Spencer Hughes, driver of the PCC Motorsports late model owned by Craig and Shannon Sims of Hope, will be one of the top drivers on hand for the 25th Annual Indiana Icebreaker on March 19 at Brownstown Speedway.
Brownstown Speedway will kick off its 70th year of racing with the 25th Annual Indiana Icebreaker on March 19. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned event will pay $15,000 to win. Also competing on opening night will be the open wheel modifieds and pure stocks.
Brandon Sheppard, the two-time and defending Indiana Icebreaker winner and current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship points leader, is expected to be on hand, along with Devin Moran, the current No. 1 dirt late model driver in the country. Others expected are defending series champion Tim McCreadie, last year’s Jackson 100 winner Jimmy Owens, along with Tyler Erb, Ricky Thornton Jr., Spencer Hughes, Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr., Dennis Erb Jr., Ashton Winger, Ross Robinson, Shane Clanton, Josh Rice, Garrett Alberson, Daulton Wilson and Kyle Bronson.
Devin Gilpin of Columbus, the reigning Brownstown late model track champion, will lead the local contingent of racers, including Zak Blackwood, Chad Stapleton, Skyller Lewis, Britan Godsey, Kent Robinson, Brayton Laster, Kody Marsee, Keegan Cox, Shelby Miles, Scott James and Steve Casebolt.
For more information about the Indiana Icebreaker next weekend, to go to brownstownspeedway.com.
The open practice scheduled for today has been canceled due to poor weather conditions.
Stewart returns to SRX in 2022
Superstar Racing Experience has added three more drivers to its 2022 lineup, with the SRX Series’ defending champion and one of its 2021 competitors being joined by another prominent name from NASCAR. Last week, SRX revealed that Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Hailie Deegan have all signed on to compete in the 2022 SRX season this summer.
Stewart, the co-founder of SRX and the series’ defending champion, will run the full season. Kenseth and Deegan will both run limited schedules, with Kenseth running three races at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, I-55 Raceway and Sharon Speedway.
All three drivers join the previously-announced lineup for SRX, which includes Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Bobby Labonte and Michael Waltrip among drivers with ties to NASCAR. The IndyCar contingent includes Ryan Hunter-Reay, Paul Tracy and Marco Andretti among drivers running the full season.
Kenseth joins SRX after racing in NASCAR over the course of two decades and putting together a Hall of Fame-caliber career. He won the 2003 Winston Cup championship in memorable fashion, cruising to the title on a remarkable wave of consistency despite winning only a single race during the year. Kenseth’s championship is complemented by 39 career wins, including the 2009 and 2012 Daytona 500.
Deegan returns to SRX after running three races in 2021 with a best finish of second at Knoxville. The daughter of Motocross great Brian Deegan, “Dirt Princess” currently races full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for David Gilliland Racing.
Stewart’s entering SRX as a driver means trouble for the rest of the field, as he should easily be among the favorites for the series championship. Stewart handily won the title in SRX’s first season, winning at Knoxville and Eldora and finishing outside the podium only once.
Eldora announces 2022 schedule
Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway located in Rossburg, Ohio, has posted its 2022 race schedule. For starting times and admission prices, head to eldoraspeedway.com.
April 9: Test and Tune
April 12: FLORACING Night in America Late Models, Modifieds and Eldora stocks
May 6: World of Outlaws Sprints and USAC National Sprints
May 7: World of Outlaws Sprints and USAC National Sprints
May 21: $10 Family Fireworks Night
May 29: Johnny Appleseed Classic, late models, modifieds and Eldora stocks
June 8: Eldora Million for late models twin 25 lap features
June 9: Eldora Million for late models, paying $1,002,022 to win
June 10: 28th Annual Dirt Late Model Dream for late models twin 25-lap features
June 11: 28th Annual Dirt Late Model Dream for late models
June 25: Summertime Showtime, NRA 360 sprints, modifieds and Eldora stocks
July 13: Historical Big 1 – World of Outlaws Sprints
July 14: Historical Big 1 – $100,000 to win World of Outlaw Sprints
July 15: 39th Annual Kings Royal World of Outlaw Sprints
July 16: 39th Annual Kings Royal $175,000-to-win World of Outlaws Sprints
Aug. 6: $10 Family Fireworks Night
Sept. 4: 14th Annual Baltes Classic for late models, modifieds and Eldora stocks
Sept. 8: 52nd Annual World 100 twin 25 lap features for late models
Sept. 9: 52nd Annual World 100 twin 25 lap features for late models
Sept. 10: 52nd Annual World 100 for late models, paying $55,000 to win
Sept. 23: 4-Crown Nationals World of Outlaws Sprints and USAC Midgets
Sept. 24: 4-Crown Nationals USAC Sprints, USAC Midgets, USAC Silver Crown, and All-Star Circuit
of Champions Sprints
Former racers pass away
Tommy Day, one of the winningest and most popular drivers in Twin Cities Speedway history passed
away on March 3. The Madison resident was 87.
Day began his racing career in 1967, racing in the rails division at Twin Cities. He raced at several tracks in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio over his career which spanned into the early 1980s. He finished sixth in the 1974 World 100 at Eldora Speedway in his only start in the event.
Day’s most successful season was in 1971, when he captured the 6-cylinder track championships at both Twin Cities and the 25 th Street Fairgrounds Raceway in Columbus. At Twin Cities he won the first nine features ran that year on his way to the track title, his only one at his home track. In 1972, he captured the track championships in the 6-cylinder class at Riverview Speedway in Milton, Kentucky; Northern Kentucky Speedway in Union, Kentucky; and Glen Este Speedway in Glen Este, Ohio.
He finished second in the late model points at Twin Cities in 1980 and 1981 driving one of the first C.J. Rayburn Race Cars/Rayburn Automotive late models to participate at the North Vernon facility on a regular basis.
Day was part of the golden era of super six racing at Twin Cities in the early 1970s driving his winged 1964 Chevy II No. 1 “Flintstone Special” against his arch-rivals, Johnny Robbins in the No. 3 “Snoopy Special,” and Ken “Hillbilly” Ogle in the No. 8-ball. Those three drivers combined to win a majority of the feature events at the track from 1971-73.
Ron Clark of North Vernon passed away on Feb. 22 at the age of 79. Clark raced primarily at Twin Cities Speedway in the 1960s and 1970s in the 6-cylinder division.
His sons Mark and Tim also raced. Mark was the 1988 street stock track champ at Twin Cities before passing away in 1990. Tim won seven street/super stock track championships at Brownstown Speedway, and he has two in the same class at Twin Cities. His wife Dorothy was also a standout powder puff racer back in the day.