Irey Gets Late Race Pass For Attica Late Model Win

By Brian Liskai

ATTICA, Ohio – Matt Irey just needed one little break Friday, May 6 at Attica Raceway Park on Bazell Fuels/Croghan Colonial Bank Night. He got it on a restart with just six laps to go.

The Mansfield, Ohio driver took advantage of leader Devin Shiels slight bobble on the cushion in turns three and four to drive into the lead. He then held off a late race rally by Shiels to score his second career win at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speedplant in the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Model division. It was the first race of the season for the Attica/Wayne County Speedway Late Model Series Challenge.

“The car was good all night. I knew the top would be treacherous…I saw that cushion building and building and I saw him (Shiels) bobble and knew I had to go for it. I switched chassis this year and I love it,” said Irey beside his Sensmeier Oil, Fultz Fabrication, Sluss Realty and Robin Jackubic, Rod Eddleblute’s Garage backed machine.

“I have to thank my mom and dad too. Actually my mom is in Vegas tonight so she has missed both my wins now. I always tell her ‘maybe you should stay home, I have better luck,’” Irey joked.

In the Fremont Fence 305 Sprint feature Paul Weaver would utilize the high line to take the lead on lap 12, survived a couple of late race cautions and held off Kyle Capodice for his 34th career win in the division. Weaver leads the 305 sprint division in all-time wins at Attica.

“I got it right on the cushion 10 out of 25 laps. I saw that young kid (Capodice) behind me and I said to myself ‘he can’t win two in a row.’ Luck was on my side tonight. We changed the tires tonight…I couldn’t stand the other ones and I changed the top wing, and that helped a bunch,” said Weaver beside his M&L Excavating, Hampshire Racing Engines, Schiets Motorsports, Weaver Performance Center backed sprint car.

Fremont, Ohio’s Keith Sorg has been racing six years in the dirt trucks without a win. A couple of weeks ago he got his first at Fremont Speedway. He scored his second straight win Friday at Attica after a great battle with Cory McCaughey throughout the feature.

“It doesn’t get any better than this. That battle with Cory wore me out. I have to thank my mom and dad, Fremont Fence, Advance Auto, Westend Tire, M&L Excavating and Level Performance,” said Sorg.

Ryan Markham and Shiels brought the field to green for the 25-lap late model feature. Shiels would gain the advantage over Markham, Rob Anderzack, Cody Scott and Dave Hornikel. Action would grind to a halt when John Bores got out of shape in turn two with J.R. Gentry making contact and flipping onto the car of Ken Hahn. No one was hurt.

When the race resumed Shiels continued to lead Markham who had his hands full with Anderzack while Scott, Hornikel, Rick Bond and Irey gave chase. Rocky Owens would stop on the track with three laps in for another caution. On the restart Markham and Anderzack both applied pressure to Shiels with Scott, Bond, Hornikel and Irey in tow.

Markham continued to hound Shiels when a debris caution flew on lap 10. Meanwhile Irey, who started seventh, had worked his way to fourth. Another car on the move was Doug Drown. A late arrival at the track, Drown had started last in the B-main and won, and started the A-main in 16th and had worked his way to seventh by lap 10.

On the ensuing restart Shiels got a great jump while Markham had to deal with Anderzack and Irey. With 13 laps scored Markham was racing right on Shiels’ rear bumper. But, a costly stumble on the cushion in turn two on lap 16 by Markham allowed Shiels to get away as Anderzack raced into second.

With seven laps to go Shiels held a four car length lead while Anderzack, Irey, Markham and Drown waged an entertaining battle for second. Irey would move into second on lap 19 as Anderzack spun, collecting Drown. That would wipe out a comfortable lead for Shiels.

When the green flew, Shiels would make a costly error on the cushion in turns three and four as Irey drove into the lead with Markham taking second and Shiels moving back to third. As the laps wound down, Shiels and Markham began to close on Irey. Irey would hold them off for the win with Scott coming home fourth and Bond rounding out the top five.

In the 25 lap 305 sprint feature Trey Jacobs and Trevor Baker brought the field to green with Jacobs – who plans to run mostly 410 sprints this year – taking the lead. Seth Schneider would make contact with an infield tire on lap three to keep the field close.

On the restart Jacobs would continue to lead Baker while Kyle Capodice and Paul Weaver battled for third. Weaver would rim-rid into third on lap five and after a great battle with Baker, took second on lap 10 as Baker made contact with an infield barrier, ending his night.

When the green flew Weaver drove to Jacobs’ outside and would drive into the lead on lap 12 with Capodice staying close in third. Meanwhile Dustin Dinan had charged from his 13th starting spot to fourth with Dan McCarron, Dustin Stroup, Steve Rando and Jamie Miller giving chase.

Just as Weaver began to pull away, another caution would fly for Luke Griffith on lap 14. Jacobs would drive to Weaver’s inside on the restart with Capodice, McCarron, Dinan and Stroup staying close. Capodice would take second on lap 16 and closed on Weaver.

With just four laps to go Thomas Schinderle would stop setting up a four lap shoot out. Weaver would go right to the cushion on the restart with Capodice continuing to drive the bottom groove. The pair ran side by side to the end. Weaver would get the close victory with Jacobs settling for third and Dinan and McCarron rounding out the top five.

Sorg and McCaughey would lead the charge to the green in the 15-lap dirt truck feature. After an opening lap incident involving Brian Arnold and John Jones, the race would go green the rest of the distance.

McCaughey grabbed the early lead but Sorg applied pressure with Dustin Keegan and Brad Stuckey staying close. McCaughey and Sorg race each other clean and hard over the first eight laps until Sorg finally got past on lap nine.

