By Jim Foose/Speedway Action Magazine

(PAINESVILLE, OH) The fifth running of the Buckeye Figure 8 Nationals did not disappoint, as the Outlaw Figure 8 racers invaded Painesville Speedway for 100 laps of battle at The World’s Toughest Motorsports Battleground!

New for 2025, a Friday night Figure 8 Fanfest was added to the program featuring the Painesville Speedway oval and Figure 8 racers on track.  The Friday Night Fanfest event served as the series opener for the Painesville weekly division championships.

Kerek Ball took top honors in the Habco Tool & Development Warriors after taking the lead on lap nine from Aaron Vitolo and hanging on for the final 16 laps holding off several challenges from Gavin Elmore who finished second.  Kyle Kyea (3rd), Brenden Henderson (4th) and Magen March (5th) completed the top five.  Vitolo and March won the Warrior Heat Races while Jason Sharer picked up the Dash win.

The Scooter’s Dawg House Rising Stars graduated the entire field from 2024 up to the Warrior division and is experiencing a little growing pains in 2025 with Leland Scheel being the line Rising Star on track Friday, winning the Heat & Feature.

Robert Wormald from Madison, OH scored the Habco Tool & Development Old School Figure 8 Victory.  Eric Lehmann (2nd), Derek Mattson (3rd) Lyle Mattson (4th) and Morgan Bock (5th) completing the top five finishers.  Lyle Mattson won the Old School Figure 8 Heat Race.

In R&Z Auto Recycling Compact Figure 8 action it was Jon Jon Yeckley taking the Feature Win over Chris Leland.  JD Hribar (3rd), MJ Reed (4th) and Mikey Oldenburgh (5th) completed the top five.  Hribar picked up the Heat Race victory.

Saturday brought the Outlaw Figure 8 to town along with the Mini Figure 8 and Hometown Slice Pizza Figure 8 Ironmen to the track.  The Habco Tool & Development Old School Figure 8 and R&Z Auto Recycling Compact Figure 8 joined the show for the second leg of a weekend doubleheader.

Taylor, Michigan’s Race Loving started on the outside of the front row and jumped to the lead over pole sitter Brice Thomson.  Loving would lead the first ten laps before Kevin Brooks made the pass for the lead, a lead he would hold past the half-way point of the 100 lap Buckeye Figure 8 Nationals.  Brooks would fend off a challenge from Ben Tunney before being passed by Indianapolis native Jeffrey Schakelford.  On lap 67, the #5 of Tunney stopped on the track with a mechanical failure.  Tunney, the fastest qualifier, would fall out of the race 33 laps from the checkered flag.  Back under green after Tunny was towed off the track, Schakelford and Brooks dueled for the lead before Jeffrey Schakelford won the battle and began to pull away.  As the race reached the final 20 laps Schakelford and Brooks battled through lapped traffic on the tight confines of Painesville’s figure 8 with Jeffrey Schakelford victorious after 100 laps around “The World’s Toughest Motorsports Battleground”.  Brooks would settle for second with Bill Earley (3rd), Rickey Heine (4th) and Rce Loving (5th) completing the top five in the fifth annual Buckeye Figure 8 Nationals.  Brooks and Steve Burham took the Heat Race wins earlier in the night.

The debut of the Mini Figure 8 at The Battleground was a successful one for Garrett Fox who took the lead from Matt Smith on lap 12 as Smith lost and engine heading through the X, collecting Steve Vickers in the oil.  Fox found his way to victory lane after 25 laps with Ray Hopson in tow, taking second place.  Jeff Smith (3rd), Victor Rybolt (4th) and Ryan Krugler (5th) completed the top five in the Mini Figure 8.  Matt Smith and Rybolt took the heat race victories.

The Hometown Slice Pizza Co. Figure 8 Ironmen put on a wild and crazy 20 lap feature event with Lou Hill, Jr. scoring the victory over MJ Reed in a classic battle at The Battleground.  Hill and Reed shared the top spot the entire race, battling at times side by side around through the figure 8 track.  Lou Hill, Sr (3rd), Kenny Bender, Jr. (4th) and Kevin Malek (5th) completed the top five Malek and Reed scored the heat race wins.

