Blaney Tunes Up For All Star Weekend With Attica Opening Night Victory; Shiels Gets First Late Model Win; Foos Charges To 305 Sprint Win
By Brian Liskai: (Attica, OH) Dale Blaney looked in mid-season form Saturday at Attica Raceway Park ’s season opener. The three time champion of the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series used a lapped machine as a pick to drive outside of Phil Gressman on lap 13 to regain the lead and cruised to his 14th career win at “ Ohio ’s Finest Racing” speedplant on Columbus Equipment Night.
Britton, Michigan’s Devin Shiels held off challenges from three-time track champion Ryan Missler, who crashed into a lapped machine on lap 9, allowing Shiels to cruise to his first career victory at Attica in the Summit Race Equipment UMP Late Models.
D.J. Foos, Attica’s 2010 track champion, charged from his 11th starting position to grab the lead from Paul Weaver on lap 16 and went on to score his 11th career feature win at Attica in the Fremont Fence 305 Sprint division.
Blaney, who scored a win last month with the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions in Florida , his 84th career victory with the series, grabbed the lead at the drop of the green of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprint feature from his front row starting spot after the first two rows crashed on the initial start. Blaney, who was originally scheduled to start sixth, soon had his hands full with Phil Gressman, who would drive around Blaney for the lead on lap three. But, when the leaders encountered heavy lapped traffic on lap 12, Blaney would use one of the back markers as a pick and drive around Gressman back into the lead. Once out front, Blaney would cruise to the win, moving him around Frank Kerr into a tie with Butch Schroeder for sixth on the track’s all-time sprint feature win list.
“We had a fast race car in Florida . We got 10 races in down there and we were able to learn a lot. This is a great tune-up for next week’s Sprint Nationals. We’re ready to defend our Ohio turf and go after the Ohio Region championship with the All Stars,” said Blaney beside his Ti22 backed machine. “George (Fisher, owner) and Troy (Psurny) worked hard on the car all night and it was great. Phil (Gressman) runs good here every week and I knew once he got around me he would be tough. But, when you’re in second and you hit traffic, you have the advantage and it showed for me.”
Shiels bolted into the lead of the late model feature from his out-side front starting spot with Missler glued to his rear bumper. As the two raced into lapped traffic on lap nine, Missler made contact with the lapped machine of Michael Stiltner, damaging the front of his mount and ending his night. From there, Shiels was in command and went on to his first career Attica win.
“This place owed us one. We had the lead a couple of times or had a fast car and stupid stuff would happen. This feels great to finally get a win here. I wish all the crew was here to see it…my kids are in Arizona, so I can’t wait to call them,” said Shiels beside his Magic Fountain Auto Wash, Rally’s Hamburgers, Good Lifts, Dundee Products backed #51.
The Fremont Fence 305 feature was probably the best race of the night. Steve Rando and Caleb Griffith first waged a tremendous battle for the lead with Paul Weaver and Jimmy Colvin giving chase. Weaver would take second on lap 11 and immediately pressured Rando as they raced into lapped traffic. Following a lap 13 re-start after a yellow for debris, Weaver would execute a slide job in turns three and four and as Rando tried to cross over, made contact with Griffith and ended up on his lid. Then on the ensuing restart, Foos, who started 11th, would execute a slide job in turns one and two to take the lead from Weaver. Foos made things interesting as several times he jumped the big ledge in turn four, nearly crashing and allowing Weaver to dive under him. A final caution with four laps to go would give Weaver one more shot, but Foos, who opened the 2011 season with a win at Attica, was smooth on the restart and was able to stay off the cushion in turn four to take his 11th career Attica victory.
“I was whooped out there tonight. I’ve never started any further back than fifth to win. Tonight, I came here to try and prove a point and we started out the year good. This one we earned it. I had to drive my tail off to pass Paul Weaver. I knew those last few laps I started to get wore out…the track was really fast tonight. The last three laps I was so wore out…that last caution I was like “alright, pull yourself together…you got Weaver behind you and Johnny (Ivy) coming,” said Foos beside his Buckshot Farms, Gyro Motorsports, Pit Stop Carryouts, Schiets Motorsports, Crown Battery, Kistler Racing Products backed machine. “I have to thank Dennis Level…he gave us a fantastic motor.”
