ANDERSON – Before the annual Bestway Disposal Night of Thrills at Anderson Speedway, veteran competitor Curtis Chapman said he wanted to win.
Chapman, the defending National Crown winner for the Knapp Supply Ford Division, said the July 4 event was the second most important for the drivers because of the crowd size.
There was a good turnout of fans that waited out a lengthy weather delay to watch the Figure-8 races, Cowboy Kenny Bartram, a freestyle motocross star, and the traditional fireworks display.
The July 4 race was the last opportunity for the Ford Division drivers to prepare for the 77th running of the National Crown on Aug. 8.
In the first Figure 8 race for the competitors, it was Rickie Tharp emerging as the winner followed by Colin Grissom and Chapman.
Chapman set fast time during qualifying Saturday and the inversion put Ronnie Phipps and Colson Gray on the front row.
It took three attempts to get the feature race underway as first Phipps and Wylyn Conn spun.
Phipps took the lead at the start with Chapman moving into the second spot followed by Gray, Grissom and Billy Riddle.
Riddle’s night ended on lap six when he made heavy contact with the turn two tire barrier.
On the restart Chapman and Gray got inside of Phipps to take the top two spots with Phipps dropping to third.
Gray took the lead from Chapman on a lap seven restart entering turn one, but Chapman returned the favor a lap later on the last restart.
Chapman went on to win by 2.5 seconds over Gray with Phipps, Caleb Burge and Nick Warner rounding out the top five.
Josh Ebbert Jr. scored his first career Figure-8 feature win for the Front Wheel Drive division.
Ricky Craig posted the fast time but his night came to an end with a cross-over incident with James Allender in the heat race.
The incident took place while Craig was running third behind Ebbert and Jedi Cluxton.
In the feature event Ebbert led all 15 laps, winning comfortably over Gaige Hulett with Warner coming home in third followed by Cluxton and Jeffrey Wright.
Jordan Tharp became the winner of the Prairie Farms Trailer Race. Tharp survived a melee in the cross-over early in the race that involved several competitors and their trailers.
From there, he evaded any attempts to dislodge his trailer as he went on to the victory.
