Weaver Takes The Loot In 305 Engine Builders Challenge At Attica
8 min read
By Brian Liskai Attica, Ohio – Paul Weaver didn’t like how his season started. So, the Fremont, Ohio veteran put together a different 305 sprint car and it paid off as he led all 30 laps for the $1,200 pay day at Attica Raceway Park Friday in the Engine Builders’ Challenge presented by Level Performance and Gressman Powersports.
“I just knew I wasn’t getting off the bottom. I learned my lesson last year racing with Jordan (Ryan). This feels great especially after struggling all summer long. I bought a car this winter that I had run a couple of years ago but no luck and put this one back together and it looks like we’ll keep this one going,” said Weaver beside his Schiets Motorsports/Tender Touch Car Wash/Weaver Performance/Hampshire Racing Engines/Fostoria Mod Shop/M&L Excavating/Buckeye Mobile Coating backed machine.
It was Weaver’s 33rd career 305 sprint win at Attica as he sits atop the all-time win list at the track.
Last week Doug Drown was involved in an on-track altercation with another driver and ended his night in the pits with a broken race car. To make matters worse, the Wooster, Ohio driver was sick all week. But, he was able to leave put all that behind him as he held off a charging Rusty Schlenk to record his second win of the season in the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models. It is his eighth career win at Attica and opens the Attica/Wayne County Speedway Late Model Challenge Series.
“Last week was an idiot move on my part last week. I definitely shouldn’t have been like that. I apologize to my fans and even the ones who aren’t my fans. That’s no way to act. My temper got the best of me. But this definitely makes up for it. Getting the win last week at Wayne County and now this,” said Drown beside his Halls Auto Sales/Kar Konnections/Malcuit Racing Engines/Nationwide Vehicle Protection/Wooster Glass backed machine.
“I’ve been sick all week. I haven’t even seen the race car until today. Dave Miller came over Thursday and got everything ready. My brother, Dan, Steve with the tires, and obviously Leroy for providing everything for us to be able to do what we do. Just very fortunate. I have to thank my wife for taking care of me all week and finally getting me to the hospital,” added Drown.
“The track was great. I didn’t know where to go and when I saw Rusty (Schlenk) in second…he’s so experienced here. He can find grip where most people can’t. That’s why I went to the top. I figured if he goes to the bottom at least I could see him coming. Instead of getting caught by surprise on the outside,” concluded Drown.
Dan Roepke Sr. came out of retirement to grab the win in the Fremont Fence Dirt Truck feature. It was his second career win at Attica. He took over the truck that his son had drive in the past
“He had a wedding to go to tonight…he’s out doing other things. I’m glad he’s not here to night…I’ll take it,” said Roepke. “I have to thank my wife…she puts up with this.”
Weaver and John Ivy would bring the field to green for the 30-lap 305 sprint feature but Bobby Clark would spin before a lap could be completed. When the green flew Weaver took the lead over Ivy, T.J. Michael, Seth Schneider, Alvin Roepke, Jordan Ryan and Luke Griffith.
Michael would get by Ivy for second on the fourth lap with Roepke moving into fourth. Roepke would take third on lap six when the caution flew for a Steve Rando spin. Several cars were working their way to the front including Rick Peterson who drove from 18th to 10th and Kyle Capodice who was up to 12th from 22nd.
Weaver would pull away when the green came back out with Michael staying close while Roepke and Ivy locked up in a good battle for third. With 10 laps in another car on the move was Nate Dussel who started ninth and was up to fourth. Dussel would drive around Roepke for third on the next lap and immediately challenged Michael for second.
Weaver would catch the back of the field on lap 17 and that allowed Michael, Dussel and Roepke to close with Schneider, Ryan, Capodice and Ivy in tow. With 7 laps to go Dussel drove into second and closed to within a car length of Weaver.
Weaver picked the right places on the track to dispose of lapped cars and drove away the final four laps. He would take the checkers over Dussel, Michael, Roepke and Ryan.
Drown and Dave Hornikel paced the field in the 25-lap late model feature that would see only one caution flag, that for debris on lap 12.
