Blaney Scores 100th All-Star Win With Victory At Attica

Dale Blaney scored his 100th All Star win

By Brian Liskai

(Attica, OH) Dale Blaney rewarded his new car owner with a $10,000 victory Saturday to open Attica Raceway Park’s 2014 season. “The Low Rider” led all 40 laps of the Construction Equipment and Supply/ HD Supply Spring Nationals to score his 100th career University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions win.

It wasn’t easy for Blaney, as reminiscent of the 2012 Spring Nationals when he and Craig Mintz put on an exciting show for the two nights, Mintz again challenged Blaney late. But, Blaney came alive the final seven circuits to score the win aboard his Tony Kennedy owned #14h. The victory is Blaney’s 18th career win at Attica of which 14 have been UNOH All Star triumphs.

“Thanks to George (Fisher) he does all the work on this thing. I’m awful happy to get number 100 with Tony…our first win together. To make it 100 and to make it here at this race is pretty special. I love this place. Western Ohio has been very good to me,” said Blaney beside his Ti22 Performance/Penske Shocks, Kennedy Cattle Company backed machine.

“We were really good on the short runs. I really wasn’t that great after about 10 laps. I kind of got stuck behind Sebetto (Bryan) and he and Chris Bell were racing. I saw the 09 beside me in one and two and I knew where he was running at so I just picked the pace up a little bit and was really, really fortunate to go down into three and Chris Bell moved to the middle and it left me with the bottom and after that I was running like a scared dog. Craig (Mintz) runs really good here so to get that one is cool,” added Blaney, a four time and defending UNOH All Star champion.

“I think Dale was kind of just pacing himself. When he picked up the pace I didn’t have anything for him. I burned everything up trying to catch him,” said Mintz beside his Real Geese Decoys/Erie Shore Propane/KS Sales and Service backed #09. “That’s why he has 100 victories because he got through that lapped traffic a little bit better than we did.”

Four time UNOH All Star champion Tim Shaffer would continue his early season strong runs with a third place finish in the Bryan Grove #45.

“Hats off to Bryan Grove, James Chambers and everyone that’s helping us. When you have everybody behind you 100 percent….it’s showing. We missed it a little bit in the feature but we’re in it every night,” said Shaffer beside his Canton Erectors backed machine.

In the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Model main Ashland, Ohio’s Ryan Markham held off several challenges from Rusty Schlenk and Chris Keller to score his second career Attica victory.

“I wanted to get into lapped traffic and kind of weasel my way through there. I think my car was pretty good on the bottom but I wanted to keep it up top to keep an eye on them on my inside,” said Markham beside his H & T Demolitions/Fultz Fabrications/Accu-Force Shocks/Innovative Graphics backed #5m.

“When you’re up there flirting with that cushion you don’t want to push it too hard but when a guy shows you his nose you have to give it everything you got. That was a pretty good race…two and three wide. My wife is going to be mad…it was too cold for her to come,” joked Markham.

John Ivy made a daring move late in the 25 lap Foster’s Auto Body 305 Sprint feature, splitting two lapped cars in turn one while holding off Jordan Ryan. Ivy would lead all 25 laps to score his 12th career Attica 305 sprint win.

“That was the only way I was going to win it. I saw him sticking his nose and I said ‘man I have to go for this one.’ It helps to start up front. I have to thank Joey, my brother, Sony…Big Kenny and Karen and everyone involved in this,” said Ivy beside his Nagy Equipment Sales/Fremont Fence/Little Bar on the Prairie/B&L Heating and Air Conditioning/Kistler Engines/Big D’s Pizza #8i

In the 40-lap UNOH All Star feature Blaney and Andrew Palker would bring the field to the green with Blaney gaining the advantage. Palker would run comfortably in second with Shaffer, Danny Holtgraver, Duane Zablocki and Mintz in tow. Mintz would move into fifth on lap five and would take fourth on lap 8 as the leaders raced into lapped traffic.

Blaney continued to lead unchallenged with Palker, Shaffer, Mintz, Holtgraver, Zablocki and Dean Jacobs in pursuit. Mintz grabbed third on lap 10 as the race’s only caution flew for Brandon Wimmer who stopped on the track. With a clear track, Blaney would drive away from the field as Palker now had his hands full with Mintz. Mintz drove into the runner-up spot on lap 13 with Palker, Shaffer, Holtgraver, Jacobs and Chad Kemenah in tow.

