By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (June 20, 2024)………We’ve been everywhere, man. From Knoxville, Iowa to USAC Indiana Midget Week to Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the past two weeks have been bustling with activity.
Now, at the dawn of summer, Wisconsin is calling, and twice this weekend, the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship will heed its call on back-to-back nights.
Wilmot Raceway’s 3/8-mile dirt oval is first up on Saturday night, June 22. Angell Park Speedway is on deck next for a showdown at the Sun Prairie 1/3-mile dirt oval on Sunday night, June 23.
Double the fun (with extra Wisconsin cheddar)! It’s go time in Wisconsin and here are the storylines to watch!
NO CALM AFTER THE STORM
USAC National Sprint Car drivers and teams have just concluded a run of six races in a six-night span between June 11-16 in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. After a five-day break, it’s right back to work in Wisconsin.
In that six-race span, inevitably, much has changed. USAC Eastern Storm champ Mitchel Moles is amid a personal best run of consistency in his USAC career to date. Meanwhile, Brady Bacon has reemerged as a championship contender.
Furthermore, the race at the top of the standings has tightened up from 106 between first and second on June 1 to a mere 77 markers separating the top-five entering Wisconsin.
C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) has risen from third to second in the standings since the beginning of Eastern Storm, just 21 out of the lead. Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) has lifted himself up by his bootstraps from fifth to third. Moles (Raisin City, Calif.) has upped himself from ninth to sixth. Jake Swanson (Anaheim, Calif.) has moved up one spot into the top-10.
MOLES IS ROLLIN’
The biggest mover and shaker from Eastern Storm was Mitchel Moles. With only a single top-five to his credit in his first 16 starts of the 2024 USAC National Sprint Car season, Moles and his Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports team found their groove and reeled off five consecutive top-five finishes to end the week and earn the Eastern Storm championship.
In doing so, Moles became the furthest back driver in USAC National Sprint Car points to win Eastern Storm since Bryan Clauson came from outside the top-10 to capture the title in both 2012 and 2016.
Back in 2012, Clauson steadily rose up the standings and ultimately scored the USAC National Sprint Car championship. Admittedly, Moles has substantial ground to make up over the final half of the season, being 181 points out of the lead. However, it ain’t over until it’s over, and if Moles can continue this string he’s on, he could certainly become a player in the championship race.
For now, Moles looks forward to earning his first USAC National Sprint Car victory in nearly a year. After all, it is getting close to Moles’ favorite time of the season. All of his three career USAC Sprint Car wins to date have come in the month of July.
BACON BACK IN IT
During last year’s Wisconsin visit, Brady Bacon and his Dynamics, Inc./Hoffman Auto Racing team reached never before seen heights.
With their 2023 victory at Wilmot Raceway, Bacon and Dynamics/Hoffman became the winningest driver/entrant combo in USAC National Sprint Car history. The pairing’s 41st win together surpassed the long-held record of driver Pancho Carter and team owner Steve Stapp who achieved 40 victories with the series between 1973-80.
At press time, Bacon and his team now stand at 48 career USAC National Sprint Car wins. With a complete Wisconsin sweep this weekend, this pairing could become the first to reach the 50 mark.
Despite the utter disappointment of how their Eastern Storm championship hopes unfolded, Bacon and team are certainly on the upswing, finishing inside the top-four in nine of their last 11 series starts, which has pushed them up to third in points, just 45 out of the lead. It’s a remarkable feat once you consider they were 218 points out of the lead just a little over a month ago!
HOME SWEET WISCONSIN FOR THE MAD MAN
Robert Ballou enters the weekend having won the two most recent USAC National Sprint Car events at Angell Park Speedway, host of this Sunday’s series event.
In both cases, Ballou was a monster as he charged up through the pack. He came from ninth to first to win in 2015 on his way to the series championship after clearing C.J. Leary for the lead on lap 18 of 30.
