From Brian Liskai
FINDLAY, Ohio – As the sunset fell below the horizon Sunday, so did the 2010 dirt track racing season in Ohio, and Dale Blaney (410 sprints), Rick DeLong (late models) and Stuart Brubaker (305 sprints) took the final checkers at Millstream Speedway Sunday, Oct. 10.
Blaney drove the George Fisher Racing, Ti22 Performance Parts sprinter to a convincing victory over Randy Hannagan, Phil Gressman, Mike Linder and Cole Duncan.
“The sun was more tricky than anything today…last half of the race wasn’t too bad, but going off into turn four it was bad. My guys did a great job on the car. Ti22 is a great sponsor for us and glad to be here tonight,” said Blaney. “This new car is okay…we still have a little bit to do with it but we’ve been pretty fast with it. Hopefully we can build on something for next year and get better. I know we haven’t won as many races as we wanted to this year but hopefully next year we can get back and beat some guys.”
DeLong has caught fire the last month aboard his family owned #3 and won a thrilling late model feature Sunday after battling with Ron Miller, Ryan Missler, Jeff Babock and Devin Shiels throughout the 25 lap affair.
“A couple of weeks ago at the World 100 we had a great race and it put a little confidence back in us,” said DeLong beside his Hoosier Tire backed late model. “We’re ready to go to Charlotte! This is our big motor we’re really surprised it ran as good as it did on the slick…that’s the best its ever done. We got some stuff working on the chassis and it’s great.”
Brubaker, after winning the track title at Fremont Speedway, found himself without a ride, so he put his old car back together and it paid off.
“This thing has been a rocket…we’ve been saving it all summer,” joked Brubaker beside his Brubaker Auction Service backed #35. “I have to thank my new crew chief Donnie…this is our first night together. It’s the first night we had this old girl out and she’ll be back next year. I have to thank Aunt Dru, mom and dad, John Miller, Fuzzy and my wife, she’s been through thick and thin the past couple of months with us doing this team switch and I love her to death.”
Blaney would jump into the lead from his pole position with Dean Jacobs sliding into second and Greg Wilson powering from 10th to third in the opening lap. Caleb Helms would tip over on lap three to bring out the red with the running order Blaney, Jacobs, Wilson, Randy Hannagan, Phil Gressman and Cole Duncan.
On the restart, Blaney would pull away while Wilson executed a slider on Jacobs for second. Then the caution flew for a Scott Euler tangle. A lap and another caution for a Travis Philo spin. Then on the next restart, Wilson and Jacobs would tangle in turn two, which would put Hannagan into second and Gressman up to third. A lap and a caution for Cory Crabtree.
Blaney would use the clear track to pull away from Hannagan while Gressman and Mike Linder were locked in a good battle for third with Duncan, Todd Kane and Jamie Miller in tow. Blaney would hit lapped traffic by lap 13, and Hannagan slowly began to close while Gressman and Linder continued their fight for third. Just as Hannagan pulled to within two car lengths of Blaney on lap 23, Jarrod Delong would tag the wall and bring out the caution.
On the restart Blaney again pulled away from Hannagan and Gressman while Duncan would slide around Linder for fourth. Blaney would drive to the win over Hannagan and Gressman while Linder would move back around Duncan on lap 28 for fourth.
In the 25-lap late model feature, things got off to a rough start, with several cars deep in the starting field spinning as there were four cautions in the first three laps. Ron Miller would grab the early lead, but Ryan Missler, Jeff Babcock, George Lee and DeLong would make it a tremendous battle.
Miller would continue to lead – by a nose – as Babcock raced to his inside and Missler right on his rear bumper with DeLong making it a four car battle. By lap 7, Devin Shiels would join the fray as Babcock inched ahead of Miller for the lead. Miller would regain the top spot on lap 8 while DeLong moved by Missler for third.
Two quick cautions would bunch up the field with the running order Miller, Babock, DeLong, Missler, Shiels and Dona Morcoullier. The five car battle up front would soon become a six car fight as Brian Ruhlman joined the fun. DeLong would drive under both Miller and Babcock on lap 12 for the lead with Missler slipping past Babcock for third a lap later.
The caution would fly on lap 13 for a Chuck Desgrange spin, and DeLong used the ensuing restart to pull away slightly while Miller had his hands full with Missler, Shiels, Babcock and Ruhlman. That order stayed pat until lap 18 when Miller experienced mechanical woes and began to fade. As DeLong continued to lead, Missler would have to battle Shiels, Babcock and Ruhlman.
DeLong would drive away to the win with Missler holding on for second, followed by Shiels, Ruhlman and Babock.
Brubaker would grab the early lead from his pole starting spot in the 305 feature with Paige Polyak, Dean Jacobs, Chad Wilson and Paul Weaver in pursuit. Weaver would move into fourth on the second circuit and that remained the running order as Brubaker would hit lapped traffic by the lap six. With Brubaker comfortably out front, the battle for second picked up in traffic with Polyak, Jacobs and Weaver weaving in and out of lapped machines. Jacobs would tip over on lap eight, bringing the action to a half.
On the restart Brubaker once again pulled away with Polyak locked in a good battle with Weaver and Zack Kramer. The field had two more shots at Brubaker as a caution with two laps to go bunched up the competitors. Brubaker would drive away again from Polyak, Weaver and Kramer while Wilson, Jake Trevino and Jason Keckler waged a great race for fourth. As the white flew, another caution would mean a one lap dash to the finish, but Brubaker was just too strong as he drove to the win over Polyak, Weaver, Kramer and Trevino.
