#100 AT THE BURG: USAC SPRINTS REACH LAWRENCEBURG MILESTONE THIS SATURDAY

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Lawrenceburg, Indiana (March 29, 2023)………Few venues are entrenched in as much USAC history as Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway.

Even fewer venues have hosted more USAC National events than Lawrenceburg over the past six-plus decades of competition.

This Saturday night’s, April 1 date for the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship at the 3/8-mile dirt oval will mark the 100th USAC National event conducted at Lawrenceburg Speedway, which has hosted 30 NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship races and 69 more with sprint cars, including one non-points special event.

Lawrenceburg Speedway, which opened in 1950 and conducted its first USAC event in 1961, will become the eighth track to have hosted 100 or more combined USAC Silver Crown, National Sprint Car and National Midget races.

Ohio’s Eldora Speedway (301) has hosted the most in this category followed by Indianapolis Raceway Park (267), Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track (250), Indiana’s Winchester Speedway (196), Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway (162), California’s Ascot Park (140) and Indiana’s Salem Speedway (135).

Fifty-one different drivers have reached victory lane in a USAC National event at Lawrenceburg Speedway with USAC Triple Crown champion Dave Darland leading all drivers with seven, all of which have come in a sprint car.

Meanwhile, five more drivers have won in both USAC National Sprint Car and USAC National Midget competition at Lawrenceburg: Bryan Clauson, Jay Drake, Logan Seavey, Chris Windom and J.J. Yeley.

Lawrenceburg’s USAC roots date back to 1961 when A.J. Foyt, just a little over two months removed from the first of his four Indianapolis 500 victories, scored a 40-lap midget victory for car owner Bob Nowicke at the Joe Noppert-promoted quarter-mile.

USAC Midgets have made regular appearances at Lawrenceburg since the mid-1980s, dating to Tom Bigelow’s 1986 triumph on the exact date of birth for the author of this article.  In 1989, Lawrenceburg even found itself as the host of the Hut 100 during the brief closure of the Terre Haute Action Track in 1988-89.

However, USAC National Sprint Cars didn’t make its first appearance at Lawrenceburg until September of 1983, shortly after USAC first began to schedule series events at tracks under a half-mile in length.  Danny Milburn captured the victory that night, his first with USAC.  And it just so happened to be on the exact date of birth of the sister of the author of this story.  And isn’t that ironic, don’t you think?

USAC Sprint Car visits to Lawrenceburg have become a regular occurrence.  In fact, Lawrenceburg has been the home of at least one series event each year since 1992, and its current run of 31-straight seasons doing so is the most among all racetracks.

Yes, Lawrenceburg has seen its share of changes over the years.  Dating back to 1999, yours truly can recall Jack Hewitt and several other top drivers pleading over the public address system for fans and the community to do their part to help save Lawrenceburg Speedway.

Shortly after, the place was more than saved; it became a palace with an entirely new covered grandstand erected in 2002 followed by a complete overhaul of the racetrack, which expanded from a quarter-mile bullring to a blazing fast 3/8-mile track that provided a new generation of racers and fans an entirely new Lawrenceburg experience.

Jeff Bland Jr. scored the first win at the “new” high-banked Lawrenceburg Speedway in 2008 during Indiana Sprint Week, which came to be his lone USAC victory.

It’s been quite a road, and an everlasting one for the venerable speedway in southeastern Indiana city of Lawrenceburg.  Whether it came on the small track or the big track, it all adds up to one of the most historic tracks in the USAC record books.  It also adds up to number 100.

DETAILS:

This Saturday April 1, the first Midwest appearance of the season for the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship 2023 season at Dave & Kim Rudisell’s Lawrenceburg Speedway also presents the KOI Auto Parts Modifieds and Bessler's U Pull & Save Hornets.  Pits open at 3pm Eastern with the grandstands opening at 5pm and cars on track at 6pm with qualifying and racing to immediately follow.  Adult general admission tickets are $30, kids 7-12 are $7, children 6 and under are free.  Pit passes are $35 (all ages).

Watch this Saturday’s Lawrenceburg event LIVE on FloRacing at https://flosports.link/3Kdc2na.

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ALL-TIME USAC NATIONAL WINS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY:

7-Dave Darland

5-Bryan Clauson, Jon Stanbrough & Kevin Thomas Jr.

