By Brian Liskai: ATTICA, Ohio – David Gravel executed a perfect slider on Tim Shaffer coming to the white flag and drove to his first ever victory in the 29th Annual Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic presented by Racing Optics at Attica Raceway Park Tuesday, July 11.
Gravel’s victory his 10th World of Outlaw Craftsman World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series win of 2017 and the 26th outlaw win of his career. For Gravel, who competed several times a year at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speedplant when he raced with the All Star Circuit of Champions, it was his first ever win at the track.
“I was in fourth with about five to go and I got a run on Daryn (Pittman) and we were racing really hard. I got by him and I found the bottom of one and two and closed on Rico (Abreu) really fast and put a big slider on him. Tim ran the bottom in one and two the lap before and if he did that I probably wouldn’t have been able to get by him. Luckily he did and left the door wide open for me to take the lead,” said Gravel, who hails from Watertown, Conn.
“At Lima I finished on the podium a couple of times for this race. To win at Attica when we didn’t make it out of the C last year…to rebound like that and win is awesome. There’s so much prestige to this race. Everyone wants to win Brad Doty’s race and you see that with 58 cars here. Barry Jackson gave me an awesome car. Derrick and Zach did an awesome job too. I have to thank Chad and Jenn Clemens for putting me in this car. We had nine wins last year and this is our 10th…that’s just amazing to get double digit wins. I have to thank Big Game Tree Stands, Go Muddy.com, JRC Transportation, Nyce Crete and Landis, Bair’s Tree Service, Walker Performance Filters…without all those people we couldn’t do this. It’s been an awesome year and a great start to the month of money,” Gravel said.
For Aliquippa, Pennsylvania’s Tim Shaffer, after leading 38 of the 40 laps, second was a tough pill to swallow.
“I know I need to move around. We went low there that one time and it exited pretty good but it took so long to get in and I thought I lost a lot of ground. It’s one of those things where you’re out front and you’re not sure. That’s a hard one to lose but I’ve won some that way too. My guys have done a great job this year with Cody Jacobs and the Demyans and the Rudziks and Gary Edwards…there’s so many people helping out. I’m competitive again and it’s fun again,” said Shaffer beside his Rudzik Excavating, VRP Shocks, Gressman Powersports, Scoville Designs backed machine.
A year ago at the Brad Doty Classic Daryn Pittman charged from 25th to a third place finish. This year a third place finish left the Owasso, OK. driver a little disappointed.
“It’s hard to be too disappointed. It’s a tough field of cars and a tough race track. I kind of felt like I was sitting in a good spot the whole race. I think the bottom to the middle wins a lot of races here. They were quicker than me railing the top but I just thought as many guys were running it that it would push off or eventually get too tricky and they would make mistakes. I just stayed on the bottom too long. Gravel got by me with five or six laps to go and I moved to the top in three and four and felt really good and gained a lot more speed. I got racing lapped cars and he got by me. I’m frustrated with myself. I thought I was in a position to steal that one,” said the driver of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, Great Clips, Curb Records, Sage Fruit, ASE backed #9.
Shaffer and Sheldon Haudenschild brought the field to green for the 40-lap feature with Shaffer gaining the advantage over Haudenschild, Pittman, Shane Stewart, Rico Abreu, Gravel and Brady Bacon. Shaffer blasted around the high line of the track and started to pull away before entering heavy lapped traffic on lap seven. Abreu used the lapped cars to take third on lap eight with action grinding to a halt when Jason Johnson tipped over on lap nine.
On the restart Haudenschild attempted a wicked slider for the lead in turns one and two and he and Shaffer banged wheels which flattened Haudenschild’s tire. During that excitement Kyle Larson spun in turn three. When the green flew Shaffer held off a challenge by Abreu with Pittman, Stewart and Gravel in tow. With clean air Shaffer built a nearly two second lead as he raced into lapped traffic on the 16th circuit. Max Stambaugh would slide off the back stretch and stop to bring out the caution on lap 17, which gave Shaffer a clear track.
With clean air, Shaffer took off again on the restart as Abreu battled with Pittman as Gravel closed. The battle for fifth was fantastic between Brent Marks, Stewart and Donnie Schatz who had worked his way forward from his 16th starting position. With 15 laps to go Shaffer’s lead was up to 1.5 seconds over Abreu, Pittman, Gravel and Marks. As Shaffer once again prepared to encounter heavy lapped traffic, Abreu sliced into his lead with 10 laps remaining.
