FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Less than 24 hours after one of his worst showings in recent memory, John Ivy reminded everyone why he’s the king of the 600cc micro sprints at the Rumble in Fort Wayne.
Ivy raced to a sweep of the two micro features on Saturday during the finale to the 22nd annual Rumble, making a late pass of Rod Henning to win the winged feature and wiring the non-winged main event.
Ivy’s victory in the 25-lap winged feature was a easily the more dramatic of the pair.
He started sixth, while up front Howard McCormick and Henning led the field to green, with Henning getting the advantage and pacing the first seven revolutions before Ivy’s teammate Cap Henry came calling and roared to the lead with a muscle move in the first turn.
From there, it appeared Henry was well on his way to victory before he spun all by himself in turn two with three laps left, setting up a sprint to the finish with Henning back out front over Ivy at that point.
Henning held on through the initial restart, but a spin by Ryan Ball on the final lap of the scheduled distance set up a critical green-white-checkered finish to decide the winner.
Though Henning got the jump on the final restart and looked like he might get a huge Rumble triumph, Ivy motored past coming to the white flag when Henning slowed with a flat tire, and never looked back.
“I thought Cap had that one locked up, really,” Ivy admitted. “He was gone. I just couldn’t get around the guys I was racing with there behind him, and then I did … and when the yellow would come out I though ‘Man, we got a shot here,’ and realized it was for Cap and didn’t really like that too much.
“Then that second yellow came and I was frustrated, but it all worked out for us. The boys never gave up.”
Polesitter McCormick ended as the runner-up, followed by Friday winged winner Nate Franklin and a charging Henry, who put together a furious rally from eighth to fourth in the final three laps.
Dylan Woodling completed the top five after having to race his way in from the B-main.
Meanwhile, the non-winged feature was a straight shot for the wily veteran after he landed on the pole for the 25-lapper. Ivy jetted away and never looked back, easily gapping Friday night winner Larry Joe Sroufe.
“My guys busted their humps all weekend long. I can’t thank my brother and Guy and Andy and Mikey enough; they’ve been working hard on Kelsey’s car and this car,” said Ivy. “I think we bit off a little more than we could chew by bringing them all here, but hey, you know, you have to try, right?
“We put a soft tire on this thing for qualifying and it just freed it up, and I don’t know why,” Ivy continued. “That put us behind. With the race track being like it was, we thought we’d go softer on the compound, and it bit us pretty good, but we made it all work out in the end.”
Behind Ivy and Sroufe, Jason Ormsby, Justin Harper and Blane Culp completed the non-winged top five.
Saturday night’s pair of victories were Ivy’s 21st and 22nd career Rumble wins across go-karts and 600 micro sprints, further extending his all-time record as the winningest driver in event history.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.