[Bloomington Speedway]

A.J. Hopkins Finds Redemption and Andy Bradley Celebrates a Hometown Win at Bloomington Speedway

August 18, 2017, Bloomington, Indiana -- On a night when Bloomington Speedway paid tribute to one of the longest tenured racing families in the Midwest, a trio of young hot shoes scored milestone victories in their racing careers. With the Leon Gentry Classic saluting several generations of the Gentry racing family, A.J. Hopkins captured the non-wing sprint car feature, Andy Bradley was victorious in the RaceSaver 305 sprints, Jacoby Hines claimed the modified main event, and Jason Setser won the UMRA TQ midget finale.

It was just a couple of weeks ago that Hopkins rode a violent tumble over the first turn banking and through the reinforced catch fence, landing on huge cement blocks that prevented his car from continuing into the parking lot. Although he walked away from the wreck, he was well shaken and his car was seriously damaged. “This was redemption,” he said after his first victory at the fast Bloomington oval. “I had to get back to the scene of the crime, it was real good to get a win here.”

Starting from the pole, Hopkins watched Tyler Thomas jump to a quick lead, and then open nearly a half-lap advantage, as Hopkins battled Chase Stockon and Jeff Bland Jr. for second. Setting a blinding pace, Thomas slipped over the top of the berm in turn four on the tenth circuit, spinning and bringing out a caution. Bland led the restart in the bottom groove, while Hopkins immediately challenged on the outside. Hopkins powered into the lead on lap 11, opening a half-straightaway gap as Kyle Cummins battled Bland for second. Kevin Thomas Jr. raced from tenth to third, before a multi-car pileup, brought out a red flag on lap 24.

Hopkins maintained his lead on the restart, finishing a dozen car-lengths ahead of Cummins, Thomas, Bland and Logan Seavey. “I was leery about getting up and pounding the cushion right off the bat,” Hopkins explained. “But we were able to capitalize on a bad qualifying run to start on the pole and rebound from a bad situation.”

For Bradley and car-owner Erica Tate, scoring their first RaceSaver win at Bloomington was important. “We got two in a row,” Bradley said, referring to his recent victory at North Vernon, Indiana, “but it’s nothing like winning at home. There is no feeling that replaces. Daryl (Tate) had the car tuned perfectly. Early on I was able to do anything I wanted in it.”

The red flag stopped the RaceSaver 305 main event before the first lap was completed when Alex Nalon hopped the top of turn four and flipped. When the race took the green the second time, Terry Arthur led Tom Busch and Matt Lux. After starting seventh, Bradley hustled to second on a lap 4 restart, and raced around Arthur in turn three for the lead on the next lap. He quickly opened a 10 car-length advantage, which he maintained as he sliced past slower, lapped cars. At the finish, he was a half-straightaway ahead of Ryan Tusing, who had started 12th, Arthur, Ethan Barrow and John Paynter Jr.

In other action, Jacoby Hines won the modified feature from the pole, trailed by Bradley Sterrett, Roy Bruce, Devin Gilpin and Chad Combs. Jason Setser took the UMRA TQ midget event to close out the evening’s action.

The next event at Bloomington Speedway will be the JB Robinson Memorial on Friday, August 25th, featuring the 2017 Independence Day Fireworks. In addition to the super stocks, modifieds, hornets and pure stock classes, it will be the Back-to-School Kids Bicycle Race night.
Results, August 18, 2017
Leon Gentry Classic

Fastenal Non-wing 410 Sprint Cars
1. A.J. Hopkins, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 4. Jeff Bland Jr., 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Jarett Andretti, 7. Brady Short, 8. Matt Westfall, 9. Tyler Thomas, 10. Braxton Cummings, 11. Jordan Kinser, 12. Ethan Barrow, 13. Tim Creech II, 14. Lee Underwood, 15. Chase Stockon, 16. Robert Ballou, 17. Aaron Farney, 18. Aric Gentry, 19. Matt McDonald, 20. Nick Bilbee, 21. Jon Stanbrough

RaceSaver 305 Sprint Cars
1. Andy Bradley, 2. Ryan Tusing, 3. Terry Arthur, 4. Ethan Barrow, 5. John Paynter Jr., 6. Alfred Galedrige Jr., 7. Jared Fox, 8. Jeff Winnenauer, 9. Jeff Bland Jr., 10. Matt Lux, 11. Brady Short, 12. Tom Busch, 13. Brinton Marvel, 14. Chris Babcock, 15. Eric Perrott, 16. Bob Shutt, 17. Kerry Kinser, 18. Kevin Champoux, 19. Alex Nalon, 20. A.J. Carlson

AMS Modifieds
1. Jacoby Hines, 2. Bradley Sterrett, 3. Roy Bruce, 4. Devin Gilpin, 5. Chad Combs, 6. Jeff Deckard, 7. Matt Tiller, 8. Kenny Carmichael, 9. Josh Eads, 10. Caleb DeMoss, 11. Boomer Houk, 12. Jordan Wever, 13. Travis Howe

UMRA TQ Midgets
1. Jason Setser, 2. Anthony Lawrence, 3. Callie Wolsiffer, 4. Robbie Roland, 5. Ron Combs, 6. Matthew Hedrick, 7. Aaron Percell, 8. Eric Dover, 9. Stephen Arnold, 10. Billy Winseman, 11. Bobby DeWitt, 12. Stephen Davis, 13. Ashlea Albertson, 14. Kris Brown, 15. Rick Robinson, 16. Cody Johnson, 17. Jason Goff, 18. Brent Watson