From Brian Liskai
ORRVILLE, Ohio – (6-21-10) – There’s a lot of history with Wayne County Speedway and Ohio Sprint Speedweek. And now Dale Blaney is a big part of that history. The Hartford, Ohio driver led all 30 laps to claim night #4 at Wayne County Speedway for his 75th career O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions feature.
For Blaney, a four-time Ohio Speedweek champion, it was his second consecutive victory, as he won Sunday at Millstream Speedway.
“It was just our night. We qualified well and got to start up front and that was the key. This car has just been great lately. George (Fisher, owner) and Troy (Psurny) have been working hard and I have a lot of confidence now,” said Blaney, a three-time All Star champion beside his Ti22 Performance backed #22.
Blaney, who sits second on the All Star’s career win list, is behind Kenny Jacobs, who has 97 victories. Jacobs’ grandfather Pete, was one of the founders of Wayne County Speedway. Kenny was on hand Monday night.
The story of the night – despite Blaney’s win – was the second place finish of Australian Matthew Reed. Never having been to the historical Wayne County Speedway, he was the fast qualifier and finished second in the feature.
“I’ve never raced on a fast, slick track like this. It demands a lot of patience, and I learned a lot tonight,” said Reed beside his Centastate Civil Contractors backed #V92.
California’s Tyler Walker was one of the few drivers to move off the bottom of the track. Driving to the middle on a lap 19 restart, he would get past Bill Rose on lap 21 and would bring the Keen Motorsports #17 home in third.
“I don’t get to race on tracks like this, but I’ve learned a lot. I got my start at the Ohio tracks with Jac Haudenschild and to get a top three at a place where he started is awesome,” said Walker beside his Hunters Truck Sales, Peterbuilt backed sprinter.
At the drop of green for the 30 laps feature – at a track that has been a steady stop over the 28 years of the Ohio Sprint Speedweek – Blaney would jump into the lead with Reed, Rose, Stevie Smith and Gary Wright in tow. The first caution would fly on lap five for a Jamie Miller spin. Blaney would flex his muscle and pull away on the restart while Reed held of Rose.
The momentum of the race suffered on lap 11 with a spat of cautions – four in a row in fact. However, it kept Blaney out of lapped traffic and gave him a clear track, which he would utilize to his advantage to pull away. Reed, however, had his hands full with Rose and Smith for second while Walker was patient in fifth with Gary Wright in sixth.
The final caution would fly on lap 18 with the running order Blaney, Reed, Rose, Smith, Walker, Wright, Byron Reed and David Gravel. On the restart, Blaney would once again pull away with Reed comfortably in second while Walker went to the middle of the track to battle Rose for third. Walker’s move would pay off on lap 22, but he could not get close to Reed.
Blaney would take the checkered in front of the huge crowd with Reed, Walker, Rose and Smith rounding out the top five.
