Cummins is lights out at LPS Sprint Week date

Friday, July 26, 2019
Kyle Cummins (center), Brady Bacon (right) and C.J. Leary (left) picked up USAC ISW podium finishes at Lincoln Park Speedway on Thursday.
Carey Fox photo

PUTNAMVILLE – Round six of the NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Series went to Kyle Cummins in a lights out performance on an evening the lights actually went out at Lincoln Park Speedway.

Cummins wired the field, leading all 30 laps from the pole position to win his third career Indiana Sprint Week feature and his fourth overall USAC Sprint Car Series victory. After he reached victory lane, Cummins noted how important the victory was after battling through a tough 2018 season.

“Kokomo was tough, and Haubstadt was a last lap kind of thing,” Cummins recalled. “I feel like running here, it’s a lot more technical. You can’t just throw it in there and get grip. You’ve got to hit your lines and, if you miss your lines, it can really set you back. Winning here, I feel, is definitely bigger than the other ones I’ve won before. Kokomo was cool because it was the first one and Haubstadt was good, but this one...we kind of had a year there where we just weren’t up there. This year, we got a new car and everywhere we’ve gone, this thing has been really good.”

Wes McClara celebrates his UMP Super Stock victory on Thursday night at Lincoln Park Speedway.
Carey Fox photo

The evening took a bit of an odd turn as the sun set on the Putnamville oval. Just as the sprint car B-main concluded, a transformer blew relegating the front stretch into darkness. There was just enough light for the UMP Super Stock feature to get underway.

In a thrilling battle, Wes McClara edged out Josh Boller by inches at the finish line.

McClara started outside the front row and took over the lead from the opening green flag and opened up a solid early lead over Bryce Shidler and Boller with Devin Wallen in tow. At the midway point, Shidler and Boller ran wheel-to-wheel in second-place ahead of Wallen as Austin Phelps and Kenny Carmichael Jr. battled for fifth.

With five laps remaining, McClara had his hands full with Shidler and Boller as the trio were nearly side-by-side for a lap before McClara edged back out front on lap 16. Shidler and Boller were still in a tangled fight for second as Wallen, Carmichael and Larry Raines in a close knit group for fourth.

With two laps to go, Boller had moved alongside McClara on the low side and was nosing into position to make a last dash for the win. Coming through the final two corners, Boller dove underneath McClara into turn four and pulled even as the two rubbed tires off the final corner. However, McClara was able to out run Boller by the slimmest of margins at the finish line. Shidler ran third ahead of Carmichael and Wallen.

After a delay to restore enough lighting to run the sprint feature as Cummins pulled a big wheelstand into the opening corner with C.J. Leary running the high line into turn one. Cummins quickly opened up some breathing room over Leary, the ISW point leader. Brady Bacon began to challenge Leary by the fourth lap. However, Leary’s unique racing line, using the turn one cushion before firing into turn two at a 45-degree angle, kept Bacon behind him.

By the midway point of the race, Bacon was able to gain second-place as Leary lost some momentum heading out of turn one. Up front, Cummins had built a six-car length lead and he was tasked with hitting his lines over the final 15 laps.

“I was slowly moving the shocks, nothing crazy, on the restart there,” Cummins remembered. “I probably untied the shock a little bit too much and got a big ol’ wheelie. When you bounce the front end, you miss your lines, so I just had to be patient and calm and hit my marks.”

Over the final few laps, Cummins was able to manage lapped traffic to build up a nearly one-second win over Bacon, Leary, Tyler Courtney and Kevin Thomas Jr.

“I felt like they were right on me the whole time,” Cummins explained. “When they said Brady was there, I know he’s good around the bottom. A couple times, I thought I missed the bottom, so I decided I was going to make them have to pass me around the top. If I get tight, I’d just make sure to stay on the bottom. The car was actually fairly loose, which let me kind of get in there and not get tight.”

USAC 32nd NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting position in parentheses) 1. Kyle Cummins (1), 2. Brady Bacon (3), 3. C.J. Leary (2), 4. Tyler Courtney (4), 5. Kevin Thomas, Jr. (7), 6. Carson Short (6), 7. Brandon Mattox (10), 8. Justin Grant (9), 9. Shane Cottle (22), 10. Chris Windom (16), 11. Mario Clouser (8), 12. Brady Short (21), 13. Jason McDougal (20), 14. Chase Stockon (11), 15. Thomas Meseraull (12), 16. Josh Hodges (13), 17. Max Adams (17), 18. A.J. Hopkins (15), 19. Dave Darland (18), 20. Brian VanMeveren (14), 21. Jadon Rogers (19), 22. Jordan Kinser (5), 23. Isaac Chapple (23), 24. Dustin Christie (24).

UMP Super Stock feature

1. Wes McClara, 2. Josh Boller, 3. Bryce Shidler, 4. Kenny Carmichael Jr., 5. David Wallen, 6. Austin Phelps, 7. Larry Raines, 8. Chris Bennett, 9. Jack Campbell, 10. Kyle Johnson, 11. Travis Heramb, 12. Hayden Rogers, 13. Chad Casassa, 14. Jeremy Stierwalt, 15. Matt Jordan, 16. Scott Ricketts, 17. Cole Shoemaker, 18. Nick Kinnett