GAS CITY, Ind., Oct. 22 — Matt Westfall of Pleasant Hill, Ohio earned his second 25-lap non-wing 410 sprint car feature victory of the season at Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday night to highlight the opening night of the track’s two-night season finale, the fourth annual Fall Festival of Speed.
Chett Gehrke of Bardtown, Ky., was victorious in the 20-lap Performance Electronics USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget feature, which was the season finale for that series.
Indy Racing Images
Dylan Cromer of Flora, Ind. won the 20-lap non-wing micro-sprint main event to conclude the night’s action on the quarter-mile dirt oval.
The Fall Festival continues with the track’s season finale tonight (Saturday, Oct. 22), featuring non-wing sprint cars, UMP modifieds, sportsman stocks and hornets.
Non-Wing Sprint Cars
Young Jack Hoyer of Frankfort, Ind., started second and led the first 12 laps of the 25-lap sprint car feature in Paul Hazen’s famous Physical Medicine Consultants No. 57. He was able to build up nearly a 1-second lead over Tye Mihocko of Peoria, Ariz., despite two yellow-flag periods that slowed the pace. The first caution was for a two-car tangle between Turns 3 and 4 with seven laps down that left Clayton Rossman of Wadsworth, Ill. stranded, while the second flew with 10 laps down when Travis Hery of Hlliard, Ohio stopped on the backstretch.
Mihocko put the nose of Jamie and Michelle Paul’s High Asspirations Farms DRC in front a couple of times but he didn’t lead a lap until he made a pass stick coming out of Turn 4 and onto the frontstretch on lap 13.
Mihocko led lap 14 too, but as he, Hoyer and Westfall were three wide coming out of Turn 4 to complete lap 15, Westfall used the middle groove to vault from third and into the lead with his Ray Marshall Motorsports No. 33M DRC Gressman Chevy, which is sponsored by Buckeye Machine, Hempy Water and All Star Performance.
It was the winning move.
Westfall started eighth, cracked the top five on lap nine when he passed both Jake Swanson of Anaheim, Calif., and Kyle Shipley of Lebanon, Ind., to take over fourth, and moved into third on lap 11 by passing Anton Hernandez of West Lafayette, Ind. Once in front he led the rest of the way to join track champion Scott Weir of Marion, Ind., and Mihocko as two-time winners this season at Gas City, although there were still fireworks to come.
Westfall had just a 0.392-second lead over Mihocko followed by Swanson, Hernandez and Hoyer on lap 23 when the third yellow flew after Corbin Gurley of Hebron, Ind. slowed in Turn 4 and rolled to a stop on the frontstretch near Turn 1.
Westfall was just 0.291 seconds ahead of Mihocko when the fourth yellow flew with 24 laps down and dashed the hopes of two drivers for top-five-or-better finishes. The first driver was Hoyer, who stopped with mechanical difficulties while running fifth. The second one was Hernandez, who was fourth but going for the lead when there was contact between he and Swanson on the backstretch. Hernandez’s Benic Enterprises No. 2B DRC left on the back of a wrecker with left-front damage, including a broken front axle.
The set up a green-white-checkered finish with 24 laps down. The top five for the restart were Westfall; Mihocko; Swanson; Zack Pretorius of Yorktown, Ind., and Rylan Gray of Greenfield, Ind., and they finished in that order. Westfall’s margin of victory was just 0.403 seconds.
USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder Midgets
Matt Lux of Shelbyville, Ind., started second and led the first three laps of the 20-lap USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget feature. Drew Rader of Findlay, Ohio brought out the first of three yellows with three laps down when he spun on the frontstretch near Turn 4.
Jakeb Boxell of Zanesville, Ind., who started third, used the low groove coming out of Turn 2 to pass Lux following the restart. He led laps four through seven.
Bryce Massingill of Troy, Ohio, who started fourth, passed Boxell to lead laps eight through 14, surviving a restart with nine laps down after Issac Chapple of Willow Branch, Ind., stopped low in Turn 2.
Alex Watson of Columbus, Ohio brought out the third yellow when he spun in Turn 4 with 14 laps down.
There was a three-car war for the lead on the restart between Massingill, Gehrke and Jerry Coons Jr. of Greencastle, Ind., and Gehrke, who started fifth in the Fedorczyk Motorsports No. 21, came out on top. The No. 21 is a Ripper chassis with a MWR engine out of Warren, Mich., and it’s sponsored by CP Mobil Shrink Wrap.
Coons, who started way back in 17th position, got second at that point. The USAC Triple Crown champion tried both the high groove and the low groove in attempts to pass Gehrke, but he was directly behind him, 0.433 of a second back, when the checkered waved.
