By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

American pilot Michael Goulian of Massachusetts fought back tears twice Sunday after an emotional triumph in the third annual Red Bull Air Race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Goulian not only won his second air race of the season but vaulted from third place to take a slim lead in the world championship with one event remaining at Texas World Speedway Nov. 17 and 18.

The 50-year-old pilot began tearing up during the winner’s interview and when he stood on the podium during the national anthem. He becomes the first American in 10 years to win a Red Bull Air Race in the United States.

“Right now, the season (championship) doesn’t even mean anything – to win at Indy is amazing,” Goulian said before kissing the bricks. “Sometimes the day just works out for you and today did.”

He said he grew up watching the Indianapolis 500 on TV with his dad and began flying at 15 years. The pilot recalled that many 500 drivers were his idols.

“It still feels like a dream,” Goulian said. “I kept wondering how I ever got to this point in my life, doing something that I never dreamed of when I started flying and to win here.”

Goulian was edged by Canadian Pete McLeod in the first heat but advanced by posting the fastest time among the seven pilots who lost heat races. He was faster than Cristian Bolton in the Fast Eight. Flying an Edge 540 V2 aerobatic airplane, Goulian (1 minute, 6.208 seconds) then edged McLeod (1:06.736) in the final four by a halfsecond. 

A crowd of 40,000 watched pilots reach speeds of 230 mph, endure 10G forces and fly between 80-foot-high air-filled pylons. The point chase tightened dramatically in the first round when slowest qualifier Kirby Chambliss of Texas outed points leader Martin Sonka of Czechoslovakia by 1.32 seconds.

Chambliss, the last American pilot to win in the United States in 2008 over Detroit, erred in his second run.

“Winning is any pilot’s most difficult maneuver anywhere,” Chambliss said. “I love racing here because of the history of the track. For me, being here to race is always significant.” Retired four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt served as grand marshal.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

Whiteland Raceway Park’s new owners, husband and wife Andy O’Gara and Sarah Fisher, have not wasted time in making improvements to the outdoor karting track and facilities. O’Gara, a Beech Grove native, and Fisher, who live in Franklin Township, bought the track with Wink Hartman, a Midwest oil company owner, last month and held the first practice for karting enthusiast Saturday and Sunday.

They bought the track from longtime Mike Swails on short notice after learning that it would be torn down The facility features a nine-turn road course with a high-banked wall and oval where Andy and younger brother Kyle O’Gara, a developmental drive for Sarah Fisher Racing, began racing karts owned by father John O’Gara, former IndyCar team manager.

“When Andy called to tell me that Mike had offered us the purchase of WRP, we immediately agreed to work through the details of the renovation effort,” Fisher stated in a news release.

The renovation began immediately with ridding the grounds of weeds, moving the property and resealing the oval and road course and entrance. Open practices will be from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. the next two Sundays. Fisher and Hartman formerly owned Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series from 2008-14.

The first racing program under new ownership is Saturday, Oct. 13, for karts with practice at 4 p.m. and racing at 6 p.m. The owners are planning a vintage midget car and IndyCar displays, autographs with IndyCar drivers and a $1,000 kart feature winner’s prize. They are hopeful of rescheduling another event Oct. 20 or Nov. 3.

“First and foremost, please know that our ultimate goal is to restore Whiteland Raceway Park to its former glory,” the new owners said in a joint statement. “We want to preserve the history and heritage of WRP while bringing new life to the facility.”

A grand opening will be held in 2019 with plans for quarter-midget racing on the oval and to have rental karts. Upgrading rest rooms and lighting is a priority. Future improvements also call for a new banked wall, repairs to fences, bleachers and flag stand, new picnic tables, parking lot expansion, new electronic timing system and in-ground roll-on kart scaling system plus sales of kart apparel and parts.

The facility opened in 1958 and is considered the oldest kart track in the United States. It is located at 654 N. Front St., between Tracy and Whiteland roads, in Whiteland. O’Gara and Fisher also own Speedway Indoor Karting. For updates visit www.racewrp.com or call 317-800-1648.

Pit notes
• Southsider Mark Tunny outraced Mark Hadley of Greenwood for first place and $20,000 in the rain-delayed 42nd running of the World Figure-8 three-hour championship last month. Tunny completed 396 laps and edged Hadley, last year’s winner, by three-quarters of second. Hadley led Laps 244-272, but Tunny passed him in slower traffic for his second World Figure-8 title.
• South Bend’s Ryan Newman has signed with Roush Fenway Racing to drive the No. 6 Ford in the 2019 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series.

