McCarl Survives Feature To Win Opening Night Of Coors Light All Star Spring Nationals
By Brian Liskai: ATTICA, Ohio (April 14, 2006) – It’s called a sprint car race, but the opening night of the 15th Annual Coors Light Spring Nationals for the All Star Circuit of Champions at Attica Raceway Park was more like a marathon, with Altoona, Iowa’s Terry McCarl surviving for the victory.
The 40-lap feature took over an hour before the checkered flew, as there were three red flags and four cautions slowing the action.
McCarl, who currently sits third in the World Of Outlaws point standings, admitted he was nervous leading.
“I have had so many shows won here only to slip off the banking. They did a nice job with the track tonight and you could race all over the place,” said McCarl beside his Big Game Tree Stand, Bosma Poultry sponsored #24. “This wasn’t easy by any means. The All Stars are tough and the Attica regulars always race you hard. I screwed up at one point…moving my wing too far back and it made the car too tight. On that last restart I moved the wing forward and the car just took off.”
The start of the feature saw Kevin Huntly spin in turn one. On the restart, 2005 ARP champion Byron Reed and Paul May flipped hard down the front stretch. The third time wasn’t the charm, as Ryan Coniam looped his Miller Rigging car in turn four on the next restart.
On the fourth try, Mark Keegan, the all-time winningest driver at Attica, bolted into the lead from his outside front row starting spot, with Greg Wilson, Andrew Palker, McCarl and Stevie Smith in tow. The red would fly on lap five when Jon Trudeau tipped over in turn four, as Rob Chaney, driving a team car to Craig Mintz, stopping to avoid the crash.
Before the green would waive, Palker, who had moved into second, would duck into the pits to replaced his fuel cap and would have to go to the tail. On the restart Keegan used the rim to build a lead over Wilson, Smith, David Harrison and Mike Linder who had moved up from his 15th starting spot. All eyes were on Todd Kane who had moved from 17th up to ninth.
Just two laps later the caution would fly again for a Brock Mayes spin in turn two. The running order now was Keegan, McCarl, Wilson, Smith, Harrison, Linder, Dale Blaney, Chad Blonde, Kane and fast qualifier Butch Schroeder.
McCarl would execute his winning move on the restart, using the slide job to move in front of Keegan exiting turn four. The caution would fly a lap later for a Huntley spin. With 32 laps to go it was McCarl, Keegan, Wilson, Linder, Smith, Harrison and Blonde, up from 16th.
After the restart, McCarl pulled away, but the yellow would come out again on lap 14, as Wilson slid off the high side of turn two and would coast to a stop in turn four with a flat tire. McCarl would lead on the restart with the lapped car of Caleb Griffith between he and Keegan. Linder had moved into third with Smith fourth, Blonde up to fifth, Harrison and Kane in tow.
A lap later disaster would strike in turn three as Kane ended up on his lid. Once the track went back to green, the longest run of the feature would take place, as McCarl built a lead only to have it vanish in heavy lapped traffic as Keegan and Blonde closed. The final caution would fly on lap 30 for Harrison who slid off of turn three. That gave McCarl a clear track and he
pulled away for the win. Behind him though, Keegan and Blonde raced side by side for second, with the All Star Rookie of the Year candidate from Litchfield, Mich., edging Keegan at the line. Linder would come home fourth, followed by Dale Blaney, Smith, Rob Chaney, Lee Jacobs, Jimmy Stinson and Coniam rounding out the top 10.
In the limited late model feature, Larry Kingseed and Jeff McCoy raced side by side the last five laps of the feature, with Kingseed winning by a nose at the checkered for his second Attica win of the season.
“Jeff McCoy is one of the best drivers out here. He raced me clean and I did the same for him…those last few laps were a blast,” said Kingseed beside his John M. Allen Co., A&S Graphics sponsored #21.
