Brubaker earns 4th 410 win of year at Attica; Reed wears track crown
By Brian Liskai
ATTICA, Ohio – Byron Reed can do something no other sprint car driver has done the past seven seasons. The Monclova, Ohio sprint car driver could possibly win two track championships and a series title all in the same year.
Reed would finish second to Stuart Brubaker in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprint feature Friday at Attica Raceway Park to wrap up his 7th track championship on Kistler Racing Products/Ohio Logistics Night. It’s Reed’s first title since 2010 and is worth $10,000. He recently scored his third Kistler Racing Products FAST (Fremont Attica Sprint Title) Championship Presented by KS Sales and Service, also worth $10,000. And, heading into the championship night on Sept. 12 at Fremont Speedway, he has the point lead.
“Congrats to Stuart…it was a good run. I hate leading. I was really just worried about the 97 car (Dean Jacobs who came into the night leading the points). I don’t want to take anything away from Stuart…he did a great job. I knew he would blaze the top. I just couldn’t do it…I had too much to lose. I have thank Kistlers and Maxim and ProShocks tuned by OC…it seems like we’re better in the slick than a lot of other teams,” said Reed. “I really have to thank two of the classiest people I know. My dad and mom have my back and all my crew guys for all their hard work this year.”
Brubaker, from Gibsonburg, would lead up to lap 24 when Reed would split a lapped car and Brubaker to grab the lead. But when Jimmy Colvin crashed hard into the turn four fencing, necessitating a length fence repair, Brubaker’s crew settled him down and on the restart he would blast by Reed and drive away for the fourth win of the year and the fourth 410 sprint victory of his career at Attica.
“Mikey (Sommers, crew chief) got on my ass pretty good. I didn’t even get stopped and I heard him yelling ‘you screwed up down here.’ I said alright I’ll try to make up for it. We had a bleeder messing up on the left rear tire and it kept building air and every time I’d get into the corner I couldn’t enter on the cushion. It kept building up and getting the car down on the right front. They fixed that so the thing would sit left on entry. That took care of everything,” said Brubaker of his Dave Story Equipment Repair, Randy Beeker Excavating, Stephen Mapus Productive Tools, Adkins Sanitation, Kistler Engines backed machine.
“I kept watching Byron enter three quarters of the way up and I didn’t know why he wasn’t entering on the cushion but I was happy he didn’t. These guys are great people. Thanks to Sonny…he’s the one that put us here along with Sharon, Rollie, Mikey, Tyler and Spencer…these guys have been awesome,” added Brubaker of his Meggit Sandblasting, Advantage Ford, Schiets Motorsports sponsored machine.
While Rusty Schlenk would put the fifth different car he’s driven in victory lane this season in the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models, Doug Drown’s third place finish would wrap up his first ever Attica Raceway Park championship as he recorded 7 wins during the season. Drown could also wrap up the Wayne County Speedway track title and has already clinched the Attica Raceway Park/Wayne County Speedway Late Model Series Challenge title as well.
“The race only pays $1,000 and the difference in the points between first and second is $4,000 so I knew I was going to race smart. When I got to Ryan (Markham) I knew I was just going to follow…if I could see him I knew I was good. You have to race smart when you’re racing for points. We did what we came here to do. This is only the second time I’ve ran for a championship. Leroy Hall, Kim and Tim Mowry…the whole family, Joy, Danny, my dad…everyone put in a great effort this year,” said Drown of his track title worth $7,500.
Schlenk would power into the lead on lap 10 after a duel with Ryan Markham and would drive away to his second victory of the year at Attica. It’s his division leading 21st career victory at the track. The win keeps Schlenk atop the national UMP points as he tries for his second such title.
“It feels good to get back in my own car. We’ve had so many problems this year. We’ve been leading national points so we’ve had to borrow cars for the last month and half. Thank God for Ken Hahn and his crew. If it wasn’t for them I would still be leading the points. This is the fifth race car I’ve been in victory lane in this year. I have to give a big thanks to Rocket Chassis and all my guys for sticking with me,” said Schlenk beside his Velocita Fire Suits, Micro-Armor Lubricants, Main and Company, All Star Performance backed machine.
