Columbus racer making progress in new division

Broc Burton of Columbus is participating in his first year in a super late model. Weather permitting, he plans to race tonight and Thursday at Brownstown Speedway.

Broc Burton of Columbus knew it wouldn’t be easy moving into the super late model division after several years of racing an open wheel modified and sprint car. But after two races, he has been satisfied with his progress despite all of the rainouts the local dirt tracks have suffered in 2019.

Burton is currently 14th in the Brownstown Speedway super late model point standings. But again, several opportunities to be on the track have been thwarted by mother nature.

Burton made his super late model debut on April 13 at Brownstown during the MARS-sanctioned race, but was caught up in an accident not of his doing and was forced to retire from the event. He was credited with a 20th-place finish. The next event Burton competed in was the June 1 show at Brownstown, where he came home in ninth.

“My first year in a late model has been exciting. It’s been sort of a fulfillment. I can now say that I have competed in almost all of the major divisions in dirt racing in my career,” the 33-year-old racer said. “The learning curve has been a little more of a mechanical one. I think as far as the racing goes, my experience in other forms has helped me make the transition. I definitely still have some things to learn, but the biggest change has been some of the engineering differences between the divisions.

“Step 1 is to make laps; Step 2 is to make races. Making the MARS series race opening night was huge for me, even though I got caught in someone else’s crash. I think if we can find some speed and compete upfront weekly, I’ll be very happy. Being competitive every time we unload is the ultimate goal. And of course, winning some races would be nice, too. But with an older car we updated and an engine out of my modified being able to race with some of the cars we have, I feel like we are headed the right way for being competitive.”

Burton plans to be in action tonight at Brownstown and again Thursday for the Summernationals event.

Brownstown racing tonight

Brownstown Speedway will be in action tonight, weather permitting, with the Hoosier Dirt Classic for super late models. Also competing will be pro late models, modifieds, super stocks and a pure stock special. Brownstown will also be racing on Thursday with the UMP Summernationals, a $5000-to-win event for super late models. Also racing Thursday will be modifieds and super stocks. Last weekend’s event was rained out. For more info, visit brownstownspeedway.com.

Twin Cities off tonight

After being rained out on June 15, Twin Cities Raceway Park will be dark tonight and on June 29.

The next scheduled event at Twin Cities will be on July 6 with the Mark Clark Memorial for super stocks. Also in action will be crate late models, modifieds, pure stocks, hornets and 305 RaceSaver sprints. For more info, visit twincitiestrack.com.

Lawrenceburg off tonight

After being rained out June 15, Lawrenceburg Speedway will be idle tonight. The next scheduled event will be on June 29.

UMRA results from Salem

The UMRA King of the TQ Midgets were in action on June 14 at the Thunder Valley Raceway in Salem.

Joey Paxson picked up the feature win over Ron Combs, Cory Clay, Robbie Roland and Matt Lux. The rest of the top ten finishers were Tate Martz, Johnny Goff, Johnny Kringas, Ashlea Albertson and Matthew Hedrick.

The next UMRA event is tonight at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.

Paragon race results

Travis Berryhill topped the sprint car division on June 14 at Paragon Speedway. A total of 47 sprint cars were on hand for the evening. Colten Cottle finished second to Berryhill, followed by Josh Cunningham, Brayden Fox and Tim Creech II.

Jordan Wever won the open wheel modified feature over Levi Ray Godsey, Nathan Voorhees, Roby Brickert and Tyler Loughmiller

Paragon’s next event will be on Friday with sprints, modifieds, super stocks, bombers and hornets. For more info, visit paragonspeedway.com.

This week in racing history

From 60 years ago in 1959 at Columbus Speedway, it was Orval Yeadon winning the feature race over Kenny Baker.

On this weekend in 1969 at 25th Street Speedway in Columbus, the feature winner was Bill Kimmel over Pete Willoughby, Mack Pace, Paul Crockett and Teako Ray.

From 50 years ago in 1969 at Bloomington Speedway, Dick Gaines won the feature race over Kenny Simpson, Cecil Beavers, Don Baker and Bill Forney.

Also from 1969 at Brownstown, the feature winner was Jack Owens over Ray, Paul Hobbs, Gaines and Baker.

From 40 years ago in 1979, Ron Hoover won the late model feature at Twin Cities over Johnny Robbins, Chuck Gilpin, Russ Petro and Tommy Day.

Also from 1979, second-generation driver Pete Willoughby won his first career late model feature at Brownstown over Jim Curry, Steve Trabue, Ray Godsey and Kenny Simpson. Jack Taylor took the hobby stock main over Daryl Herbert, Cooley Singer, Steve Rollins and Larry Harris.

From 30 years ago in 1989, John Gill won the Hoosier Dirt Classic at Brownstown over Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, Jim Curry and Steve Barnett. Joe Johnson won the street stock feature over Keith Deppe, Tom Seadler, Scott Patman and Mark Barber. The bomber feature victories went to Perry Bruce and Bob Johnson.

Also from 1989 at Twin Cities, the late model feature winner was Charlie Sentman over Lee Fleetwood and Ernie Barrow. Scott McKeand won the street stock feature over Mark Clark and Tim Clark. Eddie Kindred took the bomber feature over Don Walp and Bub Crawhorn.

From 20 years ago in 1999, Don O’Neal won the Hoosier Dirt Classic at Brownstown over Bart Hartman, Kevin Claycomb, Kevin Weaver and Scott Smith. Randy Petro took the modified feature over Matt Boknecht, Nelson Gingery, Scott Patman and Brad Cummings. Terrence Johnson won the bomber main over Matt Bex, Darrell Dearing, Vernon Soeder and Robbie Palmer.

Also, from 1999 at Lawrenceburg, it was Allen Barr winning the modified feature over Craig Pruitt, Ron Jolliff Jr., Doug Wethington and Gary Burton.

In 1999 on this weekend at Bloomington, Don O’Neal won the late model feature over Steve Barnett, Ernie Barrow, Steve Casebolt and Marty O’Neal. Gary Trammell won the modified feature over Kerry Norris, Troy Jarvis, Matt Tiller and Terry Trammell. Denny Campbell won the street stock main over Rusty Smiley, Gregg O’Neill, Joe Deckard and Terry Arthur.

At Twin Cities in 1999, the street stock feature winner was Joey Kramer over Joe Johnson, Donnie Wilson, Dave Barnett and Colin Vaughn. Phil Fultz grabbed the mini-stock feature over Seth Hull, Jim Holman, Pay Wright and Willie McRoberts.

James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected].