USAC SPRINTS TAP BAPS FOR PENULTIMATE ROUND OF KEYSTONE INVASION APRIL 24
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
York Haven, Pennsylvania (April 15, 2021)………Several of USAC’s eastern tours of the past decade have included a foray to BAPS Motor Speedway, the 3/8-mile dirt oval located just a stone’s throw from the Susquehanna River in York Haven, Pa.
However, for the last two years, due to weather and COVID, the roar of the engines for USAC at BAPS has remained silent. That’s all in the distant past at this point with the series’ sixth ever appearance at the track coming up on Saturday night, April 24, the penultimate round of the inaugural Keystone Invasion.
The BAPS showdown is preceded by USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car dates at Grandview Speedway on Thursday, April 22, Big Diamond Speedway on Friday, April 23, and followed by the conclusion of four-straight events in Pennsylvania on Sunday, April 25, at Path Valley Speedway Park.
Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) is the lone multi-time USAC National Sprint Car winner at BAPS, recording victories in both 2015 and 2018, his most recent victory with the series. The 2015 USAC champion has alternated 1st and 5th place finishes in his four total outings at BAPS, with a 5th in both 2013 and 2016. He set quick time en route to victory in 2015. His time of 9:37.32 for 30 laps remains the USAC National Sprint Car track record for that distance at BAPS.
Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) has finished inside the top-two in two of his three most recent BAPS USAC Sprint starts. The USAC career Triple Crown champion recorded a victory at BAPS in 2016 and finished 2nd in 2018. He sandwiched between those two runs with a fast qualifying time and 9th place result in 2017, equaling his 9th place result back in 2015.
Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) notched his one victory at BAPS in last-lap, last corner thrilling fashion during a 2017 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature. His USAC Sprint starts at the track have been solid, but a victory has remained elusive thus far, with three top-ten finishes: 7th in 2015, 3rd in 2017 and 9th in 2018.
Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.) has been excellent at BAPS with a 4th in 2016 and a 2nd in 2017 as his bests. His eight-lap heat race time of 2:27.93 from 2016 is the standard for that distance for USAC Sprints at BAPS.
Likewise, for Kevin Thomas Jr. and Chase Stockon, who’ve both finished in the runner-up position at BAPS, just at Meseraull has, but have come up just short of a victory so far. Thomas (Cullman, Ala.) has finished inside the top-10 in all four of his BAPS starts with a 2nd in 2013, 4th in 2018, 5th in 2017 and 10th in 2015, in addition to a fast qualifying time in 2018.
Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.) has started all five BAPS USAC Sprint Car features. His 2nd place run in 2016 was his best, but he’s also added a 3rd in 2015, a 7th in 2018 and an 8th in 2017 to his BAPS resume.
Three-time USAC National Sprint Car champ Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) notched a 3rd at BAPS in 2016, 4th in 2017, 8th in 2018 and 10th in 2013. Fellow USAC Sprint champ, from 2019, C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) earned a best placing of 6th at BAPS in 2016.
Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) owns two USAC Sprint starts at BAPS: 16th in 2016 and 14th in 2018. Pennsylvanians have held their own at BAPS with Timmy Buckwalter (Douglassville, Pa.), the 2018 co-Rookie of the Year for the USAC National Sprint Cars, finished 5th in the feature that same year. USAC National Sprint Car and Silver Crown veteran Carmen Perigo (Stoystown, Pa.) has made two BAPS starts: 16th in 2016 and 20th in 2018. USAC East Coast Sprint Car winner Joey Biasi (Mary D, Pa.) took 22nd in 2013 and 18th in 2018.
Leading USAC National Sprint Car Rookie Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) led 11 laps and finished 2nd in a wild scramble to the finish during a USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature in 2017 but hasn’t yet made a USAC Sprint Car start at BAPS. Three-time USAC East Coast Sprint Car champ Steven Drevicki (Reading, Pa.) has been a frontrunner at BAPS in ARDC Midget competition.
Jake Swanson (Anaheim, Calif.), seventh in USAC National Sprint Car points, will make his debut in the east along with series Rookie of the Year contenders Paul Nienhiser (Chapin, Ill.) and Carson Garrett (Littleton, Colo.), plus 2020 USAC National Most Improved Driver Brandon Mattox (Terre Haute, Ind.), Pennsylvania standouts Briggs Danner (Allentown, Pa.), Brandon Spithaler (Evans City, Pa.), New Jersey’s Craig Pellegrini (Buena, N.J.) and more!
