Mintz Takes FAST Lead With Attica Victory; Foos Blasts To 5th 305 Sprint Win; Art Ball Scores Truck Victory
By Brian Liskai: (Attica, OH) Craig Mintz got a fantastic restart on the ninth lap of the feature at Attica Raceway Park Friday, moving from fourth to second and then drove around Greg Wilson to take the lead with a perfect slide job in turns three and four on lap 14, and cruised to his third win of the season in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints.
Mintz’s eighth career victory at Attica also propelled him into the lead of the $10,000-to-win Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) Championship Series. Mintz won the very first FAST title in 2009. The victory on Croghan Colonial Bank/Flag City Recycling/Bob’s Machine Shop Night also gave Mintz the point lead for Attica Raceway Park.
“We got lucky on that restart…the guys ahead of us got hung up there a little bit by each other and there was an opening and I decided to try it. This GF1 Ti22 car…we’ve fallen in love with it lately,” said Mintz beside his Real Geese Decoys, R2C Filters, Erie Shore Propane, Kistler Engines, Design Graphics Group, Keller Chevrolet, Wasserman Construction, KS Sales and Service backed #09.
“Normally we run this place right in the middle and have won a couple races here like that. But I found some stuff at the top tonight that this car really liked. It was nice to be able to run it in there hard and straight and get the momentum down the back stretch going into three and try to do some slide jobs,” continued Mintz in the Engine Pro Victory Lane . “My guys over here, my dad, Kevin Shammo, Brad, my fiancée, Denny Keller…these guys put the car on the track and I just drive it.”
Fremont, Ohio’s D.J. Foos has one of the best winning percentages of any sprint car driver in the country. He took the lead on lap 2 and never looked back to claim the $1,200 Engine Builders’ Challenge presented by Level Performance and Gressman Powersports. It was the fifth win of the year at Attica for Foos out of the eight events to have taken place in 2012 and his seventh overall as he owns two victories at Fremont Speedway.
“I’d get a half a track lead and then there’d be a caution and I’d get another half track lead and another caution…I was looking for my crew on the cautions for someone to tell me how far ahead I was. I came here to win and we did it. I have to thank Dennis Level…he gives me the best motor,” said Foos beside his Advanced Fire Protection, Buckshot Farms, Pit Stop Carryout, Gyro Motorsports, Schiets Motorsports, Crown Battery backed machine.
“My buddy Keith told me I couldn’t run the bottom tonight, so I showed him I could. The car was good…my dad gave me the best race car he could and I drove the wheels off it and we’re taking home the big check tonight,” added Foos.
Tiffin, Ohio’s Art Ball has been battling some health issues of late, but at the age of 73 and in his 51st year of racing, he shows no signs of letting that stop him. He took the lead in the Bob’s Machine Shop/BMS Engines Dirt Truck feature on lap six and held off several late race challenges from Andy Keegan to post his 13th career win in the trucks at Attica .
“It’s past my bed time…I normally go to bed at 10. I had a little problem and they cured it yesterday,’ said Ball pointing to his left arm. “When you’re my age you get those little knicks and pains, but when I get behind the wheel of that truck they all seem to go away,” added Ball beside his Kear’s Speed Shop, Chaney Roofing, Ritzler Accounting, Nye Farms, Harley and Bev Lee backed machine.
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FAST 410 Sprints – Craig Mintz #09
At the start of the 30-lap 410 sprint feature, Todd Heller and Greg Wilson would bring the field to the green with Wilson gaining the advantage. Heller was then locked in a tremendous battle with Bryan Sebetto and Byron Reed for second. As they came down to conclude the second lap, Heller and Sebetto made contact, sending Sebetto spinning into the infield with front end damage and ending his night as he came into the event leading the Attica and FAST points.
On the restart Wilson would power away for the lead while Reed grabbed second with Heller, 7th starting Mintz, Stuart Brubaker, Brad Bowman, Phil Gressman and 17th starter Brian Smith in tow. As the top four continued in those positions, Smith was on the move, grabbing fifth by the seventh lap.
The caution would fly again on lap eight when Travis Philo and Duane Zablocki got together in turn one. Mintz made his big move on the ensuing restart, blasting from fourth to second. Wilson would see a big lead start to evaporate as Mintz closed lap after lap while Reed, Heller, Smith and Bowman were locked in a tremendous battle for third.
