ANDERSON – The past two winners of the prestigious Pay Less Little 500 will return to action at Anderson Speedway for the second annual Tony Elliott Classic.
The roar of non-wing sprint cars returns to the high banked quarter-mile oval in the race to honor Elliott, who died two years ago in an airplane crash.
The Tony Elliott Classic is a part of “Paint the Night Pink” presented by the WolfeRich Insurance Group to support the fight against breast cancer.
The race was postponed two weeks ago by a persistent rain after qualifying took place. Aaron Pierce set fast time and will start sixth following the inversion. That puts Kyle Hamilton and Fred Hopkins on the front row for the 50-lap classic.
Hamilton, the 2017 winner of the Little 500 will be driving one of the two cars entered by Gene Nolen Racing.
Hamilton will be teamed up with Kody Swanson, the 2016 winner of the Little 500 and the Tony Elliott Classic.
Swanson has already been crowned the USAC Silver Crown champion and will be joined at Anderson Speedway by Justin Grant, the current point leader in USAC’s National Sprint Car standings. It will be Grant’s first appearance at Anderson Speedway.
21 teams were in attendance for the October 7 race and a couple more expected to join the field for the 50-lap feature event that pays $2,000 to the winner.
Other top competitors entered in the race include Aaron Pierce, Brian Gerster, Jimmy McCune, and Chris Neuenschwander.
The Mel Kenyon Midget Series drivers will be competing in the Parallax Power 30 lap feature. Indianapolis driver Dameron Taylor is the first repeat champion in the series and is looking to become the all-time race winner.Taylor is tied with Kyle O’Gara with 15 career feature wins.
A strong field of Mel Kenyon Midget Series competitors is expected for the final race of the season including Trey Osborne, Logan and Ryan Huggler.
Qualifying is set for 5:30 p.m. with racing at 7 p.m. Adult tickets are priced at $15 and $4 for children between the ages of five and 12.
Qualifying Results from 10/7
Pos No. Name Nat/State Sponsor Best Tm
1 26 Aaron Pierce Daleville, IN Sam Pierce 11.462
2 8N Chris Neunschwander New Haven, IN Tony Neunschwander 11.519
3 22A Bobby Santos III Franklin, MA DJ Racing 11.553
4 88 Jimmy McCune Toledo, OH Jim McCune 11.678
5 99 Fred Hopkins New Castle, IN Hopkins Racing 11.74
6 20 Kyle Hamilton Indianapolis, IN Nolen Racing Inc 11.826
7 71 Brian Vaughn Shirley, IN Brian Vaughn 11.849
8 99A Brian Gerster Fishers, IN Brad & Tara Armstrong 11.859
9 59 Scott Hampton Greenfield, IN Jerry Powell 11.869
10 8 Anthony McCune Toledo, OH Jim McCune 11.932
11 2 Nick Hamilton Danville, IN Jerry Powell 11.932
12 18 Travis Welpott Pendleton, IN Travis Welpott Racing 11.959
13 64 Justin Grant Ione, CA Speed Chasers, Inc. 12.038
14 9 Jason Fuller Milford, IN Jeff Fuller 12.192
15 11 Tom Patterson Argus, IN Tom Patterson 12.375
16 45 Mark Hall New Palestine, IN Mark Hall Motorsports, LLC 12.476
17 27 Chris Jagger Warsaw, IN Chris Jagger 12.827
18 85 Rick Holley Nelsonville, OH Rick Holley 13.033
19 11g Tom Geren 13.831
20 9B Darwin Trimble Sacramento, CA Darwin Trimble 14.616
21 10k Christian Koehler South Bend, IN Ron Koehler