TJ Schinke swept the Compact FIgure 8 Wins in the yellow #62.  Taking the lead three laps into the 15 lap A-Main, Schinke would drive away only to be reeled in late by Mikey Oldenburgh as the checkered flag fell.  Oldenburgh would have to settle for second while Kerek Ball (3rd), JD Hribar (4th) and Aaron Vitolo (5th) completed the top five.

The Wild & Crazy Habco Tool & Development Old School Figure 8 closed the program with a wild 15 lap Feature.  Much like Friday night Robert Wormald would score the victory in the Derek Mattson (2nd), Eric Lehmann (3rd), Morgan Bock (4th) and JD Hribar (5th) completed the top five in the final feature event of the Buckeye Figure 8 Nationals program.

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”.

Friday, May 16 Results:

Warriors

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 11K-Kerek Ball[13]; 2. 66-Gavin Elmore[12]; 3. 44-Kyle Kyea[7]; 4. 10-Brenden Henderson[9]; 5. 24-magen March[15]; 6. 00-Jeff Smith Jr[6]; 7. 81-Jason Sharer[10]; 8. 87-Aaron Vitolo[2]; 9. 02-Hollie Myers[1]; 10. 75-Jacob Henderson[8]; 11. 22-John Yeckley[4]; 12. 5-Denise Brunkala[3]; 13. 27-Dan Kyea[5]; 14. (DNS) 563-Joe Elmore; 15. (DNS) 56-Jaryd Epstein

Dash 1 (4 Laps): 1. 81-Jason Sharer[1]; 2. 66-Gavin Elmore[3]; 3. 11K-Kerek Ball[4]; 4. 563-Joe Elmore[2]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Vitolo[2]; 2. 02-Hollie Myers[1]; 3. 00-Jeff Smith Jr[6]; 4. 5-Denise Brunkala[3]; 5. 22-John Yeckley[4]; 6. 27-Dan Kyea[5]; 7. (DNS) 56-Jaryd Epstein

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24-magen March[8]; 2. 66-Gavin Elmore[6]; 3. 44-Kyle Kyea[1]; 4. 11K-Kerek Ball[7]; 5. 81-Jason Sharer[4]; 6. 10-Brenden Henderson[3]; 7. 75-Jacob Henderson[2]; 8. (DNS) 563-Joe Elmore

Qualifying 1: 1. 11K-Kerek Ball, 00:15.809[1]; 2. 66-Gavin Elmore, 00:15.946[3]; 3. 563-Joe Elmore, 00:16.048[4]; 4. 81-Jason Sharer, 00:16.188[10]; 5. 10-Brenden Henderson, 00:16.206[14]; 6. 75-Jacob Henderson, 00:16.217[6]; 7. 44-Kyle Kyea, 00:16.319[8]; 8. 00-Jeff Smith Jr, 00:16.544[11]; 9. 27-Dan Kyea, 00:16.772[7]; 10. 22-John Yeckley, 00:16.799[13]; 11. 5-Denise Brunkala, 00:16.813[2]; 12. 87-Aaron Vitolo, 00:16.826[12]; 13. 02-Hollie Myers, 00:16.951[9]; 14. (DNS) 56-Jaryd Epstein

1 entries

Rising Stars

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 36-Leland Scheel[1]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 36-Leland Scheel[1]

Qualifying 1: 1. 36-Leland Scheel[1]

7 entries

Old School Figure 8

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 83-Robert Wormald[7]; 2. 90-Eric Lehmann[2]; 3. 00-DEREK MATTSON[5]; 4. 01-Lyle Mattson[6]; 5. 87-Morgan Bock[1]; 6. 81-Taylor Bock[3]; 7. 76-JD Hribar[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Lyle Mattson[6]; 2. 83-Robert Wormald[7]; 3. 76-JD Hribar[4]; 4. 00-DEREK MATTSON[5]; 5. 81-Taylor Bock[3]; 6. 87-Morgan Bock[1]; 7. 90-Eric Lehmann[2]

