Weir Wins Sprint Feature; Losh Dominates the Modifieds;
Denney Repeats in D2 Midgets; Hobbs Wins Street Stock Feature
And Headley Jr. Rules the Hornets
At Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday Night
GAS CITY, Ind., Aug. 7 – Double points were on the line for the four primary divisions at Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday night. Making the most of the opportunity were feature winners Scotty Weir of Marion, Ind. (non-wing sprint cars); Derek Losh of Rensselaer, Ind. (modifieds); Lee Hobbs of Mitchell, Ind. (street stocks), and James Headley Jr. of Wabash, Ind. (hornets).
The USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 midgets made a return visit to the quarter-mile clay oval for the “August Jam” show, and Jacob Denney of Galloway, Ohio won that 20-lap feature.
All of the feature winners knew the way to victory lane. Ironically Losh, Hobbs, Headley and Denney all won their features here the previous Friday night (July 30), and Weir won the most recent regular sprint feature here on July 9.
Julie Wojtanik of Fort Wayne, Ind., a 12-year-old student at Woodside Middle School, won a special dance competition held during intermission. She took home nearly $100, with extra money coming from street stock driver Garrett Bradley of Van Buren, Ind.
Non-Wing Sprint Cars
It was survival of the fittest in the 25-lap sprint car feature, and as it turned out the fittest was Weir and his No. 4P DRC powered by a Pedersen Chevy engine that is sponsored by Red’s Racing Engines, Indy Race parts and AFCO Shocks.
Kyle Shipley of Sun City, Ariz., made the most of his second-place starting spot and led the first seven laps. Shane Cockrum of Benton, Ill. started fourth, took second on the second lap, and applied pressure to Shipley throughout the early going.
With seven laps complete Tyler Hewitt of Marion flipped the Hazen No. 57 between Turns 1 and 2, but luckily escaped injury. Matt McDonald of Brownsburg, Ind., spun in the melee.
Cockrum passed Shipley for the lead with a move to the outside in Turn 2 following the restart on lap eight. Weir, who started third, ran in that position until he passed Shipley for second on lap 11.
Cockrum had a 1.327-second lead over Weir with 12 laps down when the red flag waved again for contact between Zack Pretorious of Yorktown, Ind. and McDonald in Turn 4. Both of their cars left on the hook.
The field got two more laps in before the red flag was displayed for the third time. Dustin Ingle of Lima, Ohio had passed Shipley for third on lap 13, but with 14 laps down he flipped in Turn 4 while trying to pass Weir for second. Luckily he emerged from his car under his own power too.
The top five for the restart were Cockrum, Weir, polesitter Anthony D’Alessio of Gas City, Shipley, and Paul Dues of Minster, Ohio.
That restart was a doozy. Weir went low in Turn 1 for the lead, but he and Cockrum were side by side as they ran through Turn 3 and 4, and Cockrum led the lap. It didn’t last long, however, as Weir then got the upper hand and took the lead for good on lap 16.
Seconds later the fifth-place driver, Korbyn Hayslett of Troy, Ohio, spun in Turn 3 after contact to bring out the yellow with 16 laps complete. Weir and Cockrum continued to battle on lap 17, but then three yellows flew one after the other with 17 laps down. The first was for Dues, who spun on the frontstretch. The second was for Hayslett, Max Guilford of Auckland, New Zealand, and Brayden Clark of Tipton, Ind., who ran out of room on the frontstretch near Turn 4. The third one was for Ryan Thomas of Indianapolis, who spun in Turn 2.
When things finally resumed the top three were Weir, Cockrum and Tye Mihocko of Phoenix, Ariz., who started tenth and came on strong at the end. Mihocko was seventh on lap 14, fourth on lap 15 and third on lap 17. D’Alessio and Tyler Kendall of Greenfield, Ind. rounded out the top five at that point, but Kyle Simon of Covington, Ohio passed Kendall on lap 20 for fifth, and two laps later D’Alessio dropped from fourth to sixth.
Cockrum got out of shape in Turn 2 working lap 24, and Mihocko pounced to take second from him at the very end. Weir was 1.298 seconds ahead of Mihocko to record his third Gas City feature victory of the season and extend his point lead. Cockrum finished third, Simon was fourth, and Kendall rounded out the top five.
Modifieds
In contrast, the 20-lap modified feature only had three yellows. Bub Roberts of Warren, Ind., started on the pole and led the first eight laps, including the restarts after two cautions with six laps down.
The first one was for Jared Spaulding of Troy, Pa. and Ryan Ramseyer, who crashed in Turn 4. The second was for a five-car crash on the frontstretch involving John Halsey of Huntington, Ind.; Logan Beckwith III; Cory Bevard of Homer, Mich.; Spaulding, and Josh Betts of Montpelier, Ind.
Prior to those cautions Losh, who started fifth, passed Andy Bishop of Gas City on lap two for fourth, Zeke McKenzie of Claypool, Ind., on lap three for third, and Aaron Orr of Columbia City, Ind. on lap five for second.
Losh then passed Roberts for the lead by dipping under him as they were coming out of Turn 4 to complete lap nine, and the defending track champion was never again headed. McKenzie, who started third, passed Roberts for second on lap 11 and chased him the rest of the way, including after the third and final caution with 17 laps down when an inner track tire got kicked up and landed in the middle of the track on the backstretch near Turn 2.
