By Greg Hildebrand
PLYMOUTH—The only thing missing from the great night of racing held at Plymouth Speedway Saturday was the grandstand full of spectators.
The cool summer breeze was a welcome respite from the hot action on the track. The pits spilled into the spectator parking again this week as social distancing combined with a large turnout in competitors required the extra space.
Several of the racers are making the long haul to Plymouth for the opportunity to race, one racer, Mike McKinney of Plainfield, Ill. made the trip and took home the win in the 40 car field of UMP Modifieds.
2019 Track Champion Frank Marshall would start on the pole and lead several laps as McKinney made his way to the front. An early caution on lap two for a three-car incident in turn three was the only caution of the event. Once the green flag dropped McKinney was able to get past Marshall and take the lead. McKinney was working the center of the track with Marshall down low and Coal City, Ill. racer Nick Clubb and Rensselaer’s Derek Losh kept in touch with the leaders on the cushion.
With about six laps remaining and a small but comfortable lead McKinney started to get to lapped traffic. “I was using the center of the track and I knew Frank was on the bottom,” said McKinney. “I wasn’t sure what was going to work”
McKinney was able to get under the slower traffic and hold Marshall off for the win.
Allen Weisser of Peoria, Ill. won the first of two B features and Todd Sherman of Churubusco, Ind. won the other.
Ron Wilkes, Lowell, Ind. repeated his win in the Super Sports division from last week with a feature win from the pole, leading the entire race to take the checkers ahead of Nick Seplak, Coal City, Ill. and Tyler Spalding, Watervliet, Mich. who finished second and third respectively.
Wilkes jumped out to a comfortable lead early but unlike last week when lapped traffic played an important role, this week a couple cautions mid-race kept the track clear in front of Wilkes.
Hard charger for the feature was Travis Wolford who transferred into the A by winning the B and captured at top ten with an eighth-place finish from his 16th place start.
Warsaw, Indiana’s Dylan Woodling made the quick transition from his UMP Modified into his non-wing 600 mini-sprint and would capitalize with a win from a third-place starting position.
The 22 car non-wing open-wheel event had plenty of action on the small track. Nick Schaefer, from Granger started on the pole beside Ross Price of Converse.
A pile-up in turn one on the opening lap would claim Plymouth’s own Ed Cleveland as he would have nowhere to go to avoid a spinning car and his wife, Kayla Cleveland in the 29A would be unable to avoid the same spin.
Woodling got to the lead not long after the restart with Schaefer and Cody Williams, of Rensselaer close behind. These three quickly caught the tail of the field and began dicing among themselves and with traffic. Woodling got caught behind a slower car in turn one and Williams moved into the lead.
It was only a handful of laps before Woodling was on William’s bumper and pressing hard. Williams under pressure misjudged the room under a lapped car spinning both and would go to the tail on the restart. Woodling was able to keep the field at bay for the remaining handful of laps picking up the victory over Schaefer and Braxton Hanft, Leesburg.
RJ Akers of Portage started on the pole of the Street Stocks feature and would keep the field at bay for the victory. Akers would spend much of the feature in lapped traffic catching the tail on lap 3 with Austin Hubbard, from Valparaiso. and Lee Hall, Oxford, Ind. in tow. That is how it looked like they would finish until with two laps remaining Hall was able to get past Hubbard to finish runner up. These three would pace much of the race but Jason Fritz, Winamac, Ind. and Preston Oberle, Battleground, Ind. from their 10th and seventh starting spots were making headway towards the front. Oberle would eventually have to retire with a flat tire after glancing off the wall and Fritz would have to settle for fourth and hard charger.
Finishing up the eventful evening was the 17 car mini stock feature. These four-cylinder racers feature an eclectic mix of vehicles. There are front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, foreign and domestic models all with an angry sounding high revving four cylinder engine under the hood. James Headley, Wabash, Ind. started in the sixth spot to pick up the victory. Shane Reed finished second and Plymouth’s own David Gingerich would start third and finish third.
Racing will continue without spectators next Saturday with the same five divisions battling it out on the track. Pit Gates will open at 3 p.m. and racing will start at 6:30 p.m. Follow Plymouth Speedway on the web at plymouthspeedway.net and on Facebook for up to date information on when spectators will be allowed back in the stands.
