By Gerry Keysor
July 9, 2011,
A great crowd was on hand Saturday at Waynesfield Raceway Park to enjoy a hot summer evening with some hotter racing action. 105 racing machines filled the pit area, and put on a great show in all classes.
Feature action began with the Performance Powder Coating 1000cc Mini Sprints. When the green flag dropped, #55 Rob Winks jumped out to a big lead from his outside front row starting spot. The battle was furious for the 2nd spot as pole sitter #24L Lee Underwood fought with #7 Drew Pollock and #22 Ryan Broughton. Racing was halted on lap 5 for the #328 of Becca Stiefel tipping over in turn 4 and the #4L of Jeff Long sliding into Becca while the car was righted. After discussing the matter with the WRP safety crew, and father/car owner, Steve Stiefel, Becca rejoined the field with a bent top wing and some cosmetic damage to her machine. On the restart, Winks jumped out to a 6 car length lead, but that was quickly negated as the red flag would fly again for a scary flip in turn 1 involving the #00 of Michael Helterbran. Helterbran was alert and talking to the medics and official, but due to some pain he was experiencing, he was transported to a local medical facility. No official word on his condition is available at this time. On the restart, Ryan Broughton used his momentum to take the lead on the high side of turns 1 and 2 to grab the lead from Winks. Broughton would never look back, winning over Winks, #23 Devon Dobie #7 Drew Pollock, and a charging #74 of Drew Rader would come home 5th from his 12 starting position.
In Block Thunder Stock car feature action, #6p of Scott Higbea and #82 Chris Douglas led the field to green, with Douglas jumping out front. Douglas, one of the Spotlight drivers in the WRP Newsletter this week would pull out to a 4 car length lead over the battle for 2nd between #7b Shawn Valenti, #71 Keith Ralston, and #58p Jim Post. Caution would wave on lap 5 for the spinning #52g of David Gazarek. Gazerek, the 14 year old from Jenera, Ohio would rejoin the field and finish 16th in just his 2nd race ever in the stock car. When racing resumed, Douglas would continue to lead with Valenti working the highside, and Ralston on the bottom, both closing on the leader. The yellow flag would wave again on lap 8 for the #27F of BJ Francis spinning in turn 2. When the race resumed, Douglas fought for a couple more laps, but handling issues caused the #82 machine to slide up the track just enough for Ralston to slip by on the bottom on lap 10. Ralston would then cruise to the win with #16 Jeff Koz grabbing 2nd, Douglas 3rd, Valenti 4th, and Post completing the top 5.
In S&H Non Wing Sprint Car action, it would be #23s Kyle Simon and #14c Andy Conley leading the field to green. Simon grabbed the early lead with #18 Todd Keen charging to 2nd. By lap 4,#22s Matt Westfall began his assault on the high side of the speedway, getting past Keen and grabbing 2nd. #5J Joss Moffatt had moved up to 4th by lap 8, and began battling with Keen for the 3rd spot. On lap 11 2 battles ensued up front as Westfall took the high side in the fight for the lead with Simon, and Moffat worked the top side of the speedway against Keen on the bottom. On lap 12, Westfall gained a slight advantage that was quickly wiped out as he got hung up by a lapped car. On lap 15, the #97 of Devon Dobie would spin in turns 1 and 2 with the #18b of Tim Fox spinning to avoid him. Both cars would rejoin the field. On the restart Westfall would begin his charge on the cushion again, making the pass for the lead on lap 15. Moffatt would grab 2nd on lap 16 and set his sights on Westfall, but he would run out of time as Westfall grabbed win number 4 in 2011 at WRP, with Moffatt 2nd from 10th starting spot, Simon 3rd, Keen 4th, and #37k Dustin Smith finishing 5th.
Waynesfield Raceway Park will be closed next Saturday night July 16th in observance of the 28th Annual Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway.
We will return to action on Saturday July 23, 2011 with our regular program featuring the S&H Nerfs Non Wing Sprint Cars, Post Agri Service UMP Modifieds, Block Thunder Stock Cars, PPC 1000cc Mini Sprints, Dave’s Reliable Motors Tough Trucks, and JR and Sons Service Center Compacts. Racing Legend Jack Hewitt has indicated that he will be in attendance on the 23rd with his Dew It Racing Experience 2 Seat Sprint Car. Come out and buy a ride of a lifetime with Jack, and enjoy a great night of racing at Waynesfield Raceway Park. Pit Gates open at 4PM, Grandstand Gates open at 5 PM. Hot Laps at 6PM, and Racing at 7PM. General admission for ages 16 and older is $12.00, ages 11 to 15 is $6.00, and kids 10 and under get in FREE. Pit passes for all ages $25.00
S&H Nerfs Non Wing Sprints (20 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 37K-Dustin Smith[3] ; 2. 22S-Matt Westfall[1] ; 3. 14-Chad Wilson[4] ; 4. 5J-Joss Moffat[2] ; 5. 9N-Jon Nelson[6] ; 6. 32M-Derek Hastings[5]
Heat 2 – Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 18K-Todd Keen[3] ; 2. 14C-Andy Conley[1] ; 3. 2M-Tom Rhoades[4] ; 4. 15-Brandon Ferguson[7] ; 5. 2G-Mike Galajda[6] ; 6. 97-Devon Dobie[5] ; 7. 21H-Tyler Hewitt[2]
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 48-Tommy Kerce[3] ; 2. 23S-Kyle Simon[6] ; 3. 63-Jim Dues[4] ; 4. 7-Tim Calicoat[5] ; 5. 8C-Lewie Christian[1] ; 6. 18B-Tim Fox[7] ; 7. 43G-Rob Guy[2]
A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. 22S-Matt Westfall[3]; 2. 5J-Joss Moffat[10]; 3. 23S-Kyle Simon[1]; 4. 18K-Todd Keen[5]; 5. 37K-Dustin Smith[6]; 6. 48-Tommy Kerce[4]; 7. 63-Jim Dues[9]; 8. 2M-Tom Rhoades[8]; 9. 14-Chad Wilson[7]; 10. 14C-Andy Conley[2]; 11. 21H-Tyler Hewitt[19]; 12. 2G-Mike Galajda[14]; 13. 32M-Derek Hastings[16]; 14. 97-Devon Dobie[17]; 15. 15-Brandon Ferguson[11]; 16. 9N-Jon Nelson[13]; 17. 7-Tim Calicoat[12]; 18. 8C-Lewie Christian[15]; 19. 18B-Tim Fox[18]; 20. 43G-Rob Guy[20]
Hard Charger: 5J-Joss Moffat[+8]