From J&J
McKENZIE, TN (July 25) – During one of the busiest weeks of Sprint car action, J&J Auto Racing teams continued to find victory lane. Reigning NASCAR champion Tony Stewart earned his second career WoO A-Feature victory. Three-time All-Star Champion Tim Shaffer won a pair of All-Star mains, while Ray Allen Kulhanek scored a Texas win versus the ASCS. Adam Kekich picked up his first career win at Mercer Raceway Park, and Jim Morris made it a J&J sweep at Mercer by also coming home a winner. DJ Foos scored his ninth win of the year, while Dave Glennon stopped Mark Dobmeier’s domination in North Dakota. Kyle Sager earned his fourth 2012 victory in New Mexico and Josh Weller topped the URC field in Pennsylvania.
WORLD OF OUTLAWS – SILVER CUP
Three-time NASCAR Sprint cup champion Tony Stewart earned his third Winged Sprint car victory of 2012 last Tuesday night at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. Stewart drove his Tony Stewart Racing No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1/Coca-Cola J&J from the second starting position and led the final 13 laps to capture his second career WoO A-Feature triumph.
“I felt like we were good once we could get to clean air,” Stewart said. “It was going to be won in the first lap of the restart for sure. It’s hard to win these races. When you come up to Pennsylvania you’ve got the best of both worlds. You’ve got the best touring guys and the best guys from the Posse that run, so it’s a pretty big honor to win one of these things.”
Stewart was followed by Donny Schatz in the TSR No. 15 STP/Armor All/ Chevrolet J&J. In the first feature event, Danny Holtgraver raced from 20th to second in his No. D4 J&J and was joined in the top-five by Tim Shaffer (CH Motorsports No. 83 J&J) who finished 3rd, and David Gravel (DDR #89g J&J) who finished fifth.
ALL-STARS CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – BREWERTON
Tim Shaffer made a good impression in the All-Star Circuit of Champions debut at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway. Shaffer raced the CH Motorsports No. 83 J&J to victory ahead of fellow J&J racer David Gravel (No. 89g J&J).
Shaffer led all 30 laps to pick up his 48th career All-Star victory and third All-Star win of 2012.
“It was a handful tonight with guys all around me,” said Shaffer. “Hats off to my guys, Dave Lawrence and James Chambers. There is just the three of us out here, doing what it takes to get up front. They did a great job on the track, they gave us a top and a bottom where ever we needed to run.”
Gravel, who posted quick time during qualifying, tried everything he could to get past Shaffer. Tony Stewart (No. 14 J&J) charged from seventh to fourth.
ALL-STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – FONDA
Tim Shaffer made it two wins in a row in New York with the All-Stars last Wednesday night at Fonda Speedway. It marked the second straight night Shaffer wheeled the CH Motorsports No. 83 J&J in front of the field for all 30 laps. He started on the front row and immediately took the lead. The Steel City Outlaw was able to withstand a pair of restarts en route to his 49th career All-Star triumph.
“Definitely, you have to be lucky, it all comes into play,” said Shaffer. “You have to have luck, but you have to have a great car here. If you don’t have a great car here, I don’t care where you start; you end up in the back in a hurry. It is a tough track. When it gets slick you have to be patient but aggressive. It worked out for us again tonight.”
David Gravel (No. 89g J&J) followed Shaffer to the line for the second night in a row as he was just ahead of Tony Stewart (No. 14 J&J) at the finish. The three J&J drivers shared the podium following the race.
RIVER CITIES SPEEDWAY
Dave Glennon has been waiting to win a race at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D., for quite a few years. On Friday, he finally got to enjoy a visit to victory lane. Glennon raced his No. 5 J&J from the eighth starting spot. He took the lead with 10 laps to go and steadily pulled away to score his first win at the track.
“A lot of guys will tell you how tough it is to win here, especially with how dominant Mark (Dobmeier) is on this track,” Glennon said. “This means so much. To get one here is just great. The car was really good. When it came out of the trailer it was good. We had a little bit of a hiccup after our heat race. But we changed some oil and the car took off and ran great.”
Wade Nyggard (No. 9 J&J) finished second to give J&J a one-two finish.
FREMONT SPEEDWAY
DJ Foos made it nine wins on the season Saturday night by racing his No. 11F J&J to victory at Fremont Speedway. Foos found himself at the right place at the right time late in the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints feature. He was in third when both the leaders got hung up by a lapped a car. Foos raced past all three to lead and ultimately his fourth win of the year at Fremont.
“I was not the fastest race car at all. I just got pure luck…I found my keys to the luck machine,” said Foos.
URC – GRANDVIEW SPEEDWAY
Josh Weller was the best of the 34-car field Saturday night in the Rislone URC Sprint Series event at Grandview Speedway. Weller took command of the 25-lap race from the start and led the distance to record his first victory of the season.
MERCER RACEWAY PARK
Adam Kekich had the time of his life last Saturday night at Mercer Raceway Park. Kekich wheeled the No. 5k Kriner-powered J&J into second while battling Brett Matus for the spot. He would come out on top in that battle and then make his move for the lead on lap 25. When he had the opportunity, the second-year 410 racer took it and went on to claim the victory.
“I can’t even begin to say how excited I am to be able to deliver a win to my sponsors, crew, and fans” said Kekich. “I have to thank Warren Harley Davidson, Tight Seal Glass Block, Agway of Hermitage, Carpenters Towing, Hanson’s Farm Fresh Meats, and Fullyinjected.com for their support. I also can’t say enough about the support we get from K&N Filters and Royal Purple Lubricants.Thanks to them, we are able to get amazing power out of our Kriners engines week after week. Drop those monster engines into our J&J Chassis and we have everything we need to run up front.”
His proud father was all smiles after the race.
“We’ve been getting stronger and stronger each week” said team owner Mike Kekich . “Adam ran a flawless race tonight, he was slicing through traffic like a pro”.
Jim Morris gave J&J another victory Saturday night at Mercer. He raced his No. 16 J&J to his second triumph of the year in the non-stop 20-lap race.
ASCS – Battleground Speedway
Ray Allen Kulhanek wasn’t sure he was going to get the victory in last Saturday night’s Griffith Truck and Equipment ASCS Gulf South Region at Battleground Speedway. Kulhanek started the No. 21T J&J sixth and worked his way to second, but couldn’t get past Tommy Bryant until the final lap. Kulhanek made the winning move and brought the crowd to their feet!
SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO SPEEDWAY
Kyle Sager was the star of stars Saturday night at So. New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M. Sager raced his No. 9K J&J from the sixth starting spot and into the lead. Sager worked his way through traffic to score his fourth victory of 2012 out of seven starts.