Fans Treated to Wild Action During Night
of Thrills

By Tom Hammond
Staff Writer

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Some great racing and wild action highlighted the Night of Thrills presented by The Herald Bulletin at Anderson Speedway on Saturday, April 22. A huge crowd turned out to enjoy the craziness at the world’s fastest quarter-mile oval.

Becky Stanley may have a future as a racer as she won both “Powder Puff” events to open the night. In the Front Wheel Drive Powder Puff race, Stanley took the lead on the seventh of 10 laps after passing Hannah Lundy. Stanley then cruised to the victory. Amber Owens finished in second followed by Lundy, Michelle Barrett and April Covington.

Right after that Becky Stanley took to the wheel of a school bus in the Powder Puff School Bus Figure 8 feature and drove to a commanding victory. Kendra Burgess of Muncie was second in the school bus race, followed by Bobby Jo Elliott, Roxanne Grissom and Jmica Hobbs.

The Corkscrew race returned for the second time, and Anderson’s Travis Burge may want it to become a full-time event. Burge, a regular in the Chappy’s Rent to Own Front Wheel Drive division, dominated the race that involved a complete 360-degree turn around a tractor tire in the Figure 8 crossover. Nick Warner finished second followed by Jerry Smith, Jason Orr and Gregg Willey.

Up next was the Rollover Contest, where drivers sacrificed their machines by driving over a narrow ramp to see how many times they could make their machines roll over. Each driver had three attempts, assuming their cars were still running. Brian Harmon completed two complete rolls on each of his first two attempts for 20 points. He was on his way to a third attempt when the left front wheel fell off his car. It was Harmon’s second win in the event. Duane Bouseman finished second with 17 points. Josh Tharp and Donnie Ellis Jr. tied for third with 12 points. Tharp was the best overall rollover, scoring all 12 of his points on his first and only attempt.

The Chappy’s Rent to Own Front Wheel Drive Figure 8 division then took to the track, and Warner put on a show for the fans by dominating the 10-lap feature. Burge crossed the line in second spot followed by Jacob Owens, Donnie Ellis lll and Randy Owen.

Burge then cruised to victory in The Herald Bulletin Delivery Challenge. Drivers had to drive around a leg of the Figure 8 crossover, place a newspaper in a delivery tube and then drive back to the start-finish line. Burge turned a time of 13.761 seconds to easily score the win. Brent Wollard, Bridgett Moreland, Tim Senkowski, Todd Lewis and Theresa Timmons rounded out the field.

Seven Anderson Speedway fans then had a chance to take their own cars on the track for Spectator Races. The preliminary heats consisted of one-lap drag races and the final race was a two-lap event. Ronald Adams of Pendleton dominated each race he ran to pick up the overall victory.

The Chappy’s Rent to Front Wheel Drive cars then returned for two oval feature events. The first was a dandy as Randy Owen passed Eric Shell on the final lap in turn three for the win. Shell set a commanding early pace, only to see Owen methodically reel him in. Shell got caught in traffic and Owen took advantage to seal the win. Kevin Harmon, Tony Crum and Ashley Patterson rounded out the top five.

Keith Morris took the lead at the start/finish line at the end of the 11th lap to win the second Chappy’s Rent to Front Wheel Drive oval feature. Jerry Smith was second, followed by Gregg Willey, Doug Hollingsworth and Robert Moreland.

The School Buses returned for the final event of the night, and the drivers didn’t disappoint as fans were treated to some tremendous racing and some near-misses in the crossover. Tony Grissom started at the back of the field but used his shorter but quicker bus to roar through the field and take the lead on the 10th of 12 circuits. Grissom took advantage of heavy traffic to take the lead from Tim Nickerson. Basil Stanley also used the traffic to move into second. That’s the way they finished with Nickerson in third spot followed by Ronnie Phipps and Ranny Hinton.

Anderson Speedway returns to racing action on Saturday, April 29 with the return of the ARCA Lincoln Welder Truck Series. The Star Press Saturday Night Series will also showcase the Boss Hogg Catering & Jerky Figure 8’s and the first appearance of the American Awards Legends.

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