For the 10th time in 2019, Tony Stewart earned his way to sprint car victory lane, this time during United Sprint Car Series Outlaw Thunder Tour competition at Chatham Speedway in Chatham, Louisiana.
Certainly no stranger to USCS competition or victory lane, Stewart’s triumph Oct. 18 was the product of row two, quickly racing his way to the front before being forced to hold back a hard-charging Mark Smith, who started ninth.
The USCS victory was Stewart’s fifth of the 2019 season, his first since May 27 during a visit to Lexington, Tennessee.
“When you have a guy like Mark Smith behind you, you can’t make any mistakes. He’s a great racer, so any time you can keep a guy like him behind you says a lot,” said the driver of the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing/Rush Truck Centers/Toco Warranty/Ford Performance/Curb Records/Sage Fruit/Absolute Automation and Security/No. 14 sprint car.
“We enjoy racing with the USCS. It’s a fun series,” he said. “Hopefully, we have plenty of opportunities to join them in the future.”
Although unable to repeat victory Oct. 19 during the USCS/Chatham Speedway finale, Stewart did the next best thing and finished second, ultimately ending his evening in the exact position that he started. Smith, who started fourth, was the victor.
Stewart has now competed in 63 events so far in 2019 with 10 wins, 28 top-five finishes and 36 top-10 finishes.
Columbus go-kart results
The Columbus Speedway Go-Kart Racing had its final points event of the season Oct. 19 at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds.
The winners in the respective divisions were Travis Wilburn (clone 380 and clone 325), Scott Roccia (flathead), Bradley Brown (jr. 1), Brandon Malone (pred), Devin Marcum (clone 340), Jamison Reed (rookie) and Evan Shatto (jr. 3).
Twin Cities hosts finale
Marty O’Neal of Spencer won the season-ending crate late model feature Oct. 19 at Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon.
Other feature winners were Doug McCullough of Greencastle (super stocks), Warren Laufer of Madison (hornets), Jacoby Hines of Trafalgar (modifieds) and Rick Gumm of Tampico (pure stocks).
The 2019 track champions at Twin Cities are Joey Kramer of Hanover (crate late models), Troy Clark of North Vernon (pure stocks), Jeremy Helton of Paris Crossing (super stocks), Andy Anderson of North Vernon (hornets) and Trent Green of Milton, Kentucky (modifieds).
Schlenk wins Kokomo Klash
Rusty Schlenk won the Kokomo Klash for late models Oct. 19 at Kokomo Speedway.
Shelby Miles finished second to Schlenk with Mike Spatola, Bill Sheets and David Hilliker trailing. The rest of the top 10 were Jeff Curl, Jay Morris, Derrick Hilliker, Skyller Lewis and Chad White.
Barnes wins Halloween 200
Chuck Barnes of Louisville, Kentucky, won his third career Halloween 200 on Oct. 20 at Salem Speedway in Salem.
Dan Banker was second with Baden Stewart, Marcus Elliott and Kyle Hadley completing the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Heath Helton, Jeff Berg, Shawn Smith, Scott Caudell and Tony Conway.
Cummins wins at Tri-State
Kyle Cummins of Princeton topped off a spectacular season at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt by winning the MSCS Sprint Car feature.
Cummins drives a car crew chiefed by Tim Spindler of Columbus and owned by Hank Byram.
Jason McDougal won the USAC National Midget race to conclude the season at Tri-State. Kevin Thomas Jr. chased McDougal across the finish line with Cummins, Tyler Courtney and Justin Grant finishing out the top five. The rest of the top 10 finishers were Logan Seavey, Tucker Klaasmeyer, Thomas Meseraull, Tanner Thorson and Zeb Wise.
New USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship points: 1-Tyler Courtney 1,718, 2-Chris Windom 1,564, 3-Logan Seavey 1,534, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr. 1,478, 5-Zeb Wise 1,435, 6-Tanner Carrick 1,287, 7-Jerry Coons Jr. 1,274, 8-Chad Boat 1,255, 9-Jason McDougal 1,229, 10-Tucker Klaasmeyer 1,193.
Thunder Valley results
Thunder Valley Raceway in Salem had a race program Oct. 18 with the following winners: Willie McRoberts (pure stocks), Josh Thomas (modifieds), Blake Durbin (outlaw hornets and stock hornets), Tad Canada (mod lites), Travis Howe (super stocks) and Chuck Freeman (crown vics).
This week in racing history
From 50 years ago in 1969, area track champions were named with Don Hobbs (Brownstown), Bob Kinser (Lawrenceburg), Mike Johnson (Kokomo) and Larry Miller (Haubstadt) among those recognized for their feats.
From 40 years ago in 1979, Whitewater Valley Speedway in Liberty announced Pat Patrick (late models) and Russ Petro (limited late model) were the top point men in their respective divisions.
Also from 1979, Kerry Norris was crowned the sprint car track champion at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
From 30 years ago in 1989, Brownstown Speedway named its champions: Jim Curry (late Models), Joe Johnson (street stocks) and Clifton Barron (bombers).
Also from 1989 at Twin Cities, the track champions were Dill Whittymore (late models) and Scott McKeand (street stocks).
From 1989, Chuck Amati was named the sprint car track champion at both Bloomington and Paragon speedways.