From Brian Liskai
Attica, OH — The battle for the O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions national and Ohio region points title could be decided during the 29th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek. And, two-time and defending All Star champion Tim Shaffer has given notice that he is ready to make a run at both, as the Aliquippa, Pennsylvania driver passed Stevie Smith late in the 40-lap affair to claim the win at Attica Raceway Park Friday night.
Shaffer took the lead on lap 29 with a slide job exiting turn four and never looked back on route to his 38th career All Star victory on Ohio Cat/Eagle 99 Night at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speedplant. The Ohio Sprint Speedweek opening win is his third All Star victory of 2011 and ninth career at Attica Raceway Park.
“Hats off to my guys…this is such a great track to race on. Brian (crew chief, Kemenah) and James and Five-O and Rob and everybody that works on this thing. They give me such a great race car…it’s a lot of fun. Stevie was pretty good there at the beginning and it seemed like in lapped traffic he got off his pace and we were able to capitalize,” said Shaffer beside his Kistler Engines, Kistler Racing Products backed #83.
“This is a great way to start speedweek. Last year here we had a little bit of bad luck and once you get behind the eight ball it’s hard to get back up. Hopefully this will keep going throughout speedweek. It’s going to be tough. We have some great cars this week,” added Shaffer in the Engine Pro Victory Lane with his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook owned machine.
Chillicothe, Ohio’s Danny Smith, who a year ago at Attica for the speedweek opener crashed hard in qualifying, breaking his back and ending his year, would come on strong the last six laps, driving from fourth to second at the checkers.
“It’s been a long year and we’ve run out of money. I was kind of working the middle there early and could keep up with them but I’d kind of get my tires too hot and fade back. There at the end it started working pretty good and the top really slowed down and we were lucky enough to get up to the front,” said Smith beside his Dean Knittle & Sons Automotive, J&D Performance backed #4. “A year ago we were in pretty bad shape. Thanks to everyone who helped get me back here today. There’s a lot of good cars and good competition for speedweek this year. I hope our six year old motor can hang with them.”
Smith, the 2009 Ohio Sprint Speedweek champion, would lead the first 28 laps of the feature and would hold on at the end to finish third.
“There’s no excuses. These guys are running good. We just need to get better at the end and we’re going to work towards that this speedweek. Hopefully we can make the right changes. Congratulations to Tim and Danny…they just plain beat us,” said Smith beside his Zemco Speed Equipment #1. “I think I’ve either spun out here every time or been up front…I’ve never been in between. I’m tired of going to the back so I just had to just settle down and drive the car the best it would let me and we just weren’t quite good enough. Our goal is to try and get better each night out.”
Findlay, Ohio’s Matt Miller would hang on to a car that suffered a broken left rear shock to claim the win in the Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop UMP Late Model win, the fifth of his career at Attica.
“The shock came off on the left rear…it’s amazing we finished. I thought I felt something going on back there…we didn’t need a restart that’s for sure,” said Miller beside his McCullough Industries, PRC, Sunoco Race Fuels backed #7. “Jon Henry’s been kicking everybody’s butt out here so we kind of plan to run the bottom like him. We were better. We’ve been struggling here the past month or so but hopefully we’ve got something to come into the Summer Nationals.”
“I have to thank my car owners Steve and Terri McCulloug and Gressman Race Engines,” added Miller.
Stevie Smith would lead the 26-car field – which included NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart – to the green with Shaffer sliding into second while Danny Holtgraver, Danny Smith, Byron Reed and Daryn Pittman gave chase. Smith would rim-ride around the top of the track, setting a blistering pace as he encountered lapped traffic by the eighth circuit. This would allow Shaffer to close while Holtgraver, Smith, Reed and Pittman put on a great show for the capacity crowed for third. The first caution would fly for a Cap Henry spin on lap nine, giving Smith a clear track. A lap and a yellow for a Chris Andrews spin, and Smith would again set sail with Shaffer running comfortably in second while Holtgraver, Smith, Reed and Pittman continued their torrid battle for third.
