Fan Notes from the King of the County Race #2 at Wayne County Speedway

Wayne County Speedway (Tom Myers) 6/5/2021 - Wayne County Speedway hosted the 2nd of 5 scheduled King Of The County races Saturday, June 5th here at the historic Orrville, Ohio racetrack. These special events feature a higher purse paying $3500 to win and $400 to start. In addition to the higher purse for these events, points are accumulated during these K.O.C. races to determine additional payouts at the end of the season.

The weather was beautiful, sunny and in the 80’s, and the track looked tacky and smooth. The large crowd filled the stands and were eager to see good racing and enjoy the beautiful weather. The car count of 22 was at first glance disappointing, but given the circumstances, that wasn’t so bad. Take into consideration the fact that there were 3 other 410 winged sprint car races in Ohio this same evening, and all the races paid out about the same, and Western PA Sprint Speedweek was going on, and some guys are saving their equipment for Ohio Speedweek, and there were only 16 cars at Attica the night before….so 22 cars was pretty good.

Concerning car counts, let me throw my 2 cents worth of opinion into this. All the tracks could benefit if they worked together. Alternate the shows maybe? For example, one or two tracks could have a winged 410 sprint show on a given night and the other tracks could then have a late model or wingless sprint show on that same night. The following weekend, alternate. The tracks that had 410 wingers the previous weekend could have late models or non wing sprints while the other tracks could then have the winged 410 sprints scheduled. Or maybe some mixture of this formula and car classes could work. Why not have bigger car counts each weekend, wether they be winged sprints or late models? It’s just an idea, but wouldn’t all the tracks and cars and fans benefit? It’s all about making money right? Anyway, I am sure the discussion has happened, but is it possible to cooperate and pull it off? Would it work?

The news from the pits was pretty cool. Jac Haudenschild is planning on running here Monday the 14th for the All Star Speedweek show. Dean Jacobs, who is also retiring at the end of this racing season, was sporting a throwback paint scheme on his car tonight. Many will remember the green, purple and white Frigidaire car that Dean drove in the 90’s and early 2000’s. I hope Dean plans to bring this car on the 14th. That would be cool to see Jac’s Pennzoil car next to Dean’s Frigidaire car!

Justin Clark Former All Star racer and WCS track champion Andrew Paulker was making his first appearance in a race car since he was burned in a fuel fire in 2019. Andrew looked racy in the car and like he hardly missed a beat. Andrew had to pull out of the feature because of a mechanical issue but he looked as fast as ever. Andrew said that if everything went well, he was going to be racing in at least some of the All Star Sprint Speedweek events next week and that he would be driving for another car owner just for those events.

Another neat story tonight was 305 racer Justin Clark. When I first saw him, I thought it was Cole Macedo, they look that much alike. Justin was driving the Prosser 19 car tonight. This was his first ever race in a 410. I don’t follow the 305’s nationally, but I understand Justin wins a lot of races, and many of the bigger races for the 305’s. I have to say, he did quite well. He is very smooth and drove that 410 like a pro. He looked at home in the car and had total control of it and raced very well. In the future, I think there will be plenty of 410 car owners asking Justin to drive for them.

Also in the pits and racing tonight was a young man named Joe Adorjan. Joe has been wrenching on sprint cars around here for awhile and recently decided to put his own car together and race. Joe has some go karts and some drag racing experience, but tonight was the first night for him in a sprint car. Joe’s Dad was sitting next to us in the grandstand, so I was able to get the scoop on Joe. His car looks really neat.

It’s grey with a big #2 on it, the number being gold flake and in the style of the old sprint car numbers from back in the day. Good luck Joe, I am sure you will be up to speed soon!

Trey Jacobs was in the Morris 0 car again tonight. He will be racing Ohio Speedweek but is unsure what car he will be in. Stay tuned and good luck Trey.

Dean Jacobs in his retro Frigidaire livery The track stayed tacky and smooth for time trials. The fastest timer was Broc Martin, in the Santmeyer Oil 83m car. Broc, who is a former Fremont track champion and who finished 7th with the WoO here last year, has won 3 times at Wayne County this season thus far.

There were 3 heats, each going 8 laps and the top 3 finishers would redraw for their feature starting positions. The first heat winner was Jason Dolick, followed by Nick Patterson and Martin. Dean Jacobs finished fourth with Justin Clark getting the 5th spot. In the 2nd heat Ricky Peterson gets the win followed by Dylan Kingan and Troy Kingan. Chris Myers had a draw position locked up but on lap 4 he was pressuring Peterson and then Myers went over the turn 2 cushion and spun it around, hitting a tire at the edge of the access road next to the backstretch. He ended up 5th after rejoining the race. Paulker started 2nd but when he and Myers were racing into turn 3 on the first lap, Andrew’s brakes went out and he then made some nifty moves and did a half spin to avoid the oncoming cars. He did not return for the restart of this heat. In heat 3, the finish was Henry Malcuit in first. Henry ran away with it. He was followed by Danny Mumaw, Trey Jacobs, Wyatt Zimmerman, who was ripping the top like a wild man, and finishing 5th was Greg Mitchell.

After a lengthy break for the heat races of the other divisions, the feature was ready to go. The race was to be 30 laps and the lineup for the first 9 starters by way of pill draw was as follows…Patterson was on the pole with Henry Malcuit alongside him. Row 2 was Ricky Peterson alongside Troy Kingan. Row 3 was Martin with Dolick alongside him. Row 4 was Trey jacobs and Danny Mumaw. Row 5 was Dylan Kingan with Dean Jacobs outside of him. Justin Clark and Chris Myers were in row 7 and Paulker had to start at the back.

Henry Malcuit took the win Saturday at Wayne County At the green flag, Malcuit raced into the lead but a 4 car accident ensued on the backstretch at the turn 2 exit. Caught up in it were Trey Jacobs, Wyatt Zimmerman, Chris Myers and Dylan Kingan. All 4 racers were done for the evening. At the restart, Malcuit again grabbed the lead and sped away on the tacky and racy surface. Paulker pulled off after a couple of laps. A great battle for 2nd thru 6th place ensued as Patterson was feeling pressure from Peterson, with Dolick, Martin and Dean Jacobs coming up through. martin got past Dolick and then Patterson about lap 12 and then set sail to chase Malcuit. Peterson, who was really ripping the top, then moved into thrid and moved up to challenge Martin for 2nd. Those two dueled for many laps as Malcuit maintained his lead. The last 10 laps, Martin and Peterson closed on Malcuit in lapped traffic but then Henry would pull further ahead. At the checkers it was Malcuit crossing first, with Martin edging Peterson for 2nd. Rounding out the top 10 were Peterson in 3rd, Dolick in 4th, followed by Dean Jacobs, Mumaw, Shawn Hubler, 305 racer Justin Clark, 16th starting Zach Ames, and Greg Mitchell.

Malcuit commented in victory lane that they have been having engine woes all year and that they finally have the motor running the way it should. Malcuit, who now has 2 feature wins at Wayne County, also praised the track surface as it stayed tacky and racy all evening.

That was a fun race and a nice evening. Thank you Wayne County Speedway. Hopefully we will see you again on June 14th!