From Brian Liskai
FINDLAY, Ohio – Dale Blaney had one goal coming into the 28th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek – win a fifth Speedweek championship. He took a big step toward that goal Sunday, winning night #3 at Millstream Speedway in a dominating performance on Kistler Engines/Kistler Racing Products Night.
It was the “Low Rider’s” 74th career O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions victory and his second at Millstream in the 51st appearance of the series at the track.
“It was great the modifieds ran first…they kind of cleaned off the track a little bit. I knew once it got cleaned you could run all over. You could run up or down. George said I was okay on that yellow so I was just running it smooth and easy,” said Blaney beside his Ti22 sponsored George Fisher Racing #2. “George and Troy (Psurney) are two awesome guys and they had the car really, really good tonight.”
Blaney, a three-time All Star champion, took the lead from Mike Linder on lap 9 and pulled away from the field. Only two late race cautions would slow his pace as he took the checkered over Phil Gressman, Lee Jacobs, Greg Wilson and Stevie Smith.
“I had some trouble with some lapped cars and I can’t be messing around once you get Dale out front…we needed to be right behind him. But all and all we had a good car. I’m happy with the guys and everyone’s hard work,” said Gressman beside his Genzman Racing, Level Performance, G&C Construction backed #53. “I feel like we’ve put together a pretty good team. I just don’t get a chance to go to enough All Star races, but we’ve got a good car and a good team and we’re going to stay focused on what we’re doing and keep working hard.”
Jacobs, who started eighth, hung around the top five most of the race.
“I had a good car from the get-go. I could pass cars on the top and the bottom. Aaron Hammer did a hell of a job tonight…the whole crew, Timmy, Kyle, Larry and Randy Hammer. Thanks to the whole Hammer family and the opportunity to drive their race car. For what they had to work with the track was unbelievably racy. It was a fun race track to race on,” said Jacobs beside his Hammer Pallets, Berlin Bakery Classic Turning Products backed #24H.
In the 20-lap Emod feature, Clarklake, Michigan’s Brian Ruhlman put on a dominating performance to take the win over Shawn Bayliff , Todd Sherman, Tony Anderson and Zachary Schroeder.
“I love this place. I’ve always run good here and the track was great tonight,” said Ruhlman.
At the drop of the green in the O’Reilly Auto Parts A-main, Mike Linder jumped into the lead with Stevie Smith, Blaney, Bill Rose and Gressman in tow. Linder would pull away until a Kevin Lee spin on lap three brought out the caution. Linder set sail on the ensuing with Blaney racing side-by-side with Smith for second, taking the position on lap four. Blaney caught Linder on lap 8 and raced to his outside in turns 3 and 4 to take the lead a lap later with Gressman getting by Smith for third.
While Blaney pulled away, Linder and Gressman battled for second while Rose and Smith raced each other tough for the fourth spot. Blaney hit lapped traffic by lap 13, but Gressman, who drove around Linder on lap 12 for second, could not close. By the half-way point, Blaney had a straight-away advantage over Gressman with Linder, Rose, Jacobs and Smith following. Rose would dispose of Linder on lap 17 for the third spot and closed in on Gressman. With Blaney picking his way through traffic, Gressman and Rose would swap the runner-up spot in every turn. Meanwhile hometown favorite Greg Wilson had marched his way forward from his 16th starting spot and moved into sixth by lap 20.
With five laps to go, Smith and Linder made contact with Linder coming to a stop exiting turn four for the second caution of the race. On the ensuing restart, Blaney had four lapped machines between himself and second place running Gressman, allowing him to pull away to a comfortable lead with a clear track. Jacobs would drive around Rose into third on lap 26, but could not close on Gressman as he battled lapped cars. Brandon Martin and Cap Henry would stop on lap 28 with flat tires, necessitating a green, white, checkered finish.
This time Blaney had two lapped machines between himself and Gressman and he once again pulled away for the victory.
During the evening, the drivers went through the stands and collected $3,860 from the very generous fans for injured sprint driver Danny Smith. Smith broke his back in a horrific crash at Attica Raceway Park on Friday and was scheduled for surgery Monday morning.
