2017 BOSS Preview

As we move along with our series previews we now move onto the still fairly new Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series.

The series, which began just a little over five years ago, has quickly become a favorite among fans and drivers and stands as one of the last true "outlaw" series. This year BOSS will feature 20 events at 12 different tracks stretching from Indiana across Ohio and into Pennsylvania. The season begins at Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio on Saturday, April 22.

Last year the series saw its first ever repeat champion as Shawn Westerfeld collected his second straight BOSS title after edging Cooper Clouse. Westerfeld collected 3 wins and a series high 13 top 10 finishes. However, it is unclear whether Westerfeld will return for the complete season in 2017, the same goes for 2016 series runner-up Cooper Clouse.

Shawn Westerfeld became the first back-to-back series champion in 2016.
PC: Braden Rouse Photography

Looking ahead to serious title contenders in 2017 one cannot look past Justin Owen. Owen tallied 11 top 10 finishes in 2016 on his way to a third place finish in the final standings. He also tallied a win which he picked up at Lernerville Speedway.

Michael Fischesser is also expected to return to the series full time after his fourth place finish in the standings last season.

Michael Fischesser works to the inside of Bill Rose at Millstream Speedway in 2016.
PC: Rick Lane

Rounding out the top five in points last year was Chad Wilson. Wilson finished the season with 7 top 10's but will need to be more consistent in order to mount a title run in 2017.

Others expected to run full time include Cody Gardner, Joe Butera and former series champion Dustin Smith among many others.

Dustin Smith became the first BOSS champion when he took home the title in 2012.
PC: Rick Lane

A number of part-time drivers will most likely also take part in the 2017 BOSS campaign. Last year notable winners that ran with BOSS on a limited basis included Kody Swanson, Chris Windom, Josh Hodges, Shane Cottle and Tyler Courtney. Other notable Indiana sprint car regulars included Dave Darland, Dakota Jackson, Robert Ballou and Thomas Meseraull.

Indiana race fans will get four chances to see the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series in action within state lines. Their first chance will be on Saturday, May 20 when the series visits Lawrenceburg Speedway. The series will return to the Hoosier State in July for a weekend doubleheader at Route 44 Speedway and then Lawrenceburg Speedway the following night. Their final event in Indiana will come on September 9 when they take on Montpelier Motor Speedway.

For more information about the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series visit their website.

2016 Results

1. Shawn Westerfeld
2. Cooper Clouse
3. Justin Owen
4. Michael Fischesser
5. Chad Wilson
6. Cody Gardner
7. Aaron Middaugh
8. Steve Little

Weekend Preview (July 29-30)

Friday, July 29

Bloomington Speedway

After being dark last weekend to shake off the Indiana Sprint Week hangover the red clay will be flying again on Friday night in Bloomington.

Brady Short leads the track points standings by just four points over Jeff Bland Jr in a points battle that has been raging all season long. Short has tallied four wins so far this season at Bloomington Speedway, the most of any driver.

In the most recent race during Indiana Sprint Week it was Brent Beauchamp picking up his first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car win.

Joining the sprints on Friday: 305 RaceSavers, MMSA mini-sprints and super stocks.

Schedule & Prices

Pit Gates: 4:30 pm
Grandstands: 5:30 pm
Hot Laps: 6:30 pm
Racing: 7:30 pm

Grandstands - $15
Kids 12 & Under - Free
Pit Passes - $30

Twin Cities Raceway Park

For the first time in series history, the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series will make an appearance in North Vernon on Friday night when the series ventures into Indiana for a Hoosier State doubleheader this weekend.

Entering Friday night, Shawn Westerfeld holds the series points lead by 140 points over Justin Owen. Cooper Clouse sits third in the standings. Westerfeld dominated the series' most recent race at Portsmouth Raceway Park in Ohio last Saturday.

TQs and pure stocks will be joining the non-wing sprint cars on Friday.

Schedule & Prices

Gates: 3:30 pm
Drivers Meeting: 6:45 pm
Hot Laps & Racing: Follow drivers meeting

Grandstands - $15
Kids 12 & Under - Free
Pit Passes - $30

Saturday, July 30

Lawrenceburg Speedway

The Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Cars will head to Lawrenceburg Speedway on Saturday to wrap up their Indiana doubleheader in the Jason Soudrette Memorial.

The visit will be the second and final appearance by BOSS in Lawrenceburg in 2016. Shawn Westerfeld won on the high banks when the series visited on June 11. Westerfeld, a former track champion, has recorded three wins total at Lawrenceburg Speedway this season.

Also in action: UMP modifieds, pure stocks and hornets.

Schedule & Prices

Pit Gates: 4 pm
Grandstands: 5 pm
Hot Laps: 6 pm
Racing: 7 pm

Granstands - $15
Kids 7-12 - $7
Kids 6 & Under - Free
Pit Passes - $30

Lincoln Park Speedway

Lincoln Park Speedway will host the 29th Annual Putnamville Clash on Saturday evening in which the winner will take home a $2,900 paycheck.

Shane Cockrum leads the points standings by 75 points over second place Kevin Thomas Jr going into this weekend's action. Brent Beauchamp won last Saturday after a tight battle with "T-Mez" Thomas Meseraull.

