Fan Notes from Wayne County All Stars!

Rick Ferkel talks things over with Christopher Bell (Tom Myers)  Orrville, Ohio  4-22-2017  -  The All Star Circuit of Champions sprint cars made their first appearance of the season at Wayne County Speedway on Saturday. The weather was breezy and cool but a big crowd and a good field of racers showed up for a fine evening of racing. 

With my nephew in tow, we showed up early and went on a tour of the pits. I was thinking there would be about 31 or so cars on hand but I counted 37 and more were pulling in. When all were present and accounted for, there were 44 cars ready to race. A really good count, considering there was another 410 race in Ohio on the same evening. 

I was surprised to see Sheldon Haudenschild in the pits. Other notables were Christopher Bell, driving the Linder wrenched 11n that Dale Blaney drives in Ohio, Hunter Schuerenburg, Andrew Paulker and Dane Lorenc. Paulker and Lorenc  were making their first race of the year. Also present, along with the regular All Star racers was Cale Conley, Danny Smith, Jac Haudenschild, Tim Shaffer, Track Champion Brad Haudenschild, Cole Duncan and Lee and Dean Jacobs. 

Chad Kemenah The track was smooth and tacky and fast. Caleb Helms turned the fastest lap in time trials, just a tick off the track record, and Sheldon timed second quick. Christopher Bell came to a stop on his first time trial lap and had to try again after everyone else had timed and only got one lap to do it. When he came out again, he had a grey colored tail tank instead of the black one he started with. 

Because the weather was a bit chilly and was going to get much colder, I was so glad the track only had one support class on hand! Good job Wayne County Speedway! Another thing I noticed was the increased number of food vendors on hand. In addition to the regular track food, which is very good, the Pitt Stop had slaw dogs and barbeque pork sandwiches and Aunt Annies had pretzels, there were funnel cakes and Lerch’s donuts had…………donuts. I got acquainted with the donuts because my nephew made a bee-line to go and get some. 

Paulker timed 8th quick and had a good starting spot for his heat race, all of this in spite of a sputtering motor. They didn’t get it figured out until the feature but it was good enough to get him in the feature.  It was good to see Paulker, who is not following the All Star circuit this year.  Dane Lorenc is following along with the All Star tour and it was good to finally see Dane make a race. The All Stars have so many young drivers. My money is on Helms, Armstrong, Stambaugh, Spithaler and Michaels to really improve and challenge Kemenah and Ryan Smith for a few wins this year. John Garvin will improve dramatically as well. And we shouldn’t forget that Brandon Matus has an All Star win on his resume and Tyler Esh has been fast already. 

Jac Haudenschild Kemenah wins heat 1 followed by Ryan Smith, a sputtering Paulker, Spithaler and Helms. In heat 2, both Mackison brothers flipped in turn two on lap 5. Both got some air under them as Hunter ended up on top of the guardrail and Jordan ended up outside the track at the turn 2 exit. Both would return to action.  Brad Haudenschild won the heat followed by Jac, Bell, Schuerenburg and Conley. Heat 3 got us  Ryan Broughton in the top spot followed by Sheldon, Duncan, Dean Jacobs and Mumaw. Broughton did a nice job in this heat. Armstrong wins heat 4 after a good battle with Philo. Shaffer, Danny Smith and Jordan Ryan followed. The track is still smooth and tacky.

The All Stars have 2 dashes this year, each race having 5 cars. One dash sets the starting order for the outside row and the other sets the order for the inside row. Jac wins the first dash and the pole for the feature followed by Broughton, Armstrong, Philo and Ryan Smith. We learned later that Ryan struggled with a steering problem all evening. The second dash got us Helms at the front followed by Kemenah, Sheldon, Schuerenburg and Brad Haudenschild. 

Lee Jacobs wins the B main followed by Stambaugh, Esh and Dean Jacobs. These cars started at the tail of the A main and were joined by Bradley Howard and Hunter Mackison, who were using a provisional.

Sheldon Haudenschild When the green dropped, Armstrong gets the lead from the 2nd row and Helms falls back as Jac and Kemenah follow hard. Armstrong gives up the lead to Jac on lap 3 but their battle continues for a few more laps. Sheldon is on the move and passes Kemenah around lap 9 for third and sets sail after Armstrong. Both Sheldon and Armstrong use the turn 2 cushion and guardrail for traction as they exit the turn. Sheldon bobbles and gets his car almost on it’s side but stays in the peddle as he rides the turn 2 guardrail! It looked like only his left side tires were on the dirt, right side tires riding on the guardrail!  Sheldon passes Armstrong the next lap and takes off after his dad. Sheldon makes the winning pass a few laps later as both navigated heavy traffic. Sheldon then sails away as Armstrong, Kemenah and Jac battle for position. The race went non-stop and the traffic was thick as the leaders constantly had to weave in and out, what chaos! 

At the finish, Kemenah secured second followed by Jac, Armstrong and Philo. Bell made it up to 6th from his 14th starting spot. He was followed by Helms, Schuerenburg, Spithaler and Brad Haudenschild. 

A good race and a great racing surface. In victory lane, Sheldon said it was the best racing surface he’s seen at Wayne County. In spite of the cold, it was a great time. Thank you Wayne County Speedway and thank you All Stars! See you again soon!