LORAIN, Ohio — J.J. Henes continued his march toward a second Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights Series championship with a commanding Steve Sexton Memorial feature win Saturday night at Lorain Raceway Park.
After starting seventh due to the feature inversion, Henes charged forward and took the top spot from polesitter and early leader Josh Sexton on lap 12 at the three-eighths-mile oval.
He then pulled away and cruised to victory by 4.277 seconds over Andrew Bogusz.
It marked Henes’ second win of the season and, combined with a new track record of 13.097 seconds in qualifying and a second-place finish in his heat race, allowed the third-generation driver to expand his point lead to 15 with only the season finale at Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway remaining on Oct. 19.
“These are the kind of nights we’ve been looking for all season,” said Henes after the race. “We haven’t been exactly where we wanted to be the last two races, but we know the feel I look for here and were able to execute all night, even starting from seventh like we had to in this one.
“Now we just have to go to Sandusky next month and close it out.”
Bogusz finished second and closed to within four points of two-time defending series champion Cody Gallogly, who completed the race podium, for the runner-up spot in the season standings.
Charlie Baur and rookie Ethan Rader completed the top five, followed by Sexton, who was trying to win the race named in honor of his late father – who passed away unexpectedly in 2023 – but faded to sixth by the checkered flag.
Sexton did win his eight-lap heat race, however, as did Bogusz before the main event.
Racing was halted by a half-hour red flag after a scary crash off Turn Two on lap 10 that destroyed Talon Stephens’ No. 40 car. The incident came while Stephens and Bogusz were battling for second.
Stephens was transported to a local hospital as a precaution for further evaluation.
The Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights Series concludes its season and crowns a champion Oct. 19 at Sandusky during the half-mile track’s new “Nightmare Clash” event.
The finish: 1. 36jr-J.J. Henes [7], 2. 17-Andrew Bogusz [4], 3. 27-Cody Gallogly [5], 4. 23-Charlie Baur [2], 5. 52-Ethan Rader [3], 6. 51-Josh Sexton [1], 7. 37-Keegan Weese [9], 8. 38-J.D. Evans [8], 9. 77-Parker Corbin [11], 10. 11-Rick Wichtner [10], 11. 40-Talon Stephens [6]