From Brian Liskai
ATTICA, Ohio – While the temperatures may have been a bit chilly Friday, April 1, the action on the track for the season opener at Attica Raceway Park on Construction Equipment/Northern Ohio Truck Center Night was hot!
Wooster, Ohio’s Dean Jacobs led all 30 laps to score his 10th career victory in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints, having held off a late race challenge from Craig Mintz.
In the Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop UMP Late Models, Ada, Ohio’s Jon Henry first battled with the 2010 National UMP champion Rusty Schlenk (Jackson, Mich.) and then traded slide jobs with Russ King (Bristolville, Ohio) the last half of the race before taking his second career ARP victory.
Attica’s 2010 champion in the Fremont Fence 305 Sprints, D.J. Foos of Fremont, Ohio, picked right back up where he left off last year, dominating the 25-lap feature. Foos, who took the lead on the second lap from Paige Polyak (Tiffin, Ohio), lapped up to the ninth place finisher to score his 9th career Attica victory.
At the end of last year, Joe and Diane Seeling put together a new car for Jacobs, and it was fast out of the box in 2011.
“We knew we were building a good team last year and it would pay off this year. Our plan was to come here and win tonight. Of course, it helps to start up front (pole position), but Matt (Frishe, crew chief) has worked his tail off on this thing last couple of years and I’ve got the attitude I’m just going to have fun…and it was a blast tonight,” said Jacobs beside his Northwest Ohio Towing and Recovery, NAPA Truck Center backed #97.
For Henry, the late model victory was extra sweet as his family is fielding their own machine in 2011.
“I first have to thank the fans for coming out on such a cold night. This year is our ‘Share the Experience 2011’ campaign where we share the ups and downs of racing with the fans through our in-car camera and they will get an eyeful tonight,” said Henry. “I really have to thank my dad for all work and money he has invested in me.”
It could be bad news for the other drivers in the 305 sprint division. Foos indicated his car was as good or better than it was last year when he claimed five feature wins at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speed plant.
“The car was awesome. I’ll tell you what though; I’m a little out of racing shape. I have to thank my mom and dad for all they do,” said Foos beside his Burger King, Buck Shot Farms, Level Performance backed #11F.
In the 30-lap 410 sprint feature, Jacobs, who last year often found himself starting deep in the pack and passing a lot of cars for many great runs, used his pole starting spot to grab the lead with Phil Gressman (Helena, Ohio), Craig Mintz (Gibsonburg, Ohio), Danny Smith (Chillicothe, Ohio) and Kyle Sauder (Archbold, Ohio) in tow. Jacobs pulled away while Gressman, Mintz and Smith waged a terrific battle for second with Greg Wilson (Benton Ridge, Ohio) moving into fifth by lap five. Jacobs would catch the back of the field by lap 7 and was comfortably in the lead while Gressman, Mintz and Smith continued their torrid battle. Mintz would move into the runner-up spot on lap 10, but Gressman would slingshot back around a lap later with Smith right on their rear bumpers.
Behind the top four of Jacobs, Gressman, Mintz and Smith, another great race was underway for fifth between Wilson, Dale Blaney (Hartford, Ohio), defending O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions titlist Tim Shaffer (Aliquippa, Pa.) Sauder and Cole Duncan (Lockborne, Ohio). By lap 16, Mintz had finally disposed of Gressman and began trying to track down Jacobs. With 10 laps to go, Mintz was now on Jacob’s rear bumper while Gressman and Smith raced each other hard for third with Wilson, Blaney and Shaffer swapping positions every lap. Just as Mintz looked to make his move to take the lead, the only caution flag would fly on lap 21 when Duncan slipped off the high side of turn one.
With a clear track, Jacobs was able to pull away, leaving Mintz to do battle with a rejuvenated Gressman, Wilson, Shaffer, a fading Smith and Blaney. Gressman would retake the runner-up spot on lap 28, but ran out of time to catch Jacobs. Mintz would drove home third with Shaffer, who started 12th, finishing fourth and Wilson rounding out the top five.
The car got a little tight in three and four and it got slick on the bottom. I might have gotten a little relaxed there…but it’s hard to know how hard to push when you’re in the lead. On that restart, I just drove it as hard as I could,” said Jacobs.
