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USAC National Sprint Cars set for battle at Lawrenceburg

By Richie Murray, USAC Media (Lawrenceburg, IN) -- .Flawless is the word that comes to mind in describing Kevin Thomas Jr.'s run down the stretch to win his second Fall Nationals at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway in the last three years, a $10,000 grand prize, in the Fall of last season.

Oh, what the Cullman, Ala. driver would give to score another victory in the event this Saturday night, October 3, at Lawrenceburg in the 11th Fall Nationals run under USAC sanctioning since 2009. In that span, the event has only once before seen a repeat winner - Bryan Clauson in 2013 & 2014.

PHOTO CREDIT: Gary Akin

Thomas has four career USAC National Sprint Car feature wins at Lawrenceburg, twice in 2013, then scored a first career Fall Nationals victory in 2017. He also scored a 4th at the Fall Nationals in 2013, a runner-up finish in 2015 and had a 5th place run in 2018 prior to winning the Fall Nationals for a second time in 2019. No USAC driver has won the event three times.

Saturday's race marks the final event of the 2020 USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car season, marking the first time the series has concluded its year in the Midwest since 2002. It'll be the first time Lawrenceburg has hosted the season finale for the USAC Sprints as well.

Three of the most talented and decorated USAC Sprint Car drivers over the past decade - Brady Bacon, Chris Windom and Chase Stockon - have brought the championship battle down to the wire. Bacon leads by 30 points over Windom and by 40 over Stockon. An Interesting side note is the last time none of the three were in a Lawrenceburg USAC Sprint Car field was July 10, 2009.

Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) had his lone USAC National Sprint Car win at Lawrenceburg come during the summer of 2015. The two-time USAC National Sprint Car champ in 2014 and 2016 was the fastest qualifier at the 2011 Fall Nationals and has finished in the top-three in the event three times over the years, including 2nd in 2014, 4th in 2015 and a runner-up finish in 2018 where he led 11 laps. He was 7th in 2019.

Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) is the only driver to finish inside the top-five in the past five editions of the Fall Nationals, and likewise, has finished in the top-ten in all 10 previous Fall Nationals run under the sanctioning of USAC, but the Spring 2017 Burg winner remains on the hunt for his first Fall Nationals triumph. He was 3rd in 2009, 2nd in 2011, 2nd in 2012, 10th in 2013, 9th in 2014, 5th in 2015, 2nd in 2016, 7th in 2017, 4th in 2018 and 5th in 2019. He was 2nd at Lawrenceburg during Indiana Sprint Week in July, won the Sprint portion of Indiana Midget Week back in June and also owns an Indiana Midget Week win there in 2019.

The very first of Chase Stockon's 13 career USAC National Sprint Car victories came at the Fall Nationals in 2012. He's started all 10 Fall Nationals under USAC sanction. The Fort Branch, Ind. native, who holds the ultimate ironman streak of 320 consecutive USAC National Sprint Car feature starts entering the weekend, also finished as the runner-up at the Fall Nationals in 2013. He took 10th during the 2019 Fall Nationals.

Fourth in the standings is Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.), a 2018 Fall Nationals winner where he led the first lap and the final 18 laps in a spirited duel with Bacon. Four of Grant's USAC National Sprint wins have come at Lawrenceburg, with additional victories in 2012, 2014 and again during Indiana Sprint Week in 2019. He has six career top-five finishes at the Fall Nationals, including a 5th in 2013, a 4th in 2014, a 5th in 2016, a 3rd in 2017, a 1st in 2018 and a 3rd in 2019.

C.J. Leary's last visit to Lawrenceburg resulted in a USAC Sprint victory during the Indiana Sprint Week round at the 3/8-mile dirt oval, his second career win with USAC at The Burg (2017). The reigning series champion from Greenfield, Ind. also won the 2013 Lawrenceburg Speedway track championship and has finished in the top-three twice at the Fall Nationals in his career. He was 3rd in 2015 and 2nd in 2017. He was 4th in 2019. In both 2015 and 2018, he was the fastest qualifier at the Fall Nationals.

Dave Darland (Lincoln, Ind.) is the winningest USAC National Sprint Car driver of all-time with 62 wins. He also holds the record for most USAC Sprint Car wins at Lawrenceburg with seven dating back to 1998. In Fall Nationals' past, he's been 3rd in both 2013 and 2016 and was 6th in 2019. Additionally, he set quick time during qualifying in both in 2014 and 2017.

