By Brian Liskai ATTICA, Ohio – Tim Shaffer was there to take advantage when leader Brian Lay ran out of fuel with four laps remaining at Attica Raceway Park Friday and drove to his second 410 sprint win of the season at the track to open the two-night Attica Ambush.
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania’s Shaffer, who started sixth in the 30-lap feature, earned $5,000 for the victory. It was his 15th career victory at Attica as he now sits sixth on the track’s all-time win list. It was also Shaffer’s third All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads FAST 410 Championship Series presented by Ohio Logistics victory.
With just two FAST races left in 2017, Fremont’s DJ Foos continues to lead the series points. His charge from 21st to a 10th place finish will increase his advantage over Chris Andrews for that $10,000 title.
Ada, Ohio’s John Henry led all 30 laps for the $5,000 pay day in the Sunoco American Late Models Series feature. It wasn’t easy for the “Steel Driver” as he held off a charging Corey Conley. The first 24 laps Henry had his hands full with Steve Kester as they raced side by side lap after lap. The last five laps had the crowd on their feet as Henry, Conley, Kester and Steve Casebolt battled.
It was Henry’s first win at Attica this season and the 14th of his career at the track putting him third on the all-time late model win list.
Shaffer’s victory gives him a ton of momentum heading into Saturday’s Dirt Classic Ohio event at Attica with a $10,000 payday on the line. Shaffer also rolls off fifth in the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions make-up feature from the June 16th rained out affair.
“It feels great to be back in victory lane. I have a great group of guys behind me with Jeff Rudzik and Joe Demyan giving us the best cars. It’s just awesome. Tomorrow it’s about doing the right things and getting the car good and the driver running good. We have to start over tomorrow and do the qualifying right and the heat race right. Cody Jacobs has done a great job with this car. That thing was a blast to drive tonight,” said Shaffer beside his Rudzik Excavating; Triple X Chassis; VRP Shocks; FK Rod Ends; Scoville Designs backed #49x.
Henry has not gotten to race a lot the past few years. But it didn’t look like it Friday as he held off challenge after challenge for the victory.
“This is pretty awesome. I was sweating a little bit…my guys kept giving me signals…I knew they were close. I figured if I just held a line…starting up front was key tonight with the way the track was being fast. We’ve struggled on fast race tracks with this race car. Tonight we dialed it in really well. I have so many people to thank…Jim Weber of Jim Weber Motorsports, Charlie Truman, Fultz Fabrication, Accu-Force, my crew, John and Craig…they’ve stuck with me and put in a lot of hard work. We don’t get to race very much because it takes a lot. Thankful for my dad and everyone that supports us. We struggled a little bit off and on the last several years; obviously we haven’t been in victory lane for awhile. So this feels really good,” said Henry in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
Lay and Craig Mintz brought the field to green for the 30 lap sprint feature with Mintz rocketing into the lead. Justin Peck stopped with a lap scored with Mintz leading Cap Henry, Lay, Shaffer and Rob Chaney. On the restart Henry drove under Mintz to take the top spot and a lap later Lay moved into second and took the lead just before the caution flew for Mintz who stopped with four laps scored. Mintz went to the work area and repairs were made and he rejoined at the tail.
Lay, who suffered a wicked crash at Attica the previous week, pulled away when the green flew with Henry, Shaffer, Andrew Palker, Chaney and Broc Martin giving chase. Lay pulled away steadily until Travis Philo stopped with 14 laps in. The caution kept Lay out of lapped traffic and when the green reappeared he used the clear track to once again pull away. Shaffer reeled in Henry and the pair battled the next eight laps until Tyler Gunn stopped in turn four to bring out the caution with eight laps remaining. That wiped out a nearly three second lead for Lay.
