ANDERSON, Ind. – Anthony McCune continues to close in on his first Must See Racing Sprint Car Series victory, and if Hamilton Trucking Time Trials were any indication, it may come Saturday night at Anderson Speedway.
The 20-year-old rolled to his third fast qualifying effort of the season and third of his Must See Racing career with a lap of 10.665 seconds (84.388 mph) in his familiar No. 8 Abe’s Auto Parts & Sales/B&B Machinery Movers/Rev-X Oil sprinter. He leads all drivers in the series in fast times this year.
However, McCune will be looking to convert that early speed into his first win later in the evening.
“Man, the lap was really good … really smooth,” noted McCune. “Obviously this track is pretty tough to pass at, but I’ve got two really fast drivers starting just ahead of me, so my hope is that I can follow them through to the front and then pick them off before it’s all over at the end of the race.”
McCune narrowly missed qualifying for the non-winged Pay Less Little 500 at Anderson in May, something that he said Saturday pushed he and his team to get even stronger.
“It was a bit of a shove for us,” admitted McCune. “We haven’t really run our non-winged program that much over the past few years, but we’ve worked at it to get better and I think it’s showing across everything we’re doing. Hopefully we can break through with a win tonight and show what we’ve done.”
Former Anderson Speedway winner Chris Neuenschwander chased the younger McCune in qualifying, just like he did in practice to kick off the day. Neuenschwander was second-fastest (10.681/84.262) in the No. 10 Pro Strip/NAPA Auto Parts/JC Automotive entry for Koehler Motorsports.
Three-time defending series champion and current points leader Jimmy McCune (10.797/83.356) landed third on the speed charts in the No. 88 Abe’s Auto Parts & Sales/B&B Machinery Movers/Rev-X Oil entry. The uncle to fast qualifier Anthony McCune is a five-time Anderson winner with Must See Racing.
Charlie Schultz and Jerry Caryer completed the top five, followed by Jeff Bloom, Brian Vaughn, Tom Jewell, Christian Koehler and Derek Bischak.
The top 11 qualifiers were covered by eight tenths of a second in two-lap time trials.
McCune was a half-second off the all-time track record of 10.168 seconds (88.513 mph) at the Anderson quarter-mile, set in May of 2013 by former series champion JoJo Helberg.
QUALIFYING RESULTS: Must See Racing Sprint Car Series; Anderson Speedway; Aug. 11, 2018
- #8 – Anthony McCune, 10.665
- #10 – Chris Neuenschwander, 10.681
- #88 – Jimmy McCune, 10.797
- #9s – Charlie Schultz, 11.087
- #75c – Jerry Caryer, 11.119
- #26 – Jeff Bloom, 11.141
- #71 – Brian Vaughn, 11.151
- #7 – Tom Jewell, 11.234
- #10k – Christian Koehler, 11.314
- #81 – Derek Bischak, 11.378
- #8a – Adam Biltz, 11.465
- #43 – Jim Payne, 11.872
- #8t – Dameron Taylor, 12.262
- #4L – Anthony Linkenhoker, 13.121