Foos brothers sweep sprint car wins at Attica

Saturday, July 10, 2021

By Brian Liskai

ATTICA, Ohio – It was good to be a Foos at Attica Raceway Park Friday, July 9. Brothers DJ, aboard a 410 sprint, and Matt, driving a 305 sprint, won the feature events on Steinle Chevrolet Buick/Croghan Colonial Bank Night at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speed plant. Both did it in exciting fashion as they held off serious challenges late in their respective features.

For DJ, it marked his second win of the season at Attica and fifth overall feature win of 2021 as he owns three victories at Fremont Speedway as well. It marked his fourth career win in the Callie’s Performance Products 410 Sprints at the track. Matt scored his first win in the Fremont Fence 305 Sprints, the third of his career.

DJ had a spirited battle early with Byron Reed and Chris Andrews before assuming the lead on lap 14. A caution with five laps to go put Jacobs right on Foos’ rear bumper and the final five laps Jacobs raced under Foos to challenge but Foos was able to slam the door and take the victory. The win also pads Foos’ lead in the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products 410 Attica Fremont Championship Series Presented by the Baumann Auto Group.

“Truthfully I looked up at the board…I look at the board a lot. I saw we had 7 laps to go and said to myself ‘put seven good laps together’ then we got the yellow and I saw Trey (Jacobs) was in second and I knew where he was going to be. So I had to protect my line…I let him just enough room he could still make the corner. Last week I feel like I really missed out on one and I wasn’t going to let that happen to my guys. We have a lot of momentum right now. Our car is really really good. Mikey Sommers, Doug Berryman, Rod and Rollie Burmeister, Lee Sommers….they all do such a really good job on this car,” said DJ beside his CR Juices, Crown Battery, All in Tent Rentals, Dave Story Equipment, Burmeister Trophy, Sonny’s Signs, Vantage Branding, The Jet Express, Berryman Racing Shocks, Kistler Engines, Kistler Racing Products backed machine.

Matt steadily worked his way from his 12^th starting spot, waiting until the last three laps before taking the lead and held off Jamie Miller for the 305 victory. The win also moves Foos closer to leader Paul Weaver in the NAPA of Bryan 305 AFCS Presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales.

“It’s good to have my dad back working with us. We’ve been steady most of the year. I just haven’t qualified well and that put us behind. Tonight it was the same thing. But the car was just so good. I knew once we got to third we had something for them,” said Matt beside his Fremont Fence, Mitten Painting, 818 Club, Level Performance, Kear’s Speed Shop, Rohr Total Lawn Care, Speedshark Graphics, FK Rod Ends backed #12.

McClure, Ohio’s Rusty Schlenk had an early race battle with Matt Irey and then held off a charging Mike Bores to score his second Dirt Nerds Podcast/Propane.com UMP Late Model win of the season at Attica. It was his 30^th career victory at the track and puts him atop the division’s all-time win list.

“I had my hands full there. We went hard on the right rear tire and we tightened up there a little bit expecting it to be slick and we went way too much. It was a hand full…way too tight. It was all I could do to get it to steer. We had a good starting spot and we had a good clean race there with Irey. He got caught up in that wreck but I think it would have been fun for the fans if we could have battled that one out,” said Schlenk beside his Buckeye Concrete, VP Fuel, Tom Finch Auto, Bilstein Shocks, Landrum Springs, Dominator Race Products backed #91.

Byron Reed and Chris Andrews brought the field to green for the $4,000 Spanky’s Pizza 410 sprint A-main with Reed grabbing the lead over Andrews, Foos, Tyler Gunn, Cole Macedo, Travis Philo and Trey Jacobs. Things heated up quickly as Reed and Andrews raced side by side for the lead until a caution flew with four laps in. On the restart Andrews rocked to the outside of Reed and took the lead on lap six.

Andrews and Reed raced side by side over the next hand full of laps with Foos joining the fun on lap 11. Fourth running Macedo, who came into the night leading Attica’s points, took a spill on lap 12.On the restart Andrews had his hands full with Foos and Reed as Jacobs ran fourth. Foos took the lead on lap 14 and began to pull away while Andrews and Reed battled for second.

