Menu
Clouser claims first Indiana sprint win
PUTNAMVILLE — The pits were full at Lincoln Park Speedway for the first race of the month of August. Ninety-seven cars were on hand chasing the checkered flag, but only four would go home successful in their chase.
On this evening, Mario Clouser picked up his first sprint car win at LPS as James Walters (UMP Modifieds), Bryce Shidler (UMP Super Stocks) and Josh Litton (Bombers) picked up feature victories.
Clouser had begun to wonder when he might find victory lane in the sprint car division within the state of Indiana. The Auburn, Ill. native had regularly competed at LPS this season, but hadn’t been able to find victory lane. However, after finishing second in his heat race, Clouser started on the outside of the second row for the 25-lap A-main.
Clouser quickly staked his claim to the top spot as he chose the top side line and roared into the lead ahead of Travis Berryhill. Clouser masterfully worked the tricky, sizable cushion and had built up a strong lead by lap 10. Behind him, Berryhill held the second spot ahead of Berryhill with Chis Phillips holding off a wheel-to-wheel challenge from Shane Cockrum and Garrett Aitken.
By lap 15, Clouser had checked out to a nearly straightaway lead leaving Berryhill, Aitken, Cockrum and Tim Creech to fight for the second spot.
However, after the first 21 laps were run under green flag conditions, the caution flag came out to bunch up the field for the final four circuits.
On the re-start, Clouser picked up where he left off and opened up a small gap as he hit his marks on the way to claiming his first win. Behind him, Aitken maneuvered into a runner-up finish ahead of Berryhill, Creech and Cockrum.
Twenty-six UMP Modifieds unloaded at the Putnamville oval Saturday night and early in the 20-lap feature it was a tight battle between Jake Leitzman and Walters. Leitzman, started on the front row and lead the first seven laps before Walters made a pass for the lead before a caution flag.
After the re-start, Walters pulled away from the field by the midway point with Leitzman battling for second with Jimmie Haager ahead of Rob Brickert and Jeff Deckard jousting for fourth.
Walters would have to survive a last lap challenge from Haager after a series of caution flags over the final five laps. Haager dove to the bottom in turn one and nosed under Walters, but the eventual winner would carry the momentum out of turn two to keep the point. Haager would take down second ahead of Leitzman, Deckard and Brickert.
In the UMP Super Stock feature, Shidler and Josh Boller have had some entertaining battles on the way to victory lane in 2019. On this evening, Shidler got past Boller with six laps remaining and was able to add another win to his season.
Boller would lead early after starting third as he edged past Scott Ricketts. Boller held down that lead through the halfway mark as Shidler chased the Greencastle native with Tyler Neal running third ahead of Wes McClara and Jonny Newgent.
Shidler would make his move for the lead on lap 14, taking over the top spot coming out of turn four. Boller and Neal would duke it out for second briefly ahead of McClara and Newgent. At the finish line, Boller finished second ahead of McClara, Newgent and Larry Raines.
In the bomber division, Litton snagged the lead early after starting on the outside of Joseph Raber on the front row. Once Litton was out front, he opened up what seemed to be an insurmountable lead with five laps remaining.
Behind Litton, Justin Litton was on a mission. He would eat into his brother’s lead lap-after-lap and made a serious challenge for the lead on the final two corners of the race. He pulled alongside Josh Litton coming out of the final corner, but fell just short in settling for second. Jordan Almanza dashed from a 10th-place start to take third ahead of Joseph Raber and Barry Hicks.
Sprint car feature
1. 6C-Mario Clouser, [4]; 2. 32-Garrett Aitken, [7]; 3. 77S-Travis Berryhill, [3]; 4. 2C-Tim Creech II, [11]; 5. 24P-Shane Cockrum, [8]; 6. 6P-Chris Phillips, [1]; 7. 14-Jadon Rogers, [5]; 8. 24L-Lee Underwood, [2]; 9. 6-Bill Rose, [10]; 10. 24-Nate McMillin, [9]; 11. 17C-Dave Darland, [14]; 12. 5M-Matthew McDonald, [15]; 13. 99-Alec Sipes, [19]; 14. 5-Jesse Vermillion, [20]; 15. 41-Jacob Gordon, [17]; 16. 53-Brayden Fox, [18]; 17. 16B-Harley Burns, [6]; 18. 316-Kent Christian, [12]; 19. 16K-Koby Barksdale, [16]; 20. 04-Landon Simon, [13]
UMP Modified feature
1. 34W-James Walters, [4]; 2. 5-Jimmie Haager, [7]; 3. 2-Jake Leitzman, [2]; 4. 28-Jeff Deckard, [6]; 5. 51-Rob Brickert, [5]; 6. 147- bill Haager, [16]; 7. 24L-Sydney Landes, [19]; 8. 99T-Tyler Loughmiller, [8]; 9. 711B-Jerry Bland Jr, [1]; 10. 22W-Cody Wright, [12]; 11. 91-Nathan Voorhies, [14]; 12. 42-Roger Mills, [17]; 13. 11-Roger Cavness, [18]; 14. 7-David Bumgardner II, [20]; 15. 19K- Michael Kettnich, [13]; 16. 661-Jay Humphrey Jr, [15]; 17. 92-Lynn Johns, [3]; 18. 46-john warner, [10]; 19. 418-Michael Wesselman, [21]; 20. 5L-Dan Lewellen, [9]; 21. 29J-Jordan Wever, [11]
UMP Super Stock feature
1. 64-Bryce Shidler, [2]; 2. 05B-Josh Boller, [3]; 3. 45M-Wes McClara, [4]; 4. 21N-Jonny Newgent, [7]; 5. R4-Larry Raines, [8]; 6. 81P-Austin Phelps, [9]; 7. 742-Daniel Norman, [16]; 8. 7-Travis Heramb, [6]; 9. 20-Tyler Neal, [5]; 10. 17-Scotty Massie, [15]; 11. 59-David Wallen, [18]; 12. 42-Paul Wright, [12]; 13. 33-Scott Ricketts, [1]; 14. 75-Jeff Starks, [17]; 15. 27C-Kyle Johnson, [13]; 16. 2A-Mason Adams, [20]; 17. 11J-Matt Jordan, [10]; 18. 02-Dale Hayes, [14]; 19. 15S-cole shoemaker, [19]; 20. 2R-Hayden Rogers, [11]
Bomber feature
1. 89-Josh Litton, [2]; 2. 98-Justin Litton, [6]; 3. 14J-Jordan Almanza, [10]; 4. 121-Joseph Raber, [1]; 5. 54B-Barry Hicks, [4]; 6. 9CJ-Jeff Allen, [3]; 7. 4C-Tom Cox, [8]; 8. 21R-Matt Raber, [9]; 9. 5C-Megan Cavaness, [7]; 10. 28C-Joey Cox, [5]; 11. 21C-Justin Bumgardner, [14]; 12. 7T-Jeremy Tate, [11]; 13. 14-Jacob Steinway, [16]; 14. 5M-Mark Dickerson, [15]; 15. 54J-Jerry Hutto, [12]; 16. 57-Devin Wallen, [13]