Thousands of Fans Pack Anderson Speedway For Benson Motorcycles Night
of Thrills

By Tom Hammond

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With all of the season points battles decided it was time to race for fun Saturday night at Anderson Speedway. The stands were nearly full for the Benson Motorcycles Night of Thrills on the world’s fastest quarter-mile oval that concluded the Chappy’s Rent to Own Weekend of Events.

Nine school buses competed in the 12-lap Figure 8 race. It was an event dominated by Basil Stanley, who was able to avoid several near misses in the crossover. Elliott McKinney finished second with Tim Nickerson, Ranny Hinton and Ronnie Phipps completing the top-five finishers.

22 drivers were entered in the Powder Puff Front Wheel Drive Oval. Tara Erhart made a nice front stretch move to take home the win. Ashley Norris grabbed runner-up honors with Jennifer Grissom in third position. Tori McKinney and Ginger Baker rounded out the top five.

Meanwhile Roxanne Grissom took top honors in the Powder Puff School Bus Figure 8 feature. Kim McKinney finished in second position with Becky Stanley placing third.

Eleven spectators took to the oval to test their driving skills in the spectator races in head-to-head two-vehicle battles. Ronald Adams battled his way through three different heats to the take the title.

The “Corkscrew” race made its second appearance. The drivers were required to drive around a giant pumpkin placed in the Figure 8 crossover, leading to a lot of contact and general mayhem. Travis Erhart was able to squeak out the win in the eight-lap event with a last lap pass on Jerry Smith.

Four drivers took to the track for the second roll over contest of 2005. Brian Harmon, who won the first rollover competition in August, tied with Duane Bousman by completing 1.5 rolls to earn seven points. Bousman was awarded the title by virtue of making his attempt first.

Two sets of cars competed in the “train races”. Three cars were chained together to form a train, and drivers were allowed in the front car and the back car. The team of Rob Allman and Rod Phipps came out on top over Jesse King and Roy Grissom Sr.

The Chappy’s Rent to Own Front Wheel Drive cars also made appearances in both the Figure 8 and Oval divisions. David Baker won a wild 15-lap feature in the Figure 8 race with Curtis Chapman and Jason Pitts chasing the race winner.

Fairmount’s Billy Beard took the lead with a backstretch pass to win the first Oval feature, while 2005 points champion Dustin Burge of Anderson continued his success by winning the second feature.

Anderson Speedway returns to racing action next weekend with the 8th Annual Weidner Chevrolet Stock Car Festival set for Saturday, October 8 and Sunday, October 9. Eleven divisions of racing will be featured including SuperTrucks, Open Street Stocks, Figure 8’s, USAC Ford Focus Midgets, Indy URL Stock Cars and SuperTrucks, Legends, Limited Late Models, Mini-Stocks, ThunderCars and Front Wheel Drives.

For additional information contact Anderson Speedway at (765) 642-0206.