Midvale Beats Mother Nature Again

Mother Nature tried to ruin the night, but we fought back and won. A shower passed over the Speedway just prior to qualifying. After close to 30 minutes, the shower passed and Official’s, Driver’s and Fan’s dryer the track in less than an hour. We started a little bit late, but Week #14 presented by John W. Cookson, McInturf Realty and Buckey Mowing is in the books. Ninety cars and trucks made the tow to the 3/10 mile oval and it was mostly cloudy and 81 at race time.

The first cars to hit the track were the Midwest Touring Compacts for their “Little Turtle 30”. Brian Sprague in the #75 and Don Rufener III in the #007 brought the field to green. Sprague was able to take the early lead with DRIII, the 2017 Series Champion, dropping in behind. David Milbrand in the #12 was headed to the front from his 6th starting position, moving up to third on lap 4. On lap 6, DRIII dropped to the inside of Sprague for the lead as they encountered the back of the field. Fastest qualifier Clayton Oliver in the #19 was picking his way up from the 8th starting position, to take 3rd from Milbrand. The only caution flew on lap 7, as Milbrand slowed on the front straightaway, while running 4th. On the restart, DRIII, Sprague and Oliver made some contact in turn two, causing Oliver and Sprague to lose several spots. Rufener would continue to lead as points leader Jake “Turtle” Albright in the #10 moved to second. But a storm was brewing inside the cockpit of the #19. Oliver has visited Naak Tuning Victory Lane at Midvale on several occasions, but he wanted that signature win. He mounted his charge back to the front, taking second from “Turtle” on lap 11 and setting his sights on Ruefner. The front three would run nose to tail until Oliver put his machine in the outside lane on lap 14. “Turtle” would follow Clayton around DRIII and into second. Oliver had Albright glued to his bumper as they worked their way through heavy traffic, about 4 or 5 car lengths ahead of Rufener. Oliver would get through traffic really well, even increasing the distance between himself and “Turtle”. With three laps to go, “Turtle” made a last gasp effort to take the win away, but Oliver would fend off the challenge to take home the victory. Completing the top 5 behind the Malvern OH driver in the Malvern Metal Roofing, Story Motors and Crislip Motorsports sponsored #19 was Albright, Rufener, Sprague and Jacob Gustafson.

Next up was the 30 lap McIntosh Oil Company Late Model Feature. Mark Enos in the #07 and Chris Grubbs in the #25 brought the field to Chief Starter Jason Nealey’s Green Flag. Grubbs led lap 1 by an inch with the front 3 rows still stacked side by side. Enos would take the top spot away on lap 2, as Grubbs would tuck in behind the #07. George Riddle in the #0 used the second lane to get around Grubbs for second on lap 4, pulling Tony Urdiales in the #88 with him. On lap 6, Riddle went around Enos for the lead as Urdiales continued to follow. Ryan Tedesco in the #701 was able to take third on lap 7. The first caution flew on lap 8, as the #47 of Dave Mcallicker caught the wall in turn two. On the restart, Riddle was able to clear Urdiales off turn two. The second and most significant caution flew on lap 10. As the leaders came through turns three and four, Urdiales made contact with Riddle, sending him around in front of the field. Tedesco had no where to go and piled in. Tedesco was able to continue in the lead with damage, Urdiales continued at the rear but unfortunately Riddle lost a radiator and was done for the night. Tedesco would have Young Gun and fastest qualifier Cody Jaberg in the #22, on his outside for the restart. Tedesco would lead by a nose with the “Codeman” fighting in the outside lane. On lap 12, Jaberg was able to make the pass on the Veteran, and set sail. Tedesco would be left to fight with points leader Bob Schneider Jr in the,#17 and Urdiales for second as “Codeman” drove off into Naak Tuning Victory Lane. Following the New Philadelphia OH driver in the Route 39 Auto Salvage, T&L Mowing and Rick Watson Trucking sponsored #22 was Tedesco, Schneider Jr, Urdiales and Enos.

