By Brian Liskai: (Attica, OH) While the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions title is coming down to the wire, so did the 40-lap feature at Attica Raceway Park Saturday, Aug. 30, as Dale Blaney edged Lee Jacobs by less than half a car length for the win to close out the 2008 season at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speed plant.

The capacity crowd was on the edge of their seats the final five laps as Blaney, Jacobs and Tim Shaffer battled each other and heavy lapped traffic on Baumann Auto Group/Aaron Sales and Lease/Ohio Cat Night. Coming down to the checkered flag, Jacobs dove to the inside of Blaney with Shaffer right on their rear bumper. It was Blaney’s 66th career All Star win and gave him a slight cushion in the 2008 point battle over Lance Dewease who charged from 12th to fifth Saturday.

Image”I got a little loose toward the end and the lapped cars were as fast as me. I really didn’t see Lee, but I knew someone had to be coming. George Fisher continues to give me a great race car and we’re always in the hunt and as long as we end up on the front stretch at the end of the night the championship will come to us,” said Blaney of his 10th career Attica victory.

Jacobs, who took over the ride vacated by his dad, Kenny, when he was injured a month ago in crash, was just thankful for the opportunity.

“Dale did a heck of job blocking those last few laps. It is just an honor to be standing on the front stretch at the end of the night when you race with the competition we had here tonight. That was a lot of fun at the end,” said Jacobs.

Fast qualifier Rob Chaney bolted into the lead at the drop of the green in the non-stop 40-lap feature with hometown driver Brandon Martin, Blaney and Brian Ellenberger in tow. Chaney hit lapped traffic by the seventh circuit allowing Martin and Blaney to close as Jacobs, who started fifth, battled Ellenberger and Ed Lynch for fourth.

With heavy lapped traffic ahead of him, Chaney tried to maintain his momentum as Blaney, who moved into second on the 13th lap, began to close. At the halfway mark, Blaney was running side-by-side with Chaney for the lead. Blaney would execute a perfect slide job exiting turn four for the top spot a lap later.

Blaney would have no better luck in lapped traffic as they maintained the same speed as the leader, allowing Chaney to stay close. The real battle was for third between Martin, Jacobs, Shaffer, David Harrison and Dewease. Shaffer would fly into third by lap 29, but would lose the spot to Jacobs a circuit later. Shaffer would drove by Jacobs and Martin on lap 31 to move into third. Jacobs would return the favor the next lap, but Shaffer would battle by again.
Both Shaffer and Jacobs would drive through lapped traffic like a knife through butter, both passing Chaney with just five laps remaining. Jacobs would move into second on lap 36 as he and Shaffer were right on Blaney’s bumper. Jacobs would drive under Blaney for the lead several times, but couldn’t the pass completed.

ImageAs the white flag was displayed, the fans were holding their breath waiting for Jacobs to make his move. The Dalton, Ohio driver gave Blaney one last look exiting turn four, but Blaney flashed across the checkered flags first. Shaffer, Chaney and Dewease would round out the top five.

Ryan Missler’s car hasn’t been the same since a crash a month ago. However, the Bellevue, Ohio driver found something to record his third win of the year in the Service Drive Solutions Attica Late Models, holding off a late race challenge from Steve Sabo.

“The car hasn’t been right since that crash. But, we’ve been working on it and trying some different things and it worked. Last year we were third in points and this year we ended up second and that’s all we can do is improve,” said Missler beside his Terry McConnel Excavating, Taze DJ and Karoke sponsored late model.

Missler led all 25 laps of the feature, but had to withstand several challenges from Sabo and Jim Fleming for ninth career Attica win. Sabo, Ernie Haynes, Jeff McCoy and Jamie Reed would round out the top five.

That got hairy at the end. Steve and I bounced off each other a couple of times. The car was still a handful to drive, but we’re gaining on it,” said Missler.

ImageTiffin’s Brian Arnold led all 15 laps of the dirt truck feature for his third win of the season, but it wasn’t easy.

First Arnold had to hold off the challenges of Art Ball and Dave Brewer, then Paul Dymond and Bob Dible made moves to the front.

When Arnold hit lapped traffic with just three laps remaining, that’s when things got interesting. Ball and Dible would race Arnold side-by-side until Dible drove off the high side of turns three and four. Arnold would pull away for the win with Ball, Dymond, Paul Brown Jr. and Kent Brewer rounding out the top five.

