Beauchamp, Groomer, Litton, McClara top LPS finishers

Monday, April 30, 2018
Brent Beauchamp won the sprint car feature on Saturday night at the Lincoln Park Speedway.
Carey Fox photo

PUTNAMVILLE — On a chilly, but sunny evening a Lincoln Park Speedway round two of the 2018 season was contested at the Putnamville oval.

Brent Beauchamp claimed the sprint car feature event with Derek Groomer (UMP Modifieds), Josh Litton (bombers) and Wes McClara (UMP Super Stock) repeating as feature victors.

Brownsburg’s A.J. Hopkins started on the pole for the sprint car feature after dominating his heat race. He appeared set to do the same as the A-main began, cruising out to a solid lead as Beauchamp settled into second place.

The duo pulled away from the field as Clinton Boyle’s pulled into third-place with fourth being contested strongly between Jeff Bland Jr. and Colten Cottle.

Beauchamp reeled Hopkins in between laps eight and nine and pulled even on the 10th circuit. The pair battled wheel to wheel for a lap before Beauchamp pulled ahead moments before Koby Barksdale flipped into turn two to bring out a red flag. Barksdale was uninjured in the crash.

On the restart, Beauchamp maintained his lead ahead of Hopkins as Boyles remained in third-place with Bland challenging.

With five laps remaining, Bland charged hard into turn one and made the pass for third place and set his sights on the leaders. Beauchamp had his hands full as Hopkins and Bland both made their presence known before a caution flag reset the field with three laps to go.

On the restart, Hopkins made a last-ditch effort to get past Beauchamp in turn two and made slight contact with the leader as Bland nearly got past for the second position. However, Beauchamp shot free out of the second turn and pulled out the victory in the Jeff Olson-owned No. 34 sprinter. Hopkins claimed second ahead of Bland, Boyles and Colten Cottle.

In the $500-to-win bomber Spring Fling race, Litton broke free of a battle with Cody Wright and Jeff Beggs, running the high side and rocketing away for the victory.

Litton started fifth in the field, with Tom Cox starting on the pole after winning his heat race. Cox was sidelined early with mechanical issues as Beggs powered into the lead ahead of Wright and Linton with A.J. Smith in tow.

Beggs held a slight lead over Wright in a hard-fought battle for any advantage as Litton joined the fray by lap nine. Smith was hot on the lead group’s heels, with Travis Heramb and Jordan Almanza duking it out for fifth.

Just past the halfway mark, Beggs settled into the lead ahead of Wright, but Litton had come to life with a line around the top rim of the track. Litton blasted to the lead with five laps to go and roared away from Wright, who moved into the second position as the checkered flag flew. Beggs remained in third place at the finish with Almanza making his way to the fourth spot ahead of Josh Foxworthy.

The UMP Super Stock feature was nearly a mirror image of the main event a week previous.

Jonny Newgent powered out to a big early lead ahead of the field before being reeled in by McClara, who made his decisive pass with two laps remaining.

Newgent led from the outset of the A-main after starting fourth overall. He pulled out to a strong lead as Chris Hillman and Doug McCullough fought for the second spot door-to-door. However, McClara was stalking his chance to move up and did so by the 10th lap as Newgent got into traffic.

A caution with seven laps remaining reset the field and by lap 15 McClara had pulled even with Newgent while running the high line ahead of Dale Hayes with Bryce Shidler and McCullough close behind. With two laps to go, McClara made his move and got around Newgent on the top and was able to pull out to claim his second win of the young season. Newgent, Hayes, Shidler and McCullough rounded out the top five.

In the UMP Modified main event it was Groomer running on a rail to a dominant repeat win. The Bloomington native started outside of row one alongside Jay Humphrey Jr. and quickly took the top spot.

Humphrey and James Walters were contending for the second spot through the halfway point ahead of Josh McDaniel and Sydney Landes.

As Groomer built a strong lead 10 laps in, it was Walters who took the second spot for several circuits, but Humphrey tracked him down with two laps to go. Groomer got his second win of the year as Humphrey advanced into the second spot ahead of Walters, McDaniel and Landes.

Sprint car feature

1. Brent Beauchamp, 2. AJ Hopkins, 3. Jeff Bland Jr., 4. Clinton Boyles, 5. Colten Cottle, 6. Tim Creech, 7. Brandon Morin, 8. Nevil Algie, 9. Chris Phillips, 10. Nate McMillin, 11. Josh Cunningham, 12. Shane Cockrum, 13. Kent Christian, 14. Brady Ottinger, 15. Parker Frederickson, 16. Jadon Rogers, 17. Harley Burns, 18. Shelby VanGilder, 19. Scott Hampton, 20. Koby Barksdale

B-main winner: Cunningham

Heat winners: Hopkins, Cockrum, Beauchamp

UMP Modified feature

1. Derek Groomer, 2. Jay Humphrey Jr., 3. James Walters, 4. Josh McDaniel, 5. Sydney Landes, 6. Richie Lex, 7. Kenny Carmichael Jr., 8. Michael Fish, 9. Jake Leitzman, 10. Brent Hudson, 11. Cole Parker, 12. RJ Pruitt, 13. Kenny Carmichael Sr., 14. Tyler Loughmiller, 15. Rob Brickert, 16. Jeff Deckard, 17. Matthew Tiller, 18. Aaron Pace, 19. David Bumgardner, 20. Jimmy Hayden

B-main winner: Deckard

Heat winners: Landes, Walters, Groomer

UMP Super Stock feature

1. Wes McClara, 2. Jonny Newgent, 3. Dale Hayes, 4. Bryce Shidler, 5. Doug McCullough, 6. Paul Wright, 7. Larry Raines, 8. Steve Hawkins, 9. Justin Massie, 10. Chris Harcourt, 11. Scott Ricketts, 12. Matt Jordan, 13. Austin Phelps, 14. Edward Freeman, 15. Kenny Fields, 16. Chris Hillman

Heat winners: Newgent, Hillman

Bomber feature (Spring Fling)

1. Josh Litton, 2. Cody Wright, 3. Jeff Beggs, 4. Jordan Almanza, 5. Josh Foxworthy, 6. AJ Smith, 7. Matt Raber, 8. Gary Hayden, 9. Travis Heramb, 10. Bob Farris, 11. Megan Cavaness, 12. Glen Ogden, 13. Jeff Allen, 14. Corey Anstead, 15. Ron Smith, 16. Joseph Raber, 17. Jim Litton Jrl., 18. Barry Hicks, 19. Devin Wallen, 20. Tom Cox

B-main winner: Jim Litton Jr.

Heat winners: Beggs, Smith, Wright, Cox

Bomber feature 2

1. Ethan Litton, 2. Chad Casassa, 3. David Daniels, 4. Chad Steinert, 5. David Wallen, 6. Jeremy Faris

In other racing:

Rogers wins at Crossroads — Defending 2017 Super Pro Champion Josh Rogers of Reelsville took home the first win at the Crossroads Dragway in Terre Haute on Saturday over Adam Phillips of Bruceville.

Semi-finalists were Cody Alumbaugh of Terre Haute and Lee Dawson of Macon, Ill.

Next weekend’s action will feature the first Friday Fun Night of the season and the first PINK Ladies Race. Gates open at 6 p.m.

On Saturday, Crossroads Dragway will have ET Points racing for Pro, Super Pro, Sportsman, High School and Junior Dragster classes along with the Member Track Madness run off. Gates open at 11 a.m.

For more information go to www.crossroadsdragway.com.

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