Loney wins instant classic, with Spithaler, Moore, Hensel, and Goff reigning supreme in Wayne County Speedway season finale

Written By: Randy Worrell (Ranger)

ORRVILLE – Talk about one-upmanship.

The annual season-ending Ohio Dirt Blowout has always been one of the most popular destinations for both fans and competitors alike on the O’Reilly Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway’s schedule.

WCS Promoter Jason Flory went above and beyond on Saturday evening.

The 13th edition of the two-day event debuted the subtleties of the newly configured 3-8-mile oval and the culmination of the inaugural Fast Five racing series’ three-race King of the County events. Each was big hits on the summer-like last weekend of September.

JoyRide Transport Mini Stock champion Doug Hensel capped his nine-win season by claiming the $1,000-to-win Sam Huffman Memorial presented by Henthorn Golf Cart Sales during Saturday’s 15-lap lid lifter. Hensel also scored one of the twin features on Friday, along with Zach Hershey, who scored his first-ever feature victory in the completely inverted second 12-lap event. Hensel also secured the Bad Boyz Tree Service King of the County Championship in the process.

Budding Western Pennsylvania star Brandon Spithaler made the most of his newly acquired seat in the Seeling Motorsports 97 by picking up his second Pine Tree Towing and Recovery Sprint Car victory of 2023 and $3,000 top prize. Spithaler’s eighth overall victory (16th in the nation) also catapulted the Evans City driver to an unsuspecting championship in the Integrity Auto and Truck Sales King of the County race, while Kyle Moore swept the two-day McKenzie Concrete Super Stock events and solidifying his top spot in the Platinum Designs race for the King of the County crown. The Mansfield Mad Wheelman’s wins were the fifth and sixth in Dirt Blowout competition since 2021.

Ryan Markham raced to his third overall Flynn’s Tire and Service Center Modified victory to open the Dirt Blowout action on Friday before Brad Goff raced to his fourth victory of 2023 in the $1,000-to-win main event on Saturday. Second year WCS driver Jimmy Humphrey, though, utilized consistency in claiming the Flynn’s Tire King of the County series.

Hanoverton’s Logan Lewis outdueled 19-time 2023 winner Jimmy Smith in rounding out Friday’s action in the 15-lap Mod Lite feature. Lewis’ victory was his fourth this season and first triumph at WCS.

The best, and most spectacular of the weekend’s nine feature events, however, was saved for Saturday’s $3,000-to-win Malcuit Tavern Super Late Model Topless 40-lapper. Danville’s Nathan Loney stayed within striking distance of early leaders Ryan Missler and Doug Drown, before a lap-5 incident in turn 3 sent the pair to the rear of the field, then tracked down leader Kyle Moore on lap 37 after a door-to-door battle during a 20-plus lap battle and sped to his first SLM win of the season at WCS.

Loney also survived an onslaught of challenges during the middle stages of the event as well, as Larry Bellman turned in his most impressive outing of the season in finishing fourth, one spot back of Ryan Markham, with Missler and Drown battling back to finish fifth and sixth. JR Gentry, who entered the event with a slim lead in the Best Western Wooster Motel and Conference Center King of the County series. Gentry retired from the race while running fourth on lap 5.

“What a race?” said Loney. “I’ve been in a lot of battles with Kyle over the years and tonight’s was just awesome. Jason (Flory) did an outstanding job in widening the track and bringing the bottom groove closer to the top in speed. I’ve coached basketball and won a lot of games, and have won a bunch of big modified races, but this has to be my biggest win.”

With Bellman leading Markham by two points in the King of the County race, coupled with Gentry’s misfortune, knotted the pair of veterans in a virtual tie for the top spot. With a series of tiebreakers in place, track officials were in the process of determining the championship but as of press time the results were undetermined. Stay tuned to the speedway’s social media outlets for an official announcement.

Spithaler served notice that the potential of teaming up with the familiar yellow 97 could be a potent one in 2024 after rallying from his 15th starting spot during Saturday’s victory.

