By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (September 16, 2021)………Two concurrent streaks by two current drivers take us into this weekend’s back-to-back USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship rounds Friday night, September 17, at Indianapolis, Indiana’s Circle City Raceway and Saturday night, September 18, at Haubstadt, Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway.
For one, C.J. Leary arrives at Circle City riding two consecutive feature victories last weekend at South Dakota’s Huset’s Speedway. Over the past six seasons alone since 2016, Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) has won back-to-back series races on five different occasions and is the only driver to accomplish the feat twice this year.
Only six drivers have put together a string of consecutive feature victories more often than Leary throughout the 66-year history of the series. Pancho Carter and Tom Bigelow won consecutive series races on eight different occasions in their careers. Jack Hewitt, Rich Vogler and Tracy Hines did the deed seven times while A.J. Foyt achieved it six times.
Tied with Leary as a five-time consecutive USAC Sprint Car winner are Bryan Clauson, Bubby Jones, Don Branson, Gary Bettenhausen, J.J. Yeley and Roger McCluskey. All but one of these drivers are USAC National champions; Leary won it in 2019. The only who didn’t get one – Bubby Jones – is a National Sprint Car Hall of Famer and one of the bonafide, all-time greats of the sport.
Just two drivers have put together consecutive wins this USAC National Sprint Car season. Along with Leary, the honor goes to Logan Seavey who won three-in-a-row during Indiana Sprint Week in July at Lawrenceburg, Gas City and Terre Haute.
Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) also has another ongoing run as the Fatheadz fast qualifier on each of the last three occasions. With at least three-straight feature wins and three-straight fast qualifying times, Seavey joins a list of very few drivers who’ve been able to do both in a single season: Parnelli Jones (1961), Tom Sneva (1973), Steve Chassey (1979) and Levi Jones (2010).
In addition, Seavey, who was absent from the series for the first nine races of the year, didn’t have a ride until May with the Baldwin-Fox team. He has finally moved into the top-10 of the standings for the first time this season while Kyle Cummins fell out of the top-10 after not appearing at Huset’s.
Also, of note, Robert Ballou is on pace to have a historic season in terms of heat race wins. His heat race victory total now stands at 15 after 33 races have been completed. In comparison, in the shortened 27-race season of 2020, no driver had more than Ballou with eight. Eleven races remain with Ballou aiming to surpass the record for heat race wins in the recent era, when Tyler Courtney got 19 in 40 appearances during his championship season of 2018.
Friday night’s event at Circle City will present racing action for both the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and the USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midgets. Adult general admission tickets are $25, kids aged 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $30 for members and $35 for non-members. Pits open at 3pm ET with grandstands opening at 5:30pm and hot laps at 6pm with qualifying & racing immediately following.
On Saturday at Tri-State Speedway, the Midwest Mini Sprint Association will also be in action on Saturday night at Tri-State. The pits open at 3pm Central, grandstands at 4pm and hot laps at 6:30pm. Adult general admission tickets are $30, students (ages 13-18) are $20 and 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $30 for members and $35 for non-members.
Both events this weekend can be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3frPoW6.
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2021 USAC AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STAT LEADERS
Most Wins: 7-Justin Grant
Driver Point Leader: Brady Bacon
Owner Point Leader: Dynamics, Inc. #69
Top Rookie in Points: Tanner Thorson
Most Laps Led: 185-Justin Grant
Most Top-Fives: 27-Brady Bacon
Most Top-Tens: 31-Brady Bacon
Most Fast Qualifying Times: 6-Kevin Thomas Jr.
Most Heat Race Wins: 15-Robert Ballou
Most Feature Starts: 33-Brady Bacon, Justin Grant, C.J. Leary, Jake Swanson, Kevin Thomas Jr., Tanner Thorson & Chris Windom
Biggest Charge of the Year: 4/25: Path Valley Speedway Park – Alex Bright (18th to 4th) | 6/20: Bloomsburg Fair Speedway – C.J. Leary (21st to 7th) | 7/31: Tri-State Speedway – Brady Bacon (22nd to 8th)
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2021 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10)
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1 2271 Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, Okla.
2 2215 Kevin Thomas Jr., Cullman, Ala.
3 2176 Justin Grant, Ione, Calif.
4 2023 C.J. Leary, Greenfield, Ind.
5 2019 (R) Tanner Thorson, Minden, Nev.
6 1912 Chris Windom, Canton, Ill.
7 1841 Jake Swanson, Anaheim, Calif.
8 1749 Robert Ballou, Rocklin, Calif.
9 1460 Chase Stockon, Fort Branch, Ind.
10 1183 Logan Seavey, Sutter, Calif.
(R) represents a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Rookie
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2021 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OWNER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10)
POS. PTS. ENTRANT, TEAM LOCATION
1 2271 Dynamics, Inc., Milford, Ohio (#69)
2 2215 KT Motorsports, Whitestown, Ind. (#9K)
3 2176 TOPP Motorsports, Rochester, Ind. (#4)
4 2023 Michael Motorsports, Chino Valley, Ariz. (#77m)
5 2019 Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports, Gilbert, Ariz. (#19AZ)
6 1912 Hayward Motorsports, Morrison, Ill. (#19)
7 1841 Team AZ Racing, Danville, Ind. (#21AZ)
8 1782 Ballou Motorsports, Tipton, Ind. (#12)
9 1460 KO Motorsports, Owensville, Ind. (#5s)
10 1432 Rock Steady Racing, Dupont, Ind. (#3R)
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2021 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ROOKIE DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (TOP-10)
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1 2019 Tanner Thorson, Minden, Nev.
