By Mike Leone
(Hartford, OH)…Sharon Speedway withstood an afternoon heavy rain storm then waited out early evening light showers that delayed the program one-hour on Saturday night, but in the end was able to complete the second straight program to open the 96th anniversary season. Celebrating in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Victory Lane in the Bala Management “Super Series” event on Mark Thomas Ford Night were Dale Blaney (Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Cars), John Mollick (RUSH Sprint Cars), and Chas Wolbert (HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds). A total of 75 cars were in the pits for the three-division show.
Dave Blaney last stood in victory lane on September 21, 2024 when he won his father Lou’s memorial event then moments later shocked the racing world when he called it a career during an emotional post-race interview. Eight months later he was back in victory lane at Sharon with his #10; however, this time as a car owner for brother Dale, who put on a dominating performance Saturday night in the 30-lap “410” Sprint Car feature. The youngest of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Blaney brothers passed Bobby Elliott on lap two and was never challenged capturing the $4,000 victory in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply-sponsored main event.
“All the thanks to Dave (Blaney),” stated the 61-year-old Hartford, Ohio great. “He put me in the seat and it’s pretty cool to be able to run the red 10 and win a race. Dave is freaking awesome. We were pretty good and I enjoyed lapped traffic. I knew Brandon (Spithaler) was probably beating the top down and I was getting through traffic pretty well. I was disappointed to see the yellows because I felt better moving around the track in traffic and running different lanes, but the old guy was getting tired.”
After preliminary events whittled the 34-car field down to 24 starters, newcomer Bobby Elliott and Logan McCandless led the field to green both in search of their first career Sharon victories. Elliott raced into the lead with Blaney passing McCandless for second and Brandon Spithaler following in third. Blaney made the winning pass driving under Elliott in turn four to lead lap two before Brandon Matus slowed in turn two and wasn’t able to get off the track before Bob Felmlee ran over him and got upside down. Greg Wilson was also involved. Everyone was okay, but only Wilson was able to resume.
Blaney began to distance himself from the field on lap five; meanwhile, Spithaler put a slider on Elliott to take over second. Blaney had built up a straightaway lead when he caught lapped traffic on lap eight. Vivian Jones slowed to bring out the caution with 12 laps scored. Under caution, Zane DeVault exited with a flat tire running sixth. When green replaced yellow on lap 13, Carl Bowser and Ricky Peterson both passed Justin Clark for fourth and fifth respectively. Two laps later, Clark slowed to bring out the caution. Back under green at the halfway point, ninth starting Bowser continued his progression forward getting by Elliott for third.
Spithaler was trying to track down Blaney for the lead, but got into the fence in turn two and upside down on lap 18 ending his bid for two wins in two nights after winning at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night. When green replaced yellow, Blaney built up another straightaway lead over Bowser and Peterson when he caught lapped traffic on lap 23. An intense battle was going on for fourth as Elliott was trying to fend off Jeremy Weaver and Devon Borden. Weaver passed Elliott for the spot on lap 26 and then Borden had just passed both when the caution was displayed for Leyton Wagner negating the pass.
Blaney pulled away over the final four laps and took the checkered flag first by a commanding 3.531 seconds in the Ryan Blaney Family Foundation-sponsored #10 for his 22nd career “410” victory at Sharon. One week after finishing fourth, Bowser had another strong effort in second to earn $2,000. Peterson rounded out the podium. Weaver, who started 11th, nipped Elliott at the line for fourth by 0.024 seconds. Elliott, who is an All Star Circuit of Champions rookie in 2025, was fifth in his Sharon debut.
After charging from 14th to 3rd in the last chance B main, Borden put on another show in the feature rallying from 23rd to 6th and an ill-timed caution may have kept him from a top three finish in just his second ever Sharon start. Third year “410” racer, Jacon Begenwald, had a career best Sharon finish of seventh in his season debut. Cody Bova was eighth over Cole Duncan. Michael Bauer went 21st to 10th.
Blaney set fast time overall in qualifying with a lap of 13.771, which was at least four tenths of a second faster than everyone else. DeVault, Blaney, Begenwald, and Logan McCandless won the heat races. The average “410” car count over the past two years at Sharon stands at 40+.