The leaders would hit lapped traffic again on lap 19 allowing Mintz to close the gap on Blaney. Palker, Shaffer and Holtgraver were also battling hard for third with Shaffer gaining the position on lap 22. The only change in the top five over the next few laps saw Holtgraver and Jacobs get around Palker.

With seven laps to go, Blaney was in heavy lapped traffic and Mintz closed quickly. On lap 34 Mintz drove to Blaney’s outside in turns one and two, but Blaney was able to hold him off and then picked up the pace to pull away fro the win. Mintz, Shaffer, Holtgraver and Jacobs – who flipped hard in his heat race – would round out the top five.

Cody Scott and Markham brought the field to the green in the 25-lap late model main with Markham taking the lead while Schlenk drove into second while Chris Keller, Scott and Matt Irey gave chase. With just four laps in, Schlenk continually challenged Markham for the lead, driving to his inside lap after lap. As the leaders hit lapped traffic on lap 7, Keller now joined the fun.

The caution flew on lap 7 for a Jeremy Canada and Josh Haynes tangle. On the restart Haynes would get into Doug Baird, necessitating another restart. Markham would get an excellent jump when the green flew as Schlenk had his hands full with Keller while Irey, Dona Marcoullier, Scott and Eric Spangler gave chase. A Canada spin on lap nine stopped the tremendous battle up front. But when the green reappeared, so did the fight for the lead with Markham, Schlenk, Keller and now Marcoullier.

The side-by-side and often times three-wide battle up front continued as the leaders raced into traffic again by lap 16. Keller would take second a circuit later and immediately drove to Markham’s inside. But, the caution would fly one final time on lap 18 when Jeff Babcock tangled with the lapped machine of Baird.

When the green flew again, Keller dove to Markham’s inside but couldn’t make the pass as Schlenk again joined the battle. But, with three laps to go Markham began to pull away slightly and went on to score the victory. Schlenk would rebound for second followed by Keller, Marcoullier and Irey.

John Ivy and Bobby Clark brought the field to the green in the 25 lap 305 sprint main with Ivy immediately grabbing the advantage. Clark, Jordan Ryan, Dan McCarron, Seth Schneider, Brandon Moore and Jason Keckler gave chase. Ryan would move into second on lap three and started to real in Ivy as they raced into lapped traffic by the 9th circuit.

On lap 11 Clark would tangle with the lapped machine of Jim Taddeo, bringing out the caution and ending Clark’s night. After the green flew and a lap later, Nate Dussel would end up on his side, collecting Dan Hammond. On the ensuing restart Ivy pulled away slightly from Ryan with McCarron, Keckler, Paul Weaver and Schneider in pursuit. Keckler would grab third on lap13, bringing Weaver into fourth.

Things would get very interesting on lap 21 as the leaders found lapped traffic. This allowed Ryan to move right in on Ivy’s rear bumper. Ivy was hung up behind two lapped cars who were battling as they flew into turn one with two laps to go. Ivy split the lapped cars as Ryan had to back off the throttle. Ivy would hold off Ryan for the win while Keckler, Weaver and McCarron rounded out the top five.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action on Friday, April 11th on Bazel Race Fuel Night with the UMP Late Models, 305 sprints and dirt trucks in action.

For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com

Attica Raceway Park – 4/5/2014
Construction Equipment & Supply / HD Supply Night

O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (36 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position

Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 40-Caleb Helms, 12.380; 2. 10H-Danny Holtgraver, 12.535; 3. 57X-Andrew Palker, 12.562; 4. 14K-Dale Blaney, 12.580; 5. 787-Dean Jacobs, 12.662; 6. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.663; 7. 60K-Jody Keegan, 12.678; 8. 45-Tim Shaffer, 12.696; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.697; 10. 63-Chad Kemenah, 12.716; 11. 77-Shane Stewart, 12.884; 12. 16-Chris Andrews, 12.985; 13. 22-Cole Duncan, 13.046; 14. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.064; 15. 45L-Brian Lay, 13.068; 16. 24H-Brandon Wimmer, 13.105; 17. 55-Brad Bowman, 13.122; 18. 21-Dallas Hewitt, 13.133; 19. 4-Danny Smith, 13.138; 20. 40DD-Caleb Griffith, 13.199; 21. 53C-Christopher Bell, 13.231; 22. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.246; 23. 11X-Brandon Martin, 13.263; 24. 9W-Jac Haudenschild, 13.292; 25. 33M-Bryan Sebetto, 13.293; 26. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.317; 27. 80-Trey Gustin, 13.330; 28. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 13.408; 29. 83-Stevie Smith, 13.444; 30. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.471; 31. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.474; 32. 17-Scott Euler, 13.548; 33. 2-Nathan Skaggs, 13.570; 34. 53-D.J. Foos, 13.665; 35. O7X-Dain Naida, 13.699; 36. 7-Troy Kingan, 14.502

Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 53C-Christopher Bell[1] ; 2. 55-Brad Bowman[2] ; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[3] ; 4. 33M-Bryan Sebetto[7] ; 5. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[4] ; 6. 2-Nathan Skaggs[9] ; 7. 83-Stevie Smith[8] ; 8. 787-Dean Jacobs[5] ; 9. 40-Caleb Helms[6]

Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 81-Lee Jacobs[3] ; 2. 5R-Byron Reed[1] ; 3. 63-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 4. 10H-Danny Holtgraver[6] ; 5. O9-Craig Mintz[5] ; 6. 21-Dallas Hewitt[2] ; 7. 5T-Travis Philo[8] ; 8. 35-Stuart Brubaker[7] ; 9. 53-D.J. Foos[9]

Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 4-Danny Smith[2] ; 2. 11X-Brandon Martin[1] ; 3. 45L-Brian Lay[3] ; 4. 77-Shane Stewart[4] ; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker[6] ; 6. 60K-Jody Keegan[5] ; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[8] ; 8. 80-Trey Gustin[7] ; 9. O7X-Dain Naida[9]

Heat 4 – Bell Racing Products (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[2] ; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer[5] ; 3. 9W-Jac Haudenschild[1] ; 4. 16-Chris Andrews[4] ; 5. 14K-Dale Blaney[6] ; 6. 46AU-Stuart Williams[7] ; 7. 17-Scott Euler[8] ; 8. 7-Troy Kingan[9]

Dash – R & R (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 14K-Dale Blaney[2] ; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker[1] ; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 4. 10H-Danny Holtgraver[6] ; 5. O9-Craig Mintz[3] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[5]

B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 787-Dean Jacobs[2] ; 2. 40-Caleb Helms[1] ; 3. 24H-Brandon Wimmer[4] ; 4. 60K-Jody Keegan[3] ; 5. 83-Stevie Smith[9] ; 6. 46AU-Stuart Williams[8] ; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[11] ; 8. 53-D.J. Foos[14] ; 9. 5T-Travis Philo[10] ; 10. 80-Trey Gustin[7] ; 11. O7X-Dain Naida[15] ; 12. 2-Nathan Skaggs[13] ; 13. 7-Troy Kingan[16] ; 14. 21-Dallas Hewitt[5] ; 15. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6] ; 16. 17-Scott Euler[12]

A-Main – (40 Laps)
1. 14K-Dale Blaney[1]; 2. O9-Craig Mintz[5]; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer[3]; 4. 10H-Danny Holtgraver[4]; 5. 787-Dean Jacobs[12]; 6. 77-Shane Stewart[8]; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah[7]; 8. 22-Cole Duncan[10]; 9. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[19]; 10. 16-Chris Andrews[9]; 11. 57X-Andrew Palker[2]; 12. 5R-Byron Reed[21]; 13. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[6]; 14. 45L-Brian Lay[15]; 15. 33M-Bryan Sebetto[24]; 16. 81-Lee Jacobs[14]; 17. 53C-Christopher Bell[20]; 18. 40-Caleb Helms[11]; 19. 11X-Brandon Martin[22]; 20. 9W-Jac Haudenschild[23]; 21. 4-Danny Smith[18]; 22. 60K-Jody Keegan[13]; 23. 55-Brad Bowman[17]; 24. 24H-Brandon Wimmer[16]

