By Brian Liskai
ATTICA, Ohio – Zeb Wise started to establish himself as professional sprint car driver at Attica Raceway Park in April 2021. The then 18-year-old from Angola, Indiana scored his first ever 410 sprint win at the track. In the two years since, Wise has proven he can compete – and win – against the best of them as he drove the Rudeen Racing machine to a $12,000 victory Saturday, Sept. 2 – the richest Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 prize in Attica’s history.
The victory on All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Murphy Tractor and Equipment Night presented by Janet Holbrook is Wise’s fifth total at the home of “Ohio’s Finest Racing” four of which have been All Star victories. Wise now has 11 total All Star wins, seven of which have come in 2023!
Early in the 40-lap feature it looked like it would be a Kerry Madsen weekend sweep as the Australian who picked up his first career Attica win Friday, took the early lead as Wise slipped to third behind two time series champion Tyler Courtney. A caution on lap 16 is what set the winning tone for Wise, earning a great restart to take second from Courtney, then sliding by Madsen in turn four just two circuits later. Courtney would eventually follow Wise by Madsen the following lap, and despite wave after wave of two and three wide lapped traffic, Wise held strong, leading Courtney, Madsen, Kyle Reinhardt, and Chris Windom to the final checkers.
“I kind of knew the way my car felt early that it was going to be good late. There toward the end I started struggling. I did not know where to go. They were racing three wide in front of me. I just wanted to at least get by one that way I could get side by side with them that way it would be hard for Tyler to get by me,” said Wise, driver of the Rayce Rudeen Foundation/Sundollar Restoration/TC Powersports/Hager Realty Services/Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales No. 26 sprint car.
“I can’t say enough about these guys. Last night we struggled a little bit. Tyler, Derek, Brandon…everyone back there did their job very well tonight and gave me one hell of a car. They really make my job easy. Hats off to all of the fans. I love being at Attica and we love racing here,” added Wise.
For the second straight night Courtney ended up runner-up in his Clauson/Marshall Racing No. 7BC.
“We were just a little off there the second half of the race. Zeb did a hell of a job. He got by us on the restart and he could truck through one and two quite a bit better than everybody. I started catching him in traffic but then my lane got taken away down in three and four and I had to change my line in one and two. I felt like I was making up a little bit of ground and just couldn’t quite get off the corners as well as him. My guys – Jake, Cameron and Luke – they but their tails and come out of here with two weekends is a good weekend,” said “Sunshine” beside his NOS Energy Drink/ZMAX/Elliotts Custom Trailers and Cars backed machine.
Madsen brought the Vermeer Motorsports No. 55 home in third.
“I probably should have mixed my lines up there in one and two. I just kind of got too comfortable and stayed on the top there. I got passed by Zeb and Courtney and I probably could have utilized a lower line a little bit earlier. But it was a great weekend for Vermeer Motorsports and once again had a good race car,” said “The Madman” beside his TK Concrete/Maxim Trucking/Logan Contractor Supply/Zip Bonds/Smoker’s Choice Cigar Bar backed machine.
Fremont, Ohio’s Paul Weaver, six time and defending Fremont Fence and Guardrail 305 Sprint track champion, has had difficulties at Attica in 2023. He put it all together Saturday though, taking the lead on lap two and cruising to a nearly six second win in a non-stop 25 lap feature event. The victory is the second of the year for Weaver and Attica and he now has 70 career 305 sprint wins at the track. Coupled with his three 410 feature wins, Weaver has 73 total feature wins to lead all drivers in the track’s history. It was Weaver’s eighth total win in 2023 as he owns six victories at nearby Fremont Speedway.
While Weaver drove away from the field, a spirited battle ensued behind him with Dustin Stroup eventually finishing second ahead of John Ivy, Bryan Sebetto and lap one leader Logan Riehl rounding out the top five.
“The track was so good and fast I started getting stomach cramps and thought I was going to throw up in my helmet. I was just locked down and wide open around there. At the beginning of the year I had a kill switch go bad and it wouldn’t let the motor rev up. I changed everything and in 32 years of racing I had never had a kill switch go bad. I also had some bad luck but seems to be going well now,” said Weaver beside his Hampshire Racing Engines/Steve Brown’s B&B Drain Service/M&L Excavating backed No. 1W.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, Sept. 8 for the Mark Keegan Classic Season Championship Night with the Callie’s Performance Products 410 Sprints, Dirt Nerds Podcast Powered by Propane UMP Late Models and the Fremont Fence 305 Sprints in action. There is a rain date for championship night of Friday, Sept. 22 if needed.
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.
About All Pro Heads – www.allproheads.com
All Pro Heads is based in Johnstown, Ohio and is owned by Bob and Suzie Williams. All Pro is the industry leader in small block Chevy aluminum cylinder heads, catering to the hard core racer always looking for the perfect design for a specific application. Whether it’s Sprints, Super Late Models, Drag Racing, Off-Road, Marine or Road Racing, you can count on All Pro. For engine builders and racers seeking a distinct advantage give All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads a call!
