Terre Haute, Indiana (August 1, 2024)………When it comes to competing at the Terre Haute Action Track, some drivers are simply more comfortable in daring the famed dirt oval than their peers.
The list of those who have conquered the Hoosier State’s lone 1/2-mile dirt oval in USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship competition is a venerable list of who’s who in the annals of the sport.
Brady Bacon is among those few who fit that category, and on Thursday night, he tamed the beast once more for the fourth time in his USAC career to score the victory in round five of NOS Energy Drink USAC Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing.
“This place deserves respect regardless of the track conditions, which probably did play into the hands of the veterans a little bit more,” Bacon stated. “People who are comfortable have seen it similar to this here before and are just more comfortable making laps here because it’s a pretty intimidating place and it can be tricky.”
The aforementioned track conditions dominated the discussion early after rainfall deluged the surface at Terre Haute. Working literally all day, promoter Joe Spiker and his crew were able to pump a Lake Superior’s worth of moisture out and get the track whipped back into raceable shape for the evening’s festivities, which were delayed for more than an hour from its original time slot.
“Hats off to the track crew,” Bacon praised. “I didn’t think we were going to get this one in, but they worked hard and got it to be a racy track, almost a little racier than when it’s up around the fence because it’s easier to make mistakes up top. It was nice to have a little bit of a bottom to run this time, which the rain obviously helped with, but the track crew did as good of a job as they could, given the circumstances and we were able to get another night of Indiana Sprint Week in that didn’t look like we were supposed to.”
Perhaps the most stunning tidbit to emerge from Bacon’s latest USAC National Sprint Car triumph is the fact that it had been more than three seasons since the Broken Arrow, Okla. native had found victory lane during an Indiana Sprint Week feature in his Dynamics, Inc./Spankins Motorsports – Davis Brothers Trucking – Tel-Star/Triple X/Rider Chevy.
Bacon’s latest performance was one of his finest, however, as he started fourth in the 30-lap feature, then raced by Chase Stockon for the lead with just eight laps remaining to earn the 57th win of his USAC National Sprint Car career, which brought him to within five of Dave Darland’s all-time record win total of 62.
Initially, pole starter Kyle Cummins broke out to the opening lap lead with outside front row starter Chase Stockon in tow. However, Bacon made quick work to slot into the second position as he slipped underneath Stockon in turn two on the third lap and then began to draw in closer to Cummins for the lead.
Meanwhile, the majority of the crowds’ eyes were collectively affixed to Robert Ballou. Initially slated to start 12th, Ballou pulled into the Indy Metal Finishing Work Area prior to the green flag. When he returned to the track, he was relegated to the tail of the pack in 24th. Undeterred, Ballou utilized the extreme top side, right up against the outside guardrail that he literally constructed a couple years ago, to advance 10 spots within the first five laps, into the top-10 by lap eight and into the top-five by lap 16 where he ultimately finished following a masterful drive.
Also on the move was Stockon who advanced to second by driving around the outside of Bacon in turn two on lap seven. By the midway point, Stockon was draped all over Cummins for the race lead as he continuously poked a nose to the outside of Cummins for several laps to no avail. Finally, on lap 18, Stockon surged around the outside of Cummins in turn four for the top spot, his first time leading laps in a USAC National Sprint Car feature since February at Florida’s Ocala Speedway.
“Chase got up on the wheel and showed us the line,” Bacon revealed. “I didn’t really want to go up there that early because I knew it was going to be tight with full fuel. As the track ran in, we were really good up there. I was a little bit better diamonding off turns three and four, but he was about even pace with me. There was less of a chance making a mistake on the cushion.”
Bacon followed suit to second as he clung to the inside guardrail to slip past Cummins in turns three and four on lap 19. Seven tenths of a second was the margin calculated between Stockon and Bacon at that moment. Nonetheless, Bacon steadily inched closer and closer toward Stockon’s back bumper.
On lap 23, Stockon’s four wheels just got enough over a ridge in turns three and four, which upset the car and sent him high, wide and off the line. Bacon immediately capitalized and drove under to the lead.
