Henes Stars During MSR Lights Stop At Owosso
J.J. Henes in victory lane Saturday at Owosso Speedway. (David Sink photo)
OVID, Mich. (June 24, 2023) – After losing last year’s Must See Racing Midwest Lights title to Cody Gallogly, inaugural series champion J.J. Henes knew he and his team had work to do to improve.
The fruits of their efforts showed Saturday at Michigan’s Owosso Speedway, as Henes took a dominant race car to victory lane at the freshly repaved three-eighths-mile oval.
Henes set fast time in qualifying, started fifth and promptly drove to the front in the night’s 40-lap feature.
The LaGrange, Ohio, teenager passed longtime friend and rival Sawyer Stout on a lap-15 restart and never looked back, navigating traffic to perfection en route to a 4.892-second margin of victory.
Henes’ win was the sixth of his career in Midwest Lights competition, and it also renewed the 2023 championship battle in dramatic fashion.
Combined with defending titlist Cody Gallogly’s 11th-place finish – after Gallogly came across the nose of Charlie Schultz’s car and crashed in turn three on the opening lap – Henes slashed his points deficit from 26 to 3 after three of six scheduled races this season.
The title tilt wasn’t Henes’ focus in victory lane, however. His joy was for winning again with his family-owned team.
“This car tonight was so good; around the bottom, I could go wherever I needed to,” Henes said. “I got lucky a couple times in traffic, but other than that, it felt like a really good race. I got a little too greedy at one point, but this is good. We really needed this one as a group.”
After the dramatic initial start that knocked Gallogly out of the race, Stout held his ground on the second green flag and pulled away from outside polesitter Charlie Baur, building a comfortable early lead.
Meanwhile, Henes methodically went about his march forward, rising to third by lap 10 and snagging the runner-up spot from Andrew Bogusz on lap 14 just as the caution flag waved for debris in the third turn.
That allowed Henes to restart alongside Stout on the ensuing double-file restart, and the die was cast.
The remainder of the race was a dance through slower traffic, and though Stout attempted to keep pace with the neon orange No. 36, he noted afterward that Henes was simply better on this particular night.
“It definitely feels good to have some confidence back,” said Stout. “I can’t thank all my guys enough. It’s one spot shy of what we want, but I couldn’t have lost to a better guy tonight. He’s got more experience.”
Bogusz held off a late rally from Joshua Sexton for the final podium position, with Schultz placing fifth.
Henes’ fast lap in qualifying to start the night was a 13.466-second (100.252 mph) clip, marking the sixth fast time of his Midwest Lights career. That ties Henes for the most top qualifying efforts in series history.
Schultz and Bogusz split the pair of eight-lap heat races held prior to the main event.
The Must See Racing Midwest Lights Series now takes two months off before returning to action Aug. 19 at Ohio’s Lorain Raceway Park during the second annual Bob Frey Classic.
RESULTS: Must See Racing Midwest Lights; Owosso (Mich.) Speedway; June 24, 2023
Qualifying (best of two laps): 1. J.J. Henes, 36jr, Henes-13.466 (NTR); 2. Cody Gallogly, 27, Gallogly-13.690; 3. Andrew Bogusz, 17, Bogusz-13.828; 4. Joshua Sexton, 51s, Sexton-14.082; 5. Charlie Baur, 23, Baur-14.106; 6. Sawyer Stout, 40, ACME-14.396; 7. Charlie Schultz, 18, DePasquale-14.796; 8. Parker Corbin, 77p, Corbin-15.320; 9. Matt Double, 14x, USA Earthworx-16.178; 10. Dale McQuillen, 21, McQuillen-16.325; 11. Todd McQuillen, 32, McQuillen-NT.
Heat #1 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Charlie Schultz [2], 2. Todd McQuillen [5], 3. Matt Double [3], 4. Dale McQuillen [1], 5. Parker Corbin [4].
Heat #2 (8 laps, all transfer): 1. Andrew Bogusz [2], 2. Joshua Sexton [1], 3. Cody Gallogly [3], 4. J.J. Henes [4], 5. Sawyer Stout [6], 6. Charlie Baur [5].
American Racer Feature (40 laps): 1. 36-J.J. Henes [5], 2. 40-Sawyer Stout [1], 3. 17-Andrew Bogusz [4], 4. 51s-Joshua Sexton [3], 5. 18-Charlie Schultz [6], 6. 23-Charlie Baur [2], 7. 32-Todd McQuillen [11], 8. 14x-Matt Double [10], 9. 21-Dale McQuillen [7], 10. 77p-Parker Corbin [9], 11. 27-Cody Gallogly [8].
Lap Leader(s): Sawyer Stout 1-14, J.J. Henes 15-40.
Hard Charger: #36 – J.J. Henes (+4)
