Winner Tristan Guardino (Lance Jennings Photo)

 

GUARDINO CONTINUES TO ROLL AT SANTA MARIA

 

SANTA MARIA, CA - JUNE 15, 2019... Regaining the lead from Jake Swanson on lap 21, Tristan Guardino (Fremont, CA) claimed the "Ron Otto Memorial" at Santa Maria Raceway. Driving the family owned #15T Dorso's Automotive / Allied Auto Stores Maxim, Guardino extended his point lead with his third USAC West Coast Sprint Car victory of the season. Fast qualifier Swanson, T.J. Smith, Troy Rutherford, and Cody Majors rounded out the top-five drivers.

 

Ryan Stolz earned the night's Saldana Racing Products Hard Charger Award / Best Passing Job honors with an eleventh place run from twenty-first. Tom Hendricks scored the Wilwood Disc Brakes "Lucky 13 Award" with a 13th place finish.

 

Earlier in the program, Swanson posted his seventh career Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award with a time of 13.787 over the 22-car roster.

 

The ten-lap heat race victories went to Brandon Wiley (Extreme Mufflers First Heat), Guardino (Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Second Heat), and Smith (Competition Suspension Incorporated / Ultra Shield Race Products Third Heat).

 

The USAC West Coast Sprint Cars will return to Santa Maria Raceway on Saturday, August 10th for the "Bud Stanfield Memorial."

 

The USAC West Coast Sprint Car Series thanks AMSOIL, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, Chris Kearns Presents, Competition Suspension Incorporated, Extreme Mufflers, Five Star Grafix, Hoosier Racing Tire, Loudpedal Productions, Pyrotect Racing Cells, Saldana Racing Products, Ultra Shield Race Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes, and Woodland Auto Display for their support.

 

For more information on the series, visit usacracing.com and the social media for USAC Racing. You can also find exclusive content on westcoastsprintcars.com and the USAC West Coast Sprint Car Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.

 

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USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 15, 2019 - Santa Maria Raceway - Santa Maria, California - "Ron Otto Memorial"

 

WOODLAND AUTO DISPLAY QUALIFYING: 1. Jake Swanson, 34AZ, Grau/Burkhart-13.787; 2. Tristan Guardino, 15T, Guardino-13.802; 3. Ryan Timmons, 29T, Timmons-14.081; 4. Troy Rutherford, 11, Rutherford-14.193; 5. Ricky Kirkbride, 87, Kirkbride-14.214; 6. T.J. Smith, 8M, May-14.323; 7. Steve Hix, 57, Hix-14.416; 8. Tom Hendricks, 14, Hendricks-14.425; 9. Cody Majors, 81X, Watt-14.514; 10. J.J. Ringo, 2, Keller-14.605; 11. Koen Shaw, 88, Shaw-14.657; 12. Tanner Boul, 99T, Boul-14.657; 13. Brandon Wiley, 33B, Team 33-14.664; 14. Brent Owens, 71, Martin-14.665; 15. Ricky Lewis, 81, Watt-14.784; 16. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 0K, Perkins-14.979; 17. Will Perkins, 50, Perkins-15.022; 18. Austin Ervine, 51, AJ-15.087; 19. Hannah Mayhew, 43, Mayhew-15.304; 20. James Herrera, 5J, Herrera-15.598; 21. Ryan Stolz, 72, Stolz-15.612; 22. Bill Jones, 16J, Jones-15.622.

 

EXTREME MUFFLERS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1.Wiley, 2. Swanson, 3. Ringo, 4. Rutherford, 5. Mayhew, 6. Tafoya, 7. Hix, 8. Jones. NT

 

BROWN & MILLER RACING SOLUTIONS SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Guardino, 2. Hendricks, 3. Owens, 4. Kirkbride, 5. Shaw, 6. Perkins, 7. Herrera. NT

 

COMPETITION SUSPENSION INC. / ULTRA SHIELD RACE PRODUCTS THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Smith, 2. Lewis, 3. Timmons, 4. Majors, 5. Ervine, 6. Stolz, 7. Boul. NT

 

FEATURE: (30 laps, with starting positions) 1. Tristan Guardino (5), 2. Jake Swanson (6), 3. T.J. Smith (1), 4. Troy Rutherford (3), 5. Cody Majors (9), 6. Ryan Timmons (4), 7. J.J. Ringo (10), 8. Ricky Lewis (15), 9. Koen Shaw (11), 10. Hannah Mayhew (19), 11. Ryan Stolz (21), 12. Austin Ervine (18), 13. Tom Hendricks (8), 14. James Herrera (20), 15. Brandon Wiley (13), 16. Bill Jones (22), 17. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (16), 18. Steve Hix (7), 19. Brent Owens (14), 20. Will Perkins (17), 21. Ricky Kirkbride (2), 22. Tanner Boul (12). NT

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**Wiley flipped on lap 18 of the feature.

 

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Smith, Laps 8-19 Guardino, Lap 20 Swanson, Laps 21-30 Guardino.

 

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER:  Ryan Stolz (21st to 11tth)

 

WILWOOD DISC BRAKES LUCKY 13 AWARD: Tom Hendricks

 

NEW USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR POINTS: 1-Guardino-598, 2-Timmons-455, 3-Shaw-420, 4-Mayhew-320, 5-Swanson-318, 6-Austin Liggett-308, 7-Danny Faria Jr.-294, 8-Ervine-293, 9-Rutherford-290, 10-Smith-289.

 

NEXT USAC WEST COAST SPRINT CAR RACE: August 10 - Santa Maria Raceway - Santa Maria, California - "Bud Stanfield Memorial"

Tyler Courtney celebrates his Eastern Storm victory Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo)

 

COURTNEY RULES PORT ROYAL EASTERN STORM ROUND

 

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

 

Port Royal, Pennsylvania (June 15, 2019).........For Tyler Courtney, the date of June 15th and the location of Port Royal Speedway means more than just another stop on the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car tour.

 

For Port Royal was the half-mile dirt oval where his mentor, Bryan Clauson, recorded his record sixth and final "Eastern Storm" win in 2016.  Saturday night also marked what would've been Clauson's 30th birthday.

 

Courtney, the defending series champ, was bound and determined to make his own personal mark to honor BC on this night during round three of the 13th annual "Eastern Storm" series but felt there was a spirit helping him along the way.

 

"We've kind of struggled all week," Courtney admitted.  "But I think we had somebody looking down on us tonight.  This one's for him.  He's done a lot for my career.  He's done a lot for everybody on this team.  Even without him being here, he helped us more than he knows."

 

The emotional victory for Courtney aboard his Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing/NOS Energy Drink - Competition Suspension, Inc./Spike/Rider Chevy appeared as smooth as silk for 30 laps with barely any threats posed en route to his second series victory of the year.  His half-mile record with the series in 2019 now includes wins at Eldora and Port Royal to go along with a 3rd at Terre Haute.

 

Indianapolis, Indiana's Courtney started from the outside of the front row and was seemingly gone, ripping the top, as Chris Windom attempted to keep pace in second.  Courtney's lead stretched out to three-quarters of a straightaway over Windom in the first-third of the race until 2015 Port Royal winner Robert Ballou made contact in turn three, heavily damaging the torsion bar and the left rear wheel, forcing him on the sideline for the remainder of the night.

 

Courtney had been solid as a rock at Port Royal in his previous two campaigns, finishing 4th in 2017 and 3rd in 2018.  But Windom, who lined up second on the ensuing restart, was victorious in both of those instances.  Windom's best opportunity to get past was to dive low in one to the inside guardrail to throw the slider on the restart.  He did just that when racing resumed on lap 12, but there wasn't enough mustard on the fastball to surge ahead, and instead, tucked in behind Courtney exiting turn two.

 

Yellows and restarts were the only things tugging on Courtney's cape this night as each time Courtney stood on the throttle, his competition was left in the distant past.  The separation from Courtney to Windom was instantly a half-straightaway while Windom found himself a 10-car length lead over the fierce battle for third between Kevin Thomas, Jr., Chase Stockon and new one-lap track record holder, C.J. Leary.

 

At the midway point, Thomas slid by Stockon on the bottom of turn three.  Stockon countered to regain third exiting four.  Stockon's grasp on the spot was hanging in the balance and Thomas was able to pick Stockon off by the time they reached turn two on the 16th lap.  By turn four of the same lap, Leary had slid by Stockon to take ownership of fourth to begin the second half of the 30-lapper.

 

Meanwhile, Courtney was cruising with nothing but Warren Alston's double checkers on his mind and vision with six laps remaining.  That was until third-running Thomas, who was on the topside of turn three and in the midst of a joust with Leary for third, suffered a blown right rear tire which sent him hard into the outside guardrail with a mighty wallop, elevating all four wheels of his car off the ground before landing back on all fours.  The incident ended his night with a disappointing 18th place finish and placed a huge dent in his Eastern Storm title chances where he dropped form 2nd to 8th, and in the National Sprint points in which he fell from 2nd to 5th.

 

Four lapped cars separated race leader Courtney and second-running Windom on the lap 25 restart, negating any reasonable chance for Windom to toss a slider for the lead heading into turn one.  Instead, all Windom could do was stay pat on the topside while the lappers cooperated on the bottom.  Once again, any notion of anyone else having a shot at taking down Courtney was all for naught as Courtney opened it up to a lead of three seconds while Leary tried to step up a spot by challenging Windom, to no avail.

 

Courtney finished off a sterling performance by setting his fastest lap of the race on the 30th and final lap that ultimately resulted in his second career Eastern Storm victory by 3.15 seconds over Windom, Leary, Stockon and Justin Grant.

 

Courtney's win was the 19th of his USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car career, moving him to within two of 1967 series champion Greg Weld's 21 victories for 28th on the all-time list. (Rich Forman Photo)

 

 

Courtney fell the struggle was real in the first two rounds this week with 4th and 6th place runs at Grandview and Bridgeport, respectively.  The prevailing feeling was that they needed to return to the basics and remember why they do what they do in the first place, and when winning is part of the equation, the fun never seems to find an end.