Spithaler, who recently clinched the FAST Series title aboard his own 22 machine, disposed of early leader Trey Jacobs after taking second from Leyton Wagner on lap 18 then took command for good three circuits later for the victory. Hard-charging Henry Malcuit finished a close second followed by Jacobs, Wagner, track champion Tyler Gunn and Tyler Street, who led the King of the County series by five points over the “Machine Gunn” and Jordan Ryan, and six ahead of Spithaler.

“I really didn’t know the (King of the County) was even a thing until we got here, so that’s a bonus in winning that, too,” said Spithaler. “This ride started out as a phone call a few weeks ago and it’s turned into what is looking like a deal for next season. We’ve always been fast here but haven’t been able to get it done until this year. The track was awesome, and Andy Potter (crew chief) and the guys had this thing fast. Hopefully it’s the start of something really good.”

Moore left little doubt who the King of the County, and the speedway’s Super Stock division was following the weekend sweep. “Chargin” Charlie Duncan ended his brief time out of a race car by turning in a pair of second place finishes each night in his first-ever appearance in the WCS Super Stock division in the white 77, normally piloted by Rob Melzer.

Brandon Morrow, Codee Schneider, and Chad Craver rounded out Saturday’s top five.

“I just love running (car owner Bob Daugherty’s) car and we’re pretty fast right now,” said Moore. “I had to move around a little with the bottom coming in like it has, but Bob has this thing dialed in. We’re going to go to Eldora in a few weeks, and l’d love to win a race there. It seems that we didn’t race as much this season, but we still had a great season.”

Hensel’s first and fifth place runs on Friday put the black 18 on the pole for Saturday’s headliner and the veteran driver did the rest after out dragging Hershey to turn one. Hensel, however, survived a lap 10 restart and threat from Anthony Collins, then a last lap shootout restart from Billy Dawson.

“I wasn’t pacing myself tonight whatsoever, l was on the throttle from the start and getting the early lead was huge,” said Hensel. “I really wasn’t scoreboard watching but lining up beside Billy on the last lap had me worried because he’s so good here. We wanted this one pretty bad, and l just hit my lines and had enough. We enjoy winning races like it’s our first one. This one feels great.”

Goff has been super-fast in his limited visits to WCS this year, and Saturday was no exception.

Loney, though, was primed for his second win of the night and vaulted to the early lead from his pole position and led Colton Shaw, Markham, Humphrey, and Goff in the early stages. Goff worked his to the front and exchanged the point with Loney until the No. 10 dropped off the pace on lap 13. Goff raced to the checkered with Humphrey in close pursuit with Shaw, from the tail, Markham, and Paul Holmes.

“We didn’t run a very smart race there in stages, but we haven’t raced a whole lot this year, with this being just our tenth race,” said Goff. “We really enjoy racing here, though, as this is our favorite racetrack. I don’t know (promoter Jason Flory) at all but give him and the staff a lot of credit for the track changes and are willing to try and improve the racing. I’d say it worked well, though, as the racing was awesome.”

Media Results for 9/30/2023 at Wayne County Speedway – Orrville, OH
410 Sprint Cars 29 Entries
A Feature 25 Laps | 00:18:40.057
1. 97-Brandon Spithaler[15]; 2. 70-Henry Malcuit[4]; 3. 19-Trey Jacobs[1]; 4. 38-Leyton Wagner[3]; 5. 12-Corbin Gurley[17]; 6. 91-Tyler Gunn[6]; 7. 4*-Tyler Street[8]; 8. 7N-Darin Naida[13]; 9. 16-Danny Mumaw[2]; 10. 25-Jamie Myers[14]; 11. 2P-Ricky Peterson[7]; 12. 38K-Chris Myers[9]; 13. 19R-Sean Rayhall[5]; 14. 17-Reece Saldana[11]; 15. 28M-Conner Morrell[12]; 16. 4-Trey McGranahan[10]; 17. 20-Danial Burkhart[19]; 18. (DNF) 25R-Jordan Ryan[16]; 19. (DNF) 1MC-Wayne McPeek[20]; 20. (DNF) 0-Brayton Phillips[18]

