Gunn, Tucke hold serve; Drown, Lane, Cranmore also visit Wayne County Speedway victory lane

Written By: Randy Worrell (Ranger)

ORRVILLE – Points racing – at least in some forms of motorsports is characterized as boring – which simply translates into driving cautiously.
It was more like ‘throw caution to the wind’ on Saturday evening at Wayne County instead.

For two racers leading their respective points battles heading into the speedway’s ‘O’Reilly Auto Parts’ Chase for the Championship’ double points night presented by Southeastern Equipment, the path to the title was simple; win and wear the crown.

Tyler Gunn – leading Danny Mumaw and Tyler Street by the slimmest of margins – went ‘Mano a Mano’ with Trey Jacobs for all 25 laps before claiming his fourth Pine Tree Towing and Recovery feature win of the season and securing his first track title in the process, while Braden Tucke delivered his best performance of the season when it mattered the most by equaling Gunn’s feat by riding home victorious in the 15-lap McKenzie Concrete Super Stock main event and holding the championship banner in victory lane as well.

Doug Drown returned to his customary spot – in WCS’s victory lane – by scoring his sixth Malcuit Tavern Super Late Model victory. JR Gentry won the war, though, by securing his second track championship with a suspense-filled 11th place finish in the SLM 25-lapper. Drown’s $3,000-to-win march was also the second in the three-race Best Western of Wooster Motel and Conference Center’s King of the County series.

Western Ohio ace Dalton Lane served notice that he’ll be a top contender in next week’s Flynn’s Tire & Service Center King of the County Modified event by scoring his second win of the season in the 20-lap main event – also backed by Flynn’s Tire and Service Center – following a spirited battle with 3-time 2023 winner Nate Young and newly crowned and defending track champion Colton Shaw. Shaw’s third-place run cemented his status among the region’s upper echelon in the process.

Mansfield’s Justin Cranmore – absent from victory lane in 2023 after a four-win 2022 season – joined the party with a hard-fought 12-lap triumph in the JoyRide Mini Stock finale. Doug Hensel, with an equally impressive run from 15th-to-fifth – hoisted the WCS track champion banner for the fourth time in his career.

Gunn, along with Jacobs, opened the early betting lines as heavy favorites in next week’s FAST Series, $10,000-ro-win Pete Jacobs Memorial with a rim-riding duel in the night’s lid lifter. Jacobs closed to within a car length on numerous occasions, with Street, Mumaw, and fourth-place points man Chris Myers never far behind.

The “Machine Gunn” used a strong lap 21 restart in securing the victory, however, with Jacobs, Street, Mumaw, and Myers rounding out the top five.

“I didn’t really know, for sure, where Tyler and Danny were, but l did see Trey’s nose a few times,” said Gunn. “We have this Eikelberry-Sipes car where we had it early in the season and felt really comfortable. I’m not sure what would’ve happened if Trey had gotten by us as far as the points thing went, but we didn’t start the night with a goal of finishing second or third.

“We’re really looking forward to running my own car at Attica on Friday and Saturday and can’t wait to get back here next Sunday (in the 91).”

Drown has spent most of the summer running in the region’s marquee events but has been dialed in when returning home and Saturday was no exception.

Drown captured the lead on lap three, then withstood challenges from Nathan Loney during the first 19 laps, then held off Cortland-based speedster Eric Wilson during the closing stages. Kyle Moore rode his battered machine home fourth in the caution-filled event, with Todd Brennan racing home fifth from his 23rd starting slot.

“It’s always great to win in front of the hometown crowd, and Jason (track promoter Jason Flory) had this place in perfect shape,” said Drown. “Tonight’s field of cars was incredibly strong, and it’s getting tougher and tougher here. I saw Nathan early on, but we were so good on the top and stuck with it. You just know these guys are coming at you lap after lap.”

The Modifieds hit the 3-8-mile next with arguably the best field of the season to go with it.

Lane – who captured the DirtCar Summer Nationals victory at Oakshade Raceway the night before Painesville’s Nate Young duplicated the feat at WCS earlier this summer – joined Young and Shaw in a spirited battle for the entire 20 laps on Saturday.

