The Left Turn
By: Ron Burt
The 2025 Rumble in Fort Wayne was an action packed with two days of excitement. Larry Boos, his staff and volunteers made the 27th annual event the best I can remember. The car counts and entries were up, and every room, hallway and ramp in the coliseum was filled with racecars. Drivers came from all over the country to compete on the Expo Centers 1/7th mile concrete floor track. It was a mix of experience and exuberance that characterized the national midget headliners during the kickoff to Rumble in Fort Wayne. Let me tell you about opening night.
In a new-look format, Russ Gamester and Ricky Peterson Jr. each won midget qualifying features during Friday’s program, securing their starting spots into Saturday’s Feature Race to 100 inside the Expo Center. Unlike previous years, which included complete shows on both days of the Rumble, Friday’s action on the seventh-mile, indoor concrete oval saw the national midgets working to accrue points toward their starting positions in Saturday’s heats. It was all a lead-up to the first 100-lap midget feature at the Fort Wayne Rumble since 2002.
The 30-lapper for even qualifiers featured two-time Rumble winner Joe Liguori and Rumble midget rookie Jakeb Boxell on the front row, with Ligouri immediately jumping to the lead as Boxell was shuffled from second to eighth.
Past winner Ryan Flores took over second place at that point. Liguori had a narrow lead over Flores, despite the emergence of lap traffic near the one-third mark. A wild flip and turn-three impact by Trisdon Brown forced a short stoppage. Brown was uninjured, but his night was over. Calm went out the window on lap 14, when Flores moved Liguori for the lead in turn two, only for Liguori to get back into Flores going into turn three and send both cars skidding to a halt. Liguori continued, but Flores’ night was over, because his motor locked up entering the corner, causing the loss of speed that led to the collision by Liguori.
Gamester took over the lead and held off fellow veteran Bryan Nuckles the rest of the way despite caution flags on laps 17 and 19. Friday was Gamester’s sixth career Rumble Midget win. A runner-up finish wasn’t what Nuckles hoped to accomplish Friday, having come so close to Rumble glory in the past without a feature win, but it still locked him into Saturday’s 100 lap final. Jim Anderson, Nick Hamilton, and Liguori were third through fifth, respectively.
Derek Bischak and Michael Lewis led the odd qualifiers to green for their 30-lap qualifying feature, with Lewis powering the iconic No. 99 to the lead on the first lap before a John Ivy spin forced a lap-one caution flag. Yellow flags on laps four and six did little to slow Lewis’, but a red flag on a lap-seven restart did halt the action, after Avery Neal lost brakes and flipped into the catchfence. Neal was okay, but his Rumble debut was over. The next restart led to even more chaos at the front, as Cap Henry got into Lewis in turn four and sent Lewis spinning out of the top spot. Henry was penalized for the contract, elevating Bischak to the point and Kasey Jedrzejek to second place. Three more yellows led to a mandatory air quality break nine laps in and created an opportunity for Jedrzejek to pounce on the restart. The second-generation Ohio young gun jumped to the inside on the backstretch after leader Bischak spun out, then was ahead of the chaos behind him after both Bischak and Henry spun from top five running positions less than a lap later. Jedrzejek led a caution-laden mid-race before spinning from first place with 11 laps left. Peterson grabbed the lead he wouldn’t relinquish and a surprising first Rumble victory. He beat Henry, who rallied from the rear of the field twice after being involved in two separate incidents. Both Peterson and Henry joined Gamester and Nuckles as guaranteed starters in Saturday’s 100-lap grand finale. Jedrzejek fell one spot short of rallying back into the Saturday main, finishing third, with Bischak crossing fourth as the last car running. His teammate John Ivy made a late pass to finish second, ahead of Brad Lamberson, Busz, and Dylan Woodling. Next week I will cover the 100 lap feature that was held Saturday, December 20th. I hope all of you had a fun and safe Christmas and a fantastic new year’s. Until next week, keep your wheels down. Ron out!
