Jennifer Peterson photo
By Bob Buffenbarger
Hartford, Mi. (June 14 2013) Gregg Dlaman took advantage of Aaron Shaffer drifting high late in the 25 lap Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP feature and drove to victory Friday night in front of a nice crowd at Hartford Motor Speedway.
The feature lined up with Aaron Shaffer and Dustin Shriver on the front row and as the green waved the #70 of Jim Lingar gave the fans a scare as he made contact with and riding the wall in turns one and two, eventually going up and over the cement barrier and going “out of the ball park”. Fortunately, the car never turned over, Jim was shaken but not injured.
On the re-start, the #22 of Shaffer jumped out front but the #00 of Ryan Grubaugh broke something in the rear of the car going into turn three on lap two bringing out the caution. Grubaugh was finished for the night.
As the green appeared again, Gregg Dalman made a great move from third to pull even with Shaffer, but Shaffer would have none of it and drove back around Dalman to the lead with Dustin Daggett, Brett Mann and Dustin Shriver in hot pursuit.
By lap six, Ron Blair who started 10th had moved into 5th. Back in the front Shaffer and Dalman were waging a battle for the lead. Lap nine saw another yellow, as Daggett lost a rear tire. Daggett changed the tire and rejoined the field on the tail.
At the 10 lap mark, Shaffer had pulled out to a sizeable advantage with Dalman, Brett Mann and Blair still in the hunt. Lap fifteen found the leaders catching lapped traffic and this enabled Dalman to close on Shaffer again and the battle resumed. Racing was clean but on lap eighteen Shaffer slid high and touched the turn two wall with the right rear. This was all Dalman needed as he slipped under Shaffer and took the lead.
Dalman now was on a mission and put distance between himself and Shaffer and continued on to the finish with Shaffer, Mann, Daggett and Blair following at the end.
In honor of Hartford track owner Jim Borden who recently passed away, after the leaders received the white flag, they took white and yellow to end the 25 lapper and then all cars stopped on the track the next time around with the checkers.
Heat races were won by Keith Love, Aaron Shaffer and Gregg Dalman. Brett Mann won the dash.
The Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP cars travel to Butler Speedway this Saturday along with the NRA Sprint Cars from Ohio.
Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP
Hartford Motor Speedway – Hartford, Mi. (Friday June 14th 2013)
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 77 Keith Love, 2. 73 Dustin Shriver, 3. 10J Chris Jones, 4. 70 Jim Lingar, 5. 4 Eric Smith, 6. Ryan Ruhl DNS
All Star Performance / Comp Cams Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 22 Aaron Shaffer, 2. 11 Trey Smith, 3. 35 Ron Blair, 4. 19 Brett Mann, 5. 23 Joe Geibe
Speed Pro Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 49t Gregg Dalman, 2. 2m Dustin Daggett, 3. 00 Ryan Grubaugh, 4. 46 Robert Huisken, 5. 21 Kirk Cheney
(Top 16 in passing points from the heat races transferred to the A-Main)
Nitro Black Dash (4 Laps): 1. 19 Brett Mann, 2. 35 Ron Blair, 3. 46 Robert Huisken, 4. 21 Kirk Cheney
Engine Pro / ARP A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 49t Gregg Dalman, 2. 22s Aaron Shaffer, 3. 19 Brett Mann, 4. 2m Dustin Daggett, 5. 35 Ron Blair, 6. 73 Dustin Shriver, 7. 77 Keith Love, 8. 11 Trey Smith, 9. 46 Robert Huisken, 10. 23 Joe Geibe, 11. 10j Chris Jones, 12. 21 Kirk Cheney, 13. 00 Ryan Grubaugh, 14. 4 Eric Smith, 15. 70 Jim Lingar
Lap Leaders: Shaffer 1-17, Dalman 18-25
Engine Pro Lucky Dog: Kirk Cheney