2 859 Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, Ill.
3 650 Cole Bodine, Rossville, Ind.
4 445 Steven Drevicki, Reading, Pa.
5 436 Briggs Danner, Allentown, Pa.
6 252 Sterling Cling, Tempe, Ariz.
7 204 Ricky Lewis, Ventura, Calif.
8 178 Carson Garrett, Littleton, Colo.
9 130 Ryan Thomas, Indianapolis, Ind.
10 128 Harley Burns, Brazil, Ind.
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2021 USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Feb 11: Ocala, FL – Bubba Raceway Park
WINNER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (KT Motorsports #9K)
Feb 12: Ocala, FL – Bubba Raceway Park
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
Apr 3: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, IN
WINNER: Brady Bacon (Dynamics, Inc. #69)
Apr 16: Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, IN
WINNER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (KT Motorsports #9K)
Apr 17: (M) Tri-State Speedway – Haubstadt, IN
WINNER: Kyle Cummins (Rock Steady Racing #3R)
Apr 22: Grandview Speedway – Bechtelsville, PA
WINNER: Brady Bacon (Dynamics, Inc. #69)
Apr 23: Big Diamond Speedway – Pottsville, PA
WINNER: Tanner Thorson (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports #19AZ)
Apr 24: BAPS Motor Speedway – York Haven, PA
WINNER: C.J. Leary (Michael Motorsports #77m)
Apr 25: Path Valley Speedway Park – Spring Run, PA
WINNER: Tanner Thorson (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports #19AZ)
May 8: Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
WINNER: Tyler Courtney (Clauson Marshall Newman Racing #7BC)
May 8: Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
WINNER: Robert Ballou (Ballou Motorsports #12)
May 26: Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, IN
WINNER: Chris Windom (Hayward Motorsports #19)
Jun 15: (E) Grandview Speedway – Bechtelsville, PA
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
Jun 16: (E) Bridgeport Speedway – Swedesboro, NJ
WINNER: Robert Ballou (Ballou Motorsports #12)
Jun 17: (E) Selinsgrove Speedway – Selinsgrove, PA
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
Jun 20: (E) Bloomsburg Fair Raceway – Bloomsburg, PA
WINNER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (KT Motorsports #9K)
Jul 1: Plymouth Speedway – Plymouth, IN
WINNER: C.J. Leary (Michael Motorsports #77m)
Jul 2: (M) (A) Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, IN
WINNER: C.J. Leary (Michael Motorsports #77m)
Jul 3: (M) Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, IN
WINNER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (KT Motorsports #9K)
Jul 24: (I) Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, IN
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
Jul 25: (I) Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, IN
WINNER: Logan Seavey (Baldwin-Fox Racing #5)
Jul 26: (I) Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, IN
WINNER: Logan Seavey (Baldwin-Fox Racing #5)
Jul 28: (I) Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, IN
WINNER: Logan Seavey (Baldwin-Fox Racing #5)
Jul 29: (I) Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, IN
WINNER: Tanner Thorson (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports #19AZ)
Jul 30: (I) Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, IN
WINNER: Brady Bacon (Dynamics, Inc. #69)
Jul 31: (I) Tri-State Speedway – Haubstadt, IN
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
Aug. 22: Paragon Speedway – Paragon, IN
WINNER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (KT Motorsports #9K)
Aug 26: Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, IN
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
Aug 27: Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, IN
WINNER: Kevin Thomas Jr. (KT Motorsports #9K)
Aug 28: (F) Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, IN
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
Sep 10: (F) Huset’s Speedway – Brandon, SD
WINNER: Tanner Thorson (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports #19AZ)
Sep 11: (F) Huset’s Speedway – Brandon, SD
WINNER: C.J. Leary (Michael Motorsports #77m)
Sep 12: (F) Huset’s Speedway – Brandon, SD
WINNER: C.J. Leary (Michael Motorsports #77m)
Sep 17: Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, IN
Sep 18: (M) (A) Tri-State Speedway – Haubstadt, IN
Sep 23: Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, IN
Sep 25: Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
Oct 1: Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, IN
Oct 2: Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, IN
Nov 4: (C) Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA
Nov 5: (C) Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA
Nov 6: (C) (F) Perris Auto Speedway – Perris, CA
Nov 12: (C) Arizona Speedway – San Tan Valley, AZ
Nov 13: (C) Arizona Speedway – San Tan Valley, AZ
—————— KEY DEFINITIONS ——————
(M) represents an event co-sanctioned by MSCS
(E) represents an Eastern Storm event
(I) represents an Indiana Sprint Week event
(C) represents an event with the USAC/CRA AMSOIL Sprint Cars
(SE) represents a non-points, special event
(F) represents a race awarding feature points only
(A) represents a race awarding appearance points only
(P) represents an event co-sanctioned by POWRi WAR Sprints
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