It was a stirring runner-up finish for Coons, who broke into the top 10 when he got ninth on lap four and the top five when he got fourth on lap eight. He set the fastest lap of the race and was the PPC Performance Powder Coating hard charger.
Series champion Stratton Briggs of Anna, Ohio started eighth and finished third, as he passed Massingill for the final podium position on lap 17. Massingill hung on for fourth and Boxell finished fifth.
Non-Wing Micro-Sprints
Cromer had a perfect night with his micro-sprint, which is sponsored by NTK. He topped his qualifying group, won his heat, won the dash, and then won the 20-lap feature, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.
Cromer started fifth in the feature but took the lead after just one lap, which was led by polesitter Easton Zent of Churubusco, Ind.
Cale Coons, Jerry’s son, started third but passed Parker Leek of Warsaw, Ind., on lap five to take second.
There was just one yellow, which flew at the halfway point after Duane Noe of Reynolds, Ind., spun in Turn 4 while running seventh. That tightened up the field, and two laps after the restart Coons was right behind Cromer.
Cromer was able to increase his lead later, however. He had a 1.709 second advantage over Coons, who became the second member of that family to take runner-up honors Friday night. Leek finished third followed by Mike Landis of Logansport, Ind., and Michael Magic of Winder, Ga.
Red Flags
Jim Jones of Indianapolis flipped high between Turns 3 and 4 during the third D2 midget qualifying group with two laps down. He got out of his midget under his own power, but his car was done for the evening.
Paul Dues of Minster, Ohio flipped in Turn 2 at the start of the first sprint heat, doing several revolutions in mid-air. He got the wind knocked out of him, but after a short pause he climbed out of his sprint car under his own power, and he went on to compete in the second sprint B-main.
Ryan Thomas of Indianapolis flipped between Turns 1 and 2 at the start of the second sprint heat, also escaping unhurt. He also returned to compete in the second sprint B-main.
Additional Info
For more information during the off-season see the track’s social media outlets, as the track’s website is undergoing some changes. It is on Facebook (GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas) and Twitter (@GasCitySpeedway).
Gas City I-69 Speedway is located on State Road 22, approximately a half-mile west of exit 259 of Interstate 69, about halfway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Ind.
The results:
Non-Wing Sprint Group 1 Qualifying: 1. Kyle Shipley, 12.083; 2. Paul Dues, 12.263; 3. Tye Mihocko, 12.296; 4. Cody Gardner, 12.305; 5. Brian Hayden, 12.709; 6. Keith Sheffer, 12.709; 7. Bryce Andrews, 13.369; 8. Andrew Cockman, 13.798, 9. Dave Gross, NT.
Non-Wing Sprint Group 2 Qualifying: 1. Jake Swanson, 12.088; 2. Zack Pretorius, 12.098; 3. Ryan Thomas, 12.235; 4. Harley Burns, 12.311; 5. Billy Lawless, 12.908; 6. Gabriel Gilbert, 12.963; 7. William Huck, 13.266; 98. Billy Winsemann, 13.316.
Non-Wing Sprint Group 3 Qualifying: 1. Matt Westfall, 12.187; 2. Anton Hernandez, 12.210; 3. Dustin Ingle, 12.215; 4. Derek Crane, 12.507; 5. Clayton Rossman, 12.554; 6. Travis Mahoney, 12.684; 7. C.J. Smith, 13.469; 8. Josh Davidson, 19.046.
Non-Wing Sprint Group 4 Qualifying: 1. Colin Grissom, 12.213; 2. Travis Hery, 12.335; 3. Travis Berryhill, 12.591; 4. Ivan Glotzbach, 12.648; 5. Kevin Newton, 12.934; 6. Corbin Gurley, 12.993; 7. Steve Irwin, 13.073; 8. Brian Ruhlman, 13.511.
Non-Wing Sprint Group 5 Qualifying: 1. Jack Hoyer, 12.276; 2. Rylan Gray, 12.286; 3. Brayden Clark, 12.498; 4. Alec Sipes, 12.519; 5. Matt Goodnight, 12.566; 6. Matt Cooley, 12.863; 7. Zach Hanson, 12.874; 8. George Gaertner, 13.426.
Non-Wing Sprint Lucky Dash (4 laps): 1. Jake Swanson, 2. Tye Mihocko, 3. Matt Goodnight, 4. Brian Ruhlman.
IRA Sprints Lucky Dash (4 laps): 1. William Huck, 2. Travis Mahoney, 3. George Gaertner, 4. Josh Davidson.