Bryan Lay would tip over on the front stretch on lap 12, collecting Duane Zablocki and Sheldon Haudenschild. With on and off sprinkles of rain, the cars were quickly cleared off the track and Smith again would pull away from Shaffer. At the half-way mark, Pittman would spin in turn four for the final caution of the race. The restart order had Smith over Shaffer, Holtgraver, Smith, Reed, Craig Mintz, Brad Haudenschild and Phil Gressman.
The thin edge of the cushion at the top of turns three and four began to wear away and Smith began to struggle with 15 laps remaining. Shaffer could smell blood and closed quickly and was on Smith’s rear bumper by lap 27. Meanwhile, Holtgraver would have his hands full with Reed while Smith and Mintz battled for fifth. Shaffer would fly under Smith and slide up in front exiting turn four to complete the 29th lap. Smith would not give up without a fight and returned the slide job in turns one and two, but Shaffer was too strong in three and four and regained the top spot.
The leaders would catch the back of the field again on lap 32. This also allowed Danny Smith to rebound as he drove from fifth into third in one lap and quickly closed on Stevie Smith. When Shaffer took the white flag, Danny Smith drove under Stevie for second and started to close on the lead. But, it was too little too late as Shaffer coasted to the win. Danny Smith, Stevie Smith, Reed and Mintz would round out the top five.
In the 25-lap late model main, Wayne Maffett Jr. would grab the lead from his pole-starting spot with Ken Hahn applying pressure. Kyle Perry, Dave Hornikel, Justin Chance, Steve Kester and Miller would give chase. Maffett and Hahn would race side by side over the first three laps until the caution would fly for Dusty Moore and Ernie Haynes. On the restart, Hahn would again pressure Maffet while Hornikel moved into third with Perry, Chance and now Miller beginning to close. When John Bores spun on lap four, disaster would strike for Hahn as he too lopped it out in turn two.
On the restart the running order was now Maffett, Perry, Hornikel, Chance, Miller and Kester. On lap five, Chance would take third, bringing Miller into fourth. A lap later and Miller would drive under Chance for third and by lap 7 had taken second from Perry. Miller would close on Maffett a lap later and the two raced side-by-side until a caution on lap 11 for George Lee, Hornikel and Perry. But that tremendous battle for the lead would resume when the green returned as Maffett and Miller raced side-by-side with Chance, Kester and Casey Noonan rounding out the top five.
Miller would drive under Maffett and take the lead for good on lap 15 while a fantastic five car battle for third was underway between Chance, Kesster, Noonan, Ryan Missler and Roddy Schroyer. While Miller cruised around the bottom, Maffet ran comfortably in second. Noonan would move into third with five laps to go as Chance and Schroyer rounded out the top five. And that is how they would finish.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, July 1 for Kear’s Speed Shop Fan Appreciation Night. General admission is just $10 for four divisions – 410 sprints, 305 sprints, late models, and dirt trucks.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park – 6/17/2011
Eagle 99 / Ohio CAT Night
