Our favorite 410 Non Wing class had a strong 26 entries at Bloomington for their 1st regular night show of 2023 at Bloomington. The 3 qualifying groups were led by Brady Short 12.330, Harley Burns 12.211 and Damon Fortune 11.994. The heat race invert that was drawn was the 4 which put the fast guys in the 2nd row. Heat race 1 had Jordan Kinser take the lead from the outside front row and he would hold off fast time for this group Brady short for the win. Also making the A main Braxton Cummings, Brayden Fox and Brandon Spencer. Heat race 2 was a great battle between Sterling Cling and Trey Osborne. Trey would take the lead and hold on for the big heat race win over Sterling Cling, Jake Scott, Harley Burns and Dickie Gaines making the A. The final heat was won by Tye Mihocko with a strong run from 3rd over Jack Hoyer from 6th, Andy Bradley, John Sluss and Cindy Chambers making the A main. This would setup the final chance to make it into the A with Rylan Gray taking the win in the B over Koby Barksdale, Matt Thompson, Scott Bradley and Jackson Slone making the feature. The invert for the A main was drawn a 6 which put Jack Hoyer and Sterling Cling on the front row. Sterling Cling would take the early lead and him and Jack Hoyer looked really strong early. That would change quickly because Brady Short from 3rd was looking like a rocket and he wanted the lead. Brady would take the lead before the halfway point and was running a very fast pace. A scary red came out when someone slowed about halfway back in the field and Cindy Chambers shot high in the air from jumping a tire. Just a chain reaction not anybody's fault led to a scary flip down the front stretch for the 18c and we are very glad that she will be okay but very sore after a wicked flip. This would bunch up the field and guess who was looking very fast behind the 36 of Brady Short? The 04 of Jordan Kinser along with the 6T of Trey Osborne and the 24p of Tye Mihocko were ready to challenge Brady for the top spot. The final half of the feature were intense as Jordan found the top groove was really starting to come in and he would take the top spot from Brady who was very fast on the bottom. Jordan would build a nice lead but it wasn't over as Tye Mihocko also found the top groove like we are use to seeing him at LPS rip the top. Tye would also make the move and take over 2nd and with just 5 laps to go was starting to catch the leader. The final 5 laps Jordan Kinser was a rocket on the top and he would not miss his mark and he held off the 24p which was also making some really fast laps on the top. Jordan Kinser won his 2nd night in a row after the win at LPS last Saturday and the 04 team looks as if they are really building some momentum going into the month of May. Following Jordan at the checkers it was Tye Mihocko, Brady Short, Trey Osborne and Jake Scott. Congrats to the 04 team and all of the top 5 who put on an outstanding show along with all 26 entries at the very fast red clay.
The IMCA RaceSaver 305's had 21 entries for their night 1 at Bloomington Speedway. The fast times for the 3 groups were led by Rod Henning 11.576, Kevin Newton 11.130 and Ethan Barrow 11.282. The heat invert drawn was a 2. Heat race 1 Carson Dillion looked very strong as he held off Rod Henning and Terry Arthur. Heat race 2 also had Bradley Sterrett looking very fast from the pole and winning it over Kevin Newton and Jeff Wimmenauer. The final heat had Ethan Barrow having a great battle with Bryce Norris and Ethan took the win over Bryce Norris and John Paynter Jr. This setup the A main and the feature invert drawn was a 3 which put Ethan and Bradley on the front row to lead the field in the 1st IMCA point night in the state of Indiana. What a wild deal this would be. Bradley Sterrett took the early lead and by lap 4 he was already about to get into lapped traffic. Coming off of turn 2 Bradley almost made contact with a lapped car and when he got on the brakes it spun the 21A car of his and he would have to give up the lead and start at the rear again. This gave the lead to Ethan Barrow and definitely on the wild side it happened again while leading Ethan coming out of turn 4 wicked fast spun and also gave up the early lead and would have to start in the back. The fans would definitely see both of these guys passing many cars from the back the next 15 laps. This gave the lead to Rod Henning and his 22H was flying. It wasn't over at the halfway point because Bryce Norris who started 6th had made his way to 2nd and started to put the pressure on Rod for the lead. Bryce Norris would take the lead to add to his early season success as he made his 1st World of Outlaws feature earlier in 2023 and sure enough he took his 1st big win in the state of Indiana for 2023 at the red clay of Bloomington. Bryce held off the stout 305 field with the win over Rod Henning, Bradley Sterrett, John Paynter Jr. and Jeff Wimmenauer. These teams will join us at Lincoln Park Speedway tonight for their night 2 of the weekend.
The UMP Modifieds had 13 entries and the 2 groups were led by John Clippinger 12.890 and Ryan Thomas 12.854. The invert for the heats was drawn a 1 so that put the fast times on the pole. Heat 1 had a good battle between John Clippinger and Josh Harris. Josh Harris would be able to take the lead and hold off John for the win with Logan Mounce in 3rd. Heat race 2 Ryan Thomas led the whole way for the win over Jacoby Hines and RT Gamble. This setup the feature and the invert for the feature was a 2 which put Ryan Thomas and Josh Harris on the front row for the 20 lap A main. This would be a wild one for night 1 of the mods at Bloomington with many different leaders. Ryan Thomas, Josh Harris and Logan Mounce all took turns at the top spot as turn 3 and 4 were getting tricky as the night went on. Josh at one time before halfway through the race had dropped back to 4th but then it was time to head to the front. The Kentucky driver started to head back to the front and took the lead back and went on for the big win just 1 week before the biggest Modified purse maybe in the entire country for UMP. Josh Harris was followed at the checkers by strong runs by Logan Mounce, Jacoby Hines, John Clippinger and Brent Lee. Next week is the Roddy Harris Memorial and the winner will take home $9,999 and we will probably see the best in UMP Modified aces from all over the country added to the awesome talent we have in this state every night.
The UMP Hornets had 12 entries and heat races were won by Jeremy Shemwell and Michael Brewer. We are glad that Dale Hobbs is okay after a scary rollover on the backstretch during his heat. The invert for the feature was a 1 which put the heat race winners on the front row. Both heat race winners were on their game for night 1 of their season at Bloomington for sure. Michael Brewer looked as strong as he did in 2022 and would take the first 15 lap win at the red clay dicing through the lapped traffic very smoothly and holding off Jeremy Shemwell, Alex Wilson and Shane Reed to get the trophy. Don't forget next Friday is one of the biggest races in the entire USA with the Roddy Strong Memorial for the UMP mods with one of the largest payouts in Bloomington Speedway History and it is very awesome to have this large of a race on the 100th season at Bloomington Speedway. Thanks to all the teams and fans that came out Friday night at Bloomington Speedway and we will see you at the Roddy next Friday night.
- Jill Spiker on May 08, 2023
- Article Date: 5/8/2023 by Kenny Clark