Swanson Wins H.O.S.S. Winged Sprint Car Event, Lane Surprise Winner in CRA Street Stocks; Allman, Tharp, Ellis Also Victorious

(September17, 2011) – Joe Swanson did all he could to put the pressure on Aaron Pierce for the H.O.S.S. Championship at Anderson Speedway on Saturday, but Pierce was not going to be denied.

Swanson entered the final race of the 2011 season 20 points behind Pierce for the Hoosier Outlaw Winged Sprint Season. Swanson led the entire distance after starting on the front row as a result of the inversion.

Jimmy McCune moved through the field to finish second followed by Jeff Kaiser, Pierce and Chris Neuenschwander.

McCune has won the previous two races and moved into the second spot on lap 23 with a move in traffic to get underneath Neuenschwander coming off the fourth corner.

With his fourth place finish, Pierce secured the 2011 title.

“We had an awesome car,” he said following his run. “The car was really good tonight. We were running on the outside and it’s tough to pass up there. I ran over something and had a tire going down.”

It was a great night for Pierce at Anderson Speedway, scoring a clean sweep in the competition.

Pierce set a new track record during Herald Bulletin qualifications turning a lap at 10.211-seconds (88.14 mph), breaking the mark set on Oct. 30, 2010 by Charlie Schultz of 10.247-seconds (87.83 mph).

“It felt like 188 mph,” he said of the run.

Just when it appeared that Bremen’s Dave Bice was about to put the finishing touches on an amazing run in the EDCO Welding CRA Street Stock feature, the victory was snatched away on the final lap.

Bice lost a lap early in the race with a flat tire, got the lucky dog and worked his way to the front with 36 laps remaining. Bice got inside of Josh Meyers and Jeff Lane entering turn three to take the lead.

Bice then held off Jeff Lane on two restarts and took the white flag with a comfortable lead on Lane with slower traffic lying ahead.

Coming off the second corner Jeff Shelmadine spun and came to a stop on the back straight, facing the wrong direction. Shelmadine’s spin caused Bice to slow and with the loss of momentum it allowed Lane to close.

Lane got to the inside of Shelmadine entering turn three and the two drivers rubbed going through the final corner with Lane grabbing the win, followed by Shelmadine, Brian Hopkins, Jimmy Kirby and Meyers.

“I checked up also,” Lane said of the last lap excitement. “Dave was a sitting duck. All I heard in the radio was race to the checkers, which gave me a change to get inside. Dave had the car to beat, but we’ll take a win anyway we can.”

Anderson’s Rob Allman took advantage of slower traffic to pass Lonny Burton on lap 16 of the WMDH ThunderCar feature on the back straight Saturday and went on to record the victory.

Lonny Burton looking to make a run at Hannah Lundy for the ThunderCar championship to be determined next week, took the early lead chased by Allman and Frankie Oakes.

Burton, Allman, Oakes, and Lundy ran nose to tail for the first 16 laps. On that circuit Burton got stuck behind slower cars which allowed Allman to use the outside line and take the lead. Lundy passed Oakes on lap 22 to finish third.

Following Allman to the checkers were Burton, Lundy, Oakes and Don Ellis Jr. The ThunderCar championship remains the tightest battle heading into the final week between Lundy and Burton.

Noblesville driver Josh Tharp continued his hot streak in the Figure-8 Division recording a clean sweep of the honors on Saturday.

Tharp posted the fast time during Herald Bulletin qualifying, captured the heat race and then led the entire distance in the feature to record his fifth feature win over the past seven weeks.

With Tharp pulling away from the competition, Nick Warner took over the second spot from Shawn Cullen on lap 11 which left Cullen and Curtis Chapman to battle for the third position.

Although pressed by Chapman, Cullen held on to finish third with Ranny Hinton rounding out the top five.

Donnie Ellis Jr. was able to pass Nick Warner with a nifty move entering turn one on the next to last lap to win the Front Wheel Drive Figure-8 feature, his third of the year.

Warner took the lead early chased by Elliott McKinney and Blake Zirkle. But the complexion of the race changed on lap nine when Zirkle was collected by Trevin Henson in the crossover.

Following the restart it was Ellis putting the pressure on Warner for the top spot and complete the pass entering turn one. Warner suffered a flat tire.

Finishing second was McKinney, followed by Teepe, Warner and James Frawley.

Racing action returns to Anderson Speedway with the ED Martin Toyota Season Championships set for Late Models, EDCO Welding Street Stocks, Figure 8’s, WMDH ThunderCars along with Front Wheel Drive Oval.



























 
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