Cole Macedo Wins at Wayne County

Cole Macedo. (Jim Denhamer photo)

From Wayne County Speedway

ORRVILLE, Ohio – As the late, great Yogi Berra once said; ‘It was like Déjà vu all over again’ Saturday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway.

Justin Cranmore took advantage of last-lap mechanical woes from the machine of Doug Hensel for the second consecutive week in claiming the JoyRide Mini Stock $500-to-win Sean McConathey Memorial in highlighting Independence Day Holiday weekend action at “Orrville’s Historic Oval”.

Lemoore, California driver Cole Macedo continued a familiar theme this season at WCS as well by becoming the eighth winner in as many tries by claiming the $3,500-to-win Pine Tree Towing and Recovery King of the County Sprint Car main event, with Mansfield’s Dave Hornikel making it six-for-six without a repeat winner with his first career triumph at WCS in the Malcuit Tavern Super Late Models. DJ Cline captured the Elite Ammunition Modified feature while Kyle Moore continued his domination of the 3-8-mile clay oval with another trip to victory lane in the McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks.

Cranmore and Hensel started the evening by being the only drivers to win a Mini Stock main this season at WCS, with Cranmore’s good fortune landing him victory lane for the third time in 2022.

Hensel, searching for win eight on the season and fifth at WCS, looked primed to reach that goal by powering to the lead on lap two with Billy Parsons, Dustin Bedlion, and Cranmore in pursuit. Cranmore worked his No. 2 machine into the runner-up spot by lap eight but trailed Hensel by a straightaway with a pair of laps left during the 15-lap special event.

Hensel, who cut a right front tire after taking the white flag while leading a week ago, slowed down the backstretch on the final circuit. Cranmore edged Hensel by a bumper at the stripe with Parsons, Bedlion, and Kenny Long rounding out the top five with his best finish of the season.

“We have some bad-fast cars in this division, but (Doug) was gone tonight,” said Cranmore. “I hate to win races with Doug having mechanical issues, though. We are fast right now, but l want to beat him when he is one hundred percent.” Members of the McConathey family presented Cranmore with a beautiful trophy in WCS victory lane.

Macedo and his Brooks Racing 18 were prohibited favorites entering the King of the County event, and the fourth-generation pilot made good on the prediction by leading all 25 laps from the pole position.

Macedo built an early lead, with Jordan Ryan, and 2022 winners Tyler Street and Cody Bova in hot pursuit. Ryan, though, was relentless in his chase of Macedo and closed to within a few car lengths on two separate occasions during the closing laps but settled for second ahead of Street, Bova, ninth-starting Trey Jacobs, Andrew Palker, 13th-starting Danny Mumaw, Chris Myers, Leyton Wagner, and Stuart Brubaker aboard the Pete Grove-owned 70.

“The Linder’s (Mike and Matt) have our car really nice right now, and we appreciate all the extra help we got tonight, too,” said Macedo, who was making his first WCS start since getting upside down during the June Speedweek event. “The track was fast up on the fence, but it got a little dirty and hard to see in traffic. I saw Jordan (Ryan) stick his nose in there a few times so l knew we had to hit our marks the last five or ten laps.”

The Late Models hit the track next, and once again the action was furious from start to finish. Mitch Caskey jumped into the early lead with last week’s winner JR Gentry in tow. Hornikel, Eric Wilson, Ryan Markham, Larry Bellman, and Nick Cox all stayed within striking distance until lap 10 when Gentry and Caskey collided in turn 4 that spun both to a stop. While Caskey reassumed the lead, Gentry tagged the tail which enabled Hornikel and Markham to make it a three-car battle behind Caskey’s now battered and bruised Malcuit 79.

A lap 23 yellow bunched the field one final time, as Hornikel made a brilliant move under Caskey on the restart to grab the point. Markham challenged Hornikel’s Phillips Motorsports 71 to the stripe with Wilson third, Caskey fourth, and Gentry fifth.

“I’ve been battling back problems here lately, but it sure feels good to finally get a win here,” said Hornikel. “We have led here, ran second, but could never get a win. It takes so much money and effort to do this, and l can’t the fans enough for coming out to support this race track. We will be back for sure.”

DJ Cline has been racing at WCS for parts of four decades but could not recall his last trip to victory lane. Cline grabbed the lead on lap eight from Mark Gardiner and held off the charges from Colton Shaw, Tristen Bickford, Ron Miller, and TA Perrine for his WCS victory of the season.

“There was a really strong field of cars here tonight, and we hung on there at the end,” said Cline. “The track was just fast enough, but also to where you had to take care of your tires, too. I Cannot remember the last time l won here, but it has been a while ago.”

Moore continued his season-long domination of WCS by putting the Bob Daugherty 21D into victory lane yet again. Moore’s 15th overall win of 2022 came of ahead of Braden Tucke, who continues to knock on victory lane’s door with another solid finish. Rob Melzer, opening night winner Brandon Morrow , and Brandon Craver.

