By Tyler Altmeyer
OCALA, Fla. (January 31, 2019) – Tim Shaffer’s effort on Thursday evening was relentless. Not only did the ‘Steel City Outlaw’ open the 2019 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 season by scoring the Winter Nationals opener at Bubba Raceway Park, he was forced to battle, and hold back, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Bixby, Oklahoma’s Shane Stewart in the process.
Shaffer, pilot of the Demyan-Rudzik Racing/Smith Titanium/Southern Pacific Farms/No. 49X sprint car, earned his $5,000 top prize from the inside of row two, taking control over the field for the first time on lap 28. Despite not earning the lead, officially, until the latter stages the 30-lap program, Shaffer was in the hunt the entire distance, actually taking command on lap 19 before it was negated due to the evening’s first and only caution.
The All Star Circuit of Champions victory bumped Shaffer’s all-time win total to 65 with the Series, now with four at Ocala, Florida’s Bubba Raceway Park.
“Racing in second was definitely the ideal place to be tonight,” Tim Shaffer explained. “My guys gave me a great race car. This whole team works so hard and it really pays off. The track was a little tricky tonight, some dry-slick spots and some spots with moisture. I just tried to find as much moisture as I could find. We are all standing here in victory lane and that’s all that matters today.”
Despite slipping back as far as fifth after the initial start, Shaffer recovered in a hurry and battled his way into second around Chad Kemenah and Sheldon Haudenschild by the completion of lap four. With slower cars coming into play by lap six, the transition from clean air to dirty air acted as an advantage for the Aliquippa-native, actually allowing Shaffer to reel in race leader, Tony Stewart, to less than a car length by lap nine.
The top two cars raced nearly nose to tail until the main event’s first and only caution appeared on lap 19. During that period before the yellow flags flew, Shaffer made countless attempts to work around Stewart in traffic, actually poking his nose ahead and racing his way alongside the familiar Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing entry.
Despite getting the opportunity to start on the tail tank of Stewart’s No. 14, the lap 19 restart paid no favors to the four-time All Star Circuit of Champions title holder, actually losing one position to the CJB Motorsports machine driven by Shane Stewart. Five circuits later, Stewart advanced in the running order yet again, this time driving around Tony Stewart to take command for the first time on lap 24. Although dominant during his short tenure on top, Tony Stewart was able to battle back and regain the lead on lap 25, slipping up in front of Shane Stewart as the pair exited turn four.
Meanwhile, Shaffer, who was directly behind the lead pair as they weaved through traffic, garnered enough momentum to advance back into the runner-spot on lap 26. Just two circuits later, Shaffer was again in contention for the top spot, eventually beating Tony Stewart in drag race back to the flagstand to put lap 28 in the books. From that point forward, it was all Tim Shaffer, pulling ahead to just over one second by the time the final checkers flew.
“There is nothing wrong with finishing third to guys like Shane Stewart and Tim Shaffer,” Tony Stewart said, who started second on the feature grid. “I think I may have sealed over my tires during that restart. I probably spun the tires more than I needed to. It doesn’t actually wear down the tire, I just wasn’t getting any bite. Making little mistakes like that shows you what kind of pressure you are under as a driver racing with this level of competition.”
“That was a fun race,” Shane Stewart said. “I thought I was going to have something for [Tony Stewart] and [Tim Shaffer]. Regardless, I couldn’t be more pleased. My team works really hard and I appreciate what they’ve done. Everyone knows this team has been very fast the last few seasons. Hopefully I can continue that streak.”
Drivers and teams should note that Bubba Raceway Park will open pit gates at 9 a.m. during the entire weekend program. A mandatory All Star Circuit of Champions drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, but pushed ahead to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hot laps are slated to begin at 6:45 p.m. each night. For those seeking more information, please visit Bubba Raceway Park live on the Web at www.bubbaracewaypark.com.