Modifieds, super stocks and bombers will also join in on the fun in Putnamville on Saturday evening.

Schedule & Prices

Pit Gates: 3:30 pm
Grandstands: 4:30 pm
Hot Laps: 6 pm
Racing: 7 pm

Grandstands - $20
Kids 10 & Under - Free
Pit Passes - $30

Paragon Speedway

After last weekend's program was cancelled due to high temperatures, the tight track championship points battle will resume on Saturday at Paragon Speedway.

Andrew Prather currently leads the standings by just two points over Josh Cunningham. Defending track champion Jake Scott, who has four wins at Paragon Speedway in 2016, sits 33 points back in third place.

Also on display on Saturday: Super stocks, pure stocks, bombers and hornets.

Schedule & Prices

Pit Gates: 4 pm
Grandstands: 5 pm
Drivers Meeting: 6 pm
Racing: 7:30 pm

Grandstands - $15
Kids 12 & Under - Free
Pit Passes - $30

Montpelier Motor Speedway

If you're a winged sprint car fan, Montpelier will be the place to be on Saturday night where the NRA Sprint Invaders will be in action.

The series was scheduled to make one other appearance earlier this season but the event was cancelled due to wet weather.

UMP modifieds, super streets and thunder cars will join the winged sprints.

Schedule & Prices

Gates: 3 pm
Hot Laps: 5 pm
Racing: 6:30 pm

Grandstands - $15
Kids 12 & Under - Free
Pit Passes - $30

Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series continues to grow

In a day where low car counts and declining crowds are hot topics within the racing community, there is one non-wing sprint car series that is defying the odds.

The Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series, otherwise known as BOSS, has continued to grow steadily since its first season in 2011 when the series only consisted of two events. This year the series scheduled 22 races for its 2016 campaign, a record number for BOSS, at 16 different tracks throughout Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

BOSS, which has no registration fees for its competitors, is a driver and owner friendly series. All drivers that compete accumulate points and a number of contingency awards exist for drivers such as Hard Charger, Hard Luck, Perseverance and Lucky Pill Draw Awards among others. BOSS also has an open tire rule which is attractive to some car owners. A free Hoosier tire as well as a free American Racer are provided to the two highest finishers who run each brand of tire on all four corners.

The perks listed above are just some of the reasons why the series has continued to grow, attracting cars from across the region. Through 10 events this year, two others have rained out, the series has averaged just over 34 cars per race. In comparison, that is a higher average than the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series while the Midwest Sprint Car Series, a regional series with a similar number of races on their schedule, has averaged just under 25 cars per event.

There are number of regulars in the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series including Shawn Westerfeld, Cooper Clouse and Justin Owen. However, the series also attracts drivers that many Hoosiers are familiar with seeing on a weekly basis including: Thomas Meseraull, Shane Cottle, Brady Bacon, Landon Simon and Dakota Jackson.

With those names in the mix the series is competitive at any track it competes at. In the 10 races this year there have been seven different winners including: Kody Swanson, Cooper Clouse, Steve Irwin, Shawn Westerfeld, Justin Owen, Dustin Smith and Luke Hall.

If you have not seen the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series in action, this weekend the series will be serving up two opportunities inside the Hoosier State. On Friday night, for the first time in BOSS history, they will be at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon. The series will then travel to Lawrenceburg Speedway on Saturday night for the Jason Soudrette Memorial.

We'll have more information about those two events later this week in the weekend preview.

For more information about the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series visit their website.

Saturday Results (June 11)

Lawrenceburg Speedway

Shawn Westerfeld used his pole position in the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series (BOSS) feature to his advantage on Saturday night in Lawrenceburg and took home the win on the high banks.

Westerfeld, who now has three victories at Lawrenceburg in 2016, went flag-to-flag and extended his points lead in the series. Garrett Abrams and Jarett Andretti rounded out the podium.

Joss Moffatt put in an impressive drive finishing sixth after transferring from the B-Main and starting 17th in the feature.

Feature Results:

1. Shawn Westerfeld
2. Garrett Abrams
3. Jarett Andretti
4. Dallas Hewitt
5. Cooper Clouse
6. Joss Moffatt
7. Logan Hupp
8. Michael Fischesser
9. Tony Main
10. Cody Gardner
11. Chad Wilson
12. Brandon Spithaler
13. Bub Cummings
14. Kirk Jeffries
15. Justin Owen
16. Braxton Cummings
17. Drew Abel
18. Mike Weber
19. Aaron Middaugh
20. Andy Feil
21. Steve Thomas
22. Bobby Distel

Heat 1 Results: Andretti, Hupp, Wilson, Fischesser, Cummings, Middaugh, McMillin, Little
Heat 2 Results: Westerfeld, Cummings, Main, Distel, Applegate, James, Owen, VanHise
Heat 3 Results: Spithaler, Hewitt, Clouse, Weber, Feil, Butera, Gray, Moffatt
Heat 4 Results: Abrams, Gardner, Jeffries, Abel, Thomas, Briggs, Clarkson

B-Main Results: Moffatt, Feil, Cummings, Middaugh, Thomas, Owen, Applegate, Briggs, Clarkson, Little, James, Gray, VanHise, Butera, McMillin

Car Count: 31

Paragon Speedway

Chris Phillips became the first winner not named Jake Scott in 2016 on Saturday night at Paragon Speedway. As was the case with Westerfeld at Lawrenceburg, Phillips was able to use the top starting to his full potential and collect the big pay check.

