8/14/2025
Bloomington Speedway
Frankie shows the way
Tomorrow it goes down. The Kelly Kinser Classic featuring the All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Monroe Hospital. In an all open wheel night the Ford Performance Racing School traditional sprint cars and the MMSA - Midwest Mini Sprint Association will also be on the card.
One more look back. May 7, 1993
Frankie Kerr was going to need every point to become the king of the All Star Circuit of Champions for the second time, and his cause was abetted by a wire to wire win in a 40 lap feature on the Red Clay. Forty-four cars were on hand with Larry Bland topping qualifications with a time of 10.260 in Daryl Tate's no. 66.
But the story of the night was Kerr.
It was just two weeks since the birth of his daughter Samantha, and he was red hot. As always he was assigned to Stan Shoff's sprint car, a J & J chassis that was fortified by a relatively new Davey Brown built engine. Jeff Gordon had been fired from the Shoff ride, but the relationship between Frankie and Stan would be long and productive.
Kerr got the the front and as was custom, he was riding the rim to perfection. Then he spotted the nose of a competitor snaking around on the bottom of the track. When he saw it was Kelly Kinser he realized he could be in trouble. This was Bloomington and that was one of the best every to make the low groove sing. Kerr quickly dove to the bottom to seal the win.
As for the season, as fate would have it Frankie and Kevin Huntley, great friends off the track, would end the year in a dead tie in points and shared the title. Frankie would be the All Star champion again in 1994 and 1997 and all told would notch 53 wins in the series.
One more note.
On October 2, 1994 Frankie was the winner of the hugely successful D.O. Racin' Fest in front of an overflow crowd. He took home the cash and an Earlywine Furniture overstuffed chair.
It was quite a ride for a kid who grew up in Pennsylvania, dominated in quarter midgets, built his first engine at 11, and found a job in a speed shop at 14. Success first came in modifieds, but he switched to sprint cars in 1983.
The incredibly versatile driver also took home $17,000 as the winner of the 1999 Non-Wing Nationals at the Terre Haute Action Track. Then on Tuesday June 27, 2000 he won an Ohio Sprint Speedweek race at Fremont, Ohio and retired the next day. He decided it was time. He was on his way to becoming a successful crew chief in NASCAR.
He was also on his way to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.
Franke Kerr is an All Star and Bloomington Speedway legend.
Come see the next superstars tomorrow night. Let's Fill the Hill
John Mahoney Photos
Article Credit: Patrick Sullivan
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