Luther Burton raced for 30-plus years, but the Taylorsville resident who passed away on June 18 at the age of 81 raced in a variety of divisions throughout his career on dirt and asphalt.
Burton begin his racing career in the 1960s on the local dirt tracks, primarily racing at the 25th Street Speedway in Columbus and Brownstown Speedway.
He was the 1969 Rookie-of-the-Year at Brownstown. His best season in a dirt late model stock car was in 1974, when he finished third in the Brownstown points behind champion Russ Petro and runner-up Don Hobbs.
Burton then switched to the ARCA Racing Series in 1975, competing with it until 1980. His best season was his first in the series with a career-high seventh-place in the final points standings.
In 1982, Burton was hired by Bonnie and Ernie Metzger of Silver Lake to pilot their semi-truck in the Great American Truck Racing Association. In his very first race at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. Burton set fast time, sat on the pole and won the event. He would later go on to win the series championship in 1982.
The next year in 1983, Burton finished in the top 10 of every race the GATR Series ran, earning a second- place in the championship points standings.
In his GATR truck racing career, Burton won two championships (1982 and 1985), won five events which is tied for fifth all-time and he recorded seven poles, which is tied for third all-time.
Burton’s five wins came at Milwaukee, Pocono, Pennsylvania, Middletown, New York, Pittsburgh and Cayuga, Canada.
Setser gets fourth win
Gunnar Setser of Columbus returned to his winning ways on June 22. Behind the wheel of his Midwest Tube Mills No. G5 Setser Fabricating/Concept Chassis Micro Sprint, the 10-year-old phenom streaked to the Restrictor Class victory at Circus City Speedway in Peru. The victory was his fourth of the 2019 season.
Heat race action found Setser, racing from the fourth-starting spot, to a runner-up finish. His performance positioned him fourth on the starting grid for the feature.
As the finale went green, Setser quickly found his way into the second position. He began pressuring the leader for the top spot, and following an early-race restart, he used the low line to take control of the lead. Despite a plethora of cautions, including one with just two laps to go, Setser paced the field for the remainder of the feature to score the victory. He picked up $600 for his efforts.
Brownstown racing set
After the Hoosier Dirt Classic at Brownstown Speedway was rained out on June 22, the track will host tonight the MSCS 410 sprint cars plus the UMRA Midgets, MMSA mini-sprints, pro late models and pure stocks. For more info, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
Twin Cities off until July 6
Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon saw its June 21 event rained out. The next scheduled race will be on July 6 with the Mark Clark Memorial for super stocks. Also competing will be crate late models, modifieds, super stocks, pure stocks, hornets and 305 RaceSaver sprints. For further info on the upcoming schedule, go to twincitiestrack.com.
Lawrenceburg on track
After being idle on June 22, Lawrenceburg Speedway will resume its 2019 racing schedule tonight with a regular show of sprints, modifieds, pure stocks and hornets. For the latest info, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com.
Florence hosting series
Florence Speedway in Union, Kentucky, will be hosting the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series tonight with the $12,000-to-win 33rd Annual Ralph Latham Memorial. The race was originally scheduled for May, but was rained out. Also on the schedule tonight at Florence will be modifieds and crate late models.
For more info, visit florencespeedway.com.
USAC rained out
The USAC National Sprint Car race scheduled for June 22 at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville was rained out. The next scheduled race for the series will be June 30 at the Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt. The Haubstadt event is co-sanctioned with the MSCS Sprints. For more info, visit usacracing.com.
Amati race rained out
Paragon Speedway’s Chuck Amati Classic scheduled for June 21 was rained out. The next event will be on Thursday with the MSCS Sprints, Paragon Sprints, modifieds and super stocks. For more info, visit paragonspeedway.com.
Go-karts a no-go tonight
Columbus Speedway Go-Kart Racing, which holds events at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds, will not be racing tonight.
“Unfortunately, with all of the rain we have had the last few weeks, the fair board will be working on the track this weekend so they can be ready for the fair,” race promoter Tim Reed said. “We are sorry for the inconvenience. Our next race will be our fair race on Monday, July 8.”
This week in history
From 60 years ago in 1959 at Columbus Speedway, the feature winner was Kenny Baker over Floyd Graham, Paul Eddy and Joe King.
From 50 years ago in 1969 at Brownstown Speedway, the winner was Paul Crockett over Dick Gaines, Jack Owens, Teako Ray and Pete Willoughby.
Also from this weekend in 1969, Larry Miller won the sprint car feature at Paragon over Rex Mitchell, Allen Barr, Bob Kinser and Orval Yeadon.
In 1969 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, the winner was Richard Jackson over Miller and Bob Kinser.
From 40 years ago in 1979, Gerald Dixon won the late model feature at Brownstown over Bob Fleetwood, Dick Phillips, Pete Willoughby and Gary Cooksey. Mack Pace won the hobby stock main over Jack Taylor, Roger Hehman, Larry Harris and Charlie Tuell.
Also from 1979 at Paragon Speedway, the sprint car feature was won by Steve Kinser, with Barr finishing in second, followed by Bobby Adkins, Butch Wilkerson and Johnny Krebbs.
From 30 years ago in 1989 at Lawrenceburg Speedway, Barr won the modified feature over Craig Pruitt, Ron Jolliff Jr., Doug Wethington and Gary Burton.
From this weekend in 1989 at Bloomington, the sprint car feature went to Chuck Amati over Jeff Walker, Tim Gee, Bob Kinser and Kevin Briscoe.
From 20 years ago in 1999 at Brownstown, it was Shannon Babb winning the Summernationals feature over Kevin Weaver, Don O’Neal, Billy Drake and Kevin Claycomb. John DeMoss captured the modified feature race over Todd Gilpin, Randy Petro, Earl Plessinger and Scott Patman.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to sports@therepublic.com.