WCS will be back in action July 9 with a Fast Five Series event with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association joining the sprint cars, with the much-anticipated DirtCar Summer Nationals invading the speedway on Sunday July 17.

ORRVILLE – As the late, great Yogi Berra once said; ‘It was like Déjà vu all over again’ Saturday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway.

Justin Cranmore took advantage of last-lap mechanical woes from the machine of Doug Hensel for the second consecutive week in claiming the JoyRide Mini Stock $500-to-win Sean McConathey Memorial in highlighting Independence Day Holiday weekend action at “Orrville’s Historic Oval”.

Lemoore, California driver Cole Macedo continued a familiar theme this season at WCS as well by becoming the eighth winner in as many tries by claiming the $3,500-to-win Pine Tree Towing and Recovery King of the County Sprint Car main event, with Mansfield’s Dave Hornikel making it six-for-six without a repeat winner with his first career triumph at WCS in the Malcuit Tavern Super Late Models. DJ Cline captured the Elite Ammunition Modified feature while Kyle Moore continued his domination of the 3-8-mile clay oval with another trip to victory lane in the McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks.

Cranmore and Hensel started the evening by being the only drivers to win a Mini Stock main this season at WCS, with Cranmore’s good fortune landing him victory lane for the third time in 2022.

Hensel, searching for win eight on the season and fifth at WCS, looked primed to reach that goal by powering to the lead on lap two with Billy Parsons, Dustin Bedlion, and Cranmore in pursuit. Cranmore worked his No. 2 machine into the runner-up spot by lap eight but trailed Hensel by a straightaway with a pair of laps left during the 15-lap special event.

Hensel, who cut a right front tire after taking the white flag while leading a week ago, slowed down the backstretch on the final circuit. Cranmore edged Hensel by a bumper at the stripe with Parsons, Bedlion, and Kenny Long rounding out the top five with his best finish of the season.

“We have some bad-fast cars in this division, but (Doug) was gone tonight,” said Cranmore. “I hate to win races with Doug having mechanical issues, though. We are fast right now, but l want to beat him when he is one hundred percent.” Members of the McConathey family presented Cranmore with a beautiful trophy in WCS victory lane.

Macedo and his Brooks Racing 18 were prohibited favorites entering the King of the County event, and the fourth-generation pilot made good on the prediction by leading all 25 laps from the pole position.

Macedo built an early lead, with Jordan Ryan, and 2022 winners Tyler Street and Cody Bova in hot pursuit. Ryan, though, was relentless in his chase of Macedo and closed to within a few car lengths on two separate occasions during the closing laps but settled for second ahead of Street, Bova, ninth-starting Trey Jacobs, Andrew Palker, 13th-starting Danny Mumaw, Chris Myers, Leyton Wagner, and Stuart Brubaker aboard the Pete Grove-owned 70.

“The Linder’s (Mike and Matt) have our car really nice right now, and we appreciate all the extra help we got tonight, too,” said Macedo, who was making his first WCS start since getting upside down during the June Speedweek event. “The track was fast up on the fence, but it got a little dirty and hard to see in traffic. I saw Jordan (Ryan) stick his nose in there a few times so l knew we had to hit our marks the last five or ten laps.”

The Late Models hit the track next, and once again the action was furious from start to finish. Mitch Caskey jumped into the early lead with last week’s winner JR Gentry in tow. Hornikel, Eric Wilson, Ryan Markham, Larry Bellman, and Nick Cox all stayed within striking distance until lap 10 when Gentry and Caskey collided in turn 4 that spun both to a stop. While Caskey reassumed the lead, Gentry tagged the tail which enabled Hornikel and Markham to make it a three-car battle behind Caskey’s now battered and bruised Malcuit 79.

A lap 23 yellow bunched the field one final time, as Hornikel made a brilliant move under Caskey on the restart to grab the point. Markham challenged Hornikel’s Phillips Motorsports 71 to the stripe with Wilson third, Caskey fourth, and Gentry fifth.

“I’ve been battling back problems here lately, but it sure feels good to finally get a win here,” said Hornikel. “We have led here, ran second, but could never get a win. It takes so much money and effort to do this, and l can’t the fans enough for coming out to support this race track. We will be back for sure.”

DJ Cline has been racing at WCS for parts of four decades but could not recall his last trip to victory lane. Cline grabbed the lead on lap eight from Mark Gardiner and held off the charges from Colton Shaw, Tristen Bickford, Ron Miller, and TA Perrine for his WCS victory of the season.

“There was a really strong field of cars here tonight, and we hung on there at the end,” said Cline. “The track was just fast enough, but also to where you had to take care of your tires, too. I Cannot remember the last time l won here, but it has been a while ago.”

Moore continued his season-long domination of WCS by putting the Bob Daugherty 21D into victory lane yet again. Moore’s 15th overall win of 2022 came of ahead of Braden Tucke, who continues to knock on victory lane’s door with another solid finish. Rob Melzer, opening night winner Brandon Morrow , and Brandon Craver.

WCS will be back in action July 9 with a Fast Five Series event with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association joining the sprint cars, with the much-anticipated DirtCar Summer Nationals invading the speedway on Sunday July 17.

