FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 9, 2021
Second Week of Racing Produces More Competitive Racing at Plymouth Speedway
By: Anita Goodan
The season is just starting to heat up at Plymouth Speedway and the second week of racing proved that this will be a season fans cannot miss.
The Super Streets feature found Lee Hobbs (Mitchell, Indiana) out front for the entire 20-lap event, but it took the whole race to come up with the rest of the podium. Calvin Peek, Jr. and Michael Clark were battling for position throughout much of the contest, but they found themselves lower in the running order following an incident on lap five that caused the red flag to come out. A six-car pileup out of turn four ended Peek’s night and a late-race racing incident caused Clark to fall in the lineup. That gave Ron Wilkes (Lowell, Indiana) a chance to find his way to the second spot in the running order followed by Shawn Wiltjerhunt (Gary, Indiana) in third, who started tenth on the night.
“I borrowed this car to run here tonight and it wasn’t the strongest on restarts but it was a good car tonight,” said Hobbs.
The UMP Modifieds race was up next with Derek Losh dominating the field. Losh and last week’s second-place finisher, Frank Marshall, were side-by-side by lap four but Losh kept his machine out front. Marshall lost track position around lap 10 and Dylan Woodling started coming up through the pack after beginning the race in the seventh position. Woodling moved up to the second position, but could not hold off Matt Mitchell, who started tenth, by lap 17. Losh (Rensselaer, Indiana) was the winner with Mitchell (Rensselaer, Indiana) in second and Woodling in third (Warsaw, Indiana).
“We were in the shop early after a race last night to get things straightened out and we got it,” said Losh. “The track was great with the great crew here. It was fast!”
The Non-Wing 600 Sprints race was riddled with cautions with three red flags after several drivers flipped their race cars. Luckily, nobody was injured in any of the incidents. Braxton Hanft was quick to get to the front, but Dylan Woodling, who just finished third in the previous feature, quickly took over the lead from the fourth starting spot and did not look back. Justin Harper and Ed Cleveland were battling for the top two spots when a late-race incident caused Harper to fall in the lineup. Nick Schaefer, who started eighth, quietly snuck up to the third position by the last few laps of the 20-lap feature. Woodling was the winner followed by Ed Cleveland (Plymouth, Indiana) and Nick Schaefer (Granger, Indiana).
Woodling commented, “I got a little too high in the groove, but the track has a lot of character. I love the micro track. It’s racy!”
The Thunder Stock feature ended the night with the winner posting a track record. Brandon Shelhart was enjoying the lead for over half of the race, but Lee Hall was making his way through the lineup. He had competition in Travis Wolford and Landon Metcalf as they forced him to work around their race cars. Hall began looking at the top spot and after a caution on lap 13 where he took the lead from Shelhart and stayed there. Wolford fell out of the top three by lap 16 and he and Hunter were side-by-side for position. They were still working on track real estate in the next lap, but Hunter got the third position. By the end of the feature, Hall (Oxford, Indiana ) finished the race first and breaking the fastest lap of a Thunder Stock with a 16.8 lap during the feature, with Shelhart (Hanna, Indiana) in second and Hunter (Kokomo, Indiana) in third.
“I gotta thank everybody who helped me get here tonight,” said Hall. “Wolford showed me the line and the outside line worked. It was a heck of a fun race out here and second place had a heck of a run. Everybody drove me clean tonight and I appreciate that.”
The May 15 race at Plymouth Speedway will feature Modified madness with racing legends Kenny Wallace and Kenny Schrader visiting the Playground of Power. The Thunder Stocks and Front Wheel Drive classes will also be featured that night. Gates open at 4 p.m., with hot laps at 5:30 p.m. and racing at 6:30 p.m. ET.
