From Brian Liskai
ATTICA, Ohio – Danny Smith couldn’t wait to get to the Engine Pro Victory Lane at Attica Raceway Park. The Chillicothe, Ohio driver wanted to thank all of the fans who sent him money and cards and words of encouragement after he broke his back at the track on June 18, 2010 in a vicious crash.
He got that opportunity Friday on Fisher Performance/Merrill Lynch/Construction Equipment and Supply Night, leading all 30 laps of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprint feature for his 10th career Attica victory. Smith made some daring moves in lapped traffic, splitting two cars in turns three and four on several occasions to take the Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) Championship Series sanctioned event.
“I finally get the opportunity to stand here and thank all you great fans from Ohio…heck, all the fans from across the United States and Australia who sent me money and cards and supported me and my family when I couldn’t race,” said Smith, grinning from ear to ear beside his J&D Performance, Dean Knittle & Sons Auto, Smalley Excavating, Kiger Signs backed #4. “You people will never know how much it meant to me. It was one of my goals this year to get at least one win so I could stand out here and thank everyone.”
“I have to thank my wife, Stephanie…she’s a nurse and she took great care of me. I’m not 100 percent in shape yet, but I feel great and this really helps,” Smith added. “It’s been since 1995 since I won here and I wanted this bad tonight. Everything went our way…I got a good pill draw for the heat and a good starting spot in the feature.”
Ada, Ohio’s Jon Henry is perfect no longer at Attica. “The Steel Driver” started ninth in his heat and finished second. Prior to that, he had won every race at Attica that he competed in – 3 heats and 3 features. He did, however, work his way forward from his 12th place starting spot in Friday’s feature, taking the lead on lap 17. Henry went on to score his fourth straight victory in the Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop UMP Late Models – there have been no other late model feature winners at the track in 2011.
“With Rusty (Schlenk) starting up front, I was just shooting for a top five. At the start of race I knew I had to keep my nose clean…I know I had a fast race car. I stayed to the bottom and when we got to sixth I just stayed focused and said I can pick one off at a time…the car was just awesome,” said Henry beside his Wide Open Graphics. Eibach Springs, K&N Filters backed #15.
“I hope we’re turning some heads. We do this all out of our own pocket…I do everything I can to support everyone who supports me. I have to thank my dad and John McClain for everything they’ve done to help me. I encourage fans to go to jonhenryracing.com and the ‘share the experience.’ That’s where I’m building a lot of my demographics and I’m excited to see all the fans watching the videos and seeing some of the exciting racing. It’s a way to bring more fans to the tracks,” added Henry.
Last week at Fremont Speedway, Bradner, Ohio’s Nate Dussel looked like he had a feature win locked up, only to catch a rut and nearly flip, costing him the race. He admitted he beat himself up over the incident all week, but he was able to put it behind him and came to Attica determine to reward his crew for their hard work. That he did, leading all 25 laps of the Fremont Fence 305 Sprint feature to score his second career victory at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speedplant.
“I felt horrible all week…my guys give me such a great race car and I screwed that up. I was determined not to let them down tonight,” said Dussel beside his Berrier Fabrication, Dussel Welding, Kistler Racing Products, Gressman Powersports, Design Graphics Group sponsored #1.
It wasn’t easy for Dussel as veteran Paul Weaver closed in with 8 laps to go. But a caution gave Dussel a clear track and clean air and he pulled away for the win.
“I don’t know what it is with these Goodyear tires, but when they warmed up I started to slip a little. But they cooled down on that caution and they got grip again. I was just trying to be careful…maybe a little too careful there late in the race because the high line was going away fast in turn four,” added Dussel.
In the 30-lap 410 sprint feature, Smith, who recently turned 54 years of age, got the jump on pole-sitter Byron Reed and grabbed the lead with youngster Travis Philo, Rob Chaney, Cole Duncan and Brandon Martin in tow. Smith was able to pull away slightly while Reed had his hands full with an impressive Philo while Chaney, Duncan and Martin waged a tremendous battle for fourth. Smith would catch lapped traffic by lap 11, but Reed, still battling Philo, couldn’t close as Chaney, Martin, Duncan and Bryan Sebetto continued to race hard for fourth.
