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Former Track Champs Capitalize on Opportunity
To Earn Double Points Friday
At Gas City I-69 Speedway

GAS CITY, Ind., July 11 – Four former Gas City I-69 Speedway champions took advantage of the double points on the line during the “Mid-Season Championship” at Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday night and won their respective features to give their 2020 efforts a shot in the arm. Defending non-wing sprint car champion Thomas Meseraull of Waveland, Ind. won his 25-lap feature, while former champ Derek Losh of Rensselaer, Ind. took the top honors in the 20-lap modified main event. Defending street stock champion Andy Bishop of Gas City was victorious in that 15-lap feature, while multi-time track champion James Headley of Marion, Ind. was the star of the 15-lap hornet feature. The USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 midgets were on hand as an added attraction, and Adam Taylor of DeMotte, Ind., the 2017 34 Raceway midget champ, won that 25-lap main event on a night that featured 108 race cars.

It was Meseraull’s race to lose when he started on the pole of the sprint feature in Tom Eades’ Physical Medicine Consultants No. 47, which is a DRC chassis with a Stensland-prepped engine. Kyle Cummins almost made him lose it, as the Princeton, Ind.-based driver passed Meseraull low in Turn 4 on lap six for the lead. Cummins, who was in the Hank Byram/Rock Steady Racing Mach 1/Foxco sponsored by Lucas Oil Centers, Mid-America Safety Solutions and POSI Project Oversight Services, all of Evansville, Ind., led through lap 10, when a yellow waved for Tyler Kendall of Greenfield, Ind., who had spun between Turns 1 and 2.

But Meseraull found what he needed on the restart and charged under Cummins on the frontstretch to regain the lead, which he didn’t relinquish again despite two more yellows for spins by Max Gifford of Auckland, New Zealand on lap 15 and Chase Jones of Indianapolis on lap 20 that gave Cummins another shot. Meseraull was able to pad his lead and he was about six lengths ahead of Cummins at the checkered.

Scotty Weir of Marion, Ind. had a big battle with J.J. Hughes of Indianapolis before Weir nailed down third place in Matt and Gene Goodnight’s Maxim/Claxton sponsored by Quality Pallet, the Pallet Builders, and Benic Enterprises.

Shane Cockrum of Benton, Ill., who won here June 26, placed fourth after running most of the race with a broken right-front shock. A high-riding Max Adams of Loomis, Calif. placed fifth in the famous Hazen No. 57.

A.J. and Matt Brookmyer contributed an extra $100 for the hard charger in the sprint car feature. That was Matt Goodnight of Winchester, Ind., who started 18th and finished ninth.

The Brookmyers also awarded a Hoosier right-rear tire to the first sprint car non-quaiifier, which was Travis Hery of Columbus, Ohio.

The 25-lap USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 midget feature got off to a rough start when Corey Guingrich of Celina, Ohio flipped hard on the backstretch on the initial start while several other drivers spun elsewhere. Luckily Guingrich climbed out of his car under his own power, but it set the stage for a race that saw three more caution flags and another red. The latter flew after Tom Hessel of Van Wert, Ohio flipped in Turn 2 with nine laps down. Luckily he escaped unscathed too.

Gary Loney started on the pole and led the first nine laps. Chet Gehrke of Bardtown, Ky. slipped under Jacob Denney of Columbus, Ohio in Turn 3 for second place on lap four only to suffer a blown engine complete with an oil fire five laps later.

That gave second to Stratton Briggs of Anna, Ohio, and he passed Loney for the lead with a move to the inside as they were going down the backstretch on that restart.

Taylor slipped under Loney for second on the backstretch on lap 11, and there was contact more than once between the pair on lap 12 as they raced side by side. Taylor got the lead working lap 13. Briggs remained in second until he went off course in Turn 2 working lap 17, which gave second back to Loney. Taylor, who had started fourth, took the checkered with a straightaway advantage over Loney. Denney was third; Briggs hung on for fourth and Alex Watson of Columbus, Ohio came from 11th to fifth.

The winning midget is a Stealth by Spike. It is sponsored by ATM, CSI Shocks, Engler Injection, SET Racing, Horizon Hobbies, NPL Oil Co. and Paint the Tunacan.

Polesitter Dylan Woodling of Warsaw, Ind. led the first lap of the modified feature before Losh, who started beside him, used the outside groove to fly past him going into Turn 3 on lap two. Losh, who also won at Gas City on June 19, led the rest of the way with the No. 21L he owns along with Russ Losh. The team is sponsored by Superior Sales and Service, Aggressive, R & R Transmission, Rensselaer Iron and Metal and Talbert Manufacturing.

Tony Anderson of Lima, Ohio, who started fourth, passed Woodling for second on lap 10 and finished in that position. The best battle of the race was for third between Aaron Orr of Columbia City, Ind.; Bub Roberts of Warren, Ind., and Woodling. Roberts eventually got the position, while Orr finished fourth. Shane O’Connor of Lima, Ohio placed fifth followed by Todd Sherman of Churubusco, Ind. and Woodling.