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O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints – Dale Blaney #2
In the 410 sprint feature, Chris Myers and Chris Andrews would lead the field to the green, but Andrews would get a bit loose and Brian Lay made contact with the result being Jody Keegan and Andrews on their lids and Myers and Lay stopped on the track. With the first two starting rows having problems, and fifth starting Brian Sebetto having to go change a flat tire, the front row was now sixth starter Dale Blaney and eighth starter Lee Jacobs. When the green came back out, Blaney bolted into the lead while Gressman, who was originally slated to start 10th and would roll off fourth on the restart, would drive into second and immediately challenge for the lead. Gressman would drive around Blaney for the top spot on lap three while Jacobs now had pressure from Tim Shaffer for third.
Gressman would encounter lapped traffic by the ninth circuit as Blaney ran in his tire tracks with Jacobs, Shaffer, Cap Henry and Caleb Helms in tow. The car on the move was Sebetto who was charging from the tail into eighth. On lap 12 as they raced into heavy traffic, Blaney would make his move, as Gressman went low to try and get around a lapped machine, Blaney drove high and took the lead. The only caution after the initial start mishap would come out on lap 16 for debris, giving Blaney a clear track. Blaney would drive away from Gressman while Jacobs, Shaffer, Henry and Danny Holtgraver, who was originally slated to start last, battled for third.
Blaney would encounter traffic again but there were only four laps remaining, and he negotiated his way through for the victory over Gressman, Jacobs, Shaffer, and Henry.
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Summit UMP Late Models – Devin Shiels #51
Shiels would take the lead at the drop of the green for the 25-lap late model feature with third place starter Missler moving right into second while Matt Westfall, B.J. Gregory, Ken Hahn and Justin Chance giving chase. Shiels and Missler would battle hard for the lead with Gregory taking third, bringing Hahn and Chance with him around Westfall. As the leaders raced into traffic on lap nine, they tried to get around Michael Stiltner and Steve Sabo and when Stiltner drifted up to try and get around Sabo, Missler was there to smash into the lapped machine, ending his night.
The restart order was Shiels, Gregory, Hahn, Chris Ross, Chance, Ky Harper, Ernie Haynes and Westfall. Shiels would drive away with a clear track while Gregory ran comfortably in second with a tremendous battle for third between Hahn, Ross, Chance, Harper, Haynes and 16th place starter Jon Henry. Once Ross cleared Hahn, he would catch Gregory on lap 20 and they raced side-by-side for second the last five laps of the race. Shiels would streak to the checkers over Ross, Gregory, Hahn and Harper.
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Fremont Fence 305 Sprints – D.J. Foos #11F
Rando and Colvin would lead the field to the green in the 25 lap 305 sprint main with Rando grabbing the lead over third place starter Caleb Griffith and Jimmy Colvin. Sixth place starter Paul Weaver would drive into third on lap four with Jordan Ryan, Colvin, Nate Dussel and Dustin Dinan giving chase. Rando and Griffith would race nose to tail until the caution flew on lap 9 for a Jess Stiger spin. On the restart Rando was able to put a little distance between himself and the battle for second between Griffith and Weaver with Dussel moving into fourth over Colvin and a charging Foos. Weaver would execute a slide job for second on lap 11 and closed the gap on Rando.
A caution for debris on lap 14 bunched the field up and on the ensuing restart, Weaver dove under Rando. As Weaver slid in front of Rando, Rando tried to cross over and made contact with Griffith , sending Rando upside down. Weaver now inherited the lead over Griffith, Foos, Dussel, Colvin and Ryan. On lap 16, Foos who had just disposed of Griffith , dove under Weaver and slid in front for the lead. With five laps to go the running order was Foos, Weaver, Griffith, Miller and 16th place starter John Ivy.
