For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com
Cell: (317) 201-0729

 

Westfall Wins a Barnburner of a Sprint Feature;
Magic Tops the D2 Midgets; Wigal Takes Micro-Sprint Win;
King Rules the Trucks and Arcaro Repeats in the Hornets
Friday Night at Gas City I-69 Speedway

GAS CITY, Ind., Aug. 13 — On Friday night Matt Westfall was victorious in the most competitive 25-lap sprint car feature so far this year at Gas City I-69 Speedway. After a race-long war with three other front runners, the veteran from Pleasant Hill, Ohio became the seventh different sprint car feature winner this season at the Grant County quarter-mile dirt track.

Michael Magic of Winder, Ga., didn’t use any hocus pocus to win the 20-lap main event for the USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget series, which is sponsored by Performance Electronics.

Zach Wigal flipped in Turn 4 while running third with two laps down in the midget feature, but the high school student from Belpre, Ohio returned to win the 15-lap micro-sprint feature.

Andy King of Convoy, Ohio took the lead with three laps to go in the 15-lap Dirt Track Truck Series feature and led the early leader, Dan Ramey of Payne, Ohio, to the checkered flag.

Jeremy Jones of Gas City tried his hardest but he couldn’t stop Landon Arcaro of Bookville, Ind., from winning his sixth 15-lap hornet feature of the season at Gas City.

Non-Wing Sprint Cars

The stars of the non-wing sprint car feature were Westfall; defending track champion Scotty Weir of Marion, Ind.; Tye Mihocko of Peoria, Ariz., and Anton Hernandez of West Lafayette, Ind. They finished in that order, but not without a good old fashioned slugfest.

Polesitter Evan Mosley of Lapel, Ind., led the first lap and finished fifth.

Westfall started second and passed Mosley with a move to the outside in Turn 2 before Levi Wignet of Wabash, Ind., spun in Turn 2 to cause a compete restart. Mosley led the first lap before Westfall got him again, this time on the backstretch, to lead laps two and three, although there was a pause between those laps when Colin Grissom of Anderson, Ind., spun off Turn 2. Lap three was also when Mihocko charged under Mosley for second in Turn 2 and set his sights on Westfall.

It only took Mihocko a quarter of a mile, as he passed Westfall low in Turn 4 to lead laps four through seven, setting the fastest lap of the race on lap five in the process. Weir, meanwhile, had made it to third by lap five after starting eighth, while Hernandez was fourth after starting third.

Westfall tried the outside repeatedly to pass Mihocko. He made a pass stick at the start-finish line on lap eight, but four laps later Mihocko was still just 0.381 seconds behind Westfall’s Ray Marshall Motorsports DRC/Gressman Chevy, which is sponsored by Buckeye Machine, Ray Marshall Motorsports, Hempy Water and Allstar Performance.

Weir was close too, and on lap 13 Weir passed Mihocko for second. On the next lap the top four of Westfall, Weir, Mihocko and Hernandez were running under the proverbial blanket, and they kept it up until Matt Goodnight of Muncie, Ind., had a problem in Turn 4 with 16 laps down to bring out another yellow.

The pressure ramped up even higher when they got another lap in the books and then Grissom brought out another yellow when he stopped on the frontstretch with 17 laps down.

Hernandez, who had just gotten a call from Scott Benic to drive the No. 2B, flew under Mihocko in Turn 4 for third on lap 18, but Mihocko got him back on the very next lap. Mihocko also passed Weir for second on lap 23, but Weir regained the spot on the white-flag lap. Driving the Scott and Donna Pedersen’s familiar DRC/Pedersen No. 4P sponsored by Red’s Racing Engines, Indy Race Parts and AFCO, Weir was 0.624 of a second behind Westfall’s No. 33M at the checkered.

Mihocko drove Jamie and Michelle Paul’s DRC Foxco sponsored by High Asspirations Farms, Rumpke and Olde Schoolhouse Winery, while Hernandez’s Maxim is sponsored by Benic Enterprises, Honest Abe Roofing of Terre Haute, Velocita-USA and Zamp Racing. Mosley’s No. 27, which is a DRC/Gressman just like Westfall’s, is sponsored by CB Fabricating, H4 Capital and Quack Daddy Donuts.

USAC SpeeD2 Midget Thunder Midgets

Magic got busy immediately in the USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget feature after starting 11th in the 16-car field. Polesitter Gunnar Lucius of Delphos, Ohio, led the first lap before giving way to Jakeb Boxell of Zanesville, Ohio, who led laps two through 13. That included the red for Wigal, who flipped after contact with Lucius with two laps down while he was running third.