On the ensuing restart while Shaffer showed Lay his nose, Chaney blasted from sixth to third but would slide off the turn one cushion with five laps to go. This time on the restart Lay’s car, low on fuel, would not take off and Shaffer drove into the lead. Shaffer drove away to the win over Martin, 14th starter Byron Reed, 17th starter Joey Saldana and Palker. Rounding out the top 10 were 15th starter Brady Bacon; Mintz who stormed from the tail after his early race woes; 18th starter Cole Duncan; 19th starter Duane Zablocki and 21st starter Foos.
Henry and Minnesota driver Brent Larson paced the field for the 30 lap ALMS feature with Henry gaining the advantage over Steve Kester, Larson, Steve Casebolt and Corey Conley. Disaster struck after a lap was scored when George Lee tumbled in turn one collecting Rusty Schlenk and Ken Hahn. Lee was banged up a little but exited under his own power.
When the green flew again Henry and Kester battled for the lead with Larson, Casebolt and Conley waging war for third. Henry and Kester ran side by side over the next 13 laps with Larson and Casebolt doing the same before a caution flew for one of the infield tires being moved onto the racing lane. When the green flew Henry and Kester resumed their battle as did Larson and Casebolt. Casebolt would take third with 14 laps remaining.
A caution for Devin Shiels put a brief halt to the entertaining battles up front with nine laps to go. On the restart Henry led Kester, Casebolt and now a quickly closing Conley. Conley drove into third with eight laps to go just before Matt Irey stopped to bring out the final caution with seven laps to go. On the restart Henry changed his line from the top side to the bottom which stopped Kester’s challenge. Kester now had to deal with Conley with Casebolt and Schlenk, who had charge from the rear after the lap 1 incident, and Larson. Conley took second with five laps remaining and closed on Henry.
When the white flag appeared Henry and Conley were side by side with Kester only a half car length behind with Casebolt and Schlenk also closing. Henry was able to hold off Conley for the win with Kester, Casebolt and Schlenk rounding out the top five. Completing the top 10 were Eric Spangler, Larson, Paul Stubber, Mike Bores and JR Gentry.
Attica Raceway Park will close out the 2017 season Saturday, Sept. 2 with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champion sprints completing their feature event from the June 16th rained out affair along with a complete program for the Dirt Classic Ohio paying $10,000 to win. The 305 sprints will also be in action.
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, Sept. 1, 2017
–
410 Sprints – Hammer Pallets
Qualifying
