Written by Jim Foose

(PAINESVILLE, OH) On a chilly Memorial Day Weekend, The Painesville Speedway opened the gates for the second weekend of racing after two early-season rain-outs.  A full program of Painesville’s Championship divisions and the Media Upfit Great Lakes Tour was on hand as The World’s Toughest Battleground roared to life.

The Outlaw Beer Chargers roared onto the track as the first feature event of the evening.  Seth Yehl jumped to the early lead in the 25 lap A-Main but saw Vinny Cicconetti take the lead on lap 11 and never look back, taking the orange #25 to Victory Lane in the season opener for the Outlaw Beer Chargers.  Seth Yehl (2nd), Hayden Nails (3rd), Mike Taylor (4th) and Joshua Brown (5th) rounded out the top five finishers.  Joshua Brown and Mike Taylor won the Heat Races.

The Habco Tool Warriors took the track for their Feature event, which saw 2024 Rising Stars Champion Gavin Elmore pick up his first Feature win of the 2025 season, after coming up just short in the season opener last Friday.  Jacob Henderson (2nd), Hunter Cunningham (3rd), Jason Sharer (4th) and Magen March (5th) completed the top five finishers.  Jon Jon Yeckley and Jeff Smith, Jr. won the pair of Heat Races.

The Medina Upfit Great Lakes Truck Tour was next on track for a 30 lap feature event.  Wayne Mounts and Glen Jeweli led the field to the green flag as the tour welcomed new sponsor Medina Upfit to the Tour.  Jewell would lead from the start before being overtaken by Championship Leader Brad Copen.  Copen would set sail and lead to the checkered flag, surviving a series of cautions in the final ten laps to score his second victory of the 2025 Medina Upfit Great Lakes Truck Tour season.  Brian Taylor (2nd) Bailey Delfosse (3rd), Lindsey Fade (4th), and Chad Squires (5th) completed the top five finishers.  Taylor would score the Medina Upfit Great Lakes Truck Tour Dash while Wayne Mounts took the Heat Race win.

Next onto the track, the Hometown Slice Pizza Co. Figure 8 Ironmen hit the track for their 20 lpa A-Main.  For the second week in a row, the Ironmen stole the show with a race that kept the crowd on their feet as the lead changed late in the going and the action at the X was close.  When the dust settled it was MJ Reed scoring the win.  Ryan Turner (2nd), Kenny Bender, Jr. (3rd), Jeff Marvin subbing for Lou Hill, Jr. (4th) and Lou Hill, Sr. (5th) completed the top five.  MJ Reed picked up the Dash win while Jeff Marvin and Kurtis Lette won the pair of Heat Races.

R& Z Auto Recycling Compact Figure 8 action hit the track next for their 15 lap feature.  Just like last Saturday, it was TJ Schinke picking up the win.  JD Hribar (2nd), Autumn Merrill (3rd), Chris Leland (4th) and Mikey Oldenburgh (5th) completed the top five.  Jon Jon Yeckley picked up the Heat Race win.

A 15 lap Habco Tool Old School Figure 8 Feature completed the program and it was Lyle Mattson picking up the victory over Derek Mattson (2nd), Robert Wormald (3rd), Ken Dauenhauer (4th) and JD Hribar (5th).  Wormald scored the Heat Win.

The Painesville Speedway is back in action next Friday, May 30th for Date Night and again Saturday, May 31st for Hall of Fame Night, where six new inductees will be inducted into The Painesville Speedway Hall of Fame.

The Painesville Speedway remains committed to offering Fast & Affordable Family Fun!  More information including gate times and ticket prices can be found at NEOhioRacing.com.

Located at 500 Fairport Nursery Rd in Painesville, OH, The Painesville Speedway has been providing affordable family fun for generations.  The ⅕ mile oval and figure 8 track provide close quarters and action packed racing at “The World’s Toughest Battleground”.

