By T.J. Buffenbarger
Quincy, MI – (September 3, 2011) — Dale Blaney won the All Star Circuit of Champions feature Saturday night at Butler Motor Speedway. After starting on the pole Blaney held off challenges from Randy Hannagan and local favorite Chad Blonde by pulling away over the last ten laps for the victory.
Hannagan joined Blaney on the front row for the 30-lap feature. The first attempt to start saw multiple cars make contact in the middle of the pack and by the time the caution flag appeared Dustin Daggett, Jody Keegan, Doug Zimmerman, and Kyle Sauder were stopped on the back stretch. Phil Gressman also went pits ide during the caution when his car was unable to fire after the caution. Kyle Sauder also retired to the pit area.
Hannagan led the field during the second attempt to start the feature when Kevin Atkins spun in turn two. Atkins was unable to restart.
The third attempt was successful with Blaney again taking the lead over Hannagan. Blonde thrilled his home track crowd moving up from eighth starting spot into third by the fourth lap. Blaney, Hannagan, and Blonde pulled away from the rest of the field as they approached lapped traffic on lap five with Tim Shaffer and Danny Holtgraver keeping the lead trio within sight.
While in traffic the leaders had a close call when Pete Miller, III spun in turn four in front of the lead pack to bring out the caution flag. Somehow the leaders all avoided Miller, but Chris Jones ended up going off turn four. Both Miller and Jones were able to restart.
Blaney, Hannagan, and Blonde pulled away from the field after the restart. Blonde got a run under Hannagan down the backstretch on lap 13 and moved into second. Blonde immediately put pressure on Blaney for the lead. On lap 18 Blaney left the door open for Blonde to try a slide job coming off turn four. Blaney and Blonde raced side by side in very close quarters, but Blaney held onto the lead.
After that attempt Blaney was able to get through lapped traffic quicker than Blonde and opened up more distance that Blonde could make up before the finish. Hannagan, Tim Shaffer, and Danny Holtgraver rounded out the top five.
Holtgraver was the fastest qualifier over the 29 car field with a lap of 12.363 second near the end of the session. Doug Zimmerman, Cap Henry, and Danny Smith won heat race events.
All Star Circuit of Champions
Butler Motor Speedway – Quincy, MI
Sunday September 4th, 2011
Time Trials: 1. D4 – Danny Holtgraver, 12.363; 2. 45 – Rob Chaney, 12.483; 3. 83 – Tim Shaffer, 12.499; 4. 22H – Randy Hannagan, 12.532; 5. 53 – Phil Gressman, 12.574; 6. 2 – Dale Blaney, 12.587; 7. 2m – Dustin Daggett, 12.692; 8. 1 – Chad Blonde, 12.694; 9. 4 – Danny Smith, 12.711; 10. 4K – Kody Kinser, 12.746; 11. 89G – David Gravel, 12.782; 12. 7K – Kyle Sauder, 12.824; 13. w20 – Greg Wilson, 12.831; 14. O4 – Cap Henry, 12.853; 15. 60 – Jody Keegan, 12.939; 16. 19 – Doug Zimmerman, 13.043; 17. 45L – Brian Lay, 13.064; 18. 25m – Ken Mackey, 13.148; 19. 1A – Mark Aldrich, 13.536; 20. 49T – Gregg Dalman, 13.549; 21. 27 – Shelby Bilton, 13.566; 22. 51 – Roger Campbell, Jr., 13.589; 23. 48 – Kevin Atkins, 13.590; 24. 9E – Tim Evilsizer, 13.646; 25. 23J – Chris Jones, 13.687; 26. 4T – Josh Turner, 13.721; 27. 50D – Ben Rutan, 13.832; 28. 27K – Ryan Kirkendall, 14.364; 29. 3 – Pete Miller, III, NT
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. Doug Zimmerman, 2. Greg Wilson, 3. Dustin Daggett, 3. Kody Kinser, 4. Danny Holtgraver, 5 Randy Hannagan, 6. Roger Campbell, Jr., 7. Ryan Kirkendall, 8. Chris Jones. DNS: Mark Aldrich. (First six finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. Cap Henry, 2. Brian Lay, 3. David Gravel, 4. Chad Blonde, 5. Phil Gressman, 6. Rob Chaney, 7. Gregg Dalman, 8. Pete Miller, III, 9. Josh Turner, 10. Kevin Atkins. (First six finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. Danny Smith, 2. Ken Mackey, 3. Jody Keegan, 4. Kyle Sauder, 5. Tim Shaffer, 6. Dale Blaney, 7. Tim Evilsizer, 8. Shelby Bilton, 9. Ben Rutan. (First six finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. Roger Campbell, Jr., 2. Pete Miller, 3. Kevin Atkins, 4. Ben Rutan, 5. Chris Jones, 6. Shelby Bilton, 7. Ryan Kirkendall, 8. Tim Evilsizer, 9. Gregg Dalman, 10. Josh Turner. DNS: Mark Aldrich (First six finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)
A-Main (30 Laps): 1. Dale Blaney, 2. Chad Blonde, 3. Randy Hannagan, 4. Tim Shaffer, 5. Danny Holtgraver, 6. Cap Henry, 7. David Gravel, 8. Danny Smith, 9. Greg Wilson, 10. Rob Chaney, 11. Brian Lay, 12. Kody Kinser, 13. Dustin Daggett, 14. Jody Keegan, 15. Doug Zimmerman, 16. Pete Miller, 17. Roger Campbell, Jr., 18. Shelby Bilton, 19. Ken Mackey, 20. Chris Jones, 21. Ben Rutan, 22. Kevin Atkins, 23. Phil Gressman, 24. Kyle Sauder.
Lap leaders: Blaney 1-30
Photo Gallery