ORRVILLE, Ohio — Rising from the ashes, the Federated Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway came back to life June 25, with Shane Stewart winning the Pete Jacobs Memorial during University of Northwest Ohio Speedweek for the All Star Circuit of Champions.
With the track reopening from a devastating April fire, a capacity crowd and 50 sprint cars were on hand for the 12th- annual event.
Stewart drove the No. 8h owned by Junior Holbrook and Larry Wood to a convincing $5,000 triumph on the second night of the 25th annual Ohio Speedweek.
“I’m glad we started up front...it was hard to pass out there tonight,” said Stewart. “Larry and Junior decided to run a little harder tire, and that made the difference. I was just trying to keep the car as straight as I could and not burn off the tires.”
Stewart took the lead from the pole and held off Byron Reed early and Dale Blaney late. Blaney, who won the Speedweek opener at Attica Raceway Park, came home second, with Danny Smith, Dean Jacobs and Lance Dewease, who started 15th, rounding out the top five.
The summary:
Fast time: Dustin Daggett, 15.547 seconds (50 cars).
First Heat: Gus Wasson, Brandon Martin, Rob Chaney, Paul Weaver, Brian Ellenberger, Mark Keegan, Brock Mayes, Gregg Dalman, Troy Kingan, Bryan Grove, Dustin Daggett, Aaron Shaffer, Jason Dolick.
Second Heat: Greg Wilson, Jesse Hockett, Danny Smith, Dale Blaney, Dean Jacobs, John Ivy, Ryan Grubaugh, Craig Mintz, Caleb Griffith, Cody Jacobs, Paul Kish, Duffy Smith, Lee Stark.
Third Heat: Lee Jacobs, Phil Gressman, Brian Paulus, Chad Blonde, Byron Reed, Keith Baxter, Ben Gregg, Bruce White, Bill Rose, Aaron Middaugh, Bill Ault, Troy Little.
Fourth Heat: Paul May, Chris Andrews, Lance Dewease, Kenny Jacobs, Shane Stewart, Kelly Kinser, Ed Neumeister, Danny Mumaw, Tim Hunter, Aaron Higgins, David Doherty, Brad Haudenschild.
Dash: K. Jacobs, Da. Smith, Blaney, Reed, Stewart, Ellenberger.
C Main: Mintz, Grove, Haudenschild, Dolick, Kingan, Dalman, Doherty, Kish, C. Jacobs, Middaugh, Ault, Hunter, Stark.
B Main: Daggett, Keegan, Grubaugh, Mayes, Gregg, Baxter, Kinser, Higgins, Rose, Mumaw, Du. Smith, Griffith, White, Mintz, Ivy, Haudenschild, Dolick, Shaffer, Neumeister, Grove.
Feature: Stewart, Blaney, Da. Smith, D. Jacobs, Dewease, Chaney, Wasson, Wilson, May, Paulus, Keegan, Daggett, L. Jacobs, Martin, Hockett, Mayes, Weaver, Ellenberger, Grubaugh, Andrews, K. Jacobs, Reed, Blonde, Gressman.