ANDERSON – The luck of the draw played a big factor in racing at Anderson Speedway.
Defending Vore’s Welding & Steel Street Stock champion James Kirby III set fast time during qualifying, but the inversion for the feature was nine.
That put Calvin Parham and Michael Crisp on the front row, but before a lap was completed Parham’s night ended against the turn two wall.
That moved Josh Poore to the front row and the veteran competitor took advantage of the lucky break to charge into the lead.
Crisp dropped back after being passed by Jacob McElfresh and Andrew Cook with Dalton Conner moving into the second spot on lap 19.
Conner and Rickie Tharp II swapped the second spot several times as the laps were winding down with McElfresh in the mix.
The final caution flag waved on lap 28 when Tharp and McElfresh tangled in turn two.
Poore went on to win by almost one second over Conner with Kirby coming home in third.
It was Poore’s 52nd Street Stock victory at Anderson Speedway, breaking the tie at the top of the list with Rick Fields.
“It feels good to get it out of the way,” Poore said of the record in the Hoosier Lottery Victory Lane. “I didn’t want to see those restarts because Dalton (Conner) is always strong.”
Conner took advantage of the draw to win the 50-lap feature for the USA Tires Modifieds.
For the second time this year Tyler DeHart set fast time and the draw put Conner and Poore on the front row.
At the start Conner took the lead with veteran Joe Beaver claiming the second spot with an inside pass of Poore on the back straight.
The caution flag waved on lap 17 when DeHart and Andy Cowan got together on the back straight, ending DeHart’s night.
Conner went on to win over Beaver by 2.8-seconds with Poore coming home in third followed by R.J. Norton III and Josh Sage.
“I need to get a little bit better in qualifying,” Conner said following the victory. “I was really glad to get the restarts better, because I struggled a couple of weeks ago.”
Caleb Southerland driving for Austin Russell Racing led the entire distance to win the Front Wheel Drive event followed by Austin Pursley and Nick Warner.
The Russell Racing entry is looking to make it three consecutive championships after Josh Ebbert won titles in 2024 and 2025.
Sage led all 25 laps to win the Knapp Supply Ford Division feature that was slowed six times by caution flags knocking out several competitors for the win.
Colin Grissom finished second with Jaden Tharp climbing from the 12th starting spot to finish third.
Contenders Noah Allison, Curtis Chapman and Korbin McGee all tangled in separate incidents during the race.
