9/11/2025
Bloomington Speedway
Rewind: Baldwin wins in a Thriller
With a top prize of $10,000 up for grabs the Kevin Huntley Memorial at Indiana’s Bloomington Speedway is by definition one of the most prestigious races on the IMCA RaceSaver calendar. Yet, the significance of the event goes well beyond the hefty purse. Huntley, known in the racing world as “The Pup” cut his teeth at Bloomington Speedway where he was the track champion in 1986. Moving to the All Star Circuit of Champions Huntley notched two titles and also enjoyed success with the United States Auto Club.
Then it was time to come back home. Huntley became a successful and respected Bloomington business leader, but racing was never far from his heart. When wing 305 sprint car racing was introduced in the region he knew he had to try it. No one was surprised when he found his way to the front and on August 14, 2015, he found victory lane at Bloomington and retired on the spot. From that point until his passing on January 8, 2022, he was deeply involved with 305 racing.
The 4th annual Kevin Huntley Memorial was the most highly anticipated edition of the annual race to date. With Mother Nature interceding in July the tilt was pushed back to September 5 where 37 cars signed in representing eight different states and the United Kingdom. In qualifications three drivers dipped into the 10 second bracket with defending Indiana champion Ethan Barrow the fastest at 10.795. Heat races fell to Oklahoma’s Whit Gastineau, Ohio’s Rod Henning, Kentucky racer Dillan Baldwin, and Hoosier’s Ashton Thompson and Jordan Welch. A 12 lap semi determined the final five spots on the grid with Blayne Ridgley taking the top spot.
Rod Henning and Whit Gastineau occupied the front row of the 30 lap feature with Dillan Baldwin and Ashton Thompson the next in line. Henning would get the jump when the green flag fell and would develop a comfortable margin in the initial stages of the race with Gastineau in hot pursuit. Henning headed to the work area handing the lead to Gastineau who looked unstoppable. While working traffic Whit slammed the cushion between the third and four turns and quickly headed for service. Given the action that followed it would be easy to overlook Henning’s charge to fifth and Gastineau’s performance that ended one step shy of the podium.
From there the race developed into a thrilling dual between 16 year old Dillan Baldwin and veteran Ethan Barrow. Baldwin assumed the top spot and when it looked like he might be able to run away and hide a caution brought things to a halt. That changed everything. “To be completely honest I didn't know he was behind me on the restart,” Baldwin says, “When I did find out he was behind me I definitely knew he was going to give me a run for my money.”
Barrow’s ability to ride the rim at Bloomington is well-documented, as his willingness to push it to the limit. As Ethan began to reel in his younger peer, many veteran observers felt the race was over, and when he took over the top spot his trip to victory lane truly seemed inevitable. Those thoughts were premature. Regardless of the number of official lead changes Barrow and Baldwin began trading sliders that had the crowd screaming.
Recounting the last laps Baldwin notes, “He was better in 3 and 4 and the first time he cleared me I knew I couldn't let him get away so I just tried to stall his momentum as much as I could. I came off of 2 with the lead twice and he kept coming off of 4 with the lead so I knew I had to change it up going into 3 so I pinned it on the bottom and just hoped he didn’t get a good run around the top.”
It was here that Dillan had an unpleasant memory. In August he felt he had a race in the bag at Paragon Speedway when he was beat to the line by Ashton Thompson. He could only pray history did not repeat itself. “I saw his nose off of 4,” he recalled, “and thought I'd lost yet another race off of 4 like I did recently to Ashton but luckily I caught the moisture and was able to win the drag race to the line.”
There was pandemonium in victory lane as the young Kentuckian had just won the biggest race in his young career and had topped one of the best in doing so. Ethan Barrow put the loss down to “driver error” but took some solace in claiming the track championship. Jordan Welch with his third place finish was relishing one of his biggest paydays to date.
Once he climbed down from his wing Baldwin remembered a conversation that had taken place in the pits before the evening began. He was asked if he might follow a recent victory lane phenomenon when he quickly reminded all that he was far too young to drink. “I was originally supposed to do a shoey,” he said with a laugh, “but I forgot in victory lane and was confused when I was handed a root beer by Nikki Sullivan. But I knew I had to do something fun with it. I took a drink then dumped it on my head. It wasn't a very good idea. I didn’t think about how it would be sticky. I can say though, Bloomington makes a good root beer!”
Photos Tommy Kelly Kfmedia photo of Barrow and Baldwin Brittany Raines B Raines photography and videography
Article Credit: Patrick Sullivan
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