By Tyler Altmeyer
ORRVILLE, Ohio (May 28, 2016) – For the first time in his career, Rico Abreu entered action at Wayne County Speedway, joining the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions for the second leg of their Memorial Day weekend swing through northern Ohio. The California native made his trip to Orrville, Ohio, worthwhile, scoring $5,000 and a third career Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory in front of a near standing-room only crowd. The “Low Rider” Dale Blaney crossed under the final checkers second, followed by Andrew Palker for his second top-five finish of the season.
“Just happy to be up here in front of this great crowd,” said Rich Abreu in victory lane. “I just want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. A big thanks to Tony Stewart for allowing all of this to happen. We have busy weekend and week still ahead of us. This is a great start and we’ll try to keep this going.”
Rico Abreu, who started second on the main event grid, made his first bid for the top spot just before the halfway point of the 30-lap feature program, eventually working around pole sitter and leader Andrew Palker in traffic on lap 14. Sheldon Haudenschild and Dale Blaney also worked around Palker, creating a three-car battle for the lead.
By lap 20, traffic started to intensify, allowing Sheldon Haudenschild to apply heavy pressure on Abreu. Using the top line of the speedway, Haudenschild worked around Abreu on lap 25, setting a new pace at the front of the field. Fortunately for Abreu, Haudenschild’s wicked pace around Wayne County’s rim would only last until lap 28, when the Wooster, Ohio, native made contact with a lapped car, bringing out the main event’s first and only red flag. Haudenschild would get upside-down, but walked away unharmed. He would not return to the speedway.
Rico Abreu inherited the point position and led the final three circuits to clinch his first ever Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory at Wayne County Speedway. Dale Blaney finished second after starting third, followed by former Wayne County Speedway track champion Andrew Palker. Cole Duncan and Jac Haudenschild rounded out the top-five. The “Wild Child” started 19th, climbing 14 positions to secure his top-five finish, as well as the MSD Hard Charger Award.
“Someone told me at the beginning of the night that Sheldon (Haudenschild) was going to be the guy to beat in traffic here,” explained Abreu. “He definitely proved that. I was trying to race on all parts of the race track; just trying to find where I was comfortable. The second I knew I let the top open up, Sheldon would be right there. I think things would have got really interesting those last three laps if Sheldon wouldn’t have got crashed. Hats off to him and his guys. They’ve been fast all year.”
The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their 2016 campaign on Saturday evening, June 4, at the Atomic Speedway in Chillicothe, Ohio. It will be the third attempt by the traveling Arctic Cat All Stars to contest competition at the Atomic highbanks this season, with the first two scheduled dates postponed due to wet weather, including the intended point season opener. Defending Arctic Cat All Star champion Dale Blaney is the most recent winner during All Star action at Atomic Speedway, sweeping the Open Wheel Championship on July 31/August 1, 2015. The August 1 finale was worth $10,000.
The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will make an appearance at the Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway in Bedford, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, June 5. It will be the second appearance of 2016, welcoming 42 cars during their first stop on Sunday, April 17. Chad Kemenah earned the $5,000 victory, holding off Greg Hodnett and Cap Henry at the final checkers.
