Ian Madsen finally breaks through with All Star win to open speedweek at Attica

Friday, June 11, 2021

By Brian Liskai

ATTICA, Ohio – Coming into Friday night’s 39^th Annual Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek Presented by Hercules Tires event at Attica Raceway Park, Ian Madsen had finished second in FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champion Presented by Mobil 1 competition five times and just couldn’t get into victory lane. No more as the St. Mary’s New South Wales, Australia native took the lead on lap 14 and held off a charging Cory Eliason to score his first ever win at Attica on Ohio Laborers/Ohio CAT Night and it was worth $6,000.

“I’m kind of speechless right now. It’s been so long since I’ve won a race. It’s an incredible feeling. I cannot thank Sam McGhee Motorsports enough for giving me the opportunity this year. It just such a relief. I was kind of ride less there at the end of last year and those guys put a lot of belief in me to come out and win races this year. It’s been painfully close a couple of times. It’s just awesome to get the first one. I can’t thank my guys enough…Kevin, Payton and of course Sam McGhee, Kathy and Mike McGhee at home…I know they are watching and this one is for you guys,” said Madsen beside his XYZ Machining/Winters Performance Products/Champion Racing Oil/FK Rod Ends/Finer Cuts Lawn Care backed #11.

Eliason, from Visalia, California,  closed the final hand full of laps but just couldn’t catch Madsen and settled for second.

“We battled a stumble on the starts. It took about to turn one to get going. Our car was bad ass fast tonight and the track was beautiful. No matter how hard we try here this place eludes me but we get better every time we come here so I think we definitely had a great race car. I feel bad for the guys because we’ve battled this stumble the past couple of weekends. We’ve changed everything but the driver I think. We keep fighting and this is a great start to Ohio Speedweek,” said Eliason beside his Rudeen Racing/Rayce Rudeen Foundation/Hager Realty/Fatheadz Eyewear/Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts backed #26.

From mid-race on Skylar Gee from Leduc, Alberta, Canada was a force in the 40-lap affair and came home in a solid third place in his initial outing with the Mark Coldren Motorsports 07.

“Hats off to Dalton and Jimmy…they worked their asses off. Hats off to Mark for putting us out here and taking a chance on me. I had a little bit of a slow start to the year but this is the best I’ve ever gone around here. I felt like we had a car to win but I just quite couldn’t get close enough in traffic and yellow would come out. Wish we had another 10 laps,” said Gee beside his Water Treatment by Design/Industrial Controls/Three B Services/Vector Industries/HP Engines backed machine.

Defending and two-time Attica champion Devin Shiels has yet to finish out of the top six in 2021 though a win has eluded him. The Britton, Michigan driver drive around race-long leader Matt Irey on the last lap to score his first victory of the year in the Propane.com/Dirt Nerds Podcast UMP Lat Models. It was Shiels 10^th career victory at Attica.

“We’d get a run off the cushion in three and four and I had to use that high line. We’ve been changing stuff. We kind of threw a curve ball tonight…threw a new right front shock on. We were worried it wouldn’t work but it worked,” said Shiels beside his Magic Fountain Auto Wash, Rally’s Hamburgers, Dirt Nerds Podcast, Dundee Products, Banshee Graphics, Performance Machining #51.

Gee and Justin Peck brought the field to green for the 40-lap All Star A-main with Peck thundering into a big lead over Gee, Madsen, Lachlan McHugh, Cap Henry, Eliason, Cole Macedo and Chris Andrews.  Andrews brought out the caution with three laps in wiping out a 2.2 second lead for Peck. On the restart while battling for fifth Henry spun.

When the green reappeared Peck once again pulled away while Gee had his hands full battling Madsen who took second on lap eight as the leaders entered very heavy lapped traffic. Peck struggled to get around the lappers and Madsen closed. Peck and Madsen battled hard for the lead and made contact on lap 14 with Madsen assuming the lead as Peck came to a halt.