ORRVILLE – As the late, great Yogi Berra once said; ‘It was like Déjà vu all over again’ Saturday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway.

Justin Cranmore took advantage of last-lap mechanical woes from the machine of Doug Hensel for the second consecutive week in claiming the JoyRide Mini Stock $500-to-win Sean McConathey Memorial in highlighting Independence Day Holiday weekend action at “Orrville’s Historic Oval”.

Lemoore, California driver Cole Macedo continued a familiar theme this season at WCS as well by becoming the eighth winner in as many tries by claiming the $3,500-to-win Pine Tree Towing and Recovery King of the County Sprint Car main event, with Mansfield’s Dave Hornikel making it six-for-six without a repeat winner with his first career triumph at WCS in the Malcuit Tavern Super Late Models. DJ Cline captured the Elite Ammunition Modified feature while Kyle Moore continued his domination of the 3-8-mile clay oval with another trip to victory lane in the McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks.

Cranmore and Hensel started the evening by being the only drivers to win a Mini Stock main this season at WCS, with Cranmore’s good fortune landing him victory lane for the third time in 2022.

Hensel, searching for win eight on the season and fifth at WCS, looked primed to reach that goal by powering to the lead on lap two with Billy Parsons, Dustin Bedlion, and Cranmore in pursuit. Cranmore worked his No. 2 machine into the runner-up spot by lap eight but trailed Hensel by a straightaway with a pair of laps left during the 15-lap special event.

Hensel, who cut a right front tire after taking the white flag while leading a week ago, slowed down the backstretch on the final circuit. Cranmore edged Hensel by a bumper at the stripe with Parsons, Bedlion, and Kenny Long rounding out the top five with his best finish of the season.

“We have some bad-fast cars in this division, but (Doug) was gone tonight,” said Cranmore. “I hate to win races with Doug having mechanical issues, though. We are fast right now, but l want to beat him when he is one hundred percent.” Members of the McConathey family presented Cranmore with a beautiful trophy in WCS victory lane.

Macedo and his Brooks Racing 18 were prohibited favorites entering the King of the County event, and the fourth-generation pilot made good on the prediction by leading all 25 laps from the pole position.

Macedo built an early lead, with Jordan Ryan, and 2022 winners Tyler Street and Cody Bova in hot pursuit. Ryan, though, was relentless in his chase of Macedo and closed to within a few car lengths on two separate occasions during the closing laps but settled for second ahead of Street, Bova, ninth-starting Trey Jacobs, Andrew Palker, 13th-starting Danny Mumaw, Chris Myers, Leyton Wagner, and Stuart Brubaker aboard the Pete Grove-owned 70.

“The Linder’s (Mike and Matt) have our car really nice right now, and we appreciate all the extra help we got tonight, too,” said Macedo, who was making his first WCS start since getting upside down during the June Speedweek event. “The track was fast up on the fence, but it got a little dirty and hard to see in traffic. I saw Jordan (Ryan) stick his nose in there a few times so l knew we had to hit our marks the last five or ten laps.”

The Late Models hit the track next, and once again the action was furious from start to finish. Mitch Caskey jumped into the early lead with last week’s winner JR Gentry in tow. Hornikel, Eric Wilson, Ryan Markham, Larry Bellman, and Nick Cox all stayed within striking distance until lap 10 when Gentry and Caskey collided in turn 4 that spun both to a stop. While Caskey reassumed the lead, Gentry tagged the tail which enabled Hornikel and Markham to make it a three-car battle behind Caskey’s now battered and bruised Malcuit 79.

A lap 23 yellow bunched the field one final time, as Hornikel made a brilliant move under Caskey on the restart to grab the point. Markham challenged Hornikel’s Phillips Motorsports 71 to the stripe with Wilson third, Caskey fourth, and Gentry fifth.

“I’ve been battling back problems here lately, but it sure feels good to finally get a win here,” said Hornikel. “We have led here, ran second, but could never get a win. It takes so much money and effort to do this, and l can’t the fans enough for coming out to support this race track. We will be back for sure.”

DJ Cline has been racing at WCS for parts of four decades but could not recall his last trip to victory lane. Cline grabbed the lead on lap eight from Mark Gardiner and held off the charges from Colton Shaw, Tristen Bickford, Ron Miller, and TA Perrine for his WCS victory of the season.

“There was a really strong field of cars here tonight, and we hung on there at the end,” said Cline. “The track was just fast enough, but also to where you had to take care of your tires, too. I Cannot remember the last time l won here, but it has been a while ago.”

Moore continued his season-long domination of WCS by putting the Bob Daugherty 21D into victory lane yet again. Moore’s 15th overall win of 2022 came of ahead of Braden Tucke, who continues to knock on victory lane’s door with another solid finish. Rob Melzer, opening night winner Brandon Morrow , and Brandon Craver.

WCS will be back in action July 9 with a Fast Five Series event with the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association joining the sprint cars, with the much-anticipated DirtCar Summer Nationals invading the speedway on Sunday July 17.