 

"We've been banging our heads against the wall just trying to figure out what we're doing," Courtney explained.  "I think we just came to the conclusion that we weren't really having fun.  So, we went back to the basics, 'have some fun.'  (Port Royal) is a place that suits our style, high speed, and when you get to run it nice and straight up against the wall like that, it's a lot of fun."

 

Courtney's win was the 19th of his USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car career, moving him to within two of 1967 series champion Greg Weld's 21 victories for 28th on the all-time list.

 

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Port Royal Speedway were C.J. Leary (Fatheadz Eyewear/Sprint Car Unlimited Fast Qualifier & Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Brady Bacon (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner & KSE Racing Products/In Memory of Mike Grassmyer Hard Charger), Chris Windom (AutoMeter/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Chad Boespflug (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier) and Dustin Christie (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).

 

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 15, 2019 - Port Royal Speedway - Port Royal, Pennsylvania - 13th "Eastern Storm" - 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval

 

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR/SPRINT CAR UNLIMITED QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-18.105 (New Track Record); 2. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-18.332; 3. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-18.457; 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-18.518; 5. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-18.670; 6. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-18.691; 7. Carson Short, 20, Dyson-18.730; 8. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-18.737; 9. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-18.779; 10. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-18.817; 11. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-18.856; 12. Steven Drevicki, 19s, Drevicki-18.886; 13. Chad Boespflug, 98e, EZR-18.888; 14. Dave Darland, 39, Hogue-18.899; 15. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-18.927; 16. Carmen Perigo, 21, Perigo-18.971; 17. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-19.000; 18. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-19.084; 19. Joey Biasi, B1, Biasi-19.153; 20. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-19.343; 21. John Stehman, 23, Treyco-19.678; 22. Jared Esh, 33, Ehrenzeller-20.212.

 

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Leary, 2. Thomas, 3. Perigo, 4. Short, 5. Boespflug, 6. Andretti, 7. Biasi, 8. Esh. 2:33.36

 

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Bacon, 2. Ballou, 3. Grant, 4. Courtney, 5. Buckwalter, 6. Christie, 7. Darland. 2:32.57 (New Track Record)

 

AUTOMETER/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer) 1. Windom, 2. Chapple, 3. Stockon, 4. Drevicki, 5. McDougal, 6. VanMeveren, 7. Stehman. 2:35.52

 

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tyler Courtney (2), 2. Chris Windom (1), 3. C.J. Leary (6), 4. Chase Stockon (4), 5. Justin Grant (5), 6. Carson Short (7), 7. Brady Bacon (17), 8. Jason McDougal (9), 9. Jarett Andretti (10), 10. Joey Biasi (19), 11. Isaac Chapple (18), 12. Timmy Buckwalter (8), 13. Dustin Christie (20), 14. Carmen Perigo (16), 15. Brian VanMeveren (15), 16. Dave Darland (14), 17. John Stehman (21), 18. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 19. Chad Boespflug (13), 20. Steven Drevicki (12), 21. Robert Ballou (11), 22. Jared Esh (22). NT

 

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Courtney.

 

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/IN MEMORY OF MIKE GRASSMYER HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (17th to 7th)

 

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Dustin Christie

 

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Chad Boespflug

 

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Leary-762, 2-Courtney-703, 3-Windom-700, 4-Stockon-695, 5-K. Thomas-688, 6-Bacon-660, 7-Grant-631, 8-Short-585, 9-McDougal-571, 10-Ballou-568.

 

NEW EASTERN STORM POINTS: 1-Leary-223, 2-Courtney-210, 3-Stockon-206, 4-Windom-199, 5-Bacon-196, 6-Grant-196, 7-McDougal-182, 8-Thomas-181, 9-Short-158. 10-Ballou-143.

 

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 16, 2019 - Weedsport Speedway - Weedsport, New York - 13th"Eastern Storm" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval

 

 

Winner Johnny Kent (Richard Bales Photo)

 

JOHNNY KENT READS THE RED DIRT TO VICTORY

 

Meeker, Oklahoma (June 14, 2019).........Johnny Kent (Kiefer, Okla.) caught reigning series champion Brett Wilson (Sapulpa, Okla.) in lapped traffic with five laps remaining, took over the lead and carried onto victory in Friday night's USAC Wingless Sprints Oklahoma feature at Red Dirt Raceway.

 

Wilson had led the first 25 laps of the 30-lapper, which was slowed by a wild flip by Cameron Hagin (Broken Arrow, Okla.) into the turn three infield on lap 15.

 

J. Kent and Wilson were followed to the line by Tim Kent (Bristow, Okla.), Kyle Clark (Sapulpa, Okla.) and Danny Smith (Sapulpa, Okla.), who rounded out the top-five.  

 

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USAC WINGLESS SPRINTS OKLAHOMA RACE RESULTS: June 14, 2019 - Red Dirt Raceway - Meeker, Oklahoma

 

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ty Hulsey (#24H Risley), 2. Joshua Tyre (#25c Admire), 3. Cody Jarvis (#18J Jarvis), 4. Jordan Herman (#54 Lemons), 5. Ben Frey (#24 Frey), 6. Patrick Prescott (#5p Prescott). NT

 

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Ryan Dean (#51 Dean), 2. Brett Wilson (#53 Wilson), 3. Tim Kent (#79 Kent), 4. Danny Smith (#5$ Smith), 5. Kyle Clark (#9$ Clark), 6. David  Baxter (#7D Baxter). NT

 

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Johnny Kent (#55 Kent), 2. Waylon Weaver (#911 Weaver), 3. Cameron Hagin (#5 Hagin), 4. Noah Harris (#7F Fode), 5. J.C. Wilson (#77 Storm Chaser). NT

 

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Johnny Kent (3), 2. Brett Wilson (1), 3. Tim Kent (7), 4. Kyle Clark (11), 5. Danny Smith (10), 6. Noah Harris (12), 7. Ryan Dean (2), 8. Ty Hulsey (4). 9. Waylon Weaver (6), 10. Jordan Herman (13), 11. David Baxter (16), 12. Joshua Tyre (5), 13. Cody Jarvis (8), 14. J.C. Wilson (14), 15. Ben Frey (15), 16. Cameron Hagin (9), 17. Patrick Prescott (17). NT

 

**Hagin flipped on lap 15 of the feature.

 

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Wilson, Laps 26-30 J. Kent.

 

NEXT USAC WINGLESS SPRINTS OKLAHOMA RACE: June 21, 2019 - Creek County Speedway - Sapulpa, Oklahoma

 

Winner Chett Gehrke (Bill Miller Photo)

 

GEHRKE GETS MTM WIN AT GAS CITY

 

Gas City, Indiana (June 14, 2019).........Chett Gehrke (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma) captured the victory in Friday's USAC Speed2 Midwest Thunder Midget feature at Indiana's Gas City I-69 Speedway.

 

Gehrke got by Alex Watson (Columbus, Ohio) on a lap five restart and lead the remaining 16 laps to seal the deal for his first series win of the season.

 

Series point leader Aaron Leffel (Springfield, Ohio) was second ahead of Watson, Cory Guingrich (Celina, Ohio) and Stratton Briggs (Anna, Ohio).

 

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USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 15, 2019 - Gas City, Indiana - Gas City I-69 Speedway

 

FIRST HEAT: (6 laps) 1. Chett Gehrke (#11c Matteson), 2. Stratton Briggs (#71 Briggs), 3. Cory Guingrich (#62 Guingrich), 4. Gunnar Lucius (#22L Lucius), 5. Tommy Bigelow (#2B Bigelow), 6. Jacob Denney (#11T Taylor), 7. Ian Creager (#36 Creager). NT

 

SECOND HEAT: (6 laps) 1. Alex Watson (#3 Watson), 2. Anton Hernandez (#8JR Wood), 3. Mark Nieft, Jr. (#20N Nieft), 4. Adam Schmenk (#6 Schmenk), 5. Zane Briggs (#10 Briggs), 6. Tyler Kalb (#32T Kalb), 7. Don Bigelow (#4B Bigelow). NT

 

THIRD HEAT: (6 laps) 1. Jon Steed (#7 Steed), 2. Aaron Leffel (#11L Taylor), 3. Chris Bounds (#65 Bounds), 4. Kyle Kriegbaum (#12 Kriegbaum), 5. Ryan Moran (#01 Moran), 6. Braden Watson (#29 Watson). NT

 

FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. Chett Gehrke, 2. Aaron Leffel, 3. Alex Watson, 4. Cory Guingrich, 5. Stratton Briggs, 6. Chris Bounds, 7. Gunnar Lucius, 8. Kyle Kriegbaum, 9. Tommy Bigelow, 10. Jacob Denney, 11. Tyler Kalb, 12. Zane Briggs, 13. Ryan Moran, 14. Jon Steed, 15. Mark Neift, Jr., 16. Don Bigelow, 17. Anton Hernandez, 18. Adam Schmenk, 19. Ian Creager, 20. Braden Watson. NT

 

NEW USAC SPEED2 MIDWEST THUNDER MIDGET POINTS: 1-Aaron Leffel-207, 2-Stratton Briggs-158, 3-Gunnar Lucius-144, 4-Cory Guingrich-142, 5-Ian Creager-135, 6-Kyle Kriegbaum-135, 7-Alex Watson-134, 8-Zane Briggs-115, 9-Chris Bounds-113, 10-Jacob Denney-107.

