By James Essex
Former Jackson 100 champion Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Illinois, picked up his second career Brownstown Speedway victory June 15 when the track hosted the 2021 opener for the DirtCar Summer Nationals.
Pierce held off Devin Moran and Tim Lance for the $5,000 victory. Tanner English was fourth, followed by Devin Gilpin. The rest of the top 10 finishers were Joe Godsey, Brian Shirley, Ashton Winger, Mitch McGrath and Chad Finley.
Tucker Chastain of Bedford won the super stock feature over Mike Fields, J.T. Huffman, Craig Markel and Greg Amick. The rest of the top 10 competitors across the finish line were Steve Hollars, Derek Clegg, Zach Sasser, Grant Simpson and Tommy East.
Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, North Carolina, won the $1,500-to-win modified feature over Tyler Nicely, Steven Brooks, Jacoby Hines and John DeMoss. The remainder of the top 10 were Derek Groomer, Cole Falloway, Jordan Wever, Kyle Hammer and Levi Kissinger.
It was a hot night for Saturday Night Racing on June 12 at Brownstown Speedway, and this year’s hottest driver, Tyler Neal of Paragon, would get another P3 Graphix ILMS Pro Late Model feature win. Neal has five ILMS Brownstown wins and eight total series wins for 2021.
Steve Peeden, Raymond Humphrey, Tyler Cain and Jesse Tunny all trailed Neal at the finish. The remaining top 10 were Colton Sullivan, Robert Rainey, Zack Burton, Austin Burton and Michael Wesselman.
The Pewter Hall Super Stocks would have a familiar face in victory lane. Matt Boknecht of Seymour took the win ahead of Tucker Chastain, Steve Hollars, Grant Simpson and Tanner Chastain. This was Boknecht’s second super stock win of the year.
Dusten Carr of Underwood recorded win No. 4 in All in 1 Pools Pure Stock features for the season. He led Dalton Roark, Keaton Streeval, Brad Kemp and Tommy Fleenor at the finish.
In crown vic action, Ronnie Basham III of Clarksville got his first Brownstown Speedway win. He finished ahead of Michael Cranmer, Phillip Boudreaux, Billy Heil and Jesse Stewart Jr.
The hornet division also had a first-time Brownstown Speedway feature winner. Zach Johnson of Columbus took the checkers ahead of Shannon Walp, Hunter Perry, Davey Waggoner and Curtis Roccia.
Tonight, Brownstown will be back in action with a full show of super late models, pro late models, open wheel modifieds, super stocks and hornets. For information, visit brownstownspeedway.com.
True takes Jennings County TQ midgets
Addison True won the feature event June 15 at the Jennings County 4-H Fairgrounds in North Vernon when Tony Stewart’s All-Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midgets raced in front of the grandstand.
Johnny Goff finished in second, followed by Joey Paxson, Tate Martz and Robbie Roland. Completing the top 10 were Matt Lux, Matthew Hedrick, Rylan Gray, Ashlea Albertson and Brad Davis.
Bibent wins at Lawrenceburg
Saban Bibent won the sprint car feature June 12 at Lawrenceburg Speedway.
Nick Bilbee, the current track points leader was second, followed by Shane Cottle, Sterling Cling and Ricky Lewis.
Victor Lee won the open wheel modified feature over Gary Dunaway, David Lehman, Scotty Kincaid and Cory Skipton. Other feature winners were Gary Whitt (hornets) and Joel Andrews (pure stocks).
Tonight, Lawrenceburg will be back in action with a regular schedule of sprints, modifieds, pure stocks and hornets. For information, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com.
Overton collects big bucks at Eldora
Brandon Overton of Evans, Georgia, completed an improbable sweep of the 26th and 27th annual Dirt Late Model Dream races June 10 and 12 at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Overton won the second 100-lap event of the weekend June 12, taking the lead on Lap 86 from Chris Madden and going on to the win. Trailing Overton and Madden across the stripe were Chris Ferguson, Jonathan Davenport and Darrell Lanigan. The rest of the top 10 were Kyle Larson, Shane Clanton, Tim McCreadie, Gregg Satterlee and Dale McDowell.
