Sprint cars will return to the high banks at Salem Speedway for the 65th running of the historic Joe James/Pat O'Connor Memorial Race.
Sprint cars will be returning this Saturday night to the Salem Speedway. The 500 Sprint Car Tour will challenge the high banks, as well as each other. It will be the 65th running of the Joe James/Pat O’Connor Memorial race.
The last Joe James/Pat O’Connor race held at the Speedway was in 2020, when the USAC Silver Crown cars took to the track. The last race that had Non-Winged Sprint Cars was 2010.
The track record for sprint cars was set by Tracy Hines on August 2, 2000 at 15.181 seconds. Will this 24-year record hold or will we hear “It’s a new track record” booming over the track speakers.
USAC no longer has an asphalt sprint car division.
Second only to the “Little 500,” this is one of the nation’s longest running race events.
For the last two years, the race has been held at the Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Racing with the 500 Sprint Car Tour will be Kody Swanson, who won the Silver Crown races from 2016 through 2020 at Salem.
The past winners of this historic event are a “who’s who” of open wheel racing, including Pat O’Connor (back when it was just the Joe James Memorial), Eddie Sachs, Bob Sweikert, A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Rollie Beale, Gary Bettenhausen, Tom Bigelow, Pancho Carter, Greg Leffler, Rich Vogler, Steve Butler, Jim Keeker, Kenny Irwin Jr., Tony Stewart, Chet Fillip, Dave Steele, Dave Darland, Eric Gordon, Tracy Hines, Brian Tyler, Bryan Clauson and Brian Gerster.
Added to this day’s program is the legendary USA Kenyon Midget Series and the Diesel Boys Race Car Parts Legends. Plus, on the track will be the Midwest Vintage Race Car Club.
Friday will be practice, with pits opening at 3 p.m. Saturday racing begins at 7p.m.
The program looks like this: Kenyon Midgets 10 lap heats and a 25-lap feature; Legends 25 lap feature; and The Joe James/Pat O’Connor will be 50 laps.
General admission is $25, chair back seat tickets are $30., kids 12-6 are $5. Kids under 12 are free. The Salem Speedway is located at 2729 W. State Road 56, Salem.
Salem High School will hold its Homecoming Ceremony on September 13th immediately prior to the start of the home football game at 7 p.m. Join fellow community members in supporting the candidates and Salem Lions Football. Candidates this year are:
Seniors: Hunter Trainor, Braxton Backus, Abby Maynard, and Morgan Humphrey
Juniors: Finn Kritzer, Rafe Wells, Brynan Barton, and Emma Loyd
Sophomores: Mason Abbot, Aiden Cole, Addison Howerton, and Peyton Maynard
Freshmen: Ethan Cooper, Alex Blake, Rachel Little, and Kaileigh Shields
The Southern Indiana Junior Rodeo Association is hosting the 5th Southern Indiana Junior Rodeo on September 14th at 9 a.m. These grade-specific events are designed to be fun and to help prepare cowboys and cowgirls for future rodeos.
There is a Pre-Kindergarten Division, Kindergarten through 2nd Grade Division, 3rd Grade through 5th Grade Division, and 6th Grade through 8th Grade Division. For more information, Click Here.
By: Josh Lewis, Reporter
It’s not often that a 41-8 game feels closer than the score indicated, but that was the case for the Lions on Friday night. The short handed Lions were missing several starters including their signal caller in Adam Mull, but they still moved the ball well at times throughout the game. However, some turnovers proved too much to overcome to keep up with Silver Creek in the 41-8 loss.
Salem Head Coach Brian Glesing said his team played hard but just can’t turn the ball over that many times. “They scored a couple times late on our subs. But it was 21-8 at the half. We didn’t punt the whole game. Offensively we did some good things. We just have to sure up some things. Our pass protection was awful. That has to be fixed. We have to take care of the ball better too. You can't be a great team when you’re turning the ball over like that. We fought. We had a lot of guys out, but we had some guys step up and play. That’s what football is all about. You never know when it’s your turn to play. I thought we did ok. We would like the score to be different, but our attitude, character, and effort were pretty good.”
Salem started out well on defense. Braxton Dean got a sack to stall out the Dragons first drive, but Salem turned the ball over with an interception in the redzone. Silver Creek wasted little time driving down the field and punching in a four yard touchdown run to make it a 7-0 Dragon lead with 5:42 left in the first.
The Lions mounted a drive of their own with big runs from Noah Deaton and Logan Dent to get down to the one. Ethan Campbell scored on the quarterback sneak, and Dent ran around the end for the two point try to put Salem in front 8-7 with 2:43 to go in the opening period.
Silver Creek scored on their next possession with a 23 yard run on the first play of the second quarter. Salem again put together a promising drive, converting a fourth down close to midfield, but a fumble at the 16 ended their drive. The Dragons put another score on the board with 6:30 left in the half.
On their next drive Salem again turned the ball over at midfield with an incomplete pass on fourth and two. Silver Creek again went to work and ripped off a big run that would have scored, but a fumble through the back of the endzone resulted in a touchback giving the ball back to Salem. The Lions then elected to let the clock run out after a couple of runs and go into the half.
Things continued to go down hill for Salem in the second half. They got into Dragon territory but a sack at the 41 on fourth down ended their drive. Silver Creek scored on their next two possessions while Salem turned the ball over in Dragon territory again.
With the game well in hand, the Dragons seemed unsure of their victory, leaving the starters in for a few more drives while the Lions put in mass subs. A long throw resulted in another Silver Creek score late in the fourth against the Lions second team to put the finishing touches on the win.
Dent led the Lions with 179 yards on the ground. Glesing said he ran really well. “I don’t know what he ended up with as far as how many yards, but he took care of the ball. He pounded it up in there. He had a lot of carries on a hot night. We had a lot of young guys playing tonight on the lines and secondary. We will get better.”
The Lions played a number of underclassmen in the effort, and Glesing said they did a good job. “Nobody complained. Our attitudes were great. They fought through it. We knew it would be a tough game even if we were at full strength. But nobody complained. For our guys to come in and fight, that’s a big deal for our program. This time last year it would have been ugly with our attitudes, but it wasn’t tonight.”
Salem will travel to Scottsburg next week.
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