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Haudenschild & Spithaler Take Popular Wins

The Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series holiday weekend doubleheader is in the books, and 2 young guns of the sport picked up popular home track wins. Friday night, young Sheldon Haudenschild roared to victory at Wayne County Speedway blasting the cushion and flirting with disaster in every corner. On Saturday night, Brandon Spithaler brought the Mercer Raceway Park fans to a frenzy as he tracked down Haudenschild, then rocketed by on his way to his second career BOSS sprint car victory!

Event #2 on the season for the series Friday night saw the cars and stars of BOSS at Orrville, Ohio's Wayne County Speedway. A great field of 27 cars were signed in and the fans were treated to some of the best heat racing possible. Two of the 3 heats found the top 5 cars just a few car lengths apart at the finish line. Defending race winner Mike Burkin won UPI heat race #1, with Spithaler taking K-D Pizzeria heat #2, and Tony Beaber dominating Countryside Grocery and Drive-Thru heat #3. In heat #3, fans witnessed Arizona native Matt Phillips tumbling 4 times down the frontstretch, then on the restart, Marshall Motorsports driver Derek Hastings flipped and twisted 6 times and left the facility in a ball of flames in turn one. Thankfully both drivers were able to walk away.

The Underground Professionals Inc. B-Main was won by Cincinnati, Ohio driver Michael Fischesser. The event also saw the 3rd red flag of the night when Wayne County regular Nick Patterson was a victim of circumstances. Legendary driver Johnny Beaber was leading the race when something in the steering broke. Second place runner Fischesser narrowly squeezed by, but 3rd running Patterson hopped the wheel of Beaber's #3J sending Patterson sailing for what may have been a distance record at the track. Patterson's #23 flipped several times end over end down the backstretch, completely destroying the car, but Nick climbed out uninjured.

In the 25 lap main event, Dallas Hewitt and the ageless Chuck Wilson brought the field to green with Hewitt grabbing the early lead. Hewitt would lead the first 10 circuits as Wilson, Tony Beaber, and Spithaler waged a 3 way battle for the runner-up spot. Beaber was on a rail through the middle stages and reeled Hewitt in to claim the lead on lap 11. A lap #12 caution flew for Spithaler who was running 3rd when something broke, eliminating him from the event. A lap later, the second caution flew for a spun car. On the restart, Beaber led Hewitt with Haudenschild already up to 3rd from his 9th starting position.

With the green flag back in the air, Haudenschild wasted little time in making it a 3 wide race for the lead off turn #2. With Beaber running a smooth line on the bottom, Haudenschild took the car to the cushion and worked Beaber for several laps, bringing the crowd to their feet to cheer on their local hero. Finally coming to complete lap #17 the "lil Haud" was able to find the momentum to get by Beaber at the line. Now in clear command, Haud was not content to roll on to the win. Instead, he would procede to blast the cushion harder lap after lap, sometimes bicycling in turn 1 and 2. At the finish, Sheldon Haudenschild would win his first ever non wing race by nearly a full straightaway over Beaber, Steve Irwin, Dallas Hewitt and Mike Miller. The rest of the top 10 would include Chad Wilson, Kirk Jeffries, Aaron Middaugh, Danny Mumaw, and Mike Burkin.

On Saturday night, the BOSS circuit would move on to the scenic Mercer Raceway Park where a strong field of 29 cars would sign up for action. Four heat race events were run with BOSS stars Brandon Spithaler winning UPI Heat #1 and Steve Irwin winning Ron's Lawn Care Heat #2. Then local stars Arnie Kent won Kistler Engines Heat #3 and Brandon Matus won UPI Heat #4. Another scary incident on the weekend saw Frances Sesco climb a wheel in heat #3 sending him on a vicious tumble down the backstretch. Sesco climbed away uninjured but was taken to a local hospital for observation.

The Superior Tank and Trailer B-Main was won by local favorite Gale Ruth Jr who drove a determined race to hold off 2012 BOSS point runner-up Tony Beaber. BOSS legend Mark Cassella was running well into a transfer spot when a wheel nut broke on the Lou Gagliardi #91, sending Cassella flipping into turn 1 and into the fence. Thankfully Cassella hopped out uninjured, but the same could not be said for the car.

With the 25 lap feature up next, Arnie Kent would start from the pole alongside young BOSS newcomer Michael Fischesser. As the cars lined up, the BOSS series formed into a 4 wide salute and the missing man formation, while the pole position was left open in honor of Josh Burton, a fellow traditional sprint racer who lost his life just hours earlier from injuries sustained in a crash at Bloomington Speedway.

When the starter's green flag flew, Kent raced to the lead but Fischesser challenged him on the outside and actually led briefly down the backstretch. But in the pack, the cars on the move were 7th and 8th starters Sheldon Haudenchild and Brandon Spithaler along with 2012 BOSS champion Dustin Smith. A lap #5 red flag flew when B-Main winner Gale Ruth Jr had something break sending him on a soft tmble into the infield area.

On the restart, Kent still showed the way with Haudenschild already to 2nd followed by 9th starter Dustin Smith, then Brandon Matus and Spithaler. Back under green, Haudenschild went right to the cushion and took command to lead lap #6. Working lap #11, Spithaler made a pivotal move entering turn #1 when he scraped by Kent on the outside with the 2 just inches apart. Now with a clear track between himself and the leader, it took just 7 circuits for Spithaler to catch Haudenschild and slice inside him to make the winning pass on lap 18. Similar to the night before where Haudenschild had been the local hero, this time it was Spithaler who motored away from the field over the final circuits as the crowd went wild for their homegrown BOSS star. At the stripe behind Spithaler and Haudenchild were Arnie Kent, Dustin Smith, Brandon Matus, Steve Irwin, Mike Miller, Michael Fischesser, Kirk Jeffries, and Chad Wilson.

For complete results from both nights, please check out the results page on the BOSS website at www.buckeyesprints.com . The next event for the BOSS series will be on Saturday, June 8th at the Legendary Lawrenceburg Speedway.

[JazzTrombonist]

Great racing! Love the BOSS series!

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