By Brian Liskai
– One of the hottest sprint car
drivers in the country the past two seasons, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania’s Tim
Shaffer continued his hot streak Sunday on the third night of racing at
Huset’s Speedway during the O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of
Champions Thunder Through the Plains tour. Shaffer, aboard the Aaron
Call/Janet Holbrook owned machine, won for the second consecutive night at
the fast 3/8th-mile South Dakota track.
The win is Shaffer’s eighth All Star victory of 2010 and his 27th career
win with the series as he continues to lead the point standings on route to
a second straight championship and the $50,000 top prize.
“It’s a great weekend for us. It started a little rough (he tangled with
another car Friday and ended the night in the pits), but it turned around.
The guys never quit working on it and gave me a great race car,” said
Shaffer beside his VRP Shocks, JRP Transportation, Kistler Engines, J&J
Chassis backed machine. “Sometimes it hurts you to be fast qualifier, but
we made it through the heat okay. We weren’t too good in the dash but Brian
(Kemenah, crew chief), Leonard and Bobby worked on it and got it great.”
Before the initial green, All Star regular Bill Rose would stall in turn
four, pulling into the infield. On the start Shaffer was on the gas,
followed by Tyler Walker. By the fifth circuit, Shaffer had pulled away to
a half a straight way lead over Walker with Jonathan Allard in third.
Shaffer was quickly into lapped traffic, allowing Walker to close by lap
eight as he raced to Shaffer’s inside. Shaffer and Walker would swap the
lead for the next several turns.
The battle would come to a halt on lap 10 when Clint Gardner’s machine
stopped on the track. On the restart it was Shaffer, Walker and Allard
battling for the lead, but it was brief, as Greg Wilson took a tumble in
turn two on lap 11. Shaffer would set sail again on the ensuing restart,
and his fast pace found “The Steel City Outlaw” in lapped traffic again
just two circuits later. Shaffer would pick off the back markers, putting
four of them between himself and Walker.
On lap 24, Walker slipped up the track, allowing Allard to steal second.
Shaffer would continue to cruise, taking the checkered. Meanwhile, Allard
would blow a tire in turn 3 on the last lap, handing second back to Walker,
with Tim Kaeding, Sammy Swindell and Kerry Madsen rounding out the top
five.
“When I hit lapped traffic the first time, I had a problem getting the wing
back and during the yellow I rolled it back pretty good and it made a big
difference in the car. It made it balanced really great and made it a lot
better for me to drive,” commented Shaffer about his Technique Roofing
backed #83.
For Walker, it was also a good weekend, as he posted a third place showing
on Friday.
“My guys keep doing everything right. I just keep screwing up. I don’t
know…I just can’t seem to do anything right. I can’t get this thing in
victory lane. I don’t know why,” said Walker beside his Peterbuilt, Hunter
Truck Sales backed #17. “I have the best car owners in the world in Jesse
and Lorraine Keen. I was loose. I had my wing all the way back about seven
laps into it so I knew if I didn’t try to get ahead of him quick I wouldn’t
have another chance and I didn’t. I blistered my right rear trying to race
with Tim and then I was just a sitting duck. Shaffer and these guys are on
top of their game and we got to try and do something to beat them.”
Huset’s Speedway was very kind to San Jose, California’s Tim Kaeding as he
never finished out of the top three over the three nights of racing.
“We were really good. Bonzi gave me a great car all weekend. I just kind of
played it conservative. Jonathan and Tyler were starting to race each other
a little rough there, pushing each other around. It was like hopefully
we’ll get a yellow here and we can at least save our tire a little bit. I
can’t complain, Dennis and Theresa Roth gave me a great race car and the
opportunity to come out here and have some fun. We rolled it in the top
three all three nights and got a win so I’m not going to complain one bit,”
said Kaeding beside his HR Cattle backed #83jr.
The Thunder Through the Plains continues Aug. 4 at Butler County Motorplex.