B Feature 10 Laps | 00:09:58.000
1. 12-Corbin Gurley[4]; 2. 0-Brayton Phillips[2]; 3. 20-Danial Burkhart[1]; 4. 1MC-Wayne McPeek[6]; 5. 55*-Matthew Sherlock[5]; 6. 57N-Tyler Newhart[7]; 7. 187-Tyler Wiles[10]; 8. 31-Jac Nickles[9]; 9. 99-Cameron Nastasi[3]; 10. 00K-Anthony Gaskins[12]; 11. (DNF) 22R-Ryan Fredericks[8]; 12. (DNF) 18-Todd Hinton[11]; 13. (DNS) 6J-Jonah Aumend

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:05:58.000
1. 19-Trey Jacobs[2]; 2. 2P-Ricky Peterson[3]; 3. 38K-Chris Myers[1]; 4. 7N-Darin Naida[4]; 5. 20-Danial Burkhart[5]; 6. 55*-Matthew Sherlock[6]; 7. 31-Jac Nickles[7]; 8. (DNS) 6J-Jonah Aumend

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:09:06.000
1. 19R-Sean Rayhall[2]; 2. 91-Tyler Gunn[4]; 3. 4-Trey McGranahan[1]; 4. 25-Jamie Myers[5]; 5. 0-Brayton Phillips[3]; 6. 1MC-Wayne McPeek[7]; 7. 187-Tyler Wiles[6]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:03:48.000
1. 38-Leyton Wagner[2]; 2. 4*-Tyler Street[4]; 3. 17-Reece Saldana[1]; 4. 97-Brandon Spithaler[3]; 5. 99-Cameron Nastasi[5]; 6. 57N-Tyler Newhart[6]; 7. 18-Todd Hinton[7]

Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:04:01.000
1. 70-Henry Malcuit[3]; 2. 16-Danny Mumaw[1]; 3. 28M-Conner Morrell[4]; 4. 25R-Jordan Ryan[2]; 5. 12-Corbin Gurley[5]; 6. 22R-Ryan Fredericks[6]; 7. 00K-Anthony Gaskins[7]

Qualifying 25 Laps | 00:20:36.000
1. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:14.495[23]; 2. 91-Tyler Gunn, 00:14.604[6]; 3. 4*-Tyler Street, 00:14.612[29]; 4. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:14.717[14]; 5. 2P-Ricky Peterson, 00:14.901[3]; 6. 0-Brayton Phillips, 00:14.990[13]; 7. 97-Brandon Spithaler, 00:15.001[20]; 8. 70-Henry Malcuit, 00:15.058[25]; 9. 19-Trey Jacobs, 00:15.079[27]; 10. 19R-Sean Rayhall, 00:15.177[2]; 11. 38-Leyton Wagner, 00:15.233[21]; 12. 25R-Jordan Ryan, 00:15.273[1]; 13. 38K-Chris Myers, 00:15.306[28]; 14. 4-Trey McGranahan, 00:15.589[7]; 15. 17-Reece Saldana, 00:15.899[26]; 16. 16-Danny Mumaw, 00:15.970[9]; 17. 20-Danial Burkhart, 00:16.005[11]; 18. 25-Jamie Myers, 00:16.176[17]; 19. 99-Cameron Nastasi, 00:16.230[5]; 20. 12-Corbin Gurley, 00:16.281[16]; 21. 55*-Matthew Sherlock, 00:16.360[10]; 22. 187-Tyler Wiles, 00:16.401[12]; 23. 57N-Tyler Newhart, 00:16.533[8]; 24. 22R-Ryan Fredericks, 00:16.747[15]; 25. 31-Jac Nickles, 00:16.781[19]; 26. 1MC-Wayne McPeek, 00:16.819[24]; 27. 18-Todd Hinton, 00:17.758[22]; 28. 00K-Anthony Gaskins, 00:17.803[4]; 29. 6J-Jonah Aumend, 00:21.044[18]

