Archive for Sprints
Rico Abreu takes Open Wheel Championships preliminary at Atomic Speedway
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Artic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
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Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
(724) 954-4915
altmeyer119@gmail.com
tyler@tonystewart.com
Rico Abreu takes Open Wheel Championships preliminary at Atomic Speedway
Open Wheel Championships continues Saturday with 10K-to-win finale
CHILLICOTHE, OH (August 25, 2017) - Withstanding persistent pressure from his summer landlord, “Smoke” Tony Stewart, St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu earned his place in Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory lane on Friday evening at Atomic Speedway, capturing the Open Wheel Championships preliminary victory worth $5,000 over a field of 46 entries. The Arctic Cat All Star triumph was the seventh of Abreu’s impressive career; his first-ever at the Atomic Speedway high banks.
“I just gotta thank my guys for getting this car right where it needed to be tonight,” Abreu explained, pilot of the Abreu Vineyards/Priority Aviation/Alpinestars/Rhino Wipes/No. 24. “Our car has been really close the last few weeks. We put ourselves in really good position tonight in relation to how the track was. I felt like we were really good right away. My guys have been clocking in a lot of work. It all pays off when you are standing up here with the trophy.”
Rico Abreu celebrates victory with friends and crew in Atomic Speedway victory lane - (Vince Vellella Photo)
On a surface narrowed by its abrasiveness, Abreu led all but one circuit of the 30-lap main event, swapping positions with Tony Stewart just after the pair reached traffic for the first time. Stewart worked by Abreu to officially lead lap 11, but after a side-by-side battle during the entire following circuit, it was Abreu who would lead lap 12. From that point forward, it was all Abreu at the front of the field, chased to the final checkers by Stewart, Cole Duncan, Lee Jacobs and Joey Saldana.
“I caught him sleeping as traffic started to get him backed up,” Tony Stewart said. “I saw where he went, so I went in a different spot and got a run on him. I just wasn’t fast enough to hold him off. He got through traffic tonight a lot better than I did. He was definitely the better car and driver.”
“He lets me stay at his house in the summertime, so I had to be pretty nice to him there,” Abreu laughed. “You have to give Tony a lot of respect. He is just as hungry as any of us out here racing.”
“I think he got himself a little too high when he got around me. That allowed me to get back below him,” Abreu continued. “I was able to get through the center a little bit better than him. I think it would have been a really good race even if it didn’t take rubber. Towards the end, I was starting to worry about my tires. At that point, all you can do is race and pray.”
Open Wheel Championships competition will continue on Saturday evening, August 26, with a second, full Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions program, this time awarding $10,000 to the main event winner; the final Arctic Cat All Star appearance at the Chillicothe high banks in 2017.
Atomic Speedway officials will open pit gates by 1:00pm. The Arctic Cat All Star drivers meeting will take shape at 5:20pm, with hot laps to follow at 6:00pm, sharp. Those seeking additional news and notes should visit Atomic Speedway live on the Web at www.atomicspeedway.net.
Contingency Awards/Results: Atomic Speedway- Friday, August 25, 2017:
3rd Annual Open Wheel Championships
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 46 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Chad Kemenah - 13.211 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Tim Shaffer - 13.058 seconds (2nd quick)
Ford Performance Heat #1: Ryan Smith
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Cole Duncan
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Shane Stewart
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Rico Abreu
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts C-Main: Caleb Armstrong
JE Pistons Dash #1: Tony Stewart
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Rico Abreu
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Spencer Bayston
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Cole Duncan (3rd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Dave Blaney (+8)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Joey Saldana
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Carson Macedo
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Chad Kemenah
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 71-Joey Saldana, 13.358; 2. 59-Ryan Smith, 13.523; 3. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.642; 4. 17-Caleb Helms, 13.671; 5. 78-Todd Kane, 13.723; 6. 7K-Cale Conley, 13.898; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 14.182; 8. 3-Dakota Jackson, 14.5; 9. 92-Sam Ashworth, 14.598; 10. 84-Brandon Hanks, 14.6; 11. 8M-TJ Michael, 14.653; 12. 27-Brad Lamberson, 21.488
Group (B)
1. 7W-Logan Wagner, 13.044; 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 13.058; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan, 13.219; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.489; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.563; 6. 4-Danny Smith, 13.71; 7. 4X-Jimmy Stinson, 13.822; 8. 59N-Bryan Nuckles, 13.907; 9. A67-Brandon Wimmer, 13.978; 10. 17b-Josh Baughman, 14.244; 11. 9C-Roger Campbell, 14.443; 12. 6J-Jarrett Gerber, 14.813
Group ( C )
1. 39-Spencer Bayston, 13.348; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo, 13.457; 3. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.549; 4. 51-John Garvin, 13.713; 5. 56R-Ryan Myers, 13.999; 6. 22D-Josh Davis, 14.181; 7. 33-Brent Matus, 14.194; 8. 71a-Ayrton Olsen, 14.205; 9. 35-Tyler Esh, 14.43; 10. 16-Dallas Hewitt, 14.609; 11. 95-Hunter Mackison, 14.898
Group (D)
1. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 13.508; 2. 71m-Dave Blaney, 13.809; 3. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 13.909; 4. 24-Rico Abreu, 14.048; 5. 13-Brandon Matus, 14.232; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 14.244; 7. 35R-Ronnie Blair, 14.37; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser, 14.441; 9. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 14.556; 10. 22B-Ryan Broughton, 14.669; 11. 40-Mark Imler, 15.105
Heat #1 - Group (A) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 59-Ryan Smith [3]; 2. 17-Caleb Helms [1]; 3. 91-Cale Thomas [2]; 4. 71-Joey Saldana [4]; 5. 1080-Jordan Mackison [7]; 6. 78-Todd Kane [5]; 7. 7K-Cale Conley [6]; 8. 92-Sam Ashworth [9]; 9. 84-Brandon Hanks [10]; 10. 8M-TJ Michael [11]; 11. 27-Brad Lamberson [12]; 12. 3-Dakota Jackson [8]
Heat #2 - Group (B) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 22C-Cole Duncan [2]; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs [1]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah [5]; 5. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [8]; 6. 7W-Logan Wagner [4]; 7. 4-Danny Smith [6]; 8. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [7]; 9. A67-Brandon Wimmer [9]; 10. 17B-Josh Baughman [10]; 11. 9C-Roger Campbell [11]; 12. 6J-Jarrett Gerber [12]
Heat #3 - Group ( C ) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 2. 51-John Garvin [1]; 3. 33-Brent Matus [7]; 4. 56R-Ryan Myers [5]; 5. 3G-Carson Macedo [3]; 6. 22D-Josh Davis [6]; 7. 39-Spencer Bayston [4]; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison [11]; 9. 16-Dallas Hewitt [10]; 10. 71A-Ayrton Olsen [8]; 11. 35-Tyler Esh [9]
Heat #4 - Group (D) (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 2. 2-Parker Price-Miller [2]; 3. 33M-Max Stambaugh [4]; 4. 71M-Dave Blaney [3]; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler [6]; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [9]; 7. 22B-Ryan Broughton [10]; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser [8]; 9. 35R-Ronnie Blair [7]; 10. 40-Mark Imler [11]; 11. 13-Brandon Matus [5]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs [1]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [5]; 4. 2-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 5. 59-Ryan Smith [4]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 2. 71-Joey Saldana [4]; 3. 17-Caleb Helms [3]; 4. 51-John Garvin [1]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [5]
C-Main (10 Laps) - Top 2 Transfer
1. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [3]; 2. 95-Hunter Mackison [10]; 3. 16-Dallas Hewitt [6]; 4. 84-Brandon Hanks [5]; 5. 92-Sam Ashworth [4]; 6. 9C-Roger Campbell [1]; 7. 3-Dakota Jackson [2]; 8. 27-Brad Lamberson [12]; 9. 8M-TJ Michael [7]; 10. 40-Mark Imler [11]; 11. 6J-Jarrett Gerber [9]
B-Main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 39-Spencer Bayston [2]; 2. 7W-Logan Wagner [1]; 3. 78-Todd Kane [4]; 4. 4-Danny Smith [3]; 5. A67-Brandon Wimmer [7]; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [15]; 7. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [5]; 8. 7K-Cale Conley [6]; 9. 22D-Josh Davis [8]; 10. 35R-Ronnie Blair [12]; 11. 71A-Ayrton Olsen [9]; 12. 17B-Josh Baughman [11]; 13. 35-Tyler Esh [13]; 14. 13-Brandon Matus [10]; 15. 95-Hunter Mackison [16]; 16. 83X-Nate Reeser [14]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart [1]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [5]; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs [3]; 5. 71-Joey Saldana [4]; 6. 33M-Max Stambaugh [11]; 7. 71M-Dave Blaney [15]; 8. 17-Caleb Helms [6]; 9. 51-John Garvin [8]; 10. 3G-Carson Macedo [17]; 11. 4-Danny Smith [24]; 12. 39-Spencer Bayston [21]; 13. 2-Parker Price-Miller [7]; 14. 59-Ryan Smith [9]; 15. 10H-Chad Kemenah [14]; 16. 22-Brandon Spithaler [20]; 17. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [18]; 18. 7W-Logan Wagner [22]; 19. 1080-Jordan Mackison [19]; 20. 33-Brent Matus [13]; 21. 49X-Tim Shaffer [10]; 22. 91-Cale Thomas [12]; 23. 78-Todd Kane [23]; 24. 56R-Ryan Myers [16] Lap Leaders: Rico Abreu [1-10], Tony Stewart [11], Rico Abreu [12-30]
Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (August 25, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah - 4912
2. Ryan Smith - 4578
3. Caleb Armstrong - 4434
4. Max Stambaugh - 4178
5. Caleb Helms - 4012
6. Brandon Spithaler - 3869
7. T.J. Michael - 3831
8. Tyler Esh - 3767
9. Brandon Matus - 3612
10. John Garvin - 3574
Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit its official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.