Young stayed glued to Lane’s back bumper throughout, and even led on a few occasions with haymaker sliders – the last coming on lap 16 – with Shaw rim-riding the rail in his family-owned General Lee 01 never more than 10 lengths behind.

Lane withstood the challenges, however, and crossed the stripe ahead of Young, Shaw, DJ Cline, and WCS regulars Jimmy Humphrey and Caden Alexander.

“I just love this place, you can get up on the wheel and get after it,” said Lane. “I know how good both Nate and Colton are here, and l just tried to go as hard as l could and hit my marks. We’ll definitely be back next Sunday night.”

The Super Stocks were up next, and for Tucke the strategy was a simple one; finish in the top two spots regardless of where kingpin Kyle Moore, or challengers Rob Melzer and Codee Schneider finished.

Mission accomplished for the newly crowned track champion.

Tucke grabbed the point early, then watched as mechanical problems sent Moore’s 21D into the turn 3 guardrail in the event’s opening laps. Tucke opened a sizable advantage until Schneider continued his late-season blitz by pressuring Tucke’s 18 the final six laps followed by Brandon Craver, Rob Melzer, and Paul Holmes.

“It’s been a stressful couple of months, but our team and family pour everything we have into this thing and l couldn’t be happier we got it done tonight,” said Tucke. “I actually saw Kyle limp around to the infield during the yellow, and still saw him sitting there when we got the one to go on the radio. I just ran as hard as l could after that, but l knew Codee would be coming, because with double points everyone was racing their hardest.

“We sat out to do this (win the championship), and l couldn’t be happier for our whole team.”

The Mini Stocks brought down the curtain, and for what seemed like the umpteenth time this season, unpredictability was the theme of the night.

Cody Musselman, who had been fast all season long but without a victory, bolted to a big lead early before the red waved for a David Potter flip in turn 4. Potter walked away from his battered machine but was done for the night.

After the green reappeared, Cranmore, along with title contender Anthony Collins, Johnny Bruce Sr, and newly minted champion Doug Hensel in tow. Hensel started 15th after a heat race incident relegated the 18 to the rear of the field.

Cranmore pushed his familiar black No. 2 to the front on lap 8 and cruised home to his first win of the season ahead of a fast closing of “The Racing Prophet Collins”, Bruce, and Hensel.

“i guess getting to victory lane late is better than never,” said Cranmore. “We’ve been fast enough but had some bad luck early on then we took a few weeks off. Hopefully we can finish the season strong.”

The speedway returns to action next Sunday evening Sept. 3, with one of its biggest shows of the season. The FAST Series sprint cars will vie for the $10,000-to-win Pete Jacobs Memorial, while the open 305 sprint cars make their first appearance of the season. The Super Late Models will again race for a $3,000 prize with the Modifieds racing for an increased purse in their second of three King of the County events. The Super Stocks also join the card on the Labor Day weekend classic.

Look for details and a preview of Sunday night’s action on all of Wayne County Speedway’s social media outlets later this week.

Media Results for 8/26/2023 at Wayne County Speedway – Orrville, OH
410 Sprint Cars 17 Entries
A Feature 25 Laps | 00:24:16.355
1. 91-Tyler Gunn[1]; 2. 9J-Trey Jacobs[3]; 3. 4*-Tyler Street[6]; 4. 16-Danny Mumaw[4]; 5. 38K-Chris Myers[2]; 6. 6J-Jonah Aumend[5]; 7. 70-Henry Malcuit[7]; 8. D12-Jason Dolick[10]; 9. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[8]; 10. 57N-Tyler Newhart[9]; 11. 20-Danial Burkhart[11]; 12. 187-Tyler Wiles[14]; 13. 1-Jamie Myers[15]; 14. 2-Joe Adorjan[12]; 15. 0-Brayton Phillips[13]; 16. 17V-William Aumend[16];

