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Hewitt Wins ‘Beach Night Bash’ BOSS Sprint Feature
In Thriller at Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday Night;
Hederick, Bryant, Headley and Bishop Also Win Features

GAS CITY, Ind., Aug. 10 — The build-up pitted track point leader Thomas Meseraull versus Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series (BOSS) point leader Matt Westfall, but it was Tyler Hewitt who showed everyone he was really the boss Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway. The 31-year-old driver from Marion, Ind. nabbed his first career sprint feature victory in a barnburner and crowd-pleaser that highlighted “Beach Night Bash” night.

Hewitt used the low groove to win the 25-lap BOSS non-wing 410 sprint car feature by 0.313 of a second over a high-groove-flying Meseraull. Westfall used the low groove like Hewitt did, and he was just 0.026 behind TMez at the checkered.

Meseraull, of Waveland, Ind., started on the pole and led the first six laps before Hewitt slipped under him in Turn 2 for the lead. Despite a yellow on lap 11 and a red on lap 14, Hewitt continued to lead with Meseraull in hot pursuit a few yards higher up the track.

Westfall, of Pleasant Hill, Ohio, passed Cole Ketcham on a restart with 14 laps down to move into third, and then got under Meseraull for second coming out of Turn 4 working lap 16. The trio duked it out the rest of the way, and on lap 22 they were three abreast with Hewitt leading, Westfall second and Meseraull third. The following lap Meserall passed both Hewitt and Westfall in Turn 4 to lead lap 23, but Hewitt passed him back in Turn 2 on the white-flag lap. The two low- groove yellow cars of Hewitt and Westfall took the checkered with Meserall between them in the high lane. Ketcham, of Muncie, Ind., finished fourth and Garrett Abrams of Rushville, Ind. placed fifth in the 20-car field.  

Hewitt drove the One More Time Motorsports Maxim No. 97X, which uses an Evan Jackson-prepped Chevy engine. The team is out of Albany, Ind. and lists its sponsors as John and Sherril Long, Evan Jackson Engines and Maxim Chassis. Alfred Hewitt of Marion, Ind. is the winning chief mechanic.

Defending champion Matt Hederick of Rushville, Ind. started second and led all 20 laps of the United Midget Racing Association (UMRA) three-quarter (TQ) midget feature despite five caution flags that tightened up the field. Tate Martz, also of Rushville, placed second. Matt Lux of Manilla, Ind. passed Johnny Kringas of Homer Glen, Ill. in Turn 2 on the last lap to nail down third. Kringas was fourth and Brandon Gray of Greenfield, Ind. finished fifth.

Hederick, who is a field officer with the Rush County Sheriff’s Department, lists his sponsors as NTAT Precision, Rush Memorial Hospital, 4 Cs Seamless Gutters & Roofing, L&S Sanitation, Stanley Brothers Paving and Sealcoating, Unlimited Electric, and POC Industries. His mother, Emily Hedrick, owns his car.

Another new winner at the quarter-mile clay oval was Clayton Bryant of Fort Wayne, Ind., who won the 20-lap United Midwestern Promoters (UMP) modified feature in the Kingsland Motor Company No. 114. He started on the pole and led the whole way despite five yellows that let his rivals draw near. Zeke McKenzie of Claypool, Ind. started sixth but passed Dillon Nusbaum on lap 12 to nail down the runner-up honors. Nusbaum, the defending track champion from Warsaw, Ind., finished third followed by Jim Mallery of Mooresville, Ind. Last week’s winner, Scott Orr of Columbia City, Ind., started 16th in the 20-car field but finished fifth.

The bounty on the Headley family in the hornet division remained unclaimed, as James Headley of Marion, Ind. was victorious in that 15-lap feature. He led the first eight laps until his son, James Headley Jr. of Wabash, Ind., passed him on the outside in Turn 4 working lap nine. Headley Jr. slowed on the frontstretch on lap 13 with mechanical difficulties, however, and Gage Allen of Warren, Ind. ended up taking the runner-up honors. Jacob Beard of Columbia City, Ind. finished third; Alyssa Clark, also of Columbia City, placed fourth, and Joey Eastes of Fairmont, Ind. finished fifth.