Ryan Tedesco in the #27 and Rick Sibila in the #02 brought the 21 car field down for the start of the Vanmeter Auto Repair Modified 25 lap Feature. On the second attempt at a start, Tedesco cleared Sibila off turn two, to grab the early lead. Mike Stone in the #331 would fill the bottom lane under Sibila, dropping him to third. The first caution flew on lap 2, as Nick Grubbs in the #24 spun to the infield on the back straightaway. On the restart, Tedesco led lap 3 by a nose as Stone continued to work the high line as “Big Mac” Doug McMillen in the #54 and Lucas Ripley in the #0 moved to 3rd and 4th. The second caution flew on lap 6 for quick spin by Derek Grewell in the #99 in turn four. On the restart, Stone was able to clear Tedesco off turn four to grab the top spot, with Ripley taking 3rd. On lap 8, fastest qualifier Kevin McClintock in the #38, moved into 5th in the outside lane. The final caution flew on lap 12, as Bill Aubihl in the #31 and Grubbs made contact in turn two. Stone would have to beat the Veteran Tedesco, just as his fellow “Young Gun” did in the Late Model event. Stone got the restart of his life and was able to clear Tedesco into turn three. Ripley would take second and McClintock third. As the closing laps clicked away, Ripley and McClintock waited patiently for a mistake from the sophomore driver, but that mistake never came. Stone would pick up his first career Feature win and received a long awaited “Bear Hug” from Uncle Rich Rohrer in Naak Tuning Victory Lane. Rounding out the top 5 behind the Carrollton OH driver in the Crilley Fabricating, Esber Beverage, Miller Lite, Black Diamond Earthworks, Kuhmar Trucking, Bank of Magnolia and Wallace & Associates sponsored #331 was Ripley, McClintock, McMillen and Tedesco. I’ll give a “Shout Out” to Colton “Babyface” Ritchey, who to my knowledge, started his first Mod Feature at Midvale and Alex Rosenberry, who hasnt been in a Mod in more than 5 years, on their top 10 finishes in a very strong and tight Mod field. Hope to see you both back soon!

The Snap-on Tools by Doug Poole Mini Truck’s had one of the lowest truck counts of the season, a week after one of its largest. Scott Lindell in the #19 and Eddie McLean in the #443 started on the front row. Despite the low truck count, the two up front put on a really good show. Lindell would lead lap 1 by a half of a truck length with McLean battling in the 2nd lane. Lindell would lead lap 2 by a nose. McLean would take over the lead on lap 3, by a nose. At the halfway Mark of the event, McLean had almost cleared Lindell and then by lap 5, McLean was out front by himself. Little by little and inch by inch, McLean pulled away and would find himself with his 3rd Feature win of the season. Coming into the event, McLean was tied with Barney Gerber for the points lead and Lindell was only 5 points out. It’s the tightest battle out of our 5 regular divisions. Unfortunately, Gerber blew an engine on Friday night and was unable to make the show, making the points battle amongst McLean and Lindell. Following the Carrollton OH driver in the Peebles Racing, Columbiana Auto Parts, JOMAC Truck Body’s, Jones Tax Solution, Jason Shaw @O’Reilly Auto Parts and Keith & Robin Brady sponsored #443 was Lindell, Rick Brink and Roger Baucher.

The Finalyson Towing Compact’s were up next for their 20 lapper with Ryan Alm in the #6 and Allen Clark in the #0 on the front row. Clark would clear Alm off turn two as Gavin Roup in the #9 pulled alongside Alm for second. On lap 6, the field was still being led by Clark, but everyone was still all knotted together like it was the start. Guys were doing a great job of trying to work to the front, but doing it cleanly and respectfully. Karl Phillips in the #23 would take over second on lap 7, as Mike Stuber in the #44 made his way to 4th. By lap 10, Clark, Phillips, Jamie Leslie in the #64 and Stuber had all gotten single file and broke away from the 5th place Roup. As the laps clicked away, Clark was doing a great job of fending off the challenges from Phillips. On lap 14, Stuber made his way to the outside of Phillips and then on lap 15, he was alongside Clark for the lead. Every turn, every lap, the lead changed hands by mere inches. Clark on the bottom, Stuber on the top. Heading into turn three for the final time, Clark got in a little bit deeper than he had all night and the car pushed up on him. He slowed Stuber up and parted the seas for Phillips. Karl hooked the bottom off of turn four, made it 3-wide and passed them both for his second career win. Rounding out the top 5 behind the Jackson Township OH driver in the Pull-A-Part sponsored #23 was Clark, Stuber, Leslie and Roup.

Finally, the Buckey Mowing Street Stocks were up to finish off Week #14 with their 20 lapper. For some reason, this Division is like flipping a light switch on and off. One week, they put on a great show. The next week, its caution filled chaos. So, I will simply say this….Dennis Wood, despite being sent to the tail for contact in turn three on lap 4, worked his way up thru the field and was able to hold off points leader Lucas Ripley in the #67, last weeks Feature winner Colt Locker in the #118, fastest qualifier Gabe Pringle in the #7 and his daughter Kylee in the #22. Wood would pick up his third feature win of the season in the Nephew’s Painting, Canton Auto Salvage, Scott’s Automotive, Quality Lawn Care, Patty’s Busy B’s, Automotive Electric and Truline Asphalt sponsored #88.

