From Jacob Quick
GAS CITY. Ind. (May 11, 2018) — GAS CITY, Ind., May 12 — On Friday night Clinton Boyles of Greenwood, Mo., became the fourth different sprint car feature winner in as many events so far this year at Gas City I-69 Speedway in a jam-packed “MAYhem” program that featured five divisions but was still over before 11 p.m.
Boyles started second in the 25-lap non-wing sprint car feature in a DRC chassis owned by Paul Hazen of Columbia City, Ind. that uses a Kercher Racing Engines-prepared powerplant. He led the whole race, but he was under constant pressure by the three drivers who finished directly behind him: Shane Cottle of Kansas, Ill.; Jarett Andretti of Indianapolis, and Thomas Meseraull of Waveland, Ind.
The top four drivers were particularly close on lap 18 before a yellow flew for Matt McDonald of Pittsboro, Ind., who rolled to a stop in Turn 4. That gave the trio behind Boyles a restart to try to get around him. He not only rebuffed their advances, on the following lap Cottle, Andretti and Meseraull made contact on the backstretch in a concertina-type incident. Showing a great display of driving combined with some good luck, all three kept going and continued in that order. But they never caught Boyles, who recorded the victory for his team’s main sponsors: Physical Medicine Consultants of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Kercher Engines and KECO Coatings. Travis Hery of Piqua, Ohio finished a little further back in fifth place.
Earlier in the program Billy Cribbs flipped violently in the outside of Turns 3 and 4 with one lap down in the second sprint heat. He was reportedly conscious and communicating with safety workers as he was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.
Zeke McKenzie scored his second UMP modified feature victory at Gas City this year in that 20-lap feature. He started third and took the lead from Jim Mallery with a move to the inside as they were powering out of Turn 4 working lap two. McKenzie led the rest of the way to score the victory in his No. 24 sponsored by Miller Farms and BZ Enterprises, but Derek Losh finished right on McKenzie’s car’s rear bumper for second. Randy Lines placed third followed by Dillon Nusbaum and Bradley Jameson.
Lines competes in the super street division too, and he won that 15-lap feature just as he did on April 27. This time he started last, however, in the No. 14 sponsored by Thompson Trucking and J&J Transmission. James Headley started second and built up a big lead while showing the way for the first 11 laps. Lines slipped under him at the start-finish line of the quarter-mile dirt track with 12 laps down, and a few seconds later Headley’s car became airborne when he launched over the lapped car of Jarrett Rennaker. He somehow kept going though, and finished second. Craig Walker, Joe Wiggins and Jeff Hinkley Jr. rounded out the top five when the checkered dropped on lap 15.
D.J. Holt won his third thunder car feature at Gas City this year in that 15-lapper after an early battle with polesitter Ervin Turner and then another one with Ron Flaugh. The latter dropped out with mechanical difficulties while running second working lap 11, leaving Turner to cross the line after Holt’s No. 36, which is sponsored by Holt Auto Body. T.J. Larson, Greg Marlow and Stevie Clark completed the top five.
Jacob Beard was practically speechless after winning his first 15-lap front-wheel-drive compact feature. He started third and took the lead on lap six after initial leader Gage Allen had contact with a car he was lapping, slowed in Turn 1, and retired. Josh Neal got especially close to Beard on lap nine but had to settle for second. He was trailed by Loren Swanson, Eric Solms and Austin Dailey.
The intermission entertainment, billed as “Soccer Moms Gone Mad,” was a race between three women in vehicles pushing four-foot bubble balls. One car almost got on its side on the frontstretch, but all survived.
Next Friday night, May 18, is the “Open-Wheel Madness” show of non-wing sprint cars, UMP Modifieds, midgets, UMRA TQ midgets and mod lites. The track is dark on Friday, May 25, but one of the biggest events of the year will be held on Wednesday night, May 30, as Gas City I-69 Speedway is a stop on the circuit of “USAC Indiana Midget Week.” Non-wing sprint cars and thunder cars will join the USAC national midget series for an unforgettable midweek night of action.
There are four shows in June beginning with the “Salute to the Kinsers” on Friday, June 8, which will showcase both winged and non-wing sprint cars. The former are from the GLSS series. UMP Modifieds, super streets and mod lites will round out that program.
For the complete schedule and more information, see the track’s Web site at GasCityI69Speedway.com and follow it on Facebook at @GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas and on Twitter at @GasCitySpeedway.
The results:
Sprint Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Jarett Andretti, 2. Kyle Robbins, 3. Travis Hery, 4. Parker Fredrickson, 5. Luke Harbison, 6. Bryar Schroeter, 7. Jeff Wilson.
Sprint Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Brian Vanmeveren, 4. Matt McDonald, 5. Chad Davenport, 6. Jamie Fredrickson, 7. Billy Cribbs.