Contingency Awards/Results – Wayne County Speedway – Saturday, May 28, 2016
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 28 Entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Sheldon Haudenschild – 14.604 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Dale Blaney – 14.593 seconds (second quick)
Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: T.J. Michael
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Lee Jacobs
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Brad Haudenschild
JE Pistons Dash: Andrew Palker
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Dale Blaney (2nd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Jac Haudenschild (+14)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Jac Haudenschild
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Caleb Helms
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Hunter Mackison (16th)
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse; Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
1.24-Rico Abreu, 14.530; 2.1-Dale Blaney, 14.593; 3.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.606; 4.57X-Andrew Palker, 14.804; 5.97-Dean Jacobs, 14.828; 6.40-Caleb Helms, 14.830; 7.81-Lee Jacobs, 14.848; 8.70-Danny Holtgraver, 14.913; 9.9x-Rob Chaney, 14.936; 10.22-Cole Duncan, 14.937; 11.10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.948; 12.38K-Brad Haudenschild, 14.970; 13.8M-TJ Michael, 14.994; 14.21-Cap Henry, 15.024; 15.60-Kory Crabtree, 15.225; 16.19-Joe Kubiniec, 15.266; 17.95-Hunter Mackison, 15.290; 18.1080-Jordan Mackison, 15.481; 19.7-Troy Kingan, 15.580; 20.11-Shawn Hubler, 15.600; 21.11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.747; 22.46-Michael Bauer, 15.749; 23.23-Nick Patterson, 15.789; 24.49H-Bradley Howard, 16.193; 25.33D-Tyler Dunn, 18.046; 26.16-Danny Mumaw, 99.390; 27.15H-Mitch Harble, 99.510; 28.6M-Jac Haudenschild, 99.560;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 8M-TJ Michael[1] ; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[2] ; 3. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[4] ; 4. 9x-Rob Chaney[3] ; 5. 19-Joe Kubiniec[6] ; 6. 23-Nick Patterson[9] ; 7. 60-Kory Crabtree[5] ; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison[7] ; 9. 11-Shawn Hubler[8] ; 10. 33D-Tyler Dunn[10]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 81-Lee Jacobs[1] ; 2. 40-Caleb Helms[2] ; 3. 97-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 4. 70-Danny Holtgraver[5] ; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker[4] ; 6. 10H-Chad Kemenah[6] ; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser[8] ; 8. 49H-Bradley Howard[9] ; 9. 7-Troy Kingan[7]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 38K-Brad Haudenschild[2] ; 2. 21-Cap Henry[1] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[3] ; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[4] ; 5. 46-Michael Bauer[6] ; 6. 16-Danny Mumaw[7] ; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison[5]
Dash 1 – (6 Laps)
1. 57X-Andrew Palker[1] ; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[2] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[3] ; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[4] ; 5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[6] ; 6. 38K-Brad Haudenschild[8] ; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs[7] ; 8. 40-Caleb Helms[5]
B-Main 1 – (12 Laps)
1. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[8] ; 2. 60-Kory Crabtree[1] ; 3. 95-Hunter Mackison[2] ; 4. 1080-Jordan Mackison[3] ; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser[5] ; 6. 11-Shawn Hubler[4] ; 7. 33D-Tyler Dunn[7] ; 8. 49H-Bradley Howard[6] ; 9. 7-Troy Kingan[10]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu[2] ; 2. 1-Dale Blaney[3] ; 3. 57X-Andrew Palker[1] ; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[4] ; 5. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[19] ; 6. 97-Dean Jacobs[11] ; 7. 9x-Rob Chaney[12] ; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs[7] ; 9. 8M-TJ Michael[9] ; 10. 40-Caleb Helms[8] ; 11. 70-Danny Holtgraver[13] ; 12. 10H-Chad Kemenah[17] ; 13. 11K-Kraig Kinser[23] ; 14. 60-Kory Crabtree[20] ; 15. 16-Danny Mumaw[18] ; 16. 95-Hunter Mackison[21] ; 17. 46-Michael Bauer[15] ; 18. 19-Joe Kubiniec[14] ; 19. 11-Shawn Hubler[24] ; 20. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[5] ; 21. 38K-Brad Haudenschild[6] ; 22. 21-Cap Henry[10] ; 23. 23-Nick Patterson[16] ; 24. 1080-Jordan Mackison[22]
Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (5/28/2016):
- Dale Blaney: 1370
- Chad Kemenah: 1322
- Sheldon Haudenschild: 1260
- Cap Henry: 1234
- T.J. Michael: 1210
- Danny Holtgraver: 1196
- Lee Jacobs: 1164
- Caleb Helms: 1112
- Kraig Kinser: 1096
- Andrew Palker: 1074
Additional Arctic Cat All Star 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.