About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
About Arctic Cat:
The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
(724) 954-4915
altmeyer119@gmail.com
tyler@tonystewart.com
Blaney scores Attica win, Andrews claims track title
Posted by: | CommentsFriday, Aug. 25, 2017
Contact: Brian Liskai
Liskai2x@roadrunner.com
By Brian Liskai
ATTICA, Ohio – Dale Blaney wasn’t even sure he wanted to race Friday. The J&M Motorsports team experienced mechanical issues with the tow rig and Blaney nearly told them to wait to race until Saturday. The team made it to Attica Raceway Park and Blaney promptly parked the #55 in victory lane on Kistler Racing Products/Jon Wright’s Custom Chrome Plating Night.
It looked like Cap Henry would take the Hammer Pallets 410 sprint win as the Republic, Ohio driver led the first 18 circuits before jumping the cushion in turns three and four and spinning though he kept it going as Blaney drove by. Blaney had to endure a couple of late race restarts but drove away the final eight laps to take the win 5.6 seconds ahead of Craig Mintz. It was Blaney’s 26th career win at Attica as he sits third on the track’s all-time win list.
“It was a tough night. My daughter’s coming home this weekend…it’s her birthday on Wednesday and I don’t get to see her a whole lot. I can’t thank Gene Jenkins and Scott Mertz and Rick enough for helping out tonight. Scott and Gene have been friends of mine for a long time. Gene worked on my car on the Outlaw tour for a long time. I’m dumfounded the way things have been going this year. I haven’t had the greatest of years. But no better place to finally get one than Attica,” said Blaney beside his Century 21 Mertz & Associates, Svas Appraisals backed machine.
“On the red there (9 laps to go) I didn’t have any brakes and I really didn’t know how hard to run. I knew Stuart (Brubaker) must have been running okay…he kind of followed me up through there a little bit. I knew the 11n (Craig Mintz) was in fourth so I just tried to run as hard as I could and not make any mistakes,” added Blaney in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
Sandusky, Ohio’s Chris Andrews wrapped up his second 410 track championship aboard the Burmeister #16.
“Points racing is not fun. I relate it to like NASCAR when they tell you to drive 30 miles an hour slower to save fuel…it’s not fun at all. Sonny (Burmeister) is looking down on us and Sharon…I got a championship for them. I can’t say enough about DJ Foos and that team with Jay Kiser and Daniel Smith…they are tough to beat,” said Andrews, the track’s 2009 champion.
Wooster, Ohio’s Doug Drown grabbed the lead from Steve Kester on lap 11 in the Summit Racing Equipment Late Model feature and then held off a charging Rusty Schlenk to record his third Attica win of the year. The victory moves Drown into a tie with Schlenk atop the division’s all-time win list with 23.
“Kester was rolling pretty good but I don’t know if his motor was letting go or what because he was spitting oil all over me. That’s why I went a groove down and the car was really good down there. But I knew I couldn’t leave the top open for Rusty so I kept looking around and waiting to see him. It was good racing…the track was awesome. I saw Rusty a few times. I knew he would run me hard…that’s how we race each other hard and clean. That’s why we both have the results we have here,” said Drown beside his Hall’s Auto Sales, Kar Connection, Malcuit Racing Engines, Wooster Glass, ABR Farms, Dirty Girl Raceware, Efco backed #240.
Britton, Michigan’s Devin Shiels scored a sixth place finish to earn his first ever Attica Raceway Park late model track championship.
“I hate to see that top line so fast…I like dry slick. I saw some slide jobs coming and I thought ‘I’d better back out of this.’ I want to thank my dad. I have one more to go. I’m leading Oakshade points with a couple of races left,” said Shiels of his first ever championship.
Fremont, Ohio’s Paul Weaver only had to make the A-main to score his third track championship in the Fremont Fence 305 Sprints. But, when his engine let go in hot laps, that title was in doubt. In stepped Jim Taddeo who gave up his seat to Weaver. Weaver rewarded that gesture by leading all by the first lap of the feature to score his eight win of the year and wrap up the track championship. It was Weaver’s 43rd career win at Attica in the 305 sprint division as he leads all other drivers.
“Jim’s seat I could have tucked my elbows under so that had to be the first thing to go. Then I had to hold my leg up because he had no heal riser so I had put that in. Still I wasn’t completely comfortable in it…the steering wheel was too low. I have to thank Jim for the opportunity and his crew guys and Daniel for busting their asses to get this thing switched over.. I want to thank Dave Rice and Bob Hampshire…we had something go wrong with the motor…I don’t know how severe. Instead of starting it back up and risk really hurting it I just parked it,” said Weaver beside the Jon Wright’s Custom Chrome Plating, Greber Machine Tools backed #4T.
Cap Henry and Chris Andrews brought the field to green for the 30-lap 410 sprint feature with Henry blasting into the lead. With four laps scored fourth place runner Broc Martin got up on two wheels in turn three causing fifth place DJ Foos to spin to avoid a collision. On the restart Henry pulled away from Andrews, Blaney, Martin, Stuart Brubaker, Jess Stiger and Travis Philo. Henry had a huge lead as he raced into lapped traffic on lap 12 as Andrews was trying to fend off Blaney for second.
At the half-way point Foos spun, ending his night. The restart order was Henry, Blaney, Andrews, Brubaker and Philo. The car on the move was 11th starter Craig Mintz who had worked his way up to sixth. When the green flew so did Henry, pulling away once again. Disaster struck for Henry on lap 19 as he bounced over the cushion in turns three and four, did a 360 degree spin and kept going but fell to fifth as Blaney now led Brubaker, Andrews and Mintz.
Byron Reed stopped on the track with 20 laps in with Blaney continuing to lead Brubaker, Andrews, Mintz, Henry and Philo. Racing ground to a halt with 21 laps scored when Duane Zablocki slowed on the back stretch and Brian Lay drove over him, flipping violently. Neither driver was injured.
Blaney got a great restart and drove away from the field as Brubaker began battling with Mintz with Andrews and Henry racing hard for fourth. Blaney continued to stretch his lead with Mintz finally taking second with two laps to go. When the checkers flew Blaney’s winning margin was 5.6 seconds over Mintz while Philo charged to third on the final lap with Brubaker and Henry rounding out the top five.
Steve Kester and Ryan Missler paced the field for the 25 lap late model feature with Kester jumping into the lead over Missler, Drown, Cody Scott, Mike Bores and Shiels. Doug Baird brought out the first caution with three laps scored with the running order Kester, Drown, Missler, Shiels, Scott, Bores, Ken Hahn and Schlenk. On the restart Drown immediately applied pressure to Kester but a Ryan Eddleblute spin with five laps in postponed that battle. On the restart Kester and Drown continued to race side by side with Missler trying to hold off Shiels, Bores and Scott.
Drown executed a slider in turns three and four to take the lead on lap 11 while Schlenk had blasted his way to third. With 10 laps to go Drown had pulled away as Kester and Schlenk battled for the runner-up spot with Missler, Shiels, Bores, Scott and Dave Hornikel giving chase.
Lapped traffic would allow Schlenk to close on Drown with eight laps to go. Hahn stopped on the back stretch with five laps remaining giving Drown a clear track. When the green flew Drown edged ahead of Schlenk, Kester, Missler, Bores and Shiels. With two laps to go Schlenk was glued to Drown’s rear bumper but a bobble on the cushion in turn two on the white flag lap allowed Drown to drive away to the win. Schlenk, Kester, Missler and Bores rounded out the top five.
John Ivy and Kyle Capodice brought the field to green for the 25 lap 305 sprint feature with Ivy gaining the advantage while fourth starter Weaver powered into second. Weaver blasted to Ivy’s outside to grab the lead on lap two. Weaver couldn’t shake Ivy as the two ran nose to tail over the next hand full of laps. The car on the move was ninth starter Jamie Miller who had worked his way up to third when the caution flew for a Seth Schneider spin with 16 laps to go.
Weaver pulled away on the restart while Ivy had to fend off Miller while Bobby Clark and Capodice stayed close. Ivy started to eat into Weaver’s lead as they raced into lapped traffic with five laps to go. It was now a four car battle for the lead with Weaver holding off Ivy, Clark and Miller. Once through the heaviest of the lapped traffic Weaver was able to pull away to the checkers over Ivy, Miller, Clark and Jordan Ryan.
