4/11/2025
Hoosier Sprints
Jack Thomas wins a thriller at Lincoln Park Speedway
It was a chilly night at Lincoln Park Speedway as we opened the 2025 racing season with the Huntley Hoosier Wing Sprint Series. There were 19 cars at sign in and ready to do battle. Qualifying was led by Jack Thomas, Ryan Tusing and Ethan Barrow. The first heat race was won by the 19B of Bradley Galedrige from the 3rd starting position. The 67B of Dillan Baldwin ran 2nd and the 3M of Tres Mehler ran 3rd. The second heat race was one that saw a tight battle up front before disaster struck for the two cars battling for the lead. Between turns 1 and 2 the leader Jordan Welch in his 23J machine hit a rut and broke his front end. Almost simultaneously the 3C of Ryan Tusing hooked a rut and cartwheeled up the track. Both drivers were ok and able to start the feature. Heat 2 finished with the 23F of Dakota Jackson taking the win, followed by the 11R of Blayne Ridgley and the 23T of Ashton Thompson taking 3rd. The final heat race of the night saw defending 2024 series champion Ethan Barrow take the win, followed by Kayla Martin in the 11M and Keith Langley in the 26 machine.
The feature event saw Unionville, Indiana driver Ethan Barrow jump out to the early lead. A couple of early cautions included the slowing of the 3C of Ryan Tusing who previously had flipped in his heat race, and a spin from the 64S of Blake Sholders. The lone red flag of the race came when Tres Mehler flipped his 3M machine on the bottom of the track in between turns 3 and 4. While Ethan Barrow ripped the top of the track and picked off lapped cars there was a war being waged behind him. The 63 of Jack Thomas from Bates City, Missouri and the 23J of Jordan Welch were blazing through the field trying to catch the leader. The 63 of Jack Thomas was penalized 2 spots after a late race caution for jumping a spot earlier on a restart, but it would not deter him from quickly getting back to 2nd place with his eye on Barrow. In what could be described as a Heavy-Weight fight the 14 and 63 threw haymakers at each other in the closing laps. Multiple passes for the lead occurred before the young Jack Thomas would prevail and take the feature win presented by the Brawley Group. Ethan Barrow would finish second with the 23J of Jordan Welch finishing third. Not many times do you see a driver go from 17th starting position to finish 3rd like the 23J of Jordan Welch did and not win the hard charger award. The 63 of Jack Thomas would take the honor of the Bridlewood Consulting Hard Charger with his 16th to 1st effort.
A special thanks goes out to Rusty and Lori Nunn and Heather Spencer for their hard work and making the opening night of the 2025 season run smoothly. The Hoosier Huntley Winged Sprint Series will be back in action next Saturday the 19th of April at Paragon Speedway in Paragon, Indiana.
Article Credit: Kenny Clark