Millstream Speedway – 10/10/2010
R & R Auto Wrecking Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (25 Cars)
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 312-Mike Linder; 2. W20-Greg Wilson; 3. 2+-Brian Smith; 4. 10J-Jarrod Delong; 5. 12-Jarred Ridge; 6. 5T-Travis Philo; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild; 8. 9-Ryan Myers; 9. 43G-Chad Grear
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 26-Bryan Sebetto; 2. 4M-Jamie Miller; 3. 4-Cole Duncan; 4. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 5. 7C-Tim Hunter; 6. 78-Todd Kane; 7. 47-Caleb Helms
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 2-Dale Blaney; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs; 3. 27-Scott Euler; 4. 53-Phil Gressman; 5. 31-Chuck Wilson; 6. 32M-Derek Hasting; 7. 60C-Kory Crabtree; 8. 28-Shawn Valenti
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 6 Transfer)
1. 78-Todd Kane; 2. 60C-Kory Crabtree; 3. 5T-Travis Philo; 4. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild; 5. 47-Caleb Helms; 6. 28-Shawn Valenti; 7. 32M-Derek Hasting; 8. 43G-Chad Grear; 9. 9-Ryan Myers
A-Main – (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 2-Dale Blaney[1]; 2. 1X-Randy Hannagan[6]; 3. 53-Phil Gressman[5]; 4. 312-Mike Linder[7]; 5. 4-Cole Duncan[9]; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[4]; 7. 4M-Jamie Miller[2]; 8. 78-Todd Kane[15]; 9. 7C-Tim Hunter[13]; 10. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[18]; 11. 28-Shawn Valenti[20]; 12. 12-Jarred Ridge[12]; 13. 10J-Jarrod Delong[11]; 14. 60C-Kory Crabtree[16]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson[10]; 16. 97-Dean Jacobs[3]; 17. 5T-Travis Philo[17]; 18. 27-Scott Euler[8]; 19. 31-Chuck Wilson[14]; 20. 47-Caleb Helms[19]
Hard Charger: 28-Shawn Valenti[+9]
Super Late Models (24 Cars)
Heat 1 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 1-Jeff Babcock; 2. 49-Brian Ruhlman; 3. 61-George Lee; 4. 77-Steve Kester; 5. 48-John Bores; 6. 71JS-Joe Smith; 7. 3F-Brian Fisher; 8. 33-Don Gordon
Heat 2 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 3-Rick Delong; 2. 1N-Casey Noonan; 3. 35-Ron Miller; 4. 15B-Mike Bores; 5. 95-Chuck Desgrange; 6. 1B-Fred Wahl; 7. 2-Brian Orth; 8. 12D-Doug Drown
Heat 3 – Friendship Food Stores (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 50Y-Ryan Missler; 2. OJ-Ronnie Perrine Jr.; 3. 51-Devin Schiels; 4. 6M-Dona Morcoullier; 5. 71-Rusty Smith; 6. 35X-Craig Dippman; 7. 22-Kerry Rouse; 8. 7X-Scott Gunion
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 3-Rick Delong[7]; 2. 50Y-Ryan Missler[4]; 3. 51-Devin Schiels[10]; 4. 49-Brian Ruhlman[12]; 5. 1-Jeff Babcock[3]; 6. 1N-Casey Noonan[11]; 7. 6M-Dona Morcoullier[5]; 8. 61-George Lee[1]; 9. 77-Steve Kester[6]; 10. 15B-Mike Bores[8]; 11. 71-Rusty Smith[15]; 12. 71JS-Joe Smith[16]; 13. 33-Don Gordon[21]; 14. 35-Ron Miller[2]; 15. 22-Kerry Rouse[20]; 16. OJ-Ronnie Perrine Jr.[9]; 17. 95-Chuck Desgrange[14]; 18. 35X-Craig Dippman[18]; 19. 3F-Brian Fisher[19]; 20. 48-John Bores[13]; 21. 1B-Fred Wahl[17]; 22. 7X-Scott Gunion[22]
Hard Charger: 49-Brian Ruhlman[+8]
Fremont Federal Credit Union – 305 Sprints (13 Cars)
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 27-Paige Polyak; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker; 4. 83X-Nate Reeser; 5. 56R-Ryan Myers; 6. 8J-Jess Stiger; 7. 1M-Mike Moore
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 8 Transfer)
1. 8K-Zack Kramer; 2. 55-Dean Jacobs; 3. 14-Chad Wilson; 4. 80-Jake Trevino; 5. 25-Jason Keckler; 6. 39M-Matt Merrill
A-Main – (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[1]; 2. 27-Paige Polyak[2]; 3. 1W-Paul Weaver[5]; 4. 8K-Zack Kramer[3]; 5. 80-Jake Trevino[8]; 6. 25-Jason Keckler[10]; 7. 14-Chad Wilson[4]; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser[7]; 9. 56R-Ryan Myers[9]; 10. 39M-Matt Merrill[12]; 11. 8J-Jess Stiger[11]; 12. 1M-Mike Moore[13]; 13. 55-Dean Jacobs[6]
Hard Charger: 25-Jason Keckler[+4]