Columbus Speedway Go-Kart Racing, which conducts events at Tony Stewart Speedway on the grounds of the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds, has announced its 2023 track champions.

Conner Smith of Columbus won two division championships as he took the junior 2 and junior 3 classes. In the junior 2 division, he won the points over Brooklynn Summers, Jentry Cash, Ayden Rudicel and Lynx Lawson. He outdistanced Jaylen Butler, Maddi Morgan, Emilie Smith and Kenzie Perry in winning the junior 3 division title.

Troy Cowan of Columbus won the pred division championship over Carson Turner and Keigan McTarsney. Another Columbus racer, Daniel Burton, took top honors in the medium heavy division over P.J. Browder and Scott Roccia.

The rookie division champion was Thomas Kramer, followed in points by Arica Rudicel, Josiah Hunnicutt, Brody Bowman and Ajaye Kincaid.

Maverick Brison of Butlerville was the top driver in the junior 1 division title over Kamden Fields, Jospeh Burton and Jake Hudak. Robby Young of Milan was the high point man in the heavy division over Ryan Turner and Hunter Bryant.

Jeff Purdue of Marietta won the super heavy class over Travis Wilburn and Dylan Cowan, and Leroy Blevins of New Albany won the RWYB division over Brayton Taylor and Mike Payne.

Columbus Speedway Go-Kart Racing held its final event of the season Nov. 11 with a stout field of 180 karts entered.

The division winners were Jarrett Shaw (clone lights, clone medium and clone heavy), Leroy Blevins (SBO), Travis Wilburn (sumo), Blake Glaze (junior 2), Thomas Kramer (rookie), Zoey Provenzano (senior champ), Colton Rychener (junior 3, junior champ and pro purple), Macy Station (junior 1), Buddy Wilson (clone super heavy), Brayden Taylor (pred), Cash Johnson (pro green) and Chris Hutton (mod lites).

Cummins lands new USAC ride

Kyle Cummins, one of the premier drivers on the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship tour, will compete on the full schedule in 2024 with the newly established Petty Performance Racing team.

The Princeton driver will kick off the upcoming season in a ride owned by Jerry Petty of Litchfield Park, Arizona, CEO of Avanti Windows & Doors LLC, which sponsored Cummins’ sprint car ride throughout the 2023 campaign.

In 2023, Cummins equaled his career high with four USAC National Sprint Car feature victories and finished sixth in USAC points for the Rock Steady Racing team with which he had driven for all but one season dating back to 2015.

Cummins’ USAC National Sprint Car win total stands at 18 entering the 2024 season, which presents a new opportunity and challenge for the 36-year-old driver who made his USAC debut in 2003.

“I’m grateful for Jerry providing me with this exciting and challenging opportunity as well as trusting me to be a part of his transition to a team owner and entrant into dirt track racing,” Cummins said. “Jerry has offered up a lot of support to the sport in recent years, and his commitment to becoming a team owner just shows his continued passion for the sport and his confidence in me. We are excited to build this team over the offseason and can’t wait to get to Florida and see what the rest of 2024 has in store.”

Cummins has been an ardent supporter of USAC Sprint Car racing, accumulating 227 career starts while ranking inside the top 40 all-time in both feature victories and starts.

Meanwhile, Petty has been the primary sponsor for such events as Knoxville Raceway’s Corn Belt Clash and Cocopah Speedway’s Western World Championship in addition serving as the primary sponsor for multiple USAC Sprint Car teams.

Cummins and Petty Performance Racing’s debut will arrive in February 2024 in Florida, where the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season will begin with seven events in the Sunshine State between February 9 and 17 and where Cummins was a feature winner in February during the series’ most recent visit.

Leading off the 2024 season is the 15th annual edition of Winter Dirt Games at Ocala, Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park on Feb. 9 and 10 at the 3/8-mile D-shaped dirt track with a practice night set to begin the festivities Feb. 8. The first night of racing in Ocala will pay $6,000 to win, while Saturday night’s weekend capper will pay $7,500 to win.

USAC National Sprint Car action then moves on down the road to Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 12 and 13 for two consecutive nights of racing on the half-mile dirt oval as part of the DIRTcar Nationals, culminating in a $10,000-to-win finale. As a change from this past year, the Volusia events will be full points-paying events.

Rounding out the Sunshine State trip is a return to Bubba Raceway Park for three more consecutive nights of USAC National Sprint Car racing Feb. 15, 16 and 17. The first two nights will pay $6,000 to win with Saturday night’s finale paying $10,000 to win.

This week in racing history

From 40 years ago in 1983, Mike Johnson was named the track champion in the sprint car division at Paragon Speedway.

From 30 years ago in 1993, Barry Doss was named late model track champion at Union County Speedway in Liberty.

From 20 years ago in 2003, the Bloomington Speedway track champions were Derek Scheffel (sprints), Jack Frye (pro stocks) and Shelby Miles (modifieds).