Fan Notes from Mansfield Opener!

Mansfield Motorsports Park (Tom Myers) 3/25/2017 - Mansfield Motor Speedway roared back to life on Saturday after a few years of dormancy.  And all is right with the world now because Mansfield is once again a dirt track, as its #BACKTODIRT slogan declares to all. It was a grand return and a glorious return and better things are sure to come.

When I arrived, I didn’t recognize the place. It has been remodeled and changed in so many ways since the last race I remember here.  In that one, Rick Ferkel held off a late charge from Bobby Allen to grab the checkered flag. I think it was 1978, and the track was dirt and there were wings on the cars….no asphalt back then, just dirt, the way it should be.  There used to be a hill or a bank all along the back straight and a drop off into some trees just outside turns one and two. I thought my memory was a bit off but an old timer and I got to talking and he confirmed most of my memory of the place.  The hill and the drop off and the stand of trees are now gone, giving way to a flat parking area all around the track.  State of the art lighting poles tower above the racing surface and white painted walls that look like a SAFER barrier, surround the outside of the track. The grandstands are new aluminum with a good portion of the seating covered. The pit area and track access for the race cars is completely paved with asphalt and concrete. The whole place is first class and state of the art, a really nice facility. I was told that the seating capacity was 10,000…and by the end of hot laps, the stands were full, top to bottom. There is a really nice ticket stand at the entrance and also nice restrooms and a concession stand behind the grandstand. I don’t think the folks running the place expected the size of the crowd that showed up because the lines were long….both at the ticket stand and for the concessions. The line of people waiting to buy a ticket extended at least 75 yards back into the parking lot. The line for the burgers was just as long and the funnel cake guy made a killing too! I didn’t see any large lines at the bathrooms so that was good. So, wow, this was a big event. And if you had any doubts about it at first, you didn’t doubt it later……when the large crowd let out a roar and the fireworks and pyrotechnics went off before the start of the feature! 

Mansfield Motorsports Park I got in before hot laps and went to find a seat and put my blanket down. No problem, as there was still plenty of room. I then looked out across the track from my new viewpoint and it looked fairly large. I think it is a 4/10 mile track and I heard someone say it reminded them of Lawrenceburg.  I then noticed that the flag stand is very high above the track, higher than I am used to seeing. The whole facility reminded me of Eldora. It’s neat, clean, modern, new, and someone spent a lot of money to make it this way. 

For this event, there were 410 winged sprints, late models and non-wing sprints scheduled, each division offering $5,000 to the winner. A couple of the participants would take part in more than one division. Most notably, Jac Haudenschild had his wing ride and a non-wing car with him. There were 28 wing sprints and 25 non-wing cars in attendance. Along with Jac, other notable wing drivers included Tim Shaffer, Danny Smith, Lee Jacobs, Travis Philo, Brian Lay, Cole Duncan and All Stars T.J. Michaels, Brandon Matus  and Caleb Helms. Caleb was coming off his first 410 win the previous evening at Attica and that against some stiff competition there.  Chris Windom, Shane Cottle and Landon Simon were also in attendance to represent the non-wing racers. 

Chris Windom When hot laps started for the 410 wingers, it quickly was apparent that the track was too dry. Clouds of dust billowed into the air off of turns 3 and 4, completely engulfing the folks who were sitting on the bank outside the turn there.  The rooster tails reminded me of old racing footage that shows the dirt cars of the 40’s and 50’s spraying dust like that. When the late models came out for hot laps, I went to the pits to take a look around. I saw Cale Conley and Phil Gressman, two guys you don’t see as often anymore. There were a lot of sprinters with the number 7. Fastest one was Shawn Valenti, a local driver who has vetured into the sprint cars in recent years and he did a good job tonight. Also on hand was the Wayne County track champ Danny Mumaw and he put on a good show too as did D.J. Foos and Brian Lay. 

After time trials they decided to re-work the track and that took a long time. The crowd was restless but also seemed supportive since this was a first try with the new racing surface. Because of the time, they cancelled time trials and went straight to the heats. After the rework, the track was much better and the boisterous crowd was ready to go. The heat 1 finish was Mumaw, Lay, Foos, Conley and Michaels….the top five transferring to the feature. Mumaw was impressive. Heat 2 finished with Philo in front, followed by Jac, who put on a show as always, Ryan Myers, Gressman and Shaffer. Cole Duncan, who was driving the 11 car that Dale Blaney will pilot next week, missed the transfer.  Heat 3 finish was Valenti, Grubaugh, Jacobs, Helms and Jordan Ryan. 

The non-wing heats were good too. Jac, of course, put on a show winning the first heat, holding off Chris Windom. The track was drying a little, but also developing some serious bumps. In heat 2 Shane Cottle finally got to the front after being bottled up most of the way. Dallas Hewitt grabbed the 2nd spot. Landon Simon won the 3rd heat going away. 

Caleb Helms After the heats for all 3 classes, they decided to scrap the b-mains and run the features. During the break before the features started, I got to talking with a guy who was sighting behind me.  Evidently, he knows Pete Grove. So I asked him about this year’s plans for the blue # 70 that Danny Holtgraver drove last season. I understand there will be no full time driver this year but the car will show up at some select shows.  Probably some Ohio Speed Week events I am guessing. 

The first feature was for the wing cars. Haudenschild and Lay started on the front row with Mumaw and Philo in row 2. Shaffer, Duncan, Helms, Jacobs and Michaels started further back in rows 5, 6 and 7. At the start of the 30 lapper, Lay jumped and got moved back a row for the complete restart. When the green dropped, Jac forged into the lead and proceeded to run away from the pack. The feature went non-stop as Mumaw and Philo waged a great battle for position. While those two raced hard, Helms was creeping up from 12th and found himself in the 4th spot. Not far behind was Foos and Shaffer and Lay. The track was rough and guys were passing when they got through the turn smooth and getting passed when they were bouncing through the turn.  Helms passed Philo and then Mumaw around lap 20. The next lap, on the exit of turn 2, Helms almost looped it around but saved it as Mumaw went by. Helms then passed back around Mumaw a lap later and set sail after Haudenschild. Helms was gaining but Jac was comfortably in the lead, weaving in and out of traffic. With 3 laps to go, Jac broke a nerf bar and punctured his right rear tire. This set up Helms for the win. On the restart, Philo faded and the finish was Helms, Foos, Mumaw, Shaffer , Lay,  Jordan Ryan and Duncan. A great race and a nice run for the young guys! Congrats to Caleb Helms who swept the Ohio weekend. Nice job Caleb. 

It was getting too late for me so I went home after the first feature. They were running the late model feature next and then the non-wing race. I wanted to stay for the non-wing race but I had to go…. and I heard I missed a good one!  Oh well.  Overall, this was a fun night of racing. And it was March 25th! That’s early for a race in Ohio but the weather was more than good enough. There were a few first race hiccups but this is a great place to see a race. The racing was really good and it will just get better. Thank you Mansfield Motor Speedway. Let’s do this again.