From Mike O’Leary
Stanford, IN, May 31, 2010 – Four-time King of Indiana Sprint Series champion Jon Stanbrough is in a familiar place as the KISS tour begins the final leg of its 2010 campaign. Stanbrough holds a 45 point lead over Hunter Schuerenberg, with the 2009 series champion Brady Short 83 points behind. The top-5 are all within 100 points, as Billy Puterbaugh and Ted Hines trail by 98 and 99 points.
The fourth stop of this year’s KISS tour is at Tri-State Speedway on Saturday, where Short, who won the most recent KISS event, is also the defending race winner. Justin Marvel captured the first KISS race at Haubstadt’s Tri-State Speedway in 2001, the series’ inaugural season. Then returning to the oval in 2007, Daron Clayton won twice, followed by Short’s victory last season.
Co-sanctioned with the Midwest Sprint Car Series, the June 5 event at Tri-State Speedway highlights two very different point battles. MSCS will continue through the summer and it is worth noting that Brady Short has won the two most recent races, at Lawrenceburg and Tri-State this past weekend. For KISS, only two events remain, after Saturday’s at Tri-State Speedway, the grand finale is at Paragon Speedway on Saturday, June 26.
Saturday’s KISS show at Tri-State Speedway will begin racing at 7:30, with hot laps at 6:30. Admission tickets are $15, students 13 – 18 years old will be admitted for $10, and ages 12 and younger are admitted free. Pit passes are $30. The program will include UMP modifieds. As recently announced by Tri-State Speedway, the family of the late Mike Cunningham has donated $3,500 to the race purse in his memory, increasing the winner’s share to $4,000, with $400 to start the feature. More information about the program, maps and directions can be found on the web at http://www.tristatespeedway.com.
In the three previous events, this year’s KISS series has featured tough, gutty racing with three of the best non-wing sprint car racers celebrating in victory lane. Dave Darland claimed the opening event at Gas City/I-69 Speedway, that saw a thrilling battle for second, between Levi Jones and Bryan Clauson, go down to the final lap. At Kokomo Speedway the next night, Jon Stanbrough earned his sixteenth KISS win, by far the most in the series’ history. A week later, Bloomington was rained out, but Brady Short jumped into the point battle with his victory at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Schuerenberg sits second in the points with a best race finish of third, at Kokomo.
Current KISS Points: 1. Jon Stanbrough 507, 2. Hunter Schuerenberg 462, 3. Brady Short 424, 4. Billy Puterbaugh Jr. 409, 5. Ted Hines 408, 6. Casey Riggs 398, 7. Andrew Elson 387, 8. Dave Darland 340, 9. Tracy Hines 335, 10. Chris Windom 335
2010 King Of Indiana Sprint Series
Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday, May 14 Dave Darland
Kokomo Speedway Sunday, May 16 Jon Stanbrough
Bloomington Speedway Friday, May 21 Rain
Lawrenceburg Speedway Saturday, May 22 Brady Short
Tri-State Speedway Saturday, June 5
Paragon Speedway Saturday, June 26
The King of Indiana Sprint Series is organized and conducted by the individual Indiana sprint car race track promoters to provide the best sprint car racing. Many thanks to the series sponsors, including Indiana StoneWorks for the B-Main, Simpson Performance Products, Sprint Car & Midget Magazine and Van Horn Tint & Accessories for the champion’s helmet, Elliottbrand Web Designs, in Westport, IN, and Kiva Networking in Bloomington for the KISS website (www.kissracing.com).