6/19/2023
Bloomington Speedway
Ethan Barrow Wins "The Pup" Kevin Huntley Memorial Race With A Huge Field Of IMCA 305's At The Red Clay
The 2nd Annual Kevin "The Pup" Huntley Memorial Race would be a huge field with 44 IMCA 305 Racesavers from 6 different states. This would make the format 6 groups only taking 2 from the heats and 4 from 2 B mains. The qualifying started with the fast times of each group going to Jacob Gomola 11.508, Jeremy Kornbau 11.439, Jeff Wimmenauer 11.294, Justin Matthews 11.169, Jordan Welch 11. 142 and Nate Franklin 11. 217. We could tell early the red clay was going to be very fast as we were getting really close to a 10 second lap early in the night. The wheel spin for the heat races spun a 1 so these 6 fast times would also get the pole of their heats. Heat race 1 Jacob Gomola from Pennsylvania would lead every laps and hold on for the win over Carson Dillion who came from 3rd to get that important 2nd transfer position into the Huntley Memorial A main. Heat race 2 Jeremy Kornbau would also win it from the pole holding off the 41m of Dirk McGuyer who also made the A main. Heat race 3 Jeff Wimmenauer would win from the pole and hold off Ethan Barrow who also made the big show. Heat race 4 Justin Matthews with the big win over Rod Henning making the transfer spot also. Heat race 5 it was Jordan Welch winning over Andy Bradley getting that important 2nd spot. The final heat went to Nate Franklin who held off Ryan Tusing for the big win into the show. This setup 2 B mains and they were loaded with 305 talent and looked like normal features but we were only taking 4 cars out of each. The first B main would be a great battle up front with Keith Langley hanging on for the 12 lap win over Chris Miller, Kevin Newton and Logan Anderson getting that last spot in 4th after starting 6th. The final 4 spots in B main 2 would be the final chance to get into "The Pup's" Big race. John Paynter Jr. would take the big win over Roman Gephart from 5th, Bryce Norris and Bradley Galedrige from 6th getting the final spot into the A. The top 2 from each heat had a chance at the invert for the feature which meant we had 12 spots available on our number picker wheel that we spin on the computer. The wheel was spun and the 12 was the magic number which gave the 2nd place finisher in the 6th heat the pole which was Ryan Tusing so him and Andy Bradley would be the front row for the 35 lap 5 grand to win Kevin Huntley A main. The A main lineup had 16 drivers from Indiana in it with 2 from Pennsylvania and 2 from Ohio. This field was stacked with many multiple IMCA feature winners going at it in honor of Kevin Huntley. Early in the race Ryan Tusing and Andy Bradley had a great battle. Ryan would take the top spot and by lap 6 he was already seeing the back of the field and about to deal with trying to get through lapped traffic safely. Ethan Barrow had worked his way up from 4th and was battling with Andy Bradley for 2nd. Ryan Tusing was trying to get passed the first lapped car and they made contact which made Ryan slow a little and here came the 14 of Ethan Barrow to take the top spot away from Ryan. There were all kinds of battles back in the middle of the pack. By the halfway point the 2 hard chargers early were John Paynter Jr. who had came from 14th to 9th and Bradley Galedrige who had came from 20th to 15th already. Back up front Ethan Barrow was building his lead and was strong on the bottom and the top and was using the middle also to go around lapped cars. By lap 20 there were already 4 lapped cars. With just 1 lap to go there was a caution so it would be a 1 lap last chance for the cars behind Ethan to battle for the 5 grand. On the start Ethan hit is marks and got the huge win for the 14 team. Ethan Barrow was followed at the finish by Ryan Tusing, Andy Bradley, Nate Franklin and Jeremy Kornbau. This was an outstanding race and IMCA was doing their full tech after the race to check those 305 motors and cars. Thanks again for the 44 teams in attendance for putting on an amazing show highlighting just how close the competition is in IMCA 305 Racesaver class.
The Non Wing 410's had 21 entries for the night and the 3 fast times in their groups were Braxton Cummings 11.526, Harley Burns 11.656 and Brayden Fox 11.614. This setup the heat races with an invert of 1. Heat race 1 Braxton was able to win from the pole and he held off Dave Darland who came from 4th to 2nd, Alec Sipes, Gabriel Gilbert and Hunter Maddox. Heat race 2 Harley Burns was able to win from the pole and he held off Brandon Spencer, Geoff Ensign, Jordan Kinser and Matt Thompson. The final heat had Brady Short winning the heat race from 3rd and he held off Tye Mihocko, Trey Osborne, Brayden Fox and John Sluss. This setup the A main and the invert spin was a 2. This put Harley Burns on the pole and Braxton Cummings on the outside. This was going to be another wild 25 lap feature. Braxton and Harley would both put on an outstanding show and each would lead back and forth with Harley on the bottom and Braxton on the cushion. The red clay was in excellent condition because each driver had some very fast laps on the bottom and top side in the 11 second brackets even during their last race of the night. At the halfway point Tye Mihocko from 6th and Geoff Ensign from 8th had made their way up to battle for 3rd. Back up front the 16 and 71B were still hard at it back and forth. With just 3 to go they even made racing contact but kept going. Harley Burns would hit his marks on the bottom during the final 5 laps and he would get the big win over Braxton Cummings, Tye Mihocko, Geoff Ensign and Brady Short. Another great show and we thank all 21 entries that were in attendance.
The UMP Hornets had 8 cars for the Friday night action. The heat race was won by Alex Wilson who came from 3rd to take the win over Jeremy Shemwell, AJ Hobbs, Conner Garrison and Abby Stierwalt. This setup the feature and the invert was a 2 which put Jeremy and Alex on the front row. This was a good battle for sure amongst the front 2 in a 15 lap battle. Alex Wilson ran a strong race and took the early lead from Jeremy Shemwell. Behind them there was a good battle as Abby Stierwalt who started 5th was having a good battle with AJ Hobbs for 3rd. By the halfway point Alex Wilson was leading but Jeremy Shemwell was right there as a shadow right behind him. Alex Wilson hit his marks and didn't open the door for Jeremy Shemwell the final 5 laps so Alex took the win over Jeremy Shemwell, Abby Stierwalt, AJ Hobbs and Dale Hobbs. Another great fireworks show from Circle City Pyrotechnics also added to a great night at Bloomington Speedway. We would like to thank the Kevin Huntley family and all the great sponsors that helped with a huge purse for the 305 race. Thanks to all of the teams that came to Bloomington and put on an outstanding show. It was great to see 44 IMCA 305's from multiple states putting on a show that was very difficult to even make the A main. Thanks to all of the fans who came out to honor a great racer and person that we miss The Pup Kevin Huntley. See you next Friday at Bloomington Speedway for another great show.
Article Credit: Kenny Clark
Submitted By: Jill Spiker
Article Media
