SOUTH AMHERST, Ohio — J.J. Henes did all he could Saturday night during the Must See Racing Midwest Lights season finale, but it wasn’t enough to stop Cody Gallogly from winning his first series title.
Henes took the victory at Lorain Raceway Park, his series leading third of the season, after passing recent Must See Racing national sprint car champion Charlie Schultz at the halfway point of the 30-lap feature at the third-mile paved oval.
With a daring, three-wide pass in lap traffic, Henes swooped around Schultz, grabbed command of the race and never looked back from that point on.
In a caution-free run, Henes went on to victory over Schultz by a dominant 4.806-second margin.
However, Gallogly did what he had to do after entering the night with a near-insurmountable 36-point lead. He finished a comfortable third in the race to officially secure the championship over Henes.
Two-time season winner Andrew Bogusz was fourth in the race to put a bow on his stellar first season in a sprint car, likely securing rookie-of-the-year honors with his efforts in the Lorain finale.
Joshua Sexton closed out the top five, followed by the retiring Junior Gould, who started on the pole for Saturday’s feature and was honored on the parade lap for his final planned start as an owner/driver.
Gallogly set fast time in qualifying, a lap of 13.265 seconds, to start the night. Charlie Baur and Schultz split the pair of eight-lap heat races prior to the main event.
The Finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 36-JJ Henes, 2. 9s-Charlie Schultz, 3. 27-Cody Gallogly, 4. 17-Andrew Bogusz, 5. 8a-Joshua Sexton, 6. 65-Junior Gould, 7. 23-Charlie Baur, 8. 21-Dale McQuillen, 9. 92-Sawyer Stout, 10. 45-Bob Komisarski.