Story By: RICHIE MURRAY / USAC – PUTNAMVILLE, IN – It’s the most Sprintacular time of the year!
The post-Independence Day boom takes us to not one, but two-straight USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship events on Friday-Saturday night, July 5-6, at Putnamville, Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway.
The 5/16-mile dirt oval they call The Capital of the Cushion is the playground for the 10th annual IndianaOpenWheel.com Bill Gardner Sprintacular, honoring the life and memory of Bill Gardner, who passed away in July of 2014.
Gardner was born and raised in Putnam County, Indiana, and practically grew up at Lincoln Park Speedway. Gardner co-owned a sign and graphics business, was a crewman for driver Brian Hayden and was the founder of www.indianaopenwheel.com.
The event culminates with a 30-lap, $5,000-to-win feature on Friday followed by a $10,000 winner’s share for Saturday’s 40-lap grand finale.
Seven past Sprintacular winners are expected to compete in this weekend’s event: Rocklin, California’s Robert Ballou (2015 & 2016); Cullman, Alabama’s Kevin Thomas Jr. (2017 & 2021); Ione, California’s Justin Grant (2018 & 2022); Princeton, Indiana’s Kyle Cummins (2019); Kansas, Illinois’ Shane Cottle (2020); Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon (2020 & 2023) and Greenfield, Indiana’s C.J. Leary (2021 & 2022).
Several more top star drivers will be vying for a first career Sprintacular victory, including USAC National Sprint Car point leader Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.), Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.), Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, Calif.) and Jake Swanson (Anaheim, Calif.), all of whom reside in the top-10 of the series standings.
With the Sprintacular reaching its 10th annual running, let’s rewind and take a look back over the first decade of the event dating back to the inaugural edition in 2015!
2015 SPRINTACULAR
Robert Ballou opened up the festivities in the Midwest Sprint Car Series portion of the event by capturing the victory in his own Ballou Motorsports No. 12, chalking up another win among his record-setting 2015 season. The following night, Jerry Coons, Jr. returned to right where he spent Independence Day the year before by parking it in victory lane, this time as the winner of the finale of the inaugural Bill Gardner Sprintacular. The former series champion’s 17th and most recent career series victory came in wire-to-wire fashion as he was flawless in the Edison Motorsports No. 10E.
2016 SPRINTACULAR
Lincoln Park Speedway continued to be very kind to Robert Ballou in the following year’s edition of the event as well. Ballou once again took his own team to USAC victory lane at the track, holding off a late charge by Chad Boespflug to take the second annual Bill Gardner Sprintacular, this time in the Ballou Motorsports No. 1, signifying his reign as the previous year’s USAC National Sprint Car champion. One night later, Thomas Meseraull, abord the Amati Racing No. 66, captured night two under the MSCS banner over Jeff Bland Jr. and Ballou.
2017 SPRINTACULAR
Kevin Thomas Jr. took his KT Motorsports No. 9K to the promised land during the MSCS portion of the event in 2017, fending off the challenges of Thomas Meseraull and Ryan Bernal to capture the victory during the third edition of the Bill Gardner Sprintacular. The USAC sanctioned evening scheduled for one night later was doused by rain, forcing cancellation of the event.
2018 SPRINTACULAR
The roots of Tyler Courtney’s association with Lincoln Park Speedway run deep. In fact, his grandparents, Mike and Verla Farrar, owned and operated the joint between 1981 and 1996. Courtney didn’t get to experience much of his family’s era at the helm since he was a little tyke at the time. But in 2018, he was able to experience what it was like to own victory lane at Lincoln Park, leading the final eight laps in his Clauson Marshall Newman Racing No. 7BC, and taking advantage of late-race misfortune that befell race leader Kevin Thomas. Jr., to win the 4th annual Bill Gardner Sprintacular.
Justin Grant followed up with his first score in the event at the wheel of the TOPP Motorsports No. 4 one night later, preventing Kevin Thomas Jr. from winning the event for the second year in a row.
2019 SPRINTACULAR
Kyle Cummins captured the Midwest Sprint Car Series victory in an abbreviated Bill Gardner Sprintacular weekend in 2019. Aboard his Rock Steady Racing No. 3R, Cummins defeated Shane Cottle, Jordan Kinser, Brady Short and Thomas Meseraull to pick up the one and only night of Sprintacular weekend in 2019. The next night’s USAC sanctioned show was canceled due to rain.
