Wilson Backs Up Prediction With All Star Win
By Brian Liskai: ATTICA, Ohio (Saturday, April 15, 2006) – Greg Wilson made a prediction from victory lane after winning the All Star Circuit of Champions dash Saturday on the second night of the Coors Light Spring Nationals at Attica Raceway Park: “I’ll be back up here in a little while.”
Wilson made good on that promise to claim the 40 lap feature win, his first for new owner Verl Warnimont. The win moved the Benton Ridge, Ohio driver into the All Star point lead.
“We always run good at Attica. To accomplish this first win for Verl in front of this huge crowd is just awesome,” said Wilson beside his All Star Plumbing and Heating sponsored w20. “I found a good line, high around one and two and low around three and four and my crew just gave me an easy car to drive. It was just a matter of saving the tires and not slipping off the
edge.”
Wilson dedicated the victory to fellow All Star competitor Danny Smith, whose wife succomed to cancer earlier in the day.
“This is such a sad day for our racing family. Danny is a great guy and our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family,” said Wilson.
The 35 drivers signing into the pits on the second night of racing at Attica saw a much different surface. The heavy cushion gave way to a smooth, slick, racey surface that saw three grooves of racing.
Stevie Smith jumped into the lead from his pole starting spot in the feature and built a commanding lead over Brock Mayes and Wilson and battled back and forth.Catastrophe struck Smith on lap 18, as he made contact with a lapped machine in turn two and spun, sending him to the tail. At last year’s Spring Nationals, Smith encountered the exact same situation late in the race, when contact with a lapped car gave the win to Danny Smith.
On the restart, Wilson had two lapped cars between he and second place Mayes, with fast qualifier Kevin Huntley in third, followed by Byron Reed, Butch Schroeder, Mark Keegan, Mike Linder and Craig Mintz.
While Wilson cruised to a commanding lead positions third through eighth changed every lap.
At the half way mark, Wilson led over Mayes, Huntley, Schroeder, Keegan and Reed. On lap 28, Huntley and Mayes waged the battle for second. The second and last caution of the feature would fly on lap 31 for a spinning Reed. On the restart Wilso would have a three lap car advantage over Mayes, Huntley, Keegan, Mintz, Linder, and now a fast closing Dale Blaney who had started 14th.
With five laps to go, all eyes were on Smith, who had steadily worked his way from the tail after his spin to seventh. With three laps to go, Wilson was cruising, and Blaney had moved into second, with Mayes third, Linder fourth and now Smith into fifth. Smith used the very bottom of the track in turns three and four to move around Linder the next lap by and went to the high side around Mayes in turns one and two to take third.
Wilson held a five car length advantage at the checkered, with Blaney, Smith, Linder, Mayes, Mintz, Huntley, Keegan, Schroeder, and Bryan Scott rounding out the top 10.
“We had a good weekend for the first time out this year…a second and a fifth,” said Blaney beside his George Fisher #2. “It was just a matter of being patient and staying in your groove.”
Smith was upset with himself after tangling with the lapped machine.
“I was too worried about where Greg was running and not concentrating on where I needed to be. After I spun, I just had to calm down…I knew I had a good car. I just went back to the line I should have been running and started picking them off. My hat’s off to Greg, he ran a good race.”
In the 305 sprint main, front row starters Paul Weaver and Bobby Foster made contact exiting turn two on the start, sending Foster into the infield with a broken front end. Weaver then cut his way through lapped traffic to pick up his second straight win at Attica.
“It’s easy when you start up front. This is a great way to start the season…hopefully there will be many more of these,” said Weaver beside his M&L Excavating, Levell Performance sponsored #1w.
Behind Weaver at the checkered was 2005 Attica track champion Jamie Miller, up from his 12th starting spot, Chris Andrews, Kevin Lee, Bryan Sebetto, Scott Kraylek, Andy Shammo (up from 18th), Chris Lang, Craig Kays (up from 19th) and Stuart Brubaker who flipped on the opening lap, made repairs in time to rejoin the tail and come from the back of the pack.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action on Friday, April 21, as Underground Utilities Inc. sponsors the night’s racing with the 410 sprints, 305 sprints and the limited late models who will be running for $1,000 to win.
