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By Jerry Curry, Staff Writer

The “Fall Brawl” at Salem Speedway happened Saturday night, Sept. 21, complete with boxings gloves and trophy.

The first race started at 6 p.m. with Crown Vics on the small inner ¼ mile track.

John Lister held off several challenges. Driver Doug Wicker was hot on his tail, but had to settle for second place in this 25-lap race. Third place went to Kaden Cook. There were nine cars on the lead lap out 15 Ford Crown Vics.

Next up were the Legends, with race cars that are small reproductions of body styles for cars of days gone by. There is just enough room for the driver.

Leading at the half-way point was Johnny Weaver, and Max Olmsted was second. Olmsted made a late-race pass to win, making up for last race out when he misjudged the finish line, causing him a victory. Second was Johnny Weaver, and bringing home third was John Robbins.

The last race on the ¼ mile were the Scrappers. They ran a kidney pattern. It was pure mayhem as almost anything goes. It was no surprise when Justin Fiedler took the checkered flag for the win. Second was Tony Kelly, and third, Donnie Elrod.

Next up were the Salem Super Cars. This division uses retired ARCA car bodies with crate engines. It was 25 laps of all-out speed. Jamie Mosley, the second fastest qualifier, won. He was overtaken by heat and transported off the track in an air-conditioned ambulance at the end of the race. Second place went to Joe Cooksey, and third, Brian Rose.

The Ford Crown Vics took to the track for 50 laps of very competitive racing. Because there were lots of yellow flags, race control in a new format cut the race to 40 laps. The time limit on this race was 50 minutes. The yellows allowed Ronnie Basham to pit and fix his car without going a lap down.

There were several NASCAR type wrecks where several cars caught up in spins were collected.

The last laps were door-to-door racing with Basham and Noah Allison battling it out for the win. Basham held off the charging competitor and took first place, and Allision, second place. Third was Roger Vincent. There were 15 cars on the lead lap.

The main event was the 75-lap G.A.S. race. There were several lead changes.

At one point, Chuck Barnes Sr. looked like the car to beat, but he dropped out on lap 57.

Heath Helton, the fastest qualifier, took the lead and could not be caught. He also broke his own track record in qualifications.

This race lasted the whole 75 laps, and the win belonged to Helton. Chuck Barnes Jr. was the only one who could have caught Helton. Barnes held down second, and third was Jeff Stith.

Austin Baum was crowned the Great American Stock division champion. Baum is a very consistent racer, and that’s what it takes to win a championship.

Photos courtesy of Jason Greene

• Salem High School
• Football

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The rough patch continues for the Salem Lions as they were unable to break their losing streak following the 63-12 loss against the Springs Valley Blackhawks. Outmatched by the Blackhawks, the score settled at 42-12 by the end of the first half.

Despite the loss Friday night, the Lions still had strong showings from Logan Dent and Noah Deaton who garnered 98 yards and a touchdown and 92 yards and a touchdown respectively.

This loss drops Salem’s standing to 1-4, and raises Springs Valley’s to 4-1.

This Friday, the Salem Lions will take on Corydon Central @ Corydon at 7 p.m., and Springs Valley will play Crawford County @ Crawford County at 7 p.m.

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The 12th Annual Sugar Creek Church 5K Walk/Run will be this Saturday, in conjunction with the activities of the Campbellsburg Country Festival.

Registration will take place at the lot by the Campbellsburg water tower at the intersection of Railroad St. and Sycamore Street in Campbellsburg. The fee will be $20 per person.

The race will start at 8 a.m. at the intersection of Vine and North Sycamore streets in Campbellsburg. The race will continue north to Hop Cemetery, there will be a water station turnaround point and head back towards Campbellsburg.

Bring your family and friends out to run or walk in memory or in honor of someone fighting cancer. Part of the money raised will go into the care fund to help local families in their time of need.

This year’s race will be in honor of Hewitt Kellams, who has been in Riley Children’s hospital since July 2. He was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension and tetrasomy 9p. His parents have been back and forth between home in Orange County and the hospital. Some of the money raised this year will go to Alyssa and Zach to help offset the costs of his stay.

Ribbons will be awarded to the top three finishers in each age group at the conclusion of the race. Top male and female finishers will receive a gift card.

Here is the link for the 5k preregistration.

https://forms.gle/pFFXnVe5rXVnW3tn9

Participants will pay entry fee the day of the race.

• Salem High School
• Football
• Homecoming

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By: Josh Lewis, Reporter

Salem had their homecoming festivities on Friday night, but the action on the field wasn’t nearly as festive. The Brownstown Braves came to town and brought with them  a 54-12 loss that they handed the Lions. 

The Braves moved the ball with ease, amassing almost 500 yards of total offense. Brownstown only took a few plays to get on the board with a 37 yard touchdown run to make it a quick 7-0 lead. 

Salem put together a nice drive with a big pass play to Braxton Dean to get into Braves territory. But the drive ended with a turnover on down at the 33 yard line. The Brave put together two more quick scoring drives thanks to some big plays on the ground to make it 21-0 with 2:26 left in the opening quarter. 

In the second quarter the Lions got their offense going again thanks to a turnover. The Braves tried some trickery and instead fumbled the ball at their own 23 yard line. But Salem had to overcome some adversity. Facing a fourth and 22 at the 37, the Lions were aided by a pass interference penalty to make the fourth down attempt easier. Adam Mull found Dean on a screen over the middle to get down to the nine yard line. 

A few plays later they had to overcome yet another fourth down attempt at the eight yard line. But yet another pass interference penalty gave them a fourth and goal at the four. From there Mull found Seth Ponsford in the endzone for the score to make it 21-6 with 6:13 left in the half. 

To close the half though the Braves put up three straight scoring drives including one with under a minute left to make it a 42-6 lead heading into the locker room.

Adam Mull looks for a receiver down field.

Salem put together one more scoring drive early in the third quarter when Mull found Dean deep for a 30 yard connection, but that was all the offense could muster for the night and they dropped to 1-3 on the season. 

Salem will travel to Springs Valley on Friday to try and snap their three game skid.