Mintz nearly took the lead on the high side exiting turn two on lap 13, but Wilson slid up to stop the run. But, Mintz stayed glued to Wilson ’s rear bumper and dove under him in turn three and slid up in front to take the lead as they came across the line to end the 14th lap.
The caution would fly at the half way point for a Brian Lay spin with the running order Mintz, Wilson, Reed, Smith, Bowman, Mike Linder and Heller. Smith would drive under Reed on the restart to take third while Mintz pulled away and Wilson ran comfortably in second.
With 10 laps to go, Smith and Bowman had caught Wilson and a fantastic three car battle ensued for second as Mintz was on cruise control out front. The final caution would fly on lap 20 for Zablocki and Philo once again, giving Mintz a clear track which he used to pull away on the restart.
The battle for second was still a dandy between Wilson, Smith and Bowman with 16th starter Linder and 17th starter Dean Jacobs closing. Bowman’s great run would take a set-back on lap 23 as he slid off the high side of turn three, losing six positions. As Mintz continued to stay ahead of the pack, Wilson , Smith and now Jacobs would battle for second.
Mintz would blast to the checkers, with Wilson holding on to second followed by Smith, Jacobs and Linder.
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FAST 305 Sprints – D.J. Foos #11F
Alvin Roepke and Bobby Clark would bring the 305 sprint field to the green in the 30-lap feature with Roepke grabbing the lead over Clark, Foos, Dustin Dinan and Paige Polyak. After a lap was completed, Paul Weaver would tumble in turn two, with Matt Ferrell, Jess Stiger and Troy Kingman spinning in the mêlée.
On the restart Foos would squeeze past both Clark and Roepke to take the lead. A caution for a Jim Taddeo spin after two laps were recorded would bunch the field back up. On the ensuing restart Foos would check out while Clark grabbed second from Roepke with Polyak, Dinan, Jason Keckler and 10th starting John Ivy in tow.
The caution would fly again on lap five for a Tyler Gunn spin with the running order Foos, Clark, Roepke, Dinan, Polyak, Keckler, Ivy, Jordan Ryan and 18th starter Caleb Griffith. While Foos would again run away from the field on the restart, Clark and Roepke traded the runner-up spot over the next five laps until the caution for a Stiger spin.
Once again Foos would power away on the restart over Clark, Roepke, Dinan, Ivy, Polyak, Keckler and Griffith . At the half-way point, Clark was beginning to eat into Foos’ big lead as they raced into lapped traffic. But once through the lapped cars, Foos would pull away. The final caution would fly on lap 18 when Polyak lost her brakes and slid off the top of turn one as her radiator hose broke, covering her legs with hot water (she was okay).
On the ensuing restart, Foos pulled away from Clark and Ivy grabbed third from Dinan. With five laps to go, Foos held a half track lead over Clark who was locked in a great battle for second with Ivy while Dinan, Roepke, Griffith and Nate Dussel, who flipped hard in his heat and was driving from 17th starting spot. Foos would encounter lapped cars with three laps remaining, but was able to slice his way through for the win with Ivy taking second in the last four laps followed by Clark, Dinan and Griffith .
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Bob’s Machine Shop Dirt Trucks – Art Ball #01
Cory Ward and Art Ball would bring the dirt truck field to the green in their 15-lap feature with Ward taking the lead. After a lap was completed, Chuck Roelle and Craig Holland would get hooked together to bring out the caution. On the restart Ward would continue to lead Ball with Jimmy McGrath Jr., Jeff Wank, Kent Brewer, Steve Endicott and Andy Keegan in tow. As they came down to complete the fifth lap, Ward slid up the track a bit and Ball pounced, driving under him. Ward tried to get back to the bottom, but Ball had no where to go and they made contact, sending Ward spinning and bringing out the caution as several other trucks were collected.
Ball would stay glued to the bottom on the restart with Brewer, Keegan, McGrath and Dan Roepke Jr. giving chase. Would bring the caution back out on lap eight. On the restart, Willie Keegan and McGrath would get together to bring the yellow back out.
Ball was able to get great restarts to stay in the lead while Brewer was locked in a tight race for second with Andy Keegan and Roepke. Keegan would take the runner-up spot on lap 10 with Roepke moving into third a lap later when the final caution would fly for Dwight Waltermeier.