Super Late Models 21 Entries
A Feature 40 Laps | 00:46:20.595
1. 10-Nathan Loney[1]; 2. 1*-Kyle Moore[4]; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[7]; 4. 59-Larry Bellman[5]; 5. 50-Ryan Missler[2]; 6. 12-Doug Drown[3]; 7. 19-Cody Scott[15]; 8. 79-Brad Malcuit[14]; 9. 2C-Clint Coffman[16]; 10. 33-Dave Bowen[13]; 11. 41-Randy Pollock[17]; 12. 24-Jerry Aber[10]; 13. (DNF) 71-Dave Hornikel[9]; 14. (DNF) 8B-Brett Bee[11]; 15. (DNF) 36-Brent Coffman[20]; 16. (DNF) 1X1-Allan Baker[21]; 17. (DNF) 03-Gregg Haskell[8]; 18. (DNF) 612-Race Gardiner[19]; 19. (DNF) 14JR-JR Gentry[6]; 20. (DNF) 3-Thomas Baker[12]; 21. (DNF) 69R-Doug Baird[18]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:06.431
1. 10-Nathan Loney[3]; 2. 1*-Kyle Moore[2]; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[1]; 4. 24-Jerry Aber[4]; 5. 33-Dave Bowen[6]; 6. 2C-Clint Coffman[5]; 7. 612-Race Gardiner[7]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:07:38.262
1. 50-Ryan Missler[1]; 2. 59-Larry Bellman[3]; 3. 03-Gregg Haskell[4]; 4. 8B-Brett Bee[2]; 5. 79-Brad Malcuit[5]; 6. 41-Randy Pollock[6]; 7. (DNF) 36-Brent Coffman[7]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:03:57.156
1. 12-Doug Drown[1]; 2. 14JR-JR Gentry[2]; 3. 71-Dave Hornikel[3]; 4. 3-Thomas Baker[7]; 5. 19-Cody Scott[4]; 6. 69R-Doug Baird[6]; 7. (DNF) 1X1-Allan Baker[5]

Qualifying 25 Laps | 00:05:08.000
1. 5M-Ryan Markham, 00:17.243[13]; 2. 50-Ryan Missler, 00:17.251[21]; 3. 12-Doug Drown, 00:17.268[16]; 4. 1*-Kyle Moore, 00:17.499[15]; 5. 8B-Brett Bee, 00:17.607[17]; 6. 14JR-JR Gentry, 00:17.622[8]; 7. 10-Nathan Loney, 00:17.777[4]; 8. 59-Larry Bellman, 00:17.815[18]; 9. 71-Dave Hornikel, 00:18.002[7]; 10. 24-Jerry Aber, 00:18.019[19]; 11. 03-Gregg Haskell, 00:18.025[20]; 12. 19-Cody Scott, 00:18.145[5]; 13. 2C-Clint Coffman, 00:18.339[14]; 14. 79-Brad Malcuit, 00:18.470[1]; 15. 1X1-Allan Baker, 00:18.549[10]; 16. 33-Dave Bowen, 00:18.718[9]; 17. 41-Randy Pollock, 00:18.936[11]; 18. 69R-Doug Baird, 00:18.938[3]; 19. 612-Race Gardiner, 00:19.140[6]; 20. 36-Brent Coffman, 00:19.406[2]; 21. (DNS) 3-Thomas Baker

UMP Modifieds 12 Entries
A Feature 20 Laps | 00:13:21.594
1. 41-Brad Goff[5]; 2. 60-Jimmy Humphrey[4]; 3. 01-Colton Shaw[1]; 4. 5-Ryan Markham[7]; 5. X-Paul Holmes[10]; 6. 16-Caden Alexander[8]; 7. (DNF) 10-Nathan Loney[2]; 8. (DNF) 73B-Cody Basinger[12]; 9. (DNF) 22G-Jesse Griffitts[11]; 10. (DNF) 185-Ron Miller[3]; 11. (DNF) 1-Vincent DePizzo[6]; 12. (DNF) 36-Brent Coffman[9]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:06:01.831
1. 01-Colton Shaw[2]; 2. 41-Brad Goff[4]; 3. 5-Ryan Markham[3]; 4. 185-Ron Miller[1]; 5. 36-Brent Coffman[5]; 6. 22G-Jesse Griffitts[6]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:09:21.573
1. 10-Nathan Loney[2]; 2. 1-Vincent DePizzo[4]; 3. 60-Jimmy Humphrey[3]; 4. 16-Caden Alexander[1]; 5. X-Paul Holmes[6]; 6. 73B-Cody Basinger[5]

