From David Sink
WINCHESTER, In. (June 23, 2019) – Caleb Armstrong made his first-ever visit to Winchester Speedway Sunday afternoon when he captured the Auto Value Super Sprints (AVSS) 40-lap feature, and in the process pick up a hefty pay day for his efforts.
Non-wing sprint cars made their return to Winchester Speedway for the first time in eight years Sunday afternoon. A good crowd greeted the event that was part of the annual “Old Timers Weekend”.
Armstrong was the day’s quick qualifier. Armstrong toured the high-banked half mile speedway with a lap of 14.475 seconds.
Polesitter Kyle O’Gara got the jump and lead the opening seven laps before surrendering the lead to Bobby Santos III. Armstrong, who started eighth, didn’t waste time had took the lead from Santos on lap nineteen and never looked back.
Santos, Aaron Pierce, and Jacob Wilson contested a furious battle for second place While Armstrong built up a sizeable lead. At the checkered flag Wilson claimed second followed by Santos, Pierce, and Shane Cottle rounding out the top five. The 40-lap race went caution free and was completed in 10:31.
In victory lane Armstrong explained how special the Winchester Speedway win was for him. “Man, this is awesome” Armstrong explained. “A lot of guys have run here, and I always wanted to come here since I was a little kid. USAC quit running here before I turned 16. I never thought Id get to run here. Then they announced this race. It was cool to come here and race and awesome to win here my first time”.
The newcomer was fast right out of the box and explained why he was successful in his maiden Winchester Speedway visit. “My right foot. You just gotta hammer down here. This place is fast. I feel more comfortable the heavier I am with the throttle here. I also got a good crew chief in Kevin Besecker. We had this thing fast from the get-go. It was on rails. Santos was difficult get around Santos because he had so much speed. I finally crossed him over coming out of four and got around him. I was hoping for no cautions the rest of the way. It surprisingly went that way and we stayed out front” concluded Armstrong.
Armstrong beat Wilson to the checkered flag by 4.635 seconds. Armstrong claimed the $8,000 first place money and picked up another $1,100 in lap leader bonuses that paid $50 per lap lead.
FINISH:
1. Caleb Armstrong (7c)
2. Jacob Wilson (07)
3. Bobby Santon III (22a)
4. Aaron Pierce (26)
5. Shane Cottle (95)
6. Kyle O’Gara (67)
7. Tyler Roahrig (56)
8. Tony Main (74)
9. Christian Koehler (1)
10. Brain Vaughn (71)
11. Ronnier Gardner (12)
12. Johnny Petrozelle (81)
13. Tom Geren (10g)
14. Chris Randolph (35)
15. Doug Dietsch (0) DNS