The Foster’s Auto Body 305 Sprints put on a heck of a feature and points race and when the dust settled, Fremont’s Dustin Stroup would win his first ever Attica feature. Jordan Ryan would finish second to earn his second straight track title by only seven points over Bobby Clark.
Coming into the night Clark led Ryan by only one point. The pair started in the last row of their heat and Ryan transferred to the A-main and was able to start 9th while Clark had to come through the B-main and started 17th. On a restart with three laps to go Clark would drive from sixth to fourth but ran out of time to catch Ryan for a shot at the track title.
“Jamie Miller was either telling me to go or he (Clark) was coming. I was waiting to see where he was at and I saw Rando (Steve) and then the eight and I was like ‘I gotta go and do something on this restart. I drove through the middle and it worked better than any where I had driven all night. I should have done that earlier in the race.
“I had to go balls to the wall in that heat. I knew he had to be coming because Bobby Clark has a lot of experience and is a good race car driver. It feels good beating him knowing he’s been racing that long. I have to thank all my crew and sponsors,” said Ryan.
Stroup would drive around Dustin Dinan after leader Paul Weaver flew off the track on lap 19. Stroup would blast away at the cushion for the victory.
“I have to thank Kenny Meggit first off for letting me use this motor. If it wasn’t for him I’d be sitting at home doing nothing. I raced 305s for six years and didn’t get a win. Travelling around racing 360s definitely give you more experience at different tracks. I’m not knocking this 305 division because it’s not that easy…it’s just as tough as racing 360s,” said Stroup beside his Sherry Stroup at Gabel and Associates Realty, Westway Farms, Slade Shock Technology, Daniel Miller Cement Finishing, Advanced Auto Parts backed #10x.
Woodville’s Danny Roepke Jr. would lead all 15 laps to score his second win of the year in the Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks. Matt Foos would overcome a flat tire and would storm back to finish fifth to wrap up his first ever track championship.
“I hate rain but I was praying for rain today,” joked Foos. “My crew…to change that tire…it shows these guys have my back 110 percent all the time. This is pretty cool. Most of the year I was trying to get four wins in a row because my brother said I wasn’t cool enough unless I won four in a row. We fell short of that but we got a championship. I couldn’t be happier with this team.”
The win for Roepke was the 10th of his career and he is now tied with Bob Dible for third on the track’s all-time win list for the division.
“We jumped in to come out for the feature and she didn’t want to start. But we got it to work. It had a little vibration in it…not sure what that was either but it held together,” said Roepke.
Caleb Armstrong and Brubaker brought the field to green for the 30-lap 410 sprint feature but Nate Dussel would tumble off turn one on the start. He was okay. There were two more attempts at a start which resulted in Armstrong being put back a row. When the green flew Brubaker blasted to the cushion to lead Duane Zablocki, Reed, Armstrong, Chris Andrews and Caleb Griffith.
A caution for debris – which was later determined to be the side wing panel of Reed’s front wing – on lap five saved Brubaker who had bobbled on the cushion in turn four. On the restart Zablocki challenged Brubaker by using the bottom drove as Reed, Armstrong, Andrews and Griffith were locked in an entertaining battle for third.
Jimmy Colvin would stop and Zablocki would suffer a mechanical failure in the front suspension on lap 11 for another caution. When the green flew Brubaker now had to contend with Reed with Armstrong, Griffith, Tyler Gunn, Jacobs and Andrews in tow. With 10 laps to go Reed was pressuring Brubaker who moved to the bottom of turns three and four, searching for an advantage.
On lap 24 Brubaker and Reed raced into lap traffic and split Kevin Shelbo with Reed sliding into the lead. The caution would fly for a Jared Horstman spin with five laps to go. On the ensuing restart Colvin would fly into the catch fence in turn four. Though he was uninjured, the crash would necessitate a length open red as the fencing and safety lights needed repair.