Andy Bishop of Gas City powered by polesitter J.J. Nordman of Columbia City, Ind. on the outside in Turn 2 working lap three and then dominated the rest of the 12-lap street stock feature with the Thompson Trucking No. 14 for his sixth victory of the year. Nordman finished second followed by Mike Fincher of Rochester, Ind. The winner’s son, Dalton Bishop, also of Gas City, competed in his first stock car race ever and placed fourth. Larry Persinger of Jonesboro, Ind. was fifth.

Five drivers flipped during the evening. All escaped injury except Michael Roehling of Guilford, Ind., who flipped in Turn 1 with five laps down in the sprint car B main. Tayte Williamson of Bellefontaine, Ohio had nowhere to go and flipped into him. Both climbed from their cars, but Roehling was transferred to a local hospital after complaining of neck pain. Further information isn’t known about his condition at press time.

Cody Gardner of Monroe, Ohio flipped very hard on the frontstretch and finally came to a stop high in Turn 1 with 14 laps down in the sprint car feature.

Rick Robinson of Columbus, Ind. flipped between Turns 1 and 2 with three laps down in the first TQ midget heat.

Point leader Joey Paxson of Connersville, Ind. flipped violently just off Turn 2 with two laps down in the second TQ midget heat.

The intermission entertainment was unique. Since it was the “Beach Night Bash,” several brave fans cracked frozen T-shirts open on the frontstretch and then put them on.

The track is holding its “Night of Destruction” featuring monster trucks tonight, Saturday, Aug. 10.

This coming Friday night, Aug. 16, Gas City will present another five-division show. This one, called “Hot August Night,” will feature non-wing sprint cars, USAC SpeeD2 midgets, UMP modifieds, street stocks and hornets.

The track won’t be in action on Aug. 23, but it will once again be bright on Friday, Aug. 30 for the “King of the Wings” program. That show features the FAST on Dirt winged 410 sprints, UMP modifieds, winged 600cc micro-sprints, street stocks and hornets.

Fans can see the track’s complete 2019 schedule and get additional information on its website at GasCityI69Speedway.com. Fans can also follow it on Facebook (@GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas), Twitter (@GasCitySpeedway) and Instagram (@GasCitySpeedway).

The results:

BOSS Non-Wing Sprint Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Garrett Abrams, 2. Tyler Hewitt, 3. Kory Crabtree, 4. Brayden Clark, 5. Mike Miller, 6. Anthony D’Alessio, 7. Cody Gardner, 8. Evan Mosley, 9. Tayte Williamson, 10. Parker Fredrickson.

BOSS Non-Wing Sprint Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Scotty Weir, 3. Dallas Hewitt, 4. J.J. Hughes, 5. Steve Little, 6. Adam Byrett, 7. Michael Roehlig, 8. Buddy Lowther, 9. Ryan Barr.

BOSS Non-Wing Sprint Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Cole Ketcham, 2. Matt Westfall, 3. Korbyn Hayslett, 4. Dustin Webber, 5. Dustin Ingle, 6. Jacob Gordon, 7. David Hair, 8. Bob Distel, 9. Matt Lucius.

BOSS Non-Wing B Main (12 laps): 1. Anthony D’Alessio, 2. Jacob Gordon, 3. Adam Byrkett, 4. Cody Gardner, 5. Evan Mosley, 6. Bob Distel, 7. Parker Fredrickson, 8. Matt Lucius, 9. David Hair, 10. Ryan Barr, 11. Buddy Lowther, 12. Michael Roehling, 13. Tayte Williamson.
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BOSS Non-Wing Sprint Feature (25 laps): 1. Tyler Hewitt, 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Matt Westfall, 4. Cole Ketcham, 5. Garrett Abrams, 6. Dustin Webber, 7. Korbyn Hayslett, 8. Jacob Gordon, 9. Kory Crabtree, 10. Dallas Hewitt, 11. Mike Miller, 12. J.J. Hughes, 13. Scotty Weir, 14. Dustin Ingle, 15. Anthony D’Alessio, 16. Steve Little, 17. Brayden Clark, 18. Adam Byrkett, 19. Evan Mosley, 20. Cody Gardner.

