From Brian Liskai
ATTICA, Ohio (June 9, 2017) – Tim Shaffer and Chris Andrews banged wheels in the final corner on the final lap of the 410 sprint feature Friday at Attica Raceway Park with Shaffer taking the close and exciting victory on Gordon Lumber/Burns Electric Mid-Season Championship Night.
Shaffer, from Aliquippa, PA., had to retake his race-long lead after Andrews got under him with five laps to go. The pair ran nose to tail the next three laps and when the white flag flew Andrews made one final attempt, diving under Shaffer into turn three. Andrews, a former Attica track champion, slide right beside Shaffer and the pair may have even touched. It was a drag race to the checkers with Shaffer narrowly earning his 14th career Attica win, placing him into a three way tie for 7th on the division’s all-time win list at the track.
It was also Shaffer’s second win in the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads FAST 410 Championship Series presented by Ohio Logistics series.
“It’s great racing with him (Andrews). We have a lot of respect for each other and that makes it fun and a great race for the fans to watch. He might have showed me his nose a bit too early but I think he had to with lapped traffic and everything. We seemed to fade a little bit and then get going. It was on and off. With Cody Jacobs working on this and the Demyan/Rudzik are giving us great parts and cars. It’s a great team and we just keep building and building,” said Shaffer beside his Rudzik Excavating; Triple X Chassis; VRP Shocks; FK Rod Ends; Scoville Designs backed machine.
Fremont, Ohio’s Paul Weaver is putting together another phenomenal season. Weaver, the defending Attica track champion for the Fremont Fence 305 Sprints, took the lead from Kelsey Ivy on a restart with 13 laps to go and drove to his sixth win of the season at Attica. Weaver, who also owns a win at Fremont in 2017, now has 41 career victories at Attica.
It was also Weaver’s second win in the JLH General Contractor FAST 305 Championship Series presented by Engine Pro as he seeks to repeat as the series champion.
“I was the first one to find the rubber. Kelsey had that one wrapped up. We both just had to move down a whole car length and when I did that it was like running on asphalt,” said Weaver beside his Weaver Performance; Hampshire Engines; Schiets Motorsports, Miller Rigging, M&L Excavating, Tender Touch Car Wash backed #1W.
Fostoria, Ohio’s Shawn Valenti grabbed the lead from Dustin Keegan on lap nine after the pair had battled hard for a couple of laps, and drove to his second dirt truck win of the year at Attica. The victory propelled Valenti to a tie with Art Ball atop the division’s all-time win list with 13.
“That is pretty cool. Art stuck around here for a long time and gave me some pretty good battles. It’s a pleasure to say I got to race with him. Once again thanks to Jeff Babcock for an awesome truck,” said Valenti of his A Plus Auto Center; Best Performance; Craig Miller Trucking; Dave Story Equipment; Real Geese backed #7B.
In the Hammer Pallets 410 Sprint feature Tyler Gunn and Andrews brought the field to green but it was third starter Shaffer who jumped to the top and stole the lead. But it was all for naught as Travis Philo flipped. While he was uninjured, it necessitated another start. Again when the green flew Shaffer went to the top and took the lead again.
“It just worked out for us. Sometimes you’re a hero and sometimes you’re a zero. The car went right through there really nice. I really thought Chris would be up there because he usually is. He kind of let the door open,” Shaffer said.
A quick caution on lap two for debris didn’t slow Shaffer down as he began to pull away. Meanwhile Andrews and Gunn battled for second with Brian Smith, Lee Jacobs and Cole Duncan giving chase. A yellow for a Thomas Meseraull spin with just four laps scored kept everyone close. Every time Shaffer started to build a lead the caution would fly as another came out on lap eight for a Broc Martin spin. That would be the final stoppage of the race.
When the green flew Shaffer steadily pulled away from Andrews, Gunn, Duncan, Smith, Jacobs and D.J. Foos. Shaffer’s lead began to shrink as he entered lapped traffic with 12 circuits remaining. Andrews began to close and Duncan took third on lap 19. With six laps to go it was a three car battle for the lead between Shaffer, Andrews and Duncan. Andrews slipped under Shaffer to lead lap 25 but Shaffer returned the favor in turns one and two to regain the top spot.
With two laps to go Shaffer, Andrews and Duncan literally ran nose to tail setting up the dramatic finish. Shaffer won the drag race over Andrews, Duncan, Gunn and Foos. With his second place run on a night that awarded double points, Andrews took over the track’s point lead while also chopping into Foos’ FAST point lead.