Almost identically, in 2022, Ballou raced from eighth to the win in just seven laps, working his way into the top spot past early race leader Davey Ray before going relatively unscathed and relatively unchallenged for the balance of the 30-lap distance.
WISCONSIN DOUBLE FOR SEAVEY
Logan Seavey has held the USAC National Sprint Car point lead since February 13 and has maintained a great deal of distance from the rest of the field ever since.
Despite an up-and-down Eastern Storm, Seavey managed to win twice to thwart the misfortunate nights from clouding his entire “storm” experience. But now that the Eastern Storm stretch is over, the summer solstice is here, the days are long, the nights are plentiful, and the relentless pursuit of a championship never subsides.
Last September, Seavey won a USAC National Midget event at Angell Park, and this coming Sunday, he’ll try to become the first driver to win both a USAC National Sprint Car and Midget feature at the famed venue.
Even a win on Saturday at Wilmot would put him in rarified air. Only five drivers have won both a USAC National Sprint Car and USAC National Midget feature in the state of Wisconsin: Dave Darland, J.J. Yeley, Ken Schrader, Parnelli Jones and Tom Bigelow – all of whom are either current USAC Hall of Famers or future USAC Hall of Famers.
TRIPLE DUTY IN BADGERLAND
It’s a full slate of USAC action in Wisconsin this weekend with the USAC Silver Crown cars on Friday, June 21, at Madison International Speedway. That’s followed by back-to-back USAC National Sprint Car events on Saturday, June 22, at Wilmot Raceway and Sunday, June 23, at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie.
As expected, three drivers are set to contest all three events this weekend: Logan Seavey, C.J. Leary and Justin Grant. Both Seavey and Leary have won on USAC soil in their careers.
Seavey gained his first Wisconsin USAC win during last September’s Firemen’s Nationals at Angell Park in a midget. Leary scored a USAC Silver Crown triumph in 2022 at Madison. Grant has run a best of third in a midget twice at Angell Park and once at Madison with the Silver Crown car where also started from the pole in 2018.
Aside from Seavey, Leary and Grant, Trey Osborne (Columbus, Ohio) is thinking of making the run up to Wisconsin to compete with the USAC National Sprint Cars this Sunday at Angell Park.
RACE DETAILS:
This Saturday, June 22, at Wisconsin’s Wilmot Raceway, the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship is joined by the Wisconsin wingLESS Sprints and the IRA Lightning Sprints. Pits open at 2pm Central, grandstands open at 4pm, drivers meeting at 5:30pm and hot laps at 6pm followed by qualifying and racing. General admission tickets are $30 for ages 13 and up. Kids age 7-11 are $5. Kids 12 & under are free. Pit passes are $35.
On Sunday, June 23, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin’s Angell Park Speedway welcomes the Kevins’ Klassic honoring racing greats Kevin Olson and Kevin Doty. The event features the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and Badger Midgets. Pit gates open at 1:30pm Central with front gates opening at 4pm, drivers meeting at 4:30 and cars on track at 4:45pm followed by qualifying and racing.
At Angell Park, Advance general admission tickets at www.angellpark.racing for adults are $22. Military/seniors are $18. General admission tickets at the gate for adults are $25. Military/seniors are $20. Students age 12-17 are $10. Kids age 6-11 are $5. Children age 5 & under are free. Pit passes are $25 for members and $30 for non-members.
All races this weekend can be streamed exclusively on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/usac.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-1406, 2-C.J. Leary-1385, 3-Brady Bacon-1361, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1354, 5-Daison Pursley-1329, 6-Mitchel Moles-1225, 7-Justin Grant-1221, 8-Robert Ballou-1202, 9-Kyle Cummins-1173, 10-Jake Swanson-1065.