5/30/2020 at Plymouth Speedway
Asphalt Mini Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. 00-James Headley[6]; 2. 22R-Shane Reed[8]; 3. 8BALL-David Gingerich[3]; 4. B12-Matthew Balthazor[7]; 5. 24A-Gage Allen[1]; 6. 17-Josh Lank[2]; 7. 5X-Brian Isley[18]; 8. 07R-John Ray[11]; 9. G14-Greg Marlow[13]; 10. 3X-Phillip McCord[5]; 11. 18B-Larry Bryie Jr[12]; 12. 27-Bryan Woodall[16]; 13. 7L-Sam Landis[15]; 14. 45-Jeremy Conley[9]; 15. WFO-Skylar Antonelli[14]; 16. 43-Jake Momper[4]; 17. 9-Aaron Tatman[17]
B Feature 1: 1. 27-Bryan Woodall[1]; 2. 9-Aaron Tatman[2]; 3. 5X-Brian Isley[7]; 4. 88J-James Droski[3]; 5. 10-Nicholas Parker[6]; 6. 24-Bryce Langlois[8]; 7. 22J-Jeffrey Naese[10]; 8. 11B-Michael Bennett[11]; 9. 04-Felix Rageth[9]
Heat 1: 1. 00-James Headley[9]; 2. 24A-Gage Allen[7]; 3. B12-Matthew Balthazor[6]; 4. 2-PeeWee Warren[2]; 5. G14-Greg Marlow[10]; 6. 27-Bryan Woodall[1]; 7. 67M-Maggie Witczak[4]; 8. 5X-Brian Isley[3]; 9. 22J-Jeffrey Naese[5]; 10. 3-Marc Gross[8]
Heat 2: 1. 43-Jake Momper[8]; 2. 8BALL-David Gingerich[9]; 3. 22R-Shane Reed[6]; 4. 07R-John Ray[3]; 5. WFO-Skylar Antonelli[7]; 6. 9-Aaron Tatman[4]; 7. 67A-Anthony Witczak[5]; 8. 24-Bryce Langlois[1]; 9. 11B-Michael Bennett[10]; 10. 46-Jimmy Clark[2]
Heat 3: 1. 17-Josh Lank[6]; 2. 3X-Phillip McCord[5]; 3. 45-Jeremy Conley[3]; 4. 18B-Larry Bryie Jr[7]; 5. 7L-Sam Landis[9]; 6. 88J-James Droski[2]; 7. 10-Nicholas Parker[10]; 8. 04-Felix Rageth[4]; 9. 92-Derek Juhl[8]
UMP Modifieds
A Feature 1: 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[4]; 2. 28M-Frank Marshall[1]; 3. 22C-Nick Clubb[2]; 4. 21-Derek Losh[3]; 5. 10-Bradley Jameson[8]; 6. 5B-Steven Brooks[9]; 7. 24-Zeke McKenzie[5]; 8. 25W-Allen Weisser[13]; 9. 21A-Nick Allen[7]; 10. 2M-Matt Mitchell[12]; 11. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[10]; 12. 65-Todd Sherman[14]; 13. 11S-Blake Spalding[15]; 14. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[11]; 15. 17-Michael Tarlton[16]; 16. 0-Garrett Jameson[18]; 17. 114-Clayton Bryant[19]; 18. 3W-Dylan Woodling[20]; 19. 23-Ryan Cripe[17]; 20. 67B-Mason Bevard[6]
B Feature 1: 1. 25W-Allen Weisser[6]; 2. 11S-Blake Spalding[4]; 3. 23-Ryan Cripe[1]; 4. 114-Clayton Bryant[9]; 5. J7-Joey Iliff[5]; 6. 00-Cameron Head[3]; 7. 13C-Charles Clawson[8]; 8. 25-Josh Lolmaugh[7]; 9. 80-Cole Sink[2]; 10. 48-Adam Pockrus[12]; 11. 4-Logan Beckwith[14]; 12. 2-Jake Leitzman[10]; 13. 24M-Mike Miller[11]; 14. 891-Justin VanGuilder[13]
