Losh Rules Modified Feature; Massingill Tops the D2 Midgets;
Fritz Nabs the Street Stock Main and Arcaro Stars in the Hornets
Friday Night at Gas City I-69 Speedway
GAS CITY, Ind., July 30 — Derek Losh of Rensselaer, Ind., reminded everyone how good he is at Gas City I-69 Speedway when he led all 20 laps of the UMP modified feature Friday night.
Bryce Massingill of Troy, Ohio took the top honors in a very competitive 20-lap USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget feature which seemed to have a curse over whoever was running third.
David Fritz of Winamac, Ind., drove a car he built himself to victory in the 15-lap street stock main event, while Landon Arcaro of Brookville, Ind., won his fourth 15-lap feature for the hornets so far this season at the Grant County quarter-mile dirt oval.
Modifieds
Losh started third in the modified feature and came out on top in a three-car drag race into Turn 1 on the first lap. From that point on the fight was for second place, as there were no yellows and no one ever got close again to Losh’s No. 21, which is a Longhorn by Loenbro chassis with a Mullins engine. The team is sponsored by Superior Sales and Service, R & R Transmission, Aggressive Graphics and Rensselaer Iron and Metal.
Losh won by 2.395 seconds.
Polesitter Garrett Rons of Livonia, Mich., held second place for the first four laps before Will Krup of Mt. Carmel, Ill. passed him and went on to earn the runner-up honors with his Elite Mullins sponsored by Willy’s Carbs, Bilstein Shocks and KBC.
Josh “The Wizard” Morton of Piqua, Ohio started sixth, passed Rons at the halfway point, and finished third in his Kryptonite Rhyne No. 20M sponsored by Metalbrite Polishing, Pardo’s Towing and M&M Services.
Dylan Woodling of Warsaw, Ind., passed Rons on the last lap for fourth in the No. 3W owned and wrenched by Randy Woodling, also of Warsaw. It’s a WR Customs chassis with a Pace Performance engine, and it’s sponsored by WR Customs, Bishop Farms and Rocket Suspension. Rons held on for fifth in his family’s Rocket by Ruhlman chassis with a Fastime engine. His No. 9 is sponsored by VFW Post 3941, Anatomical Resources and J. Drummond Services.
USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder Midgets
Massingill, who turned 17 on July 12, was the star of this round of the USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget series, which is sponsored by Performance Electronics of Cincinnati, despite starting in the middle of the field in tenth place.
Polesitter Zach Wigal of Belpre, Ohio led the first lap, but Jon Watson of St. Louis passed him to lead lap two. Wigal regained the lead on lap three, but then it was like a curse had suddenly been placed on the drivers who ran in third place, as two yellows waved for the drivers who were in that position.
First Chett Gehrke of Bardstown, Ky., stopped between Turns 3 and 4 with three laps down while running third. That gave third to Luke Lemons of Moraine, Ohio, but he spun low in Turn 2 with four laps down.
That moved Massingill into third, but he advanced out of that position quickly by passing Watson for second on lap six to elude any bad luck.
Wigal led through lap nine, but Massingill charged by him with a move to the outside as they went through Turn 4 on lap 10 to take the lead, which he never again relinquished.
Stratton Briggs of Anna, Ohio passed Wigal for second two laps later, but by that point Massingill already had a 1.707-second lead.
Massingill had a 1.432-second lead over Briggs when another caution waved with 15 laps down after Tyler Watkins of Marion, Ind., spun on the backstretch. He was running 15th, however, not third.
Briggs saw his chance on the restart, but Massingill successfully defended his lead. Two laps later the third-place curse struck again when Wigal stopped on the backstretch while in the show position. He ended up 14th.
That put Alex Watson of Columbus, Ohio, who won the D2 midget feature here on June 24, in third place, but once again trouble struck the driver in that position and he dropped out with two laps to go to be scored 13th at the end.
Watson’s misfortunes gave third place to Ian Creager of Covington, Ohio, who somehow eluded any problems for the final two laps to finish third behind Massingill and Briggs.
Michael Magic of Indianapolis came from 11th to finish fourth, while the driver who had been third at the start, Jakeb Boxell of Zanesville, Ohio, finished fifth.
Massingill had a 1.096-second lead over Briggs at the checkered. The winning midget, a Boss chassis with a Mike Wallace-prepped Ecotec engine, is sponsored by CarBrite, Creative Labels, Double Jay Construction and Sroufe’s Painting Services.
The D2 midgets are back at Gas City on Friday, Aug. 12.
Street Stocks
Polesitter Bill Lewis of Fountain City, Ind., led two-thirds of the street stock feature before he was forced to the pits due to a flat right-rear tire. That gave the lead to Fritz, who had started third and moved into second by passing James Headley Jr. of Wabash, Ind., working lap six.
Once in front Fritz was able to pad his lead for the last five laps. Behind him, however, a war was raging for second between Headley Jr.; his father, James Headley of Marion, Ind.; Andy Bishop of Gas City, and Lee Hobbs of Mitchell, Ind.
They finished in that order. It was a particularly nice rebound by Hobbs, who also suffered a flat right-rear tire while he was eighth on lap six.
Hornets
Polesitter Jeremy Jones of Gas City led the first three laps of the hornet feature until he lost his left rear tire. Arcaro inherited the lead at that point and led the rest of the way despite three more yellows that tightened up the field.
Alexes Spalding of Roanoke, Ind.; Kaleb Hinkley of Fremont, Ind., and Heisman Skeens of Marion, Ind., were engaged in a big fight for second on lap eight when a yellow waved when Brandon Lines, also of Marion, stopped on the frontstretch.
Hinkley just nipped Spalding at the line to grab second on lap nine, but Spalding got the position back on lap 12 before two more yellows flew. The first was for Jerry Manns of Wolcottville, Ind., who stopped low in Turn 1. The second was for Jordan Button of Winamac, Ind., who was penalized four spots for jumping the restart, which dropped him to eighth from fourth.
Hinkley dipped under Spalding for second in Turn 1 on the restart that stuck, and then followed Arcaro across the line three laps later to finish second. Spalding placed third. Button rebounded to finish fourth, while Hunter Rasmussen of Lagro, Ind., started ninth and rounded out the top five.
Arcaro’s car is sponsored in part by Gilman’s Home Center, Remax Preferred Choice, and Smith Landscaping and Lawn Care.
Red Flag
Josh Yenser of Plain City, Ohio flipped in Turn 2 with three laps down in the third D2 midget heat in a crash with Cory Guingrich of Celina, Ohio. Both climbed out of their cars under their own power.
What’s Next?
The “Beach Night Bash” on Friday, Aug. 5 is next on the schedule. It will feature non-wing sprint cars, modifieds, street stocks and hornets, plus a display and exhibition by the Midwest Oldtimers Vintage Race Club.
On Friday, Aug. 12 the program includes non-winged sprint cars, USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midgets, winged 600cc micro-sprints, and an appearance by the Dirt Track Truck Series. Hornets will be permitted to run with the dirt trucks.
The track’s “Night of Destruction” is set for Saturday, Aug. 20. It features monster trucks, a minivan demo derby, trailer races, a rollover contest and more.
For more information see the track’s social media outlets, as the track’s website is undergoing some changes. It is on Facebook (GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas) and Twitter (@GasCitySpeedway).
Gas City I-69 Speedway is located on State Road 22, approximately a half-mile west of exit 259 of Interstate 69, about halfway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Ind.