By Mike Leone
(Hartford, OH)…Sharon Speedway completed its third show in the past eight days as it hosted the final Bala Management “Super Series” event of the 96th anniversary season on a sunny, hot, and humid Saturday evening. Celebrating in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Victory Lane for the “Bill Kirila Memorial” were Cap Henry (Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Cars), John Mollick (RUSH Sprint Cars), Curt J. Bish (Gibson Insurance Agency Pro Stocks) and Chas Wolbert (HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds). It was Hovis Auto & Truck Supply, Diehl Automotive, and Sunburst Environmental Services Night.
Making his first appearance of the 2025 season, Cap Henry captured the 30-lap Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Car victory for his first Sharon victory since September 3, 2022 during an All Star Circuit of Champions event. Henry, who won on Friday night at Attica Raceway Park, inherited the lead with four laps to go after race-long leader Jacob Begenwald crashed in lapped traffic and went on to become the season’s fifth different winner in six races. It’s been a tremendous season for Henry, who earned $4,000 for his 11th overall victory of 2025.
“This car is so fast everywhere we take it,” expressed the 35-year-old Republic, Ohio driver. “It’s so much fun and I’m really grateful to drive it. This is pretty different than what we had at Attica last night so it just shows how great the car is. He (Begenwald) was good. I just kept trying to show my nose wing and pressure him, but I knew we were running out of laps. I hate to see the kid crash like that, but I was happy to get out in clean air and makes some good laps. It’s fun to win here. Fremont was closed for the fair so Jeff Ward gave us the opportunity to come out here and we made the most of it.”
Begenwald raced out to the early, while Henry passed John Jerich and Adam Kekich for second on the opening lap. By lap four, the lead duo pulled away from the pack prior to entering lapped traffic on lap seven. Meanwhile, Jeremy Weaver started sixth and moved into the top five on lap two then passed Kekich for fourth on lap six. Logan McCandless brought out the caution with eight laps scored when he suffered a blown left rear tire.
Back under green, ninth starting Carl Bowser got an excellent restart as he flew into fourth using the outside lane. Weaver then made an excellent pass of both Bowser and Jerich to advance to third on lap 10. As the laps ticked off, Begenwald was flying right up against the fence, while Henry was using every lane on the racey surface trying to find a way by. On lap 22, the two banged wheels with Begenwald maintaining the top spot.
Begenwald had finished a career best “410” finish of second to Dale Blaney back on June 7 and was determined for his first career win in the division; however, got into the fence off turn two trying to navigate the lapped car of Jimmy Morris. As Henry blitzed by into the lead, Begenwald suffered front end damage and came to rest in turn three to necessitate the event’s final caution with 26 laps scored.
Henry would pull away in the four-lap dash to the checkered flag as he crossed the finish line first by a commanding 3.555 seconds in the Jeff Ward-owned, Jeff Ward Demolition/Premier Planning Services/Innovative Excavating/Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts/Primal Tee Shop/FK Rod Ends-sponsored #33w for his fourth career Sharon victory.
Weaver earned $2,000 for his first career podium “410” finish at Sharon. Bowser had a solid third advancing six spots from his initial starting position to earn $1,400 for his fourth top five in six starts this season. Jerich was fourth for his second top four finish of the week after his comeback from suffering an injury in a crash back on May 10. Brandon Matus was fifth.
Central Pa. racer Jason Shultz went 17th to 6th in his 2025 debut. Kekich dropped to seventh. Bryan Sebetto had went 10th to 5th on lap 12 before getting into the fence on lap 16 and fell to eighth at the finish in his first visit in more than nine years and first on the new red clay surface. Opening night winner, A.J. Flick, struggled in ninth as McCandless came back to finish 10th. McCandless set fast time overall in qualifying against the 21-car field with a lap of 14.475. Heat winners were Henry, Bowser, and Begenwald.
Despite starting seventh, John Mollick raced to the front taking the lead with a three-wide pass on lap five and went unchallenged to the 20-lap RUSH Sprint Car victory. Mollick won all five of his 2025 appearances and has now won eight of his last nine starts at Sharon dating back to last season after never winning at the track in the class in more than five years of trying!