But Magic was already on the move behind the front runners. He was eighth on lap one, sixth on lap two, fourth on lap three, and second on lap five after passing Lucius on the outside.

Boxell had a 1.5-second lead at that time, and he had stretched his advantage to nearly 2 seconds by lap eight. But Magic got the opportunity he was hoping for with 10 laps down when Tyler Watkins of Marion, Ind., spun off course in Turn 4 to bring out a yellow and close up the field.

Boxell led three laps after the restart until Magic passed him at the start-finish line on lap 14. Magic led the rest of the race and he had a 0.474 second margin of victory over Boxell.

The other big mover in the race was Bryce Massingill of Troy, Ohio, who won here on July 29. He started 13th, cracked the top 10 on lap five, and moved into the top five on lap 12. He passed Alex Watson of Columbus, Ohio for fourth on lap 13 and Lucius for third with five laps remaining to nail down the show position.

Lucius placed fourth and Chris Dickey of Westfield, Ind., rounded out the top five.

Magic’s winning car is a Stealth chassis with a Honda powerplant and Kahne shocks. He’s sponsored by Full Circle Fabrication, Atlantic Powder Coating and PBH Indy Honda.

Winged Micro-Sprints

Magic was also a player in the micro-sprint feature, as he led the first two laps from the pole before giving way to Craig Ronk of Warsaw, Ind., who had started fifth.

There were two yellows with five laps down. On the first restart with five laps down Magic’s car didn’t fire, which caused the second yellow. Ronk was penalized two positions for brake checking before that restart, which gave the lead to Wigal, who had worked his way up to second after starting sixth.

Ronk passed Todd Kirkman of Kokomo, Ind., for second with nine laps down but had to give the spot back after Deon Coburn of Logansport, Ind., stopped on the frontstretch to bring out another yellow. Ronk passed Kirkman again on the backstretch after that restart and then zeroed in on Wigal. The 15-year-old driver persevered, but won by only 0.203 seconds over Ronk.

Kirkman held on for third followed by Blane Culp of Columbia City, Ind., and Jeremy Warren of Noblesville, Ind.

WIgal’s winning micro is owned by Chad Boat Industries and is sponsored by Prime Lending, K&C Drywall and Adams Performance. `

Dirt Track Truck Series

The Dirt Track Truck Series feature went nonstop. Ramey led the first 11 laps from the pole. King, who started eighth and last, dipped under him in Turn 2 after some contact and led the final four laps. King, the owner and founder of the series, had a 1.189-second lead over Ramey at the checkered flag.

Kevin Knittle of Middle Point, Ohio started third and finished third. Phil Hicks of Lima, Ohio, who started second, finished fourth. Jamie Heiser of Salamonia, Ind., started fifth, was as high as third in the early going, and finished fifth.

The winning truck is sponsored by Hicks Lawn Services and Coffey Plantations.

Hornets

Arcaro and Jones battled furiously for most of the hornet feature after they started fifth and sixth, respectively.

Arcaro led the first five laps; Jones led lap six; Arcaro held the point again on laps seven and eight; Jones led again on laps nine and 10, and Arcaro got the lead for good on the backstretch on lap 11 by using lapped traffic to his advantage.

Alexes Spaulding of Roanoke, Ind., finished third followed by polesitter Emily Johnson of Upland, Ind., and Hunter Rasmussen of Lagro, Ind.

Arcaro’s No. 72 is sponsored in part by Gillman Home Center, Smith Landscaping and Lawncare, and Wholesale Carpet.

What’s Next?

The track will be dark on Friday, Aug. 19 to prepare for the “Night of Destruction” on Saturday, Aug. 20. It features monster trucks, a minivan demo derby, trailer races, a rollover contest and more.

The next Friday night show is the Labor Day Classic on Sept. 2, with a big five-division card.

The James Dean Classic featuring the USAC AMSOIL national sprint cars and the USAC NOS Energy Drink national midgets is Thursday, Sept. 22, and then the 2022 season closes Oct. 21-22 with the fourth annual Gas City Fall Festival of Speed.

For more information see the track’s social media outlets, as the track’s website is undergoing some changes. It is on Facebook (GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas) and Twitter (@GasCitySpeedway).

Gas City I-69 Speedway is located on State Road 22, approximately a half-mile west of exit 259 of Interstate 69, about halfway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Ind.

Linda Mansfield/Restart Communications
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com
Cell: (317) 201-0729