From Jacob Seelman
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (December 30, 2016) — Just as Russ Gamester did in Friday night’s National Midget feature, Larry Joe Sroufe started from the pole and completed a wire-to-wire performance during the 19th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne.
Sroufe started from the pole and lead all 30 laps of the non-winged 600cc micro feature to notch his record third-career Rumble victory in the hotly-contested class.
A special “King of the Hill” sequence of dash races set the top eight starting spots for the 30-lap main event, with Sroufe coming out on top of a 29-car field and beating teammate Josh Ross to the checkered flag by less than a car length.
“My car was real good tonight,” said Sroufe in victory lane. “We made a lot of changes on it from hot laps all the way up to the start of the feature … that was the key. We had to keep chasing the race track tonight and this car handled so well in the feature. It was just fun to drive and I’m happy to have another win here in Fort Wayne.”
Ross, brother of two-time non-winged 600 winner Blane Culp, chased Sroufe the entire distance in the same car that Culp used to win his two features, but came up just short of notching his first-career Rumble victory.
Brian Busz, Jason Ormsby and Clay Sanders completed the top five finishers.
The 30-lap winged 600cc outlaw micro feature saw a first-time Rumble winner emerge from a chaotic night, with Brad Lamberson holding back John Ivy for a stunning breakthrough triumph.
Lamberson took advantage of a lap 10 restart, after Ivy got tangled up with a lapped car and sustained damage to the front fascia of his car, to assume the lead and never gave it up the rest of the way.
After coming to the Rumble for many years, Lamberson said Friday night’s win was “one to remember for a long time.”
“You don’t just come in here to the Coliseum and beat John Ivy in this class,” Lamberson explained. “That just doesn’t happen. This was a fantastic night, but it took the right circumstances to get us here.”
“When he got tangled up there, I thought ‘I’m sure in luck,’ and then when they put him back in front of me I wasn’t sure what we were gonna be able to do … but that restart worked out perfectly for us. Right off the start I was able to get by him, and you know what they say: the rest is history!”
Ivy, who led the first nine laps of the main event, ultimately finished second and said he was just “hanging on” at the end.
“We got underneath that slower car and I got into the tires … it just bent the front end all up. Bent the rack. I’m surprised we even finished the feature, to be honest with you. It’s just part of indoor racing; you run up on traffic so fast. We’ll take a second and go onto the next one.”
Drew Dorsett, Howard McCormick and A.J. Lesiecki were the rest of the top five.
Charlie Schultz (Sr. Caged), Sam Weaver (Sr. Flathead), Aiden Williamson (Jr. Sportsman), Andrew Scheid (Junior 3), Brock Anderson (Clone Super Heavy), Joey Pendergrass (Clone Heavy), Ryan Moran (Clone Medium) and Ruger Lough (Kid Karts) all notched go-kart victories during Friday’s Rumble program.
For Scheid, Anderson, Pendergrass and Lough, their wins were their first-ever in Rumble action.
Landon Hathaway (Sr. Honda), Billy Lieb (Jr. Honda), Trey McGranaham (Heavy 160) and Caidyn Brinkman (Light 160) each took quarter midget victories during the course of the day.
The 19th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne concludes on Saturday with another full day of racing action, culminating in the headlining National Midget feature. Opening ceremonies are set for 7 p.m.
RESULTS: 19th Rumble in Fort Wayne; Dec. 30, 2016
NON-WINGED 600s
Non-Winged 600cc Micro Heat #1 (10 laps; top two to dashes): 1. Russ Gamester, 2. Brian Busz, 3. Bennett Peterson, 4. Jorgan Montel, 5. Michael Landis, 6. Jonathan Lesiecki, 7. Bob Baker.
Non-Winged 600cc Micro Heat #2 (10 laps; top two to dashes): 1. Larry Joe Sroufe, 2. Josh Ross, 3. Austin Creamer, 4. Jeremy Howe, 5. Justin Harper, 6. Bruce Giller, 7. Ryan Ball.