The car has been driven by Trevor Bayne and Matt Kenseth this season. Newman has 18 career Cup wins, including a Brickyard 400 triumph. He wraps up a five-year tenure with team owner Richard Childress. The Cup series continues Sunday at Dover, Del.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

History has been rewritten at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Originally scheduled for five days, USAC midget car and NASCAR racing stretched over six days due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon, which dumped more than 5 inches of rain on the Speedway.

Veteran NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer said it best: “When there’s a storm with a name after it headed your way, you’re in trouble.”

The trouble from the tropical storm forced a four-hour delay in the first midget car race on a quarter-mile dirt track at the Speedway, canceled practice and qualifications for the Xfinity 250-mile and Monster Energy Cup 400-mile races, rescheduled for a doubleheader Monday.

The anticipated FGL Fest with headliners Florida Georgia Line was canceled Saturday at the Speedway.

The winners were:

• Hoosier Zeb Wise, a 15-year-old Bryan Clauson protégé, who won the Stoops Pursuit on the dirt track Sept. 5.

• Brady Bacon of Oklahoma captured the Driven2SaveLives BC39 midget feature Thursday night after a four-hour delay in heat races earlier.

• On the same history-making Monday, Justin Allgaier took the seventh annual Lilly Diabetes 250 and Brad Keselowski won the Brickyard 400 for team owner Roger  Penske – his first – whose drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 17 times. Penske becomes the second team owner to win the 500 and the 400 at the Brickyard.

Speedway President Doug Boles said the 650-mile doubleheader was unprecedented in IMS history; so were the two nights of midget car racing. Emotions ran wild at the midget car event that honored the late Clauson, who was killed in a race in 2016. Two recipients of organs from him were the grand marshals.

Clauson’s father, Tim, noted that a double rainbow Thursday meant that his son was watching over the festivities. An estimated 13,000 spectators viewed the two nights of racing, which raised hopes that the event would be held annually.

The NASCAR events took on a mind of their own with three days of rain that set up the historic twin bill of racing Monday. Of interest, retired NASCAR champion Tony Stewart told an NBCSports Network reporter that he has received offers from team owners Bobby Rahal, Roger Penske and Michael Andretti to race in the 2019 Indianapolis 500 but might consider the 2020 race.

However, he could run in a few selected Indy car races next year because he would want to return to the 500, not to be a sideshow but to win it. He last raced in the 500 in 2001, finishing sixth for team owner Chip Ganassi. Dale Earnhardt said he would compete in the Xfinity Series race Sept. 21 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway. The NBC analyst served as the Chevrolet Camaro pace car driver for the Brickyard 400.

“The only reason you get behind the wheel of a race car is because it’s fun and you enjoy the competition,” Earnhardt said of his racing return. “I don’t want to sweat over every lap and how fast we are in practice and all those things and make it a miserable experience because most race car drivers tend to do that if you’re not careful.”

Of interest, Allgaier’s winning Chevrolet was one of three cars owned by Earnhardt that competed in the Xfinity race.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

Popular NASCAR driver Kyle Larson, a graduate of USAC midget and sprint cars, said he believes that the Driven2SaveLives BC39 midget car race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will grow into something special. But he is passing up the inaugural dirt track race Thursday after recently racing four nights in winged sprints in Pennsylvania.

The winner will take home $15,000 of the $75,000 purse. The two-day event has attracted a series record 118 entries and will precede three days of NASCAR events on the 2.5-mile oval.

“For Indy to put up a purse like that is very special; hopefully it will allow them to build something huge at the Speedway,” Larson said. “I would like to see this race grow into something bigger and better. “Short tracks like this are good for midget racing. The dirt track has a good surface and is wide. Anytime you put midgets on a small track, it’s a good race. It will be fun to watch.”

The Chip Ganassi driver is hopeful of snapping a 34-race winless drought by winning the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup race at the Brickyard. Larson, 26, has five runner-up finishes this season and has confidence heading into the Brickyard 400.

“We are solidly in the playoffs,” he said. “Our game plan hasn’t changed; we’re going out and trying to win.” Larson is known for his bold rim-riding style on pavement, a style that was developed on various dirt tracks.

