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10/24/21, 12:34 PM   #1
Seven Big Winners at Gas City on Saturday
LindaKMansfield
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Leary, McDougal, Kouba, Wade, Roahrig, Turner and Arcaro
Take the Final Checkered Flags of the Season
At Gas City I-69 Speedway’s Mega Fall Festival of Speed Saturday


GAS CITY, Ind., Oct. 24 – Due to rain on Friday night, seven features were run in the second half of the third annual “Fall Festival of Speed and Non-Wing Nationals” Saturday as Gas City I-69 Speedway concluded its 2021 season in a mega day of action on the quarter-mile dirt oval.

C.J. Leary of Greenfield, Ind., won the 25-lap non-wing 410 sprint car feature held over from Friday night on Saturday afternoon, while Jason McDougal of Turtletown, Okla., won a similar 25-lap feature on Saturday night to headline the top class, which had 38 entries.

Jake Kouba of Minneapolis was victorious in the 25-lap IRA Auto Meter Wisconsin wingLESS sprint car feature postponed from Friday. Dan Wade of Kenosha, Wis., posted his first win ever in the second feature for that series Saturday night.

Pavement star Tyler Roahrig of Plymouth, Ind., the winner of this year’s Pay Less Little 500 asphalt sprint car race at nearby Anderson Speedway, won the 20-lap modified feature in only his third start ever on a dirt track.

Veteran Ervin Turner of Marion, Ind., won the 20-lap street stock main event in a division that attracted 33 entries.

Landon Arcaro of Brookville, Ind., closed the 2021 season by winning the 15-lap hornet feature in his first race ever at Gas City.

Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars


Polesitter Shane Cockrum of Benton, Ill., was committed to running the high side in the first 410 sprint feature Saturday afternoon, and he led the most laps of that race. Leary started fifth and experimented with both the low and the high lines in an effort to gain an advantage. He had to pass Cockrum twice, once on lap two and again on lap 19, to secure the victory in the No. 81X sponsored by Gray Auto, Speedtown Comfort Heating and Cooling, Applegate’s Seed House and Risch Innovations.

Leary’s winning move came after a slide job with Cockrum where space ran out and Cockrum slipped from first to fourth on the backstretch working lap 19. Leary was now in the lead again, and Cockrum’s misfortune elevated Jadon Rogers of Worthington, Ind., and track champion Scotty Weir of Marion, Ind., to second and third, respectively.

Cockrum wasn’t done, though. He passed Weir on lap 20 to regain third, but Weir passed him back on lap 22.

Rogers, who was second, threw everything he had at Leary in an effort to win, but on that same lap with 22 laps down Rogers hit the outside wall on the frontstretch and flipped hard, ending his hopes for victory.

Cockrum regained second by passing Weir in Turn 4 on the white-flag lap. Weir held on for third while McDougal finished fourth. Steve Irwin of Fenton, Mich., and Emerson Axsom of Franklin, Ind., came from 19th and 20th, respectively, to finish fifth and sixth.

Cockrum also finished second in the second 410 sprint feature Saturday night which McDougal won in the KO Motorsports No. 5 sponsored by Peterbuilt and CAM2.

That race was even closer. McDougal led the first two laps before Mario Clouser of Auburn, Ill., used the high line to pass him in Turn 1. Clouser and McDougal ran nose-to-tail until Ryan Thomas of Indianapolis spun to a stop high in Turn 4 with seven laps down to bring out a yellow flag.

Clouser maintained the lead by 0.009 of a second after the restart, but there was contact between Clouser and McDougal working lap nine that caused Clouser to spin and drop to 18th place and gave the lead to McDougal. Clouser went to the work area but it was all for naught.

Clouser’s absence elevated Robert Ballou of Tipton, Ind., to second. Leary came on strong shortly thereafter and rose from fifth on lap 12 to third by lap 13 by passing both Cockrum and Matt Westfall of Pleasant Hill, Ohio. Leary got second by passing Ballou on lap 17, but Ballou got him back on the next lap.

Cockrum was back in fourth place while all this was going on, but he dipped under Leary for third in Turn 4 on lap 21, and used the same low line to pass Ballou for second on lap 22. He tried his best to pass McDougal too, but fell short by just 0.258 of a second.

Weir passed Ballou on the last lap for third. Ballou hung on for fourth and Leary finished fifth.

IRA Auto Meter Wisconsin WingLESS Sprint Cars


Kouba started third and led all 25 laps of the IRA Auto Meter Wisconsin WingLESS sprint car feature that was postponed on Friday. He took second in Turn 2 and the lead in Turn 4 on the first lap by using the low groove, and he continued to use that line enroute to a 0.413-second victory over Clayton Rossmann of Wadsworth, Ill.

Lapped traffic was intense and it almost did Kouba in a couple of times, but despite some contact he fought off all challenges in the family’s Maxim No. 6 sponsored by Justice Brothers.

There was only one yellow, which was for debris in Turn 2 with 21 laps down. The lapped cars went to the tail for the restart, which gave Rossmann another golden opportunity. He pulled abreast of Kouba’s car’s rear wheels on the backstretch on the last lap, but Kouba fought him off for an exciting finish.

