Anderson Speedway's 56th Season Unfolded Saturday

Anderson Speedway's 56th season unfolded Saturday evening under frigid conditions, but with hot racing action! Anderson drivers dominated much of the action as Mike Mendenhall copped his first career Phillippe Eco Water Systems Super Truck Feature win while Rich Boyer captured the Terry's RV Street Stock Headliner and Rickie Tharp took the Figure 8 Main.

In Phillippe EcoWater Super Truck action New Castle's Tony Broyles started thing off with a bang by lowering the track record to 13.601 seconds eclipsing Alan Troxell's 13.602 mark set in October of 2001.

In heat No. 1 Brian Hopkins led flag to flag to take the win over Bret Miles and Rick Turner. In the second heat race, Muncie's  Derrick Layne captured the checker in a crash fest which saw four Super Trucks eliminated on the start.

Trailing Layne were Buddy Davis and Rodney Fout, Jr. The 40-lap feature was awesome as the draw totally inverted the field. Mendenhall took his Miller Motorsports Chevrolet to the point at the green. Bret Miles, defending Champion Brent Busby and Broyles all had worked their way through traffic by the halfway point setting the stage for a great dog fight! In the next four laps second through fourth place runners Miles, Busby & Broyles exchanged positions four times, all the time putting extreme pressure on Mendenhall.

Then on lap 25, coming up on a slower car, things unraveled sending Miles and Broyles to the tail and Busby to the pit with too much damage to continue. At this point, Jack Dossey, Jr. took up the hunt but to no avail as Mendenhall was not to be denied the win. Rounding out the top five were Joe Beaver, Buddy Davis and Miles.

Terry's RV Street Stock racing saw Boyer the fast qualifier at 14.420 seconds. In heat No. 1 Kevin Montgomery was a flag to flag victor over Darwin Blankenship and Boyer. Jake Owens led the first 7 circuits of the second heat, before being passed by Curtis Chapman.

Chapman went on to the win over Owens and Rod Phipps. The 25-lap feature was a dandy with four different leaders. Rod Phipps started on the pole to be quickly headed by Chapman. Terry Burton took up the chasing chores and was able to pass Chapman on lap 17. Boyer was also to sneak by Chapman to take over second. This set up the final battle with Boyer able to nudge by Burton with three laps to go. Boyer took the win and tearfully dedicated his season to his Father, Bill Boyer, Sr. who passed away last fall. Tailing Boyer to the checker were Ronnie Phipps, Burton, Chapman and Missy Winegar.

In the newly renovated Figure 8 division, Bobby Long established the track record on the Figure 8 course at 20.755 seconds. Several of Anderson Speedway's drivers enjoy driving two divisions. It was Rich Boyer taking the first heat checker over Herb Rose and Rickie Tharp.

Rod Phipps led the distance to cop the second heat win over Doug Sheets and Jason Pitts. Again in this race, the fans enjoyed four different leaders in the 20 lap affair. Rod Phipps took the lead at the green only to have his mount fail and hand the lead to Michael Phipps. His lead lasted until lap five when he was passed by Joe hart. A great, heat slam fest developed for the lead with Tharp taking over for good on lap 11. Following at the checker were Johnny Magee, Pitts, Ronnie Rose and Hart.

Anderson Speedway celebrates Fan Appreciation Night April 12th with the Phillippe Eco Water Super Trucks, the Street Stocks, Figure 8's all in action. Also added to the program will be the new Front Wheel Drive cars. Admission for adults is just $5. Gates open at 5 with practice, qualifying at 6:30 and race time is 8:00 pm.

2003 Racing Season Begins

Mother Nature finally went on vacation and Anderson Speedway cranked up for the beginning of the 2003 racing season with the first of two weeks of pre-season racing known as March Motorsports Madness.

New Castle's Danny Acrey, II, the 2001 March Motorsports Madness Champion, captured the Open Stock Headliner while Indy's T.J. Sneva was the Legend Main master, Kettering, Ohio's Jamie Sites was the FWD feature victor and Anderson's Mike Perry and Roy Grissom Sr. the ThunderCar feature winners.

Chase Hightower held off a hard-charging Acrey to capture the Open Stock Heat over Jeff Powers. Acrey took control of the feature from his outside of the front row starting position and never looked back. Trailers were teammate Darwin Blankenship, Curtis Chapman, Powers and Frank Oakes.

In the Legends, Al Renner led flag to flag to cop the first heat checker over Sneva and Aaron Habig. James Robertson came on at the halfway point of second heat to take the lead from Greg Dietzen. Robertson went on to the win over Greg Dietzen and Clark Dietzen.

