Three first-time WCS winner’s highlights Fast Five action

Written By: Randy Worrell (Ranger)

ORRVILLE – “It ain’t over till it’s over.” Well, you can’t argue with that if you were four of the five victory lane visitors on Saturday night at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway near Orrville. 

Tyler Gunn (Pine Tree Towing and Recovery Sprint Cars), Ron Miller (Flynn’s Tire & Service Center Modifieds), and Rob Melzer (McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks) – each picking up their first-ever WCS victories – joined Anthony Collins (JoyRide Mini Stocks) in registering wins after trailing late in their respective features in highlighting acting during the speedway’s Fast Five program. Hometown ace JR Gentry led wire-to-wire in dominating the Malcuit Tavern Super Late Model main event on an unseasonably chilly night at “Orrville’s Historic Oval.”  

Gunn- in just his fifth night of action in the Wooster-based Eikleberry-Sipes 91- bested another stout field of 22 cars after taking the lead from front-running Ricky Peterson and Tyler Street following contact between the former WCS winners on lap 14. Peterson and Street traded the top spot early in the event with Jamie Myers holding on to third and Gunn fourth. Fast-closing Australian Cody Maroske – making his first-ever WCS appearance – also joined the fray before the lap 14 melee. 

Gunn stormed past Myers a lap later and held off Maroske – piloting the recently-vacated 101 machine of Kraig Kinser – for the win with Myers, Danny Mumaw, and Jason Dolick rounding out the top five. A pair of WCS favorites in Chris Myers and Trey Jacobs were unfortunately eliminated on the opening lap of the feature when Jacobs’ mount contacted the stalled 38 of Myers just past the start-finish stripe. Neither driver was injured. 

Napolean’s Gunn, who finished third a week ago at WCS followed by Tuesday’s run as the only regular to qualify for the High Limit Series feature, capped his impressive week after solidly putting his black and red machine in Friday’s World of Outlaw show at Attica. 

“We think we can be a factor at these big shows coming up here (at Wayne County), “Gunn said. “I was always kind of scared to put my car up on the cushion and on the guardrail here, but now I’m comfortable and its definitely the fast way around this place.” 

Gentry followed a pair of thirds and a runner up finish by dominating the 25-lap Super Late Model main for his initial victory of 2023. The former WCS track champion led every circuit on Saturday by running the extreme high side of the 3-8-mile oval. 

Gentry bested Larry Bellman, Jerry Aber, Austin Bright, and Brett Bee at the stripe.  

“ It is always great to win here at Wayne County,” said Gentry. “Not only do the fans treat us great here at the racetrack, but also help us out by supporting our race team in the off-season with our fundraising event and we cannot thank them enough. 

“The track was super-fast tonight, but also a little tricky if you got up over the cushion, especially in turns three and four. But the fast way is around the top and it was in great shape tonight.” 

The Modifieds hit the surface next with Miller, Jimmy Humphrey, and Casey Butler setting the early pace with defending track champion Colton Shaw charging from fifth and Took Wiles in tow. 

Shaw finally grabbed the leadon lap 4 and immediately built a sizeable advantage. Butler captured second on lap seven before retiring from the event on lap 10. Humprey and Wiles then joined the battle but got together in turn one on lap 14 with both machines sustaining heavy damage.  

Shaw appeared to have a flat left front tire on the restart, however, and finally dropped from the event on lap 16, handing the lead to Miller who was now in firm grasp of his career-first WCS checkered flag. Miller hung on for the win over Dwayne Powell in the closing laps. 

“We weren’t going to catch those guys in front, but we were fast enough to be right there when the opportunity came,” Miller said. “We’ve been coming here for a long time and really enjoy racing here. My Dad has been doing this with me for a long time and l can’t wait to enjoy it with him. This is awesome.” 

The Super Stocks were up next with a near carbon-copy finish scenario in the works. Former division regular turned sprint car driver Tyler Wiles, subbing in the D.L. Rutt 910, grabbed the lead and rode the cushion to an early advantage. 

