RACEDAY

Its Raceday at Wayne County Speedway!!

On hand tonight:
Pine Tree Towing and Recovery Sprints
Malcuit Tavern Late Models
Flynn’s Tire & Auto Service Modifieds
McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks
Joyride Transport Mini Stocks
VARC Vintage Race Cars

Gates open at 3, hot laps at 6, racing at 7:15! General admission is $20 with kids 12 and under always free, $35 pit pass

Come join us as we crown our 5 Season Champions tonight!

Gunn firing on all cylinders at the right time; Hopes to secure title with first-year team in Saturday’s Wayne County Speedway season championship night

Written By: Randy Worrell (Ranger)

ORRVILLE – First-year driver-owner combinations in sprint car racing are at times as unpredictable as the sport itself. Conventional wisdom – with history to back it – says few pay immediate dividends and even fewer survive.

Enter Napolean’s Tyler Gunn and Wooster-based co-owners Sid and Beth Eikelberry and Seneca County’s Jim Sipes.

The trio – which went from virtual strangers and an introductory mid-winter phone call – to one night away from securing their first O’Reilly’s Chase for the Championship in Wayne County Speedway’s Pine Tree Towing and Recovery 410 Sprint Car division – has been the rare exception.

“I didn’t really know Sid and Beth, and it was only after we made this deal that I realized l actually had met Jim once at Attica,” said Gunn. “I always try and shake everyone’s hand that stops by to see us, because you never know what may happen. And it ended up turning into this deal.”

Gunn showed immediate speed early on by displaying an uncanny ability to navigate the treacherous high side around the 3-8-mile oval, despite limited experience at the WCS facility and recorded a pair of early wins.

A mid-summer series of events, however, which included a rain drenched Speedweek race, a nearly three weeks break in the schedule, and a couple of torn up race cars set the JRayl Trucking-sponsored 91 back a notch.

“At the end of last year, mechanic Zach Holloway came off the road with a touring team and we ended up teaming up together,” added Gunn. “So, when we started talking this winter about (the 91) deal, I didn’t want to do it without Zach involved. After our first race together, we knew it wasn’t going to be any problem at all in getting everyone on the same page. We all clicked right away.”

The “Machine Gunn” saw his point lead shrink in the middle of the summer as former track champion Danny Mumaw returned to his previous form and rattled off a pair of wins, and Tyler Street, who is always on the gas at the ultra-fast 3-8-mile, also recovered from a stretch of bad luck as well with Mumaw actually taking command of the points lead following his second win just a weeks back.

Gunn returned to his winning ways last week, however, with his third victory of the season and holds a slim margin over Mumaw (453-438), with Street just six back of Mumaw with 432 heading into Saturday’s double-points championship night.

“I’m not sure what, if any, strategy we will have other than just keeping pace somewhere in the pack with Danny and Tyler close by,” said Gunn. “We tore up a few cars earlier, but Zach really has a handle on our RPM-chassis cars, and we feel like we are comfortable and firing on all cylinders again.

“We flipped a few weeks back while running third, and l know l can’t do anything stupid like that on Saturday, but who wants to finish second or third? We started the season with a goal of winning the championship, and we are in a position to do that, but we also want to win. We’ll just do our best and see where we are at the end of the night.”

Saturday’s Season Championship night presented by Southeastern Equipment begins with warm-ups at 6 p.m. and racing at 7:15.

Tucke in position for championship; Hopes to finish the task on Saturday at Wayne County Speedway

Written By: Randy Worrell (Ranger)

ORRVILLE – Of the Fast Five Series drivers leading points battles heading into Saturday’s Season Championship, Braden Tucke sits in the most precarious seat of them all.
And arguably the most deserving of capturing an O’Reilly Auto Parts Chase for the Championship crown, as well.

Tucke took the Wayne County Speedway’s McKenzie Concrete-backed Super Stock division by storm early on by winning two of the first seven races and solidifying his green and white 18 machine as one of the quickest in the class.