1.70-Carson Macedo, 12.128; 2.11N-Craig Mintz, 12.208; 3.57X-Andrew Palker, 12.276; 4.83-Rob Chaney, 12.294; 5.17-Dale Blaney, 12.320; 6.45L-Brian Lay, 12.363; 7.97-Broc Martin, 12.367; 8.23-DJ Foos, 12.378; 9.5R-Byron Reed, 12.395; 10.68G-Tyler Gunn, 12.453; 11.16-Chris Andrews, 12.463; 12.7K-Cale Conley, 12.472; 13.99-Brady Bacon, 12.531; 14.9X-Stuart Brubaker, 12.553; 15.71-Joey Saldana, 12.611; 16.81-Lee Jacobs, 12.633; 17.8-Dean Jacobs, 12.635; 18.4-Cap Henry, 12.703; 19.49X-Tim Shaffer, 12.710; 20.5T-Travis Philo, 12.737; 21.60-Jody Keegan, 12.770; 22.22M-Dan McCarron, 12.776; 23.22-Cole Duncan, 12.801; 24.7-Shawn Valenti, 12.841; 25.1st-Gary Taylor, 12.850; 26.5X-Justin Peck, 12.887; 27.27-Cody Gallogly, 12.893; 28.84-Brandon Hanks, 13.000; 29.22B-Ryan Broughton, 13.040; 30.9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.151; 31.4B-Steve Butler, 13.361; 32.1M-Brandon Moore, 13.614;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 60-Jody Keegan[1] ; 2. 4-Cap Henry[2] ; 3. 5X-Justin Peck[7] ; 4. 99-Brady Bacon[4] ; 5. 22-Cole Duncan[5] ; 6. 8-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 7. 1st-Gary Taylor[6] ; 8. 22B-Ryan Broughton[8]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 5T-Travis Philo[2] ; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer[3] ; 3. 16-Chris Andrews[4] ; 4. 22M-Dan McCarron[1] ; 5. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7] ; 6. 7-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 7. 84-Brandon Hanks[6] ; 8. 1M-Brandon Moore[8]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 45L-Brian Lay[2] ; 2. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1] ; 3. 17-Dale Blaney[3] ; 4. 71-Joey Saldana[7] ; 5. 9X-Stuart Brubaker[6] ; 6. 70-Carson Macedo[4] ; 7. 7K-Cale Conley[5] ; 8. 27-Cody Gallogly[8]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 83-Rob Chaney[2] ; 2. 97-Broc Martin[1] ; 3. 11N-Craig Mintz[4] ; 4. 57X-Andrew Palker[3] ; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[6] ; 6. 23-DJ Foos[5] ; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs[7] ; 8. 4B-Steve Butler[8]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 23-DJ Foos[4] ; 2. 70-Carson Macedo[3] ; 3. 8-Dean Jacobs[1] ; 4. 7-Shawn Valenti[2] ; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs[8] ; 6. 1st-Gary Taylor[5] ; 7. 7K-Cale Conley[7] ; 8. 22B-Ryan Broughton[9] ; 9. 27-Cody Gallogly[11] ; 10. 1M-Brandon Moore[10] ; 11. 4B-Steve Butler[12] ; 12. 84-Brandon Hanks[6]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer[6] ; 2. 97-Broc Martin[7] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[14] ; 4. 71-Joey Saldana[17] ; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker[5] ; 6. 99-Brady Bacon[15] ; 7. 11N-Craig Mintz[2] ; 8. 22-Cole Duncan[18] ; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[19] ; 10. 23-DJ Foos[21] ; 11. 22M-Dan McCarron[16] ; 12. 70-Carson Macedo[22] ; 13. 16-Chris Andrews[12] ; 14. 4-Cap Henry[4] ; 15. 17-Dale Blaney[13] ; 16. 60-Jody Keegan[10] ; 17. 68G-Tyler Gunn[8] ; 18. 45L-Brian Lay[1] ; 19. 83-Rob Chaney[3] ; 20. 8-Dean Jacobs[23] ; 21. 5T-Travis Philo[9] ; 22. 7-Shawn Valenti[24] ; 23. 5X-Justin Peck[11] ; 24. 9X-Stuart Brubaker[20]
Hard Charger: 71-Joey Saldana +13
Late Models – ALMS
Qualifying
