SHEPPARD WINS 3rd IN A ROW WoO AT WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY; DROWN SWEEPS SUPER STOCK FEATURES; NEWBURY & D. HENSEL SPLIT MINI STOCK MAINS

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Orrville, Ohio

Saturday, May 18, 2019

By Mike Swanger & WoO

   If the standard length of a Morton Buildings Feature was only 45 laps instead of the usual 50, Saturday night’s race at Wayne County Speedway would have ended on a different note. Former Series Champions Brandon Sheppard and Darrell Lanigan put on what could potentially be remembered as one of the most exciting features of the 2019 season in an incredible display of lap after lap, no holds barred battling for over 25 laps. With Lanigan pounding the cushion on the top, Sheppard showing a wheel down low almost every lap until he made the winning move on lap 46 by going underneath Lanigan, who was forced out of his high groove by lapped traffic. Amidst all the fireworks in the last 10 laps with the leaders, rookie sensation Ricky Weiss burst onto the scene with seven laps to go after a late race charge, getting around Doug Drown with 11 circuits left and closing within five car lengths of the battle between Sheppard and Lanigan by lap 43. With 3 laps to go, Weiss had completely closed the gap and made the pass out of turn four underneath Lanigan to take second. With time running out and a slew of lapped traffic ahead of him, Weiss took aim at the Rocket 1 Racing Machine. But his last lap ‘Hail Mary’ dive into turn three was unsuccessful and Sheppard hung on for the win, His 7th of the year with the Outlaws and third in a row at Wayne County Speedway.

   ‘’I knew my car was fast on the top, so if I could get in open track, I could roll pretty good,” Sheppard said. “Everybody was just all over the place and we were racing hard. A fun, clean race, for sure.”

   Sheppard spent a lot of effort digging on Lanigan down low until he saw daylight on the highside. When Lannigan saw the signal sticks telling him to move back up to the top, Sheppard went back to the bottom. But after several unsuccessful pass attempts down low and the laps winding down, Sheppard began feeling the heat from Weiss’ #7 behind him. And that’s when he knew it was now or never. Sheppard got a great run coming out of turn two on lap 46 and drag raced Lanigan down the back stretch. It looked like as though Lanigan’s momentum on the high side would carry him through once more, as it had on every other pass attempt. But Larry Bellman was already riding the line and impeded Lanigan’s path just enough to allow Sheppard to get the momentum advantage and squeak by underneath. “The lapped cars were just right where I needed to be and I wasn’t good enough around the bottom to go down there and get beside them,” Lanigan said. “Brandon’s car was better on the bottom.”

   With this win, Sheppard has now tied fellow Series Champion Billy Moyer for third on the all time World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series feature wins list at 44. It also marks his third straight victory at Wayne County Speedway in WoO competition, an unprecedented accomplishment at ‘Orrville’s Historic Oval.’

   Rain fall has been quite a thorn in the racing world this season and rain came into play again Saturday as a brief shower hit during the heat races but quickly passed and the Wayne County Speedway surface was expertly packed back into race conditions.

   The night started out with the rained out features from the week before for the McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks and the JOYRIDE Transportation Mini Stocks. For the McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks, they would pick up on lap 5 of their feature with John Wilson leading them back to green but Don Baney would take over the top spot for the next three laps when Wilson would reclaim the lead. Right behind the two front runners was Wooster’s Doug Drown and he would slide into second place on lap nine. He would ride Wilson’s back bumper until lap 13 when he powered the Char’s Cars, Gionino’s Pizza and McKenzie Concrete #21d into the lead and take the checkered flag. Wilson would finish second with Baney in third with Brandon Craver and David Uhler filling out the top five.

  In the regular feature, it was a mirrored race of the make up race as Don Baney would take control from his outside front row start and set the pace for the first 11 circuits as Michael Amick ran second with John Wilson and Norm Aronhalt wheeling  and dealing for third as Drown moved into fifth on lap six. Wilson took second from Amick on the next lap but on the next trip around, Drown would leap frog both to capture second and close in on Baney. Driving the Bob Daugherty owned #21d, Drown would motor past Baney on lap 11 and drive into the Summit Racing victory lane for the third time this season. Baney’s great run ended on lap 14 when he spun in turn two. That would allow Wilson to finish second again as Brandon Craver would finish third followed by Aronhalt and Amick. Don Rutt, Baney and T A Perrine topped the heat races.

   Massillon’s Wayne Newbury started on the pole of the JOYRIDE Transportation Mini Stock make up feature and he would lead all the way to gain his 1st ever feature win aboard the Rumpke Sanitation, Cleveland Country Magazine and NewFast Motorsports #17. As Newbury cruised to the win, the battle for second was a three way race between Brad Hensel, Dale Beckett and Gary Hensel Jr. and would finish in that order when the checkered flag waved. Doug Hensel would round out the top five.