Attica Raceway Park (08-30-08)
Baumman Auto Group/Aaron Sales and Lease/Ohio CAT night

O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions

Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 24H-Rob Chaney, 11.977; 2. 59-Lee Jacobs, 11.988; 3. 20E-Brian Ellenberger, 12.031; 4. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.034; 5. 83A-Tim Shaffer, 12.097; 6. 2L-Ed Lynch, 12.122; 7. 30C-Lance Dewease, 12.123; 8. 22-Cole Duncan, 12.147; 9. 75-Dean Jacobs, 12.159; 10. 11M-Brandon Martin, 12.176; 11. 10-Dave Harrison, 12.180; 12. X-Mark Keegan, 12.221; 13. 15C-Chris Andrews, 12.223; 14. 91-Tyler Walker, 12.225; 15. 16X-Bryan Sebetto, 12.232; 16. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.255; 17. 7K-Blake Feese, 12.265; 18. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.270; 19. 6-Mike Dussell, 12.282; 20. 312-Mike Linder, 12.363; 21. 18-Danny Smith, 12.375; 22. 56R-Ryan Myers, 12.397; 23. O-Brandon Wimmer, 12.399; 24. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.412; 25. 11B-Brock Mayes, 12.444; 26. 27-Scott Euler, 12.446; 27. 1X-Randy Hannagan, 12.446; 28. 6X-Todd Kane, 12.450; 29. 84-Jimmy Stinson, 12.460; 30. O2-Brian Smith, 12.464; 31. 4M-Jamie Miller, 12.472; 32. 16-Lee Stark, 12.497; 33. 7M-Mark Smith, 12.508; 34. O4-Cap Henry, 12.623; 35. 75H-Mike Hogan, 12.719; 36. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.733; 37. 98-Bruce Robenalt, 12.758; 38. 55-John Ivy, 12.874; 39. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 12.891; 40. 22X-Josh Davis, 12.912; 41. 15-A.J. Sleek, 12.937; 42. 28-Hud Horton, 13.010; 43. 4K-Kody Kinser, 13.026; 44. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.119; 45. 10S-Roger Shammo, 13.272; 46. 5B-Chad Blonde,NT ; 47. 47-Caleb Helms,NT

Heat 1 – All Pro Heads (10 laps, top 5 transfer to A-Main)
1. 18-Danny Smith; 2. 7K-Blake Feese; 3. 24H-Rob Chaney; 4. 15C-Chris Andrews; 5. 7M-Mark Smith; 6. 83A-Tim Shaffer; 7. 11B-Brock Mayes; 8. 84-Jimmy Stinson; 9. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 10. 10S-Roger Shammo; 11. 15-A.J. Sleek

Heat 2 – Engler Machine & Tool (10 laps, top 5 transfer to A-Main)
1. 91-Tyler Walker; 2. 2L-Ed Lynch; 3. 11M-Brandon Martin; 4. W20-Greg Wilson; 5. 59-Lee Jacobs; 6. 56R-Ryan Myers; 7. 55-John Ivy; 8. O4-Cap Henry; 9. 27-Scott Euler; 10. 28-Hud Horton; 11. O2-Brian Smith

Heat 3 – Hoosier Tire (10 laps, top 5 transfer to A-Main)
1. 6-Mike Dussell; 2. 10-Dave Harrison; 3. O-Brandon Wimmer; 4. 1X-Randy Hannagan; 5. 20E-Brian Ellenberger; 6. 30C-Lance Dewease; 7. 75H-Mike Hogan; 8. 4M-Jamie Miller; 9. 47-Caleb Helms; 10. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 11. 16X-Bryan Sebetto; 12. 4K-Kody Kinser

Heat 4 – Hank’s Performance Products (10 laps, top 5 transfer to A-Main)
1. 60-Jody Keegan; 2. 2-Dale Blaney; 3. 312-Mike Linder; 4. 5R-Byron Reed; 5. 6X-Todd Kane; 6. X-Mark Keegan; 7. 16-Lee Stark; 8. 22X-Josh Davis; 9. 14H-Todd Heller; 10. 22-Cole Duncan; 11. 5T-Travis Philo

Dash – O’Reilly Auto Parts (6 laps)
1. 15C-Chris Andrews; 2. 11M-Brandon Martin; 3. 2-Dale Blaney; 4. 24H-Rob Chaney; 5. 59-Lee Jacobs; 6. 20E-Brian Ellenberger

C-Main – Outerwears Racing Accessories (10 laps, top 2 transfer to B-Main)
1. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 2. 15-A.J. Sleek; 3. 14H-Todd Heller; 4. 4K-Kody Kinser; 5. 28-Hud Horton; 6. 22X-Josh Davis; 7. 10S-Roger Shammo