Attica Raceway Park will close out the season Friday and Saturday, Sept. 1 and 2 with the Attica Ambush. On Friday the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads FAST 410 Championship Series will battle for $5,000 to win as will the Sunoco American Late Model Series. Saturday includes the make-up A-main for the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions from June 16 and then the Dirt Classic Ohio for the All Stars paying $10,000 to win. The 305 sprints will also be in action Saturday.
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.
Attica Raceway Park
Kistler Racing Products/Jon Wright’s Custom Chrome Plating
Friday, Aug. 25, 2017
Starting position [*]
410 Sprints – Hammer Pallets
Qualifying
1.55-Dale Blaney, 12.438; 2.23-DJ Foos, 12.459; 3.9X-Cap Henry, 12.475; 4.11N-Craig Mintz, 12.477; 5.60-Jody Keegan, 12.481; 6.45-Trevor Baker, 12.530; 7.8J-Jess Stiger, 12.631; 8.16-Chris Andrews, 12.636; 9.5T-Travis Philo, 12.642; 10.5R-Byron Reed, 12.659; 11.97-Broc Martin, 12.664; 12.7-Shawn Valenti, 12.729; 13.35-Stuart Brubaker, 12.790; 14.45L-Brian Lay, 12.865; 15.22M-Dan McCarron, 12.876; 16.3J-Trey Jacobs, 12.885; 17.9-Jordan Ryan, 13.006; 18.7J-Joe Swanson, 13.006; 19.9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.032; 20.11X-Brandon Martin, 13.054; 21.8-Kevin Shelbo, 13.451; 22.1M-Brandon Moore, 13.633; 23.2DI-Dustin Ingle, 13.776; 24.14-Daryl Daugherty, 14.360; 25.21M-Chris Olding, 16.822;
Heat 1, Group A - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 5R-Byron Reed[1] ; 2. 23-DJ Foos[4] ; 3. 45-Trevor Baker[2] ; 4. 11N-Craig Mintz[3] ; 5. 9-Jordan Ryan[6] ; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[5] ; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7] ; 8. 11X-Brandon Martin[8] ; 9. 8-Kevin Shelbo[9]
Heat 2, Group B - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 5T-Travis Philo[1] ; 2. 16-Chris Andrews[2] ; 3. 9X-Cap Henry[4] ; 4. 60-Jody Keegan[3] ; 5. 7-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs[6] ; 7. 7J-Joe Swanson[7] ; 8. 2DI-Dustin Ingle[8]
Heat 3, Group C - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[1] ; 2. 97-Broc Martin[2] ; 3. 8J-Jess Stiger[3] ; 4. 55-Dale Blaney[4] ; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron[5] ; 6. 1M-Brandon Moore[6] ; 7. 14-Daryl Daugherty[7] ; 8. 21M-Chris Olding[8]
B-Main 1 - (10 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 45L-Brian Lay[1] ; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[4] ; 3. 3J-Trey Jacobs[2] ; 4. 7J-Joe Swanson[5] ; 5. 11X-Brandon Martin[7] ; 6. 2DI-Dustin Ingle[8] ; 7. 1M-Brandon Moore[3] ; 8. 14-Daryl Daugherty[6] ; 9. 21M-Chris Olding[9] ; 10. 8-Kevin Shelbo[10]
A-Main 1 - (30 Laps)
1. 55-Dale Blaney[4] ; 2. 11N-Craig Mintz[11] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[9] ; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6] ; 5. 9X-Cap Henry[1] ; 6. 7-Shawn Valenti[15] ; 7. 16-Chris Andrews[2] ; 8. 60-Jody Keegan[12] ; 9. 45-Trevor Baker[8] ; 10. 22M-Dan McCarron[13] ; 11. 3J-Trey Jacobs[18] ; 12. 11X-Brandon Martin[20] ; 13. 9-Jordan Ryan[14] ; 14. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[17] ; 15. 45L-Brian Lay[16] ; 16. 5R-Byron Reed[10] ; 17. 7J-Joe Swanson[19] ; 18. 8J-Jess Stiger[7] ; 19. 97-Broc Martin[3] ; 20. 23-DJ Foos[5]
Hard Charger: 11n-Craig Mintz +9
305 Sprints – Fremont Fence
Heat 1 - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 77I-John Ivy[5] ; 2. 12-Kyle Capodice[3] ; 3. 11G-Luke Griffith[4] ; 4. 75-Jerry Dahms[2] ; 5. 47-Matt Lucius[7] ; 6. 2L-Landon LaLonde[9] ; 7. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Sr.[6] ; 8. 14-Luke Daugherty[8] ; 9. 4T-James Taddeo[1]
Heat 2 - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[1] ; 2. 66D-Chase Dunham[4] ; 3. 8-Bobby Clark[5] ; 4. 2-Ricky Peterson[7] ; 5. 9R-Dustin Rall[8] ; 6. 25-Jason Keckler[3] ; 7. 94K-Kevin Mingus[6] ; 8. 88N-Frank Neill[2] ; 9. 63-Tad Peck[9]
Heat 3 - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 66-Jamie Miller[1] ; 2. 4*-Tyler Street[3] ; 3. 11X-Jordan Ryan[6] ; 4. 1W-Paul Weaver[7] ; 5. 19R-Steve Rando[4] ; 6. 36-Seth Schneider[8] ; 7. 97-Kyle Peters[2] ; 8. 09-Justin Adams[5]
B-Main 1 - (10 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 2L-Landon LaLonde[1] ; 2. 25-Jason Keckler[2] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[3] ; 4. 97-Kyle Peters[6] ; 5. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Sr.[4] ; 6. 09-Justin Adams[9] ; 7. 94K-Kevin Mingus[5] ; 8. 88N-Frank Neill[8] ; 9. 14-Luke Daugherty[7] ; 10. 63-Tad Peck[10]
A-Main 1 - (25 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[4] ; 2. 77I-John Ivy[1] ; 3. 66-Jamie Miller[9] ; 4. 8-Bobby Clark[5] ; 5. 11X-Jordan Ryan[10] ; 6. 12-Kyle Capodice[2] ; 7. 19R-Steve Rando[15] ; 8. 11G-Luke Griffith[8] ; 9. 4*-Tyler Street[12] ; 10. 47-Matt Lucius[13] ; 11. 25-Jason Keckler[17] ; 12. 36-Seth Schneider[18] ; 13. 66D-Chase Dunham[11] ; 14. 97-Kyle Peters[19] ; 15. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[3] ; 16. 2L-Landon LaLonde[16] ; 17. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Sr.[20] ; 18. 9R-Dustin Rall[14] ; 19. 75-Jerry Dahms[7] ; 20. 2-Ricky Peterson[6]
Hard Charger: 19R-Steve Rando +8
Late Models – Summit Racing Equipment
Heat 1 - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 36-Matt Irey[2] ; 2. 36R-Ryan Eddleblute[4] ; 3. 19-Cody Scott[6] ; 4. 15B-Mike Bores[7] ; 5. 1-Ben Mott[5] ; 6. 03-Jim Gingery[1] ; 7. 78-Chris Sands[8] ; 8. 57-Jeremy White[3]
Heat 2 - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 51-Devin Shiels[1] ; 2. 240-Doug Drown[5] ; 3. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk[8] ; 4. 27-Ken Hahn[3] ; 5. 1*-Chub Frank[6] ; 6. 10-Nathan Loney[4] ; 7. 5M-Ryan Markham[7] ; 8. 69R-Doug Baird[2]
Heat 3 - (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 50Y-Ryan Missler[2] ; 2. 77-Steve Kester[1] ; 3. 71-Dave Hornikel[5] ; 4. 69-Jeff Warnick[4] ; 5. 42*-Bob Mayer[3] ; 6. 28-Kent Brewer[8] ; 7. 30-Nate Potts[7] ; 8. 59-Larry Bellman[6]
B-Main 1 - (10 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 10-Nathan Loney[2] ; 2. 28-Kent Brewer[3] ; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[5] ; 4. 03-Jim Gingery[1] ; 5. 59-Larry Bellman[9] ; 6. 78-Chris Sands[4] ; 7. 69R-Doug Baird[8] ; 8. 57-Jeremy White[7] ; 9. 30-Nate Potts[6]
A-Main 1 - (25 Laps)
1. 240-Doug Drown[3] ; 2. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk[11] ; 3. 77-Steve Kester[1] ; 4. 50Y-Ryan Missler[2] ; 5. 15B-Mike Bores[6] ; 6. 51-Devin Shiels[8] ; 7. 71-Dave Hornikel[10] ; 8. 5M-Ryan Markham[18] ; 9. 1*-Chub Frank[14] ; 10. 36-Matt Irey[9] ; 11. 28-Kent Brewer[17] ; 12. 10-Nathan Loney[16] ; 13. 1-Ben Mott[13] ; 14. 42*-Bob Mayer[15] ; 15. 69-Jeff Warnick[12] ; 16. 36R-Ryan Eddleblute[7] ; 17. 59-Larry Bellman[20] ; 18. 27-Ken Hahn[5] ; 19. 03-Jim Gingery[19] ; 20. 19-Cody Scott[4]
Hard Charger: 5M-Ryan Markham +10
Shane Stewart Sets NTR, Claims 5th Win of Season at Black Hills
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World of Outlaws
Contact: Anthony Corini
World of Outlaws PR
408-825-3360 | acorini@dirtcar.com
Please click here for the original World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series article
Shane Stewart Sets NTR, Claims 5th Win of Season at Black Hills
Sheldon nets career-best second in exciting fashion
RAPID CITY, S.D. - August 25, 2017 - It was a record-breaking night for Shane Stewart and his Larson/Marks Racing No. 2 team Friday at the Black Hills Speedway. Stewart set a new track record in Qualifying with a blistering lap of at 14.861 around the half-mile oval. Stewart threw a slide job on Brad Sweet on lap eight in the feature for the lead and never looked back, scoring his fifth win of year. Sheldon Haudenschild started sixth and charged forward for a career-best second place run, while Sweet settled for third.
