sprint cars but an interesting entry of a Northeastern big block modified from the Dick Tobias stable. John Tobias from Wisconsin was the owner and driver and don’t know if he is a relative of the famous Tobias family. Sport mods (32) and sport compacts (26) would round out the entries on the evening.

Racing kicked off at 6:47 with three heats for the Sprint Invaders with the first heat notched by Brett Moffitt over Jack Thomas, Kelby Watt and Eric Wilke. Heat two was captured by Dustin Selvage besting Tyler Lee, Terry McCarl and Riley Goodno. JJ Hickle claimed heat three outrunning Tasker Phillips, the Knoxville 360 point champion, Colton Fisher and McCain Richards.

The vintage cars would contest two heats while the sport mods ran four and the sport compacts ran off three heats. A dash race for the sprints won by Dustin Selvage and a B main for the sport mods completed the preliminary events and it was now time to go feature racing.

We were surprised when management decided to run the premier division, the sprint cars last in the feature lineup not giving them the best track to race on. Instead, the vintage cars ran a 12 lap feature with Mike Gray coping the win in that race. Next up were the sport compacts which ran an 18 lap feature and we all agreed that this was the best feature of the evening as these guys and girls went three wide on numerous occasions and put on a whale of a show. Cristian Grady won from sixth with Brad Chandler advancing from eighth to second by a nose over Stephen Randall. The sport mods ran a competitive 20 lap feature with Tony Olson winning from fourth with Austin Kemp second and Tim Plummer ninth to three.

It was time for the 25 lap, $3000 to win Sprint Invaders feature but even before the race began as the field was lining up to start the race and fifth starter, Tyler Lee, did a 360 degree spin and was sent to the rear of the field. Obviously, a series rule but we found this to be bizarre! The green flag dropped at 9:24 with Tasker Phillips into the early lead but the caution would wave before one lap was completed when Grae Anderson spun. On the restart Phillips was back to the point over Dustin Selvage and JJ Hickle. Lap two saw Hickle use the low side to slip by Selvage for second and take up the chase of Phillips. By lap five Phillips was into lap traffic on the quarter mile when Colton Fisher started cartwheeling entering turn one landing in the middle of turn one upon stopping. The crowd went silent as it was several minutes before Fisher was able to climb from his mangled sprinter.

On the restart Anderson spun again in turn two and the two spin rule was in effect and Anderson was done for the evening. Terry McCarl slipped by Brett Moffitt on the restart into fourth as Phillips and Hickle began to distance the rest of the field. The leaders again encountered lap traffic on lap thirteen and began to pick their way through them as the top side against the fence was the preferred lane at this point. Lap fifteen saw Lee flip over the turn two barriers with Luke Verardi also turning turtle on the track with McCain Richards also involved. All drivers were OK after the incident.

Phillips would move out front once again on the restart and would pace the field over the final ten laps of the race crossing the finish line at 10:02 getting the win over JJ Hickle, Dustin Selvage, hard charger, Cody Wehrle from fourteenth to fourth and Terry McCarl rounding out the top five. This was Phillips’ first win of the year with the Sprint Invaders and the win also gave him the 2025 Sprint Invader point championship to go along with his Knoxville Raceway 360 point championship. A real good year for Tasker Phillips!

It was a good night of racing on the Hawkeye Downs’ dirt but we were not done racing yet as Jim let us know that Cedar County Raceway was racing tonight just 40 minutes away and in the direction of our hotel so a quick exit from the parking lot found us on the road to Tipton with Pat doing double duty monitoring live on MyRacePass the action at Cedar County and monitoring the GPS to get us there. We slid into the parking lot on the fairgrounds and found a parking spot and headed toward the grandstands. On tap tonight was the third night of the Fall Bash with eight divisions competing with close to 240 cars entered. We missed the American Iron, 2 man cruisers and hobby stock features but settled into the nice aluminum grandstands with backs as the 40 lap IMCA modified feature unfolded. At the finish it was Ethan Braaksma in for the win over Tom Berry Jr and Tripp Gaylord coming from ninth to third. The 12 lap 4 stock (compacts) feature was next on the dance card and these folks put on another fine show with Joe Zrostlik winning from 11th with Jacob Welter advancing from 15th to second and Scott Vetter 8th to third.

The 20 lap IMCA stock car feature (our favorite Iowa race division) was the next race scheduled and as usual they did not disappoint! Braden Richards won from sixth over a tight battle for second won by John Oliver Jr with Cayden Carter storming from 15th to finish third. Carter ran third in the stock cars at Bloomfield Speedway last month when we were there and also won the IMCA modified run there.

We were going to stay and watch the sport mod feature but the combination of cooler weather and the time approaching midnight made us decide to head toward the exit and make the additional 45 minute drive to the hotel for the evening. It was good to score a two new track double on this Saturday evening, especially after suffering the rainout at Jacksonville on Friday.

That’s it for this weekend but check back next weekend to see where we end up next. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take a road trip to catch one of the big fall races coming up. Either way, be safe and have fun. Comments, news, stories or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

The sad news of the passing of one of the original Outlaws, Bobby Allen, reached us this morning as we awoke. Allen was one of the good guys competing for many years on a shoestring budget but still able to win many races including the 1990 Knoxville Nationals in a race that had the fans going wild. It is a sad day in racing and Rest In Peace Bobby and thanks for the memories! God Bless!

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Kinser, Hobson & Ginder Score Wins At Paragon

Saturday, September 27 – After attending Paragon Speedway on Friday night for the USAC sprint car show and enjoying the well run program we had several options for Saturday night. They were Brownstown Speedway for Lucas Oil Late Models, Lincoln Park Speedway for championship night and Paragon Speedway running two nights in a row featuring the Midwest Thunder 410 sprint cars. After much thought we decided to attend Paragon for the second night in a row for two reasons, one they were having double sprint car features as their regular show last week was rain shortened and they only had two divisions, sprints and bombers. That increased to three when the MMSA mini sprints showed up on the schedule race day on MyRacePass. Still with three divisions and only one of them needing push offs we figured the show would be over in good time. Well, it seems every time Paragon runs a
regular program they have problems getting their programs over before midnight. That is not a good formula for drawing crowds and potential return customers when people are leaving before seeing all the features. We discussed this on our way home Saturday and some of the problems seem to be the little things where they lose five minutes here and ten minutes there. To give you some examples when a car spins out or has problems it seems numerous vehicles race to the scene but nothing seems to get accomplished. Lots of lights flashing but the time to clear these incidents just are longer than what should be the norm. Also after a caution it seems to take them too long to resume the racing action. When a three division program that starts racing at 7:30 even with the extra feature event is still running at 11:15 with still one feature to complete to us that is too long of a program. The fact also that not everyone is without 5 or 10 minutes of the track (we have an hour and twenty minute drive home for example) and to arrive at 6 and not leave until after 11 is too long!! Another problem is when your main division is sprint cars and you only have two push off truck and two ATV's to push them off that is not enough and also causes the program to drag. Management needs to recruit more push trucks to speed up the show.

Don't get us wrong we are not only pointing out the negative but trying to help make for a more well run program that people will come out to watch week after week. The new management at Paragon has done a fine job on many aspects of the facility from nicer restrooms, great aluminum grandstands and other seating options to the best racing surface we have ever seen at Paragon. Now what they need to do to have the perfect package is figure out a way to streamline their racing program itself.

Now onto the racing from Saturday. Hot laps/qualifying for the 33 sprint cars were spun off with Todd Hobson the fast timer at 14.539 around the 3/8 mile dirt oval. During the hot laps, JJ Hughes, who had just taken the Midwest Thunder sprint car point lead last night at Circle City launched his #76 into a massive flip reminiscent of Brady Bacon's flip at Terre Haute in turn three ending up toward turn four with the tail tank flying off in the series of end over end tumbles. Luckily Hughes would quickly climbed from the destroyed sprinter unharmed. Jake Scott would loan him one of the backup #33's which Hughes would use to take a provisional for the feature event. Hot laps/qualifying were also run for the MMSA mini sprints (18) and the bombers (15) before we got down to some racing action.

The 25 lap non-wing sprint car feature rained out last weekend was first up on the dance card and the 22 car field took the green flag at 7:33. Trey Osborne jumped to the early lead over Jordan Kinser. Lap five saw Todd Hobson move into the top five for the first time after starting eighth. The first caution would wave on lap nine as Sam Hinds running third at the time lost the handle in turn two and spun to a stop. Logan Prickett, a Purdue University student, made his move on the restart climbing into third and chasing Osborne and Kinser ahead. Jordan Kinser was all over Osborne for the next three laps before being able to pass Tall on the homestretch on lap twelve for the lead. Jake Scott who started fifth began to make his presence known moving into third by lap fifteen. The order remained the same until lap twenty one when the smoking Osborne went totally up in smoke on the homestretch pulling to the infield ending his fine run. He would also be done for the evening. On the restart Kinser took off and opened a good sized lead. Scott began to close as the laps clicked down but was not able to make a serious challenge with Kinser crossing the line first at 8;00 taking the win with Scott second, Prickett a strong third, Hobson taking down fourth and young Kole Kirkman behind the wheel of the Gass #17G claiming a solid fifth at the finish.

The MMSA mini sprint heats were next on the docket and they would run two heats for their 18 car field. Johnson Ginder would score the win in heat one over Brandon Coffey and Steve Justis. Mike Larrison won heat two over Jordan Shipley and Adam Hirsch. The Midwest Thunder 410 sprints would contest four heats with the top four advancing to the 25 lap main event. The 33 entries dwindled to 27 after wrecks and mechanical woes reduced the field to 27 for heat racing. Jake Scott nailed down the first heat win besting Matt Westfall, Hunter Maddox and Harley Burns. Heat two fell to Michael Clark in a good run beating Jordan Kinser, Trey McGranahan and Cindy Chambers. Jadon Rogers drove the family car to victory lane in the third heat over Travis Berryhill, Logan Prickett and Gabriel Gilbert. The fourth heat was captured by Todd Hobson over Sam Hinds, Kole Kirkman and Carson Garrett. Two heats for the bombers would follow before the B main for the sprints was track side. Billy Lawless won the B main over Eli Wilhelmus, Donny Brackett and David Hair. As previously mentioned JJ Hughes would be added to the field as a provisional making a 21 car field for the 25 lap main event.

The MMSA mini sprints would contest their 20 lap feature first to give the sprint B main participants some time to regroup and prepare for their feature event. Jordan Shipley was quick to the lead and looked like it might be his night as he pulled away from the field. Four cautions would bunch the pack up again but Shipley retained the lead until the final restart with only a few laps to go. As the field came to the restart Shipley did not fire and numerous cars passed him before he hit the throttle. It was bizarre as Shipley continued but was not longer in the lead. Johnson Ginder who started fourth was the beneficiary of the misfire and would lead the final few laps and take the checkered at 10:10 beating Jeremy Schnepper who started seventh and Shipley who rebounded for third. In the podium interviews young Shipley sheepishly admitted that he didn't realize they were restarting the race on that lap! A mistake we bet Shipley will not make again!

That led us to the 25 lap, $5000 to win Midwest Thunder 410 sprint car feature with the front row of Travis Berryhill and Jordan Kinser bringing the 21 car field to the green flag at 10:31. Berryhill was quick on the throttle and jumped into the early lead. Eli Wilhelmus got crossed up in turn one on lap two and stalled giving Cindy Chambers and Donny Brackett nowhere to go with both clipping Wilhelmus. Chambers suffered a flat tire while Brackett rolled over once landing on his wheels. One lap later Trey McGranahan found himself turning turtle also in turn one. It was a rough start to the race but on the restart Berryhill moved to the point chased by Kinser and Matt Westfall. Lap six saw Berryhill bobble on the fourth turn cushion allowing Kinser to dive low and assume the lead. Kinser would lead until lap eleven when Todd Hobson powered by on the low side in turn one to take over the lead. A couple laps later Berryhill stopped on the homestretch while running fourth and was pushed to the work area where was able to return to the rear of the field. With five to go Jadon Rogers, running fourth, flew off turn one and went behind the pit wall ending his night early.

The final restart went smoothly with Hobson using the cushion to round the track for the last five laps crossing the finish line at 11:15 in a long race with Kinser second, Westfall third, Jake Scott making a late charge to finish fourth with Sam Hinds coming home fifth. Kole Kirkman would lead the second five to the finish line in sixth after starting 12th with Michael Clark seventh, Carson Garrett 16th to eighth, Logan Prickett ninth and Harley Burns finishing tenth. It was not a very good race and took almost 45 minutes to complete. It was time to hit the road and head home to Crawfordsville for a shorter night of sleep.

That's it for now but check back next weekend as we take it on the road to visit one track that we haven't been to for over a year and the second is a new endeavor. In the meantime, get out there and catch some good short track racing in your area as fall is upon us and soon winter will be here. Have fun and be safe wherever you end up. Comments, news, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. How about 61 year old Dale Blaney becoming the oldest WOO sprint car winner last night (Saturday) at Sharon Speedway. Good job, Dale!! Thanks for reading our efforts and we still hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet as you don't know what they maybe going through and a smiling hello could be just the thing that they need.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Moles By A Bumper At Paragon

Friday, September 26 – A beautiful fall day greeted us as we arose on Friday with cloudless skies and temperatures in the 70’s
which climbed into the 80’s as the day processed but low humidity made for a great weather day. Today was a special day as the
USAC National sprint cars would return to race at the 3/8 mile Paragon Speedway for the first time in four years and management
could not have asked for better weather for USAC’s return. We left Subway at 4:05 with two subs in hand (or instead in the cooler)
and headed south on Route 231 toward Paragon. At the junction of Route 67 we made a left and headed east for several miles
before turning left on old Rt. 67 driving onto the grounds of Paragon Speedway at 5:20. We secured our parking space and didn’t
have to worry about seats as our Arizona friends, Steve and Maggi Kimmel, had tied down their yellow tablecloth in the top row of
the lower section of aluminum grandstands to view tonight’s racing.

USAC hot laps were followed by sprint time trials taking the initial green flag at 6:47. By 7:06 the 28 car field had completed timing
under the clock with a surprise fast timer in Colorado’s Carson Garrett in the Epperson #2E setting a new track record with a time
of 14.309 seconds around the 3/8 mile dirt oval breaking the previous mark of Mark Casella of 14.886 set 29 years ago in 1996.
Hot laps for the 20 super stocks on hand, the only support class of the evening, were next on the agenda before the action moved
into the first of four USAC sprint car heats with the top five moving directly into the 30 lap feature later in the evening.

The first green flag on racing flew at 7:33 and less than two minutes later another new track record had been set when Kevin
Thomas Jr motored the Rock Steady #3R to victory in heat one with a new eight lap track record time of 1:57.475 elapsing the
previous record of 2:96.560 set by Sheldon Kinser way back in 1984. Thomas was chased across the line in this one by CJ Leary,
Brandon Mattox, Carson Garrett and Logan Seavey. Heat two went to the USAC sprint car rookie, Gunnar Setser, turning back Ricky
Lewis in the Benic #2B tonight with Kevin Cummins third, Hunter Maddox fourth and Matt Westfall fifth. Heat three was won by
Chance Crum in a strong run with contact made on the last lap when Mitchel Moles tried to pass Crum on the outside coming to the
line with Moles crossing second but ending up in the infield. It was a close call but no damage was sustained. Justin Grant powered
to victory in heat four outrunning Jake Swanson, Trey Osborne, Gabriel Gilbert and Briggs Danner in this one.

Three super stock heats would follow with Issiah Sasser, Zach Sasser and Jordan Almanza scoring wins. The sprint semi was next
on the dance card with the top four moving to the big dance. Braxton Cummings executed a last lap, last turn pass of Sam Hinds to
grab the win with Hinds second, Rob Caho Jr third and Travis Thompson the last man in.

The twenty lap super stock feature would be next on the agenda giving the semi drivers some time to prepare for the 30 lap feature.
The super stocks spun off a competitive feature with only three cautions interrupting the action with younger brother, Issiah Sasser
able to hold off his older brother, Zach, for the win with Jordan Almanza third, Cale Kern fourth and Derrick Hufford advancing from
12th to fifth at the finish in a twelve minute race.

Now it was time for the 30 lap USAC National sprint car feature with twenty four starters ready to do battle. Hunter Maddox and
Logan Seavey made up the front row and brought the field to the green flag at 9:21 with Seavey galloping into the early lead. Lap
four saw the only caution of the evening fly when Carson Garrett and Justin Grant tangled in turn three with Garrett spinning and
ending up teetering on the edge of the embankment backwards. Garrett would return but was never a factor for the remainder of
the contest.

On the ensuing restart Seavey was quick to the lead trailed by Maddox and Mitchel Moles. Seavey opened up a good lead again as
Maddox was running strong and holding off all challenges for second. Finally on lap nine Moles made a big move storming by Maddox
off turn four and roared into second. Seavey continued to pace the field with a healthy lead as Moles began to cut into the lead as the
race approached the halfway mark. Lap cars began to play into the mix, allowing Moles to gain big chunks of real estate tracking down
Seavey. Lap fourteen saw Seavey open the bottom lane with Moles able to dive low off turn four and slid up in front of Seavey to take
the lead at that point. It’s a rarity to pass Seavey once he is in the lead but Moles was able to accomplish the feat and began to
pull away. Fifth starting Kyle Cummins was making his presence known also at this time slotting into the third position and closing
on Seavey. Lap eighteen found Cummins catching and passing Seavey for second on the backstretch and took up the chase of
Moles. Cummins was gaining ground on the lead and with five laps to go he was only two car lengths in arrears. Moles worked
the traffic better in the next four laps and held about a seven car length lead on the final lap and looked in control. Cummins was
not done yet as Moles encountered 14th running Ricky Lewis in turn three which allowed Cummins to close to his rear nerf bar of
Moles entering turn four. Cummins dove low off turn four with Moles up high riding Lewis’ rear bumper as the pair drag raced to the
line with Moles edging Cummins by a mere .021 seconds or a front bumper length!! Wow!! What a finish!!

Moles got the win which broke a 61 race losing streak in USAC sprint competition for him and also his first of the year and fifth of
his career. The Harry Gant of USAC (numerous second place finishes before winning) snapped a streak of five second place finishes
this year alone. In another interesting note Kyle Cummins has now finished second in seven of his last ten USAC sprint starts himself.
Seavey would trudge home for third with Justin Grant advancing from eighth to fourth and Jake Swanson rounding out the top five.
That would be Swanson’s third consecutive fifth run in a USAC sprint car race which is a unique accomplishment. Kevin Thomas Jr
would lead the second five across the line in sixth with CJ Leary notching sixth after starting seventeenth and the hard charger of the
night with Gunnar Setser eighth, Hayden Reinbold ninth and Chase Stockon rounding out the top ten with the final checker waving at
9:34. Good job USAC and Paragon management in running a well oiled program of racing on the evening.

That’s it for this segment but check back tomorrow for see where we end up tonight in our racing endeavors. In the meantime, get out
there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road and catch a track on your hit list. Either way
have fun and be safe. Comments, new, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always
thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good
and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Mihocko & Lux Win At Lincoln Park

Saturday, September 20 – It was another day of sunshine and it was time to get back to racing after taking our 14 day drive down
along the Mississippi River. Eldora was running the Four Crowns but we are not big Eldora fans so the alternatives were Paragon
and Lincoln Park. The choice was simple for both of us as we love the seating and viewing points at LPS and it is the closest track
to our house. We also love the atmosphere there as it embraces you like a comfortable sweater as you settle into your lawn chair and
prepare for another night of good racing at the 5/16 mile banked dirt oval in beautiful downtown Putnamville for another night of
down home style racing. Five divisions were on the card for the evening anchored by the 410 non-wing sprint cars (20) along with
22 UMP modifieds, 14 Midwest Thunder D2 midgets, 21 super stocks and 20 bombers for a full pit area for the evening. After hot
laps/qualifying for each group it was time to go heat racing with the non-wing sprint cars first up to do battle. Ivan Glotzbach looked
strong holding off Jadon Rogers in the Baldwin #5 for the win followed by Aaron Davis and Tony Helton. Kyle Johnson looking better
each time out claimed heat two besting Seth Parker, Mason Giddens and Austin Nigh. Tye Mihocko would take down heat three in his
quest for his fourth straight point title with the Jamie Paul team outdistancing Zack Pretorius, Harley Burns and Rylan Gray.

The bombers were second in the order and this group of drivers are a hidden gem and probably put on some of the closest racing week
in and week out here and it was good to see them get the spotlight once in a while moving up in the race order. Scott Tidwell, multi
winner, Josh Foxworthy and Dustin Petro captured heat wins and established themselves as the favorites to win on this Saturday night.

Announcer Pat Sullivan passed along that there was a developing front headed toward us and they were going to try their best to
complete the entire program so things were moved along as quickly as possible. So, the next order of business was to line up the 25 lap
D2 midget feature with the initial green flag waving on the field by 7:53. Matt Lux would charge off the outside of the front row past
D2 points leader, Tyler Nelson, and into the early lead. These two were stuck together like glue and ran nose to tail for the entire distance.
Sammy Males, a 15 year old driver, rolled his #11M in turn two on lap eight to break out the red flag. He was OK but his twin brother,
Shelton, who alternates in the seat probably wasn’t too happy with his brother wrecking the car! On the restart Lux was quick on the
throttle and jumped back out front. As the front two waged their own battle the other three #11’s remaining in the race went at it tooth
and nail for positions three through five. Nelson drew alongside several times on the straightaways but was unable to complete the pass
for the top spot. When the checkered flags flew at 8:07 it was Lux the winner beating Nelson with Jalen Cox third after starting sixth,
Buddy Hollmeyer fourth and Alex Watson fifth after starting eighth, all in #11’s.

The UMP modifieds ran three heats and the super stocks spun off three heats in good order as the wind began to pick up noticeably.
All heat action was completed by 8:39 and it was time to go feature racing for the non-wing sprint cars. Ivan Glotzbach and Seth Parker
brought 18 of their friends to the initial green flag at 8:46 with Parker getting the early lead in turn two. Harley Burns went to second
passing Glotzbach on the backstretch on lap five with Tye Mihocko slipping by Glotzbach for third with the same move on lap six.
Parker set the pace until lap twelve when Burns bounced off the turn four curb perfectly propelling him past Parker for the lead at the
line completing lap twelve. Michigan’s Jason Tirb went flying off turn two on lap thirteen bouncing and encountering the guide rail in
front of the pit bleachers causing him a sudden stop. Tirb was fine after his off track excursion but not the same for his sprinter. Three
more cautions waved on this lap and the old saying cautions breed cautions could be applied.

On the fourth restart we were racing again with Burns pacing the field by several car lengths over Parker and Mihocko as the laps clicked
off. In turn four on lap twenty the entire complexion of the race turned on its head as Justin Meneely got all kinds of squirrely going
every which way forcing Burns to take evasive action ending up on top of the cushion and losing the top two spots to Mihocko and Parker.
Burns was all out of sorts now as he recovered off the cushion to return to the homestretch. Unfortunately between turns one and two he
got together with Parker causing both to spin as the caution appeared. Meanwhile since all eyes had been up front the impressive drive of
Beau Brandon from 15th to now 4th had been mostly missed. On the ensuing restart Mihocko was off like a rocket blasting to the front to
never be headed over the remaining five laps of the contest. Brandon soared by both Pretorius and Rogers to take over second but could
not track down Mihocko over the remaining laps. So at 9:12 it was Mihocko first across the line chased by Brandon, Pretorius, Rogers
and Aaron Davis in a good run. Positions six through ten were filled by Mason Giddens, Austin Nigh, Brandon Spencer, Ivan Glotzbach
and Harley Burns rallying for tenth. It was a good race but certainly a heartbreaker for Burns who looked like he had one in the bag.
Instead the bag contained a squirrel instead!

I decided to stay for the 15 lap bomber feature as Pat retreated to the car as the wind picked up again and some drops of rain were felt.
The bombers went green just three minutes after the sprint car feature checkered as management was in rush mode now. Five cautions
would slow the action but when they were racing it was a good contest. Scott Tidwell would lead from start to finish but that didn’t tell
the whole story. Tidwell had to work for this one as he was hounded by David Vancleave from Crawfordsville, Josh Foxworthy and
Dustin Petro over the 15 lap distance. First Vancleave and Petro banged hard racing down the backstretch with just three laps to go
With Vancleave getting into the left quarter panel of Petro in turn three turning him around. Vancleave was relegated to the rear and
Petro was given his third spot back. On the restart Tidwell went to the point with eight time winner, Foxworthy, in his tire tracks with
Petro third. Petro was able to pass Foxworthy for second with two to go but Tidwell was able to fend off his last lap challenge to score
his fourth win of the year with Petro second and Foxworthy third checkering this one at 9:30. Brenden Birkla had a great run from
19th to finish fourth and Jason Trader came from 10th to finish fifth. These guys and girls run hard and produce some good racing
action.

I decided I didn’t want to tempt fate and mother nature anymore so I grabbed my gear and headed for the exits as the UMP modified
feature came trackside. It was a good move as once I reached our SUV it started to rain lightly and exiting the grounds the rain began
to pick up to a steady rain. Checking MyRacePass on the way home we found out that the UMP modified and super stock features did
not make it so next week they will be added to championship night. Another good night of racing at LPS.

That’s it for this weekend but check back next weekend to see where we end up. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy the remaining
Racing in your area or take the show on the road. Either way, have fun and be safe out there. Comments, news, stories or anything else
of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them
as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Miller Wins POWRi 410 Outlaw Sprint Race At Benton

Saturday, September 6 – Traveling further south on the Great River Road along the Mississippi River today we decided to
stop at the Benton Speedway in Benton, Missouri on the evening to take in the POWRi Winged 410 Outlaw sprints. Benton
is a nice 3/8 mile dirt oval where you park across the street from the track and walk through an arch to the ticket booth.
They have decent wooden bleachers that stretch the entire distance of the homestretch from turn four to turn one. Lighting
is adequate and the surface is tacky and very racy with many sprinters doing wheelies in hot laps. This was our first visit to
Benton Speedway and we were pleased with the entire experience.

Time trials for the POWRi sprints were first on the agenda with the first sprinter taking the green flag at 6:38. Entering turn
one Reed Whitney spun and backed his sprinter in the wall rolling over in the process. He was OK but the car was done for
the evening. Wouldn’t you know it, the second driver, Natalie Doney, did the exact same thing with the same results and we
began to wonder what was going on! After that normalcy returned and the remaining 30 sprints turned their laps and by 7:08
Howard Moore was being interviewed after setting fast time of 12.361 seconds around the 3/8 mile oval. The other four divisions,
street stocks (15), B mods (9), mod lites (7) and kids modz (3) hot lapped before the sprints returned to contest their four heat
races.

Hank Davis from Oklahoma driving the Beaver #12X invaded and scored the win in heat one over Howard Moore, Lane Warner
and Korbin Keith. Heat two was captured by Gage Montgomery over sixth starting Broc Elliott, Xavier Doney who went to the
rear and rebounded to finish third with Scotty Milan fourth. Joe B. Miller cruised in heat three besting Ronny Howard, Preston
Perlmutter and Brad Bowden. Derek Hager dominated heat four winning over John Barnard, Ayrton Gennetten and Bryce Norris.
All the sprint heats were in the books by 8:08 after starting at 7:41.

The B mods, mod lites and kids modz ran one heat each with the street stocks running two ending at 8:39. Only the sprint cars would
need a B main with the top six joining the sixteen already locked it by passing points for the 25 lap main event. Brad Bowden would
claim the win in the 12 lap B main chased across the line by Kory Bales, Sean Rayhall who started 14th, Chase Howard from 11th, Adyn
Schmidt and Jack Potter, the last man in. All qualifying was completed by 8:54 with an intermission following while the track crew
groomed the surface for the 25 lap main event.

By 9:30 the front row of Joe B. Miller and Howard Moore brought twenty others to the green flag with Miller pushing out front.
Miller was being chased by Moore, Hank Davis, Ayrton Gennetten and Broc Elliott. Miller continued to expand his lead as the race
progressed just like Gennetten did the night before using the high side of the track to pull away. The racing behind Miller was fierce
with Davis running second and Gennetten all over him in third. Gennetten was able to pass Davis in lap traffic just past the halfway
mark but then encountered some pesky traffic and Davis was able to slip back by for the runnerup position. Miller was able to
maintain a comfortable lead though he was busy working lap traffic also. As the race dwindled down to five to go Miller may have
relaxed somewhat as the lappers would scrapping the wall making it more difficult for him to pick them off. This allowed Davis to
reel him in to only a few car lengths before Miller raced down the backstretch on the white flag lap with Davis making up chunks of
real estate. Exiting turn four Davis was close but not close enough as Miller flashed under the checkered flag first in the non-stop
race run in just seven minutes. Gennetten would fill the other podium position with Derek Hager finishing fourth after starting eighth
and Howard Moore rounding out the top five. Gage Montgomery led the second five across the line in sixth with Xavier Doney finishing
seventh, Sammy Swindell eighth, Bryce Norris ninth and Broc Elliott rounding out the top ten. This was Miller’s fourth POWRi win of
2025 and seventh career POWRi sprint win.

It was a very enjoyable night of racing with the sprint car feature providing plenty of racing action and passing with little dust to boot.
We decided to head out to get a good night’s sleep so we could leave early the next day to venture further south totally satisfied with
what we witnessed tonight at Benton.

That’s it for this weekend and as of now no racing scheduled for next weekend so check back in two weeks. In the meantime, get out
there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area as fall approaches and racing begins to slow down. Have fun, be safe and
enjoy. Comments, news or rumors and anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading
our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good
and be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what they maybe going through and your kindness at that moment might just
be what they need to brighten their day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Danner and Gennetten Take Sprint Car Doubleheader At Tri-City

Friday, September 5 – It was the third day of our vacation following the Great River Road along the Mississippi River and after
wrapping up our visit to Hannibal, MO, visiting Mark Twain’s boyhood home and other sites it was down Route 79 southward
toward Granite City, home of the 3/8 mile dirt oval known as the Tri-City Speedway. On tap tonight was an open wheel double-
header of USAC wingless sprints and POWRi Winged 410 Outlaw sprints along with restricted 600 micros and junior sprints on
the inner oval. Twenty two sprints of both varieties greeted us along with 2 restricted micros and 6 junior sprints. Time trials for
the USAC sprints would open up the program starting at 6:42 with two at a time going under the clock completing at 6:53. Justin
Grant topped the time chart with a new track record of 14.002 seconds for his fifth fast time of 2025 and 39th of his USAC sprint car
career moving him ahead of Levi Jones into seventh on the all-time fast time list. The POWRi winged 410 Outlaw sprints also ran
time trials two at a time with Ayrton Gennetten setting fast time with a lap of 12.744 seconds around the 3/8 mile dirt oval with their
qualifying wrapping up at 7:34. Hot laps for the other two divisions were next before we moved into the three qualifying heats for the
USAC sprints running at Tri-City for the first time in six years and our first visit in thirty four years. We sat with fellow trackchaser,
Jon Jay Mooney, who saved us seats high in the wooden grandstands going toward turn one three rows from the top, a real good view.

The first heat race for USAC took the green flag at 7:58 with Wesley Smith going to the front quickly and never being challenged as he
took the first heat over Kale Drake, CJ Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr, Justin Grant and Mario Clouser. Mitchel Moles claimed heat two out-
running Gunnar Setser, Jake Swanson, Logan Seavey, Kyle Cummins and Kobe Simpson. Heat three fell to Ricky Lewis outdistancing
Cale Coons, Briggs Danner, Jadon Rogers, Chase Stockon and Hayden Reinbold.

The POWRi Outlaw sprints would contest three heats also with Gage Montgomery winning heat one over Aryton Gennetten, Xavier
Doney and Howard Moore. Joe B. Miller nailed down heat two triumphing over Preston Perlmutter, Kevin Newton in the Simon #24
and Cory Bruns. Sean Rayhall captured heat three over Clinton Boyles, Scotty Milan and Brad Bowden. Neither sprint car class would
need semis or B mains. All qualifying was in the books by 8:46.

The USAC National sprint cars would get first honor to run their 30 lap main event on the evening with the front row of Chase Stockon
and Kyle Cummins bringing the 22 car field to the green flag at 9:39. Stockon got the early jump and led the first three laps before Kyle
Cummins was able to work his way by into the lead. Briggs Danner who started fourth also found some room on the top to clear Stockon
and move into second at that point. By lap twelve the trio were into heavy lap traffic with the lappers using the same groove up high as
the leaders causing them to perform short sliders to move by them. Justin Grant had just moved into fourth when entering turn three 20th
running Dakota Earls spun backwards in front of him into the turn three wall and cartwheeling over landing back on his wheels. Grant
barely escaped disaster and continued on.

On the ensuing restart Cummins moved to the point chased by Danner and Stockon. Cummins would lead through lap fourteen until
Danner got a good run down the backstretch and executed a short slider on Cummins in turn three sliding in front of him and into the lead.
Cummins tried to counter in turn one down low but fell short with Danner squirting away. In the latter stages of the race lap traffic began
to play a factor again as it was tough trying to slide low which was much slower and then dart up in front of them. Danner worked hard
down the stretch as Cummins, Stockon and Grant closed the gap once again. Danner was able to work lap traffic good enough to cross the
finish line at 9:54 with a half second advantage over Cummins with Stockon third, Grant fourth and Mario Clouser rounding out the top
five. Cale Coons would garner the hard charger advancing from 14th to finish 6th with Logan Seavey seventh, Mitchel Moles eighth, Kevin
Thomas Jr ninth and Jake Swanson rounding out the top ten. This was Danner’s third win of 2025 and sixth career USAC sprint triumph
overall.

We still had another sprint car feature to run with the POWRi Winged 410 Outlaw sprints ready to do battle over 25 laps around the 3/8
mile oval. Aryton Gennetten and Joe B. Miller would bring 23 car field to the green flag at 10:44 with Gennetten storming into early lead.
Miller, Clinton Boyles, Xavier Doney and Howard Moore took up the chase of the high flying Gennetten. Aryton steadily pulled away and
soon was in his own time zone as the rest of the field did battle. Gennetten would lead from flag to flag crossing the finish line at 10:57 first
for the second time in 2025 and his tenth career POWRi Outlaw sprint win of his career. Miller would hold off sixth starting Xavier Doney
for second with Howard Moore coming from tenth to fourth with Scotty Milan moving from ninth to fifth at the end. John Barnard came
home sixth after starting 14th to earn the hard charger award with Kevin Newton seventh, Bryce Norris eighth, Preston Perlmutter ninth
and Cory Bruns completing the top ten.

Neither race was anything to write home about as the track surface was subpar and didn’t lead to much good side by side racing.

That’s it for now but check back soon to see where we ended up on Saturday night. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good
short track racing in your area or hit the road and check some racing out. Either way, be safe, have fun and enjoy. Comments, news,
rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you
continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Coons Scores Third Win Of Year At Lincoln Park

Saturday, August 30 – The season is starting to wind down here in Indiana so we wanted to get back to our favorite place to watch a
race from, the 5/16 mile dirt oval at the Lincoln Park Speedway in beautiful down Putnamville, Indiana. We arrived slightly after 5
and entered the grandstand to place our folding chairs in the top row. We love the room you have to spread out and relax in your chair
and take in the view. There is not a bad seat in the house and you can see from everywhere. It was a late arriving crowd and the stands
and hillside filled in nicely on a beautiful late August night. The show tonight would consist of LPS’s normal four divisions of non-wing
sprints (33), super stocks (17), UMP modifieds (16) and bombers (15). Something we like is that management revolves the supporting
divisions every week with the non-wing sprint cars always having top billing and going first in the rotation. Hot laps for all divisions
were first and we were ready to go racing at 7:24.

The non-wing sprints were first on the pecking order and would contest four heats with the top four moving into the 25 lap main event.
Chance Crum who has developed into a good, consistent finisher, claimed heat over Austin Nigh, Travis Thompson and Ivan Glotzbach.
Heat two was taken down by Kyle Johnson, another driver who has steadily improved driving ‘Ol Biscuit’ to victory over Zack Pretorius,
Seth Parker and Matt Goodnight. Tye Mihocko placed the Paul #24P out front early and went on to capture heat three over Shane Cottle,
Beau Brandon and Brandon Spencer. Cale Coons nailed down heat four in a good race up front beating Kole Kirkman, Todd Hobson and
Jesse Vermillion. Bryan Brewer rolled his sprinter on the turn four cushion in the last heat and was OK,

The super stocks were next up and they would run three heats with everyone transferring to the main event. Matt Raber, Devin Wallen
and Lee Hobbs would be victorious in their respective heat races. The bombers would run two heats and the modifieds would contest
three heats with the sprint B main run before the modified heats to allow no down time before the first feature. The sprint B main was taken
by Mason Giddens in a good run over Ryan Barr, Blake Vermillion and Jake Scott, the last man in. All qualifying was completed by 8:49.

Some light track maintenance was performed before the 25 lap non-wing sprint car feature was called to the post. The green flag would fall
on this one at 9:12 with pole sitter, Cale Coons, moving to the early lead with Shane Cottle slotting into second on the opening lap. Seth
Parker brought out the first caution on lap two while running fourth after contact from fifth running Zack Pretorius caused him to spin in
turn two. On the restart Coons bolted back into the lead with Cottle and Chance Crum following. Sixth starting Tye Mihocko worked his
way past Crum to take over third on lap seven and by lap eleven he passed Cottle for the runner-up position. Meanwhile, Coons continued
to pace the field as the front runners approached lap traffic by lap fourteen. Coons began to pick his way through the traffic and made a
spectacular move entering turn three (aka Briggs Danner at Kokomo but without contact) splitting several cars and looking like it could
be the winning move as Mihocko closed in. This gave Coons some breathing room but everything changed when Blake Vermillion and
Seth Parker tangled in turn four on lap nineteen bringing out the second and final caution.

On the ensuing restart Coons got the jump and powered ahead of Mihocko and Cottle who locked up in a good race for second giving
Coons some space to cruise. Mihocko cleared Cottle with three to go but Coons was too far ahead to be challenged and the 16 year old driver
crossed the finish line first at 9:29 scoring his third sprint car win of 2025 here in his rookie season. The future is really bright for this young
driver, the son of legendary driver, Jerry Coons Jr, and Cale looks like a chip off the old block. Mihocko would come home second, Cottle
third, Todd Hobson in a good run from 12th to 4th and Crum rounding out the top five. Beau Brandon advanced from 11th to 6th at the end
with Zack Pretorius 7th, Jake Scott an impressive charge from 20th to 8th, Austin Nigh 9th and Mason Giddens 17th to 10th at the finish.

The next event on the docket was the 20 lap super stock feature taking the green flag at 9:35. Devin Wallen would move into the early lead
and pace the field for the first seven laps. Then multi-time winner, Lee Hobbs, would take the lead on the homestretch before the line
starting lap eight. The fourth starting Hobbs would pace the field for the remaining twelve laps and never be challenged crossing the finish
line first at 9:50 for another win over Wallen with Reece Novak third, Travis Heramb fourth and Wes McClara fifth. We pondered staying
for the always entertaining bombers but decided instead to hit the road to go home and get a good night’s sleep.

This was another well run program with two of the four features completed before 10 PM. The attention given by management to running
a tight program is much appreciated and gives people the option to leave when they want and not be held hostage because of what they came
to see has not run yet. Nothing worse than to see a young family leaving before any features are completed with one or more of the children
laying on the shoulders of the parents sleeping. Chances are that family will not return in the future and the young people are the future of
racing. Good job, Lincoln Park management on turning out another well run program.

That’s it for this weekend but check back next weekend as we take our show on the road visiting two different tracks for us, one of them
new. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or visit a new track you have wanted to visit.
Either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com.
As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing
remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Miller and Mihocko Score Wins At Bloomington

Friday, August 29 – It was a beautiful day to go racing with temperatures in the mid 70’s and the sun shining brightly. The destination
tonight, was the ¼ mile high banked red clay hills of the Bloomington Speedway in their 103rd year of running auto racing in the home
of Indiana University in South Central Indiana about 50 miles southwest of Indianapolis. On tap tonight was a three division program
featuring the USAC midgets in a makeup race from their earlier Indiana Midget Week rainout. This was the first time in 31 years that
the USAC midgets have run a race at Bloomington outside of their annual Indiana Midget Week date. Twenty five USAC midgets were
joined by 22 non-winged 410 sprints and 16 super stocks for a full night of racing. We staked our claim in the top row of the concrete
grandstands and settled in for the evening enjoying some fine ice cream from the Chocolate Moose in Bloomington. Delicious!

Hot laps were the first order of business with the sprint cars taking to the track first with the midgets being second in the order. The
super stocks would hot lap after the midget time trials. USAC midget time trials took to the track at 6:49 and by 7:03 Kevin Thomas Jr
was being interviewed by Kristy Bemmes in front of the good crowd on hand in victory lane. It was Thomas’ 10th career fast time (11.852)
in the midget class and the first for his new team, 4 Kings Racing. His teammate, Jakeb Boxell, set second fastest time of the night. The
three heat races for the non-wing sprint cars were next on the dance card with all cars transferring to the 25 lap main event. Trey Osborne
would hold off the advances of Harley Burns to win heat one trailed by Jordan Kinser and Todd Hobson. Jadon Rogers looked stout in
heat two winning over Braxton Cummings, Tye Mihocko and Austin Cory. Zack Pretorius won a very competitive heat three besting
Chance Crum, Hunter Maddox and Brandon Spencer.

Next up were the USAC midgets contesting three heat race with the top six moving directly into the 30 lap main event. Zach Wigal was
Impressive winning in heat one in the O’Dell #97X outrunning Colton Robinson, the youngster from Florida looking better in each outing,
Justin Grant, Cannon McIntosh, Kevin Thomas Jr and Gunnar Setser. Heat two went to the Keith Kunz #97K of Kale Drake beating
Jacob Denney, Ethan Mitchell, Cale Coons, Drake Edwards and Jakeb Boxell. The third and final heat was scored by Gavin Miller in
another Kunz entry, the #97, over Steven Snyder Jr, Brecken Reese, the young Texan looking stout on the evening, Thomas Meseraull,
Jeff Schindler and Chris Hartman, qualifying for his first ever USAC midget main. All three heats were won by cars numbered 97 if
you hadn’t noticed, a real rarity!

Three super stock heats would follow with all qualifying events in the books by 8:20. After a short break it was right into the 30 lap USAC
Midget feature event with the front row of Gavin Miller and Jacob Denney bringing the 24 car field to Keith Dewig’s green flag at 8:38.
The front row swapped sliders on both ends of the oval for the first two laps with Denney finally assuming control of the lead. Lap three
saw Justin Grant slid by Miller in turn two to take over second and take up the chase of Denney. The top three opened some distance on
the rest of the field who were battling tooth and nail from fourth through tenth. Denney was handling lap traffic well pulling away from
Grant and Miller who were having problems disposing of the lappers. At the halfway mark Denney had opened about a two second lead.
Lap sixteen was the start of the demise of Denney as a right rear tire was going south and on lap seventeen it went flat in turn three causing
the caution to wave as Denney headed to the work area to get it replaced. He would return and finish 12th at the finish.

Grant would now be the leader on the lap seventeen restart but that would be short lived as his right rear was going soft allowing Miller to
charge by into the lead and Brecken Reese following through for second. At that point Steven Snyder Jr got sideways in turns three and four
almost stopping leaving Thomas Meseraull no where to go but into Snyder resulting in T-Mez rolling over and bringing out the red flag.
Grant would scoot to the work area to change the flattened shoe and return to the action but would only manage a 16th at the end.

On the restart Miller was quick on the throttle and moved out to a comfortable lead with Reese in second. Reese’s only mistake of the
evening was a bobble on the turn two cushion allowing Kevin Thomas Jr and Cannon McIntosh to storm by costing Reese two positions.
Miller was gone pounding the cushion over the remaining circuits opening up a large lead and crossing the finish line at 8:55 to score his
second career win at Bloomington and first here in two years, that being his career first. It was his third career USAC midget win with
the last one coming at Jefferson County Speedway in July. Thomas would finish second with McIntosh third with the fourth and fifth
place finishers, Brecken Reese and Jakeb Boxell, scoring career high USAC midget finishes. Steven Snyder Jr would come from 11th to 6th
with Gunnar Setser 7th from 17th, Kale Drake 8th, Zach Wigal 9th and Colton Robinson 10th.

It was a very good, competitive feature run with many good runs with Hayden Reinbold going to a backup car after heat racing, starting
23rd and finishing 11th to earn the hard charger award on the evening. It was a shame for both Denney and Grant who had great runs
but ended up with disappointing finishes hurting their championship hopes.

We still had a 25 lap feature to run for the non-wing 410 sprints with the green flag dropping on the 22 car field at 9:13. Chance Crum
would charge out front and lead the first seven laps before Jadon Rogers stormed by at the start/finish line using the high line to take
control of the top spot. Jordan Kinser was on the move advancing from seventh into third on lap eleven with Tye Mihocko moving from
eighth to fourth at this time. Lap thirteen saw Kinser slip by Crum to take over second and take up the chase of the high flying Rogers.
Kinser caught and passed Rogers for the lead on lap twenty and it looked like this one would be Kinser’s race. But Rogers was not going
to give up that easily and stormed back and pressured Kinser for the lead. On the final lap entering turn one Kinser encountered a lap
car and lost some momentum diving low to clear him as Rogers had a head of steam entering on the high side. The pair found themselves
side by side racing off of turn two and down the backstretch still side by side. The pair reached a lap car riding in the middle of the track
with Kinser diving low and Rogers pounding the cushion. Contact was made between the lapper and Kinser sending Kinser rolling his
sprinter in turn three as the red waved which ruined what would have been an epic finish! Rogers went pit side with a flat tire thwarting
his shot at winning the race. Talking with Rogers, his tire was going down the last ten laps but he was able to keep it up enough under green.
The red was his undoing as it went flat and he was done.

This handed the lead over to third running Tye Mihocko and on the restart Mihocko was not going to let this one get away! He jumped out
front when the green flew and was able to hold off Crum to take home the victory at 9:40 with Matt Thompson turning in an very
impressive drive from 15th to finish third followed by Zack Pretorius fourth and Matt Goodnight in a fine run advancing from 14th to fifth
at the end. Harley Burns would lead the second five across the line in sixth with Todd Hobson seventh, Stephen Schnapf 13th to eighth,
Brandon Spencer ninth and Cody Trammell from 19th to tenth.
Two good races in the evening with lots of passing and close side by side racing all night long. We decided to exit to take the 1 ½ hour
drive back to Crawfordsville very satisfied with the racing witnessed tonight in a well-run program. Don’t forget Bloomington Speedway
closes out their season next Friday with the big 305 sprint car national Kevin Huntley Memorial racing paying $10,000 to win and $750
to start guaranteeing a stellar field to participate. It is also champion night for the non-wing sprints and super stocks to wrap up the
2025 season at the Bloomington Speedway so get out there and support this track so racing can continue at this historic track in 2026.

That’s it for this segment but check back Sunday for a report on our Saturday destination. In the meantime, get out there and support
your local track or take it on the road and check out some new tracks but either way have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments,
news or rumors and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you
continue to enjoy our writings as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you
meet.

Our condolences go out to Ashley Grant and her entire family on the loss of her mother who is reunited again with Ol’ Bub once again.
God Bless everyone.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Bloomington Speedway’s Last Two Events of 2025

Wednesday, August 27 – We just wanted to let people know that Bloomington Speedway is set to present their last two shows
of 2025 and we urge everyone to come out and support this track who have worked very hard all season long to present good
racing for everyone at the ¼ red clay oval located on the south side of Bloomington. The many rainouts have hurt the bottom
line and everyone needs to get out and support this historic track which has been active for 102 years as we don’t want to lose
another race track like he have with Gas City. So come on out and support the final two shows of 2025.

Here are the details on the upcoming shows: Friday, July 29th – USAC midgets take to the high banks once again along with
the 410 non-wing sprints and the super stocks. The midget portion of the program is the rained out Indiana Midget Week show.
Spectator gates open at 5 with hot laps at 6 and racing beginning at 7. Adult admission is $30, kids 12 and under are free.

The final race of 2025 at Bloomington Speedway is scheduled for Friday, September 5th and is Champions Night/Kevin Huntley
Memorial (rescheduled from July 18th). This race features the IMCA Race saver 305 sprint cars racing in the Pup Cup paying
$10,000 to win and $750 to start, one of the highest paying IMCA Race Saver 305 sprint car race in the country. Also on the card
are the non-wing 410 sprints and the super stocks on championship night. Pits open at 4, spectator gates at 5, hot laps at 6:30
and racing at 7:30. Admission is $25 for adults with kids 12 and under free.

So let’s get out there and support this track in the last two races of 2025 so we can have a 2026 racing season at the historic
Bloomington Speedway. Thanks.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Wild Finish Sees Grant Score 5th Smackdown Victory At Kokomo

Saturday, August 23 – Today was the final night of the three night Smackdown XIV at Kokomo and before heading to the track we had an early dinner in downtown Kokomo at The Foxes Trails with good friends, Steve and Maggi Kimmel and Irvin and Mary Jane King. As usual it was delicious and the fellowship was great also. Then we headed back over to the track and relaxed for a bit before entering the homestretch grandstands to settle in for the big finale of Smackdown paying a base price of $30,000 to win plus $500 per lap bonus money to the front running sprinter on each circuit. If you could lead all 40 laps that would drive the grand total for the win to $50,000. The purse also offered $1500 to start the main event on the final night.

The format for the final night is always different than the first two. Tonight there are no time trials and the top eight in points accumulated over the previous two nights are locked into the 40 lap main event after running in the King Of The Hill match races to determine the starting lineup for the eight points guys. Also four heat races are contested for the remaining 38 drivers returning on Saturday night with the top three moving to the big feature. The final four starters would come from the semi with two provisionals bulging the starting field to 26 cars.

It didn’t take long for the action to begin when Californian, Jacob Tuttle, flipped the second Hunter Maddox #24 in hot laps in turn two, going over several times. He was OK after the incident but the same could not be said for the car. The first heat race of the night went green at 7:15 with Cale Coons, who continues to impress, outdistancing Carson Garrett and Jadon Rogers to win this contest. Chelby Hinton continued the impressive runs of the young guns capturing heat two over Jake Swanson and Ricky Lewis. Heat three saw the young gun theme continue when Hayden Reinbold drove to the front and won this one over Kyle Shipley and Clinton Boyles who whacked Chance Crum twice to pass him for the last qualifying position. The third heat was rough for several drivers with first Matt Westfall catching the turn one fence and rolling over once. Westfall would return in this heat and almost qualified for the big race. A double flip occurred on the homestretch when Parker Frederickson ran out of track trying to pass Texan, RJ Miller, with the pair flipping over numerous times just past the starter’s stand with both cars ending up upside down on their roll cages. Both drivers were fine but neither one was happy with the outcome. And why not, as the fourth heat fell to another impressive young gun, Gunnar Setser, who claimed this race beating Chase Stockon and Shane Cottle.

Next up on the schedule was the King Of The Hill competition matching the top eight drivers in points after the first two days in a three lap dash with the winner advancing to the next round. The final two entrants left battle for the first and second starting spots in the 40 lap feature. In round one #1 Kyle Cummins took on #8 Logan Seavey with Cummins moving forward. Next was #5 Mitchel Moles squaring off with #4 Kevin Thomas Jr with Moles winning. The third matchup was #3 Justin Grant against #6 Briggs Danner with Danner advancing. The final round one contest had #4 CJ Leary going against #7 Kale Drake with Leary moving on. The second round saw #1 Cummins disposing of #5 Moles while #2 Leary turned back #6 Danner. This setup the final round pitting #1 Cummins versus #2 Leary for $500 to win. The pair raced side by side through turns one and two and as they raced down the backstretch Leary edged ahead and slid his sprinter toward the wall but Cummins was past Leary’s right rear tire when contact was made sending Cummins’ right front inside the backstretch wall. Cummins slowed and pulled to the infield as Leary completed the remaining laps. Upon exiting his sprinter in victory lane Leary was met by a mixed chorus of cheers and boos which had the crowd up in arms. Sort of like a WWF smackdown riling the good sized crowd on hand and warming them up for the 40 lap, $30,000 + to win.

There was still plenty of racing to run with the C main next on the docket. Brayden Clark would move onto the semi after winning the C main beating Aaron Davis, Devan Myers and Max Adams. The semi would be 12 laps in distance with the top four blending into the starting lineup in the feature based on their point standings. Wyatt Burks prevailed in the semi besting Chance Crum, Kobe Simpson and Rylan Gray. Kayla Roell and Harley Burns would be added to the starting field as provisionals.

It was announced during the break that Melinda Stanbrough and her supporting cast had collected $158,543.07 for The Riley’s Children’s Hospital for their Kicking Cancer campaign with various activities during the three days. Melinda’s tireless efforts along with many others touches your heart and a big thank you to everyone involved who Contributed to this total.

That left us with festivities leading up to the big race and after driver introductions it was time to go USAC National Sprint car racing!! CJ Leary and Kyle Cummins would lead the field to the initial green flag waved by Tom Hansing. Leary would grab the early lead chased by the field. Leary would pace the first three laps until fourth starting Briggs Danner would take away the lead from Leary on lap four. Danner would walk away from the field as the laps clicked off opening up a straightway lead past the halfway mark as the battle raged behind him for positions two through six. Justin Grant was one of the players in the mix after starting fifth and racing hard with Cummins, Moles, Leary and Seavey. Grant slid by Cummins for fourth and used the outside to polish off Moles for third on lap twenty. Lap twenty five saw Grant charge into second in lap traffic storming by Seavey for second in heavy lap traffic. That still left him six seconds behind Danner who was in his own time zone. With ten laps to go the whole complexation of the race changed as Danner approached a slew of lap cars in turn three and tried to split a pair of them but in the process he clipped the front end of 12th running Hayden Reinbold collapsing the front end of his machine disabling the race car as the caution waved. This wiped out Danner’s large lead and brought the chasing field to his rear nerf bar for the restart.

On the ensuing restart Grant threw a big slider entering turn one on Danner who he cleared but Danner countered exiting turn two and retained the lead with Seavey having momentum sliding by Grant for second on the unsuccessful slider. Seavey would remain in second for two laps until Grant worked his way by him to reclaim second. Danner continued to pace the field but Grant was not done yet as he chopped into Danner’s lead once again. With three to go Grant tried another monster slider in turns one and two sliding across Danner’s nose but once again, Danner responded by diving low off turn two retaking the lead down the backstretch. Danner looked to be in control again but quit is not in Grant’s vocabulary as he reeled in the leader once again. The top two took the white flag and entered turn one with Grant diving low once again as Danner held the high line. Danner’s right rear caught the cushion wrong turning him sideways in turn two and ramping him up the wall and causing the Hogue #39 to flip over ending a dominant drive on the evening. As Danner exited the car unhurt but out of the hunt for the win, his walk back to the pit area brought the backstretch crowd and many on the homestretch to give the young driver a rousing round of applause after his big disappointment. Though Danner did not win he still took home $24,000 to Pennsylvania for his dominated efforts breaking down as $17,500 for leading 35 laps, $1500 for 20th position and an extra $5000 for the hard luck award. Nice but not what he really wanted, that being a Smackdown Champion.

We still had a green, white, checker race to complete with Grant now the leader with Seavey and Cummins on his tail. Grant got a great restart and surged into the lead as the green waved. Cummins powered low entering turn one and disposed of Seavey to take over second and took up the chase of Grant. Justin ran two flawless laps to cross the finish line first at 10:17 scoring his fifth Smackdown victory, the most of any driver in Smackdown history. It was an improbable win after breaking his left foot just 27 days earlier and not even sure if he was going to run at Kokomo. This was probably one of the biggest upsets in USAC history and just an amazing performance by a gritty driver who never gives up. Grant tied the great Dave Darland in two categories tonight, notching his 62nd career USAC National sprint car victory and also winning Smackdown for the third consecutive year in the process.

Finishing behind Grant was Kyle Cummins who recorded three straight seconds on the weekend with Logan Seavey third, CJ Leary fourth and Kevin Thomas Jr nipped Mitchel Moles at the line to finish fifth. Moles would settle for sixth with Chase Stockon returning from an early wreck and driving up to seventh from the rear with Clinton Boyles in a sub role for Robert Ballou eighth from 19th, Kale Drake ninth and Cale Coons, the highest finishing rookie of the race taking home tenth after running as high as seventh. Boyles would receive the hard charger for his +11 performance.

It was another good Smackdown three days of racing with Thursday night going down in the books as the best show at Kokomo in quite a while but the excitement of tonight was also fun to witness. Can’t wait for the 15th edition of Smackdown come August of 2026.

That’s the story and I’m sticking to it! In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road. Either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Thanks as always for reading our efforts and we hope you enjoy reading them as much as we like bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and to be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Mr. Friday Night (KTJ) Goes Wire To Wire In Night Two Of Smackdown At Kokomo

Friday, August 22 – Another fine late August day greeted us on Friday with cloudy skies (good for the race surface) with
Temperatures again in the mid-70’s with slightly more humidity but not oppressive by any means. It was night two of
Smackdown XIV at Kokomo Speedway as the crowd gathered for another night of USAC sprint car racing. Hot laps started
the night followed by time trials for the 53 cars gathered (with 3 new entrants) kicking off at 7:21 and by 7:55 it was Mitchel
Moles at the top of the speed chart for the tenth time in 2025 making him only the eighth driver in USAC history to time
quickest ten times or more during a season. Moles’ fastest lap was 12.368 seconds around the ¼ mile oval and his 26th career
fast time surpassing JJ Yeley and Gary Bettenhausen for 18th on the all-time list.

Things were in fast mode tonight with the first of five heats taking the green flag at 8:09 with the top four moving into the 30
lap feature tussle later in the night. Jake Swanson looked strong winning heat one and trying to make up for Thursday disaster
when he was caught up in a crash in the feature while running fifth. Swanson beat Moles, Chelby Hinton and Geoff Ensign to
open the night. CJ Leary repeated his Thursday heat two win this time defeating Justin Grant, Chance Crum and Kevin Thomas
Jr. Clinton Boyles drove the Ballou #12 to the front and went on to score the win in heat three besting Gunnar Setser, Kyle
Shipley and Cale Coons. Heat four was claimed by Kale Drake over Logan Seavey, Ricky Lewis and Briggs Danner splitting two
competitors off turn four racing to the checkered to notch fourth. Kyle Cummins dominated heat five outrunning Matt Westfall,
Chase Stockon and Shane Cottle.

Some light track work followed before the C main was trackside to run their 10 lap race with the top four joining the tail of the B
Main. Jack Hoyer would score the win in this one over Braydon Cromwell who earned this finish after breaking down in time
trials battling back to move to the semi. Two cars in separate incidents got upside down in the C main when a chain reaction crash
in turn three found Jack James flipping several times into turn three. He was OK. Devan Myers would hit the wall between turns
three and four rolling over in the incident and climbing out unscathed. Max Adams and David Gasper were the other two to advance
to the semi. The semi would start 19 cars with only four advancing to the 30 lap main event. Carson Garrett placed the Epperson #2E
out front and went on to win the semi over Harley Burns, Rylan Gray and Hayden Reinbold. Joey Amantea and Kobe Simpson who
missed by one would take provisionals to join the feature starting field with all qualifying completed by 9:37.

That left us the 30 lap feature event to run and the front row of Kevin Thomas Jr and Kyle Cummins brought the 26 car field to the
green flag at 10:02. Thomas powered to the early lead with Cummins in tow. Briggs Danner and Cale Coons battled for third before
Coons edged ahead for the position. Danner would regain third when Coons scraped the backstretch wall allowing Danner to slip by.
Fifth starting Justin Grant was the next to clear Coons racing by him on lap eight and two laps later claimed third from Danner
after a turn three pass.

Lap twelve saw the first caution appear on the leaders approached lap traffic when Clinton Boyles rolled to a stop near the pit opening
a few circuits after executing a big bike in turns three and four. Boyles was moving forward but his night ended prematurely. On the
restart Thomas went back to the point chased by Cummins and Grant. Briggs Danner bobbled off turn two on the restart allowing
Coons to slip back by for fourth. Lap traffic was an issue after the halfway mark with Thomas, Cummins and Grant weaving their way
through with Cummins closing to Thomas’ rear nerf bar with ten to go as things were getting interesting. That was as close as it would
get over the last ten laps until the white flag lap when fifth running Danner slowed with a flat right rear tire forcing him to the work
area, returning to finish 19th.

On the ensuing restart with Cummins on his tail Thomas got the hole shot protecting the inside on Cummins to prevent any slide job
attempt. Thomas ran two flawless laps to cross the finish line first by less than a second at 10:14 as Mr. Friday won his fourth Friday
preliminary Smackdown event out of the last five run. It was also his sixth career Smackdown triumph and seventh USAC win at
Kokomo. Also adding to his laurels was USAC National sprint car win #48 moving him into 5th place on the all-time USAC sprint list
past Tracy Hines. Cummins would have to settle for another second but it makes you wonder will the cream rise to the top on the final
night when the big bucks are on the line. Justin Grant would complete a fine night coming home third, broken foot and all, with Cale
Coons scoring his highest USAC finish in only his fourth start finishing fourth with Jake Swanson rounding out the top five. Positions
six through ten were filled by CJ Leary, Kale Drake, Mitchel Moles, Logan Seavey up from 13th to 9th and Gunnar Setser rounding out
the top ten. Shane Cottle would take home the hard charger award after starting 23rd and finishing 15th.

Well, the second night of Smackdown is in the books with the $30,000 to win finale scheduled for tonight plus $500 per lap paid to the
leader which could pile up the bucks at the end.

Check back Sunday to read about the final night of Smackdown XIV and what all happened. In the meantime, get out there and
enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road but either way have fun, be safe and stay hydrated.
Comments, news or rumors plus anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our
efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and to be
kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what a simple smile or hello could do for that person.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Danner Scores Opening Night Victory At Smackdown XIV At Kokomo

Thursday, August 21 – It was time to pack up the SUV and head northeast to the city of Kokomo, Indiana for the running of the
Fourteenth Smackdown event at the baddest bullring in Indiana, the ¼ mile dirt oval at the Kokomo Speedway. This event would
be the 100th USAC National event held at Kokomo under the promotion of the O’Connor family who are only the eighth promotional
group to do so. The day was perfect for racing on a dirt track with the temperatures in the mid 70’s with low humidity and cloud
cover. We arrived before 4 PM and secured a great parking spot in the front row of the homestretch parking area. We went over to
the ticket booth and received our pit pass bracelets and entered the homestretch grandstands to lay our blanket down for the three
nights of racing. The crowd was not overwhelming but it was one of the better crowds we’ve seen in the running of this Thursday
race.

After hot laps time trials would be the first order of business with the record breaking 54 sprint cars on hand pushing off at 7:17. By
7:55 after several incidents of sprinters making heavy wall contact the field was reduced to 51 for heat racing action. Kyle Cummins
would be the fast timer of the evening with a lap of 12.599 seconds around the ¼ mile oval. The next order of business would be five
heat races with the top four automatically advancing to the 30 lap main event later in the evening with the first green waving at 8:31.
Hayden Reinbold continues his impressive rookie campaign by winning the first heat over Chase Stockon, Kyle Cummins and Todd
Hodson made an impressive charge from ninth to fourth to secure the last qualifying position. Steve Justis rolled his sprinter in turn
two in this one and was OK. CJ Leary captured heat two by beating Kevin Thomas Jr, Kale Drake and Justin Grant returning to
sprint car action after his nasty crash at Lawrenceburg. Jadon Rogers scored the photo finish win in heat three edging Briggs Danner
with Shane Cottle third and rookie Cale Coons fourth. The fourth heat was another hard fought race with veteran Matt Westfall
winning over Wyatt Burks in an impressive run, Mitchel Moles and Jack Hoyer in the iconic Hazen #57. The fourth heat would see
Adyn Schmidt in turn four in this heat. He also climbs from his damaged sprinter OK after the wild ride. The fifth heat saw another
incident in turn two with a double flip occurring with both David Gasper and Parker Frederickson turning turtle. Jake Swanson
would score this very competitive heat win over Ricky Lewis, Gunnar Setser rebounding from a serious trip into the turn one wall in
time trials and Brandon Mattox with all four at times running three wide. All heat racing was in the books by 9:24 and after some
track work the C main was called to the track.

Zack Pretorius would prevail in the C main outrunning Matt Goodnight, Chance Crum and David Gasper to all advance to the rear
of the semi-main which would be 12 laps in distance with the top four joining the previously twenty already locked in. Logan Seavey
would triumph in this one beating Chelby Hinton, Carson Garrett and Harley Burns, the last man in edging Kobe Simpson and
Clinton Boyles in the Ballou #12. James Turnbull II would become the fifth driver to get upside down tonight flipping in turn two.
It was a rough night for many competitors on this evening. Clinton Boyles and Joey Amantea would use provisionals to gain entry to
the 30 lap feature event.

It was now time to go feature racing with the front row of CJ Leary and Jake Swanson bringing the 26 car field to Tom Hansing’s
green flag at 10:38. Leary got the early advantage over Mitchel Moles and Jake Swanson with Briggs Danner locking into fourth.
The top three all went low through turns one and two while Danner decided he was going to rim ride on the high side to try to advance.
Lap two saw Danner pick off both Swanson and Moles off turn two and a double pass going from fourth to second. Lap four saw
Danner continues to run high passing Leary off turn four for the lead. Leary quickly got him back entering turn one but a surge off turn
Two saw Danner back at the point. Kyle Cummins was beginning to make his presence felt after starting sixth picking off first Swanson
then Moles to move into third. Meanwhile Danner was continuing to pace the field as the race pushed toward the halfway point and into
lap traffic. Cummins used the lap traffic to his advantage catching Leary for second on lap twelve. Lap fifteen saw Cummins on the rear
bumper of Danner as the caution waved for a four car tangle in turns three and four when Joey Amantea, Todd Hobson and Brandon
Mattox got together and spun collecting fifth running Jake Swanson knocking out his front end and ending his evening prematurely after
a fine run.

With no traffic to contend with Danner and Cummins would square off in a crowd pleasing showdown over the final 15 laps. On the
restart Danner was quick on the throttle surging out front with Cummins in his tire marks. Cummins who was running very well down
low in turns one and two made his first move diving low in turn one on lap seventeen passing Danner for the lead but it was short lived
as Danner blasted back by him exiting turn two and down the backstretch. Cummins executed the same move one lap later in turn one
making it stick this time taking the lead with twelve to go. Cummins would lead the next seven laps but Danner was still in the hunt
chasing him closely. Danner’s break came as Cummins entered turn one with five to go and his right rear tire dug into the cushion
causing him to turn to the right with Danner diving underneath and back into the lead. Lap 26 saw the second and final caution wave
when Jadon Rogers stopped on the low side of turns one and two.

On the restart Cummins went low in turn one to grab the lead once again but Danner was all over him and when they reached the line
to start lap twenty seven Danner was inches ahead. Cummins was not done either as he used the low side of turn one to retake the lead
and this time it stuck. Racing down the backstretch the two switched lines with Danner diving low while Cummins went to the top side.
The pair raced side by side through turns three and four separated by inches as they raced to the line to start lap twenty eight with
Cummins leading by mere inches. Entering turn one with Cummins high and Danner low, Cummins again caught the cushion breaking
his momentum with Danner able to scoot by again. Danner was able to open up a small lead over the final two laps and crossed the line
at 10:54 just three tenths of a second ahead of Cummins to nail down the win, his second in a row at Kokomo in the last two USAC races
held there. Cummins would have to settle for second with Leary third, Moles fourth and teammate, Hayden Reinbold, notching fifth at
the wire over Kevin Thomas Jr who started 13th. Justin Grant would come home seventh with Kale Drake 17th to eighth, Logan Seavey
ninth and Chase Stockon advancing from 16th to tenth. Ricky Lewis would garner the hard charger award moving from 24th to finish 13th.

This would be Danner’s second USAC sprint win of the year, both of them coming at Kokomo along with his fifth career USAC National
Sprint Car win. It was a whale of a race with not only position changing with the front two but all over the track as the sprinters raced
three and four wide at times throughout the entire race making you wish you had more than two eyes to watch all the action taking place!
If that was any indication of what is in store for the next two nights then fasten your seat belt and enjoy!

That’s it for this segment but check back tomorrow for night two of Smackdown XIV to see what happened and who won. In the meantime,
get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take it on the road but either way have fun, be safe and stay hydrated.
Comments, news, or other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and check
back often to see where we end up next. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Sweep Midwest Thunder 410 Sprints Weekend With Victory At Paragon

Saturday, August 9 – Temperatures pushed into the low 90’s again today with sunshine and some clouds. We were not looking
forward to sitting in the aluminum grandstands at Paragon Speedway facing into the sun until it went down but here we were
again. We came prepared with sunglasses, sun hats and a small fan to place on the cooler in the row in front of us to all provide
some relief. We made it until the sun disappeared behind the mountains toward turns one and two. Tonight was the Allen Barr
Memorial honoring the driver who drove for 51 years on many of the Indiana dirt tracks and won over 400 times in his career.
He was inducted into the Hoosier Auto Racing Fans (HARF) in 2021 and the night was in his honor. The four division program
consisted of the Midwest Thunder 410 sprints (32), the Hoosier 305 winged sprints (31), the visiting SCDRA compacts (29) and
the UMP modifieds (22). That is a total of 114 cars filling the backstretch pit area for tonight’s action.

That meant it was going to be a long night of racing at the 3/8 mile dirt oval in Morgan County with the first heat not starting
until 8:29. Track management needs to learn how to streamline their program as arriving at 6:15 meant we sat 2 ¼ hours in the
sun before any racing began. Also, when you have two open wheel divisions on the same card that need to be pushed off for every
race you need more than three trucks to do so. Having more push trucks and starting hot laps for the classes earlier would be
a good way to finish your races earlier. People do not want to sit for seven hours watching any kind of entertainment and the chances
of someone new returning to watch again is minimal as that is just two long!!!

Even with all that the track has good points to it also and this is not written totally as a criticism piece. But this is written to open
management’s eyes that they must greatly tighten up their racing program and end in a timely manner. The aluminum grandstands
along with the other viewing areas, either by sitting up chairs or parking on the turn one hill are good options as well. The bathrooms
are nice and the grounds are kept nice and the racing surface is usually virtually dustless. Those are the good points, now management
needs to work on the other things that drag their programs down.

As mentioned earlier, the first heat kicked off at 8:29 with the Midwest Thunder 410 sprints running four heats with the top four moving
directly into the 25 lap main event. Jake Swanson drew first blood capturing heat one beating Tony Helton, Cody Trammell and Hunter
Maddox. Heat two went to Gabriel Gilbert in a strong run besting Trey Osborne, Michael Clark and Travis Berryhill. Heat three fell to
JJ Hughes outrunning Jordan Kinser, Cameron LaRose and Anthony Nicholson. The fourth and final heat was scored by Kyle Cummins
over Harley Burns, Ricky Lewis and Jadon Rogers back in the family car.

The 31 Hoosier 305 winged sprints were next up for their four heats with four also advancing to their 25 lap feature event. Ashton
Thompson won heat one while Rod Henning took down heat two, Dillan Baldwin heat three and John Paynter triumphed in heat four.
The UMP modifieds would contest three heats and the visiting Ohio Valley based compacts would race four competitive heat races. It was
well after 10 before the heat races were completed and there were still three B mains to run before we proceeded to the feature events.

Trey McGranahan would win the Midwest Thunder sprint B main in grand fashion using the outside to motor pass Todd Hobson late
for the win with Hobson second, Andrew Prather third and James Boyd sweeping past Jake Scott off the fourth turn on the last lap to
out drag Scott to the line for the final qualifying position.

It was 11:24 when the green flag would drop on the 25 lap Midwest Thunder sprint car feature with second starting Gabriel Gilbert
powering into the early lead. It did not take long for fourth starting Kyle Cummins to move to the point when he passed Gilbert on the
homestretch on lap two. JJ Hughes would move by Gilbert also into second. Trey Osborne had his self-owned #6T performing at peak
efficiency advancing from sixth to second past Hughes in turn three on lap six. Jake Swanson began to make his presence known when
he moved by Hughes for third off turn four on lap eight. Ricky Lewis was also becoming racy, advancing from 12th to fourth by lap
thirteen. Meanwhile, up front Cummins was cruising opening up a straightway lead on the field by lap fifteen. The big lead would all
be wiped away when fourth running Lewis stopped in turn four on lap sixteen. Another driver working his way forward was Travis
Berryhill up to fifth after starting 14th.

On the restart Cummins was quick on the throttle jumping back out front chased by Osborne and Swanson. Lap nineteen saw Swanson
slip by Osborne in turn three to grab second and take up the chase of Cummins. Swanson started to cut into the lead of Cummins
until lap twenty two when he jumped the cushion in turn two with Osborne diving low to regain second. Cummins was again in command
as the laps clicked off but the yellow would appear for only the second time in this one when Tony Helton spun in turn four on lap twenty
four. Cummins was not going to let this one slip away and on the restart hit the loud pedal and drove away crossing the line at 11:38
sweeping the weekend in Midwest Thunder competition with Trey Osborne second, Jake Swanson third, Jordan Kinser seventh to fourth
and Travis Berryhill rounding out the top five. Harley Burns would finish sixth with Cameron LaRose seventh, Hunter Maddox eighth
after starting 13th, JJ Hughes fading to ninth and Jadon Rogers advancing six positions to finish tenth.

The sprint car racing was really good but the long, long night was not over with three features still to run. Since we had an hour and
twenty minute drive home we opted out at this point as it seemed many others did also. We monitored the remainder of the features by
checking My Race Pass on the drive home with the 305 sprints and UMP modifieds not over until 12:45. Just before we turned the lights
out for the evening at 1:17 AM Pat checked once more and the compacts still had eight laps to run in their feature. Much too long of a
program and things need to change to attract fans to return to their track in the future as many fans do not live in Paragon or the nearby
surrounding areas and have distances to drive to get home!

That’s it for this report and we are off next weekend as we are travelling back to Pennsylvania to attend the 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration of good friends, Steve and Marie Rush, who live in the Bethlehem, PA area. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take a road trip but either way have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, items of interest, news of
anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope that you continue to do so.
In closing, be good and be kind to everyone you meet as you never know how much a pleasant hello or a smile can change a stranger’s
day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Comes Through For Midwest Thunder Win At Circle City

Friday, August 8 – The temperatures pushed back into the 90’s today, the sun was intense but the humidity was down so it wasn’t as
bad as Indiana Sprint Week, week one. Tonight’s venue was the Circle City Raceway, a ¼ mile dirt oval at the Marion County
fairgrounds, for a five division program highlighted by the appearance of the Midwest Thunder 410 wingless sprints who brought a
stellar field of 39 entrants to the party. They were joined by 22 UMP modifieds, 15 Crown Vics, 27 SCDRA compacts and 22 grub
getters. After finding a seat in the aluminum grandstands we hadn’t noticed New Yorkers, Tom Schmeh and Dave McMullen in the
next section above us but they spotted us. They came down and we chatted before the racing action was ready to start.

Probably in the earliest start of the season (we’ve been here 5 times) the first heat of four of Midwest Thunder 410 sprints took the
green flag at 8:05. JJ Hughes looked good winning heat one besting Max Adams, Shane Cottle and Tye Mihocko. Jadon Rogers
captured heat two over Rylan Gray, Geoff Ensign and Kole Kirkman. Brandon Spencer rolled in heat two, was OK, and returned
for one of the B mains. Kyle Cummins won heat three beating Harley Burns, Chance Crum and Trey Osborne who executed a turn
three last lap pass to get in. Aric Gentry rolled over on the backstretch in this one and was OK. Californian Ricky Lewis scored the
win in heat four outdistancing Anthony Nicholson, Wyatt Burks and Cody Fendley.

The UMP modifieds were next up with Derek Losh, Tyler Loughmiller and Dillon Nusbaum scoring heat wins. The Crown Vics would
contest two competitive heats while the compacts would run three heats for their field.

The sprint cars would race two B mains with Joey Amantea winning B main one over Trey McGranahan after race leader, Travis
Berryhill, rolled over the turn two wall late in the event for the second time this year at Circle City. James Turnbull would capture B
main two over Cameron LaRose being the last man in. Now we were ready to witness our first feature event of the evening.

The 25 lap Midwest Thunder 410 sprint car feature took the green at 10:03 but did not stay green long as Trey McGranahan stopped in
turn four to bring out the caution. On the restart second starting Max Adams would grab the early lead and pace the field over the first
five laps until McGranahan brought out the second and last caution spinning in turn two. On the restart Adams continued to lead until
Kyle Cummins executed a slider in turn two on lap six to snatch the lead away from Adams. Behind the front two JJ Hughes and Ricky
Lewis were swapping the third position back and forth until Hughes cemented the position with a turn one pass on lap eight. Cummins
began to encounter lap traffic on lap thirteen and worked his way through increasing his lead during this period to a straightway lead.
The field behind Cummins continued to duel among themselves but when the checkered flag waved at 10:14 it was Cummins by four
seconds the winner with Adams second, Hughes third, Lewis fourth and Jadon Rogers rounding out the top five. Harley Burns paced
the second five across the line in sixth with Rylan Gray seventh, Shane Cottle eighth, Chance Crum ninth and Tye Mihocko tenth.

Since they had run the program so efficiently, we decided to stay for the 25 lap UMP modified feature which was run after the SCDRA
Compact B main. The modified main event would take the green flag at 10:31 with first starting Derek Losh motoring into the early
lead. Losh would survive five cautions and held off the late challenges of seventh starting Matt Hamilton to capture the win with Dillon
Nusbaum third, Todd Sherman fourth and Aaron Orr advancing from 13th to fifth at the finish at 10:49.

This was the most efficient run program of the year at Circle City and hopefully they will continue to move their Friday night programs
along just as efficiently. Good job, Circle City management!

That’s it for this column but check back Sunday to see where we ended up on Saturday night. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy
some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road. Either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news
or rumors and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to
enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet. Get well wishes
go out to Gordy Killian, a long time friend of both of us, who broke his femur in one of his legs in a fall at Knoxville after the races on
Thursday night.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Thomas Wins Third ISW Points Title By Winning Final At Tri-State

Saturday, August 2 – It was time to pack up the gear and head the nearly three hours southwest for the eighth and final round
of ISW25 at the Tri-State Speedway, the ¼ mile black dirt track in Haubstadt, Indiana. The grinding eight race series would
wrap up tonight for the 38th time as two drivers squared off for the Indiana Sprint Week title and the $25,000 and famous rocking
chair that goes along with it. Logan Seavey and Kevin Thomas Jr were separated by just four points entering the final night of
competition. Seavey was looking to garner his second straight ISW title while Thomas Jr was looking to capture his third career
ISW title and first since 2021. It will all be decided tonight!

The night would be kicked off with time trials for the 39 sprinters gathered in the turns three and four pit area along with 17
MMSA mini sprints. For the amazing ninth time this season, Reinbold/Underwood driver Mitchel Moles in the #19AZ would
grab the brass ring recording a 13.340 second lap for his 24th career fast time award tying him for 18th on the all-time list with
JJ Yeley and Gary Bettenhausen, two storied drivers from years past. Hot laps for the MMSA drivers and track prep were the
next two items on the checklist before the USAC sprint cars were called to the track to race their four heats with the top five
moving forward into the $8000 to win, 30 lap main event later in the evening.

Kyle Cummins, one of the best at the southwestern Indiana speed plant, scored the win in heat one besting Harley Burns, Mitchel
Moles, Kale Drake, back after his eight times over roll at Bloomington, and Hayden Reinbold. Kevin Thomas Jr, another top
runner at Haubstadt, garnered heat two with an impressive performance beating Eli Wilhelmus looking better every time out & a
MMSA graduate with Kendall Ruble third, Gunnar Setser fourth and Briggs Danner fifth. Heat three saw Kayla Roell make USAC
sprint car history becoming the first female to win a heat race in USAC’s long history. Roell defeated Charles Davis Jr, Logan
Seavey, Jadon Rogers back from suspension for a tire issue and Logan Calderwood coming off a BOSS sprint car win last night at
Millstream, Ohio. CJ Leary who looks like he has righted the ship took down heat four over Robert Ballou, Carson Short, Jake
Swanson and Ricky Lewis.

Two MMSA heats would follow and were won by Brian McCrary and Nolan Kiefer wrapping up in just nine minutes after the
sprint heats completed. The sprint car semi was next on the dance card with the top four joining twenty others for the 30 lap feature.
Chase Stockon triumphed in the semi besting Adyn Schmidt, Aric Gentry and Collin Ambrose. The field was set by 8:39 with
Kobe Simpson making it 25 starters burning a provisional to join the final night of racing.

The 20 lap MMSA mini sprint feature would square off next and these guys ran another quick and competitive race with Nolan
Kiefer winning over Parker Baumeyer and Jordan Shipley.

That would leave us with the 30 lap USAC National sprint car feature to spin off as the crowd anticipated an exciting main event.
Coming into the evening Seavey led the chase by four markers but Thomas surged ahead five from being second fastest in time
trials, eight more after starting sixth in his heat and winning it while Seavey notched five for finishing third in his heat. So to sum
it up Thomas was now up by three markers entering the last race.

Things would get underway with the drop of the green flag at 9:27 with second starting Briggs Danner powering into the early lead
over Jadon Rogers and Kevin Thomas Jr moving into third after starting fifth. Danner would lead the first ten circuits as the field
approached lap traffic ahead. By lap eleven Thomas had polished off Rogers for second using the inside to slip by him in turns one
and two. Thomas was on the tail tank of Danner entering turns three and four diving low on the homestretch using Eli Wihelmus
as a pick trapping Danner behind him and taking the lead in the process. By lap fourteen Rogers had worked his way around
Danner and was sitting in second. By the halfway mark Thomas was cruising up front while Seavey was mired in tenth and bogged
down in that position.

Suddenly Thomas would soon have company as a surging Robert Ballou passed Danner for third in turn four on lap twenty and
disposed of Rogers for second on the backstretch on lap twenty three. Thomas upped his game and moved away to a seven car
length lead when the fun began with three to go. Seavey had climbed into contention running fifth when Danner and Moles racing
for fourth had a jingle in turn one when Danner attempted to slid Moles for position but almost stalled until Moles bumped him
to jump start Danner but causing Moles to stop.

Seavey was on a mission on the restart picking off first Danner and then Rogers to surge into third with two to go. After starting
thirteenth Seavey was now in the hunt and needed to pass Thomas and stay in front to steal the point’s title. Robert Ballou stood
between Seavey and Thomas but that would not last long after a Kayla Roell spin on the backstretch on the white flag lap set up
a green, white, checker finish. On the restart all hell broke loose when second running Ballou’s sprinter was starved for fuel
slowing dramatically off turn four collecting five others including fifth running Danner who spun after contact with Ballou’s
rear end. This mishap parted the sea like Moses did centuries ago for Seavey placing him on Thomas’ rear nerf bar in second on
another green, white, checker run. Ballou meanwhile went to the work area and would return to finish 12th at the end. Thomas
was ready to go on the restart and hit the loud pedal quickly pulling ahead to a one second lead over the final two laps.

Thomas would finally cross the line first at 9:53 after some anxious minutes securing his the win and his third ISW points title.
Seavey would have to settle for second and came up six points short of his second straight title. Rogers would end his comeback
Performance with a strong third in the Baldwin #5 with CJ Leary running a good race finishing fourth with Kyle Cummins
rounding out the top five. Jake Swanson in another good ISW run finished sixth after starting 14th with Logan Calderwood a
solid seventh, Kale Drake from 18th to eighth, Kayla Roell finishing off a fine night with a ninth and Mitchel Moles scratching
back to finish tenth.

Thomas would score his ninth win at Tri-State in USAC competition which is the most of any driver along with his 47th career
series victory passing Jack Hewitt on the win list and tying Tracy Hines for fifth in the all-time rankings. Thomas presented car
owner, Hank Byram (75), the rocking chair as Byram had never won an ISW title. Thomas also joined the only other three drivers
to win three or more ISW titles tying Dave Darland and just one behind Kevin Thomas (no relation) and Levi Jones who each have
four. You couldn’t have asked for a better script or Hollywood ending then Thomas and Seavey provided in this one.

That’s wraps it up for Indiana Sprint Week and check back next weekend to see where a typical weekend ends up. In the
Meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take a road trip to Knoxville for the
410 winged nationals or somewhere else. Anywhere you go, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news, stories
or any other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and continue
to check back to read our articles. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Becomes First Repeat Winner in ISW25 With Win At Bloomington

Friday, August 1 – The calendar has now turned to the month of August and the weather has taken a welcome relief to the
cool side with temperatures dropping into the high 70’s and low 80’s. Tonight’s venue was the ¼ mile red clay bullring in
Monroe County home to the Bloomington Speedway. Forty four USAC National sprint cars and twenty one MMSA mini sprints
turned out for round 7 of Indiana Sprint Week along with a huge crowd of fans. The battle for seats was almost as intense as
the racing on the track was. People charged up the hill behind turn two when the gates were opened at 4:30 rushing to their
favorite spots to secure seating for the evening. Duel claims were staked out and issues were ironed out before everyone settled
in for the Sheldon Kinser Memorial, being run on the exact day 37 years ago that Kinser passed away after a gallant battle with
cancer.

Time trials would jump start the night’s activities pushing off at 6:48 in single car qualifying runs. By 7:17 it was Logan Seavey
being recognized for the third time in Indiana Sprint Week and the 22nd time in his career tying him with Steve Butler on the
all-time qualifying list for 22nd. Next up were hot laps for the MMSA mini sprints before the USAC sprints returned for five heat
races with the top four from each moving directly into the 30 lap main event for the evening. Kyle Shipley led the opening nine cars
to score heat win #1 besting Logan Seavey, Kobe Simpson and Briggs Danner in the process. Kyle Cummins worked his way to the
front to claim heat #2 over Gabriel Gilbert, Chelby Hinton and Hayden Reinbold. Chase Stockon, last night’s feature winner at
Terre Haute, picked up where he left off capturing the heat # 3 victory over CJ Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr and Joey Amantea. Heat # 4
was taken down by Tye Mihocko beating Mitchel Moles, Harley Burns and Jake Swanson. The best heat of the evening was heat # 5
where Ricky Lewis and Robert Ballou swapped the lead back and forth throwing sliders on each other until Lewis was able to prevail
notching the win over Ballou, Chance Crum and Braxton Cummings.