B Feature 2: 1. 65-Todd Sherman[1]; 2. 17-Michael Tarlton[3]; 3. 0-Garrett Jameson[2]; 4. 3W-Dylan Woodling[7]; 5. 82-Darren Wireman[6]; 6. 4G-Bill Griffith[9]; 7. 22T-Tony Anderson[10]; 8. 25M-Brian Mcfeeters[8]; 9. 11-Roger Cavness[11]; 10. 46-john warner[12]; 11. 55-Justin Matson[13]; 12. 8C-Corey Bevard[4]; 13. 105-Sheldon Oberle[5]
Heat 1: 1. 22C-Nick Clubb[2]; 2. 5B-Steven Brooks[4]; 3. 23-Ryan Cripe[3]; 4. 11S-Blake Spalding[6]; 5. 25-Josh Lolmaugh[1]; 6. 2-Jake Leitzman[5]; 7. 891-Justin VanGuilder[7]
Heat 2: 1. 28M-Frank Marshall[1]; 2. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[2]; 3. 65-Todd Sherman[3]; 4. 8C-Corey Bevard[6]; 5. 3W-Dylan Woodling[5]; 6. 22T-Tony Anderson[4]; 7. 55-Justin Matson[7]
Heat 3: 1. 24-Zeke McKenzie[3]; 2. 2M-Matt Mitchell[4]; 3. 80-Cole Sink[1]; 4. J7-Joey Iliff[2]; 5. 13C-Charles Clawson[6]; 6. 24M-Mike Miller[5]
Heat 4: 1. 67B-Mason Bevard[2]; 2. 17N-Dillon Nusbaum[4]; 3. 0-Garrett Jameson[6]; 4. 105-Sheldon Oberle[3]; 5. 25M-Brian Mcfeeters[1]; 6. 11-Roger Cavness[5]
Heat 5: 1. 21-Derek Losh[3]; 2. 10-Bradley Jameson[1]; 3. 00-Cameron Head[2]; 4. 25W-Allen Weisser[5]; 5. 114-Clayton Bryant[4]; 6. 48-Adam Pockrus[6]; 7. 4-Logan Beckwith[7]
Heat 6: 1. 96M-Mike McKinney[4]; 2. 21A-Nick Allen[3]; 3. 17-Michael Tarlton[5]; 4. 82-Darren Wireman[2]; 5. 4G-Bill Griffith[1]; 6. 46-john warner[6]
Super Sports
A Feature 1: 1. 19-Ron Wilkes[1]; 2. 11S-Nick Seplak[2]; 3. 1-Tyler Spalding[6]; 4. 12-Kody Conner[5]; 5. 29-Marshall Frank[7]; 6. 23-Cody Clubb[4]; 7. 22K-Bobby Keller[8]; 8. 48-Travis Wolford[16]; 9. 25-Dustin Pruitt[9]; 10. 03F-Leslie Fischer[12]; 11. 77-Randy Akers[13]; 12. 20X-John Rhoads[17]; 13. 31-Matthew Lambrecht[11]; 14. 37-Dylan Stremme[18]; 15. 34M-JC Moldovan[19]; 16. 14-Megan Erwin[10]; 17. H8-David Hurst[3]; 18. 70-Dustin Jones[15]; 19. 79-Mike Fincher[14]; 20. 09-Robert Myers[20]
B Feature 1: 1. 48-Travis Wolford[1]; 2. 20X-John Rhoads[4]; 3. 37-Dylan Stremme[3]; 4. 34M-JC Moldovan[6]; 5. 09-Robert Myers[2]; 6. 83-James Williams[7]; 7. 111-Kirby Trent[12]; 8. 57-Jeffery Jessup[10]; 9. 51-Damon Miller[5]; 10. 29R-Raigen Rich[8]; 11. 26-Mark Roop[9]
Heat 1: 1. 1-Tyler Spalding[3]; 2. 11S-Nick Seplak[6]; 3. 29-Marshall Frank[7]; 4. 14-Megan Erwin[5]; 5. 77-Randy Akers[4]; 6. 48-Travis Wolford[9]; 7. 20X-John Rhoads[10]; 8. 83-James Williams[8]; 9. 57-Jeffery Jessup[2]
