By James Essex
Columbus native Tony Stewart participated in his first career Little 500 at Anderson Speedway on May 27 and finished third. The traditional sprint-car race is conducted the night before the Indianapolis 500.
Kyle Hamilton came home the winner of the 69th annual running of the event before a sellout crowd.
Bobby Santos III finished in second, and Stewart, a rookie in the event, was third in the Hoffman Racing No. 69 entry. He finished ahead of defending race winner Kody Swanson, who was fourth, and Caleb Armstrong, who came home fifth.
Swanson wins USAC at Lucas Oil
Swanson was the winner of the USAC Silver Crown race at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg. The event, dubbed “The Carb Night Classic,” was conducted May 26. Swanson won the 100-lap event over Bobby Santos, Tanner Swanson, Chris Windom and Aaron Pierce. Joss Moffatt of Columbus finished 12th in a car owned by Roger Williams of St. Paul.
Taylorsville racer wins at Brownstown
Tim Eddelman of Taylorsville won the super stocks feature on Sunday at Brownstown Speedway. It was Eddelman’s first feature win of the season. Jason Hehman of Brownstown was second, with Jamey Wilson of Seymour finishing third. The rest of the top-five finishers were Aubrey Eagan of Bedford and Steve Hollars of Bloomington.
Eddelman’s car is sponsored by Tyree’s Trim Shop, Kroot Corporation, Jamie Williams Graphics, JT Sealcoating and Striping, Wedan’s Speed Shop and Pieman Speed Shop.
Devin Gilpin of Columbus won his third modifieds main event over Chad Combs of Bloomington, Jeremy Owens of North Vernon, Matt Boknecht of Seymour and Rick Gumm of Tampico.
Steve Casebolt won his first-ever feature at Brownstown Speedway. The Richmond driver won the $3,000-to-win MARS late models main event. Casebolt now drives for North Vernon car owner Jim Beeman. Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, North Carolina finished second to Casebolt in the main event. Devin Gilpin was third and Kent Robinson of Bloomington was fourth and Tanner English of Benton, Kentucky, came home in fifth.
Marty O’Neal of Spencer won the Indiana Pro Late Model Series feature race at Brownstown over Tyler Cain of Seymour, Justin Shaw of Whiteland, Skyller Lewis of Brownstown and Remington Gill from Mitchell.
Jason Combs of Seymour grabbed his first pure stocks feature of the year over Tim Rivers of Salem, Zachary Stalker of Heltonville, Jim Ruddick of Seymour and Roger Absher of Franklin.
Brownstown will host a $1,500-to-win modifieds special tonight along with super late models, Indiana Pro late models, super stocks and pure stocks on the race program. For more info, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
Twin Cities gets a race in
After several weeks of inclement weather, Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon got back into action Sunday.
Mark Barber of North Vernon returned to Victory Lane by winning the crate late models feature race.
Brad Erwin of Crothersville finished second, followed by Tyson Banks of Bedford, Jeff Patterson of North Vernon and Curt Bennett of Clarksville.
Clayton Perry of North Vernon won the super stocks main event. Danny Hupp of Scipio was second, and Scott Beeler of Louisville was third. Completing the top five were Ross Smith of Columbus and Lindsay Wade of Nashville.
Mark Bruce, the defending pure stocks champion, won the feature race at Twin Cities over Troy Clark of North Vernon, Houston Roark of Dupont, Corebin McRoberts of Dupont and William Burton of North Vernon.
Gregg O’Neill of Mooresville captured the hornets feature. Jacob Owens of North Vernon came across the line in second, followed by Tony Napier II of North Vernon, Owen Cosman of Martinsville and Tony Napier Sr. of North Vernon.
Dakota Jackson of Elizabethtown was victorious in the 305 RaceSaver Sprint Car feature. Andy Bradley of Bloomington was second, and Ryan Tusing claimed third. Jake Hesser and John Paynter Jr. completed the top five drivers.
Twin Cities is racing a regular show tonight with crate late models, super stocks, pure stocks, hornets and TQ midgets. For more info, visit twincitiestrack.com.
Josh Burton Memorial at Bloomington
Kevin Thomas Jr. of Avon won the Annual Josh Burton Memorial for sprints on May 27 at Bloomington Speedway. A.J. Hopkins of Brownsburg finished second, followed by Tyler Thomas of Collinsville, Oklahoma. Jordan Kinser of Bedford and Shane Cockrum of Benton, Illinois, completed the top five.
Devin Gilpin won the modifieds main event at Bloomington. Bradley Sterrett trailed the Columbus driver across the finish line in second. Matt Tiller of Bloomington, Sam Wray of Bloomington and Jordan Wever, also of Bloomington, completed the top five.
Josh Divine of Loogootee took the super stocks main event. Steve Peeden of Paragon was second, with Jamey Wilson of Seymour third. Jason Hehman of Brownstown was fourth, and Steve Hollars was fifth.
World of Outlaws at Lawrenceburg
On a special Memorial Day edition, Lawrenceburg Speedway hosted the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series. Shane Stewart came home the winner in a very exciting race over NASCAR driver Kyle Larson, who finished in second. Current points leader and driver for Tony Stewart Racing, Donny Schatz was third, with Brad Sweet and Paul McMahan rounding out the top five.
Lawrenceburg is idle tonight and will return to racing action on June 10. For more info, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com.
Noonan wins at Eldora
Casey Noonan of Sylvania, Ohio, won the Sunoco American Late Model feature event on Monday at Tony
Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Rusty Schlenk finished second, followed by Kent Robinson of Bloomington. Jacob Hawkins and Andrew Reaume completed the top five.
Eldora will host the Dirt Late Model Dream Thursday through Saturday, with the Saturday Night finale paying $100,000 to win. For ticket info, visit eldoraspeedway.com.
This week in racing history
This weekend in 1967, Jack Owens won the late models feature at 25th Street Speedway in Columbus. Gene Sutton finished second, with Paul Crockett, Jim Reichenba and Calvin Brishaber completing the top five drivers.
Also 50 years ago, Paul Crockett won the late models feature at Brownstown. Gene Sutton was second, with Larry Wilcox taking third. Jim Haley and Joe Bowles rounded out the top five.
At Brownstown from 1977, Ira Bastin came from the eighth starting spot to win the late models feature. Jim Curry finished second, followed by Bob Fleetwood, Ray Godsey and Paul Crockett.
In the hobby stocks feature at Brownstown, it was Scott Taskey of Columbus taking the win. Rick Haven was second, followed by Darrell Smallwood of Columbus, John Mull and Theron Straley.
Also 40 years ago in 1977, Dick Gaines won the sprint-car feature at Bloomington. Bob Kinser placed second, followed by Ron Dorsett, Tony Solomito and Kerry Norris of Columbus.
Scott Taskey of Columbus won the hobby feature event at Bloomington, outdistancing Powell Ballard of Columbus, Russ Petro of Columbus, Jim Maxwell and Doc Wiles for the win.
Also 30 years ago in 1987 at Brownstown, Charlie Sentman won the late models main event over Paul Crockett, Don Hobbs, Kevin Claycomb and Bob Pierce.
Terry Arthur captured the street stocks feature over Mike Fields, Ray Hughes of North Vernon, Steve Kimberlin and Bo Bland.
Dill Whittymore won the late models feature 30 years ago at Twin Cities. Mike Gibbs finished second, and Marty O’Neal was third. Completing the top five were Sam Murphy and Darrell Smallwood.
Phil Fultz of Clifford won the street stocks main at Twin Cities over Mark Barber of North Vernon, Jeff Wilson, Jeff Daugherty and Mark Clark of North Vernon.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected].