“We were able to move around a lot and capitalize on mistakes to get the lead and hang on to it,” Bacon reflected. “It got a little dicey in lapped traffic but that’s part of it and you had to run hard tonight.”
That moment proved to be the pivotal move for Bacon who pushed his lead to 2.156 seconds by race’s end as he crossed the stipe for his fifth career USAC Indiana Sprint Week feature triumph ahead of Chase Stockon, Kyle Cummins, Logan Seavey and Robert Ballou.
Despite leading late and finishing as the runner-up, Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.) was stoked about their performance to conclude the night. In his KO Motorsports/Banded Ag – Superior Tank & Trailer – Dewig Meats – AMSOIL/DRC/Fisher Chevy, Stockon led a total of five laps and finished second for his best USAC result since June 2022 at New Jersey’s Bridgeport Motorsports Park.
Kyle Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) had his car tightened up to run the bottom, which aided him in leading a race-high 17 laps at Terre Haute. In the final tally, Cummins wound up third in his Petty Performance Racing/Avanti Windows & Doors – Premier Recycling/Mach-1/Stanton Chevy, his first career top-five Indiana Sprint Week run at Terre Haute.
Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.) advanced 17th to 9th in the feature to earn J & J Trucking Hard Charger honors. Indeed, Robert Ballou did restart at the tail and go on to finish fifth. However, he went to the work area prior to the start of the feature and his official starting position remained 12th.
Trey Osborne (Columbus, Ohio) made it a successful Terre Haute USAC debut. In what was his first USAC Sprint feature start since February at Florida's Ocala Speedway, when all was said & done, "Tall" had earned the ProSource Hard Work Award.
For Nate Schank, Thursday was a good night to celebrate his 22nd birthday. Schank (Santa Rosa, Calif.) earned his first USAC Indiana Sprint Week feature start by going outside to grab the final transfer spot on the last lap of the semi. He blew out the candles on his big day as Inferno Armor’s Fire Move of the Night recipient.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 1, 2024 – Terre Haute Action Track – Terre Haute, Indiana – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval – 37th Annual NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing / Don Smith Classic
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-19.639; 2. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-19.962; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-20.023; 4. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-20.067; 5. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-20.245; 6. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-20.248; 7. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-20.283; 8. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-20.297; 9. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-20.317; 10. Kale Drake, 2B, 2B Racing-20.335; 11. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-20.342; 12. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-20.387; 13. Shane Cottle, 2E, Epperson-20.391; 14. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-20.454; 15. Ricky Lewis, 41, Stensland-20.533; 16. Xavier Doney, 74, Doney/Lawson-20.537; 17. Max Adams, 63, F & F-20.542; 18. Jack Hoyer, 11, Hoyer-20.551; 19. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-20.577; 20. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-20.589; 21. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-20.715; 22. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-20.748; 23. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-20.824; 24. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-20.830; 25. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin/Fox-20.842; 26. Nate Schank, 1, Schank-20.851; 27. Kyle Shipley, 4u, AJR-20.871; 28. Trey Osborne, 11T, Osborne-20.963; 29. Rylan Gray, 06, Gray-20.981; 30. Kevin Newton, 14N, 2nd Law-21.037; 31. Logan Calderwood, 4c, Ford-21.050; 32. Kobe Simpson, 21K, Simpson-21.140; 33. Kayla Roell, 5K, KO-21.291; 34. Jadon Rogers, 66, Amati-21.441; 35. Frankie Guerrini, G3, F & F-21.568; 36. Troy Carey, 45N, Carey-21.862; 37. Dan Clodfelter, 19c, Clodfelter-21.960; 38. Saban Bibent, 98, Wedgewood-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Max Adams, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Mitchel Moles, 4. Chase Stockon, 5. Anton Hernandez, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Hunter Maddox, 8. Kayla Roell, 9. Rylan Gray, 10. Dan Clodfelter. NT
