TERRE HAUTE —
Reflections on events surrounding a highly successful USAC Indiana Sprint Weeks while looking forward to a crowded schedule of events leading up to this weekend’s Brickyard 400.
Seldom do the unpredictable ways of racing generate as many positive storylines as those that emerged from this year’s ISW.
From all reports the seven-race series was run in front of near-record crowds at each venue.
Those at USAC, ISW track promoters, racers — and most importantly, the fans — couldn’t have been happier with the way the two-week stretch played out.
“The 2010 Indiana Sprint Weeks offered probably the most exciting racing we’ve seen.The racing was close every night and the crowds outstanding. It really was a big measure of success,” USAC President Kevin Miller said.
“We [USAC] have plans to exploit that success in the future.”
“I’m sure when we have our promoters workshop in August the topic of expansion for the series will be brought up. It’s something we want to build on but at the same time we don’t want to over extend ourselves or our race teams,” he added
Individually, how about the performance of newly crowned ISW champ Jon Stanbrough? Much like that of his fellow racer Dave Darland, Stanbrough’s stellar efforts all too often go unnoticed by those outside sprint car circles.
What the talented Avon racer has accomplished in recent years, and last week in particular, makes him one of the best to ever strap himself in a sprint car.
His win at the Action Track last Wednesday pushed his feature win total locally to 11. Second only to the 13 wins of the late Rich Vogler. His ISW championship came on the strength of three wins while not finishing lower than third on five occassions.
He now has ISW and King of Indiana Sprint titles to his credit with the 2010 season still in full swing. His feature win total for the season is at 14 heading into Saturday’s USAC sprint show at Lincoln Park Speedway.
And how about the efforts of the Wabash Valley’s own Blake Fitzpatrick, who notched that initial career USAC sprint feature win at Haubstadt Saturday night?
It came on the heels of a strong ISW run. One that found the young West Terre Haute driver posting four top ten finishes against the best USAC has to offer. Those who have followed his career closely knew it was only a matter of time before he broke into the winners column.
Here’s hoping that its the first of many to come. Blake is a class act and well deserving of any success that comes his way.
Veteran promoter Bob Sargent has been involved with his share of major short track promotions over the years. Watching Sargent throughout the night, it was easy to see how badly he wanted the Action Track show to come off without a hitch.
He issued a huge sigh of relief once the checkered flag had fallen and the big crowd made its way out of the Wabash Fairgrounds.
“We’re really happy with the way the night went. We were shooting for a 10 o’clock finish. We had four red flags and still got done reasonably early [10:30],” said Sargent.
“The crowd was probably around 3,000. We had some great racing. So we’re happy. We’re building a base. Looking to the future,” he added.
Sargent took time to express appreciation for the efforts Chris Novotney offered on the night. A central figure in the promotional changes leading up to the event, Novotney made it clear he wants to remain part of racing at Fairgrounds.
“I want the fans to understand I resigned from Action Promotions not the Action Track. There’s nobody that wants to see this place [Action Track] succeed more than myself. I’m here to help in anyway I can,” he said.
The action would have shifted to tonight’s SUMAR Classic at the Action Track, but the race was postponed on Tuesday night.
The Action Track stop would have been the fourth stop on the Silver Crown circuit which has produced three different winners in as many races this season. Bud Keading will carry an 18-point lead over Jerry Coons heading the first of two consecutive nights of racing for the big car. They are scheduled to run tomorrow night at O’Reilly Raceway Park near Clermont.
It marks only the third time that champ cars have run back-to-back races on consecutive nights.
After several unsettling years and its future clouded, the Silver Crown series appears back on track.
“We’ve seen a resurgence in car counts after we brought back the old generation Silver Crown cars. We had 36 cars for the Hoosier Hundred so things are looking up,” Miller said.
The Clermont show is part of the annual Kroger Fest at ORP that also features the NASCAR Camping World Trucks series Friday night and Nationwise series cars Saturday night.
Joe Buckles can be reached at jbuckles4@verizon.net.
Trackside
Trackside: Positive story lines in USAC
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TRACKSIDE: Chase Stockon hopes momentum stays with him in Terre Haute
Momentum, an element that can be as elusive to a race driver as that perfect setup, can spell the difference in winning or running at the rear of the pack.
It’s a force difficult to achieve and maybe even harder to maintain. One learns quickly to make the most of the opportunity when it comes his way.
It’s something Chase Stockon will carry with him coming into today’s Jim Hurtubise Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track.
Only days following the biggest victory of his young and promising career, the $10,000-to-win USAC feature at Lawrenceburg, Stockon followed that up with another rich payday this past weekend at Tri-State Speedway. -
TRACKSIDE: Stanbrough continues points chase after recent skirmish with rival
Veteran sprint car driver Jon Stanbrough has never been one to hide his distaste for chasing point championships. It simply doesn’t bode well with his style of racing.
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TRACKSIDE: Brett Andrew plays role in developing NASCAR's new body styles
The recent announcement from NASCAR regarding the approved body styles for the 2013 Sprint Cup Series follows extensive wind-tunnel testing that was a year in the making.
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TRACKSIDE: Stockon takes giant step forward in USAC
One of the more impressive and welcomed storylines of the recently completed Indiana Sprint Week was the emergence of area driver Chase Stockon on the national sprint car scene.
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TRACKSIDE: Indiana Sprint Week rises above heat, rain, poor economy
The 25th annual version of Indiana Sprint Week is now officially in the record books and the latest chapter will go down as one of the most successful in recent years.