Hard Charger: 40DD-Caleb Griffith[+10]

Summit Racing Equipment Late Models (23 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 6M-Dona Marcoullier[2] ; 2. 1-Jeff Babcock[7] ; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[1] ; 4. 36-Matt Irey[6] ; 5. O1-Justin Chance[5] ; 6. 21-Larry Kingseed[4] ; 7. 51-Devin Shiels[8] ; 8. 5J-Josh Haynes[3]

Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 56-Russ King[5] ; 2. 27-Eric Spangler[6] ; 3. 42S-Bob Mayer[2] ; 4. 15B-Mike Bores[7] ; 5. 45-Nate Potts[4] ; 6. 69R-Doug Baird[8] ; 7. 1W-Brain Orth[1]

Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 91-Rusty Schlenk[1] ; 2. OO-Chris Keller[7] ; 3. 92-Cody Scott[3] ; 4. 16-Steve Sabo[4] ; 5. 23C-Jeremy Canada[6] ; 6. 34-Ky Harper[5] ; 7. J4-John Garvin Jr.[2]

A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 5M-Ryan Markham[2]; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk[4]; 3. OO-Chris Keller[3]; 4. 6M-Dona Marcoullier[7]; 5. 36-Matt Irey[6]; 6. 27-Eric Spangler[8]; 7. 56-Russ King[11]; 8. 15B-Mike Bores[9]; 9. 51-Devin Shiels[17]; 10. O1-Justin Chance[13]; 11. 21-Larry Kingseed[16]; 12. 34-Ky Harper[18]; 13. 45-Nate Potts[14]; 14. 42S-Bob Mayer[12]; 15. 16-Steve Sabo[5]; 16. 1-Jeff Babcock[10]; 17. 69R-Doug Baird[19]; 18. 23C-Jeremy Canada[15]; 19. 92-Cody Scott[1]; 20. 5J-Josh Haynes[20]

Hard Charger: 51-Devin Shiels[+8]

Foster Auto Body 305 Sprints (23 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8I-John Ivy[3] ; 2. 8-Bobby Clark[1] ; 3. 25-Jason Keckler[4] ; 4. 19R-Steve Rando[8] ; 5. 1-Nate Dussel[5] ; 6. 68G-Tyler Gunn[6] ; 7. 11G-Luke Griffith[2] ; 8. 13-Jeremy Duposki[7]

Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[2] ; 2. 5R-Jordan Ryan[8] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[3] ; 4. 7M-Brandon Moore[6] ; 5. 22D-Dan Hammond[5] ; 6. 39C-Scott Riley[1] ; 7. 32-Dan Hennig[4] ; 8. 2-Ricky Peterson[7]

Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 22M-Dan McCarron[1] ; 2. 8M-T.J Michael[4] ; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[6] ; 4. 12-Kyle Capodice[2] ; 5. 4T-Jim Taddeo[7] ; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs[3] ; 7. 4G-Bill Griffith[5]

B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1] ; 2. 11G-Luke Griffith[4] ; 3. 3J-Trey Jacobs[3] ; 4. 13-Jeremy Duposki[7] ; 5. 2-Ricky Peterson[8] ; 6. 39C-Scott Riley[2] ; 7. 32-Dan Hennig[5] ; 8. 4G-Bill Griffith[6]

A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 8I-John Ivy[1]; 2. 5R-Jordan Ryan[4]; 3. 25-Jason Keckler[5]; 4. 1W-Paul Weaver[11]; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron[3]; 6. 9-Jimmy Colvin[7]; 7. 19R-Steve Rando[10]; 8. 8M-T.J Michael[9]; 9. 68G-Tyler Gunn[16]; 10. 2-Ricky Peterson[20]; 11. 36-Seth Schneider[6]; 12. 7M-Brandon Moore[8]; 13. 13-Jeremy Duposki[19]; 14. 1-Nate Dussel[13]; 15. 3J-Trey Jacobs[18]; 16. 11G-Luke Griffith[17]; 17. 12-Kyle Capodice[12]; 18. 4T-Jim Taddeo[15]; 19. 22D-Dan Hammond[14]; 20. 8-Bobby Clark[2]

Hard Charger: 2-Ricky Peterson[+10]