By T.J. Buffenbarger
Quincy, MI – Kenny Jacobs led wire to wire in Saturday night’s All Star Circuit of Champions feature at the Butler Battlegrounds in Quincy, Michigan. This was Kenny’s fourth All Star win of the season, and the first ever win for car owner Tim Hughes in the state of Michigan after having terrible luck in the Wolverine State.
“The race car was work working really well. Jackson, Todd Palmer, and Tim Hughes just gave me a heck of a race car. Starting on the front row really meant a lot tonight because it was real hard to pass on and the lap cars were really hard to pass” Kenny said in victory lane. “I can’t say enough about this J&J, Kriner Engine’s, Goodyear, Pro Shocks car. It’s been a great car to drive this season.”
Local driver Jerry Slade had his Cargo Mate sponsored Gambler in the ButlerBuilt hot seat pole position with Kenny Jacobs on the outside. Kenny took the lead at the start with fourth starting Kelly Kinser following Jacobs through into second position. The caution flagged waved for the first time on lap to when Raymond Shank spun in turn two.
Kenny Jacobs pulled away on the restart, but Keith Kauffman was beginning to charge through the pack after loosing several positions during the start. Kauffman moved Warren Johnson’s United Expressline Domelt car past Jerry Slade into the third position and began to work on Kelly Kinser. Then the yellow flag came out again for another spin by Raymond Shank in turn one. Shank then retired from the event.
During the restart on the front stretch Kauffman began to challenge Kinser for the second position. Kauffman was able to overtake Kinser on lap five. While this battle raged for the second position Dean Jacobs and Joey Saldana were fighting for the fourth position and were closing in on Kinser. While trying to overtake Saldana Dean Jacobs then slid off the track, but stayed under power and only lost two spots. With the cars behind him racing for position, Kenny Jacobs began picking his way through the lapped cars.
Then on Lap 11 GMP Rookie of the Year candidates Scott Jones and Brett Mann got together in turn two to bring out the caution. Kenny had the lapped cars of Brian Smith and Mark Aldrich between himself and Kauffman. Kenny Jacobs and Kauffman were able to break away on the restart while Joey Saldana moved his Steve Mox owned Stealth car to challenge Kinser for the third position.
Two more cautions on laps 12 and 15 for Eric Slade’s spin in turn to and Charlie Baker and Doug Zimmerman getting together in turn four necessitated a red flag fuel stop during the halfway point of the event. After the fuel stop Kauffman looked to the low side to get around Jacobs, but Kenny just motored away to a five car length lead. On lap 17 Saldana was able to move past Kinser down low for the third position. Kauffman again went down low on Jacobs again in lapped traffic, but Jacobs once again found a better way through the traffic and increased the distance between himself and Kauffman.
After Jacobs pulled away from Kauffman, Saldana began to challenge for the second position. Also a great race for the fourth position was heating up between Dean Jacobs and 7th starting Frankie Kerr. Then the caution flag appeared again for pole sitter Jerry Slade after he spun in the third corner. Slade was able to restart.
Kenny Jacobs was able to get a great run on the last restart and pulled away from the rest of the field. The positions behind him though were being hotly contested. Kauffman and Saldana continued to race for the second position, but the best battle on the track was for the fifth, sixth, and seventh positions with Dean Jacobs, Kerr, and Butler points leader Chuck Wilson. Kerr and Jacobs were running side by side when Dean slipped high in turn two. This allowed Wilson to get by for sixth, and moved by Kerr on the next lap to overtake fifth position with two laps to go.
With all of drivers racing for position behind him, Kenny Jacobs cruised to the checkered flag. Kauffman, Saldana, Kinser, Wilson, Kerr, Dean Jacobs, Van Gurley, Jr, Ken Mackey, and John Wisbon rounded out the top ten.
Dean Jacobs set a new track record with a lap of 13.248 seconds around the 3/8 mile oval. Jason Blonde won the United Expressline heat race, Saldana won the Southwest Expressline heat, Jones won the Southwest Glass heat, and Brian Smith won the United Specialties heat. The Commercial truck and trailer dash was won by Kauffman, and Doug Zimmerman won the Untied Expressline B-Main event.
Summary:
Time Trials
1. Dean Jacobs, Ashworth 92, 13.248 NTR; 2. Joey Saldana, Mox 17, 13.322; 3. Kelly Kinser, Kinser 4k, 13.433; 4. Keith Kauffman, Johnson U2, 13.521; 5. Kenny Jacobs, Hughes 94, 13.560; 6. Jerry Slade, CW Motorsports 1cw, 13.753; 7. Frankier Kerr, Shoff 23s, 13.802; 8. Van Gurley, Jr., Bible 22, 13.808; 9. Tim Kern, Kern 28, 13.960; 10. Chuck Wilson, Wilson 31, 13.986; 11. Scott Jones, Jones 13, 14.026; 12 Brett Mann, Mann 19, 14.118; 13. Raymond Shank, Shank 7x, 14.152; 14. Eric Slade, Burmister 16, 14.259; 15. Jay Rohrback, Rohrback 22, 14.259; 16. Ken Mackey, Mackey 25m, 14.281; 17. Jason Blonde, Blonde 10, 14.289; 18. Fred Boso, Boso 7, 14.345; 19. John Wisbon, Wisbon 5w, 14.372; 20. Brian Smith, Smith 2+, 14.408, 21. Steve Suever, Suever 36s, 14.466; 22. Mike Zimmerman, Zimmerman 19, 14.535; 23. Ronnie Beale, Bottles 3, 14.667; 24. Mark Aldrich, Sanders 1a, 14.746; 25. Charlie Baker, Baker 1c, 14.771; 26. Jeff Rankin, Rankin 4f, 14.841; 27. Duane Mackey, Mackey 25, 15.678; 28. Roger Spieth, Spieth 83, 15.727; 29. Jerry Evilsizer, Evilsizer 15.836; 30 Keith Stepke, Stepke 60, 15.894; 31. Tim Evilsizer, Evilsizer 9e, 16.059; 32. Check Mohr, Mohr 64, 16.365.
United Expressline Heat: Blonde, D. Jacobs, Suever, Shank, D. Jacobs, Kern, Baker, J. Evilsizer.
Southwest Expressline Heat: Saldana, Wilson, Boso, E. Slade, J. Slade, Rankin, Zimmerman, Stepke.
Southwest Glass Heat: Jones, Wisbon, Kerr, Kinser, Beale, D. Mackey T. Evilsizer, DNS-Rohrback.
United Specialties Heat: Smith, K. Mackey, Kauffman, Mann, Gurley, Aldrich, Spieth, Mohr.
Commercial Truck and Trailer Dash: Kauffman, K. Jacobs, Saldana, D. Jacobs, Kerr, Jones.
United Expressline B-Main: Zimmerman, Aldrich, Beale, Mackey, Spieth, J. Evilsizer, Mohr, T. Evilsizer, Rankin, Stepke, Kern.
A-Main: K. Jacobs, Kauffman, Saldana, Kinser, Wilson, Kerr, D. Jacobs, Gurley, K. Mackey, Wisbon, Mann, J. Slade, Zimmerman, Jones, Smith, Baker, Boso, Suever, Beale, Blonde, Aldrich, E. Slade, D. Mackey, Shank.