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (47 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.459; 2. 89G-David Gravel, 12.482; 3. 1-Stevie Smith, 12.501; 4. 12-Jarred Ridge, 12.570; 5. 83-Tim Shaffer, 12.574; 6. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 12.621; 7. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.656; 8. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.658; 9. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.670; 10. 4-Danny Smith, 12.676; 11. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.676; 12. 10-Brad Haudenschild, 12.698; 13. 27-Daryn Pittman, 12.730; 14. 45-Rob Chaney, 12.734; 15. O-Chris Andrews, 12.739; 16. 9X-Brandon Martin, 12.745; 17. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.777; 18. 53-Phil Gressman, 12.786; 19. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.870; 20. 45L-Brian Lay, 12.906; 21. 51-Brad Bowman, 12.909; 22. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 12.922; 23. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.922; 24. O4-Cap Henry, 12.931; 25. 97-Dean Jacobs, 12.937; 26. 312-Mike Linder, 12.942; 27. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.988; 28. 41-Jason Johnson, 12.998; 29. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.078; 30. 16M-Danny Mumaw, 13.116; 31. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 13.150; 32. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer, 13.160; 33. 4X-Kasey Kahne, 13.178; 34. 15H-Mitch Harble, 13.187; 35. 57X-Andrew Palker, 13.193; 36. 91-Aaron Middaugh, 13.199; 37. 11D-Bryce Dickson, 13.238; 38. 22-Cole Duncan, 13.255; 39. 4K-Kody Kinser, 13.266; 40. 3J-Kevin Lee, 13.300; 41. 3-Pete Miller, 13.362; 42. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 13.485; 43. 96AU-Bruce White, 13.619; 44. 6Z-Zack Ames, 13.811; 45. 35-Wes McGlumphy, 13.905; 46. 26-Ryan French, 14.051; 47. 36-Brent Coffman, 14.287
Heat 1 – Kear’s Speed Shop (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 49-Brad Sweet[2] ; 2. 27-Daryn Pittman[3] ; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer[5] ; 4. 97-Dean Jacobs[7] ; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[4] ; 6. 2-Dale Blaney[6] ; 7. 51-Brad Bowman[1] ; 8. 14-Tony Stewart[8] ; 9. 4X-Kasey Kahne[9] ; 10. 11D-Bryce Dickson[10] ; 11. 3-Pete Miller[11] ; 12. 35-Wes McGlumphy[12]
Heat 2 – All Pro Aluminum Heads (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 16-Bryan Sebetto[1] ; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[2] ; 3. 45-Rob Chaney[3] ; 4. D4-Danny Holtgraver[5] ; 5. 4-Danny Smith[4] ; 6. 312-Mike Linder[7] ; 7. 89G-David Gravel[6] ; 8. 16M-Danny Mumaw[8] ; 9. 15H-Mitch Harble[9] ; 10. 26-Ryan French[12] ; 11. 11N-Ed Neumeister[11]
Heat 3 – MSD Ignition (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. W20-Greg Wilson[1] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 3. O-Chris Andrews[3] ; 4. 1-Stevie Smith[6] ; 5. O9-Craig Mintz[5] ; 6. 57X-Andrew Palker[9] ; 7. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[8] ; 8. 60-Jody Keegan[7] ; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[4] ; 10. 4K-Kody Kinser[10] ; 11. 96AU-Bruce White[11] ; 12. 36-Brent Coffman[12]
Heat 4 – Kinsler Fuel Injection (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O4-Cap Henry[1] ; 2. 10-Brad Haudenschild[4] ; 3. 45L-Brian Lay[2] ; 4. 41-Jason Johnson[7] ; 5. 3J-Kevin Lee[10] ; 6. 9X-Brandon Martin[3] ; 7. 5T-Travis Philo[5] ; 8. 6Z-Zack Ames[11] ; 9. 91-Aaron Middaugh[9] ; 10. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer[8] ; 11. 12-Jarred Ridge[6]
Outerwears Performance Products Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 1-Stevie Smith[2] ; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer[3] ; 3. 4-Danny Smith[1] ; 4. D4-Danny Holtgraver[4] ; 5. O9-Craig Mintz[5] ; 6. 5R-Byron Reed[6]
C-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the B-feature)