 

NEXT USAC MIDGET THUNDER MIDGET RACE: June 22 - Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, Indiana  

 

"Get this man a napkin!" Brady Bacon shows the wears in victory lane after his first career USAC Silver Crown victory Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo)   BACON THE LAST MAN STANDING IN DRAMA-FILLED WILLIAMS GROVE 100   By: Richie Murray - USAC Media   Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania (June 14, 2019).........For Brady Bacon, it was the best of times.  For Steve Buckwalter and Chris Windom, in particular, it was the worst of times. That about sums up the Helter Skelter roller coaster ride of emotions among the top-three drivers during the final laps of Friday's "Williams Grove 100" USAC Silver Crown race at Williams Grove Speedway.   For Bacon, the times couldn't have gotten any better as he avoided the misfortune in front of him.  On the 100th and final lap, second-running Windom got into the rear bumper of Buckwalter, sending Buckwalter spinning out of the race lead.    On the ensuing restart, Windom, the new race leader, led the field into turn one on the final lap only to see his right rear tire give out, handing the lead to Bacon who ended the drama once-and-for-all by cruising the last three-quarters of a lap to capture his first career USAC Silver Crown win.   Bacon's score came in his 23rd series start aboard his Beast Chassis - Wilwood Disc Brakes - Hoosier Racing Tire-sponsored Beast/Ford, the second-straight win for the Klatt Enterprises No. 6 following Kyle Hamilton's victory on the pavement at Brownsburg, Indiana's Lucas Oil Raceway in May.   Bacon, the two-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champ out of Broken Arrow, Okla., started third, but dropped to sixth on the opening circuit which, though had him a tad worrisome, became an afterthought as he preserved his equipment and steadily moved up as the race wore on, running fourth as late as nine laps remaining with Buckwalter, Kody Swanson and Windom sitting ahead of him in the pecking order.   Following the lap 90 restart, Bacon surged from fourth to third to second between laps 91 and 93 and was challenging for the lead.  Just a lap earlier, Swanson had slid by Buckwalter for the lead in turn one with just a bit too much gusto, sliding up just out of the bottom groove as Buckwalter didn't fret and drove back by underneath.   That opened up the door exiting turn two, allowing Bacon to sweep past Swanson to second as the field passed under the legendary back straightaway bridge, while Windom presented an inside challenge to Swanson entering the third turn.  Windom's right front and Swanson's left rear tangled not once, but twice in between turns three and four, forcing Swanson wide off turn four and allowing Windom to take the third position.   Bacon challenged Buckwalter for the lead entering the outside of turn three on three consecutive laps to no avail.  With five to go and Bacon unable to make the lane up from the bottom work to his liking, Windom took advantage and skirted underneath on the low line to grab second.   "It took me a lap to get going before I could start trying to squeeze on the outside of turn three," Bacon recalled.  "But Buckwalter was really smart.  He races a lot here, so he was keeping himself just far out enough to where I couldn't get a run on him, and then I slid out."   The top-four of Buckwalter, Windom, Bacon and Swanson ran practically nose-to-tail entering the conclusion.  Heading into turn one on the final lap, though, local favorite Buckwalter from Royersford, Pa., a nine-time wing sprint car and five-time ARDC Midget winner at Williams Grove, seemed poised and primed to capture his first career Silver Crown victory in his 25th series start.   That's when the complexion of the race, and seemingly the universe, turned on its figurative head.  Second-running Windom entered turn one a couple car lengths behind Buckwalter.  Windom tagged Buckwalter's rear bumper with his own front bumper, turning Buckwalter sideways and, ultimately, to a stop in the middle of turn one.  Windom barely escaped to the outside behind Buckwalter's tail tank while third-running Bacon snuck by underneath without getting caught in the melee.   Buckwalter didn't mince words in his thoughts of what happened just three-quarters of a lap away from payday.   "I knew I had to get in low and protect the bottom," Buckwalter explained.  "I was running as hard as I had to (in order) to make that happen.  I just feel bad for all the PA fans.  We had them beat.  I don't know what else to say.  I guess he just didn't want to get second, but he just drove through me."   "You don't get that many opportunities to win one of these," Buckwalter continued.  "We only run (Silver Crown Cars) four or five times a year.  It's kind of out of my element.  These guys are driving non-wing sprint cars all the time and I maybe run half a dozen midget races a year.  To get out there and drive from eighth to the lead, and not touch anybody, and on the last corner to have somebody drive through your rear bumper, it's just heartbreaking."   From Windom's point of view, he admitted he just plainly misjudged the entry to turn one.   "I obviously misjudged it and I feel terrible about it," Windom admitted.  "I'd been battling brake issues the last 40 laps of the race and he got in so slow and low to protect the bottom.  Once the white flag came out, I got excited going down the front stretch and I got in too hard.  I had my left foot through the floor trying to slow the car down.  I just knew at that point that I had gotten in way too hard.  I tried to turn up at the last second, but it just ended up catching him even harder with the bumper and spun him.  I can't change it now.  I had a bad misjudgment there."   Brady Bacon's win Friday night was actually his second in USAC competition at Williams Grove Speedway, following his ARDC victory in 2017. (Rich Forman Photo)     That set up a green-white-checker finish.  Though there was a tad fretfulness at the beginning, Bacon's car had come to life late.  Once he gained a close-up look of the leader's tire situation, he knew there was blood in the water.   "I knew we had a better car at the end," Bacon noted.  "I was a little worried when we  weren't very good at the beginning, then I saw some tire issues come about.  Buckwalter's tire was looking pretty bad and Windom's was looking bad.  Once they had that little altercation over there, that gave us an extra lap.  I knew that wasn't good for Windom because I could see his cords."   At that point, it was all about hanging on, although Windom still had the feeling that despite all the indicators he was feeling, he would still be able to preserve enough rubber to make it to the end.   "I knew it was low; I could feel it shaking down the straightaway," Windom remembered.  "But I thought it was going to be enough to last to the end, but it just wasn't."   As Windom's tire went down, forcing him to slip up the racetrack in turn one, Bacon scooted underneath and it was in the books as Bacon drove away and got out of Dodge to claim one of the most drama-filled last laps in USAC Silver Crown history.  Although confident, another yellow could've thrown a wrench into the deal for Bacon with tire wear weighing heavily on the mind and a hard-charging four-time champ in Swanson could have possibly resulted in a different outcome.   "Coming off turn two, maybe," Bacon explained when he thought he had the win sewn up.  "But then I'm like, there's no telling who's behind me.  I don't know how much I slowed down to miss (Windom), but I was pretty confident I had it.  I was just hoping they didn't throw the yellow.  It feels like I should've won a couple of these, but glad to get my first one," a cheerful Bacon said.  "I love coming out here to PA.  This is a really cool place to win a race."   Swanson finished six-tenths of a second behind Bacon in the second spot ahead of Fatheadz Eyewear pole winner Justin Grant in third.  KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Mike Haggenbottom earned a career-best fourth from the 15th starting spot while Eric Gordon rounded out the top-five.   The breakthrough win for Bacon comes following consecutive second place finishes in Silver Crown competition at The Grove for the Klatt team, with drivers Bryan Clauson (2016) and Damion Gardner (2017).  It's the first Silver Crown win for a Klatt-owned car on dirt and the first of any kind on dirt in USAC National competition since a 2011 Sprint Car win with Bobby East an hour and a half east at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa.   Friday's win marked Bacon's second career USAC-sanctioned win at Williams Grove following his ARDC Midget win in June of 2017.   Contingency award winners Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway included Justin Grant (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Mike Haggenbottom (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Shane Cottle (WIlwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).   --------------------------------------------   USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: June 14, 2019 - Williams Grove Speedway - Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania - "Williams Grove 100"   FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 91, Hemelgarn-21.799; 2. Chris Windom, 17, Goodnight/Byrd-21.816; 3. Brady Bacon, 6, Klatt-21.863; 4. Tyler Courtney, 97, Lein-21.938; 5. Austin Nemire, 16, Nemire/Lesko-22.123; 6. Kody Swanson, 20, Nolen-22.245; 7. Shane Cottle, 81, Williams-22.325; 8. Steve Buckwalter, 53, Five Three-22.428; 9. Kyle Robbins, 7, KR-22.441; 10. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-22.574; 11. Chad Kemenah, 15, Hampshire-22.586; 12. David Byrne, 40, Byrne-22.599; 13. John Heydenreich, 43, Felker-22.642; 14. Eric Gordon, 78, Armstrong/Slinkard-22.840; 15. Mike Haggenbottom, 24, Haggenbottom-22.933; 16. Johnny Petrozelle, 8, Cornell/Petrozelle-23.021; 17. Dave Berkheimer, 31, Berkheimer-23.293; 18. Dallas Hewitt, 57, Hewitt-23.298; 19. C.J. Leary, 10, DMW-28.427.   FEATURE: (101 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (3), 2. Kody Swanson (6), 3. Justin Grant (1), 4. Mike Haggenbottom (15), 5. Eric Gordon (14), 6. Austin Nemire (5), 7. David Byrne (12), 8. Steve Buckwalter (8), 9. Chris Windom (2), 10. Matt Goodnight (10), 11. Chad Kemenah (11), 12. John Heydenreich (13), 13. Shane Cottle (7), 14. Dallas Hewitt (18), 15. Kyle Robbins (9), 16. Dave Berkheimer (17), 17. Tyler Courtney (4), 18. Johnny Petrozelle (16), 19. C.J. Leary (19). 1:01.52.305 ------------------------------ FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-47 Windom, Laps 48-99 Buckwalter, Lap 100 Windom, Lap 101 Bacon.   KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Mike Haggenbottom (15th to 4th)   WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Shane Cottle   NEW USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES POINTS: 1-Swanson-320, 2-Grant-314, 3-Byrne-227, 4-Gordon-216, 5-Haggenbottom-211, 6-Nemire-209, 7-Bobby Santos-198, 8-Kevin Thomas, Jr.-198, 9-Kyle Hamilton-186, 10-Windom-175.   NEXT USAC SILVER CROWN CHAMP CAR SERIES RACE: June 28, 2019 - Madison International Speedway - Oregon, Wisconsin - Bytec "Dairyland 100"

 

BAPS EASTERN STORM ROUND FALLS TO RAIN

 

York Haven, Pennsylvania (June 13, 2019).........Following overnight rains and ongoing precipitation throughout the morning, Thursday's third round of Eastern Storm from BAPS Motor Speedway has been cancelled.