“Racing on dirt in all sorts of different race cars has helped me to adapt on pavement and get up to speed quickly,” he said. “Dirt track change lap after lap, so I never considered running the same line lap after lap. That has helped me because racing on pavement changes during each race too.”

Larson was in Indianapolis Aug. 22 to hang a street sign with his name at the corner of Georgia and Illinois streets.

The 25th running of the Brickyard 400 unfolds Sunday at 2:09 p.m. Defending winner Kasey Kahne will take the green flag at Indy for the last time as he is retiring at the end of the season. Former winners in this year’s field include Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick.

The race is the final event to determine the 16 drivers in NASCAR’s playoffs. Johnson and Denny Hamlin were expected to qualify for The Chase at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway Saturday night. However, Newman and Kahne are among many drivers who need a win at the Brickyard to make it into the playoffs

In an Aug. 29 interview at the dirt track inside Turn 3, IMS President Doug Boles said, “We have received unbelievable support across the board from the short track, racing and NASCAR communities. We knew we would get support, but the amount of support has been overwhelming.”

Boles said the track needs more banking in the corners. Some of the Musco LED lights used at the U.S. Nationals will be moved to the track for temporary lighting tonight and Thursday. The track, slightly under one-quarter of a mile, utilizes part of the ground where a smaller dirt track was developed for Tony Stewart. Bryan Clauson was part of that special day.

The race (BC39) is named for Clauson, who was killed last year in a midget car accident in Belleville, Kansas. Boles made his remarks after watching former 500 driver Sarah Fisher, who raced USAC midgets, take the first official laps around the track. Fisher is married to Beech Grove native Andy O’Gara, and they reside in Franklin Township.

Team owner Fisher has entries for twotime USAC national midget champion Dave Darland of Lincoln, Ind., Kyle O’Gara of Beech Grove and Ryan Smith of Pennsylvania. J.J. Yeley, who has raced in the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Landon Cassill, Xfinity series driver Christopher Bell and Eldora Speedway truck series winner Chase Briscoe are among NASCAR drivers in the dirt race.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

The tributes to NHRA Pro Stock legend Bob Glidden, who died Dec. 17, 2017, poured in during the 64th Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Brownsburg. The tributes took place Friday:

• Widow Etta Glidden accepted Indiana’s highest honor, the Sagamore of the Wabash, presented in memory of her husband, who won nine Nationals and 10 Pro Stock championships.
• Opening day of the Nationals pro competition will be known as Bob Glidden Day at the track and throughout Hendricks County.
• Pro Stock cars and drivers lined the return road adjacent to the drag strip in his honor. • Two white and blue 1978 Pro Stock Ford Fairmonts went down the strip in Glidden’s honor.
• Funny Car competitor Bob Tasca III raced a 2018 Mustang with red and white Motorcraft colors of Glidden’s famed 1988 Thunderbird.

“When the cars lined the return road, it brought tears to my eyes,” son Rusty Glidden said. “It was an unbelievable tribute from Pro Stock competitors.” Tasca was 12 years old when he met Bob Glidden at an NHRA race. “That was the first car I saw him drive,” Tasca said. “He was more than a driver and champion. He took me under his wing and showed me that it took determination and passion to win.”

Glidden’s older son, Billy, competed in Pro Mod, where he continued to struggle at the Nationals. Racing a smaller Ford engine boosted by nitrous oxide, he was mired in last place until his final run of 5.955 seconds, too slow to make the 16-field finals. His crew chief is wife and Greenwood native Shannon Springer Glidden.

Whiteland native and second-generation racer Joey Shipp reached Stock Eliminator and Super Gas semifinals Monday before being eliminated. Shipp, 30, made it to the four-car finals by outracing five foes in each class through Saturday night. His best run in SE was 8.74 seconds.

The Franciscan Health respiratory therapist was edged by only 3 feet by Texan Jerry Emmons in SE semis Monday. In Super Gas the difference was eight-hundredths of seconds to winner Steve Hoyt. Each run ended Shipp’s best experience in the Nationals.

“This was really exciting because this is my home track. All my runs were good and without any real trouble. All my races were so close.”

He was the most successful of four Shipp family racers at the track. Patriarch Randy Shipp reached the third round before outed, while daughters Randi Lynn and Kristi did not make it past the first round. Greenwood’s Rob Goodrich fell in the first round.

