Double X Speedway
California, MO
May 29, 2022
Every year the dirt racing faithful make the pilgrimage to Double X Speedway to honor a driver that called this little quarter mile his home track. Jesse Hockett made his mark in the sprint car world from Pennsylvania to California and from Washington to Florida, yet he loved turning laps in California, MO. Over 40 Sprint cars both with wings and without joined the fans to pay homage to honor Jesse and celebrate with his family.
First class to take the track were the Super Stock drivers competing in two heat races to kick off the evening. Heat one saw Jody Romig on the pole with Darek Wiss, with one feature win to his credit at Double X this season, on the outside of row one. Wiss would get the jump on Romig heading into turn one and Henson would move up to second by turn two. Henson would challenge the leader repeatedly and was able to catch him but not make the pass and would settle for the runner up position behind Darek Wiss. Jody Romig finishes third with point leader Eddie Keeran in fourth and John Clancy would complete the field. Heat two would see Brandon Hays and Danny Monroe, both making their first starts at the track this season lead the field to the green. Monroe would take the early lead until a bobble in turn one on about lap five would allow Hays to slip by on the bottom side to take the point. Hays would lead the remainder of the distance with Monroe recovering to place second. Joe Miller would cross the line third with Tyler Crocker running a strong fourth and Dusty See would complete the five car running order.
Next on the evening’s card were the POWRi Wingless Auto Racing Sprint League stars running three heat races. Jack Wagner would claim the win by passing Chris Morgan with three laps to go. Morgan would finish a strong second, Anthony Nicholson claimed third, Xavier Doney crossed in the number four spot and Kory Schudy would complete the top five. Tom Curran would finish sixth, Justin Johnson seventh and Bryson Smith was credited with eighth. The second seat was brought to the green by the front row of Jason Howell and Wesley Smith. It was the Wesley Smith show as he opened a staraightaway lead in a matter of three laps and maintained the advantage for the duration. Jason Howell would finish second over Zach Clark, Brad Wyatt finishes fourth, Wyatt Burks crossed in the fifth position with Garrett Hulsey in sixth. Heat three was paced by Steven Russell and Joe B. Miller in the front row. Miller would lead early but Russell would take the preferred line through turns three and four to take the lead for lap one. As the race went on Miller would use the top shelf to catch the leader and come up a car length short at the checkered.
The Winged Sprint Cars class competed in three qualifying heat races to set the feature lineup for the Hockett Memorial of 2022. Heat one saw Nathan Ryun and Joe B. Miller sharing the front row. Miller having just come off a second place in his POWRi heat race took to the top shelf to go to the lead with Nathan Ryun in second. Ryun would slip off the top of turn two bringing out a caution on lap three. The restart was more of the same as Miller opened up The third a lead over second place Miles Paulus. At the checkered it was Miller, Paulus, Quinton Benson in third, Bradley Ryun in fourth and Nathan Ryun in fifth. Russell Potter was sixth and Daryn Langford was seventh. Heat two saw California, MO shoe Broc Elliott and Kearney’s Austin O’Neal bring the field to green. Elliott would lead the first four laps before O’Neal would get a run on the leader heading into turn three and make the pass. O’Neal would claim the checkered flag with Broc Elliott second, Taylor Walton third, Evan Martin fourth and Mackenzie Borchers fifth. Tyler Elliott would finish seventh and Scotty Milan would claim seventh. The third and final heat had Tyler Blank and Kaitlin Boland bringing the field to the green. After the initial start was called back by track officials, on the restart Blank and Bellm would go side by side through turns one and two. Bellm would have the advantage into three but Blank would use a slide job to gain the advantage through turn four and would set sail. Blank would claim the win over Bellm with Chase Porter advancing to third, Ben Brown finished fourth, Jack Wagner was fifth, Kaitlin Boland sixth and Natalie Doney seventh.
The fifteen lap Super Stock main event would have Darek Wiss on the pole with Brandon Hays to his outside. Hard charging Derek Henson and Danny Monroe were on row two. Derek Henson would follow polesitter Wiss to the front and take the lead in turns three and four on the opening circuit and would quickly open a five to six car length lead over the field. Wiss would settle into second. An early race caution for John Clancy stopping on the front straight would bunch the field. Henson would again continue his lead with Wiss remaining in second with position battles taking place behind the leaders. On the caution on lap 11 for Brandon Hays, Henson ducked into the pit area for overheating issues and was unable to continue. This would find John Clancy inheriting the lead after he raced his way back up through the field recovering from the early caution. Clancy was able to lead the remainder of the way to seal the victory. Jody Romig drove a solid race to pick up second place in the event and Dusty See crossed the line in third. Darek Wiss was credited with fourth after a last lap, last turn spin with the 87 of Eddie Keeran. Keeran would be credited with fifth place. Tyler Crocker would place sixth, Brandon Hays would place seventh, Henson would be credited with eighth, Danny Monroe ninth and Joe Miller tenth.
Powri Wingless Sprint Car Racing feature event had many of the fans teeming with excitement as the field of 20 lined up for 25 laps of racing excitement. Jack Wagner starting on the pole as a result of earning the most passing points in the qualifying heat races put the JHR 77 to the point for the first two laps before Wesley Smith moved to the top spot. Wagner would run second but the stars of the race would be Riley Kreisel running the top and Steven Russell smoothly rolling the bottom groove as they moved up through the field. With Smith leading Kreisel , Jack Wagner Russell were all trading positions. A lap 20 caution reset the field behind the leader with Kreisel attacking the top shelf and Russell slowing allowing Smith to defend the top spot and allowing Kreisel to claim the runner up by a nose over Joe B. Miller who was in the mix at the end as well. Chris Morgan crossed the stripe in fourth and Steven Russell wound up fifth at the checkered. Wyatt Burks was sixth, Xavier Doney seventh, Jack Wagner held on for eighth, Kory Schudy was ninth and Zach Clark completed the top ten.
