By Aaron Fry
California native, Ricky Lewis, finished off his 2023 tour championship campaign in dominant fashion. Now, he has begun his title defense with a record setting run, winning four of the first five events in 2024. He has not had the wins handed to him, as none of the four wins have come from front row starting spots. Lewis has started from fifth, sixth, seventh and now fourth at Hilltop, in racing to his main event wins.
By MPD Racing Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series standards, it was a slim field of 16 sprint cars on hand Friday night at Tyler Evans’ Hilltop Speedway just outside of Millersburg, Ohio. A wide array of talent representing seven states made up the unique field of stars. ARP Fasteners qualifying saw Lewis as the only car under the 15 second mark with a lap of 14.922 to lead group A while Carmen Perigo paced group B with a 15.220 second clocking. Michigan’s Steve Irwin and Toronto’s John Mollick won the 8 lap preliminary heat races.
Jesse Vermillion and Mollick would bring the field to green for the 25-lap main event with west coast invaders Kyle Shipley (Arizona) and Lewis (California) in row 2 with Irwin and Perigo in row 3. It was Mollick grabbing the early lead as the field sorted itself out. An early yellow would slow the torrid pace just as the leaders approached traffic for debris in the groove. Two other yellows would slow the pace through the event with the only incident of any significance coming when Kyle Shipley, Trey Osborne, and Garrett Mitchell all came together in turn one, eliminating Osborne and Mitchell.
Lewis battled early in the event with his arch rival from a season ago, Carmen Perigo. Both drivers pressed Mollick early on, but Lewis wrestled second away for good and set his sights on Mollick. Committed to the high side of the track, Lewis pressed for the lead repeatedly, finally able to make the winning move and take the lead. However, John Mollick was not giving up that easily as he powered back alongside Lewis on multiple occasions with Perigo in tow.
At the finish it was Lewis holding off Mollick and a late charging Jesse Vermillion to complete the podium. Perigo held on for fourth with Steve Irwin taking fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Korbyn Hayslett, Blake Vermillion, Greg Mitchell, Rylan Gray and Lee Underwood.
BOSS action resumes this Wednesday night, July 3rd with the annual Jack Hewitt Classic at Waynesfield Raceway Park. Then, on Friday, July 5th, BOSS will join its companion FAST On Dirt winged tour at the always fast Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio. Ricky Lewis now has a 118-point lead over Hayslett with Shipley, Jesse Vermillion and Rylan Gray chasing him in the standings.
BOX SCORE
Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series – Event #5
Hilltop Speedway ; Millersburg, Ohio
Friday, June 28, 2024
16 Entries
ARP Fasteners Qualifying
Group 1: 1. 41-Ricky Lewis 14.922, 2. 0-Steve Irwin 15.032, 3. 6T-Trey Osborne15.050, 4. 1H-Korbyn Hayslett 15.260, 5. 5-Jesse Vermillion 15.323, 6. 73-Blake Vermillion 15.483, 7. 06-Rylan Gray 15.652, 8. 13-Jeremy Duposki 15.951
Group 2: 1. 21-Carmen Perigo 15.220, 2. 0g-Kyle Shipley 15.463, 3. 4j-John Mollick 15.516, 4. 53-Steve Little 15.586, 5. 24L-Lee Underwood 15.674, 6. 002-Garrett Mitchell 16.165, 7. 001-Greg Mitchell 16.269, 8. 91x-Aaron Middaugh 17.001
Poske’s Performance Parts – Heat 1: 1. 0-Irwin[3] ; 2. 5-J.Vermillion[5] ; 3. 41-Lewis[4] ; 4. 1H-Hayslett[1] ; 5. 06-Gray[7] ; 6. 6T-Osborne[2] ; 7. 73-B.Vermillion[6] ; 8. 13-Duposki[8]
Outsider’s Merchandise & Apparel – Heat 2: 1. 4j-Mollick[2] ; 2. 0g-Shipley[3] ; 3. 21-Perigo[4] ; 4. 53-Little[1] ; 5. 002-Mitchell[6] ; 6. 24L-Underwood[5] ; 7. 91x-Middaugh[8] ; 8. 001-Mitchell[7]
MPD Racing – A Main: 1. 41-Lewis[4] ; 2. 4j-Mollick[2] ; 3. 5-J.Vermillion[1] ; 4. 21-Perigo[6] ; 5. 0-Irwin[5] ; 6. 1H-Hayslett[7] ; 7. 73-B.Vermillion[13] ; 8. 001-Greg Mitchell[16] ; 9. 06-Gray[9] ; 10. 24L-Underwood[12] ; 11. 0g-Shipley[3] ; 12. 13-Duposki[15] ; 13. 53-Little[8] ; 14. 002-Mitchell[10] ; 15. 6T-Osborne[11] ; 16. 91x-Middaugh[14]
All Pro Cylinder Heads – Hard Charger: Greg Mitchell +8
All Star Performance – Hard Luck: Trey Osborne
Cowen Truck Line – Steel Block: Aaron Middaugh
E A Home Supply – Lucky Pill Draw: Korbyn Hayslett
Hoosier Tire Bonus – free tire: Ricky Lewis