Fan Notes from Wayne County All Stars Ohio Speedweek!

Wayne County Speedway (Hutch Xtreme Racing Photos)

(Tom Myers) 6-19-17 – The All Star Circuit of Champions sprint cars are currently making their annual trek across Ohio for this year’s  edition of Sprint Speed Week. On Monday, the group stopped in at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville to battle for the $5,000 top prize, bragging rights and championship points. This was the fourth night and fourth of eight events scheduled for the week…..but only the second event that was completed…thanks to the annual battle with the weather around here. Attica was sprinkled out right before the feature on Friday and Waynesfield was washed out on Sunday.  Eldora got the show in Saturday, but that after two rain delays.  Needless to say, the fans and racers were ready for some action.

The forecast was promising for the first four days. You know, nice and sunny during the day with an increasing chance of a shower starting late afternoon or early evening…but a minimal chance and that diminishing as the night goes on.  Now, 30% or 40% isn’t that great of a chance, right? I mean, it’s not 50%, which, by my calculations, is half and half. Kind of like 50-50 or iffy-iffy.  So, below 50% I am good, right? We are good right? Well, around here 30% or 20% means that it will rain 100% of the time….just on 20% to 30% of the viewing or listening area. And I know where that area is…take it from me….That 20% or 30% of the area is 100% the race track area in Ohio….in June…during Speed Week….when I get to the track. And it can’t be just sunshiny or a cloudburst. It has to tease you and make you question what it will do….the weather keeps you guessing. It’s like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick. It looks good but somehow it gets bad. Sort of in between…..AND it’s MADDENING!

Anyway, we had some really good drivers show up to race with the All Star regulars. Kyle Larson was in the pits along with Kasey Kahne, Dave Blaney, Rico Abreu, Danny Dietrich, Parker Price-Miller, Carson Macedo, Adam Keckich, Carl Bowser, Cale Conley, Cole Thomas and Spencer Bayston. We also had 4 Australians….Mitchell Wormall, Sean Zemunic, Daniel Harding and Sammy Walsh. Add to the mix Tim Shaffer, Danny Smith, Lee and Dean Jacobs, Byron Reed, Travis Philo, Rob Chaney, DJ Foos, Cole Duncan and some tough Wayne County racers like Brad Haudenschild, Danny Mumaw, Jordan Ryan and former All Star regular Andrew Paulker…. and you have the recipe for a great show.

Dave Blaney Then we had a shower right after the driver’s meeting. And more dark clouds were coming. And the radar looked bad. And it got cold. So, when it stopped raining, and in spite of the clouds and radar, the track and the All Stars forged on with the show, putting everything into high gear to get it finished.

There were 57 cars on hand, the biggest count of the week so far. Caleb Armstrong throws a left rear in hot laps….actually the axle broke….and the left rear went way up in the air. The track was tacky and generally smooth, but there were bumpy patches that developed in turn 1 and 3. Kyle Larson was the 2nd or 3rd guy to go out and time and he ended up with the fast time while Andrew Paulker timed second quick.  Sammy Walsh flipped it in turn 3 during his time trial. He later returned…with a new wing and some other new parts on the car.

Larson wins his heat. He was followed by PPM, Caleb Helms and Chad Kemenah. The top 4 were transferring to the feature. In heat 2, Lee Jacobs and Daniel Harding tangle and Lee does a soft roll over. All were okay. The finish was Carson Macedo in the Joe Gearte black 3 car, Broc Martin, who is driving the Seeling 97,  Tyler Esh, and Danny Mumaw. Man, it is cold and windy now. In heat 3, the racers were really going hard at it….Rob Chaney wins it in the famous Holbrook 83 car….that car just recently came out of hiding. Shaffer was 2nd followed by Kasey Kahne and Rico Abreu. In heat 4, Philo leaves with suspension damage. Duncan had a transfer spot but lost it when he bounced through the turn 1 entrance on the second to last lap. The finish was Brad Haudenschild, Foos, Armstrong and Byron Reed. In heat 5, Jordan Mackison flips it on the front stretch, damaging Jason Dolick and Cole Thomas in the process. Thomas continues. During the heat, Wormall punts Spithauler into the turn 4 guardrail. They were fighting for a transfer spot. The finish was Conley, Blaney, Joe Swanson and Brandon Matus. Danny Dietrich was driving the black 13 car and finished one spot out of the transfer spot.

