The Left Turn
By: Ron Burt
It was another sad week for racing. Sandusky Speedway announced the passing of race director, Chris Mize. He was one of the best in the business. Sandusky’s Cedar Point is home to roller coasters, and he made sure the speedway was the home to Supermodifieds. He was also known to give back to race fans running $1. admission night for local race shows along with $1. hotdogs and beer. Last year he took on a professional midget wrestler after a night of racing to let himself get embarrassed to entertain the crowd. He made sure he brought the best racing series to the nationally known ½ mile paved oval. Many race fans would drive up and play all day at Cedar Point and then end the evening at the speedway before driving back to N.W. Ohio. Drivers appreciated him and all he did to make racing better at Sandusky Speedway. The fans loved him for keeping racing affordable, along with fan favorite promotions. The Left Turn sends our condolences to his family and friends. There will be a celebration of life for Chris Mize on September 21st at 1:30 pm at Sandusky Speedway. Pastor Mike Haury will officiate.
If you followed the World of Outlaw series from the beginning in the 80’s, Sammy Swindell was one of the first stars. He won many races and a couple of Outlaw championships in his career. He hasn’t stopped racing and this past week he started 7th at Riverside International Speedway and took his car to 1st place and victory lane.
Kokomo Speedway hosted the USAC Sprint Cars for the annual Smackdown at the famous Bullring. In the 13 year history of this racing event, no one has done it better than Justin Grant. Last Saturday night, the California native ascended to even greater heights after leading the final 10 circuits of the 40-lapper to become the first four-time Smackdown champion, duplicating the feat he had previously achieved in 2018, 2021 and 2023.
Grant earned his record-extending 11th career USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship feature victory at the Kokomo dirt oval to earn a $35,000 payday, $30,000 for winning the race and an extra $500 for each of the 10 laps he led down the stretch. Grant also moved up another notch in the record books. His 53rd overall USAC National Sprint Car victory moved him past Tom Bigelow and into sole possession of third-place all-time on the series’ win list.
Last Sunday, Millstream opened for the 2nd night of racing this summer. The focus is to find the best car classes to run series and weekly shows next year, since the speedway has been closed for 6 years. The new owners have done a great job getting the racetrack ready. It’s now 2 tracks in one. They have an outside almost half mile dirt oval and an inside quarter mile oval. Last Sunday it was all Sprint cars on the quarter mile. The Great Lakes Super Sprints, Traditional 410 Sprints (wingless), and the Great Lakes Lightening Sprints. In the GLTS 410 (wingless) Ricky Lewis won the feature. The GLLS victory went to Jacob Sabja and Plymouth Indiana’s Zane DeVault picked up the Victory in the GLSS. At Oakshade Raceway your feature winners last Saturday were Late Model Daniel Wallace, Sportsman Ryan Davis, Dominator Stock Jeff Foks Jr, and Compact James Stamper.
Every Friday night for the area football scores log onto Facebook and the Ohio Sports Blitz. I go Facebook Live at 9:35 and 11:10PM with scores from 20 football conferences, the Ohio high school top 10 and the National top 10. The scoreboard stays posted all week. Ron out!
