By Mike Leone
(Hartford, OH)…After two consecutive cancellations due to saturated grounds and cold temperatures, seasonable weather and sunshine returned on Saturday night as Sharon Speedway completed their third event of the 96th anniversary season. Celebrating in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Victory Lane in the Bala Management “Super Series” event on Bucks Fabricating 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). Ironically it was the same three winners as the last show that was completed on May 17.
Dale Blaney started third, took the lead on the opening lap, and never looked back racing unchallenged to his second “410” Sprint Car win of the season in three tries aboard his brother Dave’s famous red #10. The youngest of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame brothers earned another $4,000 payday for the 30-lap Hovis Auto & Truck Supply feature victory in a final tune-up before next Saturday’s Ohio Sprint Speedweek All Star Circuit of Champions event.
“This car is nowhere near what it was three weeks ago when we won as it’s a lot different,” revealed the 61-year-old Hartford, Ohio native. “Dave (Blaney) came up with a different thing, but it worked out well. The car was good all night, but wasn’t great time trialing. I thought we got it better in the heat race and better in the feature. Starting third and getting out front controlling the race is huge. If we started 10th, who knows what happens, but I think my car was good enough to do damage anywhere we started. The track was phenomenal and my car definitely liked it. We’ll come back next week with the All Stars and see if we can compete.”
Adam Kekich and Jacob Begenwald led the field to green, but it was Blaney sneaking under both to grab the early lead over Kekich, Begenwald, and Carl Bowser. Bowser passed Begenwald for third on lap four. After going sixth to second in his heat, Michael Bauer was again on the move in the feature. Bauer started ninth and was up to fourth after dropping Begenwald back another spot on lap four.
By lap five, Blaney had stretched out his lead to 4.5 seconds. Bauer continued to move forward taking third from Bowser on lap six. As the laps ticked off caution-free, Blaney extended his lead; meanwhile, Bauer caught Kekich for second. After dropping back to fifth early, Begenwald found his rhythm up top passing Bowser for fourth on lap 20 as it was a four-car race for the runner-up spot. On lap 21, Begenwald made quite a move passing both Bauer and Kekich for second.
A scary accident brought action to a screeching halt when Bowser and Ricky Peterson tangled on the frontstretch battling for fifth on lap 22. Brandon Matus, who was running seventh, had nowhere to go hitting the vulnerable Bowser, who was sitting sideways facing oncoming traffic. Thankfully everyone was okay.
The accident was the first and only stoppage of the event, which erased Blaney’s lead of more than 11.5 seconds! The final eight laps went green-to-checkered as Blaney pulled away opening up a straightaway advantage once he caught lapped traffic with two laps to go. Blaney’s 23rd career Sharon “410” win came by 3.810 seconds in the Ryan Family Foundation-sponsored #10. Beganwald held off Kekich to earn his career best “410” finish in second worth $2,000! Kekich was a season best third over Bauer and 11th starting Logan McCandless.
Opening night winner, A.J. Flick, was sixth. Dan Kuriger went 13th to 7th over 14th starting Jeremy Weaver, who was one-lap down. Chris Verda was ninth. Southern Ohio invader Nate Reeser has competed in all three events this season with Saturday’s 10th place his best at the Hartford, Ohio oval since a seventh on August 14, 2021. Blaney set fast time overall against the 22-car field in qualifying with a lap of 15.781. Heat winners were Matus, Flick, and Peterson.
John Mollick captured 10 wins on the 2024 RUSH Sprint Car circuit in route to his first championship. The 2025 season has been more of a struggle for the veteran racer. Mollick’s only win in six starts on the 2025 circuit was at Sharon on May 17. After struggling in the past at the Hartford, Ohio oval and never winning in the division until last year, Mollick has taken a liking to the 3/8-mile red clay oval. On Saturday night, Mollick took the lead on lap two and kept fellow veterans Ruth and Arnie Kent at bay over the second half of the event for his second win in as many races this season at Sharon and third straight dating back to last season.