 

Up next for USAC's tour of the east is Friday's Silver Crown event at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.  On Saturday, Eastern Storm resumes with the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pa. and on Sunday at New York's Weedsport Speedway.

 

C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) leads the Eastern Storm standings.  Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) won Tuesday's opener at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa. while Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, Okla.) claimed Wednesday's race at Bridgeport Speedway in Swedesboro, N.J.

 

Jason McDougal won his first career "Eastern Storm" feature Wednesday night at Bridgeport Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo)

 

McDOUGAL CROSSES BRIDGEPORT OFF EASTERN STORM CHECKLIST

 

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

 

Swedesboro, New Jersey (June 12, 2019).........To earn his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory last September in Pevely, Mo., Jason McDougal played the role of the chaser on a late-race restart.

 

To gain his second career series win Wednesday night in round two of the 13th annual "Eastern Storm" at Bridgeport Speedway, the roles were reversed as the Broken Arrow, Okla. native had to hold off the competition on a green-white-checker restart.

 

Initially, McDougal was heralded as a quick study after making an impressive series debut less than a calendar year ago.  Now, after acing both of those particular exams in his young career, he's rapidly becoming one of the elite, earning his first career Eastern Storm triumph on the 3/8-mile dirt oval.

 

Although, as hard as McDougal drove into turn one on the final restart, he might've made it stick on the 5/8-mile track that surrounds it.

 

"I drove it into one as deep as I could," McDougal exclaimed, emphasizing the word 'deep.'  "That was the hardest I ran it into one during that whole race.  It was either going to bike or stick."

 

Justin Grant, a 14-time USAC Sprint Car feature winner himself, was eager to tally his initial Eastern Storm win as he lined up second on the final restart, ready to make his run at McDougal.

 

"I was going to slide him into one, but I didn't have enough of a run," Grant explained.  "Then I thought, 'well, if I can hook the bottom off of two, I can at least stay tucked up alongside of him and slide him going into three.  Then, I about half-spun in the middle of one and two, and that whole plan went away."

 

McDougal checked out initially on the start from the outside of the front row, though pole sitter Carson Short made a bid for the lead, running side-by-side and edging ahead momentarily on the bottom of turn three on the opening lap before McDougal used the top to drive around the outside of Short to lead the field back to the stripe.

 

As McDougal checked out to a 1.5 second advantage, the battled raged for second with Kevin Thomas, Jr. smothering Short for second to no avail as Short slammed the door on Thomas on the tenth lap into one.  Short had enough momentum each time to guard the challenge from Thomas, but three laps later, at the same spot, Thomas kicked the door open, grooving to the bottom and edging ahead for the second position exiting turn two.

 

Nearing midway, the sense was that, with an open track, Thomas would be able to start reeling McDougal in.  Initially, he did, cutting a half-second off the interval to knock McDougal's lead down to nine-tenths of a second.  As McDougal began to encounter the tail end of the field on lap 19, he built his lead back up to 1.3 seconds.

 

However, gridlock, road construction-type traffic lay ahead with not one, not two, but three cars occupying three different grooves together as McDougal approached.  Seemingly stuck, McDougal tried to split two of the lappers on separate occasions without much luck.  That allowed both Grant and Thomas to come back into play with five laps remaining.

 

On lap 26, Grant and Thomas' see-saw positioning saw Grant slide Thomas into turn three.  Thomas countered and the two drag raced into turn one with Thomas poking ahead and briefly surging ahead by a car length over McDougal between turns one and two.  That is, until McDougal zipped back past on the outside to regain the lead, albeit with the lapped cars of Brian VanMeveren and Dominick Buffalino running in tandem just ahead.

 

"They were racing just close enough side-by-side to where I couldn't split them  getting into the corner," McDougal recalled.  "One of them entered low enough every time, that I probably could've drove around the outside of him, but we would've crashed about halfway through the corner.  Basically, I just waited until the guy on the bottom messed up enough to where I could almost push the guy at the top off the track."

 

Jason McDougal's first "Eastern Storm" victory came in just his second career "Eastern Storm" start.  With Brady Bacon's win Tuesday at Grandview, it now makes Oklahoma natives 2-0 thus far in the mini-series. (Rich Forman Photo)

 

 

McDougal was on high alert and was able to wedge the front bumper between the two off the second turn on lap 28, cutting through the middle of both cars on the back straightaway to clear both in one fell swoop between turns three and four.

 

As soon as McDougal appeared to be in the clear, the yellow flag dropped for the stopped car of Dustin Christie in turn four, setting up one final two-lap showdown.  However, McDougal was flawless on the resumption, spurting away uncontested throughout the last 1-3/4 of a lap earn the $6,000 victory, the money with which McDougal said he might spend on a new Gucci belt to boost his appearance for the fans.

 

McDougal's victory in the Daigh-Phillips Motorsports/Frank & Jill Daigh - Roger & Barb Tapy - Griffin's Propane/DRC/Foxco Chevy provided the Phillips team their first Eastern Storm feature victory since Dave Darland's win at Port Royal in 2013.

 

Thomas outdueled Grant in a ferocious battle in the waning laps to take second.  Grant finished third ahead of fast qualifier and new one-lap track record holder Chase Stockon, while new "Eastern Storm" point leader C.J. Leary rounded out the top-five.

 

Contingency award winners Wednesday night at Bridgeport Speedway were Chase Stockon (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tyler Courtney (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Robert Ballou (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Dave Darland (AutoMeter/Indy Race Parts Third Heat Winner), Joey Biasi (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Chad Boespflug (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Brady Bacon (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).

 

--------------------------------------

 

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 12, 2019 - Bridgeport Speedway - Swedesboro, New Jersey - 13th "Eastern Storm" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval

 

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-15.767 (New Track Record); 2. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.010; 3. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-16.019; 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-16.056; 5. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-16.089; 6. Carson Short, 20, Dyson-16.150; 7. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-16.163; 8. Chad Boespflug, 98e, EZR-16.186; 9. Bill Balog, 2, Lein-16.215; 10. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-16.278; 11. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-16.309; 12. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.340; 13. Joey Biasi, B1, Biasi-16.408; 14. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-16.469; 15. Dave Darland, 39, Hogue-16.520; 16. Steven Drevicki, 19s, Drevicki-16.520; 17. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-16.560; 18. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-16.690; 19. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-16.836; 20. Dominick Buffalino, 3x, Wasitowski-17.181; 21. Ryan Godown, 4F, Freyer-17.284; 22. Craig Pellegrini, Jr., 11A, Pellegrini-17.476.

 

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Courtney, 2. Biasi, 3. Stockon, 4. Thomas, 5. Windom, 6. Drevicki, 7. Christie, 8. Pellegrini. NT

 

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Ballou,  2. McDougal, 3. Leary, 4. VanMeveren, 5. Boespflug, 6. Chapple, 7. Buffalino. NT

 

AUTOMETER/INDY RACE PARTS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Darland, 2. Bacon, 3. Andretti, 4. Grant, 5. Short, 6. Balog, 7. Godown. 2:15.75 (New Track Record)

 

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Jason McDougal (2), 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 3. Justin Grant (4), 4. Chase Stockon (6), 5. C.J. Leary (5), 6. Tyler Courtney (10), 7. Brady Bacon (12), 8. Chris Windom (7), 9. Carson Short (1), 10. Robert Ballou (14), 11. Bill Balog (9), 12. Steven Drevicki (16), 13. Chad Boespflug (8), 14. Isaac Chapple (11), 15. Joey Biasi (13), 16. Dave Darland (15), 17. Jarett Andretti (18), 18. Ryan Godown (21), 19. Dominick Buffalino (20), 20. Brian VanMeveren (17), 21. Dustin Christie (19), 22. Craig Pellegrini, Jr. (22). NT

----------------------------

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 McDougal.

 

KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (12th to 7th)

 

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Chad Boespflug

 

ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Joey Biasi

 

NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Leary-684, 2-K. Thomas-651, 3-Courtney-626, 4-Windom-624, 5-Stockon-624, 6-Bacon-600, 7-Grant-562, 8-Ballou-538, 9-Short-525, 10-McDougal-518.

 

NEW EASTERN STORM POINTS: 1-Leary-145, 2-Thomas-144, 3-Bacon-136, 4-Stockon-135, 5-Courtney-133, 6-McDougal-129, 7-Grant-127, 8-Windom-123, 9-Ballou-113, 10-Short-98.

