Cottle is 'King of Non-Wing' sprint cars at Lincoln Park

Kokomo's Shane Cottle came home with the victory in the 'King of Non-Wing' sprint car race at Lincoln Park Speedway on Saturday night. (Banner Graphic/CAREY FOX)

PUTNAMVILLE -- Shane Cottle was crowned the "King of Non-Wing" sprint cars on Saturday night at Lincoln Park Speedway as he held off a determined challenge from Chad Boespflug over the final four laps to gain the victory and the $2,000 payday. Troy Link put his Ford-powered sprint car in victory lane in the second feature of the evening in a win that was especially well received amongst the fans and other drivers. The Groomer Family had plenty to celebrate as well with Derek Groomer winning the UMP Modified A-main and Ralph recording the UMP Super Stock feature win. In the bomber class it was Ryan Freeland picking up the first feature victory with Paragon's Josh Litton winning the second feature.

The pits were jammed with quality cars Saturday night as 130 cars unloaded between the four classes, including 40 sprint cars jockeying for the title of "King of Non-Wing." Chase Stockon won last year's event as several different competitors returned for another shot at the title.

Kevin Studley and Chris Babcock started on the front row ahead of Mitch Wissmiller and Cottle.

Cottle and Studley spent several laps battling side-by-side early on before Cottle worked his way free and began to build a solid cushion ahead of AJ Hopkins, Boespflug, Studley and Wissmiller in the top-five.

A caution at the halfway point bunched the field once again, but Cottle jumped out to a strong lead once again through 20 laps as Boespflug took over the second spot, but not without a fight for the spot with Hopkins running the cushion on top. Jeff Bland Jr. moved into contention, taking over the fourth spot ahead of Studley with Chase Briscoe in tow.

A caution flew with four laps remaining to re-set the field and give Boespflug another shot at the lead.

When the field went green again, Boespflug made his move in turn four and pulled ahead briefly as Cottle rocketed back in front heading into turns 1-2. The pair went at it tooth-and-nail for the final circuits before Cottle took home the victory. Hopkins started 10th and placed third ahead of Bland and Studley.

In the second sprint car feature, Link took over the lead early on and dominated the final half of the race to pick up the victory. The seasoned veteran hot shoe avoided an early accident that collected Shelby Vangilder and then powered away to record the win ahead of Tony Dimattia, Braxton Cummings, Tristan Maggart and Jadon Rogers.

In the UMP Modified feature, Groomer started out front and stayed there as the front runners all mixed it up for their spots in the top-five. Roy Bruce Jr. clicked off a couple of spots to take home the second spot while giving Groomer all he could handle over the second half of the 20-lap feature. Jay Humphrey Jr. took home the third spot as Kenny Carmichael Sr. advanced from eighth to place fourth ahead of Gary Hayden. Kenny Carmichael Jr. advanced with abandon through the field after starting 17th to take the sixth spot.

Ralph Groomer was also successful in maintaining his pole position spot over the course of the super stock A-main as he held off a late challenge from Josh Boller with C.J. Bryan moving up to take third ahead of Larry Raines and Steve Peeden.

In the first bomber feature, Freeland was credited with the win as James Walters crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified in the tech line afterwards. Walters admittedly was testing out a new car for different tracks following the LPS season concludes and was just shaking it down for the fall. So Freeland battled Walters to the checkered flag and gained the victory as Megan Cavaness ran a strong second ahead of Scott Crouch, Jordan Almanza, who came forward from 19th, placed fourth. Scott Tidwell started 16th and took fifth.

Litton came home with the victory in the second bomber feature of the evening as Greencastle's DJ Smiley placed second ahead of Bob Farris, Zane Fields and Larry Hutto.

This weekend will be the final points race of the season with sprints, modifieds, super stocks and bombers on the schedule.

Lincoln Park Speedway

'King of non-wing'

1. Shane Cottle, 2. Chad Boespflug, 3. AJ Hopkins, 4. Jeff Bland Jr., 5. Kevin Studley, 6. Chase Briscoe, 7. Jordan Kinser, 8. Mitch Wissmiller, 9. Scott Hampton, 10. Brandon Morin, 11. Travis Berryhill, 12. Mario Clouser, 13. JT Stapp, 14. Conner Donelson, 15. Mike Gass, 16. Matt Brannin, 17. Bub Cummings, 18. Chris Babcock, 19. Michael Terry Jr., 20. JJ Hughes, 21. Aric Gentry

Sprint car feature 2

1. Troy Link, 2. Tony Dimattia, 3. Braxton Cummings, 4. Tristan Maggart, 5. Jadon Rogers, 6. Hunter ONeal, 7. Eric Burns, 8. Tyler Waltz, 9. Danny Harris, 10. Ben Phillips, 11. Tyler Shoemaker, 12. Buddy Lowther, 13. Randy Hickey, 14. Dylan Shaw, 15. Shelby VanGilder, 16. Tim Creech II, 17. Eddie Lake, 18. Lee Dakus, 19. Patrick Giddens

UMP Modified feature

1. Derek Groomer, 2. Roy Bruce Jr., 3. Jay Humphrey Jr., 4. Kenny Carmichael Sr., 5. Gary Hayden, 6. Kenny Carmichael Jr., 7. Scott Ricketts, 8. Rory Riley, 9. Josh McDaniel, 10. Tyler Loughmiller, 11. Brent Hudson, 12. Dave Popielarz, 13. Dan Lewellen, 14. JR Watkins, 15. Gary Ricketts, 16. Doug Bryant Jr., 17. Josh Edmondson, 18. Jeff Deckard, 19. Williams Harris, 20. Jordan Wever, 21. Michael Beatty, 22. Mike Peterson, 23. Tim Prince

UMP Super Stock feature

1. Ralph Groomer, 2. Josh Boller, 3. C.J. Bryan, 4. Larry Raines, 5. Steve Peeden, 6. Kenny Carmichael Sr., 7. Paul Wright, 8. Doug McCullough, 9. Kenny Carmichael Jr., 10. Jonathon Newgent, 11. Scott Carrington, 12. Kris Starks, 13. Jacob Leitzman, 14. Josh McDaniel, 15. Michael Ham, 16. Steve Ware, 17. Dennis Morgan, 18. Larry Babbs, 19. Chris Harcourt, 20. Matt Jordan

Bomber feature 1

1. Ryan Freeland, 2. Megan Cavaness, 3. Scott Crouch, 4. Jordan Almanza, 5. Scott Tidwell, 6. Mark Dickerson, 7. Chucky Walden, 8. RJ Pruitt, 9. Ron Smith, 10. Tom Courtney, 11. Donald Smiley, 12. Cody Wright, 13. Lenny Krupa III, 14. Glenn Ogden, 15. Mike Wright Jr., 16. C.J. Bryan, 17. Josh Settles, 18. Jerry Hutto, 19. A.J. Smith, 20. James Walters

Bomber feature 2

1. Josh Litton, 2. DJ Smiley, 3. Bob Farris, 4. Zane Fields, 5. Larry Hutto, 6. Paul Alleyn, 7. Jason Thornburg, 8. Barry Hicks, 9. Raymond Funkhouser Jr., 10. Mike Swango, 11. Kyle Krupa, 12. Travis Heramb, 13. Logan Brickert, 14. Cameron Harris, 15. Bryan Hunt, 16. Tom Cox, 17. Randy McPeak