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Saturday, July 30, 2011 - Sandusky Speedway (OH) Hy-Miler
200
Saturday night at Sandusky Speedway's Victory Lane -
the top three finishers for the Hy-Miler 200 are (from left);
2nd place Ben Seitz, 1st place Tim Jedrzejek and 3rd place Russ
Wood. - Photo By Jim Feeney
TIMMY JEDRZEJEK AND SOULE RACING TEAM EACH
CLAIM FIRST HY-MILER NATIONALS CAREER WINS SATURDAY NIGHT AT
SANDUSKY
Sandusky, OH- Independence,
Ohio’s Tim Jedrzejek has not been a stranger in victory lane at
Sandusky Speedway over his career. Dan Soule and the Soule race team
had not been strangers in victory lanes either during their storied
racing career. But neither Jedrzejek nor Soule had ever brought home
a Hy-Miler Nationals title, the first of the traditional “Triple
Crown” of supermodified racing. Saturday night they both
accomplished an elusive goal. Getting together in 2011, the new
owner-driver team survived what was one of the wildest Nationals 100
ever that took over two and a half hours, and 200-plus laps,
counting cautions, to complete. survived five red flag incidents and
two refuelings to come out on top at the end of the race which
finished well after midnight. Timmy J inherited the lead on lap 47
when then leader Jeff Locke flew off the track. Jedrzejek then lost
the point to Mike Lichty on lap 64, reclaiming it again on lap 74
when Lichty’s 84 broke.
The first-time Hy-Miler winners
admitted in victory lane that there was luck involved in the win.
“This was a wild and whacky one. It seems like whoever got in the
lead had some bad luck. I was wondering if I was going to be next.
Danny Soule and the whole 32 car team puts together a car that never
lets us down. The team has a long history and finally we were able
to produce a great win for them. Yes, we benefited from a lot of bad
luck tonight, but we’ve been on that end too.
“We’ll take this win and we’ll
celebrate it tonight. Thanks everyone out there and to Hy-Miler for
sponsoring the race so long. Winning the 34th Hy-Miler is
pretty impressive for us. This is a nice welcome home to Sandusky
after being away for a year. It feels pretty good now. I don’t know
what else to say except, thanks to Danny Soule, his entire team and
family. We’ve been working on it and working on it. Maybe we finally
hit on something. Maybe we weren’t the fastest car at times. We
probably were defending our position more than we were racing hard
but that’s what it’s all about. You have to be there at the end and
today was our day.”
Bourne, MA driver Ben Seitz had
stayed in sight of the leader and watched many drop by the wayside
during the course of the long event. When Lichty handed the lead
back to Jedrzejek on lap 74, Ben was right there in second. He
pressured the leader to the end but with the class the 4-time NEMA
midget champion has always shown. Said Seitz after the race, “I
think we were a touch quicker but we couldn’t have passed him. He
had the car to beat. We didn’t have enough to get by him. It was a
good run. I’d like to thank all the fans for sticking with us and
all my sponsors, Cape Cod Aggregates, Lorusso Heavy Equipment, my
car owner Dickie Bien, R&R Motors and Lindblad Chassis. We have
struggled a little bit this year, but the car is coming around.
Hopefully this means we’ll be able to better for the rest of the
season.”
Also applying a little pressure
was 4-time Hy-Miler winner Russ Wood who ran his usual race-
cautious in the first half, game on in the second. Wood, whose first
Nationals win came in 1995, acknowledged he was a bit older than the
two guys ahead of him. “It’s been a long weekend. It takes its toll
on drivers and crews. You are just dragging the whole way. I’m not
too bad after 200-plus laps though. I was probably the oldest guy
out there but I hung with these guys. There was some serious racing
there. I just took it easy the first half and then kind of went
after that. We had some attrition and that helped us out. But, you
have to be there at the end. We were close and we gave it our best.
Thanks to everyone who came out and stuck with us.”
The Johnny Benson Jr. and Jeff
Locke led the way to green after time trials, heats and a consi had
established the 27-car field. Benson’s luck of the draw evaporated
in smoke just into lap four when the Lichty 74 blew up in smoke, a
possible due to a faulty oil line or tank. Red dropped immediately
for the clean up and Benson was pushed pitside. Pitting here was
Dave Shullick Jr. who returned to the tail.
Jeff Locke was now the leader –
a dubious distinction this night. Locke took off with Timmy J, Mike
Ordway Sr., Mike Lichty, Rob Summers and Trent Stephens tagging
along.
Locke had put some distance on
the pack by lap 20 with Ordway Sr keeping close behind until the
first of many damaging incidents occurred. Defending Hy-Miler champ
Mark Sammut was attempting a pass of Kyle Edwards out back when the
two tangled collecting Otto Sitterly, in the Vic Miller 11, in the
process. Sitterly and Edwards were hooked, and Sammut, incurring
some heavy damage, went off on the flatbed. The second red had
dropped and refueling was allowed.
On the restart, Locke was able
to break away once again but Ordway Sr. was not far behind, but
neither were Jedrzejek, Lichty, Stephens, Summers, Paul White and
Charlie Schultz.