McKenzie took the checkered 1.720 seconds after Losh posted his fourth Gas City feature victory of the year. Roberts finished third. Dillon Nusbaum of Columbia City, Ind., came from sixth to place fourth and Ryan Sutter of Coldwater, Ohio advanced from eighth to fifth.
Losh’s No. 21 Longhorn by Loenbro/Mullins Race Engines is sponsored by Superior Sales and Service, R & R Transmission, Aggressive Graphics and Rensselaer Iron and Metal.
USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder Midgets
Bryce Massingill of Troy, Ohio got the best of polesitter Cody Beard of Evansville, Ind., and Zack Gingerich of Celina, Ohio, who started second, to vault from third and lead the first 15 laps of the 20-lap midget feature. That included withstanding two restarts for a caution with three laps down when Abby Hohlbein of Cloverdale, Ohio; Taylor Nibert of South Vienna, Ohio, and Cory Guingrich of Celina, Ohio got together in Turn 4, and another one with five laps down when Hohlbein spun between Turns 1 and 2.
Denney, who started sixth, passed Gingerich for fifth on lap one; Chett Gehrke of Bardtown, Ky., and Josh Yenser of Hilliard, Ohio for third on lap two, and Beard for second on lap three.
Massingill enjoyed over a 1-second lead as the front runners all used the same low groove, but Denney was able to use lapped traffic to get around Massingill on lap 16. He was 1.701 seconds ahead of him at the finish.
Gehrke finished third. Stratton Briggs of Anna, Ohio rallied from an 11th-place starting spot to finish fourth, while Ian Creager of Covington, Ohio came from 15th to finish fifth.
Chuck Taylor of Troy, Ohio owns the winning midget, which is an XXX Ecotech sponsored by Erwin Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram of Troy, Ohio; Fuelab, and Rod End Supply.
Street Stocks
Hobbs started on the pole of the 15-lap street stock feature in his Hobbs chassis No. H0 sponsored by Bilstein Shocks and led the whole race.
The third-place driver, Jeffery Jessup of Union City, Ind., and the fourth-place driver, Tony Homan of St. Marys, Ohio, crashed low in Turn 4 with four laps down to bring out the race’s only caution flag.
Glenn Bradley of Marion, Ind., started fourth and ran second to Hobbs for the first 10 laps. At that point Andy Bishop of Gas City passed Bradley for the runner-up position, but Hobbs’ lead was too big by that time and there were no other cautions to tighten the field.
Hobbs had a whopping 6.013-second lead over Bishop at the checkered. Bradley finished third. Chris Hunter of Kokomo, Ind., came from 12th starting spot to finish fourth and Ron Flaugh of Converse, Ind., advanced from seventh for fifth at the checkered.
Hornets
Headley Jr. started sixth but he took the lead of the 15-lap hornet feature on lap three by passing both Heisman Skeens of Marion, Ind., and initial leader Kolton Sollars of LaFontaine, Ind.
Headley Jr.’s winning move came low in Turn 2 and through the backstretch when he passed both of them following a restart with two laps down for a dislodged tire that marked the inside of the quarter-mile oval.
Aaron Tatman of Lafayette, Ind. moved from fourth to second on lap four and Sam Wheeler of Peru, Ind., advanced from sixth to third on the same lap.
Tatman was 2.224 seconds behind Headley Jr. with seven laps down when the race came to a violent halt when Brandon Lines of Marion, Ind., who had been fourth, flipped multiple times on the frontstretch. He climbed out under his own power, but both he and the driver who had been fifth, Eric Solms, also of Marion, were out of action due to the accident.
The best battle in the second half of the race was for second and third. Sollars passed Skeens for third on lap 10, and Sollars and Tatman ran close before the checkered fell. Tatman was 3.119 seconds behind Headley Jr. at the end, while Sollars finished third. Wheeler was fourth and polesitter Eddie Tucker Jr. of Troy, Ohio finished fifth.
It was Headley Jr.’s fifth feature victory of the year in the No. 00, which is sponsored by Dudding’s Heating and Cooling, Shrouts Auto and Recovery, Tempstar Heating and Cooling Products, LC Contractors, R & R Transmission and TJR Trucking Co.
Driver Updates
The update on David Fritz of Winamac, Ind., who was injured in the late model feature here on July 30, is that he was not admitted to the hospital that night, but was released after being checked by hospital personnel.
A collection was taken to help defer the medical expenses of defending sprint car track champion Max Adams of Marion, Ind., who suffered second- and third-degree burns on his legs and ankles when his car caught fire in his heat here on July 9. At press time a total of $1,365.38 had been collected from generous fans, his fellow drivers and their teams, and the track staff.
What’s Next?
There’s no racing at Gas City on Friday, Aug. 13 so the track staff can prepare for the annual “Night of Destruction Presented by Shrouts Auto and Recovery” on Saturday, Aug. 14, when monster trucks invade town. Headlining the show is Hall of Famer Allen Pezo in "Predator," along with TV superstar "Strait Jacket" and fan-favorite "Pounder." A school bus race, a mini-van demo derby, a rollover contest, a trailer race and more are planned.
It’s “Double Down” night on Friday, Aug. 20, with twin 21-lap features paying $2,000 to the winners for the Gas City non-wing sprint cars. Full programs for modifieds, street stocks and hornets are also on the card. The following day, Aug. 21, is reserved for the Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience; more info on that is available at DirtRaceWithKenny.com.
The complete 2021 schedule and more information are on the track’s website at GasCityI69Speedway.com. Fans and competitors can also follow it 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 credit: Indy Racing Images
