Wayne County Speedway
Gentry, Moore, and Shaw end dry spells, while Mumaw recaptures top form. Dawson adds to stellar rookie campaign.
Written By: Randy Worrell (Ranger)
ORRVILLE – The “dog days of summer” tend to be the hottest of the season. With just a pair of events remaining prior to Season Championship night, it also means the wick burned a little brighter on the O’Reilly Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway’s Fast Five series event Saturday evening.
Danny Mumaw, the 2016 Pine Tree Towing and Recovery Sprint Car champion, continued his full circle resurgence by winning his second 25-lap main event of 2023 following a nearly five-year victory lane drought in highlighting action at “Orrville’s Historic Oval”.
While Mumaw was assuming command of the season-long points lead in the process, 2020 champion JR Gentry increased his current lead in the race for the Malcuit Tavern Super Late Model championship with his fifth overall victory of the season and first WCS checkered since June 17. Gentry’s near-flawless performance was made a little sweeter, too, by scoring the first of three Best Western Plus of Wooster Inn and Conference Center’s King of the County series and $2,000 top prize.
Flynn’s Tire & Service Center Modified ace Colton Shaw returned to his winning ways by scoring his ninth win of the season, and first at WCS since June 17 as well, with a 20-lap score that further cemented the General Lee 01’s top spot in the point standings. Defending track champion Kyle Moore had endured an even longer winless spell (June 3) in the McKenzie Concrete Super Stock division but served notice that the combination of the “Mansfield Madman” and Bob Daugherty’s 21D will be among the favorites in next week’s Danny Gardner Memorial race with a dominating effort in the 15-lap victory.
Although Billy Dawson hasn’t been a weekly visitor to WCS this season, his victory on Saturday in the JoyRide Transport Mini Stock main was his second of the season at the 3-8-mile and region’s-leading ninth overall of 2023. Dawson’s half-car length victory over 2015, 2020, and 2022 track champion Doug Hensel further increased Hensel’s drive for a fourth title heading into the stretch drive.
Although Mumaw has returned to top form, Trey Jacobs’ snake-bitten streak of misfortune continued Saturday. Jacobs, arguably among the fastest at the speedway in recent seasons, shot to the point and was long gone in the main event in lapping well into the top 10 before tangling with Western PA. hotshoe Leyton Wagner, who had jumped the cushion in turn 2 on lap 13. Jacobs suffered a flat right rear in attempting to avoid contact and was forced to the tail of the lead lap cars on the restart.
Last week’s winner Henry Malcuit inherited the lead, and was fending off the charging Mumaw until Tyler Gunn, the point leader heading into the event, flipped his Eikelberry-Sipes 91 out of the park at the entrance of turn 4. The “Machine Gunn” escaped injury in the lap 19 wild ride.
During the red, though, Malcuit developed a flat right rear and went to the work area, handing the lead to Mumaw’s familiar green and black 16 which he didn’t relinquish. Mumaw finished ahead of Tyler Street, who sits just a few points back in the standings, Jacobs, Chris Myers, and his brother Jamie Myers.
“This one feels pretty good,” said Mumaw. “Trey and Henry were really fast, but we’re getting more comfortable. We made some small adjustments this week, just some small changes like seat position and pedal placements and it’s made a big difference. I’m just really appreciative of all the fan support and being able to be standing here in victory lane.”
Gentry’s victory was equally as popular, but didn’t come any easier, either. Kyle Moore, a two-time winner this season and race leader in four other main events, led early but existed the speedway with a broken driveshaft during the opening two laps. “Mr. Consistency” Larry Bellman took command next in his 59, with high-flying Cortland part-time visitor Eric Wilson not far behind. Wilson, however, looped his Autism Awareness-themed 27 in turn 4 that collected tough-luck Thomas Baker in the process.
Gentry took command and then held off an always-charging Ryan Markham by perfectly hitting his marks on the tricky, but nearly flawless racing surface to register the victory. Markham rode home second ahead of 17th-starting Ryan Missler, Bellman, and Hilltop Speedway owner Tyler Evans.
“It’s been awhile since we’ve been in victory lane, but it’s getting tougher and tougher every week with the caliber of cars we have,” said Gentry. “Eric is fast and is going to get one here sooner or later, Kyle has been unreal and showed the traveling guys just how difficult it is here weekly with his big win a few weeks ago, Ryan is as good as ever and l could go on and on. We kind of lost our notebook on how we were doing things but went back to basics this week and we were really good.”
Shaw fell into the runner-up slot early in the 20-lap Modified main from his eighth starting spot, then disposed of early leader and now weekly contender Jimmy Humphrey on lap 6. Shaw led the remaining 14 circuits, but survived a a series of yellows and a low-riding Humphrey to secure the win.
