MASTERMIND: LEARY LANDS 2023 BUBBY JONES MASTER OF GOIN’ FASTER TITLE
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Lawrenceburg, Indiana (October 8, 2023)………C.J. Leary has won a USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship, an Indiana Sprint Week title and an Eastern Storm crown in his career.
In 2023, the Greenfield, Ind. driver added another highlight to his impressive reel by capturing the second annual Bubby Jones Master of Goin’ Faster Championship Presented By Spire Sports + Entertainment.
Leary earned $10,000 for his efforts in the 10-race miniseries and an extra $2,500 for his BGE Dougherty Motorsports team based out of Evansville, Ind. He finished off the championship with a sixth-place result on Saturday night at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway.
In the end, Leary won the Bubby Jones title by a 10-point margin over runner-up Emerson Axsom who carried the series lead into the Lawrenceburg finale by five markers. Axsom (Franklin, Ind.) had led the standings for the past five events since mid-July.
For Leary, it’s another feather in his cap as he also will receive a custom trophy provided by Potter Metal Art and a year-end acknowledgement at USAC’s Night of Champions in December for his accomplishment in winning the series named in honor of the 1998 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee, nicknamed Ol’ Bub.
“It’s something we set out to do at the beginning of the year,” Leary stated. “Bubby was a badass, so it’s cool to win this in his honor. It’s super special and the Bubby Jones deal ranks right up there (in my career). It’s 10 races all across the country and it’s definitely an honor.”
In 10 Bubby Jones series starts, Leary piloted his Altoz – Hornbeck Concrete - Highsmith Guns - Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts/DRC/1-Way Chevy to a pair of wins, including the opener at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in May as well as the Indiana Sprint Week round at Kokomo Speedway in July.
On the journey, Leary also notched a second in the series debut at Arkansas’ Texarkana 67 Speedway, a 4th at Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway, a 5th at Indiana’s Terre Haute Action Track, a 6th at both Indiana’s Bloomington Speedway and Lawrenceburg, plus an eighth at Pennsylvania’s Williams Grove Speedway and a 10th at Indiana’s Tri-State Speedway.
Only one aberration disrupted Leary’s flow – a flat tire at Pennsylvania’s Port Royal Speedway, which dropped him down to a 17th place result and lowered him to fourth in the points, 37 out of the lead, leading Leary to believe that a Bubby Jones title run might be out of the question.
“I felt like we may not be able to get it done,” Leary admitted. “We blew a tire at Port Royal and ended up running 17th. I felt like that really hindered our shot with it only being a 10-race series. But we were able to rebound pretty well, ran good and won some races, and that’s what it’s all about.”
While Leary took two victories in the 10-race victories, five more drivers also earned their share of glory in the series. In fact, four drivers won on multiple occasions.
Emerson Axsom won twice on June 16 at Williams Grove and July 28 at Bloomington. Brady Bacon, the 2022 Bubby Jones Master of Goin’ Faster champion, scored two triumphs on May 23 at Terre Haute and on September 16 at Tri-State. Justin Grant took two on June 17 at Port Royal and on October 7 at Lawrenceburg.
Grabbing one victory apiece, meanwhile, were Jake Swanson on June 3 at Knoxville and Matt Westfall on September 9 at Texarkana 67.
Spire Sports + Entertainment served as the presenting sponsor of the series. SS+E has been involved in numerous race promotion and marketing efforts for tracks and events on the USAC schedule in recent years. Founded in 2010, Spire Sports + Entertainment (SS+E) has blossomed into a multi-tiered entity. Since then, SS+E has become a subsidiary of parent organization Spire Holdings, which includes a a diverse sports portfolio, including Spire Motorsports, SS+E, ECHL hockey teams the Rapid City (S.D.) Rush and the Greenville (S.C.) Swamp Rabbits and short track promotions company Track Enterprises.
