Bloomington Speedway finally got to open the curtain on 2024 after losing to Mother Nature 2 times. The Roddy Memorial was set for night 1 and even though the car count was light the stars were loaded in the pits with some of the best from Kentucky versus our tough UMP heroes of Indiana. Single car qualifying was the setup and Cole Followay was fast time followed by Tyler Loughmiller, Josh Harris, Trent Young and Jerrod Deckard. 3 Kentucky and 2 Indiana in the top 5. Heat races were setup with an invert spin of 2. Heat race 1 Josh Harris was able to hold on for the win over Cole Falloway, Cole Parker, RT Gamble and Derek Groomer. Heat race 2 had Trent Young hold off Tyler Loughmiller, Logan Mounce, James Walters and Ben Harmon. This setup the 2009 to win 30 lap main event for the Roddy. The front row of Josh Harris and Trent Young would be the 2 Kentucky drivers that would definitely show their strength from the bluegrass state because both of them would take turns at the lead some. Josh Harris after the halfway point was really good dicing through the traffic and built a good lead. Josh was really setting a fast pace as during the final 5 laps they were about to lap up to 8th place in the A main. Trent Young had a great battle early in the 10Y and was able to lead some also as the red clay was good on the top and bottom. The last 5 laps it was the battle for 2nd between Trent and Cole Falloway and the battle for 4th between Tyler Loughmiller and Cole Parker. Josh Harris was able to hit his marks perfect the final 3 laps of the 30 and secure the big win for early in 2024. At the finish it was Josh Harris, Cole Falloway, Trent Young, Cole Parker, Tyler Loughmiller, James Walters, Ben Harmon, Logan Mounce, RT Gamble and Derek Groomer. Thanks to all of them for an awesome 30 laps in honor of Roddy and definitely thanks to all the teams, fans and the awesome Harris family that keeps the race going for the guy we miss in the 9H.
The Non Wing Sprints had 18 entries and the fast times in their groups were Jadon Rogers, Jake Scott and Brandon Mattox. The invert spin for the heats was a 3. Heat race winners on a very fast red clay at the beginning of the night were Harley Burns, Brandon Spencer and Brayden Fox. We are glad Ivan Glotzbach is okay after a violent flip off of turn 2 in his heat race. The front row of the feature would be Harley and Brandon. Harley the champ from last year would continue his success as he held on to win the 25 lap A main. Following Harley at the checkers it was Brandon Spencer, Rylan Gray(from 15th), Hunter Maddox and Brayden Fox. Thanks to all the teams for putting on a great and very fast 25 laps with a lot of passing in the middle of the pack..
The UMP Super Stocks had 12 entries and the 2 fast times in their groups were Zach Sasser and Greg Amick. The invert spin for the heat was a 1 and both Zach and Greg were really strong in their heats and won them also. This setup the A main and the invert spin was a 1 so Zach and Greg made up the front row. This was a good 20 lap battle and the 00 Greg Amick would take the win over Tucker Chastain, Zach Sasser, Isaiah Sasser and Justin Massie. All 5 of these drivers are really stout and have visited victory lane at other UMP tracks also. 2024 will be an intense battle at Bloomington and the entire UMP slate this year for this class.
The IMCA ModLites made their first appearance for 2024 and had 9 entries. Brenden McGlothlin was very fast in his heat and came from 5th to win it over Jimmy Arthur and Andy Tragesser. We are glad Tad Canada is okay after a violent flip down the backstretch with his number 20 machine. This setup the A main and they did an invert of 4. Joe Boyll took the early lead from the pole but it didn’t take Brenden long to head up to the front. Brenden would take the lead from Joe and go on for the win at the red clay to open 2024. Following Brenden McGlothin at the finish it was Joe Boyll, Zach Malone and Dustin Bruce. Thanks goes out to all the teams and the Harris family for putting on another great Roddy event. The Indiana Late Model Series makes a visit to the red clay this Friday and that will be an awesome show.
- Jill Spiker on May 01, 2024
- Article Date: 5/1/2024 by Kenny Clark