Humphrey rode home a solid second, with Took Wiles third, Markham fourth in the yellow 15, and seventh-starting Ryan Robey fifth.
“Starting eighth isn’t easy, but you have to get as many spots as you can early, and we were able to do that,” said Shaw. “I know the bottom is getting faster, especially in turn four, but l still like the high side on the cushion. To win here, especially with Jimmy running really well, and when guys like (Nate Young, Brad Goff, and when Ryan is racing), it’s tough. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully get a few more wins.”
Moore and his 21D were initially set to invade Eldora Speedway on Saturday but made the decision to head east instead and it paid off with his second win in as many nights.
Moore jumped from the pole and led every lap of the 15-lapper in recording his sixth 2023 victory. Codee Schneider, fresh off his second victory of the season last week, kept within striking distance of Moore but settled for the bridesmaid spot ahead of Paul Holmes, Braden Tucke and Rob Melzer. Tucke and Melzer are separated atop the season-long standings by just a handful of markers, with Moore in third.
“Bob has this thing going pretty good right now, and we’ll be ready for next Saturday,” said Moore. “I love running Bob’s car and this takes a little sting off the bad luck during the late model feature. Maybe we can get in victory lane twice next week.”
The Mini Stocks hit the speedway last, but as always gave the crowd another exciting 12-lapper. Eighth-starting Hensel patiently made his way to the front by lap five, then set sail for the second-starting Dawson.
Dawson rode the extreme high line out front, with pole sitter Johnny Bruce Sr., Dustin Bedlion, and sixth-starting Anthony Collins in tow. Hensel narrowed the gap to a car length during laps 9-11 before taking his last shot exiting turn 4 on the final lap. Hensel’s charge came up just shy at the stripe with Bruce, Collins, and Bedlion rounding out the top five.
“I really didn’t look at the scoreboard or see anyone back there, but if l’m leading it really doesn’t matter who’s chasing me,” said Dawson. “Being a rookie in this class, l didn’t really think l’d have the season I’m having but we’ll keep digging and maybe get a few more wins.”
The speedway returns next Saturday with an action-packed night of Fast Five racing that will include a $3,000-to-win sprint car event in addition to the Danny Gardner Memorial for super stocks. It’s also the second of three King of the County races for super stocks presented by Platinum Designs. Brandon Morrow captured the first K of C leg back on May 27. Wooster Quota will present the ever-popular Kids Night prior to racing action that kicks off with hot laps at 6 and racing to follow.
Check out www.waynecountyspeedway on the web and on Facebook at wayne county speedway this week for more details.
410 Sprint Cars 17 Entries
A Feature 25 Laps | 00:27:04.812
1. 16-Danny Mumaw[6]; 2. 4*-Tyler Street[5]; 3. 9J-Trey Jacobs[1]; 4. 38K-Chris Myers[8]; 5. 1-Jamie Myers[10]; 6. 70-Henry Malcuit[2]; 7. D12-Jason Dolick[9]; 8. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[13]; 9. 57N-Tyler Newhart[12]; 10. 6J-Jonah Aumend[14]; 11. 2-Joe Adorjan[11]; 12. 187-Tyler Wiles[16]; 13. (DNF) 91-Tyler Gunn[7]; 14. (DNF) 12-Corbin Gurley[3]; 15. (DNF) 38-Leyton Wagner[4]; 16. (DNF) 9W-Matt Warner[15]; 17. (DNF) 7-Troy Kingan[17]