In the 25-lap late model feature, Henry drove into the lead at the drop of the green from his outside front row starting spot, and soon found himself in a fight with third place starter Rusty Schlenk. As the pair hit lapped traffic on lap 10, Schlenk used a back marker as a pick and dove low out of turn four to grab the lead. However, Henry executed a slide job in turns one and two to regain the top spot. Henry pulled away slightly while Schlenk had his hands full with Ken Hahn (Gibsonburg, Ohio), defending ARP champion Ryan Missler (Bellevue, Ohio), 9th starter King and Ryan Markham (Ashland, Ohio).
At the half-way mark it was Henry over Schlenk, King, Hahn, Markham and Brian Ruhlman (Clarklake, Mich.) just as the caution would fly for a Bob Mayer spin. On the restart, King would drive under Schlenk for the second spot and quickly closed on Henry. Schlenk would find himself locked in a fight with Hahn, Markham and Ruhlman for third. With seven laps remaining, King executed a slide job in turn four to take the lead from Henry, who would return the favor in turn one to regain the lead. Henry and King would race side-by-side the remaining laps. Henry would take the checkered with King tucked right on his rear bumper with Schlenk, Ruhlman and Hahn rounding out the top five.
Polyak would grab the early lead of the 25-lap 305 sprint main, but a caution after the first lap would put Foos right on her rear bumper. Foos would slide around Polyak for the lead on the restart, but another caution would keep the field close. Following another caution for Ross Moore’s (Grafton, Ohio) second spin on the restart, Foos would pull away with Polyak having to battle Junior Felver (Plymouth, Ohio) and Stuart Brubaker (Fremont, Ohio)( for second. Another caution on lap four for a Justin Franks (Fremont, Ohio), Matt Merrill (Fremont, Ohio) tangle would keep Foos from checking out on the field.
Once back to green, Foos was gone, leaving Polyak to continue her battle with Felver, Brubaker, Nate Dussel (Bradner, Ohio), Josh Muntz (Fremont, Ohio) and Dustin Dinan (Clyde, Ohio). Brubaker would drive around both Felver and Polyak to take second on lap nine. Foos would hit lapped traffic by lap 11, allowing Brubaker to begin to close while Dussel had moved into third followed by Polyak and Felver. As soon as Brubaker flashed the nose of his car under Foos, the leader picked it up a notch and drove away, dicing his way through lapped traffic.
As the laps ticked off, Dussel, who started 10th, would move into second where he would finish six car lengths behind Foos. Brubaker, Dinan and Polyak would round out the top five.
Attica Racway Park will host a big double-header weekend of racing on Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9 for the traditional HD Supply Spring Nationals featuring the O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champion Sprint Cars.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park – 4/1/2011
Columbus Equipment \ Northern Ohio Truck Center Night
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (25 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 4-Danny Smith[3] ; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[6] ; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[5] ; 4. 312-Mike Linder[1] ; 5. 60-Jody Keegan[4] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[2] ; 7. 5T-Travis Philo[7] ; 8. 91-Aaron Middaugh[8] ; 9. 28-Shawn Valenti[9]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O-Chris Andrews[1] ; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[4] ; 3. 97-Dean Jacobs[8] ; 4. 83-Tim Shaffer[5] ; 5. 16-Bryan Sebetto[7] ; 6. 12-Jarred Ridge[2] ; 7. 15-Mitch Harble[3] ; 8. 11D-Bryce Dickson[6]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. W20-Greg Wilson[1] ; 2. O9-Craig Mintz[3] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[8] ; 4. 7K-Kyle Sauder[5] ; 5. 9X-Brandon Martin[7] ; 6. 19-Todd King[2] ; 7. 