7.2.22 Gas City I69 Speedway Results
GAS CITY, Ind., July 3 — Todd Sherman of Churubusco, Ind., aka “The Shermanator,” had a nearly perfect night during a special Saturday evening show at Gas City I-69 Speedway. He topped his qualifying group, won his heat, and then led all but the first six laps of the 20-lap UMP modified feature.
Garrett Bradley of Summitville, Ind., posted his first street stock feature victory of the year at the Grant County quarter-mile dirt oval. Heisman Skeens of Marion, Ind., duplicated his winning efforts of June 24 in the 15-lap hornet feature. Brandon Freeburg of Metamora, Ill., dominated the Hoosier State Modlites competition, leading all 15 laps of that main event in a program that concluded with a Fourth of July fireworks show.
Modifieds
Sherman started on the pole of the modified feature in his Hogue/Team SE Avenger No. 65 sponsored by Vision Homz, All Star Performance and Pro Strip. Brent Lee of Crothersville, Ind., who was making his first Gas City start, started alongside Sherman and snagged the early lead by charging by Sherman in the outside of Turn 2 on the first lap.
Lee survived a restart with three laps down after Terry Sroufe of Huntington, Ind., slowed between Turns 3 and 4. He also survived some contact with Sherman in Turn 4 working lap five. But two laps later Sherman made the winning pass, and he was never again headed.
After a yellow with nine laps down for a spin by Brian Post of Middle Point, Ohio in Turn 4, the worst accident of the night occurred on the restart. Jimmy Hayden of Coatesville, Ind., who was third at the time, took advantage of the opportunity to take a stab at Lee for second, only to spin on the backstretch in front of the rest of the field. Four drivers couldn’t miss him. Although all five escaped injury, a red was thrown so wreckers could return the crumpled cars of Hayden; Jesse Strange of Marion, Ind.; Tony Anderson of Lima, Ohio; Jim Post of Spencerville, Ohio, and Dan Snyder of LaFontaine, Ind., to the pits. Hayden, who makes his living as an insurance appraiser, was glad he didn’t have to tally up the damage.
One more yellow waved two laps later for an incident between Tyler Loughmiller of Brazil, Ind., who had made his way into third, and Cole Sink of Fort Wayne, Ind., which sent them both to the rear. Zeke McKenzie of Claypool, Ind., who had started sixth, suddenly found himself in third and he took full advantage of it. He dipped under Lee in Turn 4 on lap 14 to grab second place, and then fought Lee off the rest of the way.
Sherman had about a half-straightaway lead at the checkered, but McKenzie and Lee were nose-to-tail for second and third, respectively, at the line. Dylan Woodling of Warsaw, Ind., was in the mix all night and finished fourth. Loughmiller passed Nick Richards of Anderson, Ind., at the line to place fifth.
Street Stocks
Bradley started third in the street stock feature but he was determined to strike while the iron was hot. He caused a false start, and then he dipped under James Headley of Marion, Ind., in Turn 4 for the lead on the first lap and led wire to wire.
James Headley Jr. of Wabash, Ind., ran in third place initially but pulled into the infield off the backstretch with reported rear-end failure with his No. 00, which brought out the first caution with six laps down.
There was another yellow when Chase Sutton of Shirley, Ind., had a problem in Turn 4 and John Rhoads of Mentone, Ind., suffered a flat tire which set up a two-lap dash to the checkered. That gave Headley one more crack at Bradley, but not only did Bradley keep the lead, Ron Flaugh of Converse, Ind., passed Headley on the last lap for the runner-up honors. Headley finished third. David Fritz of Winamac, Ind., who was the fastest driver in the division’s group qualifying, came from 11th to finish fourth. Matthew Baker of Kouts, Ind., who started second, finished fifth.
Bradley’s winning car is sponsored by Shrout’s Towing, First Option Trucking, and Los Amores Mexican restaurant.
Hornets
Skeens may have made a lot of headlines for his talent playing football, but he definitely has a knack for motorsports too. He started third in the hornet feature, passed Phillip McCord of Pierceton, Ind., on lap five, and led the rest of the way to score his second Gas City feature victory in a row.
Gage Allen of Warren, Ind., got around McCord for second early in the going too. McCord hung tough in third for most of the race, but fell off the pace with a mechanical issue with three laps to go. That gave third to Mick Lumley of Lafayette, Ind., who finished in that position. Dale Hayes Jr. of Dayton, Ind., and Alexes Spaulding of Roanoke, Ind., rounded out the top five, while Dayton Warren of Lafayette, Ind., came from 11th to finish sixth.