Melzer, Brandon Craver, Larry Kugel, and last week’s winner Braden Tucke followed before Tucke, who suffered heavy damage on the opening lap, retired from the race on lap 5. Melzer grabbed the lead on lap 13 of the 15-lap affair as Wiles drove to the infield with mechanical problems. Melzer raced to the stripe ahead of Craver, Kugel, Luke Sprouse, and Don Baney, Jr. 

“We are always trying to be smart, because you can’t win these things without finishing,” said Melzer. “Tyler was really fast up top, but I’ve been doing this for 26 years now, and as hard as it is to stay patient, l wanted to be there at the end and here we are.” 

The Mini Stocks closed the curtain on another Fast Five program with another rock-em-sock-em 12-lapper. Tony Bruce Sr. commanded the early lead with Chaz Dawson, Kyle Petit, Anthony Collins, and David Potter among others beating and banging the cushion in tow.  

The running order changed every lap behind Bruce, but a lap 9 caution bunched the field with a 3-lap dash to the checkers ensuing. Collins ducked under Bruce a lap later after a close battle for the point, with Collins’s 71 storming to the stripe ahead of Potter, Bruce, Dustin Bedlion from 15^th, and Petit in fifth. Point leader Doug Hensel was forced to the infield in the early laps after contact with another car after starting eighth. 

“You just never know what is going to happen in this division until the end, and you saw it again tonight,” said Collins. “(Bruce) got out there a little bit, but l knew when that yellow came out we had a chance. We tore our car up pretty good a few weeks ago and it took a lot of help from a lot of people to get us back out here. Hopefully, we can get a few more wins this year.” 

WCS returns to action next Saturday evening with another Fast Five program with hot laps slated for 6 p.m. and racing at 7. 

Sprint Cars – Pine Tree Towing & Recovery

Qualifying
1.4*-Tyler Street, 14.908; 2.19-Sean Rayhall, 14.967; 3.91-Tyler Gunn, 15.027; 4.9-Trey Jacobs, 15.043; 5.16-Danny Mumaw, 15.072; 6.38-Leyton Wagner, 15.170; 7.101-Cody Maroske, 15.229; 8.38K-Chris Myers, 15.242; 9.2P-Ricky Peterson, 15.263; 10.20B-Cody Bova, 15.296; 11.7DK-Dylan Kingan, 15.409; 12.25-Jamie Myers, 15.462; 13.D12-Jason Dolick, 15.667; 14.20M-Vivian Jones, 15.674; 15.20-Danial Burkhart, 15.821; 16.7-Troy Kingan, 15.825; 17.23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr., 16.154; 18.57N-Tyler Newhart, 16.256; 19.2-Joe Adorjan, 16.311; 20.187-Tyler Wiles, 16.361; 21.O-Brayton Phillips, 17.021; 22.23H-Ron Hamlin, 18.103;

Heat 1 –  (8 Laps)
1. 101-Cody Maroske[2] ; 2. 20B-Cody Bova[1] ; 3. 4*-Tyler Street[4] ; 4. 9-Trey Jacobs[3] ; 5. 7-Troy Kingan[6] ; 6. D12-Jason Dolick[5] ; 7. 2-Joe Adorjan[7] ; 8. 23H-Ron Hamlin[8]

Heat 2 –  (8 Laps)
1. 38K-Chris Myers[2] ; 2. 19-Sean Rayhall[4] ; 3. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[1] ; 4. 16-Danny Mumaw[3] ; 5. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr.[6] ; 6. 20M-Vivian Jones[5] ; 7. 187-Tyler Wiles[7]

Heat 3 –  (8 Laps)
1. 2P-Ricky Peterson[2] ; 2. 25-Jamie Myers[1] ; 3. 91-Tyler Gunn[4] ; 4. 38-Leyton Wagner[3] ; 5. 57N-Tyler Newhart[6] ; 6. 20-Danial Burkhart[5] ; 7. O-Brayton Phillips[7]