Contingency Awards/Results: Bubba Raceway Park – January 31, 2019:
Event: Bubba Army Winter Nationals
Entries: 33
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Cory Eliason – 13.166 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Carson Short – 11.484 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Tim Shaffer
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Josh Baughman
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Brock Zearfoss
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Carson Macedo
JE Pistons Dash #1: Carson Macedo
Fatheadz Eyewear Filters Dash #2: Tony Stewart
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Danny Dietrich
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Tim Shaffer
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Logan Schuchart (+6)
(Lincoln Electric & MSD Performance: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
Bubba Raceway Park
Ocala, FL
Thursday January 31, 2018
Qualifying:
1. 21-Carson Short, 11.484 [11]
2. 26-Cory Eliason, 11.575 [23]
3. 7K-Cale Conley, 11.615 [26]
4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 11.618 [20]
5. K4-Chad Kemenah, 11.627 [22]
6. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 11.647 [17]
7. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.772 [25]
8. 70X-Spencer Bayston, 11.794 [29]
9. 48-Danny Dietrich, 11.843 [21]
10. M1-Mark Smith, 11.894 [24]
11. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 11.964 [7]
12. 2-Carson Macedo, 12.024 [27]
13. 14-Tony Stewart, 12.030 [10]
14. 17-Josh Baughman, 12.052 [13]
15. J4-John Garvin, 12.058 [14]
16. 49H-Bradley Howard, 12.062 [15]
17. 17W-Shane Golobic, 12.096 [19]
18. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.108 [6]
19. 13-Paul McMahan, 12.120 [9]
20. 11S-Jim Shuster, 12.249 [16]
21. 91-Anthony Fiore, 12.287 [28]
22. 5-Shane Stewart, 12.343 [4]
23. 4-Danny Smith, 12.461 [12]
24. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 12.499 [2]
25. 33M-Mason Daniel, 12.506 [30]
26. 49-Mallie Shuster, 12.732 [8]
27. 55-Gary Kriess Jr, 12.762 [32]
28. 33-Max Stambaugh, 12.831 [5]
29. 91S-Colby Womer, 13.069 [18]
30. 40-George Hobaugh Jr., 13.159 [1]
31. 13M-Brandon Matus, 13.323 [3]
32. 14H-Jeremy Hill, 13.917 [33]
Heat Race #1 (8 Laps):
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]
2. 5-Shane Stewart [2]
3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3]
4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [1]
5. 33-Max Stambaugh [6]
6. 49-Mallie Shuster [5]
7. 40-George Hobaugh Jr. [7]
8. 13M-Brandon Matus [8]
9. 14H-Jeremy Hill [9]
Heat Race #2 (8 Laps):
1. 17-Josh Baughman [2]
2. 14-Tony Stewart [3]
3. 21-Carson Short [4]
4. 13-Paul McMahan [6]
5. J4-John Garvin [1]
6. 49H-Bradley Howard [5]
7. 11S-Jim Shuster {7]
8. 4-Danny Smith [8]
Heat Race #3 (8 Laps):
1. 70-Brock Zearfoss [1]
2. K4-Chad Kemenah [2]
3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]
4. M1-Mark Smith [6]
5. 26-Cory Eliason [4]
6. 17W-Shane Golobic [8]
7. 48-Danny Dietrich [5]
8. 91S-Colby Womer [7]
Heat Race #4 (8 Laps):
1. 2-Carson Macedo [1]
2. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]
3. 7K-Cale Conley [4]
4. 70X-Spencer Bayston [2]
5. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]
6. 33M-Mason Daniel [6]
7. 91-Anthony Fiore [5]
8. 55-Gary Kriess Jr. [7]
Dash #1 (4 Laps):
1. 2-Carson Macedo [2]
2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]
3. K4-Chad Kemenah [1]
4. 70-Brock Zearfoss [3]
5. 17-Josh Baughman [5]
Dash #2 (4 Laps):
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]
2. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]
3. 5-Shane Stewart [1]
4. 21-Carson Short [5]
5. 26-Cory Eliason [3]
B-Main (12 Laps):
1. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]
2. 17W-Shane Golobic [3]
3. 40-George Hobaugh Jr. 1[8]
4. 4-Danny Smith [9]
5. 13M-Brandon Matus [12]
6. 33M-Mason Daniel [4]
7. 91-Anthony Fiore [7]
8. 91S-Colby Womer [11]
9. 55-Gary Kriess Jr. [10]
10. 14H-Jeremy Hill [13]
11. 49-Mallie Shuster [5]
12. 49H-Bradley Howard [2]
DNS: 11S-Jim Shuster
A-Main (30 Laps):
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]
2. 5-Shane Stewart [6]
3. 14-Tony Stewart [2]
4. 21-Carson Short [8]
5. 17S-Sheldon Haudenschild [4]
6. K4-Chad Kemenah [5]
7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [13]
8. 70-Brock Zearfoss [7]
9. 26-Cory Eliason [10]
10. 87-Aaron Reutzel [12]
11. M1-Mark Smith [15]
12. 70X-Spencer Bayston [14]
13. 7K-Cale Conley [11]
14. 13-Paul McMahan [16]
15. 17-Josh Baughman [9]
16. 17W-Shane Golobic [22]
17. 48-Danny Dietrich [21]
18. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [17]
19. J4-John Garvin [18]
20. 40-George Hobaugh Jr. [23]
21. 2-Carson Macedo [1]
22. 4-Danny Smith [24]
23. 1A-Jacob Allen [20]
24. 33-Max Stambaugh [19]