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:08:26.125
1. 16-Danny Mumaw[2]; 2. 91-Tyler Gunn[3]; 3. 9J-Trey Jacobs[4]; 4. 6J-Jonah Aumend[5]; 5. 57N-Tyler Newhart[7]; 6. 20-Danial Burkhart[8]; 7. 0-Brayton Phillips[1]; 8. 1-Jamie Myers[6];

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:06:26.747
1. 38K-Chris Myers[2]; 2. 70-Henry Malcuit[3]; 3. 4*-Tyler Street[4]; 4. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[1]; 5. D12-Jason Dolick[5]; 6. 2-Joe Adorjan[6]; 7. 187-Tyler Wiles[8]; 8. 17V-William Aumend[7]

Qualifying 8 Laps
1. 9J-Trey Jacobs, 00:14.896[13]; 2. 4*-Tyler Street, 00:14.972[7]; 3. 91-Tyler Gunn, 00:15.200[10]; 4. 70-Henry Malcuit, 00:15.274[9]; 5. 16-Danny Mumaw, 00:15.348[15]; 6. 38K-Chris Myers, 00:15.392[16]; 7. 0-Brayton Phillips, 00:15.976[8]; 8. 7DK-Dylan Kingan, 00:16.002[4]; 9. 6J-Jonah Aumend, 00:16.117[14]; 10. D12-Jason Dolick, 00:16.182[6]; 11. 1-Jamie Myers, 00:16.198[12]; 12. 2-Joe Adorjan, 00:16.793[3]; 13. 57N-Tyler Newhart, 00:16.833[5]; 14. 17V-William Aumend, 00:16.923[1]; 15. 20-Danial Burkhart, 00:17.013[2]; 16. 187-Tyler Wiles, 00:17.111[17]; 17. 1S-James Saam, 00:21.033[11]

Super Late Models 24 Entries
A Feature 25 Laps | 00:50:41.654
1. 12-Doug Drown[4]; 2. 27W-Eric Wilson[1]; 3. 10-Nathan Loney[3]; 4. 1*-Kyle Moore[7]; 5. 20-Todd Brennan[23]; 6. 59-Larry Bellman[2]; 7. 79-Brad Malcuit[11]; 8. 21-Wes Morrison[17]; 9. 5M-Ryan Markham[13]; 10. 92B-Austin Bright[18]; 11. 14JR-JR Gentry[5]; 12. 17-Tyler Evans[12]; 13. 7-Nick Cox[16]; 14. 50-Ryan Missler[9]; 15. 14C-Mitch Caskey[10]; 16. 94-Mike Bores[6]; 17. 00-Kyle Lukon[8]; 18. 24X-Jason Skelly[15]; 19. 24-Jerry Aber[24]; 20. J28-Jason Henderson[22]; 21. 69R-Doug Baird[19]; 22. 612-Race Gardiner[21];

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:07:22.000
1. 12-Doug Drown[4]; 2. 00-Kyle Lukon[6]; 3. 50-Ryan Missler[3]; 4. 14C-Mitch Caskey[2]; 5. 5M-Ryan Markham[1]; 6. 7-Nick Cox[5]; 7. 92B-Austin Bright[7]; 8. 612-Race Gardiner[8]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:33.000
1. 14JR-JR Gentry[4]; 2. 27W-Eric Wilson[3]; 3. 94-Mike Bores[2]; 4. 79-Brad Malcuit[1]; 5. 36-Codee Schneider[6]; 6. 21-Wes Morrison[5]; 7. 69R-Doug Baird[8]; 8. J28-Jason Henderson[7]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:17:36.000
1. 1*-Kyle Moore[4]; 2. 10-Nathan Loney[2]; 3. 59-Larry Bellman[1]; 4. 17-Tyler Evans[5]; 5. 24X-Jason Skelly[7]; 6. 24-Jerry Aber[6]; 7. 16-Steve Sabo[8]; 8. 20-Todd Brennan[3]