 

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 13, 2019 - BAPS Motor Speedway - York Haven, Pennsylvania - 13th "Eastern Storm" - 4/10-Mile Dirt Oval

Brady Bacon celebrates with the $10,000 check after winning his third-straight Eastern Storm opener Tuesday at Grandview Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo)   BACON GETS $10K GRANDVIEW TRIFECTA IN EASTERN STORM OPENER   By: Richie Murray - USAC Media   Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania (June 11, 2019).........In each of the last two years, Brady Bacon had to pull some late-race heroics out of his pocket in the final laps of the "Jesse Hockett Classic" / "Eastern Storm" opener at Grandview Speedway.   This one Tuesday night was anything but a nail-biter as the Broken Arrow, Oklahoma driver led all 40 laps in dominant fashion to collect $10,000 and become the first driver in Eastern Storm history to win three races at a single track, an achievement which took  him just three years to accomplish.   As opposed to his 2017-18 Grandview triumphs, Bacon felt he had car to beat right from the get-go, though it very nearly ended as soon as it started with a huge bike in turn two during hot laps that he managed to save, carry on and then thrive, on a night and a 1/3-mile track he seems to have a knack for winning at.   "This is the first year I actually think we had the best car," Bacon admitted.  "The other couple of years, we managed to sneak to the front and find some stuff to get the wins.  This time, I feel like we had a really good car all night.  We had a game plan going in here, and even though it was rough at the beginning of the night, we wanted to stick to our guns and make sure we got tight enough for the feature."   Bacon's victory was also special in personal ways, both for the car owner he won his two USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car titles for and for the race's namesake, who won at Grandview in 2009, and was one of Bacon's closest fellow competitors on the USAC trail.   "This is the first win since the passing of (car owner) Richard Hoffman and  with this being the Jesse Hockett race, I was close friends with him too. That's pretty special," Bacon beamed.   To set Bacon's Grandview backstory, in 2017, Bacon started sixth and worked his way to lead laps 25-35 before being overtaken by C.J. Leary with five laps remaining.  Bacon reeled Leary back in, and on lap 38 in lapped traffic, Bacon shot underneath as Leary got hung up on the outside.   In 2018, Bacon started from the pole, fell back, then charged to the front to lead laps 13-29 before Kevin Thomas, Jr. snatched the lead away with 11 laps to go.  Again, when it all looked to be over for Bacon, he found his second wind and tracked down Thomas with three to go to pull off the victory.   None of that transpired Tuesday night.  Bacon got the jump on the start, using the topside from his outside front row starting position to power around polesitter Justin Grant to grab the lead exiting turn two.  By the fourth lap, Bacon was wheels up and just about ready for takeoff as he crossed the stripe with a one second lead.   As would be the case throughout the duration of the race, the battle was for second on back.  Just before the end of the first quarter of the 40-lapper, Tyler Courtney went around the outside of Grant for position in turn four.  Grant fought back to reclaim second going into turn three before Courtney got Grant at the line on lap six.   Grant got the runner-up position back from Courtney on lap seven and the pair tussled until the ninth lap when Courtney made contact with Grant's rear bumper.  Courtney swung wide in turn three, laying down the red carpet for series point leader C.J. Leary to duck underneath for third.   Moments later, disaster struck for local favorite and 12th running Timmy Buckwalter of Douglassville, Pa., who slid wide off turn four, clipped the right rear against the wall and rode out a wild flip down the front straightaway that ripped the tail tank off and displaced the engine from its normal position.  The 2018 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car co-Rookie of the Year climbed out and walked away.   Bacon's 25th career USAC National Sprint Car win moved him into a tie for 18th all-time with Steve Butler, Jay Drake and Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Rich Forman Photo)     By the halfway mark, Bacon stepped away once again as second through seventh were all under a blanket, but the one surging through it all was ninth-place starter Chris Windom.  The two-time and defending Eastern Storm champ zipped by Kevin Thomas, Jr. for fourth on the bottom.  Then, on lap 22, disposed of Leary for third in the same spot on the track.   Two laps later,  on lap 24, Windom slid Grant into turn one.  Grant countered back underneath off turn two.  On lap 25, it was déjà vu with both swapping the lead on each end of the track before Windom prevailed a lap later with the position in turn three.  Leary moved to third by Grant one lap later, likewise, on the bottom of three.   All the while, Bacon was grinning as he constructed an unchallenged 3.5 second lead with less than 10 laps left and to 4 seconds with just five to go.  Although, the race for second was not on ice just quite yet.  Leary stormed his way back by Windom with just two laps left to nab second at the end, though, still 4.352 seconds behind Bacon at the finish.   Leary finished second ahead of Windom, Courtney and Thomas.  Robert Ballou, fast qualifier Chase Stockon, Justin Grant, Jason McDougal and Chad Boespflug rounded out the top-ten.   Bacon's 25th career USAC National Sprint Car win moved him into a tie for 18th all-time with Steve Butler, Jay Drake and Kevin Thomas, Jr.  He also joined Windom as the second driver to win multiples races in the series this year.    Contingency award winners Tuesday night at Grandview Speedway were Chase Stockon (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Timmy Buckwalter (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Carson Short (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Chad Boespflug (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Jason McDougal (Indy Race Parts Semi Winner), Dave Darland (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier), Steven Drevicki (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Ryan Godown (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).   --------------------------------------   USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 11, 2019 - Grandview Speedway - Bechtelsville, Pennsylvania - 13th "Eastern Storm" - 1/3-Mile Dirt Oval   FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.478; 2. C.J. Leary, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.616; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 19, Hayward/Thomas-13.792; 4. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall/Newman-13.799; 5. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.829; 6. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.936; 7. Steven Drevicki, 19s, Drevicki-13.956; 8. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.959; 9. Chris Windom, 5G, Goacher-13.992; 10. Timmy Buckwalter, 7, LNB-14.024; 11. Jason McDougal, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-14.127; 12. Carmen Perigo, 21p, Perigo-14.170; 13. Dave Darland, 39, Hogue-14.188; 14. Carson Short, 20, Dyson-14.209; 15. Chad Boespflug, 98e, EZR-14.294; 16. Joey Biasi, B1, Biasi-14.377; 17. Trevor Kobylarz, 14, RT-14.516; 18. Ryan Godown, 4F, Freyer-14.551; 19. Dustin Christie, 75, Christie-14.611; 20. Bill Balog, 2, Lein-14.627; 21. Kyle Lick, 8, Lick-14.673; 22. Dominick Buffalino, 3x, Wasitowski-14.925; 23. Brian VanMeveren, 24, VanMeveren-14.953; 24. Heidi Hedin, 3H, Hedin-15.797; 25. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-NT.   SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Buckwalter, 2. Biasi, 3. Courtney, 4. Darland, 5. Stockon, 6. Drevicki, 7. Chapple, 8. Christie, 9. Buffalino. 1:57.53   COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Short, 2. Ballou, 3. Kobylarz, 4. Bacon, 5. Leary, 6. Balog, 7. VanMeveren, 8. McDougal. NT   AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer) 1. Boespflug, 2. Thomas, Jr., 3. Windom, 4. Godown, 5. Grant, 6. Perigo, 7. Lick, 8. Hedin. 1:56.93   INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer) 1. McDougal, 2. Drevicki, 3. Perigo, 4. Chapple, 5. Lick, 6. Balog, 7. Christie, 8. VanMeveren, 9. Buffalino, 10. Hedin. 3:01.48 (New Track Record)   FEATURE: (40 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (2), 2. C.J. Leary  (5), 3. Chris Windom (9), 4. Tyler Courtney (3), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (4), 6. Robert Ballou (8), 7. Chase Stockon (6), 8. Justin Grant (1), 9. Jason McDougal (11), 10. Chad Boespflug (15), 11. Ryan Godown (18), 12. Carson Short (14), 13. Steven Drevicki (7), 14. Dave Darland (13), 15. Joey Biasi (16), 16. Bill Balog (20), 17. Isaac Chapple (22), 18. Carmen Perigo (12), 19. Trevor Kobylarz (17), 20. Kyle Lick (21), 21. Timmy Buckwalter (10), 22. Dustin Christie (19). NT ---------------------------- **Buckwalter flipped on lap 10 of the feature.   FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-40 Bacon.   KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Ryan Godown (18th to 11th)   WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Steven Drevicki   ROGER & BARB TAPY 13TH FASTEST QUALIFIER: Dave Darland   NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Leary-615, 2-K. Thomas-576, 3-Windom-571, 4-Courtney-563, 5-Stockon-551, 6-Bacon-541, 7-Grant-489, 8-Ballou-487, 8-Short-474, 10-McDougal-439.   NEW EASTERN STORM POINTS: 1-Bacon-77, 2-Leary-76, 3-Windom-70, 4-Courtney-70, 5-Thomas-69, 6-Ballou-62, 7-Stockon-62, 8-Grant-54, 9-Boespflug-51, 10-McDougal-50.   NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 12, 2019 - Bridgeport Speedway - Swedesboro, New Jersey - 13th "Eastern Storm" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval

KOKOMO RAINED OUT; SEAVEY IS INDIANA MIDGET WEEK CHAMP

Kokomo, Indiana (June 9, 2019).........Morning rain and continuing precipitation throughout the day has forced cancellation of Sunday's "Indiana Midget Week" finale at Kokomo Speedway.

USAC and Kokomo Speedway are looking into the possibility of adding an additional USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget at the ¼-track later this year.

By virtue of the cancellation, Logan Seavey of Sutter, Calif. has claimed the 2019 "Indiana Midget Week" title.

The USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship returns to action on Saturday, June 29, at The Dirt Oval at Route 66 in Joliet, Ill.  Kokomo Speedway is back on Sunday, June 23, for the "Bob Darland Memorial" featuring Sprint Cars, 600cc Winged Micros, Thunder Cars and Hornets.

WINDOM BREAKS THROUGH

FOR FIRST MIDGET WIN AT THE BURG

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Lawrenceburg, Indiana (June 8, 2019).........All throughout "Indiana Midget Week," Chris Windom was confident that he had a car to win.  Yet, when it came time to start the first four feature events this week, the Canton, Ill. driver found himself seemingly light years away from his destination.

Through the first four nights, no driver had passed more cars than Windom (42), an astonishing 24 more than his nearest competition.  But that's what happens when you start 11th, 23rd, 14th and 22nd.  He got up on the wheel on each of those nights and drove to finishes of 10th, 9th, 5th and 4th.

Just imagine the shot in the arm he felt in Saturday's penultimate round of IMW at Lawrenceburg Speedway when he qualified 2nd and secured the 5th starting spot for the 30-lap feature.  The same refrain lingered in his mind all week.  "If only..."

"I knew we've had fast cars all week," Windom said.  "We've just been behind the eight  ball early in the night all week and have had to come from 20th, 21st and 16th.  Like I've been saying all week, if we start up front, I think we can pull one off."

Few drivers had ever had to wait as long as Windom to reach victory lane in USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget competition, 102 starts to be exact.  Finally, that night arrived for the 2016 USAC Silver Crown and 2017 AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion on Saturday.

