Story By: RICHIE MURRAY / USAC – LAWRENCEBURG, IN – As if the Fall Nationals could get any better!
The event has doubled in size for 2024 to host not one, but two-straight nights of USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship racing this Friday-Saturday, October 11-12, at southeastern Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway.
To say much is on the line this weekend would certainly be an understatement.
Not only has the USAC National Sprint Car title race hit the final four-race stretch of the season, drivers and teams will also be chasing after a grand prize of $20,000 during Saturday night’s 30-lap grand culmination.
Furthermore, Brady Bacon leads a trail of hopefuls aiming to claim a $10,000 bonus in the finale of the 10-race Bubby Jones Master of Goin’ Faster series presented by Spire Sports + Entertainment.
Additionally, Robert Ballou is staring in the face of a $10,000 bonus of his own if he can finish Saturday’s round with a podium finish to complete the NOS Energy Drink Hoosier Trifecta for 2024.
Time has come today. Can’t put it off another day. So, in the meantime, here’s six Fall Nationals storylines to watch for this weekend at the battleground of The Burg.
FALL NATTY HEROES
No less than six past Fall Nationals winners are expected to compete in this weekend’s event. Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) has captured the event twice, first in 2018 and did so again for the second time in the most recent edition in 2023.
Robert Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) scored the first two Fall Nationals wins in 2007 and 2008. One-time Fall Nationals winners in the field include Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, Ind.) who claimed his very first career USAC victory in the 2012 event as well as Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon (2020) and Princeton, Indiana’s Kyle Cummins (2022).
Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) is the winningest driver in Fall Nationals history, having won the event a staggering three times in 2017-2019-2021.
On the flip side are those who’ve won USAC National Sprint Car races at Lawrenceburg but are still vying for a first career Fall Nationals win this Saturday. Among them are C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) who has won a pair of USAC National Sprint Car races at The Burg in 2017 and 2020 and was also a track champion in 2013. Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) is another won, having won twice at Lawrenceburg with the USAC Sprint Cars in 2021, and most recently, in July of 2024. His prowess at Lawrenceburg extends to feature victories in both USAC National Sprint Car and National Midgets.
SPEAKING OF KTJ
Kevin Thomas Jr. has routinely displayed his mastery of Lawrenceburg Speedway in USAC National Sprint Car competition over the years.
His three Fall Nationals triumphs are an all-time record, and furthermore, he now stands just one win away this weekend from equaling the great Dave Darland as the winningest driver in USAC National Sprint Car history at Lawrenceburg Speedway. Darland owns seven of them while Thomas picked up his most recent this past April.
Both the driver and his Rock Steady Racing team have previously won the Fall Nationals (2022 with Kyle Cummins), and they’ve been solid of late, finishing inside the top-two in three of their past four USAC starts.
PURSUING A “MASTERS” DEGREE
A Bubby Jones Master of Goin’ Faster Series Presented By Spire Sports + Entertainment champion will be crowned on Saturday night.
The finale of the 10-race series within a series arrives this weekend at Lawrenceburg with 2022 Master of Going Faster titlist Brady Bacon standing atop the points by a mere six-point margin over Kevin Thomas Jr. At stake is a $10,000 bonus for the champion driver plus a $2500 bonus to the crew chief champion.
With a maximum of 84 points up for grabs on race night (6 for the fast qualifier, 8 for each heat race winner & 70 for the feature winner), technically, seven drivers remain eligible to take home the top prize this Saturday with Daison Pursley (-27) in third followed by C.J. Leary (-29), Logan Seavey (-33), Kyle Cummins (-57) and Mitchel Moles (-81).
Winners of the Bubby Jones races thus far in 2024 include two-time winners Logan Seavey (Volusia & Terre Haute), Daison Pursley (Knoxville & Eldora), Kevin Thomas Jr. (Williams Grove & Tri-State) and one-timers Justin Grant (Eldora), Brady Bacon (Port Royal) and Kyle Cummins (Kokomo).