B-Main – University of Northwestern Ohio (12 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 30C-Lance Dewease; 2. 83A-Tim Shaffer; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes; 4. X-Mark Keegan; 5. 55-John Ivy; 6. 75-Dean Jacobs; 7. 27-Scott Euler; 8. O2-Brian Smith; 9. 22-Cole Duncan; 10. O4-Cap Henry; 11. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 12. 16-Lee Stark; 13. 5T-Travis Philo; 14. 15-A.J. Sleek; 15. 4M-Jamie Miller; 16. 56R-Ryan Myers; 17. 84-Jimmy Stinson; 18. 11N-Ed Neumeister

A-Main – MSD Ignition Starting Position [#]
1. 2-Dale Blaney[3]; 2. 59-Lee Jacobs[5]; 3. 83A-Tim Shaffer[11]; 4. 24H-Rob Chaney[2]; 5. 30C-Lance Dewease[12]; 6. 11M-Brandon Martin[1]; 7. 5R-Byron Reed[10]; 8. 10-Dave Harrison[7]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson[15]; 10. 2L-Ed Lynch[6]; 11. X-Mark Keegan[13]; 12. 20E-Brian Ellenberger[4]; 13. 1X-Randy Hannagan[22]; 14. 18-Danny Smith[18]; 15. 6-Mike Dussell[16]; 16. 11B-Brock Mayes[21]; 17. 15C-Chris Andrews[8]; 18. 7K-Blake Feese[14]; 19. O-Brandon Wimmer[19]; 20. 60-Jody Keegan[20]; 21. 91-Tyler Walker[9]; 22. 6X-Todd Kane[23]; 23. 7M-Mark Smith[24]; 24. 312-Mike Linder[17]Service Drive Solutions UMP Attica Late Models

Heat 1 – Tin Lizzy Collision (8 laps)
1. 15B-Mike Bores; 2. 1-Jim Fleming; 3. 50-Ryan Missler; 4. 84-Tim Sabo; 5. 18-Jamie Reed; 6. 45-Mike Marteney; 7. 12-Michael Stiltner; 8. 83-Noah Wagner (R)

Heat 2 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 laps)
1. 3R-Chuck Rolle (R); 2. 5H-Ernie Haynes; 3. 12H-Jeff McCoy; 4. 99-Steve Sabo; 5. 77C-Jim Gingery; 6. 48-John Bores; 7. 12C-Mike Stiltner Sr.

A-Main Starting Position [#]
1. 50-Ryan Missler[2]; 2. 99-Steve Sabo[1]; 3. 5H-Ernie Haynes[7]; 4. 12H-Jeff McCoy[4]; 5. 18-Jamie Reed[9]; 6. 12-Michael Stiltner[13]; 7. 45-Mike Marteney[11]; 8. 48-John Bores[12]; 9. 12C-Mike Stiltner Sr.[14]; 10. 77C-Jim Gingery[10]; 11. 15B-Mike Bores[6]; 12. 1-Jim Fleming[5]; 13. 83-Noah Wagner (R)[15]; 14. 3R-Chuck Rolle (R)[8]; 15. 84-Tim Sabo[3]
Dirt Trucks

Heat 1 – Tin Lizzy Collision (8 laps, top 10 transfer to A-Main)
1. 17-Bob Dible; 2. 33-Brian Arnold; 3. O1-Art Ball; 4. 88-Dave Brewer; 5. 32H-Dan Hennig; 6. 84-Russ Stahl; 7. 62-Dave Severs; 8. 8K-Kent Brewer

Heat 2 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 laps, top 10 transfer to A-Main)
1. P51-Paul Brown Jr.; 2. 8-Steve Endicott; 3. 1-Paul Dymond; 4. 91-Roger Inks; 5. O7-Greg Harmon; 6. 71-Craig Holland; 7. 4X-Brian Sorg; 8. 4J-Josh Lozano

A-Main Starting Position [#]
1. 33-Brian Arnold[2]; 2. O1-Art Ball[4]; 3. 1-Paul Dymond[1]; 4. P51-Paul Brown Jr.[6]; 5. 8K-Kent Brewer[11]; 6. 32H-Dan Hennig[5]; 7. 88-Dave Brewer[3]; 8. 17-Bob Dible[8]; 9. 4X-Brian Sorg[14]; 10. O7-Greg Harmon[10]; 11. 91-Roger Inks[13]; 12. 62-Dave Severs[9]; 13. 71-Craig Holland[12]; 14. 84-Russ Stahl[7]