Hunter O'Neal and Josh Cunningham joined Phillips on the podium while Anthony Leohr and Daylan Chambers rounded out the top five.

Feature Results:

1. Chris Phillips
2. Hunter O'Neal
3. Josh Cunningham
4. Anthony Leohr
5. Daylan Chambers
6. Chris Babcock
7. Danny Harris
8. Andrew Prather
9. Randy Johnson
10. Ben Knight
11. Kevin Chambers
12. Brandon Spencer
13. David Hair
14. Jake Scott
15. Brent Turner
16. Troy Link
17. Jensen Scott
18. Pat Giddens
19. Parker Fredrickson
20. Aric Gentry
21. Ben McMurray
22. Colin Parker
23. Steve Hair
24. Dave Peperak
25. Ben Phillips
26. Ethan Barrow

Heat 1 Results: Prather, Phillips, Turner, Scott, Ja. Scott, Link, Hair, Fredrickson, Barrow
Heat 2 Results: Cunningham, Chambers, Giddens, Babcock, Gentry, Parker, Knight, Spencer, B. Phillips
Heat 3 Results: O'Neal, Leohr, Harris, Johnson, S. Hair, Peperak, Chambers, McMurray

Car Count: 26

Lincoln Park Speedway

Shane Cockrum charged from 10th place to capture the LPS Mid-Season Championship on Saturday night in Putnamville.

Cockrum was able to get by leader Jeff Bland Jr. with 10 laps remaining and get to the checkers first as Brent Beauchamp would finish second will Bland Jr. would salvage third.

The win was Cockrum's second of the year at Lincoln Park Speedway.

Feature Results:

1. Shane Cockrum
2. Brent Beauchamp
3. Jeff Bland Jr.
4. Chris Gurley
5. Nate McMillin
6. Jon Stanbrough
7. Casey Shuman
8. Tim Creech II
9. Matt McDonald
10. Matt Brannin
11. Cole Smith
12. JJ Hughes
13. AJ Hopkins
14. Chris Parkinson
15. Brandon Mattox
16. Jamie Williams
17. Mario Clouser
18. Dylan Shaw
19. Lukas Smith
20. Charlie Belden Jr.

Heat 1 Results: Beauchamp, Hughes, McMillin, Cockrum, Creech II, Clouser, Brannin
Heat 2 Results: Bland Jr, Shuman, Hopkins, Stanbrough, Williams, Mattox, Smith
Heat 3 Results: McDonald, Parkinson, Smith, Shaw, Belden Jr, Gurley

Car Count: 20

Tri-State Speedway

Jerrod Hull picked up his second consecutive Neal Tire Midwest Open Wheel Association win on Saturday night at Tri-State Speedway, his third overall in 2016.

Hull was followed across the finish line by Hunter Schuerenberg and Jim Moughan. Kody Kinser and Critter Malone rounded out the top five.

The Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS) also returned to action in Haubstadt on Saturday night.

Kyle Cummins, who was not able to make the trip east for the USAC Eastern Storm, picked up the win. Donny Bracket finished second while Brady Short took the final position on the podium finishing third.

MOWA Feature Results:

1. Jerrod Hull
2. Hunter Schuerenberg
3. Jim Moughan
4. Kody Kinser
5. Critter Malone
6. Cale Thomas
7. AJ Bruns
8. Cory Bruns
9. Parker Price-Miller
10. Dakota Jackson
11. Joey Moughan
12. Chris Urish
13. Jeremy Standridge
14. Jake Blackhurst
15. Jimmy Light
16. Trey Datweiler
17. Carson Short
18. Jacob Patton
19. Bret Tripplett
20. Logan Faucon

Heat 1 Results: Schuerenberg, Hull, Blackhurts, Jackson, Jo. Moughan, Tripplett, Standbridge
Heat 2 Results: Thomas, Kinser, Price-Miller, Malone, Light, Urish, Faucon
Heat 3 Results: Bruns, Ji. Moughan, Short, Co. Bruns, Datweiler, Patton

Car Count: 20

MSCS Feature Results:

1. Kyle Cummins
2. Donny Brackett
3. Brady Short
4. Dakota Jackson
5. Ted Hines
6. Kent Schmidt
7. Brandon Morin
8. Jordan Kinser
9. Tyler Hewitt
10. Kendall Ruble
11. Nevil Algie
12. Colin Ambrose
13. Jim Shelton
14. Jared Chastain
15. Jadon Rogers
16. Carson Short

Heat 1 Results: Jackson, Brackett, Morin, Algie, Schmidt, Rogers, Hines, Ambrose
Heat 2 Results: Cummins, C. Short, B. Short, Hewitt, Kinser, Ruble, Chastain, Shelton

Car Count: 16