Weekend Recap (May 29-31)

Rain got the best of us this weekend but Friday night did see Plymouth and Bloomington Speedways get their shows in.

May 29

Bloomington Speedway

Brady Short is still on a rampage, after winning last weekends events at Bloomington and Haubstadt he continued his winning ways Friday night by taking the checkers in the feature event once again on the red clay at Bloomington.

Short started the feature from tenth but fought his way to the lead to notch another victory in 2015. Short crossed the line ahead of Casey Shuman and Chase Briscoe who was suffering from brake issues. Nick Bilbee and Jeff Bland Jr. rounded out the top five.

Feature Finish:
1. Brady Short
2. Casey Shuman
3. Chase Briscoe
4. Nick Bilbee
5. Jeff Bland Jr.
6. Jordan Kinser
7. Kent Christian
8. Max McGhee
9. Brandon Morin
10. J.T. Stapp

Heat 1: Bilbee, Bland Jr, Shuman, Hampton, Morin
Heat 2: Stockon, Briscoe, Mattox, McGhee, Kinser
Heat 3: Short, Babcock, Christian, Dakus, Stapp

Car Count: 22

Plymouth Speedway

With the USAC midgets in action as well we saw multiple double-duty drivers in action on Friday evening at Plymouth as well as the debut of CJ Leary in his new ride, the Baldwin #5.

In the end it was Dave Darland taking the checkered flag followed by fellow double-duty driver Jerry Coons Jr in second as Leary rounded out the podium. Frank Flud and Matt Goodnight finished out the top five.

Feature Finish:
1. Dave Darland
2. Jerry Coons Jr.
3. CJ Leary
4. Frank Flud
5. Matt Goodnight
6. Josh Spencer
7. Shane Cottle
8. Cole Ketcham
9. Stuart Hanft
10. Cooper Clouse

Heat 1: Darland, Goodnight, Gurley, Flud, Cottle
Heat 2: Coons Jr, Ketcham, Hanft, Leary, Clouse

Car Count: 14

May 30

Lincoln Park Speedway

Rained out

World of Outlaws Rescheduled for Lawrenceburg

The World of Outlaws event that was postponed due to rain on Monday has been rescheduled for Friday the 16th of October, which is one day before the Outlaws are scheduled to run Plymouth Speedway.

Tickets sold for the May 25th program will be honored for the October 16th program. If you cannot attend the make-up race but have purchased tickets you can request a refund until June 15th.

Sprints Cancelled @ Salem Speedway

The Auto Value Sprints portion of Saturday evenings program at Salem Speedway has been cancelled. There is no scheduled makeup date.

67th Annual Pay Less Little 500 Starting Grid

Grid:

Row 1: Bobby Santos III, Kody Swanson, Caleb Armstrong
Row 2: Jacob Wilson, Kyle Hamilton, Jerry Coons Jr.
Row 3: Chris Windom, Chris Neuenschwander, Aaron Pierce
Row 4: Jo Jo Helberg, Shane Cottle, Tony Elliott
Row 5: Rex Norris III, Troy Decaire, Shane Hollingsworth
Row 6: Ryan Litt, Brian Tyler, Dave Steele
Row 7: Mickey Kempgens, Davey Hamilton Jr, Tyler Roahrig
Row 8: Scotty Hampton, Jimmy McCune, Jeff Bloom
Row 9: Travis Welpott, Ryan Burdett, Tony Main
Row 10: Jimmy Wysong, Doug Dietsch, Nick Hamilton
Row 11: Brian Vaughn, Mike Hall, Tom Paterson

Schedule:

4:00 PM		Front Gates Open
5:00 PM		All Cars Must Be In Infield and Pits Set-Up
5:15 PM		Warm Up Session (West End First, Then East)
6:00 PM		Driver Autograph Session (Mandatory in Tent Area)
6:15 PM		Cars Must Be Gridded On Track
7:00 PM		Pre Race Activities Begin
7:15 PM		Driver Introductions
7:53 PM		Invocation, Taps and National Anthem
8:00 PM		Command to Start Engines of 67th Pay Less Little 500 presented by UAW GM

