Things are heating up with just 3 races left at the Bloomington Speedway Friday night. 17 Non Wing entries were at the red clay for the night. The 2 fast times in their groups were Matt Thompson 13.289 and Chance Crum 12.701. This would setup the 2 heats and the invert spin was a 4. Heat race 1 had Harley Burns take off strong from the outside front row and lead the entire way and hold on to for the win. Following behind Harley at the checkers it was Troy Carey, Justin Meneely, Matt Thompson and Braxton Cummings. Heat race 2 had a great battle with the #04 of Jordan Kinser taking the win over Brent Beauchamp, Chance Crum, Brandon Spencer and Brady Short. This would put the points leader Brady Short starting 10th in the feature with Jordan Kinser and Harley Burns starting in front of him so definitely the points are starting to tighten up with just 1 regular points race left since Labor Day weekend it is the MSCS series coming to Bloomington. The invert spin for the feature was a 2 so Jordan Kinser and Harley Burns would start on the front row. Jordan Kinser would take the early lead and looked really good on the red clay that still had a lot of grip to it late in the night. Jordan was getting a real fierce battle behind him as Harley Burns and Brent Beauchamp were both in his shadow just waiting for a chance to take the top spot away. On lap 4 the red came out for Justin Meneely who caught a wheel and went soaring over the bank between turn 1 and 2. When you flip at Bloomington it is scary because the red clay banks can launch a car up in the air like a roller coaster. Thankfully Justin was okay after he got some airtime for sure that is not a fun ride in the air. On the restart things would heat up again as the top 3 you could not take your eyes off of because they were that close to each other. Brent Beauchamp made a move on Harley to take the 2nd spot and he was catching the 04 of Jordan Kinser. Jordan was hitting his marks and keeping the lead but Brent was getting the high groove to really build momentum. With just a few laps left Brent Beauchamp made his move at the 04 and was able to pass Jordan on the high side and took the lead. While Brent was building his lead and getting close to lapped traffic Jordan and Harley were inches from each other for 2nd. On the final lap Brent Beauchamp made some great moves to build a bigger lead and take the win. The final corner had Harley Burns taking the 2nd spot from Jordan Kinser with both of them putting on a fantastic show for the fans for sure. Following Brent at the final checkers it was Harley Burns, Jordan Kinser, Matt Thompson, Brady Short and Sterling Cling. Brady was able to get from 10th to 5th so he still is your points leader. Brady just leads though by 4 points over Jordan Kinser and 12 points over Harley Burns. This will be a great showdown for the final points night Sept. 8th after the MSCS race Sept. 1st at the red clay.
The UMP Super Stocks had 9 cars for the night and qualifying was led by Josh Litton your UMP national points leader with a 15.881 followed by Justin Massie 16.056, Tucker Chastain 16.056 and Hayden Groomer 16.148. The invert spin was a 4. The heat race was won by Tucker Chastain who is really turning up the heat with his win last Saturday at Lincoln Park and now the heat race win over Josh Litton, Hayden Groomer and Derek Groomer. This would setup the feature and the invert spin for the feature was a 1 which put Tucker and Josh on the front row. Tucker would take the early lead and stick to the bottom of the red clay. At the halfway point it was a great battle from 2nd thru 4th with Josh Litton, Hayden Groomer and Derek Groomer. Hayden Groomer as a rookie has looked really strong and he would take over 2nd. Since 2nd through 4th had such a great battle Tucker built a nice lead and would take another victory. Following him at the finish it was Hayden Groomer, Derek Groomer, Josh Litton, Jordan Almanza and Kenny Carmichael Sr.
The UMP Hornets had 12 entries for the evening. Heat race 1 had a dominating performance by Jeremy Shemwell over Skylar Ashley, Dale Hobbs, Todd Dasenbrock and Kevin Umphress. Heat race 2 was lead the whole way by Warren Hopkins over Dale Hayes, Josh Arthur, Alex Wilson and Landon Hayes. This would setup the A main and the invert was a 4 which put Dale Hayes and Skylar Ashley on the front row. Dale and Skylar had a great battle early. On a restart Skylar was able to take the lead away from Dale and the #729 blue Hornet started to build a nice lead. 4th place starting Jeremy Shemwell had came up to 2nd and was starting to catch Skylar. Skyler Ashley would hit his marks the rest of the 15 laps and hold on for the big win over Jeremy Shemwell, Alex Wilson, Warren Hopkins and Dale Hobbs.
The IMCA Racesavers had 18 entries. The 3 that led their groups in times were Bradley Sterrett 11.628, Keith Langley 11.639 and Blayne Ridgley 11.589. The invert spin for the heats was a 1 so straight up. Heat race 1 was won from the pole by Bradley Sterrett over Dillan Baldwin and Justin Matthews. Heat race 2 went to outside front row starter Ethan Barrow over Keith Langley and Cody Trammell. The final heat race was won also by outside front row starter John Paynter Jr. over Blayne Ridgley and Terry Arthur. This would setup the A main and the invert spin was a 5 which put Keith Langley and Dillan Baldwin on the front row. Dillan Baldwin would look strong at the beginning of the race. A scary wreck on the back stretch had Bradley Sterrett flipping down the backstretch ending up at the top of turn 3. Thankfully Bradley was okay but it ended his strong run in the top 5. On the restart Dillan Baldwin again would look very strong but in just a few laps he would be back in lapped traffic. Things would get really interesting during the final 10 laps. John Paynter Jr. had closed the gap between 1st and 2nd and the 23P pilot was strong on the red clay cushion. John Paynter Jr. made his move and took over the lead from Dillan and would start to dice his way through the field. John Paynter Jr. would run the last few laps to perfection and would hold on for the big win breaking the streak that Ethan Barrow had going. Ethan made some great moves at the end also and he would get to 2nd. Following the top 2 it was Dillan Baldwin, Cody Trammell, Keith Langley and Jeff Wimmenauer. Thanks to all the great teams and fans who came out to Bloomington Speedway!! Bloomington Speedway will be back in action September 1st with a great MSCS race with UMP Mods, UMP Super Stocks and MMSA mini sprints joining us for a great night.
- Jill Spiker on Aug 21, 2023
- Article Date: 8/21/2023 by Kenny Clark