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The Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery couldn’t be stopped by two rain delays and a late-night track lighting failure on Saturday night, Aug. 17. It was “Classic Cars Cruise in on the High Banks”.
Several owners took advantage to ride the banks with their vintage cars in between races. The high banks held all the action.
First out the was the growing Salem Super car division. Eight high-powered stock cars took to the track, each powered by a crate 602 engine.
The Kimmel Cars started out with trouble as Scott Melton kept spinning on laps one and three due to a defective differential.
Brian Rose, the fastest qualifier in this group, suffered a jammed front suspension and a rear flat tire. He stayed on the lead lap and came charging from back to a second-place finish.
The new winner was Shayne Slider and third Todd Kempf.
The next race was the Ford Crown Vic 50-lapper. Early leaders were James Mikesell and Chase Adams. Adams, always a challenger, dropped out on lap seven with front end damage and felt he was not competitive. On lap 13 Bradley Moore and Mark Barrett collided ending their day. On lap 15 Ronnie Basham took over. He is fondly referred to as RB3. C.J. Grider blew a tire on lap 46 creating a four-lap shootout.
Basham charged to the front for the win in the Jeff Roberts-prepared Ford. Second was Dillion Kaelin, and third Kyle LaFever. Early leader James Mikesell captured fourth. There were 11 cars on the lead lap.
The CRA group took to the track and Will Kimmel, fastest qualifier, took over for a flag-to-flag win. Third place was the battle for position with Jon Beach, Jeff Myers, and Joe Cooksey dancing on the banks. The finish ended in that order with Beach, Myers, and Cooksey finishing 2-3-4.
The main event of the night was the Great American Stocks 50. Heath Helton set a new track record for that division. He cruised the .555-mile track at 19.248 seconds. His starting position was sixth due to the invert start. Helton was second by lap 12, but a caution flag caused a restart, and Helton had a bad restart. Brian Bayer took the lead.
It wasn’t until lap 34 after close racing with Bayer that the black Sweet 16 car driven by Helton recaptured the lead. Second at the end of 50 was Brian Bayer and third Jeff Smith. Fourth was Conner Popplewell with his pass at lap 40 over Alex Ware. This fifth place was Ware’s best finish to date in this division. Nine cars were on the lead lap.
In victory lane, when asked who he would like to thank, he said, “First the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that made this possible.” He then continued to mention his sponsors.
The next race will be the return of the 65th running of the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial Race on Saturday, Sept. 7. Joining the program will be the Kenyon Midgets and the Legends. Kenyon Midgets are the creation of the legendary Kenyon brothers, Mel and Don.
Shayne Slider was the winner of the Salem Super Car race Aug. 17.
Ronnie Basham was the winner of the Ford Crown Vic 50-lap race.
Will Kimmel enjoyed a flag-to-flag win in the CRA race.
Heath Helton won the Great American Stocks 50-lap race, the main event on Aug. 17.
Who doesn’t like a free t-shirt? Especially when it’s supporting their favorite high school team colors.
In hopes of helping county schools celebrate school spirit and have fun at games, Lincks Clothing and Shoes will be donating 10 free school shirts to each of the county high schools during home games this football season.
“We did this before Covid and there was so much excitement from the fans!” said owner Rita Lincks. “I want to bring back that excitement and raise school spirit and hopefully add a smile to someone’s day!”
Lincks said when her sons played sports, the cheerleaders were always doing something fun for the cheer block and it boosted school spirit.
“So when we did the shirts everyone loved them!”
The shirts will be Lincks shirts in school colors.
“We are excited for this opportunity and wish the best of luck to all our county teams!”
Located at 15 Public Square, Salem, Indiana, Lincks is a local business that supports the schools in numerous ways throughout the school year with fundraisers, post season games and more. This is just another way for them to show their support to the local schools.
Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery, in conjunction with the 500 Sprint Car Tour, has released the event logo for the upcoming 65th running of the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial Presented by Hard Truth Distilling Co. and NOS Energy Drink, which will take place on Saturday, September 7th. Also racing that day will be the USSA Kenyon Midget Series and the Diesel Boys Race Parts Legends on the ¼ mile inner Salem track. The Midwest Vintage Racecar Club will also be on hand with vintage race cars on display and making laps on the ½ mile.
The Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial is the second longest running pavement sprint car race in the world behind the Little 500. After traditionally being held at Salem Speedway, with the exception of a few years when the race was held on dirt, the race was held the last two years at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park after not being held in 2021. The race was last held at Salem Speedway in 2020.
The Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial will be sanctioned by the 500 Sprint Car Tour, who sanctioned the event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in 2022 and 2023. This year’s event marks the return of non-wing Sprint Cars to the historic ½ mile oval. The last non-winged Sprint Car event at Salem was the 2010 Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial that was won by Shane Hmiel and sanctioned by USAC. The event was run with Wing Sprint Cars from 2011 through 2015. The event was then sanctioned by USAC Silver Crown, where Kody Swanson won the event a record five times in a row from 2016 through 2020.
The past winners of this historic event is a who’s who of open wheel racing including Pat O’Connor (When it was just the Joe James Memorial), Eddie Sachs, Bob Sweikert, A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Rollie Beale, Gary Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Greg Leffler, Rich Vogler, Steve Butler, Jim Keeker, Kenny Irwin Jr., Tony Stewart, Chet Fillip, Dave Steele, Dave Darland, Eric Gordon, Tracy Hines, Brian Tyler, Bryan Clauson and Brian Gerster.
Hines currently holds the non-wing Sprint Car track record at Salem Speedway at a 15.181 set on August 12, 2000.
Pit gates open on Saturday, September 7th at 12 p.m., with spectator gates opening at 3 p.m. Practice will begin at 3 p.m., with qualifying set to begin at 6 p.m. The racing action begins at 7 p.m. There will be an open practice on Friday, September 6th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and grandstands seating will be free of charge to watch the open practice on Friday.
Advanced tickets are now on sale for the 65th running of the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial Presented by Hard Truth Distillery and NOS Energy Drink through the Salem Speedway website at www.salemspeedway.com or by calling the track office at 866 2GO-RACE. General Admission tickets are $25, chairback seat tickets are $30, kids’ tickets for ages 6 to 12 are $5, kids 5 and under are free.
More information on Salem Speedway Fueled by the Hoosier Lottery and the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial is available on the track’s website and via social media on Facebook and Twitter (X).
More information on the 500 Sprint Car Tour 2024 season can be found online at 500SprintCarTour.com and via social media on Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram.
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The following individuals were arrested recently by local law enforcement agencies. Those listed, in most cases, are just facing charges at this point, and are to be considered innocent of those charges unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. Charges are often dropped or lessened. Mugshots are collected from local law enforcement agencies on Mondays and are public records.
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