Weir Controls Gas City Sprint

GAS CITY, Ind. – Double points were on the line for the four primary divisions at Gas City I-69 Speedway Friday night.

Making the most of the opportunity were feature winners Scotty Weir (non-winged sprint cars); Derek Losh (modifieds); Lee Hobbs (street stocks) and James Headley Jr. (hornets). 

The USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 midgets made a return visit to the quarter-mile clay oval for the August Jam show, and Jacob Denney won that 20-lap feature.

It was survival of the fittest in the 25-lap sprint car feature, and as it turned out the fittest was Weir and his No. 4P DRC powered by a Pedersen Chevy engine that is sponsored by Red’s Racing Engines, Indy Race parts and AFCO Shocks.

Kyle Shipley made the most of his second-place starting spot and led the first seven laps. Shane Cockrum started fourth, took second on the second lap, and applied pressure to Shipley throughout the early going.

With seven laps complete Tyler Hewitt flipped the Hazen No. 57 between turns one and two, but luckily escaped injury. Matt McDonald spun in the melee. 

Cockrum passed Shipley for the lead with a move to the outside in turn two following the restart on lap eight. Weir, who started third, ran in that position until he passed Shipley for second on lap 11. 

Cockrum had a 1.327-second lead over Weir with 12 laps down when the red flag waved again for contact between Zack Pretorious and McDonald in turn four. Both of their cars left on the hook. 

The field got two more laps in before the red flag was displayed for the third time. Dustin Ingle had passed Shipley for third on lap 13, but with 14 laps down he flipped in turn four while trying to pass Weir for second. Luckily he emerged from his car under his own power too. 

The top five for the restart were Cockrum, Weir, polesitter Anthony D’Alessio of Gas City, Shipley, and Paul Dues. 

That restart was a doozy. Weir went low in turn one for the lead, but he and Cockrum were side by side as they ran through turns three and four, and Cockrum led the lap. It didn’t last long, however, as Weir then got the upper hand and took the lead for good on lap 16. 

Seconds later the fifth-place driver, Korbyn Hayslett of Troy, Ohio, spun in turn three after contact to bring out the yellow with 16 laps complete. Weir and Cockrum continued to battle on lap 17, but then three yellows flew one after the other with 17 laps down. The first was for Dues, who spun on the frontstretch. The second was for Hayslett, Max Guilford and Brayden Clark, who ran out of room on the frontstretch near Turn 4. The third one was for Ryan Thomas of Indianapolis, who spun in turn two. 

When things finally resumed the top three were Weir, Cockrum and Tye Mihocko, who started tenth and came on strong at the end. Mihocko was seventh on lap 14, fourth on lap 15 and third on lap 17. D’Alessio and Tyler Kendall rounded out the top five at that point, but Kyle Simon passed Kendall on lap 20 for fifth, and two laps later D’Alessio dropped from fourth to sixth.

Cockrum got out of shape in turn two working lap 24, and Mihocko pounced to take second from him at the very end. Weir was 1.298 seconds ahead of Mihocko to record his third Gas City feature victory of the season and extend his point lead. Cockrum finished third, Simon was fourth, and Kendall rounded out the top five.