From Eldon Butcher
Haubstadt, IN — (August 3, 2013) — Kevin Thomas Jr. was victorious Saturday night in the running of the 9th annual Hoosier Sprint Nationals at Tri-State Speedway. The Cullman, AL, driver started on the pole of the 40 lap main event and led every lap. The Black Jack Oil sponsored Michael Dutcher Motorsports Maxim entry was fast, very fast! The field thinned out behind him and most of those in pursuit watched him speed away on the restarts. That is all but one.
Chase Stockon also had a strong engine and put together a well timed challenge. He had been sitting in second spot since lap 10 after starting eighth. Stockon closed in by lap 38 and then unleashed a slider in turn one that was perfectly executed. Kevin Thomas Jr. immediately countered the move and the two began exchanging the lead over and over. Thomas had the lead back as the two crossed the line those final two laps.
The victory was number three on the MSCS circuit this season for Kevin Thomas Jr. Chase Stockon’s runner-up finish was his best finish so far this season. Blake Fitzpatrick finished third. He turned in a strong performance in his first outing with MSCS this season. Veteran Jon Stanbrough moved up through the pack to finish fourth followed by Wes McIntyre.
Hunter Schuerenberg would finish sixth. The top ten finish was recorded after he had made a mid race pit stop under the yellow with the Jack Rogers sprinter. Dakota Jackson finished seventh followed by Chase Briscoe, Bradley Sterrett, and Aaron Farney. Nick Drake received the Wilwood Tuff Brakes Award in finishing eleventh. Twelve of the 21 starters completed this year’s Hoosier Sprint Nationals with 9 drivers still running on the lead lap at the checkers.
The three preliminary heat races were won by Kyle Cummins, Kevin Thomas Jr., and rookie Bradley Sterrett. Brady Short won the B Main. Cummins was running third in the feature before he made contact with a lapped car on a restart. The red flag was issued twice during the feature. Both were for cars that had flipped. The two drivers involved were Carson Short and Seth Parker. Short’s car did a quick once over and Parker’s landed on its side up against the second turn wall.
Jordan Kinser was the Keizer Aluminum Wheels Hard Charger of the Race. He was the final driver to make the show in the B Main and improved the most spots of the ten drivers moving forward during the A Main.
The next Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series event will be held on Saturday night August 10th at the Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana. The 30 lap feature will pay $3,000 to win. MSCS will be back in action at Tri-State Speedway on Labor Day Weekend in a Sunday night appearance. That event is scheduled for September 1st and will also pay $3,000 to the winner! Just 5 events remain on the MSCS schedule.
Levi Kissinger of Mt. Vernon, IN, won the 25 lap UMP Open Wheel Modified feature.
It was his first victory of the season at Tri-State Speedway. And it came n the heels of two runner-up finishes at the last two special modified events at the track. Zach Fair of Petersburg, IN, finished second with Trent Young, Michael Fox, and Dave Beck rounding out the top five. The top three in the feature event also won their respective heat races. Stephen Schnapf took the B Main. The mods will also be on the race card at Tri-State for the Labor Day Weekend Challenge.
RACING SUMMARY
“Hoosier Sprint Nationals”
Tri-State Speedway
Haubstadt, IN
August 3, 2013
Hoosier Tire Midwest Sprint Car Series:
(25 Entries)
First Heat – 3c Kyle Cummins, 83 Wes McIntyre, 3x Dakota Jackson,96 Chase Briscoe, 15F Aaron Farney, 4B Donny Brackett, 5 Trent Beckinger, 5A Lynn Ambrose, 77 Casey Shuman
Second Heat – 17rw Kevin Thomas Jr., 66 Jon Stanbrough, 12 Hunter Schuerenberg, 32 Chase Stockon, 3F Braylon Fitzpatrick, 28 Brandon Mattox, 11p Brady Short, 1x Kurt Gross
Third Heat – 90x Bradley Sterrett, 10 Blake Fitzpatrick, 5K Kent Schmidt, 38p Seth Parker, 55 Nick Drake, 5J Jordan Kinser, 21 Carson Short, 38w Chet Williams
B Main – Brady Short, Brandon Mattox, Carson Short, Jordan Kinser, Kurt Gross, Chet Williams, Trent Beckinger, Lynn Ambrose, Casey Shuman DNS
Feature (40 Laps) – 1) Thomas Jr., 2) Stockon, 3) Bl. Fitzpatrick, 4) Stanbrough, 5) McIntyre, 6) Schuerenberg, 7) Jackson, 8) Briscoe, 9) Sterrett, 10) Farney, 11) 55 Drake, 12) Kinser, 13) B. Short, 14) Parker, 15) Schmidt, 16) Cummins, 17) Mattox, 18) Gross, 19) C. Short, 20)
Br. Fitzpatrick, 21) Brackett