Tucke enters Saturday night’s fray with 592 points, holding a slim lead over Rob Melzer (574), Kyle Moore (573), and Codee Schneider (548). A mid-summer combination of mechanical woes and unfortunate on-track incidents, coupled with the consistency of Melzer (2 wins and numerous top fives), and the meteoric rise of Schneider – also with a pair wins – has tightened the battle with double points at stake on Saturday, too.

And the return to dominance of Kyle Moore, as well, promises to make the Southeastern Equipment-sponsored event a tense one for all involved.

“We had everything where we wanted it at the start of the season, but we just got in a slump mid-summer, and it’s been tough ever since,” Tucke said. “And you add in that Melzer is always in the top five, and Codee has found a lot of speed here lately, and it’s been tough. On top of that, Kyle and Bob have their car figured out again, too.”

WCS statistician Mike Swanger has tabulated that Tucke can wrap up his first title in just his second season of Super Stock racing with a second-place finish regardless of either Melzer or Moore riding to victory. A combination of heat race wins and the 3 bonus points that go along with it (x2), opens a few other scenarios, but a bridesmaid result will seal the deal for the family-owned team from Canton.

“It would mean everything to get the championship, because realistically, with Kyle and (Bob Daugherty’s 21 car) out there it’s very, very difficult to win races,” said Tucke. “Even though it’s everyone’s goal to win races, we started the season points racing all along and that was our goal going in.”

With Moore’s win last week, the defending track champion will start no better than eighth on Saturday, with the field in front of Moore lining up according to the re-draw following preliminary action.

“Track position will be everything Saturday,” said Tucke. “There’s not much strategy involved, we’re going to have to go from the start and go as hard as we can for 15 laps.

“It’s definitely been a tense week. We’ve been on the car since Sunday morning and we’re going to have to have it good (on Saturday). The car, myself, the adjustments, everything we do. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into this, and it would be our biggest moment in the ten years that our family has been racing.”

Saturday’s action unfolds with warm-up slated for 6 p.m. and racing at 7:15.

Passion and experience have Hensel on verge of fourth Wayne County Speedway title.

Written By: Randy Worrell (Ranger)

ORRVILLE – Doug Hensel has built a career resume that that would rival any during the last decade of any racer in any division at Wayne County Speedway. 

The 16-year veteran and ambassador of the Joyride Transport Mini Stock class will be gunning for his fourth O’Reilly Auto Parts’ Chase for the Championship title on Saturday and his 30th victory in the last four seasons. 

But what drives Hensel each week of each new season? According to the pilot of the familiar 18 it’s simple; Passion and experience. 

“It takes more than just a fast car to run up front in this class, especially with the caliber of guys that seem to be all fast this year,” Hensel said. “We have a lot of passion for what we do, and that’s a huge part of it, but as l get older it’s also the experience, too. I’d say right now, its 98 percent experience, but we also enjoy and celebrate each win like it’s our last, because it is difficult to win races. I guess it’s a lot of factors all added in.” 

Hensel has recorded five wins at WCS this season and has a chance to equal that with a victory on Saturday and at the season-ending Dirt Blowout.  Victory on Saturday, however, will not be at the forefront – at least not early in the evening. 

Mike Swanger’s title scenario tabulations has Hensel securing the title with a 20th or better finishing spot, regardless of what Anthony Collins – last week’s last lap winner over Hensel and runner-up in the standings – finishes in the feature event. 

“I’ll be so nervous in the heat race, because we usually have enough cars that you have to at least qualify through the preliminaries,” said Hensel. “We’ve had three DNF’s this year, two to just dumb luck, so anything can happen. We’ve lost a few championships on the very last night, so we’ll be taking nothing for granted.” 

If Hensel does indeed qualify for Saturday’s Season Championship and has the title in his sights, an early celebration, however, will not be on his radar. 

“We’ll be racing to win, no question,” he added. “Track position means everything in our class and you can’t pace yourself. You really can’t get caught up in the A, B, or C scenarios of points racing.  

“Our mentality will be that ‘if we win, it’s over.” 

Season Championship activities on Southeastern Equipment night begins with warm-ups at 6 and first race slated for 7:15.