8.21.20 Gas City I69 Speedway Results

GAS CITY, Ind., Aug. 22 – Gas City I-69 Speedway’s candyman, Dale Korporal of Upton, Ind., doesn’t usually have bacon candy in his bag as he distributes sweets at the track every Friday night.

He might want to stock up on that variety of candy, however, because Brady Bacon was the star of the “Candyman Classic” show that Korporal sponsored Friday night.

Bacon, a native of Broken Arrow, Okla., who now lives in Winchester, Ind., accomplished the extremely difficult feat of winning both 20-lap non-wing sprint car features to earn $4,040. He added an extra $900 in bonus awards for a $4,940 payday at the Grant County quarter-mile dirt oval. The total purse for the sprint car division was over $20,000.

Derek Losh of Rensselaer, Ind., recorded his sixth 20-lap modified feature victory at Gas City this season. Jordan Conover of Forest, Ohio was a first-time winner in the 15-lap street stock feature. The track’s defending hornet champion, James Headley Jr. of Wabash, Ind., took the 15-lap hornet main event for his first Gas City feature victory of the season.

Bacon took home trophies that featured a container at the top for candy, and there were giant lollipops in victory lane.

Bacon became the sixth different winner of a regular non-wing sprint car feature at Gas City so far this year, and joined defending track champion Thomas Meseraull of Waveland, Ind. as the only driver to win two Gas City sprint features so far in 2020.

Bacon drove the Longworth Equipment Company No. 410. In addition to that Trenton, Ohio-based company, the car is also sponsored by McIntosh Racing and LEI Home Enhancements.

He started fourth in the first feature and took the lead from Shane Cockrum of Benton, Ill. on the third lap. Kevin Thomas Jr. of Cullman, Ala., passed Cockrum on the race’s only restart with four laps down to move into second place, and he finished in that position, 1.719 seconds behind Bacon. The track’s 2018 sprint car champion, Clinton Boyles of Cedar Lake, Ind., placed third followed by Cockrum and Robert Ballou of Tipton, Ind.

Bacon had a harder path in the second feature but a bigger margin of victory, 2.504 seconds. Colten Cottle of Kansas, Ill., who is driver Shane Cottle’s nephew, started on the pole and led the first two laps before giving way to a high-riding Stevie Sussex of Phoenix, Ariz., on the frontstretch.

But Bacon was on the march from his tenth-place starting position. He was eighth on lap one, seventh on lap two, sixth on laps three and four, fifth on lap five, fourth on lap six, and third on lap seven. He moved into second behind Sussex on lap eight, and took the lead from him working lap 13. He then said good-bye to all of his rivals in the non-stop event.

Matt Westfall of Pleasant Hill, Ohio passed Sussex working lap 17 to take second. Robert Ballou of Tipton, Ind. got around Sussex on the last lap for third, and Sussex finished fourth. Thomas had another top-five finish when he crossed the line in fifth.

Bacon received a $500 bonus for winning both races, and the $300 passing award for being the driver who gained the most spots over the course of both features, advancing 12 positions. He got another $100 from A.J. and Matt Brookmyer for being the hard charger in the second sprint feature. Westfall earned the Brookmyer’s $100 for being the hard charger in the first sprint feature, as he started 17th and finished ninth.

The Brookmyers also gave a new right-rear Hoosier tire to the three drivers who just missed the cut in the three B-mains. They were Anthony D’Alessio of Gas City; Ricky Lewis of Ventura, Calif. and Billy Cribbs of Muncie, Ind.

Other drivers received product certificates from All Star Performance.

Jamie Frederickson of Kokomo, Ind. and Zack Pretorious of Yorktown, Ind. flipped in Turn 4 at the start of the third B-main. They both got out of their sprint cars under their own power, but Frederickson was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

Losh started third in the 20-lap modified feature. He took the lead from Tony Anderson of Lima, Ohio on the frontstretch working lap six and soldiered on to another victory. There was only one yellow, which occurred with five laps to go when the driver who was fifth, Dillon Nusbaum of Warsaw, Ind., spun between Turns 1 and 2. With Losh and Anderson at the front of the pack the best battle was for third. Dylan Woodling passed Aaron Orr of Columbia City, Ind. for that position on lap 19 and got the show spot. Orr placed fourth and Terry Sroufe of Huntington, Ind. rounded out the top five.

Superior Sales and Service, Aggressive, R & R Transmission, Rensselaer Iron and Metal and Talbert Manufacturing sponsor Losh’s No. 21.