“I watched Chad Ruhlman a lot,” revealed the 54-year-old Toronto, Ohio driver talking about the five-time Series Champion. “He beat my ass constantly and he’s not here anymore so I’m doing what he’s doing. It takes me awhile to get the momentum built back up so I just keep rolling and rolling. We’ve been struggling everywhere but here; Tri-City, Knox, and even Pittsburgh. This is good for the team and crew to get the hopes back up again. I want to thank the crowd for sticking around and watching that show. It was a good night.”
Rookie Wyatt Long and Gale Ruth, Jr. brought the field to green with Ruth leading the opening lap. Mollick started fourth and passed Zach Morrow and Long on the opening lap for second. Mollick’s winning move came on lap two when he passed Ruth. After going ninth to third in his heat, Kent started the feature from fifth and moved into third on lap two getting by Morrow and Long.
A pair of cautions slowed action with 11 and 12 laps completed. As Mollick continued to lead, a great three-car race ensued for second as Ruth was trying to fend off Kent and Joe Buccola. Kent finally drove around Ruth for second on the last lap. It was too late though for Kent as Mollick crossed the finish first by 1.997 seconds in the McFadden Machine/Willy’s Car Wash/Rae Lynn Enterprises/Spring Church Car Wash/JET Engines, Scott Clever-owned #4J. Mollick has now won five of the last six RUSH Sprint Car races at Sharon, which has moved him into sole possession of second place on the division’s all-time win list. It was Mollick’s sixth overall win at Sharon including a Big-Block Modified victory and milestone 20th of his RUSH Sprint Car career overall on the circuit.
Ruth, who continues to lead RUSH’s $5,000 Billy’s Garage Weekly Series standings, was third. Seventh starting Buccola had a good run in fourth as Morrow completed the first five. Sixth through 10th were Brandon Shughart, Long, Ricky Tucker III, Grayson Bayle, and Cooper Fritz. Heat winners were Mollick and Morrow.
Like Mollick, Chas Wolbert also made it two-for-two this season in the RUSH Sportsman Modifieds. The Series defending and three-time champion emerged victorious in a wild 20-lap HTMA/Precise Racing Products feature that saw several drivers have a crack at winning. Wolbert passed JC Boyer on lap 16 and held off a late charge by Darin Gallagher for the victory.
“They made me work for that one,” acknowledged the 30-year-old Warren, Ohio resident. “My buddy JC (Boyer) had a run there and was looking good, but it was unfortunate for him with the caution. The cautions are a great equalizer along with lapped cars and I know we were coming up on them. Ayden Cipriano was killing the top and not sure if he knocked the bumper off or what, but was doing a great job too. We’re grateful to be here at Sharon Speedway; it’s a beautiful track and was smooth with multiple lines. We have a great car here. It’s been great ever since we put it together last season and we didn’t do anything on it over the winter.”
Boyer and Matt Latta led the field to green as the two raced side-by-side for the lead the first two laps as Boyer held the top spot. Wolbert started sixth and was halfway to the front when he passed Kole Holden on lap four. Ayden Cipriano was making his season debut and passed Holden for fourth on lap five. It was a third-wide battle for second with Latta trying to fend off Wolbert and Cipriano. Cipriano passed Wolbert for third on lap eight then went to the outside of Latta take second one lap later with Wolbert following in third.
Cipriano ran down Boyer and the two raced side-by-side for the lead on lap 14 as Wolbert was right there in third. Cipriano used the momentum off the outside to nose ahead to lead lap 14, but ran out of racing room with the lapped car of Troy Pinch. Cipriano made contact with the fence and suffered a flat tire, which brought out the caution. When racing resumed, Wolbert made the winning pass to nose ahead to lead lap 16. Boyer appeared as if he was going to retake the lead on lap 17, but a caution gave Wolbert the lead back.