Non-Wing Sprint Heat 1 (8 laps, 3 transferred): 1. Tye Mihocko, 2. Kyle Shipley, 3. Cody Gardner, 4. Brian Hayden, 5. Andrew Cockman, 6. David Gross, 7. Bryce Andrews, 8. Keith Sheffer (DNS), 9. Paul Dues (DNS).
Non-Wing Sprint Heat 2 (8 laps, 3 transferred): 1. Jake Swanson, 2. Harley Burns, 3. Zack Pretorius, 4. Gabriel Gilbert, 5. Billy Lawless, 6. Billy Winsemann, 7. William Huck, 8. Ryan Thomas (DNS).
Non-Wing Sprint Heat 3 (8 laps, 3 transferred): 1. Anton Hernandez, 2. Matt Westfall, 3. Derek Crane, 4. Dustin Ingle, 5. Clayton Rossman, 6. Travis Mahoney, 7. C.J. Smith, 8. Josh Davidson (DNS).
Non-Wing Sprint Heat 4 (8 laps, 3 transferred): 1. Travis Berryhill, 2. Colin Grissom, 3. Corbin Gurley, 4. Travis Hery, 5. Steve Irwin, 6. Ivan Glotzbach, 7. Brian Ruhlman, 8. Kevin Newton.
Non-Wing Sprint Heat 5 (8 laps, 3 transferred): 1. Jack Hoyer, 2. Rylan Gray, 3. Brayden Clark, 4. Alec Sipes, 5. Matt Goodnight, 6. George Gaertner, 7. Zach Hanson, 8. Matt Cooley.
Non-Wing Sprint B-Main 1 (10 laps, 3 transferred): 1. Dustin Ingle, 2. Brian Hayden, 3. Steve Irwin, 4. Alec Sipes, 5. Billy Lawless, 6. Keith Sheffer, 7. Brian Ruhlman, 8. William Huck, 9. Travis Mahoney, 10. George Gaertner, 11. David Gross, 12. Tom Eller, 13. Josh Davidson (DNS).
Non-Wing Sprint B-Main 2 (10 laps, 3 transferred): 1. Travis Hery, 2. Gabriel Gilbert, 3. Clayton Rossman, 4. Matt Goodnight, 5. Ivan Glotzbach, 6. Kevin Newton, 7. Bryce Andrews, 8. Zach Hanson, 9. Paul Dues, 10. Ryan Thomas, 11. Andrew Cockman, 12. C.J. Smith, 13. Billy Winsemann (DNS).
Non-Wing Sprint Feature (25 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Matt Westfall (8); 2. Tye Mihocko (6); 3. Jake Swanson (5); 4. Zack Pretorius (12); 5. Rylan Gray (10); 6. Dustin Ingle (16); 7. Clayton Rossman (21); 8. Brayden Clark (15); 9. Stdeve Irwin (20); 10. Travis Berryhill (3); 11. Colin Grissom (9); 12. Brian Hayden (18); 13. Harley Burns (7); 14. Derek Crane (13); 15. Cody Gardner (11); 16. Travis Hery (17); 17. Gabriel Gilbert (19); 18. Jack Hoyer (2); 19. Anton Hernandez (4); 20. Kyle Shipley (1); 21. Corbin Gurley (14).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-12, Hoyer; laps 13-14, Mihocko; laps 15-26, Westfall.
Margin of Victory: 0.403 seconds.
Fastest Race Lap: Hernandez, 13.564 seconds, lap 7.
USAC SpeeD2 Midget Qualifying Session 1: 1. Matt Lux, 12.902; 2. Jerry Coons Jr., 12.943; 3. Chris Dickey, 13.137; 4. Stratton Briggs, 13.151; 5. Ian Creager, 13.192; 6. Page Perrine, 13.811; 7. Jon Watson, 13.946; 8. Travis Stickles, 14.504.
USAC SpeeD2 Midget Qualifying Session 2: 1. Jakeb Boxell, 13.024; 2. Kayla Roell, 13.083; 3. Abby Hohlbein, 13.106; 4. Carl Peterson, 13.631; 5. Connor Wolf, 13.734; 6. Don Bigelow, 15.122; 7. John Robbins, 15.565.
USAC SpeeD2 Midget Qualifying Session 3: 1. Drew Rader, 12.940; 2. Kyle Dager, 12.992; 3. Zach Wigal, 13.055; 4. Scott Roerner, 14.462; 5. Brayden Schwartz, 14.638; 6. Ryan Moran, NT; 7. Jim Jones, NT.
USAC SpeeD2 Midget Qualifying Session 4: 1. Alex Watson, 12.993; 2. Michael Magic, 13.069; 3. Chett Gehrke, 13.097; 4. Bryce Massingill, 13.313; 5. Isaac Chapple, 13.505; 6. David Osborne, 14.276; 7. Tyler Watkins, 14.496.