When the green finally flew Brubaker drove around Reed for the lead with Griffith taking third from Armstrong on lap 28. Brubaker would take the victory over Reed, Griffith, Armstrong and Andrews. Jacobs would drive from 12th to an eighth place finish and would finish 21 points behind Reed with Brubaker finishing third in the final point standings.
Mike Bores and BJ Gregory paced the field for the 25 lap late model feature with Bores gaining the advantage over Ryan Markham, Gregory, Schlenk, Devin Shiels and Dave Hornikel. The caution would fly with three laps in for a two-car incident.
When the green came back out Bores and Markham waged war for the lead with Schlenk, Gregory, Larry Kingseed, Hornikel and Kyle Moore in pursuit. Markham would take the lead on lap seven with Schlenk stealing second a lap later. Schlenk quickly closed on Markham and drove into the lead on lap 10 with Kingseed, Drown and Shiels in tow.
The final caution would fly on lap 16 for a Moore spin. With a clear track now Schlenk would pull away and drove to the win over Markham, Drown, Kingseed and Bores. Drown would take the track title by 41 points over Markham who never finished out of the top 10 in any event at Attica so far this season.
In the 25 lap 305 sprint feature Brian Gibbs and Dustin Dinan brought the field to green with Dinan gaining the advantage. Paul Weaver was the car on the move as he took third on lap five and second by lap seven.
Dan Hennig would spin on lap eight and on the restart Weaver would rocket around Dinan for the lead. Weaver built up a sizeable lead as he raced into heavy lapped traffic by the 17th circuit with Dinan, eighth starting Stroup, Ryan, Jamie Miller and Gibbs in pursuit.
Weaver would jump the cushion in turns three and four and come to rest against the turn four guardrail to end his night on lap 18. On the restart Stroup would blast around Dinan to grab the lead with Ryan and Miller pressuring for third. Miller would drive from fourth to second on lap 21 just before Kyle Capodice would spin with three laps to go.
On the ensuing restart Stroup was able to hold off Miller who had his hands full with Ryan. All eyes were on Clark who had raced his way to sixth when that cushion flew. As Stroup drove to the white flag Ryan got under Miller for second with Clark droving around Steve Rando and Dinan into fourth.
Stroup would hold off Ryan for the win with Miller, Clark and Rando rounding out the top five. Clark’s valiant effort would leave him just seven points shy of Ryan in the track championship battle.
In the 15 lap dirt truck feature, Roepke and Jeff Ward brought the field to green with Roepke holding the advantage over Ward, Eric Devanna, Keith Sorg, Foos and Brad Keckler. After only a lap was recorded, Keckler and Brandon Leighton got together for a caution.
Another caution for debris on lap three would save the track title for Foos who had to go pit side with a flat tire. His crew got him back out just as the green was ready to fly. The race would go the final 12 laps caution free.
Roepke would build up a sizeable lead while the battle for second heated up between Ward, Devanna, Sorg and Arnold. Devanna took the spot on lap six with Ward now locked in a war with Arnold and a charging Foos for third. Arnold would take the spot on the white flag lap.
Roepke would romp to a comfortable win over Devanna, Arnold, Ward and Foos.