Non-Winged 600cc Micro Heat #3 (10 laps; top two to dashes): 1. Chris Miller, 2. Blake Lamb, 3. Cody Anderson, 4. Collin Parker, 5. Adam Schaeff, 6. Kim Hughes, 7. Mike Fedorcak.
Non-Winged 600cc Micro Heat #4 (10 laps; top two to dashes): 1. Clay Sanders, 2. Jordan Burgess, 3. Jason Ormsby, 4. Clayton Mullett, 5. Brett Waggoner, 6. Steve Myers Jr.
Non-Winged 600cc Micro Dash #1 (six laps; top two move to Dash 3): 1. Larry Joe Sroufe, 2. Josh Ross, 3. Clay Sanders, 4. Jordan Burgess.
Non-Winged 600cc Micro Dash #2 (six laps; top two move to Dash 3): 1. Russ Gamester, 2. Chris Miller, Brian Busz, 4. Blake Lamb.
Non-Winged 600cc Micro Dash #3 (six laps; sets top four starting spots of A-Main): 1. Larry Joe Sroufe, 2. Josh Ross, 3. Chris Miller, 4. Russ Gamester.
Non-Winged 600cc Micro B-Main #1 (10 laps; top four to the A-Main): 1. Mike Fedorcak, 2. Jonathan Lesiecki, 3. Collin Parker, 4. Bennett Peterson, 5. Jeremy Howe, 6. Cody Anderson, 7. Jorgan Montel, 8. Adam Schaeff, 9. Michael Landis, 10. Kim Hughes (DNS).
Non-Winged 600cc Micro B-Main #2 (10 laps; top four to the A-Main): 1. Jason Ormsby, 2. Steve Myers Jr., 3. Bob Baker, 4. Clayton Mullett, 5. Austin Creamer, 6. Bruce Giller, 7. Brett Waggoner, 8. Justin Harper, 9. Ryan Ball (DNS)
Non-Winged 600cc Micro A-Main (30 laps): 1. 21-Larry Joe Sroufe, 2. 34-Josh Ross, 3. 75B-Brian Busz, 4. 51-Jason Ormsby, 5. 21S-Clay Sanders, 6. 24-Jonathan Lesiecki, 7. 18P-Bennett Patterson, 8. 69L-Blake Lamb, 9. 2B-Bob Baker, 10. 29-Clayton Mullett, 11. 2-Collin Parker, 12. 88-Steve Myers Jr., 13. 9-Mike Fedorcak, 14. 11B-Jordan Burgess, 15. 15-Chris Miller, 16. 49-Russ Gamester. Lap Leaders: Sroufe 1-50.
WINGED 600s
Winged 600cc Micro Heat #1 (10 laps; all transfer): 1. John Ivy, 2. Brad Lamberson, 3. Drew Dorsett, 4. A.J. Lesiecki, 5. Marv Hephner, 6. Lexi Adgate, 7. Chris Jagger Sr.
Winged 600cc Micro Heat #2 (10 laps; all transfer): 1. Cap Henry, 2. Tyler Fitzpatrick, 3. Howard McCormick, 4. Mark Zumbrun, 5. Bill Dunham, 6. Jason Ormsby, 7. Rod Henning,
Winged 600cc Micro A-Main (30 laps): 1. 27W-Brad Lamberson, 2. 94-John Ivy, 3. 11-Drew Dorsett, 4. 26-Howard McCormick, 5. 14-A.J. Lesiecki, 6. 35Z-Mark Zumbrun, 7. 51-Jason Ormsby, 8. 84-Bill Dunham, 9. 91L-Lexi Adgate, 10. 57-Tyler Fitzpatrick, 11. 27-Chris Jagger Sr., 12. 17-Cap Henry, 13. 18-Marv Hephner, 14. 29-Rod Henning (DNS). Lap Leaders: Ivy 1-9, Lamberson 10-30.