On lap 33, Locke and Ordway’s
lead dwindled as yellow flew for Jim Paller and Dave Duggan. Rich
Reid called it a night here, as had former Hy-Miller champ Dave
McKnight.
Lap 38 was a controversial one.
A quick yellow came for a Duggan spin and on the restart Ordway got
the best of Locke to claim the lead – so he thought. It had been
determined in the scoring tower that he had passed before the green.
Ordway denied the call later saying Locke had been scrubbing his
tires before restarts and then sprinting ahead suddenly. Ordway was
watching for the move this time and said he’d just been trying to
keep Locke from gaining an advantage, ending up alongside of Locke
just before the green was called by the ISMA race director. In any
case the call was made and although Ordway had built a lengthy lead,
he would be sent to the rear on the next yellow which came on lap 44
for the 9 of Eddie Witkum and then again two more times for the 51
of Duggan. Duggan left the race at this juncture.
Jeff Locke was back in the lead
on the restart of the second attempt at lap 44. He took off again as
Timmy J trailed with Lichty third. Charlie Schultz, Trent Stephens,
Ben Seitz, Rob Summers and Bobby Dawson were top eight.
As the lap counter turned to 47,
Jeff Locke came off turn four, hit the inner wall and flew right off
the first turn parts and dust flying. A broken wishbone bolt was
deemed the culprit. Red dropped again while Jeff and car were
extricated from the grassy area. He was not hurt.
Green flew again and Timmy J was
now the possessor of the lead, which no one seemed to be able to
hold to for long. Mike Lichty, the winner on Friday night, was
tucked on the 32’s tail with a distance between the duo and Schultz,
Stephens and Seitz.
The race developed into a long
green spell as Jedrzejek and Lichty wove through traffic. On lap 62
they approached two slower cars who were also racing, and now it was
a guessing game as to where to go for the leader and the runner-up.
Lichty picked the right way by and was the leader on lap 64. He
immediately took off putting lap cars behind his 84 and the 32.
Moving up on the 32, in those dicey laps was the 19 of Stephens.
On lap 67, Lichty put the 5 of
Jack Smith down one and then did likewise to the 16 of Paul White.
On lap 68, all hell broke loose again. Trent Stephens, trying to
follow Timmy J around the 5 of Smith, did not make the pass. “The 5
came out and I brushed him. The 16 may have slowed there, but I just
went flying.” Said Stephens on Sunday morning. Trent’s 19 flew out
off the track almost clearing the ball field fence protected by a
pile of tires, landing on those tires. Just behind, Charlie Schultz
and Bob Dawson were also involved in the melee. The 19 of Stephens
looked to be pretty much be a write-off. Dawson was hooked. The
Smith car was ofn and the 16 of White also was in the pits. Stephens
later developed breathing problems and was taken to the hospital for
a check up and said Sunday morning that he just was sore and
received bruised ribs. The MSA point leader is hoping to have
something to drive at the next event, August 13.
A couple more cautions after
this red, hit on the restart of 69 and again on lap. When the green
finally stuck, Lichty was the leader with Jedrzejek, Seitz, Russ
Wood, Mike Ordway Jr., and Dave Shullick Jr. all benefiting from the
attrition up front.
Bad luck struck yet another race
leader on lap 74 when Mike Lichty slowed and was pushed to the pits.
At first lack of fuel was suspected, but it was not the problem.
Lichty came back out, sputtering, and then pitted again. Mike said
later, “My first instinct was that I was out of fuel the way the
motor drank. We knew we were going to be close, but my fuel man does
an absolutely phenomenal job. It turned out to be a broken rotor and
mag.”
A battle up front developed
after this restart with Jedrzejek, Seitz, Wood, Ordway Jr. and
Shullick Jr. BUT with 20 to go, red flew again when the 9 of Witkum
had spun. Unfortunately, the caution laps allotted for fuel use on
the last fuel stop, had just about run out and refueling was allowed
for the second time in the lengthy event. Lichty even came back
here, six laps down but with time to make up some spots on those who
had exited.
Out front the three-way war was
being waged between Jedrzejek, Seitz and Wood. Ordway Jr. and
Shullick Jr. trailed with Schultz, White, Summers, Lichty and Witkum
the only cars on the track in the last 20 laps.
It was Timmy J, Seitz, and Wood
the top three with only .05 seconds separating the trio at the
checkered. Nothing in the lineup changed in the fourth through
tenth place spots.
Ordway Jr., who had not even
planned on competing during the weekend, was very happy with a
fourth. “I can’t thank Steve Stout, Rich and all those guys enough
for letting me drive the car. I haven’t driven a big block in a
couple years. I was racing a small block just to stay in it. I was
going to come out here and just help Clyde’s team as dad was driving
the 61. Then Stouts asked me to come drive the car. I struggled
yesterday with it. Today was a lot better. We just kind of played it
cool and then a bunch of guys dropped out. We had a pretty decent
car. I think at the end we could have driven up through anyway even
if there had been more cars out there.”
