As I've walked through the pits the past few nights, I
needn't be an expert to notice that most of the 48 have a slightly better
chance of winning the feature than I do. So why do they bother to even show up?
Maybe their expectations are different from others. In addition, unlike me,
they can say that they competed. I haven't and it's unlikely that I will. My
guess is that many reading this can say they haven't either.
With all that, I'll say that I root for every one of them. I
know a few USAC racers (and a few former racers) and I like all of them. While
I don't root for any of them to win, I do hope that they can all load the car
on the trailer after the race. At the end of the day, maybe that’s all which
matters.
New players included Chase Jones, Dallas Hewitt, Steve
Thomas and Ty Mihocko, along with Lawrenceburg regulars JJ Hughes, Shawn
Westerfeld and Saban Bibent.
Justin Grant went out early to set his quick time of 14.070,
though several others tried mightily to top it.
Justin Grant made a late pass work as he won the first heat.
Thomas Meseraull, Tyler Courtney and pole sitter Jerry Coons Jr. also made the
show.
The second heat saw Jarett Andretti lead Chase Stockon, CJ
Leary and Robert Ballou home.
Shane Cottle won the third heat over Chase Johnson, Chris
Windom and Eddie Tofoya Jr., who made his very first ISW feature.
Carson Short was the fourth heat winner, pacing Max Adams,
Brady Bacon and Gas City winner Logan Seavey.
Unlike the night before, the C main was tame. Dakota Jackson
led Shawn Westerfeld, Anthony D’Alessio and Max Guilford to the semi-main.
The caution plagued B main was won by JJ Hughes with Kevin
Thomas Jr. and Kyle Cummins trailing. Behind them, mayhem combined with the
thrill of victory, etc., prevailed.
Matt Westfall tapped Chase Jones, who spun, tipped over and
collected Dustin Smith. Both Smith and Jones (has a ring to it) saw feature
starting spots go poof! Those who had been seventh on back were racing their
hearts out and a few of them benefitted. But Sterling Cling had a left front
tire going down and on the restart was passed by Dave Darland and Jadon Rogers.
So... the final three were Westfall, Darland and Rogers.
Gas City winner Logan Seavey and Kokomo winner CJ Leary
landed in the front row and Leary got the drop on Seavey and everyone else.
Right away, things slowed down as K. Thomas and Courtney found themselves
parked next to the wall, about 100 feet apart. Sunshine especially may have
felt like banging his head against that wall after his disappointment the night
before and now this. While the field circled under the yellow, Andretti ducked
into the pits with a flat tire. KT and Jarett rejoined the crowd.
The green waved and two more laps were completed when Jadon
Rogers flipped for the second night in a row. Westfall and Coons were also
involved; they returned to the fun. Leary led Seavey, Bacon, Grant and Windom.
Again, Tom Hansing brought out the green flag and again
Leary tried dearly to check out. But on the seventh lap Max Adams stopped on
the track and again Tom reached for his yellow flag. There was no change up
front within the top five.
On this re-start, Grant passed Bacon for third. A lap later
Windom passed Bacon for fourth. But he had to give it back as a stray tire
rolled down the straightaway. It was Grant’s and he was parked in turn four as
the yellow waved one more time. Leary still led, but things were a little
different behind him. Seavey was second, ahead of Bacon, Windom and now
Stockon. Johnson, the inexperienced kid, had moved from 12th to sixth, by the
way.
Again, the green came out and again Windom passed Bacon, now
for second place. Leary had stretched out his lead somewhat during the middle
stages of the thirty lapper. But Windom began inching his way to the front,
closer and closer. Finally, on lap 23 he threw a slider at the leader, falling
short and dropping back. From there, Leary was never threatened in any way.
Those of us who kept expecting the unexpected are still waiting, thankfully.
Behind Leary and Windom was Bacon. Stockon was fourth and
Short completed the race in fifth place as Seavey faded some to finish sixth.
Cummins came from 15th to capture seventh. Grant did a fine job of hustling
back to take eighth after his misfortune. After running as high as sixth,
Johnson settled for ninth. Ballou was tenth after starting 22nd and earning the
KSE Racing Products / Irvin King Hard Charger award.
Leary’s margin of victory was 1.057 seconds. After the race he spoke of how being on the
family team seems to be a good fit. Windom lamented the lapped traffic. Bacon
thanked his sponsors. Ballou said he needed to qualify better and expressed
concern over the rocks he found on the track.
In national championship points Grant retains a healthy lead
over Bacon. However, Bacon leads Grant by five points in Sprint Week points. Despite
Leary’s winning two of the three events so far, his 13th place finish at Gas
City has hurt.
Next stop, the Terre Haute Action on Wednesday.
Trying to drink while wearing a mask, I’m…
Danny Burton