“We found some things after watching Chad Ruhlman run around here and we’ve been good ever since,” acknowledged the 54-year-old Toronto, Ohio veteran. “Scotty (Clever) has this car dialed in and it’s been really good. You just have to be patient with it and roll the corners. This place races so good because it’s so wide. You don’t have to worry about ruts and holes; everything is just smooth, nice and consistent. These guys do a great job preparing this track week after week- it’s fun to race here.”
Rookie Grayson Bayle raced into the early, while fourth starting Wyatt Long passed Charlie Utsinger for second on lap two. On lap three, Mollick went sixth to fourth then passed Utsinger one-lap later for third. While Long was trying to make the outside work on Bayle, Mollick got a great run off the outside of turn four to pass both Long and Bayle for the lead with an impressive three-wide move on the fifth circuit.
Jeremy Weaver, who was doing double duty subbing for July 12 winner Zach Morrow in the Tim Engles-owned #68, started eighth and passed Bayle for third on lap seven and Long for second on lap eight. A pair of cautions slowed action with 13 laps completed, one for Long, who got crossed up in turn four.
When racing resumed for the final seven laps, Weaver was unable to make a bid at the lead and in fact lost second to fifth starting Joe Buccola on lap 17. Buccola had nothing for Mollick, who crossed the finish line first by a margin of 3.700 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 ninth career win overall at Sharon, which includes a Big-Block Modified triumph. It was also Mollick’s 25th career RUSH Sprint Car win across the circuit.
Buccola backed up his runner-up finish from Friday night at Tri-City Raceway Park with his best weekend of the season. Weaver, who was the 2020 RUSH Sprint Car Weekly Series Champion, was third. Arnie Kent went ninth to fourth and was in the battle for second at the finish. Dustin DeMattia, who owns five career Sharon wins between the UMP Mods and Econo Mods, made his first RUSH Sprint Car start in nearly three years and went 12th to 5th. Bayle dropped to sixth over 13th starting Samantha Priest. Trent Marshall, Utsinger, and Kevin Kaserman completed the top five. Heat winners were Morrow and Mollick.
After a wild heat race that saw Curt J. Bish go sixth to the win, an invert 0 earned Bish the pole for the Pro Stock feature and he’d go unchallenged to the 15-lap Gibson Insurance Agency victory. Bish, who was making just his third start of the year at Sharon, became the season’s fifth different winner in six races. It was Bish’s first win at the track since June 22, 2024. The event went non-stop in 5:05.496.
“I could maneuver around if I had to,” explained the 41-year-old Cranberry, Pa. racer. “The bottom seemed like it was more dominant so I just stuck the left side in the dark brown that was there and tried to hit my marks. With one-to-go I kind of screwed up into (turn) one; I bobbled a bit and shoved the nose. I had to get the car back underneath me, but it worked out. This is our fourth win in a row and we’re rolling pretty good right now. I want to dedicate this win to my number one fan, Bryan Beggs- this one is for him. Thanks to Sharon Speedway for the great race track we always get to race on.”
Paul Davis passed Scott Stiffler on the opening lap for second and stayed within striking distance, but came up 1.266 behind Bish. It was Bish’s 14th win of his career, which came in the Bob Tarr-owned, Virgile Iron & Steel/CB’s Heating & Cooling/Pioneer Electric Supply/Allegheny Tool & Supply/Jim’s Automotive/Travis Harry Racing Engines/Bish Heating & Cooling/Bernard’s Electrical Services-sponsored #29.
Cody Koteles went seventh to third nipping Jason Fosnaught at the finish. The pass not only earned him a $100 Summit Racing Equipment gift card, but also the $100 Performance Bodies gift card for nosing out Fosnaught by just 0.065 seconds. D’Apolito was fifth as Stiffler dropped to sixth. Soon-to-be 74-year-old Larry Kugel was seventh over Jason Jones.
Chas Wolbert continued his dominance of the RUSH Sportsman Modified division at not only Sharon, but throughout the circuit. Wolbert passed JC Boyer on lap nine and went on for his fourth win in six starts and 13th overall win of 2025 to maintain the lead in the $3,500 to-win RUSH Weekly Series Championship and the $1,000 to-win “Route 7 Rumble” Series.
“He (Boyer) had this thing tied up until that restart,” stated the 31-year-old Warren, Ohio standout. “I’ll tell you what the track crew really did us one today and threw us a curveball. We’re not used to the grip like this at Sharon- it’s usually slick for us. We struggled in the heat race and had to throw something at it for the feature. Thank you to the crew and everyone here that came out to support a great event.”