Defending Pro Stock champion Drew Skillman qualified 12th (207.43 mph) with a new motor that powered him to a semifinal berth. In his first elimination race Monday, Skillman edged No. 5 qualifier Chris McGaha with a perfect .000 hole shot by eightthousandths of a second.

Later he was slower off the line by thirteen-thousandths of a second and lost to former teammate Erica Enders. U.S.

Nationals pro winners: L.E. Tonglet, ’03 Suzuki TL, motorcycle; Tanner Gray, ’18 Camaro, Pro Stock; J.R. Todd, ’18 Camry, Funny Car; and Terry McMillen, ’18 DSR dragster, Top Fuel.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

When Greenwood’s Mike Hadley Jr. raced in his first two World Figure-8 championships, he figured that it took more luck than speed to win. He reversed his thinking last year when lining up for his third three-hour high-speed endurance race at the Indianapolis Speedrome – and won, completing 406 laps.

“I always thought I had to be lucky than fast,” Hadley said while recalling his $20,000 payday. “I was able to get by a few of the early incidents, but I also had the fastest car so I could stay in front at the end.”

Hadley proved that his No. 4 winged Chevrolet with a 350-cubic-inch engine and 650 horsepower was fast. He held off runner-up Ben Tunny for the final 30 minutes, never making a mistake and getting through lapped traffic without getting passed.

“My mindset early in the race was to stay out of trouble, and we led early,” Hadley said. “Then for the last part of the race when I was leading, I knew I couldn’t worry about the lapped traffic. I had to keep the lead.”

Hadley and former champions Doug Greig of Southport and Mark, Ben and Austin Tunny also return for the 42nd running of the event, which attracts drivers from several states. Greig will be competing for the 29th time. Racing for Hadley is a family affair with wife Katie, mom Tracie and brother Mason with him at the Speedrome.

Away from the track he is a construction worker. He began racing quarter midgets at the age of 5 at the Mini-Indy track at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. He has raced at various venues in Indiana but considers the Speedrome home, where he races in the longer distance figure-8 chases.

“I just don’t like doing the 50-lappers,” Hadley said. “I would rather race in the one-hour, 90-minute, 150-lap races and the three-hour."

He finished second in the Jake’s 150-lap figure-8 earlier this season in a Chevrolet owned by Jon Wilson of Plainfield and third in the onehour figure-8 Saturday. Third-generation driver Chad Sizemore won his first one-hour race in a final 32-second dash with third-place Jesse Tunny claiming his fourth season championship.

More than 50 entries are expected with 28 starters and all drivers who qualified going into the race as cars drop out. The race is the brainchild of former track owner and Greenwood business owner John Stiles.

Open practice at the track, corner of Kitley Avenue and Brookville Road, is Thursday at 5 p.m. Qualifying races are Friday at 7:30 p.m. with Thundercar and FWD competing in figure-8 races. The World Figure-8 starts Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Info: 317-353-8206 or www.speedrome.com.

Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brenneman was the honorary pace car driver. It was the first NASCAR race he has attended since 1967 when he was a sports reporter for a radio station in Salisbury, N.C., and covered the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It was so loud that I made a pact with God: Do not send me to another NASCAR race,” Brenneman said. That pact was in effect for 40 years until Saturday night when he ceremoniously led the 40-car field. “I think they’re crazy, but I have a lot of respect for these drivers,” he said. “I was only one car out there, so multiply that by 40. These drivers are so precise to be able to do what they do.”

Brenneman said the Cincinatti Reds should not fire first-year manager Jim Riggleman because he manages with an iron hand and the players know it.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

A unique way to honor the late Bryan Clauson, who raced for the Greenwood-based Byrd family in
IMS building dirt track; Speedrome figure-8, fireworks three Indianapolis 500-mile races, has led to an expansion of Brickyard week in September at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The IMS is building a quarter-mile dirt track inside Turn 3. The track will be the site of a two-day event, Driven2SaveLives BC39, for United States Auto Club Midget Series competitors Sept. 5 and 6, before NASCAR practice, Xfinity and Monster Energy Cup stock car races Sept. 7-9.

The midget car event honors Clauson, a prolific open-wheel competitor who was killed in a midget car accident two years ago at the Belleville (Kansas) Midget Nationals. Clauson was an organ donor, and parents and family supporters formed the Driven2SaveLives organization to promote the cause.

Tentative plans for the race call for a $70,000 purse, heat races Sept. 5 and qualifying races, main events and a 39-lap feature. NASCAR and midget-sprint car driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was on hand for the announcement in late June at IMS.

