Bloomquist earns Lucas Oil Late Model win, Darrah takes All Star victory at Attica

By Brian Liskai

ATTICA, Ohio – Scott Bloomquist took the lead from Steve Casebolt on lap 10 and other than a couple of cautions, was never really challenged Friday on Detroit Chocolat Night at Attica Raceway Park. Bloomquist would claim his second consecutive Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win in as many years at Attica.

Red Lion, Pennsylvania’s Cody Darrah would inch by Sheldon Haudenschild for the lead in the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions’ feature just before the caution would fly on lap two. It turned out to be the winning move as he would lead the final 29 laps to score his first career Attica victory.

It was the third straight series win for Bloomquist. The Mooresburg, Tennessee driver now has 59 career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Win. Bloomquist’s second Attica win is #553 of his career.

“We’re up for this thing (title run)…we just don’t need any more bad luck. We had that race in Batesville won and would have gotten us really close. We’re creeping up on it. We had such a bad start to the year. Jonathan’s (Davenport, current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series point leader) been running extremely well…we just need to step it up,” said Bloomquist beside his Reece Monument, Crop Production Services, Mark Martin Automotive, Hawkeye Trucking, Base Fuels, Horton Coal, Andy Durham Racing Engines, Base Fuels, Sorbera Chiropractic, Dyna-Gro backed #0.”

“In that heat race…something else got damaged on the car beside just the body. We got that fixed…the tow-out was alright but I think it did something else because a number of times I had a catch in the steering and it would catch…it would hold itself in one spot. We’ll change that out and send it back to Randy Sweet and he’ll fix it and we’ll keep on trucking,” added Bloomquist, a two time Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion.

It was Darrah’s third UNOH All Star win of 2015 and his fourth career series win aboard his J&K Salvage, Eckert Trucking, Eichelbergers U Pull It, J&W Leasing, Factory Kahne Shocks backed #89.

“This is a place…the first time I came here I struggled. I’ve learned so much this year; this series has taught me a lot. Racing with Dale (Blaney, series point leader) and coming to this track is something I look forward to. Growing up in central Pennsylvania we get spoiled with race tracks and race fans but Attica Raceway…it’s amazing to see the crowds that come here. It’s one of the premiere tracks in the country,” said Darrah.

“This is a big win for me. I’ve got my brother here…he’s our tire guy tonight and that’s something for the first time in my career we got to do. I have to thank my mom and dad and my family and Ty Sipes for giving me the opportunity,” added Darrah.

Richmond, Indiana’s Steve Casebolt, who won a late model feature earlier this year at Attica, would stay within striking distance of Bloomquist after leading laps 5-9, but just couldn’t get to him in traffic and would settle for second.

“Scott and Davenport and Owens and these guys have set the bar so high they’ve left us no choice but to try some different things and we did ..everyone in the pits is doing that,” said Casebolt. “The fans in this area should be proud to have a race track like this. We really enjoy coming over here to race. My car owner Tye Twarog lives over here in Ohio, so it’s always good to have a good finish for him. I want to thank Riesbeck’s Food Markets, Mark Nussbaum, Keyser, JE Pistons and Sudz Car Wash for all of their help.”

“I was making up ground on Scott until that yellow. It was weird…we’d run him down and keep up with him and then he’d run off…kind of like a yo-yo effect and I don’t know why. I tried all over the race track and my car seemed about equal,” added Casebolt of his Rocket Chassis, Malcuit Engines, American Racing Tires machine.

Martinsville, Indiana’s Don O’Neal would drive home in third.

“Two weekends in a row to finish in the top three the way we struggled middle of the summer…we’re making gains. I have to thank Peak Motor Oil, Crawford Supply, Traeger Grills, Georgia Boots, Cometic Gaskets and Barry Wright Race Cars for making this happen,” said O’Neal.

In the UNOH All Star sprint feature, the son and dad duo of Sheldon and Jac Haudenschild would chase Darrah but couldn’t make the winning pass.

“I was running second and kind of trying some things. Cody was mostly on the top and kind of cheating it so I tried to slow down and hit the bottom and got to his bumper but couldn’t really do anything,” said Sheldon beside his Triple X, Southern Pacific Farms, Butlerbuilt backed #93.

“The car was real good…it was a good run for Joe (Armbruster, car owner). Best car I’ve been in for awhile…it handled really great. We haven’t been really good the last year or so but I think we’re going to get back on track,” said Jac.

Casebolt and Devin Moran would bring the field to green for the 50-lap, $10,000-to-win feature for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. Moran would gain the advantage over Casebolt, Bloomquist, Steve Francis and Eddie Carrier Jr. Casebolt would challenge Moran lap after lap, with Bloomquist joining the battle. Casebolt took the lead on lap five with Moran and Bloomquist not giving up.