Sweet set a strong pace early before a lap six caution for fourth place running Jason Johnson bunched the field back together and set up a double-file restart. Sweet elected the bottom line, allowing Stewart to get a huge run off the cushion and take command of the field on lap eight. Clyde Knipp, with a flat right rear, brought out the final caution of the evening.
Stewart built a sizable lead, masterfully working through the array of the lapped cars scattered around the track. Sweet closed in one last time looking for the lead, but simultaneously left the door open for Sheldon Haudenschild who charged by both he and Donny Schatz within a lap of each other. Sheldon, in his first appearance at the Black Hills Speedway, was quicker than Stewart in the closing laps but could never mount a true challenge for the lead as he watched Stewart take the twin checkered flags, his fifth win of the season.
"We unloaded fast and we were able to keep that momentum going throughout the night," a relieved Stewart said in Victory Lane. "I got a little nervous late there; the cushion got a little hairy to hit a couple of times. You just can't hesitate [in traffic] with these guys. If you do, you're going to get passed. Fortunately, I saw the white flag."
Stewart's pass for the lead was a daring one using a big run off the top of the track to set up a slider on Sweet. Upon taking the lead Stewart continued to rely on the cushion, "Once I made it work, I said to myself I'm not going to come off this [cushion] until someone shows me a nose underneath."
The win was Stewart's fifth of the season and third since joining forces with Lee Stauffer in late June. "I can't thank my guys enough. We've been through a lot of crew chiefs this year before finding Lee. Now we're starting to get our act together," the Bixby, OK native said.
Sheldon's second place finish was the best of his young World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series career. "We had a fast car all night. I put ourselves back on the restart. We fell back and had to do some work to get back up there. Overall, I can't thank my guys enough. We had a fast race car," the leading contender for Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year said.
After leading seven laps, Sweet settled for third. "I wasn't real sure where to go on that restart. I chose low, then didn't hit the bottom good and that opened the door for Shane. It's always good to be on the front stretch at the end of the night. Hopefully we can pick up some wins on the West Coast," Sweet, a California native, said.
Schatz and Daryn Pittman completed the top five. Brent Marks, in his Black Hills Speedway debut, picked up another KSE Hard Charger award coming from 14th to eighth.
Saturday night the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series heads west to Billings, Montana to compete at the BMP Speedway for the first time since 2008.
RACE RESULTS FROM : Black Hills Speedway - August 25, 2017
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2-Shane Stewart [2][$10,000]; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [6][$5,500]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [1][$3,200]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [4][$2,800]; 5. 9-Daryn Pittman [9][$2,500]; 6. 5-David Gravel [5][$2,300]; 7. 17-Jac Haudenschild [8][$2,200]; 8. 19-Brent Marks [14][$2,100]; 9. 3-Tim Kaeding [11][$2,050]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson [10][$2,000]; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser [13][$1,500]; 12. 4-Paul McMahan [12][$1,200]; 13. 35-Jamie Veal [17][$1,100]; 14. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [18][$1,050]; 15. 41-Jason Johnson [3][$1,000]; 16. 13-Clyde Knipp [16][$900]; 17. 7S-Jason Sides [7][$800]; 18. 2JR-Kelly Miller [22][$800]; 19. 4X-Adam Speckman [24][$800]; 20. 14-Ben Holmberg [23][$800]; 21. 7-Mike Sires [21][$800]; 22. 17M-Max McGhee [19][$800]; 23. 1S-Logan Schuchart [15][$800]; 24. 1A-Jacob Allen [20][$800] (0-Ned Powers DNS [$300]) Lap Leaders: Brad Sweet 1-7, Shane Stewart 8-25; KSE Hard Charger Award: 19-Brent Marks[+6]
Qualifying: 1. 2-Shane Stewart, 14.831; 2. 5-David Gravel, 14.919; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman, 14.977; 4. 49-Brad Sweet, 15.022; 5. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.032; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 15.09; 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 15.198; 8. 35-Jamie Veal, 15.199; 9. 41-Jason Johnson, 15.206; 10. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.212; 11. 17-Jac Haudenschild, 15.233; 12. 4-Paul McMahan, 15.255; 13. 13-Clyde Knipp, 15.267; 14. 19-Brent Marks, 15.283; 15. 41S-Dominic Scelzi, 15.348; 16. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.351; 17. 3-Tim Kaeding, 15.416; 18. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 15.563; 19. 17M-Max McGhee, 15.614; 20. 1A-Jacob Allen, 15.996; 21. O-Ned Powers, 16.382; 22. 2JR-Kelly Miller, 16.485; 23. 14-Ben Holmberg, 17.451; 24. 7-Mike Sires, 17.949; 25. 4X-Adam Speckman, 18.699
Heat #1 (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer - 1. 2-Shane Stewart [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 3. 7S-Jason Sides [4]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson [3]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 6. 13-Clyde Knipp [5]; 7. 17M-Max McGhee [7]; 8. 2JR-Kelly Miller [8]; 9. 4X-Adam Speckman [9]
Heat #2 (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer - 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 2. 5-David Gravel [1]; 3. 17-Jac Haudenschild [4]; 4. 3-Tim Kaeding [6]; 5. 19-Brent Marks [5]; 6. 35-Jamie Veal [3]; 7. 1A-Jacob Allen [7]; 8. 14-Ben Holmberg [8]
Heat #3 (8 Laps) - Top 6 Transfer - 1. 41-Jason Johnson [3]; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [2]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [1]; 4. 4-Paul McMahan [4]; 5. 1S-Logan Schuchart [6]; 6. 41S-Dominic Scelzi [5]; 7. 7-Mike Sires [8]; 8. O-Ned Powers [7]
Craftsman Club Dash (6 Laps) - 1. 49-Brad Sweet [1]; 2. 2-Shane Stewart [4]; 3. 41-Jason Johnson [2]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [3]; 5. 5-David Gravel [5]; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [6]
CONTINGENCY WINNERS: MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Jacob Allen; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Shane Stewart; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Daryn Pittman; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Brent Marks; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Tim Kaeding; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Greg Wilson; Extended Stay America ($50 cash): Kraig Kinser; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Paul McMahan; Super Flow ($50 cash): Jason Johnson; Craftsman Club ($100 cash): Brad Swet, Shane Stewart, Jason Johnson, David Gravel, Sheldon Haudenschild; Sears ($100): N/A; KSE Hard Charger: Brent Marks; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Shane Stewart; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Clyde Knipp; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Mike Sires.
SEASON WINNERS
Donny Schatz - 17 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19, LoneStar Speedway on March 3, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 9, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 10, Thunderbowl Raceway on March 18, Missouri State Fair Speedway on May 5, 81 Speedway on May 6, Eldora Speedway May 13, Knoxville Raceway on June 10, Granite City on June 20, Dirt Oval at Route 66 on June 27, Dakota State Fair Speedway on July 1, Eldora Speedway on July 15, Lernerville Speedway on July 18, Knoxville Raceway on August 12 (NP), River Cities Speedway on August 18
David Gravel - 13 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 17, Placerville Speedway on March 29, Perris Auto Speedway on April 1, Gator Motorplex on April 13, Plymouth Speedway on April 28, Lincoln Speedway on May 17, Williams Grove on May 19, New Egypt Speedway on May 24, River Cities Speedway on June 16, Attica Raceway Park on July 11, Hartford Speedway on July 28, Wilmot Raceway on July 29, August 20 at Nodak Speedway
Shane Stewart - 5 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 20, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 29, West Liberty Raceway on June 23, Beaver Dam Raceway on June 24, Black Hills Speedway on August 25)
Brad Sweet - 4 (Stockton Dirt Track on March 25, Devil's Bowl on April 15, Jackson Motorplex on June 3, Knoxville Raceway on June 9)
Kerry Madsen - 4 (Jackson Motorplex on June 2, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 7, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 8, Eldora Speedway on July 13)
Logan Schuchart - 4 (Keller Auto Speedway on March 31, Eldora Speedway on May 12, Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26, Ohsweken Speedway on July 25)
Jason Johnson - 3 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 17, Devil's Bowl on April 14, Red River Valley Speedway on August 19)
Brian Brown - 1 (Cocopah Speedway on April 7)
Rico Abreu - 1 (Arizona Speedway on April 8)
Parker Price-Miller - 1 (Tri-State Speedway on May 14)
Ian Madsen - 1 (Jackson Motorplex on June 1)
Kyle Larson - 1 (Eagle Raceway on June 13)
Kraig Kinser - 1 (Deer Creek Speedway on July 6)
Christopher Bell - 1 (Eldora Speedway on July 14)
Brock Zearfoss - 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on July 21
Daryn Pittman – 1 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on August 4)
SUNNY SIDE UP; COURTNEY CAPTURES NIGHT 2 OF “SMACKDOWN” AT KOKOMO
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The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
SUNNY SIDE UP; COURTNEY CAPTURES NIGHT 2 OF "SMACKDOWN" AT KOKOMO
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana.....August 25, 2017 - Sprint Car racing is chock full of ups and downs. Sometimes you're in victory lane and sometimes you end up on your head.