Friday Recap (May 22)

Bloomington Speedway

Josh Burton Memorial

Feature Finish:
1. Brady Short
2. Nick Bilbee
3. Dave Darland
4. Chad Boespflug
5. Kevin Thomas Jr.
6. Casey Shuman
7. Jon Stanbrough
8. Robert Ballou
9. Kent Christian
10. Chris Babcock

Heat 1: McGhee, Darland, Thomas Jr, Babcock, Cummins
Heat 2: Bilbee, Short, Morin, Robbins, Hupp
Heat 3: Stanbrough, Shuman, Boespflug, Christian, Beauchamp
Heat 4: Cottle, Barrow, Ballou, Ligouri, Gurley

B Main 1: Cummins, Hupp, Bland Jr, Gaines
B Main 2: Beauchamp, Mattox, Hampton, Gurley

Car Count: 39

Plymouth Speedway

UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions

Feature Finish:
1. Dale Blaney
2. Rico Abreu
3. James McFadden
4. Cody Darrah
5. Logan Forler
6. Byron Reed
7. Cap Henry
8. Greg Wilson
9. Duane Zablocki
10. Gary Taylor

Tony Hulman Classic Rained Out

The Tony Hulman Classic scheduled for Wednesday night at Terre Haute Action Track has been cancelled due to rain. The event will not be rescheduled although the name will be assigned to a different USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car event later in the season at THAT.

Saturday Recap (May 16)

Plymouth Speedway

Rain hampered multiple races around the state on Saturday but not Plymouth where the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt were in action on the 3/8 mile oval.

28 cars were on hand for the Earl Gaerte Classic that saw a dominating performance by Jared Horstman to pick up his first SOD win of the season. Horstman and SOD points leader Ryan Ruhl started on the front row in the 25 lap feature event that saw multiple flips and red flag periods. Horstman jumped to the lead early and would never relinquish the spot as he became the first driver to beat Ruhl this season who had won the first two SOD events.

Behind Horstman and Ruhl was Dustin Daggett and Shawn Dancer. Andy Teunessen rounded out the top five. With his second place performance Ruhl continues to lead the series points standings.

Feature Finish:
1. Jared Horstman
2. Ryan Ruhl
3. Dustin Daggett
4. Shawn Dancer
5. Andy Teunessen
6. Devin Dobie
7. Randy Hannagan
8. Taylor Ferns
9. Gregg Dalman
10. Kyle Pitts

Heat 1: Ruhl, Teunessen, Ferns, Dobie
Heat 2: Ridenour, Horstman, Karazim, Smith
Heat 3: Daggett, Dalman, Hannagan, Lamberson
Heat 4: Dancer, Jones, Mann, Hull

B-Main: Steinebach, Rogers, Pitts, Chehowski

Car Count: 28

Friday Recap (May 15)

Gas City I-69 Speedway

The weather stayed away on Friday night in Gas City and the fans that made the trip to the track were treated to one of the more memorable races in recent history on the 1/4 mile.

Brady Bacon came away with a hard fought victory after battling with both Dave Darland and Thomas Meseraull. Bacon started his night out the right way qualifying 1st out of 28 cars in attendance. The heat races saw some close quarters, action-packed racing and were just a preview of what was to come.

Jon Stanbrough and Meseraull led the field to the green in the feature with Meseraull jumping out front early to a huge lead before a caution bunched the field back up. Just shy of the halfway mark "The People's Champ" Dave Darland went to the point. Another caution bunched the field back up and on the restart Bacon, who had been very strong on the high side, was eventually able to slide under Darland on lap 17. Bacon quickly made his getaway but battling traffic allowed Darland and Meseraull to catch him. During the battle for the lead Meseraull was able to get past Darland as he challenged for the lead. Meseraull then tried getting around Bacon in the closing laps but it was Bacon winning in the Hoffman #69 by less than a second.

