Fifty years ago, a young Hank Lower wouldn’t have guessed he’d be standing victory lane at Anderson Speedway. Now in his 50th season behind the wheel of a racer of some kind, the 71-year-old captured a feature victory with the Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series (HOSS) at Anderson during May. Lower had to work just to make a feature event at Butler Speedway in fields of around 100 cars in his first decade of racing. He finally worked his way out of the consi and into the feature in a gray-colored six-cylinder with a spray painted #37 on the door. His second decade of racing saw the looks of his racer improve, wings sprout out of the top of his race car, and in 1977 he was almost unbeatable at the southern Michigan oval. Lower claimed Butler titles and also went on to earn championships with the Sprints on Dirt (SOD), where he won on dirt and pavement. He’s been a pavement ace since the mid 90s and with his win at Anderson, proved he’s still got what it takes to handle a winged sprint car. The ovation of the crowd at Anderson also proved that he’s a fan favorite. BACK IN TIME: Jack Hewitt was on hand along with Kenny Jacobs, Rich Vogler, Rickey Hood, Joe Gaerte and a bunch of other top dogs. The date was June 1, 1985 and Eldora Speedway was celebrating its 31st anniversary with a race for the winged sprints and UMP late models. Hank Lower set fast time in qualifications for the sprint cars, with heat race victories going to Vogler in the Drake’s Batter Mix #15, Fred Linder in his #3x, and Harry Garrett’s #92. Hurryin’ Hank Lower followed with the dash win, and Jack Hewitt had to make his way to the feature via a win in the ‘B’ Main. The feature event lined up (4) Danny Smith and (0) Rick Ferkel in the front row. In the second row were (46) Kenny Jacobs and (47) Kelly Kinser. Steve Butler, driving the Briscoe Mobile Homes #5 shared the third row with Lower. Hewitt was in the fifth row, with Haud a row behind in the Chupp #7c. Celebrating 31 years, it was decided the feature would be 31 laps. Smith led the first one-third of the race, with Butler then taking his turn at the point. Lower moved to as high as third before encountering tire woes. Just prior to the midway point Hewitt made his way to the front and held that spot until the checker waved. Jacobs was second, with Vogler coming from a ninth-row starting spot to third. BEVARD GOES FAST: When you hear the name Bevard at Butler Speedway, you think of Corey. But it’s another Bevard that’s turning heads this season, as Nathan has been looking extremely quick in his winged sprint. Following the fourth race of the season on June 6, he took the lead in the weekly points standings at the track for the first time in his career. The young hotshoe led all but the final lap of the feature on June 6, with Sean Robinson driving around the outside on the final straightaway to snatch the win away. GURLEY DOES IT: If you’ve been around the open wheel scene in the Great Lakes area for long, the name Gurley has came across the PA more than once, and more than likely you’ve seen a Gurley in victory lane. Van Gurley, Sr. won on the SOD ranks, and Van Gurley, Jr. was strong on the dirt and also later made his way to victory lane with the AVSS series on the pavement. John Gurley was a northern Indiana dirt regular at one time, and these days Chris Gurley is behind the wheel of a sprint car. He won the feature at Kokomo Speedway on June 6. THE FOLLOWING OFFICIAL RELEASE IS FROM BULTER MOTOR SPEEDWAY : After great deliberation this year, we extremely regret to inform you that Butler Speedway is unable to continue running two major divisions of racing, therefore the Late Model Division will not be racing on a weekly basis until further notice. We love the Late Model Division and are deeply sorry that we have to make this decision.
