Mihocko Wins Sprint Feature; Massingill Tops the D2s;
Losh Repeats in Mods and Ferman Gets the Hornet Cash
Friday Night at Gas City I-69 Speedway
GAS CITY, Ind., Sept. 3 — Gas City I-69 Speedway got the Labor Day weekend off to a roaring start Friday with a four-division show that saw Tye Mihocko of Peoria, Ariz., post his second 25-lap non-wing sprint car feature victory of the year at the Grant County quarter-mile oval. He won here on May 13 too.
Bryce Massingill of Troy, Ohio also did the double, as he won the 20-lap USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget feature like he did here on July 29. Both of those shows were Hoosier Auto Racing Fans (HARF) nights at Gas City too.
Derek Losh posted his fifth Gas City modified feature victory of the season in that 20-lapper. It was the Rensselear, Ind.-based driver’s 21st feature win of the year overall.
Newcomer Ken Ferman of Metamora, Ind., found everything to his liking, as he won the 15-lap hornet main event.
Non-Wing Sprint Cars
Colin Grissom of Anderson, Ind., started second in the sprint car feature and passed polesitter Travis Hery of Hilliard, Ohio with a move to the outside in Turn 2 on the first lap to nab the early lead.
A little further back Jack Hoyer of Frankfort, Ind., was going like gangbusters. He started ninth, but was sixth on lap one, fifth on lap two, fourth on lap three and third on lap five. On lap six he passed both Grissom and Mihocko, who had started third, to vault from third to the lead.
By lap 10 Hoyer had a 2.098-second advantage over the field.
Grissom and Mihocko were duking it out for second at that point, while Colten Cottle of Kansas, Ill. was fourth and defending track champion Scotty Weir of Marion, Ind. was running fifth.
Cottle got third on lap 11 but Mihocko took the spot back on lap 13, and then Mihocko charged into second by passing Grissom to the outside in Turn 4 on lap 16.
With all that dueling for positions behind him, Hoyer enjoyed a 2.130-second lead on lap 21 when the race’s only yellow waved after a car got off the track in Turns 1 and 2 but somehow kept going.
That set up a four-lap dash to the finish and allowed Mihocko to close right up behind Hoyer. Hoyer held him off initially, but Mihocko got by at the start/finish line on lap 23 and went on to post a 0.746-second victory over Hoyer.
Anton Hernandez of West Lafayette, Ind. started fifth but dropped as far back as ninth on lap five before rebounding to finish third. Cottle placed fourth and Weir rounded out the top five. Grissom finished sixth and could take heart in the fact that he set the fastest lap of the race. Kyle Shipley of Lebanon, Ind., was seventh. Scott Hampton of Greenfield, Ind. celebrated his wedding anniversary by finishing eighth followed by Brandon Spencer of Nashville, Ind. and Hery.
Mihocko drove Jamie and Michelle Paul’s DRC Foxco sponsored by High Asspirations Farms, Rumpke and Olde Schoolhouse Winery.
USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder Midgets
Massingill started on the pole in the feature for the USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget series, which is sponsored by Performance Electronics, but he had to take a back seat to Michael Magic of Winder, Ga. and Zach Wigal of Belpre, Ohio in the early going of that 20-lapper.
Magic, who won a similar race here on Aug. 12, started second but passed Massingill for the initial lead with a move to the outside at the start/finish line on lap one. Magic survived a restart with three laps down after Tom Fedorczyk of Warren, Mich. slipped over the cushion in Turn 4 to bring out the first of four yellows, but Wigal, who started third, passed him for the lead on lap six right before the second yellow. That one was necessary after Josh Yenser of Plain City, Ohio stopped in the middle of Turn 4.
Magic got by Wigal to retake the lead on lap seven in the same spot he had passed Massingill earlier. That didn’t set well with Wigal, who passed Magic back on lap nine to regain the lead. Wigal had a 0.639-second lead over Magic with Massingill in third when the third yellow waved with 11 laps down after Carl Peterson of Waterford, Wis. stopped on the backstretch.