Darland held on for third while Jon Stanbrough and a hard-charging CJ Leary, who started 16th, rounded out the top five.

In USAC points Robert Ballou remains in the lead by just 2 points over Chase Stockon after the two ran sixth and seventh respectively on Friday night. Dave Darland is third in points 15 points back of Ballou.

USAC is back in action Wednesday when they visit the Action Track in Terre Haute.

Feature Finish:
1. Brady Bacon
2. Thomas Meseraull
3. Dave Darland
4. Jon Stanbrough
5. CJ Leary
6. Robert Ballou
7. Chase Stockon
8. Tracy Hines
9. Shane Cottle
10. Kevin Thomas Jr.

Heat 1: Thomas Jr, Cottle, Bacon, Stanbrough, McGhee
Heat 2: Stockon, Robbins, Jarrett, Coons Jr, Shuman
Heat 3: Windom, Farney, Darland, Meseraull, Donelson
Heat 4: Simon, Ballou, Spencer, Leary, Grant

B-Main: Grant, Hines, Shuman, McGhee, Goodnight, Donelson

Car Count: 28

Driver of the Week (May 5-11)

This driver has had many strong runs this year and with another on Saturday night we feel he deserves our Indiana Sprint Car News Driver of the Week Award.

Thomas Meseraull made a pass for the lead a few times on Saturday night (the first was negated by a caution flag) and pulled away to win his second feature event at Lawrenceburg Speedway this season. With the win "T-Mez" stretched his points lead at Lawrenceburg to 65 points over the closest contender.

Meseruall currently leads every major statistical category this year at Lawrenceburg and has had strong runs at multiple other Indiana tracks. We expect all of this to continue since Meseraull is one of the hardest racing and most passionate drivers we know of on the Indiana sprint car circuit.

Weekend Recap (May 8-9)

It was certainly a busy weekend for sprint cars, not just in Indiana, but everywhere. Weather was an issue all weekend but we still managed to get in two of the three scheduled Indiana sprint car shows, here's a recap.

Friday May 8

Bloomington Speedway

One of the most consistent non-wing sprint car drivers in the state added another win to his tally on Friday night. Brady Short was able to drive his way through the field from his third row starting spot to get the checkers first on the red clay at Bloomington. Short used the aid of a few cautions in order to finally get past Nick Bilbee during the feature. Bilbee was able to hang on to second while Casey Shuman charged from his 9th place starting position to grab the final spot on the podium. Bloomington will be off next Friday but returns to action on May 22 for the Josh Burton Memorial.

Feature Finish:
1. Brady Short
2. Nick Bilbee
3. Casey Shuman
4. Bradley Sterrett
5. Michael Koontz
6. Ethan Barrow
7. Cole Smith
8. Chris Babcock
9. Jordan Kinser
10. Max McGhee

Heat 1: Short, Koontz, Babcock, Kinser, Underwood
Heat 2: Sterrett, McGhee, Christian, Gurley, Liguori
Heat 3: Barrow, Bilbee, Shuman, Cunningham, Smith

Car Count: 22

Saturday May 9

Lawrenceburg Speedway

Thomas Meseraull started off his weekend with a solid 4th place finish against a stout field at Eldora on Friday evening and he followed it up with a win at Lawrenceburg on Saturday night. "T-Mez" started from the fourth position and managed to get the lead around the halfway point but the pass was negated by a caution. On the restart Meseraull once again challenged for the lead and this time it stuck as he got around Lawrenceburg regular Joss Moffatt. From there Meseraull had it on cruise control as the Burg's points leader extended his margin over second place Jarett Andretti. As far as the finish is concerned Moffatt was able to hold off everyone else for second as Andretti, Nick Bilbee, and Kyle Robbins rounded out the top five.