With five laps to go the top five cars were running nearly nose to tail as Gravel utilized the bottom groove in turns one and two to take third from Pittman. Gravel was able to squeeze around Abreu with three laps to go and quickly closed on Shaffer. Gravel dove under the leader in turn three and exited with the lead as they raced to the white flag. Shaffer tried one last shot in turns one and two but Gravel was too strong and drove to the win. Shaffer, Pittman, Brad Sweet (from 25th), and Abreu rounded out the top five.
Rounding out the top 10 were Marks, Schatz, Kraig Kinser, Stewart and Larson who charged from the back after his lap nine spin.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, July 21 on Central Ohio Farmers Night featuring the 410 and 305 sprints and UMP late models. The 305 sprints will battle for $1,000 to win thanks to Griff’s Engines. It is also an Attica/Oakshade Raceway Late Model Series Challenge event. The June 16th rained out A-main for the late models will also be held.
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.
Attica Raceway Park
Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic
World of Outlaw Craftsman Sprint Car Series
[*] indicates starting position.
Qualifying Flight-A
1. 55XM-Dale Blaney, 12.428; 2. 99-Brady Bacon, 12.447; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.495; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer, 12.524; 5. 2-Shane Stewart, 12.542; 6. 4-Paul McMahan, 12.584; 7. 2X-Parker Price-Miller, 12.589; 8. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 12.599; 9. 18-Ian Madsen, 12.617; 10. 83-Rob Chaney, 12.646; 11. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.665; 12. 13-Clyde Knipp, 12.778; 13. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.785; 14. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 12.794; 15. 3G-Carson Macedo, 12.898; 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 12.915; 17. 3-Sammy Swindell, 12.925; 18. 7S-Jason Sides, 12.939; 19. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 12.947; 20. 97-Broc Martin, 12.951; 21. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.989; 22. 8M-T.J. Michael, 13.022; 23. 7-Shawn Valenti, 13.045; 24. 19P-Paige Polyak, 13.124; 25. 49D-Shawn Dancer, 13.175; 26. 5X-Justin Peck, 13.187; 27. 9R-Jordan Ryan, 13.306; 28. 5QB-Quentin Blonde, 13.477; 29. 27Z-Sean Zemunik, NT
Qualifying Flight-B
1. 19-Brent Marks, 12.595; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.642; 3. 5-David Gravel, 12.796; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman, 12.844; 5. 57-Kyle Larson, 12.846; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs, 12.942; 7. 1A-Jacob Allen, 12.995; 8. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.049; 9. 26-Tayler Malsam, 13.055; 10. 57X-Andrew Palker, 13.073; 11. 41-Jason Johnson, 13.104; 12. 39-Spencer Bayston, 13.115; 13. 17-Jac Haudenschild, 13.125; 14. 16X-Ryan Ruhl, 13.157; 15. 7K-Cale Conley, 13.182; 16. 92A-Samual Walsh, 13.234; 17. 17X-Caleb Helms, 13.249; 18. 16-Chris Andrews, 13.257; 19. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.259; 20. 97W-Mitch Wormall, 13.265; 21. 70-Tanner Thorson, 13.276; 22. 11N-Craig Mintz, 13.293; 23. 23-D.J. Foos, 13.297; 24. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.305; 25. 4L-Cap Henry, 13.341; 26. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.369; 27. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.406; 28. 8J-Jess Stiger, 13.453; 29. 22M-Dan McCarron, 14.057
Heat #1 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer
1. 55XM-Dale Blaney [1]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [2]; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah [5]; 5. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [7]; 6. 83-Rob Chaney [4]; 7. 8M-T.J. Michael [8]; 8. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 9. 49D-Shawn Dancer [9]; 10. 5QB-Quentin Blonde [10]
Heat #2 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer
1. 2-Shane Stewart [2]; 2. 99-Brady Bacon [1]; 3. 33M-Max Stambaugh [3]; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker [5]; 5. 97-Broc Martin [7]; 6. 5X-Justin Peck [9]; 7. 3-Sammy Swindell [6]; 8. 5R-Byron Reed [4]; 9. 7-Shawn Valenti [8]
Heat #3 – Flight (A) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer
1. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 3. 4-Paul McMahan [2]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [6]; 5. 3G-Carson Macedo [5]; 6. 5T-Travis Philo [7]; 7. 9R-Jordan Ryan [9]; 8. 13-Clyde Knipp [4]; 9. 19P-Paige Polyak [8]
