Friday night at Bloomington was the final curtain for the 100th season and it was a wild one with points titles coming down to the final laps. The sprint cars had 21 entries for the final night and it was a loaded field of talent. The 3 fast times in their groups were Trey Osborne 11.871, Brayden Fox 11.877 and Ricky Lewis 11.751. This would setup the 3 heats and the invert was a 4. Heat 1 Geoff Ensign came from 5th passing a lot of good cars to win the heat over Todd Hobson, Trey Osborne and Ryan Thomas. Heat race 2 polesitter Harley Burns would pick up the big win and get that 1 point for the heat race win which each point is very important as close as him, Jordan and Brady were for the title. Following Harley at the finish it was Brayden Fox, Mario Clouser, Chance Crum and Brady Short. Heat race 3 was also won from the pole as Matt Thompson got the big win over Isaac Chapple, Ricky Lewis, Tye Mihocko and Jordan Kinser. This would setup the A main with an invert of 2 which put Harley and Geoff on the front row. Going into the A main Harley was bad 11 points from Brady Short. Both Brady and Jordan had to start 14th and 15th so Harley had a chance with each position in the feature is 2 points apart. In order for Harley to pass both Brady and Jordan he would have to finish ahead of Brady by 6 positions and Jordan by 3 positions. The start of the 25 lap A Harley took an early battle up front with Geoff Ensign for the top spot with him running low and Geoff on the cushion. At the halfway point Harley was still up front running 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trying to hang on for some good points. With 5 laps to go Brady Short had made it to about 7th or 8th place and the math we were doing in the tower had Brady 1 point up at one moment. Every lap was so important as the last couple laps it really did matter as Brady dropped back to 9th and Harley was able to hold off Brayden Fox for 3rd. Can you believe it we ran a whole season and it came down to Lap 25 and the championship was decided by 1 point. Harley got 3rd at the line with Brady Short finishing 9th and Jordan Kinser 10th. 3 amazing drivers and teams put on an amazing battle for the fans this year. Congrats to the 16B team Harley Burns is your 2023 Sprint Car Champion from Brazil Indiana. The race for the win was a dandy also as Ricky Lewis who changed a motor in the pits came from 9th to win the A main over Geoff Ensign, Harley Burns, Brayden Fox and Tye Mihocko from 12th. Congrats to the 36 Short Team and the 04 Burton Team with Jordan Kinser also as you both are very strong teams also and we appreciate the fantastic show every Friday you put on for our fans.
The UMP Super Stocks had 11 entries and this was another title that came down to the final laps. The 2 fast times were Isaiah Sasser 14.400 and Tucker Chastain 14.165. Josh Litton was leading the points just 2 positions ahead of Isaiah Sasser. The invert for the heats was a 4. Heat race 1 went to Kenny Carmichael Sr. taking the win over Hayden Groomer and Isaiah Sasser. Heat race 2 went to Zach Sasser over Tucker Chastain and Josh Litton. This would setup the A main with the invert of 1 and both Josh and Isaiah did not get any heat race points. The 20 lap race Isaiah would have to finish 3 spots ahead of Josh to take over the lead. At the start of the feature Zach Sasser was very strong and he would take the lead from Kenny Sr. and definitely looked tough to beat. At the halfway point Josh was running 4th with Isaiah right behind him in 5th. Towards the front Tucker was in 2nd behind Zach just hoping the 79 would open the door for the win. Zach hit his marks the final few laps and he held on for the big win over Tucker Chastain, Hayden Groomer, Josh Litton and Isaiah Sasser. Congrats to the 89 Litton Team for their championship holding off Isaiah by 4 points. Thanks to all the UMP Super Stocks who put on some great shows for us on Friday nights.
The 305's had 14 entries with Jordan Welch 11.129 and Ethan Barrow 11.207 leading their groups. Ethan had the 305 title wrapped up but this group would put on another great show at the red clay. Heat race 1 was won by Jordan Welch over Rod Henning, Charlie Stines and Justin Matthews. Heat race 2 was won by Ethan Barrow over Cody Trammell, Keith Langley and John Paynter Jr. This setup the A main and with an invert of 1 the heat race winners were on the front row. The 2023 champ Ethan Barrow would take the lead but the Champ would get passed about halfway through by Cody Trammell in the 75 and he was very strong slicing through the lapped traffic and Cody would take the final red clay win over Ethan Barrow, Rod Henning, Jordan Welch and John Paynter Jr. Congrats to the 14 team for the championship and thanks to the entire 305 racesaver group for some great shows during 2023.
The UMP Hornets had 14 cars for the final points night. Heat race 1 was won by Warren Hopkins over Michael Brewer, Dale Hobbs and Jeremy Shemwell. Heat race 2 went to Alex Wilson over Matt Miller, Cody Chambers and Josh Arthur. This setup the A main with an invert spin of a 1. Alex Wilson would seal the deal on the Bloomington championship with the 15 lap A main win over Michael Brewer, Warren Hopkins, Matt Miller and Jeremy Shemwell. Both Alex and Jeremy are also in the top 10 in the national UMP points chase and we wish them the best of luck these last few weeks. Congrats to the 44 Alex Wilson team for the title. Thanks to all the teams that made the 100th season at Bloomington Speedway a great show every Friday night for our fans. We appreciate each and every team for your support and our great fans on Friday nights at the red clay. See you in April of 2024 at the red clay to start year 101 !!!
- Jill Spiker on Sep 14, 2023
- Article Date: 9/14/2023 by Kenny Clark