By Aaron Fry
Wilmington, Ohio’s Cody Gardner scored his first win of the season on Friday night at Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg, Ohio. The following night, it was MPD Racing BOSS tour point leader Ricky Lewis of Oxnard, California scoring his fourth win of the year by taking the first ever Rusty McClure Classic at Wayne County Speedway.
Friday at Hilltop, Isaac Chapple, Ricky Lewis and Cody Gardner set quick times in their heat race groups with Lewis overall quick time at 14.310. Chapple, Tayte Williamson and Gardner won exciting heat races. Flint, Michigan’s Steve Irwin brought the field to green alongside Cody Gardner for 25 laps on Tyler Evans’ well prepared dirt oval. Gardner grabbed the early lead and set sail into the Holmes County night opening a straightaway lead by lap 10. Williamson, Chapple and Lewis waged a great battle for the runner-up spot as the race ran caution free.
As the laps wound down, fifth staring Ricky Lewis had taken the runner-up spot and began to close on Gardner. With the laps winding down, Lewis closed the gap to less than 2 car lengths. As the duo raced into turn 3 on lap 24, Lewis threw his shot at Gardner but could not take the lead. Cody Gardner then pulled away taking the white flag and holding Lewis off for his first win since the 2019 Bob Hampshire Classic. Tayte Williamson had a great run to complete the podium with Chapple and Irwin rounding out the top 5.
On Saturday at Wayne County Speedway, the tour paid tribute to former racer Rusty McClure with the first ever “Rusty McClure Classic” paying $2909 to win. In a replay of Friday night, Lewis, Gardner and Chapple again paced their qualifying groups. Again, it was Lewis overall fastest, this time with of 16.661 seconds. Lewis, Jesse Vermillion and Chapple would score heat race wins.
Jim Balentine Photo
For the main event, Rusty McClure led the field in his street legal replica number 09. Promoter Jason Flory had the track in excellent shape for the 25-lap run. It was Chapple and Gardner ready to drag race for the lead off the front row. It was Chapple who would grab the early lead of the race that was slowed by two early yellows. Once under green for several laps, it was sixth starting Ricky Lewis who began to move through the field. Lewis made the move to take the lead from Chapple as Gardner and eighth starting Dean Jacobs moved up into fourth.
A multi-car accident would eliminate Tayte Williamson, Brian Ruhlman and Dallas Hewitt who were all battling for spots near the top 5. Back under green Lewis continued to lead, but another late race caution would fly when Chapple got sideways in turn 2, nearly coming to a complete stop in front of heavy traffic. Under BOSS rules, with the caution thrown for him, Chapple was sent to the rear of the lead lap cars.
Korby Hayslett then found himself in the runner-up spot with a shot at the win with 3 laps remaining. On the restart, Hayslett took his shot with a slider for the ages in turn 4, but Lewis was patient and crossed him over, racing back to the lead and on to the win. Hayslett held strong for second with Trey Jacobs rounding out the podium. Cody Gardner and Steve Irwin rounded out the top 5.
We want to thank our weekend sponsors who helped with the McClure Classic. They include Hall’s Auto Sales, Outlaw Logistics, Apple Metal Polishing, M Miller Construction, Smetz’s Tire Center, The Beer Barrel Drive-Thru, Moose Racing, Roger & Sharon Mossbarger, J-F Construction, Rusty & Cappie McClure and McMillin Apiaries.
BOX SCORES
Hilltop Speedway
Friday, August 18, 2023
18 Entries
ARP Fasteners Qualifying:
