INDIANA SPRINT WEEK
2012 & 2019 Lawrenceburg Indiana Sprint Week winner Justin Grant (#4) & 2015 Burg ISW victor Brady Bacon (#69). (Josh James Photo)
THE BURG IS THE WORD FOR USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK RD. 3 SUNDAY
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Lawrenceburg, Indiana (July 22, 2021)………Entering the previous year’s NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week by AMSOIL round at Lawrenceburg Speedway, it had been three years since a driver had gone “back-to-back” by scoring consecutive victories in the annual tour of the Hoosier state.
The very same driver who achieved the aforementioned feat in 2017, CJ Leary, became the latest individual to accomplish the job, a feat which took everything the Greenfield, Ind. driver could muster.
“Man, that was a workout,” Leary, the 2019 Indiana Sprint Week champ, exclaimed. “Lawrenceburg Speedway was elbows up tonight; definitely had the spurs on and took all I had. Typically, it’s a breeze in the park for me since I have so many laps here, but tonight, it was everything I had, and using all the experience I’ve put together the past 10 years here.”
Leary’s Lawrenceburg experience includes a sprint car championship at the track during the 2013 season, plus the 2017 ISW score that launched him into a succession of ISW feature victories on two-straight nights that summer as well.
Coming into this Sunday night’s, July 25, third round of 2021 Indiana Sprint Week, Leary brings in an impressive streak as the only driver to finish inside the top-five of the Lawrenceburg ISW event in each of the last five years since 2017.
Leary’s pair of Lawrenceburg ISW feature victories are tied for the most among drivers in this Sunday’s field alongside Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) who won his very first career USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car race there during the summer of 2012, then collected another in 2019.
Also achieving status as an Indiana Sprint Week winner at Lawrenceburg, and taking a shot at their second this Sunday, are Mitchell, Indiana’s 2003 & 2019 Lawrenceburg track champion, Dickie Gaines (2005); Bedford, Indiana’s Brady Short (2008); Rocklin, California’s Robert Ballou (2011); Cullman, Alabama’s Kevin Thomas Jr. (2013); and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon (2015). Bacon has been the victor of the two most recent USAC National Sprint Car events at Lawrenceburg in October 2020 and in April 2021.
Chase Stockon (2012), Thomas Meseraull (2015) and Chris Windom (2017) have all stood in victory lane at Lawrenceburg following a USAC National Sprint Car feature triumph. None of the trio have cracked their way into the win column during Indiana Sprint Week yet, and all are among the major players come Sunday.
Defending Indiana Sprint Week champ Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.) won the first USAC National Sprint Car event of his career at Lawrenceburg in 2012, and his best career ISW Burg result came in 2020 with a 4th. Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) took home a 7th during ISW at Lawrenceburg in 2017. Meanwhile, Windom (Canton, Ill.), the 2011 and 2018 ISW champion, has finished as the runner-up of Lawrenceburg’s ISW round on three occasions in 2011, 2019 and 2020.
USAC AMSOIL National Sprintcar Rookies Tanner Thorson and Paul Nienhiser will make their first Indiana Sprint Week appearances at Lawrenceburg. Thorson (Minden, Nev.) ran 13th at Lawrenceburg in April’s USAC show while Nienhiser (Chapin, Ill.) took 7th.
June Burg winner Saban Bibent (Cincinnati, Ohio) will attempt to make his first career USAC National Sprint Car feature start on Sunday in the Wedgewood Motorsports #98, a car which finished 2nd with driver Brady Bacon behind the wheel during a weekly program at Lawrenceburg in June.
Veterans of Lawrenceburg ISW top-ten finishes among Sunday’s lineup of drivers include the likes Kansas, Illinois’ Shane Cottle (2nd in 2005), Marion, Indiana’s Scotty Weir (4th in 2007), Marion, Illinois’ Carson Short (5th in 2019 & 2020), Buckeye, Arizona’s Charles Davis Jr. (6th in 2004), Princeton, Indiana’s Kyle Cummins (7th in 2020), Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Jason McDougal (7th in 2019), Pleasant Hill, Ohio’s Matt Westfall (8th in 2004), Penngrove, California’s Chase Johnson (9th in 2020) as well as Sutter, California’s Logan Seavey (6th in 2020), who won both a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature and a weekly sprint car show at Lawrenceburg on the same night this past June.