Foos avoided disaster on lap 21 when he jumped the heavy cushion in turn four, nearly crashing as Weaver raced to his inside. Foos regained his composure and held on to the top spot. A Ross Moore spin on lap 22 would bunch the field up for a three lap battle to the checkers. Under the caution, it was discovered Griffith had lost a muffler, sending him pit side and moving Miller into third with Ivy fourth. Ivy would grab third on the restart with Foos continuing to lead Weaver. Foos would hit his marks perfectly the last three laps for the win with Weaver, Ivy, Miller and Dustin Dinan rounding out the top five.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action for the 21st annual HD Supply Spring Nationals April 6-7 featuring the UNOH All Star Sprints, the UMP Late Models and the 305 Sprints. NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne is expected to compete against the All Stars.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com or follow the track on Facebook and Twitter.
Attica Raceway Park – 3/31/2012
Columbus Equipment Night
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (32 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 53-Phil Gressman[2] ; 2. O9-Craig Mintz[1] ; 3. 60-Jody Keegan[3] ; 4. 54-Cap Henry[6] ; 5. 40-Caleb Helms[4] ; 6. 22-Cole Duncan [5] ; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7] ; 8. 91-Aaron Middaugh[8]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 24H-Brian Sebetto[1] ; 2. 16-Chris Andrews[6] ; 3. 14H-Todd Heller[4] ; 4. 55-Brad Bowman[3] ; 5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[5] ; 6. 2M-Dallas Hewitt[7] ; 7. 17-Jared Horstman[8] ; 8. 60C-Kory Crabtree[2]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 45-Brian Lay[1] ; 2. 4K-Kris Spitz[4] ; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer[7] ; 4. 70-Brad Haudenschild[5] ; 5. 45H-Danny Holtgraver[3] ; 6. 14-Chad Wilson [6] ; 7. 48-Mike Burkin[8]
Heat 4 – Friendship Food Stores (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O-Lee Jacobs[1] ; 2. 2-Dale Blaney[4] ; 3. 25-Chris Myers[3] ; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker[5] ; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [7] ; 6. 3-Mike Linder[8] ; 7. 2+-Brian Smith[6] ; 8. 9J-Jesse McCreary[2]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 40-Caleb Helms[1] ; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [4] ; 3. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 4. 45H-Danny Holtgraver[3] ; 5. 2M-Dallas Hewitt[6] ; 6. 22-Cole Duncan [5] ; 7. 2+-Brian Smith[12] ; 8. 17-Jared Horstman[10] ; 9. 48-Mike Burkin[11] ; 10. 5T-Travis Philo[16] ; 11. 14-Chad Wilson [7] ; 12. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[9] ; 13. 60C-Kory Crabtree[14] ; 14. 91-Aaron Middaugh[13] ; 15. 3-Mike Linder[8]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 2-Dale Blaney[6]; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[10]; 3. O-Lee Jacobs[8]; 4. 83-Tim Shaffer[11]; 5. 54-Cap Henry[13]; 6. 45H-Danny Holtgraver[20]; 7. 24H-Brian Sebetto[5]; 8. 40-Caleb Helms[17]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [18]; 10. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[19]; 11. 16-Chris Andrews[2]; 12. O9-Craig Mintz[7]; 13. 25-Chris Myers[1]; 14. 35-Stuart Brubaker[16]; 15. 70-Brad Haudenschild[15]; 16. 14H-Todd Heller[12]; 17. 4K-Kris Spitz[9]; 18. 55-Brad Bowman[14]; 19. 60-Jody Keegan[3]; 20. Brian Lay[4]
Hard Charger: 45H-Danny Holtgraver[+14]