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BUBBY JONES MASTER OF GOIN’ FASTER CHAMPIONS
2022: Brady Bacon
2023: C.J. Leary
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2023 BUBBY JONES MASTER OF GOIN’ FASTER WINNERS
May 6: Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, OH
WINNER: C.J. Leary (BGE Dougherty Motorsports #15x)
May 23: Terre Haute Action Track - Terre Haute, IN
WINNER: Brady Bacon (Dynamics, Inc. #69)
Jun 3: Knoxville Raceway - Knoxville, IA
WINNER: Jake Swanson (Team AZ Racing #21AZ)
Jun 16: Williams Grove Speedway - Mechanicsburg, PA
WINNER: Emerson Axsom (Clauson Marshall Newman Racing #47BC)
Jun 17: Port Royal Speedway - Port Royal, PA
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
Jul 22: Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, IN
WINNER: C.J. Leary (BGE Dougherty Motorsports #15x)
Jul 28: Bloomington Speedway - Bloomington, IN
WINNER: Emerson Axsom (Clauson Marshall Newman Racing #47BC)
Sep 9: Texarkana 67 Speedway – Texarkana, AR
WINNER: Matt Westfall (Ray Marshall Motorsports #33m)
Sep 16: Tri-State Speedway - Haubstadt, IN
WINNER: Brady Bacon (Dynamics, Inc. #69)
Oct 7: Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, IN
WINNER: Justin Grant (TOPP Motorsports #4)
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2023 FINAL BUBBY JONES MASTER OF GOIN’ FASTER POINT STANDINGS
1. 636-C.J. Leary
2. 626-Emerson Axsom
3. 595-Brady Bacon
4. 595-Mitchel Moles
5. 578-Jake Swanson
6. 568-Justin Grant
7. 540-Kyle Cummins
8. 523-Chase Stockon
9. 486-Daison Pursley
10. 472-Robert Ballou
11. 425-Logan Seavey
12. 408-Matt Westfall
13. 406-Carson Garrett
14. 358-Kevin Thomas Jr.
15. 293-Briggs Danner
16. 257-Max Adams
17. 215-Charles Davis Jr.
18. 186-Jadon Rogers
19. 131-Shane Cottle
20. 129-Brandon Mattox
21. 114-Justin Zimmerman
22. 106-Thomas Meseraull
23. 104-Eddie Tafoya Jr.
24. 95-Geoff Ensign
25. 88-Matt Mitchell
26. 80-Mario Clouser
27. 73-Steven Drevicki
28. 71-Timmy Buckwalter
29. 68-Brent Beauchamp & Alex Bright
31. 66-Joey Amantea
32. 64-Dustin Beck & Dalton Stevens
34. 59-Sterling Cling & Chase Johnson
36. 55-J.J. Hughes & Zack Pretorius
38. 52-Kendall Ruble
39. 50-Hunter Maddox
40. 48-Cody Gardner & Riley Kreisel
42. 47-Wesley Smith
43. 46-Nick Bilbee & Paul White
45. 45-Tim Creech & Stevie Sussex
47. 43-Dallas Hewitt & Brady Short
49. 42-Ivan Glotzbach & Brody Roa
51. 38-Kyle Jones & Kody Swanson
53. 36-Saban Bibent, Braxton Cummings & Preston Lattomus
56. 34-Logan Calderwood & Travis Thompson
58. 33-J.J. Yeley
59. 32-Garrett Abrams & Jack Hoyer
61. 31-Chance Crum & Adyn Schmidt
63. 30-Jason Howell
64. 28-Scotty Weir
65. 27-Andy Bradley
66. 24-Ed Aikin, Trey Osborne & Keith Sheffer II
69. 23-Nathan Carle, Stephen Schnapf & Carson Short
72. 20-Ryan Barr, Troy Carey, Jason Cherry, Aric Gentry, Rylan Gray, Tom Harris, Jack James, Travis Millar & Kevin Newton
81. 10-Dave Axton, A.J. Bender, Cole Bodine, Donny Brackett, Wyatt Burks, Isaac Chapple, Brayden Clark, Colten Cottle, Dave Darland, Michael Daugherty, Bryan Debrick, Xavier Doney, Don Droud Jr., Gary Floyd, Parker Frederickson, Matt Goodnight, Brian Hayden, Anton Hernandez, Tyler Hewitt, Raymond Holden, Allen Howard Jr., Chase Howard, Jonathan Hughes, Dustin Ingle, Johnny Ivers, Tyler Kendall, Larry Kingseed Jr., Jordan Kinser, Tyler Miller, Joss Moffatt, Kyle Moody, Christian Moore, Evan Mosley, Devan Myers, Chase Parson, Jeff Pritchett, Kayla Roell, Brian Ruhlman, Bryar Schroeter, Sam Scott, Kobe Simpson, Alec Sipes, Doug Sylvester, Vinny Ward, Noah Whitehouse, Tayte Williamson & Ben Woods