The Pour House Bar and Grill, Dudding’s Heating and Cooling, Erv’s Card Shack, R&R Transmission and Mama Pearson’s Soaporium are among the sponsors of Skeens’ winning car.
Hoosier State Modlites
Freeburg could do no wrong in the Hoosier State Modlites competition with his Freeburg Racing Components No. 171. He set the fastest time in warmups, won the heat, and led every lap of the feature even though he started fourth. He also set the fastest lap of the main event and had a whopping 7.660-second margin of victory in it over the runner-up, Andy Tragesser of Tipton, Ind.
Freeburg charged into the lead with a move to the outside in Turn 4. Tragesser ran in second place through lap nine, when the fifth-place driver, Jimmy Arthur of Mitchell, Ind., spun low in Turn 2 to bring out the only caution.
Tragesser had a bad restart, and dropped from second to fourth because of it. Freeburg was long gone, but that set up the best battle of the race, as Joe Boyll of Kokomo, Ind.; Jeff Cast of Bloomington, Ind., and Tragesser ran three wide on lap 11 as they fought for second. Tragesser regained the runner-up spot on lap 12, while Cast started last in a new car and finished third. Boyll placed fourth. Arthur rebounded from his spin to round out the top five.
In addition to his first-place winnings, Freeburg also won a $100 bounty put up by Gentle Touch Pressure Washings, which helped pay for the gas he used for his four-hour tow.
What’s Next?
Up next is the fifth annual Jerry Gappens Sr. Classic on Friday, July 8, when a big field of Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS) non-wing sprint cars are expected in search of a big paycheck. The modified, street stock and hornet divisions will also be in action for this jam-packed show.
For Gas City’s complete 2022 schedule and more information see the track’s website at gascityI69Speedway.com and also follow its social media outlets. The track is on Twitter (@GasCitySpeedway), Instagram (@GasCitySpeedway) and Facebook (GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas).
Gas City I-69 Speedway is located on State Road 22, approximately a half-mile west of exit 259 of Interstate 69, about halfway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Ind.
The results:
Modified Qualifying Group 1: 1. Cole Sink, 13.486; 2. Clayton Bryant, 13.573; 3. Nick Richards, 13.662; 4. Jimmy Hayden, 13.766; 5. Tony Anderson, 13.812; 6. Terry Sroufe, 14.045. 7. Josh Betts, 14.236; 8. Dalton Lane, 14.656.
Modified Qualifying Group 2: 1. Bub Roberts, 13.501; 2. Zeke McKenzie, 13.570; 3. Brent Lee, 13.660; 4. Percy Gendreau, 13.698; 5. Tyler Loughmiller, 13.800; 6. Darren Mallery, 14.055; 7. Brian Post, 14.096.
Modified Qualifying Group 3: 1. Todd Sherman, 13.109; 2. Dylan Woodling, 13.521; 3. Jim Post, 13.864; 4. Jesse Strange, 13.971; 5. Bobby Davis, 14.464; 6. Dan Snyder, 14.996; 7. Dalton Bishop, 15.129.
Modified Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Clayton Bryant, 2. Nick Richards, 3. Jimmy Hayden, 4. Tony Anderson, 5. Cole Sink, 6. Terry Sroufe, 7. Josh Betts, 8. Dalton Lane.
Modified Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Zeke McKenzie, 2. Brent Lee, 3. Tyler Loughmiller, 4. Brian Post, 5. Percy Gendreau, 6. Bub Roberts, 7. Darren Mallery.
Modified Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Todd Sherman, 2. Dylan Woodling, 3. Bobby Davis, 4. Jesse Strange, 5. Dan Snyder, 6. Dalton Bishop, 7. Jim Post.
Modified Feature (20 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Todd Sherman (1); 2. Zeke McKenzie (6); 3. Brent Lee (2); 4. Dylan Woodling (4); 5. Tyler Loughmiller (8); 6. Nick Richards (5); 7. Darren Mallery (20); 8. Brian Post (11); 9. Dalton Bishop (18); 10. Josh Betts (19); 11. Dalton Lane (22); 12. Cole Sink (13); 13. Jimmy Hayden (7); 14. Jesse Strange (12); 15. Jim Post (21); 16. Tony Anderson (10); 17. Dan Snyder (15); 18. Percy Gendreau (14); 19. Bobby Davis (9); 20. Clayton Bryant (3); 21. Terry Sroufe (16); 22. Bub Roberts (17).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-6, Lee; laps 7-20, Sherman.