At the half-way mark, Smith, who had made several daring moves, splitting lapped machines, continued to hold a comfortable lead over Reed, Philo, Martin, Duncan, Chaney and a surging defending World of Outlaws champion Jason Meyers. With 10 laps to go, Smith led Reed who had put some distance between himself and Philo who was not battling Martin, Duncan and Meyers for third. Martin would move into the third with five laps remaining, bring Meyers into fourth.
While Smith cruised, the battle for second was a dandy between Reed, Meyers and Martin as they swapped the position at nearly every turn, often times narrowly averting disaster as they came close to making contact. At the checkered, Smith had a three car-length advantage as Meyers executed a last corner pass for second with Reed, Martin and Sebetto rounding out the top five.
In the 25-lap late model feature, 2010 UMP National Late Model champion Rusty Schlenk would grab the lead at the drop of the green with Troy Cattarene, Jeff Babcock, Jeremy Canada and Chris Keller in tow. Cattarene would spin after a lap was in the books, moving Babcock into second and Keller up to third. Another caution on lap three would bunch up the field, with Schlenk now trying to hold off Babock and Keller with Dusty Moore, Canada, Casey Noonan and Henry – up to 7th from 12th in just three laps – in tow.
Schlenk couldn’t shake the field as Babock and Keller ran side-by-side right on his rear bumper. Keller would take second on lap 7 and would continue to hound Schlenk. Meanwhile, Henry used the extreme bottom groove to move into fourth by lap eight and patiently watched the great battle for second between Keller and Babcock. Henry drove by both on lap 13 to take second with Keller and Babcock not giving up easily.
At the half-way mark, Henry raced under Schlenk to challenge for the lead with Keller and Babcock running right in their tire tracks. Henry would drive under Schlenk exiting turn four on lap 17 to take the lead in a race that went non-stop following the lap three caution. Henry drove away for the win with Schlenk holding off Keller for second, followed by Babcock and Noonan rounding out the top five. Defending Attica champion Ryan Missler also put on a driving display, coming from 16th starting spot to finish sixth.
Dussel got the jump over Jimmy Colvin to grab the lead at the drop of the green of the Fremont Fence 305 Sprint feature with Weaver, Matt Merrill, Paige Polyak, Dustin Dinan and Josh Muntz in tow. Dussel began to build a comfortable lead while Colvin waged a tremendous battle for second with Weaver, who took the spot on lap eight. Dussel would encounter lapped traffic by lap 11, but Weaver couldn’t close as Colvin, Polyak and Stuart Brubaker put on an exciting battle for third.
With 10 laps to go, Weaver had inched his way forward, closing quickly on Dussel who seemed to be losing ground in turns three and four. The only caution of the event would fly on lap 17 as one of the cars caught an infield tractor tire, slinging it onto the track. On the restart Dussel drove away, building an 8 car length lead over Weaver as Colvin, Brubaker and Polyak continued to wage a furious battle for third. With three laps to go, once again Weaver had closed on Dussel, but it was too little too late. Colvin, Brubaker and Polyak would round out the top five.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, May 6 for the 305 Engine Builders Challenge on R&R Auto Wrecking Night. The UMP late models and Computer Man Dirt Trucks will also be in action.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com.