For more information go to www.allstarsprint.com
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 83-Tim Shaffer, 11.047; 2. O4-Cap Henry, 11.130; 3. 89G-David Gravel, 11.155; 4. OA-Jonathan Allard, 11.165; 5. 23W-Scott Winters, 11.188; 6. 83JR-Tim Kadeing, 11.197; 7. 17-Tyler Walker, 11.205; 8. 1-Sammy Swindell, 11.209; 9. 94-Zach Zimmerly, 11.235; 10. 99J-Jacob Ossenfort, 11.245; 11. 56-Johnn Cressman, 11.273; 12. 16-Travis Whitney, 11.293; 13. 3-Kerry Madsen, 11.320; 14. 57X-Jake Peters, 11.325; 15. 1X-Gregg Bakker, 11.333; 16. 40-Clint Garner, 11.360; 17. 12V-Lynton Jeffery, 11.407; 18. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 11.430; 19. 6-Bill Rose, 11.448; 20. 9X-Gary Wright, 11.463; 21. O-Brandon Wimmer, 11.465; 22. 98M-Mitch Olson, 11.490; 23. 33-Robby Wolfgang, 11.517; 24. W20-Greg Wilson, 11.553; 25. 18-Tony Bruce Jr., 11.555; 26. 101-Chuck McGillivray, 11.565; 27. 12- Jared Ridge, 11.600; 28. 4H-Cody Hanson, 11.622; 29. 14-Jody Rosenboom,11.676; 30. 12AU-Paul Jeffrey, 11.717; 31. 12L-John Lambertz, 11.725; 32. 96AU-Bruce White, 11.739; 33. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton, 11.750; 34. 1H-Jeremy Kerzman, 11.807
Heat 1 – MSD Ignition (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 12V-Lynton Jeffery; 2. O-Brandon Wimmer; 3. 3-Kerry Madsen; 4. 83-TimShaffer; 5. 23W-Scott Winters; 6. 94-Zach Zimmerly; 7. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.; 8. 14-Jody Rosenboom; 9. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton
Heat 2 – Kear’s Speed Shop (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 13-Mark Dobmeier; 2. 57X-Jake Peters; 3. 83JR-Tim Kadeing; 4. O4-Cap Henry; 5. 101-Chuck McGillivray; 6. 99J-Jacob Ossenfort; 7. 98M-Mitch Olson; 8. 12AU-Paul Jeffrey; 9. 1H-Jeremy Kerzman
Heat 3 – All Pro Heads (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 6-Bill Rose; 2. 56-Johnn Cressman; 3. 33-Robby Wolfgang; 4. 11X-Gregg Bakker; 5. 17-Tyler Walker; 6. 89G-David Gravel; 7. 12L-John Lambertz; 8. 12-Jared Ridge
Heat 4 – Outerwear’s Performance Products (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. W20-Greg Wilson; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell; 3. 9X-Gary Wright; 4. 40-Clint Garner; 5. OA-Jonathan Allard; 6. 16-Travis Whitney; 7. 4H-Cody Hanson; 8. 96AU-Bruce White
Dash – Rubbn’ Repair (6 Laps – Top – Transfer)
1. O4-Cap Henry; 2. 17-Tyler Walker; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer; 4. W20-Greg Wilson; 5. 6-Bill Rose [DNS]; 6. O-Brandon Wimmer [DNS]
B-Main – University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 94-Zach Zimmerly; 2. 89G-David Gravel; 3. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.; 4. 99J-Jacob Ossenfort; 5. 98M-Mitch Olson; 6. 12-Jared Ridge; 7. 14-Jody Rosenboom; 8. 12AU-Paul Jeffrey; 9. 4H-Cody Hanson; 10. 12L-John Lambertz; 11. 1H-Jeremy Kerzman; 12. 96AU-Bruce White; 13. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton; 14. 16-Travis Whitney
A-Main – O’Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. 17-Tyler Walker[3]; 3. 83JR-Tim Kadeing[6]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell[7]; 5. 3-Kerry Madsen[9]; 6. 23W-Scott Winters[4]; 7. 56-Johnn Cressman[8]; 8. 89G-David Gravel[11]; 9. O4-Cap Henry[5]; 10. 94-Zach Zimmerly[12]; 11. 57X-Jake Peters[10]; 12. 11X-Gregg Bakker[14]; 13. OA-Jonathan Allard[2]; 14. 12V-Lynton Jeffery[16]; 15. 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[23]; 16. 99J-Jacob Ossenfort[13]; 17. 33-Robby Wolfgang[21]; 18. 101-Chuck McGillivray[24]; 19. 13-Mark Dobmeier[17]; 20. O-Brandon Wimmer[20]; 21. W20-Greg Wilson[22]; 22. 40-Clint Garner[15]; 23. 9X- Gary Wright[19]; 24. 6-Bill Rose[18] [DNS]