Heat 2: 1. 23-Cody Clubb[9]; 2. H8-David Hurst[2]; 3. 22K-Bobby Keller[7]; 4. 31-Matthew Lambrecht[10]; 5. 79-Mike Fincher[8]; 6. 09-Robert Myers[1]; 7. 51-Damon Miller[3]; 8. 29R-Raigen Rich[4]; 9. 1W-Shaun Wiltjer[5]; 10. 28-Joe Spiewak[6]
Heat 3: 1. 19-Ron Wilkes[6]; 2. 12-Kody Conner[7]; 3. 25-Dustin Pruitt[9]; 4. 03F-Leslie Fischer[3]; 5. 70-Dustin Jones[5]; 6. 37-Dylan Stremme[8]; 7. 34M-JC Moldovan[2]; 8. 26-Mark Roop[1]; 9. 111-Kirby Trent[4]
Street Stocks
A Feature 1: 1. 14-RJ Akers[1]; 2. 90-Lee J Hall[4]; 3. 114-Austin Hubbard[2]; 4. 51-Jason Fritz[10]; 5. X225-Trevor Bitterling[8]; 6. 65-Wally Kerst[6]; 7. 10-Michael Roe[3]; 8. 55-Zane Reitz[5]; 9. 9-Ryan Arnett[13]; 10. 94-Blayne Townsend[14]; 11. 23P-Sawyer Prosser[15]; 12. 25-TJ Smith[18]; 13. 19-Zachary Paul[11]; 14. 25M-Dalton Mickle[9]; 15. 87-Nathan Banister[19]; 16. 17-Preston Oberle[7]; 17. 62-Josh Warren[12]; 18. 20S-John Sevison[21]; 19. 58-Gregg Tarr[17]; 20. 54-Adam Boord[16]
Heat 1: 1. 55-Zane Reitz[9]; 2. 10-Michael Roe[5]; 3. 90-Lee J Hall[4]; 4. 17-Preston Oberle[7]; 5. 25M-Dalton Mickle[11]; 6. 19-Zachary Paul[2]; 7. 9-Ryan Arnett[3]
Heat 2: 1. 114-Austin Hubbard[1]; 2. 14-RJ Akers[3]; 3. 65-Wally Kerst[5]; 4. X225-Trevor Bitterling[7]; 5. 51-Jason Fritz[8]; 6. 62-Josh Warren[6]; 7. 94-Blayne Townsend[2]; 8. 23P-Sawyer Prosser[4]; 9. 54-Adam Boord[9]; 10. 58-Gregg Tarr[10]
600cc Non Winged Micros
A Feature 1: 1. 3W-Dylan Woodling[3]; 2. 6-Nick Schaefer[1]; 3. 29-Braxton Hanft[4]; 4. 51-Jason ormsby[9]; 5. 12-Jacob Ruppe[5]; 6. 57-Garrett Saunders[12]; 7. 88-Brian Kunze[13]; 8. 29A-Kayla Cleveland[10]; 9. 7C-Chris Brechiel[11]; 10. 1JR-James Nutter[7]; 11. 17E-Evan Hodges[18]; 12. 98-Adam Lock[14]; 13. 35-Brandon Sweat[23]; 14. 21-Brenton Lamb[21]; 15. 7-Jett Mann[17]; 16. 06-Austin Burnworth[15]; 17. 26-Cody Williams[6]; 18. 21S-Bryar Schroeter[22]; 19. A67-Malachi Sweat[19]; 20. 58-Ross Price[2]; 21. 45-Ed Cleveland[8]; 22. 5T-Tony Tauber[20]
Heat 1: 1. 3W-Dylan Woodling[1]; 2. 6-Nick Schaefer[8]; 3. 1JR-James Nutter[4]; 4. 29A-Kayla Cleveland[5]; 5. 88-Brian Kunze[2]; 6. 17B-Billy Briscoe[7]; 7. A67-Malachi Sweat[6]; 8. 21S-Bryar Schroeter[3]
Heat 2: 1. 29-Braxton Hanft[4]; 2. 58-Ross Price[1]; 3. 45-Ed Cleveland[7]; 4. 7C-Chris Brechiel[8]; 5. 98-Adam Lock[3]; 6. 7-Jett Mann[6]; 7. 5T-Tony Tauber[5]; 8. (DNS) 35-Brandon Sweat
Heat 3: 1. 26-Cody Williams[1]; 2. 12-Jacob Ruppe[5]; 3. 51-Jason ormsby[6]; 4. 57-Garrett Saunders[7]; 5. 06-Austin Burnworth[3]; 6. 17E-Evan Hodges[2]; 7. 21-Brenton Lamb[4]
