By Tyler Altmeyer
MERCER, PA (June 3, 2017) – Using a late caution to his advantage to outrun Indiana native Parker Price-Miller, Alvada, Ohio’s Chad Kemenah drove on to score his second Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions main event victory of the 2017 season, this time earning $5,000 at the Mercer Raceway Park in Mercer, Pennsylvania. For Kemenah, who led 29 of the 30 circuits at the Mercer County short track, it was his 32nd appearance in Arctic Cat All Star victory lane; his second at Mercer Raceway Park during the last two seasons.
“This was an important win for us tonight,” Chad Kemenah explained. “Hopefully we can use this to our advantage and continue to build some positive momentum. I’m proud of everyone on this team. My brother busts his butt and always gives me a great car. Rob Hunter provides us with the best equipment to make all of this possible. We’ll move on and try to do it again next weekend.”
Chad Kemenah, who started from the outside-pole position, took command at the drop of the initial green flag with Parker Price-Miller and the “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer in tow. The defending Arctic Cat All Star champion maintained the top spot for the first 17 circuits, surviving one restart after a caution on lap seven, as well as periods of heavy traffic and tight racing just before the midpoint of the 30-lap program.
Kemenah’s first and only challenge for the top spot occurred on lap 18 when Kokomo, Indiana’s Parker Price-Miller pressured the driver of the familiar Hunter Racing entry, eventually driving around Kemenah through turns three and four to officially lead the 18th circuit. Price-Miller’s campaign at the front of the field was short lived, driving off of the edge of the backstretch which allowed Kemenah to drive underneath the recent World of Outlaws winner to regain command on lap 19.
“I kinda got a little too high coming off of [ turn two] and drove off of the edge,” Parker Price-Miller explained. “I’m a little disappointed, but I’m still proud of what we accomplished. All in all, it was a great weekend for us. We’re going to keep plugging away and work to get one of these All Star wins soon.”
One final caution on lap 23 halted the feature field, once again giving Kemenah an open track to navigate. Despite one final surge by Parker Price-Miller during the final two circuits as the front-runners reached traffic, Kemenah held on strong, crossing under the final checkers nearly eight car lengths ahead of the field. Price-Miller held on to finish second, followed by Tim Shaffer, Jack Sodeman, Jr. and Ryan Smith.
“I felt pretty confident that we would get Parker [Price-Miller] back after he got around us,” Kemenah explained. “It worked out for the best.”
Tony Stewart’s Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will continue the 2017 season on Friday through Sunday, June 9-11, with three events in three days throughout areas of Illinois and Iowa. “America’s Series” will ignite their Midwest road trip with a second-ever visit to the Lincoln Speedway in Lincoln, Illinois, on Friday, June 9.
Less than an hour down the highway, Macon Speedway in Macon, Illinois, will host the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions for the first time since 2004 on Saturday evening, June 10. The “World’s Fastest 1/5-Mile Clay Oval” has hosted the Arctic Cat All Stars on seven separate occasions since the Series first visited Macon, Illinois, on June 3, 1981.
The Arctic Cat All Stars will conclude their swing through the Midwest on Sunday, June 11, with a visit to “God’s Country,” attempting to tame 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, for only the second time in Series history. National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee Kenny Jacobs is the first and only Arctic Cat All Star winner at 34 Raceway, taking the checkers on May 31, 1998.