Another first-time driver-owner
combo was Shullick Jr. in the Lane 97, subbing for Dan Lane. Shoe II
said about his fifth place finish, “It was a long week. I don’t
think it was a secret that we weren’t very good. We kept working on
it though. For the consi, we finally hit on something. For the race
the car was pretty good. It was a little freer in the middle than I
wanted it to be but we had good traction all night off the corners.
It’s just a testament to these guys. I worked them like dogs all
weekend.
“I have to thank Howie Lane for
the ride. Also thanks to Steve Stout for all the help he gave us
with the car setup. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in a
Bodnar car here. Some of the stuff we used to do, didn’t work so we
had to rely on other people to kind of bring it along. I don’t think
that, without Steve, we would have had the finish we had tonight.
And, that finish was actually a weird one. We broke an oil line
about the third lap into the race. We came in the pits during that
stop. It had soaked my driver’s suit and I had to change driver
suits. Then I got back in the car, finished the race and may have
been the only driver to change suits during a Hy-Miler. Other than
that it was a really good race. Getting a fifth out of this was
really good.”
Summary 34th
annual Hy-Miler Nationals, ISMA Event #7, July 30, 2011
Heat 1: Timmy Jedrzejek,
Trent Stephens, Paul White, Kyle Edwards, Mike Ordway Jr., Otto
Sitterly, Joey Scanlon, Jack Smith, Jim Paller, Moe Lilje, Gene Lee
Gibson
Heat 2: Johnny Benson Jr.,
Ben Seitz, Rob Summers, Russ Wood, Mark Sammut, Charlie Schultz,
Dave Shullick Jr., Rich Reid, Eddie Witkum Jr., AJ Lesiecki
Heat 3: Bob Dawson, Mike
Lichty, Jeff Locke, Mike Ordway Sr., Dan Bowes, Dave McKnight, Dave
Duggan, Craig Rayvals, Jeff Gibson, Tim Ice
Consi: Shullick Jr., Smith,
Scanlon, Reid, Duggan, Paller, Lilje, Rayvals, Lesiecki, Witkum, J.
Gibson.
Hy-Miler 100 – 1. Timmy Jedrrzejek (32), 2. Ben Seitz
(17), 3. Russ Wood (29), 4. Mike Ordway Jr. (49), 5. Dave Shullick
Jr. (97), 6. Charlie Schultz (7), 7. Paul White (16), 8. Rob Summers
(35), 9. Eddie Witkum Jr. (9), 10. Mike Lichty (84), 11. Craig
Rayvals (04), 12. Moe Lilje (08), 13. Trent Stephens (19), 14. Bobby
Dawson (28), 15. Mike Ordway Sr. (61), 16. Jack Smith (5), 17. Jeff
Locke (37), 18. Dave Duggan (51), 19. Rich Reid (92), 20. Jim Paller
(64), 21 Kyle Edwards (1), 22. Mark Sammut (78), 23. Otto Sitterly
(11), 24.Dave McKnight Jr. (70), 25. Joey Scanlon (88), 26. Johnny
Benson Jr. (74), 27 Danny Bowes (18).
Scroll down for photos from the 34th Annual Hy-Miler
Nationals 200 from Sandusky Speedway By Jim Feeney.......
For a good number
of laps Mike Lichty 84 tried hard to take the lead from Tim
Jedrzejek 32. Lichty finally did on lap 64, only to lose it with a
mag problem, back to Timmy J on lap 74. - Photo By Jim Feeney
A fight for a
podium finish here between Mike Ordway Jr in the Stout Racing 49 and
Russ Wood 29. Wood would get the podium with a third and Ordway
finished with a fine fourth. - Photo By Jim Feeney
About a third of
the way through the feature Russ Wood 29 moves past Paul White 16,
on his move to the front. Wood finished third and White wound up
seventh. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Some tight racing
for a top ten survival here, with Ed Witkum Jr 9, Paul White 16 and
Charlie Schultz 7.- Photo By JIm Feeney
In the latter
laps of the race a battle for a top three position was waged between
Ben Seitz 17 and Russ Wood 29. Seitz was able to hold on to second,
with Wood third. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Dave Shullick Jr
in the Lane 97 races tight with Charlie Schultz 7, as they both
chase Mike Ordway Jr in the Stout 49. Ordway would go on to fourth
place finish. After a few issues, during the race for both, Shullick
ended up with fifth and Schultz was sixth. - Photo By Jim Feeney
After a tight
battle over the last 20 laps Tim Jedrzejek 32 and Ben Seitz 17come
down to the line first and second. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Tim
Jedrzejek waves the checkerds high after his, and car owner Dan
Soule’s, first Hy-Miler Nationals win. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Tim Jedrzejek is
all smiles in ISMA Sandusky 34th Hy-Miler Nationals
Victory Lane. - Photo By Jim Feeney
Scroll down
for candid photos from Saturday's Hy-Miler Nationals at Sandusky
Speedway By Jim Feeney....
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More 2011 Race Results and
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