Ball would slip up slightly on the restart allowing Keegan to get a run to his inside. But, Ball, who has won track championships in the former street stock division at Attica , would fend off the challenge and drive to the win over Keegan, Roepke, Brewer and Endicott.
Attica Raceway Park will have double points on the line next Friday for the Burns Electric Mid-Season Championship for the 410 sprints, UMP Late Models, 305 sprints and dirt trucks.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park – 6/8/2012
Croghan Colonial Bank/ Bob’s Machine Shop/ Flag City Recycling Night
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (26 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[2] ; 2. 14H-Todd Heller[3] ; 3. 12-Jarred Ridge[1] ; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[9] ; 5. O-Lee Jacobs[6] ; 6. 3-Mike Linder[4] ; 7. 60-Jody Keegan[7] ; 8. 46AU-Stuart Williams[5] ; 9. 69-Scott Curren[8]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 53-Phil Gressman[1] ; 2. 24H-Bryan Sebetto[6] ; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker[4] ; 4. W20-Greg Wilson [8] ; 5. 45L-Brian Lay[5] ; 6. 1X-Matt Linder[9] ; 7. 73-Joe Armbruster[3] ; 8. 27-Scott Euler[2] ; 9. 97-Dean Jacobs[7]
Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 16-Chris Andrews[1] ; 2. 5T-Travis Philo[4] ; 3. 55-Brad Bowman[7] ; 4. O9-Craig Mintz[8] ; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[6] ; 6. 14-Chad Wilson [5] ; 7. 3F-Rick Frahley[2]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 3-Mike Linder[1] ; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs[10] ; 3. 14-Chad Wilson [3] ; 4. 60-Jody Keegan[4] ; 5. 46AU-Stuart Williams[7] ; 6. 1X-Matt Linder[2] ; 7. 27-Scott Euler[8] ; 8. 73-Joe Armbruster[5] ; 9. 3F-Rick Frahley[6]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. O9-Craig Mintz[7]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [2]; 3. 2+-Brian Smith[15]; 4. 97-Dean Jacobs[17]; 5. 3-Mike Linder[16]; 6. O-Lee Jacobs[13]; 7. 16-Chris Andrews[9]; 8. 45L-Brian Lay[14]; 9. 55-Brad Bowman[6]; 10. 60-Jody Keegan[19]; 11. 53-Phil Gressman[11]; 12. 5R-Byron Reed[5]; 13. 14-Chad Wilson [18]; 14. 35-Stuart Brubaker[3]; 15. 46AU-Stuart Williams[20]; 16. 12-Jarred Ridge[10]; 17. 14H-Todd Heller[1]; 18. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[8]; 19. 5T-Travis Philo[12]; 20. 24H-Bryan Sebetto[4]
Hard Charger: 97-Dean Jacobs[+13]
Fremont Fence 305 Sprints (30 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8B-Bobby Clark [6] ; 2. 5R-Jordan Ryan[1] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[8] ; 4. 1W-Paul Weaver[9] ; 5. 67M-Matt Ferrell[7] ; 6. 68G-Tyler Gunn[3] ; 7. 6L-Talon Stephens[2] ; 8. 35-Josh Burdette[4] ; 9. 1-Nate Dussel[5] ; 10. 40-Caleb Griffith [10]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 25-Jason Keckler[1] ; 2. 5-Dustin Dinan[4] ; 3. 8K-John Ivy[2] ; 4. 13-Junior Felver[3] ; 5. 39-Matt Merrill[8] ; 6. 83X-Nate Reeser[9] ; 7. 91-Troy Kingman[6] ; 8. 72C-Ross Moore [5] ; 9. 19R-Steve Rando[7] ; 10. 22D-Dan Hammond [10]
Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 27-Paige Polyak[5] ; 2. 11F-D.J. Foos[2] ; 3. OO-Alvin Roepke[6] ; 4. 8J-Jess Stiger[3] ; 5. 4T-Jim Taddeo[8] ; 6. 94K-Kurt Huber[4] ; 7. 13D-Jeremy Duposki[1] ; 8. 4M-Jamie Miller[10] ; 9. 9-Jimmy Colvin[7]
Dash #1 – OC Shocks
1. OO-Alvin Roepke[2] ; 2. 11F-D.J. Foos[5] ; 3. 27-Paige Polyak[3] ; 4. 25-Jason Keckler[6] ; 5. 8J-Jess Stiger[4] ; 6. 1W-Paul Weaver[1]
Dash #2 – Computer Man Inc.
