By Tyler Altmeyer
CANTON, Ill. (July 22, 2023) – The “North Pole Nightmare” Bill Balog was the man to beat Saturday night at Spoon River Speedway in Canton, Illinois, not only conquering the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 for an $8,000 payday, but leading all 35 laps in the process, holding back Friday night winner and current All Star driver points leader, Zeb Wise. Balog, who started from the pole position as the result of a dash victory, withstood five cautions and a red flag in his victory march, driving on to secure the fourth All Star triumph of his career.
Rudeen Racing’s Zeb Wise finished second in the NOS Energy Drink presents The Rumble on the River, followed by Greg Wilson, who started ninth, Kraig Kinser, and a hard charging Chris Windom, who commenced his forward progress from 22nd in the running order.
As hinted, besides the half dozen caution breaks, Balog was relatively – for the most part – unchallenged in his 35-lap campaign, still feeling some late race heat from Wise. Wise actually got the best of Balog, driving around the ten-time IRA champion following a lap 28 restart, but caution flags waved again giving the top spot back to Balog. Balog went on to switch his restart approach and he never looked back.
“With a guy like Zeb [Wise] behind me, I knew I had to switch things up. But we were just so good. Even in traffic, I felt really good. I was able to switch things up and it all worked out,” Balog, ace of the Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup/Gibbsville Cheese No. 17B sprint car, said. “It feels so good to get an All Star win outside of Wisconsin. These races are so hard to win and there’s so much pressure. I really don’t know what to say.”
ON DECK:
The All Stars’ July campaign will continue with an $8,000-to-win visit to Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, Illinois, on Sunday, July 23.
After a two-day break, Midwest action will continue with an $8,000-to-win stop in the Show-Me State, visiting Benton Speedway in Benton, Missouri, on Wednesday, July 26. Lake Ozark Speedway in Eldon, Missouri, will host the All Star Circuit of Champions and POWRi 410 Sprints for a $6,000-to-win program on Thursday, July 27, followed by an invasion of the state-of-the-art I-70 Motorsports Park in Odessa, Missouri, on Friday, July 28. The final Missouri visit of the season will award an $8,000 payday.
Concluding the Series’ Midwest takeover, the Sprint Car Capital of the World, Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, will host “America’s Series” on Saturday, July 29, welcoming the Tony Stewart-owned organization for the first and only time in 2023. The Saturday night staple will award $8,000, simultaneously giving All Star competitors a taste of Knoxville Raceway prior to the coveted Knoxville Nationals in mid-August.
For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast. Find subscription here: https://flosports.link/3XJOg5Z
Contingency Awards/Results: Spoon River Speedway | July 22, 2023:
NOS Energy Drink presents The Rumble on the River | $8K-to-win
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 35
Macri Concrete/Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Sye Lynch | 11.642
Hercules Tires Fast Qualifier: Parker Price-Miller | 11.648
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Zeb Wise
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Paul Nienhiser
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Kerry Madsen
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4 Winner: Bill Balog
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Bill Balog
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Jake Newman
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Geoff Dodge
Tezos A-Main Winner: Bill Balog
Tezos A-Main Hard Charger: Chris Windom
Carquest Perseverance Award: Sye Lynch
Qualifying
Group (A)
16TH-Parker Price Miller, 11.648; 2. 26-Zeb Wise, 11.715; 3. 17AU-Jamie Veal, 11.764; 4. 51B-Joe B. Miller, 11.859; 5. 97-JJ Hickle, 11.876; 6. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 11.986; 7. 65-Jordan Goldesberry, 12.095; 8. 42P-Preston Perlmutter, 12.402; 9. 2A-Austin Archdale, 99.991
