By Mike Swanger
With all of the mandates, specifics and curfews going on with the coronavirus, Wayne County Speedway promotors Jason and Kristin Flory could not secure a place to hold the 2020 banquet and cancelled the plans to have one this year. All the drivers in the top ten of the four classes of cars plus the ‘Summer Series’ winners will or have received their checks in the mail for this season.
Wooster’s Dean Jacobs grabbed his second straight Pine Tree Towing and Recovery sprint car crown as he had four wins out of the eight points races ran this season along with two other top tens to his credit and six heat race wins to total up 410 points for his third overall WCS championship. The championship was the third straight for the #9 McClure Racing team. Jordan Ryan, who was the 2018 champion with the McClure Racing, drove the Prosser Motorsports #19 to a second place points finish with 347 points with one win and seven top ten finished along with a heat win. It was Ryan’s 4th top ten in the last five seasons at Wayne County Speedway. Chris Myers drove the #38k sprinter for the first complete season and scored his first top ten with six top tens with a best finish of third and won two heat races to rack up 334 points. Fourth in the points went to Henry Malcuit and the #70 sprinter as he gathered in 267 points thanks to three top ten finishes highlighted by a second and third place finish for his third year in a row top ten placing. Malcuit was also the Blow Out winner. After a year out of racing, Jason Dolick came back to take fifth in the points with 254 markers. Piloting the #d12, Dolick had a best finish of second in feature action out of five top ten finishes and two heat wins. The next two drivers tied and with his highest finish in a feature of 7th, Dylan Kingan secured the sixth place in points with that finish being his only top ten as he made it into the top ten for the second season in a row. Also finishing with 244 points was first year of sprint car racing, Wyatt Zimmerman. Making the jump from the Mini Stocks to the Sprints, Zimmerman’s best feature run was a tenth but like Kingan, raced in all eight points races to end up 7th. R J Jacobs secured 8th place with 238 markers with a second place finish highlighting his three top ten finishes along with a heat win for his first top ten in the points. Taking ninth place was Ricky Peterson with a total of 218 tallies bested by a win and a 4th place run in his two top tens and a heat win. Rounding out the top ten is Trey Jacobs with four top tens with a fourth place run his best in those top tens and a heat win to chalk up 212 points. Feature winners who did not make the top ten were Cap Henry and Broc Martin.
J R Gentry was finally able to grab the title of champion in the Malcuit Tavern Super Late Models as they would have ten points races and Gentry would finish in the top ten of all of them to point out at 492 points to win his first Championship at Wayne County Speedway. Driving his own #14, Gentry, of Wooster, posted 3 wins and also collected five heat wins and along with the crown, chalked up his ninth straight top ten. Piloting his own #79, Brad Malcuit tallied 433 points to take second with his nine top tens lead by a second place feature run and a heat win. The five time track champ was in the top ten for the third straight year and sixth time in nine seasons. With one win and eight top tens along with three heat wins, six time champ Ryan Markham finished third with 428 markers aboard his own #5m and also finished in the top ten for the ninth year in a row. Securing fourth place with 401 points Mitch Caskey posted two wins out of his six top tens and added two heat wins. Driving the #18 Caskey scored his second top ten in three seasons. Rounding out the top five, Larry Bellman racked up 376 points thanks to five top ten finishes with three of them being fifth place feature finishes that earned him his second year in a row top ten points finish. Jerry Aber made his sixth straight top ten by racing to 311 points with five top tens that saw him take 7th place twice in race action. Craig Hartong placed 7th in the final standings with 295 points thanks to five top tens with two of them being 8th as his best features that helped him to his third straight top ten. Eighth place Cody Scott scored 270 points and had six top tens with a second place topping those finishes as he made the top ten for the second time in three seasons. Brett Bee had a best finish of sixth in his two top tens to gather in 260 tallies to wind up ninth for his third top ten in four years. Filling out the final spot was Justin Chance as he ended with four top tens with a third place feature run and a heat race checkered flag that earned him 254 markers. Doug Drown won four features but did not make the top ten as he was the only other driver to win a feature.
The closest points race was the McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks as after 11 races for the points, Coshocton’s John Wilson edges out Chase Alexander by 15 points. Driving the #7, Wilson’s two wins in his nine top tens along with four heat wins totaled his points at 447 to secure his first Wayne County Speedway championship and his second top ten in a row. Alexander and his Dawson Racing #15 had 6 top tens with a win and also four heat checkered flags for 432 markers for his first visit to the top ten point standings. Moving into the Super Stocks after running in the Mini Stocks the previous season, Tyler Wiles ended up third with 425 points. Driving his own #187, Wiles had eight top tens with second place twice in feature action and also posted two heat wins to also get into the top ten for the first time. Don Rutt and his #910 made it into the top ten for the third season in a row as his seven top tens with a second place feature run his best and two heat wins got him 413 markers. Rutt also won the Friday night Blow Out race. Filling out the top five was 2012 track champion, Brandon Craver. Piloting the #771, Craver scored five top tens with two third place feature runs and two heat wins getting him 385 points and his fourth straight season in the top ten. Taking sixth place was Don Baney as he tallied 371 markers helped by six top tens with a second place feature finish his best and his first trip in the top ten. Michael Amick had one win and five top tens with three heat wins added in for his 319 points that was good for 7th place and also his first top ten. Another driver making his first appearance in the top ten was Seth Dickerson as he raced to seven top tens with a best of third in racing action. Jordan James took ninth place with 296 points as he scored two top tens with a fourth place finish his highest. It was his third top ten in four seasons. Grabbing the tenth place was Curt Zimmerman as he collected four top tens and had a best feature finish of fourth that helped him to his second straight top ten.
Posting five wins and eight top tens overall out of eleven points races ran, Wooster’s Doug Hensel won his second JoyRide Transport Mini Stock Championship (2015) at Wayne County Speedway. Hensel and his #18 also piled up six heat wins that earned him a total of 518 points as he took top ten honors for the eighth straight year. Cory Staley, the 2017 track champion, took second with 492 points topped by nine top tens and four seconds highlighting those. Staley and his #23s also had four heat wins that got him his fourth top ten in a row. Another former track champion, Jordan James (2018) finished with 486 markers with eight top tens and four wins in a row and three heat wins for his third straight top ten. Anthony Collins made his first visit to the top ten by taking fourth with 443 points. Driving the #71, Collins had nine top tens with two fifth place race finishes and two heat wins. Taking fifth in the points was the 18x of Dustin Bedlion as his 416 points was topped by eight top tens that included a feature win and four heat wins and put him in the top ten for the third time in four years. First year driver Dakota Graciani scored 413 points that was earned by his six top tens that had two fifth place feature runs and a heat win for his sixth place standing. Jolene Voshel made her second appearance in a row in the top ten a she reached the top ten six times that included a feature win and four heat wins for her 409 points and 7th place in the standings. The last three drivers also make their visit to the top ten as Johnny Bruce Sr. tacked up 361 points for 8th place as he had eight top tens with a second his best run. John Louis made the top ten once and it was a tenth but ran every show to chalk up 353 points for ninth while Ryan Carder finished out the top ten with 342 points with seven top tens highlighted by two third place runs and a heat win.
The top three in the Kirsch Properties Mini Stock ‘Summer Series’ were Jordan James the winner, second to Doug Hensel and third going to Travis Hutton.
John Wilson won the Swanger Sports Super Stock ‘Summer Series’ with Chase Alexander in second and Brandon Craver taking third.
The next action at ‘Orrville’s Historic Oval’ will be Saturday, January 2, 2021 for an Enduro. For information about this race and other news, check out the website or on facebook.