By Larry Boos
ROSSBURG, OH (Oct. 2) – Dale Blaney’s victory in Saturday’s All Star Circuit of Champions Sprintacular at Eldora Speedway moved him into a tie on the all-time All Star win list at Eldora; while the NRA (National Racing Alliance) Sprint Invader post-race inspection found the apparent race winner, Jim Nier, not passing the tech inspection. That handed the victory to Butch Schroeder for his second NRA win of the season at Eldora.
For much of the All Star event, it appeared that current point leader Tim Shaffer was going to break out of his winless streak for the sanctioning group at Eldora. The Aliquippa, PA native had dominated the event once taking the lead from fast qualifier Randy Hannagan on lap nine and had a sizeable lead over the field.
That lead was wiped out on lap 23. With Rob Chaney flipping in turn one, Shaffer clipped Terry McCarl in the melee and slowly spun to a stop. The All Star officials ruled Shaffer to be involved in the accident as a result of the spin, and was relegated to the rear of the field.
That handed the lead over to Blaney, who had gotten by Hannagan on lap 18 to move into second spot. With the renewed charge to the finish, Hannagan remained in the hunt and pressured Blaney, while Danny Smith and David Gravel were mowing into the limelight as well to provide a close chase to the checkered flag.
Meanwhile, Shaffer marched forward from the rear of the field and was able to salvage a disappointing fifth place finish behind Blaney, Hannagan, Smith and Gravel.
Nier’s celebration on victory lane, his first-ever, was curtailed when the NRA officials tested his fuel supply and found it not to be in compliance with their specifications.
That led to expected disappointment from the Nier camp, as the Piketon, OH chauffeur had driven a flawless race to move to the front with precision, from his fourth place starting slot.
Polesitter Ron Blair set an early torrid pace to lead the early going of the 25-lap chase, holding off Wayne Johnson and Nier. While those three were battling for the top spot, Kyle Sauder was moving his way through the field, along with the evening’s quickest qualifier, Randy Hannagan.
Sauder’s run ended on lap 8 with a flip down the backstretch after making contact with the turn two wall. Sauder was unhurt, although the car was damaged and towed to the pit area.
It was that restart that catapulted Nier to the top spot he was to hold to the finish. Schroeder’s late race charge to second and a near pass of Nier in the closing stages, eventually gave him the win, with Hannagan hanging for second in the final run-down, followed in pursuit by Tony Beaber, Blair and Jamie Collard.
Joining the tripleheader were the Legends Cars, with Bryan Nuckles capturing their main event for his initial Eldora triumph.
October 1, 2011
4th annual Sprintacular presented by the University of Northwestern Ohio
All Star Circuit of Champions – 29 cars
Quick Qualifier – Randy Hannagan: 13.076
Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. w20-Greg Wilson [1];2. 7k-Kyle Sauder [3];3. 45-Rob Chaney [4];4. 22h-Randy Hannagan [6];5. 89g-David Gravel [5];6. d4-Danny Holtgraver [2];7. 7c-Phil Gressman [7];8. 5t-Travis Philo [10];9. 60-Kory Crabtree [9];10. 11n-Ed Neumeister [8]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 01-Cap Henry [4];2. 34-Luke Hall [1];3. 83-Tim Shaffer [5];4. 22-Cole Duncan [2];5. 49-Brad Sweet [6];6. 55-Terry McCarl [7];7. 27-Nathan Skaggs [9];8. 27-Scott Euler [10];9. 4-Danny Smith [3];10. 6m-Dallas Hewitt [8]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [1];2. 97-Dean Jacobs [2];3. 2m-Dustin Daggett [4];4. 2-Dale Blaney [6];5. 0-Lee Jacobs [7];6. 78-Todd Kane [3];7. 3-Pete MIller [8];8. 92-Sam Ashworth [9];9. 7-Darren Long [5]