Hornikel would get the jump on Drown to lead the first lap with Chris Keller, Schlenk, Ryan Markham and Greg Haskell in pursuit. Drown drove around Hornikel for the lead on lap 2 but Hornikel continued to race hard to his inside with Keller joining the fray on lap three.
Keller took second on lap four, but would slide off the track a lap later, moving Hornikel back to the runner-up spot with Schlenk, Larry Kingseed, Markham and Matt Irey staying close. Schlenk would pressure Hornikel for second and would take the spot on lap eight.
Meanwhile Drown had built a sizeable lead and the action for fourth was exciting involving Markham, Irey, Kingseed and Mike Bores. Drown drove into heavy lapped traffic by lap 11 with Schlenk and Hornikel closing.
The debris caution came out on lap 12, giving Drown a clear track. When the green flew he could not shake Schlenk who stayed glued to the leader’s rear bumper. Hornikel would continue to run third with Irey finally winning the battle for fourth with Markham, Bores and Rocky Owens in tow.
With just three laps to go the leaders were once again in heavy traffic and Drown was locked in a great battle with Schlenk with Hornikel, Irey, Markham and Bores reeling in the top two. Drown would pick his way through the lapped cars and would drive to the win over Schlenk, Hornikel, Irey and Markham.
Kyle Cline and Steve Endicott brought the field to green for the 15 lap dirt truck feature but Brian Arnold would stop on the speedway to necessitate another start. When the green flew it was Cline with the advantage over Matt Foos, Endicott, Dana Fry, Roepke, Keith Sorg and Brandon Leighton.
Foos would challenge Cline for the lead on lap two with Roepke bolting into third. With just five laps scored it was a three truck battle for the lead between Cline, Foos and Roepke. Roepke would drive under and around Foos and Cline to take the lead on lap six.
As Roepke pulled away Foos and Cline battled for second with Fry, Endicott and Leighton staying close. Roepke would drive to the win over Foos, Fry, Endicott and Sorg.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, May 15th for the Eric Phillips 27th Anniversary Classic on American Powersports of Findlay and Sandusky Night. It is a Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) Championship Series point race for the 410 sprints and a JLH General Contractor 305 Sprint FAST Championship Series point race. The late models will also be in action.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park
May 8, 2015
Engine Builders’ Challenge – Gressman Powersports/Level Performance
Foster’s Auto Body 305 Sprints (33 cars)
Starting position [*]
Qualifying
