Story By: RICHIE MURRAY / USAC – PUTNAMVILLE, IN – Thirty-nine years is a long time any way you slice it.
Back in 1985, Coca-Cola introduced “new Coke;” the first Nintendo gaming system was released in North America; Michael Jordan was named NBA’s Rookie of the Year; and Tears for Fears was tearing up the Billboard music charts.
The year of 1985 also just so happened to mark the most recent occurrence of a four-race winning streak by a driver in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car competition, a feat achieved that season by Rick Hood en route to his second consecutive series championship.
Nearly four decades later, Logan Seavey became the first to win four-straight since that point in time during Friday night’s opening event of the 37th annual NOS Energy Drink USAC Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing at Putnamville’s Lincoln Park Speedway.
Racing to the front from his sixth starting position, Seavey took over the lead by the 12th circuit of the 30-lap main event at the 5/16-mile event in a race that featured its fair share of wild, hair-raising events. Even Seavey himself had to hop out of his car during an early-race red flag period which briefly set off a small blaze out of the exhaust that lit the vinyl on the left side of his car on fire.
After the flames were doused, Seavey raised his 2024 USAC National Sprint Car win total to 11. That now brings the Sutter, Calif. native to within three victories of tying Tom Bigelow’s all-time single-season series win record of 14 set back in 1977, and the season is still only in July! Seavey’s fifth career Indiana Sprint Week score was also his 21st in USAC National Sprint Car competition, equaling him with 1967 titlist Greg Weld for 33rd place all-time.
“I just owe it all to my team and everyone who works so hard on working on these racecars,” Seavey praised. “I don’t feel like it could be going much better than it is right now. This is really cool to start Sprint Week out like this and we have a ton of momentum.”
For Seavey, it was also his record-setting third consecutive USAC National Sprint Car triumph at Lincoln Park, all of which have occurred within a three-week span in the month of July aboard his Abacus Racing/Honest Abe Roofing – Rockwell Security – Indy Custom Stone/DRC/Stanton Chevy. In fact, all three of Seavey’s wins thus far in July of 2024 have come at Lincoln Park.
“It’s just confidence in my car and confidence in my guys to do what we need to do,” Seavey stated. “Winning those races here a few weeks ago certainly made me feel really good about my car.”
For the third time in the last four USAC Sprint Car starts, Seavey punctuated a quick time during Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying with a feature win. His latest fast time on Friday night slotted him into the sixth starting spot for the feature, and by the conclusion of lap two, he was already in third. Meanwhile, 2022 Indiana Sprint Week champ Justin Grant controlled the pace up front, but Seavey was rapidly closing in.
“I got up to the top-three pretty quickly and then got racing with those guys and was just kind of waiting,” Seavey recalled. “Justin’s obviously really good and you don’t often get to pass him for the lead of a sprint car race. I tried to take my time a little bit and I knew when I passed him, I had to get him and go as fast as I could because he’s really tough to race. It’s why he’s so good and wins so many races.”
However, before Seavey could get there, one of the wildest incidents in recent memory occurred on the seventh lap. Kale Drake, making his USAC National Sprint Car debut, ramped over the right rear wheel of another car entering turn one. From there, Drake burst through the turn one fence and billboards before landing upside down in the parking lot, nestled between several spectators’ vehicles. Ultimately, Drake was able to walk away from the incident.
On the subsequent lap seven restart, Seavey charged underneath second running Briggs Danner to swipe second. Yet just a handful of laps later, a four-car stack-up collected Matt Westfall (9th), C.J. Leary (11th), Jake Swanson (13th) and Max Adams (14th), all of whom came to a stop in turn two.
Displaying his restart mastery once more, once the field was re-racked for the lap 12 resumption, Seavey took to the cushion in turns one and two and propelled himself by Grant to take over the top spot by the time the pair hit the back straightaway.
“I didn’t really know what the back stretch was going to play out like,” Seavey pondered. “I thought (Grant) might’ve heard me, and I was on the gas really hard. He was struggling on the top early and that’s just kind of what got him off there. He showed the bottom early, so it gave me room to get into (turn) one really hard. I made one good corner and got around him, then I had to get going right away from there because he’s as hard as it gets to race with and beat when you go head-to-head like that. He gets me a lot of the time, so it was nice to get one on him.”
