Fan Notes From Wayne County OVSCA

Sye Lynch (Tom Myers) 4/13/2019- The OVSCA and the Wayne County Speedway picked a beautiful April Saturday to open their racing seasons for 2019 here at the Orrville, Ohio dirt track. Thirty winged 410 sprint cars were on hand to battle for the first place money and bragging rights.

The weather was sunny and temps were in the mid 60’s with a slight breeze blowing from the southwest. It started to get cooler as the evening went on but if you were bundled up or moving around it was very tolerable. The track was smooth and tacky but not heavy at all and it didn’t have a cushion. The surface produced dust rather quickly but the breeze kept it out of our faces in the stands.

Brandon Spithaler The OVSCA sprints had hot laps and then drew for heat race starting positions. There were 3 heat races, with 10 cars going 10 laps. The top 6 cars would go to the A main with the rest going to the B. In addition to the OVSCA competitors, some of the notable drivers on hand were former All Stars Brandon Spithaler, and Brett and Brandon Matus, western PA racers Jack Sodeman Jr. and Sye Lynch, and Wayne County Speedway regulars Danny Mumaw, Jordan Ryan, Dean Jacobs, Trey Jacobs, Trevor Baker and Clay Riney, who was piloting the yellow 38K sprinter, having taken over the driving duties for the retired Brad Haudenschild.

Speaking of western PA, I was told that the proposed Western PA Sprint car series never got off the ground. One fellow I talked with in the pits asked me about the new series and if I had heard anything more come of it and I had not. Later on in the evening, I asked a crew member from a car based in western PA and he told me that there was interest in it. At least 20 teams attended the initial meeting only to find out that an adequate foundation for the existence of the series had not been put in place as of yet. I only have heard this from one person, so I cannot verify if it is indeed off the table for this year or not. I hope they can get a good series going for the drivers and tracks there in western PA. Having a series that regularly runs at Mercer, Sharon, Lernerville, Tri City and Pittsburgh would be very cool.

Trey Jacobs Getting back to racing, the heats started around 7:00 and were entertaining. Nick Patterson won the first heat going away while Jack Sodeman struggled with motor problems but still held onto a transfer spot. In the 2nd heat, two racers flipped it in turn 2, one of them being Shawn Hubler, the other fellow I think was Lance Webb, both were okay but were done for the evening. Dean Jacobs wins heat 2 followed by Spithaler, Jordan Ryan, Travor Baker, Jess Steiger and Clay Riney. Brandon Matus wins heat 3 followed by Trey Jacobs, Sye Lynch and Malcuit. After the heats, the drivers would re-draw for the feature starting positions. On the pole would be Nick Patterson with Spithaler outside of him. Row 2 was Mumaw and Butler, row 3 Matus and Lynch, row 4 Jordan Ryan and Dean Jacobs.

The B main would take the first two cars and the finish there was the 4D car in first and in second was Tyler Dunn.

Danny Mumaw won the OVSCA feature Saturday at Wayne County The A main started with Spithaler grabbing the lead over Patterson by using the low line. Spithaler extended his lead to a straightaway until lap 5 when 3rd running Butler went off the back stretch to bring out the yellow. Spithaler, Patterson, Mumaw, Matus, Lynch, Ryan, Trey Jacobs, Dean Jacobs, Riney and Baker is your running order. On the restart, Spithaler again extends his lead to a straightaway by the time he gets to traffic. Third running Mumaw pressures Patterson and gets by him for second and gradually starts catching Spithaler, closing the gap lap after lap. Mumaw running up high and Spithaler down low. Then on lap 19, Patterson, who was running 3rd, stops in turn 2 and brings out the last caution. On the restart, and with 6 laps to go, Mumaw flies around Spithaler using the high groove and takes the lead out of turn 2. Mumaw proceeds to race away as Spithaler fades and gets passed by Trey Jacobs and then Sye Lynch and finally Matus by the time the checkers wave. It looks like Spithaler’s low groove went away there at the end and maybe he sealed over his tires on that last caution.

After the cars passed inspection, the winner’s car was pushed out to the front stretch. Chuck Griffith, the long standing Wayne County Speedway announcer, interviewed Mumaw in victory lane. Danny explained that he had Bonzai helping with the car and that was why he was so good at the end. Danny then said that it was Jac Haudenschild that got him into racing, mainly because they lived next door to the Haudenschilds. Mumaw then told Chuck that it was great being able to talk with him in victory lane. That was a great moment as you could tell Chuck had to pause and collect himself for a moment. (Chuck has been battling health issues this winter and we are lucky he is still with us. The fans here are really happy to have him around still and it was great to see and hear him tonight once again announce the races at Wayne County Speedway….just like always.)

The feature was over and it was 9:30 when I got back to my car. That was another great night of racing at Wayne County. So, I say….Thank you, Wayne County Speedway and the OVSCA. Let’s do it again!