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:06:49.998
1. 38K-Chris Myers[1]; 2. 91-Tyler Gunn[3]; 3. 70-Henry Malcuit[2]; 4. 4*-Tyler Street[4]; 5. D12-Jason Dolick[6]; 6. 2-Joe Adorjan[8]; 7. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[5]; 8. 9W-Matt Warner[9]; 9. (DNF) 7-Troy Kingan[7]
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:04:57.189
1. 38-Leyton Wagner[3]; 2. 12-Corbin Gurley[1]; 3. 16-Danny Mumaw[2]; 4. 9J-Trey Jacobs[4]; 5. 1-Jamie Myers[6]; 6. 57N-Tyler Newhart[7]; 7. 6J-Jonah Aumend[5]; 8. 187-Tyler Wiles[8]
Qualifying 8 Laps | 00:04:33.922
1. 4*-Tyler Street, 00:14.627[14]; 2. 9J-Trey Jacobs, 00:14.685[16]; 3. 91-Tyler Gunn, 00:14.719[11]; 4. 38-Leyton Wagner, 00:14.810[17]; 5. 70-Henry Malcuit, 00:14.844[10]; 6. 16-Danny Mumaw, 00:14.857[13]; 7. 38K-Chris Myers, 00:15.116[4]; 8. 12-Corbin Gurley, 00:15.294[5]; 9. 7DK-Dylan Kingan, 00:15.372[6]; 10. 6J-Jonah Aumend, 00:15.705[15]; 11. D12-Jason Dolick, 00:15.753[12]; 12. 1-Jamie Myers, 00:15.854[8]; 13. 7-Troy Kingan, 00:15.881[7]; 14. 57N-Tyler Newhart, 00:15.933[3]; 15. 2-Joe Adorjan, 00:16.452[9]; 16. 187-Tyler Wiles, 00:16.649[1]; 17. 9W-Matt Warner, 00:17.916[2]
Super Late Models 17 Entries
A Feature 25 Laps | 00:29:00.201
1. 14JR-JR Gentry[3]; 2. 5M-Ryan Markham[5]; 3. 50-Ryan Missler[17]; 4. 59-Larry Bellman[4]; 5. 17-Tyler Evans[15]; 6. 21-Wes Morrison[11]; 7. 2C-Clint Coffman[13]; 8. 74-Jeff Warnick[14]; 9. 24X-Jason Skelly[10]; 10. 79-Brad Malcuit[6]; 11. 69R-Doug Baird[12]; 12. (DNF) 27W-Eric Wilson[2]; 13. (DNF) 3-Thomas Baker[8]; 14. (DNF) 1*-Kyle Moore[1]; 15. (DNF) 24-Jerry Aber[7]; 16. (DNF) 7-Nick Cox[9]; 17. (DNF) 612-Race Gardiner[16]
Coffman Corvette Dash 6 Laps | 00:02:34.022
1. 1*-Kyle Moore[2]; 2. 27W-Eric Wilson[4]; 3. 14JR-JR Gentry[3]; 4. 59-Larry Bellman[5]; 5. 5M-Ryan Markham[6]; 6. 79-Brad Malcuit[1]
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:04:51.358
1. 27W-Eric Wilson[1]; 2. 5M-Ryan Markham[2]; 3. 79-Brad Malcuit[4]; 4. 24-Jerry Aber[3]; 5. 7-Nick Cox[5]; 6. 21-Wes Morrison[8]; 7. 2C-Clint Coffman[6]; 8. (DNF) 17-Tyler Evans[7]; 9. (DNS) 50-Ryan Missler
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:04:59.723
1. 59-Larry Bellman[1]; 2. 14JR-JR Gentry[2]; 3. 1*-Kyle Moore[5]; 4. 3-Thomas Baker[4]; 5. 24X-Jason Skelly[6]; 6. 69R-Doug Baird[7]; 7. (DNF) 74-Jeff Warnick[3]; 8. (DNS) 612-Race Gardiner
Qualifying 8 Laps | 00:12:59.000
1. 27W-Eric Wilson, 00:17.179[14]; 2. 59-Larry Bellman, 00:17.309[10]; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham, 00:17.410[13]; 4. 14JR-JR Gentry, 00:17.421[7]; 5. 24-Jerry Aber, 00:18.077[8]; 6. 74-Jeff Warnick, 00:18.078[5]; 7. 79-Brad Malcuit, 00:18.096[1]; 8. 3-Thomas Baker, 00:18.121[17]; 9. 7-Nick Cox, 00:18.157[9]; 10. 1*-Kyle Moore, 00:18.216[6]; 11. 2C-Clint Coffman, 00:18.275[3]; 12. 24X-Jason Skelly, 00:18.778[4]; 13. 17-Tyler Evans, 00:18.838[15]; 14. 69R-Doug Baird, 00:19.657[12]; 15. 21-Wes Morrison, 00:19.690[2]; 16. 612-Race Gardiner, 00:25.154[16]; 17. 50-Ryan Missler, 00:43.996[11]
