FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Audio and story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman – Chris Seelman photo –

As much action as was found during Sunday’s National Midget finale at the 18th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne, there was plenty of action to be found in the accompanying divisions on the indoor racing card as well.

In the winged 600cc outlaw midget feature, the story was night one’s runner-up Cap Henry.

The Bellevue, Ohio native was looking for redemption after a motor issue kept him from challenging his teammate John Ivy for the win on Saturday, and he got it after a hard-fought duel with Tyler Fitzpatrick late in the 25-lap A-main.

Henry made contact with Fitzpatrick racing for the lead in turn four at the 10 to go mark, and was able to keep going while Fitzpatrick’s No. 57 made light contact with the outside wall and came to a stop.

That relegated the polesitter and race-long leader to the back of the pack for the third and final restart of the event, while Henry held the pack at bay for the final 10 circuits to notch a long-awaited first Rumble victory in his winged 600 after a decade of trying and many close calls.

“Last year we had some heating issues on a really fast hot rod, but this year it was flawless,” Henry said with tears in his eyes. “My teammate (and night one winner) John Ivy drove this car for a lot of years and it’s had a bunch of wins. We brought it back out this year hoping to continue that legacy and finally I did the job for all these guys.”

“Tyler was running a good race, but he started driving defensive late in that battle. Finally I got a run underneath him down the straightaway, and we just had a disagreement over territory. I hate it for him, but for us, this feels so amazing. I can’t believe we’re finally standing here.”

Bill Dunham crossed second at the checkered flag, followed by A.J. Lesiecki, who finished third but encountered issues on the cool-down lap that caused damage to the front end of his No. 14 entry. Rod Henning and Amanda Quinones-Long rounded out the top five.

Larry Joe Sroufe joined night one winner Blane Culp as a multiple winner in the non-winged 600cc dirt modified midget class on Sunday, passing polesitter Ryan Ruhl on lap seven of 25 and holding a determined Clay Sanders at bay over the final stretch to claim his second class victory in Rumble competition.

The race was slowed by two cautions, one on the opening lap for a spin by Steve Myers Sr. and one with nine laps remaining after problems befell Culp in turn three.

But from the time he took the lead, Sroufe’s neon-orange entry was the class of the field. He led the final 19 circuits and added his name to the Rumble history books once again.

While Sanders tried valiantly over the last nine rounds to find a way by Sroufe, he was forced to settle for second ahead of Culp, who made a brilliant run back through the field to round out the podium. Ruhl and Chris Miller made up the balance of the top five.

Brandon Dunn became the official ‘King of the Go-Karts’ at the Rumble after sweeping all three classes (Sr. Caged, Clone Heavy and Clone Medium) he was entered in on Sunday, bringing his win total to five for the weekend and 14 for his Fort Wayne career – passing both his brother Jason (10) and former wins leader Zach Axlen.

Axlen notched his 12th career Rumble win with a score in the Sr. Flathead class, with Kasey Ziebold (Jr. Caged), Gene Gregoric III (Junior 3) and Drew Phillips (Kid Karts) also picked up trophies in Go-Kart action on Sunday.

And Caidyn Brinkman (Jr. Honda, Light 160) doubled up on victories in Quarter Midget action, alongside winners Taylor Nibert (Heavy Honda), Bryce Massingill (Sr. Honda), Bobby Elliott (Heavy 160) and Jacob Denney (Animal).

The 19th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne moves back to New Year’s Eve weekend and returns to its traditional Friday-Saturday lineup, with racing action on Dec. 30-31.

For more information, visit www.rumbleseries.com.

RESULTS: Rumble Racing Series; 18th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne; Allen County War Memorial Coliseum; Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015

Winged 600cc Outlaw Modified Midget Heat #1 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Howard McCormick, 2. John Ivy, 3. Tyler Fitzpatrick, 4. Amanda Quinones-Long, 5. Marv Hephner

Winged 600cc Outlaw Modified Midget Heat #2 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Cap Henry, 2. Joe Swanson, 3. Chris Jagger, 4. A.J. Lesiecki, 5. Rod Henning, 6. Ben Quinones

Winged 600cc Outlaw Modified Midget Heat #3 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Peter Hathaway, 2. Matt Farnham, 3. Bill Dunham, 4. Mark Yoder, 5. Mark Zumbrun

Winged 600cc Outlaw Modified Midget A-Main (25 laps): 1. Cap Henry, 2. Bill Dunham, 3. A.J. Lesiecki, 4. Rod Henning, 5. Amanda Quinones-Long, 6. Howard McCormick, 7. Tyler Fitzpatrick, 8. Mark Zumbrun, 9. Matt Farnham, 10. John Ivy, 11. Chris Jagger, 12. Marv Hephner, 13. Ben Quinones, 14. Peter Hathaway, 15. Mark Yoder, 16. Joe Swanson.

Audio with race winner Cap Henry:

Audio with 10th-place John Ivy:

Non-Winged 600cc Dirt Modified Midget Heat #1 (8 laps; four transfer): 1. Chris Miller, 2. Larry Joe Sroufe, 3. Jason Ormsby, 4. Ryan Ruhl, 5. Justin Harper, 6. Kim Hughes, 7. Steve Allen.

