Gallogly Starts Midwest Lights Season On Top At Birch Run
BIRCH RUN, Mich. (May 26, 2023) – A masterful restart was all that Cody Gallogly needed to start his Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights title defense off in winning fashion Friday night at Birch Run Speedway.
Gallogly powered around front-row starter and early leader Andrew Bogusz on a lap-17 restart, then never looked back en route to victory in the season opener on Birch Run’s third mile “little oval.”
The Baltimore, Ohio, veteran opened up a commanding lead of 6.920 seconds over the second half of the 40-lap feature, cruising to the checkered flag and cementing himself as the early favorite to capture a second straight Midwest Lights championship in the process.
“I was trying to play this one a little safer,” said Gallogly of his fifth career Midwest Lights triumph. “Normally from the drop of the green, I’m all in every moment, but I knew that this infield track was going to be hard on tires and I was trying to stay close to Andrew.
“I got stuck behind some traffic, and that let Sawyer [Stout] get close to me, but I knew that as long as I was in striking distance and saved something from the end that I’d have a chance,” he added. “This car was really fast and when we let it eat on the outside, that was all she needed to get it done tonight.”
Making the night emotional for Gallogly was the fact that Friday’s score was his first race since losing his father to cancer just over a month ago.
“We lost my dad on April 3 to lung cancer, and this is the first race … without him here,” Gallogly noted. “This is the way we wanted to come out tonight.”
A six inversion placed 17-year-old Charlie Baur on the pole for the main event, but it was a fellow teenager in Bogusz who made his presence known early, driving around the outside to claim the top spot on the opening lap.
Bogusz then comfortably paced the early stages of the race, holding a margin of roughly one second over his pursuers as Gallogly and Sawyer Stout traded jabs for the runner-up spot several times.
Stout completed the pass in traffic on lap nine, then began closing on Bogusz before a misstep in turns one and two near halfway cost him any hope of contending for the victory.
Entering the second corner on lap 17, Stout got too low and clipped an infield tire, shearing the left-front tire off his ACME Racing No. 40 and spinning to produce the lone caution flag of the event.
That set up a restart with Bogusz electing the inside, while Gallogly reset on the top groove looking for grip to find a way past. Gallogly’s search for traction paid off when the green flag was displayed again, as he soared past Bogusz into clean air and disappeared into the central Michigan night.
Bogusz settled for a disappointing second, frustrated after the race that he wasn’t able to seal the deal for the second time in Midwest Lights competition.
“I made a move [on the restart] and I should have listened to my instincts,” the 17-year-old said. “Cody just drove around me on the outside and put me in dirty air after that. That’s racing, but we’ll come back stronger. I was playing more defense than offense in that one … did what I could, but we didn’t need that yellow.”
Joshua Sexton filled out the podium finishers, followed by 2020 champion J.J. Henes and Baur, who faded to fifth after starting from the top spot on the grid.
Gallogly kicked off the night by setting the crate sprint car track record of 13.056 seconds ( mph) around the third-mile “little oval” at Birch Run. It marked the ____ fast time of Gallogly’s Midwest Lights career.
Todd McQuillen and Joshua Sexton split the wins in a pair of 10-lap heats held prior to the main event.
The Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights season continues Saturday night with a full program on the four-tenths-mile “big track” at Birch Run Speedway & Event Center. The action, alongside the Must See Racing Engine Pro Sprint Car Series, will be taped for a June 19 broadcast block on MAVTV.
RESULTS: Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights Series; Birch Run (Mich.) Speedway; May 26, 2023
ARP Qualifying (best of two laps): 1. Cody Gallogly, 27, Gallogly-13.056 (NTR); 2. J.J. Henes, 36jr, Henes-13.306; 3. Sawyer Stout, 40, ACME-13.455; 4. Joshua Sexton, 51s, Team 151-13.716; 5. Andrew Bogusz, 17, Bogusz-13.765; 6. Charlie Baur, 23, Baur-14.126; 7. Matt Double, 14x, USA Earthworks-15.228; 8. Dale McQuillen, 21, McQuillen-15.686; 9. Todd McQuillen, 32, McQuillen-15.721.
Melling Performance Heat #1 (10 laps, all transfer): 1. Todd McQuillen [1], 2. Charlie Baur [3], 3. Matt Double [4], 4. Dale McQuillen [2].
FEL-PRO Heat #2 (10 laps, all transfer): 1. Joshua Sexton [1], 2. Cody Gallogly [4], 3. Sawyer Stout [2], 4. J.J. Henes [3], 5. Andrew Bogusz [5].
American Racer A-Feature (40 laps): 1. #27 – Cody Gallogly [6], 2. #17 – Andrew Bogusz [2], 3. #51s – Joshua Sexton [3], 4. #36jr – J.J. Henes [5], 5. #23 – Charlie Baur [1], 6. #32 – Todd McQuillen [7], 7. #14x – Matt Double [8], 8. #40 – Sawyer Stout [4], 9. #21 – Dale McQuillen [9].
Lap Leader(s): Charlie Baur Grid, Andrew Bogusz 1-16, Cody Gallogly 17-40.
Hard Charger: #27 – Cody Gallogly (+5)