1.5R-Jordan Ryan, 13.959; 2.99-Alvin Roepke, 13.966; 3.11C-Caleb Griffith, 13.967; 4.1-Nate Dussel, 13.984; 5.1W-Paul Weaver, 14.000; 6.8-Bobby Clark, 14.013; 7.77I-John Ivy, 14.097; 8.19R-Steve Rando, 14.107; 9.4*-Tyler Street, 14.119; 10.18-TJ Michael, 14.159; 11.7S-Thomas Schinderle, 14.191; 12.11G-Luke Griffith, 14.200; 13.2-Ricky Peterson, 14.226; 14.36-Seth Schneider, 14.271; 15.3J-Trey Jacobs, 14.276; 16.25-Jason Keckler, 14.280; 17.32H-Dan Hennig, 14.293; 18.12-Kyle Capodice, 14.300; 19.39-Jamie Miller, 14.312; 20.7M-Brandon Moore, 14.327; 21.13-Jeremy Duposki, 14.394; 22.18N-Frank Neill, 14.405; 23.22M-Dan McCarron, 14.406; 24.77X-Alex Hill, 14.492; 25.68G-Tyler Gunn, 14.556; 26.26-Ryan French, 14.675; 27.14-Rick Daugherty, 14.675; 28.20I-Kelsey Ivy, 14.700; 29.87-Brian Gibbs, 14.705; 30.75-Jerry Dahms, 14.712; 31.15-Gary Benjamin, 14.971; 32.7-Dylan Kingan, 15.035; 33.1X-Jeremy Dickerson, 15.182;
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 36-Seth Schneider[1] ; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[2] ; 3. 99-Alvin Roepke[4] ; 4. 11C-Caleb Griffith[3] ; 5. 25-Jason Keckler[5] ; 6. 77X-Alex Hill[7] ; 7. 18N-Frank Neill[6] ; 8. 26-Ryan French[8] ; 9. 75-Jerry Dahms[9]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[3] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[4] ; 3. 68G-Tyler Gunn[6] ; 4. 3J-Trey Jacobs[2] ; 5. 7M-Brandon Moore[5] ; 6. 12-Kyle Capodice[1] ; 7. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[7] ; 8. 1X-Jeremy Dickerson[8]
Ultra Shield Race Products Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 11G-Luke Griffith[2] ; 2. 13-Jeremy Duposki[5] ; 3. 4*-Tyler Street[4] ; 4. 22M-Dan McCarron[6] ; 5. 32H-Dan Hennig[1] ; 6. 7S-Thomas Schinderle[3] ; 7. 15-Gary Benjamin[7] ; 8. 7-Dylan Kingan[8]
Rock auto.com Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 18-TJ Michael[1] ; 2. 77I-John Ivy[2] ; 3. 5R-Jordan Ryan[4] ; 4. 8-Bobby Clark[3] ; 5. 2-Ricky Peterson[5] ; 6. 39-Jamie Miller[6] ; 7. 14-Rick Daugherty[7] ; 8. 87-Brian Gibbs[8]
Computer Man Dash 1 – (6 Laps, determines inside 6 row starting spot for A)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1] ; 2. 36-Seth Schneider[2] ; 3. 99-Alvin Roepke[3] ; 4. 68G-Tyler Gunn[4] ; 5. 1-Nate Dussel[6] ; 6. 19R-Steve Rando[5]
Computer Man Dash 2 – (6 Laps, determines outside 6 row starting spot for A)
1. 77I-John Ivy[2] ; 2. 18-TJ Michael[3] ; 3. 11G-Luke Griffith[1] ; 4. 5R-Jordan Ryan[5] ; 5. 4*-Tyler Street[4] ; 6. 13-Jeremy Duposki[6]
Computer Man B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 2 to A)
1. 25-Jason Keckler[1] ; 2. 77X-Alex Hill[3] ; 3. 18N-Frank Neill[5] ; 4. 32H-Dan Hennig[2] ; 5. 7S-Thomas Schinderle[4] ; 6. 75-Jerry Dahms[9] ; 7. 15-Gary Benjamin[6] ; 8. 7-Dylan Kingan[8]
Computer Man B-Main 2 – (10 Laps, top 2 to A)
1. 2-Ricky Peterson[2] ; 2. 7M-Brandon Moore[1] ; 3. 12-Kyle Capodice[3] ; 4. 87-Brian Gibbs[8] ; 5. 14-Rick Daugherty[6] ; 6. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[5] ; 7. 1X-Jeremy Dickerson[7] ; 8. 39-Jamie Miller[4]
A-Main 1 (30 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[9] ; 3. 18-TJ Michael[4] ; 4. 99-Alvin Roepke[5] ; 5. 5R-Jordan Ryan[8] ; 6. 36-Seth Schneider[3] ; 7. 12-Kyle Capodice[22] ; 8. 2-Ricky Peterson[18] ; 9. 77I-John Ivy[2] ; 10. 8-Bobby Clark[16] ; 11. 11G-Luke Griffith[6] ; 12. 3J-Trey Jacobs[14] ; 13. 11C-Caleb Griffith[13] ; 14. 39-Jamie Miller[21] ; 15. 22M-Dan McCarron[15] ; 16. 4*-Tyler Street[10] ; 17. 68G-Tyler Gunn[7] ; 18. 13-Jeremy Duposki[12] ; 19. 77X-Alex Hill[19] ; 20. 7M-Brandon Moore[20] ; 21. 25-Jason Keckler[17] ; 22. 19R-Steve Rando[11]
