Hanna Wins Anderson 75; Bragg and Warner Also Earn Feature Victories

Goshen’s Charlie Hanna was in the right spot to take the lead and the win in the Anderson 75 for the Howe CRA Late Model Sportsman at Anderson Speedway on Saturday.

Hanna was running third on lap 43 when Wes Russell Jr. attempted to get underneath leader Joe Beaver in turn three. The contact resulted in Beaver spinning with the end result being both Beaver and Russell were sent to the tail of the field.

From there Hanna was able to pull away from Jon Heck for his second career Champion Racing Association Late Model Sportsman win at Anderson Speedway.

Heck was passed for the second spot by Mark Lambert with an outside pass on the front straight with three laps remaining with Heck, fast qualifier Mark Griffith and Tony Dager rounding out the top five.

The race was slowed by six caution flags with the final 29 laps run under the green.

“They were racing pretty rough in front of me,” Hanna said of Beaver and Russell. “I don’t like winning like that. I would rather race for it.”

Lambert said his car was tough to turn early in the race but toward the later stages of the race he was able to run on the high groove to get around Heck.

Kokomo’s Gary Bragg Jr. had a near miss when a lapped car pulled down in front of him while leading coming off the second corner on lap 14, but went on to win his third feature of the year for the Front Wheel Drive division on the oval.

With Bragg going through the infield grass to avoid Dewayne Burton, Jeff Williams mounted a charge and grabbed the lead for one lap before settling for second place. Jerry Dane, Gary Bragg Sr. and Frank Gasho rounded out the top five.

Nick Warner took the lead on the third lap of the Front Wheel Drive Figure-8 feature when leader Rickie Tharp suddenly slowed and cruised to the win. Josh Tharp finished second followed by Kevin Henson.

There is double header action next weekend at Anderson Speedway with the WMDH ThunderCars, Front Wheel Drive oval, Legends, Thunder Roadsters, Bandoleros and Pure Stocks taking to the track on Saturday at 8 p.m.

There will be figure-8 madness at the track on Sunday with the International Outlaw Figure 8 Series returning, the local Figure-8 division, Front Wheel Drive figure-8, school bus figure-8 and the Culver’s Trailer Race Figure-8. Racing starts at 7 p.m. followed by the annual July 4 fireworks display.