About Murphy Tractor and Equipment – www.murphytractor.com
Murphy Tractor & Equipment Co., Inc., one of John Deere’s largest North American construction equipment dealer organizations, was founded in 1982. Headquartered in Park City, Kansas, the organization has 29 locations throughout the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Staffed by over 650 employees, each location has a full complement of equipment and parts inventories, service technicians and field service capabilities. As one of John Deere’s largest North American construction equipment dealers, Murphy Tractor is committed to being the product and support supplier of first choice by customers in the markets that use the products we represent.
Attica Raceway Park
Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023
Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions
Tezos A-main (40 laps) 1. 26-Zeb Wise[2]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 3. 55-Kerry Madsen[1]; 4. 45-Kyle Reinhardt[8]; 5. 4-Chris Windom[6]; 6. 33W-Cap Henry[9]; 7. 29-Carl Bowser[4]; 8. 9-Trey Jacobs[11]; 9. 42-Sye Lynch[10]; 10. 5-Byron Reed[12]; 11. 23-Cale Thomas[7]; 12. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 13. 15K-Creed Kemenah[3]; 14. 8M-TJ Michael[17]; 15. 5T-Travis Philo[20]; 16. 22-Cole Duncan[21]; 17. 70-Kraig Kinser[23]; 18. 7N-Darin Naida[14]; 19. 50YR-JJ Hickle[15]; 20. 35-Stuart Brubaker[18]; 21. 97-Zeth Sabo[22]; 22. (DNF) 4S-Tyler Street[16]; 23. (DNF) 32-Bryce Lucius[19]; 24. (DNF) 5J-Jake Hesson[24]
Classic Ink USA B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 22-Cole Duncan[1]; 2. 97-Zeth Sabo[5]; 3. 70-Kraig Kinser[7]; 4. 5J-Jake Hesson[2]; 5. 68G-Tyler Gunn[6]; 6. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[12]; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell[3]; 8. 15C-Chris Andrews[10]; 9. 16-DJ Foos[15]; 10. 83M-Broc Martin[11]; 11. W20-Greg Wilson[9]; 12. 5E-Bobby Elliott[14]; 13. 20-Danial Burkhart[16]; 14. 90-Jeffrey Neubert[17]; 15. 75-Jerry Dahms[13]; 16. (DNF) 12-Brian Lay[8]; 17. (DNF) 49X-Tim Shaffer[4]
Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash (6 Laps): 1. 55-Kerry Madsen[1]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise[3]; 3. 15K-Creed Kemenah[2]; 4. 29-Carl Bowser[4]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[6]; 6. 4-Chris Windom[5]; 7. 23-Cale Thomas[8]; 8. 45-Kyle Reinhardt[7]
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Kerry Madsen[1]; 2. 33W-Cap Henry[3]; 3. 88-Austin McCarl[7]; 4. 4S-Tyler Street[2]; 5. 45-Kyle Reinhardt[4]; 6. 28M-Conner Morrell[9]; 7. 5J-Jake Hesson[6]; 8. 15C-Chris Andrews[8]; 9. 5E-Bobby Elliott[10]; 10. 22-Cole Duncan[5]
CSI Shocks Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 29-Carl Bowser[2]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch[1]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 4. 8M-TJ Michael[5]; 5. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6]; 6. 97-Zeth Sabo[8]; 7. 12-Brian Lay[7]; 8. 83M-Broc Martin[3]; 9. 20-Danial Burkhart[9]; 10. (DNS) 6-Jimmie Ward Jr
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Chris Windom[1]; 2. 9-Trey Jacobs[3]; 3. 7N-Darin Naida[2]; 4. 26-Zeb Wise[4]; 5. 32-Bryce Lucius[7]; 6. 49X-Tim Shaffer[5]; 7. 70-Kraig Kinser[6]; 8. 75-Jerry Dahms[8]; 9. 90-Jeffrey Neubert[9]
Mobil 1 Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 15K-Creed Kemenah[1]; 2. 5-Byron Reed[3]; 3. 50YR-JJ Hickle[2]; 4. 23-Cale Thomas[4]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo[5]; 6. 68G-Tyler Gunn[6]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson[7]; 8. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[8]; 9. 16-DJ Foos[9]
Hercules Tire Qualifying: 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:12.907[11]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:12.992[26]; 3. 45-Kyle Reinhardt, 00:13.056[9]; 4. 55-Kerry Madsen, 00:13.115[1]; 5. 4S-Tyler Street, 00:13.132[2]; 6. 33W-Cap Henry, 00:13.205[4]; 7. 22-Cole Duncan, 00:13.226[5]; 8. 5J-Jake Hesson, 00:13.237[6]; 9. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:13.270[12]; 10. 88-Austin McCarl, 00:13.274[8]; 11. 15C-Chris Andrews, 00:13.295[7]; 12. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:13.296[3]; 13. 4-Chris Windom, 00:13.328[27]; 14. 23-Cale Thomas, 00:13.396[31]; 15. 15K-Creed Kemenah, 00:13.402[30]; 16. 5E-Bobby Elliott, 00:13.409[10]; 17. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:13.492[21]; 18. 9-Trey Jacobs, 00:13.538[22]; 19. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 00:13.545[25]; 20. 29-Carl Bowser, 00:13.572[13]; 21. 83M-Broc Martin, 00:13.588[14]; 22. 50YR-JJ Hickle, 00:13.593[33]; 23. 8M-TJ Michael, 00:13.616[15]; 24. 70-Kraig Kinser, 00:13.616[24]; 25. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 00:13.618[17]; 26. 12-Brian Lay, 00:13.619[16]; 27. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:13.625[29]; 28. 97- Zeth Sabo, 00:13.679[19]; 29. 5-Byron Reed, 00:13.721[35]; 30. 5T-Travis Philo, 00:13.781[34]; 31. 68G-Tyler Gunn, 00:13.822[37]; 32. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:13.949[32]; 33. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek, 00:14.072[36]; 34. 16-DJ Foos, 00:14.210[38]; 35. 20-Danial Burkhart, 00:14.806[20]; 36. 75-Jerry Dahms, 00:14.929[28]; 37. 90-Jeffrey Neubert, 00:14.972[23]; 38. (DNS) 6-Jimmie Ward Jr, 00:59.999