Tyler Courtney experienced both of these extremes Friday at Kokomo Speedway, recovering from a hard flip during qualifying before returning to action after several other teams pitched in to make repairs. With a lap 10 pass of Hunter Schuerenberg, Courtney persevered to win "Sprint Car Smackdown VI" Night 2 at the very track where it all began for the Indianapolis, Indiana driver affectionately known as "Sunshine."
"My first USAC start was the first Smackdown," Courtney reminisces. "To watch it come full circle is pretty cool. I know it's not my first USAC win, but to get my first Kokomo sprint car win tonight is pretty dang special. This place is tough to tame and the guys who've won here are some of the best to ever do it. This one ranks right up there with a lot of the big ones I've had. Plus, if you would've told me I'd win four USAC races in one year, I would've said you're crazy. I would've been happy just winning another one!"
Courtney's ProSource Qualifying incident came a lap after nailing down second-quick time in his TOPP Motorsports/TOPP Performance Race Parts - Custom Pump & Controls/Maxim/Claxton. Track position is critical at every circuit on the schedule and each position gained through time trials is essential to making the task just a little easier with less cars to pass come feature time.
"I was really frustrated with qualifying 16th last night," Courtney admitted. "I knew I had a pretty decent lap on the first one. You have to hang it out in qualifying to be up there in the top-six where you want to be. I just got in there too straight, biked 'er up and set her down. That shot me right into the fence and it was over after that. It's part of the deal. You just have to persevere through it. With help from half the pit area, we got it back together and almost transferred out of the heat race. Running the B-Main helped us tonight. My guys never give up on me and I never give up on them."
Courtney's fifth-place run in the heat put him one spot out of a transfer position, relegating him to the semi-feature and a second-place finish there. Courtney felt the car was a continuous "work in progress" throughout the night following the crash and that it was making a couple unfamiliar noises it wasn't used to making. However, his qualifying efforts did procure him a spot inside the fourth-row for the feature where he quickly went to work.
Initially, it appeared as if the 30-lapper was going to be a carbon-copy of the night before when fourth-starting C.J. Leary ripped the cushion to the lead exiting turn two at the start. The rocket ship would quickly be grounded, though, when, on the second time around, Leary snagged the turn one curb before contacting the concrete and nosing over, ending the race for the previous night's winner after only one lap.
The tumultuous start would continue one lap following the restart when two-time USAC Silver Crown champ seventh-place running Kody Swanson got sideways at the exit of turn four, then nailed the infield tire, sending him into a series of flips that he would walk away from unscathed.
Schuerenberg took a hold of the lead when racing resumed as a wild scramble for position ensued behind him between Justin Grant and Tyler Thomas. On lap eight, Thomas aimed for the race lead with a slider between turns one and two on Schuerenberg. Exiting the second turn, the two made contact, pitting Thomas sideways halfway down the back straightaway, yet was able to maintain control and hold onto the second position for the time being.
The little bit of contact was Courtney's gain as he ate up ground on the bottom while running fourth and, a lap later, used a surge down the back straight to whip past both Grant, then Thomas in quick succession to get to second. On the tenth lap, Courtney continued to crawl the bottom to move past Schuerenberg for the race lead exiting turn four, holding the spot by a car-length at the line at the conclusion of the lap.
With ten to go, Schuerenberg found his second wind through the middle and began to pulley himself back to within range of Courtney. Schuerenberg showed a nose to the outside of Courtney off turn two and, as Courtney noticed the bottom beginning to fade, he slid up to the middle lane entering the first turn on the 24th lap just in the nick of time to shield his position and deter the Schuerenberg charge.
Following a yellow for the turned around car of Shane Cottle with six laps remaining, Courtney ventured to the top with Kevin Thomas, Jr., Brady Bacon, Tyler Thomas and Schuerenberg duking it out for the runner-up spot. T. Thomas rung it out on the topside on lap 26, crossing over from high to low off turn four, then splitting between Bacon and Thomas on the front straight entering turn one to take second. K. Thomas countered under T. Thomas through the middle as Bacon lay low to make it three-wide off two.
A half-lap later, T. Thomas swung wide off turn four, nearly making contact with the outside wall. K. Thomas then ramped his right rear over the left front of the sideways T. Thomas, stifling his trek to the front and sending him back to fourth. Bacon capitalized and ripped the second spot away from K. Thomas on the bottom in response and began to track down Courtney instantaneously.
On the final lap, Bacon clocked in with his fastest time of the race and got a nose underneath Courtney entering turn three. One more lap might have been all Bacon needed, but it was not to be as Courtney secured USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature win number four on the year ahead of Bacon, K. Thomas, T. Thomas and Schuerenberg.
In a 30-lap span, Courtney continuously searched for the right line at the right moment, venturing from the bottom to the middle to the high side throughout the event, then used a diamond maneuver during the final laps to keep all challengers at bay for his fifth career win in the series.
"My car was pretty good on the bottom in the B-Main," Courtney recalls. "I was set up to run there most of the feature. The bottom went away and it got slick down there toward the end. Hunter showed me a nose with seven or eight to go, so I made the jump up. I knew I was going to have to make her wide and make it tough for those guys to get by me on the final restart. Doing this for a living, you got to know when to go where. Luckily, we made all the right moves tonight."
Consecutive runner-up finishes have earned Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's Brady Bacon the most points throughout the two nights of "Smackdown," locking him into Saturday night's $10,000 to win A-Main and a spot in B & W Auto Mart's King of the Hill Qualifying along with K. Thomas, Schuerenberg, Kyle Cummins, Robert Ballou, Courtney, Leary and Scotty Weir.
Bacon's run from 18th to 2nd on Friday night netted him KSE Racing Products Hard Charger award in his Dooling-Hayward/B & H Contractors - Dooling Machine/Spike/Stanton Mopar. Every lap counts when the competition is as tough as it is and, on Saturday night, Bacon will start no worse than eighth. That puts him in a better position on paper, but as the two-time series champ puts it, that isn't necessarily a harbinger for success.
"On Thursday night, we thought we had a pretty good shot starting up front and we were just a little too tight," Bacon remembers. Tonight, we started in the back and almost won. We were actually closer to winning tonight than we were last night even though we've run second both nights. I had only a lap or two where I could run the line I needed to run without someone beside me. We reeled Sunshine in pretty close at the end, but it's only 30 laps, so it doesn't really matter."
Defending "Smackdown" winner Kevin Thomas, Jr. of Cullman, Alabama once again finished up front at Kokomo, wrapping up a third-place finish in his KT Motorsports/Jeff's Jam-It-In Storage - Abreu Vineyards/DRC/Speedway Chevy.
"I didn't do very well at the start of the night," Thomas admits. "I was pretty terrible in the heat race and we got way behind the eight-ball and had to run the B. Jeff Walker helped us figure a few things out and the car was a tick better. We've just been struggling with being tight. I knew we were going to have to run the top, but I just didn't know if it was going to work. We set it up for that. With Sunshine running the bottom, there was a lane open around the top and I had to take it. Brady (Bacon) got by us there at the end, but second or third is the same to me. If it's not a win, it really doesn't matter."