Non-Winged 600cc Dirt Modified Midget Heat #2 (8 laps; four transfer): 1. Joe Swanson, 2. Clay Sanders, 3. Mike Fedorcak, 4. Jeremy Howe, 5. Adam Schaeff, 6. Ryan Ball, 7. Rusty Strausbaugh, 8. Jason Hentrich (DNS)

Non-Winged 600cc Dirt Modified Midget Heat #3 (8 laps; four transfer): 1. Phil Bozell, 2. Jonathan Lesiecki, 3. Blane Culp, 4. Steve Myers Sr., 5. Blake Lamb, 6. Cody Williams, 7. Russ Gamester (DNS)

Non-Winged 600cc Dirt Modified Midget LCQ (12 laps; four transfer): 1. Justin Harper, 2. Blake Lamb, 3. Ryan Ball, 4. Rusty Strausbaugh, 5. Cody Williams, 6. Kim Hughes, 7. Adam Schaeff, 8. Steve Allen (DNS), 9. Jason Hentrich (DNS), 10. Russ Gamester (DNS).

Non-Winged 600cc Dirt Modified Midget A-Main (25 laps): 1. Larry Joe Sroufe, 2. Clay Sanders, 3. Blane Culp, 4. Ryan Ruhl, 5. Chris Miller, 6. Phil Bozell, 7. Joe Swanson, 8. Kim Hughes, 9. Justin Harper, 10. Jonathan Lesiecki, 11. Blake Lamb, 12. Jeremy Howe, 13. Rusty Strausbaugh, 14. Ryan Ball, 15. Jason Ormsby, 16. Steve Myers Sr.

Lap Leaders: Ruhl 1-6, Sroufe 7-25

Sr. Caged Feature (15 laps): 1. Brandon Dunn, 2. Dylan Wooding, 3. Danny Bouc, 4. Steven Berlin, 5. Dustin Ingle, 6. Ty Conrad, 7. Owen Calderwood, 8. Dustin Vandermeir, 9. Nathan Myers, 10. A.J. Geren, 11. Johnny Saylor, 12. Tylar Rankin, 13. Kevin Wall Jr., 14. Zack Myers, 15. Dillon Nusbaum, 16. Jake Shelley, 17. John Ventrello III.

Jr. Caged Feature (15 laps): 1. Kasey Ziebold, 2. Aiden Williamson, 3. Jaden Cretacci, 4. Kenny Douglas, 5. Jakeb Boxell, 6. Michael Villena, 7. Ian Creager, 8. Larry Kingseed Jr., 9. Madison Bland, 10. Paige Rogers, 11. Dalton Rogers, 12. Ryleigh Freed, 13. Teig Ann Freed, 14. Johnathon Hadley.

Sr. Flathead Feature (15 laps): 1. Zach Axlen, 2. Zack Meyers, 3. Brock Wilson, 4. Adam Unverferth, 5. Sam Weaver, 6. John Miller, 7. Jason Fuller, 8. Derek Hammond, 9. Steve Webb, 10. Damon Woodbury, 11. Brad Buchs, 12. Nathan Bevard (DNS).

Junior 3 Kart Feature (15 laps): 1. Gene Gregoric III, 2. Hannah Galitz, 3. Spencer Smolders, 4. Keenan Richards, 5. Andrew Scheid, 6. Zachary Galitz, 7. Kasey Ziebold, 8. Michael Paterno, 9. Kaitlin Randall, 10. Ian Creager, 11. Alex Smolders, RJ Cornett

Clone Heavy Feature (15 laps): 1. Brandon Dunn (last lap pass), 2. Philip Schneider, 3. Ryan Moran, 4. Jake Shelley, 5. Joey Pendergrass, 6. Josh McKnight, 7. Shawn Kluck, 8. Cody Gallogly, 9. Zach Wolff, 10. Matt Randall, 11. Damen Bock, 12. Zach Axlen, 13. Travis Fisher, 14. Justin Sondgerot.

Clone Medium Feature (15 laps): 1. Brandon Dunn, 2. Philip Schneider, 3. Zach Axlen, 4. Jake Shelley, 5. Shawn Kluck, 6. Ryan Moran, 7. Zach Wolff, 8. Joey Pendergrass, 9. Ronnie Niehaus, 10. Cody Gallogly, 11. Dustin Heath, 12. Justin Sondgroth (DNS).

Kid Kart Feature (10 laps): 1. Drew Phillips, 2. Garrett Andexler, 3. Easton Zent, 4. Audra Weaver, 5. Parker Moyer, 6. Oliver Osborn, 7. Ryker Orr, 8. Brodie Wendel, 9. Gage Emsberger, 10. David Bretz, 11. Jackson Orth, 12. Joshua Toth, 13. Hayden McKnight, 14. Nevaeh Shephered, 15. Jasper Crago (DNS), 16. Paige Fuller (DNS), 17. Cruz Parker (DNS)

Heavy Honda QM Feature (15 laps): 1. Taylor Nibert, 2. Cole Christy, 3. Bobby Elliott , 4. Tyler Fizpatrick

Sr. Honda QM Feature (15 laps): 1. Bryce Massingill, 2. Levei Hargraves, 3. Spencer Adkins, Logan Rumsey, 5. Breanna Berry, 6. Brandon Freis, 7. Jimmy Anderson, 8. Draper Alexander (DNS), 9. Adam Post (DNS).

Jr. Honda QM Feature (15 laps): 1. Caidyn Brinkman, 2. Jimmy Blagg, 3. Stone Christy, 4. Charlie Freis, 5. Aiden Ray Ewing, 6. Seth Pugh, 7. Brodie Wendel, 8. Cameron Watkins, 9. Isaiah Higdon.

Heavy 160 QM Feature (15 laps): 1. Bobby Elliott, 2. Taylor Nibert, 3. Cole Christy

Light 160 QM Feature (15 laps): 1. Caidyn Brinkman, 2. Draper Alexander, 3. Logan Rumsey, 4. Seth Pugh, 5. Aiden Ray Ewing

Animal QM Feature (15 laps): 1. Jacob Denney, 2. Bryce Massingill, 3. Jimmy Anderson

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 21-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

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