By Brian Liskai
ATTICA, Ohio – For the second time this season at Attica Raceway Park, it was the “Wood County Connection” that took the wins. Wayne, Ohio’s Jeff Babock (late models), Bradner, Ohio’s Nate Dussel and Risingsun, Ohio’s Shawn Valenti picked up their second wins of the season on UUI/Merrill Lynch Night.
The three winners are all friends who reside within 10 miles of one another in the eastern part of Wood County.
Babcock would battle with Matt Irey and then Doug Drown to score his sixth career Attica win in the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models. The win opens the Attica-NAPA Wayne County Speedway Late Model Series, an eight-race event between the two tracks with a separate point fund that pays the series champion $1,500 along with contingency awards from Fultz Fabrication. Babcock also received a free Hoosier Tire.
“We were joking about the Wood County Connection earlier and then Shawn goes out and gets one and we had to earn that one. Irey was really going at it and I knew Doug Drown would be coming eventually,” said Babcock beside his Best Performance Motorsports/Bulk Material Lift.com/Professional Drywall/Craig Miller Trucking machine. “That was a fun race…now it’s up to Nate (Dussel) to finish up. It’s good to see Shawn pick up a win….he’s really close to our family and Nate is my cousin so hopefully he can pick one up.”
“It got pretty crazy there in lapped traffic. Actually there at the end of the race it felt like we were really falling off and I was the same speed as them. I was just hoping the checkered would come,” added Babcock. “We’ve been really fortunate to have some nice runs early this year. Down at Florence a couple of weeks ago we ran fifth with those big boys.”
Dussel took the lead from Bobby Clark after taking the white flag and scored his 13th career Attica win which moves him into a tie with Jody Keegan, Clark and John Ivy for 7th on the track’s all-time win list for the Foster Auto Body 305 Sprints.
“There was a nice strip of moisture in one and two but you had to be right down on the tires and I was just over-driving it for the most part. When I got to Bobby it was really hard not to over drive it cause you couldn’t see the line and he was slamming the door. That last two laps I finally hit it perfect both times and I had a hell of a drive off of two,” said Dussel beside his Berrier Fabrication/Gressman Powersports/Foster Fabrication/Kistler Racing Products/Design Graphics Group/Dussel Welding/Conrad Transportation backed machine.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit so we brought a team manager on board this week…Jason Curlis. He got rid of some guys and started making the calls and this car was lightening fast,” added Dussel.
Valenti scored his fourth overall win of the season as he also has two victories at Fremont Speedway. It is Valenti’s sixth career victory in the Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks.
“Matt Foos was running some pretty good lines around the top and I was starting to scratch my head on how I was going to get around him. I set up for the top and kept the truck a little freed up. It all paid off. I was able to get a good charge on that restart and get my nose under him,” said Valenti beside his Best Performance Motorsports/KS Sales and Service/Craig Miller Trucking/Burns Petroleum/Gressman Powersports/Conrad Transportation/K&T Enterprise/Day Dream and Memories Crafts and Antiques backed machine. “I have to thank Jeff Babock and all the Babcocks for putting me in this truck.”
Irey and Chris Keller brought the late model field to the green for their 25-lap feature with Irey gaining the advantage over third starting Babock, Keller, Ryan Markham, Devin Shiels and Doug Drown. John Bores would spin on the second lap to bring out the caution but when the green flew the battle up front was torrid between Irey and Babock.
Irey and Babock would race side by side until the caution flew on lap four for a J.R. Gentry spin. This time when the green reappeared, Markham would join the fun in the battle for the lead. Don Conley would stop on the back stretch for another caution on lap six with Irey leading Babock, Markham, Drown and Keller. When the green flew, Drown would drive into third with Markham, Keller, Ryan Missler, Shiels, Shane McLoughlin and Rusty Schlenk locked in a tremendous battle for fourth.
Irey could not shake Babcock and with 11 laps recorded the duo battled side by side again with Drown ready to pounce. Babcock would get a tremendous run on Irey on the bottom of turn three and executed a perfect slide job to take the lead on lap 13. Drown would grab second on lap 16 and quickly closed on Babcock with Irey not locked in a fantastic battle for third with Markham, Missler and McLoughlin.
With five laps to go Babock and Drown encountered heavy lapped traffic but Babock split two of them and pulled away for the win. Drown, Missler, Markham and McLoughlin would round out the top five.
Ricky Peterson and Clark would pace the field of 305 sprints in their 25 laps feature but it was fourth starter Dussel who would actually lead the first lap by a nose over Clark and Peterson as they raced three wide. Clark would drive into the top spot on lap two with Dussel racing to his outside and Peterson in the middle.
The caution flew on lap four for a Scott Riley spin. On the restart Tyler Gunn and Jimmy Colvin got together for another caution. When the green flew again Clark and Dussel resumed their war up front with Peterson, Paul Weaver, Seth Schneider, Jordan Ryan, Dustin Dinan, Trey Jacobs and Jason Keckler in tow.
