An excellent field of 90 go-karts participated in the 2019 opening for the Columbus Go-Kart Racing at the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds on April 6.
Several local racers who participated came home winners. The winners in their respective classes were as follows: R.T. Lowe of Columbus (Predator 212 and Flathead 390), Elijah Knoke of Columbus (Jr1), T.J. Garris of Columbus (Jr1), Columbus native Gene Wheeler (341), Travis Wilburn of Milan (Clone 425), Cory Vanover of Memphis (Clone 380), Gary Cunningham of Greensburg (RWYB), Juan Grino of Greencastle (Yamaha), Billy Dalton (Vintage), Jameson Reed (Rookie) and Jacobi Clark (Jr2).
Racing will continue tonight at the Bartholomew County Fairgrounds. For more info, call 812-603-8704.
Twin Cities results
Joey Kramer of Hanover made it 2 for 2 in 2019 by winning the crate late model feature at Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon on April 6. Mark Barber of North Vernon placed second, with Keegan Cox of Franklin third. The rest of the top five finishers were Tyler Collins of North Vernon and Bill Sheets of Milan.
The rest of the top 10 finishers in the crate late model feature were Dylan Norman, Adam Bowman, JI Couch, Paul Ortman and Ethan Burgess.
Troy Clark of North Vernon continued to be the driver to beat in the pure stock class when he captured the feature event. Dusten Carr of Underwood finished second to Clark, with Bryson Clark of North Vernon, the winner’s son, taking third. Charles Newby of Seymour and William Burton of North Vernon rounded out the top five.
The remainder of the top 10 in the pure stock feature were Josh Turner, Keaton Streeval, Daniel Hupp, Ralph Lane and Glynn Neal.
Trent Green of Milton, Kentucky, won the open wheel modified main event over John Trowbridge of Hayden, Nathan Krengle of Lafayette, Cody Hegreberg of Milton, Kentucky, and Mike Bechelli of Elizabethtown.
The rest of the top 10 were Lee Hobbs, Jerry Adams, Brandon Ramsey, Jacoby Hines and Derrick Huber.
Doug McCullough of Greencastle won his first super stock feature of the year at Twin Cities, taking the victory over Tim Eddelman of Taylorsville, Ross Smith of Columbus, Austin Burton of Edinburgh and Danny Hupp of Scipio.
Completing the top 10 were Austin Perry, Sam Arthur, Lindsay Wade, Jamie Laufer and Robert Pardo.
Andy Anderson of North Vernon win the hornet feature race over Jamie Laufer of Madison, Bryce Burton of Edinburgh, Marc Ruddick and Warren Laufer of Madison.
Rounding out the top 10 in the hornet feature were William Moyer, Daniel Moore, Chanteal Zimmerman, Owen Cosman and Tony Napier Sr.
Twin Cities will be racing tonight with a program consisting of crate late models, super stocks, pure stocks, hornets and the opening race of the year for the UMRA King of the TQ Midgets. For further info, visit twincitiestrack.com.
Brownstown results
Isaac Rainey of Bedford scored his first career Indiana Pro Late Model Series win on April 6 at Brownstown Speedway. Shelby Miles of Bloomington was second, with Tyler Cain of Seymour, Zack Burton of Edinburgh and Brad Barrow of Bloomington completing the top five.
The rest of the top 10 in the pro late model feature were Justin Shaw, Justin Bowling, Joshua Harris, Marty O’Neal and Raymond Humphrey.
Defending modified track champion Matt Boknecht of Seymour won his first feature of the year in winning over Zach Fair of Petersburg, Wes Leigh of Linton, Jeff Stith of Louisville and Nathan Voorhies of Bedford. Boknecht’s win was his 39th in the division. He holds the Brownstown Speedway all-time record with 8 career track championships in the modified division.
The rest of the top 10 finishers in the modified feature were Jarod Fleetwood, Lucas Wehmiller, Jeremy Owens, Tim Rivers and Jarod Deckard.
Tucker Chastain of Bedford won his first ever super stock feature at Brownstown, taking the victory over Josh Divine of Loogootee, Tim Schumpe of Vallonia, Marty Cooper of Franklin and Steve Hollars of Bloomington.
The rest of the top 10 in the super stock feature were Brad Frye, Tommy East, Webb Lee, Dana McRae and Tom Plotz.
Rick Gumm of Tampico won his 13th consecutive Brownstown Speedway pure stock feature. Ronnie Pardue of Arlington was second, with Jeremy Huebner of Loogootee third and Michael Cranmer of Jeffersonville and Donnie Wilson of North Vernon trailing.
Completing the top 10 drivers in the pure stock feature were Josh Hayes, Mike Bailey, Tanner Chastain, Zachary Stalker and David Palmer.
Trent Adams of Columbus took the top honors in the hornet division, taking the win over A.J. Hobbs of Bedford, Andy Brown of Spencer, Josh Hallett of Brownstown and Dale Hobbs of Needmore.
Brownstown will be back in action tonight with the MARS super late model racing series, paying $5,000 to win for its feature race. Also on the schedule tonight will be the pro late models, modified, super stocks and pure stocks. For more info, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
Gaines wins Lawrenceburg opener
Second-generation racer Dickie Gaines of Mitchell won the season opening sprint car race on April 6 at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Gaines took the win over a pair of Columbus drivers, Joss Moffatt and Dakota Jackson. Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was fourth, and Jarett Andretti of Indianapolis placed fourth.
Matt Hamilton of Aurora won the opening modified feature of the year over Josh Morton, Kyle Schornick of Milan, Brad Wieck of Cincinnati and Mike Weber.
Salem opener is Sunday
Salem Speedway will open for the 2019 racing season Sunday with the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 for the ARCA Racing Series. The event starts at 2 p.m. Also, the race will be broadcast live on MAVTV. For more info, visit salemspeed way.com.
This week in
racing history
From 30 years ago in 1989 at Brownstown Speedway, Don Hobbs won the late model feature race over C.J. Rayburn, Paul Shafer, Steve Barnett and Roger Long. Mark Barber won the street stock feature over Steve Kimberlin, Earl Plessinger, Steve Trabue and Mike Fields. Randy Petro captured the bomber feature over Bob Schrader, Shannon Stewart, Daryl Leveridge and Mike Moore.
From 20 years ago in 1999 at Brownstown, Don O’Neal won the late model feature over Duane Chamberlain, Mark Barber, Jim Curry and James Huff. Joe Johnson took the street stock main over Tim Clark, Tom Allman, Jason Hehman and Tom Plotz. Jim Holman was victorious in the mini-stock feature over Phil Fultz, Henry Happle, Tom Mahoney and Jim Moon.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected].