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TRACKSIDE: Late models may have no long-term future in Indiana
Reflecting on what was billed as the biggest week of the summer for dirt-track stock-car racing … while preparing to shift gears for the busiest week of the year for non-wing sprint-car racing in the Wabash Valley.
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TRACKSIDE: Summer heat has made this ‘The Hell Tour’
It is fittingly billed as “The Hell Tour” for many of the Midwest’s leading late model stock car drivers and their crews.
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TRACKSIDE: Retired driver LaJoie spreads the word of safety
In his roles as past driving champion and television analyst, Randy LaJoie has rightfully earned the reputation as a major contributor to the sport of auto racing.
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Trackside: Stanbrough on track at midseason
When veteran driver Jon Stanbrough ushered in a new season in Florida back in February, he found himself facing a pair of unfamiliar challenges.
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TRACKSIDE: Clauson bucks the IndyCar trend
On the surface, the distance from the dirt oval at Lincoln Park Speedway to the massive, paved Indianapolis Motor Speedway may appear only a few miles apart.
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TRACKSIDE: USAC Midget Classic not nearly as revered as it once was
It might be three years removed from its birthplace but the Hut Hundred USAC Midget Classic still holds a special place in the hearts of Wabash Valley racing buffs.
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TRACKSIDE: What could have been: Indy’s folklore got richer this week
It’s a question that will linger for years and only add to the folklore of the Indianapolis 500.
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TRACKSIDE: Sprint car event could generate close racing
One of the hottest and most competitive weekends of the 2012 motorsports season gets under way tonight at the Terre Haute Action Track with the scheduled running of the Tony Hulman Sprint Car Classic.
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TRACKSIDE: Mulling over the biggest weekend in motorsports
We’re approaching what has traditionally become one of the busiest and most prestigious weekends in all of motorsports.
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TRACKSIDE: Helfrich: Short-track racing has good future
When questions arise regarding the current state of sprint car racing, whether they be at the local or national level, one doesn’t have to search much further for the answer than veteran promoter Tom Helfrich.
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TRACKSIDE: Near-capacity crowd turns out for opening night of racing
Opening night at one of the midwest’s premier short track operations can be like no other time of the year.
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TRACKSIDE: Racing season has promise
With several “test and tunes” sessions and season openers having already taken the green flag, it’s a sure sign the Wabash Valley racing campaign is shifting into high gear.
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TRACKSIDE: Valley racing showed best, worst of times in 2011
A look back on the 2011 Wabash Valley auto racing season reveals the best and worst of times the sport has to offer.
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TRACKSIDE: Menard's victory at Brickyard momentous for family, race fans
Who says one of those familiar bright fluorescent-colored Menards race cars can’t find its way to victory lane at Indianapolis?
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TRACKSIDE: After a delayed start, the Terre Haute Action Track gets season cranked up
Its arrival may have been delayed by several months — for a host of reasons — but the 2011 Terre Haute Action Track season is finally out of the blocks.
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TRACKSIDE: Changes come up on Indiana racing scene
With the highly anticipated USAC Indiana Sprint Week sprint card on tap at the Terre Haute Action Track tonight and the Tony Hulman/Don Smith Classic and a host of events leading up to the Brickyard 400 looming on the horizon, it would appear that it’s the best of times for Wabash Valley racing buffs.
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TRACKSIDE: Fortunes of dirt track racing at Action Track can be written in the dust
In the 40 plus years of covering motorsports, it would appear the process of writing this weekly race column would come together rather routinely.
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TRACKSIDE: Auto racing in May in Indiana runs on history and tradition
Possibly nowhere in the sports world does history and tradition play such a key role in an event’s success and future as that found in auto racing.
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TRACKSIDE: Wabash Valley racing ready to take green flag — even Action Track
Despite having already lost several bouts to the elements, the 2011 Wabash Valley motorsports season has taken the green flag and will soon be shifting into high gear on several fronts.
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TRACKSIDE: Fitzpatrick on track to continue impressive start to racing career
One of the top stories on the Wabash Valley motorsports stage last season was the emergence of Blake Fitzpatrick as a legitimate front-runner on the national sprint-car scene.
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Frightening finish to season at Terre Haute Action Track
The 2010 Terre Haute Action Track season came to a climactic close over the weekend. Unfortunately, the campaign closed on a near-tragic note for the second consecutive year.
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Trackside: Attractive USAC sprint car card this weekend
With the area circle track season rapidly drawing to a close, fans will have a pair of attractive USAC sprint car cards to attend this weekend. Back-to-back shows at Lincoln Park Speedway and Terre Haute Action Track not only offer fans a final opportunity to see the sprints in action one final time, but they also serve as pivotal stops in the chase for the USAC sprint car drivers championship.
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Trackside: Sadler’s wreck brings up memories for Terre Haute racer Sizemore
One of the many fans that viewed Elliott Sadler’s wild crash at Pocono over the weekend with more than casual interest was former Terre Haute racer Paul Sizemore.
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Trackside: Talented young racer Blake Fitzpatrick savoring USAC success
The dust has long settled. The congratulatory phone calls and handshakes are becoming less frequent but that first taste of victory remains as fresh and sweet as ever for the U.S. Auto Club’s newest first-time sprint car feature winner.
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Trackside: Positive story lines in USAC
Reflections on events surrounding a highly successful USAC Indiana Sprint Weeks while looking forward to a crowded schedule of events leading up to this weekend’s Brickyard 400.
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TRACKSIDE: Chase Stockon hopes momentum stays with him in Terre Haute
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