Margin of Victory: Unavailable.
Fastest Race Lap: Unavailable.
Street Stock Qualifying Group 1: 1. David Fritz, 14.113; 2. Garrett Bradley, 14.161; 3. James Headley, 14.177; 4. James Headley Jr., 14.552; 5. Zach Rush, 14.951; 6. John Merchant, 15.489.
Street Stock Qualifying Group 2: 1. Ron Flaugh, 14.320; 2. John Rhoads, 14.497; 3. Logan Mullenix, 14.827; 4. Matthew Baker, 14.891; 5. Chase Sutton, 15.129.
Street Stock Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Garrett Bradley, 2. James Headley, 3. James Headley Jr., 4. Zach Rush, 5. John Merchant, 6. David Fritz.
Street Stock Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Ron Flaugh, 2. John Rhoads, 3. Matthew Baker, 4. Chase Sutton, 5. Logan Mullenix.
Street Stock Feature (15 laps, with starting position in parentheses): 1. Garrett Bradley (3); 2. Ron Flaugh (5); 3. James Headley (4); 4. David Fritz (11); 5. Matthew Baker (2); 6. Zach Rush (7); 7. John Merchant (9); 8. Chase Sutton (8); 9. Logan Mullenix (10); 10. John Rhoads (6); 11. James Headley Jr. (1).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-15, Bradley.
Margin of Victory: 0.513 seconds.
Fastest Race Lap: Bradley, 13.960 seconds, lap 9.
Hornet Qualifying Session 1: 1. Jeremy Jones, 15.420; 2. Gage Allen, 15.716; 3. Alexes Spaulding, 16.227; 4. Dale Hayes, 17.724; 5. Emily Johnson, 18.587; 6. Hunter Rasmussen, 18.632.
Hornet Qualifying Session 2: 1. Heisman Skeens, 15.359; 2. Brian Isley, 16.130; 3. Phillip McCord, 16.720; 4. Mick Lumley, 16.937; 5. Aaron Dennis, 17.003; 6. Dayton Warren, 17.909; 7. Chris Yocum, no time.
Hornet Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Gage Allen, 2. Jeremy Jones, 3. Alexes Spaulding, 4. Dale Hayes, 5. Emily Johnson, 6. Hunter Rasmussen.
Hornet Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Heisman Skeens, 2. Mick Lumley, 3. Phillip McCord, 4. Aaron Dennis, 5. Brian Isley, 6. Dayton Warren, 7. Chris Yockum.
Hornet Feature (15 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Heisman Skeens (3); 2. Gage Allen (5); 3. Mick Lumley (4); 4. Dale Hayes (7); 5. Alexes Spaulding (6); 6. Dayton Warren (11); 7. Aaron Dennis (8); 8. Emily Johnson (9); 9. Phillip McCord (2); 10. Hunter Rasmussen (10); 11. Jeremy Jones (1); 12. Cody Clark (12); 13. Brian Isley (DNS); 14. Chris Yokum (DNS).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-4, McCord; laps 5-15, Skeens.
Margin of Victory: Unavailable.
Fastest Race Lap: Unavailable.
Hoosier State Modlites Warmups: 1. Brandon Freeburg, 14.474; 2. Andy Tragesser, 15.255; 3. Joe Boyll, 15.307; 4. Jimmy Arthur, 15.451; 5. Jeff Cast, 17.289.
Hoosier State Modlites Heat (8 laps): 1. Brandon Freeburg, 2. Joe Boyll, 3. Andy Tragesser, 4. Tony Anderson, 5. Casey Davis, 6. Jimmy Arthur, 7. Jeff Cast.
Hoosier State Modlites Feature (15 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Brandon Freeburg (4); 2. Andy Tragesser (1); 3. Jeff Cast (7); 4. Joe Boyll (5); 5. Jimmy Arthur (3); 6. Casey Davis (2); 7. Tony Anderson (6).
Lap Leaders: Laps 1-15, Freeburg.
Margin of Victory: 7.660 seconds.
Fastest Race Lap: Freeburg, 14.514 seconds, lap 5.