By Brian Liskai,Mike Campbell photo
ATTICA, Ohio – Donny Schatz knew a win with the World of Outlaw Sprint Cars was just around the corner so he was very excited to pull into Attica Raceway Park Friday, May 20 for the Kistler Engines Classic. Schatz, a four-time series champion, was winless coming into the event, but a couple of good runs of late and the fact he was coming to a track he won at in 2008, had him feeling all the confidence in the world.
However, it wasn’t easy for Schatz, who had to survive a restart with three laps remaining and return a slide-job from Craig Dollansky to score his 106th career World of Outlaw victory – moving him just one behind hall-of-famer Doug Wolfgang for fourth on the series’ all-time win list.
“My dad had me race a legends car Wednesday night at Red River Valley Speedway (near his home town of Fargo, N.D.). I beat him, so maybe that helped us get this first one. The STP guys did a great job giving me an awesome car. We needed this one bad and what a great birthday presdent for the boss (car owner Tony Stewart). I think he turned 39 again today.”
Elk River, Minn. driver Craig Dollansky had the capacity crowd on its feet the last three laps. On a restart following a Stevie Smith spin – he was fifth at the time – Schatz opted for the bottom with Dollasky to his outside. “The Crowd Pleaser” executed a perfect slide job in turns three and four to grab the lead only to see Schatz return the favor in turns one and two and regain the lead.
“I gave it my best shot there at the end,” said Dollansky beside his Big Game Treestands, Aggressive Hydraulics, Karavan Trailers backed #7. “I was better than him (Schatz) around the top and if we wouldn’t have gotten that red (with 9 laps to go) I really think I could have caught him. D.J. Lindsey and the guys gave me an awesome race car…we’re building a great team here and I’m excited about the season.”
Another driver who gave his car owner – Janet Holbrook – a great birthday present was two-time O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions titlist Tim Shaffer. The “Steel City Outlaw” drove his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook owned Kistler Engines backed #83 from 23rd starting sport to a third place finish and was right on the rear bumper of Dollansky and Schatz at the end.
“I just love coming to this place…we always run good here. I knew Brian (Kemenah, crew chief) and the guys would give me a good car for the feature…I just had to be patient and work my way to the front. I got the chance on that last restart and made the most of it,” said Shaffer.
In the Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop UMP Late Models, Wayne, Ohio’s Jeff Babcock used the low groove to lead the last 24 laps to score his third career Attica victory.
“I have to be honest…anyone who knows me knows I hate the bottom. But it seemed like the bottom was good so I had to make myself run it,” said Babcock. “I have to thank the Halcombs for the opportunity, Craig Miller Trucking, Potash Corp. AFLAC, KDB Properties, Potash Corporation and Professional Drywall for their support.
The 40-lap, $10,000-to-win sprint car feature had local driver Phil Gressman on the pole thanks to his dash win with 20-time Outlaw champion Steve Kinser along side while Schatz and Dollansky comprised row two. Gressman would lead the first lap, but Schatz quickly passed his TSR teammate Kinser for second. By the time Schatz reached the flagstand again, he was leading.
Schatz built a commanding lead while Gressman, Kinser and Dollansky battled for second. Kinser would take the runner-up spot on lap 10. Schatz would encounter lapped traffic by lap 12, but Kinser couldn’t close while Lucas Wolfe ran third with Gressman and Dollansky giving chase. Wolfe would grab second from a fading Kinser on lap 18 with Dollansky taking third two laps later.
The first caution would fly on lap 23 for Craig Kinser with the running order Schatz, Dollansky, Kinser, Wolfe, Gressman, Jason Meyers, Dale Blaney, Stevie Smith and Sam Hafertepe. Schatz would pull away slightly on the restart as Dollansky’s machine was better on long, green flag runs. With 10 laps to go, Dollansky was quickly closing on Schatz while Kinser had his hands full with Wolfe for third with Meyers, Gressman and Smith battling right behind them.
Jac Haudenschild would tip over in turn two on lap 31 to bring out the red. On the restart Schatz would elect to take the inside lane. This time, however, he would not shake Dollansky as Kinser continued to run third with Hafertepe, Meyers and a closing Shaffer in tow. With three laps remaining, Smith would spin in turn four while battling teammate Meyers along with Hafertepe and Kinser for third.
Again on the restart Schatz would elect to go to the inside. This time, however, Dollansky would drive right on his rear bumper and execute the slide job in turns three and four to take the lead while Shaffer tried to get around both of them in turn one. Schatz would drive back by Dollansky for the lead and would go to the victory. Dollansky, Shaffer, Hafertepe, and Meyers would round out the top five.