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Kale Drake, 6. Jack Hoyer, 7. Nate Schank, 8. Jadon Rogers, 9. Kevin Newton. 2:47.253
T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Carson Garrett, 3. Charles Davis Jr., 4. Nick Bilbee, 5. Briggs Danner, 6. Ricky Lewis, 7. Kyle Shipley, 8. Logan Calderwood, 9. Frankie Guerrini. 2:46.203
CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Joey Amantea, 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Brandon Mattox, 4. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5. Justin Grant, 6. Trey Osborne, 7. Xavier Doney, 8. Kobe Simpson, 9. Troy Carey. 2:47.735
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Ricky Lewis, 3. Trey Osborne, 4. Nate Schank, 5. Xavier Doney, 6. Jack Hoyer, 7. Kayla Roell, 8. Hunter Maddox, 9. Kevin Newton, 10. Frankie Guerrini, 11. Rylan Gray, 12. Kobe Simpson, 13. Troy Carey, 14. Logan Calderwood. 4:14.852
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (4), 2. Chase Stockon (2), 3. Kyle Cummins (1), 4. Logan Seavey (5), 5. Robert Ballou (12), 6. Mitchel Moles (6), 7. Kevin Thomas Jr. (3), 8. Briggs Danner (10), 9. Daison Pursley (17), 10. Justin Grant (11), 11. Kale Drake (13), 12. C.J. Leary (15), 13. Shane Cottle (16), 14. Carson Garrett (20), 15. Matt Westfall (9), 16. Nick Bilbee (14), 17. Charles Davis Jr. (19), 18. Joey Amantea (8), 19. Nate Schank (23), 20. Trey Osborne (24), 21. Brandon Mattox (21), 22. Max Adams (7), 23. Ricky Lewis (18), 24. Anton Hernandez (22). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-17 Kyle Cummins, Laps 18-22 Chase Stockon, Laps 23-30 Brady Bacon.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-2097, 2-Brady Bacon-2002, 3-C.J. Leary-1873, 4-Daison Pursley-1871, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1797, 6-Mitchel Moles-1768, 7-Robert Ballou-1760, 8-Kyle Cummins-1696, 9-Justin Grant-1624, 10-Carson Garrett-1404.
NOS ENERGY DRINK USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PRESENTED BY HONEST ABE ROOFING POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-384, 2-Brady Bacon-351, 3-Kyle Cummins-335, 4-Daison Pursley-291, 5-Mitchel Moles-289, 6-Briggs Danner-278, 7-Robert Ballou-266, 8-Kevin Thomas Jr.-249, 9-Ricky Lewis-246, 10-C.J. Leary-245.
USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-143, 2-Logan Seavey-138, 3-Robert Ballou-123, 4-C.J. Leary-106, 5-Kyle Cummins-96, 6-Justin Grant-94, 7-Joey Amantea-89, 8-Chase Stockon-86, 9-Brady Bacon-81, 10-Carson Garrett-76.
USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Shane Cottle-41, 2-Brady Bacon-33, 3-Logan Seavey-32, 4-Anton Hernandez-29, 5-Ricky Lewis-28, 6-Kyle Cummins-27, 7-Chance Crum-26, 8-Chase Stockon-23, 9-Daison Pursley-22, 10-Kayla Roell-21.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: August 2, 2024 – Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, Indiana – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval – 37th Annual NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing / Bob & Sheldon Kinser Memorial
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Mitchel Moles (19.967)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Mitchel Moles (19.639)
Spire Motorsports 7th Fastest Qualifier: Briggs Danner
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Max Adams
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Matt Westfall
T.J. Forged Third Heat Winner: Brady Bacon
Car IQ Fourth Heat Winner: Joey Amantea
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Robert Ballou
J & J Trucking Hard Charger: Daison Pursley (17th to 9th)
Spire Motorsports 7th Place Feature Finisher: Kevin Thomas Jr.
ProSource Hard Work: Trey Osborne
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: Nate Schank
Sam McGhee Motorsports Hard Luck Award: Kyle Shipley
