By Richie Murray
Sumner, Illinois (June 11, 2025)………Ten thousand dollars to win are on the line at the inaugural Salute to Levi Jones this Friday night, June 13, at Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, Illinois.
The rare Friday the 13th event for the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship at the 3/8-mile dirt oval in southern Illinois presents an even rarer treat – USAC racing at Red Hill.
It’s been 26 years since USAC last visited Red Hill in 1998, which just so happened to mark the occurrence of Levi Jones’ first career USAC start, finishing 16th. Levi, who grew up 15 minutes from the track in his native Olney, went on to become a seven-time USAC national champion, and in 2024, was inducted into the USAC Hall of Fame.
Let’s see some of the storylines to check out entering USAC’s return to Red Hill!
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1998
26 years flew by in the snap of a finger. In fact, the last time a USAC National Sprint Car race was held at Red Hill on October 3, 1998, Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” Barenaked Ladies’ “One Week” and Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” occupied spots in the top-five of the Billboard Music charts. And all of us were a little bit younger.
That night, Derek Davidson captured the victory, then later became an Indianapolis 500 winning Crew Chief and Race Strategist for Takuma Sato at Rahal Letterman Racing in 2020.
The evening also had its share of controversy as championship contenders Tony Elliott and Kevin Thomas met bumper to bumper, sending Thomas into a 360 spin late in the race. A yearlong feud had come to a head and ultimately led to Thomas’ suspension for his conduct in the aftermath of the incident and Elliott’s first USAC title.
At any rate, Elliott remains the one-lap track record holder for USAC at Red Hill with a time of 15.498 seconds, which drivers will be chasing this weekend. Meanwhile, the 8-lap track record is held by NHRA Top Fuel champion Doug Kalitta from 1996 at a clip of 2:11.77.
DRAKE RIDING THE WAVE
Fresh off his USAC Indiana Midget Week championship to begin June, Kale Drake now looks to expand his winning horizons to USAC National Sprint Cars.
The Collinsville, Oklahoma racer has already won twice in the midgets this year, and at press time, has finished on the podium in each of his past five outings with the series.
With the sprint cars, he’s been an upstart in 2025, finishing inside the top-10 in nine of his 13 starts this season with a best career result of 4th at Bloomington in May.
To boot, there is a tie in. Back in 2004, Levi Jones captured his first career USAC National Sprint Car win at North Carolina’s Charlotte Motor Speedway while driving Scott Benic’s No. 2B. This Friday, Drake’s first USAC Sprint Car win could come in Benic’s No. 2B in the race named for Levi Jones.
CUMMINS LEADS THE CHARGE
Kyle Cummins once again enters the weekend as the USAC National Sprint Car point leader, a position he’s held for the entire duration of the season so far.
In 13 series starts so far this year, he’s won five and hasn’t finished worse than 8th. The Princeton, Indiana native’s run of 13 consecutive top-10s to start the year are the most since Justin Grant’s 15 in 2020. All of that has Cummins’ point lead standing at 53 over Justin Grant entering Red Hill.
Interestingly, Kyle’s father, Mark Cummins, competed in the 1998 Red Hill event in the Vennard No. 56x, team car to that of Kevin Thomas that night. Mark qualified 24th, transferred through his heat to finish 4th and ran 18th in the feature.
Joining Cummins in the field are 2025 series winners Justin Grant, Logan Seavey and Kevin Thomas Jr. as well as first-time 2025 winning hopefuls Mitchel Moles, Briggs Danner, Robert Ballou, C.J. Leary, Kale Drake and Jake Swanson, all of whom rank inside the top-10 of the standings along with top Rookies Gunnar Setser, Hayden Reinbold, Kayla Roell and more.
MAD MAN ACROSS THE BORDER
Robert Ballou can count himself among the Red Hill winners in this Friday night’s field. In August of 2024, the Rocklin, California native picked off a Midwest Thunder Sprint Car win at the track.
The Mad Man has been knocking on the door of victory all year long with the USAC National Sprint Cars, especially of late with a 3rd, a 5th, a 2nd, a 6th, a 4th and an 8th in his six most recent starts.