Feature Finish:

1. Thomas Meseraull
2. Joss Moffatt
3. Jarett Andretti
4. Nick Bilbee
5. Kyle Robbins
6. Jordan Kinser
7. Garrett Abrams
8. Shawn Westerfeld
9. Justin Owen
10. Pat Giddens

Heat 1: Andretti, Moffatt, Owen, Westerfeld, Gindling
Heat 2: Meseraull, Robbins, Kinser, Bilbee, Abrams

Car Count: 15

Weekend Preview (May 8-9)

It's certainly a big weekend across the border to the east where both the AMSOIL USAC Nat'l Sprints and World of Outlaws will be in action at Eldora both Friday and Saturday but there is still plenty of action in Indiana on those nights too! Here is what's on tap.

Friday May 8

Bloomington Speedway

Time: Hot laps @ 6:30pm Racing @ 7:30pm
Forecast: Hi 86/Lo 64 Chance of Rain: 50%

After taking last weekend off sprints are back in action in Bloomington on Friday evening. The last time 410s took to the track at Bloomington it was Brady Short picking up the win. With USAC in action at Eldora on Friday night as well look for a good turnout from anyone not making the trip over to Ohio. Also note that HARF members can get admission for $8 dollars on Friday.

Saturday May 9

Lincoln Park Speedway

Time: Hot laps @ 6pm Racing @ 7pm
Forecast: Hi 84/Lo 64 Chance of Rain: 90%

Chad Boespflug parked the Baldwin Brothers #5 at LPS last weekend but with the points leader running Eldora this weekend it gives others a chance to catch up this weekend. Austin Prock trails Boespflug by 17 points while Conner Donelson trails by 25. Mike Gass and Shelby VanGilder are also within striking distance, both trail by 33 points. If the weather holds off look for another great night of racing in beautiful Putnamville. Also in action will be modifieds, super stocks, and bombers.

Lawrenceburg Speedway

Time: Hot laps @ 6pm Racing @ 7pm
Forecast: Hi 87/Lo 63 Chance of Rain 50%

CJ Leary was dominant last weekend to retain his King of the Midwest title but Saturday is a new night of racing on the high banks of Lawrenceburg Speedway and look for plenty of action when the Kelsey Chevrolet sprint cars return to action. Thomas Meseraull continues to look strong at The Burg and leads the track points standings currently by 45 points over Jarett Andretti and 95 points over Joss Moffatt. 2014 track champion Shawn Westerfeld sits 4th in points followed by Garrett Abrams. It's college night at the track so bring a college student who just finished finals to the races and help grow the sport, just make sure he or she brings his college ID.

Driver of the Week (April 28-May 4)

There were plenty of drivers to choose from but this week's Indiana Sprint Car News Driver of the Week Award goes to Jon Stanbrough.

Stanbrough started his weekend by beating some of the toughest drivers in non-wing sprint car racing at Gas City I-69 Speedway on Friday evening. The victory was the 22nd KISS win of his career.

Saturday evening Stanbrough was with the MSCS at Montpelier where he picked up a heat win and was racing towards another victory before spinning during the feature with under five laps to go. However, he did race his way back up to a sixth place finish after tagging the tail on the restart. Stanbrough rounded out his weekend at Kokomo where he finished in the runner-up position in another KISS event.

Ending his weekend with finishes of 1st, 6th, and 2nd we thought Stanbrough deserved the award this week. Other contenders were Chad Boespflug, CJ Leary, Justin Grant, Dickie Gaines and Paul McMahan.

Stanbrough currently sits 4th in MSCS points and 6th in both USAC and KISS points.

(Photo courtesy of Braden Rouse Photography)

Sunday Recap (May 3)

Two of the best tracks in not only the state, but the country were in action on Sunday night. Here's what went down.

Kokomo Speedway 

It was certainly an exciting evening at Kokomo as the 30 lap feature event did not disappoint. Justin Grant got out to an early lead and ran away with the field far behind. However, Grant spun giving Brady Short the lead but was able to keep the Hery #40 going and gave chase. With just a few laps remaining Short's engine expired and Logan Jarrett also slowed. Grant was able to get away on the restart to take the win, with a broken right shock might I add.