The inaugural event could attract Stenhouse, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney, former Silver Crown champion Ryan Newman and Kyle and Kurt Busch. The Speedway was also the site of Goodyear tire tests for the Brickyard 400 Sept. 9. Those testing included previous winners Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray and second-year Cup driver Daniel Suarez of Mexico. Menard started on the pole Sunday for the 400-mile race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Menard, who races for the famed Wood Brothers, has gone 249 races without a win since his Brickyard triumph in 2011.

“There will be a little less aero downforce by about 200 pounds,” said Menard of the Brickyard race. “There are four different corners although they look very symmetrical. You have to keep your speed up through the corners and get off the corners – it takes the whole package.”

Suarez, who races for Joe Gibbs, finished seventh last year in his first Brickyard race. He has four top-10 finishes this season.

“This place, for whatever reason, suits my driving style,” Suarez said. “Hopefully, we get a win soon for the team and for those who have supported me on this journey. There were no drivers from Mexico when I made it because it was a difficult path. I feel very proud that I have made a path.”

Figure-8 and fireworks

Fireworks and the 75-lap Mike Greig Sr. Memorial Figure-8 highlight events Saturday at the Indianapolis Speedrome at Brookville Road and Kitley Avenue. Forty-six drivers have competed this season with Jesse Tunny leading the Brown’s Oil Service Late Model Division.

Six different drivers have won on the figure-8, led by Ben Tunny’s five wins. Factory FWD, Thundercars and Faskarts race on the oval Saturday at 7 p.m. with figure-8 action at 9:05 p.m., followed by the USA Insulation fireworks show.

By Al Stilley
Senior staff writer

For most of the 102nd Indianapolis 500, team owner Dennis Reinbold could see Dreyer & Reinbold Racing drivers Sage Karam and J.R. Hildebrand in position for top-10 finishes.

Longing for a 500 win, the veteran team owner witnessed Karam’s rise from 24th starting position to sixth after 150 laps in the No. 24 WIX Filters/DRR Chevrolet and Hildebrand’s drive from 27th to fifth midway in the race with a different fuel strategy in the No. 66 Salesforce/DRR Chevrolet.

Karam, who avoided three accidents, found himself in a sliding car in the fourth turn on Lap 154 and struck the outer wall for 28th place. 

“It just snapped around,” Reinbold said of Karam’s accident. “He said the car had not felt like that all day. It’s disappointing because he was up to seventh and was in position to move up.”

In his fourth consecutive 500 for DRR, Karam later said he may have had a cut rear tire.

“We had a car to race into the top five,” Karam said. “I feel badly because the DRR crew worked so hard to prepare a good machine this month. Then this happens. I love Indy so much and now my race ends like this.  I know I want to come back here next year and race hard again.”

Hildebrand pitted on Lap 168 and soldiered to 11th place, making DRR the seventh different team among the top 11.

“Obviously, we aren’t happy with 11th,” said Reinbold. “He (Hildebrand) had some great restarts and drove hard all day.”

Byrd team 
The return of Jonathan Byrd Racing turned from optimism on the night before the 500 to disappointment on race day.

Driving the No. 33 JBR Chevrolet, James Davison started 19th and encountered handling problems from the get-go. On Lap 48 he drove high into Turn 1 and was struck by 2017 race winner Takuma Sato. Davison finished last.

Team principal David Byrd II said one night earlier that the crew had found the right combination that enabled Davison to qualify 19th on Pole Day after being on the bubble on Bump Day.

The Byrd family expects to return to the 500 next year and continue the racing legacy of the late Jonathan Byrd, a Greenwood native.

Rossi’s drive
No driver has won the 500 from the last row, but 2016 winner Alexander Rossi was in the final eight-lap, five-driver duel that unsuccessfully challenged eventual winner Will Power.

Driving the No. 27 NAPA Auto Parts Honda, Rossi was 26th after 10 laps, 12th after 73, third after 160 and led Lap 173 before making his last pit stop. He finished fourth, 5.223 seconds behind Power.

Inaugural winner Ray Harroun in 1911 and Louis Meyer in 1936 each started 28th; Johnny Rutherford started from 25th before winning in 1974. 
​
Team Penske’s winnings with Will Power were $2.5 million from a $13 million-plus purse as announced at the Victory Banquet Monday.