Three MMSA heats would follow with Brandon Coffey, Jake Roell and Johnson Ginder taking the wins in these races. The sprint car
C main produced a spirited battle for the four positions to move forward to the semi with Aric Gentry holding off Daylan Chambers,
Eli Wilhelmus and Tony Helton for the win. Even though these guys might not be house names yet they ran hard and produced a good
race among themselves. The sprint car semi was up next with the top four moving into the big dance joining the twenty already qualified.
Carson Garrett took this competitive race beating Gunnar Setser, Hunter Maddox and Charles Davis Jr the four qualifiers. Davis and
crew went to work after flipping the night before, repairing their sprinter and slipping by Josh Burton Memorial winner, Geoff Ensign,
on the white flag lap to earn his spot in the starting lineup for the main event. All qualifying was in the books by 9:31.

The MMSA mini sprints would get the honor of running their 20 lap feature first and they ran a good race with only two cautions and
some good racing. The green dropped at 9:34 and Brandon Coffey surged to the lead and never looked back. He led the entire 20 lap
distance but good, close racing behind him was the order of the night. When the checkered waved at 9:44 Coffey was home first with
Brenden McGlothlin riding home second with Johnson Ginder third, Jake Roell fourth and Jordan Shipley rounding out the closely
bunched top five.

That left us with the 30 lap USAC National sprint car race to run and after track maintenance the green flag would wave at 10:26 on
the 24 car field with CJ Leary bounding into the early lead. While Leary rode the rim sixth starting Logan Seavey found the low groove
to his liking as he worked his way from sixth up to second by lap six. On lap ten Leary drifted high in turn three and continued into
turn four way high, the victim of a flat tire seeing Seavey dive low off four into the lead before the caution appeared. Leary went to the
work area and returned only able to return to 11th by race end.

On the ensuing restart Seavey was quick on the throttle and went to the point with the pack chasing. Kevin Thomas Jr was able to take
over third in turn four of the same lap from Mitchel Moles. Lap fourteen saw Robert Ballou clip an infield tire exiting turn two while
running eighth causing his front end to rise into the air returning to the surface hard sending Ballou into a series of end over end flips
ending his night early. Over the remaining half of the race Seavey would be untouchable increasing his lead to over two seconds as the
track went away. Seavey was never challenged in the remaining laps and crossed the finish line at 10:45 first with Thomas slipping by
Chance Crum for second on the white flag lap with Crum third in his highest finish in USAC sprint racing. Mitchel Moles would
garner fourth with Kyle Cummins rounding out the top five. Seavey became the first repeat winner in ISW25 and wiped away the
bad memories of a nasty flip here a year ago. This was Seavey’s fifth win of 2025 and 29th of his USAC career moving him into sole
possession of 19th place on the all-time USAC sprint win list passing some legendary names of the past in AJ Foyt, Don Branson,
JJ Yeley and Levi Jones. In addition, Seavey’s win moved him into the Indiana Sprint Week point’s lead by four over Kevin Thomas Jr
moving to the final race of the series tonight at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt.

Tye Mihocko in a strong run, led the second five across the start/finish line in sixth with Chase Stockon seventh, Hayden Reinbold from
14th to eighth, Jake Swanson 16th to ninth and Gunnar Setser 15th to tenth.

That all for now as we all travel down to the southwestern corner of Indiana for the final night of ISW25 at the fine facility run by the
Helfrich’s, Tom and Loris. In the meantime get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the
road but either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, statements, news or rumors can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com.
As always thanks for reading our efforts and the kind comments send our way as we enjoy bringing you our views on the racing we
witness. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to each other.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Stockon Wins Barnburner In Round 6 At Terre Haute

Thursday, July 31 – The crowd gathered tonight at the Vigo County Fairgrounds in big numbers for round six of Indiana Sprint
Week for the racing at the Terre Haute Action Track. Two inches of rain fell in Terre Haute overnight on Wednesday with the homestretch
covered with water by morning. The track crew went to work and did a yeoman’s job whipping the surface back into racing shape.
The homestretch and turn one were still soapy so the racers would have to use other parts of the wide ½ mile dirt oval.

Time trials commenced at 7:08 and one of the last time trial qualifiers, Colin Parker, biked in turn three on his run and went tumbling
several times before landing back on his wheels. Parker was OK but done for the evening. The 32 car field dwindled to 30 as Nate Ervin
never appeared for heat racing action. Mitchel Moles set his 23rd fast time of his USAC sprint car career tying him for 20th with Jon
Stanbrough on the all-time list.

Next up in the one division program were the four qualifying heat races for the remaining 30 cars with the top five transferring to the
30 lap main event later in the evening. The green flag on the first heat dropped at 8:05 with Robert Ballou motoring to the front and
walking away with the first heat win over Mitchel Moles, Hunter Maddox, Gunnar Setser and Kyle Shipley. Kale Drake nailed down
heat two over Charles Davis Jr, Chase Stockon, Logan Calderwood and Briggs Danner. Heat three went to Ricky Lewis in a good run
over Kyle Cummins, Nick Bilbee, Logan Seavey and Australian Travis Millar, making his first USAC National sprint car start and first
ISW start. CJ Leary, coming off his victory the night before captured the fourth and final heat besting Jake Swanson, Kevin Thomas Jr,
Joey Amantea and Brandon Mattox. All heat action was completed by 8:38.

The sprint semi race was next on the agenda with the top four moving to the 30 lap main event and getting their times back for lineup
purposes. Kayla Roell handled the boys in this one triumphing in her Terre Haute debut outrunning Nate Schank, Saban Bibent and
Hayden Reinbold, the last man in. This event was over by 9:11 and the track crew went back to work grooming the racing surface for
the finale event.

The front row of Chase Stockon and Robert Ballou brought the 24 car field to Tom Hansing’s green silk at 9:38 with Robert Ballou
getting the early lead but the red flag appeared on the opening lap as a bunch of cars were involved in a chain reaction crash off of
turn two with Briggs Danner getting turned around. Charles Davis Jr ramped over Danner and rolled several times on the backstretch
before coming to rest on his wheels. Davis was OK but his racer was done for the night. Danner would return after a visit to the work
area ending up 12th at the finish.

On the restart Stockon corrected his line entering turn one and staved off Ballou to take the lead on lap one and promptly led the first
11 laps of the contest. A spin by Travis Millar in turn four on lap 12 slowed the action once again. On the ensuing restart Ballou got a
good run off turn two and passing Stockon for the lead down the backstretch. Ballou was now in control and by lap 18 had opened up
over a two second lead over Stockon who was being pressured by Kyle Cummins for the second position. The caution would wave on
lap 18 when Logan Calderwood slowed to a stop on the homestretch.

This placed Stockon square on the tail of Ballou and these two would remain together for the next 12 laps swapping the top spot back
and forth in a battle for the ages. Getting a second chance to battle Ballou the veteran driver from Fort Branch took advantage of the
opportunity continuing to poke his nose inside Ballou in turn three on laps 20 through 23 edging closer to taking the lead. Lap 24 saw
Stockon accomplish the feat sliding in front of Ballou in turn three to regain the lead. Ballou was not done either as he hounded Stockon
over the next few laps and on lap 26 used the high line to go back out front. Lap 28 saw Stockon slide across the nose of Ballou in turn
one but Ballou countered in turn two to take the lead back. Stockon had momentum off the second turn and shot like a rocket down the
backstretch with the pair racing side by side into turns three and four. The two touched wheels in turn four with no harm as they raced
off the corner to take the white flag. As the pair raced under the flag stand Joey Amantea spun trying to exit the track on the backstretch
bringing out the yellow which would necessitate a green, white, checker finish.

When the race went green for the final stretch Stockon got the hole shot and surged out front. Stockon ran two perfect laps at the end
pulling away to a 1.5 second advantage crossing the line first at 10:15 capturing his first USAC National sprint car win in nearly five years
and the first for his transplanted California owners, Tom and Laurie Sertich, who now call Indiana home. Ballou would have to settle
for second with Cummins third, CJ Leary seventh to fourth and Jake Swanson in a strong run from eleventh to fifth. This was also Stockon’s
fourth Terre Haute win and his first in 160 USAC starts. Stockon win was his 15th career USAC National sprint car win placing him 41st
on the all-tine win list in his 500th career start. And to top it off he did all this with a broken hand to boot!!

Logan Seavey came from tenth to finish sixth with Kevin Thomas Jr fading to seventh with Mitchel Moles eighth, Kale Drake ninth and
Ricky Lewis placing tenth. Kayla Roell earned the Hard Charger Award after starting 21st and finishing 14th in her first Terre Haute
start.

The large crowd was treated to a tremendous duel between two veterans and it had the crowd buzzing afterwards. Might have been the
best race we ever saw at the Action Track and was definitely was money’s worth.

We now move on to Bloomington Speedway for Friday night action with the Indiana Sprint Week point title as tight as it can be. Kevin
Thomas Jr leads the race with 337 markers while Logan Seavey is second with 335 markers while Briggs Danner is third with 331 markers.
Robert Ballou is now fourth with 306 markers after his fourth podium finish in the last six starts this week. Mitchel Moles is fifth with
295.

That’s it for this barnburner but check back as we have two more Indiana Sprint Week races to go at Bloomington and Tri-State to
complete the week. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or if rain is plaguing you head
to another region to see some racing. Either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news or rumors and anything else of
interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and especially this race hope you could feel
some of the electricity that radiated out of the Vigo County Fairgrounds last night!! In closing, remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Leary Snaps Long Losing Streak With ISW Win At Circle City

Wednesday, July 30 – Pat, Bill and Judy Burns and I headed to Indianapolis earlier to
have lunch at Charlie Brown’s near IMS and checked out the wide range of memorabilia
in their establishment before venturing over to the IMS museum to explore the new
displays in the renovation done earlier this year. The renovation was impressive and was
very enjoyable and a real break from the humid temperatures outside the museum. After
touring the museum, we wound our way through parts of Indianapolis that we had never
seen before. We arrived on the grounds of the Marion County Fairgrounds after 5:30, found
a strategic parking spot and wandered over to Steve and Maggi Kimmel’s motorhome to
visit and chat.

Round five of ISW25 was set to unfold at the ¼ mile dirt oval known as the Circle City
Raceway is located on the fairgrounds. Forty four sprinters filled the pit area along with
seventeen UMP modifieds as the filler class. Hot laps commenced at 6:50 with time trials
beginning at 7:15. Matt Goodnight took a header in hot laps rolling out over turn two and
ended his night very early. Zack Pretorius would join him on the sidelines after catching
the cushion wrong in turn four and cleared the turn four wall and landing near pit road.

Time trials were recorded by 7:54 with Logan Seavey who is running much better lately
notching his 21st career fast time tying him with the legendary A J Foyt for 23rd on the
all-time qualifying list. His time was 12.027 seconds around the ¼ mile oval.

After UMP modified hot laps it was time to go heat racing with five heats scheduled with
The top four advancing directly to the 30 lap feature event. Gunnar Setser, the impressive
rookie contender, claimed heat one with a strong run beating Charles Davis Jr, Logan
Seavey and Robert Ballou in the process. Ballou was sent to the rear of the field after making
contact with Trey Osborne causing Osborne to spin. Kevin Thomas Jr triumphed in heat two
in a good drive going to the front besting Kyle Shipley, Carson Garrett and Hayden Reinbold.
Kyle Cummins scored the win in heat three outrunning Briggs Danner, Logan Calderwood and
Nate Schank. Mitchel Moles captured heat four over Shane Cottle, Harley Burns and Jake Swanson.
Heat five fell to CJ Leary besting Chase Stockon, Brandon Mattox and Kole Kirkman. Heat racing
for the sprints was completed by 8:45.

Two UMP modified heats were next on the docket and were spun off quickly and completed by
8:56. The sprint semi was the next order of business with the top four joining the twenty already
qualified. Trey Osborne or “Tall” as he is known because of being 6 foot, 7 inches tall scored the win
in this one over Rylan Gray, Max Adams and James Turnbull II out of California making a last lap
pass to make it into the feature. Kale Drake and Ricky Lewis would have to rely on provisionals to
join the field and swell the starting field to twenty six.

At the start of the 30 lap feature event the field was brought to the green flag by Robert Ballou and
CJ Leary with Leary getting the early hole shot into the lead. Leary was hungry to win one and built
a straightway lead by lap five. Lap seven saw two contenders, second running Robert Ballou and third
running Kyle Cummins banging wheels in turn three. Cummins’ left front tire separated from his machine
while Ballou spun backwards into the turn three wall making light contact with the concrete. Both
drivers retreated to the work area and were able to return to the action with Cummins getting 11th at the
end and Ballou finishing 17th.

When the field went back to green Leary was quick to the point pulling away to over a second lead in just
a few laps with Mitchel Moles slotted into second. Logan Seavey was running a steady third until seventh
starting Kevin Thomas Jr using the bottom groove passed him for that spot around the nineteen lap mark.
Shane Cottle, another cat fisher was hugging the tractor tires in the infield making an impressive run from
22nd into the top ten. With seven laps to go Moles was beginning to close the gap on Leary but a nifty move
by Leary in lap traffic netted him a two car buffer over Moles at this point. An untimely caution on lap twenty
seven for debris in turn four (wheel cover) wiped out Leary’s advantage and bunched the field on his rear
nerf bar for the restart.

On the restart Leary was quick on the throttle and opened up a good lead. Moles was not done as he again
closed the gap and looked for an opportunity to grab the lead. Leary bobbled on the white flag lap on the
homestretch giving Moles that opportunity as he closed to Leary’s tail exiting turn two. Leary slid from the
bottom of turn three to the top of turn four to block Moles’ momentum so Moles countered diving low off
turn four racing to the checkered flag falling short by half a car length at the line with Leary edging
him for the win. The long losing streak of Leary was finally over snapping a 17 month drought going
back to February of 2024 at Ocala in Florida, a span of 66 USAC starts. It was Leary’s second career
USAC win at Circle City and his first since ISW22 notching his 24th career USAC National sprint car
Winning moving him past Roger McCluskey into 30th place on the all-time series career list. Moles would
have to settle for another second with Kevin Thomas Jr placing third, Shane Cottle, the hard charger in
another amazing run at Circle City from 22nd to fourth with Logan Seavey rounding out the top five.

Jake Swanson would run a solid race to finish sixth with Hayden Reinbold advancing from 12th to seventh,
Gunnar Setser eighth, Briggs Danner from 17th to ninth and Carson Garrett bringing it home tenth.

It was a good show run in a timely manner with the USAC sprint car feature checkering at 9:59. Onto
round six tonight at the Terre Haute Action Track, the biggest track on the speedweek tour.

That’s it for this report but check back tomorrow for what happened at Terre Haute and moving forward.
In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on
the road to catch some racing elsewhere. Either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news,
tidbits or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading
our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. We try to give
you some information so you can decide if you want to visit a certain track or not. In closing, remember
to be good and most importantly be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Danner’s Last Lap Pass Gives Kokomo Sweep Of ISW Round 4 At Kokomo

Tuesday, July 29 – Tuesday dawned sunny, bright and yes hot! The best part was that there was no chance of rain
today on Kokomo’s rain date day. Bill, Pat and I packed our SUV after shop work had it on the sideline
the past several days and began the journey Northeast on the backroads of Indiana. We arrived around
5 and secured a good parking spot on the backstretch where we were going to sit with the sun at our
backs. Steve and Mike had marked off our seats so we sat in the cool air conditioning chatting with
friend, Roger Ferrell, until things were ready to go on the track.

Time trials were the first order of business pushing off the first sprinter at 7:08. By 7:38 the 42nd time trialer,
Briggs Danner, was being interviewed after setting fast time around the ¼ mile dirt oval with a time
of 12.430 seconds. The surprise of the night was the fact that Justin Grant was back behind the wheel
of the TOPPS Motorsports #4 with special hand brake controls set up on the car. Grant would only
manage to time 25th fastest and they decided at that point to take a provisional to get starting points only.

The next order of business was five heat races for the USAC sprint cars with the top four advancing
directly to the 30 lap main event. Briggs Danner drew first blood charging from sixth to grab heat one
over 16 year old Cale Coons with Kyle Shipley third and Chase Stockon fourth. Jake Swanson powered
to the front in heat two and held off Kyle Cummins, CJ Leary and Colin Parker for the win. Heat three
saw the impressive rookie, Gunnar Setser, score the heat win over Ricky Lewis with a late race pass with
Kevin Thomas Jr and Logan Calderwood trailing. The surprise of the night was Zack Pretorius from
nearby Fairmont, Indiana winning heat four over Robert Ballou, Carson Garrett and Kale Drake. Heat
five saw Logan Seavey scoring the win in this one over Charles Davis Jr, Mitchel Moles and Chelby
Hinton. Beau Brandon took a nasty flip in turn three in heat five after his right front dug into the race
surface sending him high into the air into a series of flips. Luckily Brandon was OK but the same could
not be said for his car.

The seven car C main was next on the dance card with James Turnbull II taking the win over Troy
Carey, Todd Hobson and Matt Goodnight. After some track prep the sprint semi was trackside and
ready to go. Hayden Reinbold triumphed in the semi besting Hunter Maddox, Braydon Cromwell
and Joey Amantea. Justin Grant and Kayla Roell would use provisionals to swell the starting field to
26 cars for the 30 lap A main. All qualifying was in the books by 9:08.

By 9:32 it was feature time with the front row of Chase Stockon and Mitchel Moles bringing 24 of
their friends to the green flag. Stockon was the quickest on the throttle and would pace the field for
the first nine laps with Robert Ballou and Mitchel Moles chasing him. Robert Ballou finally tracked
Stockon down using a low side pass of him in turns three and four on lap ten to assume the lead.
Ballou proceeded to drive off to almost a two second lead until Chelby Hinton and Kale Drake tangled.
in turn one on lap nineteen bringing out the caution and wiping out Ballou’s comfortable lead.

On the restart it was Ballou, Stockon and Briggs Danner up front and as the trio charged into turn one
Stockon left the high side open allowing Danner to sweep by him in turn two and then dove low on the
backstretch executing a slider on Ballou in turn three to grab the lead but it was all for naught as four
cars got together in turn four causing the yellow to wave again. Danner would be forced to restart third
and on the next restart Ballou and Stockon occupied the high side blocking Danner’s path to the front.

Danner dove low on the backstretch to power past Stockon for second and took up the chase of Ballou
for the lead. Stockon and Danner locked up in a fierce duel for the second spot over the next six laps
exchanging the lead the same number of times as the laps run. Danner finally won the duel for second
executing the pass in turn four on the high side on lap twenty five. Danner then began to cut into Ballou’s
lead in the next several laps but still trailed Ballou by half a straightway with just two laps to go. Danner
closed the gap to only about two car lengths as they raced to the white flag. Entering turn one Ballou
encountered the lap car of Kale Drake deciding to take the low route around him into turn two. Danner
choose to rip the lip and as they exited turn two. The pair raced down the backstretch side by side and raced
into turn three almost dead even. Danner edged ahead exiting turn four up top and beat Ballou to the line
by 0.196 seconds to nip Ballou and complete the sweep of the evening.

Danner scored his first USAC sprint car win of 2025 and his fourth career win to go along with his second
career Indiana Sprint Week win. Add the hard charger award for his sixth to first win and it was a perfect
night for the young man from Allentown, PA. Ballou would finish a heart breaking second with Stockon third,
Moles fourth and Kyle Cummins rounding out the top five. Kevin Thomas Jr would finish sixth with CJ
Leary seventh, Logan Seavey eighth, Gunnar Setser ninth and Cale Coons rounding out the top ten. It
doesn’t get much better than that on a racing night for a driver.

That’s it for now but ISW action continues Wednesday at Circle City Raceway so in the meantime
get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated.
Comments, news or rumors and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks
For reading our efforts and we hope you continue to enjoy our reports. In closing, be good and be kind
to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Wins Wild One At The Burg In ISW Action

Saturday, July 26 – This day was a real hit or miss type of day with thunderstorms swirling around the Kokomo area all day long. When you thought we were going to be OK and get in the race another dark batch of clouds appeared. Finally radar and the Weather Channel slowed a 93% chance of rain at 7 and sure enough it began to rain and shortly thereafter the call was made to postpone the program tonight and it was rescheduled for Tuesday, July 29th and will be a sprints only show.

Sunday, July 27 – Yes, it was another iffy weather day and as we approached the Indianapolis area the clouds look ominous. They shifted to the south as we exited I-465 to head east on I-74 toward Cincinnati making our way to the Lawrenceburg Speedway. We ran into our first batch of rain in the Columbus area and encountered more as we approached the Batesville exchange. I continued to monitor the Weather Channel app which informed us that it was cloudy but not raining in Lawrenceburg. As we approached Lawrenceburg, we encountered a cell of rain and it stopped by the time we pulled onto the grounds of Lawrenceburg Speedway. We found the motorhome of Steve and Maggi Kimmel and paid them a visit while the races were in a hold pattern due to the weather. An enjoyable time was had by all eleven of us chatting in the motorhome while we monitored the situation outside. By 7:01 time trials began for the 34 car field assembled for tonight’s racing. By 7:26 Logan Seavey was being interviewed after touring the 3/8 mile dirt oval with a lap of 14.016 seconds. It was Seavey’s 20th career fast time in USAC sprints tying him for 24th place on the all-time list.

Next up were hot laps for the second division on hand, the UMP modifieds who brought 10 cars to the party. The four USAC sprint car heats were next on the agenda with the top five finishers advancing to the 30 lap main event. Robert Ballou stormed by Nick Bilbee late in heat one to score the win with Bilbee second, Logan Seavey third, Carson Garrett fourth and Ricky Lewis fifth. Justin Grant captured heat two besting Joey Amantea, Mitchel Moles, Shawn Westerfeld and Gunnar Setser. Briggs Danner went to the point in heat three beating Kevin Thomas Jr, Brady Bacon, Kyle Shipley and Logan Calderwood who has been running well in ISW25. Kale Drake nailed down heat four outrunning Kyle Cummins, CJ Leary, Austin Nigh and Jake Swanson. The one UMP modified heat race followed and then it was right into the sprint car semi.

Hayden Reinbold controlled the semi race winning over Max Adams, Nate Carle and Kayla Roell with all qualifying wrapping up by 8:33.

That left the two feature events to complete and after some light track work the 30 lap USAC National sprint car race was called to the post first. The front row of Mitchel Moles and Ricky Lewis brought the 24 car field to Tom Hansing’s green flag at 8:55. Moles got the early jump to take the lead at the start and would lead the first eight laps of the event. Brady Bacon who started fourth slid Moles for the lead in turn one on lap nine with Robert Ballou executing the same move on Moles one lap later. Ballou who started eighth and Bacon hooked up in a tremendous battle for the top spot exchanging the lead seven times over a five lap span as they raced through lap traffic weaving in and out. Ballou was finally able to wrestle the lead away from Bacon on lap sixteen. Bacon slid up the banking in turn two losing momentum enough to allow sixth starting Logan Seavey to slip by Bacon for second racing down the backstretch. Lap eighteen saw the demise of Ballou as he slapped the turn two cushion with his right rear tire which caused his sprinter to turn right into the cushion and his front end slammed the wall with his sprinter sliding along the turn two wall and stopping.

At this point Seavey would inherit the top spot and led the field to the green flag. All hell broke loose as the field came to the restart when third running Justin Grant’s front wheels hopped the turn four cushion sending him into the homestretch wall. Grant ricocheted off the wall turning him backwards with Mitchel Moles ramping over Grant’s left rear tire sending both drivers into a violent series of flips. Moles went tumbling toward the inside of the homestretch flipping over about six times as cars scattered all ways to try to avoid the melee. Kyle Cummins was not so lucky slamming into Grant’s machine sending him into a series of five flips and rolls while Cummins turned over also damaging his car extensively but miraculously his crew was able to make repairs to the bent sprinter enabling him to return to the race before they were ready to restart. Both Moles and Grant’s car ended up covering a lot of real estate and finally came to rest nearly three quarters of the way down the homestretch. Moles and Cummins were able to climb from their sprinters but Grant was carried by EMT personnel to the ambulance and transported to the hospital where he was found to have suffered a broken left foot.

After the carnage was cleared up the race was ready to restart as in addition to Cummins’ return, Robert Ballou was able to rejoin the field still on the same lap after changing a front axle. On the restart Seavey was quick to pull out front and began to open up his lead over the rest of the field. Lap twenty four saw second running Brady Bacon shred a right rear tire exiting turn four bringing out the caution. Bacon was able to go to the work area and rejoined the race at the tail of the field wiping out any chance of scoring win #62 and ended up finishing 14th.

Seavey motored away over the final six laps and crossed the line first at 9:27 for his fourth win of 2025 and his third ISW win at the Dearborn County speed plant. In addition, it was Seavey’s 28th career USAC National sprint car win tying him for 19th on the all-time win list. Kale Drake would cross the line second for his highest USAC sprint finish with Kevin Thomas Jr third, Briggs Danner fourth and Ricky Lewis notching fifth. The win also vaulted Seavey into the ISW point lead by two over Danner and five over Thomas.

Jake Swanson led the second five across the line in sixth with CJ Leary seventh, Kyle Shipley eighth, Hayden Reinbold ninth and Kyle Cummins rebounding for an incredible tenth. It was a good race minus the big wreck and we were happy that we got this one in.

Now there is a day break before the next ISW race which is the rain date at Kokomo returns on Tuesday. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take yourself on the road to catch some bucket list tracks. Either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated in your adventures. Comments, news, facts or rumors and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and thanks for your comments and thoughts. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Ballou Breaks Long Losing Streak Taking ISW Win At Lincoln Park

Friday, July 25 – Today was another scorcher with temperatures in the 90’s but the humidity was almost the same as the temperature reaching 85%. It was round 2 of ISW25 and the venue was the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, IN. The gang settled in for the night of racing with everyone drinking plenty of liquids to stay hydrated.

The time trials were the first order of business on the evening and the impressive field of 56 entries were ready to go under the clock. The process started at 7:18 and was completed by 7:40 with Brady Bacon setting fast time for the 54th time in his career ranking him fifth on the all-time list with a time of 12.471 seconds around the 5/16 mile dirt oval called the King of the Cushion.

Next up in this one division show were the heat races for the USAC sprinters with five qualifying races with the top four advancing directly to the 30 lap main event. Heat one saw Chase Stockon in the Sertich #92 winning over Logan Seavey, Brady Bacon and Zack Pretorius who seemed to have a bulls eye on him surviving two race tangles to qualify. Justin Grant in the TOPP Motorsports #4 captured heat two besting Kyle Cummins, Shane Cottle and young Cale Coons. Seth Parker in the Parker #38P surprised everyone by scoring the win in heat three over Charles Davis Jr, Joey Amantea and Hunter Maddox. Kevin Thomas Jr in the Rock Steady #3R captured heat four beating Briggs Danner, Carson Garrett and Logan Calderwood. The fifth and final heat was taken by Robert Ballou in his own #12 in a strong run passing Jake Swanson for the win with Gunnar Setser third and Kyle Shipley fourth.

The next race on the agenda was the C main with many good cars relegated to this own including USAC/CRA point leader, Ricky Lewis, who ended up winning this one over Geoff Ensign, Ivan Glotzbach and Kale Drake who moved to the back of the semi race.

The semi main event would take the final four to the 30 lap main event with Mitchel Moles scoring the win over Tye Mihocko, Chelby Hinton and Hayden Reinbold. CJ Leary and Kale Drake would be forced to use provisionals to join the 24 car field pushing the starting field to 26. All qualifying was in the books by 9:26 with just the 30 lap round two of ISW feature to contest.

The starting field rolled toward Tom Hansing’s green silk at 9:48 with the front row of Justin Grant and Logan Seavey leading the procession. Grant got the early jump looking for career win #62 with Seavey and Robert Ballou in tow. The green didn’t last long as Kyle Cummins spun in turn four on the opening lap collecting Charles Davis Jr in the process. Davis was able to restart but Cummins took a hit to both the car (broken front axle) and his point lead done for the evening and finishing 26th.

On the restart Grant powered back out front with Ballou sliding by Seavey into second. The top two ran low but about six laps in Ballou decided to test the high side. It did not produce the results Ballou was looking for so he returned to the low side to pursue Grant. As the race progressed Briggs Danner and Kevin Thomas Jr worked their way by Seavey and Brady Bacon to lock into third and fourth in the tussle. By the halfway point, traffic came into play. Grant got bunched up in turn two on lap sixteen behind Kyle Shipley running 20th allowing Ballou to make a nifty move up high to clear both the lapper and Grant for the lead. Lap twenty was the major factor in the race when Grant running second at the time encountered more lap traffic and in the jumble locked wheels with third running Danner causing Grant to spin out in turn two with Thomas also involved but in a heads up move kept his machine moving thus being allowed to return to his now third starting spot on the ensuing restart.

On the restart Ballou was quick on the throttle and moved back to the point. Ballou was able to lengthen his lead over the remaining ten laps and would cross the finish line first at 10:02 notching his first USAC sprint car win in over fourteen months in a popular win.
It was also Ballou’s sixth career ISW win with three of them coming at Lincoln Park. Ballou’s 39th career USAC sprint car triumph places him 12th on the all-time list one behind Gary Bettenhausen in 11th.

Briggs Danner finished second with Kevin Thomas Jr moving from eighth to third with Brady Bacon ending up fourth with Logan Seavey rounding out the top five. Chase Stockon came home sixth with hard charger, Jake Swanson, moving from 15th to seventh, Mitchel Moles eighth, Gunnar Setser ninth and Hayden Reinbold rounding out the top ten.

Saturday night’s round three moves to the Kokomo Speedway and check back to read about our experiences there. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take a road trip to see something new. Either way, have fun and be safe and stay hydrated. News, comments, points of interest or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you are enjoying these writings as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Wagner Scores 360 Sprint Race At Double X

Sunday, July 20 – Today was another hot one but only in the mid 90’s as we headed eastward toward home. In our whirlwind five new tracks in four states tour Sunday was our last stop before returning back home. Before arriving at our race stop for the evening, we made a pit stop at Colton’s Steakhouse and Grill, a chain in Missouri and Illinois, will be worth the time and money. Loaded nachos started the feast followed by Santa Fe chicken which was both delicious and bountiful. The prices at Colton’s are reasonable and the portions are generous. If you see one on your travels, stop in and enjoy a delicious meal.

After eating we ventured a little further down the road to our destination, the ¼ mile dirt bulling known as the Double X Speedway in California, Missouri. On tap this evening was the Bill Utz Memorial, for an area sprint car driver and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member and would feature three divisions of racing. The winged 360 sprints brought 16 entrants to the dance, the super stocks 13 in the fold and the B mods added 7 to the race total.

Racing got underway at 7:41 with the first of two super stock heats for that division. Steve Beach and Jody Romig were victors in these two. The B mods would contest one heat race with Chad Staus the winner. Next up were two heats for the 360 sprints with Iowa invader, Colton Fisher, winning the first one over Samuel Wagner, Josh Fisher and Tom Curran. Tyler Blank was victorious in heat two winning over Jack Wagner, Randy Martin and Daryn Langford.

Next up was intermission and it was racing back to school night where the school age youngsters in attendance were brought down on the homestretch and received backpacks with either school supplies in them or a $25 gift certificate in them.

The first feature of the evening would be the 15 lap super stock feature went green at 8:56 which was a competitive race with point leader, Darin Porter making a nice turn four high side pass late in the contest to snare the win over Jody Romig and Steve Beach. The 15 lap B mod feature was next on the dance card and this one was the race of the night. Chad Staus and Colson Kirk literally ran side by side the entire 15 lap distance never touching or cutting off each other. On the final lap third place runner, Adam Hall, got in the mix diving low on the backstretch on the final lap. It was a three car dash to the checkered with Hall down low, Kirk in the middle and Staus up top. When the three crossed the line, it was Kirk edging Hall for the win with Staus going from first to third on the last lap! It was one exciting race!

The 25 lap sprint car feature was next in line and the 16 car field took the green flag at 9:31. Colton Fisher jumped into the early lead and looked strong in the early going. Several cautions and one red slowed the pace and one lap after the red on lap 12 Jack Wagner in the Hockett #77 was able to get a run on Fisher passing him in turn four. Wagner would lead the remaining distance and crossed the line at 10:04 for the victory over Fisher with Tyler Blank third, Garrett Benson 12th to fourth and Taylor Walton 11th to fifth.

A good, competitive night of racing and with it being a Sunday night wrapping up the program at 10 PM was a plus for the working crowd in attendance.

That is it for now but check back Saturday as Indiana Sprint Week gets underway on Thursday and goes the next four days taking a two day break before ending in another four day stretch to crown another ISW point winner. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or come on out for ISW and enjoy some good wingless racing. Either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news or rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and keep those emails coming. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Danner Takes His First Silver Crown Win At Salt City

Saturday, July 19 – We drove in from Humboldt to Hutchinson to meet Steve and Maggi Kimmel at their camp site at the massive Kansas State Fairgrounds. We all piled into the Enterprise rental Nissan Rogue and headed over to the nearby Strataca salt mine museum to tour this massive underground mine located 650 feet below the surface and a cool 68 degrees year round as opposed to the 100 degree weather on the surface. They have been mining salt here for around a 100 years and are still supplying the world with the salt used to coat the winter roads among other uses. It was an impressive museum and shuttle and train tour!

Then it was back to reality as we exited the museum and encountered what felt like opening the door on an oven. It was a hot and windy experience. So Steve and I went to secure seats for tonight’s race while Maggi and Pat prepared supper back at the motorhome. It was nice getting back to the motor home and out of the blazing 100 degree temperature.

After eating we packed up some snacks and waters and Gatorades and worked our way over to nearer the giant grandstands where the racing would take place on the big half mile of the Kansas State Fair. We were joined in the seventh row by Ken “Wagtimes” Wagner now residing in Oklahoma for the night of racing highlighted by the USAC Silver Crown division contesting the Salt City 100.

Right off the bat I am going to address the elephant in the room which is the dismal count of only 14 Silver Crown cars to compete in tonight’s racing. It is time for USAC to step up and do something about this before the Silver Crown division is just something you read about in a book. This organization needs to beef up their purses in all three divisions and pay good tow money to the Silver Crown owners to entice the many cars to leave their garages and come to such places as Kansas and Pennsylvania. It is sad to see only 14 cars show up at a venue and USAC being embarrassed to even post an entry list before their Silver Crown events when the fields are in the teens. Time to seek more sponsorship and get the bucks needed to pay all the USAC divisions or the driver drain will continue and they will lose more and more drivers to other forms of racing. Nuff said!!

The giant grandstand with a roof provided much needed shade and a nice wind blowing from turn one toward turn four actually made the night quite bearable. Time trials for the grand dames of USAC kicked off at 7:28 and by 7:41 CJ Leary was standing on the homestretch being interviewed after setting fast time on the half mile with a time of 20.004 seconds. It was Leary’s eighth career fast time in the Silver Crown division and a new track record breaking Kevin Thomas Jr’s mark last year.

Also, on the dance card for the evening were 14 IMCA modifieds who would run two heats and a 15 lap main event. The third division on hand was the URSS winged 305 sprint cars who would contest only a 20 lap feature event tonight.
The two modified heats fell to Peyton Burkhart and Lee Steffen before the first feature of the evening was called to the post with the URSS sprints taking center stage. To say the least they whiffed at their big moment on center stage with two red flags and one yellow one with three sprinters flipping in the event. One went completely over the turn three wall and fortunately all drivers were OK after the nasty tumbles. Little passing, dusty conditions (which was not unexpected considering the hot weather) and 41 minutes made this one a real clunker. Ty Williams would win over Jeremy Campbell, Jeremy Hulsh, Brian Herbert and Brayton Dewell.

The 15 lap IMCA modified feature things were better with only three cautions and 13 minutes to complete the feature. Jake Nightengale took down the win over Willaim Nusser, Casey Jo Gemmill, the mother of two, looking good coming home third with last night’s winner, Ken Schrader, settling for fourth and Randy Wilson rounding out the top five.

The Team AZ teammates of CJ Leary and Mario Clouser brought the field to the green flag at 10:08 with Clouser getting the early lead. This was the first time two team cars had started on the front row since Fred Gormly steeds wheeled by Tyler Courtney and Chris Windom did so at Eldora in 2016.

The early top four consisted of Clouser, Leary, Jake Swanson and Briggs Danner who ran closely through the early going. Lap 12 saw Danner edge by Swanson at the end of the backstretch to take third. Justin Grant drove by Matt Westfall to take over fifth on lap 18 and had about a quarter of a track deficit to make up but he began to do so. Swanson retook third from Danner on lap 17 in lap traffic with Danner returning the favor two laps later. The front four ran that way for the next 14 laps before Swanson began to blow heavy smoke from the left side headers on lap 33. The old saying is that they run the fastest before they blow and Swanson proved that point by blasting by Danner for third, smoke and all on lap 35. Danner backed off several car lengths to save his tear offs, allowing Grant to close on him. Swanson’s engine went south on lap 40 with him pulling off on the backstretch. Lap 42 saw a lead change as Leary passed Clouser for the lead on the homestretch and assumed the lead. At the same time Grant was able to slip by Danner for third. At the halfway mark the top five were Leary, Clouser, Grant, Danner and Chase Stockon.

Lap 55 saw Danner almost lose it all as he attempted to pass Grant for third in turns one and two getting up high in the loose stuff but retaining control but losing ground on Grant. Lap 66 saw Leary trying to pass the always tough Matt Westfall to put him a lap down when he got backed up causing the guys behind him to brake and Danner used that snafu to regain third by Grant in turn two. Lap 68 saw the first caution wave as Saban Bibent slow in turn three while running eighth with a bald and flat right rear tire. He retreated to the work area and returned to race again. On the restart on lap 72 Leary moved to the point followed by Clouser and Danner. Danner got a good run down the backstretch and with a head of steam he polished off Clouser for second at the end of the backstretch on lap 77. Danner used the same move to grab the lead from Leary on the backstretch on lap 79 and we had a new leader. Lap 80 saw Kyle Steffens back it into the turn two wall while running seventh. On the restart on lap 86 Grant was able to slip by Clouser for third as Clouser’s right rear was going soft and on lap 91 gave up the ghost deflated in turns one and two. Danner would continue to lead on the restart with Leary and Grant chasing. Grant’s right rear went down on lap 96 as he slowed to bring out the caution.

On the green, white, checkered restart Danner was quick to the lead and pulled away to almost a three second lead running the fastest lap of the race on the last lap and crossed the line at 10:50 for his first career USAC Silver Crown win in his tenth start. It was also DMW Motorsports first win in seven years of competing giving car owner, Mickey Meyer, his first win. Danner became the first driver from Pennsylvania since Richie Tobias (DuQuoin) 22 years ago. CJ Leary had to settle for second with Chase Stockon third, Matt Westfall fourth and Kip Hughes in only his third Silver Crown start rounding out the top five. Hughes is no stranger to Salt City having won three NCRA late model runs in the past. Grant would come back to finish sixth with Danny Jennings seventh, Saban Bibent eighth, Travis Mahoney ninth in his maiden run and Mario Clouser salvaging a tenth after leading the most laps (42) of the contest.

I am being truthful in saying that even though there were only 14 cars the race was very competitive and kept your attention throughout.

It was a good night for Pennsylvania open wheel drivers as Anthony Macri took $200,000 for winning the 42nd Kings Royal with Briggs Danner taking Salt City but $190,000 less in his pocket.

Check back tomorrow for another night of racing on the weekend, this one being in Missouri. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take a road trip to catch some racing somewhere else. Either way, be safe, have fun and stay hydrated. Comments, news, stories, rumors or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for your nice comments and keep reading our efforts as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Mihocko Grabs Legends 50 Win At Bloomington

Friday, July 11 – Today started out in the 80’s but soared into the low 90’s in the afternoon. The humidity was not as bad as it had been but the intensity of the sun was fierce. We had a late lunch in Ladoga before transversing the back roads of Indiana on our way to the ¼ mile Bloomington Speedway. On tap tonight was the Legends 50, a unique race put together by the management team. It would consist of the wingless sprint cars taking individual time trials with the top ten locking into the 50 lap main event. A twist to the format was that the top ten in time trials would redraw for positions on the homestretch in front of the crowd to determine their starting positions. The remaining ten starters in the race would be determined by two 15 lap B mains with the top five moving into the main event. Also, the race would be timed as the sprints pushed off for the feature and if the time period reached 45 minutes a red would be thrown and the sprinters would be allowed to refuel. Twenty nine sprint cars turned out for the event along with 18 Racesaver 305 winged sprints and 8 super stocks for the program. Upon arriving we sat next to a young man from California named Sean Stanish and began talking with him. It turns out the soon to be 28 year old race fan loves traveling to different tracks and flew in with his dad, Jeff, to take in several races in Indiana and Ohio culminating with the Kings Royal at Eldora. I explained to him about our trackchaser’s group and he is going to assemble his list and submit it to be listed. Both Pat and I brought in a small umbrella and since we were in the top row it wouldn’t interfere with anyone else. The shade it provided really helped in the blistering sunshine. We kept them up until hot laps started for the wingless sprints and then down, they came as we settled in to watch the program which cost only $15, which was a real bargain. By race time the stands and surrounding areas filled in nicely which we were glad to see.

Time trials began at 7:17 and completed by 7:35 with Stephen Schnapf recording the fastest time with a lap of 12.475 seconds around the ¼ mile bullring. He was followed by Ricky Lewis, Jordan Kinser, Harley Burns, Hunter Maddox, CJ Leary in the Petersen #4P, Matt Thompson, Tye Mihocko, Saban Bibent and Max Adams in the Simon #23S who were now locked into the 50 lap feature.

Next up were the 305 sprints who would contest three heats with everyone qualifying for their 25 lap main event. The first green on racing action waved at 8:03 and Jeff Wimmenauer took home the gold. Heat two went to Ryan Tusing who is having a real good year here at Bloomington. Jordan Welch captured heat three as the 305’s spun off their heats in good order.

That led us back to the 410 wingless sprints who would go 15 laps in each of their two B mains. Jadon Rogers in the Baldwin #5 made a late race pass of Chance Crum to score the first B main win with Trey Osborne, Tony Helton and Owen Barr qualifying for the big 50 lapper. Sam Hinds would take down B main two outrunning Lee Underwood, Gabriel Gilbert, Andrew Prather and Todd Hobson the last man in. The only prelim event left to run was a heat for the eight super stocks in attendance with Lee Hobbs, with a $70 bounty on him, who won.

Next up would be the Legends 50 with the front row of Stephen Schnapf and Matt Thompson bringing the 20 car field to the green flag at 9:18. Schnapf went to the early lead and had looked strong all evening establishing himself as the man to beat. Nobody told Ricky Lewis that as he passed Schnapf on lap six to claim the top spot. Schnapf was not done yet and he reclaimed the lead a lap later and pulled away. CJ Leary from fifth and Tye Mihocko from seventh were coming forward moving into third and fourth by lap ten. They both polished off Lewis who struck to the high side and moved into second and third. Mihocko slipped by Leary for second and took up the chase of Schnapf as the track started to take rubber and most everyone went to the low side.

Mihocko and Leary caught and passed Schnapf for the top two spots by lap fourteen and pulled away. Saban Bibent who started ninth picked off Schnapf for third in a good run forward. Lap nineteen saw fourth running Schnapf ruin his evening slipping off the backstretch banking and taking himself out of contention. Meanwhile on one of the earlier cautions Jadon Rogers was run over by Hunter Maddox, went to the work area and returned at the back of the field and was coming forward like gangbusters making the top work for him. Also, Jordan Kinser was making moves up from his tenth starting position into the top five.

Mihocko tucked in low hugging the infield tires throughout the second half of the contest and crossed the line at 9:40 to grab the $3000 top prize in a good run chased across the line by Leary with Bibent rounding out the podium finish. Kinser would cruise across for fourth with Maddox rounding out the top five. Jadon Rogers made his comeback finishing sixth at the end with Matt Thompson a strong seventh, Gabriel Gilbert coming home eighth, Max Adams ninth and Todd Hobson advancing from 20th to tenth. No refueling stop was needed and the race was interesting though the track went away from all the sun and humidity earlier.

The 25 lap Racesaver 305 sprint car feature was next to the post and took the green flag at 9:54. Ryan Tusing jumped to the lead at the start. Tusing is having a good year at Bloomington already winning two events with Ethan Barrow winning the other two. Speaking of Barrow, he charged into second and the race was on. Tusing continued to lead hounded by Barrow with Carson Dillion joining the fray. Tusing was able to fend off Barrow until Barrow spun in turn two with nine to go relegating him to the tail. What followed was a performance from Barrow using the high side to pick off car after car in the remaining nine laps. Barrow got all the way back up to second but could not track down Tusing who would cross the line first at 10:08 for his third win of the year with Barrow second, Dillion third from sixth, Jeff Wimmenauer fourth and Matthew McDonald rounding out the top five. It was quite an entertaining race indeed!

We decided to forgo the super stock feature which Lee Hobbs did win, bid farewell to our new friends, Sean and Jeff, and headed to the SUV to make the 1 ½ hour tow back to Crawfordsville for a good night’s sleep. All in all, not a bad night of racing even though the track was not in the best condition, being dry and slick.

That’s it for now as we plan to go somewhere tonight depending on which way looks best weather wise. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road but either way have fun and be safe. Comments, items of interest, news and rumors can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and the nice comments and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Garrett Scores First USAC Sprint Win At LPS During Gardner Sprintacular

Saturday, July 5 – Today the temperature pushed into the low 90’s and it was a scorcher! The sun was so intense that you could have fried an egg on your car hood! We waited out the time in our SUV with the air conditioner on until it was time to venture into the grandstands for night two of the Bill Gardner Sprintacular featuring the USAC sprints paying $10,000 to win. Forty five sprinters responded to the call along with thirty Racesaver 305 sprints and twenty four super stocks. The unrelenting sun besides making everyone miserable can do a number on a dirt racetrack so several reworks or manicures were needed on the evening. We sat next to a nice couple from Redfield, Arkansas the last two nights who were hitting the road visiting some new racetracks. Gary and Kathyrn Brickey were their names and as we were talking more last night I asked him how many tracks he has visited. He answered 110 so as our conversation progressed I gave him one of our Hosedheads.com business cards and he responded with the fact that he reads our column all the time. He was so happy to finally meet us and now we have two more racing friends to look for.

Time trials kicked off at 6:50 for the fine field of 45, two less than last night with one of them, Ricky Lewis, jumping on an airplane and flying to Santa Maria Speedway in California to race with the USAC/CRA sprints where he is the point leader. In fact he won the event there last night after finishing third on Friday here at Lincoln Park. Quite a race schedule he has this year! When the time trials were completed at 7:18 it was Kale Drake standing down front being interviewed by Kristy Bemmes after setting fast time for the first time in USAC competition with a lap of 12.747 seconds around the 5/16 mile dirt oval.

Time trials were followed by hot laps/qualifying for the other two divisions, the 305 winged sprints and the super stocks. Following that sessions of hot laps the first of five USAC National sprint car heats was called to the post and would take the green flag at 8:18. Jadon Rogers in Amati Racing #66 took the race lead late in the first heat passing Austin Nigh who finished second with Hayden Reinbold third and CJ Leary fourth. Fast timer, Kale Drake, would have to run the semi after falling to place in the top four. Heat two went to Kevin Thomas Jr in the Rock Steady #3R in a strong run besting Daison Pursley, Kyle Cummins and Wesley Smith visiting from Missouri. Heat three went to Logan Seavey in the Abacus Racing #57 beating Geoff Ensign, Brandon Mattox and Kyle Johnson qualifying for his first USAC National sprint event. Stevie Sussex in the Sturgeon #77S surprised many by winning heat four over Joey Amantea, Carson Garrett and Mitchel Moles. Justin Grant was the cream of the crop winning heat five over Tye Mihocko, Chase Stockon and Robert Ballou.

Four heats were next on the dance card for the Racesaver winged 305 sprints with Dillan Baldwin, John Paynter, Ethan Barrow and Tyson Lady scoring wins in these events. The sprint C main would run in between the 305 heats and the super stock heats which ran three heats for their 24 car field.

The sprint C main would advance the top four finishers forward into the Semi where they were start at the tail of the field. Nate Ervin in the Nevil Algieo #11 wheeled his sprinter to the win over Rob Caho Jr, Kayla Roell with elbows up after being spun out early rebounded to move to the semi with Braydon Cromwell taking fourth. Jake Swanson and Chelby Hinton tangled in turn two during the semi with Swanson getting upside down for the second straight night. Swanson was able to return but would have to use a provisional to start the feature along with Briggs Danner who came up short also.

After the super stock heats it was into the USAC sprint semi with the top four joining the starting field for tonight’s $10,000 to win 40 lap feature event. Kale Drake secured his starting spot winning the semi over Cale Coons making his first USAC National sprint car race finishing second with Todd Hobson third and Shane Cottle coming home fourth.

The 305 sprints and super stock B mains followed before all qualifying was completed leaving us with just three features to spin off.

So, it was time to go feature racing with the 40 lap USAC National sprint car feature brought to Tom Hansing’s green silk at 11:07 with Carson Garrett getting the early advantage and leading for the first thirteen laps. Hayden Reinbold and Kyle Cummins trailed and hooked up in a good battle for second and on lap six the two made contact in turn three with Cummins spinning around and having to restart at the rear.

Garrett led on the restart with Reinbold and Ballou following. Lap thirteen saw Garrett’s second and a half advantage wiped out as Todd Hobson spun over the banking in turn two. Garrett went to the point on the restart but Reinbold was dogging him and executed a pass for the lead in turns three and four on lap fourteen. One more lap was recorded before a multi-car tangle occurred in turn two. Reinbold led on the restart with Garrett and Ballou close behind. Lap nineteen saw Kevin Thomas Jr go low to eclipse Ballou for third but one lap later Stevie Sussex spun in turn two to bring out another caution. We got three more laps in up to lap twenty three when Joey Amantea spun in turn one. Logan Seavey got a huge break as he jumped the turn two cushion minutes earlier while running fifth and dropped to about twelfth before recovering and would get his spot back because of the caution for Amantea.

On the restart Reinbold held sway with Garrett and Thomas in tow. Garrett continued to rip the lip and took the lead back off turn four on lap twenty five. Lap twenty seven while racing for eighth Ballou and Pursley made contact sending Pursley upside down on top of the turn two cushion. Pursley would return to finish twelfth. On the ensuing restart Garrett led over Reinbold, CJ Leary now up to third, Thomas and Seavey. Shane Cottle who started twenty fourth had maneuvered his way up to seventh at this point. Yet another caution waved on lap twenty nine when Wesley Smith and Chase Stockon got together in turn one. Kyle Cummins who started at the tail earlier in the race, had worked up way back up to thirteenth when he and Geoff Ensign made contact in turn four with Cummins spinning. Some nights just are not meant to be and this was one of them for Cummins.

On the restart Garrett went to the top while Reinbold continued to work the low side. It worked out for Reinbold as he retook the lead off turn four on lap thirty two. Two laps later Garrett returned the favor as the top side charging back by Reinbold into the race lead. Thomas made a two for one pass on the backstretch on lap thirty five storming by Leary and Reinbold into second. Thomas chased Garrett over the next several laps not making much headway as Garrett continued to lead. When you thought it was safe to think this one was over Austin Nigh spun in turn three to bring out the caution once again. It was set up a green, white, checkered finish with Garrett leading Thomas and Reinbold.

Garrett took the green and got a good jump opening up a few car lengths lead as he took the white flag again. As the leaders charged off turn four for the checkered eleventh running Geoff Ensign made another human highlight film flipping wildly off the backstretch bringing out the red instead of the checkered. They would have to rack and stack them once again for a green, white, checkered finish.

Garrett brought the field to the final green flag and promptly raced to a several car length lead. The final two laps went smoothly for Garrett and he raced across the line at 11:44 with a half second lead over Thomas for his first career USAC National sprint car win after 96 career starts had proved fruitless. Garrett was chased across the line by Thomas with Seavey slipping by Reinbold for third at the end with Ballou rounding out the top five. It was also the first USAC sprint car win since 2019 for the Tony Epperson #2E and it couldn’t have happened to a better bunch of guys!!

Positions six through ten were filled by Cale Coons who raced from 12th to 6th after winning the local LPS show one week ago with Justin Grant seventh, Kale Drake eighth, Mitchel Moles from 15th to 9th and Shane Cottle racing from 24th to finish 10th earning both the hard charger award and the Passing Masters award passing 29 cars in two nights. Cummins meanwhile would finish 16th ending his 22 race streak of finishing in the top ten.

It is always nice to see someone win their first feature race though the race will not be considered a theatrical success with all the cautions and reds but everyone will talk of this night and forget the bad parts.

That’s it until next weekend when you will have to check back to see where our typical weekend takes us. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take it on the road like the Brickey’s did. Comments, news, rumors and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Wins Third Straight Gardner Sprintacular At Lincoln Park

Friday, July 4 – It was a beautiful day to go racing! It was sunny and hot with temperatures pushing 90 and the USAC National sprint cars were running two straight nights at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, IN. We were so happy to see Lincoln Park have a nice day to go racing as LPS and many other tracks have been battling the unpredictable weather all season long. They were rewarded with a very good crowd and the track crew went to work turning out a real good racy track surface with the famous turn four curb that is legendary. There is a reason they call Lincoln Park, The Capital of the Cushion!!! Arrived around 5 and already found a good sized crowd on hand for the three division program of USAC sprints (47), UMP modifieds (17) and bombers (15). They announced during the evening that anyone coming back for night two of the weekend were welcomed to leave their seats in place but try to clean up your area around you which was a very nice gesture. This weekend is known as the Bill Gardner Sprintacular, in honor of the late creator of the Indiana Open Wheel website which is a popular forum for open wheel auto racing.

Time trials were the first order of business with the fine field of 47 entrants vying for quick time on the evening. The first car went under the clock at 6:53 and the 47th one at 7:20 with Daison Pursley in the Chad Boat #86 stopping the clocks with the fastest time of 12.471 seconds around the 5/16th mile dirt oval. Hot laps/qualifying followed for the other two divisions on hand before we were ready to go with five heat races for the USAC sprint cars with the top four advancing directly to the $6000 to win 30 lap main event.

All the heat action in all the divisions were good and in the sprint cars Jake Swanson would win the first heat over Jadon Rogers, Kyle Cummins and Daison Pursley. Logan Seavey would claim heat two beating Hayden Reinbold, Kevin Thomas Jr and Shane Cottle. The third heat went to last night’s winner at Kokomo, Robert Ballou, moving from sixth to take the win over Kale Drake, Kole Kirkman and Chance Crum. Heat four went to Gunnar Setser who looked impressive winning this one over Justin Grant, Carson Garrett and CJ Leary. The fifth and final heat went to PA’s Briggs Danner in a fine drive besting Mitchel Moles, Braydon Cromwell and Harley Burns.

The UMP modifieds were next up on the dance card running two heat races for their 17 car field with Kenny Carmichael Sr and Tyler Loughmiller taking down the wins. The bombers contested two heat races also for their 15 car field. The sprint C mains was in between the two division’s heats.
Speaking of the sprint car C main, the top four would advance to the tail of the B main. Kyle Johnson held off Wisconsin invader, Bryce Andrews, for the win with Hunter Maddox and Brandon Mattox trailing. The sprint car B main was next up with the top four finishers out of the nineteen entrants that made the call moving into the 30 lap main event. Chase Stockon used a last lap bobble by Ricky Lewis on the turn two cushion to drive by and win the B main over Lewis, Joey Amantea and Tye Mihocko the last man in. All preliminary events were in the books by 9:12 and it was time to go feature racing.

The front row of Hayden Reinbold and Jadon Rogers brought the 24 car field to the green flag at 9:34 with Reinbold the early leader. That didn’t last long as Robert Ballou who started fourth blasted around both Reinbold and Rogers on the high side in turn four on the opening lap to take the lead. Ballou was looking like the man to beat as he pounded the cushion and led past the halfway mark. Several drivers were making moves forward such as Kevin Thomas Jr from fifth to third, Ricky Lewis from eleventh into the top seven and Kyle Cummins from fourteenth nipping at the top five. Mitchel Moles wacked Kevin Thomas Jr on the backstretch battling for third on lap fifteen sending Thomas off the banking but Thomas kept going but dropped back to fourteenth after returning to the track.

Lap sixteen would see Jake Swanson turn turtle in turn two after catching the cushion wrong while running eighth. His car was turned over and he retreated to the work area and would return but only finish eighteenth at the end.

On the restart Ballou would lead with Reinbold second and Logan Seavey up from ninth to third, Moles fourth and Cummins fifth. Reinbold surprised everyone in the house including Ballou to charge into the lead off turn four. One lap later Seavey moved by Ballou for second and goes after Reinbold. Seavey makes his move in turn three on lap eighteen to grab the top spot. Lap nineteen saw Ballou lose another position as Kyle Cummins slip by for third. With four to go Ricky Lewis was working the high side and took fourth away from Ballou after starting eleventh. With three to go Ballou’s night got worse when he and Moles banged wheels on the low side of turn two with Ballou getting the worst of the deal spinning into the infield. Ballou would end up a very disappointing twenty second after leading the majority of the race.

On the ensuing restart Seavey would be at the point with Reinbold all over him like white on rice as he was hungry for his first career win. Seavey was able to stave off the hungry Reinbold to score his third straight Gardner Sprintacular win and third win of the year over Reinbold holding on after some bumper tag in turn four coming to the checkered between he, Lewis and Moles. Lewis would garner third, his career high USAC National sprint car finish as was Reinbold’s second place finish. Mitchel Moles would finish fourth with Shane Cottle advancing from 15th to fifth at the finish at 9:57. Kyle Cummins would slip from third to sixth in the closing laps with Justin Grant hard charging from 18th to seventh with Briggs Danner eighth, Kevin Thomas Jr rebounding to ninth and Daison Pursley coming back from an early race spin to finish tenth. It was also Seavey’s 27th career win tying him with Kyle Cummins for 23rd on the all time win list of USAC sprints.

It was a very competitive race and though the track got dusty in the feature it held up well considering the number of cars and the hot weather and was quite racy.

We decided to stay for the 20 lap UMP modified feature and another good race was witnessed. Tyler Loughmiller took the lead from Kenny Carmichael Sr in turn two on lap six and led the rest of the way but it was not easy as Jack Dossey III who started sixth applied pressure to him over the second half of the race but would have to settle for second. Matt Mitchell came from eighth to finish third with Kenny Carmichael Sr fourth and Sydney Landes rounding out the top five with the checkered falling on this one at 10:18.

We decided to head out at this point satisfied with a very good night of racing spun off in good order with a good surface to boot.

That’s it for this report but check back tomorrow to hear about the second night of Sprintacular action from Lincoln Park Speedway. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road. Either way, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what that other person is going through and just a simple hello and a smile could change their day for the better.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Ballou Dusts The Field At Kokomo Vince Osmun Memorial

Thursday, July 3 – Today was a very nice day weather wise. Temperatures were in the mid 80’s and the sun was shining brightly. Plans for the day were to take in the July 3rd Vince Osmun Memorial at the ¼ mile dirt oval at the Kokomo Speedway. A $15 general admission bought you a ticket to tonight’s racing which included the non-winged sprint cars (39), UMP modifieds (16) and thunder cars (19) plus a fine fireworks show at the conclusion of racing on the evening. We arrived at 5:25, found a good parking spot on the backstretch (sun is at your back) and settled in for a good night of racing.

After hot laps/qualifying for all divisions, it was time to go racing with the first of four heat races for the fine 39 car field assembled for the wingless sprints. The top four from each heat would advance directly to the 25 lap feature later in the evening. The green flag waved at 7:31 on the first heat and some good action was witnessed among the top four drivers. Arizona’s Logan Calderwood would hold sway to best Australian Todd Hobson, Rylan Gray and Brandon Mattox. Heat two went to California’s Ricky Lewis turning back Shane Cottle, Stevie Sussex and Colin Parker. Heat three saw Robert Ballou pull away quickly to win this one by a wide margin over Kyle Shipley, Max Adams in the Hery #21 and Brayden Clark. The fourth heat went to 16 year old Cale Coons, son of Jerry Coons Jr, who is B mains with only the top two advancing to the rear of the starting field.

Chelby Hinton, the youngster from Louisiana, wheeled the Phillips #71P to victory in convincing style in B main one over Nate Schank who passed Kokomo’s own Kole Kirkman late for the last qualifying position. Jadon Rogers wheeling the Baldwin #5 tonight won B main two over Cole Bodine in the Paul Hazen #57, subbing for the injured Jack Hoyer making him the last man in. All qualifying was completed by 9:15.

Since the two sprint B mains just ended track management decided to give those competitors some time to prepare their cars for the feature event so the 20 lap UMP modified feature was the first called to the post. The front row of Derek Losh and Nick Allen brought the 16 car field to the green flag at 9:21 with Losh taking the early lead. Allen would stay close but never seriously challenged Losh for the top spot throughout the feature. Garrett Jameson made some challenges on Allen but could not pull off the pass and finished third at 9:32 with his brother, Bradley Jameson, fourth and Todd Sherman. Not much passing in this one with the straight up start and really would like to see some invert in the UMP modified class.

The 25 lap non-wing sprint car feature was next on the agenda with the front row of Robert Ballou and Harley Burns bringing 18 of their friends to the initial green flag at 9:52. Ballou streaked into the early lead chased by Burns and Logan Calderwood. Three cautions slowed the racing action but each time the green dropped Ballou was off and running. There was some fierce action behind him among Burns, Calderwood, Ricky Lewis and Kyle Shipley. As Ballou powered away some other guys were moving forward such as Kale Drake from twelfth, Cale Coons from eighth and Jadon Rogers from eighteenth. Lewis worked his way into second at the mid stage of the race but Ballou was long gone. Kale Drake picked off car after car and maneuvered his way up to third. Coons worked his way up to fourth with Burns dropping to fifth. Rogers was coming forward like gang busters and was in sixth on the white flag lap. The checkered would wave at 10:15 with Ballou, the defending Kokomo Speedway point champion, garnering his second win here on the year over Lewis with Drake third, Coons crossing fourth and Rogers passing Burns for fifth on the backstretch on the final lap. Not a good race if you were looking for a battle for the lead but the remainder of the top five put on some good drives. As the announcer interviewed Ballou in victory lane he said “you dusted the field tonight” and indeed he did with a dominant drive.

Positions six through ten were filled by Harley Burns with Jake Swanson advancing from sixteenth to seventh with Stevie Sussex eighth, Shane Cottle ninth and Chelby Hinton moving from seventeenth to tenth at the finish.

We decided to head toward the exits with the thunder car feature still to run and the fireworks to follow. As we exited the parking area we were amazed at the crowd gathered or parked in the parking lot plus up and down the road in both directions preparing for the fireworks that would take place.

That’s it for now but check back the next two days as we head south on Route 231 to attend the Lincoln Park Speedway in beautiful, downtown Putnamville for two days of USAC sprint car action during the Bill Gardner (late founder of Indiana Open Wheel website) Sprintacular on the 5/16 mile dirt oval. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road. Either way, have fun and be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and corresponding with us with your viewpoints. All email is gladly accepted. In closing remember to be good and most importantly be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Goes Wire To Wire For 7th USAC Win At Millstream

Sunday, June 29 – The temperature “only” hit the high 80’s today but the sun was still intense. Before venturing over to the track, we visited the Findlay Brewing Company for a fine meal of barbeque nachos and Pollo Loco Taco salads to fuel up for the day. We coordinated with Jim Reeder and arrived about the same time at 5 PM. The schedule had been pushed back an hour because of the heat with hot laps commencing at 6 PM. On tap tonight were the USAC National sprint cars (24) and the winged 305 sprint cars (17) to do battle on the 4/10 mile dirt oval which we had not been to since 1984. This was the first time USAC had raced here in 37 years.

An inner ¼ mile dirt oval has also been added which they run special shows on. They have made a lot of improvements here with new fencing though the homestretch fencing needs to be extended upward more to prevent objects from entering the grandstands. New walls, new aluminum grandstands and new concession stands and nice landscaping are some of the other improvements. Next they need to add permanent restrooms and the facility will be top notch.

We sat with Jim and Jon Jay Mooney on the homestretch in the row before the Flo cameras. With the scoring tower behind us and the sun also we were in the shade which made it more comfortable. Hot laps for the USAC sprints were first up followed in quick order by their time trials running two at a time starting at 6:30. Mitchel Moles set another fast time tonight which was a new track record since the last time USAC ran here without wings in 1982. The new fast time was a lap of 16.331 seconds with 23 of the 24 entries breaking the old fast time. Next up were hot laps/qualifying for the winged 305 sprints before the USAC sprints returned to run their three heat races. Twenty three of the twenty four cars ran in the heats with Matt Westfall scratching for the evening with mechanical woes.

Justin Grant would score the win in the first heat of the evening and in the process set a new eight lap heat track record with a time of 2:16.001. Grant outran CJ Leary, Mitchel Moles, Hayden Reinbold, Kale Drake and Shawn Westerfeld. Heat two was captured by Robert Ballou in a dominant drive besting Kyle Cummins, Briggs Danner, Logan Calderwood, Gunnar Setser and Chase Stockon. The third and final heat went to Ricky Lewis who went to the top after starting fourth and taking the lead on the first lap and never looked back outrunning Kevin Thomas Jr, Logan Seavey, Jake Swanson, Kayla Roell and Steve Irwin.

The 305 sprints would contest two heats with everyone advancing to their 25 lap main event later in the evening. JJ Henes captured heat one over Chad Wilson and Jamie Miller. Blayne Keckler claimed heat two beating Zach Kramer and Zeth Sabo. Neither the 305’s nor the USAC sprints would need B mains so the track crew went to work reworking the racing surface. They had kept after it all day long and the final grooming of the surface would produce a good racing surface with little dust for the 30 lap USAC sprint car feature.

The 30 lap USAC sprint car feature would be the first one to the post with the front row of Jake Swanson and Kyle Cummins bringing the 23 car field to the green flag at 8:47. Cummins got the early hole shot and stormed into the lead on the opening lap. Kyle would pace the first five laps trailed by Swanson and Logan Seavey. Lap six saw Hayden Reinbold coming forward to eighth bike in turn three, turning him sideways and into a series of quick barrel rolls along the concrete wall before landing back on the track. It was a scary moment until Hayden climbed up through the roll cage standing on his seat and talking with the safety crew.

Crews were allowed to work on the cars during the red flag period with many adjusting tire pressure and several adding fuel including leader Kyle Cummins who later stated that it was a blessing as he felt they would have run out of fuel before the finish.

On the restart Logan Seavey caught some rough track in turn three and bounced four times retaining control but losing valuable ground dropping from third to seventh in a flash. Cummins continued to lead with Mitchel Moles slipping by Swanson into second and Justin Grant moving into fourth from eighth.

Robert Ballou was another man making some moves from his ninth starting spot and cracked the top five by lap nine. Two laps later he polished off Grant for fourth with a turn two inside pass and on lap fourteen passed Swanson for third racing down the backstretch. Ballou was on a roll and wanted to make up for last night at Fremont when he flipped while leading. Ballou quickly caught Moles who was running second and what transpired had the crowd in a frenzy. The two locked up in a side by side battle over the next four laps with Ballou low and Moles running up high swapping the second spot back and forth over and over again. Ballou took second on lap eighteen but Moles went back by on lap nineteen. Ballou surged ahead on lap twenty two but Moles was not done and rebounded to take second on lap twenty four. Meanwhile, Cummins was working the lap traffic to perfection as he opened up a half straightway lead as the laps ticked off.

Cummins would cross the line first at 9:14 scoring his seventh USAC sprint win of 2025 and his 27th career win moving him into 19th place on the all-time winning list. Cummins also extended his consecutive top ten finish streak to 21 straight races to start the season tying him with CJ Leary who did the feat in 2019. Moles would claim another second with Ballou settling for third with Briggs Danner nipping Justing Grant for fourth at the line with Grant finishing fifth. CJ Leary led the second five in sixth after starting 12th with Kevin Thomas Jr picking up the hard charger advancing from 14th to seventh. Jake Swanson would end up eighth with Ricky Lewis ninth and Kale Drake rounding out the top ten. It was a very entertaining race and far exceeded our group’s expectations for the evening.

Jon left to drive back to Illinois while Pat, Jim and I stayed to watch the 25 lap 305 sprint feature. It was a competitive race with fourth starting Jamie Miller working his way to the front just past the halfway mark and going on to take the win over Blayne Keckler, Zeth Sabo from ninth to third, Jimmy McGrath fourth and JJ Henes fifth with the final checker waving at 9:44.

That is the way to run a Sunday night program with only two divisions and wrapping up the program before 10PM and getting the fans on the road early to get a good night’s sleep to start the work week. Good job Millstream management on sticking with it on a hot day and working on the surface until it was right!

That’s it for this report but check back on Friday as we’ve got a race planned for Thursday night along with Friday and Saturday. In the meantime, get out there and catch some good short track racing in your area and have fun and be safe. News, comments, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Grant Three In A Row & Win #60 At Fremont

Saturday, June 28 – It was a long tow from Central Kentucky up to Fremont, Ohio with an added 1 ½ hour delay for road construction on I-75 in the Cincinnati area but we made it by 6:15 with time trials already underway. Thanks to good friend and fellow trackchaser, Jim Reeder of Iowa, who saved us seats we were able to have good seats in the covered grandstand out of the blazing sun. Also next to us was another trackchaser, Jon Jay Mooney, so we had a good night chatting during the evening. We had a great mini vacation in the Smoky Mountain’s area of Bryson City and Cherokee, North Carolina. We also visited tracks in Ohio and Kentucky before crossing back over the Mason-Dixon line back into Ohio.

The USAC National Sprint Cars had not raced at Fremont Speedway in 22 years and we wanted to be there for their return. Twenty six USAC sprints were joined by 26 winged 305 sprints and 19 D2 midgets for a good night of open wheel racing. Time trials were underway as we found a parking spot on the fairgrounds and made our way over to the grandstand area. We also encountered good friend, Tonya Hillegas, walking up the steps and were greeted with two big hugs from the lady who had lost her husband, Jimmy, over a year ago.

When the time trials ended at 6:30 it was Logan Seavey scoring a new track record breaking the old one set by Jay Drake back in 2003 with a time of 14.505 seconds around the 1/3 mile clay oval located on the Sandusky County Fairgrounds. Next were hot laps/qualifying for the other two classes before a track rework was in order.

It was 7:40 when the first of four USAC sprint car heats took the green flag with Mitchel Moles wheeling the Reinbold/Underwood #19AZ to victory over Matt Westfall, Robert Ballou, Jake Swanson, Logan Seavey and Shawn Westerfeld. Heat two was won by Max Adams, one of the most underrated drivers out there, racing the Hery #21 to victory over Kyle Cummins, Chase Stockon, Saban Bibent, Nate Carle and Briggs Danner after his crew made an engine change between time trials and his heat race. The final heat of the night fell to Kale Drake in the Benic #2B besting Gunnar Setser, Hayden Reinbold, CJ Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr and Justin Grant in a new track record time of 1:57:946.

Next up were three heat races for the 305 sprints with Jamie Miller, Steve Rando and Paul Weaver winning. The D2 midgets would contest three heat also with the veteran Chett Gehrke defeating Bryce Massingill and Carl Peterson IV. Luke Hall captured heat two over Matt Lux and Jakeb Boxell who ran well in the recent IMW. Zach Wigal claimed heat three beating Tyler Nelson and Brayden Schwartz.

Then it was right into the sprint car semi, which was won by Dustin Ingle over Steve Irwin, Mike Miller, Brian Smith (taking the wing off), Kayla Roell and Bryce Dues in last man in.

Next up was the 30 lap USAC sprint car feature with the front row of Kevin Thomas Jr and Chase Stockon bringing the 24 car field to the green flag at 9:29. Stockon got the early jump and went to the front. Stockon would lead the opening four laps with Robert Ballou who started third and used the low groove to surge forward. Lap five saw Ballou pass Stockon for the top spot on the low side of turns three and four and into the lead. The Madman was on a rail and began to pull away from the pack.

Grant was the next one to pick off Stockon on lap nine in turn two to grab the runner-up position and take up the chase of Ballou. Logan Seavey used the same move in turn two one lap later to grab third from Stockon. Ballou continued to stretch his lead in the middle stages of the contest as he approached lap traffic.

The race took a drastic turn as Ballou entered turn three on lap fourteen on the high side of Bryce Dues and suddenly biked and came down digging his left side wheels into the ground and started to flip nose to tail and then sideways ending on his wheels. Believe it or not Ballou was able to go to the work area and returned to finish 12th but an almost sure win went down the drain.

On the restart it was Grant, the new leader dogged by Seavey who applied the pressure over the next several laps. The lappers using the low groove over the remaining distance took away any chance of Seavey using a slider to topple Grant from the lead. Kyle Cummins closed the gap on the two leaders late but ran out of time to make any serious challenge. Grant raced across the line first at 9:49 for his third straight win, sixth overall and most importantly his 60th career USAC National sprint car win making him only the third driver to reach the 60 win mark. Only Brady Bacon at 61 and Dave Darland at 62 stand in front of Grant at this point. Seavey crossed the line second after starting sixth with Cummins third from fifth, Mitchel Moles fourth after starting eighth with Stockon rounding out the top five. Thomas would finish sixth with Briggs Danner, the hard charger advancing from 24th to snare seventh with Jake Swanson eighth, Max Adams ninth and Gunnar Setser tenth after starting 17th.

Overall, it was a good feature run and kept your interest throughout.

Next up was the 25 lap D2 midget contest and despite the five slowdowns it was probably the better of the two features we witnessed on the evening. Zach Wigal took the early lead in this one and looked strong being chased by Bryce Massingill, Chett Gehrke and Luke Hall. This group would have a grand old time swapping positions in the top five. Gehrke was the first to lose ground as he clipped an infield tire in turn two dropping him back several positions but he would rebound to reenter the top five again. Massingill was able to pass Wigal in the middle stages but also encountered trouble as he slid high in turn two losing the lead and dropping out of the top five also. Massingill would fight to return to the top five and into contention. Luke Hall would lead for a while but Wigal went back out front. Massingill was not done and blasted by Hall and then Wigal to take the lead with a few laps remaining. Wigal tried a bonzi slider in turn one on the final lap to briefly take the lead but Massingill countered in turn two and raced down the backstretch with the lead. As the checkered waved at 10:42 it was Massingill in for his third win of the season over Wigal with Hall third, Jakeb Boxell fourth and Tyler Nelson rounding out the top five. Also kudos to Abby Hohlbein who finished sixth after starting eleventh.

It was time to call it a night and take the long walk back to our rental SUV and the trip down the road to our hotel in Findlay for the evening after witnessing a good night of racing.

That’s it for this segment and check back Monday for the report on the racing at Millstream Speedway on Sunday with the USAC sprint cars. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, news, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts as we love hearing from you all and appreciate all the correspondence that comes our way. In closing, remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Duncan Powers By Dussel Late To Grab All Star Win At Moler

Friday, June 20 – We spent most of the day at the Creation Museum in Kentucky before heading over into Ohio to take in the All Star Circuit of Champions sprint car race at Moler Raceway Park. The ¼ mile bullring was wiped into good condition for the night of racing that included All Stars (33), sport modifieds (22), compacts (13) and legend cars (16). We arrived early at Moler a little past 4:30 and I walked in to secure our seats one row from the top in the wooden grandstands going toward turn one. We had never been to Moler before so we wanted to make sure we got a good seat. On the way in I ran into Derrick Bean, a Michigan trackchaser, who was also attending the races at Moler for the first time. After checking out the concession prices and chatting with the gal at the Danny Dietrich trailer, I returned to the car for a while to stay out of the sun. Temperatures were in the low 90’s and a heat advisory was in effect so it was better to stay out of the sun. Derrick brought another trackchaser, JD Smith, over to the SUV and we got to meet another of the trackchaser group for the first time.

We finally ventured back into the grandstands around 6:15 and settled into our seats for the evening. After hot laps time trials for the All Star sprints kicked off at 6:57 with the cars running two at a time in the qualifying session. When it was all said and done by 7:37 it was Pennsylvania’s Danny Dietrich setting the fast time with a lap of 11.892 seconds around the quarter mile oval. The other classes would have their hot lap sessions and by 8:35 we were ready for the first of four heats with the top five advancing directly to the 30 laps main event. Bobby Butler was done for the evening after time trials so 32 sprints started the four heats.

The first heat race of the evening saw Danny Dietrich go wire to wire winning this one over Maryland invader, Steven Snyder Jr in one of Mike Heffner’s cars, Ryan Smith also from PA, the ageless Danny Smith and Brandon Wimmer. Heat two went to North Carolina’s Aidan Price besting Nate Dussel, Leyton Wagner, Cody Bova and Lance Webb in a very racing heat affair. Ohio’s own Cole Duncan captured heat three beating Indiana’s Zane DeVault, Justin Clark, Cale Stinson and Greg Wilson. Western Pennsylvania’s Tim Shaffer wheeled the Michael Dutcher #17GP to victory over Cap Henry, California’s Kalib Henry, Brandon Spithaler and Cale Thomas.

Heats for the other three divisions followed ending at 9:44. Then it was right into the sprint car dash race, also won by Danny Dietrich looking for a sweep of the evening. The sprint car B main was next on the agenda with the top four joining the previous 20 qualified sprinters. Young Michigan hot shoe, Dain Naida, captured the B outrunning Brock Hallett, Sean Rayhall and Josh Davis. All qualifying was in the books by 10:08 with the 30 lap ASCoC sprint car feature next on the dance card. Some track prep was done as the track had held up well under the intense sun and four divisions of racers but a little liquid love was in order.

By 10:48 it was feature time with the front row of Danny Dietrich and Nate Dussel bringing the 24 car field to the green flag. Dussel got the jump at the start and soared into the early lead. Zane DeVault and Kalib Henry also slipped by Dietrich as he bobbled on the turn three cushion and dropped back to fourth. Dussel was able to build up a two second lead over the field as Dietrich crawled his way back to second and fifth starter, Cole Duncan, slid into third.

As the lap counter hit 20 Duncan was able to pass Dietrich for second and took up the chase of Dussel. With three to go Duncan had closed the gap to just a couple of car lengths as Dussel continued to lead picking his way through lap traffic. The only caution of the event occurred one lap later and reset the field for a green, white, checker finish. Dussel for some reason decided to protect the low groove while Duncan went to the cushion and passed Dussel racing off turn four for the white flag. Duncan was now out front and led the final lap to score the big win over Dussel, Dietrich, DeVault and Cap Henry. Kalib Henry ended up sixth with Steven Snyder Jr seventh after pitting for a flat with Justin Clark eighth, Cale Thomas marching from eighteenth to ninth with Tim Shaffer rounding out the top ten as the checkered fell at 11:06.

It was a quick gathering up of the blanket and snack bag and head for the exit as we had an hour ride to our hotel room. It was a very competitive feature with lots of position changes on a track that held up well and was hardly dusty. We were pleased with our first visit to Moler Raceway Park and would not hesitate to return sometime in the future.

That’s it until next weekend so check back Sunday and Monday to see where we end up next. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or put together a road trip to see some bucket list tracks. Either way, have fun and be safe. Comments, news, stories, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and glad to hear you are enjoying them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rain Guts Middle Of IMW & Denney & Moles Capture Finals At Kokomo

Thursday, June 5 – Weather was the main topic this year during Indiana Midget Week with the wet weather playing havoc on the middle three nights of the week. On Thursday we awoke to cloudy skies and the forecast for night three at Lincoln Park Speedway was iffy at best. We never left the house on this day as around noon as we were sitting down to lunch, the Twitter post came announcing the postponement of round three of Indiana Midget Week. This event will be rescheduled later in the year.

Friday, June 6 – Friday’s weather at Bloomington Speedway was not promising but it improved as the morning turned to afternoon. There were a few hours during the early evening that we hoped would dissipate as the day went on. Bill and Dale decided to wait it out in our SUV as Pat and I ventured in when the gates opened at 5 to secure space for 10 chairs in the concrete portion of the main grandstand. Steve Kimmel joined us shortly thereafter and Max Niemann joined us not long after. The initial forecast was showers starting around 7 and continuing until about 9. That forecast changed a half hour later and was very promising as the rain forecast was pushed back to 10 PM. Another half hour later it changed once again for the worse as rain was predicted for 7 PM again. We hoped and prayed as the USAC midgets rolled onto the track surface for hot laps and they were getting around the ¼ mile oval in good order. Time trials would follow and six midgets recorded times before a light sprinkle started to fall. It picked up in intensity a few minutes later and we decided to take the chairs back to the SUV and leave two blankets spread out in our area to retain our spots. The deal with Bill and Dale was if the race rained out, they had to walk in and gather up the blankets and place them in large plastic bags and bring them back to the car. A light rain turned steady after we arrived at the SUV and about fifteen minutes later the call was made to postpone this round of IMW and it will be run as part of a triple header on Friday, August 29th with the midgets joining the wingless sprints and 305 winged sprints for a full open wheel night of racing.

Saturday, June 7 – Saturday’s weather for southwest Indiana looked more promising than the previous two days as we prepared to leave for Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt. Around noon time we were somewhat surprised to see a post on USAC’s Twitter that racing had been cancelled as rain from the night before and more predicted for today had produced wet grounds so the third straight night of Indiana Midget Week racing went down the tube. Pat and Bill’s wife, Judy, ventured over into the Carmel area for some girl time while Dale and I checked out tracks further north of us where the weather was clear for the evening. We came up with three and decided on the .375 asphalt oval in Marshall County, the Plymouth Motor Speedway and joined by Bill off we went northwards. Plymouth is a very nicely kept facility and the large aluminum grandstand is second to none. Unfortunately the northern Indiana race fans do not come out in large numbers to watch the racing. About four hundred fans were in attendance on another HARF discount night which allowed me to watch the races tonight for a mere $8. This track has a lot of good things going on in addition to the seating as a very good speaker system is in place and the announcer is very well spoken and informative. The restrooms are nice and the food concession items are reasonably priced and good tasting. The car counts could use some improvement but they run a very efficient program with a five division show starting on time at 6 PM with the last feature checkering at 8:32 AM. That allowed us to make the two hour drive back to Crawfordsville at a sensible hour and get a good night’s sleep to go racing the next day.

Sunday, June 8 – Finally we got some sunshine on the Sunday morning as the forecast for Kokomo looked very promising. After attending church in the morning, the group of four coordinated with Steve Kimmel to secure seats in the backstretch grandstands with a 4:30 arrival on the agenda.

Tonight, would be only the third race of the 21st running of Indiana Midget Week but sadly the third and final round of the scheduled six race week of midget racing. On tap was the fan pleasing card of USAC midgets (33) and Indiana wingless sprint cars (39) as were each other round of the series. One thing up front that we did not like was that tonight Kokomo management were running the sprint car feature first ahead of the midget feature. Our feelings on this subject are that it is Indiana Midget Week and the USAC midgets should be the first feature of the evening as this is their spotlight week.

Things got underway at 6:54 with time trials for the 33 midgets on hand and were in the books by 7:14. Karter Sarff, who has run strongly this week, recorded his second fast time of the week and third of his career.

The wingless sprint cars were next to the post running four heats for their 39 car field with the top four moving directly into the 25 lap main event. Arizona driver, R.J. Johnson, placed one of the Jerry Petty sponsored #33P out front early winning heat one over Cale Coons, Trey Osborne and Jack Hoyer, three of the up and coming youngsters in wingless sprint car racing. Heat two was captured by Robert Ballou beating Mitchel Moles, Shane Cottle and Zack Pretorius. Heat three went to the Benic #2B driven by Kale Drake winning over Harley Burns, Logan Calderwood and Kayla Roell. In this one Texan, Brennon Marshall, got pinched into the backstretch wall and took a nasty tumble down to the bottom of the entrance to turn three. After a minute Marshall climbed from his mangled sprint AOK. Jake Swanson nailed down the fourth heat besting Rylan Gray, Sam Hinds and Ricky Lewis.

The USAC midgets were now center stage and would contest four heat races with the top five moving directly into the 30 lap main event. Rylan Gray surprised everyone in heat one wheeling the family car out front and moving away from the field to claim heat one over Justin Grant, Kale Drake, Colton Robinson and Karter Sarff. Heat two saw Cannon McIntosh power to the front to win this one over Jacob Denney, Gavin Miller, Trevor Cline making his first start of the week and Drake Edwards. Chelby Hinton in the Klatt #4B looked strong winning heat three over Thomas Meseraull, Kevin Thomas Jr, Cale Coons and Brecken Reese in the Grady Chandler #00 who made all three IMW events in a good showing. Corbin Rueschenberg powered away in heat four beating Hayden Reinbold, Ethan Mitchell, Daison Pursley and Jakeb Boxell in the second Four Kings entry turning in an impressive IMW run.

Suddenly there was a real sense of urgency and the reason was found on our phones as rain was approaching the Kokomo area. The two sprint car B mains rolled onto the track in good order with the first two moving into the main event. Geoff Ensign captured B main one with Jadon Rogers making a big move off turn four on the last lap to grab the second spot. B main two saw sprint car rookie, Kole Kirkman, a local driver from Kokomo, taking this one over Cameron LaRose, the last man in.

The midget semi was quickly pushed out onto the track and Steven Snyder Jr went on to win over Gunnar Setser, Logan Seavey and Frankie Guerrini. All qualifying was in the books by 8:54 with the A main ready to go just five minutes later.

