From Mike Swanger
ORRVILLE, Oh. (March 27, 2017) — As the calendar turns to April, Napa Wayne County Speedway is gearing up for their 52 season opener on Saturday, April 22 and for the second year in a row, Tony Stewart’s Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series will help kick the season off. The traveling series has 18 drivers signed up to compete all season long with Chad Kemenah leading the way as he will try for his second straight ASCoC crown. Kemenah was also the WCS track champion back in 1995 and 1996. Wooster’s Jac Haudenschild was the opening night winner last year. It will be the first of 4 visits to Orrville’s Historic Oval for the Arctic Cat All Stars with Monday, June 19th, the Duffy Smith Memorial Speedweek show, Sunday, September 3rd for the $10,000 to win Pete Jacobs Memorial and this year will close out the WCS season on Saturday, October 7th.
The Ohio Sprint Car Series has 5 races set for NAPA Wayne County Speedway this season as Cole Duncan was the 1st year champion of the series. Each of OSCS races will pay $2,500 to win on May 6th, June 10th, July 1st, July 29th and August 19th at WCS.
Another Sprint Car series that will visit the 3/8 mile oval of Napa Wayne County Speedway this season will be the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association (OVSCA) as they will roll in on May 20th and then again on September 23rd for the Dirt Blow out weekend.
All regular Fisher Performance Sprint races will pay $2,000 to win this season at NAPA WCS. Wooster’s Danny Mumaw is the defending track champion.
The World of Outlaw Craftsman Late Models will return for the 1st time since 2013 on Saturday, May 27th for a $10,000 to win feature. Points leader Brandon Sheppard will lead the WoOLM into NAPA WCS with the likes of Tyler Erb, Chris Madden, Eric Wells along with Rick Eckert and Chub Frank who have visited victory lane at NAPA Wayne County Speedway back in the 80’s and 90’s. Dresden’s Devin Moran is competing for the Rookie of the Year for the WoOLM’s. Darrell Lanigan won on May 25, 2012 and Dave Hess Jr. won the last WoOLM race back on May 24th, 2012.
The 3rd annual Buckeye Late Model Dirtweek will be contested on Saturday, July 22nd that will pay the winner $4,000 of the Don Gross Memorial. Jeff Babcock and Duane Chamberlain have won in the 1st two seasons of the Dirtweek at NAPA WCS. There will be a qualifier race on Saturday, July 15th with the winner getting a starting position for the Buckeye Late Model Dirtweek show.
The Kar Connection Super Late Models will once again be competing in the 4th annual Attica Raceway Park/ NAPA Wayne County Speedway Series on May 13th, which will also be a World of Outlaw qualifier race with the winner getting a spot in the WoOLM race. July 8th and August 19th will be the other two ARP/WCS races. Ryan Markham has won two of the three Series races between the two tracks while Doug Drown won year 2.
This year during the Dirt Blowout on Saturday, September 23, it will be ‘Run What You Brung’ for the Super Late Models. More Info on this will be available later in the season. Brad Malcuit of Strasburg was the track champion for the 5th time last year for the Kar Connection Super Late Models.
The Crate Late Models must have 10 cars a night to run their own feature this season. If there is 9 or less, they will run with the Kar Connection Super Late Models with the highest finishing Crate Late Model getting a $100 bonus, 2nd will get $75 bonus and third will get $50. The rules for the Crate Late Models are different from last year and can be found on NAPA Wayne County Speedway’s Facebook page or call the track office at 330-465-2365.
The Lowes Super Stocks and the WQKT Mini Stocks will once again have their ‘Summer Series’ races that will pay more to win plus a separate point fund for those 4 races, which will be on May 20th, July 15th, August 5th, and September 23rd (Blow out Weekend). The Lowes Super Stocks will also open the season with the ASCoC and also the support class for Speedweek show and the WoOLM race. Tyler Thompson won the Super Stock Crown while Brad Hensel was the WQKT Mini Stock winner last season.
Plans to involve the super loyal fans of NAPA Wayne County Speedway are in the works for Saturday nights that will include the kids plus Jessica Hannan Band will perform before the races twice this season that will be on July 22nd and September 3rd.
For a look at the schedule and times, information about the track and rules, go to www.waynecountyspeedway.com or like us on facebook/ waynecountyspeedway.