Ohio's Fun Place to Race!!
2024 Race Season |
 | July 1, 2016 |
 A tremendous crowd jammed into Midvale Speedway for The Main Event Racing Series Downtown Ford 100, Open Modified 40 and a HUGE Fireworks display. Sixty nine car and driver combinations made the tow on a picture perfect evening. It was 76 degrees and sunny at race time.
The Main Event Racing Series races at Midvale Speedway are always a fan favorite and have given us many memories over the 27 year history of the series, this race will be another one that will be remembered.
Bryant Smith in the #1 and Nick Grodi in the #40 started on the front row and brought the field to Chief Starter Chuck Barrett's green flag. Both youngsters were looking to make their mark on the series as Smith jumped out to the early lead. The series all-time win leader Rich Rohrer in the #7 worked quickly to second, Grodi in 3rd, the #65 of Tim Ice in 4th and defending race winner Mike Mazzagetti in the #87 rounding out the top 5. Smith and Rohrer would start to draw away from the field, remaining nose to tail. Mr. 5-time, Gary Whipkey was on the move in his #59 machine, moving up to 4th after starting in the 9th position by lap eight. The first caution waved on lap eleven for the #17 of Bob Schneider Jr who spun in turn four. On the restart, Smith was able to prevail on the bottom as Rohrer again settled into second with Alex Rosenberry in the #2 working his way into the top 5. A lap later, Rosenberry and Grodi made some contact in turns 1 and 2, bringing out the second caution. The contact caused a chain reaction accident that sent Ice, John Sandquist Jr and John Flynn off on the hook, ending their night. Grodi was able to continue but was sent to the tail for the contact. On the restart, Smith and Rohrer got together in turn 1, bringing out the next stoppage. After looking at replays from multiple angles, series official's charged the 3-time series Champion Rohrer with the contact, sending him to the tail. That put Whipkey along side Smith for the restart on lap twelve . Once the green flew, Rosenberry and Mazzagetti made contact in turn 2 that collected the #12 of Bubba Smith and the #4 of Scott Baker, all machines were able to continue, only Rosenberry had to pit for a tire rub and Mazzagetti was sent to the tail for the contact. On the next restart, Bryant Smith was able to keep the top spot after a lap of side by side racing with Whipkey until Grodi stopped on the back straightaway on lap thirteen. The lap thirteen restart would change the entire complexion of the race. Smith and Whipkey made contact off turn four coming to the green flag. Whipkey spun to the inside of the track and carnage ensued. Scott Baker and Bubba Smith got airborne and everyone else piled in. Thankfully and most importantly, no one was injured. The machines involved were Bryant, Whipkey, Baker, Bubba, Rohrer, Josh Way in the #25, Schneider, Bud Perry in the #10 and Mazzagetti. After extensive cleanup, Bryant was sent to the tail and his brother Bubba inherited the top spot for the restart with Way along side. Seven cars were able to make repairs and continue on. Bryant Smith would bring out the races final caution on lap fourteen as he cut a tire and pounded the wall exiting turn 4. Bubba and Way were again side by side for what would be the final restart with Bubba getting the jump. Smith raced out front as Rosenberry's night came to an end when he was forced to pull pit side with a flat. Smith was able to build up a full straightaway lead by lap twenty, that's when Perry, a 2-time Series Champion was able to work his way around Way and into second. As Perry started to reel in the #12, you could tell Smith was beginning to fight some handling issues. On lap twenty six, Perry was on the deck lid of Smith and on lap thirty, he was around. Ten laps later, Perry built up a straightaway lead of his own as Smith continued to struggle with handling and overheating issues that continued to get worse. Way, Mazzagetti and Grodi were nose to tail for the 4th position and battling hard, when Mazzagetti experience mechanical issues on lap forty five and was forced to retire. That left Perry, Bubba, Way and Grodi to battle it out over the second half of the event, but Perry had other plans. He decided to let the other three argue over the two bottom spots on the podium, because he was taking the top step. The #10 machine was absolutely on a rail, despite quite a bit of cosmetic damage. By lap 60, Perry was able to put a complete lap on the field. On lap 65, the overheating issue for Smith forced him to retire from the event, moving Grodi to second and Way into 3rd. As the green flag laps continued to click away, Perry showed that it didn't matter if there were 3 cars remaining or 30, he had everyone covered. Way would drop out on lap 73 after smoke started to trail from his #25 machine. Perry would finish off the final 26 laps and pull into Downtown Ford Victory Lane. Perry picked up his second Main Event race win at Midvale, recorded his 5th straight top 2 finish and took over the series points lead. Following the Edgerton OH driver in the Boerger Electric, Keyhole Pizza, Seger Trucking, Logan Service, Meyer's Garage & Drive Thru sponsored #10 was Grodi, who recorded his best career Main Event finish, Way, Bubba and Mazzagetti.
