By Brian Liskai, Mike Campbell photo
ATTICA, Ohio – Tim Shaffer dominated the 40-lap feature Saturday at Attica Raceway Park, leading all 40 laps to claim his third straight All Star Circuit of Champions victory to increase his lead in the series’ national and Ohio Region points standing.
Shaffer has now won nine All Star events in 2011. His victory in the Baumann Auto Group Attica Ambush brings his career total to 44 with the All Stars and moves him into a tie for sixth on the all-time win list with former champion Kevin Huntley and Dave Blaney. The Steel City Outlaw needs 9 more All Star feature wins to catch four-time series champion Frankie Kerr for fifth.
The cautions flew perfect for Shaffer throughout the 40-lap affair…just as he was getting into heavy lapped traffic. Shaffer would use the clear track and clean air to pull away each time.
“It’s amazing…it really is. It’s a lot of fun. When you have a great team and great people behind you…Paul Kistler with the engines and J&J Chassis…every body,” said Shaffer in the Engine Pro Victory Lane beside his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook owned machine.
“It all goes back to a great team from the owners to the people working on it…just everything,” added Shaffer of his Kistler Racing Products/Kistler Engines backed #83.
Shaffer and Phil Gressman would lead the field to the green with Shaffer grabbing the lead while fast qualifier Danny Holtgraver and Cole Duncan would get around Gressman with Todd Kane and David Gravel giving chase. The first caution would fly on the third circuit for a Greg Wilson spin.
Following two more green flag laps the caution would fly for Cap Henry who suffered a broken wheel. On the restart Shaffer would pull away from the great battle for second between Holtgraver, Duncan and Gressman while sixth starter Gravel would vault into fifth. The car on the move was Bryan Sebetto, who had won the last two features at Attica, as he blasted from his 15th starting spot to eighth by the eighth lap.
Shaffer would catch the rear of the field by the 12th lap, but Holtgraver and Duncan could not close. The caution would fly for Wilson again on lap 13, giving Shaffer a clear track. The running order was Shaffer, Holtgraver, Duncan, Gressman, Gravel, Kane, Byron Reed and Sebetto. On the restart Sebetto would drive into sixth and was pressuring Gravel for fifth. Disaster would strike on lap 19 when fourth running Gressman appeared to have something break on his machine, sending him upside down in turn three and Sebetto made heavy contact with the crashing car, ending his night.
The red came just as Shaffer was getting into lapped traffic once again. With a clear track, Shaffer would pull away on the restart while Holtgraver, Duncan, Gravel and 13th place starter Dean Jacobs waged a great battle. Holtgraver would slip over the cushion exiting turn two on lap 25, following to fifth as Duncan, Gravel and Jacobs got by.
Shaffer would hit lapped traffic on lap 27, but Duncan and Gravel could not close. With eight laps to go, Shaffer was in heavy traffic with Gravel taking second from Duncan as Jacobs and Reed closed. Jacobs would slide off turns three and four on lap 33, doing a 360 spin to bring out the caution. Shaffer now had two lapped machines between himself and Gravel.
Shaffer would pull away on the restart while Gravel worked his way around the lapped machines. Meanwhile Holtgraver had rallied to take third on lap 34 with Reed moving into fifth.
Shaffer would take the checkered by two car lengths over Gravel, Holtgraver, Reed and 16th place starter Randy Hannagan.
For Gravel, who has been staying at Shaffer’s crew chief Brian Kemenah’s home, it was his third straight runner-up finish to Shaffer.
“He’s freaking killing me…I gave him one last night (at Lernerville). I wish this was 50 laps…usually I get tired in 40 lap races but we were coming at the end. It’s crazy, we finish one, two every night and we sleep in the same house,” said Gravel beside his P&M Transportation/JRC Transportation/DDR Motorsports #89.
Holtgraver was excited about his third place showing.
“We ran second the whole race. That cushion is mean…it bit me. But we were able to battle back and we’re standing here on the front stretch so I’m pretty happy,” said Holtgraver beside his Buckeye Steering Products/Spinnwebbers Auto Sales backed machine. “You never quit…no matter what happens never give up…just keep digging and digging.”
In the Fultz Fabrications UMP Late Models, Houghton Lake, Michigan’s Dona Marcoullier passed 2011 Attica champion Ryan Missler with seven laps to go and went on to score his first career Attica victory. He hadn’t planned on competing at Attica, but when another track rained out earlier, he made the tow worth his effort.
“About 5:30 we pulled into Oakshade and they cancelled so we busted our butts to get here,” said Marcoullier beside his Gene’s Auto Parts and Salvage backed #6m.
“I knew if I just held in there I had the right tires on and the car has been great. We haven’t been doing a lot of racing because of this financial stuff but when we run we are good. I have to thank my engine builder Dowker Engines, my sponsor Jimmy’s Collision…he came all the way down here from Houghton Lake to help us with tires and my dad….I wouldn’t be here without him,” added Marcoullier.
In the Computerman Dirt Trucks, former 410 and 305 sprint Attica champion John Ivy battled with 2011 track champion Bob Dible throughout the 15-lap affair before claiming his first career dirt truck victory.
