It was beautiful weather Friday night for the Usac Larry Rice Classic. 34 sprints loaded the pits and qualifying would be intense with some new names at the top of the charts. Geoff Ensign ripped off the fast time at 11.496 followed by Jadon Rogers 11.600, Gabriel Gilbert 11.602, Carson Garrett 11.609 and Shane Cottle with an 11.656. The new Usac format this year takes 5 through 4 heats and 4 through the consy to make up 24 for the A main. Jake Swanson started the night off in the 2B winning heat race 1 over Justin Grant, Shane Cottle, Geoff Ensign and Kevin Thomas Jr. Heat race 2 was another loaded heat and Logan Seavey looked really strong in his win over Jadon Rogers, Chase Stockon, Daison Pursley and Anton Hernandez. Heat race 3 was won by C.J. Leary over Kyle Cummins, Ricky Lewis, Brady Bacon and Joey Amantea. The final heat was won by Robert Ballou over Mitchel Moles, Harley Burns, Chance Crum and Brayden Fox. These 20 drivers were set for the A and if you look at that field wow is that a great field. The final chance to get in was the top 4 from the B. We are glad that the drivers from a very scary crash in the B were okay after Hunter Maddox went over a tire and flipped violently down the frontstretch with Matt Thompson, Todd Hobson and Braxton Cummings also involved. We are very thankful all 4 were okay after a wicked crash. On the restart of the B Carson Garrett would take the 12 lap event over Matt Westfall, Gabriel Gilbert and Rylan Gray making the transfers. The A main was set and the front row was Brayden Fox and Ricky Lewis. A very scary wreck in turn 2 at the start of the race involved Jadon Rogers launching over a tire and flipping high in the air landing on his top. We are thankful that Jadon is okay and raced the next night. On the restart the intense 30 laps would be on as Brayden and Ricky looked really good the first few laps but they could not hold off 3rd place starter Logan Seavey as he looked like he was on a mission after he took the lead. Logan was able to rip the cushion of the red clay and was turning very quick laps in the 11 sec to low 12 sec laps. By the halfway point he was heavy into lapped traffic and before a yellow came out he was about to lap 12th place at the time Robert Ballou. With just 10 laps to go Daison Pursley had came from 23rd to 4th in an amazing run. The final restart Daison came from 4th to 2nd. Logan Seavey would be able to hold on for the win and this would help him add to his early season points lead. Following Logan at the finish it was Daison Pursley, C.J.Leary, Ricky Lewis and Shane Cottle. Thanks to the USAC group for putting on an outstanding show in honor of Larry Rice.
The UMP Hornets had 10 entries for the night. Heat race 1 was won by Michael Brewer over Todd Dasenbrock and Jeremy Shemwell. Heat race 2 was won by Ty Bland over Conner Garrison and Paul Arthur. This setup the A main with an invert of 2 so the heat race winners were on the front row. Ty Bland would look really strong during the 15 lap A main to get his 2nd win in a row at the red clay. Ty Bland was followed by Conner Garrison, Michael Brewer, Jeremy Shemwell and Shannon Walp at the finish line.
There were 21 cars entered on the big Larry Rice Classic night at Bloomington Speedway for the Lentz Paving Indiana Racesavers. The 3 groups in qualifying were led by Tyson Lady, Dillan Baldwin and Jordan Welch. This setup the 3 heats with all cars transferring to the feature and the invert spin was a 2. Heat race 1 had the #14 of Ethan Barrow take the Riverway Plumbing win over Tyson Lady, Ethan Fleetwood and Justin Matthews. Riverway Plumbing Heat race 2 winner was Bradley Sterrett from the pole over Dillan Baldwin, Andy Bradley and John Paynter Jr. The final Riverway Plumbing Heat race winner for the night was Jordan Welch over Cody Workman, Ryan Tusing and Kevin Studley. This setup the main event and the feature invert spin was a 4 which put Tyson Lady and Jordan Welch on the front row. Early in the 20 lap main event both Jordan and Tyson looked really strong. They could not hold off the veterans though as Bradley and Ethan headed to the front. At the halfway point lapped traffic would get really heavy. The caution flag helped regroup the field and would setup a restart with both on the front row. Bradley would hold on to the top spot in the closing laps to make it 2 in a row at the red clay. Following the Brawley Group Feature Winner Bradley Sterrett it was Ethan Barrow, Andy Bradley, Jordan Welch and Ethan Fleetwood. The Bridlewood Consulting Hard Charger of the night would go to Keith Langley who came from 19th to 10th. Thanks to all the teams who put on an awesome show in front of a huge Usac crowd at Bloomington Speedway.
- Jill Spiker on May 15, 2024
- Article Date: 5/15/2024 by Kenny Clark