Millstream Speedway – 6/20/2010
Kistler Racing Products Night/Kistler Engines Night
AllStar Circuit of Champion’s 410 Sprints (35 Cars)
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 5R-Byron Reed, 15.175; 2. 89G-David Gravel, 15.306; 3. 2-Dale Blaney, 15.706; 4. 6-Bill Rose, 15.730; 5. 53-Phil Gressman, 15.740; 6. 1Z-Stevie Smith, 15.740; 7. 5M-Jamie Miller, 15.745; 8. 312-Mike Linder, 15.750; 9. 97-Dean Jacobs, 15.781; 10. 4K-Kody Kinser, 15.785; 11. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 15.812; 12. O4-Cap Henry, 15.813; 13. 24H-Lee Jacobs, 15.850; 14. 3J-Kevin Lee, 15.855; 15. 3C-Cale Conley, 15.867; 16. 11M-Brandon Martin, 15.877; 17. O-Brandon Wimmer, 15.884; 18. W20-Greg Wilson, 15.894; 19. 17-Tyler Walker, 15.924; 20. 11B-Brock Mayes, 15.969; 21. 28V-Shawn Valenti, 15.982; 22. 9X-Gary Wright, 16.002; 23. 45-Brian Lay, 16.015; 24. 15C-Chris Andrews, 16.033; 25. 9XC-Rob Chaney, 16.035; 26. 83-Tim Shaffer, 16.144; 27. 7K-Kyle Sauder, 16.162; 28. 27-Scott Euler, 16.240; 29. V92-Mathew Reed, 16.324; 30. 78-Todd Kane, 16.509; 31. 47-Caleb Helms, 16.510; 32. 14-Aaron Fry, 16.583; 33. 5T-Travis Philo, 16.633; 34. 15H-Mitch Harble, 16.846; 35. 12-Jarred Ridge, 25.306
Heat 1 – MSD Ignition (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. O-Brandon Wimmer; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs; 3. 53-Phil Gressman; 4. 9XC-Rob Chaney; 5. 24H-Lee Jacobs; 6. 5R-Byron Reed; 7. 5T-Travis Philo; 8. 28V-Shawn Valenti; 9. V92-Mathew Reed
Heat 2 – Kears Speedshop (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. W20-Greg Wilson; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer; 3. 9X-Gary Wright; 4. 3J-Kevin Lee; 5. 1Z-Stevie Smith; 6. 89G-David Gravel; 7. 4K-Kody Kinser; 8. 78-Todd Kane; 9. 15H-Mitch Harble
Heat 3 – All Pro Aliminum Heads (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 17-Tyler Walker; 2. 3C-Cale Conley; 3. 2-Dale Blaney; 4. 5M-Jamie Miller; 5. 45-Brian Lay; 6. 7K-Kyle Sauder; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild; 8. 47-Caleb Helms
Heat 4 – Outerwear’s Performance (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 11M-Brandon Martin; 2. 6-Bill Rose; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes; 4. 27-Scott Euler; 5. 312-Mike Linder; 6. O4-Cap Henry; 7. 15C-Chris Andrews; 8. 14-Aaron Fry
Dash – Rubbn’ Repair (6 Laps)
1. 24H-Lee Jacobs; 2. 6-Bill Rose; 3. 11M-Brandon Martin; 4. 1Z-Stevie Smith
B-Main – UNOH (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 89G-David Gravel; 2. 5R-Byron Reed; 3. 7K-Kyle Sauder; 4. O4-Cap Henry; 5. 28V-Shawn Valenti; 6. 78-Todd Kane; 7. 4K-Kody Kinser; 8. 47-Caleb Helms; 9. V92-Mathew Reed; 10. 12-Jarred Ridge; 11. 15C-Chris Andrews; 12. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild; 13. 5T-Travis Philo; 14. 14-Aaron Fry; 15. 15H-Mitch Harble
A-Main – O’Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 2-Dale Blaney[4]; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[5]; 3. 24H-Lee Jacobs[8]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson[16]; 5. 1Z-Stevie Smith[2]; 6. 6-Bill Rose[6]; 7. 89G-David Gravel[12]; 8. 11B-Brock Mayes[18]; 9. 97-Dean Jacobs[7]; 10. 83-Tim Shaffer[22]; 11. O-Brandon Wimmer[15]; 12. 17-Tyler Walker[17]; 13. 5R-Byron Reed[11]; 14. 11M-Brandon Martin[14]; 15. 3C-Cale Conley[10]; 16. 7K-Kyle Sauder[23]; 17. 27-Scott Euler[24]; 18. 3J-Kevin Lee[9]; 19. 9XC-Rob Chaney[21]; 20. 45-Brian Lay[20]; 21. O4-Cap Henry[13]; 22. 312-Mike Linder[1]; 23. 5M-Jamie Miller[3]; 24. 9X-Gary Wright[19]
Hard Charger: W20-Greg Wilson[+12]
UMP E-Mods (15 Cars)
Heat 1 – Computer Man (8 Laps )
1. 1-Brian Prezpiora; 2. 65-Todd Sherman; 3. 55S-Zachary Schroeder; 4. 20K-Bill Keeler; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson; 6. 17R-Nick Rosselit; 7. 31J-Ray Jackson; 8. 12-Tom Jacobs
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (8 Laps)
1. 49-Brian Ruhlman; 2. 45P-Brian Post; 3. 5X-Shawn Bayliff; 4. 22B-Andy Bibler; 5. 26-Scott Knapley; 6. 6-Dave Sibberson; 7. 13-Bill Stuttz
A-Main – (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 49-Brian Ruhlman[4]; 2. 5X-Shawn Bayliff[3]; 3. 65-Todd Sherman[7]; 4. 22T-Tony Anderson[9]; 5. 55S-Zachary Schroeder[8]; 6. 22B-Andy Bibler[6]; 7. 1-Brian Prezpiora[5]; 8. 17R-Nick Rosselit[11]; 9. 20K-Bill Keeler[2]; 10. 31J-Ray Jackson[13]; 11. 12-Tom Jacobs[15]; 12. 26-Scott Knapley[10]; 13. 45P-Brian Post[1]; 14. 13-Bill Stuttz[14]; 15. 6-Dave Sibberson[12]
Hard Charger: 22T-Tony Anderson[+5]