GATOR SWEEP! SEAVEY WINS BOTH ENDS OF USAC SPRINT TWIN BILL AT VOLUSIA
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Barberville, Florida (February 13, 2024)………Throughout the past few years, we’ve witnessed Logan Seavey accomplish a myriad of feats that have not been achieved by any other individuals in generations.
In 2021, he became the first driver to win on all three USAC national season finales on dirt. In 2023, he captured two USAC national victories at two different tracks within a single day. Later that same season, he swept the USAC portion of the 4-Crown Nationals. The list goes on and on.
On Tuesday night at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park, Seavey added yet another astounding achievement to his ever-growing list. On this night, the Sutter, Calif. racer did something no other driver has done in more than 22 years – winning multiple USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship features in a single day.
Fellow Californian Bud Kaeding was the most recent to go back-to-back on the same night in October of 2001 at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track. Seavey’s performance was the 18th occasion in which a driver swept both ends of a USAC National Sprint Car doubleheader at the same track on the same day.
The others to accomplish the feat are Jim Hurtubise (1961 Langhorne), Roger McCluskey (1966 Terre Haute), Mario Andretti (1967 Oswego), Greg Weld (1968 Reading), Sammy Sessions (1969 Pocono), Pancho Carter (1973 Winchester), A.J. Foyt (1974 Indiana State Fairgrounds), Tom Bigelow (1974 Minnesota State Fairgrounds), Marvin Carman (1975 Winchester), Pancho Carter (1976 Eldora), Pancho Carter (1976 Winchester), Tom Bigelow (1977 Indiana State Fairgrounds), Pancho Carter (1977 Winchester), Steve Chassey (1979 Winchester), Billy Cassella (1979 Eldora), Doug Wolfgang (1991 Tri-City), Bud Kaeding (2001 Terre Haute).
So few have been able to make their way onto the list over the years and decades, and in continuing a trend that has been true since 1979, Seavey won both of his races on a dirt half-mile – the kind of place that fits him to a T.
“It’s incredible,” Seavey exclaimed. “These races are so hard to win, and to win any of them is just a dream come true for me. These big half-miles really suit me well. Once you get your momentum going, it’s easy to keep it going. I’ve been here in the past and struggled, but this thing is so good. I was really confident, and it showed here tonight. The last 13 months have been the best months of my career and my life. It’s just so cool to be out here winning USAC races.”
In addition, Abacus Racing had a perfect night as well, capturing its first two USAC National Sprint Car features in a span of a little more than an hour. The Noblesville, Ind. based team became the first entrant to win their first two USAC National Sprint Car main events on the same day since Max Dowker at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway in 1975, a car driven to twin-50 lap victories nearly a half-century ago.
To add to the saga, Abacus Racing’s primary powerplant met its demise as Seavey was taking the checkered flag during a heat race victory in Monday’s rain-abbreviated program. At that point, the team decided to remove the engine out of their CG CPAs – Indy Custom Stone – Forecheck Marketing/DRC/Stanton Chevy spare car and install it in their primary rather than going with the backup.
The move paid off, and here they are now, all of a sudden standing with a pair of wins and the USAC National Sprint Car point lead just four races into the team’s existence with the series, and just a handful of months removed from series titles with both the USAC Silver Crown and NOS Energy Drink Midget National Midgets in 2023.
“(Crewman) Kirk (Simpson) and Ronnie (Gardner) have worked so much harder than I feel they should’ve or needed to,” Seavey praised. “I kind of pushed them to make that call to stay in this car and change engines and keep our starting spot for later. These guys didn’t give up. They just kept working on this thing and making it better for me. When you change engines, it changes everything. With any power difference, it just changes the car completely. Our car has been so good, and to have a big change like that is tough, but you can’t really help engine problems.”
The first of two features held on Tuesday night was a 30-lapper paying $10,000-to-win, which saw Seavey starting ninth on the grid. Pole sitter Carson Garrett led the initial five circuits until outside front row starter Kyle Cummins went topside around the low-riding Garrett to take over the top spot on lap six.
By halfway, Seavey was in the thick of the mix as he charged under Brady Bacon for the second spot on lap 15. After catching Cummins on lap 20, Seavey attempted his first slider to no avail in turns one and two. When Cummins counterpunched to briefly reassume the lead, Seavey sling-shotted his way under Cummins in turns three and four to make the move stick and take over the reins of the race.