Attica Raceway Park – 4/29/2011
Fisher Performance / Merrill Lynch Night
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (35 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5T-Travis Philo[4] ; 2. 51-Brad Bowman[1] ; 3. 14-Jason Meyers[7] ; 4. 312-Mike Linder[8] ; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[5] ; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[2] ; 7. 12-Jarred Ridge[3] ; 8. 1X-Matt Linder[9] ; 9. 3J-Kevin Lee[6]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 45C-Rob Chaney[1] ; 2. 11X-Brandon Martin[4] ; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[3] ; 4. 91-Aaron Middaugh[6] ; 5. O-Chris Andrews[7] ; 6. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton[5] ; 7. 16M-Danny Mumaw[8] ; 8. 26-Ryan French[9] ; 9. O9-Craig Mintz[2]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 4-Danny Smith[1] ; 2. 10-Brad Haudenschild[4] ; 3. 16-Bryan Sebetto[8] ; 4. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 5. 2B-Ben Gregg[3] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7] ; 7. 6-Jac Haudenschild[5] ; 8. 28-Shawn Valenti[6] ; 9. 69-Scott Curren[9]
Heat 4 – Friendship Food Stores (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. W20-Greg Wilson[1] ; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[2] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[8] ; 4. 15H-Mitch Harble[5] ; 5. 14H-Todd Heller[7] ; 6. 60C-Kory Crabtree[6] ; 7. 57X-Andrew Palker[4] ; 8. 27-Scott Euler[3]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O-Chris Andrews[2] ; 2. 45L-Brian Lay[5] ; 3. 14H-Todd Heller[4] ; 4. 60C-Kory Crabtree[8] ; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[1] ; 6. 3J-Kevin Lee[17] ; 7. O9-Craig Mintz[18] ; 8. 6-Jac Haudenschild[11] ; 9. 57X-Andrew Palker[12] ; 10. 27-Scott Euler[16] ; 11. 1X-Matt Linder[13] ; 12. 12-Jarred Ridge[9] ; 13. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton[6] ; 14. 28-Shawn Valenti[15] ; 15. 26-Ryan French[14] ; 16. 2B-Ben Gregg[3] ; 17. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7] ; 18. 16M-Danny Mumaw[10]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 4-Danny Smith[2]; 2. 14-Jason Meyers[7]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[1]; 4. 11X-Brandon Martin[3]; 5. 16-Bryan Sebetto[8]; 6. 5T-Travis Philo[4]; 7. 22-Cole Duncan[6]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson[9]; 9. 97-Dean Jacobs[21]; 10. 45C-Rob Chaney[5]; 11. 10-Brad Haudenschild[10]; 12. 312-Mike Linder[13]; 13. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[15]; 14. O-Chris Andrews[17]; 15. 51-Brad Bowman[11]; 16. 14H-Todd Heller[19]; 17. 3J-Kevin Lee[22]; 18. 91-Aaron Middaugh[14]; 19. 45L-Brian Lay[18]; 20. 53-Phil Gressman[12]; 21. 60C-Kory Crabtree[20]; 22. 15H-Mitch Harble[16]
Hard Charger: 97-Dean Jacobs[+12]
Hard Charger Goodyear – 14-Jason Meyers[+7]
Fultz Fabrication & Speed Shop Late Models (31 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 91-Rusty Schlenk[3] ; 2. 9C-Troy Cattarene[2] ; 3. 21-Larry Kingseed[5] ; 4. 67-Chris Keller[11] ; 5. 36-Matt Irey[8] ; 6. 50Y-Ryan Missler[6] ; 7. 27-Ken Hahn[7] ; 8. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[4] ; 9. 95-Jerry Bowersock[9] ; 10. 30-Nate Potts[10] ; 11. 12M-Bobby Michaels[1]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1-Jeff Babcock[4] ; 2. 15-Jon Henry[9] ; 3. 1N-Casey Noonan[5] ; 4. 23C-Jeremy Canada[3] ; 5. 23-Duane Chamberlain[10] ; 6. 