By Lonnie Wheatley, Mike Horne photo
TAMPA, Fla. (February 25, 2010) – Tim Shaffer kicked off the “Kings” portion of East Bay Raceway Park’s 34th Annual Winter Nationals by racing to victory lane in Thursday night’s 25-lap American Sprint Car Series Rebel Region preliminary main event.
Working forward from the seventh starting position, the Aliquippa, PA, shoe took the lead away from Canadian Lou Kennedy, Jr., on the 18th round en route to snaring just his second career overall ASCS feature win.
After Greg Leonard and Lucas Oil Sprint Car contender Darren Long diced for the point over the opening half dozen circuits, Manitoba’s Kennedy took command on the seventh round.
Shaffer was on the move in his No. 83 entry though, disposing of Kennedy for the point and pacing the final eight rounds to put himself in the driver’s seat for Saturday night’s Ninth Annual Ronald Laney Memorial, which boasts a winner’s share inflated to $14,500.
Kennedy chased Shaffer to the line, with Ohio’s Greg Wilson in the show position and Pennsylvania’s Mark Smith in fourth.
After cutting a tire on the opening circuit, two-time “Kings” winner Gary Wright of Hooks, TX, rallied through the field to round out the top five, with the balance of the top ten including 15th-starter Travis Rilat, Danny Smith, 17th-starter Tony Bruce, Jr., Darren Long and Sport Allen.
Defending Ronald Laney Memorial winner Jesse Hockett rebounded from heat race woes to finish eleventh in the main event after earning a transfer through “B” Main action.
Wayne Johnson, Shaffer, Long and Kennedy topped heat race action for the 43-car field, with Rilat, Glenn Styres and Bruce, Jr., winning the “B” Mains.
American Sprint Car Series Rebel Region Thursday Night Results from East Bay Raceway Park’s 34th Annual Winter Nationals:
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 0x-Wayne Johnson, 2. 3-Greg Leonard, 3. 7m-Mark Smith, 4. 0-Glenn Styres, 5. 6s-Jessica Zemken, 6. 4m-Michael Miller, 7. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 8. 47-Caleb Helms, 9. 35-Jared Zimbardi, 10. 3b-Brad Greer, 11. 09-Timmy Thrash.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 83-Tim Shaffer, 2. d12-Danny Smith, 3. 98x-J.D. Johnson, 4. 98-Joe Ramaker, 5. 4c-Tyler Godwin, 6. 92-Matt Kurtz, 7. 29-Travis Rilat, 8. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 9. 22d-Bruce DeWick, 10. 11-Carl Zamboni, 11. 33-Stewart Friesen.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 3g-Darren Long, 2. 81-Sport Allen, 3. 9x-Gary Wright, 4. 12-Tim Kelly, 5. 11T-T.J. Winegardner, 6. 82-A.J. Maddox, 7. 2b-Frank Beck III, 8. 24-Jeff VanDusen, 9. 8x-Chris Williams, 10. 88-Shane Kreidler, 11. 21T-T.J. Luedke.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 2. W20-Greg Wilson, 3. 02-Gene Lasker, 4. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 5. A12-Tommy Worley, Jr., 6. 6-Mike Schroeder, 7. 48-David Brown, 8. 20-Frank Carlsson, 9. 75-Jesse Hockett, 10. 00-Michael Dupuy.
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 75-Jesse Hockett, 3. 00-Michael Dupuy, 4. 33-Stewart Friesen, 5. 12-Tim Kelly, 6. 35-Jared Zimbardi, 7. 47-Caleb Helms, 8. 82-A.J. Maddox, 9. 2b-Frank Beck III. DNS: 02-Gene Lasker.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 0-Glenn Styres, 2. 4m-Michael Miller, 3. 98-Joe Ramaker, 4. 24-Jeff VanDusen, 5. 6s-Jessica Zemken, 6. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 7. 21T-T.J. Luedke, 8. 09-Timmy Thrash, 9. 22d-Bruce DeWick, 10. 11-Carl Zamboni.
Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 12x-Doc Sloan, 3. 92-Matt Kurtz, 4. 8x-Chris Williams, 5. 6-Mike Schroeder, 6. 3b-Brad Greer, 7. 20-Frank Carlsson, 8. 48-David Brown, 9. 88-Shane Kreidler.
“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 83-Tim Shaffer, 2. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 3. W20-Greg Wilson, 4. 7m-Mark Smith, 5. 9x-Gary Wright, 6. 29-Travis Rilat, 7. D12-Danny Smith, 8. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 9. 3g-Darren Long, 10. 81-Sport Allen, 11. 75-Jesse Hockett, 12. 4m-Michael Miller, 13. 98x-J.D. Johnson, 14. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 15. 0-Glenn Styres, 16. 0x-Wayne Johnson, 17. 3-Greg Leonard, 18. 11T-T.J. Winegardner, 19. A12-Tommy Worley, Jr., 20. 4c-Tyler Godwin.
ASCS Rebel Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Tim Shaffer 50, 2. Lou Kennedy, Jr. 48, 3. Greg Wilson 47, 4. Mark Smith 46, 5. Gary Wright 45, 6. Travis Rilat 44, 7. Danny Smith 43, 8. Tony Bruce, Jr. 42, 9. Darren Long 41, 10. Sport Allen 40.