Round number three of Keystone Invasion at BAPS will also feature the BAPS Super Sportsman and Superior Homes Extreme Stocks. Pits open at noon ET, grandstands at 1pm and cars on track at 2pm.
Adult general admission tickets are $25, seniors are $20, students 13-17 are $10, kids 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $35 apiece.
The entire event from BAPS will be streamed with flag-to-flag coverage live, exclusively on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dgONXz.
USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR FEATURE WINS AT BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
2-Robert Ballou
1-Shane Cottle, Tyler Courtney & Chris Windom
USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR FEATURE WINNERS AT BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
2013: Shane Cottle (6/9)
2015: Robert Ballou (6/7)
2016: Chris Windom (6/12)
2017: Tyler Courtney (6/18)
2018: Robert Ballou (6/17)
TRACK RECORDS FOR USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CARS AT BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY:
1 Lap - 6/12/2016 - Bryan Clauson - 16.753 - 85.955 mph
8 Laps - 6/12/2016 - Thomas Meseraull - 2:27.93 - 77.875 mph
12 Laps - 6/17/2018 - Tony DiMattia - 3:52.20 - 74.419 mph
30 Laps - 6/17/2018 - Robert Ballou - 9:37.32 - 74.829 mph
BAPS MOTOR SPEEDWAY USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR FEATURE RESULTS:
2013 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Robert Ballou, 6. Dave Darland, 7. Levi Jones, 8. Brent Marks, 9. Daron Clayton, 10. Brady Bacon, 11. Chris Windom, 12. Hunter Schuerenberg, 13. Dalten Gabbard, 14. Mark Bitner, 15. Billy Pauch, Jr., 16. Chase Stockon, 17. Tyler Courtney, 18. Kyle Moody, 19. Dan Mazy, 20. Tim Glatfelter, 21. Michael Hamer, 22. Joey Biasi, 23. Mark Smith. NT
2015 FEATURE: (40 laps) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Jon Stanbrough, 3. Chase Stockon, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Shane Cottle, 6. Chad Boespflug, 7. Justin Grant, 8. Jarett Andretti, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Kevin Thomas Jr., 11. Aaron Farney, 12. Brady Bacon, 13. Landon Simon, 14. Tracy Hines, 15. Brett Arndt, 16. J.R. Berry, 17. Logan Jarrett, 18. Trevor Kobylarz, 19. C.J. Leary, 20. Kyle Cummins, 21. Casey Shuman, 22. Richard Vander Weerd. NT
2016 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Chris Windom, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5. Robert Ballou, 6. C.J. Leary, 7. Max McGhee, 8. Dave Darland, 9. Shane Golobic, 10. Jerry Coons, Jr., 11. Mark Smith, 12. Aaron Farney, 13. Tom Harris, 14. Isaac Chapple, 15. Kyle Moody, 16. Carmen Perigo, 17. Dustin Smith, 18. Landon Simon, 19. Bret Mellenberndt, 20. Chad Boespflug, 21. Bryan Clauson, 22. Harris Kohen. NT
2017 FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 6. Chad Boespflug, 7. Aaron Farney, 8. Chase Stockon, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Shane Golobic, 11. Jarett Andretti, 12. C.J. Leary, 13. Dave Darland, 14. Alex Bright, 15. Kyle Moody, 16. Matt Westfall, 17. Jerry Coons, Jr., 18. Kyle Robbins, 19. Tony DiMattia, 20. Gary Rooke, 21. Isaac Chapple, 22. Trevor Kobylarz. NT
2018 FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Robert Ballou (4), 2. Chris Windom (5), 3. Tyler Courtney (9), 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (6), 5. Timmy Buckwalter (7), 6. Dave Darland (1), 7. Chase Stockon (12), 8. Brady Bacon (10), 9. Justin Grant (16), 10. Jarett Andretti (3), 11. Chad Boespflug (8), 12. Thomas Meseraull (17), 13. C.J. Leary (13), 14. Matt Westfall (14), 15. Zach Daum (11), 16. Tony DiMattia (15), 17. Isaac Chapple (2), 18. Joey Biasi (20), 19. Kyle Moody (21), 20. Carmen Perigo (18), 21. Dan Shetler (22), 22. Jerry Coons, Jr. (19). 9:37.32 (New Track Record)