Tharp, Jennings, Robertson, Leisure, Tomlinson Win

Anderson Speedway roared back to life on Friday Night with the MAX/WLBC Summer Series jamming 106 cars on the grounds. Josh Tharp took top honors in the exciting ThunderCar Figure 8 event with Joe Jennings sailing to the checkered flag in the Ed Martin Auto Group Modifieds. James Robertson won the Legends main event, Brandon Leisure was victorious in the ThunderCar Oval with driver Chris Jennings and Dustin Tomlinson winning the two Chappy’s Rent To Own Front Wheel Drive features.
 
In spectacular action, Josh Tharp of Anderson slid underneath Roy Grissom Sr. with less than two laps remaining, capturing the victory in the ThunderCar Figure 8. Grissom started on the pole position, controlling a majority of the event, until Tharp made a charge. The Noblesville competitor held third spot before bypassing Donnie Ellis on the six-lap mark. Then on the 13th lap, Tharp dove underneath Grissom in lapped traffic, completing the pass exiting the fourth turn. Grissom finished in second with Ellis, William Coffman and Mike Peters rounding out the top-five finishers.
 
From his inside front-row starting position, Joe Jennings of Richmond, led all 30 laps in Ed Martin Auto Group Modifieds feature. It was the first victory for Jennings in the 2003 season. In the opening laps, he battled door to door with second-place starter Don Skaggs. Jennings then took command and held off Jeff Weston and John Gearhart at the checkers. Skaggs placed fourth with 2002 track champion Mark Harrison in fifth.
 
In the first heat, Jennings out battled Skaggs in the opening four laps and then held off a furious charge from current point’s leader Jeff Weston, to score the victory. Cory Setser rocketed into the top spot on lap three of the second heat, pulling away for the win. For the initial occasion in 2003, Randy Anderson grabbed top honors in qualifying for the Ed Martin Auto Group Modifieds.
 
Winning his first event at Anderson Speedway, James Robertson of Indianapolis drove to the winner’s circle in the 25-lap Legends event. Robertson grabbed leadership honors on the 17th go-around, passing early pace setter Bryan Phifer. At the finish, Phifer edged out former track champion Mike Hamilton for runner-up honors. Mike Satcoweak crossed the line in fourth position with Al Renner grabbing fifth-place honors.
 
In preliminary Legends action, Phifer led the entire distance of the first heat with Ron Tiller taking the checkers in the second heat, holding off a late-race surge from Clark Dietzen. Becoming the first driver to record a lap in the 13-second bracket, Craig Haack of Tennessee set a track record in Legends qualifying. Haack toured the quarter-mile oval in 13.936 seconds, shattering the previous mark from 2001 by Eric King.
 
Completing the race-winning pass on the 18th circuit, Brandon Leisure won the 20-lap ThunderCar feature. William Coffman controlled the first half of the race, but on the eighth lap, the top three runners of Coffman, Ellis and Rick Trueblood tangled exiting the second corner, causing them to spin. This handed the first position to Shane Cullen. Then while in lapped traffic, Leisure sliced the gap to the leader. With a superb move, Leisure bypassed Cullen on the 18th circuit in the first turn. Cullen finished second with Roy Grissom Sr. in third. Jack Taylor was fourth with John Goforth filling out the top-five performers.
 
With a huge number of competitors showing up for the Chappy’s Rent To Own Front Wheel Drives, two features were held. In the first event, Chris Jennings of Richmond passed Patrick Spillis with four laps remaining, and cruised to the win. Spillis was second with Kevin Rhodus, Jessica Jennings and Jerry Baker in fifth. Dustin Tomlinson powered around Darrell Rogers on the eighth lap of the second event, capturing the victory. Rogers placed second with Larry Schrock, Janet Shultz and Derek Moore in fifth position.
 
For additional information contact Anderson Speedway at (765) 642-0206.