The first feature of the night to hit the Speedway was one of the best all night. The #66 of Curtis Collins and the #74 of Bob Passwaters Jr started on the front row of the 20 lap JD Byrider Street Stock contest. Passwaters Jr, who had some handling issues in the heat race, looked as though they figured things out and took the early lead. Larry Smith in the #44 was showing some muscle as he moved up from his 6th starting position to 3rd on the opening circuit. Smith took over the second spot from Collins just before the caution flew for Passwaters Jr. It's always a good thing when you make your car better throughout the night and get it to perform at its best for the feature. But it stinks when you make it too good and run under your qualifying time while leading. So Passwaters was sent to the tail and that gave Smith the top spot. As Smith started to build up a nice advantage, Tom Earley in the #31 had moved into second. Meanwhile, Waylon Orr in the #28, Kyle Grove in the #3 and the #7 of Gabe Pringle were working their way up through traffic and into the top 5. The second and final caution flew on lap seven as Don Boron Sr in his brand new #88 spun around. On the restart, Earley had some type of issue that allowed Grove to thread the needle up the middle with Orr and Pringle following. Grove quickly jumped to the outside of Smith but wasn't strong enough to do anything with the #44 and faded back. Orr looked high and low but he was unable to make any headway. With six laps remaining, Orr went to the high side and that allowed Pringle to get into the mix. Bob Passwaters Sr in the #75 showed his face in the top 5 as he got around Grove for 4th. Lap after lap, Orr would try and lap after lap, Smith was too strong. Another hard and clean race by rhett guys and gals in this Division. Smith was able to hold on for the victory. Rounding out the top 5 behind the Canton OH driver in the Stewart's Flooring, ZiffyCat.com, Joe's Auto Service, CJ's Bar and Grill and Appliance and More sponsored #44 was Orr, Pringle, Passwaters Sr and Grove.
The Open Modified 40 lined up after another spectacular Fireworks display put on by Randy, Sue and the Fireworks team. Dave Dobbins in the #53 and Lucas Ripley in the #0 brought the field to the stripe. The top 16 qualifiers were locked into two heat races, the finishing order from those heats determined the starting lineup for the 40 lap feature. Ripley, a regular in the Summit Racing Economy Modified's at Midvale Speedway, took out his crate engine and put a big motor in for the event. He would take over the top spot with Dobbins, Chris Hamilton and Tyler Shullick following close behind. The first caution waved on lap six as the #55 of Brandon Bailey and the #02 of Bob Sibla Jr got together in turn 2, both would return to action after repairing flat tires. On the restart, Dobbins would race hard in the outside lane but Ripley would prevail after a tough three lap battle. After another quick caution, Shullick worked his way to second and new track record holder Doug Meyer in the #31 moved into 3rd. On lap seventeen Shullick made his move to the outside of Ripley with Meyer looking on, but the caution would wave, stalling the run. Bryce Allensworth in the #21 was the highest running crate engine in 12th, looking to take 1 of the extra payouts for the top 3 crates. On the restart, Shullick would wrestle away the top spot after a good battle with Ripley. Shullick would start to put some distance on the field and Meyer would got to the outside of Ripley for 2nd. As Ripley and Meyer battled, Meyer's machine experienced some sort of suspension issue, bringing out the yellow flag and ending his hopes. As Shullick and Ripley prepared for the restart, the two made contact on the back straight, ending Ripley's night after contact with the outside retaining wall. Shullick would be sent to the tail for the contact. That put Hamilton to the point with