By Tyler Altmeyer
Findlay, Ohio (July 5th, 2015) – For the first time since June 20th, 2010, the Millstream Speedway in Findlay, Ohio crowned a UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions main event winner. Cody Darrah, a former World of Outlaws ‘Rookie of the Year’ who now travels full-time with the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions, earned the Millstream Speedway victory on Sunday evening, July 5th. For Darrah, it was his second UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions main event victory of 2015 and the third of his career. It was his first ever visit to the Findlay half-mile.
“This is a tough racetrack” said Cody Darrah, “It’s a little rough right now so you have to be up on the wheel. This is my first time here and it feels great to get a win. I just want to thank all of the fans for coming out. This is a beautiful facility and I can’t wait to come back.”
Travis Philo and Tim Shaffer would lead the 24-car field to green. Philo would eventually take sole command on the opening lap and set a torrid pace. The Waterville, Ohio native led the ‘Steel City Outlaw’ Tim Shaffer and Cody Darrah for the first eight circuits until Philo, who was attempting to navigate traffic, made contact with Tim Shaffer entering turns one and two on lap nine; resulting in both drivers getting upside-down and the evening’s first red flag. Philo and Shaffer walked away unhurt.
Cody Darrah would inherit the top spot and bring the field back to green with eight laps in the books. Darrah worked the top side of the speedway; moving through traffic with Chad Kemenah and Lee Jacobs in tow. James McFadden would move into the third position with 15 laps down and set his sites on Chad Kemenah and race leader, Cody Darrah. Unfortunately, the red flag would return to the speedway on lap 21; this time for James McFadden. The ‘Aussie’ would lose a rear wheel and make contact with the turn two wall. McFadden would not return and surrender the third position to B-main transfer Sheldon Haudenschild, who charged forward from a 19th starting position to the top-three in 20 laps.
Cody Darrah, Chad Kemenah and Sheldon Haudenschild would bring the field back to green with 20 laps recorded. Those three would ring the top side of the speedway for five more circuits until a caution would reappear with 25 laps in the books; this time for a slowing T.J. Michael. Despite their attempt to go ‘clean and green’ for the last five circuits, the caution flag would wave again for a slowing D.J. Foos who was racing in the sixth position.
Cody Darrah would lead Chad Kemenah and Sheldon Haudenschild to a two-lap shootout. Darrah, a Red Lion, Pennsylvania native, would hang on to win at Millstream Speedway. Sheldon Haudenschild would pass Chad Kemenah coming to the white flag to finish second. Kemenah would hang on to round out the podium finishers after starting fifth.
“We had to figure some things out after the dash” said Darrah, “That’s a tough deal for Travis (Philo) and Tim (Shaffer). I wish I had the opportunity to race them for the lead. Our car kept getting tighter and tighter as the race went on. I wasn’t sure where Sheldon was at on the track but I figured he was going to be on top. I’m just glad it’s over.”
Danny Holtgraver charged from 14th to finish fourth, followed by Dean Jacobs who started 13th.
Sheldon Haudenschild was the evening’s main event ‘Hard Charger.’ The Wooster, Ohio native rallied 17 positions to finish second after starting 19th.
Millstream Speedway fans would see 30 UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions ‘410’ sprint cars sign in for competition on Sunday night. The UNOH All Star roster was split into three groups of qualifying time trials with each driver qualifying against those in their respective heat race. Cody Darrah, Chad Kemenah and Danny Holtgraver each earned ‘fast time’ during their qualifying sessions. Cody Darrah earned the fastest time of the night overall during Lincoln Electric qualifying; recording an official time of 13.799 seconds.
Three, 8-lap heat races were contested with the top-six finishers transferring to the main event. Cody Darrah, Tim Shaffer and Parker Price-Miller each earned victories during heat race competition. It was Travis Philo earning the UNOH All Star JE Pistons dash victory; guaranteeing the pole position for the evening’s 30-lap, $5,000-to-win main event. Sheldon Haudenschild ended all preliminary competition with a UNOH All Star B-main victory.