The 25 lap 305 sprint feature saw Kelsey Ivy bolt into the lead from her pole position at the drop of the green while Matt Ferrell was quickly challenged for second by Weaver. Running the middle of the track Ivy stretched her lead before a caution flew for debris on lap six. On the restart she was able to maintain her advantage over Weaver, Nate Dussel and Ferrell. Kelsey Ivy seemed to have the race in control until Jamie Miller spun on lap 12. On the restart Weaver used his knowledge of where the track had taken rubber to drive under Ivy for the lead.
Landon LaLonde brought out the final caution on lap 14 with a spin. When the green appeared Weaver pulled away while the battle for second heated up. Luke Griffith drove from fourth into second on the restart. With five laps to go Dussel caught Griffith and took second but could not catch Weaver before the checkers flew. Griffith, Kyle Capodice and John Ivy rounded out the top five.
In the non-stop 15 lap truck feature, pole-sitter Dustin Keegan grabbed the early lead over Keith Sorg, Matt Foos and Valenti. Valenti drove into third on lap four and took second on lap two. Keegan and Valenti raced side by side the next circuit before Valenti moved into the lead on lap nine. Sorg and Keegan would hound Valenti to the checkers. Foos and Jim Holcomb rounded out the top five.
Attica Raceway Park will kick off the 35th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedway with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions on Friday, June 16. It is a double point night for the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models on Kistler Engines/Ohio CAT Night.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com or follow the track on Twitter @atticaracewyprk or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/atticaracewaypark and Instagram at attica_raceway_park.
Attica Raceway Park
Friday, June 9, 2017
Burns Electric/Gordon Lumber Night
[*] designates starting position
410 Sprints – Hammer Pallets
Qualifying
1.16-Chris Andrews, 13.173; 2.8J-Jess Stiger, 13.590; 3.60-Jody Keegan, 13.726; 4.81-Lee Jacobs, 13.735; 5.22-Cole Duncan, 13.795; 6.7-Shawn Valenti, 13.803; 7.5T-Travis Philo, 13.812; 8.35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.832; 9.49X-Tim Shaffer, 13.856; 10.83-Rob Chaney, 13.961; 11.9X-Thomas Meseraull, 13.967; 12.23-DJ Foos, 14.000; 13.22M-Dan McCarron, 14.542; 14.45L-Brian Lay, 14.572; 15.9-Jordan Ryan, 14.592; 16.45-Trevor Baker, 14.686; 17.68G-Tyler Gunn, 14.693; 18.2+-Brian Smith, 14.768; 19.97-Broc Martin, 14.843; 20.27Z-Sean Zemunik, 14.946; 21.7K-Cale Conley, 14.951; 22.5K-Adam Kekich, 15.014; 23.9Z-Duane Zablocki, 15.017; 24.14-Daryl Daugherty, 15.897;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 22-Cole Duncan[1] ; 2. 16-Chris Andrews[4] ; 3. 60-Jody Keegan[2] ; 4. 9X-Thomas Meseraull[7] ; 5. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6] ; 6. 22M-Dan McCarron[8] ; 7. 7-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 8. 8J-Jess Stiger[3]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs[4] ; 3. 83-Rob Chaney[1] ; 4. 5T-Travis Philo[3] ; 5. 23-DJ Foos[5] ; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[6] ; 7. 14-Daryl Daugherty[8] ; 8. 9-Jordan Ryan[7]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 97-Broc Martin[1] ; 2. 68G-Tyler Gunn[3] ; 3. 2+-Brian Smith[2] ; 4. 5K-Adam Kekich[7] ; 5. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[8] ; 6. 27Z-Sean Zemunik[5] ; 7. 7K-Cale Conley[6] ; 8. 45-Trevor Baker[4]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 45L-Brian Lay[2] ; 2. 22M-Dan McCarron[1] ; 3. 7K-Cale Conley[6] ; 4. 7-Shawn Valenti[4] ; 5. 8J-Jess Stiger[7] ; 6. 27Z-Sean Zemunik[3] ; 7. 14-Daryl Daugherty[5] ; 8. 