A-Main –  (25 Laps)
1. 91-Tyler Gunn[5] ; 2. 101-Cody Maroske[7] ; 3. 25-Jamie Myers[2] ; 4. 16-Danny Mumaw[11] ; 5. D12-Jason Dolick[16] ; 6. 38-Leyton Wagner[12] ; 7. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr.[14] ; 8. 7-Troy Kingan[13] ; 9. 20-Danial Burkhart[18] ; 10. 2-Joe Adorjan[19] ; 11. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[9] ; 12. 19-Sean Rayhall[8] ; 13. O-Brayton Phillips[21] ; 14. 57N-Tyler Newhart[15] ; 15. 23H-Ron Hamlin[22] ; 16. 2P-Ricky Peterson[3] ; 17. 4*-Tyler Street[1] ; 18. 20B-Cody Bova[6] ; 19. 187-Tyler Wiles[20] ; 20. 38K-Chris Myers[4] ; 21. 9-Trey Jacobs[10] ; 22. 20M-Vivian Jones[17]

Modifieds – Flynn’s Tire

Qualifying
1.187-Took Wiles, 19.065; 2.60-Jimmy Humphrey, 19.141; 3.99-Casey Butler, 19.672; 4.12-Mitchell Lam, 19.911; 5.20-Alex Sekkinen, 20.466; 6.185-Ron Miller, 20.476; 7.21-Dwayne Powell, 20.609; 8.36-Brett Coffman, 20.718; 9.69M-Jacob Myers, 20.917; 10.78-Richard Grogg, 20.977; 11.O1-Colton Shaw, 99.000;

Heat 1 –  (8 Laps)
1. 187-Took Wiles[4] ; 2. 99-Casey Butler[2] ; 3. O1-Colton Shaw[11] ; 4. 60-Jimmy Humphrey[3] ; 5. 185-Ron Miller[6] ; 6. 20-Alex Sekkinen[5] ; 7. 78-Richard Grogg[10] ; 8. 21-Dwayne Powell[7] ; 9. 36-Brett Coffman[8] ; 10. 69M-Jacob Myers[9] ; 11. 12-Mitchell Lam[1]

A-Main –  (20 Laps)
1. 185-Ron Miller[1] ; 2. 21-Dwayne Powell[3] ; 3. O1-Colton Shaw[5] ; 4. 60-Jimmy Humphrey[2] ; 5. 187-Took Wiles[8] ; 6. 99-Casey Butler[4] ; 7. 69M-Jacob Myers[10] ; 8. 36-Brett Coffman[9] ; 9. 20-Alex Sekkinen[7] ; 10. 78-Richard Grogg[6] ; 11. 12-Mitchell Lam[11]

Super Stocks – McKenzie Concrete

Qualifying
1.77-Rob Melzer, 19.735; 2.14-Codee Schneider, 19.934; 3.18-Braden Tucke, 19.981; 4.910-Tyler Wiles, 20.112; 5.O-Larry Kugel, 20.154; 6.27B-Don Baney Jr., 20.204; 7.5S-Luke Sprouse, 20.379; 8.44-Zach Hockensmith, 20.406; 9.771-Brandon Craver, 20.428; 10.3B-Kyle McAfee, 20.584;

Heat 1 –  (8 Laps)
1. 18-Braden Tucke[2] ; 2. 910-Tyler Wiles[1] ; 3. 77-Rob Melzer[4] ; 4. 14-Codee Schneider[3] ; 5. O-Larry Kugel[5] ; 6. 771-Brandon Craver[9] ; 7. 27B-Don Baney Jr.[6] ; 8. 5S-Luke Sprouse[7] ; 9. 44-Zach Hockensmith[8] ; 10. 3B-Kyle McAfee[10]

A-Main –  (15 Laps)
1. 77-Rob Melzer[3] ; 2. 771-Brandon Craver[1] ; 3. O-Larry Kugel[6] ; 4. 5S-Luke Sprouse[7] ; 5. 27B-Don Baney Jr.[2] ; 6. 910-Tyler Wiles[4] ; 7. 14-Codee Schneider[5] ; 8. 18-Braden Tucke[8] ; 9. 44-Zach Hockensmith[9] ; 10. 3B-Kyle McAfee[10]

