HOMETOWN HERO: SHELDON HAUDENSCHILD BRINGS DOWN THE HOUSE AT WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY; HOLMES HAS COMEBACK WIN IN SUPER STOCKS

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Orrville, Ohio

Friday, September 25,2020

By Nick Graziano & Mike Swanger

  Sheldon Haudenschild had to pause. His words caught in his throat. An emphatic cheer filled the silence while Haudenschild collected his emotions. The Wooster driver made a dream come true- for himself and thousands of his Ohio fans. He won at home. After testing the limits of his NOS Energy Drink #17 car for 35 laps around the Wayne County Speedway- about 15 minutes from his home- Haudenschild parked it in Victory Lane.

 “I don’t know what to say, man,” Haudenschild said before taking a pause. “These fans are bad ass. I knew when we’d get a race here the fans would show up. I’m glad they did. I can’t thank my team enough. It’s a once in a lieftime opportunity for a 27 year old from Wooster.” The win is Haudenschild’s 6th World of Outlaw NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series victory of 2020 and his 1st Series win at his home track.

  He entered the $15,000 to win event presented by Slick Woody’s Cornhole Co. with several laps of experience around the 3/8 mile track and 7 wins- two with the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Cars and five with the All Stars. The experience proved beneficial as Haudenschild dominated the night as he was fastest overall in Hot Laps and Qualifying- earning himself a prize package from Slick Woody’s, won his Drydene Heat Race and then finished third in the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash after starting fifth.

  Reigning champion Brad Sweet led the field to the green flag for the 35 lap feature with 2nd place Shane Stewart in tow. Haudenschild fell to a few lengths behind Stewart in the early stage of the race, leaving the top two to battle for the lead. While Sweet ran low, Stewart made the most of the top groove against the cushion. He used it to his advantage on lap 8 by rocketing around the outside of Sweet to claim the lead. Haudenschilld tried to make the same move but a caution put a brief pause in his plans. On the restart, Haudenschild clicked play and launched ahead of Sweet before the first turn to claim the runner up spot. He then put Stewart in his crosshairs. The Indy Race Parts #71 was in Haudenschild’s desired lane though, forcing him to try and pass Stewart on the bottom. Haudenschild could dive under Stewart into each corner and exit even with him, but the top lane allowed Stewart to edge ahead each time. Stewart’s hold on the top lane ended on lap 11 when he jumped the cushion, forcing him to slow and regain control of his car. That provided an easy pass for both Haudenschild and Sweet. Over the roar of the 900 hp Sprint Cars, thousands of cheers could be heard when Haudenschild officially claimed the lead. And once he was given free reign out front, the Stenhouse Jr-Marshall Racing car entered a new dimension of speed.

  Haudenschild pulled Sweet by 2.5 seconds in a handful of laps but slower traffic became a factor soon after and they didn’t make his life easy, Even with those hinderances, Sweet still could not catch Haudenschild. Stewart snuck back around Sweet for second with 8 laps to go and was given one shot to upset the Ohio crowd. A caution came out with 3 laps to go, stacking the field up single file. When the race resumed, Stewart threw his car as deep as he could into turn one to try to get a run underneath Haudenschild but to no avail.

  The McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks feature would see Pole sitter Don Baney grab the lead with Bob Daugherty taking the second spot. Baney would set the pace for the opening three circuits but he would pull off the trac with mechanical issues giving the point to Daugherty as Brandon Craver and Paul Holmes dueled for second with Tyler Wiles and Seth Dickerson right behind them. Holmes bean to close in on Daugherty and with three laps to, Daugherty’s #21d slowed in turn two and came to a stop with front end problems ending his night. On the double file restart, Craver would steal the lead away from Holmes for the next lap but Holmes, driving the James Alleman, C.W. Tomassetti, Advance Auto Parts of Wooster and MC Welding #26 would reclaim the lead coming out of turn for with the white flag waving and hold off Craver on the last lap. For Holmes of Canton, it was his first time in a race car in over more than a year after taking time off from racing to build a new house. Wiles finished third with Dickerson and Don Rutt filling out the top five.

  The next action at Wayne County Speedway will be a Demolition Derby on Saturday, October 3rd and then the Ohio Dirt Blowout will take place on Friday and Saturday, October 9th & 10th.

WAYNE COUNTY SPEEDWAY RESULTS

Friday, September 25, 2020

WORLD OF OUTLAW NOS ENERGY DRINK SPRINT CARS

Feature    Sheldon Haudenschild, Shane Stewart, Brad Sweet, Donny Schatz, Rico Abreu, Parker Price-Miller, Broc Martin, Carson Macedo, David Gravel, Daryn Pittman, Hunter Schuerenberg, James McFadden, Jac Haudenschild, Jason Sides, Logan Schuchart, Cap Henry, Kerry Madsen, Kraig Kinser, Chris Myers, Wayne Johnson, Jacob Allen, Brandon Spithaler, Cale Conley, Spencer Bayston, Dean Jacobs, Henry Malcuit

McKenzie Concrete Super Stocks

Heat   1   Brandon Morrow, Don Baney, Tyler Wiles, Mitch Caskey, Seth Dickerson, Curt Zimmerman, Steve Pocock

Heat   2   Brandon Craver, Paul Holmes, Bob Daugherty, Don Rutt, Luke Sprouse, Justin Lorentz, Paul McVicker

Feature   Paul Holmes, Brandon Craver, Tyler Wiles, Seth Dickerson, Don Rutt, Luke Sprouse, Curt Zimmerman, Justin Lorentz, Paul McVicker, Steve Pocock, Bob Daugherty, Mitch Caskey, Don Baney, Brandon Morrow

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