Attica Raceway Park 4-14-06
AllStar Circuit of Champions
Qualifying
1. 7K-Butch Schroeder, 11.939; 2. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.007; 3. 24-Terry McCarl, 12.016; 4. K-Andrew Palker, 12.044; 5. 19-Stevie Smith, 12.102; 6. X-Mark Keegan, 12.102; 7. OH-Tim Hunter, 12.121; 8. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.206; 9. 10-David Harrison, 12.213; 10. 11B-Brock Mayes, 12.231; 11. 70-Kevin Huntley, 12.232; 12. 71M-Paul May, 12.238; 13. 12M-James Mosher, 12.242; 14. 16-Lee Jacobs, 12.252; 15. 11M-Brandon Martin, 12.254; 16. 5-Byron Reed, 12.268; 17. 2G-Caleb Griffith, 12.272; 18. 3L-Mike Linder, 12.284; 19. 5B-Chad Blonde, 12.287; 20. 78-Todd Kane, 12.376; 21. 23-Jon Trudeau, 12.378; 22. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.425; 23. 8S-Craig Mintz, 12.443; 24. 2X-Ryan Coniam, 12.448; 25. 8-Rob Cheney, 12.487; 26. 37Z-Brian Scott, 12.507; 27. 84-Jimmy Stinson, 12.628; 28. 27-Scott Euler, 12.655; 29. F1-Jon Finsel, 12.661; 30. 25M-Ken Mackey, 12.680; 31. 10S-Roger Shammo, 12.688; 32. 8C-Bobby Clark, 12.741; 33. 4N-Niel Shepard, 12.775; 34. 63R-Barry Ruble, 12.819; 35. 45-Bryan Grove, 12.859; 36. 55-John Ivy, 12.864; 37. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 12.880; 38. 98-Bruce Robenalt, 12.907; 39. 48-Mike Burkin, 13.084; 40. 99-Alvin Roepke, 13.979; 41. 33-Nick Patterson
Heat 1 (top 5 transfer to the A-main)
1. 2G-Caleb Griffith; 2. 10-David Harrison; 3. 19-Stevie Smith; 4. 23-Jon Trudeau; 5. 8-Rob Cheney; 6. F1-Jon Finsel; 7. 7K-Butch Schroeder; 8. 12M-James Mosher; 9. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 10. 4N-Niel Shepard;
Heat 2 (top 5 transfer to the A-main)
1. 60-Jody Keegan; 2. 16-Lee Jacobs; 3. 2-Dale Blaney; 4. 3L-Mike Linder; 5. X-Mark Keegan; 6. 11B-Brock Mayes; 7. 37Z-Brian Scott; 8. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 9. 63R-Barry Ruble; 10. 25M-Ken Mackey;
Heat 3 (top 5 transfer to the A-main)
1. 5B-Chad Blonde; 2. 70-Kevin Huntley; 3. 24-Terry McCarl; 4. 8S-Craig Mintz; 5. 84-Jimmy Stinson; 6. 11M-Brandon Martin; 7. OH-Tim Hunter; 8. 45-Bryan Grove; 9. 10S-Roger Shammo; 10. 48-Mike Burkin;
Heat 4 (top 5 transfer to the A-main)
1. 78-Todd Kane; 2. 2X-Ryan Coniam; 3. 5-Byron Reed; 4. W20-Greg Wilson; 5. K-Andrew Palker; 6. 8C-Bobby Clark; 7. 55-John Ivy; 8. 99-Alvin Roepke; 9. 27-Scott Euler; 10. 71M-Paul May;
Dash
1. 5B-Chad Blonde; 2. 24-Terry McCarl; 3. W20-Greg Wilson; 4. 2-Dale Blaney; 5. X-Mark Keegan;
B-main (top 4 transfer to the A-main)