Box Score Results

Figure Eight Ironmen

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 23-MJ Reed[8]; 2. 57-Ryan Turner[5]; 3. 89-Kenny Bender Jr[6]; 4. 74-Lou Hill Jr[9]; 5. 79-Lou Hill Sr[7]; 6. 47XX-Richard Brunkala[1]; 7. 58-Mike Davis[2]; 8. 77-Kurtis Lette[4]; 9. 4-Jacob Pahner[3]; 10. 67-Steven Sandli[10]

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 23-MJ Reed[2]; 2. 77-Kurtis Lette[1]; 3. 79-Lou Hill Sr[4]; 4. 89-Kenny Bender Jr[3]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 74-Lou Hill Jr[3]; 2. 58-Mike Davis[5]; 3. 57-Ryan Turner[4]; 4. 47XX-Richard Brunkala[1]; 5. 4-Jacob Pahner[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 77-Kurtis Lette[1]; 2. 89-Kenny Bender Jr[3]; 3. 79-Lou Hill Sr[4]; 4. 23-MJ Reed[2]; 5. 67-Steven Sandli[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 79-Lou Hill Sr, 00:14.254[5]; 2. 89-Kenny Bender Jr, 00:14.280[1]; 3. 23-MJ Reed, 00:14.492[8]; 4. 77-Kurtis Lette, 00:14.500[6]; 5. 57-Ryan Turner, 00:14.531[10]; 6. 74-Lou Hill Jr, 00:14.796[4]; 7. 4-Jacob Pahner, 00:15.394[7]; 8. 47XX-Richard Brunkala, 00:15.707[2]; 9. (DNS) 58-Mike Davis; 10. (DNS) 67-Steven Sandli

9 entries

Chargers

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 25-Vinny Cicconetti[7]; 2. 8-Seth Yehl[1]; 3. 3N-Hayden Nails[6]; 4. 55-Mike Taylor[5]; 5. 7-Joshua Brown[2]; 6. 85-Shawn Honsaker[3]; 7. 56-David Abramczyk[4]; 8. 3-Kyle Bates[8]; 9. (DNS) 70-Chris Pierce

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Joshua Brown[2]; 2. 8-Seth Yehl[1]; 3. 85-Shawn Honsaker[3]; 4. 56-David Abramczyk[4]; 5. 70-Chris Pierce[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Mike Taylor[1]; 2. 25-Vinny Cicconetti[3]; 3. 3N-Hayden Nails[2]; 4. 3-Kyle Bates[4]

Qualifying 1: 1. 3-Kyle Bates, 00:14.712[2]; 2. 25-Vinny Cicconetti, 00:14.842[4]; 3. 3N-Hayden Nails, 00:14.959[6]; 4. 55-Mike Taylor, 00:14.971[8]; 5. 56-David Abramczyk, 00:15.059[1]; 6. 85-Shawn Honsaker, 00:15.100[5]; 7. 7-Joshua Brown, 00:15.157[3]; 8. 8-Seth Yehl, 00:15.218[9]; 9. (DNS) 70-Chris Pierce

17 entries

Warriors

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 66-Gavin Elmore[9]; 2. 75-Jacob Henderson[16]; 3. 428-Hunter Cunningham[7]; 4. 81-Jason Sharer[12]; 5. 24-Magen March[14]; 6. 42-Sean Davis Jr[13]; 7. 27-Dan Kyea[3]; 8. 02-Hollie Myers[5]; 9. 563-Joe Elmore[11]; 10. 00-Jeff Smith Jr[6]; 11. 10-Brenden Henderson[10]; 12. 44-Kyle Kyea[8]; 13. 22-Jon Yeckley[1]; 14. 56-Jaryd Epstein[2]; 15. 11K-Kerek Ball[15]; 16. (DNS) 87A-Aaron Vitolo; 17. (DNS) 5-Denise Brunkala

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Jon Yeckley[1]; 2. 27-Dan Kyea[3]; 3. 87A-Aaron Vitolo[4]; 4. 02-Hollie Myers[5]; 5. 56-Jaryd Epstein[2]; 6. (DNS) 5-Denise Brunkala

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 00-Jeff Smith Jr[1]; 2. 66-Gavin Elmore[4]; 3. 44-Kyle Kyea[3]; 4. 428-Hunter Cunningham[2]; 5. 563-Joe Elmore[6]; 6. 10-Brenden Henderson[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 81-Jason Sharer[1]; 2. 24-magen March[3]; 3. 11K-Kerek Ball[4]; 4. 75-Jacob Henderson[5]; 5. 42-Sean Davis Jr[2]

