CUMMINS CHARGES FROM THE BACK & INTO THE SMACKDOWN POINT LEAD AFTER NIGHT #1
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana (August 26, 2022)………With his magnificent drive in Thursday’s opener, Kyle Cummins stands tall atop the Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Sprint Car Smackdown XI point standings entering Friday night’s festivities at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway on August 26.
Cummins (Princeton, Ind.) garnered 355 total points for his Thursday efforts, which included a quick time during Fatheadz Eyewear Qualifying followed by a heat race win and second-place result in the feature.
The runner-up main event result came after Cummins suffered a flat right rear tire on the pace laps prior to the feature. Schedule to roll of sixth, Cummins was forced to pit in the Indy Metal Finishing Work Area for fresh rubber. Restarting 22nd on the grid, Cummins proceeded all the way up to second in the 30-lap feature, which only had one stoppage for a yellow flag at the halfway mark.
Thursday’s feature winner Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) sits second in points (-13) ahead of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Jason McDougal (-25), Rocklin, California’s Robert Ballou (-26) and Greenfield, Indiana’s C.J. Leary (-34).
Drivers accumulate Smackdown points throughout the two prelim events on Thursday and Friday. The points earned over the course of Thursday and Friday will set the lineups for Saturday’s events. The top-eight in total points will be locked into Saturday’s feature. All others will take part in a series of qualifying races in order to transfer onto the big show followed by last chance races and the $15,000-to-win, $1,500-to-start feature.
The top-eight in combined points from Thursday and Friday’s programs will also participate in a series of three-lap King of the Hill races featuring two cars going head-to-head. A bracket style tourney, with the winner advancing each time, will go on to determine the top-eight starting positions for Saturday’s feature event, with the winner of all three rounds securing the pole position for Saturday night’s 40-lap main event.
On Friday, the gates open at 4pm Eastern with the driver’s meeting taking place at 6pm and hot laps beginning at 6:30pm, with qualifying and racing immediately following. General admission tickets are $30 while kids 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $30 for members and $35 for non-members.
On Saturday, the gates open at 4pm Eastern. The driver’s meeting takes place at 5:30pm and hot laps begin at 6pm, with racing immediately following. No qualifying will be held on Saturday.
Saturday’s general admission tickets are $35, kids 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $40 for members and $45 for non-members.
All nights of Sprint Car Smackdown at Kokomo will be aired live on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/3AMU46z.
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ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SPRINT CAR SMACKDOWN XI POINTS
(After Night #1 of 3)
1. 355 Kyle Cummins
2. 342 Justin Grant
3. 330 Jason McDougal
4. 329 Robert Ballou
5. 321 C.J. Leary
6. 319 Emerson Axsom
7. 318 Jadon Rogers
8. 310 Mitchel Moles
9. 307 Thomas Meseraull
10. 305 Brady Bacon
11. 303 Chase Stockon
12. 294 Anton Hernandez
13. 291 Jake Swanson
14. 285 Logan Seavey
15. 277 Mario Clouser
16. 277 Max Adams
17. 269 Scotty Weir
18. 269 Matt Westfall
19. 268 Kevin Thomas, Jr.
20. 267 Cole Bodine
21. 265 Dave Darland
22. 223 Alex Bright
23. 210 Jack Hoyer
24. 206 Tom Harris
25. 201 Brandon Mattox
26. 198 Parker Frederickson
27. 196 Tim Creech
28. 188 Sterling Cling
29. 187 Carson Garrett
30. 181 Corey Smith
31. 178 Dustin Clark
32. 174 Riley Kreisel
33. 164 Tayte Williamson
34. 154 Larry Kingseed, Jr.
35. 151 Alex Banales
36. 149 Korbyn Hayslett
37. 141 Jack James
38. 138 Cooper Welch
39. 134 Paul White
40. 115 Dalton Stevens
41. 101 Tyler Hewitt
