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Derek Groomer Wins By 0.004 and Brian Hayden Goes Back To Victory Lane At LPS

Once again the LPS pits were about full in the back row as we had 32 entries which would be 4 heats taking the top 4 with 1 B main taking 4 to the A. The 4 fast qualifiers in their groups were Matt Mcdonald (13.764), Geoff Ensign (13.298), Brandon Spencer ( 12.949) and Brayden Fox (13.203) The invert for the heats was spun a 1 so straight up from qualifying. Heat race 1 had outside front row 2H Brian Hayden look strong and would hold on for the win over Jake Scott, Matt Mcdonald and Ivan Glotzbach transferring. Heat race 2 would have Geoff Ensign lead all the way winning over Jordan Kinser, Harley Burns (from 7th) and Rylan Gray. Heat race 3 was also won by the polesitter Brandon Spencer who held off Tye Mihocko, Mitch Wissmiller and Jesse Vermillion. The final heat was won by Kyle Shipley, Zack Pretoius, Brayden Fox and Hunter Maddox. The final chance to get into the A was from the B main. Blake Vermillion made a strong move from 7th to win the B main over Michael Clark, Nate Mcmillin and Matt Goodnight. The rest of the B main would still be put into a 2nd feature at the end of the night. The A main was now set and the invert for the A was spun a 1 also like the heats. Brian Hayden would fire from the pole and he definitely looked strong on the bottom. Early in the race with Brandon Spencer battling for 2nd he spun off of turn 2 and collected Tye Mihocko who had a slow flip on his side. Both cars would need to go to the work area and would restart in the back. This is where it got wild Tye Mihocko I wish I could have watched instead of score sprints because with that many laps left you knew he would pass a lot of cars and he sure did. As the race went on Brian was still leading on the bottom but Jordan Kinser in the Burton 04 was getting the middle to high side to work and with just 10 laps to go he was up to 2nd catching the 2H of Hayden. Then with just about 5 laps to go both Jordan Kinser and Kyle Shipley hit the cushion wrong on the high side between turn 3 and 4 and jumped the cushion losing up to 5 spots from 2nd place. This gave the 2H Brian Hayden some breathing room and sure enough on his last year of Sprint car racing he cruised to a big victory at LPS. One of the biggest stories of the night was Tye Mihocko restarting 20th to come all the way up to 2nd place. The rest of the top 5 were Jake Scott, Harley Burns and Geoff Ensign. Congrats to the 2H of Brian Hayden on the big win and maybe it shouldn't be his last year since he proved that he still has what it takes to win a 25 lap A main. The 2nd feature for sprints at the end of the night was another good one as Cody Williams picked up his first win over Chad Davenport, Bryce Andrews, Austin Cory and Kyle Johnson. Thanks goes out to all 32 teams who once again put on a dandy at Lincoln Park Speedway.

The UMP Mods helped fill up the pits with 29 entries. That is very important for the UMP points because any night over 25 is bonus points. With 29 each driver at the end of the night wherever they finish basically earns an additional 4 points with the higher car count. The 4 groups in qualifying were led by Nathan Voorhies (14.778), Jamie Lomax (14.423), Jerry Bland Jr. (14.853) and Matt Mitchell (14.842). This setup the 4 heat format taking the top 4 with 1 B main taking the top 4 to get into the 20 car A main. The invert for the heats was spun and it came up a 4. Heat 1 had polesitter Wil Bennett hold on for the win over Jake Leitzman, Steve Mayer and Nathan Voorhies. Heat race 2 went to the fast qualifier Jamie Lomax over Richie Lex, Cody Wright and Bryce Shidler. Heat race 3 was a dandy with a real tough battle between Derek Groomer and Tyler Loughmiller. Derek was able to get the win with Tyler 2nd followed by Jerry Bland Jr and Andy Sherley making the show. The last heat was won by Michael Fish over Kasey Schrock, Matt Mitchell and Chris Cole. This setup the last chance and Sydney Landes pulled off the B main win over Josh Lemke, Austin Phelps and Matt Cooley. This would setup the 20 car A main field to do battle. The front row after a spin of 7 was Tyler Loughmiller and Richie Lex. Early in the race Tyler and Richie would do battle for the top spot. Hard racing on the bottom and the middle setup a wild 20 laps for sure with some tore up sheet metal. The 2 guys on the move by lap 5 were Derek Groomer and Jamie Lomax. Derek came from 5th and Jamie started in 6th so it took them some time to pick off each one but then those 2 would battle out front. Jamie looked strong on the bottom and just came off from a win the night before at the Kankakee Speedway. He would take the lead and with just 5 laps to go his lead was shrinking a little. The D48 was coming on the bottom trying to be there if Jamie just would open a little door. Sure enough on the final lap going into turn 3 the D48 had a good run down lower than the 36 and somehow he got it to work and the finish was one of the closest finishes in LPS history as Derek Groomer held off Jamie for the win by 0.004 at the line. A great show by both of them for the fans for sure and also to Tyler Loughmiller, Will Bennett and Jake Leitzman who put on a stellar show also for 3rd thru 5th. Thanks goes out to all of the 29 mod teams that put on an outstanding show at LPS early in April. Those 4 bonus points could come into play later on in the season when we get close to the UMP points champion of Southern Indiana.

The UMP Super Stocks had 15 entries on the night and the 2 groups of qualifying were led by Larry Raines with a 15.219 and Justin Massie with a 15.403. The heat invert spin was a 2 for this class. Both of the fast times would win their heats from the 2nd position and with an invert of 3 for the feature it put Travis Heramb on the pole and Justin on the outside. With an unfortunate motor issue Justin Massie had to scratch for the feature and this put Wade Goodale on the front row. The 14G pilot from Clayton would take the early lead in the 20 lap feature. He would be able to build his lead while the 7 of Travis Heramb had a great battle with the R4 of Larry Raines. This would allow Wade to build a lead of 6 car lengths on the field. The 2nd half of the race Wade would not miss his marks and hold on for the win over Larry Raines, Travis Heramb, Jordan Almanza and Ryan Freeland. Wade would also take the early points lead over Travis, Jordan, Kenny Sr. and Larry but there is only 13 points between the top 5 in a very close UMP Super Stock battle every week.

The Bomber division had 9 cars but all of them put on a great show. It was a total sweep for Joey Raber as he lead the way in qualifying at a 16.228. He then won the heat with an invert of a 1. The feature had an invert of 2 so that put Megan Cavaness on the pole with Joey beside her on the outside of the front row. The 121 of Joey Raber would take the early lead and make it a sweep of the night taking the win over a strong run from Megan Cavaness in 2nd with David Bumgardner, Corey Anstead and David Wallen rounding out the top 5 for the night. The points battle is really close early in the year with Joey just 1 point ahead of Megan and just 3 points ahead of Corey. Thanks to all the teams and fans who came out for a great show at LPS. Next Saturday April 22nd we will have the first visit of the MMSA and the IMCA Racesaver 305’s in addition with our regular 4 classes to make it a huge night at LPS.

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