Magee Dominates Enduro; Bragg, Warner Claim Wins

Johnny Magee’s nickname should be “Mr. Enduro” as the Carthage resident captured his fourth consecutive Thunder Car endurance race at Anderson Speedway on Saturday.

Magee set a new track record during qualifying turning a lap at 14.819 seconds to eclipse the old mark set by Herb Rose in 2008 at 14.897 seconds.

Starting from the pole position Magee led all 200 laps to take home the $3,000 in first place money.

During the early stages of the race he was chased by Ronnie Rose, who posted the second quick time, but Rose’s night came to an end on lap 79 with an apparent overheating problem.

That turned the second spot over to Josh Poore, who changed a transmission 30 minutes prior to the race. Poore charged up from the 24th starting spot and moved into the top five after 40 circuits.

After the halfway break, Magee opened up a quarter of a lap lead that stabilized and he was never seriously challenged by Poore for the lead. Nick Warner came home in third, falling one lap off the pace with six laps remaining. Ron Phipps was credited with a fourth place finish followed by Travis Burge.

Rounding out the top ten were Jeff Swinford, Herb Rose, Tom Gossar, Hannah Lundy and Larry Swinford.

“Want to thank everybody that helps on the car,” Magee said. “It takes a lot of work to keep the cars prepared.”

Poore said he used his tires up in the first half of the race and didn’t have anything for Magee in the second half.

Shawn Cullen, who qualified fifth fastest dropped out after only seven circuits and Rob Allman was knocked out of contention early in the race with a mechanical problem.

There were 13 of the 25 cars that started the 200-lap event running at the finish. The race was slowed six times. The final 100 laps were run without any stoppages in the action.

After spinning twice in the early stages of the Front Wheel Drive oval feature Kokomo’s Gary Bragg Jr. made a late charge to claim his second victory of the season.

Mike Alley led the first 17 laps with points leader Jeff Saxon, Bragg and Jack Leisure battling side by side for the front spot. Bragg drove inside of Saxon and was able to get inside of Alley entering turn three and completed the pass on the front straight.

Leisure challenged Bragg for the win but was unable to make an inside move coming to the checkers and settled for the runner-up position.

Saxon and Alley made contact on lap 19 coming off the fourth corner while battling for third. Alley spun and crossed the finish line in fourth but was awarded the third spot with Saxon finishing fourth and Harry Leisure claiming fifth.

Nick Warner set a new track record for the Front Wheel Drive Figure-8 competition turning a lap in 20.817 seconds besting the mark set by Andy Keller of 20.874 seconds on April 18.

Bill Leisure held off Warner for 13 laps during the feature event on the Figure-8 with Andy Keller also in the mix for the potential victory.

Warner attempted for several laps to get inside of Leisure entering turn one but was unable to complete the pass. The two raced side by side and finally Warner got inside of Leisure entering turn three with two laps remaining. Keller recorded the third place finish followed by Elliott McKinney and Jerry Dane.

NASCAR star Kyle Busch will be making his first appearance at Anderson Speedway on Tuesday for the Red Bud 300 presented by Great Deals Magazine with racing starting at 7:30 p.m.

The Red Bud 300 is a tribute to the original American Speed Association founded by Rex and Becky Robbins. Former two-time ASA AC-Delco Challenge Series champion Gary St. Amant and Harold Fair, the 1990 winner of the Anderson 400 are among the top drivers expected to compete in the Champion Racing Association sanctioned super late model event.

For additional information on Anderson Speedway call (765) 642-0206.