UMRA TQ Midget Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Cory Clay, 2. Matt Lux, 3. Matt Hederick, 4. Tate Martz, 5. Johnny Kringas, 6. Layne Beard, 7. Ron Combs, 8. Rick Robinson.

UMRA TQ Midget Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Austin Nigh, 2. Robbie Roland, 3. Brandon Gray, 4. Josh Derrickson, 5. Johnny Goff, 6. Joey Paxson, 7. Ashlea Albertson.

UMRA TQ Midget Feature (20 laps): 1. Matt Hederick, 2. Tate Martz, 3. Matt Lux, 4. Johnny Kringas, 5. Brandon Gray, 6. Ron Combs, 7. Rick Robinson, 8. Cody Abrams, 9. Josh Derrickson, 10. Austin Nigh, 11. Johnny Goff, 12. Ashlea Albertson, 13. Cory Clay, 14. Robbie Roland, 15. Joey Paxson.

UMP Modified Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Zeke McKenzie, 2. Jim Mallery, 3. Andy Bishop, 4. Terry Grilliot, 5. Bill Griffith, 6. Scott Orr, 7. Adam Lantz
UMP Modified Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Brian Post, 2. Dillon Nusbaum, 3. Jim Post, 4. Nick Felkey, 5. Jesse Strange, 6. Braxton Strait, 7. Jessica Sroufe.

UMP Modified Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Aaron Orr, 2. Clayton Bryant, 3. Jason Jones, 4. John Halsey, 5. Luke Timmerman, 6. Reed Hurst.

UMP Modified Feature (20 laps): 1. Clayton Bryant, 2. Zeke McKenzie, 3. Dillon Nusbaum, 4. Jim Mallery, 5. Scott Orr, 6. Brian Post, 7. Aaron Orr, 8. Andy Bishop, 9. Nick Felkey, 10. John Halsey, 11. Braxton Strait, 12. Jim Post, 13. Reed Hurst, 14. Jason Jones, 15. Adam Lantz, 16. Luke Timmerman, 17. Bill Griffith, 18. Terry Grilliot, 19. Jesse Strange, 20. Jessica Sroufe.

Hornet Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Jacob Beard, 2. Kolton Sollars, 3. Alyssa Clark, 4. Stevie Clark, 5. Joey Eastes, 6. Jesse Arenas, 7. Mark Casto, 8. Brad Evans.

Hornet Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. James Headley Jr., 2. James Headley, 3. Gage Allen, 4. Tommy Mayworm, 5. Randy Brommer, 6. Dustin Franks, 7. Charlie Teegarden.

Hornet Feature (15 laps): 1. James Headley, 2. Gage Allen, 3. Jacob Beard, 4. Alyssa Clark, 5. Joey Eastes, 6. Dustin Franks, 7. Stevie Clark, 8. Charlie Teegarden, 9. Jesse Arenas, 10. Tommy Mayworm, 11. James Headley Jr., 12. Mark Casto, 13. Brad Evans, 14. Randy Brommer, 15. Kolton Sollars*
*: Disqualified for rough driving

Street Stock Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. J.J. Nordman, 2. Mike Fincher, 3. Larry Persinger, 4. Scrappy Wilkins, 5. Andy Bishop (DNS).

Street Stock Feature (12 laps): 1. Andy Bishop, 2. J.J. Nordman, 3. Mike Fincher, 4. Dalton Bishop, 5. Larry Persinger, 6. Scrappy Wilkins.