Season points champions crowned at LPS on Saturday

Monday, September 24, 2018
James Walters claimed the UMP Modified season points championship at Lincoln Park Speedway.
Carey Fox photo

PUTNAMVILLE – Saturday was champions night at Lincoln Park Speedway as all four classes crowned the points victor on the next-to-last race of the season.

Three of the four classes came down to the wire as Bryce Shidler won the UMP Super Stock points title by a scant 10 points (892 to 882), finishing fourth in Saturday’s feature as points runner-up Larry Raines was involved in a crash and fell back to 16th in the A-main to place second in points.

Jordan Almanza won his third straight bomber championship by in one of the closest races in recent memory.

He placed third in this week’s feature, one spot behind Cody Wright as Josh Foxworthy on the A-main. Almanza and Wright were in a battle to the very end of the race for the points title with Almanza winning by a mere four points (1,046 to 1,042) over Wright. Josh Litton came home with the third-place finish in points.

Shane Cockrum claimed the sprint car feature victory on Saturday and it helped him clinch the points championship as well. The UMP Modified title went to James Walters, who battled some electrical problems this weekend on the way to placing seventh in the A-main, but it was enough to claim the title ahead of feature winner Derek Groomer. The Bloomington native won his ninth feature at LPS this season to finish with 914 points with Walters winning with 992.

In this week’s feature events, 28 sprint cars were on hand to contest the final points night, but it was Cockrum that came home with the win over Arizona’s Stevie Sussex III. The pair battled for the duration of the A-main with Sussex nearly pulling even with Cockrum in the final five laps. However, the Benton, Ill., native was able to hold on to the top spot to clinch his second championship. Matthew McDonald took third ahead of Jadon Rogers and Daylan Chambers.

Few drivers have had an answer for Groomer in the UMP Modified division at LPS this season and Saturday he took over the lead two laps into the 20-lapper and pulled away to the victory.

Groomer snagged the lead from Dan Lewellen and built a half straightaway lead before a caution midway through the A-main. Once the field went green once more it was much the same situation as Groomer pulled away to a comfortable lead to pick up the victory ahead of Jay Humphrey Jr., Rob Brickert, Jake Leitzman and Tyler Loughmiller.

Humphrey would place third in season points (706) with Loughmiller fourth (700) and Brickert in fifth (689).

The super stock feature proved to be the most eventful of the night as Raines started on the pole and had the lead through the midway point as McCullough was right on his bumper. The two worked through a bit of traffic on lap 10 with Chris Bennett and Wes McClara close behind.

On the 12th lap, McCullough challenged Raines deep into turn three, but made contact with the left rear tire of Raines, which was cut down. McCullough spun into the corner and would pull into the pits. Raines went to the pit area to replace his tire, but had to start from the tail of the field.

Chris Bennett took over the point and stayed there, holding off Wes McClara, Shidler and Jack Campbell. However, Raines would have to pull into the pits before the final lap and was relegated to a 16th-place finish. Shidler, with his fourth-place feature run, was able to edge past Raines for the points championship.

Wes McClara (876) placed third in super stock points ahead of Doug McCullough (717) and Jonny Newgent (708).

Foxworthy led wire-to-wire in the bomber A-main, but the real drama lay several spots behind him as Megan Cavaness ran hard for the lead just ahead of a third-place battle between Wright, Almanza and Litton along with Matt Raber.

The four cars all sliced and diced with each other over the final seven circuits with a points title at stake between Wright and Almanza. Neither driver drove cautiously as the win was clearly in their mind at that moment. However, Saturday belonged to Foxworthy, who came home first as Wright slipped into the second spot as Cavaness made a last-ditch effort in turn four for the win and got sideways briefly. Almanza crossed the finish line third ahead of Litton, Raber and Cavaness, who placed fourth in points ahead of Raber.

Sprint car feature

1. Shane Cockrum, 2. Stevie Sussex III, 3. Matt McDonald, 4. Jadon Rogers, 5. Daylan Chambers, 6. Justin Peck, 7. Kevin Studley, 8. AJ Hopkins, 9. Tim Creech II, 10. Nate McMillin, 11. Brandon Spencer, 12. Ray Seach, 13. Andrew Prather, 14. Ben Knight, 15. JJ Hughes, 16. Eddie Lake, 17. Shelby VanGilder, 18. Harley Burns, 19. Levi Ledgerwood, 20. Travis Spencer, 21. Jordan Kinser, 22. Cody Leohr

B-main winner: Prather

Heat winners: McDonald, Spencer, Kinser, Sussex

UMP Modified feature

1. Derek Groomer, 2. Jay Humphrey Jr., 3. Rob Brickert, 4. Jake Leitzman, 5. Tyler Loughmiller 6. Sydney Landes, 7. James Walters, 8. Brent Hudson, 9. Jeff Deckard, 10. Chris Schepper, 11. RT Gamble, 12. Will Bennett, 13. Jimmy Hayden, 14. Dan Lewellen, 15. Roy Bruce Jr., 16. James Grider, 17. Michael Kettnich, 18. Andy Elliott, 19. Paul Bumgardner

Heat winners: Loughmiller, Landes, Humphrey

UMP Super Stock feature

1. Chris Bennett, 2. Wes McClara, 3. Matt Jordan, 4. Bryce Shidler, 5. Jack Campbell, 6. Ron Wilkes, 7. Justin Massie, 8. Austin Phelps, 9. Paul Wright, 10. Scott Ricketts, 11. Ken Kelley, 12. Ray Walters, 13. Kenny Weaver, 14. Jonny Newgent, 15. Shelburn Meeks Jr., 16. Larry Raines, 17. Doug McCullough, 18. Michael O’Conner

Heat winners: Raines, Bennett, McCullough

Bomber feature

1. Josh Foxworthy, 2. Cody Wright, 3. Jordan Almanza, 4. Josh Litton, 5. Matt Raber, 6. Megan Cavaness, 7. Glen Ogden, 8. Ben Daniel, 9. Chad Steinert, 10. Corey Anstead, 11. Steve Smiley, 12. Ethan Litton, 13. Andy Whitlach, 14. Tom Cox, 15. Joseph Raber, 16. David Wallen, 17. Justin Litton, 18. Gary Hayden, 19. Adam Perkins, 20. Kyle Prince

B-main winner: Ben Daniel

Heat winners: Cox, Matt Raber, Almanza, Wright