Returning for another go this Sunday who’ve performed in a Lawrenceburg ISW feature in recent years are reigning track champion and current point leader Nick Bilbee of Indianapolis, Indiana (21st in 2016) as well as 2018 track champ Garrett Abrams of Rushville, Ind. (19th in 2015).
They’re joined by Anaheim, California’s Jake Swanson (12th in 2018), Columbus, Indiana’s J.J. Hughes (16th in 2020), 2020 USAC National Most Improved Driver Brandon Mattox of Terre Haute, Indiana (18th in 2020); 2020 USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Jadon Rogers of Worthington, Ind. (22nd in 2020); Auburn, Illinois’ Mario Clouser (24th in 2017); and Chino Hills, California’s Eddie Tafoya Jr. (19th in 2020) who’ll be joined by first-time Indiana Sprint Week competitor and fellow AMSOIL USAC CRA Sprint Car series regular Chris Gansen of Verdemont Heights, Calif.
Twenty-five previous Indiana Sprint Week events have been held at Lawrenceburg since 1997 while 65 USAC AMSOIL National Sprintcar events have taken place there since 1983. Dave Darland owns the record for most ISW feature victories (5) and overall USAC National Sprint Car feature wins (7) at Lawrenceburg.
Lawrenceburg’s NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week by AMSOIL event features the USAC AMSOIL Sprintcar National Championship vying for the $6,000 winner’s share and are joined by the Modifieds.
2021 USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK INDIANA SPRINT WEEK SCHEDULE:
Friday, July 23: Gas City I-69 Speedway | Gas City, IN
Saturday, July 24: Kokomo Speedway | Kokomo, IN
Sunday, July 25: Lawrenceburg Speedway | Lawrenceburg, IN
Wednesday, July 28: Terre Haute Action Track | Terre Haute, IN
Thursday, July 29: Lincoln Park Speedway | Putnamville, IN
Friday, July 30: Bloomington Speedway | Bloomington, IN
Saturday, July 31: Tri-State Speedway | Haubstadt, IN
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT LAWRENCEBURG:
1 Lap – 7/9/2008 – Levi Jones – 12.926 – 104.441 mph
8 Laps – 9/28/2013 – Tracy Hines – 1:51.91 – 96.506 mph
10 Laps – 7/10/2008 – Cole Whitt – 2:18.19 – 97.692 mph
12 Laps – 10/1/2016 – Stevie Sussex – 2:51.39 – 94.521 mph
30 Laps – 10/1/2016 – Josh Hodges – 7:21.09 – 91.818 mph
INDIANA SPRINT WEEK WINS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY:
5-Dave Darland
3-Jon Stanbrough
2-Kevin Briscoe, Bryan Clauson, Justin Grant & C.J. Leary
1-Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Jeff Bland Jr., Tyler Courtney, Dickie Gaines, Jack Hewitt, Brady Short, Kevin Thomas Jr. & Brian Tyler
INDIANA SPRINT WEEK WINNERS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY:
1997: Brian Tyler (7/19) 1998: Dave Darland (7/18) 1999: Jack Hewitt (7/22)
2000: Kevin Briscoe (7/22) 2001: Dave Darland (7/26) 2002: Kevin Briscoe (7/25)
2003: Jon Stanbrough (7/24) 2004: Jon Stanbrough (7/22) 2005: Dickie Gaines (7/21)
2007: Jon Stanbrough (7/11) & Dave Darland (7/12) 2008: Jeff Bland Jr. (7/9) & Brady Short (7/10)
2009: Dave Darland (7/10) 2010: Dave Darland (7/9) 2011: Robert Ballou (7/10)
2012: Justin Grant (7/15) 2013: Kevin Thomas Jr. (7/14) 2014: Bryan Clauson (9/27)
2015: Brady Bacon (7/12) 2016: Bryan Clauson (7/10) 2017: C.J. Leary (7/9)
2018: Tyler Courtney (7/22) 2019: Justin Grant (7/21 2020: C.J. Leary (7/26)
MACEDO’S TULARE USAC MIDGET WIN