Kemenah Uses Restart To Claim 20th Career Attica Victory; Clark Gets 1st 305 Win; Henry Tames Late Models
By Brian Liskai: (Attica, OH) Chad Kemenah used a restart on lap 18 to overtake Mark Keegan and went on to score his 20th career win at Attica Raceway Park Friday on American Powersports of Findlay/Fisher Performance Night.
On a lap 18 restart, Keegan, who had led every lap, dropped to the bottom of turns one and two to block Kemenah, but the move cost Keegan his momentum as he tried to get back to the top of turns three and four. Kemenah took advantage and executed a perfect slide job to take the lead of the Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title Championship Series event.
“Mark went down to block on that restart…I’d have done the same thing. Leading is the worst place to be on a deal like that,” said Kemenah beside his Hampshire Engines, Maxim Race Cars backed machine.
“I have to thank my wife and my father-in-law for believing in me and keeping me out here. It seems every time I get a good ride it’s taken out from under me. This is really special to put that #63 back in victory lane…it knows how to get here. I have to thank Fisher Performance and Chuck Merrill at Maxim Race Cars,” added Kemenah.
Fremont, Ohio’s Bobby Clark raced side-by-side with Stuart Brubaker for 21 laps before scoring his first win of the year at Attica in the Fremont Fence 305 Sprints. It wasn’t easy, as Clark had to thread the needle between two lapped machines coming down for the white flag as Brubaker raced under him.
“I saw Stuart lap after lap down on the bottom and I just had to be patient and make sure I hit my marks against the cushion. I was going to make him earn it,” said Clark of his 8th career 305 victory beside his Al Davis Carpeting, Fremont Fence, B&L Plumbing backed sprinter.
Ada, Ohio’s Jon Henry inherited the lead when Doug Drown experienced mechanical woes during a caution with three laps remaining, and went on to his first career win in the Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop UMP Late Models.
“My hats off to the Halcombs and my entire crew. They had a lot of work to do after we went to the Dream. We got a win at Fremont prior to that and now one here so hopefully we’re gaining some confidence and some momentum,” said Henry beside his University of Northwest Ohio, JEGS Performance Products backed late model.
“That was a tough break for Doug Drown and his crew. Before that last caution I got under him and I thought we might have something for him and make it exciting for the fans,” added Henry.
Keegan, the all-time winningest sprint car driver at Attica, got the jump at the start of the 410 feature with Australian Steve Lines, Cole Duncan, Kemenah and Cap Henry in tow. Kemenah used the bottom grove to move into third by lap four and into second by lap nine. Keegan hit lapped traffic by lap 10, but held a comfortable lead using the high line. Duncan moved into third on lap 11, but a caution for Line would slow the action on lap 13. The car on the move was Dean Jacobs who had moved into 7th from his 16th starting spot.
On the restart, with a clean track ahead of him, Keegan pulled away in the lead while Kemenah was comfortably in second with a tremendous battle being waged by Duncan, Lee Jacobs, Brandon Martin and Dean Jacobs for third. Martin, the FAST point leader coming into the event, would see his night end against the front stretch all on lap 17. On the ensuing restart, Kemenah made his winning move.
Lee Jacobs would get around Keegan to move into the runner-up spot while Duncan ran fourth and Dean Jacobs fifth. Lee Jacobs would slip off the track on lap 20, moving Keegan back to second and Duncan and Dean Jacobs into third and fourth. They would run in that order until lap 13 when Dean Jacobs used the bottom line to take third. Kemenah would encounter lapped traffic with five laps to go, but a yellow for Jody Keegan on lap 26 would give him a clean track.
With the lapped machines sent to the tail, Kemenah would set sail, while Dean Jacobs utilized the same bottom groove to take second on lap 27. At the checkers it was Kemenah over Dean Jacobs, Keegan, Lee Jacobs and Duncan.
Matt Ferrell would take command of the 305 sprint feature at the drop of the green with Clark, Jimmy Colvin, Brubaker and Dan Hammond in tow. Following a lap two caution, Clark would sling shot around Ferrell to grab the lead on lap three. Brubaker would dispose of Ferrell a lap later and the race was on.
