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

 

Burns Wins Sprint Feature; Watson Tops the D2 Midgets;
Headley Nabs the Street Stock Main; Skeens Stars in the Hornets
During Tom Bigelow Classic Friday Night at Gas City

GAS CITY, Ind., June 25 — Racing legend Tom Bigelow always tries to help young drivers, so it was fitting that the winner of the 25-lap non-wing sprint car feature during the Tom Bigelow Classic Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway was a 20-year-old civil engineering student at Indiana State University. Harley Burns of Stearleyville, Ind., who won a Hoosier Auto Racing Fans (HARF) award for being the most improved driver last year, led the whole way in the non-stop race and had a whopping 5.147-second advantage over runner-up Tye Mihocko of Phoenix, Ariz., at the checkered.

Alex Watson of Columbus, Ohio took the lead on lap 18 and went on to win the 20-lap USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget feature. And it was a great night to be a stock car driver from Marion, Ind., as James Headley won the 12-lap street stock feature and Heisman Skeens won the 12-lap hornet feature.

Non-Wing Sprint Cars

Both Burns, who started fourth, and Dustin Ingle of Lima, Ohio, who started second, surprised defending track champion and polesitter Scotty Weir of Marion, Ind., at the start of the sprint car feature. Ingle took the initial lead with a move to the outside in Turn 1 at the start, and then Burns passed Ingle to the inside in Turn 4 to lead the first lap while Weir was relegated to third.

Weir passed Ingle for second on lap five. Five laps later Burns had a scary moment when he almost came to a screeching halt in Turn 4 due to a lapped car. But he continued to hold the lead, and on lap 13 Weir dropped from second to fifth, giving the runner-up spot to Cole Bodine of Rossville, Ind. Mihocko passed Colten Cottle of Kansas, Ill., for third on the following lap. The top five got further shaken up on lap 16, as both Mihocko and Cottle passed Bodine, but Burns was long gone with no yellows to tighten up the field. At the line it was Burns, Mihocko, Cottle, Bodine and Weir as the top-five finishers.

The winning car is a DRC chassis owned by Stacy Bussing that is powered by a J&D Performance engine. The car is sponsored by JKR, Britaero and Youngblood Farms, and it arrived at the track inside a bus.

USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midgets

There were three leaders of the D2 midget feature. Last year’s Rookie of the Year, Josh Yenser of Plain City, Ohio, who started second, broke away initially and had nearly a 1-second lead over the polesitter, 14-year-old Zach Wigal of Belpre, Ohio, when the fifth-place driver, Kyla Roell of Dillsboro, Ind., flipped high in the air between Turns 1 and 2. Roell, who is also 14, got out of her Beast/Honda under her own power, but it was a disappointing end to a promising evening that saw her win the second midget heat.

Yenser led the first four laps before Michael Magic of Indianapolis took over by charging under Yenser in Turn 2. Watson, who started ninth, was fifth by that point, but two laps later Watson passed 16-year-old Bryce Massingill of Troy, Ohio and Wigal to move into third place. On the following lap, lap number eight, both Watson and Massingill passed Yenser to make the top five Magic, Watson, Massingill, Yenser and Wigal.

At the halfway point on lap 10 Magic had a 1.157-second lead over Watson, but with only two laps to go Watson passed him and went on to win by 0.743 seconds. Stratton Briggs of Anna, Ohio came on late in the race to turn a sixth-place starting spot into a third-place finish. Massingill and Wigal rounded out the top five in a race that went non-stop after the red for Roell with one lap down.

Watson’s midget is sponsored by Erwin of Troy, Ohio; FK Rod Ends; Fuelab and LST.

Street Stocks

The street stock feature featured two battles. Headley and Bill Lewis of Fountain City, Ind., ran nose to tail for 12 laps before Headley won. Headley led the whole race, although Lewis set the fastest lap.

Behind them, James Headley Jr. of Wabash, Ind., and Matthew Baker of Kouts, Ind., duked it out, running even closer than Headley and Lewis were doing.

The running order didn’t change up front, but on the last lap Baker passed Headley Jr. for third, even though it was Headley Jr.’s birthday.

His father’s winning car, a Hobbs chassis, is sponsored by Headley Tree Service and Dudding’s Heating and Cooling, among other companies.

Hornets

Last Friday night Skeens was running fourth in the hornet feature when his car’s right-front wheel flew off and he stopped between Turns 1 and 2.