Now with a clear track Madsen executed a flawless restart to lead Eliason as Gee, Macedo and McHugh battled hard for third. Macedo took third on lap 19 just prior to a caution on lap 21. Again Madsen had a great restart to lead Eliason, Macedo, Gee, TJ Michael and McHugh. Another caution on lap 23 kept the field close but as he had done several times prior Madsen got an excellent restart as Eliason took a little while to gain momentum while Gee and Macedo battled for third.

McHugh brought out the final caution with 10 laps to go and this time when the green flew Eliason hung with Madsen. Madsen maintained the lead as Eliason searched for a way around while Gee, Macedo, Danny Dietrich, Michael and Tyler Courtney gave chase.

Madsen hit his marks perfectly and drove to the win over Eliason, Gee, Macedo and Courtney.

Tyler Thompson and Matt Irey brought the field to green for the 25 lap late model A-main with Irey grabbing the lead as Thompson, Casey Noonan, Dave Hornikel, Matt Potts and Rusty Schlenk gave chase. A rash of cautions slowed the pace early. Hornikel finally took second on lap six as Schlenk battled Thompson for third.

On lap 11 Schlenk tried a big move and he sailed off turn three at full throttle in a scary looking incident that left him going to the pits. On the restart Irey led Hornikel, Thompson and Shiels. Following a lap 18 caution Shiels moved into third and took second a lap later. A final caution set up a five lap shoot-out and Irey and Shiels put on a show running side by side. Shiels, who normally likes the bottom groove, used the cushion in turns three and four and shot into the lead on the final lap to score the win over Irey, Hornikel, Thompson and Justin Chance.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, 25 on Burns Electric/Baumann Auto Group/Advanced Drainage Systems Night. It will feature the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products 410 Attica Fremont Championship Series Presented by the Baumann Auto Group, the NAPA of Bryan 305 AFCS Presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales and the Oakshade Raceway/Attica Late Model Series Challenge.

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Reed gets last lap, last corner 410 win after 2 year drought at Attica

Friday, June 4, 2021

By Brian Liskai

ATTICA, Ohio – It was a veteran move by 48-year-old Byron Reed. Stalk the young driver and use lapped cars to make your move. Reed passed Cole Macedo in the last corner of the last lap to score his 43^rd career 410 sprint victory at Attica Raceway Park Friday on Edward Jones of Clyde/Mike Neill Financial Advisor Night presented by Integrity Car and Truck Sales. It was Reed’s first victory at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speed plant since 2019.

“In that situation it’s always better to be in second. There wasn’t many cars here tonight…usually in the feature lapped traffic comes into play but I really wasn’t sure with this few of cars. Right at the end there was just enough lapped traffic…it got to where the lapped cars were going good around the bottom. They were almost the same speed as I was running the top. I think he abandoned the top probably feeling the same way and he got kind of blocked a little bit and I went where he wasn’t,” said Reed of his Kistler Engines backed #5.

“This feels pretty good. I still feel like…I love Attica first of all…I still feel like I can do it here and at Fremont. I wish my mom and dad could have been here tonight but my son’s here and rest of my crew, Kurt and Kevin and Kent so that’s good,” added the track’s eight time champion.

Big picture for Macedo though, as he came into the night leading the Attica points and a second place run on Mid-Season Championship Night pads his lead. He also is in contention for the All-Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products 410 Attica Fremont Championship Series Presented by the Baumann Auto Group.

Wooster, Ohio’s Doug Drown needed a change of luck. So, he changed his late model’s number to 777, the number his grandfather and dad carried. It worked as the former Attica champion drove to his 29^th career late model victory.

“I never carried that family thing on and our season has been crap since Florida. It’s been a struggle. We bought this car off Matt Irey a couple of months ago and I have it for Charlie Duncan to drive and he said basically just go ahead and put 777 on it and maybe we’ll change our luck and sure enough it worked,” said Drown beside his Ely Road Reel, Joyride Transport, 89 Homes, ABR Farms, Wooster Glass, Malcuit Racing Engines backed machine.