Nick Bilbee (Indianapolis, Ind.) won Lawrenceburg's track championship this season by virtue of his three victories in weekly sprint car competition there in June, August and September. He earned a USAC career best finish of 6th in the 2019 Fall Nationals. He was the fastest qualifier in USAC Sprint Car competition at Lawrenceburg during the summer of 2018. Likewise, Max Adams (Loomis, Calif.) was the winner of the most recent outing at Lawrenceburg on Sept. 9. He finished 15th in the 2019 Fall Nationals.

Carson Short (Marion, Ill.) has made one previous Fall Nationals start in 2016, finishing 13th. Meanwhile, Kyle Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) has made five previous starts at the Fall Nationals, leading two laps and finishing 5th in 2009 while also earning 4th in 2016.

Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) has been a Lawrenceburg USAC Sprint winner once before in his career, scoring the "W" during 2011 Indiana Sprint Week. The 2015 series champion has made seven previous Fall Nationals starts, taking 8th in 2014, 10th in 2015 and 4th in his most recent appearance in the race in 2017.

Fall Nationals Rookies include the likes of Logan Seavey, Clinton Boyles, Brandon Mattox and Jadon Rogers. Seavey, (Sutter, Calif), the 2018 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champ, was a 3rd place Midget finisher at Lawrenceburg in 2019. Boyles (Greenwood, Mo.) made his Midget debut run at Lawrenceburg this past June, winning his heat and finishing 14th. His Daigh-Phillips Motorsports team has been the fastest qualifier twice at the Fall Nationals, in 2014 with Darland and in 2016 with Stevie Sussex.

Brandon Mattox (Terre Haute, Ind.) is prepared to make his Fall Nationals debut fresh off his best career USAC finish of 4th last Saturday at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway. Jadon Rogers (Worthington, Ind.) has wrapped up his place as the top-finishing Rookie with the series this season. However, he's hoping for better luck this time out after flipping early during the ISW round at Lawrenceburg in July.

Shane Cottle (Kansas, Ill.) took 7th in the Fall Nationals of 2012. His ride for the Fall Nationals, the Hodges Motorsports No. 74x, won the event with Josh Hodges as the driver during the 2016 season. In fact, the Hodges car has finished in the top-10 at the Fall Nationals in 2016 (1st), 8th in 2017 and 10th in 2018. The 2016 run still stands as the fastest 30-lap USAC Sprint Car race in the history of Lawrenceburg Speedway at 7:21.09.

This Saturday's 64th points race by the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship at Indiana's Lawrenceburg Speedway brings to us the 11th running of the Fall Nationals under USAC sanction on Saturday night, October 3.

Pits open for Saturday's Fall Nationals at 3pm Eastern, front gates open at 5pm, drivers meeting at 5:30pm, hot laps begin at 6pm and opening ceremonies at 7pm. The event features the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and KOI Auto Parts UMP Modifieds. Adult general admission tickets are $25, kids 7-12 are $7, children 6 and under are free. Pit passes are $35 apiece.

Saturday's Fall Nationals from Lawrenceburg can be watched LIVE on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/2Zs7zFP.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-1,658, 2-Chris Windom-1,628, 3-Chase Stockon-1,618, 4-Justin Grant-1,550, 5-C.J. Leary-1,542, 6-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1,302, 7-Dave Darland-1,214, 8-Carson Short-1,212, 9-Kyle Cummins-1,111, 10-Robert Ballou-1,067.

USAC SPRINT CAR FALL NATIONALS WINNERS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY:

2009: Damion Gardner

2011: Levi Jones

2012: Chase Stockon

2013: Bryan Clauson

2014: Bryan Clauson

2015: Thomas Meseraull

2016: Josh Hodges

2017: Kevin Thomas Jr.

2018: Justin Grant

2019: Kevin Thomas Jr.

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY: (63 Points Races, 1 Special Event)

1. (7) Dave Darland

2. (5) Jon Stanbrough

3. (4) Justin Grant, Jack Hewitt & Kevin Thomas Jr.

