Sprint week review

kb78 · 8/5/25, 4:27 PM

Man, What a great sprint week!!

So far this season has been dominated by Cummins and Grant, mostly Cummins. Fast every race and always up front, easily the two biggest winners of the year and who would have thought that they would go all week and have one win between them? I'm not rooting against either of them but I believe it's a good thing for USAC.

The week starts at IMS and I believe that this race was better than anyone thought it would be, folks thought that there would not be much passing and a lot of crashes, but not many crashes and JG comes from 5th to win, Seavey from 8th to second and Drake 13th to 5th.

The next night is Lincoln Park and Ballou wins for the first time in well over a year in a dominating performance, great story.

Night number three is Lawrenceburg where Seavey wins but there was a great battle between Ballou and Bacon for the lead and when they got to lapped traffic and Seavey and Grant came on the scene it was shaping up to be a race of the year candidate. Ballou's crash changed the whole race, he goes to the back and on the restart Grant jumps the cushion in front of the field ending his sprintweek with a broken foot. Seavey was not challanged after that. Logan had struggled through the year but seamed to be fast every night of the week.

Night 4 was the rain date for Kokomo and what a race and finish by Briggs Danner! We constantly see flashes of brilliance from this young man and instead of a flash we seen at least a steady glow for the week. Starting sixth he went back at the beginning of the race but was on the cushion and coming fast at the end!! Last corner pass of Ballou for the win!

Night 5 we see C.J. Leary start on the front row and stay there for the first win in 66 races! Definitely not having the year that he wanted, but like Ballou, this guy is a former National Champion and he hasn't forgotten how to drive. Cottle comes from 22nd to 4th and he didn't have to drive below the tires or call anybody names to do it.

Night 6 is Chase Stocken at THAT after a torrid battle with Ballou, his first win in several years and any race at Terre Haute is special.

Night 7 Seavey wins again at Bloomington, the only repeat winner of the week.

Night 8 sees KTJ get it done a Haubstadt, he was staedy all week in the top 5, not ever the fastest car on the track but when you run up front that much you are bound to win some. On this particular night he seemed to be the best during the feature.

We got some sound bites from Ballou, but every time he opens his mouth it seems within a couple nights he sticks his foot in it. It was great seeing some of these guys that have struggled get up front and some of these young kids have flashes.

yeleyfan76 · 8/8/25, 7:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kb78

Man, What a great sprint week!!

So far this season has been dominated by Cummins and Grant, mostly Cummins. Fast every race and always up front, easily the two biggest winners of the year and who would have thought that they would go all week and have one win between them? I'm not rooting against either of them but I believe it's a good thing for USAC.

The week starts at IMS and I believe that this race was better than anyone thought it would be, folks thought that there would not be much passing and a lot of crashes, but not many crashes and JG comes from 5th to win, Seavey from 8th to second and Drake 13th to 5th.

The next night is Lincoln Park and Ballou wins for the first time in well over a year in a dominating performance, great story.

Night number three is Lawrenceburg where Seavey wins but there was a great battle between Ballou and Bacon for the lead and when they got to lapped traffic and Seavey and Grant came on the scene it was shaping up to be a race of the year candidate. Ballou's crash changed the whole race, he goes to the back and on the restart Grant jumps the cushion in front of the field ending his sprintweek with a broken foot. Seavey was not challanged after that. Logan had struggled through the year but seamed to be fast every night of the week.

Night 4 was the rain date for Kokomo and what a race and finish by Briggs Danner! We constantly see flashes of brilliance from this young man and instead of a flash we seen at least a steady glow for the week. Starting sixth he went back at the beginning of the race but was on the cushion and coming fast at the end!! Last corner pass of Ballou for the win!

Night 5 we see C.J. Leary start on the front row and stay there for the first win in 66 races! Definitely not having the year that he wanted, but like Ballou, this guy is a former National Champion and he hasn't forgotten how to drive. Cottle comes from 22nd to 4th and he didn't have to drive below the tires or call anybody names to do it.

Night 6 is Chase Stocken at THAT after a torrid battle with Ballou, his first win in several years and any race at Terre Haute is special.

Night 7 Seavey wins again at Bloomington, the only repeat winner of the week.

Night 8 sees KTJ get it done a Haubstadt, he was staedy all week in the top 5, not ever the fastest car on the track but when you run up front that much you are bound to win some. On this particular night he seemed to be the best during the feature.

We got some sound bites from Ballou, but every time he opens his mouth it seems within a couple nights he sticks his foot in it. It was great seeing some of these guys that have struggled get up front and some of these young kids have flashes.

Nice re-cap. You liked the racing and don’t like Ballou. You could have kept it that simple. Ballou’s crash at Lawrenceburg affected nobody but him. Grants inability to restart correctly took himself out along with Moles,Cummins, and Leary. They interview almost everybody all week long, yet you comment about Ballou’s remarks. That tells me every other interview is mundane and boring or you really have a hot nut for Robert. I hope the racing moving forward is as good for you and maybe when Robert speaks you should not listen or turn down the volume.

kb78 · 8/11/25, 7:29 AM

Your right, I could have made this post much simpler or just do what everyone else is doing and not post at all. I guess I was trying to give the members of this board a chance to have a discussion without just complaining about whatever, but I failed, and for that I am not sorry that I took the time, but I do appreciate your response.

Your also right that I think Robert Ballou is very exiting to watch as he is one of those guys that is on kill all the time, and I don't root against that. But as soon as they stick the mic in his face the magic is gone, unless you are into stock car type drama. He did seem genuinely happy for Stocken and Moose racing at THAT and he is usually emotional and thankful for his family /help so that is good.

Perhaps I should have hit on how happy most of these drivers were to be in victory lane again but the truth of the matter is that I type very slowly and I just didn't have the time.

flagboy55 · 8/11/25, 3:33 PM

I don’t discriminate against Robert, I don’t listen to many interviews anymore. I pretty much like all the guys and I don’t want to hear them say anything that might make me think less of them.
I do appreciate your thread. In fact I wrote a similar post but got sidetracked and never posted it. So thank you. I thought the week was outstanding, with the race at Terre Haute being the cherry on top of the sundae. You are also correct that any race there is special, but ones like this one unfortunately aren’t as common as we might like. I’m happy to be wrong about Indy. I was a naysayer, but was pleasantly surprised. In the end, the only race I was disappointed with was Bloomington. When you see black on the track in qualifying, someone didn’t do their job in the track prep department. That said I’ve seen worse too. Salute to everyone involved in ISW25, it was fun to watch