Orrville, Ohio May 28, 2016
I arrived early on a beautiful day and was pretty excited because of the good racing this track produces. But like so many times before, the skies started to produce thunderheads and threatening looking weather....Dang, you gotta be kidding, right?
Well luckily, the big storm slid past us to the west and the remainder of the evening turned out perfect.
28 winged sprinters showed up to compete for the All Star loot. I was disappointed with the car count, but considering that there were two other 410 races in Ohio tonight, I couldn't complain. Someone tweeted that they counted almost 90 sprint cars in competition in Ohio on this evening. I was glad to see Rico Abreu in attendance as well as Cole Duncan, who finished 3rd in the World of Outlaws feature at Charlotte the night before, and Jac Haudenschild, the All Star winner here earlier this season.
In hot laps, Jac dropped the rear end out of the car. You could see it hanging down as he rolled to a stop in turn 1. He did not come out for time trials or for his heat race....everyone thought he was done for the evening......
Rob Chaney also had troubles during hot laps, his car not wanting to stay in gear. He did come back and time and race in his heat race.
Rico set fast time by blasting around on top of the cushion. Very few are brave enough to do that here because it is rough and close to the fence. You really win it or wear it at this track and Rico showed how it is done. He raced this track like Kyle Larson did and Shane Stewart and the way Jac and Sheldon race it. But there is always an exception and tonight it was Dale Blaney, running up against the cushion, not on top of it, and setting second quick time. He just has a good setup and can grip the slick Ohio dirt like no one else...Sheldon Haudenschild timed third quick....you guessed it...on top of the cushion with wild abandon!
Heat 1 top finishers were T.J. Michaels in front, followed by Cole Duncan, Sheldon Haud and Rob Chaney.
At the start of heat 2, Bradley Howard and Troy Kingan came together at the end of the front stretch and both flipped hard. It was quite a spectacular wreck as both cars flipped several times violently as the crowd let out a collective gasp. Both drivers exited their cars ok...but later on in the evening the show was delayed because Howard had to be taken to the local hospital for a checkup. I saw where he was released last evening...thankful for that. This was similar to a wreck I saw here when I was a kid. A few of you will remember George Harbour. At the start of the feature that night long ago, gosh it was probably 1977 or 1978, George got over someone's wheel and went flipping down the front straight and out of the track, going through the turn one fence and landing about 50 feet from the end of the grandstands.....where Dad and I happened to be sitting. If there was ever a good time to be wearing diapers...that would have been the time.
When the heat resumed, the top 6 finishing order was Lee Jacobs, Caleb Helms, Dean Jacobs, Danny Holtgraver, Chad Kemenah, and Kraig Kinser.
Heat 3 was fun to watch. The reigning track champion, Brad Haudenschild, is always fast here and he doesn't back down when racing the travelers. Brad made a daring move and put a slider on Cap Henry in turn 3 and 4 to take the lead, Cap having to check up to avoid a crash. The crowd loved it. The top 4 were Brad Haud, Henry, Blaney, and Abreu.
Rico was interviewed during the dash draw and was asked how he could be so fast, this being the first time he has ever seen this track? Rico said he races on alot of different tracks and he and his crew just get good at figuring out what the setup needs to be. He also said he searches different places on the track to find out where his car likes to run. The dash finish was former track champion Andrew Paulker gaining the pole, followed by Abreu, Blaney, Duncan, Sheldon Haud, Brad Haud, Lee Jacobs, and Caleb Helms.
Much to the crowd's delight.....Jac Haudenschild made it out to start on the tail of the B main. And he didn't disappoint. He brought the crowd to it's feet after passing the field and with a last lap pass...you guessed it, on top of the cushion around the top of 1-2 he took the first spot.
In the feature, Andrew Paulker grabbed the early lead from the pole, and lengthened it out in front of Abreau and Blaney. There was a caution on lap 3 and Jac, who started 19th, was already up to 12th! On the restart, Blaney gets by Abreau and sets sail after Paulker. Abreu got back around Blaney for second and then passed Paulker for the lead. Paulker then started fading as Blaney and now Sheldon Haudenschild got by him. As Paulker was fading, Sheldon was surging. He got around Blaney and then passed Rico with a bold, up on the fence move out of turn 2 and won the drag race down the back straight. It was now getting dusty and traffic was thick. It was like rush hour with lappers in everyone's way. The leaders were making hold your breath moves thru every turn to keep pace. Sheldon tried, but couldn't shake Rico and it didn't help that they both were hemmed in by lapped traffic. Sheldon on the bumpers of the traffic in front of him and Rico on Sheldon's bumper! Then on lap 27, Sheldon got together with Cap Henry at the entrance of turn 1 as he was trying to pass...and rolled over. Dang!
Before the restart with 3 to go, Brad Haudenschild found himself in 3rd......but alas, he had a right rear going down and had to leave the race. Too bad for him, a nice run to that point.
On the restart It was a clear track for Rico. Rico wins with Dale Blaney finishing second. Paulker rallied to finish 3rd, with Cole Duncan quietly finishing 4th and Jac Haudenschild getting to 5th, up from the 19th spot. Wow, Jac always puts on a show!
Don't miss the upcoming All Star Sprint Speed week show at Wayne County Speedway. The action is intense, the racing is great.