Heat #4 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer
1. 9-Daryn Pittman [2]; 2. 19-Brent Marks [1]; 3. 57X-Andrew Palker [4]; 4. 11N-Craig Mintz [8]; 5. 92A-Samual Walsh [6]; 6. 4L-Cap Henry [9]; 7. 17-Jac Haudenschild [5]; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [7]; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen [3]; 10. 8J-Jess Stiger [10]
Heat #5 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer
1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [2]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [9]; 5. 17X-Caleb Helms [6]; 6. 16X-Ryan Ruhl [5]; 7. 23-D.J. Foos [8]; 8. 97W-Mitch Wormall [7]; 9. 22M-Dan McCarron [10]; 10. 41-Jason Johnson [4]
Heat #6 – Flight (B) (10 Laps) – Top 3 Transfer
1. 5-David Gravel [1]; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs [2]; 3. 39-Spencer Bayston [4]; 4. 26-Tayler Malsam [3]; 5. 16-Chris Andrews [6]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [8]; 8. 70-Tanner Thorson [7]; 9. 7K-Cale Conley [5]
Dash – Craftsman Club Dash (8 Laps)
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 2-Shane Stewart [3]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 4. 99-Brady Bacon [5]; 5. 55XM-Dale Blaney [4]; 6. 18-Ian Madsen [6]
Dash #2 – Craftsman Club Dash (8 Laps)
1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [3]; 2. 9-Daryn Pittman [4]; 3. 5-David Gravel [2]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 5. 19-Brent Marks [1]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs [6]
D-main (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 49-Brad Sweet [5][-]; 2. 4L-Cap Henry [3][-]; 3. 5X-Justin Peck [4][$125]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson [7][$125]; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron [10][$125]; 6. 8J-Jess Stiger [9][$125]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1][$125]; 8. 5QB-Quentin Blonde [8][$125]; 9. 49D-Shawn Dancer [2][$125]; 10. 9R-Jordan Ryan [6][$125]; 11. 19P-Paige Polyak [11][$125]; 12. 27Z-Sean Zemunik [12][$125]
C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 16-Chris Andrews [4][-]; 2. 3-Sammy Swindell [1][-]; 3. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [5][$150]; 4. 7S-Jason Sides [3][$150]; 5. 11N-Craig Mintz [12][$150]; 6. 70-Tanner Thorson [10][$125]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [15][$125]; 8. 97-Broc Martin [7][$125]; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [6][$125]; 10. 4L-Cap Henry [16][$125]; 11. 23-D.J. Foos [14][$125]; 12. 97W-Mitch Wormall [8][$125]; 13. 7-Shawn Valenti [13][$125]; 14. 5T-Travis Philo [9][$125]; 15. 17X-Caleb Helms [2][$125]; 16. 8M-T.J. Michael [11][$125]
B-Main – Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [1][-]; 2. 83-Rob Chaney [3][-]; 3. 26-Tayler Malsam [4][-]; 4. 17-Jac Haudenschild [8][-]; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah [9][-]; 6. 3G-Carson Macedo [13][-]; 7. 5R-Byron Reed [5][$300]; 8. 92A-Samual Walsh [14][$250]; 9. 13-Clyde Knipp [7][$225]; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen [2][$200]; 11. 41-Jason Johnson [6][$200]; 12. 16X-Ryan Ruhl [10][$200]; 13. 16-Chris Andrews [15][$200]; 14. 35-Stuart Brubaker [11][$200]; 15. 7K-Cale Conley [12][$200]; 16. 3-Sammy Swindell [16][$200]
A-main (40 Laps)
1. 5-David Gravel [6][$10,000]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1][$5,500]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [4][$3,200]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [25][$2,000]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu [5][$2,500]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [10][$2,300]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [16][$2,200]; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$2,100]; 9. 2-Shane Stewart [3][$2,050]; 10. 57-Kyle Larson [8][$2,000]; 11. 57X-Andrew Palker [14][$1,500]; 12. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [2][$1,200]; 13. 18-Ian Madsen [11][$1,100]; 14. 99-Brady Bacon [7][$1,050]; 15. 39-Spencer Bayston [18][$1,000]; 16. 10H-Chad Kemenah [23][$900]; 17. 81-Lee Jacobs [12][$800]; 18. 3G-Carson Macedo [24][$800]; 19. 55XM-Dale Blaney [9][$800]; 20. 4-Paul McMahan [17][$800]; 21. 17-Jac Haudenschild [22][$800]; 22. 33M-Max Stambaugh [15][$800]; 23. 2X-Parker Price-Miller [19][$800]; 24. 26-Tayler Malsam [21][$800]; 25. 41-Jason Johnson [26][$]; 26. 83-Rob Chaney [20][$800]
KSE Hard Charger Award: 49-Brad Sweet[+21]