Shaffer opens Attica Ambush with 63rd career All Star win; Miller takes late model win with Markham earning track title
Friday, Aug. 31, 2018
Contact: Brian Liskai
[email protected]
By Brian Liskai
Attica, Ohio – Tim Shaffer sliced through traffic like a surgeon and claimed the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Presented by Mobil 1 win Friday, Aug. 31 at Attica Raceway Park to open up the Attica Ambush weekend on Smith Family Foods/All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Night.
For Shaffer, from Aliquippa, Pa., it was career win #63 with the All Stars as he sits fourth all-time with the organization. It was the 17th career win at Attica for the four time All Star champion of which seven have been series victories.
“We’re having a lot of fun and this new RPM car is awesome. It was a pretty steep cushion tonight and at the end I got the wing back too far and I got too tight and thought I was going to give it away but it worked out. Cody and Ricky are doing a great job and the Demyan-Rudzik gang are just an awesome group of guys,” said Shaffer beside the Rudzik Excavating, RPM Chassis, FK Rod Ends, Smith Titanium backed #49x.
“Cody (Jacobs) gave me a car I could move around with in lapped traffic. We are coming on late. We started really good and then backed off a little and now we’re going again. It’s always been fun to race here,” Shaffer added in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
Lemoore, California’s Carson Macedo has been close to several All Star wins at Attica and Friday was no different as he led the first eight laps before surrendering the lead to Shaffer. He would then pass Cap Henry late to finish second.
“Late in the race the car got really good. I moved the wing back a little bit and get drive back on the rear wheels. The 3G guys did a really good job Tim, Joe and Cindy work so hard and make it good night in and night out and it’s easy to get on the podium when your race car is good. We’re disappointed to not get the win. Tim Shaffer and his guys and Cody Jacobs do a hell of a job,” said Macedo beside his Tarlton and Son, Southern Pacific Farms, Eagle Ignition Leads, Shepherd Chevrolet, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions backed machine.
“We’ve had a lot of fun this year me and Joe Gaerte and we’re going to keep on keeping on,” he added.
Local competitor Cap Henry from Republic, Ohio settled for third to keep the Lane Racing team rolling. The previous week Henry broke a crank in the Beer Barrel Bourbon, Metropolitan Landscaping machine. Kistler Engines got the motor fixed over the week.
“Paul the guys at Kistlers worked really hard and we got the engine back in today. It’s a good piece and we’ve been really good this past month. I got a little too excited when I got to second and hoping I could pick off Tim but those guys were just too good on short runs. I didn’t want that last caution,” Henry said.
In the Summit Racing Products UMP Late Model feature, Whitehouse, Ohio’s Matt Miller took the lead from Dave Hornikel on lap five and then held off a late race charge from Rusty Schlenk and Doug Drown to score his second win of the season at Attica. It was his eighth career win at the track.
“To be honest I should have jumped up on the track a little earlier but it’s treacherous up there and I hadn’t been up there the whole race. I was pretty much on cruise control but toward the end of the race the tires got a little wore and it got a little black on the bottom,” said Miller beside his Rick DeLong Racing, Dominator Racing, Rocket Chassis #3. “I love racing here. They put on a good program and they have great fans here. We will certainly be back next year.”
With his fourth place finish Ashland, Ohio’s Ryan Markham claimed his first ever Attica Raceway Park Late Model Track Championship.
“I worked on this race car until 1 a.m. just checking everything three times. I tried to leave no stones unturned. We’ve been so close five years in a row for this championship…it’s about damn time. I was a little nervous out there and toward the end of the race I had to get up on the wheel. I was focused on the big picture. I’ve averaged about three wins a year and this year only one but I have a championship…we’ve run good every night,” said Markham beside his H&T Demolition, Accu-Fore Shock Service, Harriger Towing, Elite Car Auto Center, Wiseking Motorsports, Dzugan Real Estate Services-Bronis Eden Agent backed #5M.
Shaffer and Macedo brought the field to green for the 40 lap All Star feature but before a lap could be complete Dave Blaney and Lee Jacobs tangled. Both cars went to the work area and rejoined the field. On the second attempt to start the race Macedo learned what Shaffer had planned and grabbed the lead over Shaffer, Travis Philo, Brock Zearfoss, Henry, Paul McMahan and Stuart Brubaker.
With just six laps scored the leaders were set to encounter heavy lapped traffic and that allowed Shaffer to close on Macedo. Shaffer drove to Macedo’s outside exiting turn four to grab the lead on lap nine but Macedo battled back before the caution flew for Blaney who coasted to a stop with 10 laps scored.