Boyer used the outside to take the early lead from Jackson Kristyak, while Wolbert raced under Kristyak for second on the opening lap. Wolbert hounded Boyer throughout the first eight caution-free laps until Lucas Canon slowed with a flat tire.
When racing resumed on lap nine, Wolbert was able to drive around Boyer on the outside for the winning pass. 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 first by 2.198 seconds over Boyer for his all-time division leading 26th career win at Sharon and 66th overall on the circuit.
Last week’s first career Sharon winner, Darin Gallagher, went ninth to third after passing Kole Holden on lap 14. Holden was fourth. Dalton Gabriel, who finished fifth in a Pro Stock on June 21, turned in his career best RUSH Sportsman Modified finish at Sharon in fifth after starting seventh. Karston King, who leads RUSH’s Futures Cup points, was sixth. Rookie Nolan Burns won his first career heat race then finished seventh in the feature beating out Troy Pinch, Kristyak, and Lucas Canon.
Coming up next Saturday (August 23) will be the final “Steel Valley Thunder” show of the season. The “Open Wheel Clash” will feature the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Big-Block Modifieds ($2,000), UMP Mods presented by A&MP Electric ($1,000), Econo Mod Mania Tour ($1,200), RUSH Sportsman Modifieds and the Old Skool Kool Vintage Mod Tour. The Crown Vics will also make their fifth and final appearance of 2025. The RUSH Mods will take part in their “Manufacturers Night”. It’ll be FREE hot dog night (two per person) presented by Sysco Foods!
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Cars (30 laps, $4,000 to-win): 1. 33W-CAP HENRY[4]; 2. 5-Jeremy Weaver[6]; 3. 11-Carl Bowser[9]; 4. 3-John Jerich[3]; 5. 13-Brandon Matus[7]; 6. 35R-Jason Shultz[17]; 7. 5K-Adam Kekich[2]; 8. 01-Bryan Sebetto[10]; 9. 2-AJ Flick[11]; 10. 29-Logan McCandless[5]; 11. 16-Jim Morris[13]; 12. 47L-Dusty Larson[14]; 13. 47-Brett Brunkenhoefer[19]; 14. 18-Arnie Kent[12]; 15. 99-Cameron Nastasi[16]; 16. 3J-Jacob Begenwald[1]; 17. 08-Danny Kuriger[8]; 18. 33-Brent Matus[18]; 19. M4-Louie Mattes[15]. DNS: 3V-Chris Verda & 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr.
RUSH Sprint Cars (20 laps): 1. 4J-JOHN MOLLICK[7]; 2. 5B-Joe Buccola[5]; 3. 68-Jeremy Weaver[8]; 4. 9-Arnie Kent[9]; 5. 77D-Dustin DeMattia[12]; 6. 21-Grayson Bayle[1]; 7. 21N-Samantha Priest[13]; 8. 17-Trent Marshall[6]; 9. 23-Charlie Utsinger[2]; 10. 13K-Kevin Kaserman[10]; 11. 213-Lucas Roessner[3]; 12. 20A-Jesse Armstrong[16]; 13. 7-Cooper Macormac[15]; 14. 2R-Rich Womeldorf[14]; 15. 29-Brandon Shughart[11]; 16. 63L-Wyatt Long[4].
Gibson Insurance Agency Pro Stocks (15 laps): 1. 29-CURT J. BISH[1]; 2. 3-Paul Davis[3]; 3. 1K-Cody Koteles[7]; 4. 25-Jason Fosnaught[4]; 5. 84-Steve D’Apolito[6]; 6. 14-Scott Stiffler[2]; 7. 0-Larry Kugel[8]; 8. 81J-Jason Jones[5].
HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds (15 laps): 1. C3-CHAS WOLBERT[3]; 2. 12-JC Boyer[2]; 3. 23-Darin Gallagher[9]; 4. 2-Kole Holden[5]; 5. 333G-Dalton Gabriel[7]; 6. 165K-Karston King[8]; 7. 70B-Nolan Burns[4]; 8. 12*-Troy Pinch[10]; 9. 00K-Jackson Kristyak[1]; 10. 2LC-Lucas Canon[6].
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.