“I really was surprised actually when (Cummins) turned down off two,” Seavey recalled. “I think I just hopped the cushion a little bit when I slid him. I was nervous, and then I got an awful final restart and I spun really bad. I had to protect a lot into one and I didn’t feel like I got through one and two good at all, but I kind of got through the back stretch okay. I thought if I could just get into three good and get away from these guys, I’d be okay. I grabbed brake and I got tight, then I just kept making mistakes those last few laps, but the car kind of carried me to the win.”
Just when Seavey seemingly had it all wrapped up in a neat little package just after taking the white flag, calamity ensued. During a battle for third between Bacon and Kevin Thomas Jr., Bacon and the lapped car of Jadon Rogers collided in turns three and four, resulting in Bacon and Rogers flipping over as well as the oncoming car of Trey Osborne. All drivers managed to climb out and walk away.
As was the story all night long, Seavey found no match after the green-white-checkered restart, scoring the win by 1.331 seconds over Cummins, making it two brand-new teams finishing inside the top-two. Thomas Jr. took third while fast qualifier and new one-lap track record holder C.J. Leary grabbed fourth. Meanwhile, Garrett rounded out the top-five.
Starting fourth in the second “Monday make-up” feature of the night, Chase Stockon zipped out to the opening lap lead from his pole starting position. However, third-starting Bacon quickly positioned himself at the front with a slider on Stockon for the lead in turn one on lap two.
By lap four, Seavey had already shot his way into second as he slipped by Stockon to take the spot, then began to work on reeling in Bacon. On lap 11, Seavey swiped the lead from Bacon with a strong run on the back straight. However, just as Seavey cleared Bacon, the yellow flag flew for a 360-degree spin in turn four by Stockon after he and Grant tangled in a battle for seventh. Due to the caution, Seavey relinquished his lead back to Bacon for the ensuing resumption.
It didn’t take long, however, for Seavey to fight his way back to the front. Seavey slid Bacon in turns one and two to take full ownership of the top spot on lap 14, then immediately jetted away to a 1.6 second advantage just a mere lap later.
“It’s tough when you’re leading,” Seavey said of Bacon’s predicament. “He was running fairly hard, but when you’ve got a rabbit to chase, you can always push it a little bit harder. If you’re leading and screw up, you look like a dummy. It’s hard to judge just how hard you can run. If you step over the line once, it gets you, and it did get him there, but he got saved by the yellow. This car is so comfortable on the cushion and secure, you can really hammer it in there and run well. I got to him a little bit earlier in the race and I tried too hard, and I was the one getting up over it. These big fast miles with a curb are tricky, and it’s why we love them.
Nonetheless, the action came to a halt in a major way on lap 20 as Robert Ballou (12th) barrel rolled atop turns one and two. Rogers (17th) attempted to avoid the carnage, but flipped several times himself as well, his second upside down misfortune of the night. Both drivers walked away without harm. Leader Seavey nearly got caught up in it and was forced to take evasive action to avoid the carnage, narrowly avoiding contact with four wheels above the cushion, but kept it going.
Seavey held a 3.542 second lead before the red flag with six to go, but once again, he went undeterred to the finish line, opening up a relatively comfortable gap of 1.742 seconds at the stripe for his second triumphant performance of the night while Bacon, Leary, Daison Pursley and Grant rounded out the top-five.
In addition, Seavey added to his trophy collection with a Big Gator for accumulating the best average finish of the night between the two main events, and of course, an average result of 1.0 for the entirety of the evening is simply impossible for anyone else to overtake, and that is something that nobody was able to accomplish all throughout Tuesday night.