When racing resumed for the three-lap shootout, Wolbert chose the bottom and raced into the lead, while Gallagher moved into second. Gallagher went to the top and closed in on Wolbert, but ran out of time as Wolbert’s Alcon Mechanical/CT Wolbert Trucking/Ohio Intra Express/Dunkin of Warren/Y-Town Powder Coating/Russ King Racing/Scoville Designs/Race 1-sponsored #c3 took the checkered flag by just 0.313 seconds. For Wolbert, it was his all-time leading 24th of his career in the division at Sharon and 57th overall on the RUSH circuit.
Ninth starting Rob Kristyak also got by Boyer to finish third. Boyer dropped to fourth at the finish after leading 14 of the first 15 laps. Todd English went 12th to 5th to earn the $100 Summit Racing Equipment Hard Charger gift card. Latta faded to sixth after challenging for the lead early on. Kole Holden, Karston King, Dalton Gabriel, and Kyle Marell completed the top 10. Heat winners were Gallagher and Cipriano.
Coming up next Saturday (June 14), will be round two of the 43rd annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek featuring the All Star Circuit of Champions racing for $7,500 to-win. The RUSH Sportsman Modifieds will also be on the card. Warmups are scheduled for approximately 6:30 p.m. followed by qualifying and racing. For reserved seats, advance general admission, patio seats, VIP fan suite seats, and camping permits, visit https://sharonspeedway.simpletix.com/
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Cars (30 laps, $4,000 to-win): 1. 10-DALE BLANEY[3]; 2. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[2]; 3. 5K-Adam Kekich[1]; 4. 46-Michael Bauer[9]; 5. 29-Logan McCandless[11]; 6. 2-AJ Flick[10]; 7. 08-Danny Kuriger[13]; 8. 5-Jeremy Weaver[14]; 9. 3V-Chris Verda[6]; 10. 83X-Nate Reeser[4]; 11. 33-Brent Matus[20]; 12. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[15]; 13. 16-Jim Morris[16]; 14. 99-Cameron Nastasi[18]; 15. 21-Bryan Salisbury[12]; 16. 81-Rayce Jacobs[19]; 17. 47L-Dusty Larson[17]; 18. M4-Louie Mattes[21]; 19. 98-Ricky Peterson[5]; 20. 11-Carl Bowser[7]; 21. 13-Brandon Matus[8]. DNS: 7T-David Kalb, Jr.
RUSH Sprint Cars (20 laps): 1. 4J-JOHN MOLLICK[4]; 2. 9-Arnie Kent[5]; 3. 24-Gale Ruth Jr[2]; 4. 5B-Joe Buccola[7]; 5. 68-Zach Morrow[3]; 6. 29-Brandon Shughart[8]; 7. 63L-Wyatt Long[1]; 8. 1T-Ricky Tucker III[6]; 9. 21-Grayson Bayle[9]; 10. 57C-Cooper Fritz[10]; 11. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[14]; 12. 55-Luke Mulichak[17]; 13. 16C-Amelia Clay[12]; 14. 213-Lucas Roessner[16]; 15. 23-Charlie Utsinger[11]; 16. 48T-TJ Rosario[15]; 17. 21N-Samantha Priest[13].
HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds (20 laps): 1. C3-CHAS WOLBERT[6]; 2. 23-Darin Gallagher[5]; 3. 00-Rob Kristyak[9]; 4. 12-JC Boyer[1]; 5. 711-Todd English[12]; 6. 21-Matt Latta[2]; 7. 2-Kole Holden[3]; 8. 165K-Karston King[8]; 9. 333G-Dalton Gabriel[7]; 10. 8-Kyle Martell[10]; 11. 2LC-Lucas Canon[11]; 12. 29A-Anthony Antus[16]; 13. 12S-Troy Pinch[15]; 14. 70B-Nolan Burns[14]; 15. 00K-Jackson Kristyak[13]; 16. 22-Ayden Cipriano[4].
Sharon Speedway is owned by the Dave Blaney, Ryan Blaney, and Will Thomas III and is a 3/8-mile dirt track located on Custer-Orangeville Road in Hartford, Ohio near the intersection of Routes 7 & 305. For more information, check out the website at www.sharonspeedway.com or call 330-772-5481. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sharonspeedway and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) @sharonspdwy.