“I hope Charlie lets me drive this some more. I’m having a ball…this is fun,” said Ivy. “I’ve won in nearly everything here now except a late model and I’m willing to give that a try. I have to thank Charlie and Craig…they give me a good piece.”
Following an opening lap caution for Donnie Marcoullier, Ernie Haynes would grab the lead in the late model feature with Dona Marcoullier, Jeremy Canada and Ryan Missler giving chase. While everyone seemed to want to run the bottom, Missler would get up to the cushion and rocket into third on the second lap. Haynes, Marcoullier and Missler would then battle for the lead with Missler driving into the top spot on lap four.
Marcoullier would take second from Haynes on lap 10 and started to close on Missler. With nine laps to go, Marcoullier and Missler would race side-by-side with Marcoullier able to drive under Missler for the lead on lap 18. Marcoullier would hit the back of the field by the 21st lap, but Missler could not close while Haynes, Keith Berner, Canada, Chris Ross and Ryan Markham waged a great battle for third.
Marcoullier would take the win over Missler, Berner, Haynes and Canada.
In the 15-lap dirt truck main, recently crowned 2011 Attica champion Bob Dible would take the lead at the drop of the green with Dwight Waltermeier, Chuck Roelle and Ivy in tow. Following a lap 2 caution, Ivy would drive into third and then take second from Waltermeier a lap later. With Dible clinging to the bottom groove, Ivy would move to the middle of the track as he and Dible raced side-by-side for the lead. Ivy was able to take the point on lap nine as Dible continued to race to his inside.
Ivy was able to pull away slightly the last five laps for the win with Dible, Art Ball, Dan Hennig and Waltermeier rounding out the top five.
Attica Raceway Park – 9/3/2011
Baumann Auto Group Night
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (38 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 12.528; 2. 5-Jac Haudenschild, 12.697; 3. 53-Phil Gressman, 12.740; 4. 89G-David Gravel, 12.752; 5. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.761; 6. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 12.765; 7. 45-Rob Chaney, 12.774; 8. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.777; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.804; 10. 22-Cole Duncan, 12.807; 11. 83-Tim Shaffer, 12.809; 12. 78-Todd Kane, 12.812; 13. 40-Caleb Helms, 12.839; 14. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.845; 15. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.864; 16. O4-Cap Henry, 12.906; 17. 97-Dean Jacobs, 12.915; 18. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.936; 19. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 12.941; 20. 22H-Randy Hannagan, 12.959; 21. 7-Darren Long, 12.998; 22. 4-Danny Smith, 13.002; 23. 312X-Chris Andrews, 13.010; 24. 1-Chad Blonde, 13.017; 25. 312-Mike Linder, 13.036; 26. 45L-Brian Lay, 13.039; 27. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.059; 28. 9X-Brandon Martin, 13.064; 29. O-Lee Jacobs, 13.134; 30. 7K-Kyle Sauder, 13.144; 31. 91-Aaron Middaugh, 13.199; 32. 27-Scott Euler, 13.248; 33. 98-Robert Robenalt, 13.336; 34. 11D-Bryce Dickson, 13.427; 35. 3-Pete Miller III, 13.570; 36. 83M-Broc Martin, 13.639; 37. 51C-Roger Campbell, 13.863; 38. 6Z-Zack Ames, 14.363
Heat 1 – Kear’s Speed Shop (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs[2] ; 2. 7-Darren Long[1] ; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[5] ; 4. D4-Danny Holtgraver[6] ; 5. 312-Mike Linder[7] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[4] ; 7. 51C-Roger Campbell[10] ; 8. 40-Caleb Helms[3] ; 9. O-Lee Jacobs[8] ; 10. 98-Robert Robenalt[9]
Heat 2 – MSD Ignitions (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 4-Danny Smith[1] ; 2. O9-Craig Mintz[2] ; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[4] ; 4. 7K-Kyle Sauder[8] ; 5. 5T-Travis Philo[3] ; 6. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[5] ; 7. 45L-Brian Lay[7] ; 8. 11D-Bryce Dickson[9] ; 9. 6Z-Zack Ames[10] ; 10. 5-Jac Haudenschild[6]