Kasey Kahne Time to get more pictures…and to watch the clouds…..the sun is shining through a crack in the clouds…but dark clouds are right behind that and that radar doesn’t look good. After wandering around the pits, I had to get back in the stands to watch the D main get started. In between the D, C and B mains for the sprints, the super stocks got out on the track but only two heats for them thankfully. In the sprint car B main, Bayston tangles with another car and flips in turn 2. He is done for the evening. Harding also hooks the fence and takes a nasty tumble. He was done as well. On the last lap, Ryan Smith’s motor stumbled at the exit of turn 4 and Mad Max Stambaugh ran right up Smith’s tail. Max applied the brakes and then stabbed it to try and beat Smith to the line for the last transfer spot….. but he was just short.

It was so cold that you had to eat food to stay warm and survive…kind of like what happens on a reality television show. You don’t eat, you die. Next time I will dress warmer…..who knew it would get that cold and windy? It felt like a fall football game but those Lerch’s Donuts were pretty good! Made fresh and warm they were…….

Much to the delight of the hometown crowd, Brad Haudenschild found himself on the pole of the feature…. after a dominating win in the first dash. Cale Conley won the second dash and will start on the outside of the front row. Where is Larson and Abreu? Larson starts 8th and Abreu starts 17th. So, let’s see what happens….I am betting on Larson winning this.

So, Brad gets a good start and opens up a big lead. He is really flying and has nearly a full straight lead on 2nd place Conley by lap 3. This didn’t last too long because Brad hooked the cushion in turn 1 and flipped it hard. He was okay but done. That’s too bad. I want to see him finish one of these races well. He is still on the pole for the All Star make up race at Mansfield in October.

Kyle Larson So, after the track crew took Brad’s wrecked racer back to the pits on the hook…. they start pushing the cars off and all are fired and lining up for the restart when….unbelievably….the track lights go out! The cars had to stop to avoid hitting anything in the dark….it was almost total darkness there for awhile. So, about 30 minutes later the lights started to come back on. And it’s late…and it’s cold…the cold wind was blowing. It’s almost July! Dang!

So, when we finally restart, Larson is up to 5th. Conley leads with Shaffer in 2nd and Helms in 3rd. On this restart, Dean Jacobs flips on the front stretch but he is ok but was done for the evening. On the next restart, Conley leads the race but it comes to a halt again on lap 5 as Armstrong breaks again and goes pitside. They wait for him to return from the work area but he can’t get fixed in time before the restart.

When the action starts again, Conley leads while Blaney pulls into the pits. Helms passes Shaffer for second and Larson is coming fast. During the next few laps, Larson passes his way to 2nd and then passes the leader Conley about lap 13. Wow. Larson looks like a figure skater while everyone else is in a roller derby! What a talent. Kyle makes it look so easy. He goes high or low, goes around you and pulls away. And that was it. Conley comes to stop in turn 2 on lap 15. Macedo and Helms both have some wing damage but stay in the race. On the restart, Helms and Shaffer race for 2nd as Macedo fades. Kahne and Kemenah are coming and both pass Macedo as the laps wind down. On lap 28, Helms and Shaffer, racing for 2nd place, tangle on the front stretch and take each other out. That gives Kahne 2nd and Kemenah 3rd and that’s how they finished behind the winner Kyle Larson. Abreu, who won here last year, didn’t move forward and pulled off during the event. Man it’s cold and it’s after 12:00 when the race ends. Hopefully the weather will cooperate the rest of the week!

Thank you All Stars and Wayne County Speedway!   Photo credits go to Hutch Xtreme Racing Photos. Thank you Hutch!