The green flag would drop on the twenty car field at 8:59 with Kale Drake jumping into the early lead over Jake Swanson. Cale Coons and Robert Ballou locked up in an early battle for fourth with Coons making a nifty high side move in turn two on lap three. One lap later Kayla Roell lost the handle in turn two and spun on the low side to bring out the caution.

On the restart Drake went back to the point with Swanson and Mitchel Moles in tow. Moles slipped by Swanson for second with Coons moving by Swanson for third. Harley Burns caught a ridge in turn three wrong and bounced like a ball stacking up several others behind him in the process with Logan Calderwood stopping bringing out another caution. Things resumed once again with Drake the leader trailed by Moles and Coons. Robert Ballou reloaded and began to make his way forward catching and passing Coons for third in turn one on lap eight. Lap twelve saw Ballou pass Moles for second with a strong move on the homestretch clearing Moles in turn one for second. Ballou took up the chase of the high flying Drake and began to close the gap.

Ballou was all over Drake entering turn one on lap nineteen, setting up his move for the lead taking first in turn two. Moles was able to track down Drake for second on lap twenty one but Drake countered on lap twenty two. Sam Hinds running a good race in sixth at the time flips wildly on the backstretch on lap twenty three to bring out the red flag. On the restart Ballou and Drake raced into turn one nose to tail and Drake dove low in turn two attempting a slider but collided with Ballou up high sending the Mad Man’s sprinter spinning and contacting the wall. Ballou was not happy with Drake and had every right not to be. Drake would be the new leader on the restart with Moles and Coons nipping at his tail tank. Drake got a good jump on the restart but Moles began to close the gap entering turns three and four. Off turn four racing to the white flag Moles was able to slip by Drake for the lead as the Ballou followers were happy about that.

At 9:17 Mitchel Moles crossed the finish line first taking the win over Kale Drake with Cale Coons a strong third from eighth, Jake Swanson fourth and Shane Cottle a good run from tenth to fifth. Jack Hoyer advanced from 13th to 6th with Geoff Ensign 17th to 7th, Zack Pretorius 14th to 8th, with Jadon Rogers 19th to 9th and Rylan Gray rounding out the top ten.

It was a very, very good race with lots of action and passing and we looked forward to the 30 lap USAC midget feature next. Some rain drops began to fall but let up minutes later.

The 30 lap USAC midget feature was lined up skipping the fourth abreast salute and taking the green flag at 9:26 with Kale Drake in good shape for the IMW point title only having to finish fourth or better and no one could beat him. The start was scrambled with sixth starting Karter Sarff lost power on the homestretch helpless as midgets raced by with 20th starter, Colton Robinson, sliding into the rear end of Sarff with 24th starter, Frankie Guerrini, tagging Robinson launching him into several flips landing in turn one. A stripped cam stud was the culprit of Sarff’s woes ending any chance of him garnering the point title. On the original start first starting Jakeb Boxell was deemed to have jumped the start and was relegated to the second row for the infraction. Drake Edwards was moved to the pole with Kale Drake the new outside front row starter. Edwards was able to grab the early lead with Drake right behind. The first six laps were led by Edwards with Drake showing his nose to Edwards in turn two with Edwards able to hold sway at this point. Lap ten saw Edwards catch the cushion wrong in turn two having his midget hop in the air allowing Drake to speed underneath to take the lead. Edwards was not done and on lap eleven drove back by Drake in turns three and four to regain the lead.

Jacob who started seventeenth was powering his way forward at a fast clip moving into the top five on lap thirteen. The caution would appear on lap thirteen when third running Daison Pursley developed a left rear flat tire. He was able to go pit side and change the tire and returned to the rear working his way up to 13th at the end. On the restart Edwards again had problems with the turn two cushion surrendering the lead back to Drake. Denney caught Edwards on lap sixteen and executed the pass to take over second and had some real estate to make up on Drake. Denney cut into Drake’s lead over the next nine laps, inching closer and closer on each lap. Lap twenty five saw Denney attempt his first stab at the top spot sliding past Drake in turn one but Drake countered in turn two. Denney challenged again in turn three going in high and sweeping off turn four ahead of Drake and diving to the inside exiting the turn for the lead. Denney would lead the final four laps and cross under the double checkers at 9:48 to score his second win of IMW out of three races and his third win of 2025. It was also his fifth career USAC National Midget win and incredibly four of his wins have come during Indiana Midget Week!!

Kale Drake would cross the line second which was good enough to win the war while Denney won the battle. Drake scored the IMW point title by 21 markers over Justin Grant with Jacob Denney and Kevin Thomas Jr tying for fourth with Karter Sarff finishing fifth in the midget week points.

As far as tonight’s finish it was Denney the winner with Drake second, Edwards third, Thomas fourth and Cannon McIntosh rounding out the top five. The second five was led across the line by Justin Grant in sixth after starting 13th, with Jakeb Boxell seventh for his highest USAC midget finish, Rylan Gray was eighth, Gunnar Setser from 18th to ninth and Hayden Reinbold advancing from 16th to tenth.

Another very good run at Kokomo and the second time in two Sundays there that the winner has come from 17th to win. As usual Kokomo never disappoints!

That’s it for IMW25 and we already look forward to next year and hopefully the weather will allow us to see all the races in 2026. Until next time, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, news or rumors, points of interest or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and check back next weekend to see where “A Typical Weekend” ends up. In closing remember to be good and most of all be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Denney Dominates & LaRose Scores In IMW21 At Paragon

Wednesday, June 4 – The weather was the topic today as the forecast was not looking promising. We had lunch at home before making the decision to head down Route 231 to round two of Indiana Midget Week minus Pat who didn’t trust the forecast. So off we went in Bill’s SUV and pulled onto the track grounds around 5 and the parking attendants directed us to our parking space. We walked over to the motor home camping area to visit Steve and Maggi Kimmel along with Irvin and Mary Jane King. We talked and laughed before dinner was ready for the camping group so Bill, Dale and I made our way back to the SUV gathering up our gear and headed into the grandstands.

Some smart decisions on running the racing program were made with the first one being moving all the activities to an earlier start. With a four hour window with rain predicted to hit at 10 PM a tight program was in order. Time trials for the USAC midgets were ready to go at 6:33 and in another good move they qualified them two at a time on the 3/8 mile dirt oval. Time trials were in the books by 6:49 with Karter Sarff setting his second career fast time with a lap of 14.833 seconds around the 3/8 mile oval. Hot laps for the wingless sprints followed with Andrew Prather twirling off turn one but never turning turtle while another sprinter rolled off turn three causing a slight delay.

Four midget heats were next on the agenda with the top five moving directly to the 30 lap main event. The first heat took the green flag at 7:30 with Kale Drake jumping out front early and going onto victory over K.J. Snow, Kyle Cummins, Ethan Mitchell and Cannon McIntosh. Fast timer, Karter Sarff, missed by one position and would have to qualify through the midget semi. Logan Seavey nailed down heat two winning over Trey Marcham, Corbin Rueschenberg, Jacob Denney and Justin Grant. Heat three saw Thomas Meseraull come out on top besting Chelby Hinton, Brecken Reese, Steven Snyder Jr and Zach Wigal. The fourth heat fell to Gunnar Setser beating Kevin Thomas Jr, Zach Daum, Mason Hannigan and Hayden Reinbold.

The next smart move happened when management ran two of the four sprint car heats with the midget semi race run in between the first two and last two heats. Logan Calderwood triumphed in heat one over R.J. Johnson, Ricky Lewis and Brandon Mattox. Heat two was scored by Harley Burns over Camerson LaRose, Hunter Maddox and Brandon Spencer. The midget semi rolled out next with the top four joining twenty others for the main event. Karter Sarff took off at the start and dominated the semi winning over Drake Edwards, Florida youngster Colton Robinson in a Kunz mount and Gavin Miller. Kyle Jones and Cale Coons would use provisionals to make it a 26 car starting field.

The last two wingless sprint car heats were then spun off with Jake Swanson winning heat three over Kevin Thomas Jr, Chance Crum and Beau Brandon. Jordan Kinser scored the win in heat four outrunning Shane Cottle, Cody Trammell and Sam Hinds.

In a night of good decisions, the 30 lap USAC Indiana Midget Week feature would be called to the post next with the field taking the green flag at 9:09. Jacob Denney shoots into the early lead with K.J. Snow and Cannon McIntosh chasing. Denney was off and running and by lap five had opened up a three second lead on Snow with Hayden Reinbold all over Snow trying to take away second. Lap five saw the first caution appear when Zach Wigal stopped in turn one. On the restart Denney bounded back into the lead over Snow and Reinbold. Two laps later Reinbold almost made contact with Snow in turns three and four sliding up the track and dropping all the way back to tenth. Justin Grant, lurking in fourth, used this opportunity to drive by Reinbold and Snow into second. Lap eleven saw Wigal stop again in turns one and two to bring out the second caution of the race.

On the restart Denney was still the leader with Grant second and Snow third. Denney hit the loud pedal and jumped back out front being chased by the rest of the field. Lap sixteen saw last night’s winner, Kale Drake, slide under Snow in turns three and four to grab third and go after Grant for second. With six to go Denney got into some lap traffic with a big lead with Drake closing on Grant for second. With three to go Denney biked on the cushion in turn three and almost gave it away but was able to recover and retain the lead. The final three laps spun off with Denney crossing the line first for his third career IMW win and fifth career USAC National midget win at 9:22 followed across the line by current USAC midget point leader, Justin Grant, with Kale Drake third from seventh. K.J. Snow in only his second USAC midget start came home fourth in the Boat Industries #86 with Cannon McIntosh rounding out the top five. Karter Sarff led the second five across the line after starting eleventh with Gunnar Setser seventh, Kyle Cummins 16th to eighth for the hard charger award, Kevin Thomas Jr ninth and Logan Seavey rounding out the top ten.

We still had two races to run with the wingless sprints having to run their B main and 25 lap feature race. The sprint B main would advance four to the back of the A main with Jadon Rogers winning over Trey Osborne, Todd Hobson and Isaac Chapple the last man in.

Checking the Weather Channel on my phone after the midget feature found the bad weather had been pushed back to 1 AM so we were safe for the remainder of the evening. The 25 lap wingless sprint car feature would take the green flag at 10:05 with first starter, Jordan Kinser, taking the early lead. Harley Burns quickly motored into second and took up the chase of Kinser. Ninth place starter, Ricky Lewis, was moving up quickly advancing into third by lap five. Kinser continued to lead on lap ten with Lewis passing LaRose for second at this point. Burns began to slide back as Shane Cottle moved into the top five. The only caution appeared on lap twenty when Sam Hinds slowed in turn three.

On the restart Kinser was quick to the point with Lewis and LaRose in tow. Lewis closed on Kinser and was all over him like flies on sh.. looking for a way around him. Lewis made his move in turn two sweeping to the outside and drag racing with Kinser down the backstretch. Entering turn three Lewis was hanging it all out and knowing how tough turn three can be we realized he was not going to hold it as he slid off the banking in turn three losing numerous spots before reentering the track on turn four and continuing. So it was now LaRose sitting in second behind Kinser and with a couple of laps to go made his move in turn two passing Kinser for the lead. LaRose made the move stick and raced across the finish line at 10:16 for what I believe was his first ever sprint car win for the Arizona native with Kinser settling for second with Kevin Thomas Jr coming home third from seventh with Shane Cottle fourth and Jake Swanson rounding out the top five. Ricky Lewis rebounded to finish sixth with Todd Hobson, the hard charger, from 19th to seventh, Harley Burns eighth, Chance Crum ninth and R.J. Johnson finishing tenth.

It was a good night of racing and a gift as the weather held off but the crowd was down due to the iffy predicted forecast.

While writing this segment we found out that Lincoln Park Speedway postponed round three due to the all-night rain and a less than stellar forecast for Thursday. USAC officials are looking at a rain date but it will not be this week. So next up hopefully will be Friday’s date at Bloomington Speedway which will now be round three. Rain sucks!!

That’s it for now but check back Saturday for an update on what went down on Friday at Bloomington. Will they get it in or not? In the meantime, get out there in your area and enjoy some good short track racing or take it on the road to check out some racing outside your general area. You can always reach us with comments, news and rumors or other items of interest at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Drake & Cottle Open 21st Indiana Midget Week With Wins

Tuesday, June 3 – The clan was all gathered at our house by Monday afternoon geared up for Indiana Midget Week as Bill and Judy Burns along with Dale O’Brien were in town. Tonight was opening night of the 21st Indiana Midget Week and the first destination was the ¼ mile dirt oval on the Marion County Fairgrounds, the Circle City Raceway. Steve Kimmell had marked our seats earlier as he was camping at the fairgrounds and we met him and his wife, Maggi, along with Irvin King in the grandstands. Also, Max and Suzie Niemann sat with us and Jon Jay Mooney was just to our left. The gang was all gathered together and ready to see some good short track racing.

After hot laps for the midgets time trials were the next order of business with the first midget starting the clock at 7:12. By 7:43 Justin Grant, the first man out, recorded the quick time for the 12th time in his career with a time of 12.482 seconds around the quarter mile oval. Thirty nine midgets were in the pit area with Christopher Hartman and Abby Hohlbein never making a timed run or running a heat race.

The USAC midgets would contest four heat races with the top five moving onto the 30 lap main event later in the evening. Gunnar Setser ran a strong heat capturing the victory over Justin Grant, Trey Marcham, Kyle Jones and Logan Seavey. Heat two was won by T-Mez, aka Thomas Meseraull, in a good performance besting Jacob Denney, Drake Edwards, Kevin Thomas Jr and Jakeb Boxell. Kale Drake prevailed in heat three beating Cannon McIntosh, Hayden Reinbold, Daison Pursley and Brecken Reese out of Texas. Heat four went to the veteran Zach Daum fending off Steven Snyder Jr, Karter Sarff, K.J. Snow and Gavin Miller.

Next up on the grand stage were the non-wing sprints, the undercard division all week long, bringing 34 to the dance with the top four moving on. Justin Grant was the winner in heat one over Arizona’s R.J. Johnson, Brayden Fox and Rylan Gray. Evan Mosley continues to look strong in his new ride capturing heat two over Jake Swanson, Kole Kirkman, the rookie out of Kokomo and Austin Nigh. Trey Osborne nailed down heat three over Kevin Thomas Jr, Kale Drake and Beau Brandon. Harley Burns claimed heat four over Shane Cottle, Australian Nathan Smee and Cameron LaRose. Jack Hoyer got squeezed in turn one in the final heat and ended up turning turtle. Hoyer was OK after the incident.

The surprise of the night was the strong performance of 2024 USAC midget rookie of the year, Zach Wigal in the beautiful Cornell #8 (set 5th fastest time), just missing qualifying in his heat and easily winning the midget semi over Corbin Rueschenberg, Mason Hannigan, son of Randy, coming out of the 600 division, qualified for his first USAC midget feature and Kyle Cummins, the last man in. The sprint B main was won by Chance Crum over Zack Pretorius, Brent Sexton and Hunter Maddox. All qualifying was in the books by 9:43 and we only had the two main events to run.

The green flag would drop on the front row of Logan Seavey and Daison Pursley at 10:06 with Seavey taking the early lead. Seavey would lead the first eight laps with Pursley, Hayden Reinbold, Karter Sarff and Kevin Thomas Jr in tow. On the ninth lap Gunnar Setser running tenth at the time caught the turn two wall wrong and flipped bringing out the red. Lap ten saw Pursley challenge for the lead in turn two sliding by but Seavey was able to counter and beat him to start/finish line to retain the lead. It was a swarm behind the front two as they raced side by side swapping positions. Sarff caught Pursley on lap sixteen and took second away and went after Seavey. Kevin Thomas Jr found the low side along the tire markers to his liking and began to make his presence known. He was fourth on lap sixteen, third one lap later, second the next lap and into the lead on lap nineteen in a three wide race with Kale Drake up from ninth in the middle and Seavey up high in a good battle.

Drake had a masterful climb from sixth to second in a five lap span after discovering a line by chance bouncing his right rear off the turn two wall and then diamonding the turns in three and four. Lap twenty one saw Drake grab the lead for the first time off turn four on Thomas but the race was still on as Thomas used the low side (Jerry Coons groove) to retake the lead on lap twenty two. The lead went back and forth over the next three laps until Drake nipped Thomas at the line to end lap twenty five. That was the last time Thomas would lead as Drake moved ahead over the last five laps to over a second racing to the double checkers at 10:20 with Thomas plating second from fifth, Karter Sarff third for his highest USAC midget finish with Pursley ending up fourth and Seavey finishing fifth. Zach Wigal came from eleventh to sixth at the end with Justin Grant seventh, Hayden Reinbold eighth, Zach Daum ninth and Gavin Miller from fifteenth to tenth at the finish.

It was a very entertaining race, even though the track was slick it still produced three different routes to race on. For Drake it was second straight USAC midget triumph and was also the first time that the hard charger (9th to 1st) won the feature race.

There was still a 25 lap wingless sprint car feature to contest with the front row of Justin Grant and Evan Mosley bringing the 20 car field to the green flag at 10:35. Grant was quick to the point over Mosley, Trey Osborne and Harley Burns. Eighth starting Shane Cottle was quickly making his way forward moving into second by lap eight. Cottle chased Grant as the sprinters started to hug the tires low through the turns. Cottle was able to rout Grant off the bottom much to Grant’s chagrin with Grant banging Cottle’s rear end entering turn one after the pass. The only yellow appeared on lap seventeen when fourth running Burns spun in between turns three and four bringing out the yellow. On the restart Cottle was off and running once again and opened up a small lead as the laps clicked off. Grant gave it one last try going to the outside over the final two laps but was not able to mount a serious challenge at the end. Cottle raced across the start/finish line at 10:49 garnering the victory over Grant with Trey Osborne third, Jake Swanson finishing fourth and Chance Crum rounding out the top five after a fine run from seventeenth to fifth. Kevin Thomas Jr brought the Bonneau #15 home sixth with Hunter Maddox seventh from 20th, Kale Drake eighth, R.J. Johnson ninth and Evan Mosley slipping to tenth.

That’s it for now but check back tomorrow to see what happened in round two of Indiana Midget Week as weather looks like a factor over the next three days. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, news or rumors and anything else that might be of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Mihocko Becomes Seventh Different Winner At Paragon in 2025

Saturday, May 31 – Today was a choice between Montpelier Motor Speedway and a 2 ½ hour ride home or Paragon Speedway a mere 1 hour 20 minute drive home. Guess which one we choose? If you said Paragon, you were correct! With both of us in our seventies (I will be 70 on June 28th) it is much tougher to drive over two hours home after a late race. Those 1:30 to 2:30 arrivals home are almost a thing of the past. We knew both of the programs were going to be long ones Montpelier had four divisions highlighted by the BOSS sprint cars, 41 strong while Paragon had five divisions with the non-wing sprint cars with 34. That makes 75 wingless sprints racing at two tracks in Indiana so don’t let anyone tell you wingless racing is on the decline. With another 30 cars racing with USAC at Knoxville the future looks bright for non-wing racing!

I have grown to like Paragon Speedway over the years as there have been many good improvements to the facility including the track surface. New aluminum grandstands line the entire homestretch replacing the old wooden planks, new bathrooms, nice concession stands, a nice concrete sidewalk to climb up the hill to the stands and good priced and nice looking souvenirs. There is only one thing we would like to see improve is the starting time for racing at Paragon. They move the program along once they start but the fact of 112 race cars in five divisions is going to take a long time to run. Maybe starting hot laps at six and racing at seven would be a step in the right direction. But when it is 11:20 when the first of five features ends that is not late of a night even for younger folk. It is a shame because all the five division’s heat racing was competitive and it would be nice to watch more than one division feature in an evening. By the time we packed up and exited the parking lot it was 11:30 with an hour and 20 minute drive back north makes it a long day. Just some food for thought for the folks in charge at Paragon.

Now to the racing at hand. The first of four heats for the 34 sprint cars on hand took the green flag at 8:06 with the top four moving directly to the 25 lap feature event later in the evening. Harley Burns drew first blood nailing down the first heat win over Braxton Cummings (which would turn out to be the highlight of his evening – more to follow), Cale Coons and Michael Clark who came from the rear after spinning earlier. The second heat went to fourth starting Tye Mihocko outrunning Sam Hinds, Trey “Tall” Osborne and Andrew Prather. Chance Crum won a very competitive heat three fending off fourth starting Jordan Kinser, Seth Parker and Brandon Spencer. The fourth heat fell to Jake Scott over Todd Hobson, Stephen Schnapf and Daylan Chambers nipping J.J. Hughes at the end for the final qualifying position.

Next to the starting post were the USSA Kenyon midgets running their only race on dirt for 2025 with 16 of them turning out for two heats. Kyle Sheard and Trisdon Brown were heat winners. The hornets ran three heats for their 25 car field and had some good racing also. They would be the only other division needing a B main tonight. The bombers spun off two heats for their 17 entrants while the super stocks ran three competitive heats for their 20 car field.

The sprint B main was next on the agenda with four of the remaining 18 sprinters moving on with the rest loading up for the evening. Cody Trammell easily won this one over Gabriel Gilbert, Anthony Nicholson and J.J. Hughes beating Matt Thompson by inches at the finish to move into the 25 lap feature. The hornet B main was next with all qualifying wrapping up by 10:30.

The 25 lap wingless sprint car main event would be led to the green flag by the front row of Sam Hinds and Tye Mihocko at 10:47. Mihocko edged out front in turn three on the opening lap for the lead with fourth starting Harley Burns quick to grab second. Todd Hobson, running fourth at the time slid partially off turn two dropping several positions at that point. Lap eight would see Anthony Nicholson tangle with Andrew Prather in turn one resulting in Nicholson rolling over and bringing out the red. Nicholson was OK but done for the evening.

On the restart Mihocko was quick to the point trailed by Burns and Jordan Kinser, last week’s feature winner, and Jake Scott. Lap ten saw Kinser claim second with a turn two pass of Burns and take up the chase of Mihocko. Braxton Cummings lost the handle in turn two on lap eleven and spun bringing out the caution. The top five at this point were Mihocko, Kinser, Burns, Hobson back up to fourth and Scott. Hobson would make the next pass going by Burns for third down the backstretch on lap fourteen. Cummings dreadful night would come to a premature end when he rolled his #71B down the backstretch.

On the restart Mihocko led but Kinser was applying pressure looking for a way around the Paul #24P. Mihocko was up to the challenge and raced under the double checkers at 11:20 becoming the seventh different driver in seven events to win a sprint car feature at Paragon in 2025. Kinser would finish second after starting fifth while point leader, Todd Hobson, recovered to finish third with Cale Coons advancing from ninth to fourth and Jake Scott finishing fifth. Coons was penalized two spots for jumping moving Scott to fourth and Burns into fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Coons in sixth, Chase Crum seventh, Andrew Prather 14th to eighth, Cody Trammell 17th to ninth (hard charger) and Trey Osborne rounding out the top ten.

It was time to hit the road for home satisfied with a good sprint car A main.

That’s it for now but starting Tuesday, it is Indiana Midget Week with the first race kicking off at Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis. Six straight nights of USAC midget racing is on tap with other stops at Paragon, Lincoln Park, Bloomington, Tri-State and Kokomo on the calendar. So check back often to see what happened in one of our favorite weeks of racing. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area while be safe and having fun. Comments, news, rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you are enjoying another typical weekend. Be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Burns Beats The Rain & Midwest Thunder Field At Circle City

Friday, May 30 – The rain today was north and south of us as Central Indiana was sunny and dry. The temperatures pushed into the low 70’s in the late afternoon but once again we had 13-15 miles an hour winds. Our destination tonight was the Circle City Raceway, the ¼ mile dirt oval on the grounds of the Marion County Fairgrounds where the Midwest Thunder Wingless 410 sprints (27) were making an appearance along with the MMSA mini sprints (24), Crown Vics (25) and sprint karts (12) set up on the homestretch running around tires. Also, a vintage sprint car, midget and road race cars exhibition took a few laps around the oval at the beginning of the evening with Johnny Parsons Jr driving one of them.

Racing was scheduled to begin at 8 PM and by 8:08 the first of three heat races for the Midwest Thunder 410 sprints with the top five moving to the A main took the green flag. Ricky Lewis, the current USAC/CRA sprint car point leader, who flies back to the left coast whenever they are running won the first heat here tonight. He was chased across the line by Brayden Fox, Zack Pretorius, Eli Wilhelmus and Tony Helton. Heat two was captured by Harley Burns besting Chance Crum, Donny Brackett, Jack Hoyer and Dylan Chambers in a very competitive heat. Evan Mosley nailed down heat three beating Rylan Gray, Beau Brandon, J.J. Hughes and Gabriel Gilbert.

Next up were the MMSA mini sprints also running three heats with the top five moving on with Brandon Coffey, Elijah Knoke and Jeremy Schnepper winning their respective races. The Crown Vics would run three competitive heats and finally the sprint karts would contest two heats.

As the clouds around the track darkened it started to lightly rain as they prepared the track for the two B mains. After a few minutes the moisture subsided and the sprint B main was called to the post. Travis Berryhill triumphed in this one over Trey McGranahan, Camden Winter, Aric Gentry and Anthony Nicholson who just got beat at the line in heat three joining the rear of the field. Logan Prickett would join the starting lineup as a provisional.

The Midwest Thunder 410 sprint cars were called to the track next and as they were rolling onto the track the rain started falling again to the point where we decided to take cover under the aluminum grandstands. After about five minutes the call was made for all crew members to clear the track and shortly after the cars began to push off. We headed back to our seats and prepared for the start of the 25 lap main event. The front row of Chance Crum and Brayden Fox brought the 21 car field to the green flag at 9:35 with Crum taking the early lead. Lap two saw the lead change when Fox drove by Crum for the lead. Harley Burns chased the two leaders in the early stages of the race. Burns began to pressure Crum for second and took the spot as the pair crossed the start/finish line to start lap nine. The front runners began to enter lap traffic on lap thirteen with Burns closing on Fox. On lap fourteen Burns made his move in turn one and was now the new leader. Ricky Lewis passed Crum for third on the homestretch using the high side on lap seventeen. Two laps later Crum surprisingly pulled to the infield out of the race while running fourth.

Burns continued to lead with Fox in second and Lewis third. Lewis went to the high side of turn three on lap twenty one to swipe second away from Fox. Now the race was on for the top spot as Burns had a decent size lead. Lewis closed some but the laps clicked off and Burns flashed under the checker first at 9:42 for the win as in the last three laps rain began to fall again. Lewis would settle for second with Rylan Gray sneaking by Brayden Fox for third on the last lap with Evan Mosley rounding out the top five. J.J. Hughes would finish sixth with Beau Brandon seventh, Zack Pretorius eighth, Travis Berryhill sixteenth to ninth for the hard charger award with Jack Hoyer rounding out the top ten. The rain continued and Pat and I decided to head to the car, satisfied that we had snuck in the sprint car feature. Riding on the south side of Indianapolis on I-465 the rain continued and came down harder until we reached Brownsburg where it let up for a while on I-74. It rained off and on the rest of the way home until close to Crawfordsville where everything was dry. We checked on My Race Pass later and saw that no other feature event was run on the evening.

Check back Sunday as we are on the road again tonight for another typical weekend. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, be safe and have fun. Comments, news or rumors and anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts as we hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Ballou From Deep Blisters The Field At Kokomo

Sunday, May 25 – For only the second time since we have lived in Indiana the Indianapolis 500 was not a blackout so we were able to watch the entire race before heading north to Kokomo. It was a cool day with temperatures barely reaching 60 during the day and back down into the 50’s after the sunset. Alex Palou continues to dominate the NTT Indy Car Series capturing the 109th Indianapolis 500 for his first ever Indy Car oval event. Also, Palou has won five out of six rounds so far this season and has opened a large point lead over his competitors.

We pulled onto the grounds of the Kokomo Speedway slightly before 6 PM and found a good parking spot before heading into the new aluminum grandstands on the homestretch to stake out our seats. Settled into our seats it was good to see our friend, Roger Ferrell, who joined us for the night of racing. The BC Indiana Double was on tap tonight in honor of the late Bryan Clauson who ran the Indianapolis 500 and then drove north to race a non-wing sprint car at Kokomo. A good field of 38 sprint cars were joined by 27 UMP modifieds and 17 thunder cars for tonight’s race card.

In the early going the track was a little rough as have been all the Indiana dirt ovals due to constant rain that has fallen on the Hoosier state in the past month. The track would claim its first victim, Australian Andrew VanDamme, in his first start at Kokomo when he crashed into the turn two wall and flipped ended his night prematurely in hot laps.

The first of four non-wing sprint car heats would take the green flag at 8:14 with the top four cars advancing directly to the A main. Kale Drake in the Benic #2B was fast in heat one winning over Shane Cottle, Beau Brandon and Harley Burns in an action packed run. Chance Crum took command in heat two early and turned in an impressive run to capture heat two over Aaron Davis in a strong run, Daylan Chambers and Colin Grissom. Heat three saw some wild action as early leader, Rylan Gray, with Robert Ballou in hot pursuit jumped the cushion in turn three taking a hard ride into the wall and flipping landing back on the track and partially on Robert Ballou’s front end. Gray was done for the evening and Ballou would return for the first B main. Ricky Lewis would go onto score the win in this one over Charles Davis Jr, Brayden Clark and Saban Bibent. Jack Hoyer brought the Paul Hazen #57 home first in heat four as the youngster continues to impress in 2025 beating Zack Pretorius, Cale Coons and Austin Nigh.

The UMP modifieds would run three competitive heats next with Nick Allen, Clayton Bryant and Todd Sherman scoring wins. The thunder cars would contest two heat race before the sprints reappeared to spin off two B mains with the top two moving on. Robert Ballou came from tenth to win B main 1 over Evan Mosley. Scotty Weir took down B main 2 edging Ryan Barr in a good race. The UMP modifieds would round out the preliminary qualifying was their B main with Mason Duncan winning.

The 25 lap non-wing sprint car feature would be first on the docket with the green flag dropping on the front row of Kale Drake and Chance Crum. Drake would secure the early lead but that did not last long as Jack Hoyer’s good night turned bad when he jumped the cushion in turn three, flipping hard into the catch fence. Hoyer was OK but done for the evening.

On the ensuing restart Drake powered back to the point over Chance Crum and Ricky Lewis. Drake was fast tonight and pulled away from the pack over the next few laps and looked like it could be his night. Lewis moved by Crum for second and took up the chase. Shane Cottle from fifth soon joined the fray moving into third. Most eyes though were on Robert Ballou who started 17th and was cutting through the field like the proverbial hot knife through butter. He cracked the top five on lap nine and continued to march forward. Drake began to encounter lap traffic and started to pick his way through. Disaster stuck as Drake entered turn three in heavy lap traffic and one of the lappers slid up making contact with Drake causing him to lose the handle and spin out. Drake would restart at the tail of the field and with elbows up he would fly forward to eventually finish sixth but we will never know what could have been.

Ricky Lewis would assume the lead on the restart and took off with Cottle and Aaron Davis in his tire tracks. Davis was running one of the best races that we have seen him run racing up front with the leaders. Ballou promptly picked off Zack Pretorius for fourth and Aaron Davis for third. His next victim was Shane Cottle who he stormed by between turns three and four pounding the cushion. With eight to go it was only Lewis between Ballou and first place. The two raced hard over the next two laps with Ballou finally moving past Lewis in turn four on the high side as the crowd roared. Over the final few laps Ballou was able to open up a fourth car length lead and crossed the start/finish line at 10:53 scoring a very popular win over Lewis with Cottle third, Pretorius fourth from eighth and Harley Burns in a late charge from 13th to 5th. Kale Drake was sixth from the back with Chance Crum seventh, Charles Davis Jr eighth, Saban Bibent ninth from sixteenth and Davis fading to tenth at the finish.

It was a great run by Ballou from 17th to garner the win as the crowd cheered wildly as Ballou stood on top of his roll cage in BC victory lane. Nothing better than an all out assault from the back to the front using the high line to do so!

There were still two feature races to run and we decided to stay for the 20 lap UMP modified feature. Clayton Bryant would grab the lead from the outside of the front row and lead the majority of the contest until first starting Nick Allen rallied late in the event to overtake him with a few laps to go. Allen would take the checkered at 11:14 with Bryant second, Todd Sherman finishing third, Dillon Nusbaum fourth and Crawfordsville’s own, Bryce Shidler, moving from eighth to five at the finish. We decided to call it an evening as it was pretty nippy by this hour, so it is time to make the drive back to Crawfordsville.

That’s it for the Memorial week of Indy with three out of five of the short track events being completed. Next weekend is still up in the air as we consider the options. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road and catch some racing somewhere else. Either way, be safe and have fun. Comments, news, stories or other things of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and giving us your feedback. In closing remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rogers On Top After Quick Race At Lincoln Park Speedway

Saturday, May 24 – Saturday dawned sunny and temperatures rose into the low 70’s in the late afternoon so it was a good day to go racing. Our destination tonight was the 5/16 mile dirt oval located in Putnamville, IN known as the Lincoln Park Speedway. It was our second visit to Lincoln Park on the season with tonight being what we call a normal Saturday night program. The four regular divisions that run at LPS, the non-wing sprint cars (24), the UMP modifieds (15), super stocks (11) and bombers (11). Not large numbers but enough to still make for some good short track racing.

The sprint cars would kick off the heat racing after hot laps were completed for all classes. The green flag would drop on the sprint cars at 7:02, the first time in quite a few years that a race here at LPS started on time. Kudos to new management for having a schedule and sticking to it. We were also able to stay to watch the entire race program and still be on the road home by 9:45!! Good job everyone!

The non-wing sprints would contest three heats with the top five moving directly to the 25 lap main event. Jadon Rogers in his new ride, the Mike Larrison #07, garnered the win in heat one over Cale Coons, Jack Hoyer, Austin Nigh and Cody Williams. Heat two went to Tye Mihocko in the Jamie Paul #24P outrunning Seth Parker, Zack Pretorius, Nate Ervin and Beau Brandon. The third and final heat was captured by Cameron Rose in the Petty #13P beating Brayden Fox, Matt Goodnight, Saban Bibent and Kyle Johnson.

Another good idea from new management is the rotation of the other divisions behind the sprint cars every week giving the bombers, super stocks or UMP modifieds a chance to run earlier in the rotation and to potentially allow them to showcase themselves in front of the fans and gain new fans.

The bombers were second up tonight and ran two competitive heat races with Josh Foxworthy and Scott Tidwell winning. The UMP modifieds followed with their two heats won by Jarod Deckard and Tyler Loughmiller. The sprint car B main was next on the agenda with the top five advancing to the main event. Logan Prickett, the young man out of the TQ midget ranks, triumphed in the B beating Tony Helton, Travis Oldfield hauling in from New Mexico, Bryar Schoreter and Scott Plew, the last man in.

It was the super stock’s chance to race and they contested two heats with Lee Hobbs and Derek Hufford winning. All qualifying was in the books by 7:54, ten races completed in just 52 minutes.

After some minor track prep, it was time to go feature racing with the twenty five lap sprint car feature the first to the post taking the green flag at 8:24. Jadon Rogers got the jump on first starting Seth Parker and grabbed the lead in turn two on the opening lap. The first caution waved on the first lap when three cars tangled in turn two. On the restart Rogers took the lead again with Parker and Jack Hoyer chasing. Lap six saw the second caution appear as Zack Pretorius spinning in turn two while running seventh.

On the ensuing restart Parker challenged Rogers for the lead but Jadon was able to scoot away from him. Kyle Johnson took a ride over the turn one banking on lap eight to bring out the third caution. Lap ten saw Cameron LaRose attempt a slider in turn one on Parker for second sliding by but he was not able to maintain it and slide high in turn two and lost several spots but the caution appeared for a tangle between Austin Nigh and Saban Bibent. A soft rollover by Bibent was the result of the mishap.

Rogers was still at the point on the next restart trailed by Parker and LaRose. The race remained green until lap sixteen when Nate Ervin developed a small fire and pulled off the backstretch to have it attended to. Rogers continued to use the high side to lead but the bottom began to come in with Brayden Fox from sixth chipping away at the top five moving into third off turn four on lap eighteen. One lap later Fox, running low, grabbed second down the backstretch and went to work trying to track down Rogers. Like father like son as the old saying goes saw Cale Coons working the low groove coming forward advancing into the top five.

Fox continued to close on Rogers drawing within four car lengths in the final five laps and coming off turn four on the final lap Fox was within a car length of Rogers but ran out of time with Rogers taking the double checkers at 8:49 for the win with Fox second, LaRose hanging on for third, Coons coming home fourth and Beau Brandon from 13th to finish fifth, his second consecutive top five (4th the last time out). Tye Mihocko finished sixth with Zack Pretorius rebounding for seventh, Austin Nigh eighth, Seth Parker falling to ninth with Jack Hoyer rounding out the top ten.

The 15 lap bomber feature was next and Josh Foxworthy made easy work of this one leading the entire distance. The 20 lap UMP modified feature was next with Tyler Loughmiller taking the early lead and holding off a few challenges to score the win with Cody Wright second, Matt Mitchell third, Kenny Carmichael fourth and Christopher Cole bringing it home fifth. The 20 lap super stock feature would wrap up the evening with last night’s Bloomington winner, Lee Hobbs, moving from third on the opening lap and taking the lead which he would never relinquish crossing the line at 9:42 scoring his second win of the weekend.
A fine, quickly run efficient had everyone on the road early to rest up for going to the Indianapolis 500 the next day.

That’s it for now but one more to go with the BC Double taking place tonight at the Kokomo Speedway so check back on Monday for a report on that one. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, news, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next. In closing remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rain Wins First Two & Geoff Ensign Surprises At Josh Burton Memorial

Wednesday, May 21 – Tonight was to kick off the week of Indy racing with USAC sprint cars featured in the 55th Tony Hulman Classic at the ½ mile dirt oval at the Terre Haute Action Track. Twenty seven USAC sprint cars were on hand to do battle on the biggest dirt track in Indiana. It had rained all day in Crawfordsville but it was not raining in Terre Haute. We left Crawfordsville around 3:40 and arrived on the Vigo County Fairgrounds at 5 PM. Our good friends, Steve and Maggi Kimmel from Arizona, were in town and we visited them in their motor home parked on the fairgrounds. The racing was delayed due to the track crew trying to whip the track into shape so we talked and played a board game in the interim. It did not look good when we all saw a video of the big three wheel piece of machinery being pulled around the track by a fire engine! By 7:15 the call was made to postpone the event until October 3rd and it seemed to be the lack of track prep equipment was the main reason for the postponement. Not a good start to the week of racing surrounding Indianapolis.

Thursday, May 22 – Today’s racing was scheduled to take place at the ¼ mile clay oval located on the Marion County Fairgrounds named Circle City Raceway. The call to cancel came earlier at 9:30 AM that there would be no racing at the Indianapolis speed plant tonight as saturated grounds caused the cancellation of this one. So far, we are 0 for 2. Hopefully the rest of the weekend turns out to be better!!

Friday, May 23 – Finally a race day with no chance of rain and plenty of sunshine. We started out early lunching in Ladoga at Emporiam 109. Delicious burger, chicken sandwich and loaded fries had us fueled up for the ride to the Bloomington Speedway, on the south side of the city. Tuesday of this week a nasty F2 tornado hit the south side of Bloomington and a few miles below the town of Clear Creek had some heavy damage with numerous houses destroyed and the post office getting wiped out. All the rain that accompanied that storm would leave the speedway surface soft. We expected that and appreciated all the effort the entire staff put into wiping the track and the grounds into working order so the show could go on.

Tonight was a special night as the 12th annual Josh Burton Memorial was on tap and plenty of sponsorships we hustled up for this event allowing management to offer a very reasonable $15 general admission for this race. The sprint car teams responded in great numbers (51) for this $10,000 to win non-wing race with the Racesaver 305 sprints (21) and the super stocks (19) also turning out to support this event. Josh Burton was a 22 year old racer who grew up in a racing family and loved non-wing sprint car racing. He did not get a chance to become a big winner as it all came tumbling down on the night of May 25th, 2013, when Josh succumbed to injuries suffered in a fatal flip off the track in turn one on that Friday. It was a devasting day for the Burton family and the racing family to lose Josh at such a young age with so much promise after winning a couple of features and being named Rookie of the Year at both Bloomington and Lincoln Park Speedways. The family did not give up and came back to field a sprint car up to the present day and the Josh Burton Memorial race was established and became a special race to honor this young man. His father, Jerry, and his mother, Darlene, worked hard to keep his memory alive and have done a great job of doing so. Unfortunately Darlene succumbed to cancer on 3/30/23 and is with her son now. The race still went on with help from many individuals and drew a huge crowd to Bloomington Speedway tonight and we are certain that brought a smile to Josh and Darlene looking down upon us all.

Now to the night at hand. Racing was scheduled to start at 7:30 and a clear explanation was never given for the delay in starting. It is important to attempt to start on time or near to it on such an important night but the first heat race for the Racesaver sprints took the green flag at 8:53. As the sun went down the night turned cold and everyone was bundled up for the rest of the evening. The 305’s ran three quick heats in 14 minutes with Dakota Jackson taking the first heat over Kayla Martin and Rod Henning. The second heat was captured by Ryan Tusing besting Blayne Ridgley and John Wolfarth. The third heat went to Ethan Fleetwood, a local boy, over Carson Dillion and Jeff Wimmenauer. No B main would be needed for the 305’s as all would start the 25 lap main event.

Next up were six heats for the largest field of sprint cars (51) we witnessed in 2025, surpassing the 46 from last week at Paragon. Only the top three would advance from each heat race so the competition was intense on a very rough track. Turn one was a big problem all night with a hole developing early. In hot laps one of the 305’s bounced heavily and flipped over. It was going to be a real tough track for all the drivers to negotiate tonight but we were happy that management went forward with the race and did not cancel.

Australian Todd Hobson nailed down heat one in an impressive run outrunning Kole Kirtman, a rookie pilot out of Kokomo, and Brandon Spencer. Heat two fell to Kevin Thomas Jr in a strong run besting Gunnar Setser, another rookie, and Ricky Lewis. Heat three went to Kale Drake beating Trey “Tall” Osborne and Tye Mihocko. Rylan Gray impressed winning heat four over Chase Stockon and Colin Parker. Kyle Cummins took down heat five triumphing over Jack Hoyer and Matt Thompson. Geoff Ensign won a very competitive heat six over a charging Robert Ballou and Harley Burns.

Two super stock heats were next on the agenda with their field dwindling down 19 to 13. The sprint car C main was next with the top two moving to the back of the B main. Sam Hinds from tenth was able to fend off a furious charge from sixth starting Kyle Shipley driving the Burton #04 this evening. The 25 lap Racesaver 305 sprint race was next which we will cover but I am going to complete the qualifying by giving you the sprint car B main with only two advancing to the tail of the A main. Any opening lap crash on the backstretch involved quite a few cars with Kyle Shipley going end over end several times off the track surface on the backstretch. It was quiet as many people’s minds flashed back to 2013. A sigh of relief was breathed when it was announced that Shipley was sore but OK. This might have ended up as the most exciting race of the night as Jadon Rogers, Andrew Prather and Chance Crum battled tooth and nail for the final two starting positions. At one point during the race the trio was three wide, exiting turn four. Prather bobbled off turn four late, allowing Rogers to dive low and take the lead with Crum closing rapidly. On the final lap exiting turn four Crum made a mad charge on the top side and at the line nipped Prather for second at the start/finish line by inches. It was a shame that all three could not start the 30 lap main event.

The Racesaver 305 sprint car feature was ready to go by 10:25 with Dakota Jackson, the early leader chased by Carson Dillion. Jackson would lead until dropping to the infield out of the race. Dillion assumed the lead with fifth starting Ryan Tusing pursuing. Dillion would also drop from the race with Tusing inheriting the race lead. Ethan Barrow, up from 11th, was all over Tusing over the final laps and went for the gold in turns one and two on the high side on the white flag lap. Barrow could not hold his sprinter on the banking going over the edge and making hard contact with the pit concrete wall and stopping. Barrow was OK but his bid for the win was over. At that point the race was declared over with Tusing getting his second straight win of the season here over Blayne Ridgley with Bradley Sterrett in a spirited run from 13th to 3rd with Dillan Baldwin advancing from 15h to 4th and Rod Henning rounding out the top five.

The super stocks ran their 20 lap feature in between the sprint B main and A main. The veteran from Mitchell, IN, below Bedford, Lee Hobbs dominated the race lapping the 13 car field up to third position. It was a big celebration in victory lane.

It was now late with quite a few people leaving before the start of the Josh Burton Memorial race which is not a good sign for the length of the program. The green flag would wave at 12:02 AM with Geoff Ensign, the California driver, jumping into the early lead chased by second starting Kale Drake from Oklahoma. Ensign was hooked up as he and the others bounced around on the rough surface. Kevin Thomas Jr was sitting back in third watching the other two do battle. Robert Ballou, the defending champion of the race was the first driver to make his presence known ripping the lip on his way forward from his eighth starting position. Ensign opened up a few car length advantage over Drake with Thomas in third and Ballou pressuring Thomas in fourth with Kyle Cummins entering the top five. Cummins was able to pick off Ballou and Thomas using a more conservative inside route into third. Ensign was pacing the field as the laps spun off with Drake not letting him get too far ahead. Ballou at one point entering turn one bounced, landed & dug his front end into the racing surface losing momentum and several positions in the process. Ballou was able to regroup and make his way back to fourth, passing Thomas late for the position. Entering turn two on the white flag lap Ensign took a different line and left the bottom open to Drake who pulled alongside as the pair raced down the backstretch. Ensign edged ahead entering turn three and was able to stave off young Drake to take home the win and the $10,000 prize that went along with it. Cummins came home third with Ballou fourth and Thomas rounding out the top five.

Some good runs in the second five were turned in by Chase Stockon coming from 12th to 6th with Ricky Lewis advancing from 14th to 7th, Rylan Gray finishing 8th, Chance Crum from 20th to 9th and Jadon Rogers from 19th to 10th. The final checkered waved at 12:21 ending a good night of racing though a long one.

That’s it for now but check back Sunday for our report on Saturday’s night action at Lincoln Park. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and have fun and be safe. Comments, news, notes of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing, remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet because you don’t know what they are going through. A simple kind word or a smile could help them so much.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cottle Breezes To First BOSS Sprint Win At Paragon

Saturday, May 17 – It was a warm and bright day but we still cannot seem to get rid of those strong winds as today the winds blew at speeds of 15 to 25 mph throughout the day making it tough to race on a dirt track. Friday saw nasty weather pass through the Northern and Southern parts of Indiana along with Missouri and Kentucky with several destructive tornados touching down. Over 20 deaths were reported in these three states with Kentucky the worst with at least 17 deaths attributed to the tornados. Our friend and fellow race fan, Jen Kelley’s house in Bloomington suffered minor damage to her home itself but 10 or 11 trees in her yard were decimated. Thank God no one was hurt at Jen’s home.

The choice for racing today was the 3/8 mile clay oval at the Paragon Speedway where the BOSS sprint cars (46) were on the docket along with the IMCA Racesaver 305 sprints (25), UMP modifieds (16) and super stocks (20). We were joined again by Illinois resident, Jon Jay Mooney, for another good night of racing and trackchaser stories. With this many entrants on hand hot laps were a long, dragged out affair lasting until after 8:15.

The first of five BOSS sprint car heats took the green flag at 8:30 PM for the massive sprint car field helped with the cancellation of the nearby Lincoln Park Speedway’s events. Brandon Spencer would top the field in heat one besting Braxton Cummings, Jesse Vermillion and JJ Hughes with the top four moving directing into the 25 lap main event. Heat two was captured by Arizona driver, Cameron LaRose in a strong run beating Shane Cottle, Evan Mosley and Zack Pretorius. Heat three fell to Nathan Carle in a very good run fending off Kyle Johnson, Cody Trammell and Travis Thompson. Jordan Kinser took top honors in heat four over Tony Helton, Colin Parker and Matt Cooley. The fifth and final heat was claimed by Tye Mihocko beating Ricky Lewis, Korybn Hayslett and Harley Burns.

Next up were three heats for the IMCA 305 sprints taken down by Ethan Barrow, Dakota Jackson and Carson Dillion. Three heats each were contested for the UMP modifieds and the super stocks.

Only the sprint car divisions would need B mains with the BOSS sprints spinning off two while the 305’s had one. Jacob Brown punched his ticket to the big dance with the win in B main one over Chance Crum. Australian Todd Hobson used the high side to capture B main two over Jadon Rogers. Tyson Lady prevailed in the 305 sprint B main. All qualifying was completed after 11:30 with four features still to run.

The BOSS sprint cars would be the first main event to take to the track for their 25 lap, $2500 to win feature event. The initial green flag would drop on the 24 car field at 11:52. Shane Cottle would take off from the outside of the front row into the early lead chased by Braxton Cummings and Tye Mihocko. Cottle increased his lead over the field and was breezing out front like a guy out for a Sunday afternoon ride in his convertible with his hair blowing in the breeze. Meanwhile, the racing behind him was competitive with Cummings, Mihocko, Brandon Spencer, Tony Helton, Ricky Lewis, Jordan Kinser and Cameron LaRose battling for positions four through eight. The track had held up well the entire evening even though the wind was hitting us constantly in the face with the surface providing two decent grooves (high and low).

A late caution bunched the field and wiped out Cottle’s big lead but on the restart Cottle was gone once again leaving the rest of the field to duke it out for the remaining positions. The checkered would wave at 12:05 with Cottle crossing the line first for his first ever BOSS sprint car victory. Mihocko retained the runner-up spot after a race long battle with Cummings would finished third with Cameron LaRose turning in a good run on the evening advancing from tenth to fourth and Brandon Spencer rounding out the top five.

Positions six through ten were filled by Jordan Kinser, Jesse Vermillion, Todd Hobson the hard charger moving from 22nd to 8th with Tony Helton ninth and Chance Crum advancing from 23rd to 10th at the finish. We decided to head for the exits as it was after midnight with three features to go and an hour and twenty minute drive back to Crawfordsville. It was a good night of racing, though it was too long, but racing in each division was competitive.

Some suggestions to management might be don’t run two divisions where you have to push cars off in the same night unless you have more push vehicles to service them. Also the practice of pushing them all onto the track and then pushing them off from there adds an extra four minutes per race which might not seem like much but multiply that by 11 and that adds up to an extra 44 minutes not including the two feature push offs. Using the entire pit road to push off each car would be more efficient way of cutting down on the time to start each event.

That’s it for this weekend but check back next week starting on Thursday and continuing through Monday as we do our Memorial Day week with racing every night from Wednesday through Sunday. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or make plans to take in some road shows. Have fun and be safe. Comments, news, rumors or facts or anything else interesting can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. So, in closing remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Sweeps USAC Weekend Winning Fifth Of Year At Tri-State

Saturday, May 10 – Today was another nice day with temperatures in the 70’s and partially sunny. We had lunch at Klinkers Hometown Bar and Grill in Princeton and the sandwiches and cheese fries were simply delicious. It is indeed a place to put on your hit list if in the area. Reasonably priced to boot. After that we ventured 20 minutes down the road riding through the small, pretty town of Haubstadt before pulling onto the grounds of the Tri-State Speedway. On tap tonight was night two of the Southern Indiana doubleheader for the USAC sprint cars with last night’s event being run at Bloomington.

There has been an unbelievable amount of rainfall all over the state of Indiana in the past several weeks which plays havoc with a dirt track. The water causes the track to become unruly with bumps and ruts and even the Tom Helfrich led track crew at Tri-State Speedway had a task on their hands this evening. To their credit they kept at it all evening, finally being able to tame the beast so to speak for the feature events.

The track was very heavy in hot laps with many having difficulties transversing the ¼ mile black dirt oval. During time trials Jake Swanson got into turn one awkward sliding over the cushion into the wall and rolling over during his first lap of qualifying. Swanson was able to make repairs and returned at the end of time trials to post the 20th fastest lap of the session. Once again, Mitchel Moles stood on top of the time trial board posting his fourth fastest time in the last five USAC sprint car races with a lap of 13.003 seconds.

Hot laps for the 27 Midwest Mini Sprint Association (MMSA) machines which are full size midgets with 1000 cc engines under the hood were next before a track maintenance session was performed. By 7:27, three minutes before the scheduled starting time, the green flag dropped on the first of four USAC sprint heats with the top five moving directly to the $6000 to win, 30 lap feature event.

Mitchel Moles came from the sixth spot to claim heat one over Chase Stockon, Jadon Rodgers, Kendall Ruble and CJ Leary. Kevin Thomas Jr made a nifty backstretch move late in this one to go from third to first and went onto the heat two victory. Hayden Reinbold, Gunnar Setser, Adyn Schmidt and Logan Seavey trailed. Kyle Cummins topped heat three beating Robert Ballou, Brady Short, Kobe Simpson and Bryce Andrews of Wisconsin. Andrews did not make friends with Donny Brackett as Brackett was squeezed out of racing room in turn two and went end over end after striking the wall. Brackett walked across the infield from turn two to four before he voiced his displeasure with Andrews in a civil manner. Carson Short in the second Edwards entry made a rare USAC start pay off with a win in heat four over Justin Grant, Jake Swanson, Kale Drake and Kayla Roell in a good run.

The three MMSA heats were next on the agenda with Ashton Loveless topping Parker Baumeyer and Elijah Knoke in heat one. Jake Roell captured heat two over Jordan Shipley and Nolan Kiefer. Heat three was taken by Brandon Coffey over Brendan McGlothlin and Scott Albrecht. No B main would be needed as 27 car field dwindled to 23 by heat time.

Next up was the USAC sprint car semi with the top four moving on to the main event. Briggs Danner was able to win this one over Brandon Mattox, Aric Gentry and Eli Wilhelmus making his first ever USAC feature event. The fields were now set and next up would be the two main events but not before the track crew went to work to improve the unruly surface for better racing and safety reasons.

The front row of Texan Kobe Simpson and Hayden Reinbold brought the 25 car field with the addition of Carson Garrett down to the green flag for the Spring Showdown at 9:20. Reinbold would assume the early lead and pace the field for the first four laps, his first laps ever led in a USAC sprint race as the youngster is looking better in a sprint car each time out. Kyle Cummins swept into second from fourth with sixth starting Mitchel Moles checking into third. Cummins was stalking the leader as they entered turn three coming to lap five and slid under Reinbold to take the lead as they exited turn four. Lap nine saw Moles slip by his teammate, Reinbold, in heavy lap traffic to take over second and take up the chase of Cummins. Meanwhile, Kevin Thomas Jr was coming to the front in the Rock Steady #3R and caught and passed Reinbold for third in turn four on lap fifteen. Lap twenty one saw the only caution of the race wave as Jake Swanson spun after contact with Logan Seavey.

On the ensuing restart Jadon Rogers was able to slip by Thomas for third but Thomas returned the favor in turn two of the following lap to regain the spot. Cummins was untouchable over the remaining nine circuits with Thomas slipping by Moles for second in turns one and two on the white flag lap. Cummins crossed the start/finish stripe at 9:30 recording his fifth USAC win of 2025 in eleven starts and most for him in one season by 1.5 seconds with Thomas turning in his best USAC finish of the year in second with Moles third, Rogers fourth and Justin Grant rounding out the top five after starting tenth. Robert Ballou led the second five in sixth in his 528th USAC start after starting thirteenth with Chase Stockon eleventh to seventh, Carson Short eighth, Reinbold ninth and Kale Drake picking up yet another hard charger award finishing tenth after starting twenty third.

Cummins has lofty goals as he wants to win 20 USAC sprint car races this year which would shatter the all time record of 14 set last year by Logan Seavey. With this hot start anything is possible! In twenty two previous runnings of this Southern Indiana doubleheader Cummins became the first driver to win back to back. This was also Cummins’ 25th career USAC sprint car win tying him with Parnelli Jones, Jay Drake, Steve Butler and Logan Seavey on the all-time win list.

We still had a 20 lap MMSA feature to run and this one took the green at 9:45. Five cautions slowed the action but when it was all said and done at 10:04 fifth starting Ashton Loveless stood in victory lane with the checkered flag besting Parker Baumeyer, Jordan Shipley, Nolan Kiefer up from eighth and Elijah Knoke.

It was a good night of racing on a rough track but all the drivers handled it well and the Tri-State track crew did a fine job manicuring it all evening long.

That’s it until Monday when we travel up to the Kokomo Speedway to take in the High Limit series race there so check back on Tuesday to see how that all went. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing wherever you may be and have fun and be safe. Comments, news, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you still enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Takes Fourth USAC Win Of Year On Cowboy Up Track At Bloomington

Friday, May 9 – It was a nice May day in Indiana with temperatures pushing into the low 70’s by the afternoon with plenty of sunshine and yes, some wind. Today was the 103rd season opener for the Bloomington Speedway and it almost didn’t happen. At the end of the racing season last year the promoter walked away and things looked bleak for the quarter mile red clay oval on the south side of Bloomington until a group of racers and race fans stepped forward to continue the tradition of racing at the Bloomington Speedway. A J Bowlen, a real estate agent and also a former racer, the 1997 track champion at Bloomington wanted to see the land continue as a race track so he got together with some of his buddies and formed Speedway Partners, a group of four local guys, who wanted to keep racing going at this venerable race facility. Enter Bowlen, Pat Sullivan, the Bloomington announcer for the past 30 years and IU professor, Dave Hays and another driver, Andy Bradley. The group signed a five year agreement with a two year option to operate the facility from the Mitchell/Priest family. With a lot of help from many people volunteering to work to fix up the track grounds things were ready to go for the Friday, May 9th opener. Thanks to a group of race fans we will have the 103rd season of racing at Bloomington and hopefully more going forward. Thank you!!

We ran into fellow track chaser, Jon Jay Mooney, in line at the pit shack signing in and invited him to sit with us in the grandstands which he readily accepted. Jon had not been to Bloomington for 11 years and commented on all the improvements that have taken place in the years gone by. We had some great race track conversations all during the evening which added to the enjoyment of the night’s activities.

On the race card tonight were the USAC sprints with a fine field of 39 cars joined by the IMCA Racesaver 305 sprints who brought 25 cars to the dance. Things got underway with time trials for the USAC sprint cars starting at 6:49. By 7:13 it was Mitchel Moles standing in the new victory lane on the grandstand side on the homestretch for the third time in the last four USAC sprint races. After hot laps and opening day ceremonies the first USAC sprint heat took the green flag at 7:52 for the Larry Rice Classic. With all the rain the state of Indiana has had in the past month the track developed “character” as it was truly cowboy up for the entire evening. Everyone adapted with no USAC sprinters turning turtle though several spun off the turn one and two banking during the evening. Only one car, a 305 sprint, came close to flipping doing a pirouette between turns one and two but never flipping over.

The first heat of the evening was taken by defending USAC sprint champ, Logan Seavey, besting Jadon Rogers, Chance Crum, Matt Westfall in the Simon #23S and Gabriel Gilbert. Heat two went to Tye Mihocko in the Jamie Paul #24P beating CJ Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr, Kyle Shipley and Jake Scott. The third heat was run in exciting fashion by Robert Ballou blasting the outside from his seventh starting position to capture this one over Kyle Cummins, Jake Swanson, Matt Thompson and Chelby Hinton, a young 600 micro graduate from Louisiana, in the Phillips #71P. The fourth and final heat was taken by Kale Drake in the Scott Benic #2B in a hard battle with Justin Grant and Todd Hobson. Brandon Mattox came home fourth and Rylan Gray in the Dwight Cheney #42 rounded out the top five.

Three heats were run for the IMCA Racesaver 305 sprints with Ethan Barrow, Carson Dillion and Matt McDonald winning. Then it was back to the USAC sprints for their semi main with the top four finishers advancing to the 30 lap, $6000 to win main event. Mitchel Moles, fast timer, failed to advance from the heat racing but went to the front in the semi leading the entire distance outdistancing Gunnar Setser, Kobe Simpson and Jack Hoyer. Two provisionals would be added to the field with Briggs Danner and Hayden Reinbold tagging the end of the starting field. The 305’s had a B main with Joshua Cevela coming away with the win. The fields were now set and next would be the two feature events. We had ever intention of watching both features but as the sun set the air became quite chilly and damp with the stream behind the backstretch adding to the dampness. With only one sweatshirt on I decided to watch the victory lane ceremonies and then head out for the evening.

The front row of Logan Seavey and Kyle Cummins would bring the 26 car field to the green flag at 9:40 for the start on what would become a wild affair. Seavey would get the jump at the start taking the lead with Cummins on his heels through the early stages of the race. The racing behind the two leaders was hot and heavy with a lot of slicing and dicing along with plenty of bouncing. Robert Ballou was one to watch as he ventured to the cushion and worked his way forward from ninth into the top five over the first half of the race. It was an exciting run and had the fans buzzing and Jon almost coming out of his seat twisting like he was running the rough track himself!

Seavey would pace the first sixteen laps but working his way through lap traffic caught a ripple and his car did a wheelie losing momentum through turns three and four. This allowed Cummins to diamond the corners past Seavey as they exited turn four and took the lead at the line with sixteen to go. This one was far from over as the pack behind clawed away at the leaders also. Cummins once out front increased his lead to over two seconds until the great equalizer, the yellow flag, appeared on lap twenty one when Rylan Gray slid over the turn four banking and stopped.

On the ensuing restart it was Cummins to the lead chased by Seavey and Jadon Rogers. Lap twenty six saw big misfortune happen to seventh running Justin Grant who hopped the first turn cushion and exited over the banking. He would restart at the tail but a subsequent flat tire ended his evening prematurely and resulted in a 20th place finish. Ballou was fourth at this point and went to the high side on the restart polishing off Rogers for third racing down the backstretch on lap twenty seven living up to his nickname, The Madman, in his charge forward. Ballou passed Seavey for second for a moment on lap twenty eight before another caution appeared for Gunnar Setser slowing on the track with a flat tire relegating Ballou back to third.

Going green once again it was Cummins on the throttle quickly with Seavey and Ballou in his tire tracks. Ballou surpassed Seavey again for second with two to go but was not able to mount a serious challenge on Cummins over the final two circuits with Cummins crossing the line at 9:58 just over a second faster than Ballou with Seavey third, Kale Drake eighth to fourth and Jadon Rogers rounding out the top five. Mitchel Moles would finish sixth with Tye Mihocko seventh, Jake Swanson eighth, CJ Leary ninth and Kevin Thomas Jr tenth.

Kyle Cummins would notch his fourth USAC win of 2025 and sixth overall and in the process increase his point lead from 2 to 49 over Justin Grant. Cummins’ fourth win equaled his win total for a year for him in USAC so that is something that will be easily broken going forward. It was his 24th career USAC sprint car victory placed him 29th on the all-time list surpassing CJ Leary and Roger McCluskey in the standings. It was a fun, entertaining night of racing on a challenging racetrack with lots of character and cowboy up with Cummins coming out as the top cowboy on this evening.

Check back Sunday or Monday as we travel westward over to Haubstadt and the finely manicured Tri-State Speedway for night two of the southern Indiana USAC tour. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, notes of interest or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for the encouraging words and keep reading our column to see where we end up next. In closing remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet as you never know how just a smile can help a person’s day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Grant & Cummins Win On Night Two Of Kokomo Grand Prix

Sunday, April 27 – It was a nice Sunday day with temperatures pushing the 70 degree mark with lots of sunshine but that pesky wind continues to persist. Gusts to 13 miles per hour greeted us as we planted our seats in the backstretch grandstand. Luckily after the sun went down so did the winds which were almost non-existent. Tonight was night two of the Kokomo Grand Prix featuring the USAC National midgets joined by the wingless sprint cars for a good two division open wheel evening of racing. It was vintage Kokomo with fine track prep allowing multiple racing grooves on a tacky track with plenty of passing and good side by side racing. This was the Kokomo that makes it one of the best tracks in the entire country! Sit back and enjoy the review of this great night of short track racing.

Things kicked off after hot laps for both divisions with the USAC midgets taking to the ¼ mile bullring for single car time trials with 28 entrants vying for quick time. For the second night in a row, it was a CB Industries entry nailing down the fastest lap but it was not Justin Grant nor Daison Pursley. Instead it was 21 year old rookie, Drake Edwards, out of Peoria, Arizona, a Western States USAC midget graduate claiming his first quick time in USAC National midget competition. The Chad Boat operation has looked very stout in the first two races of the season and have established themselves as the team to beat for the national championship that they won last year.

USAC time trials were followed up by four heat races for the impressive 33 car field assembled in the pit area with the first heat taking the green flag at 7:28. What followed was some great sprint car racing with much dicing and passing in all four heats vying for the top four positions to move directly to the 25 lap main event later in the evening. Heat one went to Jack Hoyer who has looked stout in the early going in the Hazen #57 topping this one over Shane Cottle, Cameron LaRose, another Arizona transplant in a second Petty entry #13P and Chance Crum. Kale Drake in the Benic #2B took down heat two besting Kyle Cummins, Harley Burns and Saban Bibent in the Baldwin #5. Heat three was won by another Arizona driver & winner at Lincoln Park on Saturday, Kyle Shipley, over CJ Leary, Trey Osborne and Matt Goodnight. The fourth and final heat was captured by Robert Ballou triumphing over Rylan Gray, Braydon Clark and Aaron Davis.

Next up were four heats for the 28 USAC midgets in town with the top five moving into the 30 lap main event. Kevin Thomas Jr in the Four Kings Racing #14 would take heat one over Justin Grant, Emerson Axsom in from Knoxville the night before, Hayden Reinbold and fast time, Drake Edwards, in a hard fought tussle. Cale Coons in his rookie debut on the full USAC midget circuit brought the Dooling #63 home first beating Karter Sharff, Gavin Miller, Steven Snyder Jr and Kale Drake. Heat three was scored by Jacob Denney in the Kunz #67 over Cannon McIntosh, Gunnar Setser, Logan Seavey and Sam Johnson. The fourth heat went to Daison Pursley in the CB Industries #86 over Thomas Meseraull, another Knoxville traveler, Steve Buckwalter, Frankie Guerrini and Texan Brecken Reese.

The sprint B main was next with Jadon Rogers taking down the win over Scotty Weir, Colin Grissom and Zack Pretorius the last man in. In the midget semi Kyle Jones who battled mechanical woes all evening was able to overcome and take the semi over Chris Baue, Dan Bennett and Jason Bennett, the latter two making their first USAC National midget feature.

Since both classes had B mains or semis the wingless sprints would contest their 25 lap feature event first with Kyle Cummins and Kyle Shipley leading the field to the green flag at 9:06. Cummins jumped into the early lead with Shipley and Cottle chasing. Cummins continued to stretch his lead entering lap traffic around the halfway mark and weaving through expertly. Cummins was running the top in this one, not his usual line at Kokomo but it sure was working tonight. The best racing was behind the Petty #3P among Kale Drake, Robert Ballou, Rylan Gray and Shane Cottle and Jack Hoyer. They sliced and diced in a fierce battle exchanging positions every lap. Jadon Rogers brought out the only stoppage of the race when he flipped in turn two on lap 17. He was OK and during the red fifth running Jack Hoyer dropped into the infield out of the race, ending prematurely another good run this weekend. When it was all said and done at 9:18 it was Cummins across the line first trailed by seventh starting Robert Ballou for his second straight second with Kale Drake sixth to third, Shane Cottle fourth and Rylan Gray turning in a good performance coming home fifth.

Positions six through ten were filled by Harley Burns who had two impressive runs at Kokomo with Kyle Shipley seventh, CJ Leary eighth, Chance Crum ninth and Cameron LaRose rounding out the top ten.

We were not done yet as the 30 lap USAC midget feature was still to come. Steven Snyder Jr and Justin Grant would bring the 24 car field to the initial green flag at 9:33 with Grant getting the advantage at the start. Rookie Snyder in the RMS #4 that Grant drove last year slid Grant in turn one on lap five to briefly take the lead but Grant countered in turn two and regained the top spot. Last night’s winner, Jacob Denney, had the Kunz #67 humming advancing from his eighth starting position into the top five quickly. He battled with Kevin Thomas Jr, Emerson Axsom, Drake Edwards, Karter Sarff and others on his way forward. He caught and passed Logan Seavey for third in turns one and two on lap 13 and took to cut the gap between himself and second place Snyder. As the laps ticked off Grant had opened a comfortable advantage up front working his way now through lap traffic and maintaining his healthy lead. With six to go Denney slid by Snyder for second off turn four and took up the chase of Grant who had a sizable lead. Denney cut into the lead but Grant still had a good advantage until the great equalizer happened when someone racing in traffic clipped the front end of Dan Bennett knocking it out with Bennett ending up at the end of the backstretch in the middle of the track in a dangerous position but luckily everyone avoided the disabled midget.

On the ensuing restart 11th running Cale Coons made contact with the turn two wall with his midget stopping bringing out another caution. Coon’s bid for a second straight top ten ended as the Dooling car was towed to the infield out of the race. On the next restart Grant was quick on the gas pedal and jumped back out front as second place runner, Jacob Denney, encountered a deflating left rear tire and kept going but dropped swiftly backward in the last two laps and ended up a disappointing 12th at the finish.

Grant was not to be denied his first career USAC midget win at Kokomo to go along with his 11 USAC sprint car wins here as he streaked across the line first at 9:47 to become the earliest driver in USAC history to win races in all three USAC divisions. That was a record that stood up for 23 years accomplished by Dave Steele back in 2002. It was also Grant’s 18th career USAC National midget victory tying him for 40th on the all time list with Logan Seavey and ironically Dave Steele.

Lost in the shadows of Grant’s accomplishments was that Steven Snyder Jr finished second in only his fifth career USAC midget start and the RMS #4 was quick tonight fending off Logan Seavey who finished third with Cannon McIntosh 10th to 4th and Kale Drake claiming his second straight hard charger award after starting 15th and finishing 5th.

Kevin Thomas Jr led the second five across the line in sixth with Daison Pursley seventh, Karter Sarff eighth, Drake Edwards ninth and Gavin Miller tenth.

It was an excellent night of racing and the type you hope to see when you attend the races every week. Kudos to the Kokomo track crew led by Reece O’Connor who had the surface in peak condition.

That’s it until next weekend so in the meantime get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road for a good road show. Comments, facts or rumors, stories or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Denney & Thomas Score Wins On Night One Of The Kokomo Grand Prix

Saturday, April 26 – The original date for this race was Friday but the forecast was so dismal that the right call was made to move the two race weekend back to Saturday and Sunday. We arrived at a tad past five and parked on the homestretch side to sit in the new aluminum grandstands but an electrical problem postponed that until another day. So it was off to the backstretch stands where we ran into Brent Goodnight and had a lively chat as it is always fun and informative to chat with him as he is very knowledgeable. Brent also has lost quite a bit of weight and looks very well. Upon entering the big backstretch aluminum grandstand, it was a surprise and pleasure to see our friend, Steve Perrotto, who is in the Air Force now stationed in Ohio. It was good seeing Steve once again and talking racing.

Things got underway with time trials for the 26 USAC National midgets on hand at 6:48. By 7:05 Justin Grant in one of the CB Industries cars this year stood in victory lane getting interviewed after setting fast time with a lap of 13.285 seconds around the ¼ mile oval. It was the third straight year that Grant set fast time in the first USAC midget race of the year and only one other driver, Kevin Thomas Jr in 2019-21, has accomplished the feat.

The second division on the race card was the non-winged sprint cars with 29 cars ready to do battle. Let me tell you non-winged sprint car racing is alive and well in the Hoosier state with a total of 82 entries, Kokomo (29), Paragon (27) and Lincoln Park (26) on this cool evening!! The first of three heats would take the green flag at 7:24 with Kevin Thomas Jr in the Rock Steady #3R winning over Robert Ballou, Rylan Gray and Shane Cottle. Heat two fell to Jake Swanson in the #47 besting Cameron LaRose, Ryan Barr and Harley Burns. CJ Leary brought the Petersen #4P home first in the third heat over Chance Crum and Jack Hoyer.

Next up were the USAC midgets with three heats for their now 24 car field with everyone making the main event. Daison Pursley picked up where he left off last year after winning the point title running away in heat one beating Justin Grant, Kevin Thomas Jr, Cale Coons, Kale Drake and Frankie Guerrini. Heat two went to Maryland driver, Steven Snyder Jr, in the RMS #4 painted a nice red color turning back Kyle Jones, Jacob Denney, PA’s Steve Buckwalter, Karter Sarff and Logan Seavey. Cannon McIntosh captured the third heat winning over Gunnar Setser, Drake Edwards, Sam Johnson, Gavin Miller and Hayden Reinbold.

Next on the agenda was the sprint car B main won by Kale Drake in the Benic #2B over Zack Pretorius and Kayla Roell. The fields were now set for both feature events with the USAC midgets going center stage first since they didn’t run a semi.

The front row of Cannon McIntosh and Kevin Thomas Jr brought the field down to the green flag at 8:50 when the original second starter, Logan Seavey, was late to the grid and was forced to start last. Thomas went to the early lead with Denney slipping into second shuffling McIntosh back to third on the opening lap. Denney used a slide job in turn two on lap six to momentarily take the lead but Thomas countered low in turn three and regained the top spot. The front three remained the same until lap thirteen when Denney slid his Kunz #67 past Thomas in turn three to grab the lead. One lap later McIntosh raced by Thomas for second as Denney would check out to an over four second lead over the second half of the race.

A tense moment occurred on lap twenty nine when Denney attempted to pass Hayden Reinbold who was running eleventh with the two banging wheels in turn three, causing Reinbold to make a sharp right into the wall flipping over twice before coming to rest. Reinbold quickly climbed out of the wrecked midget OK after the tumble. Before the restart fourth running Thomas pulled to the infield with motor problems taking him out of a good finish in the Four Kings Racing #14.

This would necessitate a two lap shootout to the finish. On the ensuing restart Denney was quick on the gas pedal and once again pulled away from McIntosh. As Denney crossed the line two laps later, he had built up almost a second and a half lead outdistancing McIntosh with Daison Pursley make a late race charge into third with hard charger Kale Drake advancing from eleventh to fourth and Justin Grant rounding out the top five. Denney would in his first USAC midget start for Keith Kunz and scored his fourth career win overall and first since May of 2023 at Tri-State Speedway.

Gavin Miller came home sixth with Karter Sarff seventh, Drake Edwards eighth, Steven Snyder Jr ninth and Cale Coons rounding out the top ten. In an interesting note young Cale Coons finished in the top ten in his first Kokomo USAC Midget start just like his father, Jerry Coons Jr, did in his first midget start at Kokomo back in 1991.

We still had the 25 lap non-wing sprint car feature to contest with the green dropping at 9:34 with Kevin Thomas Jr bounding into the early lead over CJ Leary. Thomas would lead the first 18 laps until Robert Ballou up from sixth drove around Thomas on the backstretch to take the lead. Thomas stuck close to him and with one to go the caution waved setting up another green, white, checker finish. On the restart Ballou led with Thomas and Kale Drake on his heels. Entering turn three on the white flag lap Thomas dove low and executed a perfect slider to take the lead back again. When the checkered dropped at 8:45 it was Thomas in for his first win of the year besting Ballou with Drake third, Shane Cottle fourth and young Jack Hoyer rounding out the top five.

It was a good night of racing in rather cool weather. Check back Monday for night two of the Kokomo Grand Prix. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and be safe. Comments, news, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Scores Eighth Half Mile Silver Crown Victory At Terre Haute

Sunday, April 17 – It was a nice spring day with temperatures pushing into the 60’s but that wind was still a factor making it feel quite a bit cooler. And you know what the combination of sun and wind can do to a dirt track. Today it was off to the Terre Haute Action Track for the 21st running of the Sumar Classic 100 lap Silver Crown race. We arrived on the Vigo County Fairgrounds at 4:30, secured a parking spot bordering the roadway and made our way into the covered grandstands on the homestretch encountering friends, Don and Burline, Max and Suzie and Ron and Jane in from Pennsylvania upon entering and it is always good seeing old friends again after a long winter.

A $30 admission price bought your way in and we were disappointed when the initial 32 car entry list had now dropped to 25. And these old dames are so finicky that another five of them did not take time. The prospects of a 20 car or less starting field had me in a funk. Fortunately when it was showtime 23 big gals made the starting grid and that was promising. Also on the dance card were 15 UMP modifieds which are a good filler division.

After two sets of hot laps, you knew the surface was going to be dusty but the track crew continued to work it. By 6:06 the first two cars rumbled onto the half mile and Aric Gentry prompting backed his car into the turn one fence. Gentry would return later to join the starting field. By 6:24 Mitchel Moles had set fast time for an amazing three days in a row (two USAC sprint car races at Lincoln Park & Lawrenceburg) and now today. This was also a milestone as it was the 300th Silver Crown race contested on a dirt surface.

The next activity on the agenda was two heat races for the UMP modified field starting at 6:38. It was very dusty in the heats with everyone barely able to see the racers exiting turn four. After that it was some more watering and track prep before the return of the modifieds for their 15 lap main event. Kentucky’s Hunt Gossum dominated this way leading start to finish never being challenged.

After this it was decided to let the sun drop lower in the sky so the racers were not blinded racing down the backstretch. The time was put to good use as the track crew went to work tilling the surface and putting down a good amount of liquid love before the field was called to line up on the homestretch for driver introductions. Like I mentioned earlier 23 of the 25 entries made the call for the 100 lap main event. The rework made the track much better and produced a good cushion in the turns as the race progressed.

The 100 lap Sumar Classic would be led to the green flag by the front row of Mitchel Moles and Daison Pursley driving a second Chris Dyson #9. Pursley would streak into the early lead with teammate Brady Bacon following him through with Logan Seavey tagging along as Moles dropped back to fourth on the start. The first of eight cautions would wave on lap four as Aric Gentry stopped in turn four.

On the restart it was Pursley leading trailed by Bacon, Seavey, Moles and Justin Grant. Those top five would remain the same through the first twenty five laps with others jockeying for position behind the lead pack. Jimmy Light would coast to a stop in turn four to bring out the second caution. On the restart it was still Pursley, Bacon and Seavey, the top three. Lap twenty eight saw Bacon go very high in turns three and four losing significant ground to Pursley and allowing Seavey to close on him. Two laps later Seavey dove low in turn one and pulled off the pass of Bacon for second in turn two. Lap thirty two saw Jake Swanson in the Klatt #6 pass Moles for fourth. Two laps later Chase Stockon slowed on the backstretch to bring out the third caution of the event.

Once again underway Pursley went to the point chased by Seavey and Bacon. Lap forty saw ninth starting Briggs Danner power by Moles to take over fifth as Danner began to make his presence known. Lap forty eight saw fourth running Jake Swanson come up lame and headed pit side done for the evening. At the halfway mark Pursley and Seavey had opened up a gap on the rest of the field. Lap fifty five saw Pursley bike in turn four bouncing off the fourth turn barrier with Seavey diving low and assuming the race lead. Pursley gathered himself up and continued the race now relegated to second. Seavey paced the field through lap sixty five but encountered a massive group of six lappers who made it difficult as Pursley closed to just a few car lengths. Pursley again ran into trouble in turn four on lap seventy when he banged the cushion which spun his machine around bringing out another caution. Pursley would restart but had taken himself out of competition for the win and ultimately dropped out with five to go ending up 13th.

On the restart Seavey scooted back out front chased by Bacon and Danner. Lap seventy six saw Justin Grant arrive on the scene blasting by Moles on the backstretch to take over the number four spot. CJ Leary followed Grant through one lap later to drop Moles out of the top five. Seavey continued out front opening up an eleven second lead as the laps spun off with Bacon continuing to chase him. On lap ninety six Ricky Thornton Jr (qualified sixth) making his Silver Crown debut in a second Team Arizona entry was running eighth when he suffered a flat right rear tire and headed pit side for another shoe. Justin Grant had been able to slip by Danner for third shortly before the yellow appeared for Thornton.

Under caution the lap count hit ninety eight which meant the last two laps would be a green, white, checker finish. At this time Mitchel Moles headed pit side with a fuel issue and tried to return but they could not get the Reinbold #19 to refire so he was done two laps short of the finish running sixth at the time. He would be credited with ninth at the finish. On the restart Seavey tried to slide himself entering turn one but spun his tires sliding high into turn two and allowing Bacon to close to his rear nerf bar. Seavey was able to recover and retained the lead racing down the backstretch. Grant caught and passed Bacon for second in turn four coming for the checkered with a nifty move as Seavey crossed the line almost a second ahead of Grant with Bacon third, Danner crossing fourth and Leary rounding out the top five at 9:20. Chase Dietz who came up light on the scale after qualifying had to start 20th but ended up the hard charger with a fine run through the field to finish sixth. Matt Westfall ran a steady race to finish seventh with Kaylee Bryson coming home eighth with Moles ninth and Bill Rose in his first start back after his sternum injury last year managed a tenth place finish. Saban Bibent who just the night before took a nasty flip in qualifying at Lawrenceburg came home 11th for his career high Silver Crown finish in the Fetter #88. Ricky Thornton Jr was able to salvage a 12th after his flat tire.

Logan Seavey became the first driver to win back to back Sumar Classics in its twenty one year history and also scored his tenth career Silver Crown victory tying him for 11th place on the all-time list with Gary Bettenhausen, Mike Bliss and Tanner Swanson. Of the ten Silver Crown wins for Seavey eight of them have come on tracks a half mile in length.

It ended up being a decent race and the hard work put in by the track crew paid off in the end.

That’s it until Thursday when our next race is on the horizon so in the meantime get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road. Either way, have fun and be safe. Comments, news or rumors and anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and for the comments sent our way. And remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Sheppard and Sarff Take Illini 100 Victories

Saturday, April 12 - Today it was a trip over the state border into the Land of Lincoln for some WOO late model and Xtreme Outlaw midget racing at the ¼ mile bullring of the Farmer City Raceway. Farmer City is an hour closer than Lawrenceburg who were running USAC sprint cars so the combined two hours less driving was the main reason we headed into Illinois. Also we wanted to see midgets on the small oval and the late models are usually a very competitive show and they did not disappoint on the evening. A huge crowd was in attendance for this big event paying $20,000 to win the WOO feature and $5000 to win the Xtreme Outlaw midget race. We found a strategic parking spot to aid us in exiting the track grounds after the late model feature to make the 1 ½ hour drive back to Indiana losing an hour because of the time zones.

The evening got underway with time trials for the Xtreme Outlaw midgets with Karter Sarff setting the fast time with a lap of 13.116 seconds. The WOO late models also had time trials with the flying squirrel, Brian Shirley setting the standard with a 12.814 lap around the ¼ mile bullring.

The three heats for the 27 midgets on hand would be first taking the first green flag at 7:20. Thomas Meseraull was flying high on the outside to win this one over Michael Faccinto, Zach Daum and Gavin Miller. Heat two went to Jacob Denney beating Ethan Mitchell, Cannon McIntosh and Trevor Cline. Chase McDermand scored the win in heat three besting Kameron Key, Karter Sarff and Corbin Rueschenberg. The WOO late model field was 40 strong, necessitating four heats with Brian Shirley, Cody Overton, Devin Moran and Drake Troutman taking down heat wins.

Two LCS races were next for the late models with the top three joining the rear of the field for the big 60 lap main event with Ryan Gustin and Tyler Erb winning their LCS races. All heat qualifying was completed by 8:48 so the features were next on the dance card.

The first feature of the evening would be the 25 lap Xtreme Outlaw midget race with Karter Sarff and Thomas Meseraull bringing the field to the green flag at 9:01. Brandon Carr, the UK youngster, brought out the red flag rolling his midget on the inside of turn three. Carr was OK after the incident. Sarff would pace the first five laps of the race until Jacob Denney used the high line, he perfected the evening before to win the race flew by Sarff into the lead. Rookie Kameron Key slipped by Sarff for second on lap 10 and took up the pursuit of Denney. Chase McDermand began to pressure Sarff for third as the laps counted down. With ten to go the front two bobbled on the cushion allowing Sarff to sweep by back into the lead. Sarff opened a small lead but the race was intensifying behind with Denney, Key, McDermand and Cannon McIntosh all battling tooth and nail for the next positions behind Sarff. McIntosh sliced and diced his way up to third with four to go and was challenging Key for second when he caught the turn four cushion, went sideways into a series of gyrating flips on the homestretch. McIntosh climbed from the destroyed machine and was OK but done for the evening.

On the restart Sarff would lead with Key and Denney in tow. Meseraull began to explore the outside groove first picking off McDermand for fifth before another caution flew with two to go. On the ensuing restart Meseraull again went top the cushion powering by Denney for third. He was all over Key but time ran out on the high side run as the checkered flew at 9:35 with Karter Sarff winning with Key second and Meseraull claiming third. Denney and McDermand rounded out the top five. That was Sarff’s seventh career Xtreme Outlaw win.

Now it was time for the WOO late models portion of the Illini 100 weekend with the ground pounders ready to battle over 60 laps for the $20,000 top prize. Cody Overton and Drake Troutman brought the 26 car field to the green flag at 9:48 with Troutman taking the early lead looking to become the second rookie in two nights to win a WOO feature. Troutman pulled away to a comfortable lead as the pilot of the G.R. Smith #22 looked really strong. The racing was hot and heavy behind him where Overton, Brian Shirley, Bobby Pierce and Devin Moran were jockeying for position. Shirley tracked down Troutman and passed him briefly in turns one and two but Troutman countered to retake the lead at the end of the backstretch. Shortly thereafter Moran spun in turn four with running fourth to bring out the only caution of the race.

All eyes were on Brandon Sheppard as he wheeled the Mark Richards Rocket house car from 11th into the top five. Sheppard was using the high side for his dramatic charge slipping by Pierce and Shirley right before the caution. On the restart Sheppard pounded the cushion once again and grabbed the lead exiting turn four passing Troutman. Five laps later Sheppard had checked out opening a three second lead that he would never give up as the Rocket was sailing. A few laps later two time defending Illini 100 champ, Bobby Pierce, worked his way past Troutman for second and took up the chase. Sheppard worked the lap traffic well even though Pierce was able to close within two car lengths near the end. But it was Sheppard’s night as he streaked under the double checkers at 10:06 scoring his fourth career Ilini 100 victory and first since 2019. It was also redemption for the Rocket House Car which hadn’t won a major race since August of last year.

