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Cockrum claims ‘King of Non-Wing’ sprint car event at LPS
PUTNAMVILLE – Benton, Ill., native Shane Cockrum captured the “King of Non-Wing” sprint car special feature event on Saturday at Lincoln Park Speedway.
Cockrum fended off a final charge from A.J. Hopkins to pick up the 25-lap A-main win, his fourth of the season. Alec Sipes won the second sprint car feature of the evening with Derek Groomer taking the UMP Modified main event. Wes McClara added another UMP Super Stock win to his 2018 results and Matthew Cooley won his first LPS bomber feature.
Forty sprint cars were on hand in pursuit of the “King of Non-Wing” crown as Travis Berryhill, Stevie Sussex, Nate McMillin, Carson Short and Cockrum each won heat races. Colten Cottle and Matthew McDonald won their B-mains to set the field.
The first half of the 25-lap feature was halted twice by red flags as both Craig Swartz and Brent Beauchamp got upside down in the first 10 laps.
McMillin and Brady Short set the early pace before Cockrum was able to slip into the lead before a caution flew on lap eight. Two laps later it was Beauchamp that brought out the red flag with a roll over in turn one. On the restart it was Hopkins that joined the fray up front with a side-by-side fight with Short ahead of McMillin.
Cockrum was pulling away from the field by lap 15 as Hopkins took over the runner-up spot and set his sights on the leader. Josh Hodges ran fourth ahead of Brazil’s McMillin with Carson Short rocketing into the top-five. Cockrum got into lapped traffic on the 18th circuit and Hopkins closed the gap quickly to set up an exciting chase to the checkered flag.
With five laps remaining, Cockrum had a five car length lead, but Hopkins was on a mission. Short had moved into the third spot ahead of Hodges.
Cockrum and Hopkins took the white flag and it was Cockrum that got a bit sideways heading into the first corner, but Hopkins’ momentum carried him into the leader. The contact actually righted Cockrum and broke Hopkins’ momentum briefly. Cockrum throttled up and was able to hold off Hopkins over the final three corners to claim the victory. Carson Short took third ahead of Hodges and McMillin.
Sipes was excited in victory lane to win his first sprint car A-main at LPS as he got by Troy Link after a side-by-side battle for several laps midway through the feature. Once he had gotten around Link, Sipes set sail on the rest of the field to pick up the victory. Jeff Nanny, Nic Harris and Shelby VanGilder rounded out the top-five.
Thirty UMP Modifieds were on hand to get a final tune-up before Saturday’s “Patriot 100” event for the class. However, it was Groomer that put forth a dominant effort to claim another victory.
Kyle Herbert, Jay Humphrey Jr., Brazil’s Tyler Loughmiller and Sydney Landes were heat race winners. Groomer started on the pole and never looked back in wiring the field as Jordan Wever placed second ahead of Loughmiller. Richie Lex charged forward from an 18th-place start to take fourth ahead of Dan Lewellen.
Travis Heramb and Kris Starks started on the front row of the A-main and set the pace over the first five laps. Starks maintained the top spot through lap 10 before Doug McCullough pulled side-by-side as McClara had raced forward to third after starting in the eighth spot.
McCullough and McClara battled for the top spot for several laps before McClara made the pass for the lead with four laps remaining. McClara took the lead over and was able to pull out to a several car length lead win as Greencastle’s McCullough and Starks ran second and third. Heramb and Paul Wright rounded out the top-five.
In the final feature of the evening, Glen Ogden started on the pole and led the first five laps before Brazil’s David Wallen and Cooley tracked him down for the lead. Wallen and Cooley dueled for several circuits before mechanical issues sidelined Wallen.
On the restart, Cooley took over the lead before a spin collected Corey Anstead, Josh Litton and Jeff Allen. Once the field took the green flag, Cooley was able to hold off a late challenge from Cody Wright and Jordan Almanza as Ogden ran fourth ahead of Chad Steinert.
This week will feature the 100-lap “Patriot 100” for modifieds with sprints, super stocks and bombers on the schedule.
Sprint car feature one “King of Non-Wing”
1. Shane Cockrum, 2. A.J. Hopkins, 3. Carson Short, 4. Josh Hodges, 5. Nate McMillin, 6. Brady Short, 7. Matt McDonald, 8. Tim Creech II, 9. Colten Cottle, 10. Daylan Chambers, 11. Brandon Mattox, 12. Brandon Spencer, 13. Brandon Morin, 14. Josh Cunningham, 15. Brady Ottinger, 16. Koby Barksdale, 17. Brent Beauchamp, 18. Travis Berryhill, 19. Craig Swartz, 20. Rob Caho Jr., 21. Stevie Sussex III
Sprint car feature 2
1. Alec Sipes, 2. Troy Link, 3. Jeff Nanny, 4. Nic Harris, 5. Shelby VanGilder, 6. Kurt Gross, 7. Chayse Hayhurst, 8. Travis Spencer, 9. John Truax II, 10. Lukas Smith, 11. Harley Burns, 12. Justin Meneely, 13. John Jackson III, 14. Hunter O’Neal, 15. Eddie Lake, 16. Eric Perrott, 17. John Nicoson
B-main winners: Cottle, McDonald
Heat winners: Berryhill, Sussex, McMillin, C. Short, Cockrum
UMP Modified feature
1. Derek Groomer, 2. Jordan Wever, 3. Tyler Loughmiller, 4. Richie Lex, 5. Dan Lewellen, 6. Jay Humphrey Jr., 7. Brent Hudson, 8. James Walters, 9. Jeff Deckard, 10. Matthew Tiller, 11. Rob Brickert, 12. Jason Kibby, 13. Boomer Houk, 14. Dan Anderson, 15. Will Bennett, 16. Sydney Landes, 17. Josh Boller, 18. RT Gamble, 19. Kyle Herbert, 20. Michael Kettnich
B-main winner: Walters
Heat winners: Herbert, Humphrey Jr., Loughmiller, Landes
UMP Super Stock feature
1. Wes McClara, 2. Doug McCullough, 3. Kris Starks, 4. Travis Heramb, 5. Paul Wright, 6. Larry Raines, 7. Jack Campbell, 8. Randy Brawley, 9. Chris Bennett, 10. Brandon Saunders, 11. Bryce Shidler, 12. Austin Phelps, 13. Hayden Rogers, 14. Shelburn Meeks Jr., 15. Dennis Morgan, 16. Michael Clark, 17. Chris Harcourt, 18. Jonny Newgent, 19. Scott Ricketts, 20. Michael O’Conner
Heat winners: Harcourt, Shidler, Clark
Bomber feature
1. Matthew Cooley, 2. Cody Wright, 3. Jordan Almanza, 4. Glen Ogden, 5. Chad Steinert, 6. Gary Hayden, 7. Tom Cox, 8. Matt Raber, 9. Joseph Raber, 10. David Bumgardner, 11. Megan Cavaness, 12. Barry Hicks, 13. Jeff Allen, 14. Ethan Litton, 15. Josh Litton, 16. Chad Casassa, 17. Corey Anstead, 18. Andrew Pollock, 19. Justin Litton, 20. David Wallen
B-main winner: Hayden
Heat race winners: Wright, Almanza, Steinert, Cooley