1. 7K-Butch Schroeder; 2. 71M-Paul May; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes; 4. 8C-Bobby Clark; 5. 55-John Ivy; 6. 25M-Ken Mackey; 7. 27-Scott Euler; 8. 37Z-Brian Scott; 9. 10S-Roger Shammo; 10. 4N-Niel Shepard; 11. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 12. 63R-Barry Ruble; 13. 11M-Brandon Martin; 14. OH-Tim Hunter; 15. 99-Alvin Roepke; 16. F1-Jon Finsel; 17. 48-Mike Burkin; 18. 45-Bryan Grove; 19. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 20. 12M-James Mosher;
A-main Starting Position []
1. 24-Terry McCarl[5]; 2. 5B-Chad Blonde[16]; 3. X-Mark Keegan[2]; 4. 3L-Mike Linder[15]; 5. 2-Dale Blaney[6]; 6. 19-Stevie Smith[3]; 7. 8-Rob Chaney[22]; 8. 16-Lee Jacobs[12]; 9. 84-Jimmy Stinson[23]; 10. 2X-Ryan Coniam[21]; 11. 10-David Harrison[8]; 12. K-Andrew Palker[4]; 13. 8C-Bobby Clark[24]; 14. 70-Kevin Huntley[10]; 15. 7K-Butch Schroeder[7]; 16. W20-Greg Wilson[1]; 17. 60-Jody Keegan[19]; 18. 2G-Caleb Griffith[14]; 19. 78-Todd Kane[17]; 20. 11B-Brock Mayes[9]; 21. 8S-Craig Mintz[20]; 22. 23-Jon Trudeau[18]; 23. 71M-Paul May[11]; 24. 5-Byron Reed[13];
Limited Lates
Heat 1 – Budweiser – Griff’s Engines (top 5 to A)
1. 101-Chester Fitch; 2. O3-Jim Gingery; 3. 67-Chris Keller; 4. 69-John Mayes Jr.; 5. 92-Brandon Perkins; 6. 2-Steve Kester; 7. 8K-Kevin Koerper; 8. O14-Paul Brown Jr.; 9. 77C-Craig Corfman; 34-Kevin Miller (DNS)
Heat 2 – Tin Lizzy (top 5 to A)
1. O1-Art Ball; 2. 48-John Bores; 3. 55-Chuck Hummer; 4. C4-Bill Clapp Jr.; 5. 71JS-Joe Smith; 6. 12M-Mike Stiltner; 7. 26R-Scott Runion; 8.30-Nate Potts (DNS); 9. 29-Matt Potts (DNS); 10. 98-Tim Sabo (DNS)
Heat 3 – Bell Helmets (top 5 to A)
1. 45-Mike Marteney; 2. O2-Jeff McCoy; 3. 15B-Mike Bores; 4. 21-Larry Kingseed; 5. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth; 6. 94-Chris Smith; 7. 99-Steve Sabo; 8. 71-Rusty Smith; 9. 50-Ryan Missler; 10. 12-Michael Stiltner;
B-main (Top 5 to A)
1. 94-Chris Smith; 2. 50-Ryan Missler; 3. 99-Steve Sabo; 4. 71-Rusty Smith; 5. 2-Steve Kester; 6. O14-Paul Brown Jr.; 7. 34-Kevin Miller; 8. 77C-Craig Corfman; 9. 8K-Kevin Koerper; 10. 29-Matt Potts; 11. 12-Michael Stiltner; 12. 30-Nate Potts; 13. 26R-Scott Runion;
A-main Starting Position []
1. 21-Larry Kingseed[12]; 2. O2-Jeff McCoy[5]; 3. 101-Chester Fitch[7]; 4. 15B-Mike Bores[3]; 5. 50-Ryan Missler[10]; 6. 92-Brandon Perkins[13]; 7. O1-Art Ball[2]; 8. 67-Chris Keller[15]; 9. 99-Steve Sabo[17]; 10. 55-Chuck Hummer[14]; 11. 2-Steve Kester[18]; 12. 71-Rusty Smith[20]; 13. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth[1]; 14. 69-John Mayes Jr.[9]; 15. 48-John Bores[4]; 16. 94-Chris Smith[16]; 17. 71JS-Joe Smith[19]; 18. C4-Bill Clapp Jr.[11]; 19. 45-Mike Marteney[8]; 20. O3-Jim Gingery[6];