BROWNSTOWN, Ind. — Franklin, Ind., driver Steve Barnett was able to make his 25th Jackson 100 by winning a six-lap dash race consisting of the top- six drivers in Brownstown Speedway late-model points who failed to qualify.
Obviously, Barnett, who has 12 top-10 finishes in the race, would love to win it, but his opinion about a victory hasn’t changed since last year.
“I’ll do my best,” Barnett said, “(but) I’m not gonna beat myself up over it.”
The three-time Brownstown late-model champion was making progress early, but dropped out and finished 23rd.

• Famed car builder C.J. Rayburn, at age 69, was in attendance trying to qualify for his 13th Jackson 100, but failed to make the field.
A favorite memory of longtime Brownstown fans is the 1987 race when Rayburn unlapped himself under green-flag conditions en route to a third-place finish.
Rayburn’s best finish in the late-summer classic came in 1989 when he was second to former late-model star Jeff Purvis.

• Out of the four former Jackson 100 winners in attendance at this year’s race, three of them lined up in the first qualifying heat.
Three-time winner Don O’Neal, and two-time winners Scott Bloomquist and John Gill all competed in a star-studded event that also included traveling drivers Bart Hartman, Scott James and Darren Miller.
Bloomquist finished fourth in the heat-race, but later won a B main to make the feature.
Gill failed to qualify for his 21st Jackson 100. Two-time Jackson winner Billy Drake, who competed in the sixth heat, also failed to qualify.
 
• Fast-timer Josh McGuire was contemplating a trip back to the Ohio Valley on Saturday if he didn’t qualified well on Friday.
McGuire, who finished second to Matt Miller in last year’s race, was considering heading back south to race in weekend events at Ohio’s Skyline Speedway, that is until he toured Brownstown’s quarter-mile at 15.221 seconds.
McGuire won the first heat race and started fifth in the feature, but faded to 15th.

• Flags on the Brownstown Speedway grounds were flying at half-mast throughout the weekend in remembrance of four-cylinder driver Mason Watson, 22, who was fatally injured in a work-related accident just days before the Jackson 100.
Watson, from Columbus, Ind., had been driving at the track the past two years, officials said.
A moment of silence also was held in Watson’s honor during pre-race ceremonies on Friday.

• Brownstown Speedway suffered fairly extensive damage from the remnants of Hurricane Ike the weekend before the Jackson 100.
Promoter Tim Keithley said two power poles, several power lines and numerous trees were damaged by the approximately 75 mph winds.
Full power wasn’t restored at the fairgrounds facility until Thursday, Keithley said.