Qualifying 1: 1. 75-Jacob Henderson, 00:15.787[8]; 2. 11K-Kerek Ball, 00:15.849[1]; 3. 24-magen March, 00:15.918[11]; 4. 42-Sean Davis Jr, 00:16.024[3]; 5. 81-Jason Sharer, 00:16.043[13]; 6. 563-Joe Elmore, 00:16.045[5]; 7. 10-Brenden Henderson, 00:16.072[7]; 8. 66-Gavin Elmore, 00:16.118[4]; 9. 44-Kyle Kyea, 00:16.139[10]; 10. 428-Hunter Cunningham, 00:16.161[17]; 11. 00-Jeff Smith Jr, 00:16.199[14]; 12. 02-Hollie Myers, 00:16.401[12]; 13. 87A-Aaron Vitolo, 00:16.407[15]; 14. 27-Dan Kyea, 00:16.438[9]; 15. 56-Jaryd Epstein, 00:16.611[6]; 16. 22-Jon Yeckley, 00:16.778[16]; 17. (DNS) 5-Denise Brunkala

8 entries

Old School Figure 8

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 01-Lyle Mattson[1]; 2. 00-DEREK MATTSON[5]; 3. 83-Robert Wormald[6]; 4. 02-Dauenhauer Ken[7]; 5. 76-JD Hribar[2]; 6. (DNS) 87-Morgan Bock; 7. (DNS) 90-Eric Lehmann; 8. (DNS) 47-Chad Tekavic

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 83-Robert Wormald[6]; 2. 00-DEREK MATTSON[3]; 3. 76-JD Hribar[5]; 4. 02-Dauenhauer Ken[2]; 5. 01-Lyle Mattson[4]; 6. 90-Eric Lehmann[8]; 7. 87-Morgan Bock[1]; 8. (DNS) 47-Chad Tekavic

Qualifying 1: 1. 83-Robert Wormald, 00:21.688[5]; 2. 76-JD Hribar, 00:22.145[1]; 3. 01-Lyle Mattson, 00:22.172[4]; 4. 00-DEREK MATTSON, 00:22.197[3]; 5. 02-Dauenhauer Ken, 00:22.854[2]; 6. 87-Morgan Bock, 00:23.780[8]; 7. (DNS) 47-Chad Tekavic; 8. (DNS) 90-Eric Lehmann

7 entries

Compact Figure 8

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 62-Tj Schinke[6]; 2. 31-JD Hribar[3]; 3. 14-Chris Leland[7]; 4. 58-Mikey Oldenburgh[5]; 5. (DNS) 22-Jon Yeckley; 6. (DNS) 11K-Kerek Ball; 7. (DQ) 87-Autumn Merrill[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Jon Yeckley[1]; 2. 31-JD Hribar[4]; 3. 58-Mikey Oldenburgh[7]; 4. 14-Chris Leland[5]; 5. 62-Tj Schinke[3]; 6. 87-Autumn Merrill[2]; 7. (DNS) 11K-Kerek Ball

Qualifying 1: 1. 58-Mikey Oldenburgh, 00:22.123[5]; 2. 11K-Kerek Ball, 00:22.184[1]; 3. 14-Chris Leland, 00:22.227[3]; 4. 31-JD Hribar, 00:22.289[2]; 5. 62-Tj Schinke, 00:22.419[7]; 6. 87-Autumn Merrill, 00:22.879[4]; 7. 22-Jon Yeckley, 00:22.988[6]

8 entries

Great Lakes Truck Tour

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 1-Brad Copen[7]; 2. 32-Brian Taylor[4]; 3. 04-Bailey Delfosse[6]; 4. 31-Lindsey Fade[5]; 5. 26-Chad Squires[8]; 6. 15-Joe Markowski[2]; 7. 64-Wayne Mounts[1]; 8. 24-Glen Jewell[3]

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 32-Brian Taylor[1]; 2. 04-Bailey Delfosse[3]; 3. 1-Brad Copen[4]; 4. 31-Lindsey Fade[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 64-Wayne Mounts[1]; 2. 24-Glen Jewell[3]; 3. 26-Chad Squires[4]; 4. 15-Joe Markowski[2]

Qualifying 1: 1. 1-Brad Copen, 00:13.178[1]; 2. 04-Bailey Delfosse, 00:13.302[2]; 3. 31-Lindsey Fade, 00:13.411[3]; 4. 32-Brian Taylor, 00:13.823[8]; 5. 24-Glen Jewell, 00:13.910[4]; 6. 15-Joe Markowski, 00:14.012[5]; 7. 64-Wayne Mounts, 00:14.107[6]; 8. 26-Chad Squires, 00:14.427[7]