Kevin Cunningham of Westport stands victorious on top of his car after winning the All Star TQ Midget Race July 4 at the Rush County 4-H Fairgrounds in Rushville.
Kevin Cunningham of Westport won the All Star TQ Midget feature race July 4 at the Rush County 4-H Fairgrounds in Rushville. Collin May was second, followed by Hunter Rabourn, Jayden Gorman and Landon Browning.
The next All Star TQ Midget race will be July 19 at the Ripley County 4-H Fairgrounds in Osgood.
O’Neal wins in Ohio
Hudson O’Neal of Hope came from the sixth starting spot to pass race leader Jonathan Davenport on Lap 44 and went on to win the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Freedom 60 July 5 at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio. O’Neal’s third series win of the season paid $25,000 to win out of a feature purse of over $82,000.
Davenport crossed the finish line in second, just 0.515-second behind O’Neal, but he failed post-race tech when his droop limiter chain was not tight, which moved him to 25th place in the finishing order.
Garrett Alberson, who was third at the finish, was moved into the second position in the final rundown. Brandon Sheppard, the previous night’s winner at Atomic and the leader of the first eight laps of the 60-lap main event rounded out the Big River Steel Podium in third.
In Lucas Oil Victory Lane for the 32nd time in his career, the 2023 LOLMDS National Champion went to victory lane at Muskingum County for the second time in his career with his first win coming in his championship season survived a slider by Davenport in the closing laps to take home the win after Davenport had led Laps 9 through 43.
“That was the advantage of not being out in the lead like Jonathan was. I was able to kind of drive some lines there, and I found that bottom and at first, whenever I tried, it didn’t quite have the speed to drive all the way to the lead, but as that top slowed down, I got a little better, and this car was amazing. Hats off to Jason Durham and my crew. They gave me an outstanding race car. They made the right decisions on tires and all the things,” said the 2023 series champion.
“I was really good getting into (Turn) 3 and being able to get out there and come back down the hill. It was awesome. Everything played out right tonight. I was able to drive up through there in the heat race, and have a good starting spot in the feature was the main thing for us. I appreciate all of the fans who came out tonight and the Moran Family and Muskingum for giving us a great race track to race on.”
Garrett wins at Putnamville
Carson Garrett had to wait 96 career USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature starts for this very moment. A couple late cautions weren’t going to derail him in his pursuit of victory.
The Littleton, Colorado, racer finally broke through to become a first-time series winner during the July 5 $10,000-to-win Sprintacular finale at Putnamville’s Honest Abe Roofing Lincoln Park Speedway.
In a race-long duel alongside fellow first-time USAC winning hopeful Hayden Reinbold, Garrett fell in and out of the top spot four different times before making the winning move with eight laps remaining, then survived multiple restart attempts down the stretch at the wheel of his Epperson Racing/Epperson Painting–Sherwin Williams–BGE Motorsports/DRC/Claxton Chevy.
The victory was also the first for longtime competitors Epperson Racing in USAC competition in nearly six seasons. Overall, it’s the team’s third USAC score with a third different driver after previously capturing wins with Tyler Thomas at Kokomo Speedway in 2018 and Shane Cottle at Gas City I-69 Speedway in 2019.
“We’ve struggled for quite a while this year,” Garrett admitted. “This means a lot to me and my family, everyone who’s helped me along the way. I wouldn’t want to have anybody else here helping me out. It’s just awesome to put this thing in Victory Lane.”
Garrett’s previous best USAC National Sprint Car result was a narrow second-place finish by a mere .093-second to Mitchel Moles at Illinois’ Macon Speedway in 2023. Starting from the outside of the front row July 5, Garrett took control early on to lead the initial 13 laps around the 5/16-mile dirt oval.
Early race contender, series point leader and April Lincoln Park USAC winner Kyle Cummins spun to a stop after contact with Reinbold in Turn 3 amid a battle for the second position. Later in the race, while running 13th on Lap 30, Cummins found himself turned around again after contact with Geoff Ensign.
Cummins ultimately finished 16th, thus ending his incredible USAC National Sprint Car record streak of 22 consecutive top-10 finishes to begin the season. Cummins broke the former record of 21 one night ago, which had been held by C.J. Leary since 2019.