Qualifying 1: 1. 83-Robert Wormald, 00:22.043[6]; 2. 01-Lyle Mattson, 00:22.105[5]; 3. 00-DEREK MATTSON, 00:22.757[4]; 4. 76-JD Hribar, 00:22.894[2]; 5. 81-Taylor Bock, 00:22.965[1]; 6. 90-Eric Lehmann, 00:23.278[3]; 7. 87-Morgan Bock, 00:25.001[7]

8 entries

Compact Figure 8

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 22-John Yeckley[2]; 2. 14-Chris Leland[7]; 3. 31-JD Hribar[5]; 4. 00-MJ Reed[8]; 5. 58-Mikey Oldenburgh[4]; 6. 7-Gary Drake Jr[3]; 7. 11K-Kerek Ball[6]; 8. 87-Autumn Merrill[1]

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

Qualifying 1: 1. 14-Chris Leland, 00:22.443[4]; 2. 11K-Kerek Ball, 00:22.445[1]; 3. 31-JD Hribar, 00:22.589[3]; 4. 58-Mikey Oldenburgh, 00:22.798[6]; 5. 7-Gary Drake Jr, 00:23.170[2]; 6. 22-John Yeckley, 00:23.425[7]; 7. 87-Autumn Merrill, 00:23.720[5]

Saturday, May 17 Results:

Figure Eight Ironmen

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 74-Lou Hill Jr[1]; 2. 23-MJ Reed[3]; 3. 79-Lou Hill Sr[4]; 4. 89-Kenny Bender Jr[5]; 5. 02-Kevin Malek[8]; 6. 57-Ryan Turner[9]; 7. 77-Kurtis Lette[6]; 8. 5-John Leonard[7]; 9. 4-Jacob Pahner[13]; 10. 58-Mike Davis[10]; 11. 11-Kevin Huffaker[11]; 12. 47XX-Richard Brunkala[2]; 13. (DNS) 29-Ethan Jones

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 02-Kevin Malek[6]; 2. 77-Kurtis Lette[5]; 3. 47XX-Richard Brunkala[4]; 4. 5-John Leonard[3]; 5. 4-Jacob Pahner[1]; 6. (DNS) 29-Ethan Jones

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23-MJ Reed[1]; 2. 89-Kenny Bender Jr[4]; 3. 74-Lou Hill Jr[5]; 4. 57-Ryan Turner[7]; 5. 79-Lou Hill Sr[6]; 6. 58-Mike Davis[3]; 7. 11-Kevin Huffaker[2]

Qualifying 1: 1. 57-Ryan Turner, 00:20.121[13]; 2. 79-Lou Hill Sr, 00:20.281[5]; 3. 74-Lou Hill Jr, 00:20.428[4]; 4. 89-Kenny Bender Jr, 00:20.440[1]; 5. 58-Mike Davis, 00:20.677[3]; 6. 11-Kevin Huffaker, 00:20.695[6]; 7. 23-MJ Reed, 00:20.710[12]; 8. 02-Kevin Malek, 00:20.876[10]; 9. 77-Kurtis Lette, 00:20.880[9]; 10. 47XX-Richard Brunkala, 00:21.220[2]; 11. 5-John Leonard, 00:21.270[8]; 12. 29-Ethan Jones, 00:22.268[7]; 13. 4-Jacob Pahner, 00:22.430[11]

8 entries

Old School Figure 8

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 83-Robert Wormald[6]; 2. 00-DEREK MATTSON[5]; 3. 90-Eric Lehmann[7]; 4. 87-Morgan Bock[1]; 5. 76-JD Hribar[3]; 6. 01-Lyle Mattson[4]; 7. (DNS) 81-Taylor Bock

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Lyle Mattson[4]; 2. 83-Robert Wormald[6]; 3. 00-DEREK MATTSON[5]; 4. 76-JD Hribar[3]; 5. 87-Morgan Bock[1]; 6. 81-Taylor Bock[2]; 7. 90-Eric Lehmann[7]