Sprint Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Clinton Boyles, 2. Ted Hines, 3. Tyler Hewitt, 4. Kyle Simon, 5. Garrett Abrams, 6. Tyler Gunn.
Sprint Feature (25 laps): 1. Clinton Boyles, 2. Shane Cottle, 3. Jarett Andretti, 4. Thomas Meseraull, 5. Travis Hery, 6. Garrett Abrams, 7. Kyle Robbins, 8. Tyler Hewitt, 9. Kyle Simon, 10. Ted Hines, 11. Tyler Gunn, 12. Brian Vanmeveren, 13. Luke Harbison, 14. Bryar Schroeter, 15. Chad Davenport, 16. Matt McDonald, 17. Jeff Wilson, 18. Jamie Fredrickson, 19. Parker Fredrickson, 20. Bill Cribbs (DNS).
UMP Modified Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Derek Losh, 2. Zeke McKenzie, 3. Dillon Nusbaum, 4. Andy Bishop, 5. Bub Roberts, 6. Jason Jones, 7. Brent Davis, 8. Darek Snyder.
UMP Modified Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Jim Mallery, 2. Randy Lines, 3. Josh Lolmaugh, 4. Phil Hamand, 5. Garrett Rons, 6. Garrett Jameson, 7. Josh Knebel, 8. Drew Smith.
UMP Modified Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Lynn Johns, 2. Corey Bevard, 3. Bradley Jameson, 4. Collin Thirlby, 5. Jesse Strange, 6. Jessica Sroufe, 7. Lance Krider.
UMP Modified B Main (10 laps): 1. Brent Davis, 2. Jessica Sroufe, 3. Garrett Jameson, 4. Jason Jones, 5. Lance Krider, 6. Drew Smith, 7. Josh Knebel, 8. Darek Snyder.
UMP Modified Feature (20 laps): 1. Zeke McKenzie, 2. Derek Losh, 3. Randy Lines, 4. Dillon Nusbaum, 5. Bradley Jameson, 6. Lynn Johns, 7. Collin Thirlby, 8. Corey Bevard, 9. Josh Lolmaugh, 10. Drew Smith, 11. Bub Roberts, 12. Jason Jones, 13. Garrett Jameson, 14. Lance Krider, 15. Garrett Rons, 16. Phil Hamand, 17. Jim Mallery, 18. Brent Davis, 19. Jessica Sroufe, 20. Jesse Strange, 21. Andy Bishop (DNS).
Super Street Heat (8 laps): 1. Craig Walker, 2. James Headley, 3. Tony Homan, 4. Joe Wiggins, 5. Jeff Hinkley Jr., 6. Connor East, 7. Jarrett Rennaker, 8. Randy Lines (DNS).
Super Street Feature (15 laps): 1. Randy Lines, 2. James Headley, 3. Craig Walker, 4. Joe Wiggins, 5. Jeff Hinkley Jr., 6. Connor East, 7. Tony Homan, 8. Jarrett Rennaker.
Thunder Car Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Ervin Turner, 2. Greg Marlow, 3. James Watters, 4. T.J. Larson, 5. Stevie Clark, 6. Cody Devlin.
Thunder Car Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. D.J. Holt, 2. Ron Flaugh, 3. Josh Collis, 4. Braxton Strait, 5. Kaleb Hinkley, 6. Shane Richardson.
Thunder Car Feature (15 laps): 1. D.J. Holt, 2. Ervin Turner, 3. T.J. Larson, 4. Greg Marlow, 5. Stevie Clark, 6. Braxton Strait, 7. Kaleb Hinkley, 8. Shane Richardson, 9. Ron Flaugh, 10. Cody Devlin, 11. Josh Collis, 12. James Watters (DNS).
FWD Compact Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Eric Solms, 2. Jacob Beard, 3. Austin Dailey, 4. Josh Neal, 5. Kolten Sollars, 6. Jack Ellingwood, 7. Ryan O’Kuley, 8. Robbie White.
FWD Compact Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Gage Allen, 2. Loren Swanson, 3. Randy Brommer, 4. Carson Day, 5. Mike Alley, 6. Dillen Loudy, 7. Alyssa Clark, 8. Brad Evans.
FWD Compact Feature (15 laps): 1. Jacob Beard, 2. Josh Neal, 3. Loren Swanson, 4. Eric Solms, 5. Austin Dailey, 6. Carson Day, 7. Alyssa Clark, 8. Mike Alley, 9. Jack Ellingwood, 10. Brad Evans, 11. Dillen Loudy, 12. Gage Allen, 13. Ryan O’Kuley, 14. Randy Brommer, 15. Kolten Sollars, 16. Robbie White.