Information By: RICHIE MURRAY / USAC – OCALA, FL – Brady Bacon was victorious at Bubba Raceway Park Thursday night.
Bacon won night one of 2023 #WinterDirtGames for the USAC National Sprint Car Series!
Bacon surpassed Jack Hewitt for third-place on the all-time career USAC National Sprint Car win list. He now stands at 47 with Hewitt at 46.
Emerson Axsom led a race-high 13 laps during the feature and came home with a second place finish. He nearly became the first driver to collect opening season wins in back-to-back years (Damion Gardner in 2011-12).
For the second straight race this week, C.J. Leary finished his feature run in the third position. The 2019 USAC National Sprint Car champ led the opening nine laps to start off the season.
A tumultuous start to Robert Ballou’s night turned all right. Ballou went to a backup car after hot laps, then drove from 22nd to 10th in the feature. That earned him the Irvin King Hard Charger & ProSource Hard Work honors for the evening.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: February 16, 2023 – Bubba Raceway Park – Ocala, Florida – Winter Dirt Games XIV – 3/8-Mile Dirt Track
QUALIFYING: 1. Jason McDougal, 5m, KO-13.791; 2. Jake Swanson, 21AZ, Team AZ-13.842; 3. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-13.924; 4. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-13.955; 5. Thomas Meseraull, 20, Dyson-14.004; 6. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-14.052; 7. Kevin Thomas Jr., 17GP, Dutcher-14.067; 8. Emerson Axsom, 47BC, Clauson Marshall-14.081; 9. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-14.094; 10. Logan Seavey, 2B, 2B Racing-14.097; 11. Daison Pursley, 5p, KO-14.132; 12. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-14.149; 13. Tom Harris, 84, Harris-14.179; 14. Jadon Rogers, 5, Baldwin/Fox-14.257; 15. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-14.309; 16. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-14.383; 17. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-14.467; 18. Brady Short, 61m, Edwards-14.478; 19. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-14.673; 20. Cameron Smith, 96, Kauffman-14.674; 21. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-14.761; 22. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.836; 23. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 51T, Tafoya-14.903; 24. Steve Irwin, 0, Flying Zero-14.977; 25. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-15.102; 26. Kevin Newton, 16TH, Benic-15.203; 27. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-15.852; 28. Eddie Vancil, 7v, Vancil-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Mitchel Moles, 2. Logan Seavey, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Tom Harris, 5. Robert Ballou, 6. Kevin Thomas Jr., 7. Brandon Mattox, 8. Hunter Maddox, 9. Jason McDougal. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Jadon Rogers, 2. Chase Stockon, 3. Emerson Axsom, 4. Jake Swanson, 5. Thomas Meseraull, 6. Daison Pursley, 7. Cameron Smith, 8. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 9. Kevin Newton. 1:57.78
ROD END SUPPLY / T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Brady Short, 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Carson Garrett, 6. Kyle Cummins, 7. Joey Amantea, 8. Brian Ruhlman, 9. Steve Irwin. 1:56.76
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-7 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Joey Amantea, 5. Brandon Mattox, 6. Hunter Maddox, 7. Steve Irwin, 8. Eddie Tafoya Jr., 9. Kevin Newton, 10. Brian Ruhlman, 11. Cameron Smith, 12. Jason McDougal. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brady Bacon (4), 2. Emerson Axsom (2), 3. C.J. Leary (1), 4. Justin Grant (5), 5. Kyle Cummins (10), 6. Thomas Meseraull (3), 7. Matt Westfall (8), 8. Logan Seavey (12), 9. Chase Stockon (16), 10. Robert Ballou (22), 11. Carson Garrett (14), 12. Mitchel Moles (9), 13. Jake Swanson (6), 14. Kevin Thomas Jr. (11), 15. Daison Pursley (13), 16. Brady Short (17), 17. Joey Amantea (19), 18. Brandon Mattox (20), 19. Hunter Maddox (18), 20. Tom Harris (15), 21. Steve Irwin (21), 22. Jadon Rogers (7). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 C.J. Leary, Laps 10-22 Emerson Axsom, Laps 23-30 Brady Bacon.
**Eddie Vancil flipped during qualifying.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Brady Bacon-79, 2-Emerson Axsom-73, 3-C.J. Leary-70, 4-Justin Grant-70, 5-Kyle Cummins-62, 6-Thomas Meseraull-61, 7-Matt Westfall-60, 8-Logan Seavey-56, 9-Chase Stockon-53, 10-Robert Ballou-47.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Robert Ballou-12, 2-Chase Stockon-7, 3-Kyle Cummins-5, 4-Logan Seavey-4, 5-Brady Bacon-3, 6-Carson Garrett-3, 7-Joey Amantea-2, 8-Brandon Mattox-2, 9-Justin Grant-1, 10-Matt Westfall-1.
HUGHES RACING / INDIANA MAFIA / FLAMINGO SANDY WINTER DIRT GAMES XIII SPRINT CAR PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Robert Ballou-16, 2-Chase Stockon-7, 3-Brady Bacon-5, 4-Kyle Cummins-5, 5-Logan Seavey-5, 6-Brandon Mattox-5, 7-Joey Amantea-4, 8-Justin Grant-3, 9-Carson Garrett-3, 10-Matt Westfall-2.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: February 17-18, 2023 – Bubba Raceway Park – Ocala, Florida – Winter Dirt Games XIV – 3/8-Mile Dirt Track
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Kyle Cummins (14.227)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Mitchel Moles
Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner: Jadon Rogers
Rod End Supply Third Heat Winner: Matt Westfall
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.
ProSource Hard Work Award: Robert Ballou
Irvin King Hard Charger: Robert Ballou (22nd to 10th)