Dobbins along side. Lee McCreery in the #2 was now the highest running crate in 8th. Dobbins fired off like a rocket and into the lead after the green flag flew. On lap 25, Kenny Phillips in the #0 and Spencer Stineman in the #89 got together in turn 2 causing a pile-up. McCreery and Scott Archer in the #28 got the worst of it as the two were locked together. Not wanting to cause any more damage to either car, track crews did a great job working feverishly to get them apart. After the long delay, Archer was able to continue in the 5th position as McCreery's night was over and Phillips was sent to the tail for causing the caution. Dobbins would again get a good restart on Hamilton and take over the lead. Hamilton was all over the back of the #53, trying to force Dobbins into a mistake. With three laps remaining, Stineman got a great run down the back straightaway and got deep into turn 3, the move suprised Hamilton and the two made contact. Both machines slid up the banking, losing a couple spots. Both machines continued on with little or no damage through the turn until Hamilton stopped at the exit of turn 4 to bring out the caution. Under yellow flag conditions, Hamilton engaged in some extracurricular activities that got him the black flag and sent to the pits. That set up a three lap shootout with Dobbins, Stineman, Archer and the #15 of Craig Phillips who threw his name into the hat in the late going. Stineman, who started all the way back in the 9th position, took several outside shots at Dobbins. But the former Modified Champion at Midvale Speedway was just a little better on the bottom of the race track and would pick up the big payday. Following the Hartville OH driver in the Ganley Ford, Line-X of Canton, R&R Engines, Jerry's Trucking Sponsored #53 was Stineman, Archer, Craig Phillips and Stephen Klinect who was the hard charger after starting 13th. The highest crate engines were Allensworth in 8th, Shawn Marder in 10th and Bill Shimko in 12th.
The final feature of the evening was for the Canton Auto Salvage Compact's and their 20 lapper. The #3D of Sam Bigham and the #16 of Mike McDonald started on the front row. McDonald would lead lap one by a foot over Bingham before the #24 of Brent Shreffler would move to 2nd. Bingham and McDonald would get together off of turn 2 on lap two, Kyle Finlayson in the #15 would go mowing through the infield and up to 3rd as Bingham would be out with a flat and Blaine Salsberry in the #4 would roll into 2nd. Everyone kept it headed in the right direction and Salsberry would take over the top spot on lap five. Fastest qualifier Gage Jaberg in the #21 would climb up to 2nd and the #27 of Britt Vanmeter up to 3rd. Just after the halfway point, Jaberg would start to work the outside lane to get around Salsberry. Lap after lap he tried and lap after lap the #4 held his line and prevailed. As they encountered lapped traffic, Jaberg would see a couple good runs get stalled out because of those cars being in the way. Salsberry used it perfectly to his advantage to hang on and pick up another feature win. Following the Uhrichsville OH driver in the Buckey Mowing, Rt 39 Auto Salvage and Dairy Queen of Uhrichsville sponsored #4 was Jaberg, McDonald, Vanmeter and Shreffler
A HUGE THANK YOU to all the driver's, team's, official's, the fireworks team, concession workers, ticket takers, parking lot attendants, the Midvale Speedway's Track Crew (who earned their money), everyone who lent a hand and especially THE FANS who packed the 3/10 mile oval!!!!
This Saturday night July 9th is VanMeter's Auto Repair / Federated Auto Parts Christmas in July Night. Bicycle giveaways and prizes will be drawn for Adults as well. All you have to do is keep your general admission ticket available to have a chance to win!! We will have a list of the wonderful sponsors who contributed a ton of prizes sometime this week!! Midvale Speedway THANKS ALL OF YOU!!!
