Saved by the Caution – KT Takes USAC East Bay Opener
TAMPA, Fla. (February 26, 2015) – Kevin Thomas, Jr., picked off the opening leg of USAC Winter Dirt Games action at East Bay Raceway Park by wiring the field in Thursday night’s 30-lap main event.
The Cullman, AL, native took full advantage of lap 16 caution that negated Dave Darland’s move into the lead, then kept the Dutcher Motorsports No. 17rw out front the rest of the way to become the fourth different winner in as many overall rounds of USAC Winter Dirt Games action.
After racing ahead of pole starter Brady Bacon off turn two on the opening lap to take command, KT kept Darland at bay over the final 14 rounds by working the low side of turns one and two and the top side in three and four.
“It was two completely different ends, one and two was putt-putt while three and four was wide open on the fence,” Thomas, Jr., explained afterward. “It was fun, you really have to be versatile on a track like that.”
With the triumph, Thomas, Jr., is eligible for a $5,000 bonus that goes to the driver that can top all three nights of USAC Winter Dirt Games action at East Bay Raceway Park.
“Hopefully we can keep that momentum going and get that five grand,” Thomas, Jr., said.
Darland made his way past Bacon for second after the ten lap mark then raced by Thomas, Jr., for the lead on the 16th round, only to have the move negated by a caution that flew for Kody Swanson’s disabled mount in turn three.
Darland chased the rest of the way in pursuit of a second straight win but settled for second in the Phillips No. 71p.
“We had the lead and I thought we should have kept it, I think I got the raw end of the deal there,” Darland said afterward. “I’ve seen that probably a thousand times, sometimes it just goes that way.”
Reigning USAC champion Bacon settled for the show position in the Hoffman Racing No. 69 with C.J. Leary crossing the stripe in fourth. Eighth row starters Tracy Hines and Robert Ballou worked through the pack to finish fifth and sixth, respectively, with Chad Boespflug earning Hard Charger honors by racing from 20th to seventh. Kyle Cummins, Chase Stockon and Chris Windom completed the top ten.
Stockon bested the field of 31 by setting a new track record of 14.762 seconds in qualifying before Ballou, Stanbrough, Bryan Clauson and Hines topped heat race action. Leary won the 12-lap “B” Main.
USAC Sprint Cars – Thursday, February 26, 2015 Results:
Qualifying: 1. 32-Chase Stockon 14.762 (New Track Record), 2. 30-C.J. Leary 14.931, 3. 71p-Dave Darland 15.238, 4. 12x-Scotty Weir 15.289, 5. 40-Justin Grant 15.291, 6. 21-Carson Short 15.315, 7. 11p-Brady Short 15.367, 8. 17rw-Kevin Thomas, Jr. 15.368, 9. 69-Brady Bacon 15.416, 10. 81-Jon Stanbrough 15.454, 11. 14-Trevor Kobylarz 15.468, 12. 66-Shane Cockrum 15.470, 13. 21x-Kyle Cummins 15.481, 14. 63-Kody Swanson 15.502, 15. 2-Chris Windom 15.536, 16. 4-Tracy Hines 15.543, 17. 12-Robert Ballou 15.564, 18. 29-Logan Jarrett 15.613, 19. 41-Bryan Clauson 15.624, 20. 18-Jarett Andretti 15.669, 21. 5-Chad Boespflug 15.673, 22. 2x-Casey Shuman 15.717, 23. 15F-Aaron Farney 15.739, 24. 97-Bret Mellenberndt 15.792, 25. 11-Chris Gurley 15.817, 26. 7g-Isaac Chapple 15.868, 27. 17r-Kyle Robbins 15.871, 28. 21h-Travis Hery 15.906, 29. 24L-Landon Simon 15.914, 30. 16m-Justin Hoffman 16.468, 31. 71-Robert Bell 17.381.
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 12-Robert Ballou, 2. 32-Chase Stockon, 3. 69-Brady Short, 4. 21x-Kyle Cummins, 5. 5-Chad Boespflug, 6. 40-Justin Grant, 7. 24L-Landon Simon, 8. 11-Chris Gurley.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 81-Jon Stanbrough, 2. 21-Carson Short, 3. 29-Logan Jarrett, 4. 2x-Casey Shuman, 5. 30-C.J. Leary, 6. 63-Kody Swanson, 7. 16m-Justin Hoffman, 8. 7g-Isaac Chapple.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 41-Bryan Clauson, 2. 71p-Dave Darland, 3. 11p-Brady Short, 4. 14-Trevor Kobylarz, 5. 2-Chris Windom, 6. 17r-Kyle Robbins, 7. 15F-Aaron Farney, 8. 71-Robert Bell.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 4-Tracy Hines, 2. 18-Jarett Andretti, 3. 17rw-Kevin Thomas, Jr., 4. 97-Bret Mellenberndt, 5. 66-Shane Cockrum, 6. 21h-Travis Hery, 7. 12x-Scotty Weir.
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 30-C.J. Leary, 2. 5-Chad Boespflug, 3. 66-Shane Cockrum, 4. 40-Justin Grant, 5. 2-Chris Windom, 6. 63-Kody Swanson, 7. 15F-Aaron Farney, 8. 11-Chris Gurley, 9. 24L-Landon Simon, 10. 7g-Isaac Chapple, 11. 17r-Kyle Robbins, 12. 21h-Travis Hery, 13. 71-Robert Bell, 14. 12x-Scotty Weir. DNS: 16m-Justin Hoffman.
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 17rw-Kevin Thomas, Jr. (2), 2. 71p-Dave Darland (5), 3. 69-Brady Bacon (1), 4. 30-C.J. Leary (7), 5. 4-Tracy Hines (15), 6. 12-Robert Ballou (16), 7. 5-Chad Boespflug (20), 8. 21x-Kyle Cummins (12), 9. 32-Chase Stockon (6), 10. 2-Chris Windom (14), 11. 81-Jon Stanbrough (9), 12. 11p-Brady Short (3), 13. 41-Bryan Clauson (18), 14. 18-Jarett Andretti (19), 15. 2x-Casey Shuman (21), 16. 21-Carson Short (14), 17. 15F-Aaron Farney (23), 18. 29-Logan Jarrett (17), 19. 97-Bret Mellenberndt (22), 20. 14-Trevor Kobylarz (10), 21. 66-Shane Cockrum (11), 22. 40-Justin Grant (8), 23. 63-Kody Swanson (13), 24. 17r-Kyle Robbins (24).
Lap leaders: Kevin Thomas, Jr. 1-30.