Bishop got the jump on polesitter Justin Long of Lima, Ohio and led all 15 laps of the street stock feature in the No. 14, which is sponsored by Thompson Trucking and R & R Transmission. Bill Bradley of Marion, Ind., who won here June 19, dipped under David Short of Winamac, Ind. in Turn 4 working lap 12 to nail down the runner-up honors. Short finished third followed by Mike Fincher of Rochester, Ind. Short’s son Andrew, of North Judson, Ind., who was celebrating his 19th birthday, spun early, went to the tail of the field, and rebounded to finish fifth.

Headley got the jump on his son at the start of the hornet feature and led the whole way, although James Headley Jr. of Wabash, Ind. threatened to pass his dad a couple of times. Later Headley Jr. had his hands full battling with Bill Lewis of Fountain City, Ind. Lewis passed Headley Jr. in Turn 2 for second working lap 19 but Headley Jr. got the spot back on the backstretch and never lost it again, although their battle intensified again on lap 11. Lewis finished third followed by Jason Spencer and Brandon Lines of Marion, Ind.

The “Scrappy Do Crew” added purse money for the winner of the hornet feature, so Headley took home $350. His car is sponsored by Dudding’s Heating and Cooling, Garriott Electric, Edwards Automotive and TJR Trucking.

During opening ceremonies the track officials remembered Gas City Police Chief Tim Eckstein, who died unexpectedly last Wednesday at age 54, reportedly of natural causes. The flag was also at half-staff in his honor, and donations were accepted for his family.

The show was broadcast by Flo Racing and Speed Shift TV.

Next Friday, July 17, will be the popular “Beach Night Bash” featuring non-wing sprint cars, modifieds, Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions TQ midgets, hornets, and the Dirt Track Truck Series. Hot laps are at 6:30 p.m. and the racing starts at 7:30 p.m.

Gas City will host the opening round of “USAC Sprint Week” on Friday, July 24 with the USAC AMSOIL national sprint cars to round out the month. Non-wing 600cc micro-sprints will support that program. Tickets are going fast at usactickets.com. There is no guarantee of ticket sales at the gate for this show due to COVID-19 limitations.

The complete schedule is on the track’s website at GasCityI69Speedway.com.  Fans and competitors can also follow it on Twitter: @GasCitySpeedway; Instagram: @GasCitySpeedway and Facebook: GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas.

Gas City I-69 Speedway is located on State Road 22, approximately a half-mile west of I-69, exit 259.

The results:

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 1 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Kyle Cummins, 2. Chase Jones, 3. Sterling Cling, 4. Aaron Leffel, 5. Scott Hampton, 6. Zack Pretorius, 7. Travis Hery, 8. Isaac Chapple.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 2 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Thomas Meseraull, 2. Shane Cockrum, 3. Billy Cribbs, 4. Tyler Kendall, 5. Matt Goodnight, 6. Jack James, 7. Cooper Welch, 8. Robert Brown.  

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 3 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. J.J. Hughes, 2. Max Adams, 3. Max Guilford, 4. Adam Byrkett, 5. Braydon Clark, 6. Cody White, 7. Cole Ketcham.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 4 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Dallas Hewitt, 2. Scotty Weir, 3. Korbyn Hayslett, 4. Braden Fox, 5. Aaron Mosley, 6. Austin Nigh, 7. Aaron Davis.

Non-Wing Sprint B Main (10 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Scott Hampton, 2. Matt Goodnight, 3. Zack Pretorius, 4. Aaron Mosley, 5. Travis Hery, 6. Isaac Chapple, 7. Brayden Clark, 8. Cole Ketcham, 9. Cody White, 10. Austin Nigh, 11. Jack James, 12. Cooper Welch, 13. Robert Brown, 14. Aaron Davis (DNS).

Non-Wing Sprint Feature (25 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Thomas Meseraull (1), 2. Kyle Cummins (4), 3. Scotty Weir (5), 4. Shane Cockrum (7), 5. Max Adams (8), 6. Dallas Hewitt (2), 7. J.J.Hughes (3), 8. Billy Cribbs (10), 9. Matt Goodnight (18), 10. Braydon Fox (16), 11. Scott Hampton (17), 12. Korbyn Hayslett (12), 13. Tyler Kendall (14), 14. Adam Byrkett (15), 15. Aaron Leffel (13), 16. Max Guilford (11), 17. Chase Jones (6), 18. Zack Pretorius (19), 19. Evan Mosley (20), 20. Sterling Cling (9).
Lap Leaders: Lap 1-5, Meseraull; laps 6-10, Cummins; laps 11-25, Meseraull.

USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midgets Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Adam Taylor, 2. Gunnar Lucius, 3. Chet Gehrke, 4. Corey Guingrich, 5. Zack Guingrich, 6. Alex Watson, 7. Zane Briggs, 8. Ian Creager, 9. Kyle Kriegbaum, 10. Tyler Rankin.

USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midgets Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Gary Loney, 2. Jacob Denney, 3. Stratton Briggs, 4. Kyle Dager, 5. Abbey Hohlbein, 6. Tom Hessel, 7. Bryce Dues, 8. Adam Schmenk, 9. Tommy Koons.

USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midgets Feature (25 laps): 1. Adam Taylor (4), 2. Gary Loney (1), 3. Jacob Denney (3), 4. Stratton Briggs (6), 5. Alex Watson (11), 6. Gunnar Lucius (5), 7. Kyle Dager (8), 8. Zane Briggs (13), 9. Adam Schmenk (16), 10. Zack Gingrich (9), 11. Ian Creager (15), 12. Tyler Rankin (18), 13. Abbey Hohlbein (10), 14. Tom Hessel (12), 15. Chet Gehrke (2), 16. Kyle Kriegbaum (17), 17. Bryce Dues (14), 18. Corey Guingrich (7), 19. Tommy Koons (DNS).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-9, Gary Loney; laps 10- 12, S. Briggs; laps 13-25, Taylor.

Modified Heat 1 (8 laps, 5 transferred): 1. Dylan Woodling, 2. Bill Griffith, 3. Chris Hicks, 4. John Halsey, 5. Joshua Hotsinpiller, 6. Daniel Sanchez, 7. Joshua Cox, 8. Ryan Sutter (DNS), 9. Percy Gendreau (DNS).

Modified Heat 2 (8 laps, 5 transferred): 1. Aaron Orr, 2. Tony Anderson, 3. Bub Roberts, 4. Weasel Phlipot, 5. Andy Bishop, 6. Garrett Rons, 7. Josh Betts, 8. Travis Nichols, 9. Braxton Strait.

Modified Heat 3 (8 laps, 5 transferred): 1. Derek Losh, 2. Todd Sherman, 3. Shane O’Connor, 4. Scott Orr, 5. Nick Richards, 6. J.J. Butler, 7. Terry Grilliott, 8. Clayton Bryant.

Modified B-Main 1 (10 laps, 5 transferred): 1. Garrett Rons, 2. Daniel Sanchez, 3. Terry Grilliot, 4. Braxton Strait, 5. J.J. Butler, 6. Travis Nichols, 7. Joshua Cox, 8. Josh Betts, 9. Clayton Bryant (DNS), 10. Ryan Sutter (DNS), 11. Percy Gendreau (DNS).

Modified Feature (20 laps, with starting position in parentheses): 1. Derek Losh (2), 2. Tony Anderson (4), 3. Bub Roberts (8), 4. Aaron Orr (3), 5. Shane O’Connor (9), 6. Todd Sherman (6), 7. Dylan Woodling (1), 8. John Halsey (10), 9. Andy Bishop (14), 10. Scott Orr (12), 11. Bill Griffith (5), 12. Chris Hicks (7), 13. Nick Richards (15), 14. Garrett Rons (16), 15. Daniel Sanchez (17), 16. Terry Grilliot (18), 17. Braxton Strait (19), 18. J.J. Butler (20), 19. Josh Hotsinpiller (13), 20. Weasel Phlipot (11).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1, Woodling; laps 2-20, Losh.

Street Stock Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Justin Long, 2. Mark Wooten, 3. Andrew Short, 4. Mike Fincher, 5. Travis Nichols, 6. Gerald Owens, 7. Wryan Collis, 8. Dan Snyder.

Street Stock Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Andy Bishop, 2. Bill Bradley, 3. David Short, 4. Dustin Marcum, 5. Jeffery Jessup, 6. Dalton Bishop, 7. Reece Harkinson.

Street Stock Feature (15 laps, with starting position in parentheses):
1. Andy Bishop (2), 2. Bill Bradley (4), 3. David Short (6), 4. Mike Fincher (7), 5. Andrew Short (5), 6. Travis Nichols (9), 7. Justin Long (1), 8. Jeffery Jessup (10), 9. Dustin Marcum (8), 10. Mark Wooten (3), 11. Gerald Owens (11), 12. Wryan Collis (13), 13. Reece Harkinson (14), 14. Dalton Bishop (12), 15. Dan Snyder (DNS).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-15, A. Bishop.

Hornet Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. James Headley Jr., 2. Jason Spencer, 3. Eddie Tucker Jr., 4. Greg Marlowe, 5. Brad Evans, 6. Mark Casto, 7. Allison Butler, 8. Brad Lewis, 9. Sean Plasterer.

Hornet Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. James Headley, 2. Bill Lewis, 3. Brandon Lines, 4. Kolten Sollars, 5. Jesse Arenas, 6. Seth Trissel, 7. Joey Eastes, 8. Alexis Spaulding, 9. Joey Eastes, 10. Robbie White.

Hornet Feature (15 laps, with starting position in parentheses):
1. James Headley (2), 2. James Headley Jr. (1), 3. Bill Lewis (4), 4. Jason Spencer (3), 5. Brandon Lines (6), 6. Mark Casto (11), 7. Seth Trissel (12), 8. Joey Eastes (14), 9. Allison Butler (13), 10. Brad Lewis (15), 11. Alexis Spaulding (16), 12. Jesse Arenas (10), 13. Scott Harrington (17), 14. Brad Evans (9), 15. Kolten Sollars (8), 16. Robbie White (18), 17. Greg Marlowe (7), 18. Eddie Tucker Jr. (5), 19. Sean Plasterer (DNS).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-15, Headley.