Even before the green flag dropped, track position was key.  Scheduled outside front row starter Jerry Coons, Jr. had a left rear tire go flat, sending him to the work area for new rubber and a new starting spot from the tail.  That moved previous night's Bloomington winner and National point leader Tyler Courtney up to the outside of the front row, where he took full advantage.

Initially, Shane Golobic took his brief turn at the point, sliding past Courtney on the start in between turns one and two.  Courtney, using the "mo" from the topside, drove downhill off turn two to zip past the 2017 IMW champ.  Golobic took another shot in turn three, but Courtney was ready, countered off turn four and shot away to a 2.5 second lead.

Sixth-running Andrew Layser clipped the infield berm in turn three on the sixth lap, spinning sideways up to the middle of the racetrack where all incomers were able to scatter and dodge contact with the car of the series Rookie of the Year contender.

On the restart, Windom made quick work to get by Golobic and set forth toward CMR teammate Courtney and the race lead.  Entering turn one on lap seven, Windom dove to the bottom, sliding up the hill past Courtney who turned down and drove back past Windom midway down the back straight.  Windom shot to the bottom of turn three and  stuck it, riding the low line by Courtney to secure the top spot at the stripe.

The following lap, Courtney arched turns one and two like a three-point line around the top to get a massive run that took him underneath Windom as the two hit turn three.  Windom, though, slammed the lid on Courtney's fingers, keeping him in check behind him.

"When I got to Courtney, it was about being in the right place at the right time," Windom explained.  "He messed up on the cushion and I hit the bottom just right that lap and got a big run to throw a slider on him into one.  That worked out just out of luck, but I knew we had a car that could win."

At the halfway mark, similarly to how he executed the night prior at Bloomington, Seavey began to surge, sliding by Courtney for second in turn one on lap 16 before turning up the pressure on Windom.  Seavey put his right rear up on the cushion all the way around the 3/8-mile dirt oval, while Windom switched it up with a rim-riding line in one and two and the catfish line in three and four.

On the 22nd lap, heartbreak befell Courtney who ran third as he slowed with a flat right rear tire, sending him to the tail where he eventually finished 15th, putting a damper on his hopes for a first "Indiana Midget Week" title following runner-up finishes in each of the last two years.

For the first two laps following the ensuing restart, March "Shamrock Classic" winner Cannon McIntosh poked his nose under Seavey for second.  The two ran side-by-side for a back-to-back laps before Seavey cleared him around the outside of four for second and aimed to make a run at Windom.

With three laps remaining, Seavey had not only caught Windom, but slid by him into one to take the lead.  Windom countered and matched him wheel-to-wheel to the bottom of three.  Windom stuck the bottom again and throttled off the corner to edge Seavey by the width of dzus button.  As the pair headed into turn one with two laps remaining, the caution fell for fifth-running Michael Pickens of New Zealand, whose hard luck week continued as he slowed off turn four.  That set up one final restart, and one final opportunity to receive last-minute final instruction as it turned out.

"On the last restart, Rizzy (Crew Chief Tyler Ransbottom) told me to get up on the wheel," Windom recalled.  "So, I knew that Seavey was probably ripping the top.  I had to slide myself to kill his momentum because you could throw big sliders into one.  I hadn't been to the top in three and four the whole race and went up there with a prayer, and it worked."

Sliding himself into turn one prevented a patented Burg slide-job from Seavey and, getting into turn three a half-lap later, Windom threw a proverbial Tom Candiotti knuckleball by going topside.  Seavey jumped the cushion between three and four, allowing Windom to break away while Chad Boat and Tanner Thorson went into Blue Angels formation, surrounding Seavey.

Boat streamed through the middle between one and two on the final lap as Seavey got above the cushion again, this time at the exit of two, allowing Boat to slip away into the night with second.

At last, Windom's pressure was normalized as he arrived off turn four with the checkered flag in clear view without too much of a challenge to capture his long-awaited first series win by 0.607 sec. over Boat, Seavey, Thorson and McIntosh.

With 23 career USAC Sprint and 8 Silver Crown triumphs, it's almost hard to believe it took Windom this long to enter his name onto the list of USAC National Midget winners.  He's won twice in USAC Regional Midget action, in 2008 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway and in 2016 at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway, but it was Saturday's win at Lawrenceburg that stands above the rest.

"I was at a loss for words in victory lane," Windom said.  "I haven't run a lot of midgets in the past few years, but I've been trying for a long time.  We've been working our butts off over here trying to get me in victory lane.  I know this is just as sweet for everybody on this team as it is for me."

Contingency award winners Saturday night at Lawrenceburg Speedway were Justin Grant (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Logan Seavey (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Chad Boat (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner & ProSource Passing Master/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Karsyn Elledge (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Tanner Thorson (Indy Race Parts Semi Winner), Zeb Wise (ProSource Hard Work Award), Jesse Colwell (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Sterling Cling (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 8, 2019 - Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-14.412; 2. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.443; 3. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.449; 4. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-14.474; 5. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-14.516; 6. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-14.519; 7. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-14.560; 8. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-14.562; 9. Brady Bacon, 76m, FMR-14.573; 10. Michael Pickens, 1NZ, RMS-14.585; 11. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.616; 12. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-14.626; 13. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.641; 14. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-14.661; 15. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-14.671; 16. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-14.698; 17. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-14.747; 18. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-14.748; 19. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.821; 20. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-14.878; 21. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-14.891; 22. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.906; 23. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.907; 24. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-14.955; 25. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-14.960; 26. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-16.112; 27. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Seavey, 2. Grant, 3. Meseraull, 4. Coons, 5. Pickens, 6. Thorson, 7. Carrick, 8. Cling, 9. Layser. NT

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Boat, 2. Daum, 3. Golobic, 4. Windom, 5. Wise, 6. McIntosh, 7. Darland, 8. Klaasmeyer, 9. Hollan. NT

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Elledge, 2. Bacon, 3. Thomas, 4. Courtney, 5. Colwell, 6. McDougal, 7. Bodine, 8. Mitchell. 1:59.57

INDY RACE PARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Thorson, 2.  Klaasmeyer, 3. Layser, 4. McIntosh, 5. Darland, 6. Carrick, 7. Hollan, 8. Cling, 9. Bodine, 10. Mitchell, 11. McDougal. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Chris Windom (5), 2. Chad Boat (15), 3. Logan Seavey (12), 4. Tanner Thorson (17), 5. Cannon McIntosh (8), 6. Zach Daum (13), 7. Shane Golobic (1), 8. Brady Bacon (9), 9. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 10. Jerry Coons, Jr. (2), 11. Zeb Wise (22), 12. Tucker Klaasmeyer (11), 13. Jesse Colwell (21), 14. Andrew Layser (7), 15. Tyler Courtney (4), 16. Tanner Carrick (19), 17. Holley Hollan (20), 18. Cole Bodine (24), 19. Karsyn Elledge (16), 20. Michael Pickens (10), 21. Thomas Meseraull (14), 22. Jason McDougal (23), 23. Justin Grant (6), 24. Dave Darland (18). NT

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**Gass flipped during practice and was transported to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for further observation.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Courtney, Laps 7-30 Windom.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Chad Boat (15th to 2nd)

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Zeb Wise

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Jesse Colwell

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Sterling Cling

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-772, 2-Seavey-709, 3-Thomas-664, 4-Windom-664, 5-Wise-618, 6-Boat-600, 7-Klaasmeyer-511, 8-Carrick-502, 9-Coons-498, 10-C.J. Leary-490.

NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Seavey-352, 2-Thorson-316, 3-Courtney-316, 4-Golobic-276, 5-Windom-267, 6-Boat-253, 7-Thomas-247, 8-Coons-231, 9-McDougal-222, 10-Wise-222.

NEW PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Windom-32, 2-Thorson-31, 3-Wise-29, 4-Boat-28, 5-Seavey-21, 6-Daum-21, 7-McDougal-15, 8-Colwell-15, 9-Courtney-14, 10-McIntosh-13.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 9, 2019 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval

THORSON TRIUMPHS IN FRENZIED IMW ROUND AT PUTNAMVILLE

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Putnamville, Indiana (June 6, 2019).........There are comeback stories.  And then there's the Tanner Thorson comeback story from Thursday night's third round of "Indiana Midget Week" from Lincoln Park Speedway.

With the wounds and scars still readily evident on his body after sustaining a broken left arm and right foot, a cracked sternum, broken ribs and a punctured lung following a multi-car incident on Highway 99 in Modesto, Calif. in March of this year, the Minden, Nevada native delivered a performance that he said is "definitely one I'll remember forever."  And is one that will certainly remembered by those who were there to witness it as well.

Thorson used the bottom to capture the lead with just four laps remaining, enduring attack after attack from Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Kyle Larson to earn his 13th career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory, a dream scenario for the 2016 series champ in just his third race back since his injuries three months earlier.

"It's a dream come true again, to be honest," Thorson said.  "I sat out for three months just wondering if I was going to be able to do it again.  I've been having doubting feelings in my mind and I didn't know if I was going to be okay to run.  I knew I probably could've run; I would've just had to change my ways.  Obviously, it's hard to do that."

Thorson appeared to be the same driver as before and, perhaps recharged, following Tuesday's IMW opener at Montpelier and Wednesday's race at Gas City where he finished 2nd and 5th, respectively.  Thorson had an uphill battle to climb at Lincoln Park, having to start from the 15th position.

"I knew at about lap five that I had a car to win," Thorson admitted.  "When you know that in your mind, nothing can stop you at that point."

These truths were not self-evident initially as he remained on the cusp of the top-ten for the first third of the 30-lapper before steadily moving his way through the top half of the field.  Early on, it appeared series point leader Tyler Courtney and Thomas Meseraull were on point, running one-two in a pair of lucky sevens and quickly separating themselves from the rest in the opening laps.