1.C9-Steve Casebolt, 14.421; 2.CJ1-Rusty Schlenk, 14.453; 3.240-Doug Drown, 14.512; 4.14-JR Gentry, 14.621; 5.5M-Ryan Markham, 14.687; 6.14C-Corey Conley, 14.770; 7.27S-Eric Spangler, 14.777; 8.B1-Brent Larson, 14.792; 9.15B-Mike Bores, 14.818; 10.15-Jon Henry, 14.881; 11.36R-Ryan Eddleblute, 14.907; 12.36-Matt Irey, 14.949; 13.71-Dave Hornikel, 14.959; 14.1N-Casey Noonan, 14.962; 15.77-Steve Kester, 14.985; 16.50Y-Ryan Missler, 15.032; 17.59-Shane McLoughlin, 15.082; 18.31AUS-Paul Stubber, 15.154; 19.10-Nathan Loney, 15.165; 20.28-Kent Brewer, 15.189; 21.3-Matt Miller, 15.227; 22.42*-Bob Mayer, 15.236; 23.30-Nate Potts, 15.309; 24.61-George Lee, 15.312; 25.51-Devin Shiels, 15.346; 26.39-Hillard Miller, 15.568; 27.27-Ken Hahn, 15.598; 28.44-Matt Shipley, 15.604; 29.69-Jeff Warnick, 15.605; 30.95J-Jerry Bowersock, 15.705; 31.24-Jerry Aber, 15.788; 32.03-Jim Gingery, 15.822; 33.006-Jarrett Rendel, 16.603; 34.69R-Doug Baird, 16.821; 35.16-Ky Harper, 17.759; 36.2-Travis Stemler, 99.990; 37.36W-Craig Wolford, 99.999;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 15-Jon Henry[1] ; 2. C9-Steve Casebolt[4] ; 3. 27S-Eric Spangler[2] ; 4. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk[3] ; 5. 36-Matt Irey[5] ; 6. 3-Matt Miller[6] ; 7. 16-Ky Harper[9] ; 8. 006-Jarrett Rendel[8] ; 9. 2-Travis Stemler[10] ; 10. 03-Jim Gingery[7]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. B1-Brent Larson[4] ; 2. 31AUS-Paul Stubber[1] ; 3. 71-Dave Hornikel[2] ; 4. 61-George Lee[7] ; 5. 36R-Ryan Eddleblute[3] ; 6. 51-Devin Shiels[8] ; 7. 42*-Bob Mayer[5] ; 8. 30-Nate Potts[6] ; 9. 69-Jeff Warnick[9]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 77-Steve Kester[2] ; 2. 10-Nathan Loney[1] ; 3. 1N-Casey Noonan[3] ; 4. 27-Ken Hahn[6] ; 5. 44-Matt Shipley[7] ; 6. 24-Jerry Aber[8] ; 7. 69R-Doug Baird[9] ; 8. 39-Hillard Miller[5] ; 9. 5M-Ryan Markham[4]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 14C-Corey Conley[2] ; 2. 15B-Mike Bores[1] ; 3. 14-JR Gentry[3] ; 4. 240-Doug Drown[4] ; 5. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[8] ; 6. 59-Shane McLoughlin[6] ; 7. 28-Kent Brewer[7] ; 8. 50Y-Ryan Missler[5] ; 9. 36W-Craig Wolford[9]
B-Main 1 – (8 Laps, top 2 to A)
1. 36-Matt Irey[1] ; 2. 3-Matt Miller[3] ; 3. 44-Matt Shipley[2] ; 4. 24-Jerry Aber[4] ; 5. 006-Jarrett Rendel[7] ; 6. 69R-Doug Baird[6] ; 7. 16-Ky Harper[5] ; 8. 03-Jim Gingery[11] ; 9. 39-Hillard Miller[8] ; 10. 5M-Ryan Markham[10] ; 11. 2-Travis Stemler[9]
B-Main 2 – (8 Laps, top 2 to A)
1. 36R-Ryan Eddleblute[1] ; 2. 51-Devin Shiels[3] ; 3. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[2] ; 4. 69-Jeff Warnick[9] ; 5. 42*-Bob Mayer[5] ; 6. 30-Nate Potts[7] ; 7. 59-Shane McLoughlin[4] ; 8. 28-Kent Brewer[6] ; 9. 50Y-Ryan Missler[8] ; 10. 36W-Craig Wolford[10]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 15-Jon Henry[1] ; 2. 14C-Corey Conley[4] ; 3. 77-Steve Kester[3] ; 4. C9-Steve Casebolt[5] ; 5. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk[13] ; 6. 27S-Eric Spangler[9] ; 7. B1-Brent Larson[2] ; 8. 31AUS-Paul Stubber[6] ; 9. 15B-Mike Bores[8] ; 10. 14-JR Gentry[12] ; 11. 71-Dave Hornikel[10] ; 12. 1N-Casey Noonan[11] ; 13. 51-Devin Shiels[20] ; 14. 10-Nathan Loney[7] ; 15. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[22] ; 16. 27-Ken Hahn[15] ; 17. 39-Hillard Miller[21] ; 18. 36R-Ryan Eddleblute[18] ; 19. 36-Matt Irey[17] ; 20. 3-Matt Miller[19] ; 21. 61-George Lee[14] ; 22. 240-Doug Drown[16]
Hard Charger: CJ1-Rusty Schlenk +8