Clark would begin to pull away slightly utilizing the bottom groove as he raced into lapped traffic on lap 9. Weaver would move into fourth on lap 11 and grab third a circuit later but Peterson fought back. The caution flew on lap 15 when Dan Hennig stopped on the front stretch with the running order Clark, Dussel, Weaver, Peterson, Ryan and Dinan.
Clark used the open track to pull away when the green reappeared as Dussel had his hands full with Weaver with Peterson, a closing Dinan, Ryan and Schneider in pursuit. With 7 laps to go, Dussel had found something on the bottom of turns one and two and closed quickly on Clark as Dinan continued his march to the front, taking third on lap 21.
With two laps to go Dussel pulled along side of Clark exiting turn two with Dinan, Weaver and Ryan giving chase. As Clark and Dussel took the white flag, Dussel was able to get under Clark in turns one and two and rocketed off the bottom to grab the lead down the back stretch. Dussel held off a last corner charge to his outside by Clark to take the win with Dinan, Ryan and Weaver rounding out the top five.
Matt Foos and Eric Devanna brought the field of dirt trucks to the green for their 15 lap feature with Foos gaining the advantage over third place starter Valenti with Brad Keckler taking third. Foos and Valenti raced side by side and bumper to bumper the first six laps of the feature before the caution flew for a Jeff Warnick spin.
On the restart Valenti got a great run on Foos and slid up in front to take the lead. Behind the lead duo there was a tremendous battle for third between Keckler, Kyle Cline, Art Ball and Dustin Keegan. Cline would take third on lap seven as the lead duo of Valenti and Foos pulled away. However, Keckler fought back and regained the third place spot on lap 12 as the leaders raced into lapped traffic.
Valenti was able to pull away the final three laps for the win with Foos, Keckler, Cline and Keegan rounding out the top five.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, May 9 for Sutton Bank/Fisher Performance/Columbus Equipment Night. All scouts and scout leaders dressed in uniform will be admitted free. The O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints, Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models, and Foster Auto Body 305 Sprints will be in action.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park – 5/2/2014
UUI-Merrill Lynch Night
Summit Racing Equipment Late Models (29 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 20-Doug Drown, 14.418; 2. 14-JR Grentry, 14.659; 3. 1-Jeff Babcock, 14.815; 4. 5M-Ryan Markham, 14.839; 5. 9-Shane McLoughlin, 14.846; 6. 240-Charlie Duncan, 14.927; 7. 21-Larry Kingseed, 15.011; 8. 36-Matt Irey, 15.070; 9. 50Y-Ryan Missler, 15.143; 10. 92-Cody Scott, 15.152; 11. 51-Devin Shiels, 15.157; 12. 15B-Mike Bores, 15.167; 13. 91-Rusty Schlenk, 15.172; 14. 29-Rocky Owens, 15.259; 15. 34-Ky Harper, 15.269; 16. 48-John Bores, 15.321; 17. 5J-Josh Haynes, 15.542; 18. 23C-Jeremy Canada, 15.544; 19. 27-Ken Hahn, 15.627; 20. OO-Chris Keller, 15.781; 21. 50-Scott Phillips, 15.803; 22. 7-Don Conley, 15.905; 23. 92B-Hiram Bachman, 15.916; 24. 12-Kyle Perry, 16.045; 25. 45-Nate Potts, 16.071; 26. 1M-Ben Mott, 16.206; 27. 69R-Doug Baird, 17.543; 28. 53-Steve Sabo, 17.917; 29. O1-Justin Chance, 99.000
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (4 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5M-Ryan Markham[4] ; 2. OO-Chris Keller[1] ; 3. 240-Charlie Duncan[3] ; 4. 48-John Bores[2] ; 5. 7-Don Conley[5] ; 6. 45-Nate Potts[6] ; 7. 53-Steve Sabo[8] ; 8. 69R-Doug Baird[7]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (4 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 36-Matt Irey[2] ; 2. 1-Jeff Babcock[3] ; 3. 50Y-Ryan Missler[1] ; 4. 14-JR Grentry[4] ; 5. 91-Rusty Schlenk[5] ; 6. 29-Rocky Owens[6] ; 7. 27-Ken Hahn[7]
Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (4 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 20-Doug Drown[4] ; 2. 21-Larry Kingseed[3] ; 3. 34-Ky Harper[2] ; 4. 23C-Jeremy Canada[1] ; 5. 1M-Ben Mott[6] ; 6. 92B-Hiram Bachman[5]
Heat 4 – Bell Racing Products (4 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 15B-Mike Bores[1] ; 2. 51-Devin Shiels[2] ; 3. 9-Shane McLoughlin[4] ; 4. 92-Cody Scott[3] ; 5. 50-Scott Phillips[6] ; 6. 5J-Josh Haynes[5] ; 7. 12-Kyle Perry[7]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 91-Rusty Schlenk[2] ; 2. 7-Don Conley[1] ; 3. 27-Ken Hahn[10] ; 4. 50-Scott Phillips[4] ; 5. 29-Rocky Owens[6] ; 6. 5J-Josh Haynes[8] ; 7. 53-Steve Sabo[9] ; 8. 1M-Ben Mott[3] ; 9. 45-Nate Potts[5] ; 10. 92B-Hiram Bachman[7] ; 11. 69R-Doug Baird[12] ; 12. 12-Kyle Perry[11]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 1-Jeff Babcock[3]; 2. 20-Doug Drown[6]; 3. 50Y-Ryan Missler[10]; 4. 5M-Ryan Markham[5]; 5. 9-Shane McLoughlin[12]; 6. 36-Matt Irey[1]; 7. 21-Larry Kingseed[8]; 8. OO-Chris Keller[2]; 9. 51-Devin Shiels[7]; 10. 92-Cody Scott[16]; 11. 14-JR Grentry[14]; 12. 23C-Jeremy Canada[13]; 13. 27-Ken Hahn[17]; 14. 50-Scott Phillips[20]; 15. 48-John Bores[11]; 16. 91-Rusty Schlenk[15]; 17. 15B-Mike Bores[4]; 18. 7-Don Conley[18]; 19. 240-Charlie Duncan[9]; 20. 29-Rocky Owens[19]
Hard Charger: 50Y-Ryan Missler[+7]
Foster Auto Body 305 Sprints (21 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[3] ; 2. 8-Bobby Clark[1] ; 3. 5R-Jordan Ryan[4] ; 4. 9-Jimmy Colvin[5] ; 5. 8I-John Ivy[6] ; 6. 22D-Dan Hammond[2] ; 7. 32-Dan Hennig[7]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1-Nate Dussel[1] ; 2. 6-Dustin Dinan[4] ; 3. 68G-Tyler Gunn[5] ; 4. 11G-Luke Griffith[3] ; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron[6] ; 6. 25-Jason Keckler[7] ; 7. 39C-Scott Riley[2]
Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8M-T.J Michael[1] ; 2. 3J-Trey Jacobs[2] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[4] ; 4. 2-Ricky Peterson[7] ; 5. 19R-Steve Rando[5] ; 6. 7M-Brandon Moore[3] ; 7. 12-Kyle Capodice[6]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 1-Nate Dussel[4]; 2. 8-Bobby Clark[2]; 3. 6-Dustin Dinan[11]; 4. 5R-Jordan Ryan[9]; 5. 1W-Paul Weaver[3]; 6. 25-Jason Keckler[17]; 7. 8I-John Ivy[13]; 8. 2-Ricky Peterson[1]; 9. 8M-T.J Michael[7]; 10. 19R-Steve Rando[15]; 11. 9-Jimmy Colvin[12]; 12. 36-Seth Schneider[6]; 13. 11G-Luke Griffith[5]; 14. 12-Kyle Capodice[20]; 15. 22D-Dan Hammond[14]; 16. 7M-Brandon Moore[16]; 17. 39C-Scott Riley[18]; 18. 32-Dan Hennig[19]; 19. 3J-Trey Jacobs[8]; 20. 68G-Tyler Gunn[10]
Hard Charger: 25-Jason Keckler[+11]
Fremont Fence Co. Dirt Trucks (14 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[2] ; 2. 3X-Brad Keckler[4] ; 3. O1-Art Ball[5] ; 4. 37-Eric Devanna[6] ; 5. 22-Brandon Leighton[7] ; 6. 17-Steve Endicott[3] ; 7. 7-Dana Frey[1]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. D1-Dustin Keegan[2] ; 2. 2-Matt Foos[6] ; 3. 33C-Kyle Cline[4] ; 4. 4S-Keith Sorg[5] ; 5. 33-Brian Arnold[1] ; 6. 36M-Cory McCaughey[3] ; 7. 69-Jeff Warnick[7]
A-Main – (15 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[3]; 2. 2-Matt Foos[1]; 3. 3X-Brad Keckler[4]; 4. 33C-Kyle Cline[7]; 5. D1-Dustin Keegan[5]; 6. 17-Steve Endicott[11]; 7. 4S-Keith Sorg[8]; 8. 36M-Cory McCaughey[12]; 9. 7-Dana Frey[13]; 10. 69-Jeff Warnick[14]; 11. 22-Brandon Leighton[9]; 12. 33-Brian Arnold[10]; 13. O1-Art Ball[6]; 14. 37-Eric Devanna[2]
Hard Charger: 17-Steve Endicott[+5]
©2014 – Results Provided by: Computer Man Inc. Fremont, OH