Troutman would finish third at the end after leading the bulk of the event with Shirley fourth and Dustin Sorensen winding up fifth. The late model feature was a good one and with only one caution was completed in just 18 minutes allowing us to slide out to the parking lot and make a quick exit to start the drive home. A good night of racing which we are sure was enjoyed by everyone.

That’s it for this segment but check back Monday for race three of the weekend from the Terre Haute Action Track where the Grand Dames of USAC, the Silver Crown series take to the half mile to do battle over 100 laps in the Sumar Classic late in the afternoon from the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds. In the meantime, get out there and support some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, news, stories or other bits of information can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next. Remember to be kind and be good.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Class Of Field For Third USAC Win At Lincoln Park

Friday, April 11 – We knew going in that it was going to be a cold one as the high temperature of the day was 53 degrees. It would drop to 45 by feature time but we were prepared with plenty of heavy clothing and blankets to withstand the cold weather. We also knew the track was going to be cowboy up with all the rain we had in the past week. Pictures earlier in the week showed turns one and two underwater and they would be the trouble spots on this evening. The surface was soft and gnarly in those turns and made for some interesting moments during the evening in the debut of new promoters, Tommy and Jen Estes. It was a tough haul for the new promoters but they did the best they could under extraordinary circumstances. Everyone in attendance should have appreciated the effort to bring them springtime racing in beautiful downtown Putnamville, the first spring USAC race at the facility since 1986. After placing our folding chairs in the grandstand we wandered among the souvenir stands and while looking at some USAC merchandise we were approached by one of the USAC announcers, Drake York, who asked us if we wanted to play a game. We said sure and he handed us a Cookout menu, a southern fast food chain and one of the USAC sponsors, with 40 milkshake favors on the list. The contest was to pick one of the favors of shakes that was Justin Grant’s favorite. Pat felt that the peanut butter banana was the right choice so that is what we went with and were correct winning a USAC prize package of a t-shirt, USAC sticker and coolie cover for our winning efforts.

The first order of business was time trials for the 38 USAC sprints on hand commencing at 6:37. Mitchel Moles would grab the fast time for the 16th time in his career, tying him with Jack Hewitt, Doug Kalitta and Rollie Beale for 29th on the all time list. Hot laps/qualifying were next on the agenda for the 19 IMCA 305 sprints on hand and then it was right into the four heats for the USAC sprints with the top five moving directly to the 30 lap main event.

Jadon Rogers would power to the lead from third in heat one fending off Kyle Shipley, Mitchel Moles, Kevin Thomas Jr and Hayden Reinbold to capture the opening heat. Heat two saw Lincoln Park point champion, Tye Mihocko, catch a hole in turn two and roll the Jaime Paul #24P over finishing him for the evening. Jake Swanson would go on to claim the victory over Chase Stockon, Logan Seavey, Max Adams in a surprise entry in the Michael Dutcher #17GP and Brandon Mattox. Kyle Cummins streaked to victory in heat three outdistancing Briggs Danner, Robert Ballou, Gabriel Gilbert and Zack Pretorius to win that one. Heat four went to fourth starting Carson Garrett in the Epperson #2E besting Chance Crum, Justin Grant, Brayden Fox and Gunnar Setzer. Daison Pursley off the High Limit tour for the weekend was involved in a heat four tangle in turn four standing the Chad Boat #86 on its nose and then over onto the track upside down. Pursley would return to capture the semi over Kale Drake, Harley Burns and CJ Leary the last man in.

It was announced that they were going to run the 25 lap 305 sprint car feature next followed by the fireworks. After a short break as I was checking out results from other tracks running tonight I was surprised to hear engines and looking up saw that the sprinters coming onto the track did not have wings on them. It was a very wise decision with temperatures in the mid-forties and much appreciated by the decent crowd in attendance.

So by 9:23 the front row of Logan Seavey (looking for his fourth straight USAC sprint win at LPS) and Kyle Shipley led 22 of their best friends to the green flag to start the 30 lap main event. At the drop of the green flag Seavey got the early advantage over Shipley and Kyle Cummins who started fourth. Seavey would lead the first four laps until Shipley slipped by Seavey on lap five exiting turn four to lead his first ever USAC feature. This lead didn’t last long as Seavey dove low in turn two to retake the lead for the next two circuits until Shipley again retook the lead on lap eight between turns three and four. The red would appear shortly thereafter when Mitchel Moles clipped the turn two infield tractor tire and rolled over. Moles would return but dropped out later in the race.

On the restart Seavey charged back into the lead in turn two when Shipley caught a rut and bobbled in the corner. Cummins also closed on the miscue driving around the top off turn four to take second at the line to start lap nine. Cummins was not finished as he drove low in turn three and passed Seavey coming to the line to lead lap ten. At this point over the next nine laps Cummins checked out opening over a four second lead over Seavey and now Justin Grant who had worked his way past Shipley for third.

With six to go disaster almost struck for Cummins as entering turn one he was faced by three cars who had tangled, Daison Pursley, Robert Ballou and Zack Pretorius, who were sitting in the middle of the turn. Cummins took evasive action sliding halfway off the banking avoiding the three stopped sprinters and retaining the lead.

On the restart with Seavey and Grant back behind him Cummins hit the loud pedal and once again motored away opening up another four second lead over the final six laps. As the double checkers waved at 9:46 it was Cummins across the line first for his third USAC victory of 2025 as he is on a roll not having finished out of the top five in the first seven races of the season. His worst finish has been fifth and if this streak continues he could be the man to beat for the USAC title. It was also Cummins’ 23rd career USAC sprint car win tying him for 29th on the all-time win list with CJ Leary and Roger McCluskey.

Justin Grant had motored by Seavey on the backstretch with three to go to finish second with Seavey third, Jake Swanson fourth after starting eighth and Kale Drake charging from 23rd to 5th and garnering the hard charger award and the $150 dollars that goes along with that. Kyle Shipley slipped to sixth on the last lap but still scored his highest USAC sprint car ever. Max Adams came home seventh with Jadon Rogers eighth, Chase Stockon ninth and Carson Garrett rounding out the top ten.

It was a good race under trying circumstances and everyone did their best to present a good, well run program for the chilly fans in house. Since we have two more races to attend this weekend, we decided to call it a night and head north to rest up and warm up for the evening.

That’s it for now but check back Sunday and Monday to hear about our next two races of a typical weekend and in the meantime get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area. Keep warm and be safe out there. Comments, news of interest and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Dominates No Way Out 40 At Paragon

Friday, March 14 – What a gorgeous day for the middle of March with plenty of sunshine and temperatures creeping into the low 80’s. Yes, this is March and the weird weather it can produce. As I am writing this today (Sunday) the temperature is 37! Go figure! The management at Paragon must have followed the weather channel all week like I did and by Wednesday I said to Pat that it is not changing and Saturday and Sunday look rainy and colder. I mentioned that Paragon should consider moving their race date to Friday which was projected to be sunny and warm with temperatures in the 80’s. As I checked several items on my laptop Thursday morning, I was happy to see that Paragon was going to run the No Way Out 40 paying $10,000 to the winner on Friday. What a great call.

We arrived on the grounds of Paragon Speedway at 5:15 and noticed that the gates were already open so after a few minutes we gathered up our gear and headed trackside to lay and secure our blankets in the top row of the lower section of aluminum grandstands. It was sunny and warm with the only problem being the wind blowing south to north at about 15 miles per hour. It was constant but did not deter a very good sized crowd from turning out to enjoy the first afternoon and evening of racing in the state of Indiana. Also, which was a plus was that it was only a two division program on this evening with 32 non-wing sprints joined by 16 UMP modifieds to do battle on the paper clip 3/8 mile dirt oval in Morgan County.

Race director, Josh Cunningham, had things working like a well oiled machine on this opening day like midseason form. Hot laps for the sprint cars started a little after 6:30 with the first sprint breaking the timer at 7:06 for individual time trials. By 7:26 it was Kyle Cummins setting fast time of 15.060 seconds around the 3/8 mile after being 20th on the time trial grid.

The first of four sprint car heats would take the green at 7:56 with straight up starts by time. Kyle Cummins easily cruised to the first heat win besting Jadon Rogers, Cameron LaRose and Trey Osborne. Heat two was captured by CJ Leary topping Kevin Thomas Jr, Brandon Mattox and Jake Scott. Robert Ballou claimed heat three beating Carson Garrett, Brandon Spencer and Matt Westfall. The fourth and final heat fell to Harley Burns outrunning Hunter Maddox, Kale Drake and Matt Thompson.

Next up were two heats for the UMP modifieds with Derek Groomer and James Walters taking down the heat wins. The sprint B main was next on the agenda with Australian Todd Hobson winning over Cody Trammell, Tony Helton and Zack Pretorius the last man in.

By 9:05 it was time to go feature racing with the UMP modifieds first on the grid to do battle for 25 laps. It was a competitive race but the six cautions with mostly the same three or four back markers took away from the race. Derek Groomer was able to fend off the persistent challenges from James Walters to take the checker at 9:26 with Jordan Wever, Tyler Loughmiller and Kenny Carmichael Sr trailing.

We only had the 40 lap, $10,000 to win 17th No Way Out 40 to run. The front row of Kyle Cummins and CJ Leary brought the 20 car field to the green flag at 9:45 with Cummins powering into the early lead. He steadily pulled away from the field opening up a half track lead as the combination of the straight up start and the wind making the surface dry and slick made passing at a premium. The best racing was for second between Leary and Robert Ballou as the laps ticked off. Ballou was able to sneak by Leary off turn four on lap eight for second but there was going to be no catching the high flying Cummins as he picked his way through the lap traffic starting on lap twelve. Kevin Thomas Jr was able to finally pick off Harley Burns for fifth on the homestretch on lap sixteen. Leary was able to close back on Ballou when Ballou went high avoiding lappers and on lap thirty one Leary was able to regain second at that point. The non-stop 40 laps took the checkered flag at 9:58, just 13 minutes after starting with Cummins bringing the Jerry Petty #3P home first for the $10,000 prize chased across the line by Leary, Ballou, Jadon Rogers and Thomas. Harley Burns finished a good sixth with Carson Garrett seventh, Hunter Maddox eighth, Kale Drake ninth and Cameron LaRose in the second Petty car tenth. The hard charger on a difficult track to pass on was Cody Trammell who advanced from 18th to 11th at the finish.

It was a good day and night of racing and a nice way to open the 2025 racing season in the Hoosier state. If you take the action from time trials to finish it was three hours and if you take the action from the first heat to finish it was two hours but either way it was a well-run program.

The next several weeks are going to be devoted to Indiana boy’s high school basketball playoffs so no racing unless someone changes dates and runs a program here on a Sunday. Until next time get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take it on the road to knock some bucket list tracks off your list. Either way, have fun and be safe. Comments, news, rumors or facts can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and feedback from you all. In closing be good and remember to be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Pursley Closes Out Winter Dirt Games XVI With Win At Ocala

Saturday, February 15 – The final day of our 2025 Florida winter tour dawned sunny and warm with temperatures in the 80’s. We were not looking forward to what awaited us as we returned to Indiana on Sunday. The highs were only going to be in the mid-teens and with the wind chill factor it was going to be below zero for the whole upcoming week!! Eighties to minus six is a lot for the body to adjust to. Anyhow it is what it is and back to Saturday in Florida where it was still warm. First off to meet Dale O’Brien for lunch at La Hacienda off exit 350 just below Ocala. What an amazing authentic Mexican meal with gigantic portions and reasonable prices. It is in a strip mall attached to a Mexican supermarket and is well worth the time and money to dine there.

After eating lunch we made our way north to the track and after signing in walked the pit area checking out the cars and stars of current USAC racing having conversations with various drivers and crew members. Also, we chatted with veteran PA photographer, Steve Koletar, along with Pennsylvania residents, Ron and Jane, from Bucks County who attend many of the USAC shows during the year.

We ventured back to the grandstands and settled in for another efficiently run program with a slightly format for the evening. No time trials would be run tonight and instead the top five point men over the previous three days would be automatically locked into the big $10,000 to win, 35 lap feature go with their lineup determined by a dash race a little later.

Three qualifying races would be contested with the top five from each joining the previous five already locked in. CJ Leary who has been fast at times all week with little positive results except for his third last night, captured the first qualifier besting former teammate, Carson Garrett, Kale Drake, Kevin Thomas Jr (who has had a dismal Florida tour) and Harley Burns who made all the shows except opening night at Volusia. Robert Ballou nailed down qualifier two over Jake Swanson, Tom Harris, Briggs Danner and Joey Amantea who raced well in Florida with Jon Stanbrough turning the wrenches. Logan Seavey got a late race gift in qualifier three as leader, Chase Stockon, shredded a right rear tire while leading handing the lead and win over to the defending champion. Jadon Rogers, Hayden Reinbold, Gunnar Setser and Kayla Roell chased him across the line.

One heat was run for the seven Crown Vics in attendance with Harold Erickson winning this one. The dash race was next on the agenda with Brady Bacon placing the Dyson #20 out front early and going on to victory over Mitchel Moles, Daison Pursley, Kyle Cummins, Justin Grant, Logan Seavey, Robert Ballou and CJ Leary. The 12 lap semi would wrap up the qualifying for the evening with California driver, Eddie Tafoya Jr winning over Mark Smith who tangled on the homestretch racing to the checkered with Ricky Lewis for second. Lewis would not make the A main as Chase Stockon and Kobe Simpson nipped the spinning Lewis at the finish line. All preliminaries were in the books by 7:55 with just the two features yet to run.

The front row of Brady Bacon and Mitchel Moles would bring the 24 car field to Michael Heath’s green flag at 8:22. Heath is a good starter that has been at Ocala for quite some time and is a rarity in the business as he is a black man. The only other black starter we knew of was Doug Clark, from Knoxville Raceway, who is the most famous. Moles jumped to the early lead looking strong in this one and would hold down the top spot past the halfway mark. Bacon stayed in his tire tracks with Pursley moving ahead behind the pair testing out some different lines. Pursley got his break on lap fifteen when Bacon went high in turns three and four looking for a way around Kobe Simpson, allowing Pursley to dive low and split the pair exiting turn four to grab second. Lap nineteen saw the caution appear when Hayden Reinbold shreds a right rear tire in turn four to slow the event.

On the restart Pursley went to the high side in turn two to draw even with Moles for a run down the backstretch. Moles would fend him off at that point but Pursley dove low in turn one to briefly take the lead. Moles countered off turn two on the low side and regained the lead entering turn three. Pursley and Moles touched wheels in turn three, Pursley’s right front to Moles’ left rear with Pursley assuming the lead in turn three. Pursley began to pull away over the next six laps to over a second lead over Moles. Mitchel bobbled off turn two on lap twenty five, costing him not only second but several more positions in the process. A few more cautions slowed the pace over the next ten laps but Pursley was up to the challenge. Pursley would flash under the checkered flag at 8:40 for his first win in the Chad Boat sprinter besting Bacon with Kyle Cummins coming on late for third with Justin Grant fourth and Moles after a very good run winding up fifth. Pursley was certainly due as he had finished second twice and third three times in the previous five runs in Florida. CBI has bagged 41 USAC midget wins but this was their first in the USAC National sprint car ranks.

Kyle Cummins became the 2025 Winter Dirt Games XVI champion and the extra $5000 that goes along with it. Positions six through ten were filled by Carson Garrett, Robert Ballou, CJ Leary, Kale Drake and Jake Swanson. Chase Stockon in the Sertich Moose Racing #92 was the hard charger advancing from 23rd to 13th at the end to complete a good series for the newly formed combination.

We still had a 15 lap Crown Vic feature to run with James Warden scoring the win in their final over Harold Erickson and Eric Garcia Sr in a ten minute feature with only one caution wrapping up the night at 9:07. Another well run program of racing and what we felt was one of the best night in and night out racing surfaces for the sprinters at Ocala. Hats off to all on a job well done.

That’s it for a while as it is frigid in Indiana and not expected to warm up any for at least a week or so. Any March races in the Hoosier state are doubtful at the present time but we will see. Comments, news, rumors and facts can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Another Daytona 500 crash fest took place on Sunday so save your money and catch some good short track racing in your area and let the bulldozers doze. Be safe out there in the extreme cold and be good. And thanks for continuing to read our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Late Race Heroics Secures Second USAC Win For Cummins At Ocala

Friday, February 14 – Today was a little cooler than the norm has been the last week here in Florida with the high only in the mid 70’s and a good stiff breeze making it seem colder. Extra clothing was the order of the day as the crew would descend upon the 3/8 mile D-shaped dirt oval of the Ocala Speedway. But before that would happen our crew would invade Sam’s St. Johns Seafood Restaurant about two miles east of the track for a fine seafood meal beforehand. Good food, good fun and good company was on the menu and everyone came away happy and full before proceeding over to the track to take in another night of Winter Dirt Games XVI featuring the USAC sprint cars down to 31 tonight because of previous night wrecks and mechanical woes.

Time trials were the first order of business for the sprint cars after hot lap sessions completed with the first
car going under the clock at 6:29. By 6:55 Daison Pursley at the wheel of the Chad Boat Industries #86 had
placed himself at the top of the heap with a time of 14.041 seconds around the 3/8 mile unique D-shaped dirt oval.

The first racing of the evening would commence at 7:17 with the first of four heat tussles for the 31 car field with the top five automatically advancing to the 30 lap main event later on. Joey Amantea opened up the heat racing as he did the night before capturing the opening heat race over Hayden Reinbold, Logan Seavey, Daison Pursley and Jadon Rogers. Heat two saw Brady Bacon take home the top prize besting Kyle Cummins, Ricky Lewis, Carson Garrett and CJ Leary. Kale Drake rebounded nicely from his vicious flip the night before to claim heat three over Mitchel Moles, Harley Burns, Gunnar Setser and Briggs Danner. Heat four went to Chase Stockon beating Justin Grant, Jake Swanson, Mark Smith and Nic Harris.

A single heat for the five Crown Vics would follow before the racing returned to the USAC sprint cars and their 12 lap, 4 to qualify semi to round out the 24 car field for the 30 lap main event. Robert Ballou would prevail in this one over Kevin Thomas Jr, Eddie Tafoya Jr qualifying for his second straight night and Kayla Roell righting the ship after her flip the night before grabbing the last qualifying spot. By 8:11 all was good with the world and all preliminary qualifying was in the record books. All that remained was the 30 lap USAC National sprint car feature.

The 24 car field was assembled trackside and ready to rumble by 8:32 when the initial green flag waved. It did not stay green long as tenth starting Joey Amantea blasted the turn four wall and rode the top for a distance before returning wheel side up to the racing surface. Amantea’s evening turned out to be short lived as he was done for the evening.

CJ Leary was quick on the hammer on the restart surging into the early lead over Jadon Rogers. Leary who has struggled all week looked like tonight might be the night as he paced the field as the laps counted off. Kyle Cummins who started fifth began to pick off some pretty good company in Briggs Danner and Justin Grant along with Jadon Rogers on his way to second by lap five. He had some ground to make up to catch the high flying Leary as the laps progressed. At the halfway mark lap traffic began to loom on the horizon as Leary picked his way through like a good guitar strummer with Cummins also looking like Roy Clark keeping pace with Leary.

The high speed picking continued as Cummins stalked Leary as they approached the five to go mark. Leary bobbled on the cushion, exiting turn four coming for five to go allowing Cummins to close to his rear nerf bar. Leary was able to hold sway as the pair battled tooth and nail over the remaining five laps with Cummins gaining good runs exiting turn two allowing him to draw even several times down the dog leg. On the final lap Cummins stormed off turn two making his last ditch effort to pass Leary as he drew side by side midway down the backstretch. It was not to be as ahead Kayla Roell caught the third turn fence and slid to a stop bringing out the only caution of the race.

On the green, white, checker restart Cummins again made his bid racing down the backstretch with just enough room to go side by side with Leary and stay out of the wall. Cummins held the top screaming through turns three and four bolting by Leary to take the lead as the pair raced to the white flag. Daison Pursley also used the high side off turn two on the final lap to storm by Leary for second as they raced down the backstretch. As the field exited turn four for the checkers Cummins stumbled a little but had enough room to recover and crossed the line at 8:49 to steal the win for his second win in Florida of 2025. Pursley finished second after starting sixth with a very disappointed Leary finishing third, Justin Grant fourth and Brady Bacon rounding out the top five. Jadon Rogers paced the second five in sixth with Danner seventh, Stockon eighth, Robert Ballou ninth from fifteenth which was enough for the hard charger award with Jake Swanson rounding out the top five. It was by far the best USAC race in Florida this year and had the fans buzzing at the end. Good, well run program and looking forward to the final tomorrow. The format will be different for the final night with the top five in points from the previous three nights locked in. They are Kyle Cummins, Justin Grant, Daison Pursley, Mitchel Moles and Brady Bacon. There will be no time trials, just heat racing to determine the remainder of the starting field for Saturday’s main event.

That’s it for now and probably the final night will not be posted until Monday as after tonight’s race we start for home with a full day of traveling on Sunday to make the long drive to Indiana. Comments, news, rumors, facts and any other points of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. In the meantime, get prepared for the 2025 racing season and hopefully it warms up north of the Mason-Dixie Line as Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania is scheduled for their opener next weekend. Be safe out there and be good. Also try to be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what they are going through today. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Bacon Scores USAC Win #59 At Ocala Speedway

Thursday, February 13 – The drive today started in Kissimmee and ended up in Gainesville. In between we visited the small, picturesque town of Dade City. The small
Shops are pleasant to visit and they have a used bookstore where you can exchange old
books for others and be both walked out with some “new” selections. A stop at TJ’s for lunch produced some good sandwiches, Pat an Italian hoagie while I partook in a fine meatball hero. A stop on Main Street turned up some delicious ice cream at Delectable Delights. The best flavor was Fat Elvis, a banana flavored ice cream loaded with peanut butter strips and lots of chocolate pieces. Truly Elvis would have approved!!

From there it was up the road to exit 358 off of I-75 where the 3/8 mile dirt oval now known as Ocala Speedway is located. The unique D-shaped dirt oval has been racing since 1952 as both a dirt and asphalt track in its history. It was dirt for the first 45 years then converted to asphalt for 10 years before returning to dirt once again. We arrived around 4 and found our favorite parking place and settled in for a while reading and enjoying the breeze passing through the car. We signed in around 5:15 and hurried back to the SUV as the wind picked up and the skies darkened and it looked like it was going to pour. Some rain did fall but the bulk of the storm passed us by. With an 81 percent chance of rain at 7 we decided to sit out USAC time trials in the safety of the Equinox until we felt the coast was clear.

We ventured in after time trials completed with Justin Grant setting fast time for the second night in a row and his 36th all-time fast time moving by the great Rich Vogler into tenth on the all-time list. The USAC sprint cars would follow with four heat races with the top five moving directly into the 30 lap main event later in the evening. The first heat took the green flag at 7:17 and it was Pennsylvania’s Joey Amantea quick on the throttle and never looking back scoring the win over Kale Drake, Mark Smith, Justin Grant and Logan Seavey. Colorado’s Carson Garrett took down the second heat win besting Kyle Cummins, Daison Pursley, Eddie Tafoya Jr, the California driver making his first USAC race of the year in Florida, and Kevin Thomas Jr. Texan Kobe Simpson who previous to Wednesday night had never won a USAC National sprint car heat race made it two nights in a row. Simpson outran the UK’s Tom Harris, Brady Bacon, Mitchel Moles and Briggs Danner. Arizona’s Stevie Sussex brought the Baldwin brothers #5 across the line first in heat four beating Ricky Lewis, Harley Burns, Hayden Reinbold and Jake Swanson. Kayla Roell caught the backstretch wall and took a tumble into turn three, OK but upset that her evening was prematurely over.

From sources of ours the 15 car Crown Vic field from last night was down to only 5 tonight due to a slew of mechanical woes and such. One heat was run with Eric Garcia, the winner. They would be back for the last feature of the evening.

The 12 lap semi transferring the last four cars to the feature was won by impressive rookie driver, Gunnar Setzer in one of the KO Motorsports entries, outdistancing CJ Leary, Robert Ballou and Jadon Rogers edging Chase Stockon for the last qualifying position in a tight battle. Stockon elected not to pursue the provisional spot. Kyle Jones dumped his sprinter in a wild ride in turn two during the semi but emerged OK. All qualifying was in the books by 8:19 in a well run program.

Next up would be the 30 lap USAC National Sprint Car feature with twenty four steeds ready to do battle in Winter Dirt Games XVI. Brady Bacon and Daison Pursley led 22 of their friends to the green flag at 8:43 with Pursley getting the early jump in the CBI #86. Pursley was looking like he might notch his first USAC win of 2025 as he began to pull away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile, Briggs Danner who started dead last (24th) was slicing his way forward as the rookie contender was on the move.

Lap 19 would be Pursley’s Waterloo as he approached the tail running cars of Jadon Rogers and Gunnar Setser choosing the high road to attempt to pass them as Bacon stuck it on the low side edging past Pursley taking the lead. Bacon also placed Stevie Sussex a lap down and in turn gave himself some breathing room over Pursley. The first caution would occur 4 laps later when Tom Harris slowed in turn four with a flat right rear tire. Lap 27 saw the second caution wave when Ricky Lewis also slowed with a flat tire.

On the restart it was Bacon quick to the point but the red would appear shortly thereafter when Kale Drake running 14th at the time launched his sprinter into a series of flips onto the turn three fencing landing on the track worst for wear. Drake was able to climb from the battered sprinter and the Benic crew will burn the midnight oil getting that one repaired. Bacon was probably wondering if he was ever going to get to the checkered flag but after three stoppages the race went green again. Bacon jumped out front and was not to be denied his 59th career USAC National sprint car win pulling him within three of the all-time leader, Dave Darland, at 62. This was also Bacon’s sixth win at Ocala and first USAC sprint car win for car owner, Chris Dyson, the road racer, in over six years. This will extend Brady’s consecutive USAC win streak to 15 years in the process.

Pursley would have to settle for second on this evening with Justin Grant riding home third, Mitchel Moles a solid fourth with point leader, Kyle Cummins, rounding out the top five. Jake Swanson off to a good start in 2025 came from 12th to place 6th with Logan Seavey going backwards from 3rd to 7th with CJ Leary 8th, Carson Garrett 9th and Kevin Thomas Jr tenth. Briggs Danner would receive the hard charger award for finishing 11th and starting 24th and advancing 13 positions on the evening. Since the night was still young (9:08) we watched the 15 lap Crown Vic feature.

Johnny Allen would make it two nights in a row claiming the 15 lap win at 9:31 outrunning Billy Marlin for the win. It was a good, quick night of racing with some good racing in the mix. We will do it all over again for the next two evenings before making our way north and back to the cold Midwest to complete Winter.

Until tomorrow, start preparing for the outdoor season and have the heavy clothes out for the early races up North. Comments, news, stories, rumors and facts can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Be safe out there, be good and remember to be kind to everyone you meet because you don’t know what they are going through and your small act of kindness could make their day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey & Thornton Score On Fast Night At Volusia Speedway Park

Tuesday, February 11 – Another picture perfect Florida day greeted us as we awoke in Kissimmee. A luncheon with the clan was on the horizon and after writing yesterday’s column and doing other things around the condo it was time to head east to gather at Auntie Catfish’s in Port Orange for a fine meal of various choices of seafood. Gathering at 2 there we secured seating for nine about 20 minutes later. Soon we were munching on their world famous cinnamon rolls constantly baked in front of you throughout the day. After the delicious meal it was off to Volusia Speedway Park to find a parking spot and settle in for night two of the USAC National sprint cars (33) and DirtCar late models (54). Group qualifying was the first order of business with first the USAC sprint cars taking the initial green flag from fabulous starter, Dave Farney, at 5:45. By 5:59 it was Daison Pursley in the new CBI’s #86 standing on the homestretch for the second night in a row after clocking the fast time of 16.275 seconds around the ½ mile oval.

The 54 late models were next up to cross under the clock at 6:17 and by 6:43 Ryan Gustin was getting the same treatment as Pursley talking on the homestretch about his quick time of 15.492 on the evening. Like fine clockwork the next item on the schedule was the USAC sprint car heat racing with four runs on the docket with the top five moving directly into the $10,000 to win, 30 lap Big Gator championship feature. Farney’s green silk would drop on the first heat race at exactly 7 PM. Pursley carved up the field to win heat one over Kale Drake, Briggs Danner, Hayden Reinbold in his rookie run and CJ Leary in the Team AZ #21AZ. Mark Smith surprised a few in attendance, winning heat two in a good run besting Brady Bacon, Logan Seavey, Chase Stockon and Justin Grant. Robert Ballou went to the front for the second night in a row and captured heat race three over Kevin Thomas Jr, Stevie Sussex in his first start of 2025 in the Baldwin #5, Kyle Cummins and Carson Garrett. Heat four went to a USAC rookie, Gunnar Setzer, winning his first career heat race beating Ricky Lewis, John Mollick, Mitchel Moles and Jake Swanson to round out the qualifiers.

Six heat races for the 54 late models pit side were next to the post and spun off in good order. The top three advanced to the 25 lap late model feature later in the evening. Ricky Thornton Jr, looking in midseason form, copped heat one over Ryan Gustin and Max Blair. Tyler Erb followed with a win in heat two over Devin Moran and Mike Marlar. Jonathan Davenport yet another heat win in heat three over Tyler Bruening and Blair Nothdurft. Heat four fell to Bobby Pierce outrunning Nick Hoffman and Brian Shirley. Brandon Overton came up big in heat five triumphing over Ethan Dotson and Drake Troutman. Heat six was taken by Cade Dillard over Cody Overton and Brenden Smith, a Floridian driver. All heat racing was in the books by 8:15.
Next were the two sets of races with so many different names but tonight we will use semi to describe the B main for the USAC sprint cars and Last Chance Showdowns to describe the B mains for the late models. The sprint car semi was the first one to the post with the United Kingdom’s Tom Harris prevailing in this one besting Brian Ruhlman, Harley Burns from ninth and Joey Amantea, the last man in after hitting everything except the lottery. Three LCS’s were next on the dance card with Brandon Sheppard, Chase Junghans and Ashton Winger triumphing and moving forward.

We were now set with just two features to go, 30 laps for the sprinters billed as Winter Games XVI with the Big Gator on the line. The Big Gator would be determined for the sprint cars by the best overall finish of the two nights for each competitor. As the track work was being done, we waited and then were surprised by a light and relatively short shower which descended upon us delaying the start of the 30 lap sprint car feature. What this would leave the drivers going forward would be what we call a juiced up track, very fast, smooth and hard to pass on. Remember the name, Kale Drake, the driver of the Scott Benic #2B as he must have never heard these terms as you will see later.

By 9:55 things were back in shape, the rain gone and it was time to go USAC National Sprint Car racing with the front row of Logan Seavey and Briggs Danner bringing the 25 car field (Kayla Roell was a provisional) to Dave Farney’s demonstrative green flag. Seavey was quick on the throttle and bounded into the early lead and was not going to let two front row starts in two nights go to waste tonight. Kyle Cummins, last night’s winner, started fourth and slid by Jake Swanson for third and the opening lap and one lap later drove to the low side of Briggs Danner in turns three and four to secure second and take up the chase of Seavey. The cars were zipping around the big half mile at blazing speed as Seavey opened up a comfortable lead as the lead approached the halfway mark. Kale Drake meanwhile started 19th and didn’t know the stories of how a juiced up racetrack is fast and difficult to pass on as he crashed the top ten before lap ten and continued to work forward. Chase Stockon in the Sertich #92 and CJ Leary in the Team AZ #21AZ also must not have received the pre-race bulletin to that effect either as they began to march forward.

Lap traffic came into play as Seavey reached the halfway mark expertly picking his way through them increasing his lead in the process. The caution would appear on lap twenty when Robert Ballou stopped high in turns one and two with a badly shredded right rear tire. Ballou would retreat to the infield where a new shoe was added and returned to the hunt shortly thereafter. Ballou ended up 13th at the finish after starting at the tail on the restart. On the restart Cummins showed his nose to Seavey entering turns one and two but Seavey was able to squirt ahead and built up his lead once again.

John Mollick slowed on the homestretch on lap twenty six to bring out another caution and restack the field. Seavey was off on the ensuing restart and looking like he had this one in the fold when on the last lap Joey Amantea slowed in the middle of the backstretch setting up the second night of green, white, checker scenario and you never know what can happen here. Cummins made his bid racing side by side with Seavey through turns one and two as Seavey edged ahead down the backstretch and into the far side turns. On the white flag lap Seavey went a lane higher in turns one and three to stave off any Cummins’ charges. Seavey was able to maintain his lead and flashed under the double checkers at 10:16, $10,000 richer for his effort. Cummins would cross the line second with Daison Pursley third, Briggs Danner fourth and Kale Drake rounding out a tremendous run charging from 19th to garner fifth at the end. Justin Grant paced the second five in sixth with Chase Stockon 17th to seventh as this team is off to a great start and that is good to see for this veteran driver with Jake Swanson eighth, Brady Bacon ninth and CJ Leary 24th to tenth. Another good race though we think Monday’s feature was the better of the two.

This win for Seavey was his 25th career USAC National sprint car win tying him also for 25th on the all-time win list. It was also Seavey’s third win at Volusia Speedway Park, the only USAC driver to win more than one in Gator land. Speaking of gators, the big one went to Kyle Cummins who tied in points with Daison Pursley for the two nights but the tiebreaker was his win the night before.

We still had a 25 lap DirtCar late model feature to contest so let’s get to it. By 10:32 it was showtime with Tyler Erb grabbing the early lead over Ricky Thornton Jr. Bobby Pierce raced with and passed Thornton in turn four on lap three to take over second. A lap later Thornton returned the favor and regained second from Pierce. The battle then heated up for third among Pierce, Jonathan Davenport and Brandon Overton. Lap twelve saw Thornton catch and pass Erb for the lead in turn one. From that point on it was all Thornton as he pulled away from the pack and opened up a comfortable lead. Bobby Pierce would pass Erb for second racing down the backstretch on the final lap as Thornton crossed the line first at 10:43 for his fourth win of 2025 as Thornton is hitting on all cylinders in his early season run. Pierce would finish second, with Tyler Erb third, Davenport fourth and Brandon Overton placing fifth.

It was time to hit the asphalt and head for the condo satisfied with another good night of racing run in a timely manner even with a rain delay mixed in.

That’s it for now but check back Friday as we make our way over to Ocala Speedway to take in the USAC sprints at the odd D-shaped dirt oval in horse country. Comments, news, rumors, facts or any other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Thanks for reading our efforts and continue to check back to see where a typical weekend ends up next. In the meantime, get ready for a fun filled 2025 racing season at your local track or take it on the road for a bucket list tour. Be safe out there and be good as well as kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

A Night Like Tonight Is Why We Love Non-Winged Sprint Car Racing

Monday, February 10 – Another sunny day in Paradise put us in a good mood to start the day and a stop at Brian’s BBQ in DeLand along
the way to Volusia Speedway Park made for a delicious lunch to go along with the sunshine. Arrived at Volusia Speedway Park at 4:30,
parked and read for a while before exiting the car to walk the pit area. Had the great pleasure to meet fellow trackchaser, Andy Hickok, a
former New York resident who moved south to the Sunshine state. The three of us had a pleasant and enjoyable conversation and hints
of a possible return to the Empire state in the near future. We were glad to meet you Andy and we always enjoy running into fellow trackchasers
and getting to know them better.

After visiting the pits, we packed up the gear and headed trackside to settle in for a good night of racing. Thirty four USAC sprint cars and 51
DirtCar late models greeted us which would make for a load of racing action. Hot laps were the first order of business for the sprint cars and
the late models followed by group qualifying going three at a time. The sprints were first pushing off their first car at 5:50 and the last late
model breaking the timing clock at 7:07. Daison Pursley in a new Chad Boat sprint car topped the time chart with a lap of 16.156 around the half
mile oval. Cade Dillard set the benchmark for the late models with a quick time of 15.672 seconds.

Now it was time to go racing and the USAC sprint cars would contest four heat races with the top five advancing to the 25 lap main event. The
first race went green at 7:22. Defending USAC sprint car champion, Logan Seavey picked up where he left off claiming heat one over Carson
Garrett, Daison Pursley, Kobe Simpson and Kayla Roell, a recent Indiana high school girl’s state wrestling champion nailing down fifth. Chase
Stockton off to a good start in his new ride in the Sertich/Moose Motors #92 besting Kale Drake, Brady Bacon, Justin Grant and Jadon Rogers.
Heat three went to USAC rookie, Briggs Danner, charging from 5th for the win over Kyle Cummins, Joey Amantea, Jake Swanson and Hayden
Reinbold. Robert Ballou from 4th claimed the fourth heat over CJ Leary, Mitchel Moles, Kevin Thomas Jr and Nic Harris. All heats were completed
by 7:47.

At this point I will defer to the title of this column and our why behind the statement made. It is not that we don’t like winged sprint car racing
as the sheer speed of it is awesome but the passing that we saw in the four USAC heats was not seen in two entire nights of WOO racing the
previous week in their heat action. Speed is not everything but instead good, close side by side racing is preferred by us. To take it a step
further the snapshot you took of the opening laps of the feature tonight had at least half the field racing side by side through the turns three and four making for some great racing. We enjoy racing competition more than sheer speed. Though I must admit the final five laps of Thursday WOO sprint car race was some fine racing between Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson. I believe the problem with winged sprint car racing in the present day is
the wicker bill. It creates dirty air for anyone following and drastically reduces passing opportunities for everyone. The best thing the winged
groups could do is eliminate the wicker bill and go to cupped wings. If you watch any of the racing this winter in Australia the side by side racing
was fantastic and that was because they don’t race wicker bills. To wrap this segment up I will just say that sprint cars racing side by side are
more exciting than watching sprint cars strung out on a track not close to each other. And you get the side by side racing much more in non-
winged racing. Just our opinion!!

The DirtCar late models were next on the track for their six heat races with only the top three advancing directly into their 25 lap feature event.
Fast timer, Cade Dillard, breezed in heat one beating Kyle Bronson and Tanner English. Heat two was won by Nick Hoffman over Brandon
Sheppard and Garrett Alberson in a strong run. Heat three was captured by Mike Marlar, who has suffered through a tough early season, winning
over Max Blair and Blair Nothdurft, the South Dakota driver who usually runs well with the big boys. Ricky Thornton Jr off to a good start in 2025
captured heat four over Brandon Overton and Devin Moran. Jonathan Davenport, the most consistent late model driver so far in 2025, took down
heat five outdistancing Bobby Pierce and Chase Jungens. Ryan Gustin came through to win in heat six over Tyler Bruening and Chris “Smokey”
Madden.

It was right into the USAC semi main where the top four would join the field to set the 24 car starting field for tonight’s final. Ricky Lewis, a Rookie
of the Year candidate, is running the full USAC sprint car schedule in 2025 and won the semi in his first appearance at Volusia Speedway Park.
Gunnar Setzer, England’s Tom Harris and Brian Ruhlman trailed him to the checkers. There were still three LCQ’s to run before we were ready for the two 25 lap feature contests. Brent Larson, Mark Whitener and Tyler Erb won. After the LCQ’s a track rework was in order to give all the drivers a good racing surface to complete on.
By 9:33 we were ready to go USAC sprint car racing with Brady Bacon and Logan Seavey bringing the field to the green flag to kick things off. Bacon was the early leader but Kyle Cummins, in the Jerry Petty #3P, was quick out of the fourth hole splitting Logan Seavey and Mitchel Moles on the backstretch on the opening lap and tracking down Bacon for the lead using the high side to pass Bacon in turns three and four. It was the first pass for the race lead we had seen in the past three races. Cummins had never won on a half mile oval before but tonight he would change that all. The racing on behind Cummins but he was on a mission and pulled out to a comfortable lead by lap ten. Lap traffic came into play at this point narrowing Cummin’s lead but he maneuvered through well with Bacon and Daison Pursley in pursuit. Just past the halfway mark on lap fifteen Cummins had
established a four second lead as fifth starting Justin Grant made a surge in traffic to pick off Pursley for third. The caution would appear with five to go when Texan Koby Simpson stopped in turn three with smoke pouring from his engine department.

Well, Cummins’ four second lead went up in a puff of smoke as he would have to prepare for the restart. Cummins was up to the challenge and took off like a jackrabbit on the restart opening up almost a two second lead as the field approached the white flag. But wouldn’t you know it someone (Jake Swanson) came up lame, stopping in the middle of turn four necessitating a green, white, checkered finish for Cummins. On the restart Cummins was off again and as the field was coming again to the white flag Pursley found good bite on the bottom side in turns three and four zipping by both Grant and Bacon moving from fourth to second on the final lap. When the double checkers waved at 9:45 it was Cummins across the line first for his 18th career USAC National sprint car win tying him with Parnelli Jones for 27th on the all-time win list along with his second career Florida win in a state that hasn’t been kind to him in the past. Pursley finished second after starting sixth with Bacon third, Grant fourth and Danner rounding out the top five. Logan Seavey ended up sixth with Kale Drake seventh from 14th, Kevin Thomas Jr eighth, CJ Leary, the Hard Charger advancing from 18th to ninth and Mitchel Moles rounding out the top ten. It was good, competitive feature and we needed to push things along as the fog was quickly rolling in with the late model feature still to go.

The green quickly dropped on the 25 lap DirtCar late model feature at 9:53 and the late model boys cooperated as they battled each other and the fog going non-stop in eight minutes taking the checkers at 10:01. There was some good racing for positions two through five but the fog made it almost impossible to follow the action. Nick Hoffman scored the opening win outrunning Ricky Thornton Jr, Jonathan Davenport, ninth starting Max Blair and Ryan Gustin. Brandon Overton came from 10th in the fog to claim sixth with Cade Dillard seventh, Brandon Sheppard eighth, Bobby Pierce ninth and Mike Marlar tenth. It was good night of racing with many good friends with us including Volusia rookie and Grandview Speedway & STSS announcer, Jeff Ahlum, joining us also.

Check back tomorrow for night two of USAC racing at Volusia and get prepared to watch some good short track racing in your area in the near future. Comments on this article or others can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and the kind remarks you sent along as we enjoy bringing you our perspective of the racing that we go to see. And remember be safe out there and be good along with being kind.

A Typical Weekend
By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Bell By A Foot In WOO Sprints At Volusia Speedway Park

Thursday, February 6 – Tonight it was our condo guest, Dale O’Brien, and I making the trip to the Volusia Speedway Park in DeLeon Spring, Florida. It was night two of the WOO sprint car season and tonight was also Throwback Thursday where fans wear retro shirts and compete in a contest in front of the fans in the grandstand. One young lady from World Racing Group stopped me on the way in and asked if I wanted to enter the contest with my mid 80’s Port Royal Speedway t-shirt. I said sure, why not and after the dash drawing, we gathered in front of the starter’s stand and the fans cheered for their favorite shirt. It was a tie between me and a 90 year old gentleman from New York state wearing a vintage 1982 Knoxville Nationals shirt. We received the checkered flag that we waved, a nice small blanket with the World of Outlaw logo and something coming to us in the mail. It was fun and a nice gesture for the World Racing Group to have such a contest. Thank you, WRG!! Also ran into our editor, Allan Holland, and had a chat about racing plans for the season before going out separate ways.

Hot laps followed by qualifying by each of the two race groups for the WOO sprint cars were next on the card kicking off at 5:45 and wrapping up at 6:26. When all was finished Kyle Larson was fastest overall with a lap of 13.262 seconds around the ½ mile dirt oval. The non-qualifiers race was next with the top four advancing to the back of each of the four heat races. Oshweken Ontario’s Tyeller Powless captured the win and advanced along with Creed Kemenah, Adyn Schmidt from Haubstadt, Indiana and PA’s TJ Stutts.

Four heat races were next to the post with the top five moving directly into the 25 lap sprint car feature. Kyle Larson would win heat one by a large margin over Logan Schuchart, Brad Sweet, Donny Schatz and Hunter Schuerenberg. Bill Balog looked strong in heat two tonight after scratching from the event last night copping the second heat over Emerson Axsom, Justin Peck, Anthony Macri and Buddy Kofoid. Heat three went to the Kreitz #69K wrenched by legendary mechanic, 90 year old Davey Brown Sr, and driven by Christopher Bell besting Danny Sams III, Tyler Courtney, Gio Scelzi and Austin McCarl. The fourth heat was scored by last night’s feature winner, Carson Macedo, beating Brian Brown, David Gravel, Garet Williamson, the WOO rookie, making his second straight feature and Chris Windom in the Jason Sides #7S. Fifty one sprinters contested the prelims before we moved into three of the six 20 lap UMP modified features.

Curt Spalding remained hot, scoring his third win of the week and not bad for a guy who stood on the backstretch seven years ago and said to his friend he would like to try this. His friend and still car owner said to him the next day that “I hope you were serious and I bought one of these yesterday and we are in business.” Guess the partnership is working out pretty well I would say!!

Kyle Strickler won the second 20 lapper holding off Trevor Neville for the win and Kentucky’s Cole Falloway scored his third win of the week and five of seven since being down here in Florida.

Then it was back to the sprinters with the C main next on the dance card with only the top two advancing to the rear of the Last Chance Showdown (B main). Sheldon Haudenschild who has been struggling down here managed to win the C with Chris Martin chasing. Time for the dash race determining the top eight starters in the main event. Christopher Bell easily won this one beating Logan Schuchart, Emerson Axsom, Kyle Larson, Brian Brown, Bill Balog, Carson Macedo and Danny Sams III. Ryan Timmes would win the LCS outdistancing Parker Price-Miller, Jacob Allen and Brock Zearfoss passing Kasey Kahne late for the last starting position. Four provisionals would bulge the starting field to 28 drivers tonight in the 25 lap main event with Sheldon Haudenschild, Zach Hampton, Skylar Gee and Cole Macedo joining the fray.

At the drop of the green flag at 9:45 Christopher Bell slid to the early lead over Logan Schuchart being passed for second on the inside in turn two for second. Young Axsom found something on the low side and went to work on Bell passing him for the lead low in turn one on lap six. Surprisingly Axsom began to increase his lead as the laps went on the board with Larson slipping by Schuchart for third with Donny Schatz coming forward from 13th and Brad Sweet from 9th. Bell and Larson ran close to each other battling for second as Axsom was cruising up front. Disaster struck on lap twenty two when Axsom entered turn four in the middle and lost the handle spinning out of the lead and his shot at his first career WOO win. Dale and I thought his right rear was going down but today I came across a post on X from Axsom saying he let his team down by spinning. Got to give the kid credit for confessing to his mistake but it still doesn’t make the sting any less painful. They say you first have to lose one before you win one so hopefully Axsom will rebound quickly and get that first win. Over the final three laps it was like two ballerinas trying to out do each other as both drivers tried different lines in their battle for the win. Bell came off turn four on the final lap up high with Larson changing to the low side and dragged racing to the line where Bell edged Larson by mere feet!! Donny Schatz made a rare mistake on the final lap jumping the cushion and dropping from a third place finish to seventh at the finish. Logan Schuchart came home third with David Gravel fourth up from 12th and Brad Sweet fifth after starting 9th at the double checkers at 10 PM. Bill Balog finished a strong sixth, with Schatz seventh, Justin Peck eighth, Tyler Courtney ninth and Ryan Timms the hard charger from 21st to tenth.

It was a good night of racing finished in timely order and some vintage t-shirt fun mixed in also.

That’s it for now as we shift gears and head to the asphalt for the next two nights visiting Auburndale Speedway tonight for some TQ midget action and the NASCAR Whelen modifieds on Saturday for their 200 lap event. Until next time get out there and enjoy some short track racing in your area if it is warm enough or enjoy some racing on your streaming channels. Comments, news, and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy our musings. Be safe and be good out there and remember to be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Wednesday, February 5 – It was a nice though humid day in the mid 80’s with lots of sunshine as we made our way northeast to the Volusia Speedway Park for the second time in our Florida vacation. Arriving at 4:30 we found ourselves in the bottom of the parking area behind the main grandstands which turned out to be a good spot allowing us straight access to the main entrance. We quickly gathered up our race blanket and headed trackside to secure our seating for the next two nights. On tap tonight was the first race of the World of Outlaws sprint car series even though it was not a points paying race. If anyone can drop us a line and let us know why that is so I would appreciate it as why are not all WOO races, point races?

Anyhow things got underway at 5:55 with hot laps then qualifying for first group one and then group two. Everything was wrapped up by 6:23 and standing on the victory podium after setting fastest overall time was young Indiana resident, Emerson Axsom, with a time of 13.479 around the fast ½ mile dirt oval. By 7 PM the first racing of the evening began with the non-qualifiers race for the 12 slowest qualifiers with Colorado’s Bryan Gossel winning with him and the next three finishers joining the back of the heat races. Four heat races were next on the race card with the top five finishers advancing to the 25 lap main event later in the evening. Emerson Axsom would pull away for the first heat win over Justin Peck, Danny Sams III, Hunter Schuerenberg and Daison Pursley. Heat two fell to Logan Schuchart besting Buddy Kofoid, Parker Price-Miller, rookie Garet Williamson and Sam Hafertepe Jr. Brian Brown nailed down the third heat win beating David Gravel, Kyle Larson, Anthony Macri and Ryan Timms. The fourth and final heat was captured by Christopher Bell in the Don Kreitz #69K over Carson Macedo, Tyler Courtney, Brad Sweet and Brady Bacon in the Newton #16T.

Next up was the first of six 20 lap UMP modified features with Illinois’ Mike McKinney besting Trevor Neville and George Dixon. The second 20 lap feature rolled onto the track and when this one was said and done Cole Falloway had won his third race of the week over Gregory Moore and Ray Bollinger.

Then it was track maintenance time before the sprint cars returned with the 10 lap C main. The top two finishers would move forward to the back of the last chance qualifier with the United Kingdom’s Ryan Harrison winning over Chad’s son, Creed Kemenah. The dash race was next up which would determine the top eight starters with Carson Macedo scoring the win and the first starting position over Buddy Kofoid, Logan Schuchart, Christopher Bell, Justin Peck, David Gravel, Emerson Axsom and Brian Brown. This was followed by the 12 lap last chance qualifier with Donny Schatz who dropped out in his heat winning this one over Kasey Kahne, Brock Zearfoss and Austin McCarl. Three provisionals would be added to increase the starting field to 27 with the additions of Sheldon Haudenschild, Giovanni Scelzi and Chris Windom.

Back to the UMP modifieds for features three and four with Indiana’s Brad DeYoung winning over Brian Ruhlman and another Indiana resident, Ryan Thomas. The fourth feature would see Curt Spalding of Michigan, another multi-time winner, capture this one over Lucas Lee and Xfinity Champion, Justin Allgaier.

The 25 lap WOO feature was brought to the green flag by the front row of Carson Macedo and Buddy Kofoid with Macedo sliding in front of Kofoid in turn one to take the early lead. Kyle Larson was the early mover advancing from tenth to fourth by the time the first caution waved for Christopher Bell who banged the backstretch wall on lap six and dropped to the infield with a flat right rear tire. On the restart Macedo was fast on the loud pedal and jumped back to the point trailed by David Gravel, up from sixth, and Logan Schuchart. Gravel worked his way past Kofoid by lap eight and took up the chase of Macedo. By the halfway mark Macedo held a one second lead over Gravel. Lap eighteen saw Kofoid and Larson swap sliders in the battle for third with Kofoid prevailing. Lap twenty two saw Kofoid jump the cushion in turn four and get out of shape with Schuchart clipping him sending Kofoid over two times coming to rest in the middle of the track. On the restart it was Macedo followed by Gravel and Larson. Schuchart was next with Brad Sweet the man on the move slipping by Brian Brown for fifth on lap twenty four after starting from sixteenth.

Macedo was not to be denied in this one and opened up a comfortable advantage over Gravel and Larson over the last five laps and crossed under the double checkers at 10:31 scoring his first win of 2025 after recuperating from a broken leg suffered two months ago and the only tell tale signs of anything wrong was a limp to the front of the car in victory circle after the win. It was Macedo’s third WOO win at Volusia and his fifth overall with two All Star wins here also. In addition, Macedo scored his 48th career WOO win with this conquest. David Gravel would come home second with Kyle Larson third with Logan Schuchart almost nipping Larson at the line for third but settling for fourth with Brad Sweet rounding out the top five.

Brian Brown would lead the second five across the line in sixth with Tyler Courtney seventh after starting 12th with Donny Schatz the hard charger advancing from 21st to eighth with Anthony Macri ninth from 14th and Justin Peck rounding out the top ten. We decided to bag the last two UMP modified features and hit the road back to the condo for a good night’s sleep.

That’s it until tomorrow when we do this same venue all over again so check back tomorrow to see what all happened at Volusia Speedway Park. For the Easterners the outdoor season is coming soon so get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area either on the dirt, asphalt or ice or indoors. Comments, news, stories or any other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Be safe out there and have fun and remember to be kind to everyone you meet because people can use your smile or hearty hello to brighten their day. In closing as always thanks for your support in reading our column and we hope you will continue to do so.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Peck Sweeps ASCS Sprints At Volusia Speedway Park

Saturday, February 1 – We are back!!! Welcome to the 2025 racing season. We finally arrived in Central Florida after taking in two races on the drive down from Indiana stopping off in Georgia at Needmore Speedway for the first time ever. The race was sanctioned by Hunt The Front late model series and drew 27 super late models. It was a good show with Indiana’s Hudson O’Neal winning on a cool night with temperatures in the upper 40’s. After staying two days in Lake City on Wednesday night we took in the first night of Lucas Oil late model racing at All-Tech Raceway where Ricky Thornton Jr picked up the win after Devin Moran’s right rear tire went flat in the closing laps allowing Thornton to scoot by for the win.

Saturday found us traveling first to the Ma Barker house near Ocklawaha on Lake Weir for some 1930’s gangster history. sons were part of the notorious Barker/Karpas gang who robbed and killed during their Ma’s various crimes around the country mostly in the Midwest. Though Ma Barker was not a direct part of all the crime she lived with her son, Fred, who was a big part of the crime spree. Fred and Ma met their demise in 1935 when Federal Agents tracked them down in North Central Florida and a four hour gun battle ensued with the Barkers being killed. Over 1500 rounds of ammo were fired into the house. It was an interesting look at a colorful part of American history.

From there we traveled down to Route 40 and traveled East to first the Essex Seafood House, a dining facility known as simple in appearance, but delicious seafood at reasonable prices and well worth the visit. We arrived at Volusia Speedway Park around 4:30, signed in and hung out in the car reading until hot laps began.

A small crowd was on hand for tonight’s racing which was a two division program with 47 ASCS 360 sprints and 71 UMP modifieds populating the pit area. The first heat for the ASCS sprint cars pushed off at 6:44 and five of them were contested in total. Like Williams Grove the heats at Volusia are usually fast and strung out on a juiced up surface before the track develops character. Such was the case tonight with three of the five winners starting first and the other two starting second. Justin Peck who has won the first two ASCS features of the three race program in his new ride in the Rudeen #26 scored the win in heat one over Brady Bacon in the Dyson/Curt Michael wrenched #20 second, Chris Martin third and Sterling Cling fourth. Heat two was claimed by Emerson Axsom making it the second Indiana native to capture a heat win over PA’s Danny Dietrich, Jason Martin and Kevin Newton, another Indiana driver. Heat three was captured by Wisconsin’s Scotty “The Wheel” Thiel over Cole Macedo, New Jersey’s Davie Franek and Zach Blurton. Heat four went to Iowa’s Austin McCarl fending off Brian Brown, Florida’s Danny Martin Jr and Cameron Martin. The fifth and final heat was taken down by Texan, Sam Hafertepe Jr, beating Daison Pursley, Ryder Laplante and PA’s Josh Weller.

Six UMP modified heats followed before there was a 50 minute complete track rework before racing resume. It wasn’t that cold temperature wise at 56 degrees but it always gets so damp here and even if you are dressed well it still ends up chilling you to the bone.

The sprint car C main was next on the dance card and Deland, Florida’s Joshua Kunstbeck would advance to the last chance showdown along with second place finisher, Bradley Fezard. Next up was the five lap dash race for the sprint cars which would determine the top ten starters by the finish of this event. Austin McCarl would grab the win and the first starting position outdistancing Brian Brown, Emerson Axsom, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Scotty Thiel, Danny Dietrich, Cole Macedo, Justin Peck, Brady Bacon and Daison Pursley.

The 12 lap LCS was next on the agenda with the top four joining the back of 20 cars already locked into the 30 lap A main. Oklahoma’s Blake Hahn would prevail in this one over fellow Okie, Matt Covington, Bryan Gossel and Whit Gastineau. Three LCS’s for the UMP modifieds were run off before it was time for the 30 lap, $12,000 to win ASCS National Tour feature event. Also, the Big Gator trophy was on the line for this one.

The front row of Austin McCarl and Brian Brown brought the 24 car field to the initial green flag at 10:38 with Brown literally getting the jump on the start and into the early lead. All eyes were on Justin Peck as he won the first two nights after starting first and leading all 50 previous laps but tonight, he was starting eighth and it would take some doing to complete the sweep. Peck was quick on the throttle and blasted his way up to third by the end of the first lap and took up the chase of Brown and McCarl. Peck tracked down and passed McCarl for second on lap nine and only Brown stood between him and the sweep. A slider in turn one on lap sixteen saw Peck at the front of the field and he immediately began to stretch his lead. Meanwhile the racing was intense from fourth to tenth with such drivers as Emerson Axsom, Cole Macedo, Danny Dietrich, Sam Hafertepe Jr and Scotty Thiel swapping slide jobs and positions over the next fourteen laps. This one looked like it was going the distance non-stop until the only caution appeared for a slowed sprinter with just three laps to go erasing a six second lead. Everyone now had a second chance at Peck but he quickly put that hope to rest speeding away once again and clicked off the final three laps in good order crossing the finish line first at 10:51 for his third straight win in three nights joining only two others in ASCS history to win the opening three races of the season. The others were Jason Martin in 2023 and Sam Hafertepe Jr who won five straight in 2017.

Crossing the line second was Brian Brown with Austin McCarl claiming the last podium position after a torrid battle with Cole Macedo over the last three laps. Macedo came home fourth after starting seventh with Danny Dietrich rounding out the top five. Scotty Thiel led the second five across the line in sixth with Sam Hafertepe Jr seventh, Chris Martin eighth, Brady Bacon ninth and Emerson Axsom fading to tenth. Blake Hahn would score the hard charger award after advancing eight positions from 21st to 13th at the finish.

With the dampness and the late hour with an hour and twenty minute trip back to the condo we passed on the 25 lap UMP modified feature calling it an evening at that point.

That’s it for now but check back next week as we have plenty of racing to attend and report to you. In the meantime, get those calendars out and fill in your dates to go racing in 2025. When you are able to get out to a local short track in your area or on the road, have fun and be safe. Remember comments, notes of interest, rumors or facts and anything else can still reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope that you are still enjoying them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. And in closing remember to be good and be kind. See you next time!!

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Liguori Goes Back To Back On Saturday At Rumble In Fort Wayne

Saturday, December 28 – We decided to travel up to Fort Wayne for the weekend for two reasons. We were going to take in the Homestead Holiday boy’s high school basketball tournament and secondly go over to the Allen County Coliseum Expo for winged and wingless 600 micros. Also on the card was a plethora of karting divisions displaying their wares on the 1/6 mile concrete surface at the coliseum expo. Pulling into the parking area on the grounds of the Allen County Coliseum Expo after paying our $8 parking fee we scoured the parking area looking for a parking space at least somewhat close to the building. By 5 PM we were parked and sat in the SUV reading and looking at our phones until six. It was a large crowd on hand as not only were the races being held but there was a minor league hockey game and something going on at the attached convention center.

Twenty four dollars got you through the doors into the indoor racing facility. Had to laugh as our Michigan buddy, Derek Bean, posted that the hockey crowd had to pass through a metal detector and empty their pockets before entering the venue while the race crowd only had to pass through some doors and read the sign noting no firearms or other weapons allowed!!

Upon entering we turned right and went about two thirds of the way up sitting in section 5 and spotting Pennsylvania race fan, Ed Ackerman, and sat next to him. It was good seeing Ed and his conversation throughout the evening made for an enjoyable evening and made the night seem shorter. Also Derek Bean came over to visit during the evening and the Michigan school teacher is always fun to chat with.

As far as the racing the karts kicked things off with features starting at 7:22 with the first midget heat hitting the concrete at 7:52. Twenty nine midgets would contest four heat races with only the top two advancing to the 50 lap main event. Heat one would be captured by Ryan Flores, the indoor maestro, with Justin Peck coming across second. Heat two saw the veteran Jim Anderson prevail besting Joe Liguori. Heat three fell to last night’s winner, Cap Henry, over Travis Welpott. Russ Gamester claimed heat four beating 70 year old Mike Fedorcak driving the original Munchkin. In this heat Lee Pierce took a very unusual ride, biking in four turn up on two wheels looking like he was going to turn over and smash into the concrete wall. Instead, his midget stayed upright and it traveled a distance on two wheels like it was walking a tight rope in slow motion. Pierce’s midget returned to the c. rete and never flipped or touched the wall. Wish we had that one on video!!

Next up were the non-wing 600’s racing two heats for their 18 strong field. Josh Ross won heat one over UMP modified driver, Dillon Nusbaum, and Kole Kirkman. Heat two was taken by dirt sprint car driver, Tyler Gunn, besting another UMP modified driver, Dylan Woodling, and Larry Sroufe. No B mains were needed for either 600 classes.

The two winged 600 heats were taken down by Tyler Shullick in heat one over Nathan Franklin and Bill Dunham. Heat two was won by John Ivy passing Tyler Gunn on the final lap and Tyler Rankin.

More kart mains were run in between the heats and then it was time for the two 12 lap B mains with the top three advancing to the main. The first one was a wild affair with Scott Hampton finally winning after a last lap skirmish saw cars spinning and wrecking as the tight group raced to the checkers. Joe Payne, a New Jersey veteran TQ and super modified driver, missed the cut by one in the Tony Stewart #2 Munchkin. Kasey Jedrzejek, a rising sprint car driver, placed second with Braiden Black third. The second B main went to Shawn Bonar besting another youngster, Ayrton Houck, driving a Mel Kenyon midget and Bryan Nuckles. We had the opportunity to meet Ayrton Houck earlier this year while attending the races at IRP through friends, Max and Suzie Neimann, and this young man was well spoken and humble and seems to have a great future in front of him. In fact, in 2025 he will be driving a full USF2000 schedule along with some IMSA races.

A second chance race for all the entrants who did not make either night’s feature events was next paying a nice purse with asphalt sprint car driver, Chris Neuenschwander (wouldn’t have wanted to spell that name as a kid), notching the win.

The 25 lap non-wing 600 feature was the first called to the post taking the green flag at 10:25. Dillon Nusbaum was nudged and passed by Tyler Gunn on lap four and Gunn looked like he would walk away with this one. But entering turn one in the middle portion of the race his right rear tire departed his machine and rolled into the turn one wall. Nusbaum inherited the lead again and made the best of the second opportunity by leading the remaining laps of the race and taking the checkered flag at 10:38 beating fifth starting Kole Kirkman, sixth starting Larry Sroufe, Josh Ross and John Ivy.

The 50 lap midget feature was the next division called to the grid with the front row of Joe Liguori and Justin Peck bringing the 14 car field to the green flag at 10:49. Peck would bring out the first caution on lap one when his steed lost all power and he was done for the evening. Cap Henry, up from fourth, pressured Liguori the entire distance but could not find a way around him. With less than ten laps to go, third running Ryan Flores had contact from behind on the homestretch from Ayrton Houck sending Flores spinning to the infield and out of the race. When the checkered flag waved at 11:01 it was Joe Liguori across the line first making it two years in a row in victory lane on Saturday night trailed by Cap Henry, Ayrton Houck, Bryan Nuckles and Mike Fedorcak fifth showing that both the Munchkin and the old guy have some racing still left in them.

The last feature of the night would have the winged 600 micros going 25 laps taking the green flag at 11:14. It was a wild and wooly event with seven cautions slowing the action. Tyler Shullick came from fifth early battling for the lead and making contact with leader, Bill Dunham, causing Shullick to lose the handle. Shullick started at the tail and made a great run back to third near the end but got caught up in another tangle and dropped back. At the finish at 11:36 it was Tyler Gunn first across the line chased by Brian Busz, Chase Ridenour, John Ivy and Ivy’s daughter, Kelsey Mange.

It was a good night of racing, made better by sitting with and chatting with Ed Ackerman all evening. Also the fumes were not bad and were indeed much better than our last visit 11 years ago. We will p. ably make a return trip again in less than that time period!!

That’s it from us for 2024 ending our season with 87 races and many good memories. Our next column will debut from Florida so check back in early February to see where we end up next. Until then get out your racing calendars and start writing in your 2025 racing plans. A Happy and healthy New Year to everyone and see you somewhere along the road in 2025. News, comments or any other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Until next time be good, be safe and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Gupton Wins 360 Wingless Sprint Race & Point Title At Paradise

Saturday, November 9 – Pat and I flew to the island of Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands, on Friday afternoon arriving before Kerry and Cindy Meitzler did from their flight from New Jersey. We secured the rental car and waited for the Metzler’s to arrive. We stopped on our way from the airport to pick up sandwiches from Jersey Mike’s and checked into the Hilton Maui Bay Villas and settled in for the night. The next day was a ride down to Maluaka Beach to show Kerry and Cindy some of the rugged beauty of the Aloha State before heading 11 minutes away to the ¼ mile dirt oval known as Paradise Speedway near Puunene for their final race of the season also called Championship night.

On tap tonight was a nine division program of Hawaii racing with the following car counts. Non-wing sprints (5), micro sprints (2), mini mods (3) which was a full size sprint car with a four cylinder engine. Also, two super streets, four street stocks, three V8 bombers, eight 4 cylinder modifieds/trucks, ten 4 cylinder bombers and seven 4 cylinder youth bombers. Admission price for the show was $15 and when signing the release we found that the lady who signed us in was originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana along with our husband who was the ticket seller. It just goes to show you it is indeed a small world!!

We had last been here about nine years ago and they have been some changes, the main one being about a 14 row aluminum grandstand on the homestretch. A very good crowd was on hand for the final race here for 2024 and it was a crowd that a lot of tracks on the mainland would love to see. It was way higher than the last time we visited. Racing was scheduled to begin at sundown at 6:34 and actually kicked off early at 6:25. The mini mods were first up with their first heat with every class scheduled to contest two rounds of heat races. Point leader, Brian Andrade, took this one with John Taylor (JT) Gupton taking the first 360 non-wing heat. The other divisions all ran one heat each with only the four cylinder modifieds/trucks and the four cylinder bombers running two.

Two things I hadn’t mentioned yet was the temperature was in the ‘70’s but the wind was at our backs at least at 20 to 25 miles an hour and was relentless continuing the entire evening. The other was that the Maui Brewing Company donated $1500 so the first 150 ticket buyers received free admission, a very nice gesture. After the two rounds of qualifying the entire grandstand was invited down onto the track to meet and greet the drivers from the various divisions. That started at 8:22 and was wrapped up by 9 which was nice for the local patrons to participate in. This was followed by track prep which lasted over a half hour but you can’t fault a track for trying to make the track racier for the drivers and fans. It was a little bumpy in places but was never dusty. The second groove up high never came in the entire evening so it was tough to pass or race much side by side.

By 9:26 it was time for the 12 lap mini mod feature but the participants dwindled from three to two to one by feature time. Brian Andrade came trackside and spun off five laps of hard running taking the checkered and securing the track championship.

The 360 wingless sprints were much more reliable with the same five racing in both heats and the feature. Their feature went green at 9:33 and checkered at 9:39. John Taylor Gupton led from flag to flag with some late skirmishes causing some confusion but not altering the finish. Guyton would get the win and the championship winning the race over Peter Belford III, Doug Fitch, Kainoa Perry and Grant Teruya with three of the five drivers traveling over from Oahu to race.

It was a fun night of racing and the locals seemed to enjoy the action and that is what it is all about. Further improvements are announced for the 2025 season with new lighting scheduled to go up for the facility. Glad to see things on Maui are going well on the racing scene and good luck to them going forward.

That’s it for this special column and we don’t know when the next one will happen but check back every so often to see if we decide to go somewhere more in November or December. In the meantime, get out there and catch the last few races of 2024 in your area and have fun and be safe. News, comments and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Remember to be nice to everyone you meet as you don’t know what is going on in their lives on that day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Roahrig, Santos, Hamilton & Swanson Win At IRP On Championship Saturday

Saturday, October 19 – This would be the last race for us in Indiana in 2024 and the sunny, warm day in the 70’s was a good way to end the racing season in the Hoosier state. The destination for the day was the .686 mile asphalt oval of the Indianapolis Raceway Park for Championship Saturday. Racing today would be four classes of open wheel machines with the 600 Sprint Car Tour (20) being the first ones to run their feature event, a race of 40 laps in distance. The National Pavement Midget Championship (14) would be the second race of the day going 30 circuits around the .686 mile oval. Then it would be the All-Star Pavement Midgets (13), a new addition to the slate in 2024, featuring midgets powered by Ecotech/Focus engines. They are less powerful than the normal midgets but are able to race deeper into the corners and to us have more side by side racing than the other classes. The last class of the day would be the USAC Silver Crown series (18) running their final race of 2024 and crowning a champion also on this day going 100 laps in their main event.

It was a busy day at IRP with not only the racing going on but also a car show and trunk or treat activities making for quite a bit of congestion and some confusion over where to purchase tickets for the races but we figured it all out. A $25 admission was a good value for all the racing you would see today and early evening and it seemed quite a few of the car show crowd purchased tickets to watch the races making for a nice sized crowd. Illinois resident and trackchaser, Jon Jay Mooney, dropped by to chat along with good friends, Max and Suzie Niemann, joining us after attending the Indiana/Nebraska football game earlier in the day in Bloomington.

The posted schedule was right on the mark with opening ceremonies kicking off at precisely 5:20 with the invocation followed by the National Anthem sang by a member of the Indianapolis Opera. The 40 lap 500 Sprint Car Tour feature would go green at 5:34 with Dakoda Armstrong powering into the early lead. Lap four saw the first caution wave when Derek Bischak lost the handle in turn four spinning to a stop against the wall. Bischak was able to restart the race. On the restart Kody Swanson dove low in turn one to grab second from Nathan Byrd with Jake Trainor following suit for third. Tyler Roahrig slipped by Byrd for fourth in turn four on lap eight as Armstrong had now opened up about a seven car length advantage. Roahrig was the man on the advance as he next picked off Trainor for third on the homestretch on lap thirteen. Six laps later Roahrig drove past Swanson into second and took up the chase of Armstrong. Lap 20 saw the second and final caution wave as Tony Main was blowing smoke and was possibly dropping some oil so the race was slowed to check out the situation.

On the ensuing restart Armstrong was quick on the gas pedal and moved back out front. This time Roahrig was not going to let him get away so quickly and over the next nine laps was all over him like white on rice. Finally on lap twenty nine Roahrig dove low in turn three and cleared Armstrong for the lead exiting turn four. Eighth starting Kyle O’Gara caught and passed Trainor for fourth on this lap. From that point forward it was Roahrig in command pulling away from the chasing Armstrong. O;Gara closed the gap on Swanson for third but was unable to pass Kody for the position. Jackson Macenko was able to slip by Trainor for fifth exiting turn four on the final lap for that position. When the checkers waved at 6 PM it was Tyler Roahrig across the line first for his fourth win of the tour and an incredible fourth straight win at IRP in the process. Armstrong would have to settle for second with Kody Swanson crossing the line third and winning the 2024 500 Sprint Car Tour for the second time. Kyle O’Gara would like home fourth with Macenko rounding out the top five. Jake Trainor slipped to sixth at the end with Bobby Santos III seventh, Taylor Ferns eighth, Nathan Bryd ninth and Billy Wease tenth. A good race with some good passing and a good way to start off the day. In a nice tribute Roahrig had the name of two year old Marshall Hancock on the visor of both his sprint car and Silver Crown car for the youngster who passed away unexpectedly last month and welcomed his parents in victory lane.

Next up was the 30 lap National Midget feature taking the initial green flag at 6:22. Chase Locke, the youngster out of New Hampshire, took the early lead and looked strong in the first nine laps of the event. Bobby Santos III reeled in his fellow New Englander and stormed by on lap ten to take the lead. Santos steadily pulled away from the field as he was flying around the big oval. This race would go non-stop in 11 minutes with Santos scoring the win over a very fast Jerry Coons Jr who made it interesting with an intense battle with Kyle O’Gara for many laps before finishing second with O’Gara third, Kody Swanson fourth and Chase Locke rounding out the top five. It was decent race for second through fifth throughout the 30 lap go.

The third feature of the day would highlight the All-Star midgets contesting a 20 lap main event. This was a good race also but confusing as it didn’t seem like anyone knew who was in what car including the announcers. It turned out that Kyle Hamilton came out of retirement and jumped into the Davey Hamilton midget and surprised everyone by winning this affair. Chase Locke ran another impressive race bringing home one of the former Wilke #11’s second with Kyle O’Gara third, Billy Wease in the second #11 fourth and Jim Anderson rounding out the top five in one of three #88’s in the field. The racing in the top four was fierce and was a very entertaining race ending at 7:07.

That left us with just the 100 lap, $10,000 to win USAC Silver Crown feature to run. The green flag waved at 7:28 with outside front row challenger, Bobby Santos III, taking the early lead over Kody Swanson, who earned his seventh fast time of the year, a new single season record in the Silver Crown division. Swanson was quick to rebound passing Santos for the lead between turns three and four on lap two. The caution waved on lap twelve for the stopped car of Nathan Moore in turn four. On the restart Swanson led with Santos in hot pursuit. One lap after the restart Santos charged around Swanson for the lead in turns three and four to reclaim the lead.

In the meantime, Tyler Roahrig was coming quickly closing on the front two and soon it was a three car dog fight. Lap nineteen saw Roahrig roar by Swanson in turns one and two and went to work on Santos. Santos and Roahrig went side by side for several laps in a crowd pleasing duel for the top spot during a stretch in the late twenties. Lap thirty saw fifth running Dakoda Armstrong roll to a stop in turn three ending his strong run too early. When the field was ready to go back to green on lap thirty four second running Roahrig slowed exiting turn four with others weaving around him on the homestretch. Roahrig stopped in turn one with a magneto issue and one of the strongest contenders for the win was done. When racing resumed Santos held sway and led for the next thirty laps with Swanson right behind. Lap sixty two saw Swanson make his bid for the lead entering turn one and the two ran wheel to wheel for the entire lap with Santos leading by inches at the start/finish line. As the pair continued to run side by side Swanson edged ahead exiting turn two and cleared Santos to take the lead. Swanson began to pull away as the race progressed but the next man to watch was Logan Seavey who found something as he marched from fifth to second in a matter of eight laps cumulating with him passing Santos for second on lap seventy five. Seavey was quite a distance behind Swanson (about two to three seconds) but narrowed the gap over the next ten laps.

Over the remaining fifteen laps Swanson began to stretch his differential again and at 8:11 he flashed under the double checkers for his 45th career Silver Crown triumph and his ninth career win at IRP. Swanson also took down his eighth Silver Crown title and became the driver who has now won the most USAC championships, breaking the tie with AJ Foyt and Mel Kenyon who were at seven each. Kody Swanson has been amazing how he has dominated this series over the last ten years and truly deserves a shot at an Indy car ride. How about it one of you Indy Car owners!!!

Seavey crossed the line second with Santos third, CJ Leary in a good run for fourth with Justin Grant rounding out the top five. Rookie of the year, Trey Osborne, finished a great sixth with Nathan Byrd seventh, Russ Gamester eighth, Kyle Robbins ninth and Kaylee Bryson rounding out the top ten.

It was a good day of racing with the 500 Sprint Car Tour race, the best of the lot.

That’s it for a while but get out there and catch some remaining races in your area or in the south before the winter months move in. Comments, rumors or facts and anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Take care, be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Takes 14th Win To Tie Bigelow & $20,000 At Fall Nationals

Saturday, October 12 – We woke up Saturday morning in downtown Lawrenceburg, a town we had never visited before in all our trips to the Lawrenceburg Speedway. It is a quaint, nice smaller town with a population of 5192 located on the Ohio River. We were impressed and looked forward to returning in the future. We met Steve and Maggi Kimmel along with Coach at the Proof 124 Table and Tavern to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary and dined on some delicious food in the process. From there the gals visited a few stores to shop while Steve and I sat on a park bench waiting for them and had a good conversation. We splurged on some good hard ice cream before venturing back over to the Kimmel’s motorhome to hang out a while before the races began.

By six o’clock hot laps began for the USAC sprint cars preparing for the 17th running of the Hoosier Fall Nationals paying a whooping $20,000 to win. After hot laps 35 sprint cars took to the 3/8 mile high banked dirt oval to battle for the top time trial of the evening. When it was all said and done it was Daison Pursley in the Team AZ #21AZ setting his second straight fast time in as many days with a lap of 14.213 seconds around the Lawrenceburg oval. Kale Drake took a nasty tumble in turn one of the start of his second timed lap rolling over several times before coming to rest on his wheels in the middle of the turn. Drake quickly exited his damaged machine AOK but one of the Benic #2B’s was finished for the evening.

That left us with 34 sprint cars joined on the dance card tonight by 14 UMP modifieds as the second division. The first of four USAC sprint car heats took the green flag at 7:30 with the top five cars moving directly into the big 30 lap feature event. Daison Pursley quickly popped from the sixth starting position to take the lead early looking for a sweep of the evening winning heat one over Justin Grant, Kevin Thomas Jr, Briggs Danner and Jake Swanson. Heat two went to a high flying Kyle Cummins beating Robert Ballou, Logan Seavey, Stevie Sussex and Carson Garrett. Scotty Weir looked strong in the second Benic #2B capturing heat three over Brady Bacon, Shawn Westerfeld, Saban Bibent and Chase Stockon coming from the tail after pitting with a mud packed right rear tire to qualify. CJ Leary would pace heat four besting JJ Hughes, Mitchel Moles, Matt Westfall and Ryan Gray, last night’s winner of the Kokomo Klash. All sprint heat action was completed by 7:58.

The UMP modifieds would contest two heats for their 14 car field before the sprint cars returned to the track to run off their semi event with the top four joining the already qualified 16 from the heat races. Jadon Rogers would prevail in this one outrunning Hayden Reinbold, Nick Bilbee and Kayla Roell, the last person qualifying for the second night in a row. Joey Amantea and Hunter Maddox would join the field on provisionals to make it a 26 car starting field for the $20,000 to win prize.

In a change of schedule management decided to run the 20 lap UMP modified feature first to give the sprint car teams extra time to prepare for their big event. It turned out to be the wrong decision as the modifieds spun and wrecked to the tune of seven cautions in twenty laps of racing with only a 14 car starting field making it one of the worst races we’ve seen all year and losing 24 minutes of my life that I will never get back! Matt Hamilton would fend off Ben Harmon with an ill running engine for the win with Pete Holt completing the podium finish.

So all we had left to run was the 30 lap, $20,000 to win Hoosier Fall National race which took the green flag at 9:39. Briggs Danner was quick on the draw bursting from second into the early lead but that would not last long as CJ Leary and Daison Pursley clipped wheels racing down the backstretch on the opening lap sending Leary flipping end over end numerous times and Saban Bibent with no where to go ran into Leary sending him over also. The red flag quickly appeared with both drivers climbing from their damaged sprinters OK but done for the evening. On the next restart the green lasted until the second turn when Kayla Roell lost the handle on her sprint spinning to the inside of that corner. The third time would not be a charm as they say when leader Briggs Danner biked in turn one before barrel rolling into the turn one wall and causing the PA youngster to become a zero after being the hero last night in winning. Danner was OK but also finished for the event.

On the fourth try we would stay green with Mitchel Moles snatching the lead with Kyle Cummins second. Logan Seavey who started fifth on the initial start would slice his way by Cummins into second on the opening lap. By turn three on lap two Seavey executed a slider in turn three sliding by Moles and taking the lead all in one fair swoop. By lap eight Seavey was into lap traffic holding down a two second lead over the field. Daison Pursley up from sixth on the start, finally was able to clear Cummins for third on lap fourteen and take up the chase of Seavey and Moles.

While Seavey was increasing his lead and making a statement to the field up front Moles and Pursley put on a crowd pleasing duel for second. Seavey was gone as he rode the top side to perfection pulling away from everyone. The checkered flag would wave at 10:15 with Seavey first across the line tying Tom Bigelow for the most wins in a USAC sprint car season at fourteen and increasing his point lead back to 84 points with two races remaining at Red Dirt Raceway. Seavey still has a chance to establish a new single season win record and also claim his first USAC National sprint car title which would make him an USAC Triple Crown winner. Similar to Bigelow’s 1977 season Seavey went on a dry spell not winning a race in two and one half months.

Moles would cross the line second with Pursley third, Cummins fourth and Chase Stockon rounding out the top five. Brady Bacon finished sixth and earned his second Bubby Jones Master of Going Faster award paying a bonus of $10,000 for being the champ of this 10 race series. Justin Grant came home seventh with Robert Ballou eighth, Rylan Gray ninth and Jadon Rogers tenth after starting twenty first and claiming the hard charger award.

That’s it for this summary and check back next weekend to see where we end up on another typical weekend. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or make a late season road trip but either way, have fun and be safe. News, comments, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy them to you. In closing remember to be kind to everyone you meet as you never know what they are going through and how much a hello or a smile can change their day.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Danner Takes Advantage of Mole’s Misfortune To Win Staab Memorial

Friday, October 11 – It was time to travel to the southeastern corner of Indiana where the Hoosier state meets with Ohio and Kentucky to attend the two day Hoosier Fall Nationals in the river town of Lawrenceburg. On tap tonight was night one of the two race weekend at The Burg christened as the Inaugural Greg Staab Memorial, in honor of the five time Lawrenceburg track champion who passed away two years ago at the age of 68. The USAC sprint cars would run 30 laps tonight with $6,444 on the line including a neat helmet trophy that rotates with the Staab colors and number on it.

The three division program would consist of USAC sprint cars (30), hornets (17) and pure stocks (13). The sprint car time trials, two at a time, were first on the agenda pushing off at 7:34. By 7:49 Daison Pursley had clocked the fast time around the 3/8 mile banked dirt oval to the tune of a lap of 14.049 seconds. Next up after hot laps for the pure stocks and hornets were the four USAC sprint car heats with the top five moving directly into the 30 lap main event. Heat one saw the 2024 Lawrenceburg Speedway sprint car track champion, Nick Bilbee, capture the race beating Kyle Shipley, Hayden Reinbold, Justin Grant and Daison Pursley. Heat two was won by Kevin Thomas Jr over Shawn Westerfeld in the Staab tribute car, Matt Westfall, Joey Amantea and Logan Seavey. Heat three went to Chase Stockon besting Robert Ballou, Todd Hobson, Brady Bacon and Jadon Rogers. The fourth and final heat was taken down by CJ Leary outdistancing Kyle Cummins, Mitchel Moles, JJ Hughes and Briggs Danner.

The pure stocks and hornets followed with two heat each for their divisions before the sprint cars reappeared for their semi race with the top four joining the previous 20 qualifiers. Kale Drake triumphed in this one over Carson Garrett, Brandon Mattox and Kayla Roell. All qualifying action was in the record books by 9:37.

The next race on the dance card would be the 30 lap, $6444 to win Greg Staab Memorial with the front row of Mitchel Moles and Robert Ballou bringing the 22 others to the initial green flag. Moles was quick on the throttle and surged into the early lead. Moles pulled away to two second lead in the first half of the race with Ballou and Danner in pursuit. At the halfway mark Moles’ race almost turned to disaster as he touched wheels with Todd Hobson, a lap car, in turn two sending Hobson bouncing and interrupting Moles’ momentum for a moment. No caution was needed as the pair went along on their way and the race continued.

Lap 26 would see the first caution of the evening when Kale Drake, running 11th at the time, looped it in turn four wiping out Mitchel’s second and a half advantage. There would be no lap traffic as a hinderance for the remaining four laps as the race went green once again. Under caution it was noticed that Moles’ right rear brake rotor was red hot. On the restart Moles raced out front with Ballou edging to the inside in turns one and two but Moles’ momentum on the high side allowed him to clear Ballou racing down the backstretch. With three laps to go Danner was able to make a pass on Ballou for second in turn three and was ready to challenge Moles for the top spot. On the white flag lap Kyle Shipley entered turn one, caught a hole and bounced nearly turning over coming to a halt with Drake with nowhere to go slid into the side of Shipley.

Under the caution Moles pulled down onto the push off area on the homestretch with a throttle issue and was pushed to the pit area out of the race. This would give Danner the lead with Ballou and Bacon on his rear nerf bar. It would be a green, white, checker scenario with Danner the leader. Briggs was able to power to the lead followed closely by Ballou. Danner was able to hold sway over the final two laps and crossed under the double checkers first for the third time this year winning over Ballou, Bacon, Pursley and Thomas Jr. It was redemption for Danner would had let several races slip away near the end during the year including a mid-summer run here at Lawrenceburg as engine woes sent him to the infield while leading. Danner also ran out of fuel, exiting turn four on the last lap during Eastern Storm while leading along with smacking the wall while leading with eight to go at Port Royal. He was also nipped at the line at Action Track USA by Logan Seavey in that week. So it was nice to see the Pennsylvania youngster finally come out on the good end of the stick and be the benefactor in this one. In another note Danner become the first native Pennsylvania driver to win three or more USAC National sprint car races in a season since the great Mitch Smith pulled off the feat way back in 1971.

