By Tyler Altmeyer
Paul Arch photo
BEDFORD, Pa. (April 17, 2016) – Alveda, Ohio’s Chad Kemenah invaded “Pennsylvania Posse” country with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions on Sunday evening and left as a Coffee Pot Classic champion. Kemenah, a former four-time All Star titlist, led all 25 laps of the non-stop Coffee Pot Classic main event at the Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway on Sunday evening, April 17, securing a spot in Arctic Cat All Star victory lane for the 30th time in his storied career; his first of the 2016 season and his first on the Bedford, Pennsylvania, half-mile. With the victory, Chad Kemenah officially takes command of the current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions point standings, holding a 10 point advantage over defending series champion Dale Blaney.
“My brother works his tail off,” said Chad Kemenah on the Bedford Speedway victory lane stage. “We have a really great team, although some of them aren’t here tonight. I can’t thank my car owner, Rob Hunter, enough for this opportunity. We have some new sponsors on board with us this year that put a lot of effort into this deal; Bonnell’s Rod Shop, DKW Transport, JRC Transport, Champion Oil. There are so many people that bend over backwards for us. Maxim being a big one, too. They really turned our team around.”
Chad Kemenah, who started third on the main event grid, took command of the feature field at the very drop of the green flag, eventually opening up to a sizeable advantage by lap five. Mark Smith, the feature polesitter, drove his way into second on the opening lap, followed by Cap Henry and defending event winner Greg Hodnett.
While Kemenah continued his dominant display at the top of the running order, mixing his charge with clean air and periods of heavy lapped traffic, Cap Henry and Greg Hodnett started a battle of their own; each working around Tower City’s Mark Smith by lap 13, and eventually setting their sights on each other. Hodnett battled Henry in traffic for several circuits, eventually working around the Coomer Motorsports entry on lap 18. Despite his efforts to close the gap between himself and leader Chad Kemenah, Hodnett would have to settle for second, followed by Cap Henry, Lucas Wolfe and Mark Smith.
“I kinda got bottlenecked there on the start,” said Greg Hodnett. “I thought we had a pretty good car. We had to use the entire race track to make it work. I think I was slowing down a little too much, but once I got it figured out, we got going again pretty good. We tried to get ourselves a little closer, but overall, it was Chad’s night.”
“This is a really great start for our team,” said Chad Kemenah. “Anybody can win on any day. Greg (Hodnett) is one of the best in the country, so when he is behind you, you kinda want to limit your mistakes. My brother had our car dialed-in from the start tonight. We won in ‘Posse Country’ and now we are going to go back to Ohio.”
Plano, Texas, native T.J. Michael was the event’s MSD Performance Hard Charger Award winner. The “Texas Traveler” advanced seven positions during the Coffee Pot Classic main event, moving to 13th after starting 20th on the grid. It was Michael’s second-ever start on Pennsylvania soil.
Up next on the Arctic Cat All Star schedule is a pair of racing “classics” in Central Pennsylvania. The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will visit two premiere half-mile ovals during their upcoming weekend endeavours, including the Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal and the Selinsgrove Speedway in Selinsgrove. Arctic Cat All Star travelers will race head-to-head with the notorious “Pennsylvania Posse” on both occasions, competing for back-to-back top prizes equalling $5,000.
The upcoming weekend will kick off officially on Saturday night, April 23, at the Port Royal Speedway. The inaugural Keith Kauffman Classic will headline competition at the “Speed Palace,” the first of three appearances by the Series in 2016. The weekend will continue on Sunday, April 24, with the Ray Tilley Classic at Selinsgrove Speedway; the first appearance by the Arctic Cat All Stars since May 7, 2000. Todd Shaffer was the victor nearly two decades ago, joining 11 other one-time Arctic Cat All Star winners on the sprawling half-mile.
The “Myerstown Missile” Brent Marks visited Port Royal Speedway’s victory lane stage during the most recent Arctic Cat All Star appearance. Marks earned nearly $15,000 for his Tuscarora 50 victory on Sunday, September 13, capping off a near-perfect weekend for the Myerstown, Pennsylvania, native at Port Royal Speedway.
Those seeking additional information regarding the upcoming pair of Central Pennsylvania “classics” can do so by visiting each facility live on the Web at www.portroyalspeedway.com and www.selinsgrovespeedway.com.