Massingill dipped under Magic in Turn 4 for second place following that restart to take second on lap 12. At that point Wigal’s night went from great to not so great, as he spun in Turn 2 while leading to bring out the last yellow.
That gave Massingill the lead and the 17-year-old driver stayed in front the rest of the way. Jakeb Boxell of Zanesville, Ind., who started fifth, was always close and he moved into third due to Wigal’s misfortune. Boxell passed Magic for second on lap 15 and went on to finish second, taking the checkered flag 0.667 of a second after Massingill did.
Magic finished third. Chris Dickey of Westfield, Ind. turned a seventh-place starting spot into a fourth-place finish, while point leader Stratton Briggs of Anna, Ohio rounded out the top five.
Wigal ended up 12th.
Massingill’s midget is a Boss chassis with a Mike Wallace-prepped engine. It is sponsored by Carbrite, Double Jay Construction and Sroufe’s Painting of Troy, Ohio.
Modifieds
Polesitter Clayton Bryant of Yoder, Ind. led the first five laps of the 20-lap modified feature. Losh started fourth but he was already second with one lap complete.
Losh passed Bryant right before a yellow with two laps down, but the lap hadn’t been completed so he had to give the spot back.
Losh passed Bryant again with a move to the outside on the backstretch as the pair powered into Turn 3 on lap six. There was a yellow right after that too, but that pass stuck and Losh led the rest of the race.
Losh had stretched his lead to 3.535 seconds over Bryant on lap 13 when the driver who was third, Todd Sherman of Churubusco, Ind., came to a smoking stop between Turns 1 and 2, leaving a line of antifreeze on the track.
Bryant never stopped trying, as he set his fastest lap of the race on the last lap, but Losh took the checkered flag 1.523 seconds before he did. Tony Anderson of Lima, Ohio started third and finished third. Nick Richards of Anderson, Ind. placed fourth and Dylan Woodling of Warsaw, Ind. finished fifth.
Losh’s No. 21 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.
Hornets
Gage Allen of Warren, Ind. led the first third of the 15-lap hornet feature, but the big news in that one was six-time feature winner Landon Arcaro of Brookville, Ind. hit the outside fence in Turn 4 with three laps down while running second and was a DNF.
Unfortunately for Allen, he was to join Arcaro back in the pits prematurely too, as Allen slowed on the frontstretch with five laps down and pulled into the infield.
That gave the lead to Ferman, who had started third, and he led the rest of the way chased by Jeremy Jones of Gas City, who started fourth and finished second. Emily Johnson of Upland, Ind. started sixth and finished third.
Alexes Spaulding of Roanoke, Ind. was running fourth when she stopped in Turn 2 with one lap remaining to bring out a yellow, but she still finished in that position. Ferman had nearly a 5 second lead over Jones at that point, but due to the yellow his margin of victory over Jones one lap later was only 0.232 of a second.
Polesitter Jonathon Moeller rounded out the top five.
Ferman’s car is a Pontiac Sunfire with an EBJ-prepped engine. It’s sponsored by Total Package Express, John Arcaro Builders, and Jumpin Style Fitness.
Red Flags
Tyler Watkins of Marion, Ind., flipped in Turn 2 with three laps down in the third D2 midget heat while running sixth. He got out of his midget under his own power.
What’s Next?
Only three nights of racing remain on Gas City’s 2022 schedule, and they’re all big shows.
The nation’s eyes will be on the track on Thursday, Sept. 22 for the James Dean Classic featuring both USAC AMSOIL national sprint cars and USAC NOS Energy Drink national midgets in one blockbuster program.
The fourth annual Gas City Fall Festival of Speed will close the season on Friday and Saturday nights, Oct. 21-22.
On Friday, Oct. 21 non-wing 410 sprint cars, IRA Wisconsin wingless sprints, USAC SpeeD2 Midget Thunder midgets and non-wing micro-sprints will provide plenty of action.
The following day non-wing sprint cars, IRA Wisconsin wingless sprint cars, modifieds, street stocks and hornets will be featured for the season finale.
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.