GAS CITY, Ind. – Several non-winged sprint car drivers who haven’t won at Gas City I-69 Speedway were the main players in Friday’s 25-lap sprint car feature.
Only one could end the night with his first win, and that turned out to be Max Adams, who nipped Kyle Simon by .091 seconds at the checkered in the 25-lap main event.
With extra money on the line the modified division took center stage at the Labor Day Weekend Classic at Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday night.
The star of the show was no stranger to victory lane, as Derek Losh led all 20 laps and earned $1,000 for his seventh feature victory of the season at the Grant County quarter-mile dirt oval.
The 15-lap winged outlaw 600cc micro-sprint feature went non-stop, with Craig Ronk getting the victory.
Defending track champions Andy Bishop and James Headley Jr. were triumphant in the 15-lap street stock and hornet features, respectively.
Simon started on the pole in the 20-car sprint car feature and led the first 23 laps followed by Adams, Dustin Ingle, and a high-riding J.J. Hughes, the current point leader.
Simon’s 2.859-second lead over Adams was wiped out with 13 laps down when Brian VanMeveren spun in turn four to bring out the first caution. On the restart Hughes passed Ingle and Adams to leap from fourth to second.
Simon had built his advantage back up to 1.130 seconds over Hughes by lap 15 when the sixth, seventh and eighth-place drivers — Evan Mosley, Matt McDonald and Korbyn Hayslett — crashed between turns one and two. Shortly thereafter Shane Cockrum spun in turn two while eighth.
Adams passed Hughes to regain second at the start-finish line on lap 20. On the next lap there was contact between the pair which resulted in Hughes flipping violently on the frontstretch and into Turn 1, with his car landing upside down on its roll cage. Luckily a very disappointed Hughes climbed out under his own power.
Adams drew alongside Simon on the backstretch on laps 22 and 23 and made the pass stick on lap 24. Simon was just 0.091 seconds behind at the checkered. Veteran Matt Westfall came from eleventh to finish third. Ingle was fourth and Anthony D’Alessio rounded out the top five.
Adams was in the famous Paul Hazen No. 57 usually driven by 2018 track champion Clinton Boyles, who was competing in a USAC midget race in his home state of Missouri Friday night.
Two other drivers also flipped during the program in addition to Hughes, but no one was transported for medical treatment afterwards. Dallas Hewitt was the fastest among his group when he flipped in turn two in the second sprint qualifying session with two laps down. Billy Cribbs flipped in turn two and onto the backstretch at the start of the third sprint heat.
Losh started third in modified feature, had the lead by turn two on the first lap, withstood three restarts and some lapped traffic, and beat Dylan Woodling to the checkered by 1.383 seconds.
The best battle was for second. Woodling got the position by passing Tony Anderson on the outside working lap 11 to eventually earn the runner-up honors. Anderson pressured him throughout but had to settle for third. Dillon Nusbaum finished fourth and Zeke McKenzie was fifth.
Ronk, 20, started second in the micro-sprint feature, dipped under polesitter Kole Kirkman in turn three on the second lap, and led the rest of the way in the non-stop 15-lapper. Kole Kirkman finished second, 3.045 seconds behind, with Todd Kirkman third. Darin Naida placed fourth and Connor Wolf rounded out the top five.
Bishop started second and led all the way in the 15-lap street stock feature. He had more than a one second lead by lap five with the Thompson Trucking/R&R Transmission No. 14. He had stretched that to 2.669 seconds when a yellow flew with 14 laps down when Justin Long and Jeremy Johns crashed in turn four. But Bishop’s restart was spot-on, and he had a .274-second lead over Bill Bradley at the checkered.
The real battle was for second between Bradley, Dave Fritz and modified winner Derek Losh, who finished in that order. Bradley started way back in 16th. Jeffery Jessup rounded out the top five.
Headley Jr. led the first two laps of the hornet feature before his father, James Headley, dipped under him on the frontstretch to lead laps three through five. Headley Jr. regained the lead by using the low line in Turn 2 on lap six, and was never again headed.
Gage Allen surprised Headley by getting second in turn two on lap 11, but Headley had the spot back by the backstretch. Headley Jr.’s advantage over his father at the line was 0.507 seconds, but the two cars were so evenly matched their fastest race laps were only 0.005 apart.
Allen finished third over Kolton Sollars and Mark Casto.
Alan Ram led all eight laps of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America motorcycle race in a 1942 Harley Davidson. He and his fellow riders are participating in a meet at Gas City Park this weekend.