4. (3) Kevin Briscoe, Bryan Clauson & Rick Hood

5. (2) Tony Elliott, Levi Jones, C.J. Leary, Danny Milburn & Brian Tyler

6. (1) Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Jeff Bland Jr., Mark Cassella, Jerry Coons Jr., Tyler Courtney, Kevin Doty, Jay Drake, Dickie Gaines, Damion Gardner, Josh Hodges, Logan Jarrett, Thomas Meseraull, Rodney Ritter Jr., Brady Short, Chase Stockon, Kevin Thomas, Chris Windom, Josh Wise & J.J. Yeley

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY:

1983: Danny Milburn (9/18)

1984: Rick Hood (6/9) & Danny Milburn (9/16)

1985: Rick Hood (6/8)

1986: Rick Hood (6/7)

1988: Jack Hewitt (6/4)

1989: Rodney Ritter Jr. (7/1)

1992: Kevin Thomas (8/8)

1993: Jack Hewitt (7/10)

1994: Jon Stanbrough (6/18)

1995: Jack Hewitt (7/1)

1996: Mark Cassella (8/31)

1997: Brian Tyler (7/19) & Brian Tyler (8/30)

1998: Kevin Doty (5/30), Dave Darland (7/18) & Dave Darland (8/29)

1999: Kevin Briscoe (6/5), Jack Hewitt (7/22) & Tony Elliott (8/28)

2000: Kevin Briscoe (7/22) & Tony Elliott (8/26)

2001: Dave Darland (7/26)

2002: Kevin Briscoe (7/25)

2003: J.J. Yeley (5/31), Jay Drake (6/1) & Jon Stanbrough (7/24)

2004: Jon Stanbrough (7/22)

2005: Dickie Gaines (7/21)

2006: Jon Stanbrough (4/22)

2007: Levi Jones (4/21), Jon Stanbrough (7/11) & Dave Darland (7/12)

2008: Jeff Bland (7/9) & Brady Short (7/10)

2009: Josh Wise (4/18), Dave Darland (7/10), Jerry Coons Jr. (8/22 Special Event) & Damion Gardner (10/2)

2010: Jerry Coons Jr. (4/17) & Dave Darland (7/9)

2011: Robert Ballou (7/10), Levi Jones (10/1)

2012: Justin Grant (7/15) & Chase Stockon (9/29)

2013: Kevin Thomas Jr. (4/6), Kevin Thomas Jr. (7/14) & Bryan Clauson (9/28)

2014: Justin Grant (4/5) & Bryan Clauson (9/27)

2015: Logan Jarrett (4/4), Brady Bacon (7/12) & Thomas Meseraull (10/3)

2016: Dave Darland (4/2), Bryan Clauson (7/10) & Josh Hodges (10/1)

2017: Chris Windom (4/1), C.J. Leary (7/9) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (9/30)

2018: Tyler Courtney (7/22) & Justin Grant (9/29)

2019: Justin Grant (7/21) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (10/5)

2020: C.J. Leary (7/26)

PAST FALL NATIONALS USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RESULTS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY

2009

1. Damion Gardner, 2. Cole Whitt, 3. Chris Windom, 4. Jon Stanbrough, 5. Kyle Cummins, 6. Levi Jones, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Tracy Hines, 9. Hunter Schuerenberg, 10. Scotty Weir, 11. Dave Darland, 12. Jeff Bland Jr., 13. Nic Faas, 14. Bobby East, 15. Darren Hagen, 16. Casey Riggs, 17. Brady Short, 18. Bryan Clauson, 19. Jesse Hockett, 20. Brady Bacon, 21. John Memmer, 22. Chad Boat, 23. Robert Ballou, 24. Chase Stockon.
   FAST QUALIFIER: Jon Stanbrough

2011

1. Levi Jones, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Hunter Schuerenberg, 4. Casey Riggs, 5. Tracy Hines, 6. Jon Stanbrough, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Ted Hines, 9. Bobby East, 10. Bryan Clauson, 11. Jac Haudenschild, 12. Brady Short, 13. Chad Boespflug, 14. Blake Fitzpatrick, 15. Damion Gardner, 16. Matt Westfall, 17. Logan Hupp, 18. Chase Stockon, 19. Jonathan Hendrick, 20. Brady Bacon, 21. Coleman Gulick, 22. Justin Grant, 23. Robert Ballou, 24. Critter Malone. NT
   FAST QUALIFIER: Brady Bacon

2012

1. Chase Stockon, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Damion Gardner, 4. Bryan Clauson, 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. Thomas Meseraull, 7. Shane Cottle, 8. Tracy Hines, 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 10. Jerry Coons Jr., 11. Jon Stanbrough, 12. Bobby East, 13. Logan Hupp, 14. C.J. Leary, 15. Robert Ballou, 16. Scotty Weir, 17. Brady Short, 18. Wes McIntyre, 19. Dave Darland, 20. Jonathan Hendrick, 21. Dakota Jackson, 22. Daron Clayton, 23. Coleman Gulick.
   FAST QUALIFIER: Coleman Gulick