A Jon Henry spin on lap seven would bunch up the field and on the restart Bloomquist drove around Moran for second and immediately challenged Casebolt. Carrier would take third from Moran on lap 9 but Moran, Jimmy Owens, O’Neal and Francis would battle throughout the feature. Bloomquist would drive around Casebolt for the lead on lap 10 and steadily pulled away.

Meanwhile, the race for third was a dandy with Carrier, Moran, Owens and O’Neal battling. Moran would move back into third on lap 19 as the leaders prepared to race into lapped traffic. The caution would fly on lap 27 for Chris Keller, with the running order Bloomquist, Casebolt, Moran, Owens, O’Neal, Carrier and 12^th starter Jonathan Davenport.

When the green flew so did Bloomquist as he steadily pulled away. Only a caution for Rocky Owens on lap 35 would slow his march to the checkers. On the restart Bloomquist pulled away while Casebolt as O’Neal came to life and raced into third.

As Bloomquist drove away, Casebolt now had his hands full with O’Neil and Owens. Bloomquist would take the checkers about four car lengths ahead of Casebolt who held off O’Neill with Owens, 14^th starter Earl Pearson Jr., Moran, Dennis Erb Jr., Davenport, Carrier and Brandon Sheppard rounding out the top 10.

In the 30-lap UNOH All Star feature, Darrah and Sheldon Haudenschild brought the field to green with Haudenschild gaining the advantage. Darrah would duck under Haudenschild and grab the lead by .2 of a second just as the caution flew on lap two for a Tyler Gunn/Tim Shaffer incident.

On the restart Darrah would pull away slightly from Sheldon while Jac Haudenschild ran comfortably in third. Behind that trio was a tremendous battle that would go on the entire feature as Chris Andrews, Dean Jacobs, Max Stambaugh and Cole Duncan vied for the position. However, with five laps in the car on the move was 11^th starter Jack Sodeman Jr. as he raced his way into sixth.

Byron Reed would bring out the caution on lap nine with the running order Darrah, Sheldon Haudenschild, Jac Haudenschild, Andrews, Jacobs, Duncan and Sodeman. When the green flew the top three pulled away as the race for fourth heated up with Sodeman driving around Duncan, Jacobs and Andrews.

With 13 laps in Darrah held a car length advantage over Sheldon and Jac Haudenschild while Sodeman, Jacobs, Duncan, Stambaugh, Dale Blaney and Andrews gave chase. The leaders finally caught lapped traffic with just six laps to go. Darrah continued to lead Sheldon by a couple of car lengths while Jac ran a couple of car lengths behind his son. Sodeman, Jacobs, Duncan and Blaney were locked in a tremendous battle for fourth.

Something happened to Sodeman’s mount with three laps to go as he began to fade while Duncan grabbed fourth as Blaney moved into fifth and Jacobs took sixth.  Darrah would drive to the win over Sheldon and Jac Haudenschild, Duncan, Blaney (from 13^th), Jacobs, Andrews, Sodeman, Cale Thomas and Greg Wilson (from 20^th).

The Attica Ambush will continue Saturday with the UNOH All Stars gunning for $5,000 to win. The UMP Late Models, 305 sprints and dirt trucks will also be in action.

For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com

Attica Raceway Park

Detroit Chocolat Night

Friday, Sept. 4, 2015

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series (33 cars)

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Steve Casebolt / 14.358 seconds

Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Devin Moran / 14.339 seconds

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Steve Casebolt, Matt Irey, Ryan Missler, Casey Noonan, Jon Henry, DJ Miller, Jared Landers, Paul Stubber, Chris Keller

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Steve Francis, Don O’Neal, Doug Drown, Larry Kingseed, Kyle Moore, Rick Bond, Larry Bellman, Josh Haynes
Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Devin Moran, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Earl Pearson, Jr., Dennis Erb, Jr., Ryan Markham, JR Hotovy, Chad White
QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Jonathan Davenport, Chris Brown, Rocky Owens, Devin Shiels, Mike Bores, Jim Gingery

Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Kyle Moore, Chris Keller, Jon Henry, Rick Bond, DJ Miller, Larry Bellman, Josh Haynes, Jared Landers-DNS, Paul Stubber-DNS

Keyser MFG B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Dennis Erb, Jr., Devin Shiels, Rocky Owens, Ryan Markham, JR Hotovy, Mike Bores, Chad White, Jim Gingery
Feature Finish (50 Laps):

Hard Charger: Dennis Erb Jr. +11

University of Northwestern Ohio

All Star Circuit of Champions (33 cars)

Starting position [*]