Leading the second five across the line was Chase Stockon in sixth with CJ Leary seventh, Justin Grant 13th to 8th, Kyle Cummins, the hard charger after starting 16th and finishing 9th with Logan Seavey sliding from 5th to 10th at the finish. Now with three races to go in the season Seavey’s point lead has now dwindled to a mere 65 points over Brady Bacon looking for his fifth point title. The next three races will tell the tale.

That is it for this column put check back Sunday for night two of the Hoosier Fall Nationals paying a cool $20,000 to win. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take it on the road as winter approaches. Either way, have fun and be safe. Comments, words of wisdom, rumors or facts can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts. In closing be kind to everyone you meet and be good.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Scores First Silver Crown Win Of Year In Sumar Classic

Sunday, October 6 – It was day three of the three race weekend and the destination was the legendary Terre Haute Action Track to watch the legendary USAC Silver Crown cars. It was a bright, sunny day in the 80’s and was an excellent day to watch racing in October. First though was lunch at Piloni’s Italian Restaurant in North Terre Haute where we were joined by Arizona friends Steve and Maggi Kimmel for some wonderful Italian dishes and good conversation. Highly recommend this place if you are in the Terre Haute area. Then it was back to the Vigo County Fairgrounds via the back streets where I purchased gas for $2.99 a gallon before settling in to watch game 2 of the NLDS between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets on the Kimmel’s big screen TV on the outside of their motorhome. The Phillies were trailing when we left to go over to the covered grandstands to settle in to watch the races. I followed it on my phone and the back and forth tussle was decided by a Nick Castellanos walk off single in bottom of the ninth to secure a 7-6 win and evening the series at one game each. Whew, what a classic!!

Now onto the races at hand. Time trials for the 29 car Silver Crown field pushed off at 6:16 with two at a time runs around the big half mile. When it was said and done by 6:46 Brady Bacon had set the fast time of 21.414 seconds with the Chris Dyson #9 to win the first starting position for the 20th Annual Sumar Classic. The top sixteen locked into the 100 lap main event with Allentown Pa’s Briggs Danner in the DMW #10 the last man in on time. The second class on the menu were the UMP modifieds which would run two heats for their 16 car field. After those heats were completed, it was back to Silver Crown action as the remaining 11 cars vied for the final 8 spots to start the Sumar Classic. Matt Goodnight would cop the 12 lap affair in the Haggenbottom #24 besting Jimmy Light, Mark Smith, Carmen Perigo, Kevin Newton making his first Silver Crown start, Nathan Moore, Chris Fetter and Gregg Cory. The oldest man in the field, Dave Peperak at age 71, came up one spot short of starting the 100 lap main. CJ Leary who had engine woes earlier in the evening was able to fix the problems and would start shot gun in 25th on the starting grid.

The 15 lap UMP modified feature was next on the slate and it turned out to be one of the most competitive modified races we have seen at Terre Haute. Justin Jones and Scott Martin ran side by side for much of the race swapping the lead several times in the process. In the end Jones prevailed besting Martin and Everett Bradham for the win.

The track was dusty on this evening and some additional track prep was performed before the 100 lap Sumar Classic and we believe it helped to make for a better track for the feature. Yes, it was still dusty but the track built up a new cushion and was racier. In fact, the Silver Crown cars ran the cushion like the USAC sprint cars do making for an entertaining main event.

Brady Bacon and Daison Pursley brought the 25 car field down to Tom Hansing’s green flag at 8:51 with Bacon assuming the early lead. It looked like in the first 25 laps that Bacon was going to decimate the field like he did at Belleville before dropping out as he pulled away from the field. Then suddenly the pack began to close the margin as Pursley and seventh starting Logan Seavey were closing quickly. Pursley and Seavey continued to reel in the leader, Bacon, as the race ventured into the 30 lap range. As the fuel tanks went down it seemed that Bacon was dealing with a loose setup as second and third continued to close. On lap 40 Seavey used a slide job in turn one to polish off Pursley by turn two and took up the chase of Bacon. Lap 41 saw Moles use a slider to take away third from Pursley in turns three and four as he made a charge to the front. There was good racing going on for the top ten positions as well as from eleventh through fifteenth.

Just after the race passed the halfway mark Seavey was stalking Bacon and going into turn one on lap 55, he made his challenge for the lead with a slider just past the nose of Bacon in turn two to secure the lead as Bacon braked to avoid contact. This allowed Moles to get a good run going down the backstretch on Bacon sliding by in turn three to take over second. By the 60 lap mark Seavey had opened a two second lead over Moles with Pursley and Justin Grant closing on Bacon. On lap 64 both drivers stormed past Bacon and dropped him to fifth at this point The top five ran that way until lap 86 when Moles slowed on the frontstretch while running second, a victim of a blown power plant. Another driver making some big moves was CJ Leary who started 25th on a provisional and had moved into the top eight at this point battling with Matt Westfall and Briggs Danner, who was also running a steady race. Seavey by this point with Moles out was now five seconds ahead and appeared headed to an easy win. But that changed on lap 91 when 13th place runner, Carmen Perigo, got sideways in the middle of the field bringing out the caution and tightening up the field wiping out Seavey’s big lead.

Seavey pulled away on the ensuing restart to a comfortable advantage until 10th running Shane Cottle in the Bill Rose owned #66 tagged the turn one wall ending a fine run prematurely. On the lap 98 restart Seavey was prepared for all comers getting a good restart to thwart any turn one sliders. Over the final two laps Seavey pulled away to a second lead and crossed the line first at 9:45 for his first Silver Crown triumph of the season and ninth of his career tying him with Tracy Hines for 14th on the all-time Silver Crown win list. Seavey has now also won at least one Silver Crown race in four straight years. Daison Pursley crossed the line second and we are really going to miss him in USAC racing as he ventured into the winged sprint world as a member of the High Limit group. Pursley has come a long way in the last few years making a miraculous recovery from a vicious midget crash in Arizona with many thinking he would never walk again. Daison has turned into a real wheelman and we wish him all the best going forward in his career. Justin Grant came home third and fell short of making it three straight Sumar Classic wins. Chase Stockon came across the line fourth and was the hard charger after starting twelfth. Brady Bacon rounded out the top five after leading the first fifty-four laps of the event. CJ Leary capped off a good run from 25th to 6th with Briggs Danner 7th, Matt Westfall 8th, Jerry Coons Jr ninth in the last run for the Patty Bateman #55 who is calling it a career after running the team a few years after her husband’s death with Kody Swanson rounding out the top five.

It was an entertaining contest with lots of good, tight racing and lots of passing throughout the race. Kody Swanson heads into the last Silver Crown race of the year in two weeks at Indianapolis Raceway Park with a mere six point advantage over Justin Grant who is trying to knock him off the throne. We will see on October 19th.
That’s it for a fun filled, three race weekend as we look forward to next weekend and what lays in front of us. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, be safe and have fun. Comments, news, tidbits and any other things of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next in one of our typical weekends. In closing be kind to everyone you encounter and be good.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Ballou Bags $8000 With Harvest Cup Win At Tri-State

Saturday, October 5 – We made the long haul to southwestern Indiana today for the final race of the season at the finely prepared ¼ mile bullring at the Tri-State Speedway for the Harvest Cup race. On the way down we stopped in at the Gasthof Amish Village in Montgomery to feast on the wonderful buffet at their restaurant there. As usual the food was delicious with good roast beef, meat loaf, chicken pot pie and egg noodles along with so many other things to feast on. After having a hearty meal, we headed south on I-69 near the town of Haubstadt where the Tri-State Speedway is located. We secured a good parking place on the backstretch side of the grandstands, marked our seats and notified Arizona friends, Steve and Maggi Kimmel where the seats were located. After exiting the stands, we chatted with Kevin and Whitney Thomas briefly along with Jadon Roger’s grandparents who anchor his souvenir trailer. Then we walked around turns three and four down to the pit booth in sign in for the evening. We ran into Don and Burleigh Skidmore, our friends from Illinois who we filled in on our Newfoundland vacation before walking back over to the backstretch to gather up our stuff before heading into the grandstands for hot laps.

IMCA Racesaver 305 sprints. Each division would run timed hot laps to determine heat starting positions with the top four inverted. Both classes would run four heat races with the top four advancing to their respective feature events.

After hot laps the track crew went to work on sections of unruly dirt in the corners even though extensive work by the track crew had been done beforehand. But when it is off it is best to rectify it as soon as possible. By 7:02 the green flag would drop on the first of four Midwest Thunder heats. Kevin Thomas Jr would post himself as one of the favorites for the 30 lapper later powering away to take the win over JJ Hughes, Adyn Schmidt and CJ Leary. Heat two would fall to Kale Drake looking good in the Scott Benic #2B besting Jadon Rogers, the Midwest Thunder series point leader, Kobe Simpson and Kayla Roell. Home track favorite, Kyle Cummins, nailed down heat three beating Brady Short, Dustin Beck and Aric Gentry. Heat four was captured by Robert Ballou over the returning Jason McDougal, Chase Stockon and Carson Short. Their four heats were spun off in 26 minutes.

Next up were the IMCA Racesaver 305 sprints with Justin Matthews drawing first blood taking down heat one over Jordan Welch, Carson Dillion and Levi Hinck in from Missouri. Heat two went to Greg Dillion topping Rod Henning, Jonathan Vennard and Jeff Wimmenauer. Ethan Barrow was the winner of heat three beating Dakota Jackson, a former wingless runner, Tres Mehler and Bradley Galedrige. John Paynter was the man in heat four capturing the win over Dillan Baldwin, Keith Langley and Bradley Sterrett making it a Bloomington three, four finish.

Then it was back to the wingless sprints and their B main with four joining the tail of the lineup for their 30 lap feature. Sam Scott topped this affair outrunning Kendall Ruble, Travis Berryhill, second in Midwest Thunder points and Carson Garrett. Donny Brackett would miss by one spot and would use a provisional to make it a 21 car starting field. The 305 sprints would go12 laps to determine their final four starters with Cole Parker pulling off the win over Jadon Rogers, doing double duty, Eric Perrott and Kayla Martin. All preliminary qualifying was completed by 8:39 with some additional track prep next on the agenda before the two main events hit the track.

By 9:11 it was time to go Harvest Cup racing with $8000 on the line with the front row of Brady Short and Jadon Rogers bringing the 21 car field to the green flag. Short jumped to the early lead over Rogers and fourth starting Robert Ballou. By lap three Ballou found his way around Rogers into second on the homestretch and took up the chase of Short. Ballou was a man on a mission powering by Short for the lead on the outside of turn four on lap four. Fifth starting Kyle Cummins was also making his hunt to the front dusting off Short for second on the backstretch on lap six. Lap traffic started to become a factor by lap twelve with Ballou picking his way through with Cummins in hot pursuit. Jason McDougal was up to third from eighth and didn’t look like he had only driven a wingless sprint only once or twice this year. Another man making his presence known was seventh starter, Kevin Thomas Jr, cracking the top five by lap fourteen. Two laps later Thomas had third from Rogers and on lap nineteen he passed McDougal in turn two to take over third as Ballou and Cummins weaved their way through lap traffic up front.

The caution would wave for the first time on lap twenty five when Kale Drake spoiled another fine drive by looping his car between turns one and two while running fifth. Drake would restart at the tail and end up tenth in the end. Ballou was the only one who did not want to see a caution at this point as it seemed he had a good handle on the field. On the ensuing restart Ballou was hard on the loud pedal as the green reappeared. Carson Short, who many had missed previously, grabbed fifth in turn three on lap twenty sixth after marching from sixteenth to crack the top five.

Cummins and Thomas battled it out for second as Ballou pulled away over the final five laps and cruised under the double checkers at 9:21 taking down the win and the big bucks that went along with it. Cummins would come home second with Thomas third, McDougal fourth and Carson Short rounding out the top five. Positions six through ten at the finish were filled by Jadon Rogers with Brady Short seventh, CJ Leary eighth after starting thirteenth, Dustin Beck ninth and Kale Drake rebounding for tenth. It was a good race to watch with much going on throughout the field and a great way to end the season at The Class Track.

But we were not done as the IMCA Racesaver 305 sprints had 25 laps of their own to spin off before the racing at Tri-State was in the record books for 2024.

Kentucky’s Dillan Baldwin was quick on the throttle on the start and sped into the early lead with Dakota Jackson in hot pursuit. These two were off to the races opening up a good lead on the rest of the pack. Tres Mehler, who started eleventh, was the first to break out of the pack and worked his way into third. Only two cautions slowed this event as the 305’s put on a good show. Baldwin was not to be beat tonight as he flashed across the line at 9:58 to bring down the curtain on the 2024 season at Tri-State. Jackson would follow in second with Mehler third, Rod Henning fourth and Ethan Barrow rounding out the top five.

We thought the 305’s ran well tonight and hope that they will get more dates here in 2025. Thanks to the Helfrich’s for their hospitality and thanks to the track crew for never giving in on this evening and getting the track almost perfect at the end. Good job!!

That’s it for tonight but check back Monday as we travel north to the Terre Haute Action Track on Sunday where the USAC Silver Crown cars will take on the big half mile in the Sumar Classic for 100 laps of racing. Until next time, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, new ideas, news or any other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and the emails and in person compliments, we receive. Please take a few minutes today to pray for all the people in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virgina who were devastated by the remnants of the hurricane. If you can please send some money to any of the relief groups who are on the ground helping their fellow Americans who are in dire need. Thanks!!! And in closing be kind to everyone you meet and be good.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Lewis Wins On Last Lap At Circle City

Friday, October 4 – Well, it’s been a while since our last column but we are now back from our Newfoundland vacation and back on the race circuit. It was a tough decision today as Xtreme Outlaw Midgets were running at Jacksonville Speedway tonight but instead we opted for the BOSS/Midwest Thunder co-sanctioned race at Circle City Raceway. We expected a good car count for this event and we were not disappointed when 42 sprinters showed up to do battle on the evening.

The only two problems with Circle City are that they start too late, scheduled for 8 PM and taking the first green flag at 8:28, and the second being they run too many divisions, tonight six of them, which drags the show out past midnight. We don’t understand why with so many houses surrounding the fairgrounds why they are not better neighbors and try to complete their shows earlier. Here is a breakdown of the divisions and car counts for each. BOSS/Midwest Thunder sprints (42), Crown Vics (25), hornets (15), super stocks (13), pure stocks (12) and crate late models (11). With that many classes and heat races to run you would think they would start at their scheduled starting time but instead started close to a half hour late. We will say that once they get underway, they move the program along in a quick manner having the next heat ready to roll onto the track as soon as the last one ends. In fact, 15 heat races for the six divisions were completed in an hour and seven minutes.

The sprint cars were the first division to hit the track for their four heat races taking the first green flag at 8:28. The heat racing was good with Ricky Lewis grabbing heat one over Jake Swanson, Chance Crum and Travis Berryhill all advancing to the 25 lap feature later in the evening. Heat two saw JJ Hughes triumph besting Joey Amantea, Chase Stockon in the Moose #92 and Matt Westfall. The third heat was taken down by Shane Cottle wheeling the #57R beating Donny Brackett, Koby Simpson and Jesse Vermillion. The fourth and final heat was captured by Robert Ballou in a runaway over Kale Drake, Trey Osborne and Jadon Rogers. All sprint heat racing was completed by 8:49.

The other five divisions ran their heat races with everyone having two each except for the Crown Vics who ran three heats and were the best heat racing of the evening. Then it was back to the sprint cars who contested two B mains with only the top two advancing to the main event. Zack Pretorius claimed B main one over Arizona pilot, Cameron LaRose in a Jerry Petty owned #13P. Harley Burns prevailed in B main two outdistancing Austin Nigh. Now the 20 car field was set by 10:07 with two provisionals added with Korbyn Hayslett representing BOSS and Aric Gentry representing the Midwest Thunder series.

Thirty minutes of track work followed before the 25 lap sprint car feature rolled onto the track for the first feature of the evening. The front row of Joey Amantea and Jake Swanson brought the 22 car field to the green flag at 10:46 with Swanson grabbing the early lead. It didn’t take Robert Ballou long to find the top spot using the inside groove to overtake Swanson in turn three on lap one. Another driver on a mission was Kale Drake wheeling the Benic #2B into third within the first five laps of the tussle from eighth. The first caution appeared on lap five when Aric Gentry lost the handle in turn four. The red flag would wave on lap six when fourth running Shane Cottle met his nemesis, the turn four inside tractor tires ramping over one of them and rolling over two times while battling for third. Cottle was OK but done for the evening. On the restart Ballou went to the point chased by Swanson and Drake. One lap later sixth starting Ricky Lewis, the current BOSS point leader, slipped by Drake to take over third on the homestretch. Lap nine saw Drake’s strong run come to an end when he came up lame in turn four rolling to a stop ending his night prematurely.

On the next restart Swanson was all over Ballou as Swanson worked the high side while Ballou kept his run on the inside. The outside groove prevailed at the start/finish line to start lap eleven when Swanson motored by Ballou to take the lead. Swanson opened up a several car length lead through the middle stages of the event until the caution waved on lap sixteen for a three car tangle involving Harley Burns, Austin Nigh and Koby Simpson. On the restart Swanson held sway over Ballou and Lewis. Lewis was all over Ballou over the next several laps looking for a way around the Mad Man. Contact on the backstretch (reported by Lewis) forced him into the backstretch wall which resulted in a short slider by Lewis on Ballou in turn four with contact made resulting in a spin by Ballou. Front end damage found Ballou on the wrecker and done for the night.

Over the last five laps of the race, it was a slide fest with Lewis providing the sliders and Swanson countering his every attempt until the final lap when Swanson tried to block Lewis’ advances resulting in Swanson jumping the cushion in turn two with Lewis scooting by for the lead. Swanson tried to track down Lewis in the last two corners but had given up too much ground in turn two with Lewis crossing the line first at 11:18 to snatch the win with Swanson settling for second. Joey Amantea ran a strong race to finish third with Trey Osborne running a heady race to advance from twelfth to fourth with Jadon Rogers coming from sixteenth to fifth at the finish. Matt Westfall would use the low side to move from fourteenth to sixth at the end with Korbyn Hayslett salvaging his night racing from twenty first to seventh. Jesse Vermillion went fifteenth to eighth with Zack Pretorius eighteenth to ninth and Cameron LaRose nineteenth to tenth.

It was a good feature being very entertaining but it was time to call it a night as the close to three hour drive to southwestern Indiana tomorrow lay on the horizon. We followed the progress of the show on the way home on My Race Pass and saw that four of the six features were over by midnight. That’s too long of a program in our opinion.

Check back tomorrow as we venture down to the finely prepared Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt for their final race of 2024, the Harvest Cup paying a cool $8000 to win as part of a rare Indiana October three race weekend. In the meantime, get out there and catch some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. The season is winding down and soon winter will be upon us. News, comments, rumors and facts along with anything other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy our writings as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing be kind and be good.

Grant Wins Finale Night At Smackdown For The Fourth Time

Saturday, August 24 – After having nice, comfortable weather the last two weeks, the hot weather is back!! It was hot and sticky with temperatures in the low 90’s on a sunny Saturday. After ten of us ate lunch at Half Moon we worked our way over to Kokomo to take in the finale night of Smackdown XIII at the ¼ mile dirt oval on the north side of Kokomo. There was $30,000 on the line tonight for the winner of the 40 lap main event plus lap money of $500 per lap to the race leader. After walking the pit area with Bill and Pat chatting with numerous drivers and crew members I had to retreat to the SUV and some air conditioning as the weather kicked the snot out of me. After some time in the cool and some cold drinks I was ready again to venture inside for the final night of Smackdown competition.

Forty one sprinters returned for the last race of Smackdown with the format different than the previous two nights. First off, no time trials would be run but instead the top eight in points over the first two nights were locked into the 40 lap feature event with them squaring off in the King of the Hill competition. They would be paired with the eighth point man squaring off with the top point man, two versus seven, three versus six and four versus five. The excitement started early as the eighth seed, Mitchel Moles, shocked the first seed, Justin Grant, by beating him in race #1. CJ Leary (5th seed) surprised Brady Bacon (4th seed) in race #2. The upsets continued as Robert Ballou (6th seed) upset Logan Seavey (3rd seed) as the crowd response got louder and louder as these two swapped sliders on each other over the three lap distance like lovers exchanging kisses but there was no love lost here!! Finally, normalcy returned for a short time when Kevin Thomas Jr (2nd seed) defeated Daison Pursley (7th seed). It didn’t last long as Moles swept around Leary off turn four on the final lap to steal the win and move to the final against Thomas who defeated Ballou in their matchup. So, it was Thomas and Moles in the King of the Hill finale. After two false starts by KTJ it was a single file restart nose to tail with Moles out front. That was the way it stayed with Moles becoming King of the Hill after being the lowest seed of the evening.

The remainder of the starting field (24) would be determined by four qualifying heat races with the top three moving into the big stakes feature event. Briggs Danner, the young, impressive talent from Pennsylvania, earned the ninth slot for the 40 lap feature by sweeping heat one over Stevie Sussex and Brandon Mattox. Heat two saw Shane Cottle grab the tenth starting position by besting Ricky Lewis and Max Adams. Rookie Kale Drake would nail down the eleventh starting position by capturing heat three beating Jake Swanson and Trey Osborne, who impressed all three nights qualifying for the feature events in his under financed sprinter. Heat four and the twelfth starting position went to Kyle Cummins triumphing over Carson Garrett and Jack Hoyer who also qualified for all three feature events for the first time.

Next up on the dance card was the C main with the top four joining the back of the field in the B main. Hunter Maddox claimed the win in this one outdistancing David Gasper in the Burton #04, Indiana’s Cody Williams (in his first 2024 Smackdown appearance) and Max Frank from Michigan. The B main would follow with Brayden Clark qualifying for his first Smackdown finale beating Chase Stockon, Jadon Rogers with another late rally and Matt Westfall the last man in.

Management decided to try something different allowing race fans from both the backstretch and frontstretch grandstand areas to proceed to the infield where they formed a reception line to greet the 24 starters in tonight’s Smackdown XIII finale. It worked much better than most of us felt, taking about 15 minutes from start to finish. Now it was time for the Smackdown XIII Finale with thirty grand on the table for the winner.

The 24 car field rumbled to USAC starter, Tom Hansing’s green flag at 9:34 with Kevin Thomas Jr scurrying into the early lead. Thomas was flying and would pace the field for the first 17 laps until a rock punctured his radiator and steam emitted from his sprinter as he pulled to the infield out of the race after an impressive run looking for his second Smackdown finale victory. The epitome of the agony of defeat. Thomas would still go home with $10,000 ($1500 purse money & $8500 for leading 17 laps) but not the cherished victory.

On the ensuing restart on lap eighteen Mitchel Moles was the new leader and looked to top off his crown with an accompanying championship belt but Justin Grant was now lurking in second. Grant who had dropped back early from fifth to seventh had rebounded and was now ready to pounce. Moles paced the field entering lap traffic on lap twenty five with Grant now closing to his tail tank. Grant stuck his nose down low several times but Moles was able to retain the lead. Turn one on lap thirty was Grant’s opportunity as the bottom groove opened up entering turn one and Grant stuck it down there and motored by Moles to take the lead for the first time tonight.

The complexion of the race almost drastically was altered as the non-stop race up to this point came to a halt as Ricky Lewis tagged the turn two wall climbing it and rolling over right in front of Grant. The leader was able to avoid the rolling Lewis but Lewis was done for the evening.

On the restart Grant was quick on the throttle and moved back out front. Over the final seven laps Grant extended his lead to almost two seconds crossing the line at 9:51 for his fourth Smackdown victory in the thirteen year history and also winning back to back titles. With his 11th USAC sprint car win here he would take home $35,000 ($30,000 to win plus $5000 for leading ten laps). It was also his eighth USAC National win of 2024 and his 53rd career USAC National win moving him into sole possession of third place on the all-time list ahead of Tom Bigelow. Moles would cross the line for a disappointing second for him as he so wanted to end this magical day for him on a good note with Robert Ballou recording his third straight Smackdown top five placing third. CJ Leary and Logan Seavey would close out the top five on the evening.

Brady Bacon would ride home sixth with Kyle Cummins seventh, Daison Pursley eighth, Shane Cottle ninth and Smackdown rookie of the year, Kale Drake in tenth. Matt Westfall would receive $200 for the hard charger award starting 24th and finishing 15th and a new right rear Hoosier tire for being the last qualifier from the semi.

It was a good race that spun off in 17 minutes and ended up before 10 PM making it a timely program to boot.

That’s it for now as Smackdown XIII is in the record books and we look forward to next year for good racing and good fellowship. Until next time, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, be safe, stay hydrated and have fun. News, comments, items of interest and anything else pertinent can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy our writings as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Thomas Jr Flag To Flag To Win Night Two Of Smackdown XIII At Kokomo

Friday, August 23 – Before the race took place tonight our gang descended upon The Foxes Trail in downtown Kokomo to feast on some good food and good conversation. Irvin and Mary Jane King, Steve and Maggi Kimmell, Ken Wagner, Bill and Judy Burns and us had a great time together swapping stories and chowing down on delicious food before heading to the north side of Kokomo to watch Smackdown XIII, night two.

Bill and I walked the pits chatting with several drivers and pit crew members before returning to the grandstands to settle in for tonight’s racing action. By 7:33 it was time to kick off the time trial qualifying portion with the first of 49 entries tonight taking Tom Hansing’s green flag tripping the timing clock and eventually determining who would be fast timer on the evening. By 8:03 Mitchel Moles driving one of two Reinbold/Underwood #19AZ’s laid claim to the honors clicking off a time of 12.626 seconds around the ¼ mile dirt oval groomed by Reece O’Connor.

The first of five heats would take the green flag at 8:19 with ten drivers battling for the top four positions to move forward to the 30 lap feature event. Trey Osborne, the six foot eight inch driver or “Tall” as he is known continues to impress the crowd on hand with his good runs at Kokomo during Smackdown. Osborne powered to the win in heat one over Mitchel Moles, Harley Burns and Anton Hernandez. Heat two would fall to the Pennsylvania hot shoe, Briggs Danner, who would outdistance Daison Pursley, Logan Seavey and Jack Hoyer. Heat three was taken by Brady Bacon after some time trial engine woes besting a late race charging Robert Ballou, Todd Hobson, the Australian entrant, and Max Adams. Justin Grant continues to run strong winning heat four over Hayden Reinbold, Jake Swanson and Kale Drake. CJ Leary motored to the win in heat five beating Shane Cottle, Kevin Thomas Jr and Kyle Cummins. That would give us twenty drivers locked into tonight’s A main with the C main and B mains next on the program. All heat racing was completed by 8:51 as no one wrecked or flipped during the preliminaries.

Brayden Clark, a second generation driver, would claim the C main and move forward to the B main after turning back Kobe Simpson, Matt Goodnight and Weston Gorham making a last lap pass of Michigan driver, Max Frank, sending him to the trailer earlier than he wanted to.

The final four qualifiers would advance from the B main with Brandon Mattox leading the charge over Stevie Sussex, Frankie Guerrini and Jadon Rogers. Rogers made some last lap moves to edge Kyle Shipley and others to be the last man in.

That left us with only the 30 lap feature to contest on night two of Smackdown XIII. The front row of Anton Hernandez and Kevin Thomas Jr brought the 24 car field to Hansing’s green flag with the front row racing side by side for the entire first lap until Thomas edged Hernandez at the start/finish line to officially lead lap one. Justin Grant slipped by Hernandez for second in turn three on lap two and took up the chase of Thomas. Lap three saw fifth running Mitchel Moles tag the rear bumper of fourth running Robert Ballou sending Ballou spinning and collecting tenth starting Daison Pursley in the process. Ballou and Pursley went to the work area and both returned to action with Ballou pulling alongside Moles before the restart displaying his displeasure with his fellow Californian driver.

On the restart Thomas went to the point with Grant and Hernandez next in line. Moles was the next to slip by Hernandez with a low side move into turn one to grab third on lap five. Lap eleven saw Hernandez and Briggs Danner tangling in turn four dicing it out for fifth with both spinning. Kyle Cummins with nowhere to go slid into the side of Danner’s car sending both drivers rolling over in the accident. Danner was done for the evening while Cummins and Hernandez were able to restart at the tail of the field.

On the restart Thomas jumped out front again but Moles was quick on the throttle gliding by Grant for second entering turn three to move to second. Thomas continued to maintain a one second lead as the race past the halfway mark and lap traffic began to be a factor. Moles was able to close some as Thomas picked his way through and on lap twenty Thomas made a nifty move between Hayden Reinbold and Jack Hoyer in turn one to get some breathing room as Moles had drawn closer. Suddenly Harley Burns flipped hard in turn four while running a good race in tenth at the time to bring out a quick red.

On the ensuing restart Thomas was quick on the loud pedal using the low side to pull away from Moles. Over the remaining ten laps Thomas would maintain his one second lead and flashed across the line at 10:30 scoring his third Friday night win in four years at Smackdown and fifth overall over the thirteen year history of this event. It was also his sixth career USAC win at Kokomo and 43rd career USAC National sprint car win moving him by Pancho Carter into eighth on the all-time win list. Moles would cross the line second after starting sixth with Grant third, Brady Bacon fourth after starting thirteenth and CJ Leary fifth after starting ninth.

Logan Seavey would finish sixth with Shane Cottle finishing seventh after starting sixteenth with Ballou rebounding from the tail to take eighth with Jadon Rogers claiming the hard charger award after starting twenty four and finishing ninth with Max Adams rounding out the top ten.

It was another good show wrapping up in a timely fashion with some good dicing throughout the field tonight. After the first two nights of racing the top eight are locked into the big finale Saturday with Justin Grant the top point getter followed by Kevin Thomas Jr, Logan Seavey, Brady Bacon, CJ Leary, Robert Ballou, Daison Pursley and Mitchel Moles the last man locking in.

That’s it for this report and check back tomorrow to see who takes home the big bucks on the line for the finale of Smackdown XIII. Until then, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, news, words of wisdom and anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope you continue to enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Remember be good, be kind and stay hydrated.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Grant Sweeps To Fourth Consecutive Opening Night Win At Smackdown XIII

Thursday, August 22 – It was a good day to go racing with temperatures in the 70’s and low humidity as we worked our way northeast toward Kokomo Speedway, the home of Smackdown XIII, one of the richest races in non-wing sprint car racing. Upon arriving we met Bill and Judy Burns from Pennsylvania who had saved us a parking spot. We loaded into Bill’s vehicle and headed over to the Windmill restaurant for a fine meal before returning to the track with Judy going back to the hotel while we got our three day wristbands. We ventured into the homestretch grandstand area, secured our blanket on our reserved seats for the three days and ran into Ohio trackchaser, Benny Trask, who sat with us for the evening. Bill and I strolled the pit area checking out the 50 sprinters entered for tonight’s racing action which was a record number of entries for a Smackdown event.

The first order of business after hot laps were time trials for the 50 sprint cars on hand with the first sprinter taking the green flag from Tom Hansing at 7:15. By 7:47 the field had all qualified and Kevin Thomas Jr in the Rock Steady #3R had set fast time for the 40th time in his USAC career moving him into sixth place on the all-time list passing Levi Jones with a time of 12.782 seconds around the ¼ mile bullring here at Kokomo.

The solo division program was a welcome relief from some of the five, six and seven division marathons we have witnessed lately. Five heat races would be contested with the top four moving directly to the 30 lap main event later in the evening. Harley Burns surprised the entrants in heat one with a wire to wire victory outpacing Carson Garrett, Jake Swanson in the Tom Eades #47 and Kobe Simpson, the young Texan driver. Fast timer, Kevin Thomas Jr, and Briggs Danner were shut out of the top four and was forced to run the semi-main event. Stevie Sussex, back from his frightening crash at Lincoln Park during ISW swept to the win in heat two in the Sturgeon #77S as another surprise winner besting Shane Cottle, Daison Pursley and Brady Bacon in a last corner pass of Chase Stockon to nail down the last qualifying spot relegating Stockon to the semi. Joey Amantea took a wild flip in turn three during this heat after biking his sprinter on the cushion. Hunter Maddox also turned turtle in turn two in this one. The surprises continued as Anton Hernandez placed the Baldwin/Fox #5 at the head of the field going on to win heat three over Mitchel Moles, Kale Drake and Max Adams sending Robert Ballou to the semi along with Trey Osborne. Heat four saw normalcy return as Justin Grant made a strong run to the front to capture this one over Kyle Cummins, Ricky Lewis and Logan Seavey in a packed heat. Jadon Rogers nailed down heat five in the Amati/Wade #66 beating CJ Leary, Jack Hoyer in the Paul Hazen #57 qualifying for his first Smackdown A main and Brandon Mattox turning back a swarm of drivers for the final qualifying position.

The C main was next on the agenda with the top four finishers joining the rear of the B main. Kyle Shipley scored the win over Brayden Clark, Nate Schank and David Gasper. In a weird scenario in the C main Aaron Davis who missed by one flipped on the backstretch after the event was over. That led us next to the B main where the top four would move into the A main. Kevin Thomas Jr would secure a spot in the A by capturing the B over Briggs Danner, Robert Ballou and Trey Osborne who made a spirited charge to claim the last dance card into the feature event.

Now it was time for the 30 lap opening night Smackdown XIII feature with Hunter Maddox joining the field as a provisional to make it a 25 car starting field. The front row of CJ Leary and Logan Seavey brought the field to Tom Hansing’s green flag at 9:57 with Seavey the early leader but the red flag waved quickly as third starting Mitchel Moles biked in turn three flipping several times right into the path of sixth starting Brady Bacon who would restart but was forced to be so at the back of the field. Moles was finished for the evening. Seavey went to the point on the restart and quickly pulled away to a comfortable lead over Leary and the rest of the field. Seavey looked real strong leading the field past the halfway mark and many people were starting to think that history was going to be seen tonight as Seavey was gunning for his 14th win of the year. Daison Pursley, Leary and Kyle Cummins were having a good race for second with seventh starting Justin Grant also in the thick of the battle. Meanwhile, 12th starting Thomas and 14th starting Danner were coming forward in a hurry with Danner working the bottom like Shane Cottle usually does.

Grant first picked off Cummins for fourth when Pursley for third and pulled to Leary’s rear nerf bar by lap seventeen also using the low groove. One lap later Grant dove under Leary exiting turn four to grab second and took up the chase of Seavey still out front. The race’s turning point occurred on lap nineteen when Bacon and Rogers tangled in turn one racing for 11th with Rogers spinning collecting five other cars with Bacon driving away. On the restart Seavey was the leader but Grant was right on his tail tank looking for a way around. Lap twenty saw Grant dive low off turn four sliding by Seavey into the lead with ten to go. Surprisingly Grant was able to motor away by several car lengths as the race wound down. Seavey and Leary began to back peddle at this point with Pursley and Danner making the most moves forward. Cummins running seventh ruined a good finish looping his sprinter in turn four on lap twenty one.

On the restart Grant was in command with Seavey, Pursley and Danner following. Lap twenty three saw Pursley drive by Seavey in turns one and two for second and tried to reel in Grant. Danner was not done yet as he used the inside groove to perfection once again entering turn one with three to go dropping Seavey back to fourth. The double checkers would wave at 10:24 with Grant streaking beneath them to claim his fourth consecutive Smackdown opening night win over Pursley with Danner in a fine 14th to 3rd run with Seavey fourth and Robert Ballou slipping by Leary late to grab fifth after starting 13th. In addition, for Grant it was his tenth Kokomo USAC win passing the legendary Dave Darland for most USAC career wins at Kokomo. Grant’s 52nd career USAC National sprint car win ties him for third on the all-time list tying him with Tom Bigelow. Some impressive company for Grant to join!!

Leary led the second five across the line in sixth with Thomas seventh, Bacon from the rear to finish eighth, Jake Swanson from 19th to ninth and Ricky Lewis, the hard charger, advancing from 24th to 10th at the finish.

It was a good night of racing at the baddest bullring in Indiana with no dust the entire evening as Reece O’Connor and crew worked the track all night long to provide a racing track surface which produced some fine racing. Looking forward to night two tomorrow.

That’s it for this report but check back tomorrow for night two of Smackdown XIII. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take it on the road, either way have fun and be safe. Comments, news, stories, words of wisdom or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy reading these writings as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Take care and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Grant Wires The Field At Springfield In Bettenhausen 100

Saturday, August 17 – We left the hotel a little after 9 AM to make our way over to Springfield, Illinois, the home of the Illinois State Fair, and the home of the Bettenhausen 100 for the USAC Silver Crown series. It was the 61st time the grand old dames of USAC racing have tackled the one mile dirt oval and we always look forward to coming to Springfield in August. It was a nice, sunny day in the mid 80’s with a nice breeze blowing north to south. We paid our admission and parking fees and walked over to the huge, covered grandstand from our fourth turn parking space to purchase our tickets for the day. We ran into Jenn Kelley and Dan Hetser and struck up a lively conversation finding that their plans including eating their way through the fair after the races!! Hope they enjoyed the cuisine and didn’t get belly aches!! we dined on the delicious pork chop sandwiches located behind the main grandstand run by the port producers of Illinois and they were worth the six dollars and more!!

Time trials for the fine field of 40 entries on hand kicked off one minute early at 11:29 and by 12:22 Justin Grant had set fast time with a lap of 31.641 seconds around the big mile at Springfield. Grant, the 2017 Bettenhausen 100 winner (first Silver Crown win) would pace the 31 car field to the green flag later in the day. Between hot laps and time trials the finicky Grand Old Dames had been whittled down to 35 due to mechanical woes. Next up on the game card was the 12 lap, semi main with the top six joining the locked in 24 from time trials to form the feature field. Shane Cockrum in the Hans Lein #97 and Briggs Danner in the DMW #10 locked up in a crowd pleasing duel for the win with Cockrum getting the eventual win and the 25th starting position for the 100 lap event. Danner came home second with Trey Burke third, Danny Jennings coming on late to grab fourth with Dave Berkheimer fifth and Kenny Schrader nailing down the last qualifying position. Schrader would turn over the McQuinn #14 to Mario Clouser whose Legacy #60 did not take time and he is in the point’s hunt. CJ Leary who had numerous mechanical woes on the day, would take a provisional and start 31st on the grid.

The thirty car field (McQuinn #14 did not start & was pushed to the pits off the grid) would come for the initial green at 2:13 with Justin Grant out dragging Kody Swanson to turn one for the lead with Shane Cottle edging by Swanson for second. The red flag would appear on lap three when Steve Gennetten and Kory Weyant banged wheels in turn three both sliding into the wall with Gennetten rolling over. Both drivers climbed from their machines uninjured but were done for the day. On the restart it was Grant again at the point followed by Cottle and Swanson. By lap ten Grant had increased his lead to ten car lengths over Cottle. Meanwhile, Shane Cockrum was moving up quickly advancing from twenty fifth to fourteenth by lap twelve. Mitchel Moles was another one made up ground moving into tenth on the homestretch on lap fourteen after starting fifteenth. Cockrum picked off two more cars moving to twelfth on lap fourteen just as Chase Stockon slowed in turn four with a shredded right rear tire to bring out the second caution.

On the drop of the green flag Grant powered out front chased by Cottle and Swanson. Lap fifteen saw Briggs Danner move into sixteenth after starting twenty sixth and coming forward in another march from the tail. Daison Pursley was another who was making up large chunks of real estate cracking the top sixteen by lap twenty four after starting twenty ninth. Lap twenty five saw Cockrum pick off two more cars racing down the backstretch to enter the top ten at this point in an amazing drive. Danner meanwhile had advanced to thirteenth by lap twenty seven. Cockrum sped by Matt Westfall for eighth on the homestretch on lap thirty while Danner moved to twelfth on lap thirty one. Danner wasn’t done as he broke into tenth on lap thirty five. The first seven at this point had opened up a good distance on the remainder of the field as the laps clicked off. Lap forty eight saw Cockrum slip by Westfall for seventh as his run continued.

By the halfway mark it is Grant continuing to pace the field with Cottle and Swanson next in line. Mitchel Moles slowed on the backstretch while running eleventh and pulled into the infield done for the day. Two laps later Grant had pulled away to a comfortable ten car length lead and one lap later Pursley moved into twelfth. Cottle’s fine run came to a sudden halt as smoke bellowed from his car on lap sixty one while running second. This allowed Pursley to crack the top ten at this point. By lap sixty six there were six car length gaps between the top three of Grant, Swanson and Logan Seavey.

Lap sixty eight saw a major contender, Shane Cockrum, tremendous run come to a sad ending as the Lein #97 threw a rod in the engine and slowed off turn four pulling to the pit area. On the restart it was Grant in front trailed by Swanson and Seavey with Coons in fourth and Brady Bacon rounding out the top five as the race went green on lap seventy. Lap seventy four saw Kyle Steffens race by Russ Gamester for tenth on the homestretch as the steady runner was turning in another good run. Grant was cruising out front as the laps clicked off with no serious challenge from Swanson. Daison Pursley claimed eighth from Danner on lap eighty six. Danner surged back past Pursley for the spot on the homestretch on lap ninety. Steffens was not done either as he picked off Pursley for ninth on lap ninety four. Steffens gained another spot on lap ninety five as Danner began to slow with fuel issues. Danner continued on the track but slipped out of the top ten over the last five laps to end up a disappointing fourteenth. Chase Stockon clawed his way back from the shredded tire to move into tenth in the last several laps.

When the double checkers waved at 3:29 it was Justin Grant first across the line winning his second career Springfield Silver Crown race and his sixth career USAC Silver Crown victory tying him for 20th on the all-time list. Grant led wire to wire to score this big win turning back Kody Swanson, Logan Seavey, Jerry Coons Jr and Brady Bacon. Carmen Perigo had a fine run to finish sixth with consistent Matt Westfall coming home seventh, Kyle Steffens eighth, Daison Pursley, the hard charger from twenty eighth to ninth and Chase Stockon rounding out the top ten.

It was a good race, maybe not the best we have seen here, but the runs by Cockrum, Danner and Pursley were impressive and kept your interest throughout.

That’s it for this report and check back Friday as we head up to the Kokomo Speedway for three night’s of racing for their big Smackdown show. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road for some racing action. Either way, be safe out there and stay hydrated. Comments, news items, words of wisdom or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Thanks for your continued interest and support and keep checking back to see where we end up next. Take care, be good and be kind,

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Goodno & Jones Score Wins In Night Before The Mile Action At Lincoln

Friday, August 16 – A nice mid-August day with temperatures in the high 80’s and plenty of sunshine greeted us as we arose on this Friday. The game plan was to leave in the afternoon, cross the Illinois state line and gain an hour back on our way to the Lincoln Speedway. On tap tonight at Lincoln was a five division program consisting of MOWA sprints (36), MARA midgets (18), UMP modifieds (20), pro late models (9) and Crown Vics (9) billed as the Night Before The Mile at Springfield tomorrow.

On arriving at the track and securing our seats around 5:30 we noticed a lot of dirt pushed up against the berm between the ¼ mile track and the old horse track that is between the grandstand and the current track. Which leads me to comment on the fine effort from the track crew on this evening and the fine job done by the announcing crew all evening filling the race fan in on the whole story of the day’s happenings. The Lincoln area had received over two inches of rain the night before and the track crew had been diligently working on the track the entire day. The normally prompt starting operation was pushed back 45 minutes to allow the track crew to work the track into running condition. The crew returned several times during the course of the evening making sure the heavy and gnarly track was suitable for all divisions competing on this evening. This is exactly what more tracks should do, keeping the race fans aware of why they are starting late and not having people just sitting there wondering what is going on. A novel idea! A valid explanation can go a long way in keeping fan’s attitudes good and most fans will understand and appreciate a good explanation of what is happening.

Now onto the racing at hand. The MARA midgets would be the first division to run their heats with two for this class. Jace Sparks would capture heat one winning over Alex Midkiff, Luke Wackerlin, Patrick Bruns and Charles Kunz. Heat two was taken by Parker Jones besting Daltyn England, Cale Coons, Tyler Roth and Korey Weyant. Next up would be the Crown Vics for their two heats before the UMP modifieds were trackside for their three heats won by Ray Bollinger, Michael Long and Jared Thomas.

The MOWA sprints were next on the dance card with 36 entrants necessitating four heat races. The MOWA sprints use passing points to determine the top 20 to lock into the main event with the final four coming from a B main. Reed Whitney, a 16 year old driver from Jasper, IN whose father I met the next morning at breakfast, making only his seventh winged start captured the first heat win over Tyler Duff and Steve Short. Heat two went to Knoxville, IA invader, Riley Goodno, besting Zackary Sokol, a New Zealand driver, hopping into the second Neuman entry, taking second with Korey Weyant third. Shelby Bose nailed down heat three beating Darin Naida and Scotty Thiel. The fourth and final heat went to Jake Blackhurst winning over Preston Perlmutter and Joey Moughan. The pro late model division would wrap up heat racing with two heats for their nine car field with all heat racing completed by 9:18.

The first feature event of the evening would follow with the Crown Vics taking to the track. Dakota Damron would triumph in this affair before the sprint car B main would be run. Ryan Bunton would score the win in the B outrunning Joe B. Miller, John Barnard and Jeremy Standridge, the last man in.

The MARA midgets would get first honors at running their 25 lap feature cut to 20 tonight with Alex Midkiff driving for Brad Loyet in his famous #05 leading the race to the halfway mark. Then Parker Jones tracked him down from his sixth starting position and passed him to take the lead. The race up front among the top five was fierce but Jones would prevail at the finish with Midkiff second, Tyler Roth third, Patrick Burns fourth and Korey Weyant driving from tenth to finish fifth. Another good run at Lincoln for the MARA midgets.

Originally the 25 lap MOWA sprint car feature was to be last but with the late start management in another good move decided to give the fans what most of them came to see and give them the choice to stay or leave after this feature. The green flag would drop at 10:16 with Riley Goodno getting the jump on fellow first row starter, Joey Moughan, and into the early lead. With Goodno out front the racing was going on behind him from third to sixth with Scotty Thiel, Jake Blackhurst, Shelby Bosie and Reed Whitney going at it. The race would stay green for the first 17 laps until the first caution appeared. On the restart Goodno assumed command once again but Moughan was not letting him get too far ahead. Sterling Cling, Joel Myers Jr and Darin Naida were making their way forward from eleventh, tenth and ninth respectively cracking the latter part of the top five.

Lap twenty saw the red appear when Tyler Duff jumped the right rear tire of Shelby Bose and flipped wildly to the turn two fence causing the red to appear with Duff able to climb from his wrecked machine and walk away. On the restart Goodno led with Myers slipping by Moughan for second. Blackhurst also moved by Moughan and into third on lap twenty one. Lap twenty three saw Cling and Moughan battling for third on the homestretch tangle with Cling running over the left front of Moughan knocking out the front end. This caused a melee in turn one with everyone trying to avoid the disabled Moughan with Bosie turning turtle.

On the final restart Goodno raced into the lead with Myers looking for a way around. Goodno was not to be denied his first career MOWA win flashing across the finish line at 10:46 beating Myers, Blackhurst, Cling and Naida. Overall it was a good race.

The 20 lap UMP modified feature would go green at 10:53 with Ray Bollinger taking the early lead. Michael Long passed Bollinger on lap three for the top spot and never looked back securing the win at 11:04 beating Bollinger, Jared Thomas, Brandon Roberts up from 7th and Tim Luttrell up from 9th.

We decided to skip the pro late model feature and head for the exits satisfied with a well run program where the fan was kept in the loop and good racing was the order of the day.

Check back tomorrow as the report will come from the Springfield mile where the USAC Silver Crown contingent traveled to take on the mile oval for the Bettenhausen 100. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area as the season progresses and tracks are starting to close for the season with school and football starting. News, items of interest, comments and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as usual thanks for reading our efforts and the feedback from you all. Remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet. Take care and be safe.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Trainor & Swanson Led The Way In Wednesday Night Thunder At IRP

Wednesday, August 14 – The poorly publicized Wednesday night racing program at the Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg featuring asphalt midgets and Eco Tech/Focus midgets was brought to our attention by a friend late last week. Initially we were not going to go for two reasons. First, we felt a midweek show depending on many midgets coming from New England would not draw many cars and second, we were planning to go to Red Hill Raceway on Thursday. Well, Red Hill canceled their USAC National sprint car race on Wednesday due to a poor weather forecast on Thursday so IRP was back on the radar. And the fact that they had an All Star race featuring Ricky Thornton Jr, racing for the first time on asphalt along with Sammy Swindell, Jerry Coons Jr, Mike Fedorcak and Kaylee Bryson driving Eco Tech/Focus midgets or NEMA Lite midgets if you are from New England made it more interesting.

The feature racing was scheduled to start at 8:05 after qualifying via time trials earlier so we arrived at IRP around 6:30. A very reasonable $15 admission was the price to enter the grounds. We walked into the huge aluminum grandstands and spotted friend, Max Niemann, and headed up the stairs to sit with him. We chatted while the two classes of midgets had hot laps and qualifying with Kody Swanson setting fast time in the regular midgets with a lap of 20.928 seconds around the 5/8 mile asphalt oval.

The first feature of the evening would be the All Star Spectacular with ten Eco Tech/Focus midgets taking the green flag at 8:32. Taking the early lead from his second starting position was 68 year old Sammy Swindell in one of the famous Wilke #11’s. Swindell would fend off the challenges of the youngsters, Kody Swanson, Kaylee Bryson and Jake Trainor until lap twelve when Trainor was able to pass the veteran driver. Bryson and Swanson also worked by Swindell in the latter stages of the contest and had a hearty battle with Trainor for the lead. Trainor would pull away at the end and flashed under the double checkers from Brian Hodde at 8:40 in a non-stop race besting teammate, Bryson, and Swanson for the win with Swindell fourth and his teammate, Ricky Thornton Jr, fifth.

Next up on the agenda was the thirty lap midget feature with eleven cars taking the green flag at 9:06. Nathan Byrd took the early lead in turn one and would only lead until Kody Swanson swept by him on the outside in turn three on the opening lap and would never look back in the fleet Bertrand #47 as announcer, Drake York, said afterwards that “he took the dogs behind the woodshed” as he raced to a 7.255 second margin by the end of the thirty lap contest. Jake Trainor in the Seymour #29 chased the entire distance in second with Nathan Bryd third, Justin Grant fourth and Logan Seavey rounding out the top five in an Abacus #57. This one also went non-stop in eleven minutes.

The final feature contest of the evening would pit the Eco Tech/Focus midgets in a twenty five lap main event starting the largest field of the night with 13 starters. This was the most competitive race of the evening edging the All Star race for top honors as Kyle O’Gara and Jake Trainor put on a whale of a race for the lead swapping the lead back and forth over the course of the middle part of the race before Trainor was able to finally secure the top spot around lap fourteen. Kaylee Bryson had another good run in this one in her first time driving an asphalt midget climbing to third at the finish at 9:50. Bobby Santos III would wheel the Seymour #29 home fourth with Jerry Coons Jr rounding out the top five.

It was a great way to spend a beautiful Wednesday night watching some good racing with your friends and on the road home before 10 PM. Though a train did delay our departure from the parking lot as indeed trains do pass through that entrance area where the stop sign is before you cross the railroad tracks to proceed over to the track.

That’s it until this weekend where we are headed into the Land of Lincoln to catch two shows on Friday and Saturday. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take a racing vacation to catch some racing action at some bucket list tracks. Comments, news, rumors or facts can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and sharing your thoughts and opinions with us. Remember to be kind to everyone you meet and love the unlovable. Take care and be good.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rogers Makes It Two In A Row In Midwest Thunder Race At Paragon

Saturday, August 10 – Saturday was a beautiful August day with temperatures in the low 80’s, low humidity and sunny with a few clouds. We left the house by 11 to drive down to the Sullivan, IN area to watch some junk car racing at the Thunder Valley Dirt Track located in the woods behind the Thunder Valley Auction. Admission was $10 and you walked a short path back to an opening where there were located three sets of wooden enclosed bleachers and also plenty of room to set up lawn chairs which we opted for. Also on the grounds was a good truck serving BBQ. There were three divisions of junk cars, 20 four cylinders, 13 six cylinders and 10 trucks/SUV’s/Mini Vans. It was about a half mile road course configuration with a dirt surface and became very dusty during the races. It was not much to talk about but everyone there, including the drivers, seemed to enjoy themselves so that is what mattered.

From there we headed north on Route 67 to the Paragon Speedway where Jen Kelley and Dan Hetser had saved us seats toward turn one. We all chatted a while until the races began promptly at 7:28 when the first of three heats for the Midwest Thunder 410 Wingless Series rolled onto the track. It didn’t take long for the action to begin as current MTWS point leader, Travis Berryhill, went for a ride flipping in turn one on the opening lap of the night. He was OK and would return later to start the main event. Isaac Chapple won the opening heat race over Anthony Nicholson, Gabriel Gilbert and James Boyd, an Illinois invader. Heat two was a rock them, sock them affair with Jadon Rogers prevailing over Cody Trammell, Hunter Maddox and Michael Clark. The third and final heat was won by Jake Scott beating Andrew Prather, JJ Hughes and Aric Gentry. No B main would be needed for the 23 car field.

Three other divisions were on the card with the hornets (20) next up and probably running the most competitive heats of the evening. They were followed by two heats for both the bombers (13) and the mod lites (10). The numbers were down a lot in each division but credit management for moving the program along quickly. When you can have your first feature trackside by 9:20 you are doing a good job. Much better than the last time we visited Paragon so we hope they keep up the timely running of their shows.

If Jadon Rogers could go back to back tonight in Midwest Thunder events, he would receive an extra $500 in addition to the $2500 to win on the line. Jadon had a good chance as he was starting second on the grid for the 25 lap feature event. At the drop of the green flag Rogers bolted to the lead with Scott close behind. Lap three saw the first caution wave as a three car tangle in turn four sent third starter, Isaac Chapple and sixth starter, Hunter Maddox, to the rear of the pack and fifth starter, Cody Trammell, pit side unable to make repairs before the green flag reappeared. One lap later Reed Whitney spun in turn two to bring out the second caution. Michael Clark up from eleventh grabbed fifth from JJ Hughes on the homestretch on lap five as the action continued. As Rogers led Scott and Nicholson were engaged in an exciting race for second swapping the position on each end of the track as Nicholson was better in turns one and two and Scott had the advantage in turns three and four. Nicholson moved ahead for second in turn one on lap ten while Scott returned the favor on the homestretch on lap twelve. Just shortly after that pass Chapple looped his sprinter in turn three bringing out another caution. On the restart Adyn Schmidt jumped the cushion in turn one and ended up sitting outside the turn one wall.

On the ensuing restart Rogers was quick on the throttle and spurted back into the lead. Scott retained second as Nicholson pressured Andrew Prather reeling in the pair as he moved into fourth. On lap eighteen Hughes was able to slip by Prather into fourth as the top three remained the same. Scott was beginning to catch up to Rogers, closing the gap to about two car lengths as the field took the five to go sign. Rogers accepted the challenge and opened up another two car lengths or so on Scott as the laps clicked off. At 9:47 Rogers crossed the line first making it two wins in a row and adding an extra $500 to the till. Jake Scott would have to settle for second with Anthony Nicholson third, JJ Hughes fourth after starting ninth and Andrew Prather rounding out the top five. Michael Clark led the second five to the finish after starting eleventh with John Sluss who had a rough heat race came from fourteenth to seventh at the finish. Parker Frederickson placed eighth from thirteenth with Travis Berryhill racing from twenty second to ninth with Aric Gentry rounding out the top ten.

It was a good race and the entire program was run in good order and we decided to call it a night and drive the hour and twenty minutes north to home and get a good night’s sleep. Good racing, good company and a good run program.

That’s it until at least Thursday so in the meantime get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, words of wisdom, news or any other items can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next. Remember to be good and be kind out there.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rogers Wins In Midwest Thunder Series Race At Circle City

Friday, August 9 – We left Crawfordsville today at 5:30 to make the trip over to Circle City Raceway on the Marion County Fairgrounds and the GPS directed us the best route was around the south side of Indianapolis on I-465. It was a surprise as we drove through that area with no problems as the road is mostly completed so it seems. The other surprise was that on tap tonight were seven divisions (cringe worthy) with other 150 total cars in the pit area and overflowing with some of the grub getters parked on the hillside outside of turn three (seems very dangerous and I can’t think insurance carriers would approve of that). Twenty nine sprint cars were joined by nineteen UMP modifieds, twenty four MMSA mini sprints, fourteen Kenyon midgets, twenty nine Crown Vics, thirteen hornets and sixty one grub getters. All divisions would run heat races except for the grub getters with the program scheduled to start at 8 PM. And it was very windy passing straight across the grandstand from west to east making it quite cool even with the sun still up.

So, wouldn’t you think that they would start on time? No, they placed themselves behind the eight ball to start with the first green flag dropping on the Midwest Thunder sprint cars at 8:23. Twenty three minutes might not sound like that much but when running a seven division program every minute counts especially since there is a new development built outside the fairgrounds off of turn one and you know how new, non-racing people can be with the regard of dust and noise.

The four sprint car heats would take the top four directly to the main event with the top two redrawing to determine the top eight starters in the main event. Donny Brackett broke the ice by winning heat one over Jadon Rogers, Reed Whitney and Aric Gentry. Rylan Gray captured heat two besting Austin Nigh, Evan Mosley and Kayla Roell. Harley Burns nailed down heat three over JJ Hughes, Matt Goodnight and Tony Helton. The fourth heat race was the highlight of the night in a fierce battle up front with Hayden Reinbold prevailing over Tye Mihocko, Zack Pretorius and Travis Berryhill with the always exciting Ricky Lewis battling for second late and catching the turn four cushion sending him into the turn four wall and to the B main.

They moved the program along well as one race ended the next one was moving onto the racing surface but with so many divisions it still was a tall task. Three heats followed for the UMP modifieds, three heats for the MMSA cars, two for the Kenyon midgets before the sprint car B main was called to the track. Mike Larrison would win this one leading Aidan Salisbury, Anthony Nicholson and Michael Clark across the line. It was a tough night for Ricky Lewis as he was battling for the lead when he jumped the turn one cushion and flipped wildly into the second turn ending his night prematurely. Following the sprint B main were three heats for the Crown Vics and two heats for the hornets and luckily there were no heats for the grub getters as the clock hit 10:19 at this point.

Some track prep was next before the 25 lap Midwest Thunder wingless sprint cars would take the green flag at 10:33. We would like to tell you this one was a classic like some other sprint car races we have seen here in our five visits but that was not the case tonight. Jadon Rogers jumped to the early lead from his first starting position and held a good sized lead until lap four when JJ Hughes running in the top five at the time spun in turn one with two others involved bringing out the first caution. On the restart Rylan Gray passed Hayden Reinbold for second in turn two and took up the chase of Rogers. Kayla Roell looped her sprinter in turn three on lap six bringing out the second caution of the feature. Rogers led on the restart with Gray and Reinbold in tow. Tye Mihocko slides by Reinbold for third in turn four on lap eight moving into contention. The next caution appeared on lap ten when Kayla Roell spun in turn four ending her night early as the two spin rule was in effect.

On the ensuing restart Rylan Gray hit the turn four inside tire, lifted the front end of his sprinter and upon returning to the ground spun into the infield causing him to restart at the tail of the field. Rogers now found Mihocko and Harley Burns nipping at his tail as the race restarted. Hayden Reinbold, running fourth, brought out the next caution as he suffered a flat tire in turn two and slowed off turn four bringing out the dreaded yellow flag. Evan Mosley moved into fourth on the restart as the young man looked stout the entire evening. Also Anthony Nicholson was using the inside well and moving forward from his nineteenth starting position into the back end of the top ten. Travis Berryhill tangled with JJ Hughes in turn two on lap eighteen to bring out yet another caution flag. Zack Pretorius spun on the backstretch while running fifth on the restart spoiling another good run at Circle City for him.

On the restart Rogers again took command and pulled away with only Mihocko keeping pace as the remaining seven laps spun off. Rogers would cross the line at 11:08 victorious in this one trailed by Mihocko, Burns, Mosley and Anthony Nicholson driving from nineteenth to fifth at the finish.

We did want to see the UMP modifieds and MMSA features but with the wind still blowing hard and the Crown Vics rolling onto the track for their B main we cut our losses and headed for the exits along with quite a few others. Pat monitored the races on My Race Pass and noted that the two features we wanted to see did not end until almost midnight as we approached our home. With four features still to contest after that we can’t imagine what time that program finally ended but it will not get Circle City the good neighbor award from Marion County. Sometimes race promoters can be their own worst enemies! And the poor grub getters had sat there since about 5 PM and seven hours later had still not seen track time!

That’s it for this round but check back Sunday for what we did on a Saturday afternoon and evening in the state of Indiana. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take in the Knoxville Nationals in person or on TV but have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news, stories or other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where our typical weekend finds us going racing. In closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Danner Scores First ISW Win & Seavey Wins First ISW Title

Sunday, August 4 – Another hot, humid and sunny day awaited us as we arose in Princeton on Sunday. It was not just any other hot, humid and sunny day during the late summer in Indiana, it was the final day of racing in Indiana Sprint Week #37. A lot was on the line today in Bloomington and it did not involve anything at Indiana University. It involved deciding the champion of ISW24 with three contenders squaring off for the $10,000 top prize for the championship along with the finely handcrafted two rocking chairs going to the point champion and the winning car owner. Logan Seavey left Tri-State Speedway with a 46 point advantage over Brady Bacon and 53 points over Kyle Cummins and these three still had a mathematical shot at the top prize.

Thirty nine sprint cars returned for the finale at Bloomington Speedway and things got underway at 6:50 as the first car pushed off from the backstretch runway and emerged over the banking to storm to the line to start time trials. No flips in time trials tonight as the cars negotiated the tricky ¼ mile dirt oval with a gnarly turn four to their credit. The track really had a lot of “character” tonight as the Spiker track crew did their magic making it better with each track session with the equipment. The never say die attitude produced a racy surface into the heat races and onward to the feature. At 7:12 Brady Bacon had shaved some points off the advantage by setting his 52nd career fast time putting him fifth on the all-time list with a fast lap of 11.755 seconds edging Ricky Lewis for the honors.

Next up were the four heat races with the top five locking into the 30 lap main event later in the evening. Daison Pursley took the Team AZ #21AZ to the front and captured the first heat turning back Justin Grant, Brady Bacon, Mitchel Moles and Frankie Guerrini in the tussle. Heat two was taken by Kevin Thomas Jr besting Matt Westfall, Joey Amantea, Brayden Fox and Sam Hinds in a kick and scratch battle for qualifying positions. Hinds would qualify for his first ever USAC National sprint car event in a race that saw Chance Crum flip wildly off turn two losing his tail tank in the accident trying to move into a qualifying spot. He was OK after the hard tumble but done for the evening. Heat three was wild and wooly with Hunter Maddox scoring his first USAC sprint heat win over a gaggle of cars led by Chase Stockon, Logan Seavey, Jadon Rogers (who fell from the lead to 4th in the last two laps) and Briggs Danner. The dog fights continued in heat four with CJ Leary winning after getting into Harley Burns causing him to spin with Leary later apologizing for his contact in heat winner interviews. That was a stand up gesture on his part. Robert Ballou, Shane Cottle, Rylan Gray and Kyle Cummins clawed at the leader throughout this one. All heat qualifying was accomplished in just 46 minutes.

That left us with just the semi feature and the main feature to contest on this Sunday evening with the semi taking to the track after some track touch up with the top four moving into the final feature of ISW. Ricky Lewis scored the semi win off a victory in Amarillo, Texas last night with the ASCS Elite Non-Wing series pocketing $5000 before flying back for tonight. Max Adams and two Texans, Weston Gorham (an earlier victor at LPS this year) and Kobe Simpson making his first ISW feature after trying all week to do so. Way to go, Kobe!!! Next up would be the finale of ISW24 going 30 laps to determine the 2024 ISW champ.

By 9:23 it was feature time with the front row of Rylan Gray and Briggs Danner bringing the 25 car field (with the addition of Kale Drake as a provisional) to Tom Hansing’s green silk with Briggs Danner storming into the early lead. Daison Pursley raced by Gray for second on lap four in turn three and went after Danner for the top spot. Logan Seavey used the same move as Pursley to secure the third position on lap five. Meanwhile, Danner was wrestling with the cushion almost every lap off turn four and lap ten saw him ride the top losing ground to Pursley as Pursley dove low on the homestretch racing side by side with Danner for the lead. They continued to battle around the track with Danner barely able to maintain his lead to start lap eleven. Robert Ballou, moments later, lost the handle in turn two and spun causing the caution flag to wave.

On the ensuing restart the entire complexion of the ISW title race stood in doubt as Seavey, running third at the time caught the fourth turn cushion wrong turning his sprinter sideways and into a series of rolls leaving his front end in disarray. With only minutes to make hasty repairs many of his rival’s crews helped in the process as time slipped away. It was noted that the point situation was that if Seavey did not return Brady Bacon would have to win the race to secure the point title. He would be third on the restart. Alas, the Abacus crew with many helping hands were able to repair the damaged sprinter and Seavey returned to the event where he would have to finish 18th or better to secure the title and did so by soldiering to a 15th place finish.

At the restart Danner went to the point but Pursley made his move diving low in turn three to take the lead away. It looked like Danner would have to settle for second for the second straight year at Bloomington but things took a good turn for him on lap twenty. Exiting turn four in heavy lap traffic Pursley choose to go low getting boxed in by two lappers and allowing Danner to retake the lead in a grand turnabout. With three to go things got interesting again as Pursley threw a slider at Danner in turn one with Danner responding by going three wide around the lap car of Joey Amantea in turn two to fight off the serious challenge. Moments later Kyle Cummins and Frankie Guerrini tangled in turn two to bring out the caution setting up a green, white, checker scenario to the finish probably the last thing Danner wanted to see at that point.

On the ensuing restart Danner was prepared for the challenge of Pursley and got a good jump to power away over the remaining laps to score his first ISW win of his career and his second USAC National sprint car win overall. Danner also became the first driver from Pennsylvania to win an Indiana Sprint Week race. Pursley chased Danner to the line for second, Bacon was third, Kevin Thomas Jr finished fourth with Rylan Gray rounding out the top five. Gray ran a fine race and scored his highest finish in his short USAC racing career. CJ Leary took sixth with Mitchel Moles finishing seventh after starting twentieth and earning the hard charger award. Chase Stockon moved from thirteenth to eighth with Shane Cottle advancing from fifteenth to ninth and Justin Grant rounding out the top ten with the final checker waving at 9:51.

It was a well run show ending in a good hour on a Sunday night with very good racing throughout the evening and a great way to wrap up ISW24. Can’t wait for ISW25!!

That’s it for Indiana Sprint Week coverage from us and check back next weekend as we stay local and take in two Midwest Thunder 410 Wingless series events. Until next time get out there and take in some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road but either way, enjoy yourself, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news, stories and anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and the nice comments and such you send along. It is much appreciated and makes it all worthwhile to share our views of the sport we love to watch. In closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Grant Prevails In Hard Fought Battle With Moles At Tri-State

Saturday, August 3 – With temperatures in the mid 80’s you would think that it wouldn’t be that bad outside but the humidity was once again the killer as it hung in the air like a heavy blanket draped over you. After leaving the hotel it was a quick stop across the street at Rural King for some snacks and a case of spring water where we placed six of them in our cooler for later consumption. Then it was off to the highly recommended Sandy’s Pizza in Fort Branch for lunch and it did not disappoint us first time visitors. Their sandwiches and pizza were delicious. The Flo Sports crew was there also enjoying the good food. I was going to tell Bryan Hulbert that I had spent my lunch money here so I couldn’t go to Tri-State Speedway tonight!! Next stop was the short three mile drive down to the track which was almost disastrous as we were stopped at a light in a construction zone when an eighteen wheeler bore down on us and used the left turn lane to pass us, never lifting. WOW!!!

Once at the track we found a good parking space on the backstretch, gathered up the Indian blankets and headed into the grandstand area to “expand” our seat area that good friend, Irvin King, had already secured. After that was accomplished, it was back to the Equinox to relax and enjoy the coolness of the air conditioner for a while.

Later as the cars began to warm their engines, we gathered up the cooler and other essentials and passed through the gates to join the other race fan settling in for race six of Indiana Sprint Week. It didn’t take long for the action to begin as Kendall Ruble flipped his brand new sprinter in hot laps several times between turns three and four reducing the 42 car field by one almost immediately.

Sprint car time trials were next on the docket taking the initial green flag at 6:46 and during this activity Kevin Thomas Jr took the Rock Steady #3R for a nasty ride in turn three as the right rear seemed to dig in lifting his machine’s left side up as he began a series of flips and rolls before landing back on the track surface. Thomas was OK after the scary ride but the same could not be said for the primary #3R ride after getting upside down for the second time in ISW. The crew went to work on the backup car but it was not ready in time for time trials. This would mean a long night of starting last in all his events and having to pass a lot of cars to advance to the big dance. Briggs Danner, the Allentown, PA invader, posted his second career fast time in USAC National competition and first since 2021 with a blistering lap of 13.193 seconds around the finely manicured Helfrich ¼ mile dirt oval located in the southwestern corner of Indiana.

Joining the USAC National sprint cars tonight were the MMSA mini sprints who brought 20 cars to Haubstadt. After their hot lap sessions, it was some track maintenance and then four sprint car heats with the top five moving directly to the big dance and the rest to the semi-main later in the program. The first heat took the green flag at 7:53 with the Colorado Kid, Carson Garrett, motoring to the front and winning the first race over Brady Bacon, Jadon Rogers, Brandon Mattox and Charles Davis Jr. Heat two was captured by Mitchel Moles who says he loves this place and his performance spoke for itself as he raced with Chase Stockon over the course of this one passing Stockon to secure the win. Stockon, Robert Ballou, Logan Seavey and Adyn Schmidt followed. CJ Leary nailed down heat three in a very competitive run with the top five in a giant cluster and at times three wide battling for position. Brady Short came up short in second with Shane Cottle third, Carson Short fourth and JJ Hughes hanging on to finish fifth. The final heat race was taken down by Justin Grant besting Kyle Cummins, Kale Drake, Donny Brackett and Matt Westfall locking in twenty cars for the feature with sprint heat racing completed by 8:16.

The MMSA gang was next up for their two heat races which were spun off in quick order with Eli Wihelmus and Jake Roell winning their respective heats.

It was time for the sprint car semi with the top four moving into the 30 lap main event coming up shortly. Kevin Thomas Jr was the show in this one as he started dead last (20th) and worked his way forward to third at the finish. Daison Pursley would go on to win this semi feature over Briggs Danner, Thomas and Aric Gentry, the last man in.

The MMSA mini sprints would contest their 20 lap main event first with some good action throughout the race. Eli Wihelmus would lead the majority of the race but a late caution with three to go saw Wihelmus suffer a left front flat tire and dropped from the event. Jordan Shipley who steadily worked his way forward from tenth starting position was closing on Wihelmus at the end and it would have been interesting to see these two battle it out for the win but it was not to be. Shipley went onto win over twelfth starting Steve Justis and Parker Baumeyer in one of the best races we seen the MMSA group run though there were many dropouts during the course of the feature.

We were ready to go feature racing with the front row of Carson Garrett and Justin Grant bringing the 24 car field to the initial green flag at 9:40 with Grant quickly into the early lead. Garrett, Leary and Seavey chased early and then Mitchel Moles was picking off the front runners from his sixth starting spot working his way into third on lap nine. Three laps later Moles would slip by Seavey for second and take up the chase of the high flying Grant up front. By the halfway mark the leaders were into heavy traffic as Grant picked his way through with Moles not far behind. Racing down the backstretch on lap eighteen Grant was attempting to move by Shane Cottle when he ran out of room up high and banged the backstretch wall with his right rear tire losing some momentum and allowing Moles to dive low and grab the lead. It looked like Grant’s past few months frustrations would continue when he lost the lead but Grant reached down inside and mustered up the fortitude to battle back.

Lap nineteen saw Briggs Danner tangle with another car causing his front end to collapse while running ninth careening across the track collecting Robert Ballou coming on the inside sending Ballou into a spin and Danner ending up drifting to a stop in the infield. Grant went to attack mode as he and Moles began to slide each other over the next two laps exchanging the lead three times in the process. Grant emerged with the lead on lap twenty but Moles was not finished yet. Moles was all over Grant attempting to retake the lead over the next five laps until disaster struck for the BGE/Dougherty team as fourth running CJ Leary biked entering turn three sliding to the wall, make contact and flipping over right in front of his teammate, Carson Garrett, running in sixth who had no where to go running into the disabled sprinter bringing out the red and ending two good runs and one complete race team at the same time.

On the ensuing restart Grant went into defense mode taking the middle away to help ward off any sliders by Moles. Over the next three laps, with Moles looking every which way to attempt a pass Grant held sway. Lap twenty seven saw the final yellow wave as Kale Drake running eleventh tagged the turn three wall and came to a rest ending a good run by the youngster. On the restart Grant used his strategy to keep Moles at bay over the last three laps and flashed across the line at 10:01 as a mad scramble brought loose behind him as Kyle Cummins running third turned sideways in turn four forcing everyone to take evasive action including fifth running Kevin Thomas Jr crossing the line running in the infield losing two positions at the end.

It was a long time coming for Grant and the TOPP Motorsports team as they have struggled mightily for the past three months with many sub-par runs to show for it. Grant would score his tenth ISW career win and his fifty first career USAC National sprint car win. Moles would have to settle for second at the end with Seavey coming home third, Cummins fourth after starting 13th and Daison Pursley rounding out the top five. Brady Bacon would finish sixth with Kevin Thomas Jr taking seventh and the hard charger award after starting twenty fourth, Shane Cottle eighth from fifteenth with Jadon Rogers ninth and Chase Stockon up from eighteenth to tenth.

It was another good race during Indiana Sprint Week as every race has been hotly contested and produced some great racing. This is why we moved to Indiana ten years ago to witness such close, competitive racing. Now it onto Bloomington Sunday for the series finale.

That’s it for this segment but check back Monday to see who wins the Indiana Sprint
Week title and the final race at Bloomington. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road to catch some good racing. Either way have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. News, comments and any other things of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and continue to check back often to see where our typical weekend takes us. In closing remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rain Ends Bloomington Run Prematurely, Pushes ISW Final To Sunday

Friday, August 2 – Friday was another day with temperatures in the middle 80’s with high humidity and chances of rain. It was the best overall forecast in the last three days and wouldn’t you know it, we got rained out! Here’s how the night played out.

Tonight was supposed to be race six in the 37th running of Indiana Sprint Week and the highest percentage of rain for today in Bloomington was 24%. But this is Bloomington and we were once rained out on a night with a 10% chance of rain so anything was possible.

The Bob & Sheldon Kinser Memorial race was ready to go at 6:59 with time trials for the fine 47 car field on hand and when finished at 7:26 it was Carson Garrett being interviewed on the homestretch after setting fast time with a lap of 11.455 seconds around the high banked, red clay ¼ mile bullring for his first career USAC fast time.

The green dropped on the first of four heat races at 7:42 with Anton Hernandez having a steady week in the Baldwin #5 winning the first heat over Matt Westfall, CJ Leary, Carson Garrett and Jadon Rogers. The second heat was nailed down by Brady Bacon besting Briggs Danner, Logan Seavey, Hunter Maddox and Harley Burns. As the third heat prepared to line up the sky darkened, the temperature dropped about five degrees or so and it began to spit some rain. Pat reached for the small umbrella she had brought in as the rain increased in intensity. We decided it would be in vain to try to scurry back to the SUV so we huddled under the umbrella as the rain pounded down, It continued for around 15 minutes but the intensity of the downpour would end up postponing the rest of the evening prematurely as the grounds were too saturated and it was determined the conditions were too dangerous to continue after the track crew worked on the track for around a half hour. The predicted rain over the last few days finally bested us on this evening.

The big news circulating out of this evening was that now the final race of ISW would return to Bloomington Speedway this Sunday evening after Tri-State’s round is contested on Saturday night. So hang onto your wrist bands and come back on Sunday evening for the final round of ISW. Catch you then!

Until next time, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. News, comments, stories and words of wisdom can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and your kind comments on our writings. It makes the effort seem worthwhile. And it’s been good lately talking in person with readers, Kevin and Dan, and their feedback on racing matters. Thanks, guys!! In closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Bacon Sizzles With ISW Win At Terre Haute

Thursday, August 1 – Today started out hot and humid with some rain mixed in. When it was time for us to depart for tonight’s round five at the Terre Haute Action Track reports from Steve Kimmel trackside said it had rained but the rain had now passed so come on down. As we transversed the backroads of Indiana we discussed how the weather in this state can change so quickly. Upon arrival on the Vigo County Fairgrounds we found the camping area of Steve & Maggi along with Irvin and Mary Jane King parked side by side under the one large pavilion behind the main grandstands. Some good conversation followed and when I went to purchase some food I ran into Ken Wagner, former West Coast resident currently living in Oklahoma and invited him down to join the group.

The track crew went to work on the wet surface and when Steve, Pat and I went to survey the progress we came away with the opinion that they were going to be able to run tonight but it was going to be a late start. As we sat under the roof of the building, we heard the first rumbling of a race engine and spirits were high. Soon thereafter hot laps commenced and before you knew it the first car for time trials was taking the green flag at 8:21. What a comeback by the hard working track crew to whip the track surface back into racing condition after earlier having water standing on the bottom of turns one and three!! Our hats off to the track crew for a job well done allowing everyone in attendance to witness racing action tonight!!

By 8:42 Mitchel Moles had toured the ½ mile dirt oval to the tune of 19.639 seconds to set the standard for the evening over the 38 car field on hand. Next up were the four heats for the one division program this evening with the top five advancing directly into the 30 lap main event. The first heat took Tom Hansing’s green flag at 9:04 with Max Adams in the Guerrini #63 holding off a furious attack from Shane Cottle to capture heat one with Mitchel Moles, Chase Stockon and Anton Hernandez trailing. Matt Westfall in the Marshall #33 fended off all challengers to claim heat two besting Kyle Cummins, Daison Pursley, Logan Seavey and Kale Drake in this one. Heat three fell to Brady Bacon in the Dynamics #69 outpacing Carson Garrett, Charles Davis Jr, Nick Bilbee and Briggs Danner. Joey Amantea, the youngster from Pennsylvania, had a strong run to capture heat four walking away helping to ease the rough week he has suffered through with two flips in five races. CJ Leary, Brandon Mattox, Kevin Thomas Jr and Justin Grant chased him to the finish. All heat racing was completed in just 29 minutes.

The sprint car B main was next on the dance card with Robert Ballou running away in this one beating Ricky Lewis, Trey Osborne and Arizona’s Nate Schank to all move into the feature event. For Schank it was the first time he qualified for an ISW feature and he did it on his birthday nonetheless.

By 10:33 it was time to go feature racing with the twenty four car field brought to Tom Hansing’s green flag by the front row of Kyle Cummins and Chase Stockon. Cummins scooted into the early lead with fellow Southern Indiana racer, Chase Stockon, right on his tail. Lap three saw Brady Bacon move by Stockon in turn two to take over the runner up position and take up the chase of Cummins. Outback of the field all eyes were on Robert Ballou, who was scheduled to start twelfth but went to the work area prior to the start and had to start shotgun on the field in twenty fourth. Ballou ran the Bubby Jones groove, one which Ballou said ‘Ol Bub taught him, running above the cushion advancing ten positions in the first five laps and into the top ten by lap eight in an amazing exhibition of fence riding extremes. Meanwhile, Stockon reloaded and passed Bacon back for second using the outside in turn two on lap seven to reclaim the runner up spot. Cummins continued to pace the field as the race neared the halfway mark but Stockon was closing quickly nosing to the outside for several circuits until being able to pass Cummins on the outside exiting turn four to take the lead on lap eighteen. It was good to see Stockon have such a strong run after floundering lately in the KO Motorsports #5S. Meanwhile, Ballou’s march saw him crack the top five by lap sixteen and looking for more. This had the crowd buzzing as the impressive drive continued.

Bacon began to diamond turns three and four using this technique to close on the front two as the race progressed. Bacon slid to the inside rail in turns three and four to grab second from Cummins on lap nineteen. Bacon went to work trying to track down Stockon and got his break on lap twenty three when Stockon jumped the cushion in turns three and four slowing his momentum enough for Bacon to close the gap diving low off turn four to racing into the lead as they raced down the homestretch. Then the big track master pulled away over the next seven laps to over a two second lead and flashed across the line for his fifth career ISW win and first in over three seasons in ISW action. Bacon sizzled to the win on a real hot and humid day that matched his performance. Stockon would cross the line second with Cummins third, Seavey fourth and Ballou fifth after starting at the tail in his impressive march forward. Mitchel Moles led the second five to the finish claiming sixth with Kevin Thomas Jr seventh, Briggs Danner eighth, Daison Pursley ninth after starting sixteenth (official hard charger award) and Justin Grant coming home tenth.

It was a very good night at the legendary Terre Haute Action Track and one of the best races we have witnessed here in the past several years and no dust to boot.

That is it for this account but check back tomorrow for round six of Indiana Sprint Week coming to you from the red high banks of Bloomington. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, items of interest and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our stories and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing remember to be good and be kind because a friendly smile or cheerful hello can brighten that person’s day as you never know what they are going through at the moment.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey White Hot Scoring Another ISW Victory At Circle City

Wednesday, July 31 – It was the last day of July and the Indiana weather can change in a moment’s notice so scattered showers were on the radar blip as night four of Indiana Sprint Week moved to the Circle City Raceway, the ¼ mile dirt oval located on the grounds of the Marion County Fairgrounds. On tap tonight was a two division program consisting of USAC Sprints (46) and Crown Vics (25). The Crown Vics are a perfect filler division to complement the wingless warriors of USAC giving the sprinters some time to work on their cars between the heat races and the C and B mains.

Time trials started off the show commencing at 7:03 and completing at 7:37 with CJ Leary posting fast time for the second straight night and 53rd time of his career putting him fourth on the all-time fast timer list. The USAC sprint cars would contest four heat races with the top five moving directly to the A main and the rest either to the C main or the B main. Heat racing kicked off at 7:59, one minute ahead of the scheduled starting time and were spun off in good order wrapping up at 8:29. In between we saw some good, competitive racing with Mitchel Moles winning the first heat passing Harley Burns on lap six to score the win with Burns holding off Logan Seavey for second with Anton Hernandez fourth and CJ Leary grabbing fifth. Daison Pursley put the second sprinter of the evening carrying AZ as part of the number up front claiming heat two over Justin Grant, Kevin Thomas Jr, Shane Cottle and Chance Crum. Robert Ballou became the first driver to reach double figures in heat wins notching his tenth triumph besting Brady Bacon, Ricky Lewis, Evan Mosley and Brayden Fox for the win in heat three. Carson Garrett nailed down heat four over Kyle Cummins, Jake Swanson, Matt Westfall and Briggs Danner.

The three Crown Vic heats followed, being spun off in just 12 minutes. Next up would be the sprint car C main with the top four joining the back of the B main. Honest Abe himself, Kevin Newton, won the C main beating Jadon Rogers, RJ Johnson subbing for Stevie Sussex and Scotty Weir. The B main would fall to Australian driver, Todd Hobson, qualifying for his first ever USAC sprint car main event. Kale Drake, Kyle Shipley and Chase Stockon would join him in the A main along with two provisionals, Joey Amantea and Hunter Maddox, making it a 26 car starting field.

By 9:51 starter, Tom Hansing, was ready to drop the green silk over the front row of Shane Cottle and Logan Seavey with Cottle getting the early lead in turn one. Cottle worked the low side like only he can and paced the field for the first seven laps with Ricky Lewis slipping by Seavey for second off turn four on the opening lap. Lap six saw Seavey reload and take second back from Lewis entering turn one with Kyle Cummins following suit a lap later to take third from Lewis. Seavey rode the top while Cottle remained loyal to the low side for two laps until Seavey was able to move around Cottle off turn four and grab the lead at the line to start lap nine. CJ Leary slowed suddenly on the backstretch on lap eight while running fifth, ending his night prematurely and relegating him to 26th at the finish.
On the restart Seavey moved back out front with Cummins and Cottle in tow. Kevin Thomas Jr was coming forward from his fifth starting spot by the halfway mark had managed to slip by both Cottle and Cummins into second. Lap nineteen almost saw the race take a sudden change as Kyle Shipley running 19th at the time tangled with another lap car directly in front of Seavey and flipped almost taking out the leader if not for his quick reflexes. On the ensuing restart Thomas began to apply the pressure and slid Seavey for the lead in turns three and four. Seavey countered with a slider in turn one to retake the lead but drifted up the track in turn two allowing Thomas to regain the lead at that point. Lap twenty two saw a three car tangle in turn one among Harley Burns, Kale Drake and Justin Grant bringing out the caution and ending the night for all involved. This gave Seavey another opportunity. Thomas drove low in turns one and three gliding across turns two and four taking away any slider attempts by Seavey. Lap twenty four saw Seavey dive low in turn one with him and Thomas side by side exiting turn two. Seavey was able to edge ahead as the pair raced into turn three and was back on top. The caution came out one lap later when Mitchel Moles ruined his good night spinning in turn four while running sixth and forced to go to the tail on the restart. Lap twenty seven saw another incident slow the action as Joey Amantea and Chance Crum were battling for 14th touching wheels on the backstretch sending Amantea into a series of violent flips ending up in turn three. Amantea was visibly upset after climbing from the Jon Stanbrough wrenched #88 and let the crowd know his feelings about the contact from Crum as he endured his second flip of the series when other cars slid into him.

On the restart Seavey was gone and cruised to over a two second victory over Thomas with Cottle third, Cummins fourth and Briggs Danner achieving the hard charger award advancing from twelfth to fifth at the finish at 10:24. It was Seavey’s third win in four ISW starts in 2024 and six out of the last seven USAC sprint car races run along his 13th victory of the year. He now is tied for second with JJ Yeley and Robert Ballou for most wins in a season and just one behind the all-time record of 14 set by Tom Bigelow in 1977 and we are just beginning August tomorrow!

