By Brian Liskai
WAYNESFIELD, OHIO (Wednesday, July 3, 2019) – That first sprint car win is always memorable, but for Milford, Ohio’s Cody Gardner it came in one of the region’s most coveted event – the 11th Annual Jack Hewitt Classic presented by GROB Systems.
Gardner not only scored his first ever sprint car win, but he did it in dominating fashion, leading all 30 laps Wednesday at Waynesfield Raceway Park for the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series (BOSS) win. Ironically Gardner’s wife and father-in-law run the series and his baby daughter got to join him in victory lane.
“When I first started racing sprint cars this is where I got my start. I’ve always loved this place. We’ve always run good here but have had bad luck. To get my first win here especially it being the Jack Hewitt Classic…someone I looked up to because of the way he drove. I know we had a good car…it was easy to drive. We burned up a tire a little in the heat race and dad told me to be easy on the tires but I never really heard anybody or saw anybody so I knew if I just hit my marks we were alright. I have to thank my dad. All the years we’ve been doing this…we’ve been racing together 27 years now and he’s never given up on me. All the times I wanted to give up he never has. He works harder than anyone I know so we can do this. I want to thank Grey Wolf Transportation, R&R Auto Body, Wells Equipment and Auto Repair, Performance Powdercoating, Ashford Motorsports and Advanced Racing Suspensions,” said Gardner.
Vienna, West Virginia’s Cale Conley faced the possibility of not having a sprint car ride about two months ago as his former car owner decided to step back. Conley and his family put together their own team and it has paid off in a huge way. Conley got the cautions when he needed them to stay out of lapped traffic and held off several challenges during late race restarts and led all 30 laps of the NAPA Auto Parts FAST Series winged 410 feature worth $4,000.
“The car was awesome in clean air…made my job easy. But I struggled in lapped traffic as soon as I got to some dirty air. I really stalled out and couldn’t pick a lane. I’ll take the luck with the cautions falling. I knew our restarts were pretty good. Jack Hewitt is a legend and all of hope to have a little Jack Hewitt in us. So it’s really cool to be here and win his race. I want to thank Rick Salisbury…it’s his daughter’s birthday today so we will dedicate this one to her. My niece was born yesterday. I have some really good momentum in my life right now…this is awesome. I’m living the dream,” said Conley beside his Merchant Services LTD/AD Source Media backed #3C.
Lima, Ohio’s Max Stambaugh came out on top of an exciting battle with his teammate Jared Horstman and Tim Allison to claim the K&L Ready Mix NRA Sprint Invaders 360 victory in front of a standing-room-only home town crowd. The 25 lap feature went non-stop with Stambaugh taking the lead with eight laps to go.
“I want to thank Jared Horstman for putting this car together for me. My brother-in-law is back turning the wrenches and my buddy Jason is here…it’s just back to having fun and I like it,” said Stambaugh beside his M&W Construction/Ottoville Lumber/Kountry Kennels/K&L Ready Mix/Dale’s Concrete/Schnipke Brothers Tire/Miller Precision/Vorst Paving/Miller Construction/Hume Supply, Elida Depot/Troy Rampe Construction backed machine.
The 11th Annual Jack Hewitt Classic Presented by GROB Systems was only the second event to be held at Waynesfield Raceway Park in 2019 under new promoter Shane Helms. A lot of improvements were made to the facility over the past couple of months including all new aluminum bleachers and new fencing. The event faced several hurdles including a lot of rain Tuesday evening.
“First I have to thank GROB Systems, Buckeye Machine, North Baltimore Custom Cuts, LiUNA Local 574, K&L Ready Mix, Helms & Son Excavating, Kistler Racing Products and the Fremont Fence Company for all their support for this race and this track. Also we were blessed to have Jack Hewitt as a part of this. He was so gracious with his time with the fans and helping us,” Helms said. “All in all we have a lot to fix as a track team. We were tested and we will get better. I can’t thank all the fans…to look up in those stands and see that turn-out is amazing and very much appreciated. All the race teams coming out to support us means a ton. The future of Waynesfield is very bright.”
In the 30-lap BOSS feature Gardner jumped into the lead at the drop of the green with last year’s Hewitt Classic winner Lee Underwood, Mike Miller, Matt Cooley, Dustin Ingle and Steve Irwin giving chase.Gardner steadily pulled away as Underwood, Cooley, Irwin and Miller battled hard for the runner-up spot. Ingle stopped on lap nine for the only caution of the feature.
On the ensuing restart Underwood pressured Gardner to his outside but Gardner withstood the challenges. At the half-way point the cars on the move were Kory Crabtree and Thomas Meseraull. After a spirited battle with Irwin, Crabtree took second on lap 14 but faced challenges from Irwin, Underwood and Meseraull. That allowed Gardner to once again pull away while the runner-up spot changed hands several times around the track every lap. When the checkers flew Gardner held a comfortable advantage as Underwood rallied late for second followed by Meseraull, Crabtree and Irwin.