Attica Raceway Park will wrap up the 2015 season with the traditional Attica Ambush on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 4 and 5. The Lucas Oil Late Model Series will battle for $10,000 to win Friday along with the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champion Sprint Cars. On Saturday it’s the UNOH All Stars along with the UMP late models, 305 sprints and dirt trucks.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park
Ohio Logistics/Kistler Racing Products Night
Friday, August 28, 2015
Finishing position[*]
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (18 cars)
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 9x-Rob Chaney[6] ; 2. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[1] ; 3. 38-Jared Horstman[3] ; 4. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[5] ; 5. 3J-Trey Jacobs[2] ; 6. 40DD-Nate Dussel[4]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 83M-Broc Martin[2] ; 2. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1] ; 3. 97-Dean Jacobs[6] ; 4. 9-Jimmy Colvin[3] ; 5. 8-Kevin Shelbo[4] ; 6. 53-Cap Henry[5]
Ultra Shield Race Products Heat 3 – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 19-Chris Andrews[3] ; 2. 33M-Caleb Griffith[1] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[2] ; 4. 16-Stuart Brubaker[5] ; 5. 91-Cale Thomas[6] ; 6. 63-Greg Wilson[4]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 16-Stuart Brubaker[2] ; 2. 5R-Byron Reed[4] ; 3. 33M-Caleb Griffith[5] ; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[1] ; 5. 19-Chris Andrews[6] ; 6. 68G-Tyler Gunn[9] ; 7. 91-Cale Thomas[15] ; 8. 97-Dean Jacobs[12] ; 9. 63-Greg Wilson[17] ; 10. 83M-Broc Martin[11] ; 11. 38-Jared Horstman[8] ; 12. 3J-Trey Jacobs[13] ; 13. 8-Kevin Shelbo[14] ; 14. 9-Jimmy Colvin[10] ; 15. 9x-Rob Chaney[7] ; 16. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[3] ; 17. 40DD-Nate Dussel[16]
Hard Charger: Cale Thomas +8
Foster’s Auto Body 305 Sprints (30 cars)
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 87-Brian Gibbs[1] ; 2. 5R-Jordan Ryan[7] ; 3. 10X-Dustin Stroup[3] ; 4. 22M-Dan McCarron[4] ; 5. 7S-Thomas Schinderle[6] ; 6. 8-Bobby Clark[8] ; 7. 9R-Dustin Rall[2] ; 8. 2L-Landon LaLonde[5]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 19R-Steve Rando[4] ; 2. 39-Jamie Miller[7] ; 3. 1X-Dustin Dinan[3] ; 4. 4T-James Taddeo[8] ; 5. 12-Kyle Capodice[6] ; 6. 39C-Scott Riley[1] ; 7. 14-Rick Daugherty[2] ; 8. 36-Seth Schneider[5]
Ultra Shield Racing Products Heat 3 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1] ; 2. 7M-Brandon Moore[2] ; 3. 4*-Tyler Street[3] ; 4. 11G-Luke Griffith[6] ; 5. 97-Kyle Peters[4] ; 6. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[5] ; 7. 75-Jerry Dahms[7]
Rock Auto.com Heat 4 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 32H-Dan Hennig[1] ; 2. 2-Ricky Peterson[7] ; 3. 27-Cody Gallogly[2] ; 4. 18N-Frank Neill[6] ; 5. 26-Ryan French[3] ; 6. 13-Jeremy Duposki[4] ; 7. 94K-Kurt Huber[5]
