Two days of fireworks and Flat Track motorcycle racing on tap for the holiday weekend at Plymouth Speedway

By Greg Hildebrand

PLYMOUTH—Justin Grant beat 22 of the nation’s top sprint car drivers and mother nature to become the first two time USAC Sprint Car winner at Plymouth Speedway. The win Friday night was Grant’s third win out of his four last starts and has him sitting on top of the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship points. 

C.J. Leary was the quick qualifier of the evening with a 13.069 second lap. Kevin Thomas Jr., Chris Windom, and newcomer to USAC sprint car competition Tanner Thorson were the heat winners. The semi was won by another rookie Anton Hernandez. 

The Feature started with Grant and Dave Darland on the front row, Darland would lead the first two laps before Grant took over for the remainder of the event. Lap four brought out a red flag as Brady Bacon went for a ride flipping in turns three and four. Chris Windom would also suffer a mechanical issue on lap four. Both cars got the hook into the pits but would return to take the tail before the green flag fell to restart the race.

The remaining 26 laps clicked off fast under the green flag with Grant being followed across the finish line by Thorson from his eighth place start and Leary finished close behind in third. Bacon would recover to finish ninth and Windom finished 11th.

Grant celebrated with his Rochester, Ind. based Topp Motorsports team in victory circle in what would have to be considered their home track.

Also on the bill Friday night were the 600cc non-wing micro-sprints and the 4-cyl. mini stocks. David Gingerich looked to have the mini stock feature won by a large margin when he got tangled with a lapped car on the main stretch sending him for a large ride up on his side and finishing his night. Matthew Baker would go on to win the feature in his 944 Porsche, with Josh Lank and Jacob Beard rounding out the podium.

The 600cc non-wing micro-sprint feature finished under a light sprinkle of rain with Cody Williams picking up another feature victory over Josh Shantz. Shantz was driving the Blake Lamb #69 and lead the lion share of the event. Williams got into the back of Shantz while running in lapped traffic bringing out the yellow. Williams got past Shantz on the restart and would finish the race running up front. Andy Alderfer would finish in third place with hard charger Ed Cleveland moving up from a 15th place start to finish fourth.

Saturday night’s event featured four feature races for the three classes assembled. First up was the rained out Super Street feature from the previous week’s show. Calvin Peek Jr. would make his season’s first appearance stretching it out over two weeks and picking up the victory in the 88 car. The front row saw Shaun Wiltjer and John Rhoads, who would end up third, on the front row. Ron Wilkes started the feature behind Wiltjer on the inside in third, was able to move up a spot to finish second.

The UMP Modifieds feature had Matt Mitchell starting on the pole and he would lead the first half of the race with eventual winner Bradley Jameson leading the second half. Frank Marshall would end up second getting past Mitchell with only a couple of laps remaining. Marshall would close on Jameson but lapped traffic made their presence known on the final lap allowing Jameson to go on to the checkers.

Super Street would make their second appearance of the evening with their regularly scheduled feature event. This time Lee Hobbs of Mitchell, Ind. would lead the way to the checkers from his third place starting spot. Hobbs made the four hour haul worth the trip with a victory over John Rhoads in second and Shaun Wiltjer in third. Joe Spiewak would start on the pole and settle into what looked like a sure second place finish before contact with a lapped car ended his evening. 

The final race of the two days was a trilling Street Stock event that had Austen Hubbard picking up another feature victory. RJ Akers would start on the front row of the event and would lead Hubbard for until his streak of bad luck continued on lap 14 with a flat right rear tire. With Akers dropping out Hubbard would build a comfortable lead. But the remainder of the field was far from settled as eventual runner-up Jesse Simmons would battle with third place finisher Lee Hall door to door to the end.

The two night shows continue next week as the nation’s best flat track motorcycle racers return to Plymouth Speedway. Friday, July 3 will see the AMA Flat Track motorcylces on the short track in wheel to wheel action along with an exciting fireworks display. Saturday July 4 the bikes move to the larger track with more fireworks for the holiday celebration. This weekend will bring some of the country’s top talent to Plymouth as the top national series is still a week away from getting restarted after shutting down for COVID.

The gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps starting at 6 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m.. 