   Doug Hensel would go flag to flag in the regular feature, but the Wooster driver and his NewFast Motorsports #18 was pressured all race long by Jordan James and Wes Staley early on with Wyatt Zimmerman joining the tussle from his ninth starting position. With two to go, Zimmerman edged past Staley for third and as Hensel, James, and Zimmerman came out of turn four for the final time , they were three wide with Hensel securing his 1st win of the season and Zimmerman grabbing his best finish ever at second with James third. Staley would take home fourth as Colton St. John was fifth. Heat winners were James, Doug Hensel and Wes Staley.

   Drivers were once again competing for the Contingency Connection Awards as they will do every week at Wayne County Speedway.

   Next Saturday Night, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions will roll into WCS with a $5,000 to win feature with the McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks and the JOYRIDE Transportation Mini Stocks in action also. Race time will be at 7 pm.

WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY RESULTS

Saturday, May 17, 2019

WORLD OF OUTLAW MORTON BUILDINGS LATE MODELS

Feature   Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Weiss, Darrell Lanigan, Dennis Erb Jr., Doug Drown, Cade Dillard, Shane Clanton, Chris Madden, Chub Frank, Chase Junghans, Brent Larson, Boom Briggs, Blake Spencer, Larry Bellman, Devin Moran, Shane McLoughlin, Ryan Markham, Steve Casebolt, Mitch Caskey, Brad Malcuit, Dave Hess, JR Gentry, Matt Irey, Charlie Duncan

McKENZIE CONCRETE SUPER STOCKS

May 11th Feature    Doug Drown, John Wilson, Don Baney, Brandon Craver, David Uhler, Justin Lorentz, Michael Amick, Don Rutt, Mike McElravy, Gary Hensel Jr., Don Lehman, James Stanley, Curt Zimmerman, Luke Sprouse, Paul McVicker, Nick Humphrey, Cody Conway, Dan Radtka, Tony Prestier dns, James Alleman dns, Jaret Sams dns, Kevin Ake dns, Virgil Maters dns

May 18th Heat 1  Don Rutt, Norm Aronhalt, Jeff Lanham, Paul McVicker, Mike McElravy, Curt Zimmerman, Nick Humphrey, Virgil Masters dns

Heat   2   Don Baney, Doug Drown, John Wilson, Justin Lorentz, James Stanley, Mark Baier, James Alleman, Luke Sprouse dns

Heat   3   TA Perrine, David Uhler, Michael Amick, Brandon Craver, Gary Hensel Jr., Don Lehman, Gary McGregor, Cody Conway, Joe Gillispie

Feature   Doug Drown, John Wilson, Brandon Craver, Norm Aronhalt, Michael Amick, David Uhler, Gary Hensel Jr., Jeff Lanham, Mike McElravy, Paul McVicker, James Stanley, Don Baney, Gary McGregor, Mark Baier, Curt Zimmerman, Don Lehman, Don Rutt, Nick Humphrey, Cody Conway, Justin Lorentz, Joe Gillispie dns, TA Perrine dns, Virgil Masters dns, Luke Sprouse dns, James Alleman dns

JOYRIDE TRANSPORTATION MINI STOCKS

May 11th Feature    Wayne Newbury, Brad Hensel, Dale Beckett, Gary Hensel Jr., Doug Hensel, Wes Staley, Tyler Wiles, Jolene Voshel, David Keagy, Mitch Reichard, John Warner, Jon Gamery, JR Graser, Matt Short, Cory Staley, Jordan James, Jimmy Burns, Dustin Bedlion dns, Lewis Walters dns, Steve Lester dns, Cory Boyd dns, Brent Boreman dns, Dusty Long dns, Wyatt Zimmerman dns, Darrell Taylor dns, Clayton Evans dns, Gary Lewis dns, Cody Newbury dns

May 18th  Heat 1   Jordan James, Jolene Voshel, Cory Staley, David Keagy, Darrell Taylor, Shawn Graser, Cory Boyd, Clayton Evans, John Warner

Heat   2   Doug Hensel, Wyatt Zimmerman, Tyler Wiles, Mitch Reichard, Cody Newbury, Billy Parsons, Dusty Long, Jimmy Burns, Brad Hensel

Heat   3   Wes Staley, Cory Cecil, Gary Hensel Jr., Colton St. John, Wayne Newbury, Jason St. John, Jon Gamery, Matt Short

Feature   Doug Hensel, Wyatt Zimmerman, Jordan James, Wes Staley, Colton St. John, Billy Parsons, Gary Hensel Jr., Jason St. John, Tyler Wiles, Wayne Newbury, Jolene Voshel, Cody Newbury, Cory Staley, Dusty Long, Jon Gamery, David Keagy, Darrell Taylor, Mitch Reichard, Jimmy Burns, Cory Cecil, Cory Boyd dns, Brad Hensel dns, JR Graser dns, Matt Short dns, Shawn Graser dns, Dale Beckett dns, Clayton Evans dns, John Warner dns       

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