“I really wasn’t pushing it too hard…I didn’t know how hard I could even push this thing. When we had that purple Swartz car we pretty much dominated here. We put that same set-up on this thing and obviously it got the job done. My guys worked their tails off because we actually didn’t decide to race this. I sold my Rocket on Wednesday and everybody had late nights on Thursday and today all day. So my Uncle Scott, Charlie, Danny, DJ Miller, my dad, Marvin…definitely happy for everyone that helps us,” added Drown.

Fremont, Ohio’s Jamie Miller knew he had a good car at the drop of the green flag for the Fremont Fence 305 Sprint feature. Miller, a two time Attica champion, charged from eighth to third on the opening lap utilizing the extreme high line and took the lead on lap three. Though five time track champion Paul Weaver drove from 11^th top second and closed the final two laps, Miller was too strong and scored his third victory of the season and the 30^th of his career at Attica.

“This thing was a rocket ship. To go from eighth to the lead in just a few laps…I could tell on the car as soon as I got on it that it squatted and went. We found a couple of things we kind of got away from last year and we’re kind of getting back that way and this car likes it. We will see what happens tomorrow at Fremont…we’re going to get the new car out and try it,” said Miller beside his Smitty’s Pizza, JLH General Contractor, Queen of Clean, Rohr Total Lawn Care, Sonic Hauling, Phil Rister, Sloopy’s Pizza, Reedtown Tavern, Crown Battery, Schreiner Farms, Roberts & Sons Contracting, Fostoria Mod Shop, Maxim Chassis, Keizer Wheels, Kenny Kalb Farms backed #26.

Miller’s win coupled with Weaver’s second place finish tightens up the battle for title of the NAPA of Bryan 305 AFCS Presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales. And with double points on the line, Miller pads his advantage in the track’s points as well.

Macedo and  Reed brought the field to green for the 30-lap Callie’s Performance Products 410 Sprint feature and Macedo established his domination early, pulling to a commanding lead over Reed, Craig Mintz, Chris Andrews and Kyle Capodice. Macedo’s lead was nearly three seconds when Andrews had a tire let go on lap 16. On the restart Macedo blasted the cushion and drove away once again from Reed, Mintz, Capodice and Stuart Brubaker.

With five laps to go Macedo encountered a pair of cars battling side by side at the rear of the field. It appeared Macedo was having some sort of mechanical issue and that allowed Reed to close. Coming to the checkers Reed got under Macedo and drove to the win. Mintz, Brubaker and Travis Phil rounded out the top five.

Drown and Devin Shiels paced the field for the 25-lap A for the Dirt Nerds Podcast/Propane.com UMP Late Models and the pair raced side by side the first give laps until a caution. That battle resumed once the green came back out and continued until another caution with 10 laps to go. On the restart Drown pulled away.

The battle for second was entertaining with Mike Bores wrestling away the spot from Shiels on lap 21. Irey and Rusty Schlenk rounded out the top five.

Luke Griffith and Tyler Shullick battled for the lead at the drop of the green for the 25-lap Fremont Fence 305 A-main but it was Miller who jumped to the track’s extreme high line and vaulted from eighth to third. Miller took second on lap two and drove around Griffith for the lead on lap three just prior to a caution.

On the restart Miller checked out while Dustin Stroup moved into second and Shullick grabbing third. A caution on lap 10 saw the running order of Miller, Stroup, Shullick, Mike Keegan and Seth Schneider. Back to back cautions on lap 16 and 17 prevented Miller from driving away from the field. One of the cautions was for second running Stroup. On the restart, Miller pulled away from Keegan with 11^th starter Weaver in third.

While Keegan and Weaver battled hard for second, Miller continued to hold a five car length advantage. Weaver finally took second with two laps to go and closed on Miller but ran out of time. Miller took the win over Weaver, Keegan, Schneider and Shullick.

Attica Raceway Park will kick off the Ohio Sprint Speedweek with the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions Presented by Mobil 1 on Friday, June 11. The UMP Late Models will also be in action. Should inclement weather hit, Attica will host the speedweek show on Sunday, June 13 (no late models).

Fans and race teams should visit 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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