The sevens weren't so lucky entering turn one on lap five as Meseraull closed the gap on Courtney and the two made contact, sending Courtney into a spin and forcing Meseraull to stop, knocking them both out of contention for the victory.  Meseraull eventually wound up 23rd while Courtney charged back through the pack to take an impressive 7th.

Montpelier winner Logan Seavey inherited the lead for the lap five restart, ringing the topside as Thomas put on the chase through the middle until the 11th lap when series Rookie of the Year contender Andrew Layser flipped between turns three and four, escaping injury.

On the ensuing restart, fifth-running Michael Pickens, who drove to victory during IMW at Lincoln Park in 2017, looped it between turns one and two.  It was the second-straight night the Auckland, New Zealand midget racing star saw a front-running bid slip away.

Thomas stayed true to the middle and used a great drive off turn two to blast past defending champ Seavey on the 13th lap where he remained for the next several trips around the 5/16-mile dirt oval with a swarm behind him ready to attack with Seavey remaining close by and Thorson, plus Larson, digging low and high.

With seven laps remaining, Seavey fired the first shot that set forth a wild sequence of  events that saw the lead change 13 unofficial times in a six-lap span.

First, on the 23rd lap, Thorson nudged his way past Thomas on the bottom of turn one.  Thomas recovered to resume the point momentarily on the back straight.  Seavey then fired his Bullet to the bottom of turn three to slide past Thomas.  Thomas diamonded off midway through the corner and beat Seavey to the stripe just as Seavey dove low into one and up to the top past Thomas just as Thorson entered the frame on the bottom.   Thomas proceeded to slither his way through the gap between Seavey and Thorson exiting turn two to reclaim the top spot.    Seavey instantly reloaded and slid past Thomas entering turn three, but Thomas answered by sliding across the nose of Seavey off turn four.    Seavey instantly turned left to throw another haymaker at Thomas at the start/finish line, but suddenly Thorson was there inside to make it three-wide at the line at the conclusion of lap 25.

Seavey chose the topside as Thomas shot down off the turn one banking to get a run that would propel him past Thorson midway down the back straightway and into turn three on the 26th circuit.  Rinse and repeat, Thorson ably limboed underneath Thomas into turn one on lap 27, but Thomas counter-punched to get back by underneath exiting turn two.  Thorson stayed in touch, and off turn four, surged past Thomas once again for the umpteenth time to nip him at the line by a wheel.

Just as soon as one might've thought Thorson had it covered, here arrived an orange streak ripping the high side with Kyle Larson in the seat.  Larson used the momentum up top and appeared momentarily to have the edge with as quickly as he was erasing the gap coming to the white flag.  Off turn four, however, Thomas slid up in front of Larson's lane on the outside, stifling his charge momentarily as the two made contact while Thorson was a mere two car lengths ahead of them out front.

Larson gave it one last shot on the high line of one and two, but snagged the turn two cushion with the right rear, then landed on the left rear, sending him off the track in a pirouette and a couple of endos toward the billboard that prematurely ended his final IMW run of the week from which he walked away uninjured.

On the green-white-checker finish, Thorson got a strong jump to stretch his lead out to roughly six car lengths, allowing him to go relatively unchallenged the rest of the way while a tussle for second saw Seavey dive into three past Thomas on the final lap to snare second, while Jerry Coons, Jr. utilized the bottom to squeak past Thomas by a bumper for third at the line - his best finish since a third-place run at the Southern Illinois Center in 2017.  Chris Windom rounded out the top-five.

The clean, yet hard racing between Thorson, Thomas and Larson was a thrill to witness from the outside and from within the cockpit as well, which Thorson attributes to the respect each of these drivers has for each other.

"I think a lot of it was knowing how they race," Thorson explained.  "I'm good buddies with KT and Larson and I've raced with both of them for years.  We're going to be aggressive toward each other, but there's also a lot of respect.  I respect Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Kyle Larson more than just about anybody in this pit.  Those two people out of anybody are the ones that I would prefer to race with day in day out."

Contingency award winners Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway were Kyle Larson (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Jason McDougal (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner), Dave Darland (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Thomas Meseraull (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Jesse Colwell (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Tanner Thorson (ProSource Passing Master/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Chad Boat (ProSource Hard Work Award), Holley Hollan (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Kyle Cummins (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 6, 2019 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - 5/16-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Kyle Larson, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.383 (New Track Record); 2. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.496; 3. Michael Pickens, 1NZ, RMS-12.577; 4. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-12.706; 5. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.730; 6. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.738; 7. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-12.751; 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-12.765; 9. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.774; 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-12.792; 11. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.800; 12. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.816; 13. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-12.839; 14. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.849; 15. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-12.885; 16. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.898; 17. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.902; 18. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-12.971; 19. Kyle Cummins, 2G, Yeley/Styres-12.991; 20. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-13.003; 21. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-13.006; 22. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-13.021; 23. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-13.022; 24. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-13.066; 25. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-13.080; 26. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-13.096; 27. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-13.112; 28. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-13.214; 29. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-13.425; 30. Chris Baue, 9, Baue-13.445; 31. Sam Johnson, 72, Johnson-13.493; 32. Brady Bacon, 1ST, Saucier-13.493; 33. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-13.498; 34. Anton Hernandez, 8JR, Wood-13.747; 35. Michael Koontz, 17x, Koontz-NT; 36. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. McDougal, 2. Thorson, 3. Courtney, 4. Grant, 5. Larson, 6. Golobic, 7. Elledge, 8. Mitchell, 9. Cling. 2:14.82

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Darland, 2. Leary, 3. Seavey, 4. Coons, 5. Carrick, 6. Layser, 7. Hernandez, 8. Baue, 9. McIntosh. NT

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Meseraull, 2. Klaasmeyer, 3. Pickens, 4. Wise, 5. Welch, 6. Johnson, 7. Cummins, 8. Hollan, 9. Koontz. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Colwell, 2. Thomas, 3. Daum, 4. Windom, 5. Boat, 6. Bodine, 7. Hendricks, 8. Gass, 9. Bacon. NT

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Larson, 2. Boat, 3. Golobic, 4. Welch, 5. Carrick, 6. Layser, 7. Cummins, 8. Mitchell, 9. Bodine, 10. Johnson, 11. Cling, 12. McIntosh, 13. Hollan, 14. Elledge, 15. Baue, 16. Hernandez, 17. Koontz. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Tanner Thorson (15), 2. Logan Seavey (6), 3. Jerry Coons, Jr. (1), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (3), 5. Chris Windom (14), 6. Shane Golobic (8), 7. Tyler Courtney (2), 8. Jesse Colwell (10), 9. Zach Daum (17), 10. Jason McDougal (18), 11. Zeb Wise (21), 12. Tucker Klaasmeyer (20), 13. Holley Hollan (23), 14. Justin Grant (11), 15. Michael Pickens (5), 16. Chad Boat (22), 17. Andrew Layser (12), 18. Tanner Carrick (9), 19. C.J. Leary (19), 20. Cole Bodine (24), 21. Kyle Larson (7), 22. Dillon Welch (13), 23. Thomas Meseraull (4), 24. Dave Darland (16). NT

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**Hendricks flipped during the fourth heat. Hollan flipped during the semi. Elledge flipped during the semi. Layser flipped on lap 11 of the feature. Larson flipped on lap 30 of the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-4 Courtney, Laps 5-12 Seavey, Laps 13-26 Thomas, Laps 27-30 Thorson.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Tanner Thorson (15th to 1st)

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Chad Boat

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Holley Hollan

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Kyle Cummins

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Courtney-651, 2-K. Thomas-580, 3-Seavey-561, 4-Wise-534, 5-Windom-518, 6-Leary-490, 7-Boat-450, 8-Klaasmeyer-435, 9-Carrick-430, 10-Coons-408.

NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Thorson-221, 2-Seavey-204, 3-Courtney-195, 4-McDougal-181, 5-Golobic-168, 6-Wise-167, 7-Thomas-163, 8-Grant-150, 9-Daum-144, 10-Coons-141.

NEW PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Thorson-18, 2-Wise-18, 3-Daum-14, 4-McDougal-13, 5-Boat-13, 6-Courtney-11, 7-McIntosh-10, 8-Windom-10, 9-Coons-9, 10-Layser-9.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 7, 2019 - Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval

GRANT GETS REDEMPTION IN GAS CITY INDIANA MIDGET WEEK RD. 2

By: Richie Murray - USAC Media

Gas City, Indiana (June 5, 2019).........Less than 24 hours after what he termed was a "toolbox issue" that put him behind eight ball just prior to Tuesday's "Indiana Midget Week" opening night feature, Justin Grant found the ultimate redemption by scoring his first USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory of the season in round two of the series Wednesday at Gas City I-69 Speedway.

One way of looking at the six-night stretch of consecutive races that is "Indiana Midget Week" is as a grueling physical and mental test that can take a toll, especially when things don't go as anticipated.  On the other side of the coin, an individual can look at the week as chance to immediately redeem yourself again and again, night-after-night, if an issue happens to arise along the journey.

Either way, there's no time to dwell on the past.  Another opportunity for success is just around the corner.  That's the path the Ione, California driver and his RAMS Racing crew chose to take.

"Last night, it's all over and everybody's upset," Grant recalled.  "But, that's why there's more than one race a year.  Let's go to the carwash.  Let's do our jobs.  Let's act like we're ready to win tomorrow."

"What's great about this team is its people constantly building you up," Grant explained.  "Last night, I had a huge blunder on my part.  I really let my car owners and my team down in our race prep.  But the first text message I got after the race was from Rick Young who said, 'I'm not upset in the least.  Every time I see that racecar on the track, I'm proud of it.  Go win tomorrow.'  Having that kind of support system and that kind of backing is huge.  Just being able to shake that night off, nobody's more worried about it than you are, so just shake it off and go do your job tomorrow."

