ORRVILLE - In fairy tales and folk lore, all good things come in groups of three. It was a popular number on Saturday night for a trio of M-names at the O’Reilly Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway, 30 miles from Knox County.
Sprint Car star Henry Malcuit notched his third win of the season in the Pine Tree Towing-backed division, while Ryan Markham’s legend continues to grow by registering consecutive victory No. 3 in the Malcuit Tavern Super Late Models. Kyle Moore inched closer to a 30-win season by recording his third straight double-victory evening in winning both the Elite Munitions Modified and McKenzie Concrete Super Stock mains. The exception to the “power of three” occurred in the JoyRide Mini Stocks as Jordan James was victorious in a photo finish in what has become a weekly event in the speedway’s highly popular division.
And, oh yes, the Quota of Wayne County’s ever-popular Kids Night hit it out of the park, too. Hundreds of youngsters got an up close and personal chance to meet their favorite drivers, receive autographs and pose for pictures as nearly the entire field of 115 entries brought their machines to the infield following qualifying. The Quota of Wayne County also gave away over 50 bicycles and numerous other prizes, making the event one of the most successful in track history.
To top it all off, promoter Jason Flory and track crew had the speedway’s track surface perfect as well.
Malcuit, already one of the favorites in the upcoming $15,000-to-win Pete Jacobs Memorial (Sunday, Sept. 4), solidified that opinion by leading from flag to flag in the 25-lap main event.
Malcuit led from the outset with Zeth Sabo and Jordan Ryan waging a torrid battle for second and Tyler Street and Trey Jacobs in tow. A red flag for a flipping Jake Hesson halted action on lap 16. Hesson escaped uninjured.
On the restart, Sabo jumped the cushion and dropped to fifth with Ryan now chasing Malcuit. Malcuit led the remaining nine circuits, increasing his points lead in the process with his eighth top-six finish of the season. Ryan hung on for second, with Street, Jacobs, and Sabo rounding out the top five.
“We are getting faster at the right time of year,” Malcuit said. “The (Jacobs Memorial) is one we would really like to win. We didn’t set out to win the track championship, but we’ve been really good here all year.”
Moore scored win 23 on the season by winning the 27-lap, $1,027-to-win Danny Gardner Memorial for Super Stocks. Moore grabbed the lead on lap seven and never looked back for his 15th win in Bob Daugherty’s 21D.
2017 event winner Paul Holmes was second with Rott Shop Racing teammates Took and Tyler Wiles third and fourth. Early leader Rob Melzer rode home in fifth.
“Bob has thing fast every night and he wants to see his car run up front, and it was on a rail tonight,” said Moore. “The track was awesome again, and l hope we can stay on a roll.”
Markham wired the field in the Late Models for his fourth win at WCS and seventh overall. JR Gentry and Justin Chance locked horns for second until coming together just past the flag stand on lap 17 which relegated Chance to the Hutch Xtreme Photos work area.
Gentry hung on for a close second in the 25-lapper with Mitch Caskey third, Brett Bee fourth and Larry Bellman fifth.
“We’ve wanted to race a little more but we’re down to one motor and we want to make sure we can race here,” Markham said. “We had a great racetrack, great crowd and Kids Night was awesome too.”
Moore notched win 24 on the season as he wheeled TA Perrine’s 16T to Summit Racing Victory Lane in the 20-lap Modified main. Moore led from the outset with Markham, in Larry Reed’s R88, challenging first with Colton Shaw moving into second on lap five following a Markham spin in turn 4.
Shaw finished second with Casey Butler third, Allan Baker fourth and Markham in fifth from the tail.
“You can’t give up in this division with all these fast cars, especially with Colton in second,” Moore said. “We just kept pouring it to it and had enough to hang on.”
The Mini Stocks were up last, but for what seems like an every-week occurrence, thrilled to crowd from start to finish.
Kyle Petit led until lap nine, with James, Doug Hensel, Travis Hutton and Johnny Bruce Sr. among the early contenders. James grabbed the lead on lap 10, then held off Hensel on a furious last-turn effort to steal the win. James held on by inches at the stripe ahead of Hensel, Petit, Bruce and Hutton for his first win of the season.
“it feels great to be back (in victory lane),” said James. “We have had problems of some sort most of the season and have only finished four races. Hopefully, we can pick up a few more.”
