5/15/2025
Bloomington Speedway
Bradley Sterrett Remembers Josh Burton
Bradley Sterrett is like so many adults who are in the prime of life. His business Economy Termite and Pest Control is thriving, he spends time watching his son play baseball, and he tries to work in a little golf. When he gets a spare moment he utters words aloud that are familiar to so many of us. “I don’t have enough hours in the day,” he says with a hint of resignation, “I get pulled in so many directions.”
Sterrett also has a racing habit, and on this account there is much to be proud of. His professional career resulted in a Bloomington Speedway modified championship, and when he moved to 410 traditional sprint cars he was the Midwest Sprint Car Series Rookie of the Year. Then he switched directions. Putting a wing on top in 2020 he was the Indiana IMCA RaceSaver champion, and last season he topped the Bloomington Speedway points.
He is a responsible husband, father, and businessman, but with the slightest provocation he can easily recall those days “when we were all young and dumb.” Some of those memories include the late Josh Burton. “Josh and I went to middle school together,” he says, “and then we both went to Bloomington South. We also race karts together as kids, and then together after that for many years.”
The Josh Burton Memorial is important to many who have spent time at Bloomington Speedway, but for those like Sterrett it goes even deeper. “You know there are other memorial races,” he says, “but I didn’t meet or know Sheldon Kinser or Chuck Amati – but I knew Josh.” At this annual race there is pride that all parties came together to remember a friend that was lost. Yet, as Bradley notes. “there is also a bit of a sting. I always wonder what he would be doing now. Would he have kids? Would he still be racing?” Some questions just can’t be answered.
In his early karting days Sterrett and Burton raced at Boggs Park near Loogootee and Bakersfield Raceway Park in Linton. Recalling that time, Bradley says, “Josh was a really good little go kart racer. He was very passionate about racing. When we started Josh, Chad Combs, and my cousin Chase called themselves the “0 Boys.” Chase was 02, Josh was 04, and Chad was 09. I wanted to be a 0 boy too, but I was born in 1990, so I just flipped it around. I still had a 0 in my number.”
There are so many recollections of these early days vying for trophies, but Sterrett’s most cherished memory is one off the track. “He spent the night at our house when we were 12 or 13 years old,” he says while laughing, “and he started sleepwalking and went into my parent’s bedroom. My mom and dad woke up and said, Bradley? He said, “No it’s Josh. So, he just climbed in bed with them and went to sleep.”
The “0 Boys” were talented. Chad Combs and Bradley went to the modifieds and won track titles, while Burton chose a different path. “He got a street stock,” Sterrett says, “and the last year he raced them he did really well. He proved himself in that world and it led to a sprint car which is what he really wanted to do.”
Even today Sterrett is impressed with what Burton accomplished. “For the short amount of time he raced he was competitive,” he notes. “and that was impressive given who he was racing against at that time. When you race with people like that you get better. If you want to do it you have to figure this out.” The fact the Josh found victory lane so quickly testified that he learned his lessons well.
It is easy to be a bit melancholy when recounting a loss like this one. Luckily, Sterrett can draw on a fund of stories to keep him from falling into a funk. “He called me one time because he saw a spider in his room and was freaking out,” he says, “he said you have got to come over right now and spray our house. I’m not going to stay here.”
It is a story that is all the more remarkable given another facet of Josh’s personality. “Josh had a heart the size of Texas,” Bradley reveals, “but you didn’t want to make him mad. He loved hard, but if you pissed him off it wasn’t going to be good for you. Josh and Jerry (his father) were like two peas in a pod,” Bradley reveals, “they would get aggravated with each other, but you didn’t want to badmouth either one of them because they had each other’s back. They were a whole lot alike. He was just very close with family.”
Sterrett knows how crushed he felt when the truth of Burton’s accident began to sink in. Later he marveled at the resilience of the Burton clan. “I applaud Darlene and Jerry for mustering up the courage to field a car and to keep doing something in a sport that really took something from them,” then he adds, “but Josh wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”
Bradley Sterrett is a busy man and when it comes to racing he feels he has little left to prove. Yet, he’ll be there for the Josh Burton Memorial and the sidewall of his tires will be painted orange to salute his boyhood friend.
Photos KFMedia Photos and John Mahoney
Article Credit: Patrick Sullivan
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