Defending $5,000 RUSH Sprint Car Series Champion, John Mollick, hadn’t gotten off to the start he would have liked to in 2025 being shutout of victory lane throughout the circuit. However, the Sharon opener and a pole position starting spot turned things around on Saturday night as the veteran racer led all 20 laps of the feature.
“We’ve been struggling this year,” acknowledged the 54-year-old Toronto, Ohio resident. “I know that probably wasn’t very exciting for the fans, but we’ll take the win, go home, smile about it, and go on to the next one. We went back to our notes from last year after getting away from that early this year. It messed us up and we were going the wrong direction so we pulled out the old notebook and went with that.”
Mollick quickly took charge of the 20-car starting field as Gale Ruth, Jr. passed Curt Emings for second on lap two. Fifth starting Zach Morrow then moved past Emings for third on lap six. Emings bid for a career best finish ending when he slowed to bring out the caution with 11 laps scored. A caution for a spin by rookie Samantha Priest with 15 laps scored gave Ruth one more shot at Mollick, but it was all for not. Mollick pulled away over the final five laps taking the checkered flag first by 1.691 seconds in the McFadden Machine/Willy’s Car Wash/Rae Lynn Enterprises/Spring Church Car Wash/JET Engines, Scott Clever-owned #4J. It was Mollick’s fourth career Sharon win in the RUSH Sprint Car division to go along with one in a Big-Block Modified.
Ruth, who won events last weekend at Tri-City Raceway Park and Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway, was second as he continued his strong start to the season. Morrow, the new driver of three-time championship car owner, Tim Engles, was third. Second year RUSH Sprint Car racer, Luke Mulichak, put on quite a show running the top side as he charged from 20th to 4th matching his career best finish from June 15, 2024!
Zack Wilson was fifth over New York driver Joe Buccola. Third year racer Devon Deeter’s prior career best finish at Sharon was a 13th. On Saturday night, Deeter charged from 15th to 7th for a new career best effort. Rookie racer Wyatt Long was eighth in his Sharon debut over another rookie in New York’s Cooper Fritz. West Virginia’s Brandon Shughart completed the top 10. Heat winners were Mollick and Emings.
Defending RUSH Sportsman Modified Series Champion, Chas Wolbert, kicked off 2025 with a successful outing. Wolbert passed good friend JC Boyer in lapped traffic on lap 12 and was never challenged over the final circuits of the 20-lap HTMA/Precise Racing Products feature.
“I feel bad for JC- he’s one of my good buddies,” acknowledged the 30-year-old Warren, Ohio driver. “He had a good roll going on there. I was trying to work the top and honestly if it wasn’t for the lapped car I don’t know if I would have got him. It’s unfortunate for him- he’s got a fast hot rod and I think he knows it. Hopefully we’ll battle it out the next time we’re here.”
Boyer and two-time Sharon track champion, Kole Holden, led the 21-car field to green with Boyer taking command over Holden, Todd English, Karston King, and Wolbert. English and Wolbert raced side-by-side for third on laps 2-4 with Wolbert making the pass stick on the outside on lap four prior to the event’s only caution for Jeff Schaffer. The last 16 laps went green-to-checkered.
Wolbert drove around Holden for second on lap six. Wolbert then went after Boyer and caught the leader on lap eight. Boyer though wasn’t about to give up the top spot easily as he appeared to be staving off Wolbert’s challenges; however, on lap 12, the lapped car of John McMillen came down on Wolbert on the backstretch. Contact was made forcing Boyer below the racing surface and though he was able to continue, Wolbert blasted by both on the outside for what would be the winning move.
Wolbert pulled away over the final eight laps and took the checkered flag first by 3.301 seconds for his 23rd career Sharon win and 51st overall in the division in his Alcon Mechanical/CT Wolbert Trucking/Ohio Intra Express/Dunkin of Warren/Y-Town Powder Coating/Russ King Racing/Scoville Designs/Race 1-sponsored #c3.