1. 4K-Kody Kinser[1] ; 2. 3-Pete Miller[2] ; 3. 96AU-Bruce White[4] ; 4. 6Z-Zack Ames[5] ; 5. 11N-Ed Neumeister[3] ; 6. 35-Wes McGlumphy[6] ; 7. 36-Brent Coffman[8] ; 8. 26-Ryan French[7]
B-Main – University of Northwestern Ohio. (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 2-Dale Blaney[1] ; 2. 89G-David Gravel[2] ; 3. 9X-Brandon Martin[6] ; 4. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[3] ; 5. 5T-Travis Philo[4] ; 6. 312-Mike Linder[8] ; 7. 14-Tony Stewart[10] ; 8. 51-Brad Bowman[5] ; 9. 16M-Danny Mumaw[9] ; 10. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[12] ; 11. 4K-Kody Kinser[17] ; 12. 57X-Andrew Palker[16] ; 13. 3-Pete Miller[19] ; 14. 4X-Kasey Kahne[14] ; 15. 7TW-Brandon Wimmer[11] ; 16. 15H-Mitch Harble[13] ; 17. 11D-Bryce Dickson[18] ; 18. 91-Aaron Middaugh[15] ; 19. 60-Jody Keegan[7]
A-Main – O’Reilly Auto Parts (40 Laps)
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[2]; 2. 4-Danny Smith[3]; 3. 1-Stevie Smith[1]; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[6]; 5. O9-Craig Mintz[5]; 6. 10-Brad Haudenschild[7]; 7. 53-Phil Gressman[16]; 8. D4-Danny Holtgraver[4]; 9. 41-Jason Johnson[23]; 10. 9X-Brandon Martin[14]; 11. 16-Bryan Sebetto[19]; 12. 89G-David Gravel[12]; 13. W20-Greg Wilson[20]; 14. 97-Dean Jacobs[22]; 15. 49-Brad Sweet[15]; 16. O4-Cap Henry[21]; 17. 14-Tony Stewart[25]; 18. O-Chris Andrews[10]; 19. 27-Daryn Pittman[8]; 20. 4X-Kasey Kahne[26]; 21. 3J-Kevin Lee[24]; 22. 45-Rob Chaney[9]; 23. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[13]; 24. 2-Dale Blaney[11]; 25. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 26. 45L-Brian Lay[18]
Hard Charger: 41-Jason Johnson[+14]
Fultz Fabrication & Speed Shop Late Models (27 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 21-Larry Kingseed[1] ; 2. 61-George Lee[3] ; 3. 28-Roddy Schroyer[4] ; 4. 77-Steve Kester[7] ; 5. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[2] ; 6. 51-Devin Shiels[8] ; 7. 35-Ron Miller[6] ; 8. 99-Steve Sabo[5] ; 9. 15B-Mike Bores[9]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7-Matt Miller[1] ; 2. O1-Justin Chance[7] ; 3. 71-Dave Hornikel[3] ; 4. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.[8] ; 5. 55T-Tom Ordway[5] ; 6. 5H-Ernie Haynes[6] ; 7. 36-Matt Irey[9] ; 8. 18-Jamie Reed[2] ; 9. 12M-Ky Harper[4]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 27-Ken Hahn[4] ; 2. 1N-Casey Noonan[3] ; 3. 50Y-Ryan Missler[7] ; 4. O6-Kyle Perry[1] ; 5. 48B-John Bores[9] ; 6. 69-John Mayes Jr.[5] ; 7. 56-B.J. Gregory[6] ; 8. 11-Curtis Deisenroth[2] ; 9. WD40-Dusty Moore[8]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 51-Devin Shiels[1] ; 2. 69-John Mayes Jr.[3] ; 3. 5H-Ernie Haynes[2] ; 4. 36-Matt Irey[5] ; 5. WD40-Dusty Moore[12] ; 6. 35-Ron Miller[4] ; 7. 15B-Mike Bores[10] ; 8. 56-B.J. Gregory[6] ; 9. 99-Steve Sabo[7] ; 10. 12M-Ky Harper[11] ; 11. 11-Curtis Deisenroth[9] ; 12. 18-Jamie Reed[8]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 7-Matt Miller[7]; 2. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.[1]; 3. 1N-Casey Noonan[10]; 4. O1-Justin Chance[6]; 5. 28-Roddy Schroyer[12]; 6. 77-Steve Kester[5]; 7. 50Y-Ryan Missler[9]; 8. 51-Devin Shiels[16]; 9. WD40-Dusty Moore[20]; 10. 27-Ken Hahn[2]; 11. 21-Larry Kingseed[8]; 12. 55T-Tom Ordway[14]; 13. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[13]; 14. 5H-Ernie Haynes[18]; 15. 36-Matt Irey[19]; 16. O6-Kyle Perry[3]; 17. 71-Dave Hornikel[4]; 18. 61-George Lee[11]; 19. 69-John Mayes Jr.[17]; 20. 48B-John Bores[15]
Hard Charger: WD40-Dusty Moore[+11]
Photo Gallery