Group 1: 1. 6-Isaac Chapple 14.68, 2. 0-Steve Irwin 14.82, 3. 24L-Lee Underwood 15.30, 4. 97x-Rodney Hurst 16.00, 5. 320-George Willard 16.22, 6. 91x-Aaron Middaugh 19.03
Group 2: 1. 41-Ricky Lewis 14.31, 2. 4-John Mollick 15.01, 3. 21H-Dallas Hewitt 15.24, 4. 20-Tayte Williamson 15.38, 5. 53-Steve Little 15.48, 6. 21K-Larry Kingseed 16.04
Group 3: 1. 9G-Cody Gardner 14.73, 2. 1H-Korbyn Hayslett 14.85, 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman 15.22, 4. 73-Blake Vermillion 15.30, 5. 4J-Michael Fischesser 15.45, 6. 5-Jesse Vermillion NT
Mad Tree Brewing – Heat 1: 1. 6-Chapple[4] ; 2. 0-Irwin[3] ; 3. 24L-Underwood[2] ; 4. 97x-Hurst[1] ; 5. 320-Willard[5] ; 6. 91x-Middaugh[6]
Outsider’s Merchandise & Apparel – Heat 2: 1. 20-Williamson[1] ; 2. 41-Lewis[4] ; 3. 4-Mollick[3] ; 4. 53-Little[5] ; 5. 21K-Kimgseed[6] ; 6. 21H-Hewitt[2]
Elizabeth Gardner Photography – Heat 3: 1. 9G-Gardner[4] ; 2. 49-Ruhlman[2] ; 3. 73-B.Vermillion[1] ; 4. 1H-Hayslett[3] ; 5. 4J-Fischesser[5] ; 6. 5-J.Vermillion[DNS]
MPD Racing – A Main: 1. 9G-Gardner[2] ; 2. 41-Lewis[5] ; 3. 20-Williamson[4] ; 4. 6-Chapple[3] ; 5. 0-Irwin[1] ; 6. 73-B.Vermillion[9] ; 7. 1H-Hayslett[12] ; 8. 21K-Kingseed[14] ; 9. 4-Mollick[8] ; 10. 49-Ruhlman[6] ; 11. 21H-Hewiit[17] ; 12. 53-Little[11] ; 13. 24L-Underwood[7] ; 14. 4J-Fischesser[15] ; 15. 97x-Hurst[10] ; 16. 320-Willard[13] ; 17. 91x-Middaugh[16] ; 18. 5-J.Vermillion[DNS]
E A Home Supply – Lucky Pill Draw: 4J- Michael Fischesser
Cowen Truck Line – Steel Block: 4- John Mollick
All Pro Cylinder Heads – Hard Charger: 21K- Larry Kingseed
Hoosier Tire Bonus : 9G-Cody Gardner
All Star Performance – Hard Luck: 49- Brian Ruhlman
Wayne County Speedway
Saturday, August 19, 2023
Rusty McClure Classic
21 Entries
ARP Fasteners Qualifying:
Group 1: 1. 41-Ricky Lewis 16.661, 2. 20-Tayte Williamson 16.859, 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman 17.072, 4. 21H-Dallas Hewitt 17.172, 5. 53-Steve Little 17573, 6. 5M-Mike Moore 18.260, 7. 320-George Willard 19.127
Group 2: 1. 9G-Cody Gardner 16.985, 2. 9-Trey Jacobs 17.390 ; 3. 73-Jesse Vermillion 17.539 ; 4. 13-Jeremy Duposki 18.468, 5. 97x-Rodney Hurst 19.143, 6. 1s-James Saam 19.602, 7. 91x-Aaron Middaugh 99.999
Group 3: 1. 6-Issac Chapple 16.914, 2. 1H-Korbyn Hayslett 17.221, 3. 0-Steve Irwin 17.412, 4. 99-Gage Etgen 17.622, 5. 24L-Lee Underwood 17.639, 6. 25R-Jordan Ryan 18.092, 7. 7-Troy Kingan 19.238
Mad Tree Brewing – Heat 1: 1. 41-Lewis[4] ; 2. 20-Williamson[3] ; 3. 49-Ruhlman[2] ; 4. 21H-Hewitt[1] ; 5. 53-Little[5] ; 6. 5M-Moore[6] ; 7. 320-Willard[7]
Outsider’s Merchandise & Apparel – Heat 2: 1. 73-J.Vermillion[2] ; 2. 9G-Gardner[4] ; 3. 9-Jacobs[3] ; 4. 13-Duposki[1] ; 5. 97x-Hurst[5] ; 6. 1s-Saam[6] ; 7. 91x-Middaugh[DNS]
Elizabeth Gardner Photography – Heat 3: 1. 6-Chapple[4] ; 2. 99-Etgen[1] ; 3. 1H-Hayslett[3] ; 4. 0-Irwin[2] ; 5. 24L-Underwood[5] ; 6. 7-Kingan[7] ; 7. 25R-Ryan[DNS]
MPD Racing – A Main: 1. 41-Lewis[6] ; 2. 1H-Hayslett[9] ; 3. 9-Jacobs[8] ; 4. 9G-Gardner[2] ; 5. 0-Irwin[12] ; 6. 73-J.Vermillion[3] ; 7. 24L-Underwood[15] ; 8. 6-Chapple[1] ; 9. 99-Etgen[4] ; 10. 53-Little[13] ; 11. 5M-Moore[16] ; 12. 20-Williamson[5] ; 13. 49-Ruhlman[7] ; 14. 21H-Hewitt[10] ; 15. 97x-Hurst[14] ; 16. 320-Willard[19] ; 17. 1s-Saam[17] ; 18. 13-Duposki[11] ; 19. 7-Kingan[18] ; 20. 25R-Ryan[20] ; 21. 91x-Middaugh[DNS]
E A Home Supply – Lucky Pill Draw: 49- Brian Ruhlman
Cowen Truck Line – Steel Block: 5M- Mike Moore
All Pro Cylinder Heads – Hard Charger: 24L- Lee Underwood
Hoosier Free Tire Bonus: 41- Ricky Lewis
All Star Performance – Hard Luck: 49 – Brian Ruhlman
McMillin Apiaries – Sweet Move: 9 – Trey Jacobs