Lapped traffic came into play with seven laps to go with Foos in the lead while Andrews, Reed and Jacobs put on a show while battling for second. Andrews night came to an end with five laps to go as he jumped over the turn two banking and came to a rest. On the restart Jacobs quickly showed Foos he had to work for the win. The two ran side by side the remaining three laps with Foos taking the win. Jacobs’ second place finish more than likely vaulted him into the Attica points lead with Reed, Philo and Craig Mintz rounding out the top five.

Schlenk and Irey brought the field to green for the 25 lap late model A-main but a multi-car pile-up brought about another complete start. Schlenk jumped into the lead over Mike Bores and Irey. A couple of cautions over the next three laps kept the field close with Schlenk and Irey waging a terrific battle for he lead while JR Gentry, Bores and Devin Shiels stalked.

Schlenk and Irey ran side by side and nose to tail until a caution flew on lap 16 when a lapped car spun right in front of the leads, collecting Irey who had extensive body damage though he was able to continue. When the green flew Schlenk pulled away as Gentry and Bores moved into second and third four laps later.

Schlenk was unable to shake Gentry and Bores as they stayed close. Bores moved into second with two laps to go and closed on Schlenk. Schlenk hits his marks and held on to the win over Bores, Gentry, Shiels and Ryan Markham.

Brandon Riehl and Dustin Stroup paced the field for the 25 lap 305 sprint A-main with Riehl gaining the initial advantage over Stroup, Jamie Miller, Seth Schneider and Shawn Valenti. Stroup took the top spot on lap two with Miller driving into the lead a lap later. Miller and Stroup ran side by side over the next handful of laps with Stroup taking the lead back on lap eight followed by Miller back to the point a circuit later.

Following the only caution flying on lap 11, the running order was Miller, Stroup, Schneider, Valenti, Riehl, Luke Griffith and Foos. Foos was the car on the move, as he drove from seventh to fourth in just two laps when the green flew. Foos moved into third on lap 14 and quickly challenged Stroup for the runner-up spot while Miller maintained his lead.

Foos drove into second on lap 17 and began to close quickly on Miller. As they drove into lapped traffic with four laps to go, Foos used it to his advantage and took the lead on lap 23. Miller would mount one last challenge but had to settle for second as Foos took the checkers. Schneider, Stroup and Larry Kingseed rounded out the top five.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Tuesday, July 13 for the Ohio Logistics Brad Doty Classic Presented by Racing Optics featuring the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series.

Continue reading

Philo holds off Foos for thriller 410 win at Attica; Missler gets late model victory; Stroup earns 305 win

Saturday, July 3, 2021

By Brian Liskai

ATTICA, Ohio – Late race cautions fell perfectly for Travis Philo Friday, July 2 at Attica Raceway Park. The Waterville, Ohio resident then executed perfect restarts and held off a hard charger DJ Foos for a thrilling 410 sprints feature win on Smith Family Foods/Sutton Bank/Burns Electric Night Presented by Integrity Auto and Truck Sales of Bucyrus.

Philo and Foos battled in very close quarters the final seven laps with Philo earning his seventh career win at “Ohio Finest Racing” speed plant.

“I knew I had to do something different each time (on restarts). I actually got that one where I took off really early  from DJ…I saw him do that one night and I couldn’t believe they let it go so I was like I might as well try it. We’ve been struggling a little bit lately with some issues. Kind of lucked out starting on the front row. That was really fun battling with DJ. It had to be a heck of a race for you fans. I have to thank my dad…I wouldn’t be here without him. He busts his ass every day in the shop for us. Thanks Jim Roby and all our sponsors…Control Design Solutions, Tire Slick, Banshee Graphics, Bohmer Rentals, Berryman Racing Shocks, Kistler Engines…Paul Kistler has been helping us out lately trying to resolve our issues and it paid off tonight,” said Philo.

Bellevue, Ohio’s Ryan Missler, a five time Attica track champion, took the lead in the UMP Late Model feature on lap six and survived several cautions to get his 15^th career win at Attica, moving him into fourth on the all-time win list for the division.