Computer Man B-Main 1 – (12 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 8-Bobby Clark[5] ; 2. 7S-Thomas Schinderle[1] ; 3. 12-Kyle Capodice[2] ; 4. 97-Kyle Peters[3] ; 5. 36-Seth Schneider[14] ; 6. 13-Jeremy Duposki[8] ; 7. 2L-Landon LaLonde[13] ; 8. 39C-Scott Riley[6] ; 9. 75-Jerry Dahms[11] ; 10. 14-Rick Daugherty[10] ; 11. 94K-Kurt Huber[12] ; 12. 9R-Dustin Rall[9] ; 13. 26-Ryan French[4] ; 14. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[7]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 10X-Dustin Stroup[8] ; 2. 5R-Jordan Ryan[9] ; 3. 39-Jamie Miller[5] ; 4. 8-Bobby Clark[17] ; 5. 19R-Steve Rando[12] ; 6. 1X-Dustin Dinan[2] ; 7. 4*-Tyler Street[4] ; 8. 87-Brian Gibbs[1] ; 9. 7M-Brandon Moore[10] ; 10. 11G-Luke Griffith[15] ; 11. 22M-Dan McCarron[13] ; 12. 2-Ricky Peterson[11] ; 13. 27-Cody Gallogly[7] ; 14. 4T-James Taddeo[14] ; 15. 36-Seth Schneider[21] ; 16. 7S-Thomas Schinderle[18] ; 17. 32H-Dan Hennig[6] ; 18. 12-Kyle Capodice[19] ; 19. 97-Kyle Peters[20] ; 20. 18N-Frank Neill[16] ; 21. 1W-Paul Weaver[3] ; 22. 13-Jeremy Duposki[22]
Hard Charger: Bobby Clark +13
Summit Racing Equipment Late Models (24 cars)
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 00-Chris Keller[1] ; 2. 21-Larry Kingseed[4] ; 3. 240-Doug Drown[8] ; 4. 5M-Ryan Markham[5] ; 5. 12-Kent Brewer[3] ; 6. 6-Graeme Short[2] ; 7. 69R-Doug Baird[7]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 50Y-Ryan Missler[2] ; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk[4] ; 3. 51-Devin Shiels[3] ; 4. 15B-Mike Bores[1] ; 5. 71I-Matt Irey[5] ; 6. 92-Cody Scott[7] ; 7. 5J-Josh Haynes[6] ; 8. 03-Jim Gingery[8]
Ultra Shield Race Products Heat 3 – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 2*-Kyle Moore[1] ; 2. 29-Rocky Owens[4] ; 3. 71-Dave Hornikel[7] ; 4. 00G-BJ Gregory[3] ; 5. X-Tim Sabo[6] ; 6. 30-Nate Potts[2] ; 7. P3-Jeff Robertson[8] ; 8. 1F-Justin Collet[5]
Computer Man B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 92-Cody Scott[2] ; 2. 5J-Josh Haynes[5] ; 3. 03-Jim Gingery[7] ; 4. 6-Graeme Short[1] ; 5. 30-Nate Potts[3] ; 6. 69R-Doug Baird[4] ; 7. P3-Jeff Robertson[6]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 91-Rusty Schlenk[5] ; 2. 5M-Ryan Markham[3] ; 3. 240-Doug Drown[9] ; 4. 21-Larry Kingseed[10] ; 5. 15B-Mike Bores[1] ; 6. 50Y-Ryan Missler[12] ; 7. 92-Cody Scott[16] ; 8. X-Tim Sabo[15] ; 9. 00-Chris Keller[11] ; 10. 00G-BJ Gregory[2] ; 11. 71-Dave Hornikel[6] ; 12. 2*-Kyle Moore[7] ; 13. 51-Devin Shiels[4] ; 14. 5J-Josh Haynes[17] ; 15. 30-Nate Potts[20] ; 16. 6-Graeme Short[19] ; 17. 03-Jim Gingery[18] ; 18. 71I-Matt Irey[14] ; 19. 29-Rocky Owens[8] ; 20. 12-Kent Brewer[13]
Hard Charger: Cody Scott +9
Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks (12 trucks)
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 2-Matt Foos[2] ; 2. P51-Brad Keckler[6] ; 3. 33W-Jeff Ward[4] ; 4. 16-Brandon Leighton[5] ; 5. 13-Len Benyak[1] ; 6. 7F-Dana Frey[3]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 88-Danny Roepke[4] ; 2. 37-Eric Devanna[2] ; 3. 4S-Keith Sorg[6] ; 4. 33-Brian Arnold[3] ; 5. 17X-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 6. 9-Curt Inks[1]
A-Main 1 – (15 Laps)
1. 88-Danny Roepke[1] ; 2. 37-Eric Devanna[3] ; 3. 33-Brian Arnold[7] ; 4. 33W-Jeff Ward[2] ; 5. 2-Matt Foos[8] ; 6. 4S-Keith Sorg[5] ; 7. 17X-Dustin Keegan[10] ; 8. 7F-Dana Frey[11] ; 9. 9-Curt Inks[12] ; 10. 13-Len Benyak[9] ; 11. P51-Brad Keckler[6] ; 12. 16-Brandon Leighton[4]
Hard Charger: Brian Arnold +4