by Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
The last weekend in April saw a ton of racing action in the Buckeye State. There were seven 410 shows slated between for the weekend, with five taking place, as Atomic and Waynesfield got rained out on Saturday night and Sunday respectively. The AFCS rolled into their second weekend, the All Stars visited Sharon, Wayne County had 410’s and hosted the GLSS 360’s, and the FAST Series kicked off their season at Muskingum County. Here are some things you may have missed from a jam-packed weekend:
- Cole Macedo and Ray Brooks Racing have started off the AFCS Season on a torrid pace. In four races, they have two wins, a second, and a third place finish. Macedo was third at Attica on Friday and notched his second win of the year at Fremont on Saturday.
- Trey Jacobs was able to snag his first win of the year in dramatic fashion on Friday night at Attica. Jacobs got by Ryan Timms with two laps to go to and rolled the bottom to grab the checkers. I can’t say that this is a step towards Jacobs defending his Attica title, because he stated he isn’t chasing points right now. But, he also said that last year.
- Danny Sams III must’ve been a fan of Wayne County Speedway Saturday night. In his third career 410 start, he led all 25 laps enroute to his first 410 win, and then he went on to win the GLSS 360 feature as well, once again, leading all 25 laps. Not bad for a night’s work.
- A week after winning the USAC Midget feature at Port City, Buddy Kofoid, in his second night in the Crouch #11, topped the FAST Series field at Muskingum County Speedway in convincing fashion. He was almost five seconds ahead of second place Zeth Sabo.
- The All Stars were in eastern Ohio on Saturday night, as they visited Sharon Speedway. George Hobaugh nearly scored a win for the home team, but Brent Marks got by nearing the checkered flag. Marks was not the one in victory lane, though. Cap Henry was able to get under Marks in turn four, and beat Marks in a drag race to the line to get his first win of the year.
- The Attica-Fremont 305’s saw two first-time winners this weekend. Logan Riehl found himself on the horse track at Attica, and Tyler Shullick beat the Fremont field. Even though the veterans had been taking it to the younger 305 drivers to start the season, the young guns came back swinging hard this past weekend.
- Ryan Timms made quite the Ohio debut this weekend at Attica and Fremont. Timms led the first 28 laps at Attica before Trey Jacobs snuck by. Timms then backed up his second place finish with a fourth place at Fremont on Saturday. Not bad for the 15 year old. It sounds like he may be spending more time in northwest Ohio this season, as well.
- A few more debuts have been made at Attica and Fremont the last two weeks, as well. Both Darin Naida and Reece Saldana have made their 410 debuts in northwest Ohio the last couple of weeks. This was Naida’s second weekend in northwest Ohio, and fellow microsprint graduate Reece Saldana made his debut this weekend. Naida and Saldana’s evenings ended in the BMain on Friday night, but they rebounded to finish 19th and 23rd, respectively on Saturday at Fremont, both finishing the feature.
- Emerson Axom came back to Ohio to run Saturday night at Fremont after making his Ohio debut a week prior at Attica. Axom finished with an impressive third place Saturday.
- The car counts were impressive this weekend, with 32 410’s at Attica, 24 at Fremont on Saturday, 22 at Muskingum, 21 at Wayne County, and 41 at Sharon.
- The All Star race at Waynesfield on Sunday was postponed due to an overnight storm. The race will be made up in two weeks on May 15th. It was also announced earlier in the week that Wayne County has picked up the All Star date on Saturday, May 14th.
- Cole Macedo, as expected, has the lead in the AFCS 410 standings. He has a commanding 72 point lead over DJ Foos. Trey Jacobs, Tyler Gunn and Stuart Brubaker round out the top five. Jamie Miller leads the AFCS 305 standings by 32 points over Paul Weaver, Logan Riehl, Matt Foos, and Kasey Jedrzejek.
- Through 11 races, there have been nine different winners. Cole Macedo and Tyler Courtney both have two wins, and Cole Duncan, Greg Wilson, Cody Bova, Trey Jacobs, Danny Sams, Buddy Kofoid, and Cap Henry all have one tally. (Stat via OhioDirtTrackStats.com)
- Another busy weekend is up ahead for Ohio, as the World of Outlaws and USAC National Sprint Cars visit Eldora Speedway Friday and Saturday for the #LetsRaceTwo weekend. Fremont, Wayne County, and Sharon are also slated to have 410 racing. It is worth noting that the USAC D2 Midgets are making their debut at Fremont on Saturday as well.