Attica Raceway Park
AllStar Circuit of Champions
Qualifying – Huggins Cams
1. 70-Kevin Huntley, 12.905; 2. 5R-Bryon Reed, 13.005; 3. K-Andrew Palker, 13.050; 4. 3L-Mike Linder, 13.282; 5. 7K-Butch Schroeder, 13.339; 6. X-Mark Keegan, 13.404; 7. 8S-Craig Mintz, 13.419; 8. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.522; 9. 8C-Bobby Clark, 13.635; 10. 11B-Brock Mayes, 13.656; 11. 4N-Niel Shepard, 13.753; 12. 19-Stevie Smith, 13.826; 13. 84-Jimmy Stinson, 13.849; 14. 37Z-Brian Scott, 13.986; 15. 16-Lee Jacobs, 13.999; 16. 2-Dale Blaney, 14.051; 17. 10-David Harrison, 14.056; 18. 78-Todd Kane, 14.085; 19. F1-Jon Finsel, 14.095; 20. 25M-Ken Mackey, 14.119; 21. 55-John Ivy, 14.142; 22. 14H-Todd Heller, 14.274; 23. 2X-Ryan Coniam, 14.287; 24. 5B-Chad Blonde, 14.430; 25. 71M-Paul May, 14.486; 26. 11M-Brandon Martin, 14.516; 27. 12M-James Mosher, 14.813; 28. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 14.840; 29. 10S-Roger Shammo, 14.971; 30. 55C-Joe Cheeseman, 15.345; 31. 2G-Caleb Griffith, 15.390; 32. 63-Barry Ruble, 15.595; 33. 98-Bruce Robenalt, 15.622; 34. 23-Jon Trudeau, 15.664; 35. 48B-Bill Shaw, NT
Heat 1 – Outerwears (top 5 to A)
1. 10-David Harrison; 2. 71M-Paul May; 3. 7K-Butch Schroeder; 4. 55-John Ivy; 5. 84-Jimmy Stinson; 6. 70-Kevin Huntley; 7. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 8. 10S-Roger Shammo; 9. 8C-Bobby Clark
Heat 2 – B&B Oval Track Products (top 5 to A)
1. 78-Todd Kane; 2. 37Z-Brian Scott; 3. 14H-Todd Heller; 4. 11B-Brock Mayes; 5. 5R-Bryon Reed; 6. X-Mark Keegan; 7. 23-Jon Trudeau; 8. 11M-Brandon Martin; 9. 55C-Joe Cheeseman
Heat 3 – Engler Machine & Tool (top 5 to A)
1. 2X-Ryan Coniam; 2. 16-Lee Jacobs; 3. 4N-Niel Shepard; 4. 2G-Caleb Griffith; 5. 12M-James Mosher; 6. 8S-Craig Mintz; 7. F1-Jon Finsel; 8. 48B-Bill Shaw; 9. K-Andrew Palker
Heat 4 – TP Wings (top 5 to A)
1. 5B-Chad Blonde; 2. 19-Stevie Smith; 3. 2-Dale Blaney; 4. W20-Greg Wilson; 5. 25M-Ken Mackey; 6. 3L-Mike Linder; 7. 63-Barry Ruble; 8. 11N-Ed Neumeister
Dash – Haulmark
1. W20-Greg Wilson; 2. 7K-Butch Schroeder; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes; 4. 4N-Niel Shepard; 5. 5R-Bryon Reed; 6. 2-Dale Blaney
B-main – University of Northwest Ohio (top 4 to A)
1. 70-Kevin Huntley; 2. 3L-Mike Linder; 3. X-Mark Keegan; 4. 8S-Craig Mintz; 5. K-Andrew Palker; 6. 8C-Bobby Clark; 7. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 8. 10S-Roger Shammo; 9. 11M-Brandon Martin; 10. F1-Jon Finsel; 11. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 12. 55C-Joe Cheeseman; 13. 63-Barry Ruble; 14. 23-Jon Trudeau
A-main (40 laps) – MSD Ignition Starting Position []
