FORT WAYNE, Ind. – John Ivy completed a perfect Rumble in Fort Wayne weekend on Saturday night, becoming the first driver to sweep all four 600cc micro features inside the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Ivy followed up his wins in the winged and non-winged micro classes on Friday with similar performances during the finale, leading all the way from the pole in the winged class and topping longtime rival Larry Joe Sroufe to secure the trophy for the non-winged division.
While his journey in the winged car was uneventful, save for four caution flags that led to restarts, Ivy had to work for his keep in the non-winged feature.
He was rolling the outside after the initial start when he was hip-checked by polesitter and early leader Jason Ormsby going down the backstretch on lap four, sending Ivy backward briefly before he began to rebound.
By the time Josh Ross, who wrested the lead from Ormsby on the sixth round, spun out of the lead two laps before halfway, Ivy was back up to third behind Sroufe and restarted second following the caution.
It only took Ivy two laps to build enough momentum on the inside to shoot past Sroufe for the top spot, and once he was out front again, Ivy never looked back.
The Ohio veteran banked a total of $1,000 on Saturday night and $2,000 for the weekend sweep.
“We’ll take this; what a weekend,” Ivy said after the non-winged feature. “I was scared early there, when Ormsby got into me … it’s a good thing my car had good brakes, or we would have been in trouble. I still have those cat-like reflexes, though!
“Both my cars were bad fast all weekend. We’re already looking forward to next year and we’ll see if we can do it all over again.”
Sroufe, Tyler Fitzpatrick, Ormsby and Michael Busz trailed Ivy across the finish line in the non-winged 600cc micro feature.
In winged action, it was Ivy’s teammate Cap Henry who finished second, followed by Nate Franklin, Rod Henning and Ormsby.
Ivy’s record for career victories at the Rumble in Fort Wayne now stands at 20 across all classes.
This is the second time Ivy has won six or more races in a row inside the Coliseum; he won eight straight Rumble features between 2003 and 2007.
For complete race results, advance to the next page.
