Babcock Wins Waynesfield Late Model Race – September 27, 2014

Fans from all over Ohio flocked to Waynesfield Raceway Park in Waynesfield, Ohio for the return of the UMP Late Models to the high-banked 1/3rd mile.  The last time fans witnessed to Late Models at Waynesfield was back in mid-2012.  Their return brought out some new faces to the track to see some of the biggest names in UMP competition.  Saturday was also extra special for the weekend warriors as points battles were sealed and champions crowned.

The Performance Powder Coating ASMA Mini Sprints were first to take the track for their 20 lap A-main.  JR Wood in his black and white 8JR led the field to the opening green flag with Michael Helterbran to his outside.  Helterbran won the drag race into turn one taking the early lead.  The field would only make it halfway down the backstretch when the yellow flag flew for the IVO of Andrew Heitkamp.  Heitkamp came to a stop on the bottom side of the racing surface with a mechanical problem.  He retired from the event posting a 20^th place finish.  During the caution, Gary Campbell went to the hot pit for service.  Campbell came into the race third in points, just 32 behind Henning.  Campbell’s crew was able to make repairs to the 17 in time allowing him to restart on the tail for the restart.  Wood and Helterbran brought the field to green for trial number two.  Helterbran again took the lead into turn one dropping Wood back to second.  As Helterbran ticked laps off the board, Wood began to fall back in the field.  That allowed Rob Winks and Rod Henning to move up to second and third.  Helterbran began to run into lap traffic just before the halfway point allowing Winks and Henning to close in.  Michael Helterbran would get a break deep in lap traffic when the yellow flag flew for the 5J of Jake Hesson spinning around in turn two.  The bad luck for Hesson continued when he and Gary Campbell got together exiting turn four bringing out the caution three laps later.  Winks and Henning threw everything they had at Helterbran but to no avail.  Helterbran came away with the victory.  Rob Winks finished in a very close second.  Rod Henning came home third and unofficially picked up the track championship.  Gunnar Lucius finished forth and picked up the hard charger award advancing ten spots during the A-main presented by Foz Speed Partz.

Fans were on their feet as the Mircale Motorsports Late Model took the track for their only appearance of the 2014 season.  No stranger to Waynesfield, Jerry Bowersock started on the pole for the A-main.  Chris Keller in the 00 started on the outside as the pair brought the field to the opening green flag.  Heat races showed the narrowness of the track for the full body Late Models.  That fact was scene again on the start of the A-main when Duane Chamberlain made contact with the starting cone on the inside of the racing surface.  Bowersock and Keller led the field to the green flag for trial number two.  This start was successful as the field rode the cushion into turn one.  Keller jumped out to the early lead and led the opening lap.  The lead was felt for a short time when a three-way battle for the lead developed into turn one.  Jerry Bowersock and Duane Chamberlain took Keller on for the top spot.  Bowersock took the cushion pushing both Keller and Chamberlain to the bottom.  The cushion was fast for Bowersock as he claimed the lead at the line.  The battle would come to an end on lap four when debris from the 23J of Mike Hudson brought out the caution.  Chris Keller wanted the lead back and took it off a great jump on the restart.  With seven laps in the books the yellow flag flew once again for a three wide battle gone wrong exiting turn one.  The 69 of John Mayes Jr and the 9C of Troy Cattarene got together sending both of them up and over the banking.  Tow trucks were called to the scene to assist with the cleanup.  On the restart, Duane Chamberlain took a page out of Chris Keller’s book and took the lead on a great jump coming to the green flag.  Chamberlain would lead for one full lap until debris scattered all over the front stretch brought out the caution.  The 240 of Charlie Duncan sustained heavy damage when he made contact with the 77 of Steve Kester.  Pieces of Duncan’s panel were scattered all over the racing surface with some drivers running over it coming to the yellow.  No drivers took advantage of the restart to take over the lead when green flag action resumed.  Chamberlain built up a slight lead over Jeff Babcock who had worked his way through the field from his outside row three starting spot.  Suddenly, Chamberlain’s car dropped off the pace down the backstretch removing him from the lead and the remainder of the race.  With Chamberlain out, Babcock took over the lead and control of the A-main.  Two yellow flags followed for the 42 of Bob Mayer and the 53 of Steve Sabo.  Both cautions came before the ten to go mark.  The final ten laps showed Jeff Babcock working lap traffic and coming away with the victory.  Jon Henry came home in second, with Jerry Bowersock coming in third.  Babcock commented on how much fun Waynesfield is for late model racing in Best Performance Motorsports victory lane.  He also commented on how narrow the track becomes when a battle goes three wide.  With Henry picking up a second place finish, he also picked up the hard charger award advancing seven spots.

The Post Agri Service UMP Modifieds took the track next for 20 laps.  Jeff Koz in the W0 and Brandon Vaughan in the 34X led the field to Adam Brimmer’s green flag.  The field would not make it into turn two until the yellow flag flew for the 71 of Chris Hicks.  Hicks lost control and spun his car around in his first Waynesfield appearance in a Modified.  Trial number two was a success to get the A-main underway.  Koz jumped into the lead by a small margin as Vaughan worked the cushion to Koz’s outside.  With just two laps in the books, three cars got together bringing out the caution.  Weasel Phlipot, Brian Hogan, and Terry Grillot were all involved in the incident in turn one.  On the restart, Matt Westfall kicked on the jets to make a run for the lead.  Westfall took both Vaughan and Koz in one move down the backstretch.  Westfall took his Best Performance 54 to the cushion sliding by both for the lead.  With six laps in, Scott Gerdeman brought out the caution when he lost control in turn number four.  This caution allowed Koz and Vaughan to catch back up with Westfall for the restart.  Green flag action lasted for only two more laps when the 71 of Hicks and the X of Bowersock get together bring out the caution.  Hicks would head pit side to retire for the evening and Bowersock would restart on the tail.  Coming to the restart, Jeff Koz dropped out of line to head to the pits giving his second place spot to Vaughan.  Vaughan would have his hands full in second with a challenging Jeff Babcock right behind him.  Babcock would overtake Vaughan for second making it a Best Performance top two.  Westfall would do what he does best and take home the victory.  Jeff Babcock finished in second.  Brandon Vaughan finished in third with a great run late in the race on Babcock.  Bill Keeler in the 20K took home the hard charger award.  Jim Post sealed the deal and came away with the unofficial 2014 points championship.

