LAWRENCEBURG USAC SPRINTS CANCELED, OWEN SUCCUMBS TO INJURIES

By: Richie Murray – USAC Media

Lawrenceburg, Indiana (April 8, 2023)………Saturday night’s USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship event at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway was canceled following an incident involving Harrison, Ohio’s Justin Owen after his car made contact with the outside wall and flipped multiple times in turn three.

Owen, a competitor in the sprint car ranks for more than a decade, succumbed to injuries sustained during the incident.  The 2022 sprint car track champion at Lawrenceburg Speedway was 26 years old.

Owen’s death is the first in USAC National Sprint Car racing since Don Townsend in a 2005 practice crash at Ohio’s Mansfield Motorsports Park.  Owen’s incident was the first fatal accident with the USAC National Sprint Car division on dirt since Jeff Thickstun at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in 1984.

Twenty-nine cars were entered for the event with Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, Calif.) posting the fastest lap during Dirt Draft Hot Laps with a time of 13.792 seconds around the 3/8-mile dirt oval.  Owen was second quickest in the field.

Four drivers posted an official qualifying time during the event with Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) the fastest at 13.821 followed by Owen at 14.110, Zach Lamb (Aurora, Ind.) at 14.616 and Keith Sheffer II (Jerome, Mich.) at 15.146.

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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: April 8, 2023 – Lawrenceburg Speedway – Lawrenceburg, Indiana – 3/8-Mile Dirt Track

(29 cars & drivers) Logan Seavey (#2B 2B Racing), Thomas Meseraull (#2E Epperson), Kyle Cummins (#3R Rock Steady), Justin Grant (#4 TOPP), Justin Owen (#4J Fischesser-Owen), Jadon Rogers (#5 Baldwin-Fox), Jason McDougal (#5m KO), Daison Pursley (#5p KO), Chase Stockon (#5s KO), Robert Ballou (#12 Ballou), Nathan Carle (#14c Carle), Carson Garrett (#15 BGE Dougherty), C.J. Leary (#15x BGE Dougherty), Nick Bilbee (#17 Bilbee), Geoff Ensign (#17G On The Gass), Kevin Thomas Jr. (#17GP Dutcher), Mitchel Moles (#19AZ Reinbold-Underwood), Tayte Williamson (#20 Williamson), Jake Swanson (#21AZ Team AZ), Ryan Barr (#21B Barr), Brandon Mattox (#28 Mattox), Matt Westfall (#33m Marshall), Sterling Cling (#34 Cling), Joss Moffatt (#37 Felker), Emerson Axsom (#47BC Clauson Marshall), Brady Bacon (#69 Dynamics), Zach Lamb (#73 Lamb), Devan Myers (#75 Myers), Keith Sheffer II (#86 Sheffer).

REMAINDER OF PROGRAM CANCELED AFTER QUALIFYING CRASH

**Justin Owen was fatally injured during qualifying.

USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-162, 2-C.J. Leary-152, 3-Justin Grant-150, 4-Kyle Cummins-149, 5-Emerson Axsom-146, 6-Matt Westfall-126, 7-Chase Stockon-126, 8-Logan Seavey-113, 9-Thomas Meseraull-112, 10-Mitchel Moles-104.

NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: April 14, 2023 – Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, Indiana – 1/4-Mile Dirt Track – Larry Rice Classic

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:

Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Mitchel Moles (13.792)