1. 8B-Bobby Clark [2] ; 2. 5-Dustin Dinan[3] ; 3. 5R-Jordan Ryan[6] ; 4. 36-Seth Schneider[1] ; 5. 8K-John Ivy[5] ; 6. 13-Junior Felver[4]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 4M-Jamie Miller[9] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[10] ; 3. 40-Caleb Griffith [13] ; 4. 19R-Steve Rando[11] ; 5. 91-Troy Kingman[5] ; 6. 72C-Ross Moore [8] ; 7. 6L-Talon Stephens[4] ; 8. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1] ; 9. 94K-Kurt Huber[3] ; 10. 3F-Dean Kester[15] ; 11. 83X-Nate Reeser[2] ; 12. 9-Jimmy Colvin[12] ; 13. 22D-Dan Hammond [14]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 11F-D.J. Foos[3]; 2. 8K-John Ivy[10]; 3. 8B-Bobby Clark [2]; 4. 5-Dustin Dinan[4]; 5. 40-Caleb Griffith [18]; 6. OO-Alvin Roepke[1]; 7. 4M-Jamie Miller[16]; 8. 1-Nate Dussel[17]; 9. 19R-Steve Rando[19]; 10. 25-Jason Keckler[7]; 11. 36-Seth Schneider[8]; 12. 5R-Jordan Ryan[6]; 13. 67M-Matt Ferrell[13]; 14. 39-Matt Merrill[14]; 15. 13-Junior Felver[12]; 16. 68G-Tyler Gunn[21]; 17. 4T-Jim Taddeo[15]; 18. 91-Troy Kingman[20]; 19. 27-Paige Polyak[5]; 20. 8J-Jess Stiger[9]; 21. 72C-Ross Moore [22]; 22. 1W-Paul Weaver[11]
Hard Charger: 40-Caleb Griffith [+13]
Bob Machine Shop Dirt Trucks (24 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 17-Bob Dible[2] ; 2. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[5] ; 3. 4X-Brian Sorg[4] ; 4. 8KB-Kent Brewer[3] ; 5. 33C-Kyle Cline[6] ; 6. 40-Lee Moore [7] ; 7. 33-Brian Arnold [8] ; 8. 44-Todd Keegan[1]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O-Andy Keegan[3] ; 2. P51-Willie Keegan[1] ; 3. O1-Art Ball[5] ; 4. O9-Jeff Wank[4] ; 5. 71-Craig Holland [6] ; 6. 39-Dwight Waltermier[7] ; 7. 52-Charlie Gingerich[2] ; 8. 4-Ron Sorg Jr.[8]
Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[2] ; 2. D1-Dustin Keegan[4] ; 3. 18W-Cory Ward[1] ; 4. 8-Steve Endicott[6] ; 5. 3R-Chuck Roelle[3] ; 6. 95-Keith Sorg[5] ; 7. 73-Darrin Basinger[7] ; 8. 85-Brandon Stuckey[8]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 95-Keith Sorg[3] ; 2. 39-Dwight Waltermier[2] ; 3. 44-Todd Keegan[7] ; 4. 33-Brian Arnold [4] ; 5. 4-Ron Sorg Jr.[8] ; 6. 52-Charlie Gingerich[5] ; 7. 40-Lee Moore [1] ; 8. 73-Darrin Basinger[6]
A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. O1-Art Ball[2]; 2. O-Andy Keegan[9]; 3. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[10]; 4. 8KB-Kent Brewer[4]; 5. 8-Steve Endicott[7]; 6. 4X-Brian Sorg[8]; 7. 33-Brian Arnold [19]; 8. D1-Dustin Keegan[11]; 9. 17-Bob Dible[12]; 10. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[3]; 11. P51-Willie Keegan[6]; 12. 95-Keith Sorg[16]; 13. 44-Todd Keegan[18]; 14. 4-Ron Sorg Jr.[20]; 15. 39-Dwight Waltermier[17]; 16. O9-Jeff Wank[5]; 17. 18W-Cory Ward[1]; 18. 33C-Kyle Cline[13]; 19. 3R-Chuck Roelle[15]; 20. 71-Craig Holland [14]
Hard Charger: 33-Brian Arnold [+12]
©2012 – Results Provided by: Computer Man Inc. Fremont, OH