Now with a clear track Shaffer pulled away on the restart over Macedo with Philo, Zearfoss and Henry battling hard for third. Henry took the third position on lap 14 as the leaders once again raced into heavy lapped traffic.
At the half-way point Shaffer continued to lead Macedo by nearly two seconds with Henry starting to close. Shaffer executed a great move on lap 24, splitting a few lapped cars to maintain his advantage over Macedo, Henry, Zearfoos, Philo and Brandon Spithaler who had charged from 16th.
Henry used lapped traffic to take second on lap 29 just before Broc Martin spun. On the ensuing restart Martin jumped the right rear of Ryan Smith’s car and took a nasty tumble and was fortunately not injured. When the green waved for the final time Shaffer pulled away from Macedo who retook the runner-up spot.
With three laps to go, Shaffer was struggling somewhat and Macedo closed to within three car lengths. But Shaffer regained his composure and drove to the win over Macedo, Henry, Zearfoos and the night’s hard-charger Spithaler rounding out the top five.
In the 25-lap late model feature Markham and Hornikel brought the field to green with Hornikel gaining the advantage over Markham, Kent Brewer, Miller and Mike Bores. Miller moved into third on the second lap and took second on lap four. The cars on the move were 10th starter Rusty Schlenk and eighth place starter Doug Drown.
Miller drove under Hornikel for the lead on lap five while Markham was involved in an entertaining battle for third with Schlenk and Drown. At the half-way point Miller had a big lead as Hornikel tried to hold off Drown and Schlenk for second. Drown moved into the runner-up spot on lap 12 and he and Schlenk waged a war over the next eight laps.
With six laps to go Miller was mired in heavy lapped traffic and that allowed Drown and Schlenk to close with Markham running a consistent fourth. As Miller took the white flag both Schlenk and Drown were within a car length.
Miller was able to hit his marks and driver to the win over Schlenk, Drown, Markham and Hornikel.
Attica Raceway Park will close out its season Saturday, Sept. 1 with the Dirt Classic Ohio featuring the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Presented by Mobile 1 along with the Fremont Fence 305 Sprints.
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.
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Smith Family Foods taps into long-standing family recipes and pair them with fresh inspiration for today’s market to deliver a comprehensive line of items produced in-house. Ranging from chopped steaks, custom cut steaks and chops, breaded chicken, brats and Granny Smith’s Delicious fresh deli salads, just to mention a few. Smith Family Foods has the more than 2,000 wholesale items we offer to solve all your foodservice needs. Check our Products page for a complete list.
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Attica Raceway Park
Friday, Aug. 31, 2018
Smith Family Foods-All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Night
Starting Position [*]
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions – 120th appearance at Attica
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 12.426; 2. 4L-Cap Henry, 12.550; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs, 12.599; 4. 3G-Carson Macedo, 12.712; 5. 16-Chris Andrews, 12.745; 6. 35-Tyler Esh, 12.938; 7. 49-Shawn Dancer, 13.138; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.159; 9. 22M-Dan McCarron, 13.231; 10. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 13.567
Group (B)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 12.315; 2. 4-Brock Zearfoss, 12.487; 3. 11-Ryan Smith, 12.561; 4. 13-Paul McMahan, 12.644; 5. 23-DJ Foos, 12.731; 6. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.807; 7. 70-Dave Blaney, 12.917; 8. 8M-TJ Michael, 12.952; 9. 20i-Kesley Ivy, 13.109; 10. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.605
Group (C)
1. 11N-Parker Price-Miller, 12.544; 2. 7K-Cale Conley, 12.590; 3. 35b-Stuart Brubaker, 12.613; 4. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.664; 5. 97-Broc Martin, 12.680; 6. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.714; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 12.780; 8. 22C-Cole Duncan, 12.852; 9. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.158
Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 3G-Carson Macedo [1]; 2. 4L-Cap Henry [3]; 3. 16-Chris Andrews [5]; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs [2]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 6. 49-Shawn Dancer [7]; 7. 35-Tyler Esh [6]; 8. 22M-Dan McCarron [9]; 9. 46AU-Stuart Williams [10]; 10. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [8]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 13-Paul McMahan [1]; 2. 11-Ryan Smith [2]; 3. 4-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 4. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 5. 70-Dave Blaney [7]; 6. 10H-Chad Kemenah [10]; 7. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 8. 23-DJ Foos [5]; 9. 8M-TJ Michael [8]; 10. 20I-Kesley Ivy [9]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [2]; 2. 5T-Travis Philo [1]; 3. 7K-Cale Conley [3]; 4. 97-Broc Martin [5]; 5. 11N-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler [7]; 7. 5R-Byron Reed [6]; 8. 22C-Cole Duncan [8]; 9. 2+-Brian Smith [9]
Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [3]; 3. 4-Brock Zearfoss [2]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo [4]; 5. 4L-Cap Henry [8]; 6. 13-Paul McMahan [5]; 7. 11-Ryan Smith [7]; 8. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [6]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 5R-Byron Reed [2]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 4. 8M-TJ Michael [6]; 5. 23-DJ Foos [3]; 6. 2+-Brian Smith [7]; 7. 20I-Kesley Ivy [9]; 8. 22M-Dan McCarron [5]; 9. 46AU-Stuart Williams [8]; 10. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [10]; 11. 35-Tyler Esh [11]
A-Main (40 Laps)
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [2]; 3. 4L-Cap Henry [5]; 4. 4-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler [16]; 6. 35B-Stuart Brubaker [8]; 7. 11N-Parker Price-Miller [14]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo [4]; 9. 11-Ryan Smith [7]; 10. 5R-Byron Reed [20]; 11. 87-Aaron Reutzel [19]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [6]; 13. 8M-TJ Michael [22]; 14. 7K-Cale Conley [9]; 15. 2+-Brian Smith [24]; 16. 10H-Chad Kemenah [18]; 17. 97-Broc Martin [12]; 18. 23-DJ Foos [23]; 19. 49-Shawn Dancer [17]; 20. 16-Chris Andrews [10]; 21. 97G-Hunter Schuerenberg [13]; 22. 81-Lee Jacobs [11]; 23. 70-Dave Blaney [15]; 24. 22C-Cole Duncan [21]
Hard Charger – 22-Brandon Spithaler +11
Late Models – Summit Racing Equipment
Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk[3] ; 2. 71-Dave Hornikel[6] ; 3. X3-Dan Wallace[7] ; 4. 98-Tim Sabo[5] ; 5. 30-Nate Potts[4] ; 6. 17X-Dustin Keegan[8] ; 7. 69R-Doug Baird[1] ; 8. 75-Dana Frey[2]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 77-Steve Kester[1] ; 2. 50Y-Ryan Missler[4] ; 3. 15B-Mike Bores[7] ; 4. 27-Ken Hahn[8] ; 5. 24-Jerry Aber[3] ; 6. 69M-John Mayes Jr.[2] ; 7. 42S-Devin Shiels[5] ; 8. 101-Chester Fitch[6]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 3-Matt Miller[6] ; 2. 69W-Jeff Warnick[1] ; 3. 28-Kent Brewer[4] ; 4. 43-Mitch Caskey[5] ; 5. 20H-Troy Hahn[2] ; 6. 44-Colin Shipley[3]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 12-Doug Drown[4] ; 2. 36-Matt Irey[2] ; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[5] ; 4. 59-Larry Bellman[6] ; 5. 23-Craig Hartong[7] ; 6. 5MH-Paul Harriger[3] ; 7. 26R-Scott Gonion[1]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 30-Nate Potts[1] ; 2. 24-Jerry Aber[2] ; 3. 42S-Devin Shiels[10] ; 4. 20H-Troy Hahn[3] ; 5. 69R-Doug Baird[9] ; 6. 17X-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 7. 44-Colin Shipley[7] ; 8. 5MH-Paul Harriger[8] ; 9. 26R-Scott Gonion[11] ; 10. 75-Dana Frey[12] ; 11. 23-Craig Hartong[4] ; 12. 101-Chester Fitch[13] ; DNF. 69M-John Mayes Jr.[6]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 3-Matt Miller[6] ; 2. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk[10] ; 3. 12-Doug Drown[8] ; 4. 5M-Ryan Markham[1] ; 5. 71-Dave Hornikel[2] ; 6. 50Y-Ryan Missler[7] ; 7. 36-Matt Irey[12] ; 8. 15B-Mike Bores[5] ; 9. 28-Kent Brewer[3] ; 10. 77-Steve Kester[9] ; 11. 69W-Jeff Warnick[11] ; 12. X3-Dan Wallace[4] ; 13. 59-Larry Bellman[16] ; 14. 27-Ken Hahn[14] ; 15. 42S-Devin Shiels[20] ; 16. 43-Mitch Caskey[15] ; 17. 69M-John Mayes Jr.[17] ; 18. 30-Nate Potts[18] ; 19. 24-Jerry Aber[19] ; 20. 98-Tim Sabo[13]
Hard Charger: CJ1-Rusty Schlenk +8