Parker Price-Miller and Conley brought the field to green for the 30-lap FAST feature and the pair ran side-by-side over the first hand full of laps with Buddy Kofoid, Stuart Brubaker, Stambaugh and Lee Jacobs giving chase. Just as Conley caught the back of the pack and his lead evaporated as Price-Miller closed, Joey Saldana crashed on lap 10. It was not a good night for Saldana to say the least, as that was his second flip of the night but thankfully he was unharmed.
Now with clean air and a clear track, Conley pulled away when the green came back out. A Tyler Gunn spin on lap 14 kept the challengers close though as Conley pulled away on the restart with Price-Miller, Kofoid, Stambaugh and Brubaker still in pursuit. With 10 laps to go the car on the move was 19th starter Cap Henry who had charged to fifth.
Racing again into heavy lapped traffic with seven laps to go, Conley and Price-Miller split a lapped car in turns three and four battling for the lead but it came to a halt when Aryton Olsen tumbled; he was unhurt. On the ensuing restart RJ Jacobs flipped and he too was uninjured.
Once again with a clear track Conley pulled away on the restart and drove to the victory over Kofoid who used the last restart to drive around Price-Miller who had to settle for third. Henry and Lee Jacobs rounded out the top five.
Allison and Stambaugh brought the field to green for the 25-lap NRA feature with Allison gaining the advantage over Stambaugh, Horstman and Kyle Sauder. Utilizing the cushion, Stambaugh began pressuring Horstman for second as they stayed within a car length of Allison, who caught the back of the pack by lap 11 which allowed Stambaugh to steal second. With nine laps to go Stambaugh had the momentum and pounced, taking the lead a circuit later.
By lap 20 Horstman grabbed second and gave chase to Stambaugh while a great battle ensured for third involving Horstman, Sauder, Chase Dunham, Randy Hannagan and Ricky Peterson. Stambaugh hit his marks perfectly and went on to the win over Horstman, Hannagan (from 12th), Allison and Sauder. The battle for fifth saw Dunham tumble after taking the checkers; he was not hurt.
The next event at Waynesfield Raceway Park is Friday, Aug. 2 for the Rick Ferkel Classic. There will be winged 410 sprints in competition and other yet-to-be-determined classes.
For more information go to www.waynesfieldracewaypark.net, on Facebook by liking Waynesfield Raceway Park, or on Twitter by following @OfficialWRP.
Jack Hewitt Classic
Waynesfield Raceway Park
Waynesfield, OH
Thursday July 3, 2019
FAST Sprint Car Series
Feature:
1. 3C – Cale Conley
2. 11N – Buddy Kofoid
3. 71PPM – Parker Price-Miller
4. 4 – Cap Henry
5. 81 – Lee Jacobs
6. 97 – Max Stambaugh
7. 35 – Stuart Brubaker
8. 16 – D.J. Foos
9. 23 – Hunter Schurenburg
10. 22 – Cole Duncan
11. 70X – Justin Peck
12. 84 – Cale Stinson
13. 00 – Thomas Messeraull
14. 14 – Chad Wilson
15. 20I – Kelsey Ivy
16. 68G – Tyler Gunn
17. 18J – R.J. Jacobs
18. 71 – Aryton Olsen
19. 22B – Ryan Broughton
20. 6 – Joey Saldana
BOSS Non-Wing Sprint Cars
Feature:
1. 9G – Cody Gardner
2. 24L – Lee Underwood
3. 00 – Thomas Messeraull
4. 60 – Kory Crabtree
5. 0 – Steve Irwin
6. 82 – Mike Miller
7. 33M – Matt Westfall
8. 9N – Luke Hall
9. 19 – Matt Cooley
10. 68G – Tyler Gunn
11. 18H – Dallas Hewitt
12. 53 – Steve Little
13. 7 – Timmy Buckwalter
14. 9 – Dustin Webber
15. 1H – Korbyn Hayslett
16. 26 – Cody White
17. 21K – Kody Swanson
18. 01 – Dustin Hammond
19. 34 – Parker Frederickson
20. 2DI – Dustin Ingle
K&L Ready Mix National Racing Alliance
Feature:
1. 17M – Max Stambaugh
2. 17 – Jared Horstman
3. 22H – Randy Hannagan
4. 11 – Tim Allison
5. 2 – Kyle Sauder
6. 66 – Chase Dunham
7. 71 – Gio Scelzi
8. 16B – Ricky Peterson
9. 28H – Hud Horton
10. 34 – Luke Hall
11. 49 – Shawn Dancer
12. 22M – Dan McCarron
13. 5JR – Jimmy McGarth
14. 77I – John Ivy
15. 23 – Devon Dobie
16. 12S – Kyle Simon
17. 4* – Tyler Street
18. 1H – Zeth Sabo
19. 5W – Jeff Williams
20. 35R – Ron Blair