For The Tribune
BROWNSTOWN
Overcoming an early race spinout, Kyle Cummins worked his way from the tail of the field to overtake race leader Carson Short, scoring his first career No Way Out 40 victory Saturday night at Brownstown Speedway.
“Instead of getting upset, I knew we had a good car,” Cummins said. “We’ve got 40 laps, and I knew we were going to drive up through there. I just didn’t expect to win.”
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The Princeton driver became the 10th different winner of the 11th annual event.
Short held the lead for most of the race, fending off the likes of A.J. Hopkins, Tyler Courtney and Robert Ballou.
As Cummins caught the frontrunners, slight contact between he and Hopkins sent Hopkins’ car into a spin and backflip in Turn 4.
Hopkins tried to maneuver through the spin, but his attempt sent the car into a quick backflip motion before landing on its wheels. The driver was unharmed.
On the restart, Cummins would realign behind Short in the third position alongside Courtney, who was running in the second position.
Courtney fell to third on the start as Cummins ran the middle line of the racing surface with his sights set on Short.
With less than five laps to go, Cummins muscled his way to the race lead en route to his richest payday in Sprint Car competition, collecting $7,500 for the feat.
“It’s amazing. This is my biggest win,” Cummins said.
The 29-year-old driver’s biggest career win prior to Saturday night was in 2017 when he picked up the coveted win during Indiana Sprint Week at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt.
The four-time Midwest Sprint Car Series champion is tied for most championships by a single driver and has 12 series wins to his credit.
Short, Ballou, Courtney and Jason McDougal rounded out the top-five finishers.
Seymour’s Tyler Cain returned to victory lane in the Pro Late Model division, cruising to victory ahead of Tyler Neal, Brad Barrow, Marty O’Neal and Justin Bowling.
“There toward the end of last year, we started making some really big gains,” Cain said. “We would always struggle in the feature late, but I think we are going to have something this year.”
Devin Gilpin cruised to his second win of the season in the Modifieds, besting Ryan Thomas for the feature win.
“I just can’t thank my cousin, Kevin, at Karen’s Vineyard and Winery for what he does for me giving me this opportunity,” Gilpin said.
Fifteen-year-old Brayden Watson from Bedford scored his career-best finish, settling for third behind Thomas. The Bedford North Lawrence High School student was the 2018 Rookie of the Year in the Modified division.
Josh Boller scored his first career feature win at Brownstown Speedway in the Super Stocks.
Josh Divine, Trey Chastain, Tim Eddleman and Tucker Chastain rounded out the top five.
This Saturday will be Opening Points Night at Brownstown Speedway, kicking off the points standings at the quarter-mile dirt track, entering its 67th season.
Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Super Stocks, Pure Stocks and Hornets will all be in competition.
Gates are scheduled to open at 3 p.m. with hot laps beginning at 6 p.m.
Adult general admission for the event is $15. Children 12 and younger are admitted free with a paid adult.
For information, visit brownstownspeedway.com.