“I learned all you have to do is cream the wall at Eldora and your car gets faster. It felt really good tonight. You learn some stuff when you go racing at other places. I just been trying to use common sense and trying different things and not doing the cookie-cutter thing that everybody tells you to do. I have to thank everyone for coming out on fan appreciation night….this is a hell of a crowd. I have to thank my father-in-law…he’s my crew guy and he’s limping and in a boot because he tore his calf. Thanks to my wife and my whole crew….Dan, Devin and my kids,” said Missler beside his Golden Giant Building Systems; Big D’s Pizza, MGX Technologies, Kepling Flooring, Handy Grafix, Rich Farmers’ Napa group; Schuder Technologies; York Fabrication; T-Town Lawn Care; Terry McConnell Excavating; NAPA of Bryan; SCS Gearbox, Keizer Wheels, Missler’s Sweets, Accu-Force backed #50.

Fremont, Ohio’s Dustin Stroup tangled with Paul Weaver at the start of the Fremont Fence 305 Sprint A-main but was able to keep going while Weaver took a tumble. Stroup then led all 25 laps but it wasn’t easy as Matt Foos put up a great fight, actually pulling inside of Stroup on the final lap. Stroup was able to get by a lapped car which stopped Foos’ advance as Stroup scored his fifth career Attica win.

“First I want to apology to Paul Weaver on the start of that race. I messed up. I just went into turn one and didn’t lift. Thought I would have had him cleared….well I wasn’t clear and that’s 100 percent my fault. I heard Matt there the last couple of laps and I could see him and the car kind of faded away on the top and I was missing my marks and starting to get in my head. I seen an opportunity with that lapped car to kind of block him and it paid off,” said Stroup beside his Automatic Fire Protection; MLP Lawncare & Snow Removal; Vantage Branding; Sulfer Town Pub, Level Performance; Advance Auto Parts backed #10X.

At the drop of the green for the 30-lap Callie’s Performance Products 410 Sprint A-main, Philo and Foos immediately began their battle as Duane Zablocki, Byron Reed, Kyle Capodice and Cap Henry gave chase. Lapped traffic quickly came into play by lap nine with Philo holding a narrow advantage over Foos with Reed, Henry and a charging Caleb Griffith in tow.

A caution on lap 13 for Henry who made hard contact with a lapped car kept the field close. Then on the restart fifth place running Cole Macedo had his rear wing posts fail bringing out another caution. Philo got an excellent restart and put a little breathing room between himself and Foos.

Just as Foos drove to Philo’s outside exciting turn two on lap 18, a caution flew. Again Philo had another great restart and pulled away slightly from Foos who lost second for a lap to Reed. Once back into second Foos hunted down Philo and again the pair battled side by side for the lead until a caution with six laps to go.

This time on the restart Foos stayed with Philo but a debris caution with five laps to go forced Philo into another excellent restart. Foos gave a couple of looks to Philo’s outside the remaining five laps but Philo held his lane and took the win over Foos, Chris Andrews who hard charged from 20^th, Reed and Griffith.

Mike Bores grabbed the early lead of the Dirt Nerds Podcast/Propane.com UMP Late Model A with Missler, Tyler Thompson, Ryan Markham and Devin Shiels giving chase. Three cautions marred the first eight laps of the feature but Missler drove around Bores into the top spot on lap six.

A couple of cautions at the half-way point kept the field close but Missler and Bores pulled away from a tremendous battle for third between Markham, Shiels and Matt Irey. One final caution for debris with just four laps to go wasn’t enough for the rest of the field as Missler drove away for the victory over Bores, Irey, Shiels and Markham.

At the start of the Fremont Fence 25-lap 305 sprint A-main, contact between the front row of Stroup and Weaver ended with Weaver taking a tumble. Once the green flew again Stroup jumped into the lead over Matt Foos, Mike Keegan and Shawn Valenti. Only caution flew on lap nine, keeping the field close.

Once the race resumed Stroup was able to pull away from Foos as now Tyler Shullick was on the move, taking third. With seven laps to go Foos was fighting off Shullick as Stroup had to deal with lapped traffic. When the white flag flew Foos stuck a bumper under Stroup who then made a daring move exiting turn two to put a lapped car between himself and Foos. Shullick, Jamie Miller and Valenti rounded out the top five.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, 9 on Croghan Colonial Bank/Steinle Chevrolet-Buick In Clyde Night featuring the All-Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products 410 Attica Fremont Championship Series Presented by the Baumann Auto Group, the late models and the Napa of Bryan 305 AFCS Presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales.

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.

Continue reading