Conover won the caution-plagued street stock feature after taking the lead from Adam Lantz of Bryan, Ohio on lap three. Andy Bishop of Gas City chased Conover’s Nightmare chassis No. 7 most of the way but finished second, just 0.374 of a second behind. Bill Lewis of Fountain City, Ind. was third; Jami Cale of Huntington, Ind. finished fourth and Gerald Mullenix of Marion, Ind. rounded out the top five. Young Dalton Bishop of Gas City, Andy’s son, did a good job to come from 18th to sixth.

The winner, a welder by trade, is sponsored by Lucky’s Taproom and Eatery of Dayton, Ohio; Callie’s Performance Products of Fostoria, Ohio, and Omni Feed and Supply of Findlay, Ohio.

The hornet feature was an all-Headley show. Gas City Walk of Famer James Headley of Marion, Ind. led the first lap from the pole before his son got by, and they ran nose-to-tail for most of the race. On lap 11 Headley Jr. got too high in Turn 4, which allowed his father to regain the lead. On the last lap, however, Headley Jr. dipped under his dad in Turn 1 and went on to win in the No. 00, which is sponsored by Dudding’s Heating and Cooling, Garriott Electric, Edwards Automotive and TJR Trucking. Headley Jr. was 0.304 seconds ahead of his father at the checkered.

Bill Lewis of Fountain City, Ind. came from sixth to finish third. Kolton Sollars of LaFontaine, Ind. placed fourth and Mark Casto of Marion, Ind. finished fifth.

The track is dark on Friday, Aug. 28 but is back in full force on Friday, Sept. 4 with the Labor Day Weekend Classic. The modified division steps into the spotlight that night with $1,000 to win its feature and $150 to start. Non-wing sprint cars, street stocks, hornets and winged outlaw micro-sprints will also be in action, with the pit gate opening at 3 p.m. and the grandstands at 5 p.m. Hot laps are slated to begin at 6:30 p.m. and the racing action begins at 7:30 p.m.

The complete schedule for 2020, which includes the third annual James Dean Classic for USAC AMSOIL national sprint cars on Thursday, Sept. 24 and concludes Oct. 2-3 with the second annual Fall Festival of Speed, is on the track’s website at GasCityI69Speedway.com. Fans and competitors can also follow it 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 I-69, exit 259.

The results:

Non-Wing Sprints Hot Laps Qualifying Session 1: 1. Thomas Meseraull, 12.784; 2. Kyle Simon, 12.866; 3. Colten Cottle, 13.091; 4. Critter Malone, 13.102; 5. Aaron Leffel, 13.137; 6. Anthony D’Alessio, 13.137; 7. Cole Bodine, 13.139; 8. Dustin Smith, 13.254; 9. Paul Dues, 13.463.

Non-Wing Sprints Hot Laps Qualifying Session 2: 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 12.265; 2. Clinton Boyles, 12.383; 3. Billy Cribbs, 12.458; 4. Dallas Hewitt, 12.526; 5. Cole Ketcham, 12.687; 6. J.J. Hughes, 12.680; 7. Evan Mosley, 12.693; 8. Ricky Lewis, 12.785; 9. Jamie Fredrickson, 13.279.

Non-Wing Sprints Hot Laps Qualifying Session 3: 1. Brady Bacon, 12.096; 2. Scotty Weir, 12.377; 3. Stevie Sussex, 12.448; 4. Max Adams, 12.462; 5. Adam Byrkett, 12.524; 6. Matt Westfall, 12.527; 7. Zack Pretorius, 12.659; 8. Aaron Davis, 12.905; 9. Jack James, 13.288.

Non-Wing Sprints Hot Laps Qualifying Session 4: 1. Dave Darland, 12.178; 2. Tye Mihocko, 12.367; 3. Robert Ballou, 12.433; 4. Shane Cockrum, 12.570; 5. Cody White, 12.573; 6. Brian Van Meveren, 12.789; 7. Ryan Barr, 12.805; 8. Brayden Clark, 12.813.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 1 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Critter Malone, 2. Thomas Meseraull, 3. Colten Cottle, 4. Kyle Simon, 5. Aaron Leffel, 6. Cole Bodine, 7. Anthony D’Alessio, 8. Paul Dues, 9. Dustin Smith.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 2 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Clinton Boyles, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. Dallas Hewitt, 4. J.J. Hughes, 5. Billy Cribbs, 6. Ricky Lewis, 7. Cole Ketcham, 8. Evan Mosely, 9. Jamie Fredrickson.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 3 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Stevie Sussex, 3. Max Adams, 4. Scotty Weir, 5. Matt Westfall, 6. Adam Byrkett, 7. Aaron Davis, 8. Zack Pretorius, 9. Jack James.