Brady Bacon came home sixth after starting 11th with Ricky Lewis seventh, Robert Ballou eighth after clipping the infield tires twice in the last five laps, Carson Garrett ninth and Anton Hernandez rounding out the top ten after starting 15th.

It was a well run program starting on time and ending in a decent hour with very good racing throughout the evening even though it was dusty the racing did not suffer. Onto the Vigo County Fairgrounds, home of the legendary Terre Haute Action Track, where race #5 of the 37th Indiana Sprint Week will take place on the only half mile dirt oval in Indiana.

That’s it for now but check back tomorrow to see if we get Thursday’s race in and what all happened. Until next time, get out there and catch some good short track racing in your area and have fun and stay hydrated. Comments, opinions, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And thanks for reading our efforts and passing along your opinions and compliments about our writings. It is much appreciated and we hope you will continue to follow our writings. And in closing remember to be kind and be good.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cummins Sweeps The Night In Race Two Of ISW At Kokomo

Saturday, July 27 – It was a beautiful day in the 80’s with plenty of sunshine as we prepared for night two of Indiana Sprint Week at the baddest bullring in Indiana, the Kokomo Speedway. A late lunch/early dinner at Foxes Trail in downtown Kokomo preceded our track time and it was delicious but was much too much food.

Back to the track we went with the Kings and Kimmels to settle in for another night of action during the 37th running of the Indiana Sprint Week. Time trials were pushed off at 7:17 with 53 cars ready to take their two laps around the ¼ mile dirt oval at Kokomo. When it was all said and done it was Kyle Cummins on top of the speed charts with a time of 12.687 seconds to start the evening.

USAC Thunder midgets which are a combination of full blown midgets and D2 midgets mixed in were the second class on the dance card and they brought 23 entries to the dance. After their hot lap sessions, it was right into the heat racing for the USAC sprint cars with five heats on the agenda taking the top four finishers directly to the 30 lap main event later in the evening. Kyle Cummins copped the first heat win to keep his night perfect after setting fast time with Jack Hoyer second in the famous Hazen #57, Rylan Gray and Jadon Rogers chasing him across the line. Heat two was captured by Mitchel Moles besting CJ Leary, Shane Cottle and Robert Ballou. Kevin Thomas Jr placed the Rock Steady #3R up front to take the third heat over Briggs Danner, Kale Drake, back after his exit through the fence at Lincoln Park the night before, with Frankie Guerrini fourth. Logan Seavey put the Abacus Racing #57 in victory lane in heat four beating Brady Bacon, Harley Burns and Daison Pursley. The fifth and final heat was won by Pennsylvania’s Joey Amantea whose mother sat next to Pat cheering him on to victory over Justin Grant, Ricky Lewis and Chance Crum. Now twenty positions were determined for the feature with the last sprint heat wrapping up at 9:14.

The Thunder midgets would contest three heats with Kayla Roell winning heat one over the boys with Chett Gehrke and Matt Lux chasing the lady. Heat two fell to Michael Magic beating Jakeb Boxell and Alex Watson. The third heat was captured by Zach Wigal over Luke Hall and Tyler Nelson. The sprint car C main was next on the race card with the top four adding onto the tail of the upcoming B main. Max Adams in the other Guerrini car won this one over Donny Brackett, Matt Goodnight and Sam Hinds. The sprint car B main was next to the post with four moving forward into the 30 lap feature. Charles Davis Jr of Arizona copped this affair with Scotty Weir, Anton Hernandez and Chase Stockon locking into the main event. Two provisionals would join the field making it a 26 car field with Carson Garrett and Matt Westfall joining the party.

The 20 lap Thunder midget feature was the next race and it almost went non-stop with only one caution with the veteran Kentucky racer, Chett Gehrke, leading every lap from his outside pole starting spot holding off the race long challenges of Luke Hall and Zach Wigal for the win.

The 26 car, 30 lap USAC National sprint car feature would take the green at 10:39 with Justin Grant surging to the early lead from his second starting position. That didn’t last long as the weirdness surfaced as Charles Davis Jr lost power off turn four slowing on the homestretch with CJ Leary and Chase Stockon caught up in the melee. Leary did a series of flips on the homestretch fence ending up pointing skyward on the fence. All drivers were OK but done before one lap had been completed.

One lap after the restart it was three wide in turn two with sixth starting Kyle Cummins sweeping by the cars of Robert Ballou, Justin Grant and Briggs Danner in an incredible move to go from sixth to third. Eight laps in with Bacon pacing the field Cummins passed Daison Pursley for second in turn one and took up the chase of the Dynamics #69. The next caution appeared when Anton Hernandez looped the Balwin car in turn one wiping out Bacon’s big lead. On the restart Cummins went to work on Bacon and on lap eighteen he slid Bacon for the lead in gnarly turn two but Frankie Guerrini spun in turn four negating the pass and placing Bacon back in first for the restart.

On the ensuing restart Cummins quickly made his move surpassing Bacon entering turn one to grab the lead as Kevin Thomas Jr did the same to Pursley as they raced through that corner for third. Thomas was not finished yet as he charged into turn three on the outside and pulled alongside Bacon to challenge for second. Bacon took away the real estate between turns three and four causing Thomas to run out of room slamming the wall and launching into a series of flips ending up in the turn four fencing and bringing out the red. Thomas climbed from the wrecked machine done for the evening after an impressive run from seventh to third before crashing.

During this red flag period as the cars were beginning to push off for the restart a bizarre incident happened when one of the Thunder midget teams lost their way out of the pit area and were attempting to exit the track by the backstretch pit entrance to the racing surface. Reece O’Connor quickly reacted to the potentially dangerous situation by riding his ATV from the infield to the entrance blocking the path of the vehicle and yanking the driver’s door open to discuss the situation before backing the rig back down the entrance road!! Whoa!!

This suddenly moved Logan Seavey into the hunt moving up to third and positioning himself for a run at trying to make it five straight USAC sprint car wins which hadn’t been done since 1968 by Larry Dickson. On the restart Cummins led with Bacon second and Seavey third. That would change on lap twenty four when Seavey slid Bacon for second in turns one and two when Bacon countering in turn three until a lap later when Seavey made the move permanent in turn one setting up a six lap battle through traffic for Cummins and Seavey.

Cummins had over a second lead at this point but Seavey was able to close to his rear nerf bar as the pair picked their way through lap traffic. On the final lap Cummins moved high to pass the car of Jack Hoyer as Seavey went to the open middle and actually edged ahead slightly exiting turn four but Cummins never lifted and his momentum off the top powered him back out front as the pair raced to the finish line with Cummins holding on by a car length to beat Seavey at the finish and end Seavey’s four race win streak in the process. Bacon would come home third with Pursley fourth and Robert Ballou rounding out the top five. It was an exciting finish and for a moment it looked like Seavey would steal one on the last lap. Cummins was up to the task scoring his first USAC victory of 2024 and the first career win for car owner Jerry Petty, as the much heralded combination struggled in the early season just recently stringing some good finishes together. It was Cummins’ 19th career USAC National sprint car win placing him 35th on the all-time list. It was also his eighth Indiana Sprint Week win in his career.

Ricky Lewis turned in a fine run advancing from twelfth to sixth at the end with Briggs Danner slipping to seventh with the hard charger award going to Shane Cottle who used the inside (Cottle groove) to perfection marching from twenty third to eighth with Matt Westfall just as impressive moving from twenty sixth to ninth (no hard charger award due to him using a provisional) with Mitchel Moles rounding out the top five at 11:19.

It was another weird night with some good racing and flips but no fire this evening. Speaking of fire Stevie Sussex is coming along well with some burns to his arms and legs and sat right near us on the backstretch for a heat with his family and that was good to see. Heal up and get well soon Stevie!!

That’s it for this column but check back Wednesday to see if Lawrenceburg gets their rescheduled program in on Tuesday as Sunday’s contest has been rained out. Comments, opinions, questions or any other tidbits of information can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road and catch some action at another track you’ve always wanted to go to. And be safe and stay hydrated. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing have fun out there and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Scores Four In A Row In Wild Night At LPS In ISW Opener

Friday, July 26 – Logan Seavey is on a roll scoring his fourth straight USAC National sprint car win taking the opener of the 37th NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville in a wild night of racing with flips, fire and much racing action in between. Seavey became the first driver in USAC sprint car annuals to win four straight times since Rickey Hood did it 39 years ago back in 1985.

Indiana Sprint Week culminates in the gathering of race fans from all over the country and others from Australia and New Zealand. Our core of travelers found Steve and Maggi Kimmel towing in from Arizona and Irving and Mary Jane King trekking in from West Virginia while we took the 35 minute drive down from Crawfordsville to Putnamville, just outside of Greencastle to take in the opener of ISW for the 37th year of the event. Seven races in nine days at seven different tracks will find us all crisscrossing Indiana to witness the action packed seven nights of racing. It is a ritual unlike many others and it can be grueling but it is also gratifying also. After sitting in the shade of the camping area with the clan Steve and I ventured down to get in the prepaid line to enter the grounds and stake our claim or seating area for tonight’s event. A five dollar discounted arm band purchase not only got you through the gates a half hour before anyone else it got you a nice meal and get together the night before at the Moose Lodge in Greencastle. It was a very nice night of good food, good dancing and good company and the hospitality of Joe and Jill Spiker to host such an event is very much appreciated by everyone and we thank them for that.

Now onto the racing portion of the evening where a fine field of 57 USAC sprint cars, the largest ISW field in 20 years filled the pit area as a large crowd filled the seating area ready to watch the warriors of USAC battle for the $8000 top prize and the early point lead of ISW. Time trials would start the proceedings with the first car pushing off at 7:30. By 8:08 Logan Seavey was being interviewed after setting fast time with a lap of 12.078 seconds to claim his 14th career fast time award. I told Pat before the start of tonight’s program that this was Seavey’s night as the number 57 was coming up in various ways. This was our 57th race of 2024 and there were 57 entrants for tonight’s racing and with Seavey’s car number being 57 it was a shoe in. The flip action started early with Ivan Glotzbach turning the Brian Hayden owned #2H over four times in the cushion in turns three and four during the time trial session climbing from the car uninjured.

Heat racing was the next order of business with five heats scheduled for the 57 car field with the top four locking into the 30 lap main event to be held later in the evening. Matt Westfall would draw first blood on the evening copping the first heat race win in the Marshall #33 over Scotty Weir, Briggs Danner and Logan Seavey. Stevie Sussex, the Arizona invader drove the Sturgeon #77S to a surprise victory in heat two, besting Jadon Rogers piloting the Wade/Amati #66, Kevin Thomas Jr and Daison Pursley. Heat three was won by Kyle Cummins in the Petty #3P beating Justin Grant, Geoff Ensign and Zack Pretorius. Heat four was a thriller with CJ Leary in the BGE Dougherty #15X making some late moves to wrestle the win from Anton Hernandez in the Baldwin #5, Chance Crum and Seth Parker. Heat five went to Jake Swanson wheeling the Landon Simon #24 to victory after on the opening lap the middle parted like Moses parted the Red Sea to allow him to streak through on the opening lap and pull away. He outdistanced Ricky Lewis, Carson Garrett and Brady Bacon for the win. All heat racing was completed in just 37 minutes in some fast and furious action.

The C main was next on the docket with the top four moving into the B main at the tail of the field. Kyle Johnson controlled this one posting the win over Kobe Simpson, Evan Mosley and Brandon Mattox. That took us to the B main went the flipping picked up again as early in the event Kyle Shipley and Joey Amantea collided in turn two with Amantea turning turtle and he was not happy after the incident in his post-race interview of the early contact in the event. In the latter stages of this race Robert Ballou did a slow roll in a multicar tangle in turn four and he would use a provisional to join the feature field. With this one was all said and done it was Mitchel Moles scoring the win in the Reinbold/Underwood #19AZ over Max Adams in the Guerrini #63, Brayden Fox and Kyle Shipley. Kale Drake, the midget driver out of Oklahoma who was making his USAC sprint car debut and also his first race in a sprint car, missed by one spot. The Benic #2B was high enough in the point standings to garner the second USAC provisional for the feature event. The difference in the responsiveness of the steering between the midget and sprint car seemed to be giving Drake some problems during the evening.

By 10:23 the 26 car field was brought to the green flag by Anton Hernandez and Justin Grant with Grant sprinting to the early lead. Logan Seavey was quick at the start and moved from sixth to third by lap two. Lap seven saw a very serious tumble in turn one when Kale Drake jumped a right rear tire entering the turn and went end over end through the billboards in turn one ending up upside down in the parking lot and if he didn’t touch anyone’s vehicles parked out there they should make sure they go to church Sunday and thank God for that. It was a wild ride for the first time sprint car entrant and he was OK quickly climbing from the wrecked sprinter.

On the ensuing restart Seavey was able to slip by Danner to take over second and took up the chase of Grant for the lead. Lap twelve a four car tangle in turn two saw Matt Westfall, CJ Leary, Max Adams and Jake Swanson all involved with Leary and Westfall able to join the rear of the field on the restart. On this restart Seavey went to the cushion in turns one and two to challenge Grant and by the time the pair hit the backstretch Seavey streaked by to assume the lead. Several other drivers were working their way forward such as Stevie Sussex (10th), Mitchel Moles (12th), Brady Bacon (14th) and Robert Ballou (25th) as things got interesting as the laps spun off. Seavey hit the afterburner and opened up a comfortable lead as the race entered the final five laps. With just two to go a frightening incident happened as Stevie Sussex’s car was engulfed in flames on the backstretch. Sussex quickly exited the flaming sprinter and did the proper thing, dropping to the ground and rolling as the emergency crew rushed to his side to extinguish the flames. Mrs. Sturgeon who was seated behind us broke into hysterics as the scene unfolded with Pat jumping up and going to her side to comfort her in the next few minutes until we were all delighted to see Sussex walking on his own over to the ambulance to be checked out after the shocking incident. Prayers go out to Stevie as we have no updates on his condition but with him walking away it was a promising sign.

On the restart Kyle Cummins was able to work the cushion in turns one and two to slip by Grant to grab second and Briggs Danner saw a chance to take third as Grant faltered off turn two. In turn three Danner made an ill advised attempt to pass Grant slamming into him sending Grant sideways in turn three getting clipped by Bacon which sent him sliding sideways in the path of Carson Garrett, Brayden Fox and Chance Crum. Garrett and Fox got upside down in the tangle ending their race early and Grant was also done as his front end was wrecked.

The second attempt to complete the race was more successful with Seavey blasting back out front with Cummins in hot pursuit. Seavey was able to hold off Cummins over the final two circuits to score his first ISW win since 2021 but making it four in a row in 2024 and eleventh win of the year in a stellar performance. That brings Seavey within three wins of the all-time season win record in USAC National sprint cars set by Tom Bigelow (14) in 1977 and was his 21st career USAC National sprint car win overall. Cummins would cross the line second for his best finish of the season in USAC competition with Danner third, Mitchel Moles fourth and Bacon rounding out the top five. Daison Pursley would come home sixth with Robert Ballou seventh, CJ Leary eighth, Kevin Thomas Jr ninth and Jadon Rogers, the hard charger award winner after starting twenty third and finishing tenth. Geoff Ensign was the top LPS regular runner marching from twenty fourth to eleventh at the finish.

It was a wild night of racing with the final checker of the evening not waving until 11:30 in the 50th time that USAC sprint cars have visited the Putnam County oval.

That’s it for now but check back tomorrow to see what happens in race two of ISW with the action shifting to the Kokomo Speedway. Until next time get out there and enjoy some good racing in your area and have fun and stay safe and hydrated. News, comments, opinions and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and keep coming back to see where we end up next in a typical weekend. Take care, be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Scott Makes Late Race Pass To Capture Sprint Win At Paragon

Friday, July 12 – It was a nice day, sunny with temperatures in the mid to high 80’s and a good day to go racing. We had three viable sprint car choices on the evening with Circle City Raceway running winged FAST sprint cars (we had just seen 9 nights of winged racing in PA so that one was off the board), Paragon Speedway running a Friday night special with non-winged sprint cars and Bloomington Speedway running non-winged sprint cars. We chose Paragon for several reasons such as closer to home, only three divisions and we figured they would have more sprints than the other two. We were right on the sprint car counts as Paragon had 30 while Circle City had 24 and Bloomington had 19. Also Circle City had a rogue storm that wiped out their program as only time trials were the sprint cars were completed. Where did that come from? Also it was HARF night at Paragon and with a reasonable $15 admission fee plus a HARF discount of $5 it made this program a bargain. Now they were the good things about the evening, now let’s delve into the not so good things.

We would like your opinions on this subject which is starting on time. Hot laps were scheduled for 6:30 and racing at 7 but racing at Paragon did not start until 8:23 without any explanation or apologies for starting this late. Usually when we go to a race, we are fine with them starting within a 15 minute range of their posted starting time but how can you start almost an hour and a half late with no reasoning given? Why do many tracks have no sense of urgency and act like everyone in attendance only lives 10 minutes away from their racetrack. We thoroughly enjoyed our June 22nd visit here but they regressed big time tonight. If racing wants to be considered a big time sport in the same breath as baseball, football, soccer and others they have to present a timely program starting at the scheduled starting time. When a quarter of your crowd is gone but ever seeing a feature event how many of those will return in the future. Do you go to a baseball game that is scheduled to start at 7:05 and it doesn’t start at that time (unless rain or another problem)? Do you go to a Colts football game scheduled to start at 1 PM on a Sunday and it doesn’t start until 2:30 PM? NO!! So, why do racetrack promoters think it is OK to post a scheduled starting time for racing at say 7 PM and not start racing until close to 8:30. And it is not just Paragon we are picking on but the majority of short track racing in the United States. Send us your thoughts on this matter as we get back to the night of racing that unfolded when they decided to start the races.

The three division program tonight consisted of non-wing sprint cars (30), hornets (30) for the Randy Smith Memorial race and crate late models (13). The sprint cars were the first to contest their heat races with four on the agenda with the top four moving to the 25 lap feature event later in the evening. Brandon Mattox would start off the evening winning the first heat over Travis Thompson, Aric Gentry and Mike Larrison. Heat two was captured by Aiden Salisbury besting Logan Calderwood from Arizona, Evan Mosley and Joss Moffatt, a Lawrenceburg regular. Heat three fell to Andrew Prather beating Travis Berryhill, Cody Trammell and Jackson Slone. Heat four was taken by Jake Scott outdistancing Trey Osborne in a brand new car finished this same morning, Hunter Maddox and Colten Cottle. Next up were two heats for the crate late models won by Derek Groomer and Tyler Cain before the hornets took to the track for their four heat races. There were two youngsters all the way from North Carolina in the hornet heats with the youngest at 9 years old and the older one at 11 years old. We are sorry but we feel that is too young for a kid to be racing in a race car. It is different if they are racing quarter midgets, go karts or juice box racers but to be in a full size race car is entirely too young in our opinion. While we are soliciting opinions how about voicing yours on this subject also. All heat racing was completed by 9:47 with a B main for the sprints and hornets to follow.

The sprint B main was first and a combination of spins and flips made this one a long affair. Australian Troy Carey got into an awkward position entering turn one and ramped on the side bar of another competitor and rolled several times in between turns one and two. Carey was OK but done for the evening. When it was all said and done another Aussie, Todd Hobson, was the winner over Colin Parker, Isaac Chapple and Zach Pretorius. The hornet B main also had a rollover in turn two and by the time the two B mains were over it was now 10:38.

No need to push the program along now as folks began to exit the track grounds before the first of three features even started. Our hint of sarcasm!

It was not until 10:58 when the initial green flag dropped on the 25 lap sprint car feature with Logan Calderwood taking the early lead. It would not last long as Trey Osborne got sideways in turn four on the opening lap with Travis Thompson crashing into him. Both would restart but in turn one Osborne tangled with Colin Parker with both spinning invoking the two spin rule on Osborne who was waved to the pits for the remainder of the race. The next restart saw Joss Moffett pirouetted in turn one after ramping over a left rear tire of someone and doing everything but actually flipping as he bounced hard several times on the racing surface. Moffett was OK but probably will be sore tomorrow morning! It was a real rough start to this one but actually once they got their early mishaps out of the way it turned into a good feature.

Logan Calderwood went to the point on each of the restarts and would pace the field for the first ten laps until the fourth caution appeared when Todd Hobson and Parker spun in turn one invoking the two spin rule on Parker. On the restart it was Calderwood on the fast pedal first with fifth starting Andrew Prather and eighth starting in tow. The final caution would wave on lap fourteen when Travis Thompson spun in turn one while running sixth after coming from the tail of the field.

On the ensuing restart Calderwood retained the lead with Prather and Scott ready to pounce. While Calderwood and Prather worked the high side Scott found the inside to his liking and nipped away at the front two. Scott moved by Prather for second on the inside of the homestretch for second on lap sixteen. Two laps later Scott used a slider entering turn one on Calderwood and had the lead by turn two. Meanwhile, Cody Trammell, who started 11th, was making a serious late race charge passing Prather for third on lap nineteen and reeling in the leaders over the next several laps. Taking the white flag on the homestretch Trammell slipped by Calderwood for second but ran out of time to make a serious challenge to Scott for the lead. The checkered waved at 11:25 with Jake Scott grabbing the win over Trammell with Calderwood turning in his strongest performance of the summer in Indiana with a third, trailed by Prather and Travis Berryhill slipping into fifth at the finish. Rounding out the top ten were Aidan Salisbury in sixth, Evan Mosley seventh, Isaac Chapple eighth, Brandon Mattox slipping to ninth with Hunter Maddox rounding out the top ten. With an hour and twenty minute drive home, we hit the road even though we wanted to watch the crate late model feature. We arrived back in Crawfordsville at 12:50 AM, much too late for a three division show scheduled to start at 7.

That’s it for now and check back often to see where we end up next. In the meantime, get out there and support your local short track and have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Opinions on the above commentary can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And thanks, as always for reading our efforts and hope our comments are not too harsh above but sometimes promoters can be their own worse enemies. And in closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Dietrich Takes Third Win But Falls Short For PA Speedweek Championship At Selinsgrove

Sunday, July 7 – The temperature only hit 91 degrees today but the big difference was the lower humidity from life sucking proportions to near livable proportions!! It was the final day (day 10) of Pennsylvania Speedweek and race nine as last Saturday’s show at Lincoln was the only one to get rained out. Not bad!!

Tonight 23 sprint cars pulled northward into Snyder County nestled in the Susquehanna Valley with the Appalachian Mountains as a backdrop to the small town of Selinsgrove where the half mile clay oval known as the Selinsgrove Speedway is located. Anthony Macri led Danny Dietrich by 63 points headed into the last show of the ten day run so it would take a herculean performance by Dietrich to wrestle the title away from the Concrete Kid. The IMCA modifieds would be the second class on the dance card and they would run two heats and a feature for their 16 car field.

First up after hot laps for both divisions were time trials for the sprint cars running two at a time which made for a short session starting at 7:03 and competing at 7:18. Danny Dietrich set fast time with a lap of 17.222 seconds around the big half mile cutting three points off Macri’s 63 point lead and pocketing $300 for being fast timer.

One IMCA modified heat would be run before the sprint cars came out for their three heats so as to keep the down time to a minimum. All cars in each division would qualify for their respective features so the heats would only determine the redraw drivers for the sprint cars. Kody Hartlaub who had blossomed during PA Speedweek with some good showings, continued tonight by winning the first heat race over Steve Buckwalter, Danny Dietrich, Jake Karklin and Spencer Bayston. Heat two went to the steady Troy Wagaman Jr besting Mike Walter II, Devon Borden, Austin Bishop and T.J. Stutts. The third heat was claimed by Anthony Macri defeating Lucas Wolfe, Jessie Attard, Mark Smith and Jeff Halligan. The second IMCA modified heat followed and all heat qualifying was completed by 8:16. An unnecessary 50 minute track rework was performed which didn’t help a darn bit as it was as dusty as when the last heat ended!!

The 30 lap, $10,000 to win sprint car feature was first on the agenda with the front row of Kody Hartlaub and Danny Dietrich bringing the 23 car field to the green flag at 9:08. Hartlaub led the majority of the first lap but Dietrich moved by him off turn four to take the lead on the opening lap. Anthony Macri moved by Hartlaub for second on the second lap and the race was on. Cameron Smith spun between turns one and two bringing out the only caution of the race on lap two. On the restart Detrich led with Macri second with Troy Wagaman Jr using a turn three move to wrestle third from Hartlaub. Spencer Bayston was making up chunks of real estate marching from 14th to 7th by lap five but that was the high mark for the youngster from Lebanon, Indiana. He would languish around the middle of the top ten for the remainder of the event and eventually end up outside the top ten at the end.

Lap seven saw the leaders start to encounter lap traffic and began to weave their way through. Lucas Wolfe was the next driver to pass Hartlaub for fourth on the homestretch on lap twelve. Devon Borden dispatched Hartlaub out of the top five with a pass for fifth on lap fourteen. Borden continued his march catching Wolfe for fourth in turn one on lap eighteen. Justin Whittall who had mechanical woes before starting his heat, started twenty first and slipped by Wolfe for fifth on lap twenty three in his run to the front.

Meanwhile Dietrich was maintaining about a four car length gap on Macri up front as the laps ticked off. Whittall was able to pick off Borden for fourth in the last few laps but no one was catching Danny Dietrich as he raced under the checkers at 9:21 for his third win of PA Speedweek tying Macri for most wins in the ten day period. But it still was not enough as Dietrich fell 29 points short of unseating Macri for the point championship as Macri came across second at the finish. Troy Wagaman Jr finished third with Justin Whittall coming from twenty first to fourth and Devon Borden finishing fifth after starting ninth. Dietrich also did receive the Selinsgrove Ford 10 for 10 bonus of $5000 for finishing in the top ten in all the Speedweek races run.

Positions six through ten were filled by Lucas Wolfe, Blane Heimbach who started 20th and finished seventh. Hartlaub ended up eighth with T.J. Stutts ninth and Cameron Smith recovering from his early race spin to move from 19th to tenth at the finish. It was the end to a long, grueling week for drivers, crews and fans alike as the hot weather was a killer but everyone made it through and Macri won his second straight PA Speedweek point championship in the process. Macri finished 29 points ahead of Dietrich who finished 283 points ahead of third place, Troy Wagaman Jr so you can see it was a two dog race to the finish.

That’s it until next weekend as we return to Indiana and check back next Saturday to see where a typical weekend takes us. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and be safe and stay hydrated. News, words of wisdom, sarcasm and other comments can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next. And in closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Wagner Breaks Through For First PA Speedweek Win At Port Royal

Saturday, July 6 – We arose early Saturday to drive over to Ephrata to visit the new home of Bill and Judy Burns, our friends for many years. First we met them at Gus’s Keystone Family Restaurant for a delicious, reasonably priced breakfast before venturing over to their new community where the new houses are built in 50’s Craftsman stye housing which was very impressive. Many years of happiness we wish upon the Burns’ in their retirement home.

Then it was north again for the second time this week to the Port Royal Speedway for round nine and race eight of the 34th edition of Pennsylvania Speedweek presented by the fine folks at Red Robin. It was another scorcher with temperatures peaking at 97 but as it turned to early evening sitting in the shade in the aluminum grandstands it was not that bad.

The same format as previous races would have time trials followed by four heats with the top five moving directly to the 30 lap, $10,000 to win Greg Hodnett Classic feature event. The heat winner and the top time trial guy that qualified in his heat would move to the redraw to determine the top eight starting positions for the main event unless the heat winner was also the top qualifier in that heat then one draw spot is eliminated. This race was being run in honor of the late and great Greg Hodnett who was killed in a 2018 sprint car crash at BAPS Motor Speedway while competing there. He was only 49 at the time of his passing and his wife, Sherry, continues his memory as she has established the Greg Hodnett Foundation to present two deserving young adults with $3000 scholarships for furthering their education. Five sprinters that Greg drove in the past were in attendance and paced the field before the 30 lap feature event began.

Time trials kicked off at 6:53 for the 39 car field on hand with Jeff Halligan setting fast time around the half mile oval to the tune of 15.820 seconds by the time the clock struck 7:27.

The first sprint car heat race would take the green flag at 8:02 as three cars dropped from competition prior to the heats leaving us with 36 to do battle for the 24 starting positions. Justin Whittall scored the win in heat one over Devon Borden, Michael Walter, Mike Wagner and Jeff Halligan. Heat two went to Danny Dietrich beating T.J. Stutts, Troy Wagaman Jr, Jake Karklin and Mark Smith. Heat three was won by Logan Wagner over Chase Dietz, Steve Buckwalter, Dylan Cisney and Austin Bishop. Brent Marks would capture the fourth heat besting Spencer Bayston, Anthony Macri, Lucas Wolfe and Brock Zearfoss. Macri’s #39M was sporting the Jim and Sandy Kline bright yellow #22 top wing to honor Hodnett on this evening.

The super late models, 22 in number, were the other division on the race card tonight and would do battle in three heats with everyone transferring to the A main. Justin Weaver garnered heat one over Hayes Mattern and 68 year old veteran, Gary Stuhler. Heat two fell to Rick Eckert besting Bryan Bernheisel and Colton Flinner. The three heat was won by Trever Feathers outdistancing Andrew Yoder and brother, Dylan Yoder. The super late models would not need a B main but the sprinters would.

Blane Heimbach, the dairy farmer from Selinsgrove, would jump out front at the beginning and win going away over Ryan Smith, Lance Dewease and Kody Hartlaub the last man in. All prelims were in the books and all that was left were the two feature events.

It was go time for the 410 sprints by 9:29 with the front row of Logan Wagner and Brent Marks bringing the 24 car field to the green flag. Wagner, known as “The Pilot,” because he is a private jet pilot during the week blasted into the early lead running up high against the railing in turns one and two. Wagner was setting a torrid pace in the early going catching the tail end of the field by lap six. Wagner went to work weaving his way through the traffic with Marks chasing in a high speed chase.

Anthony Macri caught and passed Marks for second in turn three on lap fifteen but Marks was not going to go away that easy as he returned the favor passing Macri back in turn two on the next lap. Lap nineteen saw the first of two cautions wave as Michael Walter slowed on the homestretch to bring out the yellow flag. On the restart Wagner was gone again leaving Marks and Macri to do battle. Danny Dietrich made his presence known passing Macri in turn four on lap twenty. One lap later the second and final caution would fly when the mayor of Port Royal, Dylan Cisney, slowed down the backstretch stopping on the track.

On the ensuing restart Wagner hit the throttle and was at the point again with Macri racing past Dietrich down the backstretch past the houses off that straightway and back into third. T.J. Stutts also picked off Dietrich to take over fourth on the backstretch on lap twenty four. Dietrich would fade further back possibly because of tire wear or contact with the turn two wall and drop out of the top five in the late stages of the race. Meanwhile, Wagner in the legendary Kreitz blue #69K wrenched by 90 year old Davey Brown was not to be denied his first Pennsylvania Speedweek win as he breezed to the win flashing under the checkers at 9:44 for the big win over Marks, Macri, Justin Whittall and T.J. Stutts in a fine run from 11th to fifth at the finish. Devon Borden came across the line sixth followed by Mike Wagner, the hard charger from 15th to seventh with Dietrich ending up eighth, Chase Dietz ninth and Troy Wagaman Jr tenth. Macri will take a 66 point lead into the final Sunday at Selinsgrove and barring anything major should capture the 2024 PA Speedweek point title.

We still had 25 laps of super late model action to spin off before the evening was completed and at 10:02 the green cloth waved on the 22 car starting field. Justin Weaver was quick to the early lead and would hold sway through three cautions to go onto his first career win in the super late models at Port Royal fending off Andrew Yoder with Colton Flinner third, Rick Eckert advancing from eighth to fourth and Hayes Mattern rounding out the top five as the clock hit 10:19 wrapping up the good night of high speed racing at the Speed Palace.

That’s it for this report but check back tomorrow for the last night of Pennsylvania Speedweek where the point championship will be determined at the half mile speed plant of the Selinsgrove Speedway located in Snyder County along the picturesque Susquehanna River. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area on a Sunny Sunday and be safe out there and stay hydrated. Comments, news, tidbits of information or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and for your input. In closing be good and be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what a kind word or a smile could do for that person.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Macri Collects Third Win Of PA Speedweek In Wire To Wire Run At Williams Grove

Friday, July 5 – I hope we get a break from this hot and humid weather with temperatures in the mid 90’s and a heat index over 104 degrees. It makes trying to do anything outside miserable and that includes watching races. We can’t imagine how hot it is for the crews and drivers on such a day. We hung out at our Home2 in Mechanicsburg until 2:30 and then made our way over to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Fiesta Mexico, for an excellent meal before driving the short distance over to the track. We secured a good parking space and sat in the SUV in the AC until closer to start time. Before climbing up into the aluminum grandstands we bought ice cream once again with Pat choosing black raspberry while I opted for peanut butter swirl. It was cool and delicious!!

Once up in the grandstands we chatted with Bezz and Karen and Milt before settling in to watch time trials for the 32 sprints on hand. The two at a time around the half mile made quick work of qualifying for the group starting at 7:44 and wrapping up at 8:07. Anthony Macri set another fast time with a lap of 17.102 seconds and claimed $300 for his efforts. Tonight was the 36th Mitch Smith Memorial honoring one of Central Pennsylvania’s early stars of open cockpit racing who left a mark on all who saw him run with his exciting racing style. Tonight’s race would pay a cool $20,000 to win and some invaders including Brent Marks, Logan Schuchart, Daryn Pittman, Brock Zearfoss, Skylar Gee and Spencer Bayston were in town to try to steal the big bucks from the PA regulars.

The first of four heat races taking the top five directly into the 30 lap main event would follow. Brent Marks raced away from the field to an easy win in heat one beating Lance Dewease, Chad Trout, Chase Dietz and Steve Buckwalter. Heat two went to Lucas Wolfe over Danny Dietrich, Cameron Smith, Troy Wagaman Jr and Justin Whittall. Wagaman busted a driveline completely after crossing the finish line and the Heffner crew went to work on the car to try to make repairs before the feature race. Heat three went to Oklahoma’s Daryn Pittman steering the Krietz #69K to victory over T.J. Stutts, Anthony Macri, Ryan Smith and Ryan Taylor. The fourth heat was captured by Freddie Rahmer in the Eichelberger #8 outrunning Mike Wagner, Logan Schuchart, Kody Hartlaub and Brock Zearfoss.

Fireworks were next on the agenda and a good display was witness by all as the track crew worked the surface to make it the best that they could. The B main followed the fireworks with Mike Walter II winning this affair over Spencer Bayston, Skylar Gee and Devon Borden. The feature race was next on the dance card with the Heffner crew still working to repair their sprinter. Time ran out as the first alternate was called to the track and Jeff Halligan in the #1W was in the field.

It was 9:54 when the green flag waved on the front row of Anthony Macri and Chad Trout with Macri quickly moving into the lead. Brent Marks was making some early moves advancing from sixth to third in two laps. By lap seven Macri had reached lap traffic at the end of the field and began to work his way around the slower cars. Marks was beginning to close the gap on Trout as they raced for second position by lap nine. The only caution of the event flew on lap eleven when Ryan Smith lost the handle and spun between turns three and four. On the restart Macri was quick on the throttle jumping back out to a comfortable lead leaving the rest of the top five to do battle among themselves. Devon Borden had made great progress storming from twenty third to twelfth at this point but would only gain one more spot over the next nineteen laps but still would garner the hard charger award.

On lap fourteen Logan Schuchart made his move taking fourth with a high side pass of Freddie Rahmer in turn two and was looking for more. Schuchart sped by Marks for third also in turn two on lap twenty six but Marks countered and retook the spot in turn three. Meanwhile Macri was cruising up front and easily crossed the line first at 10:10 notching his third win of Pennsylvania Speedweek and taking a 36 point lead over Danny Dietrich into the final two rounds tomorrow and Sunday in a two dog race. Trout crossed the line for a fine second with Marks third, Schuchart fourth and Rahmer closing out the top five. Positions six through ten were filled by Lance Dewease, Lucas Wolfe, Dietrich, T.J. Stutts and Chase Dietz.

Ran into the creator of Hoseheads.com, Allan Holland and the guy who lets us write our columns for his site when exiting in the parking lot and had a short conversation with him before departing. It was good seeing you Allan!!

That’s it for this round and check back tomorrow to see what happens at round nine of Pennsylvania Speedweek at Port Royal Speedway. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and stay hydrated. Comments, news and any other information can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and the kind words you sent along. Be good and be kind to everyone you meet.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Schuchart Doubles Up With PA Speedweek Win At Hagerstown

Thursday, July 4 – Today’s weather was the big story on our nation’s Independence Day as the temperature soared into the 90’s and the humidity was so thick you could cut it with a knife. It was instant wet t-shirt weather as soon as you stepped out in the life sucking humidity. We ate lunch at title sponsor of Pennsylvania Speedweek, Red Robin, before venturing down the road into the state of Maryland for night seven and race six of the series. There was a threat of thunderstorms during the day but a dry drive until we were within five miles of the track was the case. As we exited I-81 we encountered rain as we traveled east. Along the route we noticed a Sheetz gas station with prices of $2.45, twenty four cents cheaper than the fuel in Pennsylvania! So on exit from the races tonight a stop for fuel was in order. As we drove closer to the track the rain intensified with high wiper speed the order of the day. We pulled into the parking lot in a steady rain and the parking attendants were still doing their job (which was appreciated) as they directed us to a good spot closer to the exit as if you have ever been at Hagerstown, you know that is only one way out and everyone is funneling up that road. We sat in rain for about another 15 minutes before it began to let up. The race fans were ready to see some racing so almost as the drops subsided, they exited their vehicles and headed for the ticket booth to secure their seats in the large aluminum grandstands on the homestretch. We soon followed and it was good to be back at the ½ mile Hagerstown Speedway with the red clay and the nice facilities. The track had been prepared and closed up before the rains began and the track crew felt that it would be ready to go at the scheduled time for hot laps which was 7:30. They were almost on the mark with the first sprint car circling the track at around 7:45. Joining us on the evening would be Pocono Mountain residents, Guy and Pam Smith, making the three hour tow from up north to join us on this evening. Ice cream was the first order of business once situated in our seats taking the lead of the Smith’s who purchased the first order shortly after their arrival. Soon Pat and I each had a dish of strawberry and black raspberry ice cream in our hands respectively and it was delicious especially on this hot, hot night.

Time trials were the first order of business after hot laps were given for all 31 sprinters in attendance with the first of two cars at a time taking the green flag at 8:18. By 8:39 Justin Whittall had stopped the clocks with the fastest time of 15.247 seconds around the ½ mile red clay oval. Next order of business was the first group of the Eastern Motorsports Museum vintage cars taking a cruise around the track.

After that it was time to spin off the three eight lap heat races for the sprint cars with the format of six to qualify with the winner and the fastest qualifying driver moving to the redraw to determine the top six starting positions. Kody Hartlaub would streak out front in the first heat and win going away with Anthony Macri, Justin Whittall, Freddie Rahmer, Mike Wagner and Robbie Kendall making his first start of the series trailing. Heat two went to the Heffner #27 steed with Troy Wagaman Jr at the controls winning the race over Danny Dietrich, Chad Trout, Jacob Allen, Devon Borden and Billy Dietrich. The third and final heat was captured by Logan Schuchart beating T.J. Stutts and Lance Dewease returning to the sight of his first ever sprint car win of his long and successful career. Camerson Smith, Kyle Reinhardt and Skylar Gee were the other three qualifiers.

After a second round of another division of vintage race cars it was time to spin off the sprint car B main with twelve cars battling for the last six positions into tonight’s 30 lap, $10,000 to win feature event. Lucas Wolfe would claim the win in this one over Ryan Smith, Australian Jessie Attard, Derek Hauck, Dylan Norris and Michael Walter being the last man in just ahead of Jason Loss. Hunter Mackinson, another first time competitor in the series, took an end over end flip in turn two during the B main and he was OK after the incident. Another round of vintage cars consisting of sprints and super sportsman preceded the start of the 30 lap PA Speedweek contest.

By 10:18 we were ready to go feature racing with the front row of Logan Schuchart and Troy Wagaman Jr bringing the 24 car field to the green flag. Schuchart was quick on the loud pedal taking the early lead, one he would relinquish for the remainder of the event. Danny Dietrich was making early hay slicing from his eighth starting position up to fifth by lap two. Lap five saw Dietrich continue his march forward with a backstretch pass of Justin Whittall for fourth. Schuchart began to encounter lap traffic by lap ten allowing Wagaman to close the gap on Schuchart to within three car lengths. Schuchart was able to keep the distance between him and Wagaman to a comfortable margin as they worked their way through the end of the field. Meanwhile, Dietrich gained another spot when he raced by Kody Hartlaub in traffic off turn four on lap thirteen. Anthony Macri had worked his way up from seventh to fourth by lap eighteen and he was not done gaining positions. One lap later the only caution of the event waved as Michael Walter slowed to a stop off turn four. On the restart Schuchart held sway with Wagaman in tow. Macri blasted by Dietrich racing through turn two on lap twenty five and then dove low on Wagaman and executed a slider in turn three moving momentarily into second but Wagaman would have none of this and countered low off turn four to regain the runner-up position as they raced to the line to start lap twenty six. Meanwhile Schuchart had checked out once again and at 10:31 the Shark Racing #1S flashed across the line first for his second PA Speedweek win of the week. Troy Wagaman Jr finished second with Anthony Macri third, Danny Dietrich fourth and Justin Whittall rounding out the top five. Chad Trout led the second five across the line in sixth with Lance Dewease seventh, Kody Hartlaub eighth, T.J. Stutts ninth and Devon Borden advancing from 14th to tenth. After tonight’s action Dietrich leads Macri by 30 points in the PA Speedweek standings with three races to go.

It was a fast paced race on a juiced up surface and hats off to the Hagerstown track crew for whipping the surface back into shape after the afternoon rain and allowing the good crowd on hand to watch some good sprint car racing on the evening. And for us it was nice to return to a track that we have not been to in at least 15 to 20 years and see that it is still looking good.

That’s it for this report and don’t forget to check back tomorrow to see who wins race seven of night eight of Pennsylvania Speedweek as the grueling ten straight days of racing continues with the weather to be hell like hot today with temperatures in the mid 90’s and the heat index even higher. So be safe out there and stay hydrated as this hot, hot weather is upon us. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Macri Scores Second Win Of PA Sprintweek At Port Royal

Wednesday, July 3 – Today was another pleasant day with partially sunny skies and temperatures in the mid to upper 80’s as we made our way northward along the shores of the Susquehanna and Juniata Rivers to the small town of Port Royal, home of the Juniata County Fairgrounds and the ½ mile oval known as the Speed Palace, the Port Royal Speedway. The mayor of Port Royal is Dylan Cisney, also a 410 sprint car driver at the track. The community is very race oriented and supports the track wholeheartedly even lowering a sprint car on New Year’s Eve from a pole to ring in the new year!! When you sit in the huge aluminum grandstands and look out over the town which surrounds the fairgrounds with the mountains in the background it is an awesome sight to behold. It is like looking at a picture post card and is so beautiful to behold.

Two divisions of open wheel sprint cars were on the card for this evening, the actual fifth race of the series though it is the sixth stop with Lincoln having been rained out this past Saturday. The high point of 410 sprints was reached tonight with 39 entries and the United Racing Club (URC) 360 sprints brought 31 sprints to race tonight in Juniata County. Time trials were first on the agenda with the first car pushing off at 6:35 and the last one tripping the clock at 7:03. Chase Dietz, the driver of the Zemco #1 at Port Royal, was fastest of the lot turning a lap of 15.953 seconds around the half mile oval to garner the $250 fast timer award. After URC sprint hot laps, it was time for the first of four heat races with the top five locking into the 30 lap main event while the heat winner and fastest timer who qualified within the top five moving to the redraw where the top eight starting positions for the main event would be determined.

Heat one would go to Derek Hauck of Allenwood in his #33H over Billy Dietrich, Kody Lehman, Mike Wagner and Chase Dietz. Heat two was captured by Logan Wagner of Harrisonville aboard the Krietz #69K over WOO invader, Brock Zearfoss, with Danny Dietrich third, Troy Wagaman Jr fourth and Jeff Halligan taking fifth. Heat three was taken by High Limit runner, Brent Marks, a PA boy from Myerstown, over Anthony Macri, Ryan Smith, Garrett Bard, a 305 sprint graduate, and Kyle Reinhardt. Michael Walter of Selinsgrove nailed down heat four in impressive fashion outdistancing Justin Whittall, Devon Borden, Lance DeWease and Emerson Axsom from Indiana.

Three URC sprint heats were next on the dance card with the top six moving into their 25 lap feature later in the evening. Derek Locke of Mechanicsburg claimed heat one over Adam Carberry, Robbie Stillwagon, JT Ferry from our Hoseheads creator’s hometown of Drums, Ron Helmick and Tyler Ulrich. Heat two went to Seth Schnoke of Pine Grove over Jake Karklin, Doug Hammaker, Josh Weller, Reese Nowotarski and Owen Dimm. The third and final heat was won by Tyler Ross of Lincoln University over Kyle Smith of Massachusetts, Cody Fletcher, Ken Meisner, Hayden Miller and Jacob Galloway.
After a half hour track rework, it was time for the 410 sprint B main and a wild scene unfolded before the start of the race when the cars were lining up to begin the race. Freddie Rahmer at full throttle stormed down the homestretch and Vince Snyder who must have been unaware that Rahmer was coming, pulled to the right with Rahmer ramping over Snyder’s right rear tire and launching into a series of wild flips. Rahmer quickly emerged from the upside down sprinter which was wrecked quite extensively.

With the top four moving onto the rear of the feature starting lineup it was Steve Buckwalter of Royersford winning over Austin Bishop, Jessie Attard and Lucas Wolfe. The URC sprint B main was next with Stockton, New Jersey’s Jared Kreider taking the win over Preston Lattomus, Brandon McGough, Frankie Herr, Devin Gundrum and Brett Wanner to qualify for their feature race. All qualifying was completed by 9:49 and as the URC sprints exited the track the 410 sprints rolled out of the turn four gate to be pushed off for their 30 lap, $10,000 to win PA Sprintweek event.

The 30 lap Pennsylvania Speedweek feature was led to the green flag by Michael Walter and Chase Dietz at 10:01 with Walter going to the lead in turn one. Walter would proceed to lead the first 12 laps of the race with Dietz, Marks, Macri and Danny Dietrich in pursuit. Lap nine saw second place runner, Dietz, bounce off the turn three fencing and ride it into turn four until pulling his sprinter off and continuing but not before Brent Marks sailed by for second. Lap twelve saw Macri and Dietrich move by the wounded Dietz for third and fourth on the grid. Marks raced with Walter down the backstretch and into turns three and four before Marks was able to clear Walter to claim the lead on lap thirteen. Macri would power by Walter for second on the homestretch one lap later while Logan Wagner cracked the top five on the same lap. The only caution of the race would fly on lap fifteen when Brock Zearfoss slowed on the homestretch to slow the action.

On the restart Marks assumed the point using the high side up against the fencing while Macri who is usually a rim rider also chose to work on Marks using the bottom groove. The two combatants went at it tooth and nail until Macri was able to make the low side pass in turn four on lap nineteen. Wagner took fourth with a backstretch pass of Dietrich on the same lap. Wagner advanced another position with a turn three pass for third on lap twenty five as Macri sailed away in the lead. The last five laps spun off rapidly with Macri crossing the start/finish line at 10:14 for his second win of PA Speedweek beating Marks with Logan Wagner third, Danny Dietrich fourth and Kody Lehman in a late charge completing a fine run from 11th to fifth at the finish. Walter would end up sixth at the end with Dietz seventh, Justin Whittall eighth, Billy Dietrich ninth and Lance DeWease finishing tenth after starting seventeenth.

There was still one other race to contest and by 10:35 the green would drop on the 25 lap URC sprint feature but would quickly be replaced by the red flag as a massive turn one crash had four cars flipping in the melee. The cars of Kyle Smith, Seth Schnoke, Jacob Galloway and Kruz Kepner all got upside down and the good part was everyone was OK after the nasty crash. On the restart fourth starting Tyler Ross was quick to get to the front and paced the field. On the only other caution of the race Jake Karklin was able to challenge Ross for the lead with the pair racing side by side for several laps with Karklin edging ahead for a brief time. Ross was able to battle back and reclaim the lead which he would not relinquish for the remainder of the race coming home the winner at 11 PM with Karklin second, Dale Hammaker third, Cody Fletcher fourth and Derek Locke moving from eighth to fifth at the finish.

It was a good night of racing at the Speed Palace and we left happy with what we had witnessed.

Check back tomorrow as we head south on I-81 into Maryland to take in the next round of Pennsylvania Speedweek and read what went on in this outing. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road and see some different racing. Either way be safe out there and stay hydrated. Comments, points of interest and any other news or tidbits can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you continue to enjoy our musings of what we see and encounter. Until next time be good and be kind.

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Schuchart Wins In Return To PA In Tight Duel At Grandview

Tuesday, July 2 – Temperatures in the low 80’s with sunshine greeted us today as we prepared for race four of the 34th Pennsylvania Sprint Week presented by Red Robin at the Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, PA. The 1/3 mile dirt oval is a standard stop during the week of speed but is not in Central Pennsylvania and is during the week so many of the normal Central PA teams do not support this race. Hence the smallest of the four nights of racing with 24 entrants awaited us on this evening along with 26 of the weekly 358 modifieds that race here on a typical Saturday night. Our hour and forty five minute drive from Mechanicsburg found us arriving at 5 PM and thanks to the seat saving expertise of Rich Rauser we had good seats just one row from the top of the homestretch grandstands next to friends, Kerry and Cindy Meitzler, for the night of racing action.

On tap this evening was the Hodnett Cup, named after Greg Hodnett, who won many times here during sprint car competition at the track on the hill. His widow, Sherry, has graciously donated one of his trophies to be presented to the winner of this race with their name permanently engraved upon it.

Time trials were the first order of business commencing at 7:07. Logan Schuchart with a week off from World of Outlaw competition and with all their drivers granted a free week of racing without using their four free race cards decided to come home to the Hanover area and race with the PA regulars during their sprint week. He was able to set fast time (12.073 seconds) in only his second ever appearance at Grandview, the first one being 12 years ago.

From there we proceeded into the sprint car heats after some track maintenance was performed with three heats for the 24 car field with everyone moving into the 35 lap, $10,000 to win feature event. The winner of the heat and the quickest timer finishing behind would move into the redraw which would determine the top six starters in tonight’s Hodnett Cup. Danny Dietrich was able off the draw jumping out front in the first heat going away to win over Skyler Gee, Aaron Bollinger in this third different car of the series and Logan Schuchart. Devon Borden took heat two looking for redemption after last night’s tough decision winning over Troy Wagaman Jr, Anthony Macri and Ryan Taylor. The third heat went to Australian Jesse Attard taking nicely to the cozy confines of Grandview spanking the field in winning heat three besting Kody Hartlaub, Emerson Axsom and Lucas Wolfe.

The three 358 modified heats were won by names from the ‘90’s at Grandview who are still going strong at this track them being Craig VonDohren, Duane Howard and Doug Manmiller. After these heats were spun off it was another track rework to the tune of a half hour before the 35 lap sprint car feature was called trackside.

The front row of Logan Schuchart and Anthony Macri would bring the 24 car field to the green flag at 9:04 and this race would go flag to flag without a caution. Macri took the lead in turn three from Schuchart on the opening lap and paced the field over the early going. The leaders already reached lap traffic by lap four and Macri and Schuchart began to pick their way through the tail enders. Schuchart closed on Macri in the traffic and executed a turn two high side pass of Macri to grab the lead on lap nine. The front two see-sawed back and forth exchanging sliders and the lead as the field passed the halfway mark in a high speed chase. Meanwhile behind the front two Devon Borden was first having a battle with Jesse Attard before Attard faded and Danny Dietrich arrived upon the scene as the race for third heated up also. Canadian Skyler Gee also threw his helmet into the fray with these three locking up in a great duel. Lap twenty saw Macri draw side by side with Schuchart but was not able to pull off the pass at that time. Macri reloaded and racing down the backstretch on lap twenty three pulled the trigger and blew by Schuchart for the lead.

Schuchart was not done by any stretch of the imagination as he found the inside to his liking after using the top side most of the race and hammered the throttle under Macri off turn four on lap twenty eight to once again assume the top position. Schuchart opened up a small lead in the next few laps but Macri recovered and was on his tail tank by lap thirty two. The pair raced around the oval like two dancers in a high speed dance and on the final lap Macri made one last charge blasting into turn three and sliding up into the turn three wall almost ruining his night but recovered off the wall to race home second behind Schuchart at 9:13 in the non-stop contest. Borden came home third with Dietrich fourth and Skyler Gee rounding out the top five. Emerson Axsom ended up sixth with Troy Wagaman Jr seventh, Kyle Reinhardt the hard charger eighth after starting fourteenth, Kody Hartlaub ninth and young Dylan Norris rounding out the top ten.

We sat around some listening to the top three interviews and chatting with our many friends before realizing the track rework being done was going to be extensive before the 358 modified race so we decided to pack up and head toward the exit to make the hour and forty five minute trip back to central Pennsylvania for a good night’s sleep. This was the 155th Thunder on the Hill race presented by Bob Miller and thanks to him for bringing us some great open wheel action to the track on the hill and all his hospitality to us over the years.

Whoever said that you can’t go home again was wrong and Logan Schuchart is glad they were. Schuchart and the Shark Racing Team have been having a trying year so far in 2024 with only one win (coming last week at Cedar Lake) so after finishing fourth at Lincoln last night and with this win tonight hopefully Shark Racing has turned the corner and only better results are awaiting them.

That’s it for this segment but that is not all as we continue on the Pennsylvania Sprint Week tour heading northward to the beautiful Tuscarora Valley nestled at the foot of the Tuscarora Mountain where the picturesque town of Port Royal is located and the home of the Port Royal Speedway known as the Speed Palace where round five will take up tonight. In the meantime, get out there and catch some good short track racing in your area and be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, words of wisdom, news and stories can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope that you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Macri Breaks Through For PA Sprint Week Win At Lincoln

Monday, July 1 – The month of July is upon us and today the weather was less oppressive than yesterday with temperatures only in the upper 80’s, much less humidity but the sun was still intense. Tonight’s action would be at the 3/8 mile clay oval in the Pigeon Hills of Pennsylvania near Gettysburg outside the small town of Abbottstown. Thirty six sprint cars were in attendance with the addition of the Shark Racing team of both Logan Schuchart and Jacob Allen. The World Racing Group has allowed its drivers to compete on the fourth of July week anywhere they want without using their allotment of 4 mulligans due to the number of rainouts recently. On the card with the sprinters were cars of the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing in nearby York Springs driving some exhibition laps to show the crowd some of the cars of yesteryear.

Time trial activity pushed off at 7:36 and by 7:59 Anthony Macri had set fast time of 13.461 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval. It was worth an additional $250 for his efforts. After some early midgets and sprints along with earlier late models and modifieds touring the oval, it was time to begin the 410 sprint car heats.

Before I go into the heats, I wanted to make a correction on some information I gave you yesterday. I stated that the winner and second place finisher of the heat races went into the redraw for the first eight starting positions but that is incorrect as it is the winner and the highest finishing time trialer from each heat that lock into the redraw. Anyhow there would be four heats with the top five locking into the 30 lap main event with the rest getting a second chance to qualify in the B main with the top four advancing into the A main.

The first heat was surprisingly won, not because of the driver but because of the margin that he won by, as Chad Trout dominated the race beating Anthony Macri, Cameron Smith, Aaron Bollinger and Danny Dietrich. Heat two was captured by Devon Borden outdistancing Troy Wagaman Jr, Logan Schuchart, Chase Dietz and newcomer, Emerson Axsom from Indiana. Heat three went to the impressive youngster, Kody Hartlaub, besting Matt Campbell, Dylan Norris, Kyle Reinhardt and JJ Loss making his first sprint week A main. A backstretch tangle on the opening lap found Tyler Ross and Hartlaub tangling with Ross bouncing off Hartlaub, careening into the inside fence and twirling around before rolling onto his side in the incident. Ross was OK and would return to run the B main. The veteran Lucas Wolfe claimed heat four outrunning Brandon Rahmer, Jacob Allen, Logan Rumsey (the 358 driver with 410 power making his second straight main) and TJ Stutts. Kyle Moody was not too happy with the sprinter who lambasted him in the middle of turn four sending him over onto his side and was dropped off by a jeep in turn one under caution to voice his displeasure.

After another round of old sprint cars from the EMOMR it was time for the sprint car B main. Freddie Rahmer who did not look good in his heat race won this affair over Billy Dietrich, Tyler Ross and Jordan Givler with all prelims in the books by 9:22.

Next up was the 30 lap, $10,000 to win Red Robin sponsored PA Sprint Week feature event. The green waved at 9:49 on the front row of Kory Hartlaub and Matt Campbell off turn four but by the time they crossed the start/finish line third starter, Devon Borden, was three wide and almost took the lead in turn one but Hartlaub pulled slightly ahead (remember this move as it came into play later in the event). Borden wrestled lead away from Hartlaub in turn two on lap three to become the new leader. Anthony Macri who started fifth took second from Hartlaub in turns three and four on lap five. Matt Campbell grabbed third on the homestretch on lap ten from Hartlaub as the action continued. The leaders hit lap traffic by lap thirteen and began to weave their way through the back markers. Logan Schuchart made his way up to fourth with a turn one pass on lap seventeen. Three laps later the caution appeared on lap twenty and this is where the fun began. At this point leader, Devon Borden, was set back two positions for jumping on the original start and he was none too happy about it. But if you look at the official rulebook it states clearly, “any car not in nose to tail formation, not to either side of the cars ahead or they will be subject to jumping penalties which is two spots for each car jumped.” That is why Borden was set back giving Macri the lead on the lap twenty restart. With clean air in front of him Macri pulled steadily away as Borden worked his way past Hartlaub for second but could not get close to Macri. At 10:04 Macri flashed across the finish line first for his tenth overall win of 2024 and first of PA Speed Week snapping the two race win streak of Danny Dietrich.

Devon Borden had to settle for second with Kody Hartlaub third in a good run, Logan Schuchart fourth and Troy Wagaman Jr from ninth to fifth at the finish. Matt Campbell finished sixth with Danny Dietrich seventh from seventeenth and the hard charger award and retaining his PA Sprint Week points lead. Chad Trout took down eighth with Dylan Norris ninth and Lucas Wolfe rounding out the top ten.

A decent night of racing with the nighttime being very pleasant temperature wise.

That’s it for now but check back tomorrow as we head toward the track on the hill in Bechtelsville, the Grandview Speedway for racing night four of Pennsylvania Sprint Week. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and stay hydrated. Comments, news, stories of interest or stats of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and the comments you say to us or send to us. And in closing be good and be kind to one another, you never know what the person that you cross paths with is enduring and a smile or cheery greeting can mean to them.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rain At Lincoln & Dietrich Makes It Two In A Row At BAPS

Saturday, June 29 – Night two of Pennsylvania Sprint Week was scheduled at the Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown with the weather looking sketchy at best. We decided to only buy one ticket and Pat ventured in early to secure us some good seats and returned to the Equinox to bask in the air conditioning until returning before time trials began. I kept checking the weather and the prospects were 60 to 75 percent chance of thunderstorms so I decided to sit it out in the car until they were ready to bring out the first heat. After time trials ended, they were calling the sprinters to the track for the first heat when some rain hit the speedway so they went into rain delay. I kept wavering between they might get it into no way are they going to run. Pat came back to the SUV to sit out the rain delay and when we saw Danny Dietrich’s rig pulling behind us on the exit road with the skies darkening, we tucked ourselves into the exit line and just as we turned the corner to exit the parking lot the skies let loose. We have to give it to Lincoln as they try to run if at all possible but tonight it was not possible. So, night two became the first rainout of the ten day run.

Sunday, June 30 – Today it was sunny but oh so humid as it felt like you opened the oven door when you walked outside. It was one of those days that your shirt was soaked in the back just from walking around at the track. Today’s racing was at the BAPS Motor Speedway located in York Haven and we arrived early and secured a parking spot facing the exit road. We sat in the SUV with the AC running until the gates opened then we headed for the front gates to stake down our seats. We ended up moving up to the top row when Bezz waved us up as he had extra seats available when his wife and some others didn’t show up. It was good seeing some other of our PA race friends such as Mark Garman, his son, Harry, and his girlfriend, Bailey. Also we ran into Rich Rauser, John Hopple and Dan Cohen in the parking lot and had a lively conversation.

By 6:30 it was hot lap time and with rain not far away we believe management decided not to add any additional water but it never rained after an afternoon shower passed through. So it was one of those damn if you do, damned if you don’t times. It was dusty and slick but the racing went on and that is what we came for. A good crowd turned out for the night’s activities and that was good for everyone.

Time trials commenced at 6:47 and by 7:26 young shoe, Kody Hartlaub, the new hired gun for the John Trone #39, set fast time with a lap of 16.119 seconds.

That led us into the first super sportsman heat with the green flag waving at 7:36. Matt Ondek would score the win over Mike Enders and Troy Rhome. In a wise move of time management, the powers to be at BAPS then ran the four 410 sprint car heats before returning to the other two super sportsman heats to allow the 410’s some time to prepare for their B main. Two more heat races were run for the 22 car field of super sportsman with Russ Mitten grabbing the win in heat two over Timmie Barrick and Kevin Gutshall. The third heat went to Kenny Edkin who walked away in this one beating brother, John, and Allan Hallman. The super sportsman were always one of our favorite classes in their prime but nowadays it seems the number of cars has dissipated and the competition is not as stout. In their glory years at Silver Spring Speedway, they drew fields of upwards of 50+ cars every week and it was not uncommon for one week’s feature winner to not qualify the following week due to the stiff competition. Sometimes you don’t realize what you had until it is no longer there. Not trying to take away from the current teams and drivers but it is not as good as it used to be.

The thirty six 410 sprinters on hand tonight would battle in four heats with the top five moving directly into the 30 lap main event later in the evening. The first and two place finishers would have a redraw to determine the top eight starting positions for the feature. Heat one fell to Anthony Macri in a cakewalk beating Tyler Ross, Kody Hartlaub, Troy Wagaman Jr and Mark Smith. Heat two was conquered by Chase Dietz over Freddie Rahmer, New Yorker, Jonathan Preston, Kyle Moody and Alberta, Canada’s Skylar Gee. Heat three was captured by Danny Dietrich besting Cameron Smith, Dylan Norris, Aaron Bollinger and Logan Rumsey. The fourth and final heat was taken by New Jersey’s Kyle Reinhardt over Billy Dietrich, brother of Danny, Devon Borden, Kody Lehman and Domenic Melair.

After the two other super sportsman heats the sprint B main was called to the post with the top four only moving into the 30 lap feature event. TJ Stutts would claim the win in this one over Dallas Schott, Gerard McIntyre Jr and Lucas Wolfe, the last man in. All qualifying was completed by 8:55.

Next up would be the 30 lap, $10,000 to win PA Sprint Week feature with the green flag waving on the 24 car field at 9:21. Danny Dietrich would take the lead on the high side of turn two on the opening lap with fourth starting Anthony Macri slipping into second also on the opening lap. The first caution waved on lap two when Jonathan Preston lost the handle and spun in turn three. On the restart Dietrich was at the point with Macri right in his tire tracks with Kyle Reinhardt in third. Two more laps were spun off until the second and final caution waved on lap four for a Cameron Smith spin in turn four.

Danny Dietrich was quick on the gas for the restart and began to pull away from Macri and the rest of the field. Lap twelve found the leaders approaching lap traffic which allowed Macri to close the gap. Meanwhile, Freddie Rahmer was slicing his way forward in the Eichelberger #8 from his tenth starting position passing for fifth on the backstretch on lap fourteen. Macri was beginning to pressure Dietrich for the lead as he powered on the high side banging the turn two fencing in successive laps after the halfway mark. Rahmer gained another position on lap twenty one moving by Skylar Gee into fourth. As the laps ticked down Dietrich established his lead to five car lengths and Macri was not able to mount another serious challenge. The checkers waved at 9:37 with Dietrich taking his second straight PA Sprint Week win and his 20th career win at BAPS tying him with Bobby Abel for 12th on the all-time win list and passing Bobby Gerhart and Mitch Smith. Macri finished second with Reinhardt third, Rahmer fourth and Tyler Ross rounding out the top five. Positions six through ten were filled by Skylar Gee, Billy Dietrich, Chase Dietz, Mark Smith, the hard charger from 18th to ninth and fast timer, Kody Hartlaub rounding out the top ten.

We still had the 25 lap super sportsman feature to run with the front row of Allan Hallman and Troy Rhome bringing the 22 car field to the green flag at 9:56. Rhome took the early lead but that was short lived as third starting Kenny Edkin powered by for the lead in turn four on the opening lap. This one was pretty much over at this point though Scott Dellinger made some runs at Edkin on the six restarts. But when it was said and done at 10:21 it was Kenny Edkin in for his 36th career win at BAPS, tops for the super sportsman division here, besting Scott Dellinger with John Edkins up from ninth to third. Russ Mitten advanced from eighth to fourth with Jay Fannasy came from 13th to claim fifth as the cream rose to the top in the top five.

It wasn’t the best racing but it was an enjoyable night as the weather cooled nicely after the sun went down and we were glad to get in another night of racing as other people’s travel stories coming to the track running through heavy rain made us appreciate that BAPS was able to present a program tonight and it didn’t turn into our second straight night with a rainout.

Come back tomorrow as round three of PA Sprint Week travels back to the Lincoln Speedway where the virtual flagger will wave off the field on a Monday night. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or hightail it out to the Pigeon Hills of Pennsylvania for tonight’s action. Either way, have fun, stay hydrated and be safe. Comments, news, stories of anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for coming along on our travels and hope you enjoy the musings of our trips. So be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Dietrich Sweeps PA Sprint Week Opener At Williams Grove

Friday, June 28 – After stopping in Fleetwood, PA to visit Pat’s 92 year old aunt and others in the family it was time to head west to the Mechanicsburg area for night one of Pennsylvania Speed Week being held at the Williams Grove Speedway. It was a hot day with temperatures in the mid-80’s but a nice breeze made it pleasant enough. Thirty four 410 sprints and twenty seven 358 sprints were signed into the pit area to do battle on night one of the grueling 10 straight days at seven different tracks that is called PA Sprint Week for the 34th time. We sat with friends, Bezz and Karen, tonight on what was my 69th birthday so I was hoping for a good present and Williams Grove came through on this evening.

Sprint car time trials would start off the evening commencing at 7:35 with two sprinters at a time taking their turn trying to be the fastest. When it was all said and done at 8:00 it was Danny Dietrich standing on the homestretch being interviewed after stopping the clocks with the fast time of 18.560 seconds around the half mile dirt oval.

Next on the schedule were three heats for the 27 358 sprints with Jude Siegel, son of Jim and third generation driver, taking the first heat over Doug Hammaker, Wyatt Hinkle and Cole Knopp. Heat two was captured by Seth Schnoke, a newcomer in only his fourth start, besting Derek Locke, Logan Rumsey and Scott Fisher. The third heat fell to veteran Chad Criswell beating Preston Lattomus, Dylan Norris and Kyle Spence.

Danny Dietrich would keep his chances for a sweep of the evening alive, copping the first heat win with a spectacular pass for the lead in turn four over the mayor of Port Royal, Dylan Cisney, Freddie Rahmer, Logan Wagner and his father, Mike Wagner. Troy Wagaman Jr would bring the Mike Heffner #27 home first in heat two over Devon Borden, Chase Dietz, Tony Jackson and Aaron Bollinger. Ryan Taylor rolled his sprinter in this one over in turn three and was OK after climbing from the wrecked sprinter. Heat three was claimed by Anthony Macri by a country mile (over 10 seconds) trumping Kody Hartlaub, Ryan Smith, Lucas Wolfe and Jeff Halligan. Heat four went to Justin Whittall by a healthy margin besting Billy Dietrich, Kyle Reinhardt, Dylan Norris doing double duty and Chad Trout. All heat qualifying was in the books by 9:23.

The 410 sprint car B main was next on the dance card with the top four joining the twenty already locked in for the 30 lap main event. Young Cameron Smith would score the win in the B over TJ Stutts, Kyle Moody and Lance DeWease claiming the last qualifying position with a late race pass of Steve Buckwalter after missing his heat race.

So now it was time to go feature racing with 10 grand on the line and the green flag would wave on the front row of Justin Whittall and Danny Dietrich. Whittall would grab the early lead in turn two on the opening lap and would pace the field before a caution for debris in turn one would slow the action on lap four. On the restart Whittall went to the point with Dietrich and Anthony Macri in hot pursuit. Macri would slip by Dietrich for second with a high side pass in turn two on lap six and set his sights on the leader, Whittall. Lap seven saw 12th starting Freddie Rahmer move up to 7th and was coming forward in a hurry. Rahmer advanced another spot by lap nine. Lap twelve saw the front runners approaching lap traffic as they began picking their way through the heavy pack. Whittall continued to pace the field but a wrong choice on lap sixteen saw him dive low on a lap car while Macri stayed high and took the lead racing down the backstretch with Dietrich also slipping by Whittall. Macri began to pull away but Dietrich never let him get too far away. The unlikely occurred on lap twenty six as Macri charged hard into turn three, jumped the cushion and slammed the turn three wall spinning around several times like a top. Just like that Dietrich found himself in the right spot at the right time and assumed the lead.

Dietrich was at the point on the ensuing restart and pulled ahead of Whittall and Troy Wagaman Jr who had been quiet back in fourth. Wagaman made his move for second on lap twenty seven powering by Whittall for the position in turn four. His chase of Dietrich was in vain as the Kaufman #48 streaked across the finish line at 10:39 for the sweep of the evening and Dietrich’s 13th career PA sprint week win. Wagaman Jr claimed second with Whittall a close third, Freddie Rahmer making a late race pass for fourth with Chase Dietz rounding out the top five in an entertaining event. Lucas Wolfe came home sixth with Dylan Cisney seventh, Logan Wagner in the Krietz #69K eighth, Devon Borden ninth and Kyle Reinhardt rounding out the top ten.

We still had the 20 lap 358 sprint car race to contest which took the green flag at 11:06. Jude Siegel would take the early lead and pace the field for the first twelve laps in an impressive run until the veteran Doug Hammaker tracked him down in turn three on lap twelve to take the lead. Derek Locke who has been dominate over the past couple of years in these ranks at the Grove made a late run to finish second with Chad Criswell taking third, Preston Lattomus comes home fourth and young Jude Siegel slipping back to finish fifth after a strong early run. The complete show was in the books by 11:13 and we packed up and headed to the SUV satisfied with our first night racing action of Pennsylvania Speed Week.

Check back tomorrow as we try to make it a doubleheader on Saturday. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take it on the road and check out some bucket list tracks. Either way have fun, be safe and stay hydrated. Comments, news, notes of interest or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope your enjoy our honest reviews of what we see and how it might give you an idea to take in one of the tracks that we have visited. And in closing remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Courtney Makes It Two In A Row In Maverick/IRA Finale At Terre Haute

Sunday, June 23 – It was hot again today but not as hot as the previous three days with temperatures barely touching 90 but it was more humid. The plan today was to head to the famous Terre Haute Action Track for the finale of the first Maverick/IRA Mayhem four days of racing at four different Indiana tracks. Terre Haute is a big half mile and some teams don’t like running on the big tracks as their engine program is not as strong as some others. Therefore, the sprint car count was down to 37 but still a pretty decent showing of 410 winged sprinters. Also on the card were the Racesaver 305 sprints and they brought a dozen sprinters to do battle. Though the car count was good again tonight the crowd again was sparse as was Lincoln Park. Maybe the combination of not much advertising, hot weather, higher ticket prices and Indiana race fans being wingless lovers attributed to the lower crowds. We don’t know but hopefully if they run this series next year the news will get out that the racing was good and more people will turn out.

Time trials would be the first business of the day with the Maverick/IRA boys starting the clock at 6:40 going two at a time with the last two crossing the line at 7:01. Justin Peck would claim fast time driving the Michael Dutcher #17GP with a time of 17.251 seconds around the Vigo County half mile. This would be the highlight of Peck’s day as engine woes after finishing second in heat one would find him scratching from the 20 lap feature. And yes, that is not a misprint! The sprint car feature was only scheduled for 20 laps. Why? You’ve got me! We don’t understand charging $31 for the event and only running the main class 20 laps. At least run 25 laps because the sprinters can run easily 25 laps on a half mile oval. If anyone knows the logic behind this let us know.

Anyway, the sprints would run four heat races with the top five locking into the 20 lap main event. The first two finishers in each heat would move to the dash race to determine the top eight starters in the feature event. Brenham Crouch looked strong winning heat one going away over Justin Peck, Emerson Axsom, Ayrton Gennetten and Tylar Rankin. Heat two was claimed by Noah Gass also looking fast tonight beating veteran South Carolina invader and former Pennsylvania runner, Brian Paulus, with Sterling Cling, Austin Hartmann and Max Guilford chasing. Pennsylvania’s Dylan Norris who is more familiar with big half miles from back east scored the heat three win over Tyler Courtney, Darin Naida, the Michigan youngster looking better and better in each outing, Jake Blackhurst and Zach Hampton. Chris Windom took down heat four in convincing style over Scotty Thiel, Jacob Allen, Blake Hahn and Bryce Norris, the hometown boy. The 305 sprints contested two heats with Jordan Welch and Carson Dillion triumphing.

The sun was now a problem as the bright ball shined in all its glory behind the third turn causing a 45 minute delay for safety concerns for the drivers having to race down the long backstretch blindly into the third turn. Good call.

The dash was the first race after the sun delay with Brenham Crouch securing the first starting spot with his win in this race followed by Chris Windom, Tyler Courtney, Noah Gass, Sterling Cling, Scotty Thiel, Dylan Norris and Darin Naida. The sprint B main would be next with five cars instead of four qualifying because of the Peck’s scratch. Colorado’s Geoff Dodge would dominate the B main beating Danny Schafer, Joel Myers Jr, Scott Neitzel and Chase Stockon, the last man in even after being set back two positions for jumping on a restart.

The 15 lap Racesaver 305 sprint feature would take the green flag at 9:51 and go the distance non-stop. Unionville, Indiana’s own Ethan Barrow would win his first ever race at Terre Haute beating Dustin Clark and Terre Haute’s native son, Carson Dillion for the win.

It was now time for the 20 lap Maverick/IRA sprint car feature to push off taking the green flag at 10:19. Chris Windom would take the lead on the high side of turn three on the opening lap from Brenham Crouch. Noah Gass would make short order of Crouch to grab second on lap two. Tyler Courtney moved Crouch back another position driving by him on lap three. Windom continued to lead as the front runners approached lap traffic by lap six. The most amazing move of the night was when the leaders were racing in lap traffic through turn four on lap seven and Courtney executed a two for one pass to go from third to first in one fair swoop by using the high side of turn four passing both Gass and Windom. Gass was able to dispose of Windom for second in turn two on lap nine and took up the assignment of trying to track down Courtney. He came close several times in traffic until lap fifteen when Blake Hahn flipped in turn two.

On the green Courtney moved to the point and began to open up the lead as Crouch rebounded to snatch third from Windom on the homestretch on lap sixteen. The off and running. Scotty Thiel, known as The Wheel, went to work over the next several laps like he was shot out of a rocket. He shot by Windom for fourth on the backstretch on the restart and tracked down and passed Crouch for third with two to go. Thiel was gaining ground on Gass but the laps ran out before he could challenge Gass for second. Tyler Courtney flashed across the line for his second Maverick/IRA win in a row with Gass second, Thiel third, Crouch fourth and Windom holding on for fifth. Jacob Allen would finish sixth even after being penalized on the previous yellow (brought out for him jumping which to us is a lame rule, do it at the end or if the yellow appears before the end). Sterling Cling turned in a good run to grab seventh with Ayrton Gennetten advancing from 13th to eighth, with Emerson Axsom ninth and Darin Nadia rounding out the top ten. With his ninth place finish that was good enough for Axsom to claim the four race Maverick Mayhem point title. Also, the hard charger award goes to Joel Myers Jr who started 22nd and finished 11th.

Not a bad feature but again we felt 20 laps was not long enough for the price.

That’s it for now but we have some traveling plans coming up next week as we venture back to Pennsylvania to take in the 10 race version of Pennsylvania Sprint Week held at seven different tracks. Check back to hear all about it. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing as the summer season is upon us. Comments, news and any other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Remember to be safe, be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Westfall Scores Johnson Memorial At Paragon With Late Race Pass

Saturday, June 22 – Another hot, somewhat cloudy day was upon us as we finalized our race plans for today. Originally it was going to be WOO late models at Brownstown Speedway but we changed at the last minute and the choices became BOSS sprints at Lawrenceburg or the Johnson Memorial at Paragon. Since Lincoln Park was not running this Saturday, we felt the sprint car field would be good at Paragon so it was off to Paragon Speedway for the first time in 2024. A stop at the junction of Routes 231 and 67 found us purchasing some Amish bakery delights before proceeding east on Route 67 to Paragon. We arrived, purchased our tickets and placed our blanket down in one of the sections of the aluminum grandstands with backs on them in the top row. Then we retreated back to the SUV and the comfort of the AC before returning later as hot laps approached.

It was a four division program for tonight’s Johnson Memorial with wingless sprints (38), hornets (23), super stocks (20) and bombers (13). The sprint cars would be the first to run their heats with four on tap with the first one taking the green at 8:21 due to a pushed back starting time because of the heat. Daylan Chambers would draw first blood capturing the first heat over Hunter Maddox, Jake Scott and Arizona’s Logan Calderwood. Tye Mihocko took down heat two besting Geoff Ensign, who’s t-shirt even reads the human highlight reel, Seth Parker and Colten Cottle. Heat three was paced by Andrew Prather beating Harley Burns, Brayden Fox and Aric Gentry. The fourth heat was claimed by Cody Trammell returning for the first time in several weeks after suffering injuries here at Paragon in a crash. Trailing him to the finish were Matt Westfall, Evan Mosley and Anthony Nicholson.

The super stocks were next on the card running three heats followed by the bombers for two heats and three heats for the hornets after the two sprint car B mains were contested.

The first of two B mains with the top two moving into the 25 lap main event was won by Trey Osborne with Braxton Cummings taking down the other qualifying position. Travis Thompson would claim B main two over the rim riding Joey Amantea who rebounded from an early race tangle and spin to claim the last qualifying spot into the feature race. All qualifying was completed by 10:30 which left four feature races to run.

Twenty wingless sprint cars would be brought to the green flag at 10:45 by Daylan Chambers and Harley Burns with Burns the early lead. But Chambers fought right back on the inside and retook the lead at the line to complete lap one. Burns reclaimed the lead in turn two with Chambers and Trammell in hot pursuit. Trammell used a high side turn two move to take second from Chambers on lap seven. Lap nine saw Matt Westfall slip into third on the homestretch past Chambers. Two laps later Westfall would use the inside in turn two to breeze into second ahead of Trammell. In the meantime, Burns was long gone opening up a straightway lead by lap fifteen. Lap seventeen saw the red appear as Mihocko racing in fourth at the time caught the cushion and rolled over landing on top of his roll cage. He was OK after the tumble.

On the ensuing restart Burns was at the point but not for long as Westfall drag raced him down the homestretch and edged ahead for the lead entering turn one. Lap eighteen saw Trammell motor by Burns on the backstretch to take over second. Geoff Ensign raced past Chambers for fourth in turn two on lap twenty but Chambers returned the favor two laps later. Chambers continued his comeback slipping by Burns for third with two to go. Meanwhile, up front Westfall had a comfortable lead over Trammell. Ensign dropped Burns back another spot with one to go. At the finish at 11:09 it was Matt Westfall in for his first ever win at Paragon over Cody Trammell, Daylan Chambers, Geoff Ensign and Harley Burns. Positions six through ten were slotted by Jake Scott for sixth with Seth Parker seventh, Andrew Prather eighth, Trey Osborne advancing from seventeenth to ninth and Brayden Fox rounding out the top ten.

It was a good night of racing at Paragon and we both felt it was some of the best racing we have seen here in many a year. A likely return trip could be in the offing. We packed up the blanket and bags including our fan which helped quite a bit and headed to the car satisfied with an entertaining evening of racing.

That’s it until Monday as we prepare to load up once again and head south to Terre Haute to take in the final night of Maverick Mayhem co-sanctioned with IRA at the Action Track. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, stay hydrated and be safe. Comments and critiques, news and so forth can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where a typical weekend takes us. Be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Pretorius & True Win At Circle City

Friday, June 21 – It was another scorcher in the Hoosier state as temperatures rose into the mid 90’s and the heat index reached triple figures. We took a ride into Indianapolis for two reasons, the first being that Pat wanted to purchase a rowing machine so she could work out on her off gym days. Mission accomplished on item one and after eating a delicious meal at McAlister’s it was off to our second reason to be in the capital city, racing at the ¼ mile Circle City Raceway. Half of the adventure getting around Indianapolis is trying to figure out where I-465 East is closed and how to get where you want to go. Thank goodness for GPS as we were able to maneuver around on the city streets to get to our destination.

The Hoosier Auto Racing Fans (HARF) is a fine club organized to support racing in the state of Indiana and they do a great job in their endeavors. For the price of only $20 per year you can become a member, support racing in Indiana and get great discounts at many of the Indiana racetracks to boot. Tonight Circle City Raceway was offering free admission to any card carrying member of HARF and if you do the math with the admission price being $20 or $17 for seniors you already recouped your membership fee after only one race!! What a great organization who do so much for racing in the Hoosier state.

On tap tonight was a six division program with 30 BOSS wingless sprint cars, 17 All Star Circuit of Champions TQ midgets, 16 UMP modifieds, 13 hornets, 5 outlaw wingless 600’s and 41 grub getters which we never saw compete.

Andrew Prather dumped his sprinter after impacting the turn one wall in hot laps ending his night prematurely dropping the sprint car field to 29. Nick Bilbee scored the win in heat one defeating Korbyn Hayslett, Brayden Fox, Luke Hall and Garrett Abrams. Tyler Kendall captured heat two besting Zack Pretorius, Kyle Shipley, Austin Nigh and Blake Vermillion. The third and final heat went to Chance Crum, the Washington state driver who beat Anthony Nicholson, Jesse Vermillion, Matt Westfall and Jack Hoyer. Thirteen year old Easton Zent took the lone outlaw 600 heat while Johnny Goff from sixth took the first TQ midget heat over Logan Rabourn and Addison True. Kirby Petry won heat two but was DQ’d due to being underweight at the scales. Evan Shatto was awarded the heat win over Stephen Davis and 86 year old Nelson Stewart, father of Tony.

Three UMP modified heats were contested with Derek Groomer, Brayden Watson and James Walters winning. Two hornet heats were spun off before the Ohio based BOSS sprints returned to run their B main with the top five joining the previous 15 qualified through the heat races in the 25 lap main event. Rylan Gray would be victorious in this 12 lap B main over Shawn Westerfeld, 2023 BOSS point champion, Ricky Lewis, Brayden Clark and Jake Scott.

After a short break to work on the track surface which was bumpy going into turn one and also some work off turn four it was feature time. The 25 lap BOSS sprint car feature was first on the dance card with the green flag dropping at 10:29. Zack Pretorius was quick to the early lead with Nick Bilbee slipping by Anthony Nicholson to take over second. The only caution of the race waved on lap six when Rylan Gray ramped up over Blake Vermillion’s left rear and spun to a halt. On the restart Pretorius assumed the lead again with Bilbee and Nicholson trailing. Luke Hall who started tenth was coming forward quickly, taking over fifth by lap seven and fourth on lap ten off turn four using the high side to do so. As Pretorius paced the field with a comfortable lead the rest of the pack battled it out for positions. Hall made another outside sweep to blast by Tyler Kendall for third on the backstretch on lap twenty one as the race was in the latter stages of the event. When the checkers waved just ten minutes later at 10:39 it was Pretorius in for what we believe was his first career sprint car win over Bilbee with Hall third, Kendal fourth and Nicholson rounding out the top five. Chance Crum led the second five across the line at the finish with Matt Westfall advancing from 12th to 7th with Ricky Lewis 18th to 8th, Kyle Shipley 9th and Korbyn Hayslett rounding out the top ten. With the exception of Pretorius way out front the rest of the field was close and racing back and forth with each other making for an interesting race.

Next up were the UMP modifieds for their 25 lap feature with Brayden Watson grabbing the early lead and never looking back though a late race challenge made it interesting as Derek Groomer put on some pressure but Watson prevailed over Groomer and Derek Losh. Next up was the 10 lap outlaw 600 feature with Eastpn Zent dominating leading flag to flag in this one.

The 20 lap All Star TQ midget feature was next on the dance card with 86 year old Nelson Stewart taking the early lead. Stewart would proceed to lead the first 12 laps of event before Addison True took advantage of Stewart opening up the inside groove off turn four to take the lead away. True, who started fifth would hold off the charge of 17th starting Joey Paxson for the win with 12th starting Parker Bupp third, Stewart dropping to fourth with Evan Shatto rounding out the top five at 11:22.

We had now seen all that we came to see and exited before the hornets and grub getters raced their feature events. It was a good night of racing but a little too long of a night especially for the nearby neighbors outside the fairgrounds facility.

Check back soon as we are not done yet for this weekend and we hope neither are you. So get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and don’t forget to stay hydrated, drink plenty of water and not beer and have fun. Comments, news, stories and anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Axsom Opens Maverick Mayhem With Win At LPS

Thursday, June 20 – Today dawned sunny and hot with temperatures climbing into the low 90’s as we prepared to head south on Rt. 231 to beautiful downtown Putnamville to the Lincoln Park Speedway. It was the opener of the four race series dubbed Maverick Mayhem co-sanctioned with the IRA sprint car series based out of Wisconsin. Tonight will be LPS, Friday is Bloomington, Saturday they move over to Tri-State in Haubstadt and the series finale is Sunday at the Terre Haute Action Track. We were surprised on two accounts, one good and one bad. First the good one is that they had an amazing car count of 55 sprint cars along with 14 super stocks. The bad one was the crowd was sparse, probably due to two factors, the first being the heat and the second being that it was a workday for many on Friday.

