HAUBSTADT, Ind. – The Pride of Princeton ruled Saturday night’s Indiana Sprint Week finale, as Kyle Cummins raced to his second victory of the mini-series after a thrilling duel with Stephen Schnapf.
Cummins, who started fifth but quickly fought his way into contention, trailed Schnapf for 26 laps before making the winning pass by forcing his way to the inside in turns three and four and sliding in front.
Once he finally cleared Schnapf, Cummins never looked back, racing out to a 1.604-second margin over the final four revolutions for his fifth career AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series win.
“Two in one week feels pretty good,” Cummins noted. “I don’t know if it’s really sunk in yet. I took my helmet off and drove around there one time and watched everyone yell and scream. I just tried to take it in a little bit more than just one and done. To keep winning USAC races, that’s what means something to me.
“When you win one or two, okay, but if you keep winning them, it proves you can run with them.”
Cummins entered the night unbeaten at Haubstadt, with three wins in three starts this season, but for much of the night it appeared Schnapf was going to be the one to end that streak.
After two failed tries at the initial start for back-to-back four-car incidents, Schnapf finally got the measure of polesitter Brody Roa on the third attempt at the green flag, racing out to a sizable early lead.
Cummins was lurking for most of the night, though. He found his way into the runner-up spot on lap 11 and slowly but surely began reeling Schnapf in as traffic got heavier and heavier inside of the final third of the race. Just when it appeared Schnapf might be able to get the upset, there Cummins was to strike.
When Schnapf dove past the lapped car of Isaac Chapple in turns three and four with seven to go, Cummins was just a car length back. Schnapf maintained the advantage for another lap until, with five to go, Cummins found momentum off the bottom of turn two.
From there, though there was plenty of traffic ahead, Cummins navigated his way through the congestion with relative ease en route to the victory – leaving Schnapf to settle for an impressive, yet heartbreaking runner-up finish.
Justin Grant completed the podium, followed by Chase Stockon and Brady Bacon.
C.J. Leary finished 10th to secure the Indiana Sprint Week title for Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports.
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