Fan Notes from Wayne County Pete Jacobs Memorial

Cale Thomas (TOM MYERS) ORRVILLE, OHIO – THERE WERE 37 CARS ON HAND FOR THIS YEAR’S PETE JACOBS MEMORIAL RACE AT WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY IN ORRVILLE, OHIO. THE 2023 RACE WAS SANCTIONED BY THE FAST SPRINT CAR SERIES AND PAID $10,000 TO THE WINNER.

SOME OF THE RACERS ON HAND INCLUDED FAST POINTS LEADER BRANDON SPITHALER AND HOLDING DOWN THE SECOND PLACE IN THE FAST POINTS IS RICKY PETERSON. RICKY RECENTLY BROKE BOTH OF HIS MOTORS AND WAS NOT GOING TO RACE THIS WEEKEND, UNTIL HE GOT SOME HELP AND CAME UP WITH A MOTOR TO RUN. OTHER NOTABLE RACERS ON HAND WERE AUSTIN MCCARL, KRAIG KINSER, CAP HENRY, COLE DUNCAN, J.J. HICKLE, CALE THOMAS, KYLE REINHARDT, CONNOR MORREL, AND NEWLY CROWNED WAYNE COUNTY TRACK CHAMPION TYLER GUNN.

I HAVEN’T BEEN TO A RACE SINCE OHIO SPRINT SPEEDWEEK. JUST HAVE BEEN SO, SO BUSY. IT WAS GOOD TO GET OUT AND SEE SOME RACING! WE WERE GOING TO GO SATURDAY TO ATTICA BUT DAD WASN’T FEELING GOOD SO WE OPTED TO STAY HOME AND PLANNED ON SUNDAY’S RACE IN ORRVILLE.

THERE WERE 2 GROUPS OF QUALIFYING. THE FAST TIMER IN THE FIRST GROUP AND FASTEST OVERALL WAS CALE THOMAS, WHO WAS DRIVING THE KISER 23 CAR. CALE PUT DOWN A BLISTERING LAP OF 14.386 AND HE DID IT BY ENTERING EACH TURN AS HIGH AS HE COULD….FULL BLAST….AND RIM RIDING IT ALL THE WAY. THAT’S THE FAST WAY AROUND HERE BUT THE MARGIN FOR ERROR IS PRETTY THIN…AS MANY WOULD LATER FIND OUT. THE TOP 5 IN GROUP 1 WERE THOMAS, TYLER STREET, SPITHALER, GUNN AND HENRY MALCUIT.

Wayne County Speedway TREY JACOBS WAS THE FAST TIMER IN THE 2ND GROUP. HE WAS FOLLOWED BY CAP HENRY, JORDAN RYAN, DANNY SAMS AND J.J.HICKLE.

DANNY SAMS IS FAST. HE’S WON A FEW RACES THIS YEAR AND HE WON A RACE HERE AT WAYNE COUNTY EARLIER IN THE YEAR. HE RACES 410’S AND 360’S BUT HIS 360 MOTOR IS BROKEN, SO HE’S 410 RACING BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT HE’S GOT. IF I HEARD HIM CORRECTLY, DANNY, WHO IS 21 YEARS YOUNG, SAID HE’S BEEN RACING SINCE HE WAS 5 YEARS OLD AND STARTED RACING SPRINT CARS AT 14. HE FLIES UP EVERY WEEKEND FROM FLORIDA TO THEIR INDIANA RACING SHOP. KEEP AN EYE ON DANNY. HE’S A REALLY NICE KID AND WAS EAGER TO TALK WITH ME. THANK YOU DANNY.

THE HEAT RACES WERE CRAZY, THANKS TO SOME DARING DRIVING AND DRIVERS USING DIFFERENT LINES THROUGH THE TURNS. THE TOP 4 IN EACH HEAT WOULD TRANSFER TO THE A MAIN WITH THE WINNER AND FASTEST QUALIFIER WHO TRANSFERRED, BOTH GOING TO THE FEATURE RE-DRAW.

IN THE FIRST HEAT, 8TH STARTING KRAIG KINSER CAME FROM THE BACK AND CAME HOME THE WINNER, FOLLOWED BY THOMAS, MORRELL AND SPITHALER. ALL RACE LONG, THOMAS AND PETERSON WERE BATTLING, WITH PETERSON THROWING SOME CRAZY SLIDERS. WITH 2 LAPS TO GO, AND RACING FOR THE LEAD, PETERSON SPUN IT IN TURN 4. AT THE RESTART, AND USING THE LOW GROOVE, KINSER MOVED PAST THOMAS FOR THE WIN. AT THE START OF THIS HEAT, TRAVIS PHILO AND LEE JACOBS AND HENRY MALCUIT TANGLED IN TURN 2. PHILO RESTARTED AT THE TAIL BUT JACOBS AND MALCUIT DID NOT.