Full Results: Millstream Speedway – Findlay, Ohio – Sunday, July 5th, 2015:
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Cody Darrah – 13.799
Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Cody Darrah
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Tim Shaffer
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Parker Price-Miller
JE Pistons Dash: Travis Philo
Qualifying
1.89-Cody Darrah, 13.799; 2.10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.808; 3.57X-Andrew Palker, 13.874; 4.81-Lee Jacobs, 13.920; 5.94-Ryan Smith, 13.943; 6.45-Tim Shaffer, 13.969; 7.1-Dale Blaney, 13.985; 8.21-DJ Foos, 13.987; 9.19-Chris Andrews, 14.001; 10.59-Danny Holtgraver, 14.004; 11.22-Cole Duncan, 14.103; 12.11N-Randy Hannagan, 14.153; 13.40-Caleb Helms, 14.175; 14.3G-James McFadden, 14.184; 15.8M-TJ Michael, 14.193; 16.97-Dean Jacobs, 14.194; 17.5T-Travis Philo, 14.204; 18.9P-Parker Price-Miller, 14.258; 19.9x-Cap Henry, 14.303; 20.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.334; 21.W20-Greg Wilson, 14.427; 22.40DD-Nate Dussel, 14.448; 23.33M-Caleb Griffith, 14.454; 24.5AU-Danny Reidy, 14.566; 25.9-Jordan Ryan, 14.571; 26.4-Danny Smith, 14.725; 27.96AU-Bruce White, 15.100; 28.22D-Josh Davis, 15.961; 29.63-Kody Swanson, 99.180; 30.35-Stuart Brubaker, 99.500;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 89-Cody Darrah[4] ; 2. 21-DJ Foos[1] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[2] ; 4. 3G-James McFadden[6] ; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker[3] ; 6. 11N-Randy Hannagan[5] ; 7. 5AU-Danny Reidy[7] ; 8. 22D-Josh Davis[9] ; 9. 96AU-Bruce White[8]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 45-Tim Shaffer[1] ; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 3. 94-Ryan Smith[2] ; 4. 97-Dean Jacobs[8] ; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs[3] ; 6. 8M-TJ Michael[7] ; 7. 22-Cole Duncan[6] ; 8. 19-Chris Andrews[5] ; 9. 9x-Cap Henry[9] ; 10. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[10]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[1] ; 2. 5T-Travis Philo[2] ; 3. W20-Greg Wilson[5] ; 4. 59-Danny Holtgraver[4] ; 5. 40-Caleb Helms[3] ; 6. 40DD-Nate Dussel[6] ; 7. 4-Danny Smith[9] ; 8. 33M-Caleb Griffith[7] ; 9. 9-Jordan Ryan[8]
Dash 1 (6 Laps)
1. 5T-Travis Philo[1] ; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 3. 89-Cody Darrah[2] ; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs[3] ; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah[8] ; 6. 21-DJ Foos[6] ; 7. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[7] ; 8. 57X-Andrew Palker[5]
B-Main 1 – (12 Laps)
1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[4] ; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[2] ; 3. 9x-Cap Henry[3] ; 4. 19-Chris Andrews[1] ; 5. 9-Jordan Ryan[7] ; 6. 4-Danny Smith[8] ; 7. 5AU-Danny Reidy[6] ; 8. 22D-Josh Davis[10] ; 9. 96AU-Bruce White[9] ; 10. 33M-Caleb Griffith[5]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 89-Cody Darrah[3] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[19] ; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[5] ; 4. 59-Danny Holtgraver[14] ; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[13] ; 6. 22-Cole Duncan[20] ; 7. 9P-Parker Price-Miller[7] ; 8. 1-Dale Blaney[9] ; 9. 40-Caleb Helms[15] ; 10. 94-Ryan Smith[10] ; 11. 81-Lee Jacobs[4] ; 12. 4-Danny Smith[24] ; 13. 57X-Andrew Palker[8] ; 14. 40DD-Nate Dussel[18] ; 15. 21-DJ Foos[6] ; 16. 9-Jordan Ryan[23] ; 17. W20-Greg Wilson[11] ; 18. 8M-TJ Michael[17] ; 19. 3G-James McFadden[12] ; 20. 9x-Cap Henry[21] ; 21. 19-Chris Andrews[22] ; 22. 5T-Travis Philo[1] ; 23. 45-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 24. 11N-Randy Hannagan[16]
The UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions will return to competition next Saturday evening, July 11th at the Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. The annual ‘Lou Blaney Memorial’ will headline the Saturday night program and will award $10,000 to the main event winner. It will be the only stop for the series travelers during the upcoming weekend. The UNOH All Stars last visited the state-of-the-art, northeastern Ohio facility on Tuesday evening, June 23rd for round five of Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket. Dale Blaney, a native of Hartford, Ohio, earned the $5,000 victory; a sixth career UNOH All Star win at the venue for ‘The Lowrider.’
Gates are scheduled to open at noon on Saturday, July 11th with activities to follow. To learn more about the upcoming program, please visit Sharon Speedway live on the web at www.sharonspeedway.com.
About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015. The 2015 schedule includes 54 events in Ohio (29), Pennsylvania (14), Florida (5), Michigan (3), Indiana (1), New York (1) and Wisconsin (1).
Those seeking additional information regarding the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions should visit the official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Updates and breaking news for the All Stars will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC