Hopkins Claims Sprint Car Win at Lincoln Park

AJ Hopkins has the hammer down through turn four at LPS. Hopkins went on to win the sprint car feature at the Putnamville oval.


PUTNAMVILLE, IN — After a long stretch of inclement weather washed out a month of competition at Lincoln Park Speedway, racing resumed at the Putnamville oval on Saturday evening.

AJ Hopkins claimed the sprint car main event with Derek Groomer capturing the UMP Modified feature. Greencastle’s Josh Boller found victory lane in the UMP Super Stock A-main and Justin Litton won a thrilling bomber feature at LPS.

Colten Cottle and Scott Hampton started on the front row of the sprint car feature and battled for the top spot over the first five circuits. However, Hopkins roared forward from his sixth starting spot and found his way into a three-way fight for the lead by lap 10 as Shane Cockrum gave chase in fourth.

By lap 15, Hopkins had taken over the point and worked his way briefly into lapped traffic before a red flag came out as Gary Hayden got upside down in turn two. He was uninjured in the accident.

On the restart, Hopkins continued to hit his marks and extended his lead as Brent Beauchamp got past Cockrum for the second spot. Hopkins wouldn’t relinquish his grip on the top spot over the final few laps to claim the win ahead of Beauchamp, Cockrum, Scott Hampton and Travis Berryhill.

In the modified feature, Groomer and Jake Leitzman raced door-to-door for the early portion of the 20-lap A-main before Groomer seized the outright lead. Once he was out front, Groomer pulled away during the middle staged of the race as Leitzman battled Jordan Wever for second.

After starting eighth, Wever reeled Groomer in before a late race caution with five laps to go re-set the field for a dash for the cash.

Groomer got a strong jump off the green flag and didn’t look back in holding off Wever, Rob Brickert, Leitzman and Tyler Loughmiller at the finish line.

Boller lead wire-to-wire in the super stock feature, but had plenty of competition for 20 laps.

Ralph Groomer ran second early in the race as Larry Raines and Paul Bumgardner ran side-by-side for the third spot ahead of Wes McClara. By lap 10 it was Bumgardner that had raced his way into the second spot and was attempting to challenge Boller for the lead. Bumgardner had gained some breathing room ahead of Raines with Bryce Shidler and Josh Litton in tow.

With five laps to go, Boller had solidified his lead, but the battle for the next three spots was fierce.

Raines and Bumgardner battled door-to-door for the final circuits before Raines edged ahead for second by a couple of feet at the finish line. Bumgardner, Shidler and Litton wrapped up the top-five.

In the bomber feature, Mark Dickerson started on the pole alongside Justin Litton, but it was Litton that snagged the top spot as the green flag waved.

Tom Cox ran second until a late spin derailed his challenge for the victory with five laps remaining. Litton had his hands full with a multi-car challenge as Jordan Almanza, Josh Litton and Andrew Pollock fought for the seconds spot closely behind the leader. As the final laps ticked off, Justin Litton was able to hold off his challengers at the finish line as Josh Litton finished several feet behind him. Almanza ran third ahead of Pollock and Dickerson.

Lincoln Park Speedway
Sprint car feature
1. A.J. Hopkins, 2. Brent Beauchamp, 3. Shane Cockrum, 4. Scott Hampton, 5. Travis Berryhill, 6. Joe Stornetta Jr., 7. Colten Cottle, 8. Chris Babcock, 9. Nate McMillin, 10. Koby Barksdale, 11. Tim Creech, 12. Chad Davenport, 13. Evan Mosley, 14. Jesse Vermillion, 15. Shey Owens, 16. Gary Hayden, 17. Matt McDonald, 18. Harley Burns, 19. Brady Ottinger, 20. Jim Sivia

UMP Modified feature
1. Derek Groomer, 2. Jordan Wever, 3. Rob Brickert, 4. Jake Leitzman, 5. Tyler Loughmiller, 6. James Walters, 7. Donnie Smiley, 8. Jerry Bland, 9. RT Gamble, 10. Jay Humphrey Jr., 11. Michael Kettnich, 12. Cody Wright, 13. Dave Baldwin, 14. James Grider, 15. AJ Pace

UMP Super Stock feature
1. Josh Boller, 2. Larry Raines, 3. Paul Bumgardner, 4. Bryce Shidler, 5. Josh Litton, 6. Wes McClara, 7. Ralph Groomer, 8. Austin Phelps, 9. Jonny Newgent, 10. Travis Heramb, 11. Justin Massie, 12. Paul Wright, 13. Scott Ricketts, 14. Kyle Johnson, 15. Jeff Starks, 16. Gene Barnett, 17. Wade Goodale, 18. Austin Long, 19. Hayden Rogers, 20. Chris Brewer

Bomber feature
1. Justin Litton, 2. Josh Litton, 3. Jordan Almanza, 4. Andrew Pollock, 5. Mark Dickerson, 6. Barry Hicks, 7. Megan Cavaness, 8. Cody Wright, 9. Matt Cooley, 10. Ethan Litton, 11. Devin Wallen, 12. Jacob Steinway, 13. Tom Cox, 14. Jeff Allen, 15. Joey Cox, 16. David Bumgardner, 17. Joey Raber, 18. DJ Smiley, 19. Frank Horvath, 20. Bob Farris