Harrisonville's Logan Wagner takes home $5K with Lernerville win

The wait was worth it Friday night for Logan Wagner.

Wagner, who won opening night at Lernerville Speedway, dominated the All Star Sprint feature Friday to score the biggest victory of his career.

The All Stars first were scheduled for Lernerville on May 5, but that race was postponed because of rain. Wagner, of Harrisonville, was going to miss that race because his primary job as a pilot had him flying clients to the Kentucky Derby. He takes home $5,000 for the win.

“This is the biggest win of my career,” Wagner said. “This is huge. It all worked out in the end.”

Wagner started on the pole and never faltered. He was aided by some well-timed cautions during the 30-lap feature, but even in lapped traffic he continued to build his lead, which was 2.844 seconds at the checkered flag.

Danny Holtgraver, of Butler, was aided by a late race restart and finished second. Chad Kemenah, of Findlay, Ohio, was third. Cole Duncan, of Lockbourne, Ohio, was fourth; and Timmy Shaffer, of Aliquippa, rounded out the top-five.

“I was able to capitalize on the cautions,” Wagner said. “I wanted to use dirty air to my advantage, and I did. I rode the high line and went high and hard into Turns 1 and 2, and that propelled me through as long as I kept it straight.”

Holtgraver has refined his schedule this year and is no longer a touring driver. He looked a lot like a touring driver late in the race, though, when he executed a pass on Kemenah on a restart with 20 laps completed.

“The car was just getting better and better,” Holtgraver said. “I nailed that restart. Chad (Kemenah) went to the middle and floated across. I didn't feel good on the top of the track in Turns 1 and 2, so I figured I would let the other guys ago there and I rode the bottom.”

Kemenah, the current All Stars point leader, was not happy after the race.

“It was frustrating, and the only shot we had tonight was in lapped traffic,” Kemenah said. “The track got to be one lane around the top. The car is in one piece, but we were just the second loser tonight.”

Other finishers of note included A.J. Flick, of Apollo, in seventh; and Carl Bowser, of Sarver, in ninth.

Forty-two Sprint Cars were registered for qualifying, and Parker Price-Miller logged the fastest time with a 13.022. Price-Miller was the fourth on the track, and there was no clear progression, nor regression, as the cars hit the track.

There were nine Lernerville championships represented for qualifying. Rod George, of Kittanning, is the 1986, 2002 and '09 champion. Timmy Shaffer was the 1993 champion, Holtgraver won in 2010, followed by Bowser in 2011 and '14. Flick won in 2015 and Jack Sodeman Jr. last year.

Times were all over the chart. Cole Duncan was second on the track, and he tied with Kemenah, who was fifth from last on the track, for second fastest at 13.074.

Brandon Spithaler was the fastest qualifier among Lernerville regulars. He took 10th with a time of 13.334. Bowser was 11th with a 13.344.

Shaffer was fifth with a 13.120, and Holtgraver was sixth with a 13.231. George lost his motor on his qualifying run, and the team attempted to get a new rear end in time for the C-Main.

The team did, and George returned to the track and finished fifth but did not transfer to the B-Main. Sodeman won the C-Main followed by Ryan Linder to transfer to the B-Main.

There were four heat races, and winners included Price-Miller, Flick, Caleb Armstrong and Dean Jacobs.

There were two four-lap Dashes to determine the inside and outside rows for the feature. Wagner won the first Dash followed by Price-Miller, Kemenah, Holtgraver and Caleb Helms.

Jacobs took the checkered flag for the second Dash followed by Duncan, Ryan Smith, Armstrong and Flick.

Sodeman's night got better as he charged from the back of the field to finish third in the B-Main and transferred to the main event, where he completed nine laps before dropping out.

Thomas Zuck is a freelance writer.