Clark ran the top while Brubaker the bottom lap after lap, side-by-side until a caution flew on lap six. The battle between Clark and Brubaker resumed when the green came back out, while a tremendous race ensued behind them for third between Colvin, Ferrell and Brad Bowman. The final caution would fly on lap 12 with the running order Clark, Brubaker, Colvin, Bowman, Nate Dussel and Dustin Dinan. Bowman would move into third on the restart, only to slide of the track in turn two, moving Dinan into third.
Clark and Brubaker would hit lapped traffic on lap 22 as they continued to battle side-by-side. The car on the move was 20th starting Paul Weaver who had worked his way up to sixth. Clark would go on to edge Brubaker while Dinan rode home third, Dussel fourth and Weaver fifth.
Ken Hahn would jump into the lead of the caution-filled late model feature with Dusty Moore, Wayne Maffett Jr. and John Henry sticking close by. DeLong, Missler and Chinn were involved in a mishap on the back stretch on lap six, sending them to the back. Once several laps could be run under green, the battle up front was a dandy with Hahn and Moore racing side-by-side.All eyes were on 12th starter Doug Drown who was charging through the pack to sit in the fourth position. A green, yellow stint had the running order Hahn, Moore, Henry, Drown, Maffett and Dan Wallace.
The race got really entertaining by lap 14, as Moore edged Hahn for the lead, but Drown got a big run in turns one and two and slingshotted from fourth to the lead on lap 15, as Moore ran second and Henry moved into third. Henry would take second on lap 18 and began tracking down Drown. The final two cautions would fly on laps 21 and 22, and it was that last one that saw Drown’s machine stop on the track and be pushed back to the pits.
With the lead no in his grasp, Henry would motor away for the win, while Hahn fought back to take second, Maffett finished third, Moore fourth and Wallace would round out the top five.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, June 19, as “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speedplant kicks off the 27th annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek with the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champion Sprint Cars and the UMP Late Models.
For more information log onto www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park – 6/12/2009
American Power Sports Night
410 Sprints
Kistler Racing Products Fremont/ Attica Sprint Title (F.A.S.T.) Night #9
Heat 1 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 5R-Byron Reed; 2. 63-Chad Kemenah; 3. O4-Cap Henry; 4. 10-David Harrison; 5. 40-Mark Imler; 6. 60-Jody Keegan; 7. 15C-Chris Andrews; 8. 14H-Todd Heller; 9. 48S-Andy Shammo; 10. 5T-Travis Philo
Heat 2 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 12-Caleb Griffith; 2. 22-Cole Duncan; 3. 27-Scott Euler; 4. 25-Lee Jacobs; 5. O9-Craig Mintz; 6. 16-Bryan Sebetto; 7. 2+-Brian Smith; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 9. 98-Bruce Robenal
Heat 3 – Friendship Food Stores (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 45AU-Steve Lines; 2. 312-Mike Linder; 3. 11M-Brandon Martin; 4. X-Mark Keegan; 5. 53-John Ivy; 6. 97-Dean Jacobs; 7. 3J-Kevin Lee; 8. 7T-Troy Vaccaro; 9. 45-Brian La
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs; 2. 16-Bryan Sebetto; 3. 60-Jody Keegan; 4. 2+-Brian Smith; 5. 3J-Kevin Lee; 6. 15C-Chris Andrews; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 8. 14H-Todd Heller; 9. 48S-Andy Shammo; 10. 5T-Travis Philo; 11. 7T-Troy Vaccaro; 12. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 13. 45-Brian Lay