USAC contingency award winners Friday night at Kokomo included Tyler Thomas (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Shane Cottle (Simpson Race Products Heat 1 Winner), Tom Harris (Competition Suspension, Inc. Heat 2 Winner), Dave Darland (Chalk Stix Heat 3 Winner), Chase Stockon (Indy Race Parts Heat 4 Winner), Brady Bacon (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger) and Josh Hodges (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 25, 2017 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Sprint Car Smackdown VI"
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Tyler Thomas, 17GP, Dutcher-12.754; 2. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-12.891; 3. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-13.088; 4. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.100; 5. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-13.123; 6. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-13.129; 7. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, KT-13.187; 8. Tony DiMattia, 50, TDM-13.194; 9. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-13.197; 10. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-13.229; 11. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-13.242; 12. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-13.258; 13. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-13.266; 14. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-13.280; 15. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-13.282; 16. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.300; 17. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-13.324; 18. Tom Harris, 5E, Harris-13.345; 19. Dave Darland, 40, Hery-13.361; 20. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling/Hayward-13.364; 21. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-13.379; 22. Brady Short, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.407; 23. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.426; 24. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-13.445; 25. Cole Ketcham, 41, Ketcham-13.550; 26. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-13.572; 27. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-13.610; 28. Colten Cottle, 1RL, Lambertson-13.732; 29. Brian Karraker, 23, Karraker-13.804; 30. Josh Spencer, 66J, Spencer-13.819; 31. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-13.940; 32. Jamie Frederickson, 58, Frederickson-13.956; 33. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-14.027; 34. Chet Williams, 38, Williams-14.100; 35. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-14.282; 36. Parker Frederickson, 34, Frederickson-14.548; 37. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-14.703; 38. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-15.816.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. S. Cottle, 2. T. Thomas, 3. Leary, 4. Hewitt, 5. Robbins, 6. Farney, 7. Karraker, 8. Mattox, 9. Jarrett, 10. Ketcham. NT
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Harris, 2. Cummins, 3. Short, 4. Grant, 5. Courtney, 6. Weir, 7. Clouser, 8. Spencer, 9. Williams, 10. Bell. 2:15.94
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Windom, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Chapple, 5. Hodges, 6. Swanson, 7. K. Thomas, 8. Goodnight, 9. Hery. 2:14.52
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Stockon, 2. Bacon, 3. Ballou, 4. Andretti, 5. Boespflug, 6. DiMattia, 7. C. Cottle, 8. P. Frederickson, 9. J. Frederickson. 2:16.32
C-MAIN: (10 laps) 1. Goodnight, 2. Hery, 3. Jarrett, 4. Mattox, 5. J. Frederickson, 6. Williams, 7. P. Frederickson, 8. Bell. NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. K. Thomas, 2. Courtney, 3. Swanson, 4. Farney, 5. Weir, 6. Hodges, 7. Karraker, 8. DiMattia, 9. C. Cottle, 10. Boespflug, 11. Hery, 12. Goodnight, 13. Jarrett, 14. Mattox, 15. Spencer, 16. Ketcham, 17. Robbins, 18. Clouser. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Tyler Courtney, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 4. Tyler Thomas, 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. Robert Ballou, 7. Kyle Cummins, 8. Justin Grant, 9. Scotty Weir, 10. Chris Windom, 11. Jarett Andretti, 12. Brady Short, 13. Josh Hodges, 14. Dave Darland, 15. Chase Stockon, 16. Chad Boespflug, 17. Aaron Farney, 18. Shane Cottle, 19. Tom Harris, 20. Isaac Chapple, 21. Tyler Hewitt, 22. Kody Swanson, 23. C.J. Leary. NT
**Courtney flipped during qualifying. Bell flipped during the C-Main. Leary flipped on lap 2 of the feature. Swanson flipped on lap 2 of the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Leary, Laps 2-9 Schuerenberg, Laps 10-30 Courtney.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Bacon (18th to 2nd)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Josh Hodges
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1-Grant-1607, 2-Windom-1542, 3-K. Thomas-1459, 4-Boespflug-1432. 5-Courtney-1423; 6-Stockon-1376; 7-Leary-1236, 8-Bacon-1220, 9-Ballou-1102, 10-Andretti-1053.
NEW "SPRINT CAR SMACKDOWN VI" STANDINGS: 1-Bacon-311, 2-K. Thomas-308, 3-Schuerenberg-305, 4-Cummins-298, 5-Ballou-291, 6-Courtney-287, 7-Leary-281, 8-Weir-277, 9-Andretti-277, 10-Windom-276.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: August 26 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Sprint Car Smackdown VI"
LEARY LOGS SMACKDOWN NIGHT 1 VICTORY AT KOKOMO!
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
LEARY LOGS SMACKDOWN NIGHT 1 VICTORY AT KOKOMO!
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana.....August 24, 2017 - Nearly one year to the day since his breakthrough USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory in late August of last year, C.J. Leary once again found "Sprint Car Smackdown" gold on the very same spot after capturing Thursday's "Sprint Car Smackdown VI" opener at Kokomo Speedway.
In 2016, "Smackdown" weekend was owned by Leary and Kevin Thomas, Jr., who alternated victories throughout the three nights. The trend continued Thursday night when it became Leary's turn to plant the figurative flag for the Leary Racing/Leary Construction - Highsmith Guns/DRC/1-Way Chevy at the quarter-mile dirt oval.
Earlier in the night, things didn't appear to be as rosy for Leary as he struggled to snare a transfer spot in his heat race until misfortune found another competitor in front of him, thus moving him into position to earn a spot in the feature event. After a fortuitous series of events, Leary wound up with a starting position from the pole. From there, the Greenfield, Indiana driver knew there were no excuses for not getting the job done.
"In the heat race, we were junk," Leary assessed. "We probably shouldn't have transferred, but we were fortunate, which allowed us to start on the front row for the feature. By starting up front, I felt like it was my race to lose. If something was going to go wrong, it was probably going to be my fault."
Leary set course for the lead at the drop of the green, sliding up to the top of turn one to take the spot. Outside front row starter Hunter Schuerenberg quickly countered using a high/low move off turn two to pull even with Leary on the back straightaway. However, Leary was too strong on the top and secured the position off turn four to lead lap one.
Meanwhile, Wednesday's "#GYATK Night" winner Thomas sliced through the field from 8th to 5th on the opening lap, then became involved a tussle with series point leader Justin Grant for 4th on lap four when the left rear of Thomas and the right front of Grant greeted each other at the flag stand. The contact damaged Grant's steering as he drove straight up the track in turn one where he came to a complete stop. Thomas continued while Grant was relegated to a last-place result of 22nd.
On the ensuing restart, as he did time-and-time again throughout the feature, Leary shot out of the starting blocks to pull away from the rest of the field. Brady Bacon used the restart to get past Schuerenberg with an inside move between turns three and four to put himself in the second position.
Leary's lead began to dwindle through the middle stages as Bacon closed the gap to just a few car lengths when the leaders encountered visions of lapped traffic within plain sight. Simultaneously, Shane Cottle appeared backwards against the turn three wall with his front wheel disconnected and bouncing through the infield grass to bring out the yellow, therefore removing the role of the lapped cars in the contest down the stretch.
"Lapped traffic was going to be hairy for sure," Leary believed. "They were all running side-by-side. Luckily, the cautions kept me out of lapped traffic, which was a blessing I think because it let the field bunch up and made it more interesting, I'd say."
A pair of restarts in the second half of the 30-lapper didn't rattle Leary's nerves a bit as he pulled away each time. Bacon ran the middle in pursuit of Leary, pulling alongside multiple times to no avail while Leary ripped the top - a place in which he had no intentions of leaving.
"We set the car up looser than it had been during the last couple of times here," Leary explains. "I knew if I departed from the cushion, we'd probably end up losing the race with how free we had the racecar. The top's my go-to place and, when we had the lead, I felt we wouldn't be beat in open ground. (Crew Chief) Donnie Gentry had this car on rails. This thing was ripping around the top, which is my specialty here. It made my job easy tonight."
Leary loosened it up to finish off the nearly-flawless performance by two seconds to capture the victory over Bacon, Robert Ballou, K. Thomas and Schuerenberg.
"Donnie and I argued over the setup a little bit right before the feature," Leary recalls. "These past eight weeks, we've been running up here in the weekly shows. Even in the Indiana Sprint Week race, we were tight in the feature. We've just been tight, tight and tight. We figured if we lost tonight, it would be because we were too loose. We got it freed up and I ran it hard. I felt like I could run it as hard as I wanted to up there."
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma's Bacon took second in his Dooling-Hayward/B & H Contractors - Dooling Machine/Spike/Stanton Mopar, his third consecutive top-two finish in USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car point races. It was also the third time this season he and Leary have run first and second with the series.
Following a third-place result the night before at Kokomo's prelude to "Smackdown" - the non-points "GYATK Night" - Rocklin, California's Robert Ballou ran third again in his Robert Ballou Motorsports/Deaton's Waterfront Services - Dickinson Farms/Boss/Ott.
Contingency award winners Thursday night at Kokomo included Justin Grant (ProSource Fast Qualifier), Aaron Farney (Simpson Race Products Heat 1 Winner & Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher), Jarett Andretti (Competition Suspension, Inc. Heat 2 Winner), Dave Darland (Chalk Stix Heat 3 Winner), Josh Hodges (Indy Race Parts Heat 4 Winner) and Brady Short (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger).