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TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT WILMOT RACEWAY:
1 Lap – 6/24/2023 – Jake Swanson – 13.980
8 Laps – 7/30/1995 – Eric Gordon – 2:11.40
10 Laps – 6/24/2023 – Kyle Cummins – 2:27.72
30 Laps – 7/30/1995 – Jack Hewitt – 8:31.56
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USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS AT WILMOT RACEWAY:
2-Jack Hewitt
1-Brady Bacon, Danny Lasoski & Jon Stanbrough
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USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS AT WILMOT RACEWAY:
1990: Danny Lasoski (6/19) & Jack Hewitt (8/29)
1995: Jack Hewitt (7/30)
2012: Jon Stanbrough (6/23)
2023: Brady Bacon (6/24)
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PAST USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RESULTS AT WILMOT RACEWAY:
1990 JUNE FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Danny Lasoski, 2. Danny Smith, 3. Kim Mock, 4. Dave Moulis, 5. Carmen Manzardo, 6. Dave Hanna, 7. Dick Colburn, 8. Joe Roe, 9. Mike Frost, 10. Allen Winker, 11. Al Behling, 12. Gary Zobel, 13. Frank Filskov, 14. Bob Peterson, 15. Darrell Dodd, 16. Joe Kristan, 17. Larry Hillerud, 18. John Hajduk, 19. Jim Uttech, 20. Gib Wiser. NT
1990 AUGUST FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jack Hewitt, 2. Gib Wiser, 3. Kevin Thomas, 4. Greg Staab, 5. Mike Frost, 6. Dick Colburn, 7. Jim Moulis, 8. Dave Moulis, 9. Rick Howerton, 10. Randy Sippel, 11. Pete Ostrowski, 12. Jim Uttech, 13. Joe Symoens, 14. Joe Roe, 15. Dave Hanna, 16. Steve Butler, 17. Tony Elliott, 18. Bob Robel, 19. Rick Keller. (Darrell Dodd, who originally finished 5th, was disqualified from the feature). NT
1995 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jack Hewitt, 2. Rusty McClure, 3. Allen Winker, 4. Kevin Doty, 5. Dave Moulis, 6. Todd Daun, 7. Tony Elliott, 8. Kevin Thomas, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Mark Cassella, 11. Greg Staab, 12. Doug Kalitta, 13. Tony Stewart, 14. Kurt Winker, 15. Eric Gordon, 16. Larry Vandevere, 17. Tim Cox, 18. Jim Uttech, 19. Dean Billings, 20. Tray House. 8:31.56
2012 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jon Stanbrough, 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 3. Shane Cottle, 4. Levi Jones, 5. Damion Gardner, 6. Chris Windom, 7. Darren Hagen, 8. Chase Stockon, 9. C.J. Leary, 10. Chris Gurley, 11. Jerry Coons, Jr., 12. Steve Irwin, 13. Robert Ballou, 14. Ryan Irwin, 15. Bret Mellenberndt, 16. Craig Lager, 17. Tracy Hines, 18. Dave Darland, 19. Matt Vandervere, 20. Mike Hess, 21. Hunter Schuerenberg, 22. Wayne Modjeski. NT
2023 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (5), 2. Emerson Axsom (1), 3. Robert Ballou (2), 4. Logan Seavey (3), 5. Jake Swanson (6), 6. Matt Westfall (8), 7. Mitchel Moles (4), 8. Daison Pursley (10), 9. C.J. Leary (12), 10. Justin Grant (11), 11. Geoff Ensign (15), 12. Chase Stockon (9), 13. Mario Clouser (13), 14. Kyle Cummins (7), 15. Allen Hafford (17), 16. Greg Alt (19), 17. Dan Wade (20), 18. Clayton Rossman (16), 19. Matt VanderVere (18), 20. Max Adams (14), 21. Austin DeBlauw (21). NT
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TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT ANGELL PARK SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap – 6/26/2022 – C.J. Leary – 13.765
8 Laps – 6/26/2022 – Brady Bacon – 2:03.72
10 Laps – 8/9/2015 – Robert Ballou – 2:28.06
12 Laps – 6/10/2001 – Jack Hewitt – 3:18.57