Non-Wing Sprint Heat 4 (8 laps, 4 transferred): 1. Shane Cockrum, 2. Robert Ballou, 3. Dave Darland, 4. Tye Mihocko, 5. Cody White, 6. Ryan Barr, 7. Brian Van Meveran, 8. Brayden Clark.

Non-Wing Sprint B-Main 1 (10 laps, 2 transferred): 1. Matt Westfall, 2. Aaron Leffel, 3. Anthony D’Alessio, 4. Cole Bodine, 5. Adam Byrkett, 6. Aaron Davis, 7. Paul Dues, 8. Jack James, 9. Zack Pretorius, 10. Dustin Smith (DNS).

Non-Wing Sprint B-Main 2 (10 laps, 2 transferred): 1. Cody White, 2. Ryan Barr, 3. Ricky Lewis, 4. Billy Cribbs, 5. Evan Mosely, 6. Brayden Clark, 7. Jamie Fredrickson, 8. Brian Van Meveren, 9. Cole Ketcham.

Non-Wing Sprint B-Main 3 for Feature 2 (12 laps, 8 transferred): 1. Dave Darland, 2. Tye Mihocko, 3. J.J. Hughes, 4. Dallas Hewitt, 5. Scotty Weir, 6. Cody White, 7. Cole Bodine, 8. Ryan Barr, 9. Billy Cribbs, 10. Anthony D’Alessio, 11. Aaron Leffel, 12. Ricky Lewis, 13. Paul Dues, 14. Jack James, 15. Brayden Clark, 16. Adam Byrkett; 17. Brian Van Meveren, 18. Evan Mosley, 19. Aaron Davis, 20. Cole Ketcham, 21. Jamie Fredrickson, 22. Zack Pretorius, 23. Dustin Smith (DNS).

Non-Wing Sprint Feature 1 (20 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Brady Bacon (4); 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (6); 3. Clinton Boyles (3); 4. Shane Cockrum (2); 5. Robert Ballou (5); 6. Thomas Meseraull (7); 7. Stevie Sussex (8); 8. Max Adams (11); 9. Matt Westfall (17); 10. Colten Cottle (9); 11. Kyle Simon (13); 12. Critter Malone (1); 13. Dave Darland (12); 14. Tye Mihocko (16); 15. Dallas Hewitt (10); 16. J.J. Hughes (14); 17. Scotty Weir (15); 18. Cody White (18); 19. Ryan Barr (20); 20. Aaron Leffel (19).

Margin of Victory: 1.719 seconds

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-2, Cockrum; laps 3-20, Bacon.

Non-Wing Sprint Feature 2 (20 laps, with starting position in parenthesis): 1. Brady Bacon (10); 2. Matt Westfall (2); 3. Robert Ballou (6); 4. Stevie Sussex (4); 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (9); 6. Colten Cottle (1); 7. Kyle Simon (11); 8. Dave Darland (13); 9. Thomas Meseraull (5); 10. Cole Bodine (19); 11. Max Adams (3); 12. Dallas Hewitt (16); 13. J.J. Hughes (15); 14. Shane Cockrum (7); 15. Tye Mihocko (14); 16. Scotty Weir (17); 17. Cody White (18); 18. Clinton Boyles (8); 19. Ryan Barr (20); 20. Critter Malone (12).

Margin of Victory: 2.504 seconds

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-2, Cottle; laps 3-12, Sussex; laps 13-20, Bacon.

Modified Hot Laps Qualifying 1: 1. Dylan Woodling, 14.019; 2. Cole Sink, 14.135; 3. Clayton Bryant, 14.139; 4. Todd Sherman, 14.236; 5. Scott Orr, 14.374; 6. Bill Griffith, 14.678; 7. Nick Richard, 14.725.

Modified Hot Laps Qualifying 2: 1. Derek Losh, 13.978; 2. Dillon Nusbaum, 13.984; 3. Josh Morton, 14.142; 4. Ryan Sutter, 14.201; 5. Terry Sroufe, 14.312; 6. Terry Grilliott, 14.569; 7. Chris Hicks, 14.697.

Modified Hot Laps Qualifying 3: 1. Bub Roberts, 13.845; 2. Tony Anderson, 13.880; 3. Percy Gendereau, 14.042; 4. Aaron Orr, 14.080; 5. Andy Bishop, 14.257; 6. Braxton Strait, 14.271.

