Rick Robinson of Columbus, in his Pace Engineering-sponsored three-quarter midget, held off the competition to win his first UMRA King of the TQ Midgets race on Sept. 21 at Brownstown Speedway.
For the 51-year-old racer, it was his first feature win of the season. Joey Paxson of Connersville finished in second, with Tate Martz of Rushville, Robbie Roland of Carthage and Jason Setser of Columbus completing the top-five drivers.
Matthew Hedrick of Rushville is still atop the points standings ahead of Martz, Paxson, Ron Combs of Greensburg and Matt Lux of Manilla.
The final two events of the 2018 season will be during Fun Fest at Brownstown Speedway on Oct. 12 and 13.
USAC 4 Crown at Eldora
C.J. Leary took the top honors in the USAC Silver Crown event on Sept. 22 at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Leary held off Kevin Thomas Jr. for the win. Shane Cottle placed third, followed by Jason McDougal and Kody Swanson.
Tyler Courtney was the top man in the AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car division, winning the feature event. Leary finished second in the race, followed by Isaac Chapple, Thomas and Chris Windom.
Courtney also won the USAC Midget feature race, holding off Justin Grant, Logan Seavey, Thomas and Tanner Carrick for the victory.
Pierce wins Jackson 100
Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Illinois, won the $20,000-to-win 39th Annual Jackson 100 on Sunday 23 at Brownstown Speedway. For Pierce, it was his third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season and his first ever late model win at Brownstown.
Pierce passed race-leader Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Georgia, heading to the white flag and held off the current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series points leader for the thrilling win. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, New York, finished in third, followed by Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tennessee, and Darrell Lanigan of Union, Kentucky.
Pierce, in Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the ninth time in his career, was breathless in his post-race interview.
“Wow. Out of all of the places to win my first big race of the season, I didn’t think it would happen here at Brownstown. You have to stay so focused here. It gets really slick. To finish second to JD would not have been bad. Thanks to all the fans for coming. I don’t know what to say my emotions have taken over.”
“It’s been a long year. We have been so close to getting some big wins, to finally get it feels really good. I have got to thank my dad and Danny Myers. I didn’t think it would work what they suggested. I think I won a kid modz race here before, but this is obviously very special. This track has such a great racing history.”
“On that last restart, I didn’t know if I could stay with (Davenport), but on the long-run, I think I was better than him. It worked out. I don’t know how it did. I can’t wait to watch the replay of this race.”
Mike Fields of Scottsburg vaulted by Aubrey Eagan of Bedford just past the halfway mark to win his seventh super stock feature of 2018 the track. Eagan came home in second, followed by Jason Hehman of Brownstown, Jeremy Hines of Seymour and Tim Eddelman of Taylorsville.
Derek Groomer of Bloomington won his first open wheel modified feature of the year at Brownstown by outrunning Tyler Nicely of Owensboro, Kentucky, who had entered the day on a three-race win streak at Brownstown. Earl Plessinger of Lexington was third, with Jeremy Owens of North Vernon and Jordan Wever of Bloomington completing the top five.
On Sept. 21 at Brownstown, Don O’Neal of Martinsville outran his older brother Marty for the victory in the Bowman 50 for the Indiana Pro late model series. Justin Shaw of Greenwood was third behind the O’Neals, with Shelby Miles of Bloomington and Steven Godsey of Bedford trailing.
In the pure stock division, Rick Gumm of Tampico won his seventh straight main event. Troy Clark led early in the feature until Gumm got around him. Clark would finish in second, with Zachary Stalker of Heltonville taking third. Keaton Streeval of Edinburgh was fourth, with Jim Ruddick of Seymour finishing in fifth.
The hornet winner was Donnie Modesty of Seymour, who won his second Brownstown feature of the season. Hunter Perry of Columbus came home second in the final rundown, with Josh Hallett of Brownstown, Andrew Deavers of Mitchell and Daniel Hobbs of Bloomington rounding out the top-five drivers.
Brownstown will be back in action tonight with the Indiana Pro late models, modifieds, super stocks, pure stocks and hornets. For further info, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
Twin Cities racing tonight
Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon will be in action tonight with a regular program of crate late models, hornets, pure stocks, modifieds and super stocks. For more info, visit twincitiestrack.com.
The current points leaders in their respective divisions at Twin Cities are Mark Barber of North Vernon (crate late models), Donnie Modesty of Seymour (hornets), Daniel Hupp of Scipio (super stocks), Troy Clark of North Vernon (pure stocks) and Mike Bechelli of Elizabethtown (modifieds).
Lawrenceburg hosts USAC
Lawrenceburg Speedway closes out its 2018 racing season tonight with the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series plus open wheel modifieds and VARC series. For more information,l visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com.
Go-kart racing to return
The Columbus Speedway Go-Kart Racing at the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds will return on Friday and Oct. 6. On Friday, there will be a regular show, followed on Oct. 6 with the Midwest Dirt Classic.
This week in racing history
From 50 years ago in 1968, Gene Petro was named the track champion for the season at 25th Street Speedway in Columbus. Jack Owens and Gene Dalton finished second and third in the points behind the veteran Columbus racer.
