By Ron Burt
I will start with the big announcement from Anderson Speedway and the upcoming Little 500. It’s been confirmed USAC winner and 2023 Chili Bowl Champion, Logan Seavey has entered the 75th Annual Lucas Oil Little 500, presented by UAW. In his rookie attempt, Seavey will look to be the first driver ever to win the Chili Bowl and the Little 500 in the same year! It all starts Wednesday, May 24th at the historic Anderson Speedway. The race will be on Saturday, May 27th. Race day, fans will see all 33 non-wing sprint cars that qualified on track at 4:30 p.m. for a brief warm up session before they are gridded on the front stretch. A full field autograph session will take place at 5:30 p.m. and driver introductions will start at 7:15 p.m., before the drop of the green flag. 33 sprint cars in eleven rows of three will take the green flag at 8:00 p.m. 500 laps will be contested with a minimum of two pit stops taking place. The 75th Annual Lucas Oil Little 500 presented by UAW will pay over $136,000. The full schedule of the week’s activities is on the Anderson Speedway web page. So far, thirty-two of the best Non-wing Sprint Car drivers in the country have signed up to try and make this year’s field.
Two races and two wins in a row at Attica Raceway Park this season for McClure, Ohio’s Rusty Schlenk in his #91. Most fans would say Rusty has his car dialed in but does he? The three-time national UMP champion used a different line to win Friday, May 5th. Schlenk is a rim-rider, but he powered around the top and dominated the feature. Whatever it takes! He qualified 3rd with a time of 14.756. Rounding out the top 5 in the Late Model feature was 2. Casey Noonan, 3. JR Gentry, 4. Matt Irey, and 5. Devin Shiels. The 410-Winged Sprints were racing at Eldora, so the 305’s were the only open wheel class. The A-main went to Fremont Ohio’s Jamie Miller. Jamie is a former Attica track champion. It wasn’t easy. Miller had his work cut out for him in the 25 lap 305 Sprint feature. With two laps remaining, Kasey Jedrzejek was racing inside of Miller challenging for the lead when he hit one of the infield tires, ending his run. Miller cruised the final two laps for his 36th career division win at Attica Raceway Park. Dustin Stroup, Brandon Moore, Seth Schneider, and Jimmy McGrath rounded out the top five. In Dirt Truck action, Jamie Miller saw double duty as he got out of his 305 and into his truck. May 5th was the only appearance of the season at Attica for the Dirt Trucks. Jamie Miller and Keith Sorg put on a fantastic battle, racing side by side for many laps. Miller led laps 1-5 with Sorg taking over on lap six. Miller suffered a flat tire on the last lap and Sorg scored his third career Attica win over Dan Hennig, Brian Arnold, Jarel “Butch Latte” Perry and Dustin Keegan. Remember Friday, May 19th, the World of Outlaws (Sprints) are coming to Attica Raceway Park. The Kistler Engine Classic will pay $10,000.00 to win.
Saturday, May 6th at Fremont Speedway, Jamie Miller continued where he left off the night before in spectacular style, sweeping the weekend in the 305-Sprint division. Miller had to hold off several challenges from Mike Keegan and a late race restart to get his 39th career win at Fremont, putting him 12th on the track’s all-time win list. Finishing behind Miller, 2. Mike Keegan, 3. John Ivy, 4. Paul Weaver, and 5. Seth Schneider. In 410 Winged-Sprint action, Cap Henry racing for a new team (Jeff Ward of Sandusky), opened historic Fremont Speedway’s 72nd year on Johnny Auxter Opening Night. Henry, started seventh in the feature, took the lead from Travis Philo with just four laps to go in the non-stop 30-lap A-main, and drove to his 13th career win at “The Track That Action Built”. Finishing behind your leader 2. Travis Philo, 3. Michael, 4. Chris Andrews, and 5. Zeth Sabo. The Dirt Truck A-main was won by Jim Holcomb. For the complete rundown of 17 area Tri-state racetracks, go to Ohio Sports Blitz on Facebook. Until next week, keep your wheels down. Ron out!