Summit Racing Equipment UMP DIRTcar Late Models (25 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 18R-Chris Ross[2] ; 2. O1-Justin Chance[7] ; 3. 20W-Matt Westfall[4] ; 4. 34-Ky Harper[5] ; 5. 92-Cody Scott[3] ; 6. 15H-Jon Henry[9] ; 7. 23C-Jeremy Canada [6] ; 8. 15-Phil Ausra[8] ; 9. 42K-Bob Mayer[1]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 27-Ken Hahn[1] ; 2. 15B-Mike Bores[3] ; 3. 51-Devin Shiels[8] ; 4. 50Y-Ryan Missler[6] ; 5. 99M-John Mayes Jr.[4] ; 6. 36-Matt Irey[7] ; 7. 48-John Bores[5] ; 8. X3-Dan Wallace[2]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 56-B.J. Gregory[2] ; 2. 27S-Eric Spangler[5] ; 3. 5H-Ernie Haynes[4] ; 4. 21-Larry Kingseed[8] ; 5. 6-Kyle Perry[3] ; 6. 99-Steve Sabo[1] ; 7. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[6]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 15H-Jon Henry[1] ; 2. 36-Matt Irey[2] ; 3. 15-Phil Ausra[7] ; 4. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[6] ; 5. 99-Steve Sabo[3] ; 6. 42K-Bob Mayer[9] ; 7. 23C-Jeremy Canada [4] ; 8. 48-John Bores[5]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 51-Devin Shiels[2]; 2. 18R-Chris Ross[6]; 3. 56-B.J. Gregory[4]; 4. 27-Ken Hahn[5]; 5. 34-Ky Harper[9]; 6. 5H-Ernie Haynes[10]; 7. 15H-Jon Henry[16]; 8. O1-Justin Chance[7]; 9. 20W-Matt Westfall[1]; 10. 27S-Eric Spangler[11]; 11. 15B-Mike Bores[12]; 12. 15-Phil Ausra[18]; 13. 36-Matt Irey[17]; 14. 92-Cody Scott[13]; 15. 6-Kyle Perry[15]; 16. 21-Larry Kingseed[8]; 17. 99-Steve Sabo[20]; 18. 99M-John Mayes Jr.[14]; 19. 50Y-Ryan Missler[3]; 20. 12-Michael Stiltner Jr.[19]
Hard Charger: 15H-Jon Henry[+9]
Fremont Fence 305 Sprints (25 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 11F-D.J. Foos[3] ; 2. 40-Caleb Griffith [7] ; 3. 25-Jason Keckler[5] ; 4. 72C-Ross Moore [6] ; 5. 23-Jim Cushing[2] ; 6. 22D-Dan Hammond [4] ; 7. 22M-Dan McCarron[8] ; 8. 68G-Tyler Guhn[9] ; 9. 7X-Jay Howe[1]
Heat 2 – Ultra Schield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5R-Jordan Ryan[2] ; 2. 4M-Jamie Miller[3] ; 3. 8J-Jess Stiger[1] ; 4. 9-Jimmy Colvin[7] ; 5. 36X-Dustin Keegan[6] ; 6. 36-Seth Schneider[5] ; 7. 717-Trey Jacobs[8] ; 8. 6L-Talon Stephen[4]
Heat 3 – Bell Racing (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5-Dustin Dinan[2] ; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver[5] ; 3. 19R-Steve Rando[1] ; 4. 1-Nate Dussel[8] ; 5. 39-Matt Merrill[4] ; 6. 8K-John Ivy[7] ; 7. 10X-Dustin Stroup[6] ; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser[3]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8K-John Ivy[3] ; 2. 36-Seth Schneider[2] ; 3. 22M-Dan McCarron[4] ; 4. 10X-Dustin Stroup[6] ; 5. 68G-Tyler Guhn[7] ; 6. 22D-Dan Hammond [1] ; 7. 717-Trey Jacobs[5] ; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser[9] ; 9. 7X-Jay Howe[10] ; 10. 6L-Talon Stephen[8]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 11F-D.J. Foos[11]; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver[6]; 3. 8K-John Ivy[16]; 4. 4M-Jamie Miller[10]; 5. 5-Dustin Dinan[8]; 6. 1-Nate Dussel[7]; 7. 36X-Dustin Keegan[14]; 8. 5R-Jordan Ryan[4]; 9. 9-Jimmy Colvin[2]; 10. 36-Seth Schneider[17]; 11. 8J-Jess Stiger[9]; 12. 68G-Tyler Guhn[20]; 13. 22M-Dan McCarron[18]; 14. 72C-Ross Moore [12]; 15. 40-Caleb Griffith [3]; 16. 23-Jim Cushing[13]; 17. 39-Matt Merrill[15]; 18. 10X-Dustin Stroup[19]; 19. 19R-Steve Rando[1]; 20. 25-Jason Keckler[5]
Hard Charger: 8K-John Ivy[+13]
©2012 – Results Provided by: Computer Man Inc. Fremont, OH