This Friday night all four of his wheels stayed on and the 21-year-old driver led all 12 laps of the hornet feature from the pole.

The race went non-stop, and Skeens had a huge, 5.264-second lead over Jeremy Jones of Gas City at the checkered for his first Gas City triumph. Landon Arcaro of Brookville, Ind., finished third followed by Alexes Spaulding of Roanoke, Ind., and Jonathon Moeller.

Red Flags

Beside Roell’s flip in the feature, three other D2 midget drivers flipped during the preliminary action. Cody Dye of Covington, Ky., flipped in Turn 2 at the start of the third D2 qualifying session. Abby Hohlbein of Cloverdale, Ohio flipped in Turn 4 at the start of the second D2 midget heat. Carl Peterson of Waterford, Mich., flipped in Turn 2 at the end of the third D2 midget heat. All got out of their cars under their own power.

What’s Next?

Gas City I-69 Speedway will be dark on Friday, July 1, but it will host a special holiday show the following night, on Saturday, July 2. Modifieds, street stocks, hornets and the Hoosier State Modlites will take the center stage. Fireworks are planned pending permission from the county, as there is currently a burn ban in place due to the recent lack of rain. Watch the track’s social media outlets for updates.

The track will be back to its normal Friday night schedule on Friday, July 8 with the fifth annual Jerry Gappens Sr. Classic. It will feature the Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS) non-wing sprint cars, modifieds, street stocks and hornets.

For Gas City’s complete 2022 schedule and more information see the track’s website at gascityI69Speedway.com and also follow its social media outlets. The track is 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 exit 259 of Interstate 69, about halfway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Ind.

The results:

Non-Wing Sprint Group 1 Qualifying: 1. Jack Hoyer, 12.429; 2. Dave Darland, 12.488; 3. Harley Burns, 12.489; 4. Jack James, 12.732; 5. Brayden Clark, 12.940, 6. Bryar Schroeter, 14.924.

Non-Wing Sprint Group 2 Qualifying: 1. Dustin Ingle, 12.519; 2. Matt Goodnight, 12.597; 3. Tyler Hewitt, 12.687; 4. Cole Bodine, 12.934; 5. Collin Grissom, 13.059, 6. Dave Gross, no time.

Non-Wing Sprint Group 3 Qualifying: 1. Zack Pretorius, 12.237; 2. Tye Mihocko, 12.274; 3. Scotty Weir, 12.419; 4. Ron Dennis, 12.923; 5. Travis Hery, 13.046; 6. Brady Click, 13.201.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Harley Burns, 2. Dave Darland, 3. Jack Hoyer, 4. Colten Cottle, 5. Jack James, 6. Brayden Clark, 7. Bryar Schroeter.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Cole Bodine, 2. Dustin Ingle, 3. Tyler Hewitt, 4. Collin Grissom, 5. Matt Goodnight, 6. Dave Gross.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Scotty Weir, 2. Zack Pretorius, 3. Tye Mihocko, 4. Ron Dennis, 5. Travis Hery, 6. Brady Click.

Non-Wing Sprint Feature (25 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Harley Burns (4); 2. Tye Mihocko (9); 3. Colten Cottle (10); 4. Cole Bodine (6); 5. Scotty Weir (1); 6. Zack Pretorius (3); 7. Tyler Hewitt (8); 8. Collin Grissom (11); 9. Ron Dennis (12); 10. Travis Hery (15); 11. Jack Hoyer (7); 12. Jack James (13); 13. Matt Goodnight (14); 14. Brayden Clark (16); 15. Bryar Schroeter (19); 16. Dustin Ingle (2); 17. Brady Click (18); 18. Dave Darland (5); 19. Dave Gross (17). Lap Leaders: Laps 1-25, Burns. Margin of Victory: 5.147 seconds. Fastest Race Lap: Burns, 12.782 seconds, lap 6.

USAC SpeeD2 Midget Qualifying Session 1: 1. Chett Gehrke, 13.579; 2. Taylor Nibert, 13.902; 3. Michael Magic, 13.935; 4. Jakeb Boxell, 14.133; 5. Cory Gingrich, 14.293; 6. Jim Jones, 14.399; 7. Chris Gingrich, 15.333; 8. Don Bigelow, 15.827, 9. Luke Lemons, no time.