Qualifying 8 Laps | 00:02:26.000
1. 12-Doug Drown, 00:17.066[9]; 2. 14JR-JR Gentry, 00:17.227[1]; 3. 1*-Kyle Moore, 00:17.243[7]; 4. 50-Ryan Missler, 00:17.348[6]; 5. 27W-Eric Wilson, 00:17.482[18]; 6. 20-Todd Brennan, 00:17.593[3]; 7. 14C-Mitch Caskey, 00:17.594[8]; 8. 94-Mike Bores, 00:17.729[16]; 9. 10-Nathan Loney, 00:17.830[21]; 10. 5M-Ryan Markham, 00:17.831[24]; 11. 79-Brad Malcuit, 00:17.896[5]; 12. 59-Larry Bellman, 00:17.937[13]; 13. 7-Nick Cox, 00:18.106[12]; 14. 21-Wes Morrison, 00:18.114[11]; 15. 17-Tyler Evans, 00:18.160[17]; 16. 00-Kyle Lukon, 00:18.230[20]; 17. 36-Codee Schneider, 00:18.381[14]; 18. 24-Jerry Aber, 00:18.405[15]; 19. 92B-Austin Bright, 00:18.649[22]; 20. J28-Jason Henderson, 00:18.686[4]; 21. 24X-Jason Skelly, 00:18.773[2]; 22. 612-Race Gardiner, 00:19.025[10]; 23. 69R-Doug Baird, 00:19.154[19]; 24. 16-Steve Sabo, 00:19.316[23]

UMP Modifieds 21 Entries
A Feature 20 Laps | 00:19:07.149
1. 14-Dalton Lane[4]; 2. 42-Nate Young[5]; 3. 01-Colton Shaw[8]; 4. 4-DJ Cline[3]; 5. 60-Jimmy Humphrey[7]; 6. 16-Caden Alexander[6]; 7. 105-Zach Johnson[9]; 8. 69-Ryan Robey[13]; 9. F4-Greg Johnson[11]; 10. 187-Doug Drown[21]; 11. 75-Tristen Bickford[10]; 12. 3JR-Mark Baier[16]; 13. 36-Brent Coffman[15]; 14. 185-Ron Miller[12]; 15. 5-Ryan Markham[1]; 16. 69M-Jacob Myers[19]; 17. 21-Dwayne Powell[18]; 18. 21R-Randy Bauknecht[14]; 19. 1-Vincent DePizzo; 20. 22G-Jesse Griffitts; 21. 54-Zack Hausk

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:08:19.437
1. 5-Ryan Markham[1]; 2. 14-Dalton Lane[4]; 3. 60-Jimmy Humphrey[5]; 4. 4-DJ Cline[6]; 5. 105-Zach Johnson[2]; 6. F4-Greg Johnson[8]; 7. 69-Ryan Robey[7]; 8. 36-Brent Coffman[9]; 9. 22G-Jesse Griffitts[11]; 10. 69M-Jacob Myers[10]; 11. 54-Zack Hausk[3]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:09:59.370
1. 42-Nate Young[1]; 2. 1-Vincent DePizzo[2]; 3. 01-Colton Shaw[4]; 4. 16-Caden Alexander[8]; 5. 75-Tristen Bickford[3]; 6. 185-Ron Miller[7]; 7. 21R-Randy Bauknecht[5]; 8. 3JR-Mark Baier[6]; 9. 187-Took Wiles[9]; 10. 21-Dwayne Powell[10]

Qualifying 8 Laps | 00:08:22.608
1. 14-Dalton Lane, 00:18.554[14]; 2. 01-Colton Shaw, 00:18.724[11]; 3. 54-Zack Hausk, 00:18.985[6]; 4. 75-Tristen Bickford, 00:19.106[9]; 5. 105-Zach Johnson, 00:19.130[3]; 6. 1-Vincent DePizzo, 00:19.186[19]; 7. 5-Ryan Markham, 00:19.210[12]; 8. 42-Nate Young, 00:19.309[21]; 9. 60-Jimmy Humphrey, 00:19.351[10]; 10. 21R-Randy Bauknecht, 00:19.354[1]; 11. 4-DJ Cline, 00:19.526[8]; 12. 3JR-Mark Baier, 00:19.564[2]; 13. 69-Ryan Robey, 00:19.715[4]; 14. 185-Ron Miller, 00:19.784[17]; 15. F4-Greg Johnson, 00:19.974[18]; 16. 16-Caden Alexander, 00:19.988[16]; 17. 36-Brent Coffman, 00:20.058[5]; 18. 187-Took Wiles, 00:20.080[7]; 19. 69M-Jacob Myers, 00:20.730[15]; 20. 21-Dwayne Powell, 00:21.165[13]; 21. 22G-Jesse Griffitts, 00:22.690[20]

