GAS CITY, Ind. – Scotty Weir had to fight off all comers during five restarts in the 25-lap non-wing sprint car feature Friday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway.
It was Weir’s first feature victory at the quarter-mile dirt track since May 20, 2016 when he beat Brady Bacon to win a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series feature.
Weir’s DRC chassis with a Pedersen Chevy engine arrives at the race track each week on the back of an open trailer instead of a transporter. A shock builder by trade, the 36-year-old driver has been very close to a victory many times at Gas City in recent years but somehow hasn’t landed in victory lane with the No. 4P, which is wrenched by Ryan Pedersen of Fortville, Ind., and sponsored by Red’s Racing Engines, Indy Race Parts and AFCO Shocks.
Weir started second and beat all comers into the first turn lap after lap. At first he held off polesitter Tyler Kendall. On lap five Kendall went over the cushion in turn two and spun, and had to go to the rear, giving Cockrum second place.
Cockrum ran the middle line just like Weir used. He would get close in turn two, but Weir would pad his lead on the backstretch. Near the end Cockrum tried the low groove but he never could make a pass and Weir went on to post the victory over the Flying Fireman’s High Asspirations Farm DRC Foxco.
Matt McDonald finished third. Defending track champion Max Adams stepped into the famous Paul Hazen No. 57 and brought it home fourth followed by Aaron Leffel and Kendall.
Each restart erased his lead, but the Marion, Ind.-based driver was up to the task and led every lap to beat Shane Cockrum to the checkered by 1.541 seconds and score a popular victory.
Bryce Massingill took the lead from polesitter Ian Creager on lap four and was .437 seconds ahead of Creager at the checkered on lap 25 of the USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 midget feature. That series was an added attraction to the Monkey Wrench Mania program that featured five different divisions.
Fans who wondered when defending modified track champion Derek Losh would win his first modified feature at Gas City in 2021 got their answer, as the Rensselaer, Ind.-based driver won that 20-lapper by a whopping 8.846 seconds over Dillon Nusbaum.
The street stock and hornet divisions each had 15-lap features. Lee Hobbs became the third different street stock feature winner in as many features for that division so far this year at Gas City. It’s a different story in the hornet division, as James Headley Jr. has won all three hornet features so far this year, including the one on Friday night in which he led every lap.