Late Models – Malcuit’s Tavern

Qualifying
1.14JR-JR Gentry, 17.105; 2.59-Larry Bellman, 17.471; 3.17-Tyler Evans, 17.625; 4.24-Jerry Aber, 17.749; 5.11-Ryan Abel, 17.904; 6.8-Brett Bee, 17.951; 7.2C-Clint Coffman, 18.051; 8.92B-Austin Bright, 18.607; 9.7-Nick Cox, 19.096; 10.69R-Doug Baird, 99.000;

Heat 1 –  (8 Laps)
1. 17-Tyler Evans[2] ; 2. 14JR-JR Gentry[4] ; 3. 59-Larry Bellman[3] ; 4. 24-Jerry Aber[1] ; 5. 8-Brett Bee[6] ; 6. 11-Ryan Abel[5] ; 7. 2C-Clint Coffman[7] ; 8. 92B-Austin Bright[8] ; 9. 7-Nick Cox[9] ; 10. 69R-Doug Baird[10]

A-Main –  (25 Laps)
1. 14JR-JR Gentry[1] ; 2. 59-Larry Bellman[6] ; 3. 24-Jerry Aber[5] ; 4. 92B-Austin Bright[4] ; 5. 8-Brett Bee[3] ; 6. 2C-Clint Coffman[7] ; 7. 7-Nick Cox[9] ; 8. 17-Tyler Evans[8] ; 9. 11-Ryan Abel[2] ; 10. 69R-Doug Baird[10]

Mini Stocks – Joy Ride Transportation

Heat 1 –  (6 Laps)
1. 2-Justin Cranmore[2] ; 2. 66-Johnny Bruce Sr.[5] ; 3. 100-David Potter[3] ; 4. 711-Kenny Long[7] ; 5. 42R-Brian Wilson[4] ; 6. 7-Ethan Hershey[1] ; 7. 266-Mason Loper[8] ; 8. 8A-Dakota Graciani[6] ; 9. 380-Kenny Hober[9]

Heat 2 –  (6 Laps)
1. 42JR-Chaz Dawson[1] ; 2. 5-Jordan Twinem[2] ; 3. 18-Doug Hensel[7] ; 4. 278-Zach Hershey[3] ; 5. 98-Austin McIlvain[5] ; 6. 97S-Brock Searls[6] ; 7. 11-Trent Bishop[4] ; 8. 17-Wayne Newbury[8]

Heat 3 –  (6 Laps)
1. 23P-Kyle Petit[4] ; 2. 7CM-Cody Musselman[1] ; 3. 71-Anthony Collins[7] ; 4. 29-Mitch Reichard[8] ; 5. 18X-Dustin Bedlion[6] ; 6. 54C-Clayton Evans[3] ; 7. 420-Kevin Markey[2] ; 8. 89-Travis Hutton[5]

A-Main –  (12 Laps)
1. 71-Anthony Collins[6] ; 2. 100-David Potter[5] ; 3. 66-Johnny Bruce Sr.[2] ; 4. 18X-Dustin Bedlion[15] ; 5. 23P-Kyle Petit[4] ; 6. 711-Kenny Long[8] ; 7. 98-Austin McIlvain[14] ; 8. 54C-Clayton Evans[18] ; 9. 42R-Brian Wilson[10] ; 10. 11-Trent Bishop[20] ; 11. 7CM-Cody Musselman[3] ; 12. 29-Mitch Reichard[12] ; 13. 278-Zach Hershey[11] ; 14. 8A-Dakota Graciani[16] ; 15. 5-Jordan Twinem[7] ; 16. 2-Justin Cranmore[19] ; 17. 42JR-Chaz Dawson[1] ; 18. 18-Doug Hensel[9] ; 19. 7-Ethan Hershey[13] ; 20. 97S-Brock Searls[17] ; 21. 420-Kevin Markey[21] ; 22. 380-Kenny Hober[22] ; 23. 17-Wayne Newbury[23] ; 24. 89-Travis Hutton[24] ; 25. 266-Mason Loper[25]