A-Main – (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 63-Chad Kemenah[6]; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs[16]; 3. X-Mark Keegan[1]; 4. 25-Lee Jacobs[8]; 5. 22-Cole Duncan[2]; 6. O9-Craig Mintz[14]; 7. 5R-Byron Reed[11]; 8. O4-Cap Henry[3]; 9. 12-Caleb Griffith[10]; 10. 312-Mike Linder[12]; 11. 3J-Kevin Lee[20]; 12. 53-John Ivy[15]; 13. 10-David Harrison[5]; 14. 45AU-Steve Lines[4]; 15. 16-Bryan Sebetto[17]; 16. 27-Scott Euler[7]; 17. 2+-Brian Smith[19]; 18. 40-Mark Imler[13]; 19. 60-Jody Keegan[18]; 20. 11M-Brandon Martin[9]
Fremont Fence – 305 Sprints
Heat 1 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 11F-D.J. Foos; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker; 3. 22D-Dan Hammond; 4. 41-Dustin Dinan; 5. 1-Nate Dussel; 6. M28-Josh Muntz; 7. 19R-Steve Rando; 8. 3X-Josh Burdette; 9. 65-Mark Lang
Heat 2 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 40-Bobby Clark; 2. 51-Brad Bowman; 3. 80-Jake Trevino; 4. 29-Chris Lang; 5. 36X-Dustin Keegan; 6. 8K-Zack Kramer; 7. 71-Bill Kraylek; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser
Heat 3 – Friendship Food Stores (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 14-Chad Wilson; 2. 13-Junior Felver; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin; 4. 67M-Matt Ferrell; 5. 28-Shawn Valenti; 6. 49-Coty Runion; 7. 72C-John Bartlome; 8. 1W-Paul Weaver
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. M28-Josh Muntz; 2. 8K-Zack Kramer; 3. 49-Coty Runion; 4. 19R-Steve Rando; 5. 1W-Paul Weaver; 6. 71-Bill Kraylek; 7. 3X-Josh Burdette; 8. 72C-John Bartlome; 9. 65-Mark Lang; 10. 83X-Nate Reeser
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 40-Bobby Clark[3]; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6]; 3. 41-Dustin Dinan[12]; 4. 1-Nate Dussel[13]; 5. 1W-Paul Weaver[20]; 6. 9-Jimmy Colvin[4]; 7. 67M-Matt Ferrell[1]; 8. 11F-D.J. Foos[5]; 9. 51-Brad Bowman[8]; 10. 8K-Zack Kramer[17]; 11. 22D-Dan Hammond[2]; 12. 29-Chris Lang[10]; 13. 28-Shawn Valenti[15]; 14. 14-Chad Wilson[9]; 15. 36X-Dustin Keegan[14]; 16. 13-Junior Felver[11]; 17. M28-Josh Muntz[16]; 18. 80-Jake Trevino[7]; 19. 19R-Steve Rando[19]; 20. 49-Coty Runion[18]
Fultz Fabrication & Speed Shop – UMP Late Models
Heat 1 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps)
1. X3-Dan Wallace; 2. 3R-Chuck Roelle; 3. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.; 4. 21-Larry Kingseed; 5. 83-Noah Wagner; 6. 3AM-Dean Anderson; 7. 5H-Ernie Haynes
Heat 2 – Bell Racing (8 Laps)
1. 1C-Wayne Chinn; 2. 3-Rick Delong; 3. 50Y-Ryan Missler; 4. 15B-Mike Bores; 5. 48-John Bores; 6. 51-Devin Schields; 7. 77-Steve Kester
Heat 3 – Friendship Food Stores (8 Laps)
1. 12-Michael Stiltner; 2. 40WD-Dusty Moore; 3. 1-Jon Henry; 4. 27-Ken Hahn; 5. 12D-Doug Drown; 6. 99-Steve Sabo; 7. 12M-Bobby Michaels
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 1-Jon Henry[6]; 2. 27-Ken Hahn[2]; 3. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.[4]; 4. 40WD-Dusty Moore[5]; 5. X3-Dan Wallace[8]; 6. 83-Noah Wagner[13]; 7. 15B-Mike Bores[3]; 8. 50Y-Ryan Missler[7]; 9. 21-Larry Kingseed[1]; 10. 12-Michael Stiltner[15]; 11. 3R-Chuck Roelle[10]; 12. 77-Steve Kester[20]; 13. 99-Steve Sabo[18]; 14. 3AM-Dean Anderson[16]; 15. 51-Devin Schields[17]; 16. 12D-Doug Drown[12]; 17. 48-John Bores[14]; 18. 1C-Wayne Chinn[11]; 19. 5H-Ernie Haynes[19]; 20. 12M-Bobby Michaels[21]; 21. 3-Rick Delong[9]