News & Results
June 14th-USAC Indiana Midget Week
Lawrenceburg, Indiana.……Rico Abreu continued what has been a sensational 2014 Honda National Midget season with his third win of the year on Saturday, a frenetic affair that featured countless slide-jobs around the high-banked Lawrenceburg Speedway.
Alex Bright edged Michael Pickens back to the line to lead lap one, but Pickens took command as they ran the extreme high line. Pickens and Bright were setting a torrid pace early, encountering traffic as Bright closed for the lead. A turn-one slide-job followed, and the two made contact in the middle of the corner with Pickens getting up into the concrete and collapsing his front end. He was done for the race.
After that, Bright was in command as Abreu worked on Tracy Hines for second, and cars were racing all over behind them. Brady Bacon was moving his way through the field, using every inch of the wide race track.
Abreu closed on Bright for the lead and pulled the trigger into turn-one on lap 27, and again the lead duo ended up in the same spot, this time with Bright on the short end as he struggled to regain control exiting turn-two. As his front-end bounced around, Abreu raced away and scored a relatively easy win aboard the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports – Toyota TRD #97 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
“Whether they boo me or cheer for me, I’ll be at Kokomo tomorrow night driving just as hard. Alex (Bright) is a hell of a driver, and both of us are running as hard as we can. He got the short end of the stick on that one. I just have to thank my guys for giving me an incredible car once again. It’s good to be back in victory lane now after the injury. You have to respect these cars, as I’ve had my fair share of big ones,” Abreu said to a boisterous Lawrenceburg crowd.
Bright held second until the final lap, when he could hold on no more and bounced to a stop through turn-three just as Abreu was taking the checkers. Hines had flashed by with the runner-up spot aboard the Parker Machinery – Turbines, Inc. #24 Spike/Stanton Toyota.
“I had a front-row seat for a lot of wild slide-jobs tonight, and they were from everybody. Our car was pretty good, and I’m happy to finish out a long day with a good finish after coming from the Silver Crown race at Gateway,” Hines said.
Friday night winner Christopher Bell returned to the podium with a strong run in third, again in the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports – Toyota TRD #71 Bullet/Speedway Toyota.
“Hats off to the track crew for giving us a great race track where we could move around. We had great cars again tonight, but I got us behind the eight-ball a little with a poor qualifying run,” Bell said.
Bryan Clauson was credited with fourth in the Fairbury Westin Packaged Meats – Curb Records #63 Spike/Esslinger, and Bacon’s run from 18th to fifth in the Wilke-Pak Racers – Autonet Mobile #11 Spike/Stanton Mopar earned him the night’s B&W Auto Mart “Hard Charger Award.” Tanner Thorson, who earlier in the night earned the ProSource “Fast Time Award” for the second night in a row, retired from the event early.
Windom Wins Thrilling Sprint Feature!
Chris Windom took the lead on lap 2 away from Kevin Thomas, Jr. and led the remaining 24 laps. With that being said, it was a thrilling race with several daring slide jobs leaving several drivers with crashed race cars. The Lawrenceburg Chevrolet Sprint Cars started the 25 lap feature with 25 cars. CJ leary found trouble early on flipping his sprint in turns 3 and 4. He was able to walk away but it ended the defending track champs night. Travis Hery took a hard tumble in turns 1 and 2 but he was also uninjured. Up front, Windom fought off the challenges of Robert Ballou, Dave Darland and Justin Grant. With a few laps today Ballou, battling for the top spot bounced his car upside down in turns 3 and 4 ending his chance at a victory. With just a few laps remaining, Darland and Grant threw numerous slide jobs trying to wrestle the lead away from Windom but Windom fought back and never gave up the lead. At the checkered flag, Windom would cross first, followed by Dave Darland, Justin Grant, Kody Kinser, and Landon Simon. Heat race winners were Kevin Thomas, Jr, Robert Ballou, and Dave Darland. Shawn Westefeld continues to lead the point standings by 80 points over Landon Simon in the championship battle for The Lawrenceburg Chevrolet Sprint Cars.
Adam Beats Matt in Battle of The Hamiltons!
Defending Budweiser UMP Modifieds Champion, Adam Hamilton picked up his second win in a row at Lawrenceburg holding off his brother Matt. Adam was able to take the lead on lap 1 over pole sitter Weasel Rhoades. Matt Hamilton, Andrew Corbin and Tony McVey raced hard for the runner spot before Matt Hamilton was able to secure the second spot and chase down brother Adam. As the two ran down slower traffic, Matt made some challenges to Adam, but was never able to make the pass. Andrew Corbin ran third followed by Tony McVey, and Kyle Herbert. Heat race winners were Weasel Rhoades, and Tony McVey. Defending track Champion, Adam Hamilton leads the point standings by 140 points over Scotty Kincaid. The next race for the Budweiser UMP Modifieds is the 3rd annual Merrill Downey Memorial on Saturday, July 5th paying $4,444 to win.
The next event at Lawrenceburg Speedway will be Saturday, July 5th for the Merrill Downey Memorial. Racing will feature the Budweiser UMP Modifieds & Late Models. For complete event information, please visit www.lawrenceburgspeedway.com