Overton won four features during the four days of racing and left Eldora with winnings of $273,000.
Local go-kart racing upcoming
Columbus Speedway Go-Kart Racing, which conducts events at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds in Columbus, will be racing tonight.
Jennings County Outlaw Karting, which holds events at the Jennings County 4-H Fairgrounds in North Vernon, has its next race scheduled for July 9.
Twin Cities returns to racing tonight
After getting rained out June 12, Twin Cities Raceway Park in Vernon will be racing tonight with the W.E. Burton Memorial.
On the racing program will be a pure stock special and a complete show for crate late models, super stocks, hornets, crown vics and 410 steel block sprints. For information, visit twincitiestrack.com.
This week in racing history
From 70 years ago in 1951 at 25th Street Fairgrounds Speedway in Columbus, Pat O’Connor won the feature race for the Mutual Racing Association. Justin King was second, followed by Mickey Rutter and Bud Randall.
From 60 years ago in 1961 at Brownstown, Cecil Beavers won his fourth straight feature race over Eddie Bond and Orval Yeadon.
From 50 years ago this weekend at 25th Street Fairgrounds Raceway in Columbus, it was Ray Godsey winning the V-8 late model feature over Don Hobbs, William Wampler, John Lobb and Galen Fox. Tommy Day won the V-6 feature.
From 50 years ago tonight in 1971 at Brownstown, Kenny Simpson won the late model feature race over Jim Curry, Jack Owens, Mel Vails and Teako Ray.
On this night 50 years ago, Allen Barr won the sprint car feature at Paragon Speedway. Danny Bowlen was second, followed by Danny Bowlen, Bob Kinser, Frank Hollingsworth and Orval Yeadon. Bud Glidden won the stock car feature.
Also from 1971 at Haubstadt, Bob Kinser won the sprint car feature over Cliff Johns and Larry Miller. Jim Curry won the late model feature over Vic Welch and Tom Helfrich.
From this weekend in 1971 at Bloomington, Sheldon Kinser won the sprint car feature over Dick Gaines, Mike Johnson, Leon Thickstun and Larry Bainaka.
From 40 years ago in 1981 at Brownstown, Don Hobbs won the late model feature over Pete Willoughby, Ira Bastin, Tony Moore and Steve Barnett. Gregg Lyle won the modified street stock feature over Ernie Niemoeller, Regis Scaggs, Junior Montgomery and Don Barnett.
Also from 1981 at Twin Cities, the late model feature winner was Tommy Day over Gary Herbert, Dee Kramer, Chuck Gilpin and Roger Sullivan. Darrell Smallwood won the street stock feature over Scott McKeand, Ted Pfeiffer Jr., Mark Bruce and Dan Sallee.
From this weekend in 1981, Kerry Norris went 2 for 2, winning the sprint car features at both Lawrenceburg and Kokomo. At Lawrenceburg, Norris won over Ron Dorsett, Danny Milburn and Tony Solomito. At Kokomo, Norris was victorious over Bob Kinser, Rickey Hood and Danny Smith.
From 30 years ago in 1991 at Brownstown, Scott Bloomquist won the Hoosier Dirt Classic for late models over Paul Shafer, Lee Fleetwood, Jack Boggs and Billy Moyer. Scott Patman won the street stock feature over Earl Plessinger, Frankie Coomer, Brad Barrow and Delbert Ross. George Berry took the bomber feature over Don Walp, Ray Hughes, Jeff Helton, and Kevin Sebastian.
Also from 1991 at Bloomington, it was Rickey Hood winning the sprint car feature over Frankie Kerr, Bobby Allen, Kevin Huntley and Kevin Briscoe.