6/26/2020 at Plymouth Speedway

USAC Non-Wing Sprint Car

FATHEADZ EYEWEAR QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.069; 2. Chris Windom, 19, Hayward-13.340; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.358; 4. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.382; 5. Dave Darland, 36d, EZR/Curb-Agajanian-13.430; 6. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.430; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9K, KT-13.434; 8. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin-13.454; 9. Mario Clouser, 6, Clouser-13.561; 10. Max Adams, 5m, Adams-13.626; 11. Carson Short, 71p, Daigh/Phillips-13.668; 12. Anthony D’Alessio, 01, D’Alessio/Parallax-13.797; 13. Chris Phillips, 6p, Phillips-13.859; 14. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-13.893; 15. Tanner Thorson, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.911; 16. Tye Mihocko, 5T, Mihocko-13.942; 17. Steve Irwin, 0, Flying Zero-13.985; 18. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.173; 19. Dustin Smith, 77, Smith-14.206; 20. Brandon Long, 02, Long-14.225; 21. Blake Vermillion, 73, Vermillion-14.451; 22. Jack James, 99, James-14.485; 23. Jesse Vermillion, 5v, Vermillion-14.728; 24. Kurt Gross, 1x, Gross-14.951; 25. Garrett Saunders, 71s, Saunders-15.225; 26. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.595.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Chase Stockon, 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Tye Mihocko, 5. Max Adams, 6. Dustin Smith, 7. Chris Phillips, 8. Garrett Saunders, 9. Jack James. 1:53.923

COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Chris Windom, 2. Carson Short, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Steve Irwin, 5. Brandon Mattox, 6. Anton Hernandez, 7. Jesse Vermillion, 8. Brandon Long, 9. Robert Bell. NT

AUTOMETER THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Tanner Thorson, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Matt Westfall, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Anthony D’Alessio, 6. Blake Vermillion, 7. Kurt Gross, 8. Mario Clouser. 1:53.920 (New Track Record)

INDY RACE PARTS/INDY METAL FINISHING SEMI: (10 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Anton Hernandez, 2. Dustin Smith, 3. Chris Phillips, 4. Blake Vermillion, 5. Jesse Vermillion, 6. Brandon Long, 7. Kurt Gross, 8. Jack James, 9. Garrett Saunders, 10. Mario Clouser. 2:21.409

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Justin Grant (1), 2. Tanner Thorson (8), 3. C.J. Leary (6), 4. Chase Stockon (3), 5. Dave Darland (2), 6. Kevin Thomas Jr. (7), 7. Carson Short (11), 8. Max Adams (10), 9. Brady Bacon (4), 10. Anton Hernandez (9), 11. Chris Windom (5), 12. Mario Clouser (23), 13. Matt Westfall (17), 14. Brandon Mattox (14), 15. Brandon Long (19), 16. Dustin Smith (18), 17. Anthony D’Alessio (12), 18. Blake Vermillion (20), 19. Jesse Vermillion (21), 20. Steve Irwin (16), 21. Kurt Gross (22), 22. Tye Mihocko (15), 23. Chris Phillips (13). NT

Asphalt Mini Stocks

A Feature 1: 1. 5B-Matthew Baker[1]; 2. 17-Josh Lank[5]; 3. 75-Jacob Beard[20]; 4. 17JR-Josh Lank Jr[8]; 5. 85M-Rich Loraff[10]; 6. 75C-Randy Brommer[11]; 7. 31D-Billy Day[13]; 8. 22M-Greg Marlow[15]; 9. 9-Aaron Tatman[12]; 10. E85-Ethan Joseph[14]; 11. 3X-Phillip McCord[17]; 12. 8BALL-David Gingerich[2]; 13. 5X-Brian Isley[4]; 14. 599-Ryan Schrock[7]; 15. 96-Tyler Allman[3]; 16. 31L-Kane Lackey[9]; 17. 31-Tyler Evans[16]; 18. 19-Josh Gamblin[18]; 19. 36-Travis Goff[19]