Austin McCarl IN HEAT 2, CODY BOVA GRABBED THE LEAD FROM HIS 2ND STARTING SPOT AND HELD ON ALL THE WAY. HE WAS PESTERED THE ENTIRE RACE BY TYLER GUNN WHO WAS ON BOVA’S TAIL, BUT COULD NOT MAKE THE PASS. COLE DUNCAN AND GREG WILSON ROUNDED OUT THE TOP 4.

IN THE 3RD HEAT, J.J. HICKLE PREVAILED, FOLLOWED BY MCCARL, JORDAN RYAN AND BYRON REED. TREY JACOBS BANGED THE WALL IN TURN 2 AND THAT SENT HIM PITSIDE. JASON DOLICK ALSO HAD A HARD FLIP OFF OF TURN TWO IN HEAT 3. HE WAS OKAY.

IN THE 4TH HEAT, DARIN NAIDA CAME HOME THE WINNER, FOLLOWED BY REINHARDT, HENRY AND LAYTON WAGNER. DANNY SAMS, WHO STARTED 3RD, FELL BACK TO 6TH AND ENDED UP IN ONE OF THE B MAINS. I THINK HE SPUN OR HAD A FLAT AND THAT IS WHY HE DIDN’T TRANSFER?

AFTER THE RE-DRAW, THE A MAIN STARING ORDER WAS HENRY ON THE POLE, FOLLOWED BY HICKLE, GUNN, NAIDA, BOVA, KINSER, RYAN, AND THOMAS. STARING 9TH WOULD BE MCCARL, FOLLOWED BY REINHARDT, MORRELL, DUNCAN, SPITHALER, WILSON, REED AND WAGNER.

Feature winner Cap Henry AFTER THE 2 B MAINS, THE REMAINING STARTERS WOULD BE PHILO, BROC MARTIN, CHRIS MYERS, JEREMY WEAVER, PETERSON AND JONAH AUMEND. TREY JACOBS FLIPPED OUT OF THE SPEEDWAY AND INTO THE BACK STRETCH CORN COMING OUT OF TURN 2 IN HIS B MAIN. HE WAS OKAY BUT DONE FOR THE EVENING. SAMS WAS WORKING ON A TRANSFER SPOT TO THE FEATURE, BUT HIS CAR SLOWED AND HE PULLED OFF AND HE WAS DONE FOR THE NIGHT. TOO BAD BECAUSE HE WAS REALLY FAST AND HAD QUALIFIED 4TH QUICK IN THE 2ND GROUP, ONE SPOT AHEAD OF HICKLE.

WHEN THE 30 LAP FEATURE STARTED, HENRY GRABBED THE LEAD WITH HICKLE CLOSE BEHIND. HENRY THEN STARTED TO PULL AWAY AS BOTH WERE USING THE HIGH LINE UP AROUND THE GUARDRAIL. PHILO MUST HAVE GOTTEN A GREAT START BECAUSE HE WAS UP IN THE TOP 10 ALMOST IMMEDIATLEY FROM HIS 17TH STARTING SPOT…AND HE WORKED HIS WAY UP INTO THE TOP 5 AT ONE POINT, BEFORE SUFFERING A FLAT RIGHT REAR. AFTER GOING BACK TO THE TAIL, HE ENDED UP FINISHING 8TH WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE. TYLER GUNN WAS IN THIRD AND PRESSURING HICKLE WHEN HE GOT UP OVER THE DIRT RIDGE AT THE EXIT OF TURN 2 AND ALMOST FLIPPED IT. AS HE RODE SIDEWAYS ON THE TOP OF THE RIDGE, HE RECOVERED BUT LOST 4 SPOTS BACK TO 7TH….BUT HE KEPT GOING. HICKLE STARTED TO REEL IN HENRY IN LAPPED TRAFFIC BUT ABOUT LAP 21, 4TH RUNNING CALE THOMAS FLIPPED IT IN THE MIDDLE OF TURN 2 AND FLEW OVER THE GUARDRAIL. HE WAS OKAY, BUT HE DID GET SOME SERIOUS AIR.

BY THIS TIME, GUNN WAS UP TO 2ND FOLLOWED BY NAIDA, REINHARDT, KINSER AND A FADING HICKLE. RICKY PETERSON WAS COMING UP FROM THE 21ST SPOT AND WAS IN 7TH. HICKLE THEN FLIPPED HIS 50YR CAR ON LAP 26 IN TURN 1. HE WAS UNHURT BUT DONE FOR THE REMAINDER. WITH 4 LAPS TO GO, HENRY RACED AWAY TO THE WIN AS REINHARDT GOT PAST GUNN FOR 2ND. THE TOP 10 FINISHERS WERE HENRY WITH THE WIN, FOLLOWED BY REINHARDT, GUNN, KINSER, PETERSON, WILSON, NAIDA, PHILO, MCCARL AND CODY BOVA.

THANK YOU WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY AND THANK YOU FAST SERIES.

SEE YOU AT THE NEXT RACE!