By Tyler Altmeyer
ATTICA, Ohio (June 17, 2016) – For the first time in his career, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Larson visited Attica Raceway Park, returning to his sprint car roots for the first round of Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions. Larson, who is certainly no stranger to Arctic Cat All Star competition, proved to the standing-room only crowd that visiting a facility for the first time creates no distraction, capturing the Ohio Sprint Speedweek opener for a $5,000 payday. The Elk Grove, California, native took command of the 40-lap feature program on lap five and never looked back, leading Byron Reed and Chad Kemenah to the final checkers.
Bob Buffenbarger photo
“This is a really great race track that has a lot of great racing. I know it had to be exciting for the fans,” Kyle Larson said. “I know the crowd had to enjoy the racing that was going on toward the middle and the back of the pack. They were really racing hard in front of me, two and three wide at times. Once the track cleaned off, we really started to find some grip. I just had to stay cautious at first, but I was able to get the lead early enough and kind of set my own pace. Paul Silva did a really great job with this race car. He’s only been here a few times, but I’ve never been here. For us to put it in victory lane is really special.”
Kyle Larson started fourth on the main event grid, taking command officially during a lap five restart over early leader Byron Reed. “Young Money” made the winning move on the bottom of turn two, capitalizing when Reed slipped up the race track just after the restart. Larson pulled even with Reed down the backstretch, ultimately setting up a successful slide job attempt in turn three.
Despite encountering traffic on several occasions, even making contact with a car during an attempt to put the driver a lap down, Larson kept his position at the front of the field and drove forward. The Arctic Cat All Star victory was the third of his career.
“We got a lot better start than what I thought we would,” explained Kyle Larson. “We had that restart, Byron (Reed) slipped up off of the bottom just a little bit and spun his tires. That allowed me to get a big run down the backstretch and slide him. From that point on, I just had to make sure I hit my marks every corner. The bottom was really starting to get narrow.”
“I’ve never raced here before, but always wanted the chance to,” explained Kyle Larson in victory lane. “It’s pretty cool to get to victory lane.
Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket will continue on Saturday evening, June 18, at Waynesfield Raceway Park in Waynesfield, Ohio. Wooster, Ohio’s Sheldon Haudenschild earned the Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket victory at Waynesfield in 2015. Haudenschild held off Aussie invader and pole sitter James McFadden for the $5,000 top prize, followed by Tim Shaffer, Randy Hannagan, and Steve Kinser.
Pit gates are scheduled to swing open at 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. A mandatory drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:45, followed by warm ups at 6. Racing is scheduled to hit the highbanks at 7 o’clock, sharp. Those seeking additional information regarding round two of Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket at Waynesfield Raceway Park should visit Waynesfield on the Web at www.waynesfieldmotorsportspark.com.
Contingency Awards/Results – Attica Raceway Park – Friday, June 17, 2016
Event: Ohio Sprint Speedweek Night #1
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 47 Entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Kyle Larson – 12.842 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Tim Shaffer – 12.525 seconds
Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Lee Jacobs
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Chad Kemenah
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Stuart Brubaker
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4: Danny Holtgraver
JE Pistons Dash: Caleb Helms
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Kyle Larson
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Dale Blaney (+9)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Dale Blaney (7th)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Cap Henry
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Travis Philo
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse; Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
All Star Circuit of Champions
Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket
Attica Raceway Park
Attica, OH
Friday June 17, 2016
