Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky, hosts its biggest event of the 2017 racing season tonight with the annual running of the Sunoco Race Fuels North-South 100 presented by Lucas Oil.
On tonight’s schedule will be the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and open wheel modifieds. The late models will run B-Mains and a $2,500-to-win non-qualifiers race, along with the 100-lap $50,000-to-win and $3,000-to-start feature event. The modifieds will race for a $2,000-to-win purse.
Festivities begin at 4:30 p.m. with the annual National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame ceremonies. Racing is scheduled to start at 7:30 pm. For more information, visit florencespeedway.com.
Among the likely 60-plus late models entrants are Columbus drivers Devin Gilpin, Nathan Vawter and Zak Blackwood, along with Edinburgh’s Chad Stapleton and the Bryan Bowman Motorsports from Seymour team of Adam Bowman and Cody Mahoney.
Gilpin wins another Brownstown feature
Devin Gilpin of Columbus won his tenth modified feature of the year on Aug. 5 at Brownstown Speedway. Gilpin had a side-by-side duel with Victor Lee of Danville, Kentucky, for most of the last half of the race before emerging victorious. Lee was second, with Ryan Thomas of Seymour taking third.
Brandon Reed of Edinburgh, driving for Columbus’ Brian Corbin, was fourth, with Chad Combs of Bloomington completing the top five.
Tanner English of Benton, Kentucky, won the Schaeffer’s Oil Iron Man Late Model Championship feature, taking $5,000 back to the Bluegrass State. It was English’s second win at Brownstown in 2017. John Whitney of Clarksville, Ohio, came home in second place, followed by Jason Jameson of Lawrenceburg, Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville and Chad Stapleton of Edinburgh.
Stapleton came back to win a thrilling Indiana Pro late models feature race. He outdueled Marty O’Neal of Spencer for the triumph. Tyler Neal of Paragon finished in third, with Austin Burns of Morgantown and Justin Shaw of Whiteland rounding out the top five drivers.
Jamey Wilson of Seymour continued to be the driver to beat in the super stock division, racking up another feature win. Aubrey Eagan of Bedford was the runner-up, with Colton Sullivan of Columbus grabbing the third position at the finish. Completing the top five were Tim Eddelman of Taylorsville and Levi Lokey of Vallonia.
Tim Rivers of Salem took the top spot in the pure stock feature event over Jason Combs of Seymour, Jeremy Huebner of Loogootee, Zachary Stalker of Heltonville and Derek Clegg of Nabb.
Brownstown will be idle tonight. The next scheduled program will the Hall of Fame Classic on Aug. 19. For more info, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
Petro tames Twin Cities
Randy Petro of Columbus captured the super stock feature on Aug. 5 at Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon. Danny Hupp of Scipio finished second to Petro, with Davey Waggoner of North Vernon taking third. Scott Beeler of Louisville was fourth, and Jaden Mayhan of Elizabethtown was fifth.
Remington Gill from Mitchell won the crate late model feature race over Mark Barber of North Vernon, Brad Erwin of Crothersville, Tyson Banks from Bedford and Columbus’ Brian Shewmaker.
Mark Hines of Scipio took the top finishing spot in the pure stock division main event. Hines won over Will McRoberts of Madison, Corebin McRoberts of Dupont, Ross Smith of Columbus and Tim Clark of North Vernon.
Jacoby Hines of Nineveh scored the win in the modified class. Jerry Adams of Elizabethtown trailed Hines to the checkers, with Jeff Deckard of Ellettsville claiming third. Dustin Golden of Bedford and Lee Hobbs of Mitchell completed the top five drivers.
Donnie Modesty of Seymour swept both hornet feature events, winning the July 22 rainout makeup and the regularly scheduled feature race.
Twin Cities will be back in action tonight with a full slate of crate late models, modifieds, super stocks, pure stocks and hornets. For more information, visit twincitiestrack.com.
Cain victorious at Terre Haute
The Indiana Late Model Series visited Terre Haute Action Track on Sunday. Tyler Cain of Seymour took the win at the historic half-mile track. Chad Stapleton finished second, followed by Tyler Neal, Justin Shaw and Austin Burns.
Thomas wins Haubstadt special
Kevin Thomas Jr. won the Hoosier Sprint Nationals on Aug. 5 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, earning $5,000 for the win. Kyle Cummins would come home in second place, with Brady Short of Bedford taking third at the stripe. Robert Ballou was fourth, with Thomas Meseraull fifth. Dave Beck won the modified feature, and Rod Henning took the mini-sprint feature.
Leary wins Lawrenceburg
C.J. Leary won the sprint car feature on Aug. 5 at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Nick Bilbee was second, with Shawn Westerfeld taking third. Joss Moffatt of Columbus took fourth, and Jordan Kinser completed the top five.
Matt Hamilton won his third modified feature of the year at Lawrenceburg over David Spille, Brad Wieck, Brian Gray and Pete Holt. Bill Grant won the hornet main event, and Chris Combs took the pure stock feature.
Lawrenceburg will be off tonight in preparation for next weekend’s Dick Gaines Memorial on Aug. 19. For more info, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com.
Salem hosts memorial race tonight
Salem Speedway will host the 58th Annual Joe James/Oat O’Connor Memorial Race tonight at the legendary half-mile race track located just outside of Salem. The event for the USAC Silver Crown cars will also be ran in conjunction with the Lucas Oil Great American Stocks. For more information, visit salemspeedway.com.
Bloomington back on track Friday
After two weeks off, Bloomington Speedway will head into the stretch run of its 2017 racing schedule with the Leon Gentry Classic for sprint cars Friday. Also on the race docket wil be the RaceSaver sprints, modifieds, and three-quarter midgets. For more info, visit bloomingtonspeedway.com.
This week in racing history
At Bloomington Speedway 50 years ago in 1967, Don Nordhorn won the supermodified feature over Cecil Beavers, Don Jackson, Bob Papoy and Calvin Gilstrap.
Also from 1967, Jack Owens won the late model feature at 25th Street Speedway in Columbus. Owens held off Columbus’ Gene Petro for the win.
From 30 years ago in 1987, Ray Godsey won the late model feature at Twin Cities. Steve Barnett was second, with Kevin Claycomb taking third. Mike Gibbs and Russ Petro of Columbus completed the top five.
Bob Pierce won the late model feature at Brownstown on this weekend in 1987. Paul Crockett was second, with Jim Curry finishing third. Paul Shafer and John Gill followed.
Joe Johnson of North Vernon won the street stock feature at Brownstown over Dennis Hobbs, Scott Patman, Ray Hughes of North Vernon and Randy Petro of Columbus.
From 1987 at Bloomington, Jeff Gordon won the sprint car feature. The future NASCAR champion won over Mickey Smith, Pete Abel of Columbus, Kerry Norris of Columbus and Bob Kinser. Larry Harris won the street stock main event.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected].
