By: Ron Burt
Two big nights of racing closed the 2022 racing season at Gas City I-69 Speedway. This ¼ mile clay ovel has a history of putting on great racing programs and last weekend racing fans weren’t disappointed. Non-winged Sprint cars headlined the two day Fall Festival of Speed, and they came in from all parts of the county.
This week let’s recap Friday night, Matt Westfall of Pleasant Hill, Ohio earned his second 25-lap non-wing 410 sprint car feature victory of the season at Gas City I-69 Speedway to highlight the opening night of the track’s two-night season finale. Westfall started eighth and worked his way through traffic into the top five on lap nine when he passed both Jake Swanson of Anaheim, Calif., and Kyle Shipley of Lebanon, Ind., to take over fourth, and moved into third on lap 11 by passing local driver Anton Hernandez. The race had several cautions to help Westfall move up. Once in front he led the rest of the way to join track champion Scott Weir of Marion, Ind. and Tye Mihocko as two-time winners this season at Gas City. Rounding out the top five in the Sprint A-main was 2nd. Tye Mihocko, 3rd. Jake Swanson, 4th. Zack Pretorius, and 5th. Rylan Gray.
The USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder Midgets also put on a great show. These crowd favorites have raced at Gas City several times over the summer. Matt Lux of Shelbyville, Ind., started second and led the first three laps of the 20-lap feature. Drew Rader brought out the first of three yellows with three laps down when he spun on the front stretch. Jakeb Boxell, who started third, used the low groove coming out of Turn 2 to pass Lux following the restart. He led laps four through seven. Bryce Massingill, who started fourth, passed Boxell to lead laps 8 through 14, surviving a restart with nine laps down after Issac Chapple, stopped low in Turn 2. Alex Watson brought out the third yellow when he spun in Turn 4 with 14 laps down. There was a three-car battle for the lead on the restart between Massingill, Gehrke and Jerry Coons Jr., and Gehrke, who started fifth, came out on top. Coons, who started back in 17th position, got second at that point. The USAC Triple Crown champion tried both the high groove and the low groove in attempts to pass Gehrke, but he was directly behind him, 0.433 of a second back, when the checkered waved. It was a strong runner-up finish for Coons, who broke into the top 10 when he got ninth on lap four and the top five when he got fourth on lap eight. He set the fastest lap of the race and was the PPC Performance Powder Coating hard charger. Series champion Stratton Briggs of Anna, Ohio started eighth and finished third, as he passed Massingill for the final podium position on lap 17. Massingill hung on for fourth and Boxell finished fifth.
Dylan Cromer had a perfect night with his micro-sprint. He topped his qualifying group, won his heat, won the dash, and then won the 20-lap feature, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. Cale Coons took second in the feature and Parker Leek 3rd.
Next week I will recap night No 2 of the Fall Festival of Speed. Five classes ran on Saturday to close out the 2022 season at Gas City. Until next week, keep your wheels down. Ron Out! ohiosportsblitz@yahoo.com
