The red clay Friday night at Bloomington Speedway would be the last chance for teams to get the setups ready for Indiana Sprint Week 2 weeks later on July 28th. There were 18 sprints that came to the red clay and the fast times were Brayden Fox 12.344, Geoff Ensign 12.082 and Max Adams 12.086. Heat race 1 had Sterling Cling looking real strong and he would win heat 1 from his outside front row starting position and he was able to hold off Jake Swanson, Matt Thompson and Brayden Fox for the win. Heat race 2 had Brady Short winning it over Jordan Kinser and Geoff Ensign. The final heat was won by Brent Beauchamp who like Cling took the win from the outside front row starting position over Max Adams, Harley Burns and Michael Daugherty. This setup the main event and the invert was a 5 which put Max Adams and Jordan Kinser on the front row. Max and Jordan would look good at the start of the race but from row 2 here came Beauchamp and Swanson. Jake Swanson would take the early lead on the cushion from the 4th spot to the front. After leading about 5 laps on the top cushion Jake Swanson would have company soon from the #11 of Brent Beauchamp who from 2nd was running the bottom groove and it was starting to reel in the 5T. Sure enough Brent Beauchamp would take the lead from Jake Swanson and loooked like he was in Sprint Week form. He would not miss his mark on the bottom red clay groove as Jake was trying to catch him in every groove just to see if any other groove would come in. Brent would be able to hold on for the big win over Jake Swanson, Geoff Ensign from 8th, Jordan Kinser, Max Adams and Matt Thompson. This was the final tuneup for the big one in 2 weeks where the Sprint Week entries will be going for 8 grand each night this year.
The UMP mods had 16 cars and it was a loaded field on a Friday night. The 2 fast times in their groups were John Demoss 13.140 and Jacoby Hines 13.139. It shows how competitive the UMP mods are in Indiana by looking at those times wow that was close. Heat race 1 had Derek Losh coming from his 3rd place starting spot and picking up the win over John Demoss, Tyler Loughmiller and Caleb Demoss. Heat race 2 was won by Jacoby Hines over Logan Mounce, Jeff Deckard and Jack Dossey. This setup the main event and with an invert of 1 this would setup a battle between Derek Losh and Jacoby Hines. It definitely lived up to the hype with these 2 going at it from the front row. The #115 of Jacoby Hines is on a roll and he looked strong in fact VERY STRONG to take the big win over one of the best Derek Losh. Jacoby Hines would keep his winning streak going with the big win over Derek Losh, John Demoss, Logan Mounce and Jordan Wever.
The UMP Super Stocks had 13 entries and the fast times were Derek Groomer 13.567 and Jeff Allen 13.963. Heat race 1 was won from the pole by UMP points leader Josh Litton over Greg Amick, Derek Groomer and Reece Novak. Heat race 2 was won by Matt Boknecht over Zach Sasser, Isaiah Sasser and Jeff Allen. This setup the A main with an invert of 1 so the heat race winners would also be on the front row. Anytime Matt starts on the front row the field is usually in trouble. Sure enough Matt Boknecht took the early lead and started to build a large lead going for another win to add to his multiple wins in 2023. Matt was able to win the 20 lap A main over Derek Groomer, Greg Amick, Josh Litton and Isaiah Sasser.
The Racesaver IMCA 305 group had 25 entries with the 3 fast times going to Justin Matthews 11.663, Ethan Barrow 11.418 and Carson Dillion 11.605. They started their night with a makeup feature from May. Jordan Welch picked up the big win to start the night holding off Keith Langley, John Paynter Jr., Ethan Barrow and Bradley Sterrett. The heat races for the regular night would take the top 5 with 5 also coming from the B main. Heat race 1 had Cody Trammell winning it over John Paynter Jr. and Dillan Baldwin. Heat race 2 had Ethan Barrow winning it from 4th over Trey Burke and Kerry Kinser. The final heat had Andy Bradley winning it over Jeff Wimmenauer and Carson Dillion. The final chance was the B main and Bradley Sterrett won it over John Wolforth, Bryce Norris, Ivan Glotzbach and Tyson Lady. This setup the 20 lap A main with an invert of 5 that put Trey Burke and John Paynter Jr. on the front row. Trey Burke the Texas native looked really strong early with Paynter but it was short lived as Heat race 3 winner Andy Bradley was headed to the front and the 21x was to the top spot in a hurry. Andy would take the lead and start to see lapped traffic ahead. The other driver that was moving up was 5th place starter Cody Trammell. He would move to the 2nd spot and try to start tracking down Andy Bradley. This didn't work as Andy Bradley was looking really strong and definitely was the class of the field in feature #2 for the evening. Andy Bradley got the big win over Cody Trammell, Ethan Barrow, John Paynter Jr. and Trey Burke. Thanks to all the teams that put on a great show at the red clay Friday night. See you in 2 weeks on July 28th for Indiana Sprint Week at Bloomington Speedway with the 305's also that night. Thanks to all the fans also that came out on a very hot evening at the red clay!!!
- Jill Spiker on Jul 18, 2023
- Article Date: 7/18/2023 by Kenny Clark