USAC SpeeD2 Midget Lucky Dash (4 laps): 1. Kyle Dager, 2. Chris Dickey, 3. Chett Gehrke, 4. Brayden Schwartz.
Performance Electronics USAC SpeeD2 Midget Heat 1 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Matt Lux, 2. Stratton Briggs, 3. Chris Dickey, 4. Ian Creager, 5. Jon Watson, 6. Travis Stickles, 7. Jerry Coons Jr., 8. Page Perrine.
Brewhouse Drive-Thru USAC SpeeD2 Midget Heat 2 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Jakeb Boxell, 2. Abby Hohlbein, 3. Carl Peterson, 4. Kayla Roell, 5. Connor Wolf, 6. John Robbins, 7. Don Bigelow.
K & M Tool & Die USAC SpeeD2 Midget Heat 3 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Drew Rader, 2. Kyle Dager, 3. Ryan Moran, 4. Scott Roerner, 5. Brayden Schwartz, 6. Zach Wigal (DNS), 7. Jim Jones (DNS).
USAC SpeeD2 Midget Heat 4 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Chett Gehrke, 2. Bryce Massingill, 3. Alex Watson, 4. Michael Magic, 5. Issac Chapple, 6. David Osborne, 7. Tyler Watkins.
USAC SpeeD2 Midget B-Main (12 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Jerry Coons Jr., 2. Jon Watson, 3. Issac Chapple, 4. Zach Wigal, 5. Travis Stickles, 6. David Osborne, 7. Connor Wolf, 8. Tyler Watkins, 9. John Robbins, 10. Don Bigelow, 11. Brayden Schwartz.
USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder Midget Feature (20 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Chett Gehrke (5); 2. Jerry Coons Jr. (17); 3. Stratton Briggs (8); 4. Bryce Massingill (4); 5. Jakeb Boxell (3); 6. Ryan Moran (11); 7. Michael Magic (16); 8. Kyle Dager (1); 9. Abby Hohlbein (7); 10. Ian Creager (13); 11. Isaac Chapple (19); 12. Kayla Roell (14); 13. Zach Wigal (20); 14. Carl Peterson (10); 15. Drew Rader (6); 16. Scott Roerner (15); 17. Chris Dickey (9); 18. Alex Watson (12); 19. Jon Watson (18); 20. Matt Lux (2).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-3, Lux; laps 4-7, Boxell; laps 8-14, Massingill; laps 15-20, Gehrke.
Margin of Victory: 0.433 seconds.
Fastest Race Lap: Coons, 14.098 seconds, lap 15.
PPC Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger: Coons, +15.
Micro-Sprint Group 1 Qualifying: 1. Dylan Cromer, 12.971; 2. Cale Coons, 13.329; 3. Easton Zent, 13.741; 4. Duane Noe, 13.763; 5. Kayla Cleveland, 14.169; 6. Doug Nichols, 14.370; 7. Dan Newman, 14.462.
Micro-Sprint Group 2 Qualifying: 1. Michael Magic, 13.259; 2. Mike Landis, 13.334; 3. Parker Leek, 13.459; 4. Randy Franks, 14.014; 5. Roger Reece, 14.295; 6. Tobi Fenicle, 17.733, 7. Nick Williams (DNS).
Micro-Sprint Lucky Dash (4 laps): 1. Dylan Cromer, 2. Cale Coons, 3. Michael Magic, 4. Kayla Cleveland.
Micro-Sprint Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Dylan Cromer, 2. Cale Coons, 3. Easton Zent, 4. Duane Noe, 5. Doug Nichols, 6. Kayla Cleveland, 7. Dan Newman.
Micro-Sprint Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Michael Magic, 2. Parker Leek, 3. Mike Landis, 4. Randy Franks, 5. Roger Reece, 6. Tobi Fenicle, 7. Nick Williams.
Micro-Sprint Feature (20 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Dylan Cromer (5); 2. Cale Coons (3); 3. Parker Leek (2); 4. Mike Landis (6); 5. Michael Magic (4); 6. Easton Zent (1); 7. Randy Franks (8); 8. Kayla Cleveland (11); 9. Duane Noe (7); 10. Doug Nichols (9); 11. Roger Reece (10); 12. Dan Newman (13); 13. Tobi Fenicle (12); 14. Nick Williams (14).
Lap Leaders: Lap 1, Zent; laps 2-20, Cromer.
Margin of Victory: 1.709 seconds.
Fastest Race Lap: Cromer, 13.975 seconds, lap 2.