Those seeking additional news and notes regarding the upcoming visits to Lincoln Speedway, Macon Speedway and 34 Raceway should visit each facility live on the Web at www.lincolnspeedwayil.com, www.maconracing.com and www.34raceway.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Mercer Raceway Park – Saturday, June 3, 2017:
Paul Arch photo
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 34 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Brandon Spithaler – 13.955 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Chad Kemenah – 14.158 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Justin Barger
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Caleb Helms
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Carl Bowser
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: George Hobaugh
JE Pistons Dash #1: Parker Price-Miller
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Chad Kemenah
Classic Ink USA B-Main: T.J. Michael
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Chad Kemenah
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Brandon Spithaler (+13)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Ryan Smith
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Danny Holtgraver
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Lee Jacobs
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 14.232; 2. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 14.542; 3. 5-Justin Barger, 14.566; 4. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 14.724; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison, 14.757; 6. 2F-AJ Flick, 14.779; 7. 33-Brent Matus, 14.973; 8. 91-Anthony Fiore, 15.088; 9. 2R-Mike Lutz, 99.1
Group (B)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.158; 2. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 14.225; 3. O8-Dan Kuriger, 14.402; 4. 17-Caleb Helms, 14.511; 5. 27-Vincent Dougherty, 14.69; 6. 8M-TJ Michael, 14.755; 7. 51-John Garvin, 15.054; 8. 35-Tyler Esh, 15.121; 9. 76-David Jones, 15.574
Group ( C )
1. 81-Lee Jacobs, 14.543; 2. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 14.817; 3. 8-Dean Jacobs, 14.916; 4. 98-Carl Bowser, 14.929; 5. 7K-Dan Shetler, 14.965; 6. 9-Ryan Linder, 15.017; 7. 49H-Bradley Howard, 15.37; 8. 9C-Roger Campbell, 15.668
Group (D)
1. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 14.18; 2. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr., 14.419; 3. 59-Ryan Smith, 14.671; 4. 40-George Hobaugh, 14.731; 5. 46-Michael Bauer, 14.753; 6. 13-Brandon Matus, 14.771; 7. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 14.95; 8. 2S-Francis Sesco, 15.869
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 5-Justin Barger [2]; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler [4]; 3. 1080-Jordan Mackison [1]; 4. 33M-Max Stambaugh [3]; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison [5]; 6. 2F-AJ Flick [6]; 7. 33-Brent Matus [7]; 8. 91-Anthony Fiore [8]; 9. 2R-Mike Lutz [9]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 17-Caleb Helms [1]; 2. 2-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [4]; 4. O8-Dan Kuriger [2]; 5. 51-John Garvin [7]; 6. 8M-TJ Michael [6]; 7. 35-Tyler Esh [8]; 8. 27-Vincent Dougherty [5]; 9. 76-David Jones [9]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 98-Carl Bowser [1]; 2. 8-Dean Jacobs [2]; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [3]; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs [4]; 5. 7K-Dan Shetler [5]; 6. 9-Ryan Linder [6]; 7. 9C-Roger Campbell [8]; 8. 49H-Bradley Howard [7]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 40-George Hobaugh [1]; 2. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [3]; 3. 59-Ryan Smith [2]; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 5. 46-Michael Bauer [5]; 6. D4-Danny Holtgraver [7]; 7. 13-Brandon Matus [6]; 8. 2S-Francis Sesco [8]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 2-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 3. 17-Caleb Helms [4]; 4. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [5]; 5. 98-Carl Bowser [3]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 5-Justin Barger [2]; 3. 40-George Hobaugh [5]; 4. 8-Dean Jacobs [4]; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler [3]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 8M-TJ Michael [2]; 2. 13-Brandon Matus [3]; 3. D4-Danny Holtgraver [5]; 4. 2F-AJ Flick [4]; 5. 9-Ryan Linder [7]; 6. 91-Anthony Fiore [8]; 7. 35-Tyler Esh [9]; 8. 76-David Jones [11]; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell [12]; 10. 49H-Bradley Howard [10]; 11. 33-Brent Matus [6]; 12. 27-Vincent Dougherty [1]; 13. 2S-Francis Sesco [13]; 14. 2R-Mike Lutz [14]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [2]; 2. 2-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [7]; 5. 59-Ryan Smith [10]; 6. 5-Justin Barger [4]; 7. 8-Dean Jacobs [8]; 8. 40-George Hobaugh [6]; 9. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [12]; 10. D4-Danny Holtgraver [22]; 11. 22-Brandon Spithaler [24]; 12. 33M-Max Stambaugh [14]; 13. 17-Caleb Helms [5]; 14. 46-Michael Bauer [16]; 15. 81-Lee Jacobs [15]; 16. 98-Carl Bowser [9]; 17. 8M-TJ Michael [20]; 18. 95-Hunter Mackison [17]; 19. 1080-Jordan Mackison [11]; 20. 49H-Bradley Howard [25]; 21. O8-Dan Kuriger [13]; 22. 7K-Dan Shetler [18]; 23. 2F-AJ Flick [23]; 24. 13-Brandon Matus [21]; 25. 51-John Garvin [19] Lap Leaders: Chad Kemenah [1-17, 19-30], Parker Price-Miller [2]
Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (June 3, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah: 1864
2. Caleb Armstrong: 1738
3. Caleb Helms: 1716
4. Ryan Smith: 1690
5. Tim Shaffer: 1538
6. Max Stambaugh: 1524
7. T.J. Michael: 1450
8. Brandon Matus: 1356
9. Brandon Spithaler: 1331
10. Brent Matus: 1304