Former Twin Cities champ passes away
Merrill Wilson of North Vernon passed away May 23. He was 83 years old. He was a regular competitor at Twin Cities from the 1960s through the 1990s and was the 1968 and 1969 track champion at Twin Cities. His son Jeff was the 1998 Northern Allstars Late Model Dirt Series champion.
This week in racing history
From 70 years ago in 1955 at Columbus Speedway, Jim Quillen won the stock car feature over Barber Boy Hurley, Bill Conner, Johnny Poore and Ted Pfeiffer.
From 60 years ago in 1965 at Brownstown, Gene Sutton won the feature race over Galen Fox, Paul Harris, Don Cockerham and Cecil Wilkerson.
Also in 1965 at Bloomington, Dick Gaines won the 100-lap super modified feature over Ross Smith, Calvin Gilstrap, Sheldon Kinser and Mike Johnson.
From 50 years ago tonight at Brownstown, Jim Curry won the late model feature over Ira Bastin, Paul Crockett, Noel Witcher and John Davis. Herman Burton won the hobby stock feature over Ed Covey and Gary Turner.
Also in 1975 at Twin Cities, Johnny Robbins won the 6-cylinder feature over Denny Long, Jim Raymer, Dee Kramer and Bruce Steinert. Harold Lucas won the hobby stock feature over Dave Palmer, Russ Smiley, Otis McConnell and Clyde James.
In 1975 at Bloomington, Russ Petro won the late model feature over Ira Bastin, Don Hobbs, William Wampler and Buck Ridenour. Calvin Gilstrap won the sprint car feature over Bob Kinser, Bobby Black, Steve Long and Tom Brummett.
Also from 50 years ago at Haubstadt, Cliff Cockrum won the sprint car feature over Frank Hollingsworth, Larry Miller, Larry Goad and Ricky Hood. Jesse Ladd won the late model feature over Fred Gerteisen, Wayne Coakley, Jerry Inmon and Jim Scales.
From 40 years ago in 1985 at Brownstown, Paul Shafer won the late model feature over Steve Boley, Lee Fleetwood, John Gill and Barry Magers. Rick Hines won the modified street stock feature over Mike Jewell, Steve Trabue, Earl Plessinger and Mike Bechelli.
Also in 1985, the Columbus Kart Club winners were Tia Ault, Rick Hudson, Bob McClure, Josh Ritter, Jim Waskom and Bill Ault.
In 1985 at Paragon, Randy Kinser won the sprint car feature over Tray House, Robbie Stanley, Kevin Huntley and Mark Cummins. Gary Barrow won the limited late model feature over Marvin O’Neal, Mike McMahon, Don Duncan and Dave Peeden.
From 30 years ago in 1995 at Brownstown, Mike Jewell won the late model feature over Steve Barnett, Gary Barrow, Doug Ault and Kevin Claycomb. Tim Clark won the street stock feature over Randy Petro, Chris Newcomb, Joe Johnson and Greg Roberts. Daryl Herbert won the modified feature over Scott Patman, Merrill Downey, John Davis and Buddy Cunningham. Terrence Johnson won the bomber feature over Tim Finch, Bobby Johnson, Vernon Soeder and Ray Godsey Jr.
From 1995 at Lawrenceburg, Jack Hewitt won the USAC sprint car feature over Doug Kalitta, Kevin Briscoe, Bill Rose and Dave Darland. Steve King won the modified feature over on Jolliff Jr., Tim Johnson, Danny Eichler and Tom Huber. Phil Dabbs won the pro stock feature over Larry Traficant, Danny Eichler, Willie Klepper and Mark Kowarsch.
Upcoming local racing schedule
Tonight: Brownstown Speedway – Don Russ Memorial for pure stocks, plus pro late models, super stocks, crown vics and hornets. Foe more information, visit brownstownspeedway.com
Tonight: Paragon Speedway – BOSS sprints, bombers, modifieds and midgets. For more information, visit paragonspeedway.com
Tonight: Florence Speedway – High Limit Sprint Cars, plus super late models. For more information, visit florencespeedway.com
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to sports@therepublic.com