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: August 24, 2017 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Sprint Car Smackdown VI"
PROSOURCE QUALIFYING: 1. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-12.685; 2. Tyler Thomas, 17GP, Dutcher-12.713; 3. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-12.724; 4. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling/Hayward-12.740; 5. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-12.752; 6. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-12.785; 7. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.801; 8. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, KT-12.831; 9. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-12.832; 10. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-12.874; 11. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-12.928; 12. Josh Hodges, 74x, Hodges-12.953; 13. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-12.968; 14. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-12.970; 15. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-12.979; 16. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-13.008; 17. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-13.015; 18. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-13.054; 19. Dave Darland, 40, Hery-13.084; 20. Brady Short, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.089; 21. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-13.116; 22. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-13.200; 23. Colten Cottle, 1RL, Lambertson-13.228; 24. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-13.278; 25. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.299; 26. Brian Karraker, 23, Karraker-13.449; 27. Cole Ketcham, 41, Ketcham-13.474; 28. Travis Hery, 21H, Hery-13.477; 29. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-13.554; 30. Jamie Frederickson, 58, Frederickson-13.625; 31. Josh Spencer, 66J, Spencer-13.787; 32. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-13.826; 33. Chet Williams, 38, Williams-13.876; 34. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-14.120; 35. Tom Harris, 5E, Harris-14.145; 36. Parker Frederickson, 34, Frederickson-14.173; 37. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-14.843; 38. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-NT.
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Farney, 2. Weir, 3. Ballou, 4. Grant, 5. Swanson, 6. Clouser, 7. Chapple, 8. Mattox, 9. Williams, 10. Bell. 2:15.38
COMPETITION SUSPENSION (CSI) SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Andretti, 2. Stockon, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Boespflug, 5. Jarrett, 6. Karraker, 7. Goodnight, 8. J. Frederickson, 9. T. Thomas. 2:13.40
CHALK STIX THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Windom, 3. Cummins, 4. Leary, 5. S. Cottle, 6. Ketcham, 7. Harris, 8. C. Cottle, 9. Spencer. NT
INDY RACE PARTS FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Hodges, 2. Courtney, 3. Bacon, 4. K. Thomas, 5. Short, 6. Hewitt, 7. Robbins, 8. Hery, 9. P. Frederickson. 2:13.21
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. T. Thomas, 2. S. Cottle, 3. Clouser, 4. Short, 5. Swanson, 6. Karraker, 7. C. Cottle, 8. Mattox, 9. Ketcham, 10. Hewitt, 11. Williams, 12. Spencer, 13. Goodnight, 14. Harris, 15. Hery, 16. Robbins, 17. J. Frederickson, 18. P. Frederickson, 19. Bell, 20. Jarrett, 21. Chapple. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. C.J. Leary, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Robert Ballou, 4. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 5. Hunter Schuerenberg, 6. Chad Boespflug, 7. Kyle Cummins, 8. Kody Swanson, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Josh Hodges, 11. Jarett Andretti, 12. Brady Short, 13. Aaron Farney, 14. Tyler Thomas, 15. Scotty Weir, 16. Chase Stockon, 17. Tyler Courtney, 18. Dave Darland, 19. Brian Karraker, 20. Mario Clouser, 21. Shane Cottle, 22. Justin Grant. NT
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**Meseraull flipped during qualifying. Jarrett & Chapple flipped at the finish of the semi.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: 1-30 Leary.
KSE RACING PRODUCTS HARD CHARGER: Brady Short (20th to 12th)
WILWOOD BRAKES 13TH PLACE FINISHER: Aaron Farney
NEW USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1-Grant-1552, 2-Windom-1492, 3-Boespflug-1401. 4-K. Thomas-1391, 5-Courtney-1345; 6-Stockon-1335; 7-Leary-1205, 8-Bacon-1146, 9-Ballou-1041, 10-Andretti-1004.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: August 25-26 - Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, Indiana - "Sprint Car Smackdown VI"
PPB JERSEY RUSH VII RESULTS
Posted by: | CommentsAUGUST 23, 2017
CONTACT: BOB MILLER 443 513 4456
PPB JERSEY RUSH VII
NEW EGYPT SPEEDWAY PIONEER POLE BUILDINGS JERSEY RUSH VII. . . . .
JJ GRASSO GRABS THIRD 410 SPRINT JERSEY RUSH WIN; PAUCH JR. POWERS TO MODIFIED VICTORY
NEW EGYPT, NJ (August 23, 2017) – Two of the region’s most popular racing divisions converged on New Egypt Speedway, this past Wednesday, for Jersey Rush VII presented by Pioneer Pole Buildings. JJ Grasso of Middletown, DE scored the win – and the $5,000 prize money -- in the 410 Sprint Car portion of the event, while Billy Pauch Jr. of Frenchtown, NJ was victorious in an action-packed Modified feature.
“The set-up on this car was perfect tonight,” Grasso gushed in victory lane. “All I had to do is get behind the wheel and drive – it couldn’t have been more perfect.”
Robbie Stillwaggon and Kyle Reinhardt led the field to the green flag, and kicked off the 30-lap A-Main in fine fashion charging hard on the topside of the 7/16-mile dirt track – it was short lived as Danny Dietrich spun on the second circuit bringing the yellow out for the first time.
Stillwaggon powered ahead on the start, with Grasso moving into the second position. Grasso slid inside Stillwaggon on lap four, with Kyle Reinhardt moving into the second position. The caution flew for the second time on the lap 15 when Mark Bitner’s No. 15 slowed on the front stretch.
JJ Grasso 1 lap to go (Wheels of Speed Photo)
It was all Grasso on the restart, pulling away from the field and maintaining a sizable advantage as laps clicked down. Grasso and the No.37 BK Trucking machine would roll on for the win with Kyle Reinhardt coming home in the second position. Lucas Wolfe finished in the third position after an exciting battle with Davey Sammons – who settled for fourth and Ryan Smith rounded out the top-five finishers.
The big-block of three-time defending New Egypt Speedway track champion, Ryan Godown led the field to the start of the 30-lap modified feature event with Danny Bouc on his outside. Godown took the lead on the initial start, but a lap two caution slowed the field.
On the restart, Bouc took the lead with Pauch Jr. following into the second position. Action slowed for the second time on the third circuit.
Pauch Jr. took the lead on the restart with Duane Howard powering the Norm’s Save Station No. 357 into the second spot.
Billy Pauch Jr on to Victory (Wheels of Speed Photo)
At the halfway point, Pauch Jr. maintained control, while all eyes were fixated on the four-car battle for the second position – with Howard holding off challenges from Bouc, Jeff Strunk, and Brandon Grosso.
Pauch would weave through heavy lapped traffic, maintaining a sizable advantage over the battle for second place, and collecting the $3,000 Jersey Rush VII victory. Howard held on to the runner-up position, while Danny Bouc finished third, Brandon Grosso in fourth, and Jeff Strunk rounded out the top five.
Danny Dietrich claimed the CnB Chubby Quick Time Award with a fast lap of 13.944 in 410 Sprint Car Time Trials.
Oliver Communications Group Heat Race Bonuses went to Robbie Stillwaggon and Davey Sammons in the 410 Sprint Cars and Danny Bouc and Brandon Grosso in the Modifieds.
Pioneer Pole Buildings Jersey Rush VII is a co-promotion between Lenny, Danny, and Davey Sammons along with special events promoter, Bob Miller.
For more information about Jersey Rush visit www.jerseyrushrace.com or www.facebook.com/jerseyrush
PIONEER POLE BUILDINGS JERSEY RUSH VII RESULTS:
410 Sprint Cars
Time Trials -- 1. Danny Dietrich – 13.944 2. Ryan Smith – 14.217 3. Kyle Reinhardt – 14.243 4. Lucas Wolfe – 14.306 5. Steve Buckwalter – 14.362 6. Tony Fiore – 14.395 7. Davie Franek – 14.402 8. JJ Grasso – 14.427 9. Joe Kata III – 14.513 10. Davey Sammons – 14.530 11. Robbie Stillwaggon – 14.532 12. Tyler Ross – 14.536 13. Mark Bitner – 14.714 14. Ryan Godown – 15.162 15. Chris Allen, Jr. – 15.235 16. Bill Unglert – 18.568
Heat 1 (10 Laps) – 1. Robbie Stillwaggon 2. Joe Kata III 3. Steve Buckwalter 4. Danny Dietrich 5. Davie Franek
Heat 2 (10 Laps) – 1. Davey Sammons 2. JJ Grasso 3. Ryan Smith 4. Tony Fiore 5. Lucas Wolfe
Feature (30 Laps) – 1. JJ Grasso 2. Kyle Reinhardt 3. Lucas Wolfe 4. Davey Sammons 5. Ryan Smith 6. Robbie Stillwaggon 7. Tony Fiore 8. Steve Buckwalter 9. Joe Kata III 10. Danny Dietrich 11. Tyler Ross 12. Davie Franek 13. Bill Unglert 14. Chris Allen Jr. 15. Mark Bitner 16. Ryan Godown
Modifieds
Heat 1 ( 10 Laps) – 1. Danny Bouc 2. Dominick Buffalino 3. Jimmy Blewett 4. Jimmy Horton 5. Kevin Vaclavicek
Heat 2 (10 Laps) – 1. Brandon Grosso 2. Jeff Strunk 3. Steve Davis 4. Rick Laubach 5. Lou Cicconi
Feature (30 Laps) – 1. Billy Pauch Jr. 2. Duane Howard 3. Danny Bouc 4. Brandon Grosso 5. Jeff Strunk 6. Dominick Buffalino 7. Rich Rutski 8. Mike Gular 9. Jimmy Blewett 10. Rocco Infante 11. Rick Laubach 12. Chris Grbac 13. PJ Oliver 14. Kevin Vaclavicek 15. Pat Wall 16. Steve Davis 17 Ryan Godown 18. Tim Hindley 19. Ricky Wegner 20. Jimmy Horton 21. Lou Cicconi 22. John Pakenham DNS: Frank Cozze
THOMAS STEAMROLLS KOKOMO FIELD ON #GYATK NIGHT!