In the 25-lap late model feature, Ryan Markham would take the initial lead from pole-sitter Babcock with Ryan Missler, Wayne Maffett Jr. and Justin Chance giving chase. Babcock would drive under Markham for the lead a lap later and began to pull away. Meanwhile, the battle for second was fantastic between Markham, Missler and Maffett. Ninth place starter Matt Miller would join the fray on by lap six.
As Babcock set a blistering pace, Missler would take second on lap eight with Markham continuing to challenge with Miller in fourth and Maffett to his rear bumper. Babcock would hit lapped traffic by lap 11 with Markham regaining the runner-up spot over Missler, Miller, Maffett and Chance. The battle for second was exciting as Missler would regain the position on lap 12 as Markham and Miller raced beside him, often times three wide. Miller would take third on lap 13 and steal second a lap later.
As the laps wound down, Babcock had lapped up to the 10th place car, but Miller would only get to within six car lengths of the leader. Babcock cruised to the victory over Miller, Markham, Maffett and Missler.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, June 3 for the Burns Electric Mid-Season Championship for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints, Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop UMP Late Model, Fremont Fence 305 Sprints, and Computer Man Dirt Trucks battling for double points. It is also a Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title Championship Series race for the 410 sprints.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park – 5/20/2011
Kistler Enginers Night
World of Outlaws Sprint Cars (58 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 83-Paul McMahan, 12.495; 2. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.533; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe, 12.554; 4. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.563; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs, 12.598; 6. 11-Steve Kinser, 12.605; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah, 12.623; 8. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.635; 9. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.657; 10. 9-Joey Saldana, 12.678; 11. 53-Phil Gressman, 12.701; 12. 7-Craig Dollansky, 12.707; 13. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 12.736; 14. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.767; 15. 6R-Bill Rose, 12.780; 16. 15-Donny Schatz, 12.796; 17. 92-Kerry Madsen, 12.806; 18. 6M-Jac Haudenschild, 12.819; 19. 14S-Stevie Smith, 12.850; 20. 3J-Kevin Lee, 12.887; 21. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 12.900; 22. 40-Caleb Helms, 12.924; 23. 6-Kraig Kinser, 12.926; 24. 4-Danny Smith, 12.952; 25. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.970; 26. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.988; 27. 89G-David Gravel, 13.014; 28. 4K-Kody Kinser, 13.015; 29. 14-Jason Meyers, 13.024; 30. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.027; 31. 312-Mike Linder, 13.040; 32. 2B-Ben Gregg, 13.048; 33. 45-Rob Chaney, 13.054; 34. 27-Scott Euler, 13.059; 35. 83X-Tim Shaffer, 13.065; 36. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.093; 37. 9X-Brandon Martin, 13.175; 38. 91-Cody Darrah, 13.188; 39. 78-Todd Kane, 13.229; 40. O-Chris Andrews, 13.347; 41. 22-Cole Duncan, 13.365; 42. 10-Brad Haudenschild, 13.401; 43. 91X-Aaron Middaugh, 13.418; 44. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 13.423; 45. 60K-Jody Keegan, 13.424; 46. 45L-Brian Lay, 13.490; 47. 12-Jarred Ridge, 13.547; 48. 28-Shawn Valenti, 13.548; 49. 60-Kory Crabtree, 13.633; 50. 33K-Kyle Patrick, 13.662; 51. 35-Wes McGlumphy, 13.940; 52. 15X-Mitch Harble, 14.048; 53. 6Z-Zack Ames, 14.052; 54. 3T-Johnny Beaber, 14.058; 55. 51-Brad Bowman, 14.181; 56. 3F-Rick Frahley, 14.344; 57. 57X-Andrew Palker, 99.000; 58. 32-Chase Stockon, nt
