Beaver, Boyer and Phipps Capture Feature Wins; Chapman Takes Figure 8 Championship

By Tom Hammond

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The season championships were decided Saturday night during the Star press Season Championships at Anderson Speedway on September 24. Two division titles had already been sewn up heading into the finale, while the Boss Hogg Catering & Jerky Figure 8 winner remained undecided until the final 30-lap feature.

By virtue of a third-place finish, Anderson’s Curtis Chapman picks up his first Figure 8 Season Championship. He was seventh on the starting grid after qualifying while his closest competition in the points chase, Anderson’s Mike Riddle, started fifth.

Riddle was running ahead of Chapman during the early stages of the feature, only to see his chance at moving ahead of Chapman in the points battle end with a spin on the 11th lap. Riddle was able to continue, but ended up eighth.

The race win went to Middletown’s Ronnie Phipps, who took over the lead on the 18th circuit when leader Ronnie Rose tangled with Noblesville’s Josh Tharp. Rose cut a tire in the incident, ending his night, while Tharp continued and finished sixth.

Phipps was able to pull away on the restart after the Rose, Tharp collision and cruised to a comfortable win over Anderson’s Ranny Hinton. Chapman was followed by Anderson drivers Jason Pitts and Shawn Cullen in the top five.

Chapman also padded his points lead by winning the first Figure 8 heat, while Anderson’s Rob Allman scored the win in the second heat. Tharp paced qualifying with a time of 20.305 seconds.

Anderson’s Rich Boyer capped off his “three-peat” by winning the Terry’s RV Sales and Service Street Stock Feature for the 16th time in 21 tries. Boyer used his favorite move to take the lead in the 40-lap feature when he went inside Phipps on the 20th lap heading down the backstretch and into the third turn.

Phipps had led since the green flag when he took the lead from the outside of the front row. Boyer then surged ahead of Phipps on the front stretch of the world’s fastest quarter-mile oval. Rod Phipps passed Ronnie Phipps on the 21st lap and kept the race interesting, only to see Boyer pull away three laps from the end. Rod Phipps, Ronnie Phipps, Ryan Buckner and Markleville’s Randy Hoppes rounded out the top five.

Ronnie Phipps scored the win in the first street stock heat, while Anderson’s Chris Bair entered the Texas Roadhouse Winner’s Circle in the second heat. Boyer led qualifying with a time of 13.990 seconds at 64.332 mph.

The renowned philosopher Yogi Berra once said “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” and that phrase couldn’t have been more accurate in the Ed Martin SuperTruck feature. Rose dominated the 50-lap feature from the get-go and developed a straightaway lead by the 20th circuit.

Rose continued to maintain that advantage until the 49th lap when bad luck struck and his motor gave out. He tried to hang on to the lead by nursing his stricken machine around the track, only to see Noblesville’s Joe Beaver pass him for the win. It was Beaver’s third win as a driver in and the fifth for the truck owned by Tim Bennett.

Rose still finished second followed by 2005 points champion Tony Broyles of New Castle, Anderson’s Josh Poore and Robert Lemen of Indianapolis.

Broyles used consistency to dominate the points this season. Broyles managed only one feature win, but finished in the top 10 in all 16 races and scored 13 finishes in the top five.

The first SuperTruck heat went to Broyles, while Brownsburg’s Steve Blair took top honors in the second head. Rose was the leading qualifier with a time of 13.613 seconds at 66.113 mph.

Anderson Speedway returns to racing action on Friday, September 30 with the Chappy’s Rent to Own Weekend of Events. The MAX/WLBC Friday Night Summer Series will feature Legends, Insight ThunderCars in Oval and Figure 8 racing along with Chappy’s Rent to Own Front Wheel Drives on the Oval and Figure 8.

On Saturday Night, October 1, the Benson Motorcycles Night of Thrills will take place. Don’t miss the new lineup of events that include School Bus Figure 8’s, Powder Puff School Bus Figure 8’s, Train Races, Cork Screw Race, Spectator Races, Front Wheel Drives in Oval and Figure 8 racing and Powder Puff Front Wheel Drives.

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