Dash
1. 2-Dale Blaney [N/A];2. 22h-Randy Hannagan [N/A];3. 83-Tim Shaffer [N/A];4. 49-Brad Sweet [N/A];5. 89g-David Gravel [N/A];6. 45-Rob Chaney [N/A]
B Main – (12 Laps)
1. 7-Darren Long [1];2. 4-Danny Smith [2];3. 7c-Phil Gressman [3];4. 3-Pete MIller [6];5. 60-Kory Crabtree [7];6. 2x-Nathan Skaggs [8];7. 5t-Travis Philo [10];8. 92-Sam Ashworth [9];9. 27-Scott Euler [11];10. 11n-Ed Neumeister [4];11. 6m-Dallas Hewitt [5]
A Main – (30 Laps)
1. 2-Dale Blaney [1];2. 22h-Randy Hannagan [2];3. 4-Danny Smith [12];4. 89g-David Gravel [5];5. 2m-Dustin Daggett [8];6. 7k-Kyle Sauder [9];7. 83-Tim Shaffer [3];8. d4-Danny Holtgraver [13];9. 55-Terry McCarl [20];10. 7-Darren Long [11];11. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [18];12. w20-Greg Wilson [16];13. 22-Cole Duncan [14];14. 97-Dean Jacobs [15];15. 3-Pete MIller [22];16. 34-Luke Hall [17];17. 45-Rob Chaney [6];18. 0-Lee Jacobs [21];19. 49-Brad Sweet [4];20. 78-Todd Kane [10];21. 01-Cap Henry [7];22. 60-Kory Crabtree [23];23. 7c-Phil Gressman [19];24. 2x-Nathan Skaggs [24]
NRA Invaders – 29 cars
Quick Qualifier – Randy Hannagan: 14.073
Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 1-Kyle Sauder [5];2. 22s-Aaron Schaffer [1];3. 27r-Ryan Ruhl [2];4. 4-Danny Smith [3];5. 22-Randy Hannagan [6];6. 28h-Hud Horton [4];7. 5-Keith Dempster [7];8. 27h-Tom Huppunen [8];9. 07x-Dane Naida [9];10. 2g-Joe Geine [10]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 11-Tim Allison [1];2. b20-Butch Schroeder [6];3. 17-Jared Horstman [3];4. 34-Luke Hall [2];5. 77x-Wayne Johnson [5];6. 2h-Dallas Hewitt [4];7. 49-Shawn Dancer [8];8. 1-Kent Wolters [7];9. 5m-Jeff Williams [9];10. 1h-Cody Hewitt [10]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 11n-Ed Neumeister [2];2. 3t-Tony Beaber [4];3. 00-Jim Nier [6];4. 0-Dave Dykstra [1];5. 35-Ron Blair [5];6. 22d-Dennis Yoakam [3];7. 7x-Jamie Collard [7];8. 31-Andy Teunessen [9];9. 27s-Beau Stewart [8]
B Main – (10 Laps)
1. 2h-Dallas Hewitt [2];2. 28h-Hud Horton [1];3. 22d-Dennis Yoakam [3];4. 7x-Jamie Collard [6];5. 5-Keith Dempster [4];6. 27s-Beau Stewart [9];7. 49-Shawn Dancer [8];8. 1-Kent Wolters [5];9. 31-Andy Teunessen [12];10. 07x-Dane Naida [10];11. 27h-Tom Huppunen [N/A];12. 5m-Jeff Williams [N/A];13. 2g-Joe Geine [N/A];14. 1h-Cody Hewitt [N/A]
A Main – (25 Laps)
1. b20-Butch Schroeder [5];2. 22-Randy Hannagan [6];3. 3t-Tony Beaber [7];4. 35-Ron Blair [1];5. 7x-Jamie Collard [19];6. 17-Jared Horstman [9];7. 4-Danny Smith [8];8. 77x-Wayne Johnson [2];9. 34-Luke Hall [11];10. 0-Dave Dykstra [15];11. 5-Keith Dempster [20];12. 11n-Ed Neumeister [12];13. 22d-Dennis Yoakam [18];14. 27r-Ryan Ruhl [10];15. 11-Tim Allison [14];16. 22s-Aaron Schaffer [13];17. 2h-Dallas Hewitt [16];18. 1-Kyle Sauder [3];19. 28h-Hud Horton [17]; – Jim Nier [DQ];
Legends – 10 cars
Heat 1
59 Bryan Knukles, 11 Tony Steffin, 02 Drew Higginson, 04 Jake Dunsmore, 8 Gerad Miller
Heat 2
52 Jack Dossey Jr, 44s Nelson Stewart, 7 Steve Duderstat, 42 Matt Erich, 44 Tom Elliott
A main
59 Bryan Knukles, 52 Jack Dossey Jr, 11 Tony Steffin, 02 Drew Higginson, 44s Nelson Stewart, 04 Jake Dunsmore, 7 Steve Duderstat, 44 Tom Elliott, 42 Matt Elliott, 8 Gerad Miller