4-Justin Grant & Jack Hewitt

3-Rico Abreu, Brady Bacon, Kevin Briscoe, Jimmy Davies, Rick Hood & Rich Vogler

2-Jay Drake, Tony Elliott, Levi Jones, C.J. Leary, Danny Milburn, Stevie Reeves, Logan Seavey, Brian Tyler, Chris Windom & J.J. Yeley

1-Robert Ballou, Spencer Bayston, Tom Bigelow, Jeff Bland Jr., Mark Cassella, Jerry Coons Jr., Tyler Courtney, Kyle Cummins, Zach Daum, Kevin Doty, A.J. Foyt, Dickie Gaines, Damion Gardner, Darren Hagen, Tracy Hines, Josh Hodges, Logan Jarrett, Steve Knepper, Buddy Kofoid, Kyle Larson, Thomas Meseraull, Kevin Olson, Rodney Ritter Jr., Brady Short, Chase Stockon, Mike Streicher, Brad Sweet, Kevin Swindell, Kevin Thomas & Josh Wise

USAC NATIONAL MIDGET WINNERS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY:

1961: A.J. Foyt (8/4) & Jimmy Davies (9/10)

1964: Jimmy Davies (6/10)

1965: Jimmy Davies (5/9)

1986: Tom Bigelow (7/19)

1987: Stevie Reeves (6/6)

1988: Rich Vogler (5/21) & Rich Vogler (8/13)

1989: Kevin Olson (6/24) & Rich Vogler (10/8)

1990: Mike Streicher (7/7)

1991: Steve Knepper (5/11)

1993: Stevie Reeves (6/5)

2003: J.J. Yeley (6/1)

2005: Jay Drake (8/18)

2007: Kevin Swindell (8/11)

2008: Brad Sweet (8/9)

2009: Bryan Clauson (6/13)

2010: Tracy Hines (6/19)

2011: Bryan Clauson (6/11)

2012: Darren Hagen (6/16)

2013: Zach Daum (6/15)

2014: Rico Abreu (6/14)

2015: Rico Abreu (6/13)

2017: Rico Abreu (6/10)

2018: Spencer Bayston (6/2)

2019: Chris Windom (6/8)

2020: Kyle Larson (6/20)

2021: Logan Seavey (6/5)

2022: Buddy Kofoid (6/4)

USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR WINNERS AT LAWRENCEBURG SPEEDWAY:

1983: Danny Milburn (9/18)

1984: Rick Hood (6/9) & Danny Milburn (9/16)

1985: Rick Hood (6/8)

1986: Rick Hood (6/7)

1988: Jack Hewitt (6/4)

1989: Rodney Ritter Jr. (7/1)

1992: Kevin Thomas (8/8)

1993: Jack Hewitt (7/10)

1994: Jon Stanbrough (6/18)

1995: Jack Hewitt (7/1)

1996: Mark Cassella (8/31)

1997: Brian Tyler (7/19) & Brian Tyler (8/30)

1998: Kevin Doty (5/30), Dave Darland (7/18) & Dave Darland (8/29)

1999: Kevin Briscoe (6/5), Jack Hewitt (7/22) & Tony Elliott (8/28)

2000: Kevin Briscoe (7/22) & Tony Elliott (8/26)

2001: Dave Darland (7/26)

2002: Kevin Briscoe (7/25)

2003: J.J. Yeley (5/31), Jay Drake (6/1) & Jon Stanbrough (7/24)

2004: Jon Stanbrough (7/22)

2005: Dickie Gaines (7/21)

2006: Jon Stanbrough (4/22)

2007: Levi Jones (4/21), Jon Stanbrough (7/11) & Dave Darland (7/12)

2008: Jeff Bland (7/9) & Brady Short (7/10)

2009: Josh Wise (4/18), Dave Darland (7/10), Jerry Coons Jr. (8/22 Special Event) & Damion Gardner (10/2)

2010: Jerry Coons Jr. (4/17) & Dave Darland (7/9)

2011: Robert Ballou (7/10), Levi Jones (10/1)

2012: Justin Grant (7/15) & Chase Stockon (9/29)

2013: Kevin Thomas Jr. (4/6), Kevin Thomas Jr. (7/14) & Bryan Clauson (9/28)

2014: Justin Grant (4/5) & Bryan Clauson (9/27)

2015: Logan Jarrett (4/4), Brady Bacon (7/12) & Thomas Meseraull (10/3)

2016: Dave Darland (4/2), Bryan Clauson (7/10) & Josh Hodges (10/1)

2017: Chris Windom (4/1), C.J. Leary (7/9) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (9/30)

2018: Tyler Courtney (7/22) & Justin Grant (9/29)

2019: Justin Grant (7/21) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (10/5)

2020: C.J. Leary (7/26) & Brady Bacon (10/3)

2021: Brady Bacon (4/3), Logan Seavey (7/25) & Kevin Thomas Jr. (10/2)

2022: Kyle Cummins (10/1)