McKennedy Outlasts Competition to Win 38th Annual HyMiler Supermodified Nationals Posted on 7/26/2015 at 03:00:07 PM by Jarrett
McKennedy Outlasts Competition to Win 38th Annual Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals
The Clyde Booth #61 has had its share of success at the Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals, even winning last year with “Liquid” Lou Cicconi piloting the Silver Bullet. This year, it would return to prominence with Chelmsford, Massachusetts driver Jon McKennedy by claiming the lead before the halfway mark when early race leader Tim Ice broke on the front straightaway shortly after the lap forty mark. Joey Morisette would lead all thirty laps of the modified race in order to claim his second feature win of the season at the Sandusky Speedway.
In the modified event, Joey Morisette and Logan Hamilton paced the field to the green with Morisette taking the early lead. Dave Dobbins worked his way into third on the first lap and passed Logan Hamilton for the runnerup position on lap six while former modified champions Stephen Klinect and Kenny Sharp broke into the top five before the lap ten mark. On lap ten, Joe Shannon would spin by himself on the outside line to bring out the first caution of the event.
Morisette would now have to hold off Dobbins, Logan Hamilton, Klinect and Sharp. Klinect and Travis Eddy would get good restarts and go to third and fourth respectively while Logan Hamilton slipped out of the top five. Travis Eddy would make the pass on Klinect for third on lap twelve and begin to hunt down Morisette and Dobbins. On lap eighteen, John White and Jason Drew spun in turn four, with White being sent tail for causing it.
Morisette, Dobbins, Eddy, Klinect and Sharp be the top five for this restart with Joe Quinn passing Sharp for fifth on the restart. Matt Wilson spun Logan Hamilton with ten laps to go as Jason Drew spun to avoid, so Wilson would be sent to the tail end of the field. Sharp would retake fifth on the restart but Joey Morisette would go on to win over Dave Dobbins, Travis Eddy, Stephen Klinect and Kenny Sharp. Joe Quinn, Joey Wyckoff, Jason Drew, Kenny Calhoun and Joe Shannon would round out the top ten while John White, Tom Joy, Matt Wilson, Rich Clingan and JR Karl finished in positions eleven through fifteen.
Finally, the one-hundred lap supermodified feature was pushed onto the track with long-time late model driver Tim Ice starting on the front row alongside 2012 International SuperModified Association champion Mike Lichty. Ice would take the advantage on lap one and soon it became apparent that Lichty would not have the great Hy-Miler that seemed eminent from his outside front rown starting position as the #84 stopped on the backstretch on lap five and was declared done for the evening. Ice led Jon McKennedy, Danny Shirey, DJ Shullick and Ben Seitz at this juncture of the event.
Five-time Midwest Supermodified Association champion Timmy Jedrzejek would pass Seitz for fifth on lap six while current ISMA point leader and three-time MSA champion DJ Shullick snuck around Danny Shirey for third on the eighth lap. Alison Cumens would spin in turn two on lap sixteen, creating a restart with Ice leading over McKennedy, Shullick, Shirey and Jedrzejek. The running order would remain the same until the next restart on lap forty after Ryan Coniam stopped on the back straightaway. On this restart, Kyle Edwards would pass Jedrzejek for fifth.
However, the race-defining moment came on lap forty-three when Timmy Ice broke on the frontstretch from the lead. This would relinquish control of the event to Jon McKennedy as he led DJ Shullick, Danny Shirey, Kyle Edwards and Timmy Jedrzejek to the restart. Mike McVetta would break the top five on lap forty-four after starting in the twelfth starting position, while Kyle Edwards took third from Shirey on lap forty-five after starting eleventh.
On lap fifty-three, the complexion of the race changed once again as DJ Shullick and Danny Shirey both broke from inside the top five. McKennedy led Kyle Edwards, Mike McVetta, Timmy Jedrzejek and Trent Stephens to the restart and the running order would remain unchanged until the next caution on lap sixty-five for Robbie Summer stopping in turn four. This caution period would turn into a red flag in order to refuel the methanol-burning big-blocks.
When the race got back underway, Trent Stephens would pass Timmy Jedrzejek for fourth. Jedrzejek would lose another spot with twenty laps to go as Eddie Witkum Jr passed him for fifth. The final opportunity for someone to pass McKennedy came with four laps to go when Trent Stephens spun by himself on the back straightaway. No one could pull the race-winning move so McKennedy motored away to victory over Kyle Edwards, Mike McVetta, Eddie Witkum Jr and Timmy Jedrzejek. Mark Sammut, Otto Sitterly, Ben Seitz, Jeff Locke, Charlie Schultz, Trent Stephens, Jim Paller, AJ Lesiecki and Dan Bowes rounded out the finish.
Next Saturday and Sunday, August 1st and 2nd, the speedway will host the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience. The next weekly racing event will be August 8th as Garner Sanitation presents the modifieds, Ohio Stocks, Street Stocks and Hobby Stocks. For more information, visit www.sanduskyspeedway.com or like us on Facebook by searching ‘Sandusky Speedway’!
Official Speedway Press Release by Media Director, Jarrett Emmerich
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