Ryan’s win secures WCS Sprint title

The regular season of the NAPA Jani Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway concluded Saturday night with drivers vying for three different track championships.

The winners of the regular-season championships were determined from each drivers’ 10 highest point totals from races during the year.

In the Sprint feature, Castalia’s Jordan Ryan pulled away to win his second feature of the year and secure his first track championship at WCS.

Coming into the evening, Danny Mumaw all but had the championship squared away as the points leader heading into the race, only needing to notch a fifth-place finish in order to claim the crown. His night was ended sooner than planned, however, as 16-year-old Buddy Kofoid of California and Mumaw — the two heat winners — both suffered a race-ending collision on the first turn of the ninth lap, which cleared the path for Ryan to go after the win.

Texas’ T.J. Michael took over the lead from Ryan on laps 11 through 15 and again on 18 and 19, before Ryan ended the back-and-forth battle by taking over for good.

Michael held on for second, Clay Riney (third) edged Chase Baker (fourth) after flip-flopping for position behind the leaders, while Trey Jacobs took fifth to round out the top spots.

Bob Daugherty clinched his second straight championship with a second-pace finish in the Super Stock main race.

Coshocton’s Matt Shroyer pulled into the lead seven laps in, overtaking early pace-setter Brandon Craver, and remained there until the end to claim his first win of the season.

Paul Holmes made a bid to go after the points title over Daugherty, sitting right behind him in third up until the final five laps before motor issues forced him to pull off. Gary Hensel Jr. grabbed third, while Craver finished fourth and Tyler Nicely pocketed fifth. Dustin Daugherty and Holmes posted the heat wins.

In the Modifieds, Northeastern Ohio’s Joel Watson took off past Jimmy Smith on the second lap around “Orrville’s Historic Oval” and cruised onto his first trip to victory lane.

In the middle part of the 20-lap feature, runner-up Smith held off charges from Nathan Loney and Chris Basich — both of whom dropped out before the finish — and from Brad Goff, who settled for third after making a big move during the last three laps. Brandon Welker came in fourth and Robbie Ledger took fifth. Heat winners were Watson and Smith.

As announced Saturday, the Modifieds will be part of the Ohio Dirt Blowout on Sept. 21 and 22.

Jordan James won the first Sam Huffman Memorial for the WQKT 104.5 Mini Stocks by less than a car length over runner-up Wes Staley. And after an announcement otherwise, inquiries and a triple-check of the totals, James also claimed the regular-season track championship by two points over Doug Hensel, 534-532.

Brad Hensel came in third and Doug Hensel finished fourth in the $500 for the win event, which featured multiple stops and a tightly bunched field in the first three laps.

Fifth-place finisher Dustin Bedlion collected the $100 Hard Charger award after notching his top-five spot from a 17th-place starting position. Kyle Petit, Cory Staley, James and Wayne Newbury were the heat winners.

Racing action resumes Sunday, Sept. 2 for the $10,000 to win Pete Jacobs Memorial for the Arctic Cat All-Star Circuit of Champions. Caleb Helms was the winner last season. The Super Stocks will also be in action as McKenzie Concrete will sponsor the $1,000 to win feature. Regular times are set for next Sunday. For more information, check the website at www.waynecountyspeedway.com or on Facebook at facebook/​waynecountyspeedway.

CREDIT: MIKE SWANGER