GO-KARTS
Senior Caged A-Main (15 laps): 1. Charlie Schultz. Remainder of results to be finalized…
Senior Flathead A-Main (15 laps): 1. Sam Weaver, 2. Craig Strayer, 3. Levi Wilbur, 4. Jason Ferguson, 5. Derek Hammond, 6. Michael Staimpel, 7. Mark Click, 8. Greg Vernetti, 9. Nicky DeFronzo, 10. Andy Nagel, 11. Josh Ancil, 12. Tom Fitzsimmons.
Junior Sportsman A-Main (15 laps): 1. Aiden Williamson, 2. Kasey Ziebold, 3. Santino Loretta, 4. Jadin Cretacci, 5. Dalton Rogers, 6. Paige Rogers, 7. Jakeb Boxell, 8. Dawson Kelly, 9. Cruz Parker, 10. Cameron Vandermeir, 11. Larry Kingseed Jr.
Junior 3 A-Main (15 laps): 1. Andrew Scheid, 2. Larry Kingseed Jr., 3. Hannah Galtz, 4. Michael Paterno, 5. Kaitlin Randall, 6. Kasey Ziebold, 7. Jakeb Boxell, 8. Evan Smith, 9. Alex Smolders, 10. Devin Hammond, 11. Max Frank, 12. Brandon Coopshaw, 13. Dakota Moore, 14. Zachary Galitz, 15. Jacob VanDeVoorde, 16. Keenan Richards.
Clone Super Heavy A-Main (15 laps): 1. Brock Anderson (first Rumble win and first top five), 2. Owen Calderwood, 3. Jake Barker, 4. Andy Bowman, 5. Joe Warner, 6. Kyle Beno, 7. Dave Saxer, 8. Cody Jarrett, 9. Dustin Rall, 10. Tom Hessel, 11. Trevor Hannah, 12. Chase Linkous, 13. Tyler Parson (DNS), 14. Dylan Troyer (DNS).
Clone Heavy A-Main (15 laps): 1. Joey Pendergrass, 2. Justin Sondergroth, 3. Cody Gallogly, 4. Shawn Kluck, 5. Zach Wolff, 6. Justin Clark, 7. Trevor Ruesch, 8. Zach Marquardt, 9. Brock Anderson, 10. Zach Axlen, 11. Nick Bower, 12. Preston Oberle.
Clone Medium A-Main (15 laps): 1. Ryan Moran, 2. Zach Axlen, 3. Joey Pendergrass, 4. Justin Clark, 5. Shawn Kluck, 6. Zach Wolff, 7. Justin Sondergroth, 8. Preston Oberle, 9. Cody Gallogly, 10. Trevor Ruesch, 11. Zach Marquardt, 12. Nick Bowers.
Kid Kart A-Main (10 laps): 1. Ruger Lough, 2. Oliver Osborn, 3. Easton Zent, 4. Audra Weaver, 5. David Bretz, 6. Parker Moyer, 7. Gage Ernsberger, 8. Nevaeh Shepherd, 9. Grahm Kriser, 10. Keagan Hyliard, 11. Brayton Goble.
QUARTER MIDGETS
Senior Honda A-Main (15 laps): 1. Landon Hathaway, 2. Spencer Adkins, 3. Max Hulsz, 4. Abby Hohlbein, 5. Aiden Ray Ewing, 6. Breanna Berry, 7. Levei Hargraves, 8. Caidyn Brinkman, 9. Logan Rumsey.
Junior Honda A-Main (15 laps): 1. Billy Lieb (first-ever feature win), 2. Kayla Martin, 3. Brodie Wendel, 4. David Bretz, 5. Parker Perry, 6. Keegan Wease, 7. Cadence VanAlst, 8. Memorie Ashcraft, 9. Izaiah Higdon, 10. Eliza VanAlst, 11. Elijah Anderson.
Heavy 160 A-Main (15 laps): 1. Trey McGranaham, 2. Taylor Gruss, 3. Cody Britt, 4. Jared Leffel, 5. Tony Paquette, 6. Hunter Bostater, 7. Austin Bostater.
Light 160 A-Main (15 laps): 1. Caidyn Brinkman, 2. Landon Hathaway, 3. Logan Rumsey, 4. Billy Lieb, 5. Kayla Martin, 6. Abby Hohlbein.