305 Sprints – Fremont Fence Co.
Qualifying
1.26-Jamie Miller, 14.732; 2.49i-John Ivy, 14.747; 3.7M-Brandon Moore, 14.920; 4.5-Kody Brewer, 14.924; 5.9R-Logan Riehl, 14.945; 6.34-Jud Dickerson, 14.946; 7.2-Brenden Torok, 14.972; 8.10X-Dustin Stroup, 14.989; 9.28-Shawn Valenti, 15.017; 10.13S-Drew Siferd, 15.025; 11.X15-Kasey Ziebold, 15.052; 12.51M-Haldon Miller, 15.083; 13.4X-Blayne Keckler, 15.105; 14.01-Bryan Sebetto, 15.111; 15.1W-Paul Weaver, 15.417; 16.5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr., 15.446; 17.3M-Logan Mongeau, 15.449; 18.2S-Jackson Sebetto, 15.501; 19.5DD-Dustin Dinan, 15.532; 20.27-Calob Crispen, 15.563; 21.63-Randy Ruble, 15.820; 22.78-Austin Black, 15.845; 23.319-Steven Watts, 16.185; 24.44-Jason Young, 16.370; 25.1S-James Saam, 16.422; 26.14A-Alex Clute, 16.428;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 2-Brenden Torok[2] ; 2. 49i-John Ivy[4] ; 3. 5-Kody Brewer[3] ; 4. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[6] ; 5. 4X-Blayne Keckler[5] ; 6. 3M-Logan Mongeau[7] ; 7. 2S-Jackson Sebetto[8] ; 8. 63-Randy Ruble[9] ; 9. 51M-Haldon Miller[1]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 26-Jamie Miller[4] ; 2. 9R-Logan Riehl[2] ; 3. 7M-Brandon Moore[3] ; 4. X15-Kasey Ziebold[6] ; 5. 5DD-Dustin Dinan[7] ; 6. 1S-James Saam[9] ; 7. 13S-Drew Siferd[5] ; 8. 34-Jud Dickerson[1] ; 9. 44-Jason Young[8]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1] ; 2. 10X-Dustin Stroup[4] ; 3. 01-Bryan Sebetto[2] ; 4. 28-Shawn Valenti[3] ; 5. 27-Calob Crispen[5] ; 6. 78-Austin Black[6] ; 7. 319-Steven Watts[7] ; 8. 14A-Alex Clute[8]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps)
1. 3M-Logan Mongeau[1] ; 2. 13S-Drew Siferd[5] ; 3. 78-Austin Black[3] ; 4. 63-Randy Ruble[7] ; 5. 51M-Haldon Miller[10] ; 6. 2S-Jackson Sebetto[4] ; 7. 319-Steven Watts[6] ; 8. 1S-James Saam[2] ; 9. 34-Jud Dickerson[8] ; 10. 14A-Alex Clute[9] ; 11. 44-Jason Young[11]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[2] ; 2. 10X-Dustin Stroup[3] ; 3. 49i-John Ivy[8] ; 4. 01-Bryan Sebetto[9] ; 5. 9R-Logan Riehl[1] ; 6. 26-Jamie Miller[7] ; 7. 2-Brenden Torok[6] ; 8. 5-Kody Brewer[5] ; 9. 7M-Brandon Moore[4] ; 10. X15-Kasey Ziebold[11] ; 11. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[10] ; 12. 28-Shawn Valenti[12] ; 13. 13S-Drew Siferd[17] ; 14. 5DD-Dustin Dinan[14] ; 15. 3M-Logan Mongeau[16] ; 16. 4X-Blayne Keckler[13] ; 17. 27-Calob Crispen[15] ; 18. 78-Austin Black[18] ; 19. 63-Randy Ruble[19] ; 20. 51M-Haldon Miller[20]