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 15-Donny Schatz[1] ; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[2] ; 3. 7S-Jason Sides[8] ; 4. 11-Steve Kinser[3] ; 5. 83-Paul McMahan[4] ; 6. 16-Bryan Sebetto[5] ; 7. 22-Cole Duncan[9] ; 8. 312-Mike Linder[7] ; 9. 45L-Brian Lay[10] ; 10. 5T-Travis Philo[6] ; 11. 35-Wes McGlumphy[11] ; 12. 3F-Rick Frahley[12]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7-Craig Dollansky[2] ; 2. 2-Dale Blaney[4] ; 3. 92-Kerry Madsen[1] ; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah[3] ; 5. 89G-David Gravel[6] ; 6. 9X-Brandon Martin[8] ; 7. 2B-Ben Gregg[7] ; 8. 12-Jarred Ridge[10] ; 9. 15X-Mitch Harble[11] ; 10. 32-Chase Stockon[12] ; 11. 10-Brad Haudenschild[9] ; 12. 40-Caleb Helms[5]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[1] ; 2. 6-Kraig Kinser[5] ; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe[4] ; 4. W20-Greg Wilson[3] ; 5. 91-Cody Darrah[8] ; 6. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[2] ; 7. 6Z-Zack Ames[11] ; 8. 28-Shawn Valenti[10] ; 9. 91X-Aaron Middaugh[9] ; 10. 4K-Kody Kinser[6] ; 11. 45-Rob Chaney[7]
Heat 4 – Friendship Food Stores (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 14S-Stevie Smith[1] ; 2. 14-Jason Meyers[6] ; 3. O9-Craig Mintz[2] ; 4. 4-Danny Smith[5] ; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[3] ; 6. 78-Todd Kane[8] ; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[4] ; 8. 60-Kory Crabtree[10] ; 9. 11N-Ed Neumeister[9] ; 10. 3T-Johnny Beaber[11] ; 11. 27-Scott Euler[7]
Heat 5 – Heat 5 (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[6] ; 2. 6R-Bill Rose[2] ; 3. 83X-Tim Shaffer[7] ; 4. 9-Joey Saldana[3] ; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[4] ; 6. 3J-Kevin Lee[1] ; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[5] ; 8. O-Chris Andrews[8] ; 9. 60K-Jody Keegan[9] ; 10. 51-Brad Bowman[11] ; 11. 33K-Kyle Patrick[10]
Dash – (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 12 starting positions of A-feature
1. 53-Phil Gressman[1] ; 2. 11-Steve Kinser[2] ; 3. 15-Donny Schatz[7] ; 4. 7-Craig Dollansky[5] ; 5. 2-Dale Blaney[4] ; 6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe[3] ; 7. 6-Kraig Kinser[10] ; 8. 14-Jason Meyers[11] ; 9. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[8] ; 10. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[12] ; 11. 14S-Stevie Smith[9] ; 12. 6R-Bill Rose[6]
D-Main – D Sponsor (8 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 60-Kory Crabtree[1]; 2. 15X-Mitch Harble[4]; 3. 6Z-Zack Ames[5]; 4. 35-Wes McGlumphy[3]; 5. 3T-Johnny Beaber[6]; 6. 33K-Kyle Patrick[2]; 7. 32-Chase Stockon[10]; 8. 51-Brad Bowman[7]; 9. 3F-Rick Frahley[8]
C-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the B-feature)
1. 9X-Brandon Martin[1]; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[5]; 3. 78-Todd Kane[3] ; 4. O-Chris Andrews[4] ; 5. 60-Kory Crabtree[12] ; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[9] ; 7. 91-Cody Darrah[2] ; 8. 15X-Mitch Harble[13] ; 9. 12-Jarred Ridge[10] ; 10. 91X-Aaron Middaugh[6] ; 11. 28-Shawn Valenti[11] ; 12. 11N-Ed Neumeister[7] ; 13. 60K-Jody Keegan[8]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 83-Paul McMahan[1]; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs[3]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[4]; 4. 16-Bryan Sebetto[7]; 5. 9X-Brandon Martin[17] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[2] ; 7. 312-Mike Linder[13] ; 8. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[5] ; 9. 45-Rob Chaney[15] ; 10. 4K-Kody Kinser[12] ; 11. 3J-Kevin Lee[6] ; 12. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[9] ; 13. 2B-Ben Gregg[14] ; 14. 40-Caleb Helms[8] ; 15. 27-Scott Euler[16] ; 16. 89G-David Gravel[11] ; 17. 5T-Travis Philo[10] ; 18. 22-Cole Duncan[18]
A-Main – (40 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz[3]; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky[4]; 3. 83X-Tim Shaffer[23]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe[6]; 5. 14-Jason Meyers[8]; 6. 11-Steve Kinser[2]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides[24]; 8. 2-Dale Blaney[5]; 9. 4-Danny Smith[22]; 10. 83-Paul McMahan[13]; 11. 9-Joey Saldana[18]; 12. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[10]; 13. 97-Dean Jacobs[14]; 14. W20-Greg Wilson[16]; 15. 92-Kerry Madsen[20]; 16. 53-Phil Gressman[1]; 17. O9-Craig Mintz[19]; 18. 16-Bryan Sebetto[21]; 19. 14S-Stevie Smith[11]; 20. 6R-Bill Rose[12]; 21. 2B-Ben Gregg[26]; 22. 63-Chad Kemenah[15]; 23. 5R-Byron Reed[17]; 24. 91-Cody Darrah[25]; 25. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[9]; 26. 6-Kraig Kinser[7]
Hard Charger: 83X-Tim Shaffer[+20]