Fan Notes from the Sharon All Stars Buckeye Cup

Sharon Speedway - "This isn't the cooler you're looking for..." Tom Myers 4/30/2022 – Pops and I ventured out to Sharon Speedway Saturday to watch the All Star Circuit of Champions sprint car group race for $6,000 and the Buckeye Cup trophy. Because of the wet spring weather, this would be Sharon’s first race of the season. It was partly sunny and in the mid to upper 60’s with nary a chance of rain. As we drove to the track, we passed through the land of roads with 2 names. Names like Sodom –Hutchings, Bushnell-Campbell, and Tibbons-Wick, to name a few. And of course, Custer-Orangeville road, the road the speedway is on.

Was excited to get to the track and see who would be racing. The evening before, The All Stars had attracted a really strong field of cars for their Lernerville show…who would show up tonight at Sharon?

When I got to the track, I attempted to enter at the main entrance to the grandstand but the fellow checking tickets said I couldn’t take my cooler in. It’s a soft carrying case but it is in the shape of a rectangle, about 14” in length, and it is shaped like a cooler. I use it to haul my blanket, goggles, ear plugs, camera and tape for my blanket. I had it hanging from my shoulder and I politely told the man it was not a cooler, but a backpack. He then said okay and let me in. As we walked around the grandstand to go up the stairs and find a seat, a lady who was walking behind me said, “hey, you can’t take that cooler into the stands with you.” I calmly said that it was not a cooler and that I had blankets and earplugs and goggles in it. She then said, “oh, okay.” And she then went on her merry way. I was like, what is going on?????? Afterward I felt like Obi-Won-Kenobi while using the force. They say, “It’s a cooler.” I say, “It’s not a cooler” and I wave my hand and they say, “It’s not a cooler.”

George Hobaugh The track looked smooth and it stayed that way all evening, although it dried out during hot laps as it usually does here. There was a really good field of cars, 41 in number. In addition to the All Star regulars, I was excited to see Brent Marks, Ryan Smith, Sammy Swindell, Josh Baughman, Sye Lynch, Skylar Gee, Scotty Thiel, Greg Wilson, and of course, Dave Blaney. I was hoping to see Buddy Kofoid, but he decided to run at Muskingum with the FAST series on this evening. There were 5 scheduled 410 races in Ohio this evening but Atomic was rained out.

As I walked the pits, I noticed Kevin Thomas Jr’s hauler was closed up…two large doors with windows in them were enclosing the end of the trailer so you couldn’t see in. Two young fellows were sitting there, leaning against the doors so I asked them, “what are you guys hiding in there? A stockpile of tires?’ That got a chuckle. One of the young men was Anton Hernandez, a sprint racer from Indiana, who is currently helping KTJ. Anton doesn’t have a ride right now, and that is why he’s wrenching for the All Star driver. We had a nice chat about the learning curve for the wingless guys, as they adjust to winged racing and we also talked about the future of USAC and the Extreme Outlaw series.

I then ran into Bradley Howard, who I haven’t seen since he last raced with the All Stars. Bradley and his Dad are nice folks who will smile at you and are happy to talk with you. I also got to talk with a few other crew members for other teams and I have to say, you never know where the conversations will take you. I won’t say too much other than to say that you never know what the drivers or crew members are going through in their personal lives….away from the track. If you are a fan, and your favorite driver is grumpy and seems to not want to talk, don’t take it personal or think that person is a jerk. I’m telling you, you have no idea. Just catch them on a better day and it will be okay.

Crews go to work on Scott Bogucki's injured sprinter Time trails started and Cap Henry, who was one of the first timers set a time that looked to be hard to beat. And then Tyler Courtney came out 39th and went a tick faster…on a tough track, up by the fence. Many racers were placing their right rears up by the guardrail. I just knew someone would grab the barrier and flip their car. But everyone negotiated it okay. And I thought, well okay. Then the last group of timers came out and Scott Bogucki got too close and rolled it and then it went end over end. He returned later after hasty repairs for his heat race.

Scott had a good gathering of drivers and crew members from other teams helping to fix his car. I saw Brandon Spithaler wielding a large sledge hammer, pounding the front of the chassis to get it straighter and to loosen up a torsion bar. Parker Price Miller was helping along with Kevin Thomas Jr..After furious activity, the car was back in shape enough to hit the track for Scott’s heat race.

Heat race winners were Dave Blaney, George Hobaugh, Bill Balog, Justin Peck and Cory Eliason.

After the Dash and B main, the first 5 rows of the feature lined up like this….Hobaugh on the pole with Henry alongside. Marks and Wise in row 2, PPM and Peck in row 3, Eliason and Balog in row 4 and Courtney and Blaney in row 5. Dave had qualified well and started 6th in the dash, but faded quickly and ended up at the tail, giving him a number 10 feature starting spot and disappointing many fans.

After a few lengthy modified races and some track watering, the 30 lap feature got underway. There was some tire smoke earlier in the evening and even with the watering, I anticipated it being a rubber down track near the middle or end of the feature.

Cap Henry At the start, Hobaugh grabbed the lead and did a masterful job of navigating traffic and extending his lead to a straightaway. Marks and Henry slugged it out for 2nd as Hobaugh extended his lead. The fast lane was down around the bottom near the infield tires and that is where most racers stayed. Some ripped around the top by the guardrail, but about halfway through the race, that didn’t seem to be the best way around. It was the bottom that worked the best.

On lap 22, the yellow came out and bunched up everyone. On the restart, Hobaugh again got out to a 5-6 car lead and looked like he would hold on but Marks and Henry started catching Hobaugh with about 4 laps to go. Then on lap 28, Hobaugh looked like he just missed his first turn mark and just drifted high, high enough to allow Marks and Henry to squeeze by. Then on the last lap, leader Marks came up to a lapped car at the turn 3 entrance and went higher to go around the lapper….but he gave Henry enough room to make a bonsai run in there and as Henry exited turn 4 he tapped Marks as he went by and Henry raced to the win, barely edging out Marks at the line.

I thought Hobaugh had it, and then I thought Marks had it and then Henry won it! Good for Cap. I feel so bad for Hobaugh, was rooting for him to get his first All Star win.

Thank you Sharon Speedway and Thank you All Stars, for a great show. I think the All Stars race here 3 more times this year, once during Speedweek and 2 races for the Sharon Nationals over the Labor Day weekend.