Group (B)
7BC-Anthony Macri, 11.955; 2. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 11.971; 3. 96-Jake Blackhurst, 12.226; 4. 28M-Conner Morrell, 12.345; 5. 9K-Kyle Schuett, 12.433; 6. 19-Jett Mann, 12.644; 7. 16T-Kevin Newton, 12.699; 8. 9-Tyler Duff, 99.992; 9. 5E-Bobby Elliott, 99.993
Group (C)
11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.088; 2. 55-Kerry Madsen, 12.097; 3. 35-Zach Hampton, 12.118; 4. 45-Tim Shaffer, 12.240; 5. 91-Cale Thomas, 12.321; 6. 21T-Cole Macedo, 12.326; 7. 23B-Brian Bell, 12.357; 8. 3N-Jake Neuman, 12.380; 9. 52F-Logan Faucon, 12.723
Group (D)
17B-Bill Balog, 12.018; 2. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.306; 3. 4-Chris Windom, 12.358; 4. 37-Bryce Norris, 12.383; 5. 6-Mario Clouser, 12.508; 6. 77-Geoff Dodge, 12.534; 7. 33$-Shane O’Banion, 12.845; 8. 29-Sye Lynch, 99.994; 9. 7A-Will Armitage, 99.995
Heat 1 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
26-Zeb Wise [1]; 2. 51B-Joe B. Miller [3]; 3. 17AU-Jamie Veal [2]; 4. 16TH-Parker Price Miller [4]; 5. 97-JJ Hickle [5]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [7]; 7. 42P-Preston Perlmutter [8]; 8. 2A-Austin Archdale [9]; 9. 49-Josh Schneiderman [6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
9X-Paul Nienhiser [1]; 2. 7BC-Anthony Macri [4]; 3. 28M-Conner Morrell [3]; 4. 96-Jake Blackhurst [2]; 5. 9K-Kyle Schuett [5]; 6. 19-Jett Mann [6]; 7. 9-Tyler Duff [8]; 8. 16T-Kevin Newton [7]; 9. 5E-Bobby Elliott [9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
55-Kerry Madsen [1]; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser [4]; 3. 91-Cale Thomas [5]; 4. 21T-Cole Macedo [6]; 5. 35-Zach Hampton [2]; 6. 3N-Jake Neuman [8]; 7. 23B-Brian Bell [7]; 8. 45-Tim Shaffer [3]; 9. 52F-Logan Faucon [9]
Heat 4 (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
17B-Bill Balog [4]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 3. 29-Sye Lynch [8]; 4. 37-Bryce Norris [2]; 5. 6-Mario Clouser [3]; 6. 77-Geoff Dodge [6]; 7. 33$-Shane O’Banion [7]; 8. 4-Chris Windom [1]
Dash (6 Laps)
17B-Bill Balog [1]; 2. 7BC-Anthony Macri [3]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [2]; 4. 16TH-Parker Price Miller [4]; 5. 26-Zeb Wise [7]; 6. 55-Kerry Madsen [5]; 7. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [6]
B-main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
3N-Jake Neuman [3]; 2. 4-Chris Windom [10]; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer [2]; 4. 23B-Brian Bell [6]; 5. 77-Geoff Dodge [4]; 6. 65-Jordan Goldesberry [1]; 7. 52F-Logan Faucon [13]; 8. 9-Tyler Duff [9]; 9. 33$-Shane O’Banion [8]; 10. 2A-Austin Archdale [12]; 11. 19-Jett Mann [5]; 12. 42P-Preston Perlmutter [7]; 13. 16T-Kevin Newton [11]
A-main (35 Laps)
17B-Bill Balog [1]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise [5]; 3. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [3]; 5. 4-Chris Windom [22]; 6. 91-Cale Thomas [11]; 7. 55-Kerry Madsen [6]; 8. 51B-Joe B. Miller [8]; 9. 7BC-Anthony Macri [2]; 10. 16TH-Parker Price Miller [4]; 11. 28M-Conner Morrell [12]; 12. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [7]; 13. 45-Tim Shaffer [23]; 14. 96-Jake Blackhurst [14]; 15. 97-JJ Hickle [17]; 16. 17AU-Jamie Veal [10]; 17. 21T-Cole Macedo [15]; 18. 3N-Jake Neuman [21]; 19. 35-Zach Hampton [18]; 20. 6-Mario Clouser [20]; 21. 29-Sye Lynch [13]; 22. 37-Bryce Norris [16]; 23. 9K-Kyle Schuett [19]; 24. 23B-Brian Bell [24] LAP LEADERS: Bill Balog (1-35)
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions OWNER Standings (As of 7/22):
Clauson Marshall Racing – 3190
Rudeen Racing – 3146
Vermeer Motorsports – 3052
Lane Racing – 3026
Bryan Grove Racing – 2958
Seeling Motorsports – 2812
Bill McCandless Ford – 2728
D3 Motorsports Group – 2504
Premier Motorsports – 2224
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions DRIVER Standings (As of 7/22):
Zeb Wise – 3036
Chris Windom – 3026
Tyler Courtney – 3023
Tim Shaffer – 2958
J.J. Hickle – 2812
Conner Morrell – 2504
Sye Lynch – 2400
Scotty Thiel – 2114
Parker Price-Miller – 1744
Brent Marks – 1742