Allen Hafford of Beach Park, Ill., started seventh, finished third, and set the fastest lap of the race. Polesitter Natalie Klemko of Bristol, Wis., placed fourth and Greg Alt of Delavan, Wis., came from ninth to a fifth-place finish in the 24-car field.

Wade was perhaps the most surprised and happiest winner of the Fall Festival. After finishing 17th in the first Wisconsin WingLESS sprint feature Saturday afternoon, he started on the pole for that series’ second 25-lapper Saturday night and led all 25 laps in his Maxim sponsored by Classic Collison Center to post his first victory ever.

The race was unusual in that the top 10 all ran the low line, convinced it was the best option, and no one was willing to get out of line to try anything different. Hafford started second and chased Wade the whole way for his second podium finish of the day.

A tangle between Bryce Andrews of Kenosha, Wis., and Klemko between Turns 3 and 4 with 24 laps down set up a green-white-checkered finish which gave Hafford one last shot at Wade, but he finished 0.303 of a second behind him.

Rossmann followed up his second-place finish in the afternoon with a third at night. The 2021 champion, Ryan Marshall of Kansasville, Wis., was fourth and Tim Cox of Park City, Ill., rounded out the top five.

Modifieds


Jimmy Hayden of Coatesville, Ind., started second and led the first two laps of the modified feature. Roahrig started fifth, but after two restarts he was in place to aim at Hayden working lap three.

The pair ran side by side down the backstretch and through Turn 3, with Roahrig making the winning move by using the low groove to power under Hayden in Turn 4. Roahrig then led the rest of the way in the 20-lapper in a car owned by fellow driver Todd Sherman of Churubusco, Ind., and sponsored by Vision WoodWerx and All Star Performance Parts.

Tony Anderson of Lima, Ohio charged under Hayden in Turn 3 working lap 16 to secure the runner-up honors. Hayden finished third. Polesitter Bill Lewis of Fountain City, Ind., placed fourth. Tyler Loughmiller of Brazil, Ind., a student at DePauw University, finished fifth.

Street Stocks


The beginning of the 20-lap street stock feature was certainly competitive, as Turner, the polesitter, exchanged the lead numerous times with Jason Fritz of Winamac, Ind., who started fourth.

Jordan Conover of Forest, Ohio, put an end to that on a restart on lap six when he took over second, and he finished in that position. Turner was able to speed away in his Hobbs chassis powered by a Ron Flaugh-prepped Chevy engine, and had a 0.847-second lead over Conover at the checkered for his sponsors, Erv’s Card Shack and Barry Bunker Chevrolet.

Fritz finished third. Korey Conner of San Pierre, Ind., and Eric Swan rounded out the top five.

Hornets


Arcaro started second in the 15-lap hornet feature in his Pontiac Sunfire and led the entire distance. Polesitter Jeremy Jones of Gas City chased him the whole way but was 4.283 seconds behind at the checkered.

Greg Marlow of Greentown, Ind., and Alexes Spaulding of Roanoke, Ind., had a spirited battle for third before Marlow took the position for good on lap seven. Spaulding held on for fourth and Avery Tumbleson finished fifth in the only non-stop feature of the seven main events run on Saturday.

Arcaro thanked his parents in victory lane as well as Dalton Smith of Three Dice Race Cars, Luke Bland of SBR Performance, Joel and Josh Hammond of EBJ Motors, Sandi Baker of Remax Preferred Choice, and Joliff Towing.

Red Flags


There were eight flips on Saturday. All came during the 410 non-wing sprint car action.

Brayden Fox of Pittsboro, Ind., flipped at the start/finish line with 21 laps compete in the first 410 sprint car feature. A lap later Jadon Rogers of Worthington, Ind., hit the wall and flipped on the frontstretch just shy of the start/finish line while second and trying to go for the victory.

Nathan Crane of Waukegan, Ill., flipped in Turn 2 with two laps down in the first 410 sprint heat.

Larry Kingseed Jr. of Castalia, Ohio flipped in Turn 3 with five laps down in the second 410 sprint heat.

The worst accident of the event came at the end of that race, when Anthony D’Alessio of Gas City flipped out of the ballpark on the frontstretch near Turn 1 and Rogers flipped simultaneously on the frontstretch past the start/finish line.

Although he was responding to rescue workers while standing alongside his battered car, D’Alessio was transported to Marion General Hospital for further evaluation.

Rogers was able to continue to compete and even finished tenth in the second feature despite flipping two times earlier in the day.

Nathan Carle of West Harrison, Ind., flipped on the fronstretch with one lap down in the second 410 B-main from Saturday’s program in a multi-car accident.

Finally, Jacob Beck of Cincinnati flipped with six laps down in the same race.

Other than D’Alessio, the other drivers reportedly escaped unhurt.

What’s Next?


The 2022 schedule will be posted on the track’s website at GasCityI69Speedway.com when it’s available. Fans and competitors can also follow the track during the off-season on Twitter: @GasCitySpeedway; Instagram: @GasCitySpeedway and Facebook: GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas.

Gas City I-69 Speedway is located on State Road 22, approximately a half-mile west of I-69, exit 259. The quarter-mile dirt oval is about halfway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, and attracts drivers and fans from all over the Midwest.

Photo credits: Indy Racing Images
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