2020 SPRINTACULAR
It all started with a late-night phone call from Hodges Motorsports on Thursday night at 10:30pm asking Shane Cottle if his plans were open for Friday night. Just about 24 hours later, Cottle was celebrating in victory lane following the opening night of the Sprintacular. The last-minute deal in the No. 74x came together as the team’s original plan was to sit out the weekend and focus on upcoming events.
Meanwhile, Brady Bacon’s run of misfortune over his past three USAC National Sprint Car races had run the gamut, beginning with a crash not of his own doing one week prior, followed by repeated mag issues. The tide turned during Saturday’s Sprintacular finale as he stormed to the lead midway through the 30-lap feature after starting 8th. Soon after, that old notion of “if it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all” seemed to rear its ugly presence as his right rear tire began to deflate. However, the tire stayed intact until the checkered flag with the tire completely going down as he rolled into victory lane in his Dynamics, Inc. No. 69.
In a change from previous years, both nights of the event were co-sanctioned by both USAC and MSCS.
2021 SPRINTACULAR
Twenty-four hours after winning a USAC National Sprint Car feature up the road at Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway, C.J. Leary traveled south to Lincoln Park Speedway where he tracked down Jake Swanson and slid by for the lead just three laps from the finish to earn his second win in as many nights, this one after starting 11th in the field, during the Sprintacular opener aboard his Michael Motorsports No. 77m.
On the two prior occasions in 2021 in which Kevin Thomas Jr. began his feature race from the back half of the field, the final result was about as satisfying as a room temperature soda on a hot summer day. However, after starting 14th in the field on night two of the Sprintacular, KTJ and his KT Motorsports No. 9K rapidly ascended through the field, securing the lead just six laps from the finish of the 40-lap event to take the win from deep in the seventh row.
2022 SPRINTACULAR
For the second consecutive year, C.J. Leary refused to stand pat in the Sprintacular opener. Following a mid-race caution, he made an in-car adjustment and a race-changing under the helmet adjustment, ultimately deciding on a new plan of attack which took him from the bottom of the 5/16-mile dirt oval to the top where he darted straight to the high line and glided around Kevin Thomas Jr. and Robert Ballou within a lap, which made all the difference and set Leary forth to his second consecutive Sprintacular opener victory in his Michael Motorsports No. 77m. The 58 cars on hand were the most for a USAC National Sprint Car event in nearly 14 years!
Justin Grant wasn’t asking for much during Saturday night’s Sprintacular finale. Twenty-four hours earlier, Grant had qualified fantastically, but his feature result of eighth hadn’t come close to fulfilling his wishes, dreams and desires. After qualifying a personally unsatisfying 16th on Saturday night, all the Ione, Calif. racer sought was a complete reversal of his fortunes from the night before. Mired back in eighth for the start, Grant marched his way forward to the point on the 17th lap as he whistled past Kyle Cummins on the inside of turn three to assume the lead and carried onward to a $10,000 victory in his TOPP Motorsports No. 4.
2023 SPRINTACULAR
Only a select few individuals have been fortunate enough to win a USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature event in their career. Just two previous drivers had accomplished the feat Brady Bacon achieved on a rare Monday night affair: Tom Bigelow and Dave Darland.
It was a race that seemingly didn’t want to happen, at least initially. The first three attempts at putting the Sprintacular into the books were interrupted by a power outage on Friday due to storms on Thursday, followed by more weather-plaguing issues on Saturday and Sunday. Ultimately, the one to seemingly put an end to the event just as soon as it finally got going on Monday was the Macho Man himself, Brady Bacon, ultimately making the fourth day the charm.
On this night, Bacon earned his 50th career USAC National Sprint Car feature victory, leading the entire 40-lap distance from the pole. Tom Bigelow was the first to reach win number 50 at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway in 1980. Prior to Bacon, Dave Darland was the most recent to hit 50 at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in 2014.
RACE DETAILS
The 10th annual IndianaOpenWheel.com Bill Gardner Sprintacular awaits this weekend, Friday-Saturday, July 5-6 at Putnamville, Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway.
On Friday, the program consists of the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, plus 305 RaceSaver Sprint Cars and Modifieds. Pits open at 4pm Eastern with the front gates opening at 5pm, the drivers meeting at 5:15 and cars on track at 6:15pm. General admission tickets are $35, kids 10 and under are free. Pit passes are $45 with kids 10 and under free.
On Saturday, the program consists of the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, plus Street Stocks and Bombers. Pits open at 3pm Eastern with the front gates opening at 5pm, the drivers meeting at 5:15 and cars on track at 6:15pm. General admission tickets are $35, kids 10 and under are free. Pit passes are $45 with kids 10 and under free.