Heat 1: 1. 5B-Matthew Baker[1]; 2. 17-Josh Lank[3]; 3. 8BALL-David Gingerich[7]; 4. 599-Ryan Schrock[9]; 5. 31L-Kane Lackey[5]; 6. 75C-Randy Brommer[8]; 7. 31D-Billy Day[2]; 8. 22M-Greg Marlow[4]; 9. 3X-Phillip McCord[10]; 10. 36-Travis Goff[6]

Heat 2: 1. 96-Tyler Allman[1]; 2. 02-Christian Wynbelt[6]; 3. 5X-Brian Isley[7]; 4. 17JR-Josh Lank Jr[5]; 5. 85M-Rich Loraff[10]; 6. 9-Aaron Tatman[4]; 7. E85-Ethan Joseph[11]; 8. 31-Tyler Evans[8]; 9. 19-Josh Gamblin[9]; 10. 75-Jacob Beard[3]

600cc Non Winged Micros

A Feature 1: 1. 26-Cody Williams[9]; 2. 69-Josh Shantz[1]; 3. 1A-Andy Alderfer[4]; 4. 45-Ed Cleveland[15]; 5. 21-Brenton Lamb[6]; 6. 6-Nick Schaefer[12]; 7. 29-Kayla Cleveland[13]; 8. P1-Parker Leek[11]; 9. 51-Jason ormsby[3]; 10. 88-Brian Kunze[5]; 11. 349-Eric Saunders[2]; 12. 58-Ross Price[8]; 13. 57-Chad Hartzell[16]; 14. 12-Jacob Ruppe[19]; 15. 06-Austin Burnworth[20]; 16. 5-Alex Banales[18]; 17. 4T-John Barnes[14]; 18. 7-Steven Woods[10]; 19. 11-Jalen Cox[7]

B Feature 1: 1. 57-Chad Hartzell[2]; 2. 35-Justin Harper[1]; 3. 5-Alex Banales[3]; 4. 12-Jacob Ruppe[6]; 5. 06-Austin Burnworth[4]; 6. 0-Keith Ousley[10]; 7. 24-Adam Lock[5]; 8. 17B-Billy Briscoe[9]; 9. V77-Jerry Waggle[7]

Heat 1: 1. 21-Brenton Lamb[1]; 2. 51-Jason ormsby[7]; 3. 11-Jalen Cox[2]; 4. 7-Steven Woods[3]; 5. 29-Kayla Cleveland[6]; 6. 35-Justin Harper[9]; 7. 06-Austin Burnworth[4]; 8. V77-Jerry Waggle[8]; 9. 0-Keith Ousley[5]

Heat 2: 1. 1A-Andy Alderfer[2]; 2. 349-Eric Saunders[4]; 3. 58-Ross Price[6]; 4. P1-Parker Leek[7]; 5. 4T-John Barnes[5]; 6. 57-Chad Hartzell[8]; 7. 24-Adam Lock[1]; 8. 18-Maddy Kinzer[3]

Heat 3: 1. 88-Brian Kunze[1]; 2. 69-Josh Shantz[2]; 3. 26-Cody Williams[4]; 4. 6-Nick Schaefer[6]; 5. 45-Ed Cleveland[8]; 6. 5-Alex Banales[3]; 7. 12-Jacob Ruppe[7]; 8. 17B-Billy Briscoe[5]

6/27/2020 at Plymouth Speedway

UMP Modifieds

A Feature 1: 1. 10-Bradley Jameson[4]; 2. 28M-Frank Marshall[6]; 3. 2M-Matt Mitchell[1]; 4. 17T-Michael Tarlton[10]; 5. 65-Todd Sherman[11]; 6. 3W-Dylan Woodling[12]; 7. 4G-Bill Griffith[2]; 8. 5F-Scott Fitzpatrick[3]; 9. 22T-Tony Anderson[14]; 10. 00-Cameron Head[7]; 11. 3H-Jim Henson[16]; 12. 55-Justin Matson[9]; 13. 0-Garrett Jameson[8]; 14. 24-Zeke McKenzie[5]

Heat 1: 1. 2M-Matt Mitchell[3]; 2. 4G-Bill Griffith[5]; 3. 5F-Scott Fitzpatrick[8]; 4. 00-Cameron Head[1]; 5. 55-Justin Matson[7]; 6. 65-Todd Sherman[4]; 7. 76-John Halsey[2]; 8. E85-Jesse Strange[6]

