From Mike O’Leary
May 12, 2013 – The 2013 King of Indiana Sprint Series has three races in the books and turns south toward the Lawrenceburg Speedway for their fourth stop this coming Saturday, May 18. As is typical of the KISS series, none of the main events have been won from the front row, each has been captured from further back in the pack, leading to racing that is going to be talked about for awhile.
With two wins already, at Bloomington and Gas City Speedways, and a 41-point lead, Brady Short is making it look like this season’s King competition could be a stroll in the park. “But not so fast!” the other racers are saying. They know that the 2009 KISS champion can still be caught, and there is plenty of racing remaining at some very fast race tracks.
Dave Darland, the 2011 champion, sits second in the points and has been running consistently up front in the Phillips DRC. Kokomo Speedway’s winner, Robert Ballou, is third, and just behind them in the points are five very tough and very hungry veterans, Hunter Schuerenberg, three-time USAC winner Kevin Thomas Jr., Shane Cottle, Casey Shuman and Jerry Coons Jr. From that perspective, the battle for this year’s KISS title is just getting hot.
But the headline still has to be that Brady Short is hot right now. His two victories give him a total of five on his KISS resume and have advanced him to second in series wins, trailing only Jon Stanbrough. With seven KISS events in the last eight years, there hasn’t been a repeat winner Lawrenceburg. Stanbrough, Short, Daron Clayton, Nic Faas, Brandon Petty, AJ Anderson, and last year Dave Darland, have scored wins on the fast oval, but no one has done it twice.
Lawrenceburg Speedway’s front gate will open at 5:00 pm, the pits at 4:00, with hot laps beginning at 6:00 and racing at 7:00. Adult tickets are $20, tickets for kids 7 to 12 are just $7, and ages 6 and under are admitted free. Pit passes are $30. In addition to the KISS sprint cars series, the racing program includes UMP modifieds and hornets.
KISS Points: 1. Brady Short 520, 2. Dave Darland 479, 3. Robert Ballou 465, 4. Hunter Schuerenberg 312, 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. 430, 6. Shane Cottle 427, 7. Casey Shuman 405, 8. Jerry Coons Jr. 400, 9. Chris Gurley 351, 10. Chad Boespflug 344
2013 KISS SCHEDULE
May 3 Bloomington Speedway – Brady Short
May 5 Kokomo Speedway – Robert Ballou
May 10 Gas City I-69 Speedway – Brady Short
May 18 Lawrenceburg Speedway
May 26 Tri-State Speedway
June 1 Paragon Speedway
July 2 Terre Haute Action Track