Super Stocks 10 Entries
A Feature 15 Laps | 00:10:55.726
1. 18-Braden Tucke[4]; 2. 14-Codee Schneider[5]; 3. 771-Brandon Craver[2]; 4. 77-Rob Melzer[1]; 5. 51-Paul Holmes[3]; 6. U4-Paul McVicker[6]; 7. 28-Brad Hensel[9]; 8. 21D-Kyle Moore[7]; 9. 4Z-Zach Myers; 10. 77H-Matt Hensel

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:45.689
1. 21D-Kyle Moore[4]; 2. 771-Brandon Craver[3]; 3. 77-Rob Melzer[2]; 4. U4-Paul McVicker[1]; 5. 28-Brad Hensel

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:08:46.578
1. 14-Codee Schneider[4]; 2. 18-Braden Tucke[2]; 3. 51-Paul Holmes[3]; 4. 4Z-Zach Myers[5]; 5. 77H-Matt Hensel

Qualifying 8 Laps | 00:04:04.000
1. 21D-Kyle Moore, 00:20.352[7]; 2. 14-Codee Schneider, 00:20.367[10]; 3. 771-Brandon Craver, 00:20.385[9]; 4. 51-Paul Holmes, 00:20.562[6]; 5. 77-Rob Melzer, 00:20.628[5]; 6. 18-Braden Tucke, 00:20.717[4]; 7. U4-Paul McVicker, 00:21.125[8]; 8. 77H-Matt Hensel, 00:21.502[2]; 9. 28-Brad Hensel, 00:24.058[3]; 10. 4Z-Zach Myers, 00:24.887[1]

Mini Stocks 19 Entries
A Feature 12 Laps | 00:17:30.608
1. 2-Justin Cranmore[7]; 2. 71-Anthony Collins[8]; 3. 7CM-Cody Musselman[2]; 4. 66-Johnny Bruce Sr[6]; 5. 18-Doug Hensel[15]; 6. 278-Zack Hershey[5]; 7. 98X-Austin McIlvain[16]; 8. 18X-Dustin Bedlion[3]; 9. 711-Kenny Long[1]; 10. 11-Trent Bishop[13]; 11. 29-Mitch Reichard[12]; 12. 23P-Kyle Petit[4]; 13. 44L-Don Lehman[14]; 14. 81-Chris Mullinex[10]; 15. 7C-Billy Dawson[18]; 16. 100-David Potter[9]; 17. 54C-Clayton Evans[11]; 18. 8-Cory Brown; 19. 15-Kenny Marietta

Heat 1 6 Laps | 00:06:56.560
1. 7CM-Cody Musselman[4]; 2. 23P-Kyle Petit[1]; 3. 66-Johnny Bruce Sr[7]; 4. 71-Anthony Collins[5]; 5. 100-David Potter[2]; 6. 54C-Clayton Evans[8]; 7. 11-Trent Bishop[3]; 8. 18-Doug Hensel[9]; 9. 8-Cory Brown[6]; 10. 15-Kenny Marietta[10]

Heat 2 6 Laps | 00:04:35.535
1. 2-Justin Cranmore[6]; 2. 278-Zack Hershey[7]; 3. 711-Kenny Long[3]; 4. 18X-Dustin Bedlion[8]; 5. 81-Chris Mullinex[4]; 6. 29-Mitch Reichard[5]; 7. 44L-Don Lehman[1]; 8. 98X-Austin McIlvain[2]; 9. 7C-Billy Dawson[9]