2013

1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5. Justin Grant, 6. Gary Taylor, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Chad Boespflug, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Chris Windom, 11. Shawn Westerfeld, 12. Daron Clayton, 13. Kyle Cummins, 14. Robert Ballou, 15. Jarett Andretti, 16. Aaron Farney, 17. Joss Moffatt, 18. C.J. Leary, 19. Ted Hines, 20. Scotty Weir, 21. Tyler Courtney, 22. Tracy Hines, 23. Matt Westfall.
   FAST QUALIFIER: Bryan Clauson

2014

1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Tracy Hines, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Jerry Coons Jr., 6. Chase Stockon, 7. Jon Stanbrough, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Dave Darland, 11. Jac Haudenschild, 12. Hunter Schuerenberg, 13. Chad Boespflug, 14. Daron Clayton, 15. Jarett Andretti, 16. Scotty Weir, 17. Kevin Thomas Jr., 18. Thomas Meseraull, 19. C.J. Leary, 20. Logan Jarrett, 21. Landon Simon, 22. Shane Cottle. NT
   FAST QUALIFIER: Dave Darland

2015

1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Chris Windom, 6. Kody Swanson, 7. Chase Stockon, 8. Scotty Weir, 9. Jon Stanbrough, 10. Robert Ballou, 11. Tracy Hines, 12. Chad Boespflug, 13. Justin Grant, 14. Jarett Andretti, 15. Dave Darland, 16. Aaron Farney, 17. Max McGhee, 18. Jerry Coons Jr., 19. Dustin Ingle, 20. Logan Jarrett, 21. Garrett Abrams, 22. Kyle Cummins.
   FAST QUALIFIER: C.J. Leary

2016

1. Josh Hodges, 2. Chris Windom, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Kyle Cummins, 5. Justin Grant, 6. Tyler Courtney, 7. Jon Stanbrough, 8. Stevie Sussex, 9. Brady Bacon, 10. Jarett Andretti, 11. Chase Stockon, 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 13. Carson Short, 14. Bret Mellenberndt, 15. Nick Bilbee, 16. A.J. Hopkins, 17. C.J. Leary, 18. Chad Boespflug, 19. Isaac Chapple, 20. Aaron Farney, 21. Joss Moffatt, 22. Landon Simon, 23. Drew Abel. 7:21.09 (NTR)
   FAST QUALIFIER: Stevie Sussex

2017

1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. C.J. Leary, 3. Justin Grant, 4. Robert Ballou, 5. Tyler Courtney, 6. Brady Bacon, 7. Chris Windom, 8. Josh Hodges, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. Jon Stanbrough, 11. Nick Bilbee, 12. Scotty Weir, 13. Joss Moffatt, 14. Chase Stockon, 15. Kyle Robbins, 16. Isaac Chapple, 17. Garrett Abrams, 18. J.J. Hughes, 19. Tony McVey, 20. Dave Darland, 21. Aric Gentry, 22. Shawn Westerfeld, 23. Chad Boespflug. NT
   FAST QUALIFIER: Dave Darland

2018

1. Justin Grant (2), 2. Brady Bacon (4), 3. Tyler Courtney (7), 4. Chris Windom (18), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (5), 6. Dave Darland (1), 7. Jarett Andretti (11), 8. Chase Stockon (3), 9. Isaac Chapple (8), 10. Josh Hodges (9), 11. Dallas Hewitt (19), 12. Tyler Thomas (20), 13. Dakota Jackson (13), 14. Nick Bilbee (16), 15. Matt Westfall (14), 16. Justin Peck (15), 17. Jason McDougal (12), 18. Shane Cottle (10), 19. Dickie Gaines (17), 20. Brandon Spithaler (21), 21. C.J. Leary (6). NT
   FAST QUALIFIER: C.J. Leary

2019
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr. (5), 2. Tyler Courtney (6), 3. Justin Grant (1), 4. C.J. Leary (3), 5. Chris Windom (8), 6. Nick Bilbee (10), 7. Brady Bacon (2), 8. Jarett Andretti (13), 9. Scotty Weir (14), 10. Chase Stockon (4), 11. Josh Hodges (7), 12. Dustin Clark (16), 13. Mario Clouser (15), 14. Isaac Chapple (17), 15. Max Adams (9), 16. Dustin Smith (11), 17. J.J. Hughes (19), 18. Tyler Kendall (21), 19. Justin Owen (18), 20. Garrett Abrams (20), 21. Kyle Cummins (12), 22. Aric Gentry (22).
FAST QUALIFIER: Tyler Courtney

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