UMP Modifieds 12 Entries
A Feature 20 Laps | 00:25:41.423
1. 01-Colton Shaw[8]; 2. 60-Jimmy Humphrey[3]; 3. 187-Took Wiles[2]; 4. 15-Ryan Markham[1]; 5. 69-Ryan Robey[7]; 6. 99-Casey Butler[6]; 7. 185-Ron Miller[9]; 8. 36-Brent Coffman[11]; 9. 8X-David Giaugue[12]; 10. (DNF) 16-Caden Alexander[4]; 11. (DNF) 21-Dwayne Powell[10]; 12. (DNF) 9T-Mason Canter[5]
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:05:48.692
1. 01-Colton Shaw[4]; 2. 187-Took Wiles[1]; 3. 9T-Mason Canter[2]; 4. 60-Jimmy Humphrey[3]; 5. 185-Ron Miller[5]; 6. 36-Brent Coffman[6]
Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:06:04.308
1. 99-Casey Butler[2]; 2. 69-Ryan Robey[4]; 3. 16-Caden Alexander[1]; 4. 15-Ryan Markham[3]; 5. 21-Dwayne Powell[5]; 6. 8X-David Giaugue[6]
Qualifying 8 Laps | 00:01:24.843
1. 01-Colton Shaw, 00:18.441[12]; 2. 69-Ryan Robey, 00:19.154[7]; 3. 60-Jimmy Humphrey, 00:19.168[11]; 4. 15-Ryan Markham, 00:19.178[3]; 5. 9T-Mason Canter, 00:19.264[4]; 6. 99-Casey Butler, 00:19.299[10]; 7. 187-Took Wiles, 00:19.391[9]; 8. 16-Caden Alexander, 00:19.598[8]; 9. 185-Ron Miller, 00:19.865[6]; 10. 21-Dwayne Powell, 00:20.549[1]; 11. 36-Brent Coffman, 00:20.956[2]; 12. 8X-David Giaugue, 00:20.995[5]
Super Stocks 10 Entries
A Feature 15 Laps | 00:14:13.480
1. 21D-Kyle Moore[2]; 2. 14-Codee Schneider[6]; 3. 51-Paul Holmes[1]; 4. 18-Braden Tucke[5]; 5. 77-Rob Melzer[7]; 6. 771-Brandon Craver[4]; 7. 015-Logan Duncan[3]; 8. (DNF) 77H-Matt Hensel[8]; 9. (DNF) U4-Paul McVicker[9]; 10. (DNS) 910-Don Rutt
Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:22.346
1. 21D-Kyle Moore[3]; 2. 18-Braden Tucke[4]; 3. 771-Brandon Craver[5]; 4. 51-Paul Holmes[2]; 5. U4-Paul McVicker[1]
Heat 2 8 Laps
1. 14-Codee Schneider[3]; 2. 910-Don Rutt[4]; 3. 77-Rob Melzer[2]; 4. 015-Logan Duncan[1]; 5. 77H-Matt Hensel[5]
Qualifying 8 Laps | 00:02:49.915
1. 18-Braden Tucke, 00:21.631[7]; 2. 14-Codee Schneider, 00:21.836[6]; 3. 21D-Kyle Moore, 00:21.880[9]; 4. 77-Rob Melzer, 00:22.509[1]; 5. 51-Paul Holmes, 00:22.744[3]; 6. 015-Logan Duncan, 00:22.850[5]; 7. U4-Paul McVicker, 00:23.364[10]; 8. 77H-Matt Hensel, 00:23.395[2]; 9. 771-Brandon Craver, 00:24.114[8]; 10. 910-Don Rutt, 00:25.680[4]
Mini Stocks 18 Entries
A Feature 12 Laps | 00:06:28.061
1. 7C-Billy Dawson[2]; 2. 18-Doug Hensel[8]; 3. 66-Johnny Bruce Sr[1]; 4. 71-Anthony Collins[6]; 5. 18X-Dustin Bedlion[4]; 6. 23P-Kyle Petit[3]; 7. 278-Zack Hershey[7]; 8. 711-Kenny Long[11]; 9. 100-David Potter[12]; 10. 41W-Moose Workman[5]; 11. 7CM-Cody Musselman[13]; 12. 419-Robert Searls[10]; 13. 54C-Clayton Evans[15]; 14. 77-Molly Rannigan[14]; 15. 11-Trent Bishop[16]; 16. (DNS) 23K-Kevin Markey; 17. (DNS) 33S-Justin Shreve; 18. (DNS) 41-Gene Arkenburgh
Heat 1 6 Laps | 00:03:13.053
1. 23P-Kyle Petit[2]; 2. 66-Johnny Bruce Sr[7]; 3. 278-Zack Hershey[1]; 4. 41W-Moose Workman[4]; 5. 23K-Kevin Markey[3]; 6. 711-Kenny Long[8]; 7. 7CM-Cody Musselman[6]; 8. 54C-Clayton Evans[9]; 9. (DNS) 33S-Justin Shreve
Heat 2 6 Laps | 00:02:52.777
1. 71-Anthony Collins[1]; 2. 7C-Billy Dawson[3]; 3. 18-Doug Hensel[5]; 4. 18X-Dustin Bedlion[6]; 5. 419-Robert Searls[8]; 6. 100-David Potter[7]; 7. 77-Molly Rannigan[2]; 8. 11-Trent Bishop[4]; 9. (DNF) 41-Gene Arkenburgh[9]
