Fan Notes from Ohio Speedweek at Wayne County

Buddy Kofoid Tom Myers – Orrville, Ohio 7/6/2020- I made my way to Wayne County Speedway Monday night for the Duffy Smith Memorial race, which is race # 4 of this year’s Ohio Sprint Speedweek, put on by the All Star Circuit of Champions. My first All Star race this year and first race of speedweek as well. I missed Attica and both nights at Fremont due to some vacation camping and canoeing….but what can you do? It’s hard to schedule things when everything is so uncertain from one week to the next right now.

I arrived at the track at 5:30, much later than I wanted to. Already, there was a big crowd and the parking lot was almost full….and it was at least an hour before motor heat. The track crew was busy watering and working in the track surface. I was thinking that no matter how much water they put on it today….the track would be dry slick, simply because of the heat….heat that was in the high 80’s low 90’s. And on top of that, we haven’t had a good rain around here in at least a couple of weeks.

There were 40 cars on hand and in addition to the All Stars, we had some really fast and on fire racers like Rico Abreu, Buddy Kofoid and Kyle Larson in the pits. This was a pretty deep field and I anticipated a pretty good race. Based upon results so far this year, I was thinking the evening’s winner would end up being Larson, Abreu, Kofoid or Reutzel. Other notable drivers in the pits were Cap Henry, who a few days back won the opening night race of this year’s speedweek event at Attica, Tim Shaffer, Jac Haudenschild, Gerard McIntyre, Josh Baughman, Brandon Spithaler, who has won 2 features at Tri-City Speedway so far this summer, Broc Martin, Cole Macedo, Cale Conley, Sye Lynch, who is driving the Grove 70 car, Justin Peck, who is back in his own #5 car, and 2018 USAC Sprint Car and 2019 USAC Midget champion Tyler Courtney. Missing from the racing action was Dale Blaney. It’s not Ohio Sprint Speedweek without him. Dale knows this and I am sure that is why Dale has been working as an All Star Official this week. It’s cool to see Dale at the track.

Cale Conley The track actually stayed tacky and racy all evening. Of course we did get a lot of airborne dirt but the track was not dry slick. The racing, as it always is here, was very good. I ran into my friend Jack Schilb in the pits. Was happy to see him and that he was doing well, especially after trying to contact him last month and not getting any response. Jack, please learn to operate your cell phone better! I also had my Dad and nephew Thomas in tow this evening. Thomas is going into his Junior year this fall at Manchester High, where he plays nose tackle for the Panthers. I have to tell you that his muscles are now competing with his big head of hair for attention….( Think Clay Mathews III )

If you couldn’t make it to the track, you could watch from the comfort of your own home as Flo Racing was broadcasting this evening’s event. Who could have imagined years ago that we would get to the point now, where we have the technology to watch sprint cars on your TV or computer in your house….and on demand….and make it economical to do so at almost every event?

Our fast timer was Josh Baughman with teammate Reutzel getting 2nd quick. After Reutzel was Kyle Larson, Kofoid, Eliason and Conley, Courtney, Wise, R.J. Jacobs, Henry and Abreu. The heats were interesting…..there were 3 grooves, some going up high around the fence, some in the middle and a few down low. The track was smooth and had lots of grip and that made passing difficult.

There were 4 heats and the top 5 would transfer. The heat 1 finish was Trey Jacobs, Lee Jacobs, Reutzel, Baughman and Macedo. Reutzel tried everything.. but could not get past Lee Jacobs for 2nd. In heat 2, disaster struck for Buddy Kofoid and Kyle Larson. As the green fell, both Conley and Kofoid looked to have too much steam heading into turn 1. Conley slid up to the guardrail as Kofoid went over Larson’s front wheels and then executed a few soft rollovers. Kofoid and Larson both went to the pits for repairs and did not return for the heat. On the restart Conley grabs the lead and the win. He was followed by Eliason, who had pressured Conley the whole race but couldn’t get by, Lynch, Wilson and Martin. On the last lap, R.J. Jacobs takes a ride over the ridge of dirt at the exit of turn 2 and does a few rollovers. He was okay but his car would get some thrashing on it…..back in the pits. He would return for the B main. In heat 3, Cap Henry grabs the win away from Haudenschild. Cap pressured Jac the first 6 laps and finally was able to get by on lap 7. The middle of the turns seem fastest for some racers right now. A good strategy used by Haudenschild and Lee Jacobs in their heats was to enter the turn low or in the middle and then slide up high on the exit….This made it hard for the car behind to pass. Ask Henry and Reutzel. In heat 4 Chris Myers, driving the yellow 38K, hit the turn 4 outside wall pretty hard and bent up a wheel or axle. He had to leave the action. Rico Abreu got by Tim Shaffer with a few laps to go for the win. Shaffer hung on for 2nd followed by Courtney, Justin Peck and Paul McMahon, who started on the pole but faded to 5th at the finish.

Brandon Spithaler The sun is going down but it’s not cooling off. It feels like a muggy oven! The air is thick and it feels like you are not getting enough air in when you breathe! Man, I had to move around so I walked to the concession stand to get the air moving around me and grab a bite to eat right before the dashes and B main were to get started. R.J. Jacobs, Kofoid and Larson are repaired and ready now for the B main as the dash guys draw their spots. The feature tonight will be 30 laps and will pay $6,000 to win. I heard a few people saying that after Larson wins the B main, they thought he could come up through the field and win this. I was thinking this was not going to be that easy, with Reutzel and Abreu starting so far ahead of Kyle tonight.

The Dash 1 finish was Wise, Henry, Trey Jacobs, Baughman and Eliason. In Dash 2 the winner was Conley, Abreu, Reutzel, Lee Jacobs and Courtney. Reutzel is not moving forward like usual. This may not be his night. The B main winner was Larson going away, followed by transfers Kofoid, McIntyre and Brubaker. Now, on to the feature!

The track was run in again but didn’t receive much water. It still looks tacky but now the dirt is swirling when the cars get racing on it. Skylar Gee takes a provisional and will start 25th. Wise is on the pole with Conley outside, Henry inside row 2 with Abreu outside him. At the start, Conley gets the jump and the lead and starts to pull away. He looks really strong as Wise and Henry battle for 2nd.

Cap Henry Around lap 8 Henry gets by Wise for 2nd but Conley has a nice lead now. On lap 9, Broc Martin stops on the back stretch. On the restart, Conley again pulls away until lap 13 when Trey Jacobs rides over the turn 2 guardrail and out of the track! He was okay but could not return. Again, on the restart, Conley pulls away, utilizing the high line around the guardrail. Now the crowd is energized as Jac Haudenschild is up from 12th and passes Rico Abreu for third! Jac is running the middle line and never once did I see him go up to the fence like he normally does…..but it was working. As the laps wind down and traffic comes into play, Rico gets back by Jac and Henry gets closer and closer to Conley. With 3 laps to go Henry throws a slider at Conley in turn 3 and exits turn 4 with the lead. Conley couldn’t get back by and Henry goes on for the win, his 2nd All Star victory this week and 2nd win at Wayne County this year.

I feel bad for Cale but he is close now and running good. He’s got Brian Kemenah wrenching for him so that’s a plus for Cale. The finish was Henry, Conley, Abreu, Haudenschild up from 12th, Justin Peck, up from 16th, Larson up from 21st, Eliason, Reutzel, Baughman and Spithaler round out the top 10.

Thank you Wayne County Speedway and thank you All Star Circuit of Champions! It was great fun and hopefully I will make it to a few more speedweek shows this week!