Friday night's Gas City winner Jon Stanbrough finished second followed by "T-Mez" Thomas Meseraull in third. CJ Leary and the "Madman" Robert Ballou rounded out the top five.

The King of Indiana Sprint Series (KISS) is back in action on May 16 at Lawrenceburg.

Feature Finish:
1. Justin Grant
2. Jon Stanbrough
3. Thomas Meseraull
4. CJ Leary
5. Robert Ballou
6. Shane Cottle
7. Chad Boespflug
8. Jerry Coons Jr.
9. Kyle Robbins
10. Kevin Thomas Jr.

Heat 1: Cottle, Stanbrough, Ballou, Shuman, Farney
Heat 2: BShort, Grant, Darland, Boespflug, Gaines
Heat 3: Leary, Thomas Jr, Meseraull, Coons Jr, Robbins

Car Count: 22

Tri-State Speedway

For the first time in 2015 the World of Outlaws made an appearance in Indiana when they visited "The Class Track" Sunday night.

As is the case more times than not TSS provided great racing. Brady Bacon jumped out to the lead early in the 40 laps feature with Rico Abreu and Paul McMahan in tow. McMahan took over second when Abreu and Kerry Madsen tangled with Abreu ending up on his lid.

The race saw various cautions and red periods, the second to last being the most crucial. McMahan got a great restart and stalked Bacon through turns one and two before throwing a slider in three and four just inside of ten laps to go. Bacon, opting to try to block McMahan's risky slider, almost ended both cars nights however both were able to keep their cars in the race.

Bacon got one more crack at the win with three to go after yet another caution but McMahan got a solid jump on the start and was able to park his #51. Bacon would bring it home second followed by the "Brownsburg Bullet" Joey Saldana. Defending WoO champion Donny Schatz had an impressive drive finishing fourth after starting twentieth while Kraig Kinser rounded out the top five.

The win was the second in a row at TSS for McMahan after also taking the checkers there in 2014.

Feature Finish:
1. Paul McMahan
2. Brady Bacon
3. Joey Saldana
4. Donny Schatz
5. Kraig Kinser
6. Brad Sweet
7. Brad Loyet
8. Jason Sides
9. Gary Taylor
10. Paul May

Heat 1: McMahan, Schatz, Price-Miller, Bell, Sides
Heat 2: Bruns, Saldana, Loyet, Pittman, Taylor
Heat 3: Bacon, Veal, Gravel, Sweet, Kr. Kinser

Dash: Saldana, Bacon, McMahan, Abreu, Kr. Kinser,

B-Main: Stewart, Kaeding, Schuchart, Swindell, Schuerenberg

Car Count: 38

Friday & Saturday Recap (May 1 & 2)

Friday May 1

Gas City I-69 Speedway

Jon Stanbrough picked up the win on Friday as racing returned to Gas City I-69 Speedway. Stanbrough took the lead early on after getting around Logan Jarrett who started on the pole and never looked back dominating the feature.

Kyle Robbins, starting fourth, had a strong showing and came home in the runner-up position while Thomas Meseraull took the last spot on the podium in third. Dickie Gaines finished 4th and Robert Ballou rounded out the top five.

With his strong showing in second, Kyle Robbins took over the KISS points standings going into Sunday night's action at Kokomo Speedway.

Feature Finish:
1. Jon Stanbrough
2. Kyle Robbins
3. Thomas Meseraull
4. Dickie Gaines
5. Robert Ballou
6. Logan Jarrett
7. Kevin Thomas Jr.
8. Scotty Weir
9. Dave Darland
10. Chad Boespflug

Heat 1: Thomas Jr, Gaines, Hewitt, Weir
Heat 2: Meseraull, McGhee, Darland, Cottle
Heat 3: Donelson, Robbins, Ballou, Farney
Heat 4: Jarrett, Stanbrough, Grant, Gurley

B-Main: B. Short, Boespflug, Liguori, Flud, Hery, Goodnight

Car Count: 32

Saturday May 2

Montpelier Motor Speedway

A low car count did not result in a lack of action on Saturday night as the Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS) was in action in Montpelier.

