Throughout the multiple late race restarts, Thomas Jr was able to hold off a charging Tyler Courtney, but on the final restart after Dyson’s crash……Courtney was able to get a run down the back straight and steal the lead with just a handful of laps to go.Courtney was able to hold onto the lead, fending off Thomas and Kody Swanson, landing his first Hoosier Hundred win.The win meant a lot to Tyler, his first career Hoosier Hundred victory.With the clock past midnight, fans went home, teams packed up, and the confetti swept away. The USAC circus needed to move on, off to Lucas Oil Raceway for the Carb Night classic 22 hours later.And so, the sun sets on the Hoosier Hundred. By now, the clay and dirt track has been torn up and is being replaced with crushed limestone, the result of years of lobbying by the horse owners who usually race the Fairgrounds when USAC isn’t in town. For decades chariots of powered both by grain and by alcohol have coexisted at this track. But that is to be no more. There will be a Hoosier Hundred in 2020, but without the Indiana State Fairgrounds to host it, it won’t be the same. Decades of history, tradition, and fanfare, wiped out with a quiet vote. At least we’ll always have the memories of this glorious track and race, the place that cemented American legends into the history books.
