By Brian Liskai
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – – 7/3/10- The annual event is called
“The Night the Stars Come Out” at KC Raceway, and Hartford, Ohio’s Dale
Blaney proved he has “star power” as he dominated the 30-lap O’Reilly Auto
Parts All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car feature Saturday, July 3.
The win is Blaney’s fourth All Star victory in 2010 – all coming in the
last month of racing. And how fitting it was for the “Low Rider” to secure
his 76th career All Star win on the Fourth of July weekend!
Blaney held off several late races challenges from defending All Star
champion and current point leader Tim Shaffer to secure the win aboard his
Ti22 Performance Parts backed #2. The win at KC is especially meaningful to
Blaney’s car owner, George Fisher, who used to call the track home during
his own sprint car racing days.
The race got off to a bad start when Mark Imler suffered mechanical woes on
the initial green, stopping on the track. On the restart, Dallas Hewitt
took a tumble in turn three. The third time was the charm to get the A-main
rolling, with outside pole-sitter Blaney getting the jump on Jimmy Stinson.
As Blaney pulled away utilizing the top groove, Shaffer moved into second
on the bottom. Young Cale Conley blasted his way into third from his 7th
starting position while Kyle Sauder on his rear bumper.
On lap 8 Stinson got sideways in turns three and four, collecting the cars
of Ohio Speedweek champion David Gravel and Sheldon Haudenschild. With a
clear track ahead, Blaney would pull away slightly, but that lead
evaporated when he hit lapped traffic on lap 17. Blaney would have to be
patient with the lapped machines as they raced side-by-side ahead of him.
This allowed Shaffer to close to Blaney’s rear bumper with 11 laps to go.
Meanwhile behind the front duo, things were heating up for third with
Conley, Sauder, 10th starter Randy “The Hurricane” Hannagan and 12th
starter Greg Wilson.
Just as it appeared the battle for the lead would heat up, the caution
would fly on lap 25 when Kody Kinser suffered front end problems, coming to
a rest along the inside front stretch. With clean air and a clear track
ahead, Blaney would cruise to the victory over Shaffer, Hannagan, Conley
and Sauder.
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 84-Jimmy Stinson, 11.755; 2. 22-Cole Duncan, 11.789; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer,
11.837; 4. 89G-David Gravel, 11.895; 5. 2-Dale Blaney, 11.905; 6. 7K-Kyle
Sauder, 11.906; 7. 35-Ronnie Blair, 11.925; 8. 3C-Cale Conley, 11.935; 9.
OO-Jim Neir, 11.982; 10. 4K-Kody Kinser, 11.990; 11. 1X-Randy Hannagan,
12.042; 12. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.171; 13. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.197;
14. 6X-Nick Nabor, 12.373; 15. 56R-Ryan Myers, 12.386; 16. 11M-Brandon
Martin, 12.510; 17. 6-Bill Rose, 12.551; 18. 15H-Mitch Harble, 12.579; 19.
1B-Keith Baxter, 12.718; 20. 39-Alec Martin, 12.722; 21. 11N-Ed Neumeister,
12.788; 22. 60C-Kory Crabtree, 12.893; 23. 40-Mark Imler, 12.917; 24.
2H-Dallas Hewitt, 12.925; 25. 78L-Kirk Jeffries, 13.065; 26. 12-Jared
Ridge, 13.173; 27. O6-Brandy Bower, 13.189; 28. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton,
13.361; 29. 9J-Jesse McCreary, 13.602; 30. 41-Randy Fink, 13.705; 31.
4X-Eddie Slone, 13.953; 32. 13-Wes McGlumphy, 14.183; 33. 3F-Rick Fraley,
14.699; 34. 5H-Jordan Harble, 15.096; 35. 28-Todd Kane, 99.000; 36. O4-Cap
Henry, 99.000
Heat 1 – MSD Ignition (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 6-Bill Rose; 2. OO-Jim Neir; 3. 84-Jimmy Stinson; 4. 93-Sheldon
Haudenschild; 5. 2-Dale Blaney; 6. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 7. 78L-Kirk Jeffries;
8. 9J-Jesse McCreary; 9. 3F-Rick Fraley
Heat 2 – Kear’s Speed Shop (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 4K-Kody Kinser; 2. 6X-Nick Nabor; 3. 22-Cole Duncan; 4. 7K-Kyle Sauder;
5. 60C-Kory Crabtree; 6. 12-Jared Ridge; 7. 41-Randy Fink; 8. 5H-Jordan
Harble; 9. 15H-Mitch Harble
Heat 3 – All Pro Heads (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 1B-Keith Baxter; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer; 3. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 4. 40-Mark
Imler; 5. 56R-Ryan Myers; 6. 4X-Eddie Slone; 7. 35-Ronnie Blair; 8.
O6-Brandy Bower; 9. 28-Todd Kane
Heat 4 – Outerwear’s Performance Products (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 2H-Dallas Hewitt; 2. W20-Greg Wilson; 3. 11M-Brandon Martin; 4. 3C-Cale
Conley; 5. 89G-David Gravel; 6. 39-Alec Martin; 7. 13-Wes McGlumphy; 8.
22T-Miranda Throckmorton; 9. O4-Cap Henry
B-Main – UNOH (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 35-Ronnie Blair; 2. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 3. 39-Alec Martin; 4. 78L-Kirk
Jeffries; 5. O6-Brandy Bower; 6. 9J-Jesse McCreary; 7. 4X-Eddie Slone; 8.
22T-Miranda Throckmorton; 9. 13-Wes McGlumphy; 10. 41-Randy Fink; 11.
3F-Rick Fraley; 12. 5H-Jordan Harble; 13. 12-Jared Ridge; 14. 28-Todd Kane;
15. 15H-Mitch Harble; 16. O4-Cap Henry
A-Main – O’Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 2-Dale Blaney[2]; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer[3]; 3. 1X-Randy Hannagan[10]; 4.
3C-Cale Conley[7]; 5. 7K-Kyle Sauder[4]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson[12]; 7. OO-Jim
Neir[8]; 8. 56R-Ryan Myers[15]; 9. 35-Ronnie Blair[11]; 10. 89G-David
Gravel[5]; 11. 1B-Keith Baxter[18]; 12. 60C-Kory Crabtree[21]; 13.
11M-Brandon Martin[16]; 14. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[13]; 15. 6-Bill
Rose[17]; 16. 39-Alec Martin[19]; 17. 40-Mark Imler[22]; 18. 4K-Kody
Kinser[9]; 19. 22-Cole Duncan[6]; 20. 84-Jimmy Stinson[1]; 21. 11N-Ed
Neumeister[20]; 22. 6X-Nick Nabor[14]; 23. 2H-Dallas Hewitt[23]; 24.
78L-Kirk Jeffries[24]