THANK YOU to The Midwest Tourning Compact’s, their Driver’s, Officials and Fans for putting on a great show!! We will see you in October!!
THANK YOU to the Cruise-In for stopping by and all of our sponsors, driver’s, teams, officials and FANS for sticking out the rain shower and getting things ready to go, once it stopped! GREAT JOB ALL NIGHT LONG!!

This coming Saturday Night August 24Sth is Epilepsy Awareness Night (wear purple) and the Kid’s Gold Rush! All 5 Divisions will be in action.

-Story by Chris Kail

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Midwest Touring Compacts

Fast Time: Clayton Oliver 16.621 (NTR)

Heat 1: Don Rufener III, Noah Patterson, David Milbrand, Jake Albright, Brian Sprague, Clayton Oliver, Jesse Patterson, Britt Vanmeter

Heat 2: Don Rufener Jr, Austin Stoll, Jacob Gustafson, Shawn Donnalley, Nick Stoll, Bob Bogner, Derek Robinson, Neal Broski

Heat 3: Jeffrey Orr, Kevin Broski, Drew Dillon, Jeremy Sallinger, Andrea Brokaw, Blaze Bacon, Eric Brokaw

“Little Turtle 30”: Oliver, Albright, DRIII, Sprague, Gustafson, Nick, Donnalley, Robinson, Ruefner Jr, Bogner, Austin, Dillon, Kevin, Jesse, Noah, Sallinger, Neal, Orr, Vanmeter, Milbrand, Eric, Andrea, Bacon

McIntosh Oil Company Late Model’s

Fast Time: Cody Jaberg 13.891

Heat 1: George Riddle, Bob Schneider Jr, Cody Jaberg, Tony Urdiales, Ryan Tedesco, Jonathan Reitter

Heat 2: Chris Grubbs, John Sandquist Sr, Bob “The Animal” Eichel, Mark Enos, Korey Herron, Dave Mcallicker

Feature: Jaberg, Tedesco, Schneider Jr, Urdiales, Enos, Reitter, Sandquist, Grubbs, Eichel, Riddle, Herron, Mcallicker

Vanmeter Auto Repair Modified’s

Fast Time: Kevin McClintock 14.790

Heat 1: Nick Grubbs, Rick Sibila, Lucas Ripley, Mike Stone, Bob Page, Kevin McClintock, Doug McMillen

Heat 2: Dan Gasser, Louis McGrath, Ryan Tedesco, Alex Rosenberry, Colton Ritchey, Jerry Devore, Todd Ripley, Bill Aubihl

Heat 3: Corey Beatty, Brandon France, Zack Leasure, Don Rufener III, Bobby Devore II, Derek Grewell

Feature: Stone, Lucas, McClintock, McMillen, Tedesco, Page, McGrath, Ritchey, Rosenberry, Sibila, Todd, Grubbs, Beatty, Jerry, Leasure, DRIII, Bobby, France, Grewell, Aubihl, Gasser

Buckey Mowing Street Stock’s

Fast Time: Gabe Pringle 15.730

Heat 1: Lucas Ripley, Dennis Wood, Will Wiggins II, Bear Schwartz, Gabe Pringle

Heat 2: Kylee Wood, Colt Locker, Bob Passwaters Jr, Frank Boychi, Chase Burky

Feature: Dennis, Ripley, “Camaro Hair” Locker, Pringle, Kylee, Burky, Wiggins II, Boychi, Schwartz, Passwaters Jr

Snap-on Tools by Doug Poole Mini Truck’s

Fast Time: Eddie McLean 16.240

Heat: Eddie McLean, Scott Lindell, Roger Baucher

Feature: McLean, Lindell, Rick Brink, Baucher

Finlayson Towing Compact’s

Fast Time: Kyle Lawson 17.402

Heat 1: Jamie Leslie, Mike Stuber, Dan Buckey, Jeffrey Orr, Kyle Finlayson, Kyle Lawson, Brent Shreffler

Heat 2: Toby Cook, Ryan Alm, Alan Clark, Karl Phillips, Gavin Roup, Connor McLean, Brandon France

Heat 3: Curtis Finlayson, Dan Sharpless, Tyson Rose, Larry Pastor, Savanna Alm, Jeremy Sallinger

Feature: Phillips, Clark, Stuber, Leslie, Roup, Kyle, Buckey, Orr, Shreffler, Ryan, Cook, McLean, Curtis, Lawson, Savanna, Rose, Sallinger, Pastor, Sharpless