**If you purchase a bicycle to be given away, please bring it to the track and place it on the front straightaway, along the fence and near the flag stand BEFORE the races begin. Please place a tag with your name or buisness on it so that the family can thank the person or persons that donated the bicycle. THANK YOU
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Main Event Racing Series
Fast Time: Alex Rosenberry 13.291
Downtown Ford 100: Bud Perry, Nick Grodi, Josh Way, Bubba Smith, Mike Mazzagetti, Alex Rosenberry, Bryant Smith, Gary Whipkey, Scott Baker, Rich Rohrer, Bob Schneider Jr, Tim Ice, John Sandquist Jr, John Flynn, JR Karl (DNS).
Open Modified's
Fast Time: Doug Meyer (NTR) 14.340
Heat 1: Dave Dobbins, Chris Hamilton, Tyler Shullick, Brad Copen, Spencer Stineman, Kenny Phillips, Stephen Klinect.
Heat 2: Lucas Ripley, Scott Archer, Doug Meyer, Craig Phillips, Brandon Bailey, Bob Sibla Jr, Bryce Allensworth, Tyler Noeske.
Heat 3: Tim Westerfield Jr, Shawn Marder, Lee McCreery, Nathan Embree, Jimmy McCune, Tom Moran, Bill Shimko.
Feature: Dobbins, Steinman, Archer, Craig Phillips, Klinect, Sibla Jr, Shullick, Allensworth, Copen, Marder, Moran, Shimko, Hamilton, Norm Taylor, McCreery, Bailey, Kenny Phillips, Ripley, Meyer, Embree, Westerfield Jr, Noeske, McCune, Jim Coffy (DNS).
JD Byrider Street Stock's
Heat 1: Larry Smith, Colton Ritchey, Gabe Pringle, Kyle Grove, Hunter Combs, Don Boron Sr, Waylon Orr.
Heat 2: Curtis Collins, Tom Earley, Bob Passwaters Jr, Josh Moss, TJ Barker, Mackinze Pringle.
Feature: Smith, Orr, Pringle, Passwaters Sr, Grove, Ritchey, Barker, Boron Sr, Combs, Bob Passwaters Sr, Collins, Moss, Earley.
Canton Auto Salvage Compact's
Fast Time: Gage Jaberg 17.727
Heat 1: Blaine Salsberry, Britt Vanmeter, Brent Shreffler, Gage Jaberg, Zack Cogar, Justin VanFossen, Sam Bigham, Mike McDonald, Kyle Finlayson.
Heat 2: Brandon France, Clayton Oliver, Kyle Shalosky, Korey Herron, Noah Patterson, Steven McCue, Larry Ennis Jr, Jarod Robinson.
Feature: Salsberry, Jaberg, McDonald, Vanmeter, Shreffler, Finlayson, Oliver, France, Patterson, VanFossen, Shalosky, Cogar, Robinson, Herron, Ennis Jr, McCue, Bigham.
Written by: Chris Kail |
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07/01/2016 Race
Street Stocks Listings |
| Finish Pos. | Driver |
| 1. | Smith, Larry |
| 2. | Orr, Waylon |
| 3. | Pringle, Gabe |
| 4. | Passwaters Sr., Bob |
| 5. | Grove, Kyle |
| 6. | Ritchey, Colton |
| 7. | Barker, TJ |
| 8. | Boron Sr, Don |
| 9. | Combs, Hunter |
| 10. | Passwaters Jr, Bob |
| More |
07/01/2016 Race
Compacts Listings |
| Finish Pos. | Driver |
| 1. | Salsberry, Blaine |
| 2. | Jaberg, Gage |
| 3. | McDounld, Mike |
| 4. | Vanmeter, Britt |
| 5. | Shreffler, Brent |
| 6. | Finlayson, Kyle |
| 7. | Oliver, Clayton |
| 8. | France, Brandon |
| 9. | Patterson, Noah |
| 10. | Buckey, Dan |
| More |
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