From there, Seavey sliced his way through the tail end of the field, putting several drivers a lap down as he pushed his lead to two-plus seconds over Grant with less than two laps remaining and the white flag in sight.
However, a frightening scene developed on the back straightaway on lap 29 as ninth running Stevie Sussex’s car burst into flames. Sussex promptly jumped out of the car fully engulfed in fire. He stopped, dropped and rolled through the infield for several yards until he was met by the safety crew who quickly extinguished the flames. In time, Sussex was back on his feet and walked to the ambulance under his own power.
The first attempt at a green-white-checker restart turned disastrous. After Cummins surpassed Grant for second around the outside of turns one and two, Grant got tight at the exit of turn two. Fourth running Danner saw the door of opportunity open and raced to the inside of Grant entering turn three. There, the two collided, sending Grant sideways between turns three and four. Grant was then contacted by Brady Bacon, which sent Grant sliding directly into the path of Carson Garrett (8th), Brayden Fox (11th) and Chance Crum (12th). Garrett and Fox flipped upside down in the melee, knocking both of them out of the contest. Grant and Crum, meanwhile, were able to restart.
For the final two trips, Seavey successfully fended off a challenge from Cummins to earn his first USAC Indiana Sprint Week victory since 2021 by a 0.605 second margin at the stripe. Cummins grabbed second with Danner third, Mitchel Moles fourth and Bacon fifth.
Kyle Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) equaled his best USAC result of the season with a runner-up performance in his Petty Performance Racing/Avanti Windows & Doors – Premier Recycling/GSR/Stanton Chevy.
Briggs Danner (Allentown, Pa.) scored a third-place result, making that back-to-back podium finishes for him during USAC Indiana Sprint Week dating back to his second place run in last year’s finale at Bloomington Speedway in his Hogue Racing Enterprises/E. Schneider & Sons – Boulevard Truck Repair/DRC/Rider Chevy.
Jadon Rogers (Worthington, Ind.) started his feature run in the 23rd spot and finished it in 10th, earning himself the J & J Trucking Hard Charger award. Of note, Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) advanced 25th to 7th but was not eligible to receive hard charger honors due to utilizing a provisional. Ballou also became just the third driver in USAC National Sprint Car history to reach 500 career USAC National Sprint Car feature starts on this night, joining Dave Darland and Brady Bacon.
It was a night of comebacks for C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) who made a last lap pass to win his heat race, then was running 11th in the feature when he was involved in an accident which forced him to restart at the tail where he then charged his way forward to finish eighth. For those combined efforts, Leary was rewarded as the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
Geoff Ensign (Sebastopol, Calif.) powered through early hardship to have a pretty solid evening for himself. As a result, he earned ProSource’s Hard Work award as the slowest qualifier to advance to the feature. As an encore, he advanced from his 24th starting spot to finish 11th in the feature.
