By: Ron Burt
Racing fans had to say goodbye to a couple of well-known racetracks. The Midwest lost Rockford Speedway. This was a ¼ mile high banked paved oval that hosted many special racing events including the National Short Track Championships for several classes of cars. Southwest lost the famous Devils Bowl Speedway outside of Dallas Texas in Mesquite. The Bowl as it was known hosted the very first World of Outlaw Sprint Car race. Over the years besides the WoO the Edwards family brought in many national sanctions to the famed ½ clay oval including USAC, All-Stars and CRA events besides the weekly shows. Both tracks will be missed by race fans and drivers.
Schlenk and Dippman Win at Fremont
Fremont Speedway closed out the 2023 season on Tuesday, October 24th. This finished a make-up race that was stopped because of the weather. Fremont is home to the 410-winged sprints but Tuesday the UMP Late Models headlined the show for the Bill Hahn Memorial. Rusty Schlenk was involved in tangle at the start of the feature and had to go to the work area to replace a tire. Rusty acted like the three-time national UMP champion. He worked his way from the back, took the lead on lap 19 and held off Ryan Missler for his third career Fremont Speedway victory. This was Schlenk’s 16th feature win in 2023 and he took home $2023.00. Ryan Missler, Rob Anderzack, BJ Gregory, and Ryan Markham rounded out the top five.
This was part 2 of the Oakshade/Fremont Showdown, with the first race a few weeks ago at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon. It puts Thunder Stocks racing against Dirt Trucks in a tribute race for legend Art Ball who recently passed away. The feature had several lead changes early on. Weekly favorites from both tracks swapped paint fighting for the top spot. At the end Craig Dippman the winner at Oakshade was able to wedge under Fremont Dirt Truck driver Jamie Miller on a late race restart and hang on for the win. It was Dippman’s first Fremont win. Jamie Miller, Keith Sorg, Kolin Schilt, and Kyle Moore rounded out the top five.
In a pair of Australian Pursuits run in memory of Lin Potter, Ryan Missler and BJ Gregory cashed the over $800 checks. In the “Call Out” match race, Kolin Schilt took the prize and in the “Buy Back” feature, Scott Hammer collected the money.
Notes and Things
Work continues at the recently purchased Millstream Speedway near Findlay. It will be exciting to hear what class of cars will be on weekly shows and to see what big races and sanctions they have lined up to race in 2024. Eldora Speedway hosted the 43rd Annual Dirt Track World Championship for DIRTcar Late Models. Brandon Sheppard started 13th and was able to work his way through the field for the top spot. It was his 5th DTWC. He’s now tied with racing legend Freddy Smith for the most wins in the 43-year history of the race. Sheppard earned $100,000 for his victory. The current point leader for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Hudson O’Neal was 2nd, followed by Dresden Ohio driver Devin Moran, took the 3rd spot. In the last USAC Midwest Thunder Midget race of the season, Zach Wigal won the series points championship in the closest points race in series history. His 4th place finish edged out Bryce Massingill by 3 points. The top 5 finishers at Gas City I-69 Speedway were 1st Matt Lux, 2nd Bryce Massingill, 3rd our local Ottoville gal, Abby Hohbein, 4th Zach Wigal and 5th Adam Taylor. Congratulations on a fantastic season to 13-year-old Keegan Weese. The Ohio teen races in the NASCAR National Youth Series Quarter Midgets. He runs 3 divisions and placed top 10 in National points in all three entries including a 4th place in Unrestricted Animal. That will earn him a seat at the banquet to receive his honors. He has a total of 3 National Series A-Main wins in 2 seasons. Until next week, keep your wheels down. Ron out! (Ohio Sports Blitz on Facebook)