Qualifying 1: 1. 83-Robert Wormald, 00:21.966[4]; 2. 47-Chad Tekavic, 00:22.030[6]; 3. 00-DEREK MATTSON, 00:22.059[7]; 4. 01-Lyle Mattson, 00:22.064[5]; 5. 76-JD Hribar, 00:22.499[3]; 6. 81-Taylor Bock, 00:24.487[2]; 7. 87-Morgan Bock, 00:24.555[1]; 8. (DNS) 90-Eric Lehmann

9 entries

Compact Figure 8

A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 62-Tj Schinke[5]; 2. 58-Mikey Oldenburgh[3]; 3. 11K-Kerek Ball[8]; 4. 31-JD Hribar[6]; 5. 25-Bobby Combs[9]; 6. 87A-Aaron Vitolo[2]; 7. 87-Autumn Merrill[1]; 8. 22-John Yeckley[7]; 9. (DNS) 14-Chris Leland

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Bobby Combs[4]; 2. 62-Tj Schinke[6]; 3. 87A-Aaron Vitolo[2]; 4. 58-Mikey Oldenburgh[3]; 5. 31-JD Hribar[7]; 6. 11K-Kerek Ball[9]; 7. 87-Autumn Merrill[1]; 8. 22-John Yeckley[8]; 9. 14-Chris Leland[5]

Qualifying 1: 1. 62-Tj Schinke, 00:21.947[6]; 2. 14-Chris Leland, 00:22.504[3]; 3. 25-Bobby Combs, 00:22.557[1]; 4. 58-Mikey Oldenburgh, 00:22.687[5]; 5. 87A-Aaron Vitolo, 00:22.839[7]; 6. 87-Autumn Merrill, 00:22.932[4]; 7. (DNS) 31-JD Hribar

9 entries

Late Model Figure Eight

A Feature 1 (100 Laps): 1. 28-Jeffery Schakelford[5]; 2. 3-Kevin Brooks[4]; 3. 27-Ricky Heine[7]; 4. 08-Bill Earley[3]; 5. 17-Race Loving[2]; 6. 32-Brice Thomsen[1]; 7. 5-Ben Tunny[8]; 8. 3D-Steve Durham[6]; 9. 87-Matt Smith[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Kevin Brooks[4]; 2. 17-Race Loving[2]; 3. 32-Brice Thomsen[1]; 4. 08-Bill Earley[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3D-Steve Durham[2]; 2. 5-Ben Tunny[4]; 3. 27-Ricky Heine[3]; 4. 87-Matt Smith[5]; 5. 28-Jeffery Schakelford[1]

Qualifying 1: 1. 5-Ben Tunny, 00:17.812[9]; 2. 27-Ricky Heine, 00:18.304[4]; 3. 3D-Steve Durham, 00:18.317[2]; 4. 28-Jeffery Schakelford, 00:18.334[6]; 5. 3-Kevin Brooks, 00:18.432[1]; 6. 08-Bill Earley, 00:18.592[3]; 7. 17-Race Loving, 00:19.061[5]; 8. 32-Brice Thomsen, 00:19.685[8]; 9. (DNS) 87-Matt Smith

8 entries

Mini F8

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 85-Garrett Fox[5]; 2. 28-Ray Hopson[4]; 3. 33-Jeff Smith[2]; 4. 12-Victor Rybolt[3]; 5. 19-Ryan Krugler[8]; 6. 01-Matt Smith[1]; 7. 49-Steve Vickers[6]; 8. 8-Cody Mason[7]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Matt Smith[3]; 2. 33-Jeff Smith[4]; 3. 19-Ryan Krugler[1]; 4. (DNS) 8-Cody Mason

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Victor Rybolt[1]; 2. 85-Garrett Fox[3]; 3. 49-Steve Vickers[4]; 4. 28-Ray Hopson[2]

Qualifying 1: 1. 49-Steve Vickers, 00:19.378[7]; 2. 85-Garrett Fox, 00:19.489[1]; 3. 28-Ray Hopson, 00:19.772[2]; 4. 12-Victor Rybolt, 00:19.798[5]; 5. 33-Jeff Smith, 00:20.222[6]; 6. 01-Matt Smith, 00:20.263[8]; 7. 8-Cody Mason, 00:20.782[4]; 8. 19-Ryan Krugler, 00:20.843[3]