During the semi, Jack Hoyer (Frankfort, Ind.) looked to be in a good spot to make the feature. Running second in the semi, his night ended atop the turn three cushion. Despite the setback, he didn’t go away empty handed as he was the recipient of a new Hoosier right rear tire courtesy of Sam McGhee Motorsports.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 26, 2024 – Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, Indiana – 5/16-Mile Dirt Oval – 37th Annual NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-12.078; 2. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-12.214; 3. Max Adams, 63, F & F-12.239; 4. Andrew Prather, 16K, Knight-12.281; 5. Ricky Lewis, 41, Stensland-12.295; 6. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-12.315; 7. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-12.327; 8. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-12.335; 9. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin/Fox-12.382; 10. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-12.393; 11. Shawn Westerfeld, 4J, Fischesser/Owen-12.409; 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-12.427; 13. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-12.466; 14. Wyatt Burks, 11w, Burks-12.472; 15. Jake Swanson, 24, Simon-12.481; 16. Brayden Fox, 53, Fox-12.487; 17. Kyle Shipley, 4u, AJR-12.496; 18. Shane Cottle, 2E, Epperson-12.543; 19. Seth Parker, 38p, Parker-12.547; 20. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-12.547; 21. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-12.579; 22. Stevie Sussex, 77s, Sturgeon-12.592; 23. Zack Pretorius, 9z, Pretorius-12.632; 24. Chance Crum, 26, Crum-12.644; 25. Jack Hoyer, 11x, Hoyer-12.648; 26. Scotty Weir, 47x, Eades-12.654; 27. Jadon Rogers, 66, Amati-12.677; 28. Geoff Ensign, 17, On The Gass-12.751; 29. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-12.772; 30. Rylan Gray, 06, Gray-12.776; 31. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-12.779; 32. Ivan Glotzbach, 2H, Hayden-12.784; 33. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-12.799; 34. Brent Beauchamp, 11, Beauchamp-12.806; 35. Nate Schank, 1, Schank-12.812; 36. Logan Calderwood, 4c, Ford-12.850; 37. Kayla Roell, 5K, KO-12.850; 38. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-12.866; 39. Kale Drake, 2B, 2B Racing-12.916; 40. Harley Burns, 16, Britt Aero-12.949; 41. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-12.962; 42. Kyle Johnson, 99J, Johnson-12.967; 43. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-12.969; 44. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-13.043; 45. Frankie Guerrini, g3, F & F-13.154; 46. Jake Scott, 33, Miller-13.177; 47. Sam Hinds, 71H, Hinds-13.201; 48. Daniel Whitley, 04, Burton-13.230; 49. Evan Mosley, 27, Barkdull-13.247; 50. Kobe Simpson, 21K, Simpson-13.337; 51. Kevin Newton, 14N, 2nd Law-13.528; 52. Travis Thompson, 7, Thompson-13.638; 53. James Boyd, 16B, Boyd-13.683; 54. Troy Carey, 45N, Carey-13.957; 55. Austin Hawkins, 5A, Hawkins-14.183; 56. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-15.642; 57. Gabriel Gilbert, 10G, GGR-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Scotty Weir, 3. Briggs Danner, 4. Logan Seavey, 5. Shawn Westerfeld, 6. Brayden Fox, 7. Mario Clouser, 8. Chase Stockon, 9. Logan Calderwood, 10. Jake Scott, 11. Hunter Maddox, 12. Kevin Newton. 2:11.722
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Stevie Sussex, 2. Jadon Rogers, 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 4. Daison Pursley, 5. Mitchel Moles, 6. Kyle Shipley, 7. Kayla Roell, 8. Kyle Johnson, 9. Sam Hinds, 10. Travis Thompson, 11. Ivan Glotzbach. 2:10.065
T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Cummins, 2. Justin Grant, 3. Geoff Ensign, 4. Zack Pretorius, 5. Joey Amantea, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Shane Cottle, 8. Brandon Mattox, 9. James Boyd, 10. Max Adams, 11. Daniel Whitley. NT
CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Anton Hernandez, 3. Chance Crum, 4. Seth Parker, 5. Kale Drake, 6. Brent Beauchamp, 7. Andrew Prather, 8. Evan Mosley, 9. Troy Carey, 10. Wyatt Burks, 11. Charles Davis Jr. NT
