DIRTY DOZEN: SEAVEY WINS #12 AT THE BURG, TAKES OVER USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK LEAD

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Lawrenceburg, Indiana (July 30, 2024)………Throughout his first 11 feature victories of the 2024 USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship season, Logan Seavey hadn’t had to start as far back as he did during Tuesday night’s round of NOS Energy Drink USAC Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing at Lawrenceburg Speedway.

Rolling off 11th, Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) picked his way through the pack to take over the lead just after the halfway mark before briefly losing the top spot on a late restart only to regain it back once and for all – all while enduring a vibration from a mud-packed right rear wheel, mind you – to earn his 12th series score of the season.

Seavey had previously won the Lawrenceburg round of Indiana Sprint Week in 2021 amid a three-race victory streak during at that moment in time.  In the present, Seavey has now won five of his past six USAC National Sprint Car starts, and finished second in the other, proving his confidence that he can win anywhere and everywhere at any time.  Lawrenceburg, as it turns out, is no exception either.

“I just love this place,” Seavey exclaimed after driving his Abacus Racing/Honest Abe Roofing – Rockwell Security – Indy Custom Stone/DRC/Stanton Chevy to the win.  “I have so much confidence here.  I wouldn’t say I wasn’t worried starting 11th, but I know I can win from back there and my car can do it too.  (Crewmen) Ronnie (Gardner) and Kirk (Simpson) do a great job, and for everybody who works on this thing and gets us to the racetrack, it’s really cool to get them back to victory lane.”

Seavey’s 12th USAC National Sprint Car victory of the year places him in rarified air as one of only six drivers to reach the dozen win mark within a single season.  Tom Bigelow has held the record since his 14-win campaign in 1977.  J.J. Yeley and Robert Ballou each notched 13 wins in their championship seasons of 2003 and 2015, respectively.  Larry Dickson (1968) and Pancho Carter (1976) also reached the 12-win mark.

For Seavey’s ongoing historic season, must we remind you that it’s still only July?  Seavey not only extended his point lead not only in the USAC National Sprint Car standings, but he also took over the number one position of the Indiana Sprint Week point pylon while also ascending to the top of the season’s USAC National ProSource Passing Master tally.

His plus-10 performance marked the deepest charge to win an Indiana Sprint Week feature in more than five years, since Shane Cottle advanced from 18th to win at Gas City in 2019.  Furthermore, Seavey became the first driver to win a USAC National Sprint Car main event after transferring out of the semi-feature since Kyle Cummins during the ISW round at Bloomington in 2022.  Seavey also became the first driver to win both the semi and the feature in a single night of USAC National Sprint Car competition since Brady Bacon did so at Florida’s Ocala Speedway in 2020.

Throughout the course of the feature, seven lead changes took place among four drivers.  The seven lead swaps are tied for the most ever in a USAC Indiana Sprint Week feature, equaling the exchanges from Lincoln Park (2001), Bloomington (2016) and Kokomo (2022).

Seavey entered the season with 10 career USAC National Sprint Car wins but has now more than doubled that output in 2024 to 22, which moved him past Greg Weld on the list and into a tie with Rick Hood, Bubby Jones and Sammy Sessions for 30th place all-time.

While Seavey was getting settled into his inside sixth row starting spot for the feature, Justin Grant and Mitchel Moles were set to take off from the front row.  However, on the pace laps while lining up for the main event, Moles pulled off to the Indy Metal Finishing Work Area due to a broken mag box.  Relegated to the tail of the field for the start, Moles made a nice recovery by working himself all the way up to a seventh place finish by the end of the night.

Grant established the initial lead while Kyle Cummins briefly held second before being shuffled back to fourth on lap two.  By lap three, he had found his groove once again and drove around the outside of both C.J. Leary and Briggs Danner at the exit of turn four to regain the runner-up spot.