When the Winged Sprint Cars took to the track for their 25 lap feature it was anybody’s race. Joe B. Miller and Austin O’Neal were on the front row. Miller would shoot to the lead with Tyler Blank, Miles Paulus and Kyle Bellm all following him. It was for naught as Natalie Doney and Kaitlin Boland would get together in turn four before one lap was complete. A two by two restart was on tap and this time Miller would again swiftly move into the lead followed by Bellm and Blank. Miller would hold the top spot through one caution on lap eight and for the next nine laps after that. Bellm would keep the leader close but couldn’t muster a pass while Blank rode in third a couple of car lengths behind. A lap seventeen caution would bunch the field once more. On the restart, Bellm shot low in turn one and pulled a slide job to take the lead from Miller. Blank began his plan to advance and was able to overtake Miller for second four laps later. At the checkered it was Bellm claiming victory with Blank in second, Miller third, Miles Paulus in fourth and Taylor Walton completing the top five. Sixth place went to Chase Porter with Quinton Benson taking seventh, Ben Brown would finish in eighth, Evan Martin in ninth and Jack Wagner rounding out the top ten.
Be sure to join us next week for the Dylan Bias Memorial Race featuring the Super Stock division. The family and friends of Dylan have collected over $6000 in prize money for the event. Check out the posts on the Double X Speedway Fan Page on Facebook or www.DoubeXspeedway.com for more information.
Tribute to Jesse
Double X Speedway
California, MO
May 29, 2022
Complete Results—
Winged Sprint Cars
Feature-1. 50K-Kyle Bellm, Nixa; 2. 4-Tyler Blank, California; 3. 51B-Joe B. Miller, Millersville; 4. 98P-Miles Paulus, Marshall; 5. 93-Taylor Walton, Odessa; 6. 2-Chase Porter, St. Joseph; 7. 15B-Quinton Benson, Sweet Springs; 8. X-Ben Brown, Marshall; 9. 4M-Evan Martin, California; 10. 77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack; 11. 00-Broc Elliott, California; 12. 49-Tyler Elliott, California; 13. 97-Scotty Milan, Fort Collins, CO; 14. 18X- Nathan Ryun, Corder; 15. 3P-Russell Potter, Boonville; 16. 41-Nackenzie Borchers, Marshall; 17. 15K-Kaitlin Boland, Columbia; 18. 11-Austin O’Neal, Kearney (DNF); 19. 1X-Bradley Ryun, Higginsville (DNF); 20. 74-Natalie Doney, Odessa (DNF); 21. 32D-Daryn Langford, Kearney (DNS)
Heat #1- 1. Miller; 2. Paulus; 3. Benson; 4. B. Ryun; 5. N. Ryun; 6. Potter; 7. Langford
Heat #2- 1. O’Neal; 2. B. Elliott; 3. Walton; 4. Martin; 5. Borchers; 6. T. Elliott; 7. Milan
Heat #3- 1. Blank; 2. Bellm; 3. Porter; 4. Brown; 5. Wagner; 6. Boland; 7. Doney
Powri Wingless Racing League-
Feature-1. 12-Wesley Smith, Nixa; 2. 91- Riley Kreisel, Warsaw; 3. 122-Joe B. Miller, Millersville; 4. 24LCR-Chris Morgan, Topeka, KS; 5. 1JR-Steven Russell, Rochester,IL; 6. 11W-Wyatt Burks, Topeka, KS; 7. 74-Xavier Doney, Odessa; 8. 77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack; 9. 28-Kory Schudy, Battlefield; 10. 26-Zach Clrk, Olathe,KS; 11. 16-Anthony Nicholson, Bartlett,TN; 12. 44-Jason Howell, Fort Worth,TX; 13. 11X-Tom Curran, Kansas City; 14. 8D-Terry Babb, Decatur,IL; 15. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack; 16. 88G-Garrett Hulsey, Lone Jack; 17. 41-Brad Wyatt, Kearney; 18. 27-Justin Johnson, Olathe,KS; 19. 52-Dean Bowers, Knob Noster; 20. 15E-Dakota Earls, Independence (DNF)—33-Bryson Smith, Nixa (DNS); 00-Broc Elliott, California (DNS)
Heat #1- 1. 77-J. Wagner; 2. Morgan; 3. Nicholson; 4. X. Doney; 5. Schudy; 6. Curran; 7. Johnson; 8. B. Smith
Heat #2- 1. W. Smith; 2. Howell; 3. Clark; 4. Wyatt; 5. Burks; 6. Hulsey—Elliott (DNS)
Heat #3- 1. Russell; 2. Miller; 3. Kreisel; 4. S. Wagner; 5. Babb; 6. Earls; 7. Bowers
Super Stock-
Feature-1. 8-John Clancy, California; 2. 12-Jody Romig, Syracuse; 3. 83-Dusty See, Eldon; 4. 8D-Derek Wiss, Centralia; (DNF) 5. 87-Eddie Keeran, California (DNF); 6. 19J-Tyler Crocker, Holts Summit(DNF); 7. 54-Brandon Hays, California (DNF); 8. 27D-Derek Henson, Russellville (DNF); 9. 22M-Danny Monroe, Jamestown (DNF); 10. 409-Joe Miller, Centertown (DNF)
Heat #1- 1. Wiss; 2. Henson; 3. Romig; 4. Keeran; 5. Clancy
Heat #2- 1. Hays; 2. Monroe; 3. Miller; 4. Crocker; 5. See