“First off I have to thank God because without him none of this would be possible; Sharon Speedway and all the crew here that makes it possible,” added Wolbert. “A lot of work goes into making just one night of racing possible and I don’t think a lot of people realize that. Also, I have to thank all my sponsors, my family, everyone that helps out, the RUSH Series, and everyone that stuck it out through the rain.”
Boyer, the defending “Route 7 Rumble” Series Champion, came home second over Holden. Darin Gallagher had a strong run in his wife Chelsie’s #10 going 10th to 4th after passing Matt Latta for the spot on lap 14. Latta, a former RUSH Late Model racer, was fifth in his first Sharon RUSH Mod racer and just second of his career. English dropped to sixth over King. Garrett Krummert charged from 21st to 8th as Jacob Jordan and Dalton Gabriel completed the top 10. Heat winners were Latta and Wolbert.
Coming up next Saturday (May 24), will be the first appearance of the season by the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars. Warmups begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by qualifying and heat races. Tickets are available through World Racing Group at https://mpv.tickets.com/?agency=WRG_SNG_MPV&orgid=52711&pid=9489416. Camping permits are available at the following link: https://www.simpletix.com/e/rv-trailer-tent-camping-2025-tickets-199070
410 Sprints – Winged
Hovis Auto Truck Supply A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 10-Dale Blaney[3]; 2. 11-Carl Bowser[7]; 3. 98-Ricky Peterson[5]; 4. 5-Jeremy Weaver[11]; 5. 5E-Bobby Elliott[1]; 6. 45-Devon Borden[23]; 7. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[8]; 8. 20B-Cody Bova[10]; 9. 22D-Cole Duncan[14]; 10. 46-Michael Bauer[21]; 11. 29-Logan McCandless[2]; 12. 2-AJ Flick[18]; 13. 3V-Chris Verda[24]; 14. 83X-Nate Reeser[13]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson[20]; 16. 16-Jim Morris[22]; 17. 11M-Nathen McDowell[15]; 18. 20M-Vivian Jones[19]; 19. 38-Leyton Wagner[17]; 20. 32B-Brandon Spithaler[4]; 21. 78-Justin Clark[6]; 22. 4-Zane DeVault[9]; 23. 13-Brandon Matus[16]; 24. 6-Bob Felmlee[12]
Hovis Auto Truck Supply B Main (12 Laps): 1. 46-Michael Bauer[2]; 2. 16-Jim Morris[1]; 3. 45-Devon Borden[14]; 4. 3V-Chris Verda[4]; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[3]; 6. 5K-Adam Kekich[5]; 7. 33-Brent Matus[9]; 8. 08-Danny Kuriger[6]; 9. 4W-Eric L Williams[7]; 10. 47L-Dusty Larson[11]; 11. 82M-Roman Jones[8]; 12. 3B-Joe Butera[10]; 13. 99-Cameron Nastasi[12]; 14. (DNS) 7T-David Kalb
Hovis Auto Truck Supply Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Zane DeVault[3]; 2. 32B-Brandon Spithaler[4]; 3. 5-Jeremy Weaver[1]; 4. 22D-Cole Duncan[6]; 5. 38-Leyton Wagner[2]; 6. 16-Jim Morris[7]; 7. 5K-Adam Kekich[5]; 8. 45-Devon Borden[8]
Hovis Auto Truck Supply Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Dale Blaney[4]; 2. 11-Carl Bowser[1]; 3. 78-Justin Clark[2]; 4. 5E-Bobby Elliott[3]; 5. 2-AJ Flick[7]; 6. 46-Michael Bauer[5]; 7. 08-Danny Kuriger[6]; 8. 33-Brent Matus[8]