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 13, 2024 – Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, Florida – Winter Dirt Games XV / DIRTcar Nationals / Bubby Jones Master of Goin’ Faster Presented by Spire Sports + Entertainment – 1/2-Mile Dirt Track
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-16.151 (New Track Record); 2. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-16.375; 3. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.506; 4. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-16.557; 5. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-16.574; 6. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-16.607; 7. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-16.667; 8. Timmy Buckwalter, 20, Hummer-16.700; 9. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-16.707; 10. Tom Harris, 84, Harris-16.711; 11. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.716; 12. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-16.760; 13. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-16.784; 14. Zach Daum, 5d, Daum-16.796; 15. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-16.816; 16. Jadon Rogers, 17GP, Dutcher-16.834; 17. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-16.883; 18. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-16.889; 19. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-16.940; 20. Tye Mihocko, 5T, Wilson-16.991; 21. Alex Bright, 27, Heffner-17.005; 22. Jake Swanson, 2B, 2B Racing-17.011; 23. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-17.043; 24. Trey Osborne, 5, Baldwin/Fox-17.083; 25. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-17.093; 26. Chase Howard, 13, Howard-17.565; 27. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Jadon Rogers, 3. Matt Westfall, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. Chase Stockon, 6. Briggs Danner, 7. Robert Ballou, 8. Jake Swanson, 9. Tom Harris. NT
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Timmy Buckwalter, 3. Kyle Cummins, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Tye Mihocko, 6. Zach Daum, 7. Brandon Mattox, 8. Chase Howard, 9. Hunter Maddox. 2:18.20
T.J. FORGED/CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Brian Ruhlman, 3. Joey Amantea, 4. Carson Garrett, 5. Mitchel Moles, 6. Alex Bright, 7. Trey Osborne, 8. Daison Pursley, 9. Robert Bell. 2:16.68
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Robert Ballou, 2. Tom Harris, 3. Trey Osborne, 4. Brandon Mattox, 5. Jake Swanson, 6. Hunter Maddox, 7. Chase Howard. 2:22.45
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Logan Seavey (9), 2. Kyle Cummins (2), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (8), 4. C.J. Leary (6), 5. Carson Garrett (1), 6. Daison Pursley (25-P), 7. Mitchel Moles (4), 8. Briggs Danner (3), 9. Chase Stockon (18), 10. Justin Grant (5), 11. Robert Ballou (24), 12. Joey Amantea (12), 13. Tye Mihocko (19), 14. Timmy Buckwalter (11), 15. Tom Harris (13), 16. Matt Westfall (10), 17. Zach Daum (14), 18. Hunter Maddox (22), 19. Alex Bright (20), 20. Brady Bacon (7), 21. Jadon Rogers (15), 22. Trey Osborne (23), 23. Brandon Mattox (16), 24. Brian Ruhlman (17), 25. Jake Swanson (21). NT
(P) represents a provisional starter
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-5 Carson Garrett, Laps 6-19 Kyle Cummins, Laps 20-30 Logan Seavey.
**Brady Bacon, Jadon Rogers & Trey Osborne flipped on lap 29 of the feature.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-237, 2-C.J. Leary-230, 3-Justin Grant-223, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-222, 5-Robert Ballou-181, 6-Briggs Danner-180, 7-Kyle Cummins-166, 8-Daison Pursley-164, 9-Carson Garrett-151, 10-Mitchel Moles-149.
BUBBY JONES MASTER OF GOIN’ FASTER PRESENTED BY SPIRE SPORTS + ENTERTAINMENT POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-78, 2-Kyle Cummins-75, 3-C.J. Leary-72, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-72, 5-Carson Garrett-64, 6-Mitchel Moles-60, 7-Briggs Danner-56, 8-Daison Pursley-55, 9-Justin Grant-53, 10-Chase Stockon-50.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Robert Ballou-24, 2-Tye Mihocko-16, 3-Alex Bright-13, 4-Logan Seavey-12, 5-Kyle Cummins-11, 6-C.J. Leary-10, 7-Chase Stockon-9, 8-Briggs Danner-8, 9-Mitchel Moles-7, 10-Jadon Rogers-7.
HUGHES RACING / INDIANA MAFIA / FLAMINGO SANDY WINTER DIRT GAMES XV SPRINT CAR PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Robert Ballou-31, 2-Tye Mihocko-23, 3-Logan Seavey-22, 4-Justin Grant-18, 5-C.J. Leary-18, 6-Kevin Thomas Jr.-16, 7-Alex Bright-16, 8-Chase Stockon-15, 9-Kyle Cummins-14, 10-Briggs Danner-13.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: February 15-16-17, 2024 – Ocala Speedway – Ocala, Florida – Winter Dirt Games XV – 3/8-Mile Dirt Track
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Justin Grant (16.711)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: C.J. Leary (16.151)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Logan Seavey
