LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. This ones 4JO.

The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and Indianas Lawrenceburg Speedway race on in the memory of the 2022 track champion this Saturday night, April 12, with the second running of the Justin Owen Memorial.

The event honors the life and memory of the driver who died in a qualifying crash during the April 2023 USAC event at Lawrenceburg.

The 26-year-old Owen was the 2022 sprint car track champion at Lawrenceburg, scoring two feature wins en route to the title at the three-eighths-mile dirt oval in southeastern Indiana where hed long been a regular competitor for the past several seasons.

Among his greatest achievements were a victory in the season-closing Dick Gaines Memorial at Lawrenceburg in 2022. With USAC, Owen made two feature starts, both at Lawrenceburg in 2019 and 2021.

For Saturday, $6,000 has been added to the purse courtesy of friends, family, sponsors, donations and t-shirt sales. Among the rewards are a $1204 bonus which will be awarded to the feature hard charger. Additionally, $604 is up for grabs to the first non-transfer in the semi-feature.

Furthermore, a $404 bonus will be awarded to the driver with the second fastest hot lap time, and $404 more will go to the second fastest qualifier. Plus, $264 more will go to fourth place in the feature while $26 extra will be awarded to the fourth-place finisher in each heat race.

For the longest time, Lawrenceburgs Spring USAC National Sprint Car event had the distinction of producing a different winner each year between 2006 and 2023: Jon Stanbrough (2006), Levi Jones (2007), Josh Wise (2009), Jerry Coons Jr. (2010), Kevin Thomas Jr. (2013), Justin Grant (2014), Logan Jarrett (2015), Dave Darland (2016), Chris Windom (2017) and Brady Bacon (2021).

But in 2024, Kevin Thomas Jr. put an end to that streak by becoming the first two-time Spring Lawrenceburg victor after also scoring in 2013.

At this time a year ago, it was the Cullman, Alabama drivers first win after joining Rock Steady Racing. Now, after a bit of an inauspicious start with a best finish of 8th through the first six rounds of the 2025 season, Thomas looks to break through at the same place of his breakthrough nearly 365 days ago.

Dave Darland holds the all-time record of USAC National Sprint Car wins at Lawrenceburg with seven between 1998 and 2016.

Two drivers in this Saturdays field have an opportunity to equal Darlands longstanding record. Justin Grant and Kevin Thomas Jr. currently possess six victories apiece.

Grant won his very first USAC feature victory at Lawrenceburg in 2012, and since then, has reeled off additional wins in 2014, 2018, 2019 and twice in 2023. Thomas, meanwhile, has added six, starting with two in 2013, plus one each in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024.

Briggs Danner very well couldve won all three of his USAC National Sprint Car starts at Lawrenceburg in 2024.

In Julys Indiana Sprint Week round, the Allentown, Pennsylvania racer led a total of nine laps and was running in the number one spot with 12 laps to go under caution when an engine issue sent him to the sideline.

In Octobers Greg Staab Memorial, Danner led the final two laps after misfortune befell Mitchel Moles in a similar manner, leading to Danners victory. The following night, Danner started on the outside of the front row of the feature and carried the lead into turn one where he endured a vicious flip that ended his weekend early.

Danner is making his first run at a USAC National Sprint Car title in 2025, and another big win at The Burg could really jumpstart their quest as the season gets into full swing.

The familiar colors and number of the Hoffman Auto Racing / Dynamics Inc. team will return throughout the 2025 season in a different form as a sponsor of Nick Bilbees racing operation.

Bilbee was contacted during the offseason by Tom Hoffman, and he expressed interest in putting a deal together with Bilbee to keep the Hoffman family No. 69 on track after Brady Bacons departure at the end of the 2024 campaign.

The Hoffman team is synonymous with success in USAC National Sprint Car racing, amassing 140 feature wins and 13 entrant championships over the years. Dave Darland, Jon Stanbrough, Jerry Coons Jr. and Bacon have collected a total eight Lawrenceburg USAC Sprint Car wins between 1998-2021.

Bilbee considers Lawrenceburg his home track, having tallied four sprint car championships at the venue in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024. In the 2024 Spring USAC race at The Burg, he finished a solid 10th in the feature.

Mitchel Moles is due for some good fortune when it comes to Lawrenceburg Speedway after several close encounters one year ago.

In Julys Indiana Sprint Week round, Moles was set to take off from the outside of the front row. However, while the field was on its pace laps and getting ready to go green, Moles pulled off to the Indy Metal Finishing Work Area due to a broken mag box. Relegated to the tail of the field for the start, Moles made a nice recovery by working himself all the way up to a seventh-place finish.

In October, he led the first 29 laps of the 30-lap feature, and just as he was within reach of the checkered flag, the caution flag was displayed due to an incident elsewhere on the track. Under caution, Moles was forced to pull off track again. This time, as his engines RPMs suddenly rose, Moles wore out his brakes just trying to keep his car whoad down under yellow, thus handing over the victory once more.

The following night during Octobers $20,000-to-win Fall Nationals, Moles led the opening lap and ran second.