TRIPLE CROWN WATCH FOR SEAVEY
Logan Seavey has four races left to set a USAC National Sprint Car record and also to become just the eighth USAC career Triple Crown champion.
Seavey’s torrid pace throughout the spring and summer months placed him at 13 career USAC National Sprint Car wins, putting him one victory shy of Tom Bigelow’s single season record set in 1977. While Seavey has remained consistently within the top-five, his pursuit continues as he’s gone winless in his past 10 series starts.
Things are looking up for Seavey entering Lawrenceburg. He was victorious in his most recent USAC Silver Crown start at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track last Sunday. Furthermore, his most recent visit to Lawrenceburg with the USAC National Sprint Cars in July also resulted in a win.
Seavey’s 86-point lead in the series championship race has held steady since February, and a victory (or two) at Lawrenceburg this weekend would go to further cement his championship ideals and place him squarely in the record books in multiple manners.
BALLOU TRYIN’ FOR A TRIFECTA
Robert Ballou will enter this Saturday’s race at Lawrenceburg as the only driver in contention to collect a $10,000 payday for the NOS Energy Drink Trifecta.
Ballou (Rocklin, Calif.) finished third during July’s USAC Indiana Sprint Week round at Kokomo Speedway, then took second during September’s Haubstadt Hustler at Tri-State Speedway to put him in prime position. A third-place result or better in the Trifecta finale at Lawrenceburg on Saturday would earn him a $10,000 bonus.
The 2015 USAC National Sprint Car champion would love to accomplish the feat in style, however, by winning the whole deal. Ballou scored wins in the first two editions of the Fall Nationals back in 2007 and 2008 when the event was sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Car Series. His most recent USAC victory at Lawrenceburg was notched during Indiana Sprint Week in 2011.
One year ago at the Fall Nationals, Ballou led the initial eight laps and finished as the runner-up.
DOG DAY AFTERNOON (AND NIGHT)
This Friday will definitely be a “Dog Day” at The Burg.
The inaugural Greg Staab Memorial honors the life and memory of the five-time Lawrenceburg Speedway sprint car track champion in 1982-1983-1984-1985-1987.
Nicknamed “Dog,” Staab was a longtime USAC driver and car owner who also served as the promoter of Lawrenceburg Speedway and was later a USAC National Sprint Car Competition Director.
As part of the event, the winner’s share will be $6,444, in recognition of the familiar No. 44 that he campaigned for several years on USAC’s Midget and Sprint Car trails as well as on the local Indiana/Ohio sprint car scene.
Staab scored one USAC National Sprint Car victory in his career, a memorable feat in 1988 on the pavement of Indianapolis Raceway Park that was shown live on ESPN. Staab passed away in 2017 at the age of 68.
RACE DETAILS
On Friday night, October 11, it’s the inaugural Greg Staab Memorial featuring the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, plus Pure Stocks and Hornets. Pits open at 3pm Eastern, grandstands open at 5pm, drivers meeting at 5:30pm and hot laps at 6:30pm with qualifying and racing immediately following. Advance tickets are on sale now at https://www.myracepass.com/tracks/1889/tickets. General admission tickets are $25 for ages 13 & up. General admission tickets for kids age 7-12 are $5. General admission tickets for kids age 6 & under are free. Pit passes are $40 for ages 11 & up. Pit passes for ages 10 & under are $15. Backstretch/pit parking is $15.
On Saturday night, October 12, the 17th running of the Fall Nationals features the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, plus Modifieds. Pits open at 2pm Eastern, grandstands open at 4pm, drivers meeting at 5:15pm and hot laps at 6pm with qualifying and racing immediately following. Advance tickets are on sale now at https://www.myracepass.com/tracks/1889/tickets. General admission tickets are $35 for ages 13 & up. General admission tickets for kids age 7-12 are $5. General admission tickets for kids age 6 & under are free. Pit passes are $45 for ages 11 & up. Pit passes for ages 10 & under are $15. Backstretch/pit parking is $15.