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. V92-Matthew Reed, 17.963; 2. 2-Dale Blaney, 18.165; 3. 1-Stevie Smith, 18.170; 4. 5-Byron Reed, 18.182; 5. 45-Rob Chaney, 18.206; 6. 6-Bill Rose, 18.236; 7. 9X-Gary Wright, 18.239; 8. 17-Tyler Walker, 18.324; 9. 89G-David Gravel, 18.346; 10. 5M-Jamie Miller, 18.370; 11. W20-Greg Wilson, 18.380; 12. 11D-Bryce Dickson, 18.452; 13. 0-Brandon Wimmer, 18.452; 14. 16-Danny Mumaw, 18.454; 15. 9-Ryan Myers, 18.460; 16. 22-Cole Duncan, 18.577; 17. 15H-Mitch Harble, 18.579; 18. 24M-Lee Jacobs, 18.613; 19. 12-Jared Ridge, 18.664; 20. 0M-Bill Morrison, 18.696; 21. 60-Kory Crabtree, 18.702; 22. 91-Aaron Middaugh, 18.718; 23. 97-Dean Jacobs, 18.740; 24. X-Mark Keegan, 18.745; 25. 83-Tim Shaffer, 18.753; 26. 47-Caleb Helms, 18.825; 27. 14-Aaron Fry, 18.898; 28. 3J-Kevin Lee, 18.903; 29. 15C-Chris Andrews, 18.931; 30. D12-Jason Dolick, 19.172; 31. O4-Cap Henry, 19.192; 32. 5T-Travis Philo, 19.218; 33. 71AU-Matt Butler, 19.451; 34. 6Z-Zack Ames, 19.875; 35. 38K-Duffy Smith, 99.999
Heat 1 – MSD Ignition (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 60-Kory Crabtree; 2. 0-Brandon Wimmer; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer; 4. 89G-David Gravel; 5. V92-Matthew Reed; 6. 45-Rob Chaney; 7. 15C-Chris Andrews; 8. 71AU-Matt Butler; 9. 15H-Mitch Harble
Heat 2 – Kears Speed Shop (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 24M-Lee Jacobs; 2. 5M-Jamie Miller; 3. 2-Dale Blaney; 4. 6-Bill Rose; 5. 16-Danny Mumaw; 6. 91-Aaron Middaugh; 7. D12-Jason Dolick; 8. 47-Caleb Helms; 9. 6Z-Zack Ames
Heat 3 – All Pro Heads (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs; 2. W20-Greg Wilson; 3. 9X-Gary Wright; 4. 9-Ryan Myers; 5. 1-Stevie Smith; 6. O4-Cap Henry; 7. 12-Jared Ridge; 8. 38K-Duffy Smith; 9. 14-Aaron Fry
Heat 4 – Outerwears Performance Products (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. X-Mark Keegan; 2. 17-Tyler Walker; 3. 0M-Bill Morrison; 4. 5-Byron Reed; 5. 3J-Kevin Lee; 6. 5T-Travis Philo; 7. 11D-Bryce Dickson; 8. 22-Cole Duncan
Dash – Rubbn’ Repair (6 Laps – Top – Transfer)
1. 17-Tyler Walker; 2. 6-Bill Rose; 3. 1-Stevie Smith; 4. 5-Byron Reed; 5. W20-Greg Wilson; 6. 89G-David Gravel
B-Main –
University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 45-Rob Chaney; 2. 11D-Bryce Dickson; 3. 22-Cole Duncan; 4. O4-Cap Henry; 5. 91-Aaron Middaugh; 6. 15C-Chris Andrews; 7. 12-Jared Ridge; 8. 38K-Duffy Smith; 9. 5T-Travis Philo; 10. 71AU-Matt Butler; 11. 14-Aaron Fry; 12. 6Z-Zack Ames; 13. 15H-Mitch Harble; 14. D12-Jason Dolick; 15. 47-Caleb Helms
A-Main – O’Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 2-Dale Blaney[2]; 2. V92-Matthew Reed[1]; 3. 17-Tyler Walker[7]; 4. 6-Bill Rose[4]; 5. 1-Stevie Smith[3]; 6. 9X-Gary Wright[5]; 7. 5R-Gary Wright[5]; 8. 89G-David Gravel[8]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson[10]; 10. 83-Tim Shaffer[22]; 11. 0-Brandon Wimmer[13]; 12. 97-Dean Jacobs[20]; 13. 45-Rob Chaney[11]; 14. 24-Rob Chaney[11]; 15. O4-Cap Henry[24]; 16. 60-Kory Crabtree[19]; 17. 9-Ryan Myers[15]; 18. 16-Danny Mumaw[14]; 19. X-Mark Keegan[21]; 20. 12-Jared Ridge[21]; 21. 5M-Jamie Miller[9]; 22. 22-Cole Duncan[16]; 23. 3J-Kevin Lee[23]; 24. 0M-Bill Morrison[18]