Shane Cottle finally broke his string of bad luck and put the Paul Hazen #57 in victory lane. Stanbrough jumped to an early lead before Kevin Thomas Jr. flipped early in the feature. On the restart Stanbrough was able to break away as a handful of cars battled behind him. Cottle, locked in on the bottom, began reeling Stanbrough in but before that happened Stanbrough spun in the middle of turns one and two forcing him to the tail. Cottle was able to cruise to victory from there.

Brady Short came home in the runner-up position followed by Robert Ballou. Dave Darland and Dickie Gaines finished out the top five. Jon Stanbrough recovered from his spin to finish sixth.

The MSCS now takes a few weeks off until May 22 when they are in action at Bloomington.

Feature Finish:
1. Shane Cottle
2. Brady Short
3. Robert Ballou
4. Dave Darland
5. Dickie Gaines
6. Jon Stanbrough
7. Carson Short
8. Cooper Clouse
9. Matt Goodnight
10. Logan Jarrett

Heat 1: B. Short, Ballou, Cottle, Gaines, Goodnight
Heat 2: Stanbrough, Darland, C. Short, Thomas Jr, Jarrett

Car Count: 15

Lawrenceburg Speedway

CJ Leary defended his title as the "King of the Midwest" taking home the win in Saturday night's 25 lap feature on the high backs at Lawrenceburg Speedway.

Leary took the lead away from Justin Grant on lap five and never looked back capping off a dominating night where he also took home a heat race win. Thomas Meseraull finished second while Nick Bilbee finished third. Jarett Andretti and Landon Simon rounded out the top five.

"T-Mez" Thomas Meseraull is your current points leader at The Burg followed by Jarett Andretti, Joss Moffat, and Shawn Westerfeld.

Feature Finish:
1. CJ Leary
2. Thomas Meseraull
3. Nick Bilbee
4. Jarett Andretti
5. Landon Simon
6. Joss Moffat
7. Garrett Abrams
8. Chris Babcock
9. Logan Hupp
10. Shawn Westerfeld

Heat 1: Leary, Grant, Babcock, Westerfeld, Hery
Heat 2: Abrams, Stapp, Bilbee, Applegate, Gnat
Heat 3: Meseraull, Andretti, Simon, Owen, Moffat

Car Count: 21

Lincoln Park Speedway

Chad Boespflug put the Baldin Brothers #5 back in victory lane Saturday night at LPS. Boespflug dominated the feature that also saw Max McGhee take a scary ride. McGhee walked from his car but went to be checked out at the hospital.

Boespflug was joined on the podium by Mitch Wissmiller and Austin Prock. Spencer Bayston and Conner Donelson rounded out the top five.

Feature Finish:
1. Chad Boespflug
2. Mitch Wissmiller
3. Austin Prock
4. Spencer Bayston
5. Conner Donelson
6. Shelby VanGilder
7. Mike Gass
8. Bub Cummings
9. Braxton Cummings
10. Scott Hampton

Heat 1: Bland Jr, Hampton, Mattox, Bayston
Heat 2: Barrow, Donelson, VanGilder, Prock
Heat 3: Christian, Sterrett, McDonald, O'Neal
Heat 4: Wissmiller, Boespflug, McGhee, Cummings

B-Main: Morin, Gass, Hughes, Cummings, Smith

Car Count: 29

Chandler Motor Speedway

We don't have a lot of news coming out of CMS from last night. As probably expected they had a low car count with everything else going on. It appears Aric Gentry picked up the win with only 6 sprints on hand. He was followed on the podium by Anthony Leohr and Chet Williams.

Feature Finish:
1. Aric Gentry
2. Anthony Leohr
3. Chet Williams
4. Patrick Budde
5. Dave Peperak
6. Brian Wallace

Heat: Williams, Gentry, Wallace, Leohr, Budde, Peperak

Car Count: 6