Red Hill could prove to be the place for a Ballou breakthrough. He finished 6th and 3rd in each of his USAC Sprint Car starts on the Land of Lincoln side of the Illinois border in 2024.
STOCKON HAS CONQUERED RED HILL
Chase Stockon has a bit of history with Red Hill Raceway. In recent years, the Fort Branch, Indiana racer has won at the track twice in sprint car competition in the Fall of 2023 and in the Spring of 2024.
Stockon has been rock solid with the USAC National Sprint Cars in 2025, finishing inside the top-10 in each of his past six series starts.
On the final weekend of May, he led 20 laps at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway and finished third, nearly giving car owners Tom & Laurie Sertich their first career USAC victory. A big win at Red Hill this Friday would be massive for the longtime team and would present Stockon with his first USAC score in nearly five seasons.
ROGERS TOO!
Jadon Rogers scored the most recent sprint car feature win at Red Hill back in October of 2024. The Worthington, Indiana racer advanced from 6th to 1st to win the Midwest Thunder show last fall.
As far as his USAC season up to this point, Rogers can tell you a twisted tale of his month of May, from being the windshield one weekend to the bug the next.
Rogers posted back-to-back southern Indiana top-fives in USAC National Sprint Car competition at Bloomington and Tri-State in mid-May. On the final weekend of the month, he finished with back-to-back last place results at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway.
The turn of the calendar to June probably couldn’t have come at a better time as Rogers now pursues his first USAC main event victory since September 2022.
RACE DETAILS
This Friday’s June 13th Salute to Levi Jones features the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and the DIRTcar Modfieds. Pits open at 3:30pm Central and front gates open at 5:30pm with the drivers meeting set for 6pm and cars hitting the track at 7pm with qualifying and racing to follow.
Grandstand admission for ages 13 & up is $30 while kids age 6-12 are $5 and children age 5 & under are free. Pit passes are $45 for adults and $25 for kids age 10 & under.
The event can be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/usac.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kyle Cummins-943, 2-Justin Grant-890, 3-Mitchel Moles-730, 4-Robert Ballou-728, 5-Logan Seavey-715, 6-Briggs Danner-676, 7-Jake Swanson-671, 8-Kale Drake-667, 9-C.J. Leary-654, 10-Kevin Thomas Jr.-647.
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RED HILL RACEWAY USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS:
1996: Billy Puterbaugh Jr. (8/10)
1998: Derek Davidson (10/3)
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RED HILL RACEWAY USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS:
1-Derek Davidson & Billy Puterbaugh Jr.
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TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT RED HILL RACEWAY:
1 Lap – 10/3/1998 – Tony Elliott – 15.498
8 Laps – 8/10/1996 – Doug Kalitta – 2:11.77
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PAST RED HILL RACEWAY USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR FEATURE RESULTS:
1996 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Billy Puterbaugh Jr., 2. Jack Hewitt, 3. Gary Blum, 4. Brian Hayden, 5. Brian Tyler, 6. Wil Newlin, 7. Dave Peperak, 8. Eric Gordon, 9. Mark Cassella, 10. Tim Cox, 11. Bryan Ruble, 12. Tony Elliott, 13. Ray Morgan, 14. Doug Kalitta, 15. Dave Steele, 16. Victor Hensley, 17. Bryon Walters, 18. Jerry Ruble, 19. Tray House. NT
1998 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Derek Davidson, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Brian Tyler, 4. Brian Hayden, 5. Tony Elliott, 6. Kevin Thomas, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Terry Pletch, 9. Jack Hewitt, 10. Alex Shanks, 11. Robbie Rice, 12. Kevin Miller, 13. Tim Cox, 14. Kent Christian, 15. Gary Hayhurst Jr., 16. Levi Jones, 17. Roger Chaudion, 18. Mark Cummins, 19. Rusty McClure, 20. Brandon Petty, 21. Hud Cone, 22. Matt Jewell. NT