Marcum, Claborn, Evans and Goff win 50 lappers at Mt Lawn

Another good crowd was on hand to see Jeff Marcum of Morristown win the 50 lap Late Model season championship race taking the lead from Scott Knepley of Greensboro on lap 5 and led the rest of the way. 2010 has been an incredible season for Marcum Racing as Jeff’s 10 feature victories were only outdone by brother Neil’s 14 feature wins in the Thompson Builders Thunder Car division.

Ralph Lane of Greensburg led lap 1 giving way to Knepley on lap 2. Eric Evans of Greenfield got around Knepley for second on lap 7 and mounted a strong challenge for the lead. Bill Pierce of New Castle brought out the only caution of the race on lap 5 when he crashed in the big turn. William Mefford of Knightstown was given the black flag during the caution for Pierce for what appeared to be fuel coming from the rear of the car. Mefford pitted for repairs but when the race restarted it was evident that Mefford still had the problem and was blacked flagged for good on lap 7. On lap 9 Evans made a bid to get the lead from Marcum as the two battled side by side over the next two laps. Marcum was able to hold off the Evans challenge and was never seriously pressured the rest of the way. Knepley got around Evans for second place on lap 39 but did not have enough left to put any pressure on Marcum. Knepley finished second followed by Evans, Brandon Mefford of Knightstown, Ralph Lane of Greensburg, Neil Marcum of Morristown, Joe Woodring of Muncie, Kent Carson of Richmond, LJ Weston of Cambridge City, William Mefford and Pierce. Marcum said in his victory lane interview “I can’t believe this year, winning the May 5-0, The Raintree and now this. I want to thank all my sponsors and especially my Dad for giving me such a fantastic race car.” Evan said in his post race interview “I want to thank Frank and Joyce Dyer for a great car and also special thanks to Steve Ellis of Ellis Race Cars in Fortville as he did the setups on both his car and Jeff’s (Marcum) car.” Marcum set fast time at 16.543 and William Mefford won the Razzles Dash for Cash.

The season point championship in the Mt Lawn Late Models went to Evans as he beat Marcum in the final standings by just 4 points.

Kevin Claborn of Cambridge City won the Thompson Builders Thunder Car 50 lapper leading the final 35 laps. Andrew Walker of Sulphur Springs took the lead at the start and led the first four laps. Jason Thompson of Shirley making only his second Thunder Car start of the year took over on lap 5 and led the next 10 laps. On lap 16 as he and Chris Hanna of Carthage entered the short turn the two got together sending Thompson to the pits for good with a damaged car. Claborn took over at that point and led the rest of the way. Second fast qualifier David McConnell of Shirley who was making a steady march to the front during the early stages of the race was forced to retire with a broken axel on lap 14. Andrew Walker finished second followed by David Clark of Muncie, Jason Walker of Sulphur, Jameson Owens of Greenfield, Hanna, Jonathon Pitts of Anderson, Jesse Bilbrey of Markleville, Chris Bolyard of Rushville, Jim Walker of Cambridge City, Paul Starks of Fortville, Thompson, Johnny McGee of Carthage, Colby Lane of Knightstown and McConnell. Claborn set fast time at 17.738 and won the Thompson Builders Dash for Cash. Neil Marcum won the season point championship by a commanding margin of 238 points over Chris Bolyard of Rushville.

Eric Evans took the led of the Gene Cook Memorial MC Auto Repair 50 lap feature and went on to win going away. Series point leader Brian Lewis of Indianapolis went into the race with a 17 point margin over Joyce Dyer of Greenfield was force to pit on lap 7 with something dragging from the underside of his racecar. Lewis returned to the on lap 16 10 laps behind and with his point championship in jeopardy. Keith Morris got around Dyer for second on lap 30 but could not catch the hard charging Evans. Morris finished second followed by Dyer, Ryan Claborn of Cambridge City, Josh Owens of New Castle, Josh Neal of New Castle, Jacob Wyman of Selma, Brian Slavey of New Castle, Jeff Sorrell of New Castle, Jacob Lacy of New Castle, John Massengale of New Castle, Jacob Marlow of New Castle, Lewis, Graham Luhn of New Castle, Freddie Marlow of New Castle, Emily Henderson of New Castle, Shaun Caugill of New Castle and Doug Sorrell of Mooreland. By virtue of his 13^th place finish and Dyer’s third place finish Lewis held on to win the MC Auto Repair Hornet season point championship by just 9 points over Dyer.

In Indy FasKart action Josh McQueary of Middletown finished off a dominating performance in 2010 by winning the 15 lap feature event. McQueary who was beaten only once the entire year led every lap in the finale and was followed by Kermit Deavers of Greenwood, Ron Taylor of Beech Grove, Larry Keene of Brownsburg, Josh Sutter of Brownsburg, Randy Anderson of Knightstown, Brad Kares of Beech Grove and Jon Farina of Indianapolis. Jeff McQueary of Middletown did not start the feature as did Mike Stone’s kart #0.

The final race of the 2010 season was a 10 lap Loop‘d Loop race that was won by Eric Evans. Josh Neal was scored in second. “The race was very hectic and difficult to score” according to Chief Scorer Scott McCambridge. Others in the race were Ryan Claborn, Joyce Dyer, Freddie Marlow, Graham Luhn and Jacob Marlow.

Oogie Goff of Fortville broke Brother Terry’s perfect string at Mt Lawn by winning the 50 lap feature event. Terry Goff took the “Tail Gunner Challenge” and started on the tail of the feature. If Goff could win the event from the rear he would have picked up an additional $200. One other requirement placed on Goff was that he could not lead the race until after lap 30. Goff moved into second on lap 24 and appeared to be waiting to take the lead after lap 30. On lap 27 Goff’s completive spirit got the best of him and he took the lead from Michael Koontz. Goff appeared to be on his was to his fourth straight victory but his engine let go on lap 45 ending his evening. Goff said after the race “I just got worried the Koontz was going to mess me up so I had to get around him and not take any chances”. A complete rundown of the UMRA finish can be found on their website.

The final event of 2010 Graham Luhn attempted to roll the 07 car of Josh Neal by intentionally running over the timing light hump at the start finish line. On the third unsuccessful attempt the car’s air bag deployed rendering the car undriveable to make a fourth attempt. Luhn said afterwards “I thought I had it on the first try as I could see the grass out my window but the car came back down on it wheel.” Luhn also said “I promise, next year I will get the job done.”

The management and staff of Mt Lawn wished to that all the fans, drivers and crew members who helped make 2010 another successful season.