USAC SpeeD2 Midget Qualifying Session 2: 1. Abby Hohlbein, 13.180; 2. Kayla Roell, 13.279; 3. Josh Yenser, 13.410; 4. Cody Beard, 13.513; 5. Ian Creager, 13.552; 6. Page Perrine, 14.152; 7. Tyler Watkins, 15.210; 8. Kyle Dager, 16.922; 9. Gunnar Lucius, no time.

USAC SpeeD2 Midget Qualifying Session 3: 1. Stratton Briggs, 13.143; 2. Alex Watson, 13.576; 3. Zach Wigal, 13.690; 4. Bryce Massingill, 13.781; 5. Wes Pinkerton, 13.996; 6. Carl Peterson, 14.183; 7. Cody Dye, no time, 8. Thomas Bigelow, no time.

USAC SpeeD2 Midget Heat 1 (8 lap, 5 to qualify): 1. Michael Magic, 2. Cory Gingrich, 3. Chris Gingrich, 4. Jim Jones, 5. Jakeb Boxell, 6. Taylor Nibert, 7. Don Bigelow (DNS), 8. Luke Lemons (DNS), 9. Chett Gehrke (DNS).

USAC SpeeD2 Midget Heat 2 (8 laps, 5 to qualify): 1. Kayla Roell, 2. Josh Yenser, 3. Cody Beard, 4. Ian Creager, 5. Kyle Dager, 6. Gunnar Lucius, 7. Tyler Watkins, 8. Abby Hohlbein, 9. Page Perrine (DNS).

USAC SpeeD2 Midget Heat 3 (8 laps, 5 to qualify): 1. Zach Wigal, 2. Stratton Briggs, 3. Alex Watson, 4. Bryce Massingill, 5. Wes Pinkerton, 6. Carl Peterson, 7. Thomas Bigelow (DNS), 8. Cody Dye (DNS).

USAC SpeeD2 Midget Feature (20 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Alex Watson (9); 2. Michael Magic (4); 3. Stratton Briggs (6); 4. Bryce Massingill (12); 5. Zach Wigal (1); 6. Josh Yenser (2); 7. Cory Gingrich (3); 8. Ian Creager (11); 9. Carl Peterson (17); 10. Chris Gingrich (7); 11. Thomas Bigelow (18); 12. Jim Jones (10); 13. Cody Beard (8); 14. Chett Gehrke (19); 15. Wes Pinkerton (14); 16. Jakek Boxell (13); 17. Gunnar Lucius (16); 18. Taylor Nibert (15); 19. Kayla Roell (5); 20. Kyle Dager (DNS); 21. Don Bigelow (DNS). Lap Leaders: Laps 1-4, Yenser; laps 5-17, Magic; laps 18-20, Watson. Margin of Victory: 0.743 seconds. Fastest Race Lap: Yenser, 13.151, lap 1.

Street Stocks Qualifying Group: 1. Bill Lewis, 15.224; 2. James Headley, 16.159; 3. James Headley Jr., 16.401; 4. Matthew Baker, 16.451.

Street Stock Heat (8 laps): 1. Bill Lewis, 2. James Headley Jr., 3. James Headley, 4. Matthew Baker.

Street Stock Feature (12 laps, with starting position in parentheses): 1. James Headley (3); 2. Bill Lewis (4); 3. Matthew Baker (1); 4. James Headley Jr. (2). Lap Leaders: Laps 1-12, Headley. Margin of Victory: 0.449 seconds. Fastest Race Lap: Lewis, 14.785, lap 3.

Hornet Qualifying Session 1: 1. Landon Arcaro, 17.947; 2. Jeremy Jones, 18.071; 3. Heisman Skeens, 19.448; 4. Alexes Spaulding, 19.724; 5. Jonathon Moeller, 28.425.

Hornet Heat (8 laps): 1. Landon Arcaro, 2. Jeremy Jones, 3. Heisman Skeens, 4. Alexes Spaulding, 5. Jonathon Moeller.

Hornet Feature (12 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Heisman Skeens (1); 2. Jeremy Jones (2); 3. Landon Arcaro (4); 4. Alexes Spaulding (3); 5. Jonathon Moeller (5). Lap Leaders: Laps 1-12, Skeens Margin of Victory: 5.263 seconds Fastest Race Lap: Skeens, 16.491 seconds, lap 2.

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