Patience pays off for TJ Michael at Attica for 1st 410 win/Schlenk again in late models/Miller gets 3rd 305 win

Saturday, June 25, 2022

By Brian Liskai

ATTICA, Ohio – Patience paid off for TJ Michael Friday, June 24 at Attica Raceway Park. The Plano, Texas native led the first 15 laps of the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series presented by the Baumann Auto Group 410 A-main, lost it to Tyler Street, then used a restart with a hand full of laps remaining to his advantage and drove back out front to take his first ever Attica 410 win.

Michael, who admitted his team has struggled this season, credited the hard work of his two crew members, the support of his sponsors and a never-give-up attitude to propel him to the $4,000 pay day on Burns Electric/Metal Master Fabrication Night.

“It’s a lot more fun when you’re running up front and not in the back I can tell you that. I struggled trying to figure out where I needed to be on the race track. I felt okay…I really didn’t feel good at the beginning. Once Tyler got up…I thought he was a lot better than me there towards the middle of the race.  I started playing with my wing and moving around and I realized I had been running in the wrong part of the race track. We had a really good car,” said Michael beside his Advanced Cast Stone/Crown Battery/Fremont Fence/Pro-Tech Services/Viva Los Healthy/North Central Services/Kistler Engines backed #8M.

 “I have to thank everybody on this car. We’ve struggled all year and they’ve stuck around. And my guys, Jacob and Glenn. If you would have told me pulling into the gate tonight we had a chance to win I would have told you you were funny just the way we’ve been running. But you have to stay positive, gotta stay digging and hopefully we can come back tomorrow and repeat,” added Michael.

 McClure, Ohio’s Rusty Schlenk blasted into the lead of the Dirt Nerds Podcast/Propane.com UMP Late Model A-main on lap 10 and drove to his third victory of the season at Attica. It was the 34^th of his career in the division, leading all drivers. It hadn’t been a good week for Schlenk as he had transporter problems, blew a race engine and even busted his own teeth with a tire iron while racing with the UMP Summer Nationals.

 “That was a sketchy patch coming out of four…that one made the butt pucker a little bit. That was a fun race. I knew I was going to have to get up front early or  Devin (Shiels) would be gone. I took a chance and squeezed between the wall and the 50 car there early in the race and made it work and that let us get around Devin early and kind of get out there and cruise. I was kind of nervous starting sixty,” said Schlenk beside hisVelicita Fire Suits/VP Fuels/Dominator Race Products/ Bilstein Shocks/Lendrum Springs/Tom Finch Auto backed #91.

“We do this on a very, very small budget. We went out and tried running some Summer Nationals stuff this week and got our butt kicked. Broke the hauler, broke the motor…had all sorts of trouble. I broke my tooth…hit myself in the face with a tire iron…so it wasn’t a good week. It’s awesome to be back here. I love this place. It’s always racy…we don’t have too many tracks here in Ohio where we can get up and rip the cushion. It’s good to get up there and show the people what we’re made of,” added Schlenk.

Fremont, Ohio’s Jamie Miller held off challenges early from Larry Kingseed Jr. and a late race charge from Matt Foos to score his third Fremont Fence 305 sprint A-main win of the year at Attica. It’s his 34^th career 305 win at the track for the three time and defending division champion. It’s the fifth win overall for Miller in 2022 including a win at Fremont Speedway and Waynesfield Motorsports Park. The win also keeps him in the hunt for the NAPA of Bryan AFCS presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales title.

“It was loose the entire race. I just sucked it up and drove the hell out of it and hoped I could hang on up there. Not a whole lot of cushion left up there in the middle of three and four. We used up every bit that was there,” said Miller beside his Kenny Kalb Farms/JLH General Contractor/Roberts & Sons Contracting/Sonic Hauling/Queen of Clean/Sloppy’s Sports Café/Smitty’s Pizza/Crown Battery/Rohr Total Lawn Care/Schreinder Farms/Reedtown Tavern/Fostoria Mod Shop/Flooring Outlaw/Phil Rister/Carpenter Creative backed #26.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, July1 for Smith Family Foods/Sutton Bank Fan Appreciation Night. For just $10 general admission, fans will get to see 410 and 305 sprints and UMP late models and hot dogs are only $1 and pop corn is just 50 cents!

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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