From Bob Fricke
When Limaland Motorsports Park’s all-time leader in sprint car feature wins takes top honors in the season opener in April, it might be safe to assume there’ll a handful of other conquests before the middle of August in the same season. In racing, it’s never been safe to assume anything as every win is to be appreciated, especially in the ultra-competitive sprint car division at Limaland Motorsports Park.
For veteran campaigner Tim Allison, a victory in the Engine Pro/NRA Sprint Invaders / 305 Challenge 25-lap feature was extra important as he broke a long dry spell and honored a family member. “The season started off good for us and then it got a little rocky with some stupid stuff,” blurted the long-ago nicknamed “Mr. Excitement. “I want to dedicate this to my father-in-law as he had open heart surgery today.”
Allison took his familiar #11 car to the front at the start, despite starting on the inside of row two. A position penalty against Jeff Williams for an improper start allowed Ron Blair to take the race lead on a restart with the full 25-laps remaining. Blair ran strong with Allison and Todd Heuerrman in hot pursuit through the early laps.
By the fifth circuit, Blair was working through lapped traffic and most apparent was the movement of Tim Hunter who had stormed from the inside of row four to fourth position. Hunter had finished runner-up the previous two weeks was threatening again prior to the mid point of the main event.
On lap 13, Tim Allison had successfully set up Blair for the defining pass on the inside of turn two. The caution came out shortly thereafter leaving Allison in the lead with Tim Hunter and Blair the top three running sprints. A restart on lap 14 only lasted for an additional lap as Dallas Hewitt became out of shape and on his side in turn two just one lap later.
Finally, a restart on lap 15 established the field behind Allison as Tim Hunter was now clearly the chief competitor for race supremacy. Allison didn’t hesitate to run the cushion as fast and hard as he could to get through the remaining ten laps. Another caution period, this time on lap 23 triggered by a Todd Heuerman spin, set up a final two lap dash for the feature win.
Michigan ace Dustin Daggett had moved from his 6th row starting position to third in the running order and in a spot to challenge for the win with two laps remaining. Any hopes either Blair or Daggett would threaten Tim Allison were quickly dashed as the veteran was in total control on the restart and roared to the popular victory. It marked the 27th win for Alllison in the 13 years of UNOH ownership of Limaland Motorsports Park. Allison himself declared it to be his 97th career win at various tracks during his stellar sprint car racing career. Tim Hunter held on for a third consecutive runner-up finish while Blair took third.
Limaland Motorsports Park – 8/13/2010
Cappie Sportswear Night
Engine Pro NRA Sprints
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. B20-Butch Schroeder; 2. 22D-Dennis Yoakam; 3. 35-Ron Blair; 4. 40-Bobby Clark; 5. 27-Paige Polyak; 6. 19R-Steven Rando; 7. 2-Brent Gehr; 8. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.; 9. 1W-Kent Wolters
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 35B-Stuart Brubaker; 2. 7K-Kyle Sauder; 3. 5W-Jeff Williams; 4. 28H-Hud Horton; 5. OO-Ryan Grubaugh; 6. 17-Jared Horstman; 7. 7M-Justin Martin; 8. 21-Travis Hery; 9. 10J-Jarrod Delong
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 2H-Dallas Hewitt; 2. 18-Todd Heuerman; 3. 2M-Dustin Daggett; 4. 12-Caleb Griffith; 5. 94-John Ivy; 6. 47-Caleb Helms; 7. 22DH-Dan Hammond; 8. 48-Tommy Kerce; 9. 32M-Derek Hastings
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 7C-Tim Hunter; 2. 11-Tim Allison; 3. 6S-Jr Stewart; 4. 6-Mike Dussel; 5. 7-Mike Dunlap; 6. 53-Phil Gressman; 7. 2MH-Ethan Hoy; 8. 24-Jermey Keegan
B-Main #1 – (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer)
1. OO-Ryan Grubaugh; 2. 17-Jared Horstman; 3. 27-Paige Polyak; 4. 7M-Justin Martin; 5. 9R-Steven Rando; 6. 21-Travis Hery; 7. 4J-Bob Gehr Jr.; 8. 2-Brent Gehr; 9. 10J-Jarrod Delong
B-Main #2 – (10 Laps – Top 3 Transfer)
1. 94-John Ivy; 2. 47-Caleb Helms; 3. 53-Phil Gressman; 4. 24-Jermey Keegan; 5. 22DH-Dan Hammond; 6. 2MH-Ethan Hoy; 7. 7-Mike Dunlap; 8. 48-Tommy Kerce; 9. 32M-Derek Hastings
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 11-Tim Allison[3]; 2. 7C-Tim Hunter[7]; 3. 35-Ron Blair[2]; 4. 2M-Dustin Daggett[11]; 5. B20-Butch Schroeder[10]; 6. 7K-Kyle Sauder[5]; 7. 6S-Jr Stewart[12]; 8. 22D-Dennis Yoakam[6]; 9. 6-Mike Dussel[16]; 10. 28H-Hud Horton[14]; 11. 5W-Jeff Williams[1]; 12. OO-Ryan Grubaugh[17]; 13. 17-Jared Horstman[19]; 14. 40-Bobby Clark[13]; 15. 12-Caleb Griffith[15]; 16. 53-Phil Gressman[22]; 17. 35B-Stuart Brubaker[9]; 18. 47-Caleb Helms[20]; 19. 94-John Ivy[18]; 20. 18-Todd Heuerman[4]; 21. 2H-Dallas Hewitt[8]; 22. 27-Paige Polyak[21]