On lap six, disaster struck as Cummins slid into turn one alongside Grant in the battle for the race lead.  The two cars touched wheels, sending now former ISW point leader Cummins toppling over and Grant spinning to a stop.  Meanwhile, in trying to avoid the incident, seventh running Kyle Shipley contacted the outside wall and flipped as well.  Cummins was quite apologetic about the incident and accepted full blame.  Cummins and Shipley were able to walk away while Grant restarted and finished 17th.

Upon the restart, Danner was the biggest benefactor as he slid up in front of Leary in turn one on the seventh lap to take over the lead.  Seavey followed Danner in tow and drove under Bacon for third on the front straight, then made his move on Leary for second by diving low in turn three on the 13th circuit.

Entering traffic near the midway point, Danner became hung up behind fellow Pennsylvanian and 20th running Joey Amantea on the back straightaway.  Seavey ably capitalized and swiped the lead from Danner with a low side charge under both Danner and Amantea in turn three on lap 15.  Seavey remained in touch, then turned the tables on Seavey who was attempting to put Jadon Rogers down a lap in turn three.  Danner dove low to take the spot and lead lap 17, a move which proved to be short lived as the caution flew shortly thereafter for ninth running Max Adams who stopped in turn one with a shredded right rear tire on lap 18.

Shockingly, under the caution, Danner pulled into the infield with an apparent engine issue, ending his bid for a first career Indiana Sprint Week triumph.  Thus, Seavey became the new race leader with 13 laps to go.  From there, Seavey masterfully broke away from the field and constructed a half-straight lead over Leary with 10 laps to go.  However, the red flag was displayed once more for seventh running Kale Drake who tagged the wall in turns one and two and flipped over on lap 25.  He was able to walk away.

Just before the red flag, with seven laps to go, Seavey’s right rear wheel cover dislodged itself in turn two.  With dirt and mud freely able to enter the wheel, it created a vibration that caught Seavey’s attention.

“I couldn’t see after those first few laps,” Seavey explained.  “I felt it shaking and I knew I was in trouble.  You lose a lot of grip trying to take off on restarts, but once you get up to speed, it doesn’t seem to affect it as much.  Actually, after a lap or two, I filled the whole wheel full of mud and it calmed it down a little bit there.  It wasn’t vibrating as bad those last three or four laps.”

Nonetheless, during the first laps following the restart with six laps remaining, it appeared to have a detrimental effect on Seavey.  Leary’s turn one slide job on Seavey during the lap 25 restart put Leary back out front with the lap count waning.  Undeterred, Seavey fired back and responded with authority to reassume the lead from Leary with his own turn one slider on the very next go around.

“Luckily, there was a little bit of grip on exit to where you could cross over a slider,” Seavey recalled.  “You had to pick up the cushion really hard, but when I saw C.J. back there, I picked it up really good.”

Seavey instantly pulled away but was reeled in on the final lap when Charles Davis Jr. (12th) slowed in between turns three and four, thus erasing Seavey’s 1.54 second lead and setting up a green-white-checkered finish.  Seavey raced away unscathed during the final two-lap dash to cement a 1.247 second margin of victory over Leary, Bacon, Robert Ballou and Daison Pursley.

For runner-up C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.), it was like a win for him and his BGE Dougherty Motorsports/Altoz – Valvoline – Hornbeck Concrete/DRC/1-Way Chevy.  With a new front clip welded to his chassis following a flip at Kokomo on Saturday, Leary bounced back for his best finish of 2024 Indiana Sprint Week thus far.  Earlier in the night, Leary posted his 52nd career Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifying time in USAC National Sprint Car competition, moving him past Brady Bacon for fourth all-time.

Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) remained in the Indiana Sprint Week title hunt with his third consecutive top-five finish in the series, tallying a third-place result at Lawrenceburg in his Dynamics, Inc./Hampshire & Son Auto Service - Davis Brothers Trucking - Tel-Star/Triple X/Rider Chevy.

