Markham Takes Wayne County Mid-Season Championship
5 min read
Orrville, Ohio
Saturday, June 14, 2014
By Mike Swanger
It was mid season championship night presented by Ray’s Garage for all five divisions in front of another great crowd and a smooth fast racing surface. Rick Bond and Keith Berner brought the Lias Tire Late Model field to the green flag with Berner bolting into the lead with 6th starting Ryan Markham pulling into second on lap 2. A lap three caution for a spun Doug Kenworthy was the only stoppage in the race and when the green reappeared, Markham put the heat on Berner with Brad Malcuit, JR Gentry, Bond and fast qualifier Charlie Duncan in a race for third. Using the low groove, Markham overpowered Berner on lap 8 and begin to lengthen his lead as Malcuit, Gentry and Duncan dueled for third. Duncan would secure third on lap 18 while Gentry grabbed fourth from Malcuit with five laps to go. At that time, Markham was dealing with lapped traffic but weaved his way through as Berner could not close the gap and Markham of Ashland would park the H&T Demolition, Accu-Shock and Innovative Graphics #5m in victory lane for the 5th time this season. Gentry and Markham notched the heat wins.
Brad Haudenschild zipped past the front row of Pete Grove and quick timer Mitch Harble coming out of turn two on the opening lap and never looked back as the Kempthorn Automall, Fire & Ice Pub and Medi Taxi #38k of the Millersburg driver claimed his 4th win of the year. The front row starters would not give an inch to each other and they needed to as they touched wheels going down the backstretch on lap eight and then made contact in turn three right after that as both would spin out and at the same time in turn two, Nick Patterson flipped into and over the guardrail to bring out the red flag.Grove and Harble would go to the pits and rejoin the race before it went green. Russ Sansosti, Chris Myers, Jason Dolick and Roger Campbell would fill in the top five positions. Haudenschild built up almost a half track lead over Sansosti but Harble would slow the action with three circuits to go as he spun in turn four giving the field one last chance at Haudenschild but he would pull away on the restart to finish off the race as Sansosti finished second with Myers edging out Dolick for third and Campbell taking fifth. Shawn Hubler started 17th and came home 6th. Grove and Chris Myers topped the heat races.
Going into the night, Mitch Caskey was the points leader of the Thrifty Muffler Super Stocks and he would set the pace for the first four laps of the feature but Larry Baldwin of Medina jumped into the lead on lap five when Caskey went to high in turn two and bounced off the guardrail and the Midas, Park Ford and Innovative Graphics #7up would drive into victory lane for the 4th time this season and reclaim the points lead. Nick Smith would recover from a tangle with Matt Aber on the front stretch of lap eight to finish third while Tyler Nicely and Jeremy Lynch rounded out the top five. Baldwin was the fast qualifier and he and Smith were the heat race winners.
It was not a good night to be the leader of the WQKT Mini Stock feature as Moose Workman set the pace for the first half of the 12 lap event when a tire started losing pressure with Doug Hensel taking the lead but that would only last two circuits as his motor blew. Brad Hensel of Wooster would inherit the lead and take the Sportsman’s Bar and DJ Directional Services #28 into victory lane for the fifth time this season. Adam Kern and Steve Crowe followed Hensel, who also won the heat race with Lester Berry and Workman filling out the top five.
For the fourth time in a row, Robbie Ledger of Jewett put the Stull Trucking, Mansfield Hauling and Lewton Race Engines #33 into the NAPA Mini Wedge victory lane as he led all the way for the win and picked up the Mars Trucking trophy. Caitlin Johnson scored her best finish with a second as heat winner Cody Stillion was third followed by Billy Dawson.
All drivers were once again in pursuit of the Contingency Connection awards that will total nearly $100,000 worth of merchandise from national manufacturers.
Thanks to Lowes for all their help with the Kid’s Projects and the donated prizes for the Father’s Day special.
The next race action at NAPA Wayne County Speedway will be on Monday, June 23 with the UNOH All Star Sprint Speedweek $5,000 to win Duffy Smith Memorial race along with the Lias Tire Late Models racing for $2,000 to win plus the Thrifty Muffler Super Stock. Check out the website at www.waynecountyspeedway.com for more information.
NAPA WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY RESULTS
Saturday, June 14, 2014
LIAS TIRE LATE MODELS
Fast Qualifier Charlie Duncan 17.212
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 1 JR Gentry, Keith Berner, Larry Bellman, Charlie Duncan, David Liles, Blaine Aber, Jim Nicely, Don Conley, Coby Bartram, Doug Kenworthy
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 Ryan Markham, Brad Malcuit, Rick Bond, Steve Prince, Allan Baker, Jerry Aber, Eric Myers, Ricky Holderbaum, Dave Wirt (dns)
Feature Ryan Markham, Keith Berner, Charlie Duncan, JR Gentry, Brad Malcuit, Steve Prince, Larry Bellman, Allan Baker, Blaine Aber, Rick Bond, Jim Nicely, Don Conley, Doug Kenworthy, Jerry Aber, David Liles, Eric Myers, Coby Bartram, Ricky Holderbaum (dns), Dave Wirt (dns)
FISHER PERFORMANCE SPRINTS
Fast Qualifier Mitch Harble 14.628
Saldana Racing Products Heat 1 Pete Grove, Jason Dolick, Mitch Harble, Russ Sansosti, Roger Campbell, Aaron Middaugh, Wes McGlumphey, Tommy Miller, Shawn Hubler
Saldana Racing Products Heat 2 Chris Myers, Brad Haudenschild, Nick Patterson, Jimmy Pooler, Kirk Jeffries, Jamie Myers, Bob Lime, Jordan Harble, Troy Kingan
Feature Brad Haudenschild, Russ Sansosti, Chris Myers, Jason Dolick, Roger Campbell, Shawn Hubler, Jimmy Pooler, Kirk Jeffries, Jamie Myers, Pete Grove, Aaron Middaugh, Jordan Harble, Troy Kingan, Mitch Harble, Tommy Miller, Nick Patterson, Bob Lime, Wes McGlumphey
THRIFTY MUFFLER SUPER STOCKS
Fast Qualifier Larry Baldwin 20.078
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 1 Larry Baldwin, Tyler Thompson, Mitch Caskey, Chris Albright, David Uhler, Dennis Amstutz
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 Nick Smith, Tyler Nicely, Matt Aber, Jeremy Lynch, Mitchell Lam, Paul McVicker
Feature Larry Baldwin, Mitch Caskey, Nick Smith, Tyler Nicely, Jeremy Lynch, Chris Albright, Dennis Amstutz, Matt Aber, Tyler Thompson, Paul McVicker, Mitchell Lam, David Uhler
WQKT MINI STOCKS
Heat 1 Brad Hensel, Moose Workman, Adam Kern, Doug Hensel, Lester Berry, Corey Staley, Steve Crowe, James Rowe
Feature Brad Hensel, Adam Kern, Steve Crowe, Lester Berry, Moose Workman, Doug Hensel, Corey Staley, James Rowe
NAPA MINI WEDGES
Heat 1 Cody Stillion, Robbie Ledger, Caitlin Johnson, Matthew Moore, Billy Dawson
Feature Robbie Ledger, Caitlin Johnson, Cody Stillion, Billy Dawson, Matthew Moore (dns)
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