When that tomorrow arrived on Wednesday night, Grant went to work from the word "go," leading the troops into turn one from his outside front row starting spot.  Meanwhile, pre-race favorite Kyle Larson, who started fifth, was shuffled back to ninth on the opening lap, forcing him into playing catchup mode for much of the 30-lap event.

Following a lap three caution for Jesse Colwell, who stopped in the infield grass at the bottom of turn one, Grant knew he had a good car.  One of those indicators came from an unlikely source over the one-way radio.

"I felt really good out of the gate," Grant said.  "It was a little tight, which was a good thing, but the track really came to us right out of the gate more or less.  After that first caution, (USAC Race Director) Kirk Spridgeon said, 'alright, hustle around' to the second-place car.  I thought we must be way out there.  It got me a bit worried because I thought we were too good too early.  If this thing goes away, we might be in trouble."

There was no indication of that happening any time soon as Grant proceeded to click off his best laps of the race, just less than a tenth off his qualifying time.  Grant opened his lead to roughly eight car lengths over Jason McDougal nearing the midway point as the two lone past IMW champs collided at the exit of turn four while battling for eighth.  Shane Golobic, the 2017 champ, and Jerry Coons, Jr., the 2007 titlist, made contact with Golobic inheriting the worst end of the deal, stopping, and necessitating a yellow flag.

One lap following the ensuing restart, on the 16th circuit, March "Shamrock Classic" winner Cannon McIntosh slipped into second under McDougal in turn four.  Moments later, Colwell spun to a rest in turn four to bring out the yellow.  That moment seemed to flip a switch for a pair of previous Gas City IMW winners in Michael Pickens (2017) and Larson (2013).

New Zealand's Pickens began the second half running sixth while Larson held down eighth.  Steadily, the two moved forward nearly in tandem, with Larson hitting the top and Pickens alternating between the bottom and the middle as they worked their way past Tanner Thorson and McDougal, while both Pickens and Larson occupied positions three and four, respectively, with just five laps remaining.

Meanwhile, up front, race leader Grant was enjoying a nice half-straightaway cushion over McIntosh with a first win for the Grant/RAMS combo seemingly within grasp.  As Grant saw the white flag on the horizon, however, 16th running Tucker Klaasmeyer slid off the edge in turn four, forcing a green-white-checker finish for Grant, McIntosh, Pickens, Larson and a host of others.

Grant's pattern around the quarter mile was a circle, swinging out to the wall on the straightaways, then straight to the bottom in the turns.  He'd keep his NOS Energy Drink - Rockwell Security - MPV Express/Bullet/Stanton SR-11 tighter on the bottom when he heard noise from a trailing car, then opened it a bit wider when the atmosphere became a bit quieter.

However, for Grant, it was anything but quiet on the lap 29 restart.

"On the second to last restart, I let the motor get loaded up and it didn't take off," Grant recalled.  Then I got tight, then I missed the bottom, then I was hanging off four, then I was hanging down the front stretch.  I'm like 'oh god, here it goes.'  Fortunately, our car was good enough and I was able to get back to the bottom of (turn) one quick enough and shut the door on that.  I thought, just stick the bottom from here and we'll be good."

That plan would be drafted into action one last time following a Coons and Karsyn Elledge tangle on the front straightaway, forcing one final GWC try where Grant executed perfectly on the bottom to slip away from McIntosh and disallow any move generated from him into one.

Third-running Pickens' bid for a repeat Gas City IMW win evaporated as he ran out of fuel on the restart.  At the head of the field, Grant distanced himself from McIntosh by four car lengths with both seeking their initial IMW win.  Heading into turn three, McIntosh had a nice run through the middle on entry, then angled his car down toward the infield tires at the exit of turn four.  Grant swung just a tad wide at the exit, but it was still good enough by two car lengths to capture his fourth career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory over McIntosh with Larson, McDougal and new IMW point leader Thorson rounding out the top-five.

Contingency award winners Wednesday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway were Shane Golobic (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier), Tyler Courtney (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner & ProSource Passing Master/KSE Racing Products Hard Charger), Holley Hollan (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner), Logan Seavey (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner), Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner), Andrew Layser (ProSource Hard Work Award & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher) and Ethan Mitchell (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer).

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USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: June 5, 2019 - Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - ¼-Mile Dirt Oval

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. Shane Golobic, 17w, Wood-12.349; 2. Jason McDougal, 21KS, Reynolds-12.416; 3. Tanner Thorson, 98, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.421; 4. Thomas Meseraull, 7x, RMS-12.450; 5. Justin Grant, 4A, RAMS-12.455; 6. Kyle Larson, 97, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.457; 7. Karsyn Elledge, 1, Tucker/Boat-12.503; 8. Noah Gass, 20G, Gass-12.524; 9. Tanner Carrick, 71K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.561; 10. Logan Seavey, 67, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.569; 11. Cannon McIntosh, 08, Dave Mac-12.594; 12. Jerry Coons, Jr., 25, Petry-12.630; 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5, Petry-12.663; 14. Zeb Wise, 39BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.673; 15. Michael Pickens, 1NZ, RMS-12.701; 16. C.J. Leary, 76m, FMR-12.702; 17. Jesse Colwell, 71, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.720; 18. Zach Daum, 5D, Daum-12.734; 19. Kyle Cummins, 1G, Yeley/Styres-12.735; 20. Tyler Courtney, 7BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.753; 21. Chad Boat, 84, Tucker/Boat-12.756; 22. Andrew Layser, 47BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.773; 23. Holley Hollan, 67K, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.779; 24. Tucker Klaasmeyer, 27, Kunz/Curb-Agajanian-12.829; 25. Dave Darland, 36, RMS-12.897; 26. Sterling Cling, 35, Petry-12.923; 27. Ethan Mitchell, 19m, Bundy Built-12.928; 28. Cole Bodine, 15, Petry-12.938; 29. Anton Hernandez, 8JR, Wood-12.939; 30. Chris Windom, 17BC, Clauson/Marshall-12.976; 31. Dillon Welch, 81, Tucker/Boat-12.994; 32. Zane Hendricks, 27z, Hendricks-13.080; 33. Michael Koontz, 17x, Koontz-13.093; 34. Justin Peck, 17, Bus-13.106; 35. Brady Bacon, 1ST, Saucier-13.320; 36. Chris Baue, 9, Baue-13.473; 37. Oliver Akard, 41, Akard-13.537; 38. Critter Malone, 7, Seven-13.611; 39. Brent Watson, 17K, Watson-14.561; 40. Davey Ray, 8, Cornell-NT.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Courtney, 2. Klaasmeyer, 3. Leary, 4. Larson, 5. Daum, 6. Coons, 7. Welch, 8. Hernandez, 9. Koontz, 10. Ray. 2:05.54 (New Track Record)

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Hollan, 2. Bodine, 3. Colwell, 4. McIntosh, 5. Pickens, 6. Cummins, 7. Hendricks, 8. Bacon, 9. Watson, 10. Windom. 2:05.68

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Seavey, 2. Wise, 3. Golobic, 4. Grant, 5. Gass, 6. Thorson, 7. Layser, 8. Cling, 9. Peck, 10. Akard. NT

INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Thomas, 2. Boat, 3. Elledge, 4. McDougal, 5. Carrick, 6. Darland, 7. Mitchell, 8. Malone, 9. Baue, 10. Meseraull. 2:06.32

C-MAIN: (8 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Bacon, 2. Mitchell, 3. Peck, 4. Koontz, 5. Baue, 6. Watson, 7. Malone. 1:43.50

SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Thorson, 2. Pickens, 3. Coons, 4. Carrick, 5. Layser, 6. Daum, 7. Mitchell, 8. Darland, 9. Bacon, 10. Cummins, 11. Cling, 12. Gass, 13. Hernandez, 14. Windom, 15. Welch, 16. Peck, 17. Koontz. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Cannon McIntosh (3), 3. Kyle Larson (5), 4. Jason McDougal (4), 5. Tanner Thorson (7), 6. Tyler Courtney (15), 7. Zach Daum (12), 8. Tanner Carrick (13), 9. Chris Windom (23), 10. Zeb Wise (18), 11. C.J. Leary (1), 12. Logan Seavey (14), 13. Andrew Layser (22), 14. Holley Hollan (17), 15. Shane Golobic (6), 16. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (16), 17. Karsyn Elledge (10), 18. Cole Bodine (21), 19. Jesse Colwell (11), 20. Jerry Coons, Jr. (8), 21. Tucker Klaasmeyer (19), 22. Michael Pickens (9), 23. Chad Boat (20). NT

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**Akard flipped during the third heat.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Grant.

KSE RACING PRODUCTS/PROSOURCE HARD CHARGER: Tyler Courtney (15th to 6th)

PROSOURCE HARD WORK AWARD: Andrew Layser

WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Andrew Layser

SALDANA RACING PRODUCTS FIRST NON-TRANSFER: Ethan Mitchell

NEW USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1- Courtney-593, 2-K. Thomas-512, 3-Wise-488, 4-Seavey-483, 5-Leary-458, 6-Windom-455, 7-Boat-416, 8-Carrick-401, 9-Klaasmeyer-389, 10-Colwell-341.

NEW INDIANA MIDGET WEEK POINTS: 1-Thorson-144, 2-Courtney-137, 3-McDougal-130, 4-Seavey-126, 5-Wise-121, 6-McIntosh-119, 7-Grant-110, 8-Golobic- 109, 9-Carrick-106, 10-Thomas-95.

PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Courtney-11, 2-McIntosh-10, 3-Coons-9, 4-Layser-9, 5-Wise-8, 6-Thomas-7, 7-Boat-7, 8-Daum-6, 9-McDougal-5, 10-Carrick-5.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: June 6, 2019 - Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, Indiana - 15th "Indiana Midget Week" - 5/16-Mile Dirt Oval