WAYNESFIELD — The Open Wheel Showdown featured three divisions of open wheel racing Saturday night at Waynesfield Raceway Park . The event dubbed the “Open Wheel Showdown” had a great crowd on hand to see the final appearance of the year for the K&L Ready Mix NRA Sprint Invaders. The Satellite Connections Non Wings and Quest Federal Credit Union UMP Modifieds were also on the program to continue their season point battles.
The headlining K&L Ready Mix NRA Sprint Invaders was led to green by the 28 of Phil Gressman and the 5M of “Mad” Max Stambaugh. Gressman took the lead into turn one and led the opening lap. Stambaugh worked the cushion into turn one at the completion of lap one to gain the lead and claim lap number two. A few laps went into the books before the first yellow flag of the A-main stacked the field back up for a restart. Jared Horstman used the restart to his advantage to advance through the field at the midway point of the A-main. Horstman managed to make his way into the runner-up spot from his outside row three starting spot. Two late race cautions bundled the field up allowing Horstman to make a run on Stambaugh. The run was unsuccessful giving the new uncle the win. Jared Horstman came home second with JR Stewart coming home third. Devon Dobie and Jeff Williams picked up the heat race wins.
The Satellite Connections Non Wing Sprints were next on the agenda for 25 laps of action. The 87 of Paul Dues and the 21 of Travis Hery led the field to the opening green flag. The drag race into turn one put Dues into the top spot. The two 24’s, Lee Underwood and Landon Simon began to battle just behind the leader. Underwood came out on the winning end, holding off Simon. Fremont, Ohio’s Dustin Stroup brought out the first and only caution of the event at the halfway mark. As laps began to tick down, Matt Westfall found himself in the runner-up spot trying to track down Lee Underwood who held the lead. Simon was tracking Westfall as Westfall tracked Underwood. Simon ran into some bad luck as his 24 went up and over the cushion exiting turn two causing him to drop out of the top five. Underwood took the white flag with a small amount of space between him and Westfall. Out of turn four, Westfall put a slider on Underwood to take the lead and the victory. Lee Underwood finished second with Luke Hall finishing third. Landon Simon and Dustin Ingle took home the heat races.
The Quest Federal Credit Union UMP Modifieds continued to reward fans with a large car count. Current point leader Josh Scott led the field of 20 to the opening green flag with the 20K of Bill Keeler to his outside. Scott won the drag race into turn one and claimed the opening lap. A three-way battle for fourth began to form between Jeff Koz, Tim Cornett, and Weasel Phlipot. Just as the battle started to get intense, Matt Twining brought out the first caution of race. Twining was facing in the opposite direction at the exit of turn one. Three cars got together at the exit of turn four on the restart. Brent Hole, Jared Spalding, and Scottie Williams got together blocking much of the track. On the second restart attempt, Jeff Koz moved into the second spot. Scott built up a lead on Koz with an even larger lead to the rest of the field. Scott and Koz were roughly half a track away from the rest of the field late in the A-main. Weasel Philpot and Brad Hess brought out the final caution of the night. Those two competitors were doing well in the A-main when they got together. Josh Scott went on to win the A-main. Jeff Koz finished second. Bill Keeler finished third. Jerry Bowersock, Brandon Vaughan, Jeff Koz, and Brad Hess picked up the heat race wins. Matt Twining and Scottie Williams claimed the B-mains.
Waynesfield Raceway Park will be back in action Saturday night with a full program of racing featuring the Satellite Connection Non Wings, Performance Powder Coating AMSA Mini Sprints, Quest Federal Credit Union UMP Modifieds, Block Insurance Tough Trucks, and the Indian Lake Outfitter Compacts. Pit side gates open at 4 p.m. grandstands at 5 p.m. The first green flag of the night flies at 7 p.m.