Contingency Awards/Results – Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway – Sunday, April 17, 2016
Coffee Pot Classic
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 42 Entrees
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Greg Hodnett – 16.657 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Greg Hodnett – 16.553 seconds
Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Mark Smith
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Chad Kemenah
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Cap Henry
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4: Danny Smith
JE Pistons Dash: Mark Smith
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Chad Kemenah
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: T.J. Michael (+7)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Mark Smith
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: TJ Stutts
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Ryan Smith
Qualifying
1.27-Greg Hodnett, 16.553; 2.48-Danny Dietrich, 16.574; 3.11K-Kraig Kinser, 17.059; 4.M1-Mark Smith, 17.127; 5.1Z-Lucas Wolfe, 17.128; 6.55-Mike Wagner, 17.148; 7.10H-Chad Kemenah, 17.158; 8.23-TJ Stutts, 17.171; 9.60-Kory Crabtree, 17.186; 10.1-Dale Blaney, 17.193; 11.22-Brandon Spithaler, 17.208; 12.7W-Logan Wagner, 17.259; 13.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 17.262; 14.36D-Wayne Dadetto, 17.338; 15.19m-Brent Marks, 17.409; 16.70-Danny Holtgraver, 17.413; 17.57X-Andrew Palker, 17.482; 18.8-Billy Dietrich, 17.502; 19.89-Robbie Stillwaggen, 17.584; 20.21-Cap Henry, 17.586; 21.49H-Bradley Howard, 17.607; 22.94-Ryan Smith, 17.629; 23.49-Tim Shaffer, 17.678; 24.1080-Jordan Mackison, 17.741; 25.19G-Cale Grubb, 17.747; 26.4-Danny Smith, 17.772; 27.8M-TJ Michael, 17.791; 28.44-Rodney Westhafer, 17.818; 29.81-Lee Jacobs, 17.824; 30.40-Caleb Helms, 17.876; 31.7C-Caleb Armstrong, 17.973; 32.7K-Dan Shetler, 18.146; 33.91-Anthony Fiore, 18.162; 34.95-Hunter Mackison, 18.175; 35.13-Brandon Matus, 18.179; 36.2-AJ Flick, 18.356; 37.19-Joe Kubiniec, 18.493; 38.76-David Jones, 18.663; 39.33-Brent Matus, 18.695; 40.40H-George Hobaugh, 19.302; 41.5-Bob McMillin, 19.963; 42.49E-Bob Howard, 20.107;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
- M1-Mark Smith[1] ; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich[3] ; 3. 7W-Logan Wagner[6] ; 4. 27-Greg Hodnett[4] ; 5. 49H-Bradley Howard[8] ; 6. 60-Kory Crabtree[5] ; 7. 36D-Wayne Dadetto[7] ; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser[2] ; 9. 33-Brent Matus[9]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
- 10H-Chad Kemenah[2] ; 2. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe[4] ; 3. 23-TJ Stutts[1] ; 4. 55-Mike Wagner[3] ; 5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[5] ; 6. 8-Billy Dietrich[6] ; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison[7] ; 8. 76-David Jones[10] ; 9. 5-Bob McMillin[11] ; 10. 44-Rodney Westhafer[8] ; 11. 91-Anthony Fiore[9]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
- 21-Cap Henry[1] ; 2. 89-Robbie Stillwaggen[2] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[4] ; 4. 19m-Brent Marks[3] ; 5. 94-Ryan Smith[5] ; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs[7] ; 7. 40-Caleb Helms[8] ; 8. 40H-George Hobaugh[10] ; 9. 95-Hunter Mackison[9] ; 10. 19G-Cale Grubb[6]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps)
- 4-Danny Smith[1] ; 2. 49-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 3. 70-Danny Holtgraver[4] ; 4. 57X-Andrew Palker[3] ; 5. 8M-TJ Michael[5] ; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[6] ; 7. 2-AJ Flick[9] ; 8. 7K-Dan Shetler[7] ; 9. 19-Joe Kubiniec[10] ; 10. 13-Brandon Matus[8]
Dash 1 – (6 Laps)
- M1-Mark Smith[1] ; 2. 21-Cap Henry[2] ; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[5] ; 4. 27-Greg Hodnett[4] ; 5. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe[3] ; 6. 89-Robbie Stillwaggen[7] ; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich[8] ; 8. 55-Mike Wagner[6]
B-Main 1 – (12 Laps)
- 11K-Kraig Kinser[1] ; 2. 36D-Wayne Dadetto[3] ; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs[8] ; 4. 8-Billy Dietrich[4] ; 5. 44-Rodney Westhafer[7] ; 6. 13-Brandon Matus[14] ; 7. 7K-Dan Shetler[11] ; 8. 19G-Cale Grubb[6] ; 9. 91-Anthony Fiore[12] ; 10. 40H-George Hobaugh[19] ; 11. 1080-Jordan Mackison[5] ; 12. 40-Caleb Helms[9] ; 13. 95-Hunter Mackison[13] ; 14. 19-Joe Kubiniec[16] ; 15. 76-David Jones[17] ; 16. 5-Bob McMillin[20] ; 17. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[10] ; 18. 33-Brent Matus[18] ; 19. 49E-Bob Howard[21] ; 20. 60-Kory Crabtree[2] ; 21. 2-AJ Flick[15] ; 22. 22-Brandon Spithaler[22]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
- 10H-Chad Kemenah[3] ; 2. 27-Greg Hodnett[4] ; 3. 21-Cap Henry[2] ; 4. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe[5] ; 5. M1-Mark Smith[1] ; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich[7] ; 7. 49-Tim Shaffer[9] ; 8. 1-Dale Blaney[13] ; 9. 19m-Brent Marks[15] ; 10. 23-TJ Stutts[12] ; 11. 89-Robbie Stillwaggen[6] ; 12. 55-Mike Wagner[8] ; 13. 8M-TJ Michael[20] ; 14. 70-Danny Holtgraver[14] ; 15. 94-Ryan Smith[19] ; 16. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[18] ; 17. 11K-Kraig Kinser[21] ; 18. 7W-Logan Wagner[11] ; 19. 8-Billy Dietrich[24] ; 20. 40-Caleb Helms[25] ; 21. 57X-Andrew Palker[16] ; 22. 81-Lee Jacobs[23] ; 23. 49H-Bradley Howard[17] ; 24. 36D-Wayne Dadetto[22] ; 25. 4-Danny Smith[10]
Additional Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit their official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.
About the Arctic Cat 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.
About Arctic Cat:
The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “ACAT.” More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.