2023 USAC IN Sprint Week at Bloomington Speedway

Fire In The Belly: Emerson Axsom Drives To Indiana Sprint Week Victory Lane

Fire In The Belly: Emerson Axsom Drives To Indiana Sprint Week Victory Lane

One night after needing a provisional at Lake Ozark Speedway, Emerson Axsom drove to victory lane during Indiana Sprint Week at Bloomington Speedway.

Jul 29, 2023 by Brandon Paul
null

Dejected and disappointed, yet not defeated, Emerson Axsom still had a ton to race for when he arrived at Bloomington Speedway for Friday night’s penultimate round of USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing.

For all intents and purposes, the Franklin, Ind. racer saw his shot at an Indiana Sprint Week championship crumble a night earlier at Lincoln Park Speedway when he missed out on transferring to the feature, and thus, had to use a provisional, which did not allow him to earn feature points toward the eight-race series title race.

Driving with desire, and a fire in the belly, at Bloomington’s Sheldon Kinser Memorial, Axsom recorded his first career Indiana Sprint Week triumph, while extending his lead in another concurrent miniseries for USAC National Sprint Car racing, the 10-race Bubby Jones Master of Going Faster series Presented By Spire Sports + Entertainment.

Axsom grabbed the reins of his Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/Driven2SaveLives – ZMax Race Lubricants/Spike/Kistler Chevy, then chased down racelong leader Briggs Danner on lap 15 before patrolling the final 16 laps to earn his third feature victory of the USAC season, all while having a little bit of the night before on his mind.

WATCH REPLAY

USAC Indiana Sprint Week Highlights From Bloomington Speedway

null

Winning Quote From Emerson Axsom

“Honestly, I’m still upset about last night. Not that it was anybody’s fault, we just didn’t run very well. I told my guys last night that if I have anything to do with it, we’re going to win tonight.  I just wanted to win really badly, and I’ve been wanting to win a Sprint Week race all week. We’ve been fast; we just haven’t been able to qualify to put us up front. It’s hard to pass these guys because they’re so good.”

USAC Indiana Sprint Week Results From Bloomington Speedway

1. Emerson Axsom (3), 2. Briggs Danner (1), 3. Chase Stockon (2), 4. Brady Bacon (6), 5. Kyle Cummins (5), 6. C.J. Leary (12), 7. Justin Grant (7), 8. Robert Ballou (13), 9. Jake Swanson (11), 10. Charles Davis Jr. (8), 11. Carson Garrett (9), 12. Daison Pursley (16), 13. Shane Cottle (21), 14. Mitchel Moles (4), 15. Kevin Thomas Jr. (15), 16. Matt Westfall (17), 17. Geoff Ensign (20), 18. Brandon Mattox (10), 19. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (19), 20. Brent Beauchamp (14), 21. Logan Seavey (18), 22. Justin Zimmerman (22)

USAC National Sprint Car Point Standings 

With his win on Friday night, Emerson Axsom jumps back up to second in the standings and now trails Brady Bacon by just 19 points. Justin Grant is third in the standings, 23 points back of the lead. 

Full USAC Sprints Points Standings

Indiana Sprint Week Point Standings 

1-Brady Bacon-474, 2-Justin Grant-466, 3-Robert Ballou-418, 4-Kyle Cummins-403, 5-Emerson Axsom-399, 6-C.J. Leary-371, 7-Kevin Thomas Jr.-366, 8-Shane Cottle-346, 9-Jake Swanson-342, 10-Carson Garrett-340

Previous Race: USAC Indiana Sprint Week at Lincoln Park Speedway - July 27

Up Next: USAC Indiana Sprint Week at Tri-State Speedway - July 29