Hovis Auto Truck Supply Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[2]; 2. 20B-Cody Bova[4]; 3. 6-Bob Felmlee[3]; 4. 11M-Nathen McDowell[6]; 5. 20M-Vivian Jones[9]; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[5]; 7. 3B-Joe Butera[8]; 8. 4W-Eric L Williams[10]; 9. 99-Cameron Nastasi[1]; 10. 7T-David Kalb[7]
Hovis Auto Truck Supply Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 29-Logan McCandless[3]; 2. 98-Ricky Peterson[4]; 3. 83X-Nate Reeser[1]; 4. 13-Brandon Matus[2]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson[6]; 6. 3V-Chris Verda[5]; 7. 82M-Roman Jones[8]; 8. 47L-Dusty Larson[7]
Hovis Auto Truck Supply Qualifying 1: 1. 32B-Brandon Spithaler, 00:14.172[2]; 2. 4-Zane DeVault, 00:14.421[4]; 3. 38-Leyton Wagner, 00:14.436[8]; 4. 5-Jeremy Weaver, 00:14.449[6]; 5. 5K-Adam Kekich, 00:14.464[1]; 6. 22D-Cole Duncan, 00:14.532[5]; 7. 16-Jim Morris, 00:14.743[7]; 8. (DQ) 45-Devon Borden, 00:14.453[3]
Hovis Auto Truck Supply Qualifying 2: 1. 10-Dale Blaney, 00:13.771[6]; 2. 5E-Bobby Elliott, 00:14.174[3]; 3. 78-Justin Clark, 00:14.259[2]; 4. 11-Carl Bowser, 00:14.297[1]; 5. 46-Michael Bauer, 00:14.494[8]; 6. 08-Danny Kuriger, 00:14.547[4]; 7. 2-AJ Flick, 00:14.687[5]; 8. 33-Brent Matus, 00:15.662[7]
Hovis Auto Truck Supply Qualifying 3: 1. 20B-Cody Bova, 00:14.157[3]; 2. 6-Bob Felmlee, 00:14.476[1]; 3. 3J-Jacob Begenwald, 00:14.699[5]; 4. 99-Cameron Nastasi, 00:15.441[8]; 5. 2+-Brian Smith, 00:15.573[4]; 6. 11M-Nathen McDowell, 00:15.727[6]; 7. 7T-David Kalb, 00:15.731[7]; 8. 3B-Joe Butera, 00:16.172[2]
Hovis Auto Truck Supply Qualifying 4: 1. 98-Ricky Peterson, 00:14.541[7]; 2. 29-Logan McCandless, 00:14.635[3]; 3. 13-Brandon Matus, 00:14.686[6]; 4. 83X-Nate Reeser, 00:14.803[2]; 5. 3V-Chris Verda, 00:14.937[4]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:15.384[8]; 7. 4W-Eric L Williams, 00:15.722[5]; 8. 47L-Dusty Larson, 00:15.991[1]
RUSH Wingless Sprints
Feature (20 Laps): 1. 4J-John Mollick[1]; 2. 24-Gale Ruth Jr[3]; 3. 68-Zach Morrow[5]; 4. 55-Luke Mulichak[20]; 5. 1-Zack Wilson[4]; 6. 5B-Joe Buccola[6]; 7. 54-Devon Deeter[15]; 8. 63L-Wyatt Long[12]; 9. 57C-Cooper Fritz[7]; 10. 29-Brandon Shughart[10]; 11. 1E-Curt Emings[2]; 12. 16C-Amelia Clay[17]; 13. 21-Grayson Bayle[14]; 14. 21N-Samantha Priest[18]; 15. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[13]; 16. 501-Matt Urey[19]; 17. 213-Lucas Roessner[8]; 18. 20A-Jesse Armstrong[16]; 19. 1T-Ricky Tucker III[11]; 20. 23-Charlie Utsinger[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 4J-John Mollick[3]; 2. 24-Gale Ruth Jr[2]; 3. 68-Zach Morrow[6]; 4. 57C-Cooper Fritz[1]; 5. 23-Charlie Utsinger[4]; 6. 1T-Ricky Tucker III[9]; 7. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[10]; 8. 54-Devon Deeter[7]; 9. 16C-Amelia Clay[8]; 10. 501-Matt Urey[5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1E-Curt Emings[3]; 2. 1-Zack Wilson[8]; 3. 5B-Joe Buccola[4]; 4. 213-Lucas Roessner[1]; 5. 29-Brandon Shughart[6]; 6. 63L-Wyatt Long[9]; 7. 21-Grayson Bayle[5]; 8. 20A-Jesse Armstrong[10]; 9. 21N-Samantha Priest[2]; 10. 55-Luke Mulichak[7]