Lincoln Electric Qualifying

1.73-Jac Haudenschild, 12.244; 2.45-Tim Shaffer, 12.388; 3.6M-Max Stambaugh, 12.413; 4.57X-Andrew Palker, 12.448; 5.19-Chris Andrews, 12.510; 6.97-Dean Jacobs, 12.561; 7.91-Cale Thomas, 12.562; 8.22-Cole Duncan, 12.588; 9.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.637; 10.33M-Caleb Griffith, 12.665; 11.9x-Rob Chaney, 12.672; 12.68G-Tyler Gunn, 12.680; 13.23JR-Jack Sodeman, 12.680; 14.1-Dale Blaney, 12.738; 15.21-Cap Henry, 12.769; 16.89-Cody Darrah, 12.771; 17.5-Byron Reed, 12.809; 18.10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.833; 19.16-Stuart Brubaker, 12.834; 20.94-Ryan Smith, 12.854; 21.45L-Brian Lay, 12.881; 22.W20-Greg Wilson, 12.960; 23.7C-Caleb Armstrong, 12.968; 24.4-Danny Smith, 13.016; 25.5K-Adam Kekich, 13.051; 26.8M-TJ Michael, 13.054; 27.9-Jordan Ryan, 13.059; 28.59-Danny Holtgraver, 13.069; 29.5T-Travis Philo, 13.105; 30.11N-Randy Hannagan, 13.168; 31.3J-Trey Jacobs, 13.330; 32.40i-Mark Imler, 13.886; 33.9Z-Duane Zablocki, 99.200;

Kistler Racing Products Heat 1, Group A –  (10 Laps, top 5 to A)

1. 9x-Rob Chaney[2] ; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[3] ; 3. 23JR-Jack Sodeman[1] ; 4. 6M-Max Stambaugh[4] ; 5. 5-Byron Reed[5] ; 6. 5T-Travis Philo[9] ; 7. 59-Danny Holtgraver[8] ; 8. 45L-Brian Lay[6] ; 9. 4-Danny Smith[7]

All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat 2, Group B –  (10 Laps, top 5 to A)

1. 57X-Andrew Palker[3] ; 2. 73-Jac Haudenschild[4] ; 3. 91-Cale Thomas[2] ; 4. 16-Stuart Brubaker[5] ; 5. 9-Jordan Ryan[7] ; 6. 5K-Adam Kekich[6] ; 7. 33M-Caleb Griffith[1]

Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat 3, Group C –  (10 Laps, top 5 to A)

1. 21-Cap Henry[2] ; 2. 89-Cody Darrah[1] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[3] ; 4. 68G-Tyler Gunn[4] ; 5. 8M-TJ Michael[6] ; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[5] ; 7. 11N-Randy Hannagan[7] ; 8. 40i-Mark Imler[8]

Kistler Engines Heat 4, Group D –  (10 Laps, top 5 to A)

1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[1] ; 2. 19-Chris Andrews[3] ; 3. 97-Dean Jacobs[2] ; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah[5] ; 5. W20-Greg Wilson[7] ; 6. 94-Ryan Smith[6] ; 7. 45-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 8. 3J-Trey Jacobs[8]

JE Pistons Dash 1 –  (8 Laps, finish determines starting spot in A)

1. 89-Cody Darrah[1] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[4] ; 3. 73-Jac Haudenschild[5] ; 4. 19-Chris Andrews[2] ; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[9] ; 6. 6M-Max Stambaugh[3] ; 7. 9x-Rob Chaney[8] ; 8. 22-Cole Duncan[6] ; 9. 57X-Andrew Palker[7] ; 10. 21-Cap Henry[10]

Daido Engine Bearings B-Main 1 –  (12 Laps, top 4 to A)

1. 45-Tim Shaffer[1] ; 2. 94-Ryan Smith[2] ; 3. 45L-Brian Lay[3] ; 4. 59-Danny Holtgraver[7] ; 5. 5T-Travis Philo[8] ; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[4] ; 7. 3J-Trey Jacobs[10] ; 8. 4-Danny Smith[5] ; 9. 11N-Randy Hannagan[9] ; 10. 5K-Adam Kekich[6] ; 11. 40i-Mark Imler[11]

A-Main 1 –  (30 Laps)

1. 89-Cody Darrah[1] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 3. 73-Jac Haudenschild[3] ; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[8] ; 5. 1-Dale Blaney[13] ; 6. 97-Dean Jacobs[5] ; 7. 19-Chris Andrews[4] ; 8. 23JR-Jack Sodeman[11] ; 9. 91-Cale Thomas[12] ; 10. W20-Greg Wilson[20] ; 11. 6M-Max Stambaugh[6] ; 12. 16-Stuart Brubaker[14] ; 13. 21-Cap Henry[10] ; 14. 59-Danny Holtgraver[24] ; 15. 57X-Andrew Palker[9] ; 16. 45L-Brian Lay[23] ; 17. 94-Ryan Smith[22] ; 18. 10H-Chad Kemenah[16] ; 19. 9-Jordan Ryan[18] ; 20. 5T-Travis Philo[25] ; 21. 5-Byron Reed[17] ; 22. 9x-Rob Chaney[7] ; 23. 8M-TJ Michael[19] ; 24. 68G-Tyler Gunn[15] ; 25. 45-Tim Shaffer[21]

Hard Charger: Greg Wilson +10