Qualifying 25 Laps | 00:01:47.000
1. 41-Brad Goff, 00:18.630[3]; 2. 1-Vincent DePizzo, 00:18.900[10]; 3. 5-Ryan Markham, 00:19.023[9]; 4. 60-Jimmy Humphrey, 00:19.176[6]; 5. 01-Colton Shaw, 00:19.201[1]; 6. 10-Nathan Loney, 00:19.376[2]; 7. 185-Ron Miller, 00:19.906[11]; 8. 16-Caden Alexander, 00:19.972[4]; 9. 36-Brent Coffman, 00:20.142[7]; 10. 73B-Cody Basinger, 00:20.644[5]; 11. 22G-Jesse Griffitts, 00:21.022[8]; 12. (DNS) X-Paul Holmes

Super Stocks 9 Entries
A Feature 15 Laps | 00:11:44.392
1. 21D-Kyle Moore[3]; 2. 77-Charlie Duncan[1]; 3. C9-Brandon Morrow[9]; 4. 14-Codee Schneider[4]; 5. 771-Chad Craver[6]; 6. 18-Braden Tucke[5]; 7. R22-James Raynor[7]; 8. (DNF) 28-Brad Hensel[2]; 9. (DNF) 0-Timmy Myers Jr[8]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:23.079
1. 77-Charlie Duncan[3]; 2. 14-Codee Schneider[2]; 3. 21D-Kyle Moore[4]; 4. 28-Brad Hensel[1]; 5. 18-Braden Tucke[5]; 6. 771-Chad Craver[6]; 7. R22-James Raynor[7]; 8. 0-Timmy Myers Jr[8]; 9. (DNS) C9-Brandon Morrow

Qualifying 25 Laps | 00:05:57.333
1. 21D-Kyle Moore, 00:19.544[6]; 2. 77-Charlie Duncan, 00:19.840[1]; 3. 14-Codee Schneider, 00:20.364[3]; 4. 28-Brad Hensel, 00:20.443[5]; 5. 18-Braden Tucke, 00:20.736[2]; 6. 771-Chad Craver, 00:20.800[4]; 7. R22-James Raynor, 00:21.134[9]; 8. (DNS) 0-Timmy Myers Jr; 9. (DNS) C9-Brandon Morrow

Mini Stocks 19 Entries
A Feature 15 Laps | 00:22:36.770
1. 18-Doug Hensel[2]; 2. 71-Anthony Collins[3]; 3. 98-Billy Dawson[13]; 4. 278-Zack Hershey[1]; 5. 7CM-Cody Musselman[4]; 6. 22-Matt Shapaka[15]; 7. 5-Jordan Twinem[9]; 8. 18X-Dustin Bedlion[14]; 9. 8-Cory Brown[8]; 10. 17N-Dwayne Powell[17]; 11. 100-David Potter[7]; 12. (DNF) F7-Josh Ramirez[10]; 13. (DNF) 22M-Thomas Mendiola[6]; 14. (DNF) 420-Colton St John[5]; 15. (DNF) 66-Johnny Bruce Sr[11]; 16. (DNF) 23R-Scott Randolph[18]; 17. (DNF) 7D-Daytona Hensley[19]; 18. (DNF) 17-Wayne Newbury[16]; 19. (DNS) 41W-Moose Workman

B Feature 8 Laps | 00:03:02.000
1. 41W-Moose Workman[4]; 2. 98-Billy Dawson[6]; 3. 18X-Dustin Bedlion[1]; 4. 22-Matt Shapaka[7]; 5. 17-Wayne Newbury[3]; 6. 17N-Dwayne Powell[2]; 7. (DNF) 23R-Scott Randolph[5]; 8. (DNS) 7D-Daytona Hensley