Ricky Lewis (Camarillo, Calif.) possesses a plethora of laps around Lawrenceburg in his sprint car career.  On this night, he used that experience to make the biggest advancement in the feature, starting 19th and finishing sixth to earn J & J Trucking Hard Charger honors.

Charles Davis Jr. (Buckeye, Ariz.) worked hard to get into the feature lineup.  He started eighth in his heat, spun early, restarted at the tail, then drove back to a fourth place result to make his way into the main event.  For that, he earned the ProSource Hard Work award.

Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.), carrying an on-board camera for the FloRacing broadcast, gave race fans an eyeful when he made a fantastic move to drive from third to first on the opening turn of the opening lap of his heat race win.  With that, he was the recipient of the Inferno Armor USA Fire Move of the Night.

Hunter Maddox (Bedford, Ind.) didn't exactly have the kind of night he was looking for.  During the semi-feature, the leading USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year contender clipped a turn four infield tire and flipped over.  It was a rough and tumble night with a premature ending, but he walked away from the event with a new right rear Hoosier tire courtesy of Sam McGhee Motorsports.

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 30, 2024 – Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Indiana – 3/8-Mile Dirt Oval – 37th Annual NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing

HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-13.952; 2. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-14.119; 3. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-14.168; 4. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-14.272; 5. Kale Drake, 2B, 2B Racing-14.332; 6. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-14.334; 7. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.347; 8. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-14.380; 9. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-14.389; 10. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-14.396; 11. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-14.407; 12. Shawn Westerfeld, 4J, Fischesser/Owen-14.408; 13. Nick Bilbee, 17, Bilbee-14.466; 14. Jadon Rogers, 66, Amati-14.491; 15. Max Adams, 63, F & F-14.492; 16. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-14.527; 17. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-14.550; 18. Ricky Lewis, 41, Stensland-14.645; 19. Xavier Doney, 74, Doney/Lawson-14.657; 20. Chance Crum, 26, Crum-14.694; 21. Scotty Weir, 47x, Eades-14.705; 22. Kyle Shipley, 4u, AJR-14.721; 23. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.725; 24. Kayla Roell, 5K, KO-14.781; 25. Jack Hoyer, 11, Hoyer-14.831; 26. Shane Cottle, 2E, Epperson-14.913; 27. Anton Hernandez, 5, Baldwin/Fox-14.924; 28. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-14.954; 29. Zack Pretorius, 9z, Pretorius-15.069; 30. Rylan Gray, 06, Gray-15.125; 31. Ryan Barr, 21B, Barr-15.193; 32. Charles Davis Jr., 47, Davis-15.278; 33. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-15.299; 34. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-15.506; 35. Evan Mosley, 27, Barkdull-15.628; 36. Logan Calderwood, 4c, Ford-15.812; 37. Kobe Simpson, 21K, Simpson-15.844; 38. Troy Carey, 45N, Carey-16.581.

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Chase Stockon, 2. Scotty Weir, 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Kevin Thomas Jr., 5. Nick Bilbee, 6. Jack Hoyer, 7. Brandon Mattox, 8. Kobe Simpson, 9. Kale Drake, 10. Zack Pretorius. 2:02.304

ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Kyle Shipley, 2. Jadon Rogers, 3. Shane Cottle, 4. Briggs Danner, 5. Ricky Lewis, 6. Daison Pursley, 7. Logan Seavey, 8. Hunter Maddox, 9. Rylan Gray, 10. Troy Carey. 2:00.441

T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Max Adams, 3. Carson Garrett, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Mitchel Moles, 6. Anton Hernandez, 7. Evan Mosley, 8. Xavier Doney, 9. Ryan Barr. 2:01.990

CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Chance Crum, 4. Charles Davis Jr., 5. Justin Grant, 6. Shawn Westerfeld, 7. Kayla Roell, 8. Logan Calderwood, 9. Joey Amantea. NT

ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-4 transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Daison Pursley, 3. Kale Drake, 4. Anton Hernandez, 5. Jack Hoyer, 6. Xavier Doney, 7. Rylan Gray, 8. Ryan Barr, 9. Kayla Roell, 10. Evan Mosley, 11. Shawn Westerfeld, 12. Joey Amantea, 13. Zack Pretorius, 14. Kobe Simpson, 15. Troy Carey, 16. Logan Calderwood, 17. Hunter Maddox, 18. Brandon Mattox. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (11), 2. C.J. Leary (6), 3. Brady Bacon (5), 4. Robert Ballou (7), 5. Daison Pursley (14), 6. Ricky Lewis (19), 7. Mitchel Moles (2), 8. Carson Garrett (15), 9. Shane Cottle (22), 10. Nick Bilbee (16), 11. Anton Hernandez (23), 12. Matt Westfall (10), 13. Chase Stockon (8), 14. Joey Amantea (25-P), 15. Chance Crum (20), 16. Jadon Rogers (17), 17. Justin Grant (1), 18. Charles Davis Jr. (24), 19. Kale Drake (12), 20. Kevin Thomas Jr. (13), 21. Scotty Weir (21), 22. Briggs Danner (3), 23. Max Adams (18), 24. Kyle Cummins (4), 25. Kyle Shipley (9). NT

(P) represents a provisional starter

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Justin Grant, Lap 6 C.J. Leary, Laps 7-14 Briggs Danner, Laps 15-16 Logan Seavey, Lap 17 Briggs Danner, laps 18-24 Logan Seavey, Lap 25 C.J. Leary, Laps 26-31 Logan Seavey.

**Hunter Maddox flipped during the semi. Kyle Cummins & Kyle Shipley flipped on lap 6 of the feature. Kale Drake flipped on lap 25 of the feature.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-1948, 2-Brady Bacon-1858, 3-C.J. Leary-1794, 4-Daison Pursley-1770, 5-Kevin Thomas Jr.-1659, 6-Mitchel Moles-1656, 7-Robert Ballou-1641, 8-Kyle Cummins-1553, 9-Justin Grant-1547, 10-Carson Garrett-1308.

NOS ENERGY DRINK USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PRESENTED BY HONEST ABE ROOFING POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-235, 2-Brady Bacon-207, 3-Kyle Cummins-192, 4-Daison Pursley-190, 5-Mitchel Moles-177, 6-C.J. Leary-166, 7-Briggs Danner-163, 8-Ricky Lewis-158, 9-Robert Ballou-147, 10-Chance Crum-124.

USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-136, 2-Daison Pursley-135, 3-Robert Ballou-114, 4-C.J. Leary-103, 5-Kyle Cummins-96, 6-Justin Grant-93, 7-Joey Amantea-89, 8-Chase Stockon-81, 9-Brady Bacon-73, 10-Carson Garrett-70.

USAC INDIANA SPRINT WEEK PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Shane Cottle-36, 2-Logan Seavey-26, 3-Ricky Lewis-25, 4-Anton Hernandez-22, 5-Kyle Cummins-20, 6-Chance Crum-20, 7-Jadon Rogers-18, 8-Brady Bacon-17, 9-Chase Stockon-16, 10-Kayla Roell-16.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 31, 2024 – Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, Indiana – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval – 37th Annual NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Logan Seavey (14.489)

Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: C.J. Leary (13.952)

Spire Motorsports 7th Fastest Qualifier: Mitchel Moles

Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Chase Stockon

Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Kyle Shipley

T.J. Forged Third Heat Winner: Matt Westfall

Car IQ Fourth Heat Winner: Robert Ballou

Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Logan Seavey

J & J Trucking Hard Charger: Ricky Lewis (19th to 6th)

ProSource Hard Work: Charles Davis Jr.

Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: Robert Ballou

Sam McGhee Motorsports Hard Luck Award: Hunter Maddox

Spire Motorsports 7th Place Feature Finisher: Mitchel Moles