Posted by: | Comments- The United States Auto Club.
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Contact: Richie Murray - USAC Media / richie@usacracing.com
THOMAS STEAMROLLS KOKOMO FIELD ON #GYATK NIGHT!
By: Richie Murray - USAC Media
Kokomo, Indiana.....August 23, 2017 - Kokomo Speedway has been the stage and Kevin Thomas, Jr. has been the show during late August USAC appearances over the past two seasons.
After winning three of four features during last year's "Sprint Car Smackdown" week, Thomas continued the roll Wednesday night to capture yet another victory at USAC's AMSOIL National Sprint Car "GYATK Night."
Cullman, Alabama's Thomas began the race from the outside of row two and quickly worked his way to the front past Jarett Andretti inside turn three for the second position on a lap four restart, then began his pursuit of Chris Windom for the race lead.
Thomas showed a nose underneath Windom on both ends of the racetrack on the sixth lap. In response, Windom protected the bottom, thus opening up the topside for Thomas who blasted around the outside of Windom on the back straightaway on the following lap. Windom fought back to inch ahead on the bottom, but Thomas had the momentum up top to squeeze his way past Windom by a car length at the start/finish line.
"Once we got to Windom, I think he was searching a little bit," Thomas recalls. "Whenever you're leading like that, you're not real sure where to go. I know he gets around this place well, but tonight, there wasn't necessarily a defined line. I snookered him just a little bit when I showed him a nose on the bottom, but I knew my stuff was pretty good around the top too. Once I got him to go back down to the bottom, I was able to get my momentum and go around him on the top."
Meanwhile, Dave Darland launched his way past Windom for second on lap 10 and began to reel in Thomas, initiating a duel between one of Kokomo's all-time kings versus one of the quarter-mile's new generation of masters.
Darland's run in second would be fairly brief, however, as Windom found traction to propel himself back past Darland with a turn one slider on lap 19, yet Darland was able to counter underneath to pull side-by-side with Windom down the back straight entering turn three, but it wasn't quite enough to put him completely back in front of Windom who motored around the outside to secure second off turn four.
Despite Thomas being in the throes of lapped traffic, the second-place schism between Windom and Darland set Thomas off on an open course for victory as he opened the interval to more than three-plus seconds by race's end to capture his second-straight Kokomo USAC Special Event victory in as many years over Windom, Robert Ballou, Darland and Tyler Courtney.
Kevin Thomas, Jr. was victorious in Wednesday night's
USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car #GYATK Night at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway. (Ryan Sellers Photo)
"This is a good start to the weekend," a confident Thomas remarked. "When tomorrow starts, we're going to try our same things. It'll be a bit different format tomorrow, so we'll have to find a bit more speed sooner. We had a really good racecar in the feature, but I didn't really drive it to its potential early in the night. I'm going to have to do a little better at that, but all-in-all, it was a good night for us. (My crew) gave me a nice, solid racecar. I can't really say enough about that. It was nice and stable and it would go anywhere I wanted it to go in lapped traffic. I could run the top to keep my speed up and it was good, nice and tight around the bottom and would still rotate. These guys do a great job. They'll be here all week. They bust their butts and make my job easy. We're going to celebrate a little bit, but it's another day tomorrow and we'll be ready."
Since the event carried no points toward the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship standings, Thomas and his crew used the opportunity to work outside the box to an extent, which paid off in large dividends as the series heads into three-straight nights at Kokomo on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 24-25-26.
"There's always little things you can change to make these things just a tick better," Thomas admits. "Honestly, nights like this are fun for me because I get to try something and it doesn't really have any consequences. We tried something just a little bit different tonight. We got the car a little more to my liking and it worked. Tomorrow, the track may not be as juiced up. There may be a more treacherous curb or it may be a little slicker. You just never know, so you have to have a lot of tricks in your bag to throw at it when the time comes. Tonight's set up worked, but it might not tomorrow."
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USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR "Special Event" RACE RESULTS: August 23, 2017 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "#GYATK Night"
QUALIFYING: 1. C.J. Leary, 30, Leary-12.727; 2. Thomas Meseraull, 5B, Briscoe-12.838; 3. Dave Darland, 40, Hery-12.864; 4. Kyle Cummins, 3R, Rock Steady-12.922; 5. Robert Ballou, 12, Ballou-12.951; 6. Chris Windom, 5, Baldwin-12.962; 7. Jarett Andretti, 18, Andretti-12.983; 8. Hunter Schuerenberg, 19, Reinbold/Underwood-12.991; 9. Tyler Thomas, 17GP, Dutcher-13.067; 10. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-13.081; 11. Shane Cottle, 57, Hazen-13.164; 12. Clinton Boyles, 98, Boyles-13.194; 13. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, KT-13.247; 14. Brady Short, 19AZ, Reinbold/Underwood-13.275; 15. Isaac Chapple, 52, LNR/Chapple-13.294; 16. Kyle Robbins, 17R, Robbins-13.305; 17. Justin Grant, 11, McGhee-13.332; 18. Brady Bacon, 63, Dooling/Hayward-13.347; 19. Aaron Farney, 15F, Farney-13.405; 20. Chase Stockon, 32, 32 TBI-13.490; 21. Tyler Hewitt, 97x, One More Time-13.512; 22. Brian Karraker, 23, Karraker-13.763; 23. Matt Goodnight, 39, Goodnight-13.770; 24. Logan Jarrett, 29, Jarrett-13.841; 25. Brandon Mattox, 28, Mattox-13.861; 26. Josh Cunningham, 3, Cunningham-13.988; 27. Travis Welpott, 18w, Welpott-14.033; 28. Jake Scott, 4s, Scott-14.056; 29. Jamie Frederickson, 58, Frederickson-14.122; 30. Tyler Courtney, 23c, TOPP-14.132; 31. Colten Cottle, 1RL, Lambertson-14.200; 32. Josh Spencer, 66J, Spencer-14.281; 33. Paul Dues, 87, Dues-14.475; 34. Chet Williams, 38, Williams-14.632; 35. Colin Parker, 4H, Scott-14.643; 36. Mario Clouser, 6, MCM-14.760; 37. Scotty Weir, 17G, On The Gass-14.786; 38. David Hair, 44, Hair-14.868; 39. Corey Smith, 66s, CS-14.959; 40. Ben Phillips, 4, Phillips-14.967; 41. Kody Swanson, 2E, Epperson-15.315; 42. Parker Frederickson, 34, Frederickson-15.613; 43. Robert Bell, 71, Bell-17.270; 44. Steve Hair, 51, Hair-22.874.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Weir, 2. Clouser, 3. Courtney, 4. Swanson, 5. P. Frederickson, 6. Bell, 7. S. Hair. 1:48.44
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Andretti, 2. Meseraull, 3. Schuerenberg, 4. Bacon, 5. Stockon, 6. Jarrett, 7. Parker, 8. Grant. NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Darland, 2. Ballou, 3. Mattox, 4. Robbins, 5. Hewitt, 6. Spencer, 7. Short. 1:47.75
FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Windom, 2. Leary, 3. Cummins, 4. Boespflug, 5. Chapple, 6. S. Cottle, 7. Boyles. NT
FIFTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. K. Thomas, 2. T. Thomas, 3. Cunningham, 4. Goodnight, 5. J. Frederickson, 6. D. Hair, 7. Phillips. 1:46.56
SIXTH HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Welpott, 2. Farney, 3. Karraker, 4. C. Cottle, 5. Scott, 6. Williams, 7. Dues. 1:51.59
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Boespflug, 2. Bacon, 3. Cottle, 4. Stockon, 5. Swanson, 6. Robbins, 7. Chapple, 8. Hewitt, 9. Williams, 10. Goodnight, 11. Jarrett, 12. Spencer, 13. Short, 14. P. Frederickson, 15. J. Frederickson, 16. Parker, 17. Phillips, 18. Hair, 19. Dues, 20. Scott, 21. S. Hair, 22. Bell. 2:46.19
FEATURE: (27 laps) 1. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 2. Chris Windom, 3. Robert Ballou, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Tyler Courtney, 6. C.J. Leary, 7. Jarett Andretti, 8. Kyle Cummins, 9. Aaron Farney, 10. Thomas Meseraull, 11. Tyler Thomas, 12. Colten Cottle, 13. Hunter Schuerenberg, 14. Chase Stockon, 15. Brian Karraker, 16. Brandon Mattox, 17. Mario Clouser, 18. Scotty Weir, 19. Josh Cunningham, 20. Travis Welpott, 21. Chad Boespflug, 22. Brady Bacon. NT
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**Boyles flipped during the fourth heat.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Windom, Laps 7-27 K. Thomas.
NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: August 24-25-26 - Kokomo, Indiana - Kokomo Speedway - "Sprint Car Smackdown VI"