Renner held the point early in the main before being headed by Sneva. TJ built a sizeable lead only to see Robertson, who came from eighth starting slot, come up to challenge the last eight laps. Sneva held on for the win over Robertson, Renner, Darrell Lee Brown and Clark Dietzen.

The Front Wheel Drive 15-lap headliner was a dandy with three different leaders. George Baker Jr. led the first six laps before David McHenry nudged by for the lead. That was short lived though as Sites took control for good on lap 10. Trailing at the checker were Ricky Gable, Baker, Chris Jennings and McHenry.

In the ThunderCars, Mike Perry was Mr. Domination in the Figure 8 as he lead flag to flag, dodging several close encounters in the crossover. Following at the end were Ricky Tharp, Roy Grissom, Sr, Rod Phipps and James Peterson. Twenty-three cars were eligible to start the 20 lap oval main event. Grissom grabbed the lead from fourth starting position and was never seriously challenged. The race was filled with the usual fender slamming action! At the end it was Grissom, Brandon Leisure, Bub Beachboard, Shane Cullen and Cary Riley rounding out the top 5.

The final week of March Motorsports Madness is next Sunday, March 23 featuring the Open Stocks, Legends, Front Wheel Drives and the ThunderCars in oval and figure 8 action. Gates and practice opens at 11 am with racing at 2. Practice for all divisions and the annual flea market are on March 29th from 12 to 5. The 2003 season opens Saturday, April 5th featuring the Super Trucks, Street Stocks and the Thunder 8's.
 

Rick Dawson receives “National Short Track Racing Event of the Year Award”

During “Racing Promotion Monthly’s Promoters Workshops in Daytona Florida, National Speed Sport News presented Rick Dawson with the “National Short Track Racing Event of the Year” in recognition of the Pay Less / Delco Remy Little 500.

The uniqueness of this award is that race track owners and promoters around the United States are the one’s that cast their votes for the award. Former winners of this award Rick and Anderson Speedway received have been the Knoxville Nationals and the Chili Bowl. This is a great presentation award for the community and Anderson Speedway.

Sunoco Super Series To Have Four Events Televised Regionally

Salem, Ind. (February 26, 2003) – Officials of the CRA Sunoco Super Series in conjunction with Anderson Speedway owner Rick Dawson announced today that four events on the 2003 Sunoco Super Series schedule will be televised taped-delayed regionally on the Insight Cable Network.

The three Sunoco Super Series events at Anderson Speedway in 2003 will all be televised on the Insight Cable Network. The first Sunoco Super Series event at Anderson Speedway to be televised will be the Yockey Motorsports 150 Presented By Insight Communications and Great Deals Coupon Magazine on Saturday, April 19th. That event is the traditional season opener for the Sunoco Super Series, which has always been held at Anderson Speedway since the series started in 1997.

The second Sunoco Super Series event at Anderson Speedway will be the 37th Annual Anderson 400 Presented By Insight Communications on Saturday, July 12th. This will be the fourth year in a row that the Sunoco Super Series has sanctioned this prestigious event, it will also be the fourth year in a row that this event has been televised on the Insight Cable Network.

The third Sunoco Super Series event at Anderson Speedway will be the Sunoco 150 Presented By Insight Communications and Great Deals Coupon Magazine. This event will be held on Saturday, September 13th, it will be the second to last series point’s event on the 2003 schedule.

“We greatly appreciate the efforts that Anderson Speedway owner Rick Dawson has put fourth to get our three events at Anderson Speedway televised,” remarked R.J. Scott, Managing Partner of the Sunoco Super Series. “Anderson Speedway continues to be the unofficial home track of the Sunoco Super Series, its only fitting that all the Sunoco Super Series exciting racing action at that famous high-banked quarter-mile race track will be televised!”

The fourth televised event on the 2003 Sunoco Super Series schedule will be the May 26th event at Mt. Lawn Speedway, located in New Castle, Indiana. This event will be a part of the first ever Memorial Weekend Race Festival at Mt. Lawn Speedway. The other three divisions competing with the Sunoco Super Series on that weekend included the Mt. Lawn Late Models, regional Thunder Cars, and regional Front Wheel and Rear Wheel Compacts combined. All three-support divisions will have a highlight package from their feature events shown as part of that weekend’s television coverage on the Insight Cable Network.

The Insight Cable Network’s taped-delayed television coverage of the four events will be available to over half a million subscribers to the Insight Cable Network. The areas that the events will be televised in include the Lafayette, Noblesville, Anderson, Muncie, Pendleton, and Richmond, Indiana areas and from Columbus, Indiana south through Louisville, Kentucky. Additional coverage is available east through Covington, Kentucky, and west through Evansville, Indiana.

To get more information on the Sunoco Super Series go to www.sunocosuperseries.com.

For additional information contact Anderson Speedway at (765) 642-0206.