By Brian Liskai
FONDA, N.Y. (6-8-11) – When you find that special sprint car
– one that no matter the track conditions or what you do to it it’s fast –
you exude confidence. Tim Shaffer has that car and that confidence. The
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania resident charged from his 11th starting spot and
passed Fred Rahmer on the last lap Wednesday night to earn the O’Reilly
Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions at Fonda Speedway.
“The track came in late for us. Brian (Kemenah, crew chief) told me to just
keep running where you’re running we’re going to run in the top three and
boy it’s just amazing. The guys work so hard on this thing…it’s just great
to be here,” said Shaffer beside his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook owned
machine.
“We’ve been wanting to win real bad…maybe trying a little too hard and
ended up flipping this car at Fremont and bent it a little bit but it
didn’t seem to matter tonight,” added “The Steel City Outlaw” beside his
Kistler Engines, Kistler Racing Products backed machine. “The J&J chassis
and VRP Shocks have been working great.”
Following a lengthy rain delay that pushed hot laps back to nearly 9:30
p.m. the program moved along quickly. The 30-lap feature had the All Star’s
national and Ohio region point leader and three time series’ champion Dale
Blaney and perennial Pennsylvania winner Fred Rahmer battling for the lead.
However, before the field could get a lap in Jessica Zemken brought the
race to a halt when she took a nasty looking flip but emerged unscathed.
On the complete restart, Blaney and Rahmer resumed their battle for the
lead, but Blaney quickly began to fade. Rahmer set a blistering pace,
hitting lapped traffic by lap eight, allowing Greg Hodnett to close.
Hodnett would take the lead on lap 11. A caution on lap 13 for Jami Russell
would give the leader a clear track.
Blaney’s run would end on lap 16 as his Ti22 Performance machine began to
smoke, forcing him to the pits. Rahmer would rally to trade slide jobs with
Hodnett for the lead a lap later. The pair caught lapped traffic again on
lap 21 when disaster struck for Hodnett who slowed in turn three to bring
out the caution. This gave David Gravel a shot at Rahmer for the lead.
While that battle was going on, all eyes were on Shaffer. The two-time and
defending All Star champion had steadily worked his way forward and was
third with four laps to go. Shaffer would drive around Gravel a lap later
and quickly closed on Rahmer. With the white flag out, Shaffer dives under
Rahmer in turns one and two and slides up in front and speeds away for the
victory.
Shaffer is now tied with Steve Kinser with 37 career All Star wins to sit
12th in the series’ all-time win list, just two behind Doug Wolfgang.
“Around lap 16 we got a valve or piston and probably should have pulled in
but with this points series you have to stay out there. This is a good
motor and I hated to hurt but it did a great job all night except there at
the end,” said Rahmer beside his C&S Lawn Landscaping, Ti22, Bair’s Tree
Service, Tru Line Contractors backed #51.
Lance Dewease would drive hard to a third place finish, moving him into the
point lead for the All Star’s Easter Region points.
“I knew Tim was pretty good…he got by me pretty easy. I thought were pretty
decent early but just couldn’t get going late. We need to keep doing this
and get through this weekend with good runs,” said Dewease beside his
Catoctin Motorsports, Viper Risk Management backed #30c.
Fonda Speedway – 6/8/2011
All Star Circuit of Champions
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 51-Fred Rahmer, 15.110
2. 17-Tyler Walker, 15.345
3. 2-Dale Blaney, 15.382
4. 27-Daryn Pittman, 15.385
5. 89G-David Gravel, 15.396
6. 39-Greg Hodnett, 15.397
7. O4-Cap Henry, 15.422
8. 15H-Sam Hefertepe Jr., 15.440
9. 30C-Lance Dewease, 15.494
10. 7M-Mark Smith, 15.576
11. 83-Tim Shaffer, 15.663
12. 32-Justin Barger, 15.696
13. 1-Stevie Smith, 15.755
14. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 15.771
15. 77-Aaron Ott, 15.943
16. 87-George Suprick Iii, 16.112
17. 747-Davey Sammons, 16.146
18. 3-Pete Miller III, 16.788
19. 33-Luke Monroe, 16.964
20. 22Z-Mark Zemcik, 17.349
21. 3A-Warren Alexson, 17.373
22. 27J-Jami Russell, 17.389
23. 3P-Josh Pieniazek, 18.186
24. 5-Vern Wasson, 99.999
Heat 1 – MSD Ignition (8 Laps – Top 10 Transfer)
1. 1-Stevie Smith
2. 51-Fred Rahmer
3. O4-Cap Henry
4. 87-George Suprick Iii
5. 7M-Mark Smith
6. 27-Daryn Pittman
7. 27J-Jami Russell
8. 33-Luke Monroe
Heat 2 – Kears Speed Shop (8 Laps – Top 10 Transfer)
1. 1Z-Jessica Zemken
2. 83-Tim Shaffer
3. 15H-Sam Hefertepe Jr.
4. 17-Tyler Walker
5. 89G-David Gravel
6. 3P-Josh Pieniazek
7. 747-Davey Sammons
8. 22Z-Mark Zemcik
Heat 3 – All Pro Heads (8 Laps – Top 10 Transfer)
1. 77-Aaron Ott
2. 30C-Lance Dewease
3. 32-Justin Barger
4. 39-Greg Hodnett
5. 2-Dale Blaney
6. 3-Pete Miller III
7. 3A-Warren Alexson
8. 5-Vern Wasson
A-Main – O’Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[11]
2. 51-Fred Rahmer[2]
3. 30C-Lance Dewease[9]
4. 17-Tyler Walker[6]
5. 89G-David Gravel[4]
6. 32-Justin Barger[12]
7. 27-Daryn Pittman[5]
8. 15H-Sam Hefertepe Jr.[8]
9. 7M-Mark Smith[10]
10. 77-Aaron Ott[15]
11. 1-Stevie Smith[13]
12. 3-Pete Miller III[18]
13. 3P-Josh Pieniazek[23]
14. 33-Luke Monroe[19]
15. 39-Greg Hodnett[3]
16. 2-Dale Blaney[1]
17. 87-George Suprick Iii[16]
18. 27J-Jami Russell[22]
19. O4-Cap Henry[7]
20. 3A-Warren Alexson[21]
21. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[14]
22. 747-Davey Sammons[17]
23. 22Z-Mark Zemcik[20]
24. 5-Vern Wasson