The night started out on the down side as the track crew tried to make for a tacky race surface but the timing of the last watering has to be questioned. With hot laps scheduled for 6 PM with racing slated for 7 PM why would water the track after 5 PM for the last time causing the track to be slick and delaying the program. Why not water it at 4 PM and work it in so the program can start on time. With 55 sprint cars on hand, you need to run an efficient program and tonight they missed the mark once again. The announcers apologized for the delay and blamed it all on the heat but it has been hotter before and not such a big delay. It would be better if they announced that they just screwed up and overwatered after 5 and maybe people would be more understanding. Just our opinion from two people who have attended races for over 60 years.

Onto the racing and what you really came to read! The time trials commenced at 7:44 and were finished at 8:31. During time trials two drivers got on their heads with Harley Burns rolling in the cushion on turn three with Brian Bell joining him later after tangling with the cushion. Joel Myers ended up setting fast time with a new track record of 11.136 seconds breaking the mark of Kyle Larson.

The first of six heat races for the sprinters would not take the green flag until 9:11 PM with only the top three moving directly into the 30 lap feature and only the winner advancing to the dash race to determine the top six starters in the main event. Brady Bacon driving one of Kevin Newton’s Honest Abe’s #16’s nailed down the first heat win over Joel Myers and Jordan Goldesberry. Heat two fell to Missouri’s Ayrton Gennetten besting New Zealand’s Max Guilford and Jake Neuman. Kokomo’s own Parker Price-Miller captured heat three over young Darin Naida out of Michigan and Jacob Allen. Heat four had some extracurricular activity as Illinois’ Trevin Littleton lost his battle with the turn four cushion rolling over several times in the process. Emerson Axsom won this battle over J.J. Hickle and Scotty Thiel. Heat five went to Texan Brenham Crouch beating Cale Thomas in the Dutcher #17GP wearing a wing on the evening and Brian Bell recovering nicely from his time trial trial rollover. Heat six saw Corbin Gurley flip in turn four. Chris Windom would score the win in this one over Karter Sarff in the Chase Briscoe #5 and Zach Hampton.
Two super stock heats would follow before the sprinters returned for two B mains with the top three locking into the main event. Thomas Messeraull who was leading heat two until late in the race when he suffered a flat tire limping across the line one out of qualifying, made sure he qualified winning B main one over Travis Philo and Gage Montgomery. B main two went to Illinois driver and IRA runner, Jake Blackhurst beating midget driver, Hayden Reinbold, donning a wing and PA’s Dylan Norris. The dash followed with Brady Bacon fending off Ayrton Gennetten, Emerson Axsom, Chris Windom, Brenham Crouch and Parker Price-Miller to grab the pole position for tonight’s big $6000 to win feature event. And just like that as the IRA announcer said the preliminaries were over (10:53 PM)!

It was time finally to go feature racing and the super stocks would contest their 20 lap feature first giving the B main sprinters time to regroup. Tucker Chastian would beat the field with Justin Massie and Wade Goodale trailing.

By 11:23 the green flag would wave on the 24 car field with Brady Bacon and Ayrton Gennetten leading the field into turn one. What happened next was a shocker as Bacon lost the handle between turns one and two spinning his racer and miraculously everybody was able to avoid the spinning Bacon. On the ensuing restart Gennetten jumped into the early lead but it was short lived as Emerson Axsom took the lead at the line on lap two. Axsom would pull away over the next several laps until encountering lap traffic by lap eight with Axsom picking his way through the backmarkers. Axsom had Gennetten closing on him but was able to hold sway past the halfway mark. Chris Windom passed Gennetten for second on the homestretch on lap eighteen but Gennetten returned the favor one lap later. Parker Price-Miller caught Brenham Crouch for fourth also on lap eighteen as the field began to shuffle. Gennetten closed the gap again on the leader with Axsom holding a two car length lead as the pair raced to the white flag. At that moment Bacon’s night got even worse as he caught the cushion in turn three wrong and flipped over with J.J. Hickle sliding into him. Everyone was OK but done for the remainder of the race. On the restart Axsom sped out front with Gennetten in hot pursuit. Entering turn four racing to the white Axsom bobbled off the cushion allowing Gennetten to pass him on the low side as the pair raced under the white flag. Axsom responded with a slider in turns one and two retaking the lead as the pair raced down the backstretch. Gennetten executed a slider in turn three sliding in front of Axsom in turn four with Axsom cutting back low with the two racing side by side to the finish line. It was Axsom by feet for the win over Gennetten with Windom third, Price-Miller fourth and Crouch rounding out the top five with the checkers waving at 11:42. Positions six through ten were filled by Joel Myers with Cale Thomas racing from 12th to 7th, Max Guilford 8th, Jacob Allen 9th salvaging a top ten after a night of problems with Zach Hampton rounding out the top ten. Dylan Norris would receive the hard charger award after starting 24th and finishing 14th.

It was a very good feature but it didn’t quite make up for the time spent waiting for it.

That’s it until tomorrow as we head toward Indianapolis for a night of BOSS wingless racing at Circle City. Until next time get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, stay hydrated and be safe. Comments, news, stories or tidbits of information can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next. Remember to be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

McIntosh Takes Illinois Speedweek Final At Macon

Saturday, June 15 – After two days of stock car racing in Wisconsin it was back to open wheel action with a visit to the 1/5 mile high banked bullring of the Macon Speedway. On tap tonight were eight (too many) divisions of race cars highlighted by the POWRi National Midget League in what would end up being their final race of the 11th Illinois Speedweek. The last race of the series scheduled for Sunday was canceled due to excessive heat predicted. So tonight the 16 POWRi midgets on hand would do battle for the win and also the war, the POWRi Speedweek title. In the other divisions here were the car counts: pro modifieds (16), sportsman (12), street stocks (11), modifieds (9), hornets (8), outlaw winged 600’s (4) and HSRA (High School Racing Association – 2).

Racing would kick off at 7:06 PM with the first of two heat races for the POWRi National midgets. In the first heat the action started early as racing down the backstretch off turn two Thomas Meseraull slide sideways off the corner making contact with Karter Sarff sending Sarff sideways and into a series of at least four barrel rolls before stopping on the backstretch. Sarff was OK after the wild ride but the same could not be said for his midget as he was done for the evening. Gunnar Setser went on to win the first heat over Kale Drake, Chase McDermand and Meseraull. Heat two was won by Gavin Miller beating Cannon McIntosh, Jacob Denney and Zoe Pearce, a young Australian lass, in the McQueen #7Z.

The outlaw winged 600’s would run one heat with Jacob Tipton scoring the win. Two heats for the sportsman and modifieds with two heats for the pro modifieds and street stocks along with one heat for the HSRA and hornets completed the preliminary heat racing.

A bit of track maintenance was necessary as the track turned up rough in turns three and four before the POWRi midget feature would be called to the post.

The front row of Kale Drake and Cannon McIntosh would bring the 15 car field to the green flag at 9:02 with Drake getting the early lead. A lap two caution would slow the field before the race went green again. Drake would pace the field on the restart moving into a several car length lead as he worked the bottom and middle of the track in the early going. McIntosh was having problems maneuvering the middle of the track as it had developed character again. So McIntosh took his midget to the extreme outside of the oval up against the fence and began to close the gap between him and Drake. McIntosh would streak by Drake on the high side entering turn two on lap twelve when Drake countering in turn three with McIntosh prevailing off turn four to retake the lead. McIntosh would never waver from his rim riding style for the remainder of the contest as the battle raged behind him for positions two through five.

Drake would stay close for the remainder of the race but never mount a serious challenge to the high flying McIntosh who would flash across the finish line at 9:11 for his second POWRi win of 2024 and his twenty fourth career POWRi National win. Drake would finish second and claim the war as he became the 2024 Illinois Speedweek point champion with Gavin Miller taking third and making it an all Kunz podium finish on the evening. Thomas Meseraull would come home fourth with Jacob Denney about the only one using the bottom soldering on to claim fifth.

It was a good race and fun watching the front runners pound the cushion lap after lap hoping no one would make a mistake and pound the wall.

We decided to watch the 15 lap outlaw 600 feature which went green to checker in just three minutes with Alex Midkiff doing double duty as he piloted the Loyet #05 in the midget feature claiming the 600 win. Clay Frederick came home second with Seth Buell taking third.

The 15 lap sportsman feature was a good one with only one caution running the distance in five minutes with Guy Taylor holding off Wes O’Dell and Randy Huffman for the win.

The last feature we decided to watch in the evening was the 20 lap modified feature taking the green at 9:53. In another race with only one caution the six minute contest was won by Jeremy Nichols besting Terry Reed and Tim Luttrell. This one ended a minute before 10.

With tomorrow’s Lincoln date canceled we are headed for the first time to Sycamore Speedway in Maple Park, Illinois for one of the DirtCar Hell Tour late model and modified doubleheaders.

So, until next time get out there and catch some good short track racing in your area or take the show on the road and catch one or two of your bucket list choices. Comments, news, stories or any other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and keep coming back to see where we end up next in a typical weekend. Remember to be safe, be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Pursley Wins IMW Final At Kokomo Along With IMW Point Title

Sunday, June 9 – Today was the final day for the 20th Indiana Midget Week and the O’Connor family at Kokomo Speedway would be hosting round five of this midget series. The traveling crew of Bill and Judy Burns, Dale O’Brien and Pat and I all packed our bags as we were all staying in Kokomo for the evening before heading our separate ways on Monday morning. Bill and Judy were heading back to their native Pennsylvania while Dale was headed north to his old home of Wisconsin for the summer. We were staying for the XR late model series special Monday also at Kokomo Speedway before driving home after the event.

We all dined at the Windmill Grill in Kokomo with everyone enjoying their meals before venturing over to the track where we had planted a car for a good parking spot as parking spaces are limited due to sewer pipe installation along the roadside and in part of the parking lot. We also saved a seat for our West Virginia friend, Irvin King, who joined us on the backstretch for tonight’s racing action.

USAC midget time trials would be the first order of business on the evening after hot laps for both divisions on hand where the midgets were joined by the wingless sprint cars. The first midget pushed off at 7:08 and by 7:27 fast timer, Logan Seavey, was being interviewed on the homestretch after blistering the ¼ mile bullring to the tune of 13.318 seconds. Next up would be the four heat races for the good 32 car field in the pit area.

Jake Swanson in the Benic #2B moved from third to the lead and went on to win heat one over Max Adams, Kokomo’s own Parker Frederickson and Trey Osborne. Jack Hoyer placed the Sprint Car Hall Of Famer, Paul Hazen’s #57, in heat two outdistancing Scotty Weir in the #47, Anton Hernandez in the Baldwin #5 and Austin Nigh. Heat three went to Robert Ballou outdistancing Ricky Lewis, Braydon Cromwell and Zack Pretorius. The fourth and final heat fell to Andrew Prather beating Aaron Davis, Sam Hinds and Nathan Snee.

The mighty USAC midgets would also contest four heats with the top five moving directly to the main event. Daison Pursley scored the win in heat one, besting Logan Seavey, Drake Edwards, Chase McDermand and Ethan Mitchell. Cannon McIntosh would top the field in heat two over Taylor Reimer, Michael Pickens, the New Zealand driver, getting a phone call from Keith Kunz to drive the midget driven earlier in the week by Emerson Axsom and fulfilling a bucket list item in driving a Kunz midget. Jacob Denney and Kyle Jones were the other two qualifiers in this one. Young Kale Drake motored to victory in heat three over teammate Gavin Miller, Zach Wigal, Jade Avedisian and Hayden Reinbold. Jake Andreotti placed the Four Kings #14 in the winner’s circle in heat four beating Zach Daum, Blake Brannon, Hank Davis and Justin Grant. Ryan Timms took a nasty end over end flip on the homestretch in the fourth heat and was OK returning to race later in the evening. All heat qualifying was completed by 8:49, less than an hour after starting.

The sprints would return for their B main with the top four moving to the A main with Rylan Gray walking away in this one beating Harley Burns, Nathan Schank and Brayden Clark. The USAC midget semi would also transfer four cars to the big dance with Frankie Guerrini taking down the win over Steve Buckwalter, Daniel Whitley in the RAMCO #7M making the fourth different driver in this entry for the week reminding us of the Cactus Jack Yeley musical chair one year in the USAC sprint division during sprint week. Ryan Timms would return to grab the last qualifying position after dumping his midget in the heat race.

All that was left now were the two feature events with the sprint cars getting the call to the post first with Robert Ballou and Jake Swanson bringing the 20 car field to the green flag at 9:55. Ballou would take the early lead with Swanson and Scotty Weir in hot pursuit. Weir would slip by Swanson to take over second in turn one on lap five. Ricky Lewis was on the move passing Swanson for third and catching and passing Weir for second off turn four on lap seven. Meanwhile Ballou was out for a Sunday drive opening up a half-track lead by lap eleven. The caution appeared on lap seventeen when Andrew Prather came to a stop in turn four. Ballou was off again on the restart but lap eighteen saw Weir suffer a left rear flat tire in turn four with Anton Hernandez with nowhere to go got into Weir and spun around ruining a good run for Hernandez who was in fifth. Once again Ballou powered into the lead and comfortably led the remaining eight laps to score the win at 10:11 over Ricky Lewis with Jake Swanson third, Max Adams in a good run from eighth to four in the Guerrini #63 with Rylan Gray running the best race I ever seen him run advancing from 17th to 5th at the finish.

The 30 lap USAC midget feature was next on the docket and with Daison Pursley just starting the race he had clinched the 2024 Indiana Midget Week title but he was not satisfied to just ride it out to the finish. A scary incident happened as the cars lined up on the homestretch when it looked like Daniel Whitley’s throttle stuck with Whitley’s car driving into the infield on the homestretch crashing into the Lawrenceburg safety truck wedging under the front bumper. The midget was severely damaged and done for the evening. The front row of Jade Avedisian and Ethan Mitchell brought the 24 car field to Tom Hansing’s green flag at 10:32 with Avedisian taking the early lead. Michael Pickens up from fifth slide underneath Avedisian in turn four to take the lead on lap two. Meanwhile sixth and seventh place starters, Logan Seavey and Daison Pursley, began their quest to the front.

Seavey and Pursley hook up in a crowd pleasing duel for second with Pickens out front pacing the field. Pursley slipped by Seavey for second on lap nine but Seavey was not done yet and battled back to regain second on lap twelve. Pickens continued to lead the pack with Seavey and Pursley chasing as the feature reached the twenty lap mark. Seavey began to close the gap on Pickens at this point and dove low on consecutive laps off turn four pulling alongside Pickens at the line but not fully able to take the lead. Pickens changed lines to cover the bottom from the attacks by Seavey and at the same time Pursley challenged Seavey for second passing him on the backstretch on lap 23. The last five laps exploded into an all out war as Cannon McIntosh and Kale Drake suddenly joined in the fun making it a five car battle for supremacy. Drake went to the top in turn three and looked like he was going to sweep by everyone but slid too high in turn four and ended up back in fifth. Pursley made his move for the lead in turn two on lap twenty five on the high side clearing Pickens as they exited the turn to assume the top spot. The red flag slowed the bedlam on lap twenty seven when Blake Brannon dumped his midget in turn two. Brannon was OK after the flip. On the restart Pursley hit the loud pedal and was off to the races pulling away and would lead the last three circuits with no challenge crossing the line at 10:47 scoring his second win of IMW and third overall in 2024 as the CB Industries #86 has been amazing to start the year as Pursley has seven podium finishes in eight USAC midget races in 2024. Pursley won the IMW title by 74 points, the largest margin in the 20 years of Indiana Midget Week and gave car owner, Chad Boat, his second IMW car owner title.

Pickens who made the most of his one off drive in his bucket list Kunz ride finished second with Seavey third, McIntosh fourth after starting ninth and Kale Drake fifth for his highest USAC midget finish to date for the impressive rookie. Zach Daum led the second five across the line in sixth after starting 18th with Gavin Miller earning the Irvin King Hard Charger award advancing from 23rd to 7th with Jacob Denney 14th to 8th, Chase McDermand ninth and Ryan Timms salvaging a wild night finishing tenth after starting 16th.

It was a real good night of racing and was a good wrap on Indiana Midget Week for another year with five of the six nights getting in with only Circle City being washed out on the first night.

That’s it for this report and check back this weekend to see where we end up on another typical weekend. Until next time get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area such as Eastern Storm in PA or Ohio Sprint Week. Comments, news, stories or any other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts as we hope you enjoy reading our columns as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. And remember to be safe out there and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Gets First Win Of IMW & First Time At Tri-State In A Thriller

Saturday, June 8 – Round four of Indiana Midget Week found the guys making the long haul to Haubstadt after lunching at the Second City Café in Crawfordsville (if in Crawfordsville check this place out, you won’t regret it) while the gals had a girl’s day out back home. We arrived at 3:50 on the grounds of the Tri-State Speedway and ventured inside to find Irvin King’s checkerboard tablecloth tying our Indian blanket over top of it for some cushion. The Tri-State track crew was hard at work grooming the track surface for the tonight’s racing and we don’t know of any track that works harder at getting things right on a track surface.

The new Midwest Thunder Sprint Car series which replaced MSCS were making their debut at Tri-State along with the mighty USAC midgets on this evening. A good field of 30 sprinters joined the 33 midgets tonight with midget time trials getting underway at 6:54. When completed by 7:15 it was Daison Pursley securing the fast time of the evening with a time of 13.551 second around the ¼ mile bullring as the Chad Boat Industries #86 continues to perform flawlessly on the week.

The Midwest Thunder sprinters would be first to the post to contest their heat races with three heats scheduled taking the top five to the main event later in the evening. Kendall Ruble was the first to take down a heat win garnering heat one over Carson Short, Aric Gentry, Dustin Beck and Stan Beadles in the colorful Beetlejuice #84. Heat two went to Brady Short beating Mitchel Moles, JJ Hughes, Charles Davis Jr and Jack Hoyer. Jadon Rogers copped heat three outrunning Chase Stockon, Adyn Schmidt, Reed Whitney and Sam Scott.

Next up were four heats for the 33 midget entries with fast timer, Daison Pursley, speeding out front and winning heat one over Jacob Denney, Ryan Timms, Kale Drake and Jake Andreotti all advancing to the 30 lap feature event with Kyle Jones flipping in turns one and two in this one. Heat two fell to Zach Wigal who is looking better each time out besting Justin Grant, Steve Buckwalter making his first main event, Jade Avedisian and Ricky Lewis. Chase McDermand scored the win in heat three besting Logan Seavey, Hayden Reinbold, Gavin Miller and Hank Davis. Veteran Zach Daum captured heat four beating Kyle Cummins, Cannon McIntosh, Taylor Reimer and Michael Pickens. All heat action was completed by 8:44.

The sprint B main was next on the agenda with the top five joining the field for the 25 lap main event. Travis Berryhill came home victorious over Carson Garrett, Mike Larrison, Donny Brackett and Colin Ambrose. The midget semi went to Adam Taylor in a unique sounding midget powered by a V4 Fusion engine making his first USAC midget race in over two years. Ethan Mitchell, Drake Edwards, Kyle Jones and Blake Brannon trailed rounding out the midget qualifiers.

By 9:50 after track prep it was time to go feature racing with the Midwest Thunder sprints get first crack at the newly worked surface. The front row of Kendall Ruble and Brady Short brought the twenty car field to the green flag with Short taking the early lead. Short would lead the opening eight laps until Mitchel Moles raced around him in turn two to grab the top spot. There was a lot of good racing behind the top three as the race moved forward. Moles was on a rail as he pulled away from his challengers and flashed across the line at 10:03 for the win over Brady Short with Kendall Ruble third, Jadon Rogers fourth after taking a wild ride through the infield coming to the checkered when he was forced low with Carson Short rounding out the top five.

Now it was time for what most everyone had come for and saved their lunch money for, the 30 lap USAC midget feature with the front row of Ricky Lewis and Jake Andreotti bringing 23 other competitors to the green flag at 10:19. Andreotti sped to the early lead and proceeded to pace the first seven laps of the feature. Third starting Kyle Cummins made several bids on laps six and seven but Andreotti countered and retained the top spot. Lap eight saw Andreotti jump the cushion and bang the wall allowing Cummins and Logan Seavey to streak past. These two would be the pacesetters over the next ten circuits with Daison Pursley inching forward to take over the number three position moving into contention at the same time. Pursley began to challenge Seavey for second using sliders in turns two and four on lap eighteen but Seavey said not so fast and countered the sliders both times. Traffic began to play into the equation at this point for Cummins as he looked to pick his way past the back markers. Kyle Jones spun in turn four on lap twenty three to bring out the caution and clear the highway in front of the leaders for the final seven laps.

Then the fun began as on the restart Cummins and Seavey began to put on an entertaining slide fest beginning in turn one where Seavey slid past Cummins for the lead but Cummins responded with a slider in turns three and four to take back the lead. Lap twenty four was the same scenario as the previous lap with lap twenty five seeing Cummins slid Seavey in turn one and Seavey responded with a turn four slider for the lead off the corner to start lap twenty six. One lap later Jade Avedisian stopped in turns three and four to bring out the final caution and restack the deck for the remaining three laps of the war up front. Cummins attacked again on the restart with Seavey able to hold sway. Racing into turn four coming to the two to go Cummins pulled alongside Seavey but was not able to pull off the pass as the pair streaked to the start/finish line. Seavey was able to retain control over the final two circuits and raced under the double checkers of Tom Hansing at 10:33 for his second USAC midget win of the year and first ever at Tri-State. Cummins would have to settle for second with Pursley in the cat bird seat finishing third. Justin Grant’s final drive was almost lost in the battle up front as he advanced from 15th to fourth with Zach Wigal rounding out the top five. Chase McDermand came home sixth with Gavin Miller seventh, Jacob Denney eighth from sixteenth, Zach Daum ninth and Jadon Rogers using a provisional to charge from 24th to tenth. Cannon McIntosh would be awarded the Irvin King Hard Charger award though as provisionals are not eligible as he started 23rd after going to a backup car and ended up 11th at the finish.

It was a barnburner and had the crowd buzzing as they exited the track. We quickly scurried to our car and made a quick exit onto north bound Route 41 and arrived back in Crawfordsville by 2:40 AM after some fine wheel twisting by Dale O’Brien who learned some lessons watching tonight’s great race.

Until the next installment get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and be safe. Comments, news, stories and other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and the kind comments and continue to check back often to see where the race chasing Eckels end up next. Be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Bloomington IMW Win Goes To Pursley In Strong Run

Friday, June 7 – Tonight’s racing action for Indiana Midget Week traveled to the red high banks of the Bloomington Speedway just south of the city which houses Indiana University, the home of the Hoosiers. The crew of Bill, Dale, Pat and I arrived on the grounds of Bloomington around 4 and placed our lawn chairs in the already forming ticket line. We had the pleasure of talking with the owner of the Skegness Stadium, an English racetrack, and his wife in the parking lot before heading over to the line and into the track to secure our seating spots. We were joined again by Irvin King as we chatted in the glorious sun before racing began.

After sprint car hot laps/qualifying and midget hot laps it was time to place the midgets on the timing clock and see who would set fast time on the evening. Chase McDermand in the Josh Ford Motorsports #8W which is Chevy powered surprised the 32 car field by posting the fast time of 12.143 seconds around the ¼ mile high banked red clay oval besting 31 others.

The wingless sprinters would contest their four heats for their 31 car field first taking the green for their first heat at 7:46. Tye Mihocko, the Arizona native, would guide the Jamie Paul #24p to victory in heat one over Harley Burns, Brayden Fox and Chance Crum. Heat two was captured by Brandon Spencer over Braxton Cummings, Gabriel Gilbert and Andy Bradley. Ricky Lewis grabbed the win in heat three besting Brandon Mattox, Matt Thompson and Logan Calderwood. Heat four went to Jadon Rogers beating Rylan Gray, Charles Davis Jr and Daylan Chambers.

The USAC midgets took to the track for their four heats with the top five automatically moving to the 30 lap main event. Gavin Miller who has been in a slump broke out in a big way by winning heat one over teammate Kale Drake, Kevin Thomas Jr in a new Mounce/Stout steed as his regular ride had motor issues, Hank Davis and Chase McDermand. Heat two got off to a rough start when Jade Avedisian spun in turn four coming to the start with her, Logan Seavey and Taylor Reimer flipping in the process. Logan Seavey returned to action and prevailed in heat two outdistancing Ethan Mitchell, Zach Wigal, Kayla Roell and Colorado’s Lance Bennett qualifying for his first feature of the week. Jake Andreotti ran strong in heat three in one of the Four Kings entries winning over Justin Grant, Zach Daum replacing Kaiden Manders in the RAMCO #7M after his main ride broke, Michael Pickens and Kyle Cummins. Daison Pursley took the Boat #86 out front in heat four and won going away over Drake Edwards, Cannon McIntosh, Ryan Timms and Jacob Denney. All heat qualifying was in the books at just over an hour’s time.

The sprints were back for their B main with just four moving forward to join the field for their 25 lap main event. Jeff Bland Jr back in the Burton #04 scored the win besting Jack Hoyer, Nathan Schank from Arizona and Saban Bibent. The midget semi was next with four also advancing to their 30 lap feature event. Hayden Reinbold captured the semi win over Kyle Jones, Jade Avedisian and Ricky Lewis riding high, wide and handsome on the berm to capture the last qualifying position. The fields were now set and it was time to go feature racing.

The 30 lap USAC National midget feature would be led to Brian Hodde’s green silk at 9:43 with Justin Grant bounding into the early lead. Jacob Denney followed him through to take second with Daison Pursley up from seventh to third by lap two. Lap seven saw the first caution appear when Chase McDermand went over the banks in turn two and shortly thereafter Kale Drake joined him on the wrong side of the banking with Drake never stopping and returned to the track while McDermand was done for the evening.

On the restart while Grant and Denney held the low line Pursley decided to try the high line and at the line to complete that lap soared by Denney for second. Ryan Timms brought out the caution for the second time on the evening stopping on the track but was able to rejoin the field as he was suffering through a bad night. On the next restart Grant continued to lead using the low groove while Pursley pursued the high line. Lap sixteen saw a change for the lead as Grant decided to run high in turns one and two with Pursley diving low and racing down the backstretch together with Pursley taking the lead in turn three. Pursley began pulling away at this point as the potent Boat steed was off to the races.

Pursley looked like he was home free but with four to go in turns one and two Kyle Jones slowed with mechanical woes and Jade Avedisian had no where to go and ramped over his right rear tire and barrel rolled five times before landing outside of turn two. She was OK after her wild ride and was done for the evening. On the restart Pursley was quick off the start and over the last four laps opened up over a second lead and cruised across the line at 10:04 scoring the win over Grant with Denney third, Seavey fourth and Gavin Miller advancing from ninth to fifth at the finish. Cannon McIntosh picked up the Irvin King hard charger award after advancing from 13th to 6th with Zach Daum up from 12th to 7th. Ethan Mitchell was eighth, Hayden Reinbold ninth and Jake Andreotti rounding out the top ten.

Pursley has been hot so far in the month of June with four starts in the month so far finishing in the top three in each. Pursley also has taken the lead in both the national midget points race and the Indiana Midget Week standings.

The 25 lap wingless sprint car feature was next on the dance card with 20 strong brought to the green flag by Brandon Mattox and Tye Mihocko. Mattox got the jump and took the early lead on a track that was going away quickly. Ricky Lewis pounded the cushion after starting fourth and quickly worked his way backward dropping back to seventh. Mattox ran the middle to bottom grooves to maintain his lead as the laps clicked off. Mihocko and Brandon Spencer trailed. Lewis continued to remain loyal to the top and wasn’t going anywhere until past the halfway mark when the bottom rubbered up and Lewis began to gain ground. With about five to go Mihocko was able to move by Mattox for the top spot and looked to be the top dog. Lewis still had some bullets in his gun and streaked by Mattox with three to go and started to reel in Mihocko. Jadon Rogers followed the trail of Lewis and moved into fourth with a couple to go. Lewis closed the gap on Mihocko and pulled to his bumper in the last lap. With the checkers waving Mihocko was able to fend off Lewis in the non-stop feature and flashed under the black and white flag at 10:27 to score the win over Lewis, Mattox, Harley Burns and Brayden Fox from ninth. Rogers dropped to sixth with Braxton Cummings seventh, Rylan Gray eighth, Matt Thompson ninth and Andy Bradley coming home tenth.

It was another good night of racing and ended at a good hour allowing us to arrive back in Crawfordsville by 12:30 AM. Onto Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt for round four at Tom Helfrich’s finely groomed racetrack. Until next time get out there and catch some good short track racing in your area or take it on the road and catch some action at a new track on your bucket list. Comments, news, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy the content. Be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rain and Axsom Highlight Start Of Indiana Midget Week

Tuesday, June 4 – This is one of our favorite weeks in racing in Indiana, the 20th Indiana Midget Week with Bill and Judy Burns along with Dale O’Brien coming in for this week and staying with us. First up on the agenda was the Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis at the Marion County Fairgrounds. We left for Indy at 3:30 and dropped down onto Emerson Avenue to work the streets of Indianapolis on our way to Circle City. As we drove within ten minutes of the racing venue, we encountered one of the Keith Kunz tractor trailers heading toward us. That is never a good indication and as everyone in the car checked their social media, we discovered that showers had canceled the first night of IMW. It was disappointing but we all went out to dinner after arriving back in Crawfordsville. We attempted to watch the High Limit Series race from the ¼ mile dirt oval at the Davenport Speedway but their parade.

Wednesday, June 5 – The plan for tonight was for Bill, Dale and I to venture to the southeast corner of Indiana where the Hoosier state touches up against Ohio and Kentucky. We had kept a close eye on the weather for Lawrenceburg for the past few days and the forecast was pretty dismal. It started improving the day of the race but we will talked it over and didn’t want to risk the five hour round trip and get rained out for our efforts. We tuned into Flo instead to watch the racing and see if they would be able to sneak the program in. Hats off to track management and USAC for running an efficient and quickly run program completing their race by 8:30 and it was none too soon as reports had a steady rain dropping just five minutes after the second feature with the wingless sprint cars had wrapped up and soon turning into a monsoon proportion rainstorm.

Thursday, June 6 – Today turned out to be a very special day as Bill and I ventured up Route 39 toward Lebanon to visit the shops of the legendary Mel Kenyon. It took us a while to find his home and shops but the effort was worth it. Upon our arrival Mel was exiting his house onto the back porch and greeted us. He proceeded to give us close to a two hour tour of his shops including a small story on everyone of the photos, clippings, posters and cards on the walls of the shop. At 91, the King of the Midgets, was still very sharp minded and also continues to straighten axles and other racing components alongside his brother, Don. It was an amazing visit with an amazing individual and will be a lifelong racing memory. Both of us purchased a copy of his book which he autographed along with our shirts. It was a well worthwhile visit with one of most talented drivers in racing history. Mel is friendly, kind, knowledgeable and truly a humble human being and one of the nicest people I have ever met over my 60+ years involved in following this great sport of auto racing. God Bless, Mel.

Tonight’s racing action was down Route 231 South to beautiful downtown Putnamville where the Lincoln Park Speedway is located for round two of the 20th edition of Indiana Midget Week. Thirty eight USAC midgets were joined by an equal number of wingless sprint cars on this beautiful evening with low humidity and temperatures in the low 80’s. We were joined on the evening by Irvin King, former racer and longtime farmer, who resides in West Virginia. He is also the man who funds the hard charger award at many of the USAC events. Hot laps for both divisions were first on the docket followed by the USAC midget time trials kicking off at 7:38. Daison Pursley, in one of the Chad Boat entries, continues to shine setting the fast time with a lap of 12.705 second around the high banked 5/16 mile dirt oval. In hot laps for the sprints a scary moment happened when AJ Hopkins in the Burton #04 pulled to the top of the banks in between turns one and two quickly jumping out of the cockpit as the sprinter was on fire. He was on fire and the safety crew tried to remedy the situation. He was OK after a few moments of frantic action.

The sprints would get the first nod to run their heats with four on the plate for their 38 car field. The first heat took the green flag at 8:19 and Mitchel Moles powered the Reinbold/Underwood #19AZ to the front to capture the heat win over Brayden Fox, Ricky Lewis and Charles Davis Jr in a hotly contested race. Jadon Rogers ran a hard race in the Michael Dutcher #17GP to claim heat two over Andrew Prather, Rylan Gray and Kyle Shipley. Heat three was taken by Seth Parker in an impressive drive fending off Jack Hoyer, Nathan Schank and Austin Nigh. The fourth and final heat was won by Paragon invader, Jake Scott, over Brandon Spencer, John Sluss and Logan Calderwood.

The track was a little choppy but I referred to it as having character and it didn’t affect the hard driving by the participants in either division as the heat racing was highly competitive and very enjoyable to watch. Next up on the dance card were the four heats for the now 36 cars after time trials.

Kyle Cummins ran away with heat one in the Styres #3G besting Kyle Jones, Daison Pursley, Jacob Denney and Cannon McIntosh. Jade Avedisian turned in what I thought was her best performance that I have witnessed capturing heat two using the entire track to pass everyone in front of her. Kale Drake, Emerson Axsom, Zach Daum and Hayden Reinbold followed. Justin Grant captured heat three beating Ryan Timms, Jake Andreotti, Michael Pickens and Ethan Mitchell. The fourth heat fell to Chase McDermand over Zach Wigal, Taylor Reimer, Gavin Miller and Logan Seavey. All heat qualifying was in the books in less than an hour at 9:12.

The first of two B mains for the sprint cars were next up with a double flip taking place in between turns one and two. Everyone was OK in the tangle and racing resumed. Minnesota driver, Rob Caho Jr, prevailed in B main one over California driver, Eddie Tafoya Jr. The second B main was taken by Brandon Mattox in a late run to the front besting Daylan Chambers. Australian Kaiden Manders nailed down the midget semi as he has been looking good some far during Speedweek besting Ricky Lewis, Kevin Thomas Jr, Drake Edwards, Kayla Roell and Hank Davis the last person in.

At the drop of the green at 10:12 Ryan Timms took the lead from fourth and proceeded to pace the field for the first eleven laps with Cannon McIntosh, Kale Drake and Daison Pursley pursuing. By the halfway mark McIntosh had crossed the bad lead of Timms drawing closer and closer each lap. In the meantime, Emerson Axsom was coming into the battle advancing to fourth halfway in. Lap seventeen saw the caution wave as Ethan Mitchell stopped in turn four. On the restart Axsom decided to go topside passing Pursley in the first two corners for third and took second in turn four passing McIntosh. Timms was wrestling with the cushion off turn four for several laps slamming it pretty Hard causing him to lose some momentum and allowing Axsom to close. Lap eighteen saw Axsom slide past Timms off turn four but Timms was able to cross over and retain the lead. A lap later Timms slid up high in turns three and four allowing Axsom to slide underneath and take the lead. From that point forward Axsom moved away and closed the line at 10:22 taking the big win over Timms with Pursley third, McIntosh fourth and Taylor Reimer rounding out the top five. Four of the top five were Kunz entries. Chase McDermand was sixth with Jade Avedisian seventh, Kale Drake eighth, Kyle Cummins ninth and Gavin Miller rounding out the top five. Timms now takes a one point lead over Pursley heading to the next round tomorrow night at Bloomington.

We still had the 25 lap sprint car feature to contest with the front row of Brandon Spencer and Seth Parker bringing the field to Brian Hodde’s green flag at 10:39. Spencer grabbed the lead on the first lap until Parker slipped by in turn two on lap three to assume the top spot. Behind the leaders it was a donnybrook battle for third among Mitchel Moles, Brayden Fox and Ricky Lewis on lap five. The only caution appeared on lap twelve and on the restart Moles took the lead away from Parker in turn one. Lewis moved to second sliding by Spencer on lap thirteen and took up the chase of Moles. Lewis was able to pass Moles for the lead on lap fifteen and would lead the final ten laps of the feature crossing under the checkers at 10:49 for the win with Moles second, Parker third, Jadon Rogers fourth and Rylan Gray taking down fifth. Jake Scott led the second five to the finish in sixth with Fox seventh, Austin Nigh eighth, Rob Caho Jr ninth and Andrew Prather rounding out the top ten.

It was a good night of racing at LPS and we move onto the high banks of Bloomington Speedway tomorrow night for round three of Indiana Midget Week.

Until the next installment get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and be safe. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Mihocko Triumphs In Night Before 500 Race At Lincoln Park

Saturday, May 25 – It was a nice day to go racing so Pat and I along with guest, Kerry Meitzler, who was making his debut at Lincoln Park Speedway headed down Route 231 South toward beautiful downtown Putnamville and the home of the 5/16 mile dirt oval known as the King of the Cushion. LPS is our favorite place to watch a race from as the aisles are wide and allow lounge chairs to be placed in them to increase your comfort on the evening. Along with allowing coolers (minus beer) and having good concessions it makes for an enjoyable fan experience. The problem we have with Lincoln Park is it seems they never start on time anymore. Tonight, with many first timers in town for the Indianapolis 500, this is an opportunity to impress them with a snappy show spun off in a good time frame. With racing scheduled to start at 7 PM management placed themselves behind the eight ball from the start not starting the first heat until 8:11. Our philosophy is you only get one chance to make a first impression and to attract new fans you need to run an efficient, timely race program. This was not accomplished on this evening as over one third of the good crowd on hand left before seeing a feature event and the likelihood of them returning is low as fans going to the 500 the next day need to rise early to get to the track and hopefully beat the race day traffic. Kerry was one of them on this evening.

A solid field of 26 non-wing sprints were joined by 23 D2 midgets, 22 UMP modifieds, 15 bombers and 14 super stocks for tonight. The normal number of divisions for LPS is four and adding one without dropping a regular division on this night is not a good plan for a speedy evening. Joey Amantea scored the win in heat one over Daylan Chambers, Lee Dakus, the Edmonton, Alberta driver, back after a few years absence to regroup, Lee Underwood and Blake Vermillion. Heat two went to Kyle Shipley besting Jesse Vermillion, Harley Burns, Ivan Glotzbach and Austin Nigh. Tye Mihocko triumphed in heat three beating Brandon Spencer, Frankie Guerrini, Brayden Fox and Bryan Brewer with the top five from each heat locking into the 25 lap main event.

Three heats were contested for the UMP modifieds and the D2 midgets while the super stocks and bombers ran two each. The only division needing a B main was the sprint cars with Seth Parker scoring the win over Aaron Davis, Kaiden Manders, a Western Australia driver behind the keyboard of the Burton #04, Nic Harris and Zack Pretorius. All qualifying was completed by 10:11. With about a third of the crowd having exited by this point we were ready for the first of five feature races.

The green flag would drop on the 25 lap sprint car feature at 10:23 with Joey Amantea grabbing the early lead. It did not take Tye Mihocko long to get to the front from his third starting position taking the lead on the backstretch on lap one probably remembering the sting of the defeat the night before at Bloomington in the Burton Memorial on the last lap pass by Robert Ballou. Kyle Shipley also moved up to third at this point. Shipley slipped by Amantea on the start of lap nine in turn one and took up the chase of Mihocko, his fellow Arizona racer. Harley Burns was another making headway coming from eighth to fourth with Brandon Spencer moving into fifth. Amantea made an infield incursion off turn four on lap seventeen dropping to fifth as he returned to the racing surface on the homestretch as Spencer took third from Burns on this same lap. Seth Parker was pounding the cushion advancing from sixteenth to fifth with five to go. Spencer moved by Shipley for second with two to go but didn’t have enough time to seriously challenge Mihocko for the top spot. Parker was able to take fourth from Amantea in the closing laps for an impressive run indeed. At the 10:30 finish in the non-stop event it was Mihocko in for the win beating Spencer with Shipley third, Parker fourth and Amantea rounding out the top five. Positions six through ten were filled by Harley Burns, Brayden Fox, Frankie Guerrini, Ivan Glotzbach and Nic Harris from 19th.

It was a good, racing feature but with it being already 10:30 we decided to forgo the UMP modifieds and D2 midgets for Kerry’s sake and missed a 21st to 3rd run by Cale Coons, son of Jerry, in the D2 midget event. Management needs to work on running a more timely, fan friendly show.

That’s it until at least Sunday but the weather does not look good for Saturday with an Indianapolis Indians baseball game on the docket for Friday. Until next time get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and have fun and be safe. Comments, news, stories or other things of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and giving us feedback on our writings. Be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Ballou Strikes Gold With Last Lap Pass At Josh Burton Memorial

Friday, May 24 – It was time for the 11th Josh Burton Memorial at the Bloomington Speedway and the four of us piled into the Equinox for the drive south to Bloomington. We stopped at Olive Garden in Bloomington before making our way over to the track where we secured a great parking spot where Kerry Meitzler and I joined Steve Kimmel in line to stake our seating area for the evening. We were able to get a top row location in the concrete grandstand right up against the railing behind us. It was a great location for all six of us. The weather had an hour or so that was troublesome but as the day went on it dissipated as the rain moved across north of us. Indianapolis Raceway Park was not so fortunate as the rain postponed the 71st running of the Hoosier Hundred until the next morning. The Burton Memorial has turned into one of the biggest shows on the Bloomington schedule with the family and friends continuing to add to making it a must see event. The sprint car winner tonight would receive $10,000 to win with the UMP modifieds and super stocks getting a paycheck of $1000 to win.

Ceremonies to honor Josh Burton were first on the docket with many race teams lining the top of the banks extending from turn two through turn three. Also many teams paint their Goodyear embossed tires orange to honor the man who left us too soon. And a special moment of the night is when Josh’s special friend, Casey, sings the National Anthem. A very nice tribute to a fine young man.

The sprint cars would run four heats for their good 34 car field with the top four moving directly into the 30 lap feature. The UMP modifieds would contest two heats for their 13 car field and the super stocks also two heats for their 13 car field.

The first sprint car heat would take the green flag at 7:55 with Shane Cottle in the Epperson #2E taking down the win over Tye Mihocko, Braxton Cummings and Harley Burns. Heat two went to the Daming Excavating #5T of Jake Swanson beating Kyle Cummins, Brayden Fox and Jadon Rogers. Ricky Lewis in his own #41 captured his fourth heat win in four nights outrunning Cody Trammell, Rylan Gray and Brandon Spencer in heat three. The fourth and final heat for the sprinters went to the Rock Steady #3R of Kevin Thomas Jr defeating Robert Ballou, Hunter Maddox and Max Adams. After the modified and super stock heats the sprint car B main was spun off with Chase Stockon getting the win over Charles Davis Jr, Jeff Bland Jr with a late race charge placed the Burton family owned #04 into the starting field with Daylan Chambers taking down the final qualifying spot.

The 30 lap, $10,000 to win sprint car feature was ready to rumble by 9:53 when Tye Mihocko and Kyle Cummins pacing 18 others came to the green flag. Mihocko bolted into the early lead chased by Cummins, Jake Swanson and Cody Trammell. Only two cautions would slow the action and each time Mihocko was back out front. Robert Ballou who started fifth was working his way forward while on the other hand Kevin Thomas Jr who started seventh was back peddling backwards out of the top ten. Ballou went to work picking off Trammell followed by Swanson and caught and passed Cummins to move into the runner up position. Mihocko was setting a good pace in the Paul #24P at the point but Ballou began to cut into his comfortable lead. With three to go Ballou was right on the tail of Mihocko as he tried to figure out a way past. The top two raced around the quarter mile bullring nose to tail taking the white flag and racing into turn one. In turn two Ballou closed to Mihocko’s tail as the pair raced down the backstretch. Entering turn three Ballou went for the win throwing his sprinter on the low side sticking there allowing him to slide Mihocko with plenty of room to spare pulling in front of him in turn four and racing to the line winning the race in very exciting fashion. Mihocko finished a disappointing second with Cummins placing third, Thomas rallying in the second half of the race to advance to fourth with Cody Trammell rounding out the top five. Jadon Rogers was the hard charger coming from 14th to finish 6th with Ricky Lewis 7th, Jake Swanson 8th, Brayden Fox 9th and Shane Cottle 10th.

Next up was the fireworks display and it was wonderful with lots of color and large sky lighting shots. After the fireworks we decided to hit the road for the 1 ½ hour drive home satisfied with a good night of racing on the red high banks of Bloomington.

That’s it for now but we have another night of racing to bring you tomorrow as our racing this week is not yet finished. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and have fun and be safe. Comments, news, notes of interest or anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where we end up next. Take care and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey Scores Fifth Win Of Year On Night Two At Circle City Salutes

Thursday, May 23 – Another nice day welcomed us as we arose to greet the day. Pat was back in town after a 12:30 AM arrival at Indianapolis Airport from New Jersey and our friends from Pennsylvania, Kerry and Cindy Meitzler, were flying in today from Philadelphia. Cindy had bought Kerry tickets to the 500 as a birthday present for his 70th birthday and they were going to take in as much racing beforehand as possible. That meant picking them up at the airport at 5:45 PM and wheeling them over to the Circle City Raceway for night two of the Circle City Salutes special two day show featuring the USAC sprint cars. We used some of the city roads to make our way to the Marion County Fairgrounds and arrived at 6:30, in plenty of time to catch the festivities. We ran into Northern California residents, Michael “Chiller” Lindbeck and Leslie, traveling East to take in some racing including their first Little 500 and the Indianapolis 500 where they specially came to watch Kyle Larson who they have known since he was a young kid.

We settled into our seats with our group of friends all around as time trials opened the program commencing at 7:18 for the 35 car field on hand. When it was said and done at 7:46 it was CJ Leary getting the homestretch interview after setting his 49th career fast time tying him with Brady Bacon for fourth place on the all-time list. The other division in action tonight would be the D2 midgets with 19 cars entered to do battle on the quarter mile oval.

Four heat races for the USAC sprint cars were first up with the top five moving forward into the 40 lap, $10,000 to win main event. Ricky Lewis, the young California driver, has been on a tear this week winning his fourth heat race of the week in four races contested. Lewis beat Jadon Rogers, Logan Seavey, Charles Davis Jr and fast timer, CJ Leary in heat one. Heat two was captured by Chase Stockon who is having a consistent week outrunning Brady Bacon, Jake Swanson, Joey Amantea and Shane Cottle. Daison Pursley who is proving he is a title contender with consistent good finishes, nailed down heat three besting Kyle Cummins, Matt Westfall, Frankie Guerrini and Chance Crum. The fourth heat was taken by Robert Ballou over Brent Beauchamp, Carson Garrett, Brandon Mattox and Justin Grant.

The D2 midgets would run three heats for their 19 car field with Matt Lux, Bryce Massingill and Michael Magic capturing heat wins. Then it was back to the sprint cars with 15 cars racing for just 4 spots into the main event. Kevin Thomas Jr who had problems in his heat ran away from the field in this one trailed by Mitchel Moles, Anton Hernandez and Harley Burns with a last lap pass of Rylan Gray to claim the last starting position for the feature.

That brought us up to the two feature races with the 40 lap USAC sprint car feature the first called to the lineup shoot. As the green flag dropped on the 24 car field Kyle Cummins jumped off the inside front row for the early lead. Cummins would pace the field for the early laps with third starting Logan Seavey tucked in behind Cummins. On lap nine the first caution appeared when Joey Amantea lost the handle and spun in turn two. On the restart Seavey was right on Cummin’s rear nerf bar and ready to pounce. Seavey took the lead in turn one on lap ten and fended off a counter by Cummins in turn three and pulled fully ahead exiting turn four. At that point it was off to the races for Seavey as he checked out on the remainder of the field as the laps clicked off. Cummins, Brady Bacon and Daison Pursley locked up in a race long battle way behind Seavey as the trio swapped back and forth over the course of the feature. Cummins clipped the turn two wall allowing Pursley to slip by into second and on lap later Cummins said hello to the turn four wall allowing Bacon to motor by in third. On the white flag Bacon dove low on the homestretch on Pursley and secured second entering turn one. The checkered flag would fly one lap later at 9:55 with Seavey crossing the line first with over a four second lead with Bacon second, Pursley third from seventh as he continues to impress with Ricky Lewis in a fine performance advancing from ninth to fourth at the finish with Robert Ballou rounding out the top five.

Cummins would wind up sixth at the end with CJ Leary seventh, Chase Stockon eighth, Carson Garrett ninth and Mitchel Moles rounding out the top ten. For Seavey that was his fifth win of the season in the USAC sprints becoming the earliest driver to win that many times in USAC since Larry Dickson in 1970. It was also his 15th career USAC sprint car win tying him with Bobby East, Cory Kruseman and Brian Tyler on the all-time list in 40th place. Chance Crum was the hard charger of the evening advancing from 23rd to 14th at the finish.

There was still some racing to go as the D2 midgets were next on the card to contest their 25 lap feature taking the green flag at 10:09. Alex Watson paced the field for the first 12 laps until Bryce Massingill was able to work his way by to take the lead. Watson stayed close and the pair were joined by Michael Magic as a good three car duel ensued. Massingill was able to fend off all challenges and crossed the finish line at 10:23 to take the win with Watson and Magic right in his tire tracks.

It was a good night of racing with Wednesday night’s USAC feature being more competitive but overall a better track surface in tonight’s racing.

That’s it for now but check back tomorrow as we will bring you highlights from the 11th Josh Burton Memorial race at Bloomington Speedway which is one of the premier races on the Bloomington docket. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area, have fun and be safe. Comments, information, stories or other items of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy reading them as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. Remember to smile, say hi to a stranger and be kind as you don’t know what that person is going through at the present time.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Bacon Breaks Through For First Of Year At Circle City

Wednesday, May 22 – The forecast for today going back a few days ago was for scattered thunderstorms and projected bad weather. Well, things changed which is common with the weather forecasts in Indiana and the threat of bad weather was replaced by partly sunny skies with temperatures in the 80’s along with 15 mph winds. It was on the dot as the day proceeded. I arrived on the grounds of the Marion County Fairgrounds, home of the Circle City Raceway, for night one of two at the quarter mile dirt oval in Indianapolis. Found a good parking spot and went off to find Steve and Magi Kimmel and their motorhome. Found that Steve just missed getting into the track before they locked the gates to lay down the tablecloths to secure seats so we all hanged out at the motorhome until close to 5:30 when the gates were scheduled to reopen. We went inside and with the wind blowing it was a two man job to secure the plastic tablecloths to the aluminum grandstand but after some struggle the mission was accomplished. We returned back to the camping area and chatted and before going in for the night Magi brought out some great dip and Fritos along with strawberries and cherries direct from New Mexico. We settled into our seats for a night of racing.

We were surprised that the starting time for racing was not until 8 PM on a weekday with neighbors encroaching closer and closer to the fairgrounds we thought it would be a wise decision to start an hour earlier. Anyhow the action picked up quickly as time trials pushed off at 7:24 with two drivers taking rides into the turn one wall rolling over and ending their nights early. First it was Rylan Gray sliding hard into the turn one wall which turned his car sideways executing two barrel rolls ending up against the wall in turn two. A few sprinters later Frankie Guerrini caught the cushion wrong entering turn one sending him sideways and impacting the wall and rolling over once in the process. That brought the 35 car field down to 33 for heat action. Robert Ballou normally not a good qualifier surprised everyone setting fast time with a lap of 12.679 seconds around the ¼ mile bullring. Next up on the agenda were hot laps for the second division on the card, the crate late models, who brought 21 cars to the dance.

The four USAC sprint car heats were called to the post with the green flag dropping on the field at 8:21. Kyle Cummins wheeled the Jerry Petty #3P to the cushion and powered around those ahead of him to score the first heat win over Logan Seavey, CJ Leary, Robert Ballou and Harley Burns. Mitchel Moles was the man in heat two placing the Reinbold/Underwood #19AZ out front and nailing down the win over Shane Cottle, Brady Bacon, Brent Beauchamp and Matt Westfall. Chase Stockon scored the win in heat three wheeling the KO Motorsports #5S to the win over Hunter Maddox in an impressive run finished second followed by Daison Pursley, Charles Davis Jr and Justin Grant. Ricky Lewis paced the field in heat four using a 360 powerplant after losing one of his two 410 power plants the night before at Terre Haute winning over Jake Swanson, Joey Amantea, Anton Hernandez in the Baldwin #5 and Kevin Thomas Jr. The four heats were run in 24 minutes. Three crate late model heats followed with Steve Peeden, Zack Burton and Jack Dossey taking down wins.

The sprint car semi was next on the schedule with Carson Garrett blasting from eighth after having problems with the car in his heat race and pulling away in this one besting Chance Crum, Jadon Rogers and Matt Goodnight. Garrett would start 24th in the main event and move forward which we will hit on again later.

It was now time to run the 30 lap, $5000 to win USAC sprint car feature with Shane Cottle and Harley Burns bringing the 24 car field to the green flag at 9:38. Cottle squirted to the early lead using the low side (his preferred groove) and led the opening two laps until third starting Kevin Thomas Jr went high side in turn four to swoop past Cottle for the lead. Thomas moved away from the pack opening up a straightway lead over the next several laps. Brady Bacon who started fifth was moving forward in a hurry, catching and passing Cottle for second with a low side pass in turn one on lap nine. Kyle Cummins who started seventh was the next to dust off Cottle passing him for third on the high side of turn four on lap eleven.

Thomas still held a healthy lead at the halfway mark with Bacon and Cummins separating themselves from rest of the field as they went to work tracking down Thomas. Lap traffic loomed ahead for Thomas as Bacon was clearly reeling in the Rock Steady #3R but the caution waved on lap sixteen when Brent Beauchamp and Joey Amantea tangled and spun in unison in turns one and two right in front of the leaders who managed to avoid them both. On the restart Thomas powered out front as Bacon and Cummins locked up in a battle for second. Cummins edged ahead several times but Bacon was able to counter and regain second. Cottle reappeared on the bottom challenging the top three moving by Cummins for second briefly until he encountered a turn three infield tire sending the Epperson #2E spinning to a stop. Cottle would end up 18th at the finish after looking like a serious contender.

On the restart with eight to go Thomas decided to come off the top and run the bottom while Bacon did the opposite going from bottom to top. The racing was intense among the top six running side by side in groups of two as the battle was on. With six to go Thomas and Ballou trolled the bottom while Cummins ran the middle and Bacon was up against the wall racing through turn two. Bacon got the run and passed Thomas for the lead between turns three and four and was in front for the first time in this one. Bacon opened a few car length lead as the laps dwindled down and as Bacon raced to the white flag this one looked like it was over. Well, it was not as two cautions at the end would necessitate two green, white, checker scenarios. CJ Leary brought out the first caution slowing on the backstretch with a flat right rear tire and the second occurred on the restart when second running Cummins caught the turn two wall ramping him up on the wall on the backstretch and riding it for a distance before returning to the track surface. He raced into turn three and front end broke causing him to spin and spoiling his good run on the evening.

On the final restart Bacon got a good jump and was able to stave off all comers over the final two laps crossing the line first for his 54th career USAC National Sprint Car win and first of 2024 after a dismal start to the year and the proverbial monkey on his back was thrown off in grand style. Thomas rode home second with Daison Pursley in the mix over the last five laps placing third after starting fourteenth with Robert Ballou fourth and Chase Stockon fifth after starting ninth. Mitchel Moles led the charge of the second five across the line in sixth with Jadon Rogers coming home seventh, Ricky Lewis eighth, Chance Crum advanced from 20th to 9th with Matt Westfall rounding out the top ten. Crum looked like a good choice for hard charger but remember Carson Garrett from before he advanced from 24th to 12th to claim the hard charger award in a good run. The checker on this one dropped at 9:54 but since I didn’t have to pick up pat at the Indianapolis Airport until at least 11:30 (ended up being 12:30 arrival after congestion problems at Newark Airport) I decided to watch the 25 lap crate late model feature as the parking lot emptied of about half the Dossey fourth and Tyler Neal fifth with the final checker waving at 10:25.

It was a real good night of sprint car racing even though the track was dusty in the feature there were multiple racing grooves and plenty of side by side racing throughout the field in a very entertaining contest.

Check back tomorrow as night two of Circle City is next on the agenda with more USAC sprint car racing on the docket. Until then get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area but be safe and have fun. And thanks for reading our efforts and hope you are enjoying the busy Memorial Day week of racing we have here in the Hoosier state leading up to the Indianapolis 500.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Seavey’s Late Pass Gives Him Fourth Win of Year At Terre Haute

Tuesday, May 21 – It was a beautiful day in the Hoosier state, sunny with temperatures pushing into the low 90’s with steady winds at 15 mph from the south. The direction of the wind was the key for today as it was at our backs in the covered grandstands and not blowing in our faces. Our Arizona friend, Steve Kimmel, wasn’t expecting Indiana Sprint Week temperatures though!! Left Crawfordsville at 3 and pulled onto the grounds of the Vigo County Fairgrounds at 4:20. Hung out in the car reading emails and such until just after 5 and made my way to the ticket booth and into the covered grandstand finding Don and Burleigh who were saving me a seat in the top row. The wind was blowing at our backs but felt good with the temperature in the 90’s. At one point my writing pad and bag blew two rows in front of me before I was able to retrieve it!! We were joined later by friends, Max and Suzie Niemann, and good conversation followed after introductions.

As far as the racing is concerned 27 USAC sprints along with 11 UMP modifieds were ready to do battle on the only ½ mile dirt oval in Indiana which had been prepped nicely by the track crew for tonight’s racing. It was the 54th Tony Hulman Classic honoring the former owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the winner receiving the traditional rifle in victory lane. The night kicked off with two at a time trials for the 27 car field starting at 7:02. Just 15 minutes later it was Logan Seavey being interviewed after setting the fast time with a lap of 20.152 around the half mile oval. Hot laps for the UMP modifieds followed before the USAC sprints returned to the track to contest their three heat races with the top six moving into the 30 lap, $10,000 to win feature event.

Mitchel Moles placed the Reinbold/Underwood #19AZ in victory lane after the first heat was completed besting Jake Swanson, Chase Stockon, Logan Seavey, Max Adams and Kevin Thomas Jr. Heat two was a surprise not in the fact that he won but by the margin of victory as Ricky Lewis checked out in this one beating Matt Westfall, Brady Bacon, Justin Grant, Carson Garrett and Jadon Rogers with a last lap pass of Saban Bibent for the last qualifying position. The third heat race was captured by CJ Leary on the last lap sliding Kyle Cummins for the win with Daison Pursley, Charles Davis Jr, Robert Ballou and Tye Mihocko in the Cheney #42 following. The two UMP modified heats were won by Kentucky’s Hunt Gossum and Tyler Weiss.

The sprint car B main was next on the agenda with Shane Cottle winning in the Epperson #2E in a race shortened by one lap when Matt Goodnight slid into Kevin Newton between turns three and four resulting in Newton barrel rolling four times before stopping on the track. Newton was OK after the wild ride and the race was checkered at this point as all remaining cars (6) were qualified. This allowed Nate Ervin driving the Algieo #11 to qualify for his first USAC sprint car feature.

The 15 lap UMP modified feature was the first called to the post with Tyler Weiss the early leader. Hunt Gossum would work his way by around lap 7 and outdistance Will Krup for the win with Justin Jones finishing third.

Now it was time for the 54th Annual Tony Hulman Classic with 24 cars brought to Brian Hodde’s green flag led by Kevin Thomas Jr and Carson Garrett. Thomas took the early lead with Robert Ballou charging from fourth into the runner-up position in quick order. Joey Amantea looped it in turn one on lap one and had the field bearing down on his racer which had to make for a few anxious moments for the young driver. Everyone was able to avoid the spun car and Amantea restarted at the tail of the field. On the restart Justin Grant spun in turn two with no contact from anyone and also was relegated to the tail of the field where we ended up finishing an uncharacteristic 15th at the end.

Thomas would lead on the restart with Ballou in tow. The race went green until lap nine when first time starter, Nate Ervin slowed on the backstretch. On the ensuing restart Jake Swanson in the Benic #2B executed a slider on Thomas in turn one to grab the lead with Brady Bacon catching Thomas in turn three to take over second. Swanson and Bacon pulled away opening a half straightway lead on Thomas as the race neared the halfway mark. Lap thirteen saw Logan Seavey who had worked his way from eighth into contention sliding Thomas for third in turn three but if he was going to catch the top two he had his work cut out for him as they held a half straightway lead as the race crossed the halfway mark. Seavey was fast and began to close the gap on the high flying top two.

Lap 21 saw Bacon try to dive low in turn three for the lead but Charles Davis Jr blocked his line and Bacon was forced to pull around Davis behind Swanson and just in front of the surging Seavey who had caught the leaders. With six to go Seavey threw a perfect slider on Bacon entering turn one and held off Bacon exiting turn two to take over second at this point. Coming to the flag stand with five to go, Seavey knew it was time to go after Swanson. With just three to go Swanson lapped Grant through turns one and two with Seavey caught up behind Grant tapping his rear nerf bar in turn two and losing valuable ground. Everyone thought this was enough to give Swanson the breathing room he needed to fend off Seavey but Logan was not done yet. Seavey cleared Grant in turn three and took up the chase of Swanson as time was running out quickly.

With the white flag waving Swanson led with Seavey closing quickly. Entering turn two Seavey closed to Swanson’s rear nerf bar and racing off the turn raced down the backstretch racing side by side with Seavey edging ahead entering turn three. Racing to the line Seavey would win his fourth USAC sprint feature of the year by two car lengths over Swanson who had to settle for a disappointing second with Bacon third, Thomas fourth and CJ Leary completing the top five with the final checker waving at 9:51. Seavey also became the first fast qualifier to win the Hulman Classic in 21 years, the last being JJ Yeley who was racing Xtreme Outlaw midgets at Millbridge Speedway in North Carolina tonight. It was an impressive run by the Sutter, California native as he added to his point lead on the evening.

Daison Pursley turned in a strong run coming from 12th to finish 6th with Chase Stockon up from 13th to 7th with Robert Ballou fading to eighth, Mitchel Moles ninth and Shane Cottle rounding out the top ten. Wanted to give a shout out to USAC rookie, Joey Amantea, who if you remember spun on the first lap and went to the rear of the field (23rd) and rebounded to finish 11th. The hard charger is based on your starting position so actually Amantea started 19th but still received the hard charger award. A fine performance by the series rookie!!

That’s it for today but check back tomorrow as the action continues as the USAC sprints move up to Indianapolis and the quarter mile at the Circle City Raceway for two nights of action. Comments, news, racing rumors or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. So if you haven’t already done so get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area and have fun and be safe. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where a typical weekend ends up.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

A Visit To Kansas Produces Some Good Racing At Salina & Belleville

Thursday, May 16 – We started the long trek westward toward Kansas stopping for the evening at a Sleep Inn in Hannibal, Missouri, the hometown of Samuel Clemons or you may know him by his author name, Mark Twain. We left Hannibal by 9:30 AM after having a wonderful breakfast at the hotel (recommend this place for its breakfast alone) making our way westward to Salina, Kansas, our home for the next two days.

Friday, May 17 – We decided to take in the local racing action at the 3/8 mile dirt oval at the Salina Speedway instead of traveling up the road to watch the USAC midgets at Belleville. We are glad we did as we witnessed some good IMCA sanctioned racing here with five divisions totaling 80 cars. After hot laps the track was a little dry so the water truck came out to put down some liquid love and we couldn’t believe the amount of water that came out of the three sprayers attached. This would cause a 15 minute delay but even starting 15 minutes late was better than we see at tracks in Indiana and other parts of the country who start 45 minutes to an hour late with no explanation or apology to the paying customer. The announcer here gave an apology before the racing began. Eleven heat races were run for the five divisions wrapping up in less than an hour. Amazing how quickly you can run races with the IMCA spin rule in place that disqualifies anyone bringing out the caution in a race!!!

The racing was close and competitive in every division with the hobby stock and sport modified features deemed the best by us. All racing was completed before 11 after starting at 8:15. Good show, good enthusiastic crowd and good food at a fair price. We both enjoyed this one very much.

Saturday, May 18 – After hanging out at the Hilton Garden hotel in the morning we ventured out for lunch at the local Perkin’s. Very tasty food with good portions filled our stomachs before making the hour plus trip northward to the small town of Belleville. We met up with Steve and Magi Kimmel, Ken Wagner along with Coach from Kokomo in the campgrounds and did some bench racing and storytelling before the night’s racing began. It was our first visit to Belleville in 20 years and it felt good to be back. We would be seeing racing on two tracks tonight, the inner oval which measures a quarter mile in length and is completely separate from the high banked half mile dirt oval. The USAC midget would be doing battle on the ¼ mile while the mighty USAC Silver Crown division would be taking to the big half mile on this evening. We sat in row 5 of the aluminum bleachers and got pelted quite a bit by the Silver Crown cars hot lapping around the half mile banked dirt oval and it was good to see the track tacky.

USAC midget time trials would start the evening of entertainment commencing at 6:50 with Ethan Mitchell in the Honda powered midget setting fast time of 12.462 seconds around the ¼ mile oval completing at 7:07 and beating out 26 other drivers for quick time. Next on the agenda was time trials for 25 Silver Crown entrants with five drivers including Logan Seavey and CJ Leary not taking time during this session. Twenty five cars would start the 50 lap main event later in the evening though. Kaylee Bryson, the only female driver in the field, driving the Aaron Pierce #26 showed the boys how it was done setting fast time around the almost total circle with little straights a half mile in size with a time of 17.264 seconds. Bryson became the first female in Silver Crown history to set fast time in an event. And there was more to come.

The midgets were back trackside for their three heat races with the top six moving directly into the 40 lap main event. Daniel Whitley in the LeVecque #60X replacing Hank Davis tonight who moved over to the Cornell #8 surprised everyone by copping the first heat besting Zach Daum, Justin Grant, Jerry Coons Jr, Kale Drake and Ethan Mitchell barely cracking the top six. Heat two went to the defending USAC midget champ, Logan Seavey, after having a trying time last night ending up eighth from twenty third as the berm gave him fits last night. Tonight was different as he scored the win in heat two over in the new Joyner team #27X, Ryan Timms, Jacob Denney, Kevin Thomas Jr and Cannon McIntosh, last night feature winner snapping a long losing streak in USAC midget action. The third and final heat fell to Daison Pursley in his new ride in the Chad Boat Industries #86 beating Jake Andreotti, Steven Snyder Jr, Gary Taylor, Ashton Torgerson and Gavin Miller. The midget semi was next on the dance card with six to qualify and after one lap with Kaylee Bryson. Bubak was awarded the win. That has not happen in USAC annuals since 1999 in a USAC sprint semi at Terre Haute.

So, all we had remaining were two main events, one on the quarter mile and the other on the half mile. First up on the evening would be the 40 lap USAC midget feature with the front row of Ashton Torgerson and Ryan Timms bringing 22 of their friends to the green flag at 9:25. Torgerson would get the edge at the start and lead the first three laps of the event. Timms was riding the rim and passed Torgerson for the top spot up high in turn one on lap four. Daison Pursley who started fourth also breezed by Torgerson for second on the fourth lap. Timms would pace the field through lap eleven when he slid up in turn one past a lap car and tagged the turn two berm with his right rear tire and momentarily became airborne but was able to regain control and maintain the lead over Pursley. The red flag would wave on the fourteenth lap when Jake Bubak and other car banged together on the backstretch with Bubak barrel rolled three times before landing on all fours. Bubak was OK but done for the evening.

On the restart Timms led with Pursley in close pursuit. These two pulled away from the others with Pursley making his move for the lead on lap twenty six in turn three sliding up in front of Timms and leading by a car length at the line. Three laps later rookie Kale Drake passed Timms for second and tried to reel in Pursley. Daison went to the bottom while Drake tried to make the high side work as the race went on. Timms dropped back several positions but went back to work and moved forward once again. With less than ten to go Timms passed Drake to regain second but Pursley was too far out front for him to mount a challenge. At 9:46 Pursley streaked across the line first for his first win of 2024 and his third career win in USAC competition and first since August of 2021. Timms would finish second with Drake third and Cannon McIntosh making it an all-Oklahoma top four with Illinois’ Zach Daum placing fifth. Logan Seavey led the second five across the line in sixth with Ashton Torgerson seventh, Ethan Mitchell eighth, Kyle Jones ninth and Gary Taylor rounding out the top ten. Hard charger went to Zach Wigal from 23rd to 13th at the finish. A good competitive race setting the stage for the big 50 lap USAC Silver Crown feature.

At the start of the 50 lap USAC Silver Crown event with the front row of Kaylee Bryson and Mario Clouser bringing the field to the green flag at 10:18 it was Brady Bacon looking like he was shot out of a cannon blasting by Matt Westfall and the front row into the lead by the end of lap one. What Bacon did over the next 34 laps was put an ass wiping on the field as he streaked around the half mile going every which way passing cars left and right. Bacon opened up a six second lead in the first 15 laps as he raced around the oval like it was his personal playground. In fact, by the halfway mark, he had decimated the field with a ten second lead that saw he lap ninth place runner, Jerry Coons Jr, at that point. Bryson and Clouser trailed as Bacon ran away. But as Dick Trickle once said, “You have to first finish before you finish first” and no words rang truer as exiting turn four on lap 34 Bacon’s Dyson #9 puffed a white cloud of smoke as the leader slowed on the homestretch and continued around to the backstretch where he pulled to the infield while he still led. That is how much of a lead he had!!!

A lap later the only yellow flew when an errant wheel cover lay in the groove in turn three. When opportunity knocks you grab the bull by the horns and take advantage of it. That is what Kaylee Bryson did as the green flag dropped on the restart, she hit the loud pedal and was off being chased by Mario Clouser and Kevin Thomas Jr who had worked his way to third after starting ninth. CJ Leary who started 20th after taking no time trial and replacing an engine, was back in sixth on the restart but it didn’t take him long to dust off Justin Grant, Thomas and Clouser charging by them all in five laps. Leary continued to cut the deficit and with six to go was within two car lengths of Bryson. Everyone thought that Leary was going to track down the young lady but she had other plans. Bryson was almost flawless over the final laps holding off all challenges by Leary and racing across the finish line at 10:40 making history in the progress as Bryson became the first female driver in 69 years of USAC racing to win a National event as the crowd went wild roaring their approval as she scored the very popular win besting Leary, Clouser, Grant up from ninth and Daison Pursley in his Silver Crown debut advancing from 12th to garner a top five in his first outing in the Team AZ #21. Veteran Jerry Coons Jr brought the Bateman #55 home sixth after starting 13th with Chase Stockon seventh, Thomas eighth after fading down the stretch, with Robert Ballou ninth in his maiden voyage in the Hans Lein #97 after starting 17th with Matt Westfall ending up tenth. Pennsylvania driver, Briggs Danner, also in his first Silver Crown run came home an impressive 11th in the DMW #10.

It was an exciting race to be at with history being made and folks were still talking about Bryson’s win as they walked toward their cars to leave the facility. It will be something we will always remember and we were glad we were there to witness this race!

That’s it for now but check back Wednesday as this is a busy week of racing in Indiana culminating with the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 with much short track activity also during the week and weekend. So, in the meantime get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take it on the road and catch some action in another part of this great country. Either way enjoy yourself and be safe. Comments, news, stories of interest and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And last but certainly not least is thank you for reading our efforts and sending along comments about our writings. Catch you soon!!!

Courtney Carries Hoosier Colors To High Limit Win At Kokomo

Monday, May 13 – This race was originally scheduled for Tuesday but Tuesday is the first day of Indianapolis 500 practice and Kyle Larson is entered this year so they bumped it up to Monday. It was for the better as I type this column it is raining in Kokomo and Indianapolis and has been and will be doing so for the rest of the day. It really didn’t end up mattering for Larson as he had a rough night which we will touch upon later.

The day was partly sunny with temperatures reaching the 80’s and the race fans turned out in good numbers to take in the High Limit sprint car series at the ¼ mile dirt oval of the Kokomo Speedway. This is the kind of program we enjoy, a week day show with only one division. High Limit is doing many good things in their first expanded year of competition and we will note these things throughout this column. First of all they are paying good money especially to win, $20,000, on this evening with $1500 to start. There is a separate pay structure and point fund for the midweek money series and regular High Limit schedule with a $100,000 point fund for the midweek series and more than $5.8 million dollars on the line for a 60 race schedule. Also there is a franchise option where the top five in points in 2024 will be franchisers and share in the streaming revenue starting in 2026. The 2025 season will lock in an additional five teams for revenue sharing.

Back to the racing a fine 42 car field squared off for the evening starting with time trials two at a time broken into two qualifying groups of 21 each. Time trials commenced at 6:45 and by 7:08 group one qualifier, Cale Thomas, clicked off the quickest time of the evening at 10.945 seconds. This was our first High Limit race of the year as weather forced us to choose other options in Florida and with a $40 admission price (a bit pricy) but someone has to pay the purse it was time to go heat racing.

The action was quick and furious as heat one unfolded with Cale Thomas and Kyle Larson racing hard for position off turn two on the third lap with the two getting together. Larson got the worse of the tangle turning sidways and barrel rolling three to four times down the backstretch. Larson was done for the heat but would return for the C main later. Tyler Courtney grabbed the heat one win over an impressive Cole Macedo, James McFadden, Zeb Wise and Brent Marks. Rico Abreu scored the win in heat two besting Parker Price-Miller, Brenham Crouch, Brandon Wimmer and Ryan Timms. Heat three was captured by Buddy Kofoid who used one of his four passes by WOO to run tonight at Kokomo beating Cory Eliason, Spencer Bayston, Hunter Schuerenberg and young Darin Naida. The fourth and final heat went to the impressive Corey Day turning back Brad Sweet, Jacob Allen, Justin Peck and Skylar Gee. All heat racing was completed in less than a half hour.

Next up was the dash redraw held at the base of the flagger’s stand with Buddy Kofoid and Tyler Courtney starting on the front row. Next was the C main which included Kyle Larson with the top two finishers joining the tail of the B main. Larson’s car did not seem up to snuff and he failed to crack the top two in a race won by Danny Samms III over Kasey Kahne. Another good feature of High Limit is that they don’t play favorites proved by the fact that Larson did not receive any provisional and two when the top six starters in the dash race were not in the staginKofoid ended up winning the dash and the pole position fending off Corey Day from eighth, Rico Abreu and Tyler Courtney.

It was now time for the B main with the top four drivers moving forward to the 40 lap A main. On lap six of the B main Cap Henry rolled over in turn two after catching an infield tire ending his evening early. Henry’s ride from last year, the Lane Racing #4 driven this year by Zane DeVault went for a wild ride catching the wall off turn four going for the last qualifying position and flipping end over end numerous times ending up almost at the pit gate entrance. DeVault was OK after that scary ride!! Tanner Thorson would go on to win the B main outrunning Chris Windom, Brady Bacon and fast timer, Cale Thomas.

Another good thing High Limit does for the fans is that they draw a name of a fan who bought an online ticket and that person gets to roll two dice and the number that shows is the starting position of the driver he is assigned. It came up four meaning that Tyler Courtney and the fan would split $4000 equally if Courtney went on to win the feature. It would be the second High Limit race in a row where the bonus was paid out, the last at Tri-City Speedway on Saturday.

Now it was time for the 40 lap, $20,000 to win High Limit main event with Kasey Kahne using a provisional to raise the starting field to 25 entrants. Tom Hansing dropped the green flag on the field at 9:16 with young Corey Day getting the hole shot into the early lead. The leaders caught lap traffic early on lap five with Day leading Kofoid and Courtney. Lap seven saw the complexation of the race change drastically as leader Day lost a right front wheel entering turn two and pulled to a halt. Day returned briefly but would end up 24th at the finish.

Something we don’t like with High Limit is the cone and the lane changer option. They end up running too many laps under caution (usually five) and it does not make a difference. Should shelve this one. After two more quick cautions officials went to a single file restart and racing returned.

Kofoid squirted away on the restart with Courtney and Eliason from sixth in tow. Darin Naida catches the homestretch on lap twelve almost flipping but staying on allon Kofoid entering turn one but the caution waves again and the move is negated. Kofoid leads on the restart with Courtney in his tire tracks as the top two ride the wall around the oval. The leaders close on lap traffic on lap nineteen and on lap twenty one in traffic Courtney dives low and passes Kofoid to gain the lead. Spencer Bayston in the meantime has worked his way up from 12th to 3rd and begins to dog Kofoid for second. With twelve to go Bayston picks off Kofoid for second and goes after Courtney as two Indiana boys are going to duke it out for the win. Bayston pulls to Courtney’s rear nerf bar with five to go but it is going to be a task to unseat Courtney. Tyler holds sway and crosses the line first at 9:43 with Bayston second with Kofoid settling for third, Cory Eliason in a good run for fourth and Brad Sweet rounding out the top five after starting tenth.

Justin Peck led the second five to the finish in sixth with Rico Abreu seventh, James McFadden eighth, Parker Price-Miller ninth and Brenham Crouch tenth. It was a good race and we enjoyed it but have to think twice about slapping down $40 for another High Limit race. By the way Tyler Courtney pocketed a grand total of $22,000 with that dice bonus and the fan took home $2000 for buying his ticket early. Not a bad deal!!!

That’s it until the weekend when we have a road trip planned to a couple of distant tracks. Check back next Monday for a report on our road trip. In the meantime get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or put together your own road trip to a bucket list track. In the interim be safe and be kind. Correspondence can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com to let us know your thoughts. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and check back often to see where a typical weekend finds us.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Split Weekend Finds Thornton Scores At Farmer City & Thomas At Tri-State

Friday, May 10 – There were two good options for the weekend with USAC National sprints running at Bloomington Speedway on Friday and Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt on Saturday. The other option was Lucas Oil Late Models at Farmer City on Friday and Fairbury Speedway on Saturday. What to do? Well, Pat came up on the perfect solution suggesting we attend Farmer City on Friday and Tri-State on Saturday. Problem solved!!!

So on a nice sunny day in the mid to upper 60’s it was west on I-74 into Illinois where we gain an hour going over but lose an hour on the return trip. We arrived in Farmer City around 3:30 and found a good parking spot off of turn one before securing our blanket in the covered grandstands on the homestretch. Farmer City is a neat ¼ mile bullring with the homestretch sitting above your normal eye level. The track has the famous black clay that Illinois is known for and usually is tacky.

A fine field of 54 super late models and 32 UMP modifieds turned out to be part of the Farmer City 74 tonight with super late model time trials kicking off at 7:19. Jonathan “Superman” Davenport set the mark at 12.578 seconds around the fine Illinois clay before the first of six heats for the LOLM’s commenced at 8:11. By 8:40 the six heats were in the books followed by three UMP modified heats. Three super late model B mains were next on the dance card with the top two advancing to the 74 lap feature event. The big surprise of the evening was that the top man in WOO late model points, Brandon Sheppard, along with the number seven man in WOO points, Bobby Pierce, did not crack the starting field. Lucas Oil took an incredible six provisionals chose by points led by Hudson O’Neal (5th), Brandon Sheppard (10th), Tyler Erb (11th), Max Blair (12th), Brenden Smith (17th) and Cory Lawler (18th). Pierce who was 33rd in Lucas Oil points did not make the cutoff and loaded up early.

The race was decent with Jonathan Davenport leading the first 55 laps dueling with first Ricky Thornton Jr and then veteran Shannon Babb who made a two for one pass in turn two on lap 55 to go from third to first in one fair swoop the delight of the crowd on hand. Thornton slipped by Davenport for second soon after and took up the chase of Babb. RTJ was all over Babb down the stretch trying several times to take the lead. The pair raced side by side down the backstretch and exiting turn three Thornton was the new leader with Babb pulling to the infield with motor woes to end the upset bid. Thornton would lead the final four laps to score his third straight LOLM win over Davenport with Garrett Albertson coming home third and his first LOLM win is just down the line as he is running stronger in every outing. Dennis Erb Jr garnered fourth with Jimmy Owens advancing from sixteenth to fifth at the finish at 10:34.

It was time to head for the exits for us arriving back in Crawfordsville at 1:20 AM. A good night of racing but now it was time for some sack time!!!

Saturday, May 11 – Another beautiful day in Indiana and after having lunch at our favorite dining spot in Crawfordsville, the Second City Café, it was off to southwestern Indiana and the Class Track, Tri-State Speedway, in Haubstadt. The two hour, forty five minute tow there is relaxing as we use mostly back roads until connecting up with I-69 in Elnora. We arrived at 4 PM and secured a great parking spot on the backstretch side of the quarter mile bullring and tied down our blanket three rows from the top and took a walk over to the homestretch side to sign in and visit with some of our racing friends, Don and Burleigh along with Dan and Jen, having some good conversation before heading back to the backstretch.

It was the Spring Showdown for the USAC National sprints and was the 54th time USAC has raced the sprint cars here at Tri-State which makes it the 10th most visited track in USAC sprint history. Thirty one sprint cars and twenty six MMSA mini sprints made the tow to Haubstadt with festivities pushing off with time trials starting at 6:57 after a hot lap tangle in the MMSA mini sprints resulted in a delay after one of the drivers was injured. By 7:16 Justin Grant was being interviewed in the infield by Kristy after setting fast time for the 34th time in his career. That would move Grant into 11th place on the all time list ahead of Chase Stockon and just one shy of the number 10 man, Rich Vogler.

Next up on the agenda would be four heats for the sprinters with the top five locking into the 30 lap feature event. Carson Short making his first USAC start in quite a while as a teammate to Brady Short (no relation) in one of the red Edward’s machines proved he had not lost the magic nailing down the first heat win over Jake Swanson, CJ Leary, Justin Grant and Donny Brackett. Heat two went to Kyle Cummins in his new ride in the Petty #3P besting Mitchel Moles, Brady Bacon, Adyn Schmidt and Aric Gentry. Heat three went to Jadon Rogers in the Dutcher #17GP coming off a hard flip the night before at Bloomington beating Kendall Ruble, JJ Hughes, Dustin Beck and Daison Pursley. Heat four went to the Hank Byrum Rock Steady #3R over Brady Short, Robert Ballou, Kayla Roell and Chase Stockon.

The MMSA mini sprints would spin off three heats for their 26 car field before the USAC sprints would return for their semi race with the top four qualifying for the main event. Matt Westfall would hold off point leader, Logan Seavey, for the win with Carson Garrett and rookie Joey Amantea closing out the qualfiers. All sprint qualifying was completed by 8:53. The MMSA B main followed and then the track equipment went to work on the surface before the 30 lap feature event would be called to the post.

Justin Grant had some problems and went to the work area before the start of the 30 lap feature relegating the sixth starter to the rear of the field and moving everyone up one position before the race went green. Mitchel Moles and CJ Leary brought the 24 car field to the green flag at 9:36 with Moles getting the early lead. Kevin Thomas Jr slipped by Leary into second on the opening lap and trailed Moles in the early going. The first nine laps would go green until a five car tangle at the exit of turn four saw Jake Swanson and Adyn Schmidt tangling with Swanson spinning. Dustin Beck and Justin Grant came upon the scene and with no where to go piled into Swanson with Grant turning turtle.

The race went green again with Moles leading Thomas and Kyle Cummins. Lap twelve saw the second caution appeared after a tangle between Kayla Roell and Donny Brackett. On the restart after probably noticing that the other #3 (Cummins) was third on the scoreboard Thomas went to the cushion off of turn two to take the lead from Moles. Thomas increased his lead over the midsection of the contest and began to pick his way through lap traffic with Moles and Cummins chasing. Robert Ballou was the man on the move coming forward from 15th into the top ten and moving forward at a rapid pace. With seven to go Cummins moved by Moles for second in turn one and Moles countered repassing Cummins in turn three but slide a little high allowing Cummins to grab the runnerup position back again. Thomas was able to maneuver through lap traffic well to maintain his lead as he exited turn four at 9:55 to claim his third Spring Showdown win and his 41st career USAC National Sprint Car win. That win would tie Thomas with the late Bryan Clauson for ninth on the all time win list. Thomas was reminded of this in his victory lane interview and became emotional speaking of Clauson and what it meant to tie him in the win column. Thomas also became the fourth different Rock Steady driver to win the Spring Showdown in the #3R machine. Cummins would cross the line second with Moles coming home third, Leary fourth and Jadon Rogers rounding out the top five. Daison Pursley would lead the second five across the line in sixth with hard charger award winner, Robert Ballou, advancing from 15th to 7th with Brady Bacon 13th to 8th, Brady Short ninth and Logan Seavey rounding out the top ten.

It was a quick exit to make the long haul home arriving back in Crawfordsville after 1 AM and quickly into bed for the evening.

That’s it for this weekend but check back Tuesday as we have plans to take in the High Limit sprint series for the first time in 2024 racing at the Kokomo Speedway on Monday. In the meantime, get out there and see some good short track racing in your area and be safe out there. Correspondence can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And remember to be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what has happened to that person recently and maybe just a smile and a pleasant hello will make them feel better. And thanks for reading our efforts and the columns should start coming more regularly after our 14 day vacation to Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Thomas Scores At Lawrenceburg While Armstrong Nails Down Anderson

Saturday, April 13 – It was time to get back to some dirt racing so we decided to take the 2 ½ hour driver down to southeastern Indiana toward Cincinnati where Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana meet for the Midwest opener for the USAC sprint car series. The temperatures rose into the 70’s as we made the pleasant drive as we arrived around 5 PM and secured our seats in the massive partially covered aluminum grandstands for the inaugural running of the Justin Owen Memorial honoring the 2022 Lawrenceburg Speedway track champion who was killed in a horrific turn three and four crash in April of 2023. The crowd was massive as the race fans turned out to honor Justin Owen and was the largest crowd we have ever seen at Lawrenceburg. The Owen family and many friends put together various bonus money awards for the teams and the pre-race tribute and gathering of Justin’s family and friends was heartwarming.

