Thousands Turn Out for Night of Thrills

The first of three Night of Thrills was staged at Anderson Speedway Saturday evening with the warmest weekend of the young 2009 season bringing out thousands of fans to watch the antics of the competitors.

A large field of Front Wheel Drives were on hand with their normal three-a-breast racing! Quite a slug fest developed between the front five with the lead exchanging several times. Kokomo's Gary Bragg, Jr. captured his first career feature win defeating Jeff Saxon, Ray Zirkle, Nick Warner and defending point champion and current point leader Kevin Harmon. Peter Corsaro and Mike Alley captured the heats with Harmon the fast qualifier at 15.936 seconds.

The Powder Puff Figure 8 was next with Robin Cullen leading the distance defeating Roxanne Grissom, Teresa Dowden and Krista Lum.

The all new mini van figure 8 was an exciting event as the drivers were not afraid to exchange a little paint! Chad Worland led the first two laps before Doug Riddle took the lead not to be denied the win on his return to racing. Trailers were Worland, Nick Warner and Kris Farley.

The roll over contest was absolutely awesome with 10 competitors trilling the fans, bringing them to their feet. David Powell was the victor with 12 points, Nathan "Moose" Burgess in second with 11 points and a tie for third with Chris Jennings and Chris Farley garnering 10 points each.

The Cork Screw race had a new twist with an additional obstacle thrown in on the back straightaway. The wild 10 lap event changed the lead three times with Nick Warner taking the lead on lap eight to go on to the checker defeating Jeff Reichart, Mike Alley, Harry LaShure and Casey Davis.

As usual, men's School Bus Figure 8 turned out to be awesome with a cross over crash on lap six between Bub Beachboard and Randy Owen, eliminating both. Tony Grissom led most of the way but locked bumpers with Danny Stanley, Jr. on lap 10 allowing B. J. Perry to sneak by and take his first victory over Stanley, Grissom, William Cornwell and Corey Elliott to round out the top five.

Capping the program was the always popular Culver's Figure 8 Trailer Race where the object is to knock off the other guy's trailer while keeping you own intact. A screaming grandstand enjoyed seeing Randy Owen survive the affair. He defeated Bill Keihn, Bob Rabenstein, Nathan Burgess and Gary Bragg, Jr. rounding out the top five.

The USAC National Sprint Cars will come thundering into Anderson Speedway on Saturday, May 2. The open wheel stars will compete in the Glen Niebel Classic, a 100-lap showdown on the world’s fastest quarter-mile oval. The Front Wheel Drives in Oval and Figure 8 action will also be featured at Anderson Speedway next weekend.