By Tyler Altmeyer

 

 

Imperial, PA (August 2, 2015) –  Dale Blaney earned a fifth consecutive UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions main event victory on Sunday evening, August 2, at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway near Imperial, Pennsylvania. “The Low Rider” conquered “Dirt’s Monster Half-Mile” during the 2^nd annual “Sprint Monster” on Sunday night and collected $5,000 for his efforts. The pilot of the GoMuddy.com, Big Game Treestands, CH Motorsports, #1 earned top honors after starting fourth on the main event grid. Blaney would make the winning move around early race leader Tim Shaffer just before the halfway point of the non-stop 25-lapper; eventually opening up to a demanding lead during the remaining circuits to help cap off a “clean sweep” weekend in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The “Sprint Monster” victory makes 11 UNOH All Star wins on the season for Dale Blaney, with his career mark reaching 126. It was the third night in a row that UNOH All Star feature competition would go caution free.

“Right now this car is really easy to drive” Dale Blaney said, “My guys give me a great car every night. (Pittsburgh) is really fun. I’m glad they decided to do a little track prep before our feature tonight. You could run anywhere on the race track, although the top was definitely the place to be in order to keep your speed up. Hats off to everyone at (Pittsburgh). They gave us a great surface to race on. Hopefully we put on a good show for them.”

Red Lion, Pennsylvania’s Cody Darrah would improve one position during feature competition to finish second in the running order. The former World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competitor, who follows the UNOH All Star schedule full-time in 2015, started third on the evening grid and would make his move into the runner-up position around Tim Shaffer with 12 laps in the books. Despite his ability to navigate traffic and maintain momentum on the top shelf of the speedway, Darrah would not be able to track down Dale Blaney. The J&K Salvage #89 team would lose a significant amount of engine power as a result of a dropped cylinder during feature action.

“I’m really happy to drive this car”, said Cody Darrah, “I just want to thank my guys who work on this car. They work really hard. I don’t get a chance to help them as much as I should so I appreciate everything they do. We had a really good car tonight. I thought I had something for Dale (Blaney) but we ended up dropping a cylinder. We are going to go back to the shop and just keep digging.”

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the evening was that of Pittsburgh’s own Danny Holtgraver. “Downtown” Danny Holtgraver rallied from a 14^th starting position to finish third in the main event. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native charged his way into a top-three running position by the 18^th circuit. The driver of the Phoenix Racing, Bonnell’s Rod Shop, DKW Transport, #59 also earned the “Hard Charger” award after putting on a passing clinic.

“Oh man, this feels incredible” said Danny Holtgraver, “This has been the toughest year of my life. I can’t thank everyone enough for sticking behind me and this race team. I needed this one big time. It feels so good just to be back standing up here. Tonight was just awesome. They gave us a great race track. I’m the happiest I have been in a long time.”

21 UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions “410” sprint cars made the call on Sunday evening at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. Dale Blaney earned the fastest time of the night during Lincoln Electric qualifying time trials. The defending UNOH All Star champion stopped the clocks with an official time of 18.320 seconds around the “P.P.M.S.” half-mile, dirt oval. Ryan Smith, Scott Priester and Greg Wilson each earned victories during UNOH All Star heat race competition. The “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer earned the evening’s JE Pistons dash victory.

The UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions will not return to competition until Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 21-23, with an action packed swing through areas of Michigan and northwestern Ohio. The regional travelers will make a stop at the I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan on Friday night, August 21. The Butler Speedway in Quincy, Michigan will host the UNOH All Stars the following evening on Saturday, August 22. The three-race weekend will conclude with a visit to the Millstream Speedway in Findlay, Ohio on Sunday night, August 23. All three events will pay $5,000 to the main event winner.

Despite having a two week break before returning to UNOH All Star commitments, full-time series travelers will have the opportunity to participate in the 55^th annual FVP Knoxville Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. The four day sprint car spectacle will take shape on August 12-15, 2015; welcoming the world’s greatest sprint car drivers for an opportunity to earn the world’s greatest sprint car prize. The “best of the best” will make their way west toward the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” for a shot at the coveted $150,000 top prize.

Contingency Awards/Results – Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway – Sunday, August 2, 2015:

Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Dale Blaney – 18.320

Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Ryan Smith

All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Scott Priester

Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Greg Wilson

JE Pistons Dash: Tim Shaffer

Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Dale Blaney

MSD A-Main 3rd Place Finisher: Danny Holtgraver

Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Caleb Helms (12^th place)

Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Danny Smith