3J-Kevin Lee[4] ; 8. 51-Brad Bowman[6]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 3J-Kevin Lee[6] ; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[1] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[4] ; 4. 15-Mitch Harble[5] ; 5. 19-Todd King[3] ; 6. 51-Brad Bowman[9] ; 7. 28-Shawn Valenti[10] ; 8. 91-Aaron Middaugh[7] ; 9. 11D-Bryce Dickson[8]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs[1]; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[3]; 3. O9-Craig Mintz[4]; 4. 83-Tim Shaffer[12]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson[7]; 6. 2-Dale Blaney[8]; 7. 4-Danny Smith[5]; 8. 7K-Kyle Sauder[2]; 9. 16-Bryan Sebetto[14]; 10. 3J-Kevin Lee[16]; 11. 9X-Brandon Martin[15]; 12. 312-Mike Linder[9]; 13. 19-Todd King[20]; 14. 5T-Travis Philo[18]; 15. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[17]; 16. O-Chris Andrews[11]; 17. 60-Jody Keegan[13]; 18. 22-Cole Duncan[6]; 19. 15-Mitch Harble[19]; 20. 5R-Byron Reed[10]
Hard Charger: 83-Tim Shaffer[+8]
Fultz Fabrication & Speed Shop UMP Late Models (23 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 15-Jon Henry[6] ; 2. 1-Jeff Babcock[2] ; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[3] ; 4. 27-Ken Hahn[7] ; 5. 27S-Eric Spangler[8] ; 6. 21-Larry Kingseed[1] ; 7. 3R-Chuck Roelle[4] ; 8. 12M-Bobby Michaels[5]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 56-Russ King[1] ; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk[2] ; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman[4] ; 4. 50Y-Ryan Missler[3] ; 5. 51-Devin Schiels[5] ; 6. WD40-Dusty Moore[7] ; 7. 35-Ron Miller[6] ; 8. 42S-Bob Mayer[8]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 48-Mike Bores[3] ; 2. 48B-John Bores[5] ; 3. 23C-Jeremy Canada[6] ; 4. O6-Kyle Perry[2] ; 5. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[7] ; 6. 5H-Ernie Haynes[4] ; 7. 11-Mike Stiltner Sr.[1]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 15-Jon Henry[2]; 2. 56-Russ King[9]; 3. 91-Rusty Schlenk[3]; 4. 49-Brian Ruhlman[8]; 5. 27-Ken Hahn[1]; 6. 5M-Ryan Markham[5]; 7. 50Y-Ryan Missler[6]; 8. 1-Jeff Babcock[10]; 9. 51-Devin Schiels[14]; 10. 27S-Eric Spangler[13]; 11. 21-Larry Kingseed[16]; 12. 48-Mike Bores[12]; 13. 23C-Jeremy Canada[11]; 14. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[15]; 15. O6-Kyle Perry[7]; 16. 5H-Ernie Haynes[18]; 17. 11-Mike Stiltner Sr.[19]; 18. 48B-John Bores[4]; 19. 42S-Bob Mayer[21]; 20. 35-Ron Miller[20]; 21. 3R-Chuck Roelle[17]; 22. 12M-Bobby Michaels[22]
Hard Charger: 56-Russ King[+7]
Fremont Fence 305 Sprints (20 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 11F-D.J. Foos[3] ; 2. 27-Paige Polyak[1] ; 3. 10X-Dustin Stroup[4] ; 4. 13-Junior Felver[2] ; 5. 83X-Nate Reeser[5] ; 6. 22D-Dan Hammond[6] ; 7. 36-Seth Schneider[7]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. M28-Josh Muntz[2] ; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[6] ; 3. OO-Bryan Scott[3] ; 4. 40-Justin Franks[1] ; 5. 8J-Jess Stiger[4] ; 6. 72C-Ross Moore[7] ; 7. 8K-Zack Kramer[5]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[2] ; 2. 25-Jason Keckler[6] ; 3. 48-Mike Burkin[1] ; 4. 1-Nate Dussel[5] ; 5. 5-Dustin Dinan[4] ; 6. 39-Matt Merrill[3]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 11F-D.J. Foos[2]; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[10]; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker[7]; 4. 5-Dustin Dinan[15]; 5. 27-Paige Polyak[1]; 6. 13-Junior Felver[4]; 7. 83X-Nate Reeser[13]; 8. 10X-Dustin Stroup[11]; 9. 19R-Steve Rando[12]; 10. M28-Josh Muntz[6]; 11. 25-Jason Keckler[9]; 12. 48-Mike Burkin[5]; 13. 39-Matt Merrill[18]; 14. 22D-Dan Hammond[16]; 15. 36-Seth Schneider[19]; 16. OO-Bryan Scott[8]; 17. 40-Justin Franks[3]; 18. 72C-Ross Moore[17]; 19. 8J-Jess Stiger[14]
Hard Charger: 5-Dustin Dinan[+11]
©2011 – Results Provided by: Computer Man Inc. Fremont, OH
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