Coming off of a season where he was crowned the track champion in the Hornet Division at Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon, Colton Sullivan of Columbus decided to make the jump to the faster Super Stock class in 2015.
But the 19-year-old isn’t doing it in a brand new car; he is doing it in a car that was built nearly two decades ago by Jerry Adams of Columbus. Adams started out driving the car for several seasons before Sullivan’s grandfather, Dave Barnett of Columbus, took the reins behind the wheel. Adams then drove it a second time before the car was prepared for Sullivan to drive this season.
“I guess you can say there were no new-car bugs to get worked out of the car. It’s a lot faster and fun to drive this car than the Hornet. I learned a lot driving a Hornet and we did pretty good in it for a couple of years,” said Sullivan a 2014 graduate of Hauser High School.
Sullivan has won seven features in his brief career, with six of those wins coming at Twin Cities and the other at Brownstown Speedway.
“I would like to eventually move up to a Modified and hopefully someday drive a Late Model,” he said. “I would love to race for a living, but just being able to race every weekend is good enough for me right now.”
Sullivan, who is employed by Flambeau Products in Columbus, lists Billy Moyer of Batesville, Arkansas — the hall of fame late model driver — as his favorite racecar driver. Not a bad choice considering Moyer is one of the all-time great drivers and currently has 792 feature wins to his credit.
Sullivan started going to races when he was a mere week old, says his mother, Angie Barnett.
“I am glad he chose racing as his sport of choice,” she said. “There’s always some nervousness when he pulls out on the track. But I have complete faith in him and his abilities.”
Angie Barnett, like her son, has been around racing all of her life. Her dad, Dave, started racing in 1980 and raced until 2004. Her uncle, Don Barnett, started as well in 1980 and raced until a few years ago. Don passed away last year.
Her grandfather, Lloyd Jones, who passed away in 1997, owned cars for 15 years with Angie’s father and Jones’ son, Greg, taking turns behind the wheel.
Sullivan’s sponsors for the season include Catplus, Tony Ogle Expediting Services, B&M Salvage, Mike Burton Racing, BBC Racing Enterprises and Courtney’s Hair in Motion. His pit crew includes Dave, Sherry, and Angie Barnett, along with Greg Amick, James Griffth and Jerry Adams.
Local racing results
Brownstown Speedway, May 23
Super Late Model feature: 1. Devin Gilpin; 2. Cody Mahoney; 3. Jeremy Hines; 4. Joe Janowski; 5. Chad Stapleton.
Indiana Pro Late Model feature: 1. Brad Barrow; 2. Steve Barnett; 3. Marty O’Neal; 4. Steven Godsey; 5. Alan Magner.
Super Stock feature: 1. Tyler Cain; 2. Mike Fields; 3. Matt Boknecht; 4. Jack Frye; 5. Jamey Wilson.
Pure Stock feature: 1. Jason Combs; 2. Jim Ruddick 3. Branden Carr; 4. Chris Workman; 5. Quintin Strope.
Hornet feature: 1. Austin Burton; 2. Brian Mitchell; 3. Zack Burton; 4. J.J. Pendygraft; 5. Michael Hayes.
Twin Cities Raceway Park, May 23
Crate Late Model feature: 1. Remington Gill; 2. Brian Shewmaker; 3. Mike Bechelli; 4. Chad Fields; 5. Anthony Dunaway.
Modified feature: 1. Joe Godsey; 2. Joey Kramer; 3. Jeremy Owens; 4. Jacoby Hines; 5. Roy Bruce Jr.
Super Stock feature: 1. Troy Clark; 2. Josh Turner; 3. Jerry Adams; 4. Jeremy Helton; 5. Jared Burton.
Pure Stock feature: 1. Mark Bruce; 2. Willie Sallee; 3. Houston Roark; 4. Mickey Hines; 5. Donnie Wilson.
Hornet feature: 1. Bill Grant; 2. Todd Cain; 3. Cody Perry; 4. Brian Moore; 5. Daniel Moore.
Bloomington Speedway, May 22
Non-Wing Sprint feature: 1. Brady Short; 2. Nick Bilbee; 3. Dave Darland; 4. Chad Boespflug; 5. Kevin Thomas Jr.
Modified feature: 1. Devin Gilpin; 2. Roy Bruce Jr.; 3. Derek Groomer; 4. Chad Combs; 5. Jake Humphrey.
Super Sock feature: 1. Tyler Cain; 2. Matt Boknecht; 3. Travis Todd; 4. Troy Clark; 5. Steve Hollars.
Hornet feature: 1. Jeremy Smith; 2. Austin Burton; 3. Chris Taylor; 4. Matt Hamilton; 5. Greg Garrison.
RaceSaver Sprints feature: 1. Luke Bland; 2. Ryan Tusing; 3. Ethan Fleetwood; 4. Zach Hampton; 5. Kendall Ruble.
Eldora Speedway, Sunday
Late Model feature: 1. Matt Miller; 2. Matt Westfall; 3. Nick Latham; 4. Josh Rice; 5. Duane Chamberlain.
Modified feature: 1. Devin Gilpin; 2. Jerry Bowersock; 3. Joe Godsey; 4. Shawn Valenti; 5. Aaron Orr.
Shelby County Fairgrounds, May 23
MTQRL Midgets feature: 1. Ronnie Combs; 2. Rick Robinson; 3 Matt Arrington; 4. Callie Wolsiffer; 5. Aaron Percell.
Upcoming racing schedule
Brownstown Speedway, (812-358-5332)
Tonight: UMRA YQ Midgets, Hornet Enduro and Pure Stock Enduro.
Twin Cities Raceway Park, (812-346-7223)
Tonight: Super Late Models, Modifieds, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks and Hornets.
Lawrenceburg Speedway, (812-539-4700)
June 6: Non-Wing Sprints, Modifieds, Pure Stocks and Hornets.
Bloomington Speedway, (812-824-7400)
Friday: Non-Wing Sprints, Modifieds, Super Stocks, Hornets and RaceSaver Sprints.
Paragon Speedway, (765-537-2366)
June 6: Non-Wing Sprints, Super Srocks, Bombers, Pure Stocks and Hornets.
Eldora Speedway: (937-338-3815)
Thursday, Friday and June 6: Dirt Late Model Dream $100,000 to win.