1. W20-Greg Wilson[4]; 2. 2-Dale Blaney[14]; 3. 19-Stevie Smith[1]; 4. 3L-Mike Linder[8]; 5. 11B-Brock Mayes[3]; 6. 8S-Craig Mintz[10]; 7. 70-Kevin Huntley[7]; 8. X-Mark Keegan[9]; 9. 7K-Butch Schroeder[5]; 10. 37Z-Brian Scott[12]; 11. 55-John Ivy[18]; 12. 78-Todd Kane[16]; 13. 71M-Paul May[22]; 14. 5B-Chad Blonde[21]; 15. 14H-Todd Heller[19]; 16. 5R-Bryon Reed[6]; 17. 4N-Niel Shepard[2]; 18. 2X-Ryan Coniam[20]; 19. 10-David Harrison[15]; 20. 12M-James Mosher[23]; 21. 16-Lee Jacobs[13]; 22. 25M-Ken Mackey[17]; 23. 84-Jimmy Stinson[11]; 24. 2G-Caleb Griffith[24]
305 Sprints
Heat 1 – Budweiser (top 4 to A)
1. 3J-Bobby Foster; 2. O1-Bryan Sebetto; 3. 55S-Benny Bowman; 4. 25P-Mark Pridemore; 5. 34-Mark Whaley; 6. 9-Craig Kays; 7. 11-Shawn Colvin; 8. 18C-Jason Crispen; 9. 28J-Jimmie Phelps; 10. 5-Dustin Dinan;
Heat 2 – Advanced Limo of Tiffin (top 4 to A)
1. 15C-Chris Andrews; 2. 21-Scott Kraylek; 3. O2-Kevin Lee; 4. 18-Todd Heuerman; 5. 62C-Bob Dawson; 6. 65-Mark Lang; 7. 33-Jed Prater; 8. 17X-Dustin Keegan; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 10. 31-Chad Gullett;
Heat 3 – Bell Helemts (top 4 to A)
1. 4M-Jamie Miller; 2. 55B-Brad Bowman; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker; 4. 49-Coty Runion; 5. 48S-Andy Shammo; 6. O7-Scott Mominee; 7. 7-Matt Ferrel; 8. 19R-Steve Rando; 9. 5T-Jim Taddeo; 10. 15H-Mitchell Harble;
Heat 4 – Griff’s Engines (top 4 to A)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver; 2. 71-Bill Kraylek; 3. 29-Chris Lang; 4. 22D-Dan Hammond; 5. 27-Jeremy Durst; 6. 3X-Greg Summit; 7. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath; 8. OO-Jay Kiser; 9. 1J-Jeremy Shambaugh;
B-main 1 (top 2 to A)
1. 34-Mark Whaley; 2. 9-Craig Kays; 3. 5-Dusin Dinan; 4. 62C-Bob Dawson; 5. 65-Mark Lang; 6. 33-Jed Prater; 7. 11-Shawn Colvin; 8. 17X-Dustin Keegan; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 10. 31-Chad Gullett; 11. 18C-Jason Crispen;
B-main 2 (top 2 to A)
1. 48S-Andy Shammo; 2. 27-Jeremy Durst; 3. O7-Scott Mominee; 4. 19R-Steve Rando; 5. 3X-Greg Summit; 6. 1J-Jeremy Shambaugh; 7. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath; 8. 5T-Jim Taddeo; 9. 7-Matt Ferrel; 10. 15H-Mitchell Harble; 11. OO-Jay Kiser;
A-main (25 laps) Starting Position []
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[2]; 2. 4M-Jamie Miller[12]; 3. 15C-Chris Andrews[7]; 4. O2-Kevin Lee[6]; 5. O1-Bryan Sebetto[10]; 6. 21-Scott Kraylek[8]; 7. 48S-Andy Shammo[18]; 8. 29-Chris Lang[3]; 9. 9-Craig Kays[19]; 10. 35-Stuart Brubaker[11]; 11. 71-Bill Kraylek[9]; 12. 55S-Benny Bowman[4]; 13. 27-Jeremy Durst[20]; 14. 34-Mark Whaley[17]; 15. 25P-Mark Pridemore[13]; 16. 49-Coty Runion[15]; 17. 22D-Dan Hammond[16]; 18. 3J-Bobby Foster[1]; 19. 55B-Brad Bowman[5]; 20. 18-Todd Hierman[14]