Heat 3 – Kinsler Fuel Injections (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 16-Bryan Sebetto[2] ; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 3. 53-Phil Gressman[6] ; 4. W20-Greg Wilson[7] ; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[3] ; 6. 45-Rob Chaney[5] ; 7. 312X-Chris Andrews[1] ; 8. 91-Aaron Middaugh[8] ; 9. 3-Pete Miller III[9]
Heat 4 – All Pro Cylinder Heads10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O4-Cap Henry[3] ; 2. 22H-Randy Hannagan[2] ; 3. 78-Todd Kane[4] ; 4. 89G-David Gravel[6] ; 5. 9X-Brandon Martin[7] ; 6. 83M-Broc Martin[9] ; 7. 27-Scott Euler[8] ; 8. 60-Jody Keegan[5] ; 9. 1-Chad Blonde[1]
Outerwears Performance Products Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[4] ; 3. D4-Danny Holtgraver[3] ; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[1] ; 5. 2-Dale Blaney[5] ; 6. 89G-David Gravel[6]
B-Main – University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5-Jac Haudenschild[1] ; 2. 45-Rob Chaney[3] ; 3. 312X-Chris Andrews[7] ; 4. 1-Chad Blonde[8] ; 5. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[5] ; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[9] ; 7. 11D-Bryce Dickson[14] ; 8. 91-Aaron Middaugh[11] ; 9. 6Z-Zack Ames[18] ; 10. 3-Pete Miller III[15] ; 11. 98-Robert Robenalt[13] ; 12. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[2] ; 13. 27-Scott Euler[12] ; 14. 51C-Roger Campbell[17] ; 15. 60-Jody Keegan[4] ; 16. 40-Caleb Helms[6] ; 17. 83M-Broc Martin[16]
A-Main – (40 Laps)
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. 89G-David Gravel[6]; 3. D4-Danny Holtgraver[3]; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[7]; 5. 22H-Randy Hannagan[16]; 6. 4-Danny Smith[18]; 7. 22-Cole Duncan[4]; 8. 312-Mike Linder[19]; 9. 1-Chad Blonde[20]; 10. 2-Dale Blaney[23]; 11. W20-Greg Wilson[22]; 12. O9-Craig Mintz[14]; 13. 97-Dean Jacobs[11]; 14. 7K-Kyle Sauder[24]; 15. 9X-Brandon Martin[21]; 16. 45-Rob Chaney[12]; 17. 5-Jac Haudenschild[9]; 18. 78-Todd Kane[5]; 19. 5T-Travis Philo[8]; 20. O4-Cap Henry[10]; 21. 53-Phil Gressman[2]; 22. 16-Bryan Sebetto[13]; 23. 312X-Chris Andrews[17]; 24. 7-Darren Long[15]
Hard Charger: 2-Dale Blaney[+13]
Fultz Fabrication & Speed Shop Late Models (35 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 6M-Dona Marcoullier[6] ; 2. 18-Keith Berner[1] ; 3. 69-John Mayes Jr.[2] ; 4. 48B-John Bores[3] ; 5. WD40-Dusty Moore[8] ; 6. 83-Noah Wagner[7] ; 7. 99-Steve Sabo[9] ; 8. 12M-Bobby Michaels[5] ; 9. 30-Nate Potts[4]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 23C-Jeremy Canada[1] ; 2. 51-Devin Shiels[7] ; 3. 21-Larry Kingseed[3] ; 4. X6M-Donnie Marcoullier[6] ; 5. 92-Brandon Perkins[5] ; 6. 13-Mike Hudson[9] ; 7. OO7-Rick Bond[2] ; 8. O1-Justin Chance[4]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 18R-Chris Ross[3] ; 2. M14-Brandon Thirlby[8] ; 3. 5H-Ernie Haynes[1] ; 4. 88-Andy Reau[4] ; 5. 27-Ken Hahn[6] ; 6. 12MX-Wayne Miller[2] ; 7. 99M-John Mayes Sr.[5] ; 8. 15-Jon Henry[7]
Heat 4 – Friendship Food Stores (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 23V-Ryan VanderVeen[2] ; 2. 50Y-Ryan Missler[6] ; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[5] ; 4. 91-Rusty Schlenk[7] ; 5. 30JS-Josh Scott[4] ; 6. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[3] ; 7. 48-Mike Bores[8] ; 8. 92B-Hiram Bachman[1]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. WD40-Dusty Moore[1] ; 2. 30JS-Josh Scott[4] ; 3. 83-Noah Wagner[5] ; 4. 99-Steve Sabo[9] ; 5. OO7-Rick Bond[10] ; 6. 15-Jon Henry[15] ; 7. 13-Mike Hudson[6] ; 8. 1D-Curtis Deisenroth[19] ; 9. 92-Brandon Perkins[2] ; 10. 12MX-Wayne Miller[7] ; 11. 92B-Hiram Bachman[16] ; 12. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[8] ; 13. 12M-Bobby Michaels[13]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 6M-Dona Marcoullier[3]; 2. 50Y-Ryan Missler[4]; 3. 18-Keith Berner[7]; 4. 5H-Ernie Haynes[1]; 5. 23C-Jeremy Canada[2]; 6. 18R-Chris Ross[5]; 7. 5M-Ryan Markham[6]; 8. 23V-Ryan VanderVeen[11]; 9. 51-Devin Shiels[10]; 10. M14-Brandon Thirlby[9]; 11. WD40-Dusty Moore[17]; 12. 88-Andy Reau[15]; 13. 69-John Mayes Jr.[12]; 14. 30JS-Josh Scott[18]; 15. 83-Noah Wagner[19]; 16. 48B-John Bores[13]; 17. 99-Steve Sabo[20]; 18. 21-Larry Kingseed[8]; 19. 91-Rusty Schlenk[16]; 20. X6M-Donnie Marcoullier[14]
Hard Charger: WD40-Dusty Moore[+6]