STOCKON LEADS SPRINT CARS TO LAWRENCEBURG SATURDAY

Chase Stockon of Elizabethtown, Ind. has yet to find victory lane this year but he sits atop the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car standings entering next Saturday’s Midwest opener at the Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.

Back-to-back runner-up finishes in the 2015 openers at Ocala, Fla., followed by a pair of fifths and a ninth left him with a 14-point lead over Kevin Thomas Jr. Thomas grabbed a win at East Bay Raceway Park in Florida and has a third and a pair of fourths in five starts so far in 2015.

Stockon’s initial USAC victory came at Lawrenceburg in 2012, while Thomas scored a pair of Lawrenceburg wins in 2013. Last year’s Lawrenceburg features went to Bryan Clauson and Justin Grant.

Third ranking Robert Ballou, who has two wins already this year, trails Stockon by just 18 points heading to Lawrenceburg, while Dave Darland, 27 behind the leader, has a record 54 career USAC Sprint wins after scoring at Ocala in February. Darland is the winningest USAC Sprint driver at Lawrenceburg, with six career victories. Ballou scored at Lawrenceburg win in 2011.

Fifth-ranking Brady Bacon, also a 2015 winner, was second behind Clauson in last September’s Lawrenceburg closer and hopes to repeat as the series champion.

Drivers will aim at Levi Jones’ one-lap track record of 12.926 seconds, set in 2008.