FORT WAYNE, Ind. – John Ivy added yet another notch to his incredible Rumble in Fort Wayne career by sweeping Friday night’s pair of 600cc micro sprint features at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Ivy won both the winged and non-winged races on the Coliseum floor for the second time, pushing his career win total in Rumble competition to 18 and giving him four consecutive micro wins in Fort Wayne.
The Fremont, Ohio, veteran concluded the 2017 Rumble with a pair of wins on Saturday night before coming back this time and adding two more trophies to his already-storied record.
“I love coming here, as everyone knows, and to pick up where we left off last year is really special,” said Ivy. “People are already asking if we can win four races this weekend, and I’m not counting any chickens before they’re hatched. We have to run them all and finish them, but this is a cool night. Both cars were fast.
“I started to get tired at the end,” he added with a laugh. “I think I might have to go work out some more.”
Ivy started from the pole and led all the way in the 25-lap non-winged contest, wiring the field amid a war of attrition that saw only seven of the 16 starters reach the checkered flag.
The longtime veteran and inaugural David Lesiecki Award winner escaped a crash on the opening lap that collected the second through fourth-place starters – Tyler Lindsay, Josh Ross and Larry Joe Sroufe – and set sail after that.
In all, Ivy weathered six cautions over the 25-lap distance to capture the victory, his third in a row in the non-winged 600cc micro class inside the Coliseum.
Brian Busz crossed the line in second, followed by Tyler Fitzpatrick, Blake Lamb and Josh Ross.
On the winged side, Ivy didn’t take the top spot until lap nine, but he did so with a daring three-wide move down the inside of the track after his teammate Cap Henry and polesitter Cody Tyler started battling for position ahead of him.
Despite starting fourth, Ivy remained patient, and when Henry bumped Tyler into a spin with eight laps completed the No. 94 was there to pounce. Ivy inherited the lead at that point and never looked back.
“When I saw Cap leave the bottom open, I knew I had to go for it,” noted Ivy. “I was going to go there if he didn’t, and luckily it worked out for us.”
Once Ivy took over the race lead in the winged feature, the final 17 laps ran uninterrupted.
Henry crossed the line in second after also finishing second in the national midget main event. He was followed by Jason Ormsby, Cory Grenzy and USAC Mechanic of the Year Tyler Ransbottom.
Go-kart feature winners during Friday’s program included double victor Dustin Heath (360 Clone, 330 Clone), as well as Justin Clark (400 Clone), Ryan Moran (Senior Champ), Gunnar Zeiner (Junior Sportsman), Alex Smolders (Junior 3) and Keagan Hyliard (Kid Karts).
Six different quarter-midget features produced six different winners on Friday. They were Austin Geer (Light 160), Kayden Boles (Heavy 120), Sam Mazzo (Heavy 160), Hudson Roberts (Junior Honda), Elijah Anderson (Senior Honda) and Landon Hathaway (Animal).
For complete race results, advance to the next page.