45-Trevor Baker[9]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 2. 16-Chris Andrews[2] ; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[9] ; 4. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1] ; 5. 23-DJ Foos[12] ; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs[8] ; 7. 2+-Brian Smith[3] ; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[15] ; 9. 7K-Cale Conley[18] ; 10. 83-Rob Chaney[10] ; 11. 60-Jody Keegan[7] ; 12. 35-Stuart Brubaker[14] ; 13. 8J-Jess Stiger[20] ; 14. 7-Shawn Valenti[19] ; 15. 45L-Brian Lay[16] ; 16. 5K-Adam Kekich[13] ; 17. 22M-Dan McCarron[17] ; 18. 97-Broc Martin[6] ; 19. 9X-Thomas Meseraull[11] ; 20. 5T-Travis Philo[5]
Hard Charger: 7K-Cale Conley +9
305 Sprints – Fremont Fence
Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 12-Kyle Capodice[5] ; 2. 66D-Chase Dunham[1] ; 3. 7M-Brandon Moore[6] ; 4. 25-Jason Keckler[9] ; 5. 11X-Jordan Ryan[7] ; 6. 2-Ricky Peterson[8] ; 7. 94K-Kevin Mingus[4] ; 8. 14-Luke Daugherty[2] ; 9. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath[3]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 1-Nate Dussel[3] ; 2. 2L-Landon LaLonde[1] ; 3. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[5] ; 4. 19R-Steve Rando[7] ; 5. 20B-Cody Bova[4] ; 6. 75-Jerry Dahms[2] ; 7. 47-Matt Lucius[6] ; 8. 45-Brian Baker[8]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[4] ; 2. 11G-Luke Griffith[1] ; 3. 4*-Tyler Street[5] ; 4. 66-Jamie Miller[8] ; 5. 9R-Dustin Rall[2] ; 6. 5M-Mike Moore[6] ; 7. 09-Justin Adams[3] ; 8. 5-Brad Keckler[7]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 99-Alvin Roepke[2] ; 2. 77I-John Ivy[3] ; 3. 67M-Matt Ferrell[1] ; 4. 46-Stuart Williams[4] ; 5. 2F-Matt Foos[5] ; 6. 8-Bobby Clark[7] ; 7. 36-Seth Schneider[6] ; 8. 11XE-George Englert[8]
B-Main 1 – (8 Laps, top 3 to A)
1. 11X-Jordan Ryan[1] ; 2. 2-Ricky Peterson[3] ; 3. 9R-Dustin Rall[2] ; 4. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath[9] ; 5. 14-Luke Daugherty[7] ; 6. 94K-Kevin Mingus[5] ; 7. 5M-Mike Moore[4] ; 8. 09-Justin Adams[6] ; 9. 5-Brad Keckler[8]
B-Main 2 – (8 Laps, top 3 to A)
1. 20B-Cody Bova[1] ; 2. 2F-Matt Foos[2] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[6] ; 4. 8-Bobby Clark[4] ; 5. 47-Matt Lucius[5] ; 6. 75-Jerry Dahms[3] ; 7. 11XE-George Englert[8] ; 8. 45-Brian Baker[7]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[4] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[3] ; 3. 11G-Luke Griffith[9] ; 4. 12-Kyle Capodice[8] ; 5. 77I-John Ivy[7] ; 6. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[1] ; 7. 19R-Steve Rando[14] ; 8. 11X-Jordan Ryan[17] ; 9. 20B-Cody Bova[18] ; 10. 67M-Matt Ferrell[2] ; 11. 99-Alvin Roepke[11] ; 12. 7M-Brandon Moore[12] ; 13. 4*-Tyler Street[6] ; 14. 36-Seth Schneider[22] ; 15. 9R-Dustin Rall[21] ; 16. 25-Jason Keckler[13] ; 17. 2F-Matt Foos[20] ; 18. 2L-Landon LaLonde[5] ; 19. 46-Stuart Williams[16] ; 20. 2-Ricky Peterson[19] ; 21. 66-Jamie Miller[15] ; 22. 66D-Chase Dunham[10]
Hard Charger: 11x-Jordan Ryan +9
Dirt Trucks –
Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[6] ; 2. 2-Matt Foos[3] ; 3. 33W-Jeff Ward[2] ; 4. 36M-Cory McCaughey[5] ; 5. 49X-Noah Wagner[1] ; 6. 26-Kyle Lagrou[4]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 17X-Dustin Keegan[2] ; 2. 4S-Keith Sorg[1] ; 3. 5S-Brad Stuckey[3] ; 4. 16-Jim Holcomb[6] ; 5. 33A-Brian Arnold[4] ; 6. 9-Curt Inks[5]
A-Main 1 – (15 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[4] ; 2. 4S-Keith Sorg[3] ; 3. 17X-Dustin Keegan[1] ; 4. 2-Matt Foos[2] ; 5. 16-Jim Holcomb[8] ; 6. 36M-Cory McCaughey[7] ; 7. 49X-Noah Wagner[9] ; 8. 5S-Brad Stuckey[6] ; 9. 9-Curt Inks[12] ; 10. 33W-Jeff Ward[5] ; 11. 33A-Brian Arnold[10] ; 12. 26-Kyle Lagrou[11]