Justin Grant received $400 each for being the second fastest car in hot laps and second fastest in time trials. While an additional $400 would go to the hard charger on the evening and $4004 to the highest finishing Lawrenceburg regular in the feature in addition to the $54JO ($5400) first place prize to the feature winner which they look to raise to $7400 in 2025. Time trials kicked off at 6:13 with two sprinters at a time transversing the 3/8 mile dirt oval where the banking has been cut down from 28 degrees to 14 degrees making it a more progressive banked track much like its “clone” track Bridgeport Motorsports Park in New Jersey. By 6:29 Daison Pursley in the Team AZ #21AZ was being interviewed after setting fast time with a lap of 14.026 seconds around the newly configured track besting 21 other drivers. Warmups for the other two divisions were next with 28 UMP modifieds and 11 pure stocks taking hot laps/qualifying as dust bellowed off the turn four exit. With spot track maintenance during the program the dust was controlled and the surface held up well over the course of evening considering all the rain during the week and sun and wind today.

Twenty two sprinters ran three heat races after Nate Carle broke in time trials. The first heat race would fall to Kevin Thomas Jr in the Rock Steady #3R besting Robert Ballou, Daison Pursley, Matt Westfall, Jake Swanson and Garrett Abrams. Heat two was won by Chase Stockon driving one of the KO Motorsports entries beating Carson Garrett, Justin Grant, Jadon Rogers, CJ Leary and Saban Bibent. The third and final heat was captured by Brady Bacon after passing Shawn Westerfeld in the Fischesser/Owen #4J making its first appearance since the accident last year in the middle stages of the race crushing a story book scenario. Logan Seavey, Westerfeld, Mitchel Moles, Kyle Cummins and Nick Bilbee chased. No semi would be needed on this evening. The UMP modifieds would contest four heat races and the pure stocks two. After a short break for some track maintenance where the track crew cut up the lower groove and watered the entire track, we were ready for the UMP modified B main.

By 9:21 it was time to go USAC sprint car racing with the front row of Kyle Cummins and CJ Leary bringing the field to the green flag. CJ Leary would get the early jump and power into the lead and would pace the field for the first six laps until he biked his sprinter in turn four almost going over but somehow able to regain control but this dropped Leary back to fifth and gave Cummins the lead. Cummins would hold sway until lap eleven when Logan Seavey making the top side work chased down Cummins and executed a slider in turn three and took the lead in turn four cutting across the nose of Cummin’s #3P to assume the lead. Seavey opened up about a half second lead as the race hit the halfway mark with seventh starting Kevin Thomas Jr reeling in Cummins using the low side passing him for second on lap sixteen. One lap later the red would wave when Robert Ballou and Daison Pursley made contact off turn four with Ballou flipping over twice in the tangle. Ballou would return after hasty repairs were made but the car was not right and he ended up 19th at the finish.

On the restart Seavey went to the high side and led into turn one but Thomas found the low side to his liking and passed Seavey for the top spot in turn two. Shortly thereafter Justin Grant, running sixth at the time, biked in turn three sliding across the track with Jake Swanson trying to avoid the out of control Grant running up over Grant’s left front and knocking the front end out in the contact. Grant swerved to the right and dug in causing him to flip three times in the process. Justin was OK after the wild ride but the same could not be said for the Topps Motorsports #4, On the ensuing restart Thomas went to the point but Seavey had visions of first diving into turn three low sliding past Thomas but catching the cushion and bobbling allowing Thomas to regain the lead off turn four by diving underneath. With ten to go Brady Bacon followed suit like Thomas and moved by Seavey to take over second.

Lap traffic was becoming a factor as Thomas picked his way through but Bacon began to close the gap. Thomas switched to going low in turns one and two and high racing through turns three and four. Thomas maintained a two car length margin over the last several laps and flashed under the checkers first followed by Bacon coming home second after a rough Florida stretch with Seavey recording another podium finish for third with Leary fourth and Swanson rounding out the top five. Daison Pursley came home sixth with Cummins seventh, Stockon eighth, Mitchel Moles 18th to 9th for the $400 Hard Charger Award with Nick Bilbee riding home tenth gaining the $4004 home track bonus.

Thomas scored his first USAC sprint car win in almost nineteen months in his seventh start in the Hank Byram Rock Steady #3R. It was also Thomas’ 40th career USAC National Sprint Car win moving him into a tie for 10th on the all time sprint win list with the legendary Gary Bettenhausen. One other caveat was this was KTJ’s sixth USAC sprint car win at Lawrenceburg moving him into second behind Dave Darland’s seven wins here. Also, that was Seavey’s seventh consecutive top three finish breaking the USAC record for most consecutive podium runs to start a season held by Tracy Hines back in 2002.

It was a good night of racing and an impressive second race for the new regime of STM Motorsports led by former Dearborn County Sheriff Shane McHenry and family. Hopefully continued work on the big 3/8 mile oval will improve the track and racing going forward. Best wishes to McHenry and family as they move into the future and hope that only good things are in the future.

Sunday, April 14 – It was another beautiful day in Indiana with temperatures soaring into the 80’s with plenty of sunshine on this Sunday. We decided to head east over to Anderson to take in the 24th Annual Glen Neibel Classic for the 500 Sprint Car Tour Series along with the USAA Kenyon midgets and the thunder roadsters. We arrived at 4 PM for the scheduled 4:30 race start and were greeted by a parking lot almost filled to capacity with cars which was a pleasant surprise. Another pleasant surprise was that this race was a Hoosier Auto Racing Fans event which cut the $18 admission for adults in half to $9 and could basically be considered two for one deal. It is a great deal offered by the HARF club as they do a great job helping out the Indiana based fans in making the racing more affordable and so much more that they do to promote racing in the Hoosier state.

We found a seat to the right of the flagger’s stand one row from top and settled in for the day of racing action. The 500 Sprint Car Tour were running time trials for the 21 asphalt sprinters on hand and wouldn’t you know it the last car out, Kody Swanson, back in his first race since a serious off season foot injury set fast time with a lap of 11.274 seconds around the ¼ mile asphalt bullring. Next up were two heats for the USAA Kenyon midgets taking the green at 4:46 with Ryan Huggler and Clayton Gaines copping the heat wins.

After the heat races it was right into the 100 lap Glen Neibel Classic with the front row of Kody Swanson and Tyler Roahrig bringing nineteen of their friends to the initial green flag at 5:10. Swanson secured the early lead with Roahrig and Dakoda Armstrong in tow. The speed these asphalt sprinters turn racing around this ¼ mile oval is impressive as the top three chased each other during the early portion of the race. Many eyes were on Kyle O’Gara, a two time winner of this race, who started 14th and was making his way forward using the chrome bumper to let people know he was behind them and they were slowing him up. O’Gara cracked the top ten by lap 13 as the front three looked inside and out for the fastest line.

The key moment of the race came on lap 34 on the backstretch as the three front runners encountered heavy lap traffic with the front two checking up running up on one back marker too quickly having to brake momentarily allowing third running Dakoda Armstrong to dive low and make a two for one pass from third to the lead in one fair swoop. Armstrong was fast and he began to open a several car length margin over Swanson and Roahrig. Caleb Armstrong and Taylor Ferns were catching second and third and now it was a four car race behind Dakoda. Meanwhile O’Gara continued his march moving into 7th by lap 44. Billy Wease was running sixth with O’Gara all over him like white on rice. We didn’t see the spin of Wease on the homestretch on lap 67 as we were watching Justin Grant running the Hoffman #69 today in a rare asphalt sprint car run skid up the turn two banking but he was able to gather it up without losing any positions so we don’t know if any contact was made between Wease and O’Gara.

On the restart Roahrig slowed entering turns one and two and pulled into the infield with mechanical woes taking him out of the hunt. Lap 72 saw Floridian Shane Butler lose the handle in turn four looping it to bring out the second and last caution. This now moved O’Gara into the top five and he wasn’t done yet. Again the race went green and Armstrong motored back into lead and opened up the margin as the laps ticked off. The top five consisted of Dakoda Armstrong, Kody Swanson, Caleb Armstrong (who’s wife & 3 children were sitting in front of us), Taylor Ferns and Kyle O’Gara. With six to go O’Gara forced the issue diving low in turn four taking Ferns exit of the turn away and took over fourth. A few laps later Ferns gave O’Gara a good shot in the shorts off turn four to let Kyle know that she didn’t appreciate his move. The clock struck 5:38 as Dakoda Armstrong flashed across the finish line first by almost four seconds for his second straight 500 tour win winning the final show of 2023 also. Swanson would hold off Caleb Armstrong for second with Kyle O’Gara fourth and Taylor Ferns rounding out the top five. Ferns gave another love tap after the checker on the backstretch to O’Gara. They later shook hands before the podium photo. Billy Wease led the second five across the line in sixth with Jackson Macenko seventh, Justin Grant eighth, Nathan Byrd ninth and Kyle Robbins rounding out the top ten. It was a good, fast paced race with O’Gara putting on the show from 14th to 4th.

Next up was the 30 lap USAA Kenyon midget feature with the 14 car field brought to the green flag by Clayton Gaines and Ryan Huggler. Gaines would power out front at the start with Huggler and Jase Petty in pursuit. Gaines would lead the entire distance but Dameron Taylor made things interesting over the last six laps reeling in the youngster but ran out of laps after getting to Gaines’ bumper with the non-stop 30 lapper taking a mere six minutes to complete. The top five was Clayton Gaines for the win over Dameron Taylor, Evan Hammond, Jase Petty and Kyle Sheard. We decided to call it a day at this point and headed to the parking lot with about half the crowd in tow and pointed the Equinox westward bound back to Crawfordsville after witnessing a real good day of racing once again.

That’s it for a couple of weeks as we take a break but will be back in May so in the meantime get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take a road trip to somewhere special. News, comments, tidbits of information and the such can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. So be safe out there and enjoy yourselves wherever you end up. Be good and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Ocala USAC Sprint Car Run Goes To Leary

Friday, February 16 – The plan was to meet up with Steve and Maggie Kimmel and Irvin King and his wife, Mary Jane, at the camping area at Ocala Speedway on late Friday afternoon for a cookout of burgers and salads. The problem was the horrendous traffic on I-75 on a Friday and the corresponding bad traffic when we tried to take the alternate route of Route 301. We arrived late but they saved us food and everyone was pleased with the bakery cookies we brought up from Dade City. After filling our stomachs and doing some bench racing things were cleaned up and everyone prepared to head into our seats in the grandstands for tonight’s USAC sprint car and 270 micro sprints competing on the 3/8 mile dirt oval this evening. Sprint time trials were first on the agenda commencing at 6:39 with the field reduced to 25 after last night’s two nasty flips over the wall in turns three and four by Zach Daum and Trey Osborne. Kevin Thomas Jr in the Rock Steady #3R set fast time for the 38th time in his career moving him past Larry Dickson into seventh on the all-

Hot laps/qualifying for the 21 winged 270 micro sprints in town were spun off next before the USAC sprints returned to run their three heat races with the top six finishers qualifying for the 30 lap feature race. Logan Seavey drew first blood on the evening capturing the first heat in another strong performance beating Robert Ballou with a late race pass for the lead with Briggs Danner third, Kyle Cummins fourth, Tye Mihocko fifth and Kevin Thomas Jr barely sneaking in with a sixth. Jadon Rogers brought the Michael Dutcher #17GP across the line first in heat two besting Mitchel Moles, Daison Pursley, Brady Bacon, Joey Amantea and Alex Bright. The third heat was taken by Justin Grant who had won the previous three contests here at Ocala over Carson Garrett, CJ Leary, Jake Swanson, Chase Stockon and Brandon Mattox.

Pat Bealer won the first 270 micro sprint heat over Colten McAndrew and Dustin Roberts. The second heat was won by Michael Petrock over Bill Gray and Blake Eshlam. The third and final heat was won by Chris Kennedy besting Clifford Evans and Matt Henon. The sprint car semi was scrapped with everyone added to the starting field for a 25 car main event.

The 30 lap USAC sprint car feature event would be the first one on the agenda with the front row of Chase Stockon and Brady Bacon guiding them to the green flag. Stockon was quick on the draw taking early lead from Bacon. Kevin Thomas Jr was quick on the throttle and raced past Stockon for the lead from his sixth starting position on lap three with a good run down the backstretch. Logan Seavey was also coming quickly and used a turn one slider to wrestle the lead away from Thomas on lap four. The leaders reached lap traffic early and it was heavy indeed with Seavey picking his way through. Seavey was walking away through the middle stages of the race with Thomas and Bacon in pursuit. Bacon was able to move by Thomas in turn two on lap twenty one but had his work cut out for him as Seavey had a straightway lead at that point.

Bacon was able close at a rapid pace to within a car length of Seavey with six to go but Robert Bell almost collected the pair as he looped his sprinter in turn four right in front of Seavey and Bacon who were able to avoid contact. At this point the complexion of the race would change as the track rubbered up and became abrasive to the tires. Pat was first to notice the white band through the middle of Justin Grant’s right rear tire as the cords began to show and everyone knew that it was just a matter of time before the tire went flat. Two laps later on lap twenty six fifth running Grant lost the right rear and coasted to a stop in turn one. Meanwhile Leary had snuck by Thomas for third in turn three on that lap.

On the restart Seavey went back to the point with Bacon and Leary close behind. Leary passed Bacon for second in turn four on lap twenty seven just before fifth running Daison Pursley was the next victim of a flat right rear. On the next restart Seavey led again but Leary was like a shark smelling blood as he charged after the leader going down the backstretch. Entering turn four, coming to the white flag Leary stuck it low and passed Seavey for the lead in an excellent move. Matt Westfall would fall another victim of the tire eating surface and retired with a flat. As Leary stretched his lead over the final two laps Brady Bacon’s bad Florida luck continued as a sure third place went away in turn four of the final lap when the tire monster stuck again with Bacon slowing and dropping to seventh as he limped across the line. Bacon had a terrible Florida trip and dug himself a hole in the sand as far as the points race is concerned but never count the four time champion out especially just six races into the season.

Leary raced across the line first for his 23rd career USAC sprint win tying him for 28th on the all-time list with Roger McCluskey and his first win at Ocala in five years. Seavey came across the line second for his sixth consecutive podium finish and early point lead heading out of Florida with Chase Stockon taking advantage of all the tire drama to place third with Thomas fourth and Jadon Rogers also moving up several spots to claim fifth. Mitchel Moles crossed the line next for sixth with Bacon seventh, Alex Bright eighth, Briggs Danner ninth and Carson Garrett tenth. Joey Amantea finished 11th and earned the Irvin King Hard Charger Award after starting 20th.

Since it was only nine o’clock, we decided to stay for the 20 lap 270 micro sprint feature which turned out to be a real good contest up front after early leader and last night’s winner, Pat Bealer, dropped out while leading. Michael Petock from Bloomsburg, PA was able to hold off a swarm of challengers to win the very exciting event. Bill Gray chased him to the finish to place second with Kiptyn Stratton placing third after starting eighth with Colten McAndrew fourth and Dustin Roberts fifth. The final checker of the evening fell at 9:24 in a well-run program.

This would end up being the final race in our 2024 Florida tour as rain rolled over Florida early Saturday with many programs including USAC canceling their final show on Friday. East Bay ended up being the smart ones moving their three day 360 sprint nationals up one day to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday arriving them to get all three shows in.

That’s it from rainy Florida and we don’t know when we will be back as our next race is not scheduled until March. But check back to see if something popped up in between and get ready for the 2024 racing season. News, comments and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@comcast.net. Be safe out there and keep warm. And thanks for reading our efforts as we hope you continue to enjoy our writings as much as we enjoy bringing them to you.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Farewell To East Bay With Exciting 360 Sprint Feature To Austin McCarl

Thursday, February 15 – Today dawned bright and warm with temperatures in the high 70’s. We were excited and at the same time sad as it would be our last visit to the little bullring known as the Clay By The Bay, the East Bay Raceway Park. East Bay has been a staple for our Florida racetrack stops and this year would be the last as the property has been sold to the Mosaic Company who mines phosphate which is used in fertilizers for crop nourishment. The giant mountain behind the backstretch has been growing every year we visit and next year sadly it will envelope the grounds of the East Bay Raceway Park creasing racing operations at the famous Clay By The Bay. One last visit to watch sprint cars there was a must before our trip back to the Midwest and tonight would not disappoint.

A stop at the original Fred’s in Plant City yielded another outstanding buffet spread featuring turkey and gravy, country fried steak and smoked port among many choices or vegetables and desserts. Then it was back into the traffic of I-4 and I-75 to make our way over to Gibsonton and the home of the East Bay Raceway Park. It was a shame to see such a small crowd on hand for the King of the 360’s program but maybe the locals had spent their allotted extra spending money on the two High Limit programs but they would miss a classic tonight.

After hot laps for the fine 58 car sprint car field on hand along with 17 mod lites as the filler division it was time to go heat racing. Six heats would be run with the top sixteen in passing points locking into the 30 lap feature event tonight. New Jersey’s Davie Franek would claim heat one over Brett Wright and six starting Dale Howard. Heat two was captured by the Steel City Outlaw, Tim Shaffer, of Pennsylvania over fifth starting Chris Martin and Max Stambaugh. Heat three went to Ocala, Florida’s Brandon Grubaugh besting fellow Floridian A.J. Maddox and sixth starting Cole Macedo who is having a good Florida run. Adyn Schmidt, the youngster from Haubstadt, IN, up from the micro sprint ranks claimed heat four over Sam Hafertepe Jr and Jason Blonde who is more well known as a pavement sprint car driver. Iowa’s Austin McCarl took down heat five over eighth starting Floridian ace, Danny Martin Jr, and young Ryan Timms. The sixth and final heat was won by Eric Riggins Jr of North Carolina beating Tyler Clem and sixth starting Justin Peck. This last heat saw Canadian Ryan Turner flipped hard in turn one with the driver emerging OK after the wild ride.

Two mod lite heats followed won by Jeff Teeters and Tim White before the sprinters returned for their four B mains with only the top two advancing to the main event. The 12 lap B mains were next up on the dance card with Danny Samms III, another Florida product, winning over the veteran Wayne Johnson. Max Stambaugh won B main two over Arizona’s Sterling Cling who made a last lap pass for the second spot. Ryan Timms nailed down B main three over Lance Moss. Terry McCarl, the veteran out of Iowa, claimed B main four beating fellow Iowa driver, Riley Goodno. Now the fields were set for the two feature events with the mod lites taking to the race surface first for their 20 lap main event. We would like to say this was a good feature but we would be lying as these guys struggled through their 20 lap feature with six cautions and twenty minutes later Delaware’s Tim White was victorious over Dylan Evans, Jimmy Wills, Ryan McKinney and Justin Williams. The 30 lap 360 sprint car feature would more than make up for this one.

The front row of Danny Martin Jr and Davie Franek brought the 24 car field to the initial green flag with Martin claiming the early lead. He would lead the first couple of laps before Franek was able to work his way by for the lead. The racing throughout the entire field was fierce with much passing and dueling going on everywhere you looked. The grit from the surface made it difficult to watch but the racing was simply outstanding none the nonetheless. Only one caution would slow this contest with slicing and dicing racing through and around some of the lap traffic. There was good racing within the top five and great racing right behind in positions six through ten.

Austin McCarl was catching the front two from his sixth starting position and first worked his way past Martin and then picked off Franek in heavy lap traffic for the lead. Meanwhile Justin Peck in the Dyson #20 was coming forward from twelfth into the top five along with thirteenth starting Tim Shaffer. These two worked by some of the youngsters up front and showed that the veterans know how to work lap traffic to their advantage as they cracked the top five in the process. Eight minutes later at 10:17 the checkered flag would wave on Austin McCarl winning a hard fought battle with Danny Martin Jr picking off Franek for second late in the contest with Franek third, Peck fourth and Shaffer rounding out the top five.

Sam Hafertepe Jr led the second five across the line in sixth after running as high as fourth with Ryan Timms flying from 19th to garner seventh, Parker Price-Miller came home eighth after starting 15th, Chris Martin taking ninth and Cole Macedo taking down tenth. It was a fabulous race with oodles of passing and hard running and a grand way for us to say goodbye to one of our favorite tracks to watch racing at.

Thanks for all the memories over the years East Bay and thanks to management and the entire staff for making us feel at home every time we visited. We will sorely miss our February racing vacation time spent at The Clay By The Bay.

That’s it for this segment and check back Saturday for what will probably be our last race of our Florida swing tomorrow night as Saturday looks like a total washout everywhere in the Sunshine State. Until next time be safe out there and stay warm. Comments, news, stories and tidbits of information can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and we hope you enjoy our musings as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. And remember to be kind to everyone you meet as you may not realize what a smiling face or a few kind words might mean in a person’s life on the particular day your paths cross.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rain Leads To Seavey Double Win At Volusia Speedway Park

Monday, February 12 – Today we played the rain game. That is when you checked the weather forecasts for three different speedway locations to decide which one has the best chance of getting in their show on a forecasted rainy evening. We decided to forgo High Limit at East Bay and attempt to sneak in USAC at Volusia. We came ever so close but came up short by about a half hour. East Bay made it as far as the C main before calling it a night. New Smyrna got all their features in except for one with the rain arriving there at 9:45. We did not win the rain game on this evening.

Time trials for the 27 USAC sprint cars on hand pushed off at 5:49 with three running at a time helping to conclude the time trial process in just 11 minutes. CJ Leary was fast timer for the 46th in his career setting a new track record in the process with a time of 16.173 seconds around the fast 3/8 mile dirt oval. DirtCar late models had their group time trials next with Ricky Thornton Jr setting fast time with a lap of 15.666 seconds.

Next up on the dance card were three heats for the USAC sprint cars with the top six moving to the 25 lap sprint car feature. Alex Bright, one of the USAC East Coast sprint car series, placed the Mike Heffner #27 out front in the first heat and went wire to wire besting Jadon Rogers, CJ Leary, Brady Bacon, Carson Garrett and Robert Ballou. Justin Grant put the TOPP Motorsports #4 in first winning heat two over Kyle Cummins, Kevin Thomas Jr, Briggs Danner, England’s Tom Harris and Mitchel Moles. The third heat was captured by Logan Seavey in the Abacus Racing #57 who crossed the line first but blew the engine coming to the line. Timmy Buckwalter came home second with Jake Swanson third, Joey Amantea fourth, Chase Stockon fifth and Zach Daum sixth. The DirtCar late models ran four heats for their 47 car field before the sprints came back to contest their semi event with an additional six cars moving forward.

Daison Pursley won this one over Tye Mihocko, Matt Westfall, Brian Ruhlman, Hunter Maddox and Trey Osborne. The late models ran two B mains with all qualifying completed by 8:15. Just as the second B ended a light sprinkle began to drop. The rain was not predicted until 9 and if the forecast would have been totally correct, we believe that they would have snuck the sprint car feature in before the rain came. Since we were literally parked right outside the gate we decided to head to the Equinox and sit it out until the rain subsided. The sprinkle turned into a light rain for about 15 minutes and then the big drops came and so did the announcement that the remainder of the program would be postponed with the USAC sprint car feature being run last on the docket tomorrow and the late model feature tacked onto the end of the Wednesday program.

Tuesday, February 13 – We were back again tonight for night two of the USAC National sprint cars and the DirtCar late models. The format was the same with the USAC sprints taking to the big oval at 5:57 for group time trials wrapping up at 6:07 and once again it was CJ Leary setting fast time and establishing another new track record with a time of 16.151 seconds while Bobby Pierce top the late model speed charts with a time of 15.256 seconds.

Next up were the USAC sprint cars to run their three heat races with the top six moving directly to the 30 lap, $10,000 to win feature. Logan Seavey with a new powerplant under the hood would capture the first heat win over Jadon Rogers, Matt Westfall, CJ Leary, Chase Stockon and Briggs Danner. Brady Bacon nailed down heat two winning over Timmy Buckwalter, Kyle Cummins, Justin Grant, Tye Mihocko and Zach Daum. Heat three was won by Kevin Thomas Jr making a late race pass of a strong running Brian Ruhlman with Joey Amantea third, Carson Garrett fourth, Mitchel Moles and Alex Bright.

Kyle Bronson, Bobby Pierce, Chris Madden and Hudson O’Neal claimed the four DirtCar late models heats with all heat racing completed by 7:52 after a 7:09 heat start. The sprint car semi was next up with Robert Ballou winning over Tom Harris, Trey Osborne, Brandon Mattox, Jake Swanson and Hunter Maddox. They were followed by two B mains for the late models and we were ready for the first of three feature events.

The 30 lap, $10,000 to win USAC sprint car feature was brought to the colorful Dave Farney’s green flag at 8:37 by Carson Garrett and Kyle Cummins. Garrett would assume the early lead and pace the field for the first five laps until Cummins went high side to take the lead on lap six. Logan Seavey was picking his way forward from the ninth starting position and by the halfway mark he dove low to take second away from Brady Bacon and set his sights on Cummins. With ten to go Seavey made his run at Cummins using a slider in turns one and two but Cummins countered off two to regain the lead. Seavey dove low in turn three and slid past Cummins between turns three and four to take the lead which he would not relinquish over the final ten laps. Things took a turn as the white flag appeared as in turns three and four Bacon and Thomas were battling for third with lap car Jadon Rogers on the outside. Bacon slid up slightly getting into Rogers with the pair flipping over and oncoming Trey Osborne also turned turtle trying to avoid the crash.

After the cleanup they went back to green and Seavey was quickly back to the point in the green, white, checker finish crossing the line at 9:04 by over a second beating Cummins, eighth starting Kevin Thomas Jr, CJ Leary and Carson Garrett. It was Abacus Racing’s first USAC National sprint car victory and Seavey’s first sprint win of 2024 for the back to back Chili Bowl winner. Daison Pursley came from a provisional 25th place start to finish sixth with Mitchel Moles seventh, Briggs Danner eighth, Chase Stockon 18th to ninth and Justin Grant rounding out the top ten.

We were not done yet as two more features needed to be run with the 25 lap DirtCar late model feature next to the post. It went green at 9:18 with Bobby Pierce motoring quickly to the lead. Behind Pierce a fierce battle was on among Kyle Bronson, Devin Moran, Chris Madden and Ricky Thornton Jr. This group duked it out as Pierce looked like he was on cruise control. Moran wrestled second away from Madden through the middle stages but this one looked like it was all Pierce’s.

But on a restart with six to go Pierce slowed off turn four as a fuel line came off piling the field up behind him with 13 cars involved going every which way and loose before it was over. Pierce, Madden, Hudson O’Neal, Mike Marlar, Nick Hoffman and Brandon Sheppard were done for the evening.

Moran would inherit the lead with Thornton on his heels. Moran pulled away but Thornton tracked him down and pressured him until going high in turn two with a few laps to go. Moran would cross the line at 9:18 with the win with Thornton second, Bronson rebounding for third, Max Blair fourth and Cade Dillard rounding out the top five.

The 25 lap, $6000 to win USAC sprint car feature was the last race to run on this evening and would line up 24 strong brought to Dave Farney’s green flag at 10:08 by Chase Stockon and Mitchel Moles. Stockon quickly went to the point and led the opening two laps before Brady Bacon slid by in turn one to take the lead on the black, slick track. Seavey who started fourth in this one caught and passed Stockon for second on lap four and went to work on catching Bacon. It was not until lap eleven that Seavey passed Bacon on the backstretch but the caution appeared for a spinning Stockon who went for a ride after contact with Justin Grant racing for seventh. That wiped out Seavey’s pass and put Bacon back on the point for the restart. It was another three laps before Seavey used a slider in turn one to take the lead again.

Lap twenty saw Robert Ballou jump the cushion and barrel rolled several on top of the wall in turn two. Jadon Rogers running close behind threw it sideways to avoid Ballou and flipped several times in the process. Everyone was OK and remarkably Ballou was able to push off and continue. On the restart Seavey drove back out front again and pulled away over the remaining five laps to garner his second win of the evening and the Big Gator trophy for being the top point man in the two events. Bacon followed Seavey across the line at 10:35 for second with CJ Leary moving from sixth to third at the finish with Daison Pursley advancing from twelfth to fourth with Justin Grant rounding out the top five. Alex Bright would edge Kevin Thomas Jr for sixth after a race long battle with Briggs Danner eighth, Mitchel Moles ninth and Kyle Cummins tenth. The Irvin King Hard Charger award went to Tye Mihocko in the Wilson #5T finishing eleventh after starting twenty third in a good run.

Seavey added to his accolades tonight by becoming the first USAC driver in 22 years to win two sprint features in the same day with the last being Bud Kaeding back in October of 2001 at Terre Haute. Seavey is coming off an incredible 2023 where he captured both the USAC Midget and Silver Crown titles and would like to add the third jewel (USAC sprint car title) to make himself a Triple Crown winner in USAC. In addition, he scored back to back Chili Bowl wins in Tulsa in January as this young man is on an amazing streak right now which he hopes doesn’t stop.

That’s it for now but check back Friday when we venture back to the East Bay Raceway Park for night two of the 360 sprint car nationals and our final visit to one of our favorite tracks around. In the meantime, put together your racing calendar to get to some good short track racing in your area or a road trip to a couple of bucket list tracks on your agenda. Comments, new, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Be safe out there and dig out of the snow if you got any with the last storm and be kind to everyone you meet. And as always thanks for reading our column and check back often to see where we end up next.

A Typical weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Grant Goes Back To Back To Open USAC Sprint Season At Ocala

Saturday, February 10 – Today was a very nice and warm day in Florida and we arranged to meet our racing gang at Sam’s St. Johns Seafood House for an early dinner before venturing over to the renamed Bubba’s Raceway Park which is now simply Ocala Speedway because of a change in ownership. The large table of ten racing folks all gathered together enjoying great seafood and even better conversation.

After dinner we all descended upon the parking lot of Ocala Speedway finding parking spots and were all ready to see night two of the USAC National Sprint Cars tonight. Time trials were the first order of business with 28 sprinters under the clock starting at 6:41. By 7:02, Fort Branch, Indiana’s Chase Stockon had set the fast time of the night at 14.075 seconds around the unique D shaped 3/8 mile dirt oval. This was Stockon’s 33rd fast time of his career tying him with Justin Grant for 11th on the all-time list. On the card with the USAC sprints were outlaw 4’s which looked like a miniature version of a late model with seven in attendance. A perfect filler division!!

The first racing of the evening would take place starting at 7:34 with the first of four heat races for the USAC sprints with the top five moving to the 30 lap feature event. Jake Swanson in the Benic #2B put his new ride in victory lane after heat one outrunning Matt Westfall, rookie Joey Amantea, Kevin Thomas Jr in his new ride of the Rock Steady #3R and fast timer, Chase Stockon. Heat two was wired by England’s Tom Harris besting Briggs Danner, Jadon Rogers, Daison Pursley, the new pilot of the Team AZ #21AZ and Alex Bright. Carson Garrett looked strong in heat three winning over Kyle Cummins in his new steed, the Petty #3P, Timmy Buckwalter in the Hummer #20, Logan Seavey in the Abacus #57 and Trey Osborne aboard the Baldwin #5. Robert Ballou in his familiar #12 claimed heat four beating Justin Grant, Tye Mihocko in his own sprinter, Mitchel Moles back in the Reinbold/Underwood #19AZ and Mark Smith taking the top foil off the Witherspoon #43M to take on the big boys. The sprint car heat racing was in the books by 8 PM. Two outlaw 4 heats were quickly spun off with the sprint car semi called to the post next.

CJ Leary back in the BGE Dougherty #15X took down top honors defeating Zach Daum, Brady Bacon and Brandon Mattox the last man in.

That led us into the 30 lap USAC sprint car feature with the front row of Joey Amantea and Daison Pursley bringing the 24 car field to the green flag. Amantea jumped into the early lead and would pace the field for the first two laps until Kevin Thomas Jr passed him at the stripe to start lap three. One lap later Trey Osborne lost the handle in turn four spinning to a halt. On the restart Thomas remained in command with Amantea and Justin Grant hot on his heels. Chase Stockon and Robert Ballou were hooked up in a torrid battle for fifth. Lap nine saw the two combatants get together with Stockon spinning in turn four to bring out the second caution.
On the restart Thomas pulled away from the pack and opened up a comfortable lead but just before the halfway mark Brady Bacon went into the spin cycle looping it in turn two with Kyle Cummins spinning also to avoid contact. When the race went green again Thomas was in front with the impressive Amantea second with Grant third. Grant moved Amanta up in turn four with his right rear and motored by the rookie for second on lap fifteen. Grant began to close the gap on Thomas and by lap twenty was right behind when Thomas left the bottom open off turn four and Grant sped by to take the lead. Over the last ten laps of the event Grant pulled away and cruised under the checkers at 9:12 for his second straight win of the year and his 47th career USAC sprint win moving him into a tie for fourth on the all-time list with recent National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee, Tracy Hines. Thomas in his 400th USAC sprint car start had to settle for second in his new ride with Logan Seavey gaining back to back third place finishes. CJ Leary was fourth advancing from 11th with Robert Ballou rounding out the top five after starting tenth on the grid.

The second five was led to the line by Hard Charger Award winner, Alex Bright in the Heffner #27 with the car color matching Bright’s last name, with Daison Pursley seventh, Amantea coming home eighth, Briggs Danner ninth and Tye Mihocko claiming tenth after starting 16th.

Though it was dusty it was a decent feature with some good dicing and over in a good hour.

Check back Tuesday for our next installment as the plans are to go to East Bay for the High Limit opener but rain could be an issue so we will have to wait and see. In the meantime if possible get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or maybe catch an ice race of indoor race. Comments, news, stories and other tidbits of information can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And be safe out there and try to stay warm. Continued thanks for reading our column and hopefully you are enjoying it as we enjoy bringing the action to you.

A Typical weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Courtney Makes Last Corner Pass Of Abreu for Volusia WOO Win

Friday, February 9 – It was off to Volusia Speedway Park on this beautiful, sunny Friday but before towing to the track we made a stop on Route 40 at the Essex Seafood House for a delicious late lunch of grilled grouper for me and haddock for Pat filling our stomachs before checking in for some WOO sprint car and UMP modified racing.

The DirtCar Nationals were on tap this evening with 42 WOO sprint cars joining 102 UMP modifieds in a night of action leading up to Saturday night’s finals. Track activities got underway at 6:02 with the WOO sprint cars taking to the track for their time trials with Pennsylvania’s Brent Marks setting the standard with a time of 13.199 seconds around the big Volusia County oval wrapping up at 6:24. The UMP modifieds were next up with their hot lap/qualifying seasons commencing at 6:30 and completing at 7:16. Opening ceremonies were next on the card with the WOO sprints up next for their four heat races with the top five moving forward to the 25 lap main event.

Brent Marks scored the win in heat one besting Zeb Wise, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Austin McCarl and Buddy Kofoid. Heat two went to Gio Scelzi beating Tyler Courtney, Carson Macedo, Justin Peck and Spencer Bayston. Heat three fell to Iowa’s Brian Brown defeating David Gravel, Brad Sweet, Anthony Macri and Donny Schatz. Rico Abreu claimed victory in heat four over Landon Crawley, Brock Zearfoss, Logan Schuchart and Riley Goodno.

In this format they mix in the UMP modifieds who run only 20 lap qualifiers for their big 30 lap, $5000 to win Gator feature on Saturday. Michael Leach from the state of Montana grabbed the first guaranteed spot for Saturday with the win over Tim Ward and Curt Spalding. This was followed by the second 20 lap UMP modified contest with Will Krup of Illinois overcoming mechanical woes from the past two days while leading and was able to hold off Dustin Sorensen and Mike McKinney for the win.

Then it was back to the sprints for the dash redraw followed by the C main with the top two joining the back of the B main or last chance showdown. Iowa’s Chris Martin won going away but had engine problems crossing the line and was done for the evening with Danny Sams III coming home second. The dash was won by 16 year old rookie, Landon Crawley, out of Arkansas giving him the pole over Rico Abreu.

Next up was the B main or the last chance showdown with the top four moving to the tail of the twenty drivers already qualified. seventeen year old Corey Day out of California wired this one besting Brenham Crouch, Justin Whittall and Danny Dietrich.

Then it was back to UMP features three and four with Indiana’s Zeke McKenzie taking his first Gator win over Tom Berry and Kyle Strickler. Tyler Nicely, Kentucky’s finest, claimed his fourth win of the week defeating Michael Long and Mitch Thomas.

That lead us into the 25 lap WOO sprint car feature with the front row of Landon Crawley and Rico Abreu bringing the 27 car field to Dave Farney’s green flag at 10:30. Abreu ripped the top through turns one and two to take the early lead with Courtney slipping by the youngster to take second on the opening lap. Rico powered away with Courtney and Crawley chasing. Lap six saw a spin necessitating a restart and on the restart all hell broke out on the homestretch with five sprinters tangling and the machines of Sheldon Haudenschild, Justin Whittall and Justin Peck turning over in the pileup with Haud sitting on top of Austin McCarl and Spencer Bayston.

On the restart Abreu went back to the point with Courtney right behind. Tenth starting Brad Sweet began to make his presence know moving up to fourth past Gio Scelzi and Crawley into the top five slotting in behind David Gravel in third. The caution appeared at lap fifteen and on the ensuing restart Sweet snuck by Gravel for third and began to chase the top two. With ten to go Abreu caught the cushion wrong off turn four which threw his sprinter sideways colliding with Brenham Crouch off the corner causing Crouch to spin with Abreu able to continue forward as the caution appeared. On the restart Abreu scooted out front with Sweet testing the low side edging up on Courtney to challenge for second. Courtney countered the Sweet move and found a new line to run and it allowed the Hoosier native to gain ground on the leader. The laps clicked off and with the white flag waving Abreu dove to the bottom entering turn one to block Courtney’s progress and was successful streaking down the backstretch with a comfortable lead. Abreu opted to run high in turns three and four opening the bottom groove to Courtney’s advance. Rico stumbled just enough on the cushion exiting turn four with Courtney surging ahead allowing Courtney to steal the win at the line for his first Volusia triumph.

Abreu crossed the line a disappointing second with Sweet crossing third, Gio Scelzi fourth and David Gravel rounding out the top five at 11:08. Donny Schatz led the second five across the line garnering the hard charger after starting 18th with Logan Schuchart seventh, Brent Marks eighth, Sam Hafertepe ninth and Anthony Macri rounding out the top ten.

We decided to let the crowd and parking lot thin out a bit so we settled in to watch the fifth UMP modified twenty lapper. David Stremme copped the Gator in this one beating Lucas Lee and Michael Altobelli to the finish at 11:38. We decided it was too late to stay for the last UMP run so we packed up and headed to the parking lot to begin the 1 ½ hour trip back to the condo.

That’s it for now as we prepare to head to Ocala Speedway tonight for round two of the USAC winter tour. If possible in your area get out there and support a local short track near you and have fun and be safe. Comments, news and other interesting tidbits can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And last but not least thanks for reading our efforts and we appreciate your comments and thoughts on our writings.

A Typical weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Patterson Claims TQ Midget Win At Auburndale

Thursday, February 8 – Tonight’s racing action would find us on backtop at the ¼ mile oval track at the Auburndale Speedway. But before heading to the track we made our yearly food stop at Smokin Jim’s for some fine barbeque. On tap tonight were the mighty TQ midgets from New York state and Canada with a few Pennsylvania and New Jersey cars mixed in along with 602 modifieds and legend cars. Time trials for all divisions and only heat races for the TQ’s were on the agenda. Tonawanda, New York’s Andy Jankowiak set fast time for the TQ’s with a lap of 13.553 seconds around the quarter mile which was hauling.

Heat races commenced at 7:39 with Blu Metz’s #33 driven by Tyler Wagner of Chester, NJ claiming the first heat win over Ohio supermodified ace, Charlie Schultz, and Josh Patterson. Heat two fell to East Aurora, NY’s Kyle Hutchinson besting a pair of Canadians in Dominique Smith and Daniel Hawn. The third heat was won by Ronnie Flaim of Olean, New York over Ft. Pierce, FL resident, Jimmy Wilkins III and Andy Jankowiak.

The first of two 30 lap features for the 602 modifieds was next on the agenda with one of Tommy Baldwin’s boys, Jack, making a last lap, turn four pass of Max Handley for the win after Handley made a mistake entering the last turn. Jackson Denton prevailed in the 30 lap legend car feature with four different classes of legends combined together. Teagan Dempsey and Ayrton Brockhouse joined him on the podium.

It was now time for the 25 lap TQ midget feature which went green at 9:38 but it quickly went red when a multi-car tangle happened in turn one with Daniel Hawn turning turtle and sliding into turn one concrete wall cage first. Luckily Hawn was uninjured in the scary mishap. Ronnie Flaim was the early leader with Kyle Hutchinson and Andy Jankowiak in hot pursuit. The first caution appeared on lap eleven and on the restart third starting Josh Patterson made a nifty move entering turn one passing the front row runners to take the lead. Patterson would fend off the constant challenges of Hutchinson who poked his nose underneath several times looking for an opening. At 10:04 a joyous Patterson crossed line first besting Hutchinson for the win with seventh starting Jankowiak third, Flaim fading to fourth with Charlie Schultz rounding out the top five.

We decided to stay for the second 30 lap 602 modified feature with North Carolina’s Cody Norman scoring the win over Jack Baldwin and Max Handley with the final checker falling at 10:31 on a damp night.

Check back tomorrow as we head northeast to Volusia Speedway Park to take in the WOO sprint cars and UMP modifieds take to the blistering fast 3/8 mile clay oval. In the meantime plot your schedules and if you lucky enough to have racing in your area now, get out there and support a short track near you. News, stories, comments and anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And remember to stay warm and safe and be kind everyone you cross paths with today. Thanks for reading our efforts and the comments you send along.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Rain, O’Neal and Erb Take Down First Three Nights Of East Bay Winternationals

Monday, February 5 – This is our annual crossing over to the dark side as we always write a column concerning our trip to East Bay Raceway Park to watch the Lucas Oil late Models who put on a great show at this bullring. We always enjoy our visits here and encourage you even if you are a devout sprint car fan to check a night of late model racing out at East Bay, you will not regret it!!

Also this is the last year that East Bay Raceway Park is scheduled to run as the encroaching Mosaic company’s giant mountain of mined land digging for phosphate will cover the track grounds in the near future. Therefore if you don’t want to read about this segment of late model racing come back on Friday when we return with racing from Auburndale and WOO sprints from Volusia.

A storm front passing over Florida Sunday evening into Monday morning was enough to make the grounds and track at East Bay unraceable postponing Mondays’ racing. In an unique format over the next several days Mondays’ program will be divided over the ensuing days. After Tuesday’s program is completed time trials from monday will be run with heats and B mains run after the Wednesday’s show and Monday’s feature run after Thursday’s program.

Tuesday, February 6 – Tonight was clear so it was the opening night of 48th annual East Bay Winternationals with 71 late models doing battle in six heat races and three B mains on this evening. group time trials kicked off at 6:28 completing at 7:07 with Hudson O’Neal clicking off the fastest time of 14.666 seconds around the 1/3 mile dirt oval. Six heats were next up with the top three locking into the main event with three B mains to follow. All qualifying was in the books by 8:32 and only the 30 lap feature paying $5000 to win was left to run.

The front row of Hudson O’Neal and Tyler Erb brought the 24 car field to the green flag at 8:55 with O’Neal taking the early advantage. O’Neal held the lead until Erb powered by on the outside on lap four to take the top spot away. O’Neal stuck to his game plan and continued to drive the inside groove retaking the lead on lap eleven from Erb at that point. Daulton Wilson who started sixth was the next one to pick off Erb as he grabbed second and took up the pursuit of O’Neal. Jonathan Davenport worked his way to third racing with Wilson as the pair tried to close on O’Neal. Meanwhile back in the field Devin Moran was putting on a driving clinic slicing his way forward from his eighteenth starting position. O’Neal worked his way expertly through the lap traffic and maintained a healthy advantage until the last five laps as Wilson was able to close the gap but was not able to mount a serious challenge.

As the non-stop event reached its conclusion at 9:05 it was O’Neal across the line first for his third straight win at East Bay going back to last year’s last two Lucas Oil races making that his fifth career win here to go along with his 27th career win on the tour and third win of 2024. Daulton Wilson raced home second for his ninth career second place finish in Lucas Oil competition and is surely knocking on the door to garner his first career win soon. Davenport finished third with Ashton Winger fourth with Devin Moran completing his fine run with a fifth. Positions six through ten were filled by Tyler Erb with Chase Junghans seventh, Brandon Sheppard eighth, Ricky Thornton Jr ninth and Spencer Hughes tenth.

Wednesday, February 7 – A nice sunny day awaited us on this Wednesday even though temperatures were only in the high 60’s. It was time to head west to Gibsonton and the “Clay By The Bay” at the East Bay Raceway Park. Another fine field of 71 cars would participate in the six heat races and three B mains on the evening as the fans filed in for night two with the Monday show’s heats and B mains tacked onto the end of Wednesday’s regular program. Jonathan Davenport started off the evening setting the bench mark topping the field with a lap of 14.221 seconds around the 1/3 mile dirt oval.

The first of six heats went green at 7:29 and they were ran off in rapid succession with the last one ending at 8:11. Shortly after the first of three B mains hit the track with only two advancing to the big dance, 40 laps in distance on this evening paying $7000 to win. All qualifying was completed by 8:37 as the program moved along rapidly like a well oiled machine.

The 40 lap main event would be brought to the green flag by the front row of Jensen Ford and Jonathan Davenport with Davenport taking the early lead. Davenport would lead the first eleven circuits until Tyler Erb used the high side to sweep around Superman to move to the point. Daulton Wilson and Devin Moran were right in the hunt up front as the top four duked it out as the race progressed. After a restart Moran, running third at that point, cocked it too hard entering turn one and spun sideways to a halt forcing him to restart at the tail. Moran would end up finishing twelfth. Exiting turn four on lap twenty Davenport ran Erb high to grab the lead off the corner but Wilson took advantage of the altercation to slip by the pair to lead the field at the line. Davenport was the new leader as they exited turn two and would lead until lap twenty six when Terbo found his way back past and regained the lead from Davenport.

The track was very racy on the evening, vintage East Bay, with grooves inside and outside plus down the middle. Guys were working their way forward from deep in the pack especially Mike Marlar who started inside the final row in 23rd and was now in the latter part of the top ten and coming forward at a fast clip. Marlar cracked the top five in the final ten laps of the contest and still had more for the field. Tyler Erb was pulling away over the final laps but the battle was still raging behind him over the rest of the top five and top ten.

At the finish at 9:28 it was Tyler Erb in for the win, his 21st in Lucas Oil series history and first of the year with Marlar nipping Davenport at the wire to grab second with Davenport third, Daulton Wilson fourth and Dennis Erb Jr rounding out the top five after starting twelfth. Jimmy Owens ran a strong race to finish sixth with Tim McCreadie advancing from 18th to 7th, Brian Shirley coming forward from 19th to 8th with Kyle Bronson running as high as fourth before finishing 9th after starting 15th with Garrett Smith finishing 10th after starting 24th.

It was an amazing feature with oodles of passing and side by side racing and again was vintage East Bay late model racing which will be sorely missed after this year.

That’s it for now but check back tomorrow as we switch gears and head over to Auburndale Speedway, a quarter mile asphalt oval, to take in some tar racing with various classes including TQ midgets with a decent field of 19 in town as of yesterday. In the meantime plot out your schedules for the year or if possible catch some ice racing or indoor racing in your area but be safe and have fun. Also remember to bundle up and stay warm and be kind to everyone you meet as you don’t know what they are going through and your kindness could make a world of difference in their day. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and keep those emails and verbal comments coming as it gives us a good idea of what you want to hear from this column.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Hamilton Jr & Bettis Split Twin 35’s At Showtime In Steele Winged Championship

Saturday, February 3 – We left early to take the drive over to the Gulf Coast and the town of Pinellas Park, the home of the Showtime Speedway, a 3/8 mile asphalt oval. On tap for the evening was the Dave Steele Winged Championship for the 360 ci sprint cars (17) along four other divisions of race cars including Crown Vic Figure 8’s (13), small block modifieds (7), race cars of yesterday (6) and street stock (6).

Time trials for the 17 sprinters kicked off at 7:14 and completed by 7:33 with Davey Hamilton Jr topping the speed charts with a time of 12.383 seconds around the 3/8 mile oval. Next up were one heat each for the only two divisions running heat races on the evening, the small block modifieds and the race cars of yesterday.

Next up was the first of two 35 lap features for the winged sprint cars taking the initial green flag at 8:23. L.J. Grimm would go to the early lead outgunning Sport Allen for the top spot. Davey Hamilton Jr who started fifth steadily would his way forward moving by Allen for second on lap eight and took off after Grimm. Hamilton caught and passed Grimm racing down into turn four on lap eleven. Fourteen year old, Colton Bettis, used the same inside move in turn four on lap sixteen to take second Hamilton by lap twenty and rode behind him for several laps trying to determine a way by Hamilton. Lap traffic began to play a role in the race with Hamilton able to pick off cars and keep Bettis at bay.

Bettis was able to clear the lap cars also and pulled to the rear bumper of Hamilton as the laps wore down. He looked high and low but was unable to mount a serious charge and by 8:52 the Lutz, FL resident beat his neighbor Bettis to the line to score the first 35 lap win worth $2500 dollars with sixth starting Bettis second, Sport Allen sneaking by Grimm late for third with Grimm fourth with Dylan Reynolds rounding out the top five.

The race cars of yesterday were next up on the agenda with their 12 lap feature and it was a competitive one with fifth starting Clay Fray winning over Cush Revette and Dave Edwards. The temperatures had dropped into the fifties by this time but it was damp and chilly as some fans began to exit the grandstands. The 25 lap small block modified feature was the next race with their seven car field taking the green at 9:24. By 9:46 Doug Miller stood in victory lane besting Mike Meadows and Brian Scalise. Aaron Anderson took the 25 lap street stock main even as the clock struck 10 and the chill factor was not getting any better.

The second 35 lap winged sprint car feature took the green flag at 10:14 and the front row both went high between turns one and two causing a jam up with eighth starting Colton Bettis getting a big break diving low in the corners and moving to third at that point. A lap four restart saw Bettis surge by Dylan Reynolds racing down the backstretch and into the lead. Hamilton was mired in the pack back in sixth and would work his way through the traffic to eventually take second in turn one from Reynolds on lap fourteen. Hamilton was able to close the gap quickly as young Bettis encountered lap traffic and began to maneuver his way through. With six to go with Hamilton to his rear bumper Bettis was able to pull off a nifty move entering turn one making it three wide and pulling off the move which gave him space and probably was the time needed to fend off Hamilton over the final six laps. When the checkered fell at 10:36 it was Bettis in for the win with Hamilton second, L.J. Grimm making a third wide pass for third at the line dropping Reynolds to fourth and Allen rounding out the top five. The overall champion for the winged championship would be decided on the tiebreaker as Hamilton and Bettis tied in the points. The tiebreaker was the fastest time trialer with Hamilton getting the title. Showtime Speedway promoter, Robert Yoho, turned in a solid performance ending up sixth at the finish. We decided to skip the Crown Vic figure 8 race and head for the exits.

That’s it for this segment but check back Thursday for our annual going to the other side column on Lucas Oil Late Models at East Bay Raceway Park in Gibsonton, Florida. Until next time put together your racing schedule and try to stay warm. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and keep those emails coming to eckel9K77@gmail.com. Be safe out there and try to always be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Volusia USCS Sprint Shootout Worth $10,000 Goes To Ryan Timms

Saturday, January 27 – We stopped at Perkin’s for a late lunch before venturing up to Volusia Speedway Park for night three of the Germfree USCS Southern Sprint Car Shootout. Tonight the feature distance would be increased by five laps to 30 laps with the winner taking home $10,000 to win. The sprint car field was down tonight from the first two nights of 42 as 37 sprinters answered the call for racing this evening while the ¾ modified field shrunk from 17 on Thursday to 13 tonight.

Group time trials for the USCS sprints commenced at 6:25 and when they were completed by 6:52 Florida’s own Danny Sams III who went on the road racing last year nailed down the quick time with a lap of 14.296 seconds around the ½ mile dirt oval. The ¾ modifieds hot lapped/qualified right after and by 7:16 the first sprint car heat went green.

The top four across the line in the heat races would move directly into the main event while everyone else would race again in one of two B mains later. The heat winner plus the fastest timer in the heat that qualified would move into the redraw with whoever drew the wild card in the redraw having the option to start first or eighth with eighth paying an extra $500 if you win the feature event.

Austin McCarl, nicknamed the Big Unit because of his height, copped the first heat race over Eric Riggins Jr, Ryan Timms and Chris Martin, the talented youngster out of Iowa, all moving to the big dance. Heat two fell to Justin Peck of Indiana wheeling the Chris Dyson #20 for the series besting Canadian, Ryan Turner, Danny Martin Jr and Danny Dietrich. Faster timer, Danny Samms III finished fifth and was relegated to one of the B mains. Cameron Martin, brother of Chris, captured heat three in another strong run beating New Jersey’s, Davie Franek, Tyler Clem and Glenn Styres. Sam Hafertepe Jr nailed down heat four in a strong performance outrunning Christopher Thram of Minnesota, Landon Crawley of Arkansas and Ryan Roberts of Nebraska. All sprint heat racing was completed by 7:48.

The ¾ modifieds would run two heats for their group with the #26’s again dominating with Colton Lane taking the first one and Timmy Hogan capturing the second one. Then it was right back into the sprint car B mains with the top three qualifying joining in behind the 16 already qualified through the heat races.

Liam Martin, another Canadian entrant, scored the win in B main #1 over Danny Samms III and Wayne Johnson. Ryan Harrison, the United Kingdom runner, copped B main #2 over Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Brandon Grubaugh, another local Florida driver from the Top Gun sprint ranks. All qualifying was completed by 8:35 and all that was left to run were the two feature events.

The 15 lap ¾ modified feature was the first to the post and this one ran with only one caution as compared to five the night before with Timmy Hogan of Lake Helen, Florida getting out the broom after passing Colton Lane late to sweep the three race series for these cars.

Now it was time for the 30 lap, $10,000 to win final race of the three race series and the anticipation grew as the field pushed onto the track off the backstretch. Four provisionals were added to the starting field swelling the starting field to 26 entrants. The green flag waved on front row of Austin McCarl (who drew the wild card for the third straight night) and Ryan Turner with McCarl taking the early advantage. Justin Peck from fourth and Sam Hafertepe Jr from eighth raced into second and third by the end of lap one and took up the chase of McCarl. Peck sailed around McCarl in turn three on lap two to grab the lead. Lap four saw a major shakeup as McCarl lost the handle in between turns three and four looping his sprinter and bringing out the first caution and forcing him to restart at the tail of the field. Peck paced the field on the restart with Ryan Timms challenging Hafertepe for second. Hafertepe was able to hold sway and retained second and went to work tracking down Peck. Meanwhile Davie Franek who started tenth was up to fifth by lap seven as the race continued.

Hafertepe made his move on Peck entering low in turn four on lap ten to take the lead but the second caution appeared as Brandon Grubaugh slowed on the track negating the pass and placing Peck back at the head of the field. On the restart Timms got a run on Hafertepe diving low to grab second in turn two. At the halfway point it was Peck with a half second lead over Timms with Hafertepe third, Cameron Martin fourth and Franek rounding out the top five. Many eyes were on Austin McCarl as he was flying and moved into eighth with a head of steam and elbows up for the 2023 Knoxville Raceway 410 sprint point champ. Two laps later Timms dove low on the backstretch to snatch the lead away from Peck. By lap twenty three McCarl was knocking on the door of the top five moving up to sixth.

Timms began to pull away from the pack and opened up a half second lead by lap twenty five. McCarl at the same time took fifth from Franek and went after Cameron Martin for fourth. With two to go McCarl passed Martin for fourth as the race was winding down. With the white flag waving Hafertepe passed Peck for second but the caution again saved Peck as Ryan Roberts slowed to a stop. On the restart Timms jumped out front and over the last two laps he would hold off Peck to score the big win with Hafertepe third, Austin McCarl in a fine run taking fourth and Danny Dietrich sneaking into the top five on the last lap like the night before bouncing Martin back to sixth at the finish at 9:28. Martin would lead the second five across the line with Franek seventh, Danny Martin Jr eighth, Tyler Clem ninth and Eric Riggins Jr tenth.

It was a very good race with oodles of passing and Dietrich was awarded the hard charger moving forward from 14th to 5th at the end. A two division program wrapping up before 9:30 is our idea of a good show. Excellent job by the USCS officials on keeping the program moving along at a steady clip and not wasting time with unnecessary delays. Thank you.

That’s it for this segment as we continue our Florida vacation and check back often to see where we end up next. In the meantime get out there if you can and check some good short track racing in your area if possible or if not start marking up those calendars with race dates in the upcoming months. As always thanks for reading our efforts and hope you enjoy what you read as much as we enjoy bringing it to you. And be safe out there and be kind to everyone you meet. See you soon.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

McCarl Holds Off Hafertepe To Score Night Two USCS Win At Volusia

Friday, January 26 – We woke up in Ringgold, Georgia early to hit the road toward the Sunshine State as we had a date with the second night of the Germfree Southern Sprint Car Shootout for the 360 sprint cars sanctioned by the USCS sprint car organization. We amazingly sailed through Atlanta averaging 65 miles an hour before encountering a couple of other slowdowns further south arriving on the grounds of the Volusia Speedway Park at 5:30.

It was plenty of time as the combination hot laps/qualifications commenced at 6:30 with Iowa’s Cameron Martin surprising the stout 42 car sprint car field setting fast time of 14.425 seconds around the fast half mile oval.

The other division on the race card for the three day program are the ¾ modifieds and with 16 on hand they make the perfect filler class for the evening’s activities. They ran their hot laps next which was also qualifying before the USCS sprinters returned for their four heat races. The top four finishers in the heats moving directly into the 25 lap feature with the heat winner and fastest man in time cracking the top four advancing to the wild card redraw deciding the top eight feature starters.

The first of four USCS sprint heats took the initial green at 7:21 with Oklahoma’s Ryan Timms checking out early on his way to the first heat win over Chris Martin, Christopher Thram and Danny Martin Jr. The second heat was corralled by Charlotte, North Carolina’s Eric Riggins Jr besting Justin Peck, Austin McCarl and Sterling Cling. Heat three was won by Bubba’s boy, Florida’s Tyler Clem, rebounding from a homestretch flip the previous evening to take this one over Sam Hafertepe Jr, Danny Dietrich making his first appearance of the year and multi-USCS champion, Terry Gray. The fourth and final heat fell to Binbrook, Ontario’s Liam Martin in a strong run outdistancing Brendan Mullen, Cameron Martin and Wayne Johnson.

The two ¾ modified heats were captured by Timmy Hogan and Ethyn Hwan. Then it was right back to the USCS sprints to run their two B mains with the top three joining the tail of the field behind the heat qualifiers. Florida’s Danny Sams III claimed the first B winning over Ryan Turner and 15 year old Landon Crawley who will make his WOO sprint car debut next week here at Volusia. Ricky Stenhouse Jr missed by one spot of qualifying and would be awarded a provisional but ended up not starting the main event. Pennsylvania’s Josh Weller captured the second B main beating Davie Franek and 13 year old Elijah Gile of Arizona in the process. All qualifying was completed by 8:40 and all we had left to run were the two main events for the sprints and ¾ modifieds.

The 15 lap ¾ modified feature was the first to the post taking the green flag at 8:57. Timmy Hogan went to the early lead with Colton Lane in hot pursuit. These two had a race long battle joined at times by Ethyn Hwan and Steven Powers. Lane grabbed the lead about midway through the contest and looked like he was on his way to the victory before a late race caution changed the complex of the race. On the final restart Lane seemed to stumble and got a slow start allowing Hogan to race back past for the lead. Over the final three laps Lane tried every possible move but Hogan was up to the challenge holding him off for his second straight win. Lane tangled with Steven Powers on the backstretch on the last lap and spun ending up seventh at the finish at 9:19. Powers would grab second with Hwan taking down third.

Now it was time for the 25 lap USCS sprint car main event brought to the green flag by Cameron Martin and Austin McCarl at 9:40. McCarl grabbed the early lead from his second starting position and quickly distanced himself from the field. Lap three saw Christopher Thram moved by Martin for second. Lap 4 saw Sam Hafertepe crack the top five from his eighth starting position. Hafertepe moved by Liam Martin for fourth on lap five with Justin Peck moving into fifth. Hafertepe continued his march forward dusting off Camerson Martin for third and passing Thram for second on lap eleven. McCarl at this point had a two second lead but by lap fifteen the lead was down to 1.1 seconds. By five to go the lead was down even more as the top two raced through lap traffic. Lap twenty two saw Davie Franek and Sterling Cling tangle at the top of the homestretch spinning in unison inside the inside guard rail bringing out the only caution of the event. It was shaping up like last night’s feature when McCarl led the first nineteen laps before the caution appeared and Hafertepe passed him on the restart and went onto win.

McCarl hit the loud pedal hard on the restart and surged out front but Hafertepe was right in his tire tracks. Hafertepe pulled alongside McCarl down the backstretch but McCarl edged ahead entering turns three and four. The two raced close into turn one on the white flag lap with Hafertepe looking high for a run to the finish. Hafertepe was able to draw alongside McCarl in the last two corners but McCarl edged slightly ahead racing down the homestretch and to make sure the same thing didn’t happen as did last night McCarl used a defensive move to shut the door on the high side racing across the line first for the win with Hafertepe having to settle for second with Peck coming from tenth to third picking off Cameron Martin on the last lap with Martin fourth and Danny Dietrich gaining several spots over the final two laps to crack the top five from twelfth with the final checker waving at 9:51 capping a good night of racing.

Christopher Thram led the second five across the line with Ryan Timms seventh, Tyler Clem eighth, Danny Sams III claiming the hard charger award with a 17th to ninth run with Wayne Johnson tenth from 16th.

That’s it for this first column of 2024 and check back tomorrow for the final night of the USCS Germfree Southern Sprint Car Nationals with the winner taking home $15,000 to win. Comments, news, stories and anything else can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com and if you are not in Florida you can go indoors for your racing fix in New Jersey or find an ice race something in the frozen tundra regions of the country. In the meantime start plotting your 2024 calendar and put some bucket list tracks on that list. As always thanks for reading our efforts and the emails that you send along. And be safe out there and try to be kind to someone today as you never know the effect a smile or just a hi can have on someone going through something tough.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

SprintOberfest Wins At Bridgeport Go To Reinhardt, Bright & Williams

Saturday, October 28 – Pat was going back East to Atlantic City for work and attending a New Jersey state school board convention so I decided to tag along for the eats and friends tour. We were in AC on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before heading north into Pennsylvania to visit Pat’s aunt, Dolores or Aunt Sis, to celebrate a belated 92nd birthday. We then stayed two nights at Kerry and Cindy Meitzler’s house in Kutztown dining out both on Friday morning and night with Bill and Judy Burns for lunch and Kerry and Cindy for dinner before heading back to New Jersey Saturday for the races.

On tap for a beautiful Saturday afternoon and evening with temperatures in the 80’s was the SprintOberfest at the 4/10 mile dirt oval at the Bridgeport Motorsports Park. It would be a three division program consisting of winged 410 sprint cars paying $15,000 to win drawing only 25 sprinters to participate. I don’t get sprint car teams sometimes as $15,000 to win is a good amount and only 25 cars show!! We guess it could be the combination of teams that are done for the season and teams that are preparing for Charlotte the following weekend but with that much money on the line we thought the field would be in the 30’s to 40’s. Also on the card were the USAC East Coast 360 wingless sprints (20) and the eastern big block modifieds (26).

Action got underway at 5:28 with the first of three heats for the 410 sprints and it didn’t take long for the fireworks to begin. Joey Amantea, normally a USAC East Coast runner, had a 410 winged ride today and promptly dumped it on the backstretch in a two car tangle. Amantea’s car was done for the day. The top five from each heat would move to the main event with Justin Peck in the Buch #13 scoring the heat one win over Devon Borden, the 2023 Port Royal point champion, Anthony Macri back in the family car and Tim Buckwalter doing double duty. Heat two went to Tyler Ross defeating Danny Dietrich, Justin Whittall and Dylan Norris. Heat three went to New York invader, Paulie Colagiovanni, besting Freddie Rahmer, Kyle Reinhardt and Lucas Wolfe.

Next up were the USAC East Coast sprinters running two heats for their 20 car field with Joey Amantea having better luck in wingless action taking heat one over Patrick Chilmonik, Ed Aiken and Kenny Miller III. Tim Buckwalter cruised in heat two in the Hummer #20 beating Steven Drevicki, Alex Bright in just his second run after breaking his wrist at Lawrenceburg during Indiana Sprint Week and Mike Thompson.

The eastern modifieds would contest three heats and their heats were the best of the afternoon with Sam Martz Jr winning heat one over Billy Osmun III, Neal Williams and Joseph Watson. Heat two was captured by “The Quaker Shaker”, Rick Laubach besting HJ Bunting, Jim Gallagher and Dillon Steuer. Cale Ross claimed heat three over Dominick Buffalino, Ryan Grim and Davey Sammons.

No B mains were needed only a dash race for the 410 sprinters determining the first eight starters in the 35 lap feature with Justin Peck winning over Kyle Reinhardt and Anthony Macri.

That led us up to the three feature events with the 35 lap winged 410 sprint car main event the first one called to the post taking the green at 7:15 with the front row of Peck and Reinhardt battling for the early lead with Reinhardt edging out front as the pair raced down the backstretch on the opening lap. Macri, Colagiovanni and Dietrich were pursuing the leaders in the opening five laps. Lap nine saw Macri involved in a chain reaction crash in turn four turning the Macri Concrete #39M backwards sliding up to the wall. Macri’s evening came to an abrupt end at this point. On the restart Reinhardt, the home state favorite, retained the lead with Peck and Colagiovanni in tight pursuit with Devon Borden in the mix racing with Paulie for third. Whittall raced by Dietrich for fifth in the middle portion of the race but met disaster on lap nineteen when he got turned in turns three and four spinning to a halt. At this point the race went to an open red while the sprinters were allowed to add fuel.

On the restart Reinhardt was quick to the lead with Danny Dietrich who had made great progress coming from sixth to second in the middle stages of the contest, took up the chase of Reinhardt. Also, Freddie Rahmer and Tyler Ross who started at the tail when he had problems firing at the beginning of the race were now fourth and fifth on the restart grid. It looked like Dietrich was edging closer but over the final five laps Reinhardt was able to move away to score the rich and popular win in his home state in front of many fans and friends. Dietrich would take down second after starting eighth with Peck third, Ross edging Rahmer for fourth and Rahmer fifth after starting ninth. It was a good, competitive run for the 410 sprinters.

The headline division on a normal Saturday night, the east coast big block modifieds would break up the two open wheel divisions by running their 25 lap main event in between. Davey Sammons and Joseph Watson led the 26 car field to the green flag at 8:01 with the caution quickly waving when a three car tangle in turn two on the opening lap slowed the action. On the complete restart Watson took the lead with Neal Williams, Rick Laubach, Sammons and Dominick Buffalino racing in the top five over the first five laps. The second caution waved on lap six when Clay Butler looped his mount in turn three. Watson was quick on the throttle on the restart with Williams and Sammons close behind. Watson and Williams continued their battle up front over the middle stages of the contest running side by side with each other for many laps. Billy Osmun III who was involved in the opening lap tangle and restarted last was making steady progress through the field advancing into the top ten until he stopped suddenly in turn two on lap eighteen ending his evening prematurely.

On the ensuing restart Watson bounded out front but the gang of Williams, Laubach, Sammons and Bunting were racing hard banging each other with Laubach and Sammons getting the worst of the encounter with Laubach stopping in turn two ending his strong run and Sammons pitting also. The green appeared again with Watson and Williams racing side by side down the homestretch and into turns one and two with Williams edging ahead as they raced down the backstretch. Williams would lead the final seven laps finishing several car lengths ahead of Watson for his third win at Bridgeport (most of anyone) in 2023 winning on his first wedding anniversary to boot. HJ Bunting came home third at the end with young Dillon Steuer fourth and Dominic Buffalino rounding out the top five in what we felt was the best race of the evening.

Next up was the 25 lap USAC East Coast sprint feature with Alex Bright and Mike Thompson bringing the field to Nicole “Giggles” Flood’s green flag at 8:40. This one would go the entire 20 lap distance non-stop in seven minutes with Bright the rabbit of the field taking off quickly with Kenny Miller III in pursuit. Briggs Danner was the man on the move steadily moving forward like the tortoise up to third by lap fifteen. Danner caught and passed Miller for second on lap sixteen and went to work to see if he could catch the high flying Bright. Joey Amantea took over third from Miller a few laps later trying to reel in the front two. As the laps ticked off Danner was coming but ran out of time to make a serious challenge finishing about four car lengths behind when the checkered flag waved at 8:47. Alex Bright won the battle but Briggs Danner won the war taking the 2023 USAC East Coast point championship at the finish. Miller was able to work his way back past Amantea for third with Tim Buckwalter rounding out the top five. It was a decent race but somewhat difficult to follow as the dust began to blow and it was hard to follow the wingless sprinters as they raced.

It was a well run program on a beautiful, warm fall afternoon with some good racing to boot. It was a fine way to end our 2023 season as I don’t think we at the moment have any other plans for racing this year unless we take in an autocross event.

So, until next time get out there and catch some remaining shows in your area or take the show on the road and catch a bucket list item. News, comments or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. In the meantime be good, be safe and be kind.

Cold Kokomo Klash XVII Goes To Ballou & Baldwin

Friday, October 20 – In our return back to the Hoosier state we got the opportunity to take in the rained out night one of the Kokomo Klash XVII rescheduled to this Friday. There was a lot of rain the previous two days but today was clear and cold as temperatures were only in the fifties during the day dropping into the forties after the sun dropped below the horizon. Hot laps were scheduled to start at six but did not commence until an hour later and we understand it was a yeoman’s job for the track crew minus Reece O'Connor who was in California and the delay of the start could be excused. What in our opinion that could not be excused was the lack of urgency once things got underway. We did not enter the backstretch grandstands until 7 PM with many already having been there much earlier. A very small crowd was on hand, probably the worst we have seen in quite some time at Kokomo. The combination of high school football and cold weather kept the crowd at a minimum.

The first heat for the 21 non-wing sprint cars on hand took the green flag at 8:24. The track was fast and wet and passing was difficult as it is usual when the track is fast. It is more a speedway and not a true racetrack where there is plenty of passing. Not taking anything away from Trey Osborne in his first ride in the newly constructed Baldwin #5 tall chassis DRC as he jumped out front and was never headed in heat one besting Rylan Gray, Frankie Guerrini and Clayton Rossman. Heat two was won by Jake Swanson take a spin in the Benic #2B while Logan Seavey is racing at Tulare in California and made the most of the opportunity by capturing the win over Jadon Rogers, Robert Ballou and Sterling Cling. Heat three went to Shane Cottle in the Epperson #2E beating Dave Darland who was taking the last ride of his career tonight as “The People's Champ” is retiring after a spectacular career in sprint car racing. He will sadly be missed but we all hope to see him spectating in the grandstands with a beer in hand enjoying his life after a tremendous racing career. Brandon Mattox and Brayden Clark trailed the top two in this heat.

Next up were the thunder cars for their four heats with 33 cars making the call to the post. Five sportsmen ran one heat before the Racesaver 305 sprints pushed off for their three heats for their 19 entrants. Kayla Martin would best the boys in heat one beating Rod Henning and Honest Abe's Roofing owner, Kevin Newton. Heat two was won by the Kentucky driver, Dillan Baldwin over Tres Mehler and Carson Dillion. Heat three fell to Alfred Galedrige beating Nathan Franklin and AJ Hopkins jumped into a winged car for the evening.

All qualifying was completed including two B mains by 9:58 and at this point it was announced that there would be a twenty minute intermission. That might be OK if it was seventy degrees but at the time the temperature had slipped to the low 40's and it was getting colder by the minute.

By the time the non-wing sprint car feature took the green flag it was 10:27 and thankfully the feature was a good one which made you temporarily forget the cold temperatures. Trey Osborne took the early lead in the straight up start but it was short lived as second starting Jake Swanson tore around him on the outside of turn two on the opening lap. Third starting Shane Cottle grabbed second from Osborne off turn four on lap two and took up the chase of Swanson for the top spot. Robert Ballou was the man on a mission charging from his eighth starting spot to wrestle third from Osborne in turn three on lap five but an encounter with the cushion a lap later in turns three and four had Ballou slipping back to fifth at that point.

The lead duo encountered lap traffic soon thereafter with Cottle getting his opportunity to grab the lead in turn two on lap eight when Swanson was stalled by a lapper. Cottle lead until lap 13 when Jamie Frederickson lost the handle in turn four in bring out the first caution. On the restart Cottle led the field with Swanson close behind. Ballou had worked his way back to third at this point and was closing on the front two. Lap 17 saw Ballou catch and pass Swanson for second in turn one and before Ballou got a chance to challenge Cottle the second caution waved when Sterling Cling spun in turn two on lap 18.

It would be a seven lap shootout for the finish with the front five consisting of Cottle, Ballou, Swanson, Jadon Rogers and Osborne. On the restart Cottle jumped back out front but Ballou was all over him like white on rice with Swanson hot on their heels with Rogers nipping at Swanson' heels also. With two to go Ballou made his move diving to the inside of Cottle off turn four and beating him to the line to take the lead at the wire. Cottle and Swanson then hooked up in a good race for second as they entered lap traffic once again. While Cottle and Swanson went to the middle to clear the traffic Rogers dove low in turn two making contact with Swanson and pulling off a two for one pass on the white flag circuit as Ballou raced ahead. When the checkered flag flew at 10:39 it was Ballou in for his first win of 2023 holding off Rogers with Cottle third, Swanson fourth and Osborne rounding out the top five. Speaking of rounding out, Dave Darland would finish seventh in his last tour of duty finishing off a fine career to the applause of the thin crowd on hand. Lost in all the action up front was the performance of “The Human Highlight Film”, Geoff Ensign, wheeling the Gass #17G from 14th to 6th at the final checker. A good feature to round out the 2023 season at Kokomo.

We decided to stay to watch the 25 lap Racesaver 305 sprint car feature which took the initial green flag at 11:02. We would like to say this one was a good one also but would be lying as four cautions and one red slowed this affair taking 30 minutes to run. Kentucky's Dillan Baldwin would triumph from fifth taking the lead on lap seventeen and going on to win over Kevin Newton, AJ Hopkins, Nathan Franklin and 13th starting Justin Mathews but take might be a misnomer as only seven cars finished so most the position changes were due to attrition. This checker waved at 11:32 and with two features still to go it was uncle for us.

The non-wing sprint feature was a good race but three hours in the cold with two to go is not a good way to attract new fans to your track. Overall not one of the best shows we have seen at Kokomo and the lack of urgency seems to be the new pandemic spreading across the Hoosier state in the racing circles.

That's it for now but check back after next weekend as we make a road trip to New Jersey and see where we end up maybe for our last race of 2023. In the meantime get out there and catch some good short track racing in your area as the racing season is quickly coming to a close with winter soon upon us. Comments, news, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and your encouraging words as we hope you continue to enjoy reading these efforts as much as we enjoy bringing them to you. In closing be safe out there and be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Burns & Mitchell Take Championship Night Wins At Lincoln Park

Saturday, September 30 – There were a plethora of choices for this Saturday night of racing with USAC midgets taking on the dirt track at IMS for the BC39 but because of the cost and hassle of the big event we passed on this one. Two other tracks were running in the Indianapolis area with the Speedrome offering a HARF free admission night but with interest only for the Kenyon midgets on that card we passed on this one also. Circle City Raceway was running the first Ashlea Albertson Memorial for the young TQ midget racer who was killed a tragic highway crash a few weeks ago with a $12 senior admission but we decided to pass on the All Star TQ midget and other divisions program. So it was down to two choices, the Amati 68 for the wingless sprints at Paragon or championship night at Lincoln Park for all four of their regular divisions. Lincoln Park would win out and for the 10th time in 2023 it was off to our “home track” in beautiful downtown Putnamville, just 40 minutes south of our home base of Crawfordsville.

There were actually five divisions on the evening as the mod lites were added to the card with 21 wingless sprints, 17 bombers, 15 UMP modifieds, 12 mod lites and 11 super stocks in the pit area for the final weekly Saturday night program at the 5/16 mile dirt oval. Two winged sprint cars of Harley Burns and Ivan Glotzbach were on hand also to promote the two upcoming winged shows at LPS with the new Maverick Sprint Car Series started by Honest Abe’s Roofing’s owner, Kevin Newton, on Friday, October 6th with $6000 to win and the High Limit Series of Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet on Tuesday, October 10th paying $23,023 to win.

The first heat of the evening was green flagged at 7:33 with the wingless sprint cars doing battle. Heat one fell to Jake Swanson driving the Daming Excavating #5T over Brayden Fox, Jadon Rogers and Brent Beauchamp. Heat two went to Tye Mihocko in the Jamie and Michelle Paul #24P defeating Shane Cottle, Brandon Spencer and Zack Pretorius. The third and final sprint heat went to Matt Thompson who has shown strides forward this year running consistently all year long. Harley Burns, Kyle Shipley and Chance Crum chased Thompson to the finish.

The UMP modifieds would contest two heats for their 15 car field with Jimmy Hayden fending off Matt Mitchell and RT Gamble in heat one and Roger Mills besting Scott Carrington and Wes McClara in heat two. Wade Goodale and JD Nash would nail down super stock heat wins also. The bombers and mod lites ran two heats each with the qualifying being completed in one hour. Intermission with track prep also being performed was next on the agenda.

By 9:08 it was time to go feature racing and is always the case at Lincoln Park the wingless 410 sprints were the first feature called to the post. The front row of Harley Burns and Shane Cottle brought the 21 car field to the green flag with Cottle getting the early jump. The key word was jump as officials felt Cottle fired too soon and waved off the initial start. On the restack Burns would lead the pack into turn one but it was short lived as Sterling Cling lost the handle spinning in turn two on lap two to bring out the first official caution. On the ensuing restart Burns went to the point with Cottle and Brayden Fox in hot pursuit. Sixth starting Jake Swanson would nudge intp fourth on lap three in turn two with seventh starting Jadon Rogers cracking the top five on lap five. Burns continued to pace the field as the front runners approached lap traffic on lap eleven. Ivan Glotzbach pirouetted the Hayden #2H in turn three on the cushion but never went over bringing out another caution on lap twelve. We got two more laps into the books before Kyle Johnson rolled his black #99 on the turn one cushion to bring out the red flag. At that point fourth running Jake Swanson retired to the pit area with mechanical woes moving everyone up one position on the restart.

Nathan Ervin who was over all the place all night with an ill handling machine flipped in turn four on the restart bringing out the second red of the evening. During this stoppage fourth running Jadon Rogers headed pitside with a flat tire and would return at the tail of the field for the restart. On the restart Burns held sway but Cottle continued to pressure him down low diving to the inside of turns one and two. Tye Mihocko snuck by Fox on the backstretch on the restart to take over third and took up the chase of the top two. The top three were nose to tail as the race progressed until the yellow waved for Jadon Rogers coasting to a stop in turn two on lap twenty two. On the restart Burns led into turn one with Cottle showing him his nose racing through turns one and two. Meanwhile Mihocko went to the high side and found some traction blasting by Cottle on the backstretch with two to go. Burns continued to run the inside to middle as Mihocko pounded the cushion all the way around. Racing down the backstretch on the white flag lap Burns and Mihocko were side by side and it looked like Mihocko was going to pull off the pass but Burns found some extra traction low in turn three to pull a couple of car lengths ahead entering turn four and Burns would have enough to stave off the challenge of Mihocko and breezed across the finish line at 9:56 scoring his second win of the year at LPS and first since his rain shortened win in May edging the 2023 LPS sprint car point champion, Mihocko, for the win. Cottle would settle for third with Brandon Mattox marching from 13th to 4th at the finish in a consistent year at LPS for him with Brandon Spencer rounding out the top five.

We decided to stay for the 20 lap UMP modified feature which went green at 10:08. Jimmy Hayden would bound into the lead at the start and held sway until Matt Mitchell nipped him at the start/finish line on lap 13 and Mitchell would lead the remainder of the distance to not only score the victory but also secure the 2023 LPS UMP modified title in the process. The two hour trip each Saturday night from Rensselaer paid off in the end with Mitchell securing the point championship. The eight minute feature had us packing up our gear at 10:16 as we wrapped up the 2023 season at Lincoln Park for the last time this year.

That’s it for now and for a while as we have another journey on the horizon as we venture to Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Nevada on the Canyonlands bus tour starting Thursday. Check back in the middle of October when we return to see where we end up next. Until next time get out there and take in some good short track racing in the fall season before the winter sets upon us. News, comments, stories or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. Be good and be safe out there in your travels and remember to be kind.

A Typical Weekend

By Pat and Bruce Eckel

Cottle On The Throttle In Sprint Win At Lincoln Park

Saturday, September 9 – It was the ninth visit of the year for us to our “home track”, the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, just 45 minutes from our home in Crawfordsville. Tonight was the Red Hayden Memorial in honor of one long time runners at Lincoln Park and a former track championship and their four regular divisions would each run 30 lap features with an increase winner’s share for each one.

For Lincoln Park it was close to their starting time of 7:10 with the first heat taking the green flag at 7:32 (only 22 minutes late). That’s living on Spiker time!!

Thirty one wingless sprint cars were joined on the race card by 24 super stocks, 20 bombers and 17 UMP modifieds for the full night of racing action.

The wingless sprint cars were the first division called to the track for their four heats with the top four moving directly into the 30 lap main event. Seth Parker of West Terre Haute would claim heat one besting Brandon Spencer, Tye Mihocko and Brent Beauchamp who would later scratch from the feature making it five to advance from the B main. Brayden Fox from Avon took down heat two over Hunter Maddox, Blake Vermillion and Matt Thompson. Jordan Kinser from Bedford nailed down heat three winning over Mario Clouser, Jesse Vermillion and Mitch Wissmiller. The fourth and final heat fell to Shane Cottle of Kansas, IL who turned back Harley Burns, Kyle Shipley and Chance Crum.

The UMP modifieds would contest two heats for their 17 car field with Wes McClara and Brayden Watson taking wins. The super stocks ran three heats with Josh Litton, Paul Wright and Larry Raines victorious. And finally the bombers ran three heats after the sprint car B main.

The sprint car B main was taken by Evan Mosley of Lapel triumphing over Zack Pretorius, Matt McDonald, Jackson Slone and Lee Underwood. One track provisional would be added to the field when Ivan Glotzbach, driver of the Brian Hayden #I1 who is the son of Red Hayden, which was a nice gesture by management on this night. Track maintenance was the next order of business and a half hour later it was time for the 30 lap wingless sprint car feature.

At 10:02 the front row of Harley Burns and Mario Clouser brought the 21 car field to the green flag with Burns getting the early lead. Burns and Clouser raced side by side through turns three and four with Clouser taking the lead at the start/finish line to complete lap one. Jordan Kinser was the man on the move motoring the Jerry Burton #04 into fourth on lap four. Clouser continued to pace the field as the laps clicked off and moved into the teens with Burns, Brandon Spencer, Kinser and Shane Cottle chasing him. Kinser moved up another position into third passing Spencer as they raced down the backstretch on lap seventeen. A crucial caution waved on lap nineteen as Tye Mihocko running sixth at the time did a complete 360 spin and kept moving as the caution waved. In a clarification from Pat Sullivan unlike when a spin occurs in USAC racing it is an automatic caution and the driver moves to the rear. At Lincoln Park if you spin and do not stop and the caution waves you receive your running position back on the restart. I don’t like the rule as I feel if you bring out the caution you should go to the rear. Just my opinion!!

On the ensuing restart Clouser powered back out front as the cars were shuffled behind him with Kinser moving to second at the line to complete lap twenty while Cottle used the inside of turns three and four to take the lead away from Clouser pulling off a two for one pass to move from third to the lead. Mihocko blasted the cushion through turns one and two charging into fourth by turn three where he drives hard into turn four pushing Clouser into the cushion in an overly aggressive move to take third and dropping Clouser all the way back to seventh. Mihocko was not finished as he powered by Kinser down the backstretch for second on lap twenty eight bringing the resurgent Burns with him. Mihocko tried to close the gap on Cottle over the last two laps but the veteran of open wheel competition was up to the challenge and streaked under the checkered flag at 10:14 in the Tony Epperson #2E for a popular win with Mihocko second after starting ninth, Burns third for the second night in a row with Kinser fourth and Brayden Fox rounding out the top five in a real good feature event.

The 20 lap UMP modified feature was set on its head early as pole sitter, Derek Losh, was forced to start at the tail of the field (17th) after pulling into the work area prior to the race start. Brayden Watson, who is third in Brownstown Speedway points, made a rare appearance at LPS on an off night at Brownstown pay off as he led the entire 30 lap distance for the extra money win beating Jeff Deckard second with Derek Losh picking his way through the field to rebound for a third place finish with Matt Mitchell fourth and Will Bennett taking fifth. It was 10:55 so we decided to call it an evening with two features still to run.

The racing was good especially in the sprint car division as we discussed the night of racing as we made our way north on Route 231 to end the evening in our bed in Crawfordsville after watching the final 25 laps live from the World 100 at Eldora where Hudson O’Neal became the first driver from Indiana to ever win the World 100 in 53 tries. Also we caught the last eight laps of the USAC sprint car race at Texarkana Speedway won by Matt Westfall who triumphed in USAC sprint car action for the first time in 17 years. Congratulations to both Westfall and O’Neal on their big wins this Saturday night.

That’s it for this segment and it could be a week or more before our next report as we head north on vacation to Minnesota and Ontario to take in the beauty of the great North. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy some good short track racing in your area or take in one or more new tracks on your bucket list on your own trip. Comments, news, opinions or anything else of interest can reach us at eckel9K77@gmail.com. And as always thanks for reading our efforts and thanks for the emails that you send. Remember to be good and be kind to everyone you meet.