Hard Charger – Kyle Capodice +15 spots
Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models (21 cars)
Qualifying
1.240-Doug Drown, 14.852; 2.92-Cody Scott, 15.160; 3.007-Rick Bond, 15.224; 4.21-Larry Kingseed, 15.265; 5.91-Rusty Schlenk, 15.335; 6.5M-Ryan Markham, 15.339; 7.00-Chris Keller, 15.448; 8.50Y-Ryan Missler, 15.549; 9.71-Dave Hornikel, 15.607; 10.27-Ken Hahn, 15.609; 11.71I-Matt Irey, 15.652; 12.15b-Mike Bores, 15.696; 13.5J-Josh Haynes, 15.720; 14.03-Jim Gingery, 15.738; 15.51-Devin Shiels, 15.773; 16.48-John Bores, 15.992; 17.RH21-Gregg Haskell, 16.080; 18.29-Rocky Owens, 16.195; 19.69R-Doug Baird, 16.340; 20.53-Steve Sabo, 16.829; 21.23J-Mike Hudson, 18.731;
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 240-Doug Drown[4] ; 2. 71-Dave Hornikel[2] ; 3. 00-Chris Keller[3] ; 4. 15b-Mike Bores[5] ; 5. 27-Ken Hahn[1] ; 6. 53-Steve Sabo[7]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 7 to A)
1. 21-Larry Kingseed[2] ; 2. 007-Rick Bond[3] ; 3. RH21-Gregg Haskell[5] ; 4. 29-Rocky Owens[6] ; 5. 92-Cody Scott[4] ; 6. 03-Jim Gingery[1] ; 7. 23J-Mike Hudson[7]
Ultra Shield Race Products Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 7 cars to A)
1. 71I-Matt Irey[1] ; 2. 5M-Ryan Markham[3] ; 3. 91-Rusty Schlenk[4] ; 4. 50Y-Ryan Missler[2] ; 5. 51-Devin Shiels[5] ; 6. 48-John Bores[6] ; 7. 69R-Doug Baird[7]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 240-Doug Drown[1] ; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk[5] ; 3. 71-Dave Hornikel[2] ; 4. 71I-Matt Irey[8] ; 5. 5M-Ryan Markham[7] ; 6. 15b-Mike Bores[10] ; 7. 29-Rocky Owens[11] ; 8. 00-Chris Keller[3] ; 9. 51-Devin Shiels[15] ; 10. 21-Larry Kingseed[6] ; 11. 007-Rick Bond[9] ; 12. 27-Ken Hahn[13] ; 13. 48-John Bores[18] ; 14. 50Y-Ryan Missler[12] ; 15. 92-Cody Scott[14] ; 16. 53-Steve Sabo[16] ; 17. 69R-Doug Baird[20] ; 18. 03-Jim Gingery[17] ; 19. RH21-Gregg Haskell[4] ; 20. 23J-Mike Hudson[19]
Hard Charger – Devin Shiels +6 spots
Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks –
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 7 to A)
1. 33C-Kyle Cline[1] ; 2. 7F-Dana Frey[3] ; 3. 88-Dan Roepke[7] ; 4. 9-Curt Inks[5] ; 5. 4S-Keith Sorg[6] ; 6. 37-Eric Devanna[4] ; 7. 85S-Brandon Stuckey[2]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 7 to A)
1. 2-Matt Foos[5] ; 2. 22-Brandon Leighton[2] ; 3. 33-Brian Arnold[6] ; 4. 17-Steve Endicott[1] ; 5. 17X-Dustin Keegan[3] ; 6. 13-Cody Benyak[4] ; 7. 25-Randy Ryan[7]
A-Main 1 – (15 Laps)
1. 88-Dan Roepke[7] ; 2. 2-Matt Foos[4] ; 3. 7F-Dana Frey[5] ; 4. 17-Steve Endicott[2] ; 5. 4S-Keith Sorg[9] ; 6. 33C-Kyle Cline[1] ; 7. 37-Eric Devanna[11] ; 8. 22-Brandon Leighton[6] ; 9. 9-Curt Inks[8] ; 10. 17X-Dustin Keegan[10] ; 11. 85S-Brandon Stuckey[13] ; 12. 13-Cody Benyak[12] ; 13. 33-Brian Arnold[3] ; 14. 25-Randy Ryan[14]
Hard Charger – Dan Roepke +6 spots
About The Author