35-Ron Miller[1] ; 7. 3R-Chuck Roelle[7] ; 8. 5H-Ernie Haynes[8] ; 9. 99-Steve Sabo[6]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. WD40-Dusty Moore[2] ; 2. 5M-Ryan Markham[1] ; 3. 71-Dave Hornikel[3] ; 4. 51-Devin Shiels[4] ; 5. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.[6] ; 6. 18R-Chris Ross[5] ; 7. O6-Kyle Perry[9] ; 8. 48B-John Bores[8] ; 9. 48-Mike Bores[10] ; 10. 55T-Tom Ordway[7]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 50Y-Ryan Missler[1] ; 2. 27-Ken Hahn[4] ; 3. 95-Jerry Bowersock[10] ; 4. 5H-Ernie Haynes[8] ; 5. O6-Kyle Perry[6] ; 6. 48-Mike Bores[12] ; 7. 35-Ron Miller[2] ; 8. 3R-Chuck Roelle[5] ; 9. 48B-John Bores[9] ; 10. 99-Steve Sabo[11] ; 11. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[7] ; 12. 30-Nate Potts[13] ; 13. 55T-Tom Ordway[14] ; 14. 12M-Bobby Michaels[15] ; 15. 18R-Chris Ross[3]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 15-Jon Henry[12]; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk[1]; 3. 67-Chris Keller[5]; 4. 1-Jeff Babcock[4]; 5. 1N-Casey Noonan[9]; 6. 50Y-Ryan Missler[16]; 7. 23-Duane Chamberlain[14]; 8. 21-Larry Kingseed[8]; 9. WD40-Dusty Moore[7]; 10. 51-Devin Shiels[11]; 11. 23C-Jeremy Canada[3]; 12. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.[15]; 13. 95-Jerry Bowersock[18]; 14. 5H-Ernie Haynes[19]; 15. 9C-Troy Cattarene[2]; 16. 5M-Ryan Markham[10]; 17. O6-Kyle Perry[20]; 18. 27-Ken Hahn[17]; 19. 71-Dave Hornikel[6]; 20. 36-Matt Irey[13]
Hard Charger: 15-Jon Henry[+11]
Fremont Fence 305 Sprints (27 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. M28-Josh Muntz[1] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[2] ; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[3] ; 4. 5-Dustin Dinan[9] ; 5. 25-Jason Keckler[8] ; 6. OOS-Bryan Scott[5] ; 7. 8J-Jess Stiger[4] ; 8. 40-Justin Franks[6] ; 9. OO-Jim Cushing[7]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 27-Paige Polyak[3] ; 2. 11F-D.J. Foos[4] ; 3. 717-Cody Jacobs[6] ; 4. 36-Seth Schneider[5] ; 5. 13-Junior Felver[7] ; 6. 83X-Nate Reeser[9] ; 7. 5R-Jordan Ryan[8] ; 8. 80-Jake Trevino[1] ; 9. 19R-Steve Rando[2]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8K-Zack Kramer[2] ; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6] ; 3. 1W-Paul Weaver[3] ; 4. 39-Matt Merrill[4] ; 5. 22D-Dan Hammond[1] ; 6. 48-Mike Burkin[7] ; 7. 36X-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 8. 2-Kyle Mills[9] ; 9. 72C-Ross Moore[8]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. OOS-Bryan Scott[1] ; 2. 5R-Jordan Ryan[5] ; 3. 36X-Dustin Keegan[6] ; 4. 83X-Nate Reeser[2] ; 5. 48-Mike Burkin[3] ; 6. 8J-Jess Stiger[4] ; 7. 72C-Ross Moore[12] ; 8. 2-Kyle Mills[9] ; 9. 40-Justin Franks[7]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 1-Nate Dussel[2]; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver[4]; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[1]; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker[12]; 5. 27-Paige Polyak[5]; 6. 11F-D.J. Foos[9]; 7. 39-Matt Merrill[3]; 8. 25-Jason Keckler[13]; 9. 5-Dustin Dinan[6]; 10. M28-Josh Muntz[7]; 11. 717-Cody Jacobs[10]; 12. 8K-Zack Kramer[11]; 13. 36X-Dustin Keegan[18]; 14. 5R-Jordan Ryan[17]; 15. 13-Junior Felver[14]; 16. 36-Seth Schneider[8]; 17. OOS-Bryan Scott[16]; 18. 83X-Nate Reeser[19]; 19. 22D-Dan Hammond[15]; 20. 48-Mike Burkin[20]
Hard Charger: 35-Stuart Brubaker[+8]
Hard Charger Goodyear: 35-Stuart Brubaker[+8]
Photo Gallery