Modified Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. Todd Sherman, 2. Dylan Woodling, 3. Cole Sink, 4. Nick Richards, 5. Clayton Bryant, 6. Scott Orr, 7. Bill Griffith.

Modified Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. Derek Losh, 2. Terry Sroufe, 3. Ryan Sutter, 4. Dillon Nusbaum, 5. Terry Grilliott, 6. Josh Morton, 7. Chris Hicks.

Modified Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. Tony Anderson, 2. Aaron Orr, 3. Bub Roberts, 4. Andy Bishop, 5. Braxton Strait, 6. Percy Gendereau.

Modified Feature (20 laps, with starting position in parentheses): 1. Derek Losh (3); 2. Tony Anderson (2); 3. Dylan Woodling (6); 4. Aaron Orr (5); 5. Terry Sroufe (4); 6. Ryan Sutter (8); 7. Bub Roberts (9); 8. Andy Bishop (12); 9. Clayton Bryant (13); 10. Nick Richards (10); 11. Bill Griffith (19); 12. Braxton Strait (15); 13. Scott Orr (16); 14. Terry Grilliott (14); 15. Chris Hicks (20); 16. Percy Gendereau (18); 17. Dillon Nusbaum (11); 18. Todd Sherman (1); 19. Cole Sink (7); 20. Josh Morton (17).

Margin of Victory: 2.849 seconds

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-5, Anderson; laps 6-20, Losh.

Street Stock Heat 1 (8 laps, 5 transferred): 1. Jordan Conover, 2. Andy Bishop, 3. Justin Long, 4. Bill Bradley, 5. Jeff Jessup, 6. Marty Harkinson, 7. Larry Persinger, 8. Jeff Matheny.

Street Stock Heat 2 (8 laps, 5 transferred): 1. Derek Losh, 2. Adam Lantz, 3. Mark Wooten, 4. Jamie Cale, 5. Cale Ramey, 6. Corey Wooten, 7. Jeremy Jones (DNS).

Street Stock Heat 3 (8 laps, 5 transferred): 1. Joey Spiewak, 2. Casey Barr, 3. Bill Lewis, 4. Gerald Mullenix, 5. Luke Timmerman, 6. Dalton Bishop, 7. Mike Fincher.

Street Stock Feature (15 laps): 1. Jordan Conover (6); 2. Andy Bishop (4); 3. Bill Lewis (9); 4. Jami Cale (11); 5. Gerald Mullenix (12); 6. Dalton Bishop (18); 7. Jeff Jessup (13); 8. Cale Ramey (14); 9. Derek Losh (5); 10. Bill Bradley (10); 11. Mark Wooten (8); 12. Jeff Matheny (21); 13. Larry Persinger (19); 14. Justin Long (7); 15. Adam Lantz (3); 16. Joey Spiewak (1); 17. Luke Timmerman (15); 18. Corey Wooten (17); 19. Marty Harkinson (16); 20. Casey Barr (2); 21. Mike Fincher (22); 22. Jeremy Jones (20/DNS).

Margin of Victory: 0.374 seconds

Lap Leaders: Laps 1-2, Lantz; laps 3-15, Conover.

Hornet Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. James Headley Jr., 2. Kolton Sollars, 3. Eddie Tucker Jr., 4. Charlie Teegarden, 5. Brandon Lines, 6. Joey Eastes, 7. Jayden Wilkins, 8 Alexes Spaulding, 9. Greg Marlow.

Hornet Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. James Headley, 2. Bill Lewis, 3. Mark Casto, 4. Shawn Durbin, 5. Jesse Arenas, 6. Tyler Ray, 7. Chris Wade, 8. Robbie White, 9. Seth Trissel (DNS).

Hornet Feature (15 laps, with starting position in parentheses): 1. James Headley Jr. (3); 2. James Headley (1); 3. Bill Lewis (6); 4. Kolton Sollars (4); 5. Mark Casto (5); 6. Shawn Durbin (8); 7. Eddie Tucker Jr. (2); 8. Charles Teegarden (7); 9. Brandon Lines (9); 10. Joey Eastes (11); 11. Jayden Wilkins (13); 12. Alexes Spaulding (15); 13. Cody Chambers (19); 14. Tyler Ray (12); 15. Jesse Arenas (10); 16. Chris Wade (14); 17. Greg Marlow (17/DNS); 18. Seth Trissel (18/DNS); 19. Robbie White (16/DNS).

Margin of Victory: 0.304 seconds

Lap Leaders: Laps 1, Headley; laps 2-10, Headley Jr.; laps 11-14, Headley; lap 15, Headley Jr.