Leary Wins Opening Night Feature of the 2017 Smackdown

“We’ve just been tight, tight and tight. We figured if we lost tonight, it would be because we were too loose. We got it freed up and I ran it hard. I felt like I could run it as hard as I wanted to up there.” – C.J. Leary(Travis Branch Photo) From Richie Murray KOKOMO, Ind. (August 24, 2017) — Nearly one year to the day since his breakthrough USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory in late August of last year, C.J. Leary once again found “Sprint Car Smackdown” gold on the very same spot after capturing Thursday’s “Sprint Car Smackdown VI” opener at Kokomo Speedway. In 2016, “Smackdown” weekend was owned by Leary and Kevin Thomas, Jr., who alternated victories throughout the three nights. The trend continued Thursday night when it became Leary’s turn to plant the figurative flag for the Leary Racing/Leary Construction – Highsmith Guns/DRC/1-Way Chevy at the quarter-mile dirt oval. Earlier in the night, things didn’t appear to be as rosy for Leary as he struggled to snare a transfer spot in his heat race until misfortune found another competitor in front of him, thus moving him into position to earn a spot in the feature [...]