With a chance of rain all day we were super excited that we missed the dark clouds and could enjoy another awesome Roddy Strong Memorial with a huge 42 car field from 9 different states battling it out for the huge $9,999.99 top prize! The format was split into 2 groups for single car qualifying. Group A was led by Josh Harris 13.301, Chris Arnold 13.371, Austin Holcombe 13.439, Todd Neihiser 13.452 and Dillon Nusbaum 13.502 rounding out the top 5. Group B was led by Will Krup with the fast time overall at 13.198 followed by Drake Troutman 13.412, Cole Falloway 13.483, Charlie Mefford 13.507 and Kyle Steffens 13.521 to round out the top 5. This setup 6 heats taking the top 2 and the invert spin was a 2. Heat race 1 was won by Josh Harris over Logan Mounce. Heat 2 was also won from the 2nd spot by Will Krup taking it over Derek Groomer. Heat 3 Dillon Nusbaum would win from the pole over Chris Arnold. Heat 4 was won from the pole by Kyle Steffens over Drake Troutman. Heat 5 Austin Holcombe would win and hold off Bradley Jameson for the win. The final heat was won by Cole Falloway over Caleb Demoss. Cole Falloway would also win the Dash for cash over the other heat race winners. The top 2 from each heat would make the big show and they were also put in a wheel of 12 for a spin to get the pole of the Roddy Strong Memorial A main. The wheel was spun and it came up a 6 so Cole Falloway also struck the pole for the A main. The 2 B mains were loaded with what you would normally see as features most nights. We had an annonymus sponsor that would pay to add 4 more spots for the A main so that means each B main now took 6 to the main dance instead of 4. The first B main was won by California driver Ethan Dotson over Todd Neiheiser, Jacoby Hines, Trent Young, John Clippinger and Jeff Deckard putting it in the show. The final B main was won by David Stremme over Jordan Wever, John Demoss, Tyler Nicely, Dylan Woodling and Danny Schwartz for the final spot. This setup the 30 lap Main Event and Cole Falloway and Austin Holcombe would lead the field. Cole looked really strong early while Austin and Kyle Steffens were have a huge battle among the 8 cars for the 2nd spot. This would let Cole build an early lead but each time a caution would come out it would bunch up the field. The 2 cars that were putting on a big show in the middle of the field and were passing a lot of cars were Drake Troutman and Jordan Wever. Jordan had started 16th and was up to 10th in just the first 10 laps. Drake Troutman who started 10th was up to 5th as he had the cushion working. The Owensboro KY native of Cole Falloway in his #66 Elite Chassis would not miss his marks at all the final 10 laps on the bottom. Cole would take the huge win over Kyle Steffens, Austin Holcombe, Josh Harris, Dillon Nusbaum and Jordan Wever from 16th to 6th picking up the Hard Charger. Congrats to Cole Falloway for the dominant win and there was a penny also in victory lane to make the victory worth 10 grand. Thanks to everyone that put this show together and the awesome payout all the way through the field. Definitely full of some of the best talent in the country honoring Roddy Harris and Rod Harris Sr. on this special night in the UMP Modified ranks.
There were 19 entries for the Non Wing Sprints and the qualifying groups were led by Brayden Fox 12.221, Jadon Rogers 11.990 and Jordan Kinser 12.088. The invert for the heats was a 4 which put the fast times starting 4th in their heats. Heat 1 was won by Alec Sipes from the pole over Brayden Fox and Sterling Cling. Heat race 2 was was won by Brady Short over Brandon Spencer and Trey Osborne. The final heat was won by Tye Mihocko over Jordan Kinser and Harley Burns. This setup the A main and the invert was a 5 which put Brandon Spencer and Brayden Fox on the front row. Brandon Spencer would take the early lead with the bottom groove the fast way around but on lap 4 Harley Burns brought out a red in turn 1 and thankfully he was okay but it ended his night. On the restart Spencer held on for the lead but the 24P had made it to his bumper and was waiting for a chance at the lead. At the halfway point Jadon Rogers was up on the cushion giving it a try as most were on the bottom. The top was working for a few laps and he had made it from 11th to 5th but the final 7 laps he faded from the strong cushion run. Tye Mihocko would make the move with about 8 laps to go and take the top spot from Brandon. Tye would hold on for the 25 lap win and following him at the finish it was Brayden Fox, Alec Sipes, Brandon Spencer and Brian Hayden.
The 305 Racesavers had 22 entries for the night. The fast time groups were led by Jordan Welch 12.200, Rod Henning 12.172 and Ryan Tusing 12.009. The wheel spin for the heat races was a 4. Heat 1 Jeff Wimmenauer came from the front row outside to take the early lead and he held off Jordan Welch and Roman Gephart. Heat race 2 Rod Henning came from 4th to take the win over John Paynter Jr. and Dustin Clark. The final heat Ethan Barrow came from the front row outside like Jeff to take the lead and hold on for the win over Ryan Tusing and Keith Langley. The wheel spin for the feature was a 6 which put Ryan Tusing on the front row. The A main was a great show and kudos goes out to all 22 cars because the 20 lap feature went very fast. The Santa Claus Indiana native Ryan Tusing would take the early lead in the 3C and looked like a rocket and by lap 5 he was into lapped traffic. He would dice through the traffic really good and build a nice lead of 8 or 9 car lenghts by the halfway point. There were many battles in the middle of the pack. Up front Ethan Barrow had a good battle with Jordan Welch and John Paynter Jr. for the 2nd place battle. This allowed Ryan to build his lead and he would hold on to the 20 lap win. Following Ryan at the checkers Ethan Barrow held on for 2nd over Jordan Welch, John Paynter Jr. and Rod Henning. Thanks to all the 22 WIng 305's for putting on a great show.
The UMP Super Stocks had 11 entries for the evening. We had the top 4 in UMP points in attendance with Josh Litton, Jordan Almanza, Ryan Freeland and Zach Sasser all ready to do battle with the rest of the field. The fast times for their groups were Ryan Freeland 14.632 and Cale Kern 14.309. The invert wheel for the heat was a 2 which put those 2 on the front row outside. Heat 1 was won by Brad Cummings over Ryan Freeland and Kenny Carmichael Sr. Heat race 2 was won by Cale Kern over Isaiah Sasser and Zach Sasser. This setup the A main and the Invert wheel was a 2 again which put Cale Kern on the pole with Brad Cummings beside him. Cale Kern would have a good battle early with Brad Cummings for the lead. Cale would get the bottom groove to work really well and took the top spot. Past the halfway point Isaiah Sasser had made the lead diminish and he was on Cale's shadow looking for Cale to miss his mark. Another car that was really fast and went from 8th to 3rd was Josh Litton. On the final 5 laps Isaiah made a couple attempts above the low groove but Cale hit his marks the final 5 laps and would hold on for the win over Isaiah Sasser, Josh Litton, Kenny Carmichael Sr. and Brad Cummings. Thanks goes out to everyone that made the Roddy Strong Memorial such a great night! Thanks to all the 94 teams that came out to race and our great fans for filling the hill. We will see you next Friday night for more action at the red clay with the 410 non wings, 305 Racesavers, Super Stocks and Hornets. This is also the final tuneup before the always huge MSCS Josh Burton Memorial Race on May 26th at Bloomington Speedway.
- Jill Spiker on May 15, 2023
- Article Date: 5/15/2023 by Kenny Clark