STEEL-IT FIFTH HEAT: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Jake Swanson, 2. Ricky Lewis, 3. Carson Garrett, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Jack Hoyer, 6. Harley Burns, 7. Frankie Guerrini, 8. Kobe Simpson, 9. Nate Schank, 10. Rylan Gray, 11. Austin Hawkins. NT
TRAILER ALARMS C-MAIN: (10 laps, top-4 transfer to the semi) 1. Kyle Johnson, 2. Kobe Simpson, 3. Evan Mosley, 4. Brandon Mattox, 5. Chase Stockon, 6. Nate Schank, 7. Logan Calderwood, 8. Jake Scott, 9. Rylan Gray, 10. Troy Carey, 11. Wyatt Burks, 12. Travis Thompson, 13. Charles Davis Jr., 14. Kevin Newton, 15. Hunter Maddox, 16. James Boyd, 17. Austin Hawkins, 18. Sam Hinds, 19. Ivan Glotzbach. 2:15.687
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Mitchel Moles, 2. Max Adams, 3. Brayden Fox, 4. Kyle Shipley, 5. Kale Drake, 6. Mario Clouser, 7. Kayla Roell, 8. Evan Mosley, 9. Brandon Mattox, 10. Shawn Westerfeld, 11. Kyle Johnson, 12. Kobe Simpson, 13. Jack Hoyer, 14. Joey Amantea, 15. Harley Burns, 16. Brent Beauchamp, 17. Robert Ballou, 18. Shane Cottle, 19. Andrew Prather, 20. Frankie Guerrini. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (6), 2. Kyle Cummins (7), 3. Briggs Danner (4), 4. Mitchel Moles (12), 5. Brady Bacon (14), 6. Daison Pursley (3), 7. Robert Ballou (25-P), 8. C.J. Leary (11), 9. Kevin Thomas Jr. (15), 10. Jadon Rogers (23), 11. Geoff Ensign (24), 12. Chance Crum (21), 13. Justin Grant (2), 14. Kyle Shipley (17) 15. Matt Westfall (9), 16. Seth Parker (18), 17. Ricky Lewis (5), 18. Stevie Sussex (10), 19. Carson Garrett (19), 20. Brayden Fox (16), 21. Anton Hernandez (1), 22. Max Adams (13), 23. Jake Swanson (8), 24. Zack Pretorius (20), 25. Scotty Weir (22), 26. Kale Drake (26-P). NT
**(P) represents a provisional starter
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-11 Justin Grant, Laps 12-30 Logan Seavey.
**Ivan Glotzbach flipped during qualifying. Joey Amantea flipped during the semi. Robert Ballou flipped during the semi. Kale Drake flipped on lap 7 of the feature. Carson Garrett & Brayden Fox flipped on lap 29 of the feature.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-1794, 2-Brady Bacon-1714, 3-C.J. Leary-1685, 4-Daison Pursley-1640, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1600, 6-Mitchel Moles-1549, 7-Robert Ballou-1504, 8-Justin Grant-1482, 9-Kyle Cummins-1436, 10-Jake Swanson-1302.
NOS ENERGY DRINK USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PRESENTED BY HONEST ABE ROOFING POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-81, 2-Kyle Cummins-75, 3-Briggs Danner-71, 4-Mitchel Moles-70, 5-Brady Bacon-63, 6-Daison Pursley-60, 7-C.J. Leary-57, 8-Kevin Thomas Jr.-52, 9-Jadon Rogers-50, 10-Geoff Ensign-47.
USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-126, 2-Logan Seavey-120, 3-Robert Ballou-111, 4-C.J. Leary-99, 5-Justin Grant-93, 6-Kyle Cummins-91, 7-Joey Amantea-89, 8-Chase Stockon-73, 9-Brady Bacon-71, 10-Kevin Thomas Jr.-67.
USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Jadon Rogers-13, 2-Geoff Ensign-13, 3-Evan Mosley-13, 4-Brandon Mattox-11, 5-Brady Bacon-10, 6-Kobe Simpson-10, 7-Mitchel Moles-9, 8-Chance Crum-9, 9-Kayla Roell-9, 10-Kyle Cummins-8.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 27, 2024 – Kokomo Speedway – Kokomo, Indiana – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval – 37th Annual NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Chance Crum (12.265)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: Logan Seavey (12.078)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Matt Westfall
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Stevie Sussex
T.J. Forged Third Heat Winner: Kyle Cummins
Car IQ Fourth Heat Winner: C.J. Leary
Steel-It Fifth Heat Winner: Jake Swanson
Trailer Alarms C-Main Winner: Kyle Johnson
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Mitchel Moles
J & J Trucking Hard Charger: Jadon Rogers (23rd to 10th)
ProSource Hard Work: Geoff Ensign
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: C.J. Leary
Indiana Open Wheel Highest Finishing Weekly Lincoln Park Speedway Driver: Seth Parker (16th)
Sam McGhee Motorsports Hard Luck Award: Jack Hoyer