Heat 2: 1. 24-Zeke McKenzie[4]; 2. 10-Bradley Jameson[2]; 3. 28M-Frank Marshall[3]; 4. 0-Garrett Jameson[1]; 5. 17T-Michael Tarlton[7]; 6. 3W-Dylan Woodling[5]; 7. 22T-Tony Anderson[8]; 8. 3H-Jim Henson[6]

Super Sports

A Feature 1: 1. H0-Lee Hobbs[3]; 2. 20X-John Rhoads[5]; 3. 1W-Shaun WiltjerHunt[9]; 4. 19-Ron Wilkes[6]; 5. 34M-JC Moldovan[2]; 6. 48-Travis Wolford[12]; 7. 15JR-Andrew Short[4]; 8. 09-Robert Myers[20]; 9. 111-Kirby Trent[11]; 10. 88-Calvin Peek Jr[19]; 11. 22K-Bobby Keller[13]; 12. 77A-Joe Clark[16]; 13. H8-David Hurst[7]; 14. 28-Joe Spiewak[1]; 15. 26-Mark Roop[14]; 16. 29S-Tommy Sutton[10]; 17. 76-Bobby Gash III[15]; 18. 08T-Jeremy Thomas[17]; 19. 96-Frankie Lara[8]

Heat 1: 1. 28-Joe Spiewak[3]; 2. 34M-JC Moldovan[1]; 3. H8-David Hurst[6]; 4. 29S-Tommy Sutton[7]; 5. 22K-Bobby Keller[5]; 6. 77A-Joe Clark[4]

Heat 2: 1. 20X-John Rhoads[6]; 2. 15JR-Andrew Short[1]; 3. 96-Frankie Lara[7]; 4. 111-Kirby Trent[2]; 5. 26-Mark Roop[5]; 6. 08T-Jeremy Thomas[4]

Heat 3: 1. H0-Lee Hobbs[6]; 2. 19-Ron Wilkes[5]; 3. 1W-Shaun WiltjerHunt[7]; 4. 48-Travis Wolford[1]; 5. 76-Bobby Gash III[8]; 6. 37-Dylan Stremme[2]; 7. 88-Calvin Peek Jr[3]; 8. 09-Robert Myers[4]

Street Stocks

A Feature 1: 1. 114-Austen Hubbard[3]; 2. 42-Jesse Simmons[4]; 3. 90-Lee Hall[5]; 4. 10S-Brandon Shelhart[8]; 5. 86JR-Kory Glassburn[7]; 6. 9-Ryan Arnett[10]; 7. 24-Spencer Knight II[11]; 8. 8-Clint Hall[13]; 9. 10-Michael Roe[12]; 10. 22-Chad Neeley[17]; 11. 15-Andy Hall[16]; 12. 19-Gregg Tarr[19]; 13. 14-RJ Akers[2]; 14. 5-Shane Sanders[15]; 15. 99-Nate Payton[1]; 16. 48C-Wade Clemmons[9]; 17. 20S-John Sevison[20]; 18. 51-Jason Fritz[14]; 19. 21K-Jacob Kolwyck[6]; 20. 10H-Clinton Hunter[18]

Heat 1: 1. 90-Lee Hall[1]; 2. 99-Nate Payton[4]; 3. 114-Austen Hubbard[5]; 4. 86JR-Kory Glassburn[2]; 5. 48C-Wade Clemmons[6]; 6. 24-Spencer Knight II[3]; 7. 8-Clint Hall[7]; 8. 5-Shane Sanders[8]; 9. 22-Chad Neeley[10]; 10. 19-Gregg Tarr[9]

Heat 2: 1. 42-Jesse Simmons[1]; 2. 14-RJ Akers[7]; 3. 21K-Jacob Kolwyck[8]; 4. 10S-Brandon Shelhart[4]; 5. 9-Ryan Arnett[6]; 6. 10-Michael Roe[2]; 7. 51-Jason Fritz[10]; 8. 15-Andy Hall[5]; 9. 10H-Clinton Hunter[3]; 10. 20S-John Sevison[9]