The Indian Lake Outfitter Compacts took the track next for their 15 lap feature.  Jeff Zwiebel and Ethan Pope led the field to the green flag.  Pope took the early lead into turn one shuffling Zwiebel back to the second.  Yoder squared, David and Harvey, developed a battle amongst each other for third.  Pope built up some distance between himself and Zwiebel as he approached some light lap traffic.  The field came to a stop when the red flag flew for the 518 of Jordan Iiams and the 74 of Lucas Fuller.  Fuller’s car was off the pace on the high side trying to head pit side for service.  Iiams went high as well exiting turn two where the two met sending Iiams upside down toward the backstretch wall.  The 518 rolled two full times before landing back on all four wheels.  Iiams climbed out under his own power uninjured.  This incident was the second of the night for Iiams.  During heat race action, Iiams exited turn four and rode the front stretch wall elevating the side of the car off the racing surface.  Both Fuller and Iiams required assistance exiting the track.  On the restart, Pope took off and continued where he left off on building up a lead over Zwiebel.  David Yoder managed to overtake his brother Harvey moving into the third spot.  Yoder began to set his sights on Zwiebel.  With laps winding down, Yoder took Zwiebel on for second.  The run was successful and resulted in Zwiebel being shuffled back to third.  When the dust finally settled, Pope came away with the victory.  David Yoder finished second and picked up the unofficial track championship.  Jeff Zwiebel finished in third.  Ethan Pope was emotional in victory lane as he thanked his family and reflected on his first victory of the season at Waynesfield.  Nick Glasgow finished eighth and picked up the hard charger award.

The Block Insurance Tough Trucks had many talking points coming into the 15 lap A-main.  Ken Osborne, father of Kenny Osborne in the C01, made a return to racing after stepping away from the drivers seat for 24 years.  Ken was both excited but nervous getting back behind the wheel after his long absence from the drivers seat.  Larry Fox, who started on the pole, celebrated his 68^th birthday at the track along with his grandson Levon celebrating his 5^thbirthday.  The A-main got off to a rough start as Larry Fox and Mike Sawmiller led the field to the green flag.  Into turns one and two, four trucks got together bringing out the red flag.  The 7D of Devin Carl went upside down on the topside of the track landing back on all four wheels.  The 710 of Ben Werling and 70 of Terry Klopfenstein were also involved.  Ken Osborne, in his first A-main lap in over 20 years, took a trip over the banking and into the cornfield.  Carl climbed out uninjured and Osborne returned to the racing surface with several cornstalks on the front of his truck.  After a parking lot cleanup in turn one, racing resumed with the Hicks duo making a great run through the field.  Both started in row number and were making a run for the lead midway through the feature.  With six laps to go, the final yellow flag flew for the 70 of Klopenstein and 76 of Poe.  Chris Hicks would go on to win the A-main by just .022 seconds in a photo finish.  Mike Sawmiller posted a second place finish with Mike Hicks finishing third.  Ben Hower picked up the hard charger award and Mike Sawmiller picked up the unofficial track championship.

The ladies of the racing community got to take the track in compacts for a 10-lap exhibition race.  Jennifer Treon in the 07 started inside row one with Amber Yoder in the 82 starting to her outside.  The final two starters were the 09 of, birthday girl, Melanie Dolphin and the 95 of Jennifer Yoder.  At the drop of the green flag, Jennifer Yoder took off and claimed the lead into turn two.  Treon settled for second as Dolphin and Amber Yoder battled for third and forth.  The only caution of the race came with just three laps in the books when Amber Yoder met the outside retaining wall coming down the front stretch.  Once racing resumed, Jennifer Yoder took off again and came home with the victory.  Amber Yoder finished in second with Melanie Dolphin finishing third.  All finishers present on the front stretch were excited about being on the track.  Skinny Kenny Photos and Route 81 Auto Sales presented awards to all four competitors.

Racing moves to Friday for the final event of the 2014 racing season.  The 2^nd Annual Harvest of Sprints hits the 1/3^rd mile Friday, October 10.  The event includes nothing but the best sprint cars from throughout the Midwest.  The 360 sprint cars and the 410 winged sprints will be in attendance running for a $2000 payout.  The Mini Sprints are also on the card with a $700 payout awaiting the winner.  Gates open at 4PM pit side, 5PM grandstand side.  Hot laps get underway at 6PM with racing following at 7PM.  Get all the event details online at www.waynesfieldracewaypark.net, on Facbeook, or on Twitter.

All drivers in attendance received great product certificate coupons in addition to their cash purse as part of the Contingency Connection.  Every event at Waynesfield Raceway Park this season is a Contingency Connection event with nearly $100,000 in contingency awards up for grabs in 2014!  Details on the Contingency Connection is available online at www.waynesfieldracewaypark.net or by talking with a track official at the races.