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Brady Bacon
T.J. Forged / Car IQ Third Heat Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Robert Ballou
ProSource Hard Work Award: Robert Ballou
Irvin King Hard Charger: Robert Ballou (24th to 11th)
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: February 12-13, 2024 – Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, Florida – Winter Dirt Games XV / DIRTcar Nationals – 1/2-Mile Dirt Track
HONEST ABE ROOFING QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 15x, BGE Dougherty-16.173 (New Track Record); 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3R, Rock Steady-16.424; 3. Logan Seavey, 57, Abacus-16.504; 4. Brady Bacon, 69, Dynamics-16.532; 5. Mitchel Moles, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-16.562; 6. Chase Stockon, 5s, KO-16.645; 7. Carson Garrett, 15, BGE Dougherty-16.664; 8. Briggs Danner, 39, Hogue-16.705; 9. Timmy Buckwalter, 20, Hummer-16.775; 10. Daison Pursley, 21AZ, Team AZ-16.792; 11. Kyle Cummins, 3p, Petty-16.834; 12. Zach Daum, 5d, Daum-16.838; 13. Alex Bright, 27, Heffner-16.840; 14. Justin Grant, 4, TOPP-16.893; 15. Jake Swanson, 2B, 2B Racing-16.956; 16. Jadon Rogers, 17GP, Dutcher-16.991; 17. Tom Harris, 84, Harris-17.112; 18. Joey Amantea, 88J, JPA-17.137; 19. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-17.174; 20. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-17.231; 21. Hunter Maddox, 24m, Maddox-17.297; 22. Brian Ruhlman, 49, Ruhlman-17.336; 23. Matt Westfall, 33m, Marshall-17.397; 24. Tye Mihocko, 5T, Wilson-17.513; 25. Trey Osborne, 5, Baldwin/Fox-17.906; 26. Chase Howard, 13, Howard-18.141; 27. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-18.745.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Alex Bright, 2. Jadon Rogers, 3. C.J. Leary, 4. Brady Bacon, 5. Carson Garrett, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Brian Ruhlman, 8. Trey Osborne, 9. Daison Pursley. NT
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant, 2. Kyle Cummins, 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 4. Briggs Danner, 5. Tom Harris, 6. Mitchel Moles, 7. Matt Westfall, 8. Brandon Mattox, 9. Chase Howard. 2:16.61 (New Track Record)
T.J. FORGED/CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Logan Seavey, 2. Timmy Buckwalter, 3. Jake Swanson, 4. Joey Amantea, 5. Chase Stockon, 6. Zach Daum, 7. Tye Mihocko, 8. Hunter Maddox, 9. Robert Bell. 2:17.52
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (10 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Daison Pursley, 2. Tye Mihocko, 3. Matt Westfall, 4. Brian Ruhlman, 5. Hunter Maddox, 6. Trey Osborne, 7. Brandon Mattox, 8. Chase Howard, 9. Robert Bell. 3:00.79
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses, held February 13) 1. Logan Seavey (4), 2. Brady Bacon (3), 3. C.J. Leary (6), 4. Daison Pursley (12), 5. Justin Grant (8), 6. Alex Bright (7), 7. Kevin Thomas Jr. (5), 8. Briggs Danner (10), 9. Mitchel Moles (2), 10. Kyle Cummins (13), 11. Tye Mihocko (23), 12. Tom Harris (17), 13. Carson Garrett (9), 14. Joey Amantea (18), 15. Chase Stockon (1), 16. Robert Ballou (19), 17. Matt Westfall (22), 18. Zach Daum (14), 19. Trey Osborne (24), 20. Hunter Maddox (20), 21. Brian Ruhlman (21), 22. Timmy Buckwalter (11), 23. Jadon Rogers (16), 24. Jake Swanson (15). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Chase Stockon, Laps 2-13 Brady Bacon, Laps 14-25 Logan Seavey.
**Robert Ballou & Jadon Rogers flipped on lap 20 of the feature.
USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Logan Seavey-307, 2-C.J. Leary-294, 3-Justin Grant-281, 4-Kevin Thomas Jr.-274, 5-Briggs Danner-229, 6-Daison Pursley-225, 7-Robert Ballou-212, 8-Kyle Cummins-209, 9-Mitchel Moles-195, 10-Carson Garrett-188.
OVERALL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Tye Mihocko-28, 2-Robert Ballou-27, 3-Logan Seavey-15, 4-Kyle Cummins-14, 5-Alex Bright-14, 6-C.J. Leary-13, 7-Matt Westfall-12, 8-Briggs Danner-10, 9-Justin Grant-9, 10-Daison Pursley-9.
HUGHES RACING / INDIANA MAFIA / FLAMINGO SANDY WINTER DIRT GAMES XV SPRINT CAR PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Tye Mihocko-35, 2-Robert Ballou-34, 3-Logan Seavey-25, 4-Justin Grant-21, 5-C.J. Leary-21, 6-Kyle Cummins-17, 7-Alex Bright-17, 8-Kevin Thomas Jr.-16, 9-Briggs Danner-15, 10-Matt Westfall-15.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: February 13, 2024 – Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, Florida – Winter Dirt Games XV / DIRTcar Nationals – 1/2-Mile Dirt Track
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Timmy Buckwalter (16.994)
Honest Abe Roofing Fast Qualifier: C.J. Leary (16.173)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Alex Bright
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Justin Grant
T.J. Forged / Car IQ Third Heat Winner: Logan Seavey
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Daison Pursley
ProSource Hard Work Award: Trey Osborne
Irvin King Hard Charger: Tye Mihocko (23rd to 11th)
