By: Ron Burt
The 35th annual USAC Indiana Sprint week got off to an interesting start at Gas City I-69 Speedway on Friday, July 22nd. 52 cars were in the pits to qualify. The first night saw Shane Cottle of Kansas, IL take the checker in the feature. He only led one lap but that’s the one that counted. The two-time track champion had to qualify through the semi-feature, and he started tenth in the feature, but he charged under Justin Grant of Avon, IN. in turn 1 on the final lap to win the first night. Cautions, red flags, and restarts help Cottle in getting his win. Finishing behind the winner was 2nd Justin Grant, and 3rd Mitchel Moles. Mother nature won night No. 2 at Kokomo when the sky’s opened up. Sunday, July 24th the race teams traveled to the beautiful Lawrenceburg Speedway on the banks of the Ohio River. You guessed it; rain poured down at the start of the feature. The event was considered a complete show. The feature payout and points were shared among the main event starters. Monday night, July 25th, the series went to Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis. C. J. Leary spent the majority of Monday night’s USAC Sprint Week debut at Circle City Raceway running the bottom line in pursuit of leader Brady Bacon. He finally over-took Bacon with three laps remaining to claim his 6th all-time Indiana Sprint Week victory. Finishing after the leader 2nd Justin Grant, and 3rd Brady Bacon. Tuesday July 26th was an open date, and the cars went back to Kokomo Speedway. C.J. Leary set a new Kokomo’s USAC National Sprint Car track record with a time of 12.284 seconds during qualifying. Justin Grant looked to have a comfortable led but at the midway point of Tuesday night’s 30-lap feature, Grant saw the race lead slip from his grip three different times and the race had seven lead changes. The 30-lap feature tied an all-time Indiana Sprint Week record for the most lead changes in a single feature event, equaling the mark of seven set during the rounds at Lincoln Park in 2001 and Bloomington in 2016. Justin Grant won the feature with Kyle Cummings only a car length behind him. Robert Ballou took 3rd. Because of heavy rain, Wednesday, July 27th scheduled race at the Terre Haute Action Track has been canceled and will not be rescheduled. This was a big disappointment to USAC Sprint fans. I will recap the final three races next week.
Many tracks were hit by rain last weekend and some just had the night off. On Friday at Attica Raceway Park, Travis Philo took the top spot in the Winged 410 Sprint feature with Craig Mintz and Trey Jacobs right behind him. The Dirt Late Model victory went to Ryan Markham. Devin Shiels took 2nd and Casey Noonan 3rd. Matt Foos picked up another win at Attica in the 305 Sprints. On lap 11, Jamie Miller slid off the track opening the door for Foos who led the rest of the race. Kasey Jedrzejek was 2nd followed Jamie Miller.
I have complete coverage from 12 tri-state tracks every week on the Ohio Sports Blitz Facebook page with pictures. Next week I’ll look ahead to the Knoxville Nationals for the 410-Winged Sprints. Many top area drivers make the annual trip to Iowa. I will also recap the 3rd Grand Slam event for the Outlaw Asphalt Late Models at Plymouth Speedway and the Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals at Sandusky. Until next week, keep your wheels down. Ron Out! www.ohiosportsblitz@yahoo.com