30 Laps – 6/24/2012 -Dave Darland – 7:42.47
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USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS AT ANGELL PARK SPEEDWAY:
2-Robert Ballou
1-Dave Darland, Jack Hewitt, Jon Stanbrough & J.J. Yeley
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USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS AT ANGELL PARK SPEEDWAY:
2001: Jack Hewitt (6/10)
2002: J.J. Yeley (7/7)
2012: Dave Darland (6/24)
2014: Jon Stanbrough (6/22)
2015: Robert Ballou (8/9)
2022: Robert Ballou (6/26)
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PAST USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RESULTS AT ANGELL PARK SPEEDWAY:
2001 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jack Hewitt, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Tony Elliott, 4. Cory Kruseman, 5. J.J. Yeley, 6. Robbie Rice, 7. Jay Drake, 8. Derek Davidson, 9. Jerry Coons, Jr., 10. Brian Tyler, 11. Bud Kaeding, 12. Tracy Hines, 13. Ed Carpenter, 14. Bill Rose, 15. Kevin Doty, 16. Tim Cox, 17. Al Thomas, 18. Critter Malone, 19. Randy Sippel, 20. Gregg Dillion, 21. Corey Smith, 22. Kurt Winker. 8:39.19
2002 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. J.J. Yeley, 2. Tony Stewart, 3. Cory Kruseman, 4. Tracy Hines, 5. Tony Elliott, 6. Jerry Coons, Jr., 7. Brian Tyler, 8. Matt Westfall, 9. Dave Darland, 10. Boston Reid, 11. Derek Davidson, 12. Jay Drake, 13. Dean Erfurth, 14. Marc Jessup, 15. Levi Jones, 16. A.J. Fike, 17. Jimmy Laser, 18. Al Thomas, 19. Jack Hewitt, 20. Scott Uttech, 21. Rick Kelsey, 22. Craig Lager, 23. Craig Dori, 24. Kurt Davis. NT
2012 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Dave Darland, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Jon Stanbrough, 4. Hunter Schuerenberg, 5. Darren Hagen, 6. Levi Jones, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. Damion Gardner, 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 11. Bryan Clauson, 12. Chase Stockon, 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 14. C.J. Leary, 15. Mike Hess, 16. Bret Mellenberndt, 17. Wayne Modjeski, 18. John Fahl, 19. Steve Irwin. 7:42.47
2014 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Jon Stanbrough, 2. Bryan Clauson, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Hunter Schuerenberg, 7. C.J. Leary, 8. Tracy Hines, 9. Bill Balog, 10. Tyler Courtney, 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 12. Joe Bares, 13. Bryon Walters, 14. Justin Grant, 15. Chase Stockon, 16. Jarett Andretti, 17. Steve Thomas. NT
2015 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Dave Darland, 6. Justin Grant, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Jon Stanbrough, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 11. Aaron Farney, 12. Joe Bares, 13. Steve Thomas, 14. Tony Rost, 15. Brian Kristan, 16. Rick Kelsey, 17. Jim Scanlon, 18. Steve Irwin, 19. Jarett Andretti, 20. Ray Seach, 21. Bill Balog, 22. Ryan Irwin. NT
2022 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Robert Ballou (8), 2. Brady Bacon (7), 3. Emerson Axsom (5), 4. Justin Grant (4), 5. C.J. Leary (6), 6. Matt Westfall (11), 7. Jadon Rogers (9), 8. Braydon Cromwell (2), 9. Davey Ray (1), 10. Logan Seavey (10), 11. Brandon Mattox (3), 12. Alex Banales (12), 13. Terry Babb (13), 14. Nathan Crane (16), 15. Brian Ruhlman (14), 16. Derek Crane (18), 17. Ryan Marshall (17), 18. John Sluss (15), 19. Bryce Andrews (21), 20. William Huck (20), 21. Tom Eller (19). 7:57.60