A-Main (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 5-Byron Reed[2]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[3]; 4. 91-Cale Thomas[6]; 5. 22-Cole Duncan[11]; 6. 16-Stuart Brubaker[5]; 7. 1-Dale Blaney[16]; 8. 33M-Caleb Griffith[13]; 9. 81-Lee Jacobs[7]; 10. 21-Cap Henry[12]; 11. 97-Dean Jacobs[9]; 12. 40-Caleb Helms[1]; 13. 3J-Trey Jacobs[22]; 14. 71-Jamie Veal[19]; 15. 5T-Travis Philo[14]; 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser[25]; 17. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[23]; 18. 8M-T.J. Michael[24]; 19. 60-Kory Crabtree[20]; 20. 4-Kasey Kahne[17]; 21. 70-Danny Holtgraver[10]; 22. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[15]; 23. 73-Chris Andrews[21]; 24. 8-Bryan Sebetto[18]; 25. 49-Tim Shaffer[8]; 26. 57X-Andrew Palker[26]
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. 73-Chris Andrews[1]; 2. 3J-Trey Jacobs[4]; 3. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[6]; 4. 8M-T.J. Michael[7]; 5. 60K-Jody Keegan[2]; 6. 46AU-Stuart Williams[13]; 7. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[3]; 8. 16M-Danny Mumaw[11]; 9. O7-Jacob Wilson[8]; 10. 68G-Tyler Gunn[16]; 11. 12-Daniel Harding[12]; 12. 7C-Taylor Ferns[9]; 13. 22S-Brandon Spithaler[14]; 14. 45L-Brian Lay[5]; 15. 38-D.J. Foos[10]; 16. 57X-Andrew Palker[15]
C-Main (10 Laps): 1. 57X-Andrew Palker[2]; 2. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4]; 4. 59-Jac Haudenschild[8]; 5. 7-Joe Swanson[6]; 6. 8J-Jess Stiger[3]; 7. 51-Roger Campbell Jr[5]; 8. 59N-Bryan Nuckles[7]; 9. 49H-Bradley Howard[9]; 10. 27Z-Sean Zemunik[12]; 11. AUS96-Andrew Caruana[10]; 12. 96AU-Bruce White[11]; 13. 9-Jordan Ryan[13]
Dash (8 Laps): 1. 40-Caleb Helms[2]; 2. 5-Byron Reed[1]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[4]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson[3]; 5. 16-Stuart Brubaker[6]; 6. 91-Cale Thomas[8]; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs[5]; 8. 49-Tim Shaffer[7]
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps): 1. 81-Lee Jacobs[2]; 2. 49-Tim Shaffer[4]; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[1]; 4. 40-Caleb Helms[3]; 5. 71-Jamie Veal[7]; 6. 8M-T.J. Michael[8]; 7. 38-D.J. Foos[11]; 8. O7-Jacob Wilson[9]; 9. 7C-Taylor Ferns[10]; 10. 16M-Danny Mumaw[12]; 11. 60K-Jody Keegan[5]
Heat Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah[3]; 2. 91-Cale Thomas[2]; 3. 21-Cap Henry[1]; 4. 4-Kasey Kahne[4]; 5. 8-Bryan Sebetto[9]; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs[6]; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[8]; 8. 45L-Brian Lay[7]; 9. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[5]; 10. 46AU-Stuart Williams[10]; 11. 22S-Brandon Spithaler[11]; 12. 96AU-Bruce White[12]
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. 16-Stuart Brubaker[1]; 2. 5-Byron Reed[5]; 3. 33M-Caleb Griffith[2]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 5. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7]; 6. 12-Daniel Harding[6]; 7. 59-Jac Haudenschild[10]; 8. 8J-Jess Stiger[8]; 9. 51-Roger Campbell Jr[9]; 10. AUS96-Andrew Caruana[11]; 11. 27Z-Sean Zemunik[12]; 12. 73-Chris Andrews[3]
Heat Race #4 (10 Laps): 1. 70-Danny Holtgraver[1]; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs[3]; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[2]; 4. 1-Dale Blaney[4]; 5. 60-Kory Crabtree[5]; 6. 11K-Kraig Kinser[8]; 7. 68G-Tyler Gunn[6]; 8. 59N-Bryan Nuckles[10]; 9. 49H-Bradley Howard[11]; 10. 57X-Andrew Palker[7]; 11. 7-Joe Swanson[9]
Qualifications (2 Laps): 1. 49-Tim Shaffer, 12.525; 2. 40-Caleb Helms, 12.532; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs, 12.569; 4. 57-Kyle Larson, 12.687; 5. 4-Kasey Kahne, 12.746; 6. 22-Cole Duncan, 12.753; 7. 73-Chris Andrews, 12.774; 8. 60K-Jody Keegan, 12.798; 9. 9-Jordan Ryan, 12.927; 10. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.932; 11. 33M-Caleb Griffith, 12.960; 12. 71-Jamie Veal, 12.988; 13. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.011; 14. 21-Cap Henry, 13.028; 15. 16-Stuart Brubaker, 13.028; 16. 41X-Dominic Scelzi, 13.069; 17. 5-Byron Reed, 13.076; 18. 1-Dale Blaney, 13.100; 19. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 13.127; 20. 97-Dean Jacobs, 13.130; 21. 45L-Brian Lay, 13.137; 22. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.143; 23. 8M-T.J. Michael, 13.240; 24. O7-Jacob Wilson, 13.250; 25. 8-Bryan Sebetto, 13.257; 26. 7C-Taylor Ferns, 13.272; 27. 38-D.J. Foos, 13.342; 28. 16M-Danny Mumaw, 13.355; 29. 12-Daniel Harding, 13.399; 30. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 13.489; 31. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.602; 32. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.607; 33. 70-Danny Holtgraver, 13.620; 34. 22S-Brandon Spithaler, 13.639; 35. 60-Kory Crabtree, 13.645; 36. 68G-Tyler Gunn, 13.744; 37. 57X-Andrew Palker, 13.952; 38. 8J-Jess Stiger, 14.186; 39. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.188; 40. 51-Roger Campbell Jr, 14.420; 41. 7-Joe Swanson, 14.512; 42. 59N-Bryan Nuckles, 14.707; 43. 59-Jac Haudenschild, 14.912; 44. 49H-Bradley Howard, 14.935; 45. AUS96-Andrew Caruana, 15.099; 46. 96AU-Bruce White, 15.402; 47. 27Z-Sean Zemunik, 99.420