Bloomington Speedway is a gem in auto racing, from the red clay on the high banks to the lush green grass that lies on the hillside.

That’s just what your eyes see before the cars even hit the track. 

Once the green flies, it presents a tantalizing experience (and a racing tradition) unlike any other.

This Friday night, the southern Indiana 1/4-mile dirt oval is where the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship will roam during the running of the Larry Rice Classic, honoring the late, great, three-time USAC National driving champion and racing broadcaster.

Here are six storylines to keep on your mind entering Friday’s event.

First Things First

Kevin Thomas Jr. captured a victory in the most recent spring USAC race at Bloomington in 2021. 

No driver has repeated in the springtime at the track since Bryan Clauson in 2015-2016. 

Interestingly enough, KTJ’s 2021 battle for the win saw him go toe-to-toe with Brady Bacon, the most recent spring winner at Bloomington prior to Thomas (2019).

In fact, in a reversal of roles, in 2019, Bacon was the spring victor at Bloomington, while Thomas finished second. In 2021, Thomas’ near race-long lead ended with five laps remaining, as Bacon slipped by for the top spot. Then, with three laps to go, Thomas caught his second wind and fought past Bacon to win his fourth series race at Bloomington.

Bacon and Thomas both will be on the hunt to write the next chapter of victory in their ever-so-frequent Bloomington duels. 

Bacon has finished second, first and second in his three most recent Bloomington USAC Sprint starts, while Thomas needs only one more victory to equal Clauson as the winningest USAC Sprint Car driver at the track with five victories.

Unfinished Business

Last season’s spring Bloomington round was rudely interrupted by Mother Nature just before the start of the feature. Several drivers who had positioned themselves near the forefront of major Bloomington success had the slate wiped clean with a heavy bit of moisture falling from the sky.

Jake Swanson (Anaheim, California) is among those drivers. He snagged fast-qualifying honors and was pegged to start seventh in the feature. 

The pole position was going to be occupied by Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, Oklahoma), who was seeking to avenge his last lap heartbreak of Indiana Sprint Week 2019 at Bloomington, when he was passed for the lead by Thomas on the final lap. McDougal, nonetheless, did come back to finish a strong fifth there last summer.

USAC National champions Robert Ballou (Rocklin, California) and Logan Seavey (Sutter, California) were in position to start from the second row, and neither of them have claimed a main-event win with USAC at Bloomington. 

This Friday may settle that score once and for all.

Speaking of unfinished business, Carson Garrett (Littleton, Colorado) made his first Bloomington USAC Sprint start during the most recent spring round in 2021 but ended the night upside at the finish line. 

Garrett subsequently was sidelined for several months before returning to the seat. 

He made his first Bloomington start with the series since that point last summer, qualifying sixth in the 44-car field, before finishing 20th in the feature.

The Diesel & More Favorites

Kyle Cummins was the winner last summer at Bloomington in awesome fashion, as he charged from 10th to first, taking the lead with nine laps remaining, to earn his first USAC National Sprint Car feature victory at the track where he had been making regular USAC appearances in the feature field dating back to 2013.

Cummins has gotten off on the right foot this season, winning the most recent feature held at Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park (February). 

At Bloomington, he’ll attempt to become the first repeat USAC Sprint winner at the track since Clauson scored three-straight between 2014 and 2016.

Six past Bloomington USAC Sprint winners are expected in Friday’s lineup, with Thomas (four) leading the way, ahead of 2014, 2016, 2020 and 2021 USAC Sprint Car champ Bacon (two), Brent Beauchamp (one), Kyle Cummins (one), 2019 USAC Sprint titlist C.J. Leary (one) and seven-time Bloomington sprint car track champion Brady Short (one).

First-time Bloomington hopefuls in the field include USAC regulars Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, California), who set quick time at Bloomington in July 2022 and finished eighth in the main event. Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Indiana), last year’s series Rookie of the Year, collected a 10th that same night.

Seavey made his lone spring Bloomington start in 2018, finishing third. Likewise for Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, California), who finished third in his only spring Bloomington start (2016). Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) scored a best of 10th in his spring Bloomington conquest of 2013.

For leading USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year contender Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Oklahoma), the event presents his first sprint car appearance at the track following an eighth-place result with the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship in 2021. 

For Brandon Mattox (Terre Haute, Indiana), Bloomington is a homecoming to one of his finest USAC performances. He was fifth in 2019. 

Dalton Stevens (Scurry, Texas) also is making the trip up from the south to compete after scoring 11th during Indiana Sprint Week at Bloomington in 2022.

The Bloomington/Tri-State Double

The Bloomington/Tri-State weekend has become a staple of the USAC National Sprint Car schedule over the past two decades. The two tracks have contested events on consecutive nights on 19 occasions dating back to 2006. In that time, no driver has swept both events in the same weekend.

Fourteen drivers have triumphed at both tracks in their USAC Sprint careers: Bacon, Cummins, Dave Darland, Jay Drake, Tony Elliott, Tracy Hines, Rick Hood, Cory Kruseman, Hunter Schuerenberg, Brady Short, Jon Stanbrough, Thomas, Chris Windom and J.J. Yeley.

Furthermore, only three individuals have won at both tracks within the same season: Yeley (2003), Thomas (2017 & 2021) and Darland (2018). 

Only one of those won at each place within the same week (Yeley), but none have done so within the confines of the same weekend.

Four more in this Friday’s field have won a USAC Sprint Car race at Tri-State, but a win has eluded them thus far at Bloomington. 

Among that group are Ballou, reigning series champion Justin Grant (Ione, California), Jadon Rogers (Worthington, Indiana) and Chase Stockon (Fort Branch, Indiana). 

They all aim to change that stat this Friday night.

Happy 100th Anniversary

This week marks the first race of Bloomington Speedway’s 100th anniversary season after the venerable track first opened its gates back in 1923 as a 5/8-mile speedway, which you can still visualize, if you gaze out into the open green fields beyond Turn 3 and Turn 4.

Few venues have endured for a century or more and still live on today, namely the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Milwaukee Mile, Winchester (Indiana) Speedway, Illinois State Fairgrounds and Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway, just to name a few. Now, Bloomington joins that exclusive group.

Honoring Larry Rice

Friday night’s event at Bloomington also marks the 30th anniversary of the Larry Rice Classic. 

The race originated as a USAC National Midget event in 1993 and was won by Tony Elliott, who was behind the wheel of Ralph Potter’s V-6 powered machine.

Rice was one of USAC’s finest ambassadors, claiming national championships in the Silver Crown (1977 and 1981) and Midget series (1973). 

A 1993 inductee into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Rice won 15 USAC National Midget features, in addition to five Silver Crown and three Sprint features.

After a stint as a schoolteacher, he worked his way to the pinnacle of auto racing. In 1978, he shared the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors with Rick Mears after his 11th place finish.  

Rice eventually became the color analyst for ESPN’s Thursday & Saturday Night Thunder program, which featured USAC racing events.  

He also worked for K & K Insurance, specializing in motorsports insurance.  

His major victories included the 4-Crown Nationals at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, Hut Hundred Midget race at the Terre Haute (Indiana) Action Track and the 1981 Hoosier Hundred Silver Crown race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Rice died in 2009 after a bout with cancer.

Details

The 43rd USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship in the history of Bloomington Speedway will take place on Friday night, culminating with a $5,000-to-win, 30-lap feature.

The Larry Rice Classic features the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, along with the Midwest Mini Sprint Association and Super Stocks.

The pits will open at 4 p.m. Eastern, grandstands will open at 5 p.m., the drivers’ meeting will take place at 5:45 p.m. and cars will hit the track at 6:30 p.m., with qualifying and racing to immediately follow. 

General Admission tickets are $30. Ages 10 and under are free with proof of age. Pit passes are $35, while ages 10 and under are $15.

If you’re unable to make it to the track, you may also watch this Saturday’s Lawrenceburg event LIVE on FloRacing.