Sorg would hold off McCaughey for his first career Attica win with Stuckey taking third over Keegan and Curt Inks.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, May 13 for the Eric Phillips 28th Anniversary Classic presented by American Powersports and Merrill Lynch. It will be a Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship Series Presented by KS Sales and Service point night for the 410 sprints and a JLH General Contractor FAST 305 Sprint Championship Series Presented by Engine Pro for the 305 sprints as they vie for $1,000 to win thanks to Gressman Powersports. The UMP Late Models will also be in action.

For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com, follow the track on Twitter at twitter.com/atticaracewyprk and Facebook at www.facebook.com/atticaracewaypark.

Attica Raceway Park
Bazell Race Fuels/Croghan Colonial Bank Night
May 6, 2016
Starting position [*]

Fremont Fence 305 Sprints –

Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 10X-Dustin Stroup[2] ; 2. 41-Thomas Schinderle[5] ; 3. 1J-Jeremy Shambaugh[1] ; 4. 1X-Dustin Dinan[8] ; 5. 4*-Tyler Street[4] ; 6. 27-Cody Gallogly[9] ; 7. 7M-Brandon Moore[7] ; 8. 7-Dylan Kingan[6] ; 9. 2L-Landon LaLonde[3]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 1XX-Trey Jacobs[1] ; 2. 22M-Dan McCarron[7] ; 3. 18N-Frank Neill[4] ; 4. 66-Jamie Miller[8] ; 5. 25-Jason Keckler[6] ; 6. 11G-Luke Griffith[5] ; 7. 13-Jeremy Duposki[2] ; 8. 6-Ray Thurston[3]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 36-Seth Schneider[6] ; 2. 12-Kyle Capodice[5] ; 3. 19R-Steve Rando[4] ; 4. 77I-John Ivy[7] ; 5. 8-Bobby Clark[1] ; 6. 14-Rick Daugherty[2] ; 7. 75-Jerry Dahms[8] ; 8. 94K-Kevin Mingus[3]

Heat 4 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[6] ; 2. 2-Ricky Peterson[4] ; 3. 45-Trevor Baker[3] ; 4. 87-Brian Gibbs[1] ; 5. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[5] ; 6. 44-Kyle Farmer[2] ; 7. 39C-Scott Riley[7] ; 8. 9R-Dustin Rall[8]

B-Main 1 – (8 Laps, top 3 to A)
1. 25-Jason Keckler[2] ; 2. 4*-Tyler Street[1] ; 3. 11G-Luke Griffith[4] ; 4. 27-Cody Gallogly[3] ; 5. 13-Jeremy Duposki[6] ; 6. 7M-Brandon Moore[5] ; 7. 2L-Landon LaLonde[9] ; 8. 6-Ray Thurston[8] ; 9. 7-Dylan Kingan[7]

B-Main 2 – (8 Laps, top 3 to A)
1. 8-Bobby Clark[1] ; 2. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[2] ; 3. 44-Kyle Farmer[4] ; 4. 14-Rick Daugherty[3] ; 5. 39C-Scott Riley[6] ; 6. 9R-Dustin Rall[8] ; 7. 94K-Kevin Mingus[7] ; 8. 75-Jerry Dahms[5]

A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[10] ; 2. 12-Kyle Capodice[4] ; 3. 1XX-Trey Jacobs[1] ; 4. 1X-Dustin Dinan[13] ; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron[6] ; 6. 10X-Dustin Stroup[7] ; 7. 19R-Steve Rando[8] ; 8. 66-Jamie Miller[14] ; 9. 8-Bobby Clark[18] ; 10. 2-Ricky Peterson[12] ; 11. 36-Seth Schneider[11] ; 12. 77I-John Ivy[15] ; 13. 4*-Tyler Street[19] ; 14. 11G-Luke Griffith[21] ; 15. 25-Jason Keckler[17] ; 16. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[20] ; 17. 41-Thomas Schinderle[3] ; 18. 44-Kyle Farmer[22] ; 19. 18N-Frank Neill[5] ; 20. 87-Brian Gibbs[16] ; 21. 45-Trevor Baker[2] ; 22. 1J-Jeremy Shambaugh[9]
Hard Charger: Paul Weaver +9

Summit Equipment UMP Late Models –

Qualifying
1.36-Matt Irey, 14.562; 2.15B-Mike Bores, 14.607; 3.71-Dave Hornikel, 14.771; 4.240-Doug Drown, 14.798; 5.92-Cody Scott, 14.800; 6.007-Rick Bond, 14.811; 7.29-Rocky Owens, 14.865; 8.48-John Bores, 14.993; 9.51-Devin Shiels, 14.998; 10.5M-Ryan Markham, 15.003; 11.1N-Casey Noonan, 15.052; 12.21-Larry Kingseed, 15.145; 13.8-Rob Anderzack, 15.190; 14.00-Mathew Chapman, 15.342; 15.RH21-Gregg Haskell, 15.465; 16.14-JR Gentry, 15.493; 17.03-Jim Gingery, 15.501; 18.27-Ken Hahn, 15.505; 19.95-Jerry Bowersock, 15.574; 20.97-Greg Walters, 15.591; 21.30-Nate Potts, 15.657; 22.12-Kent Brewer, 15.760; 23.12M-Bobby Michaels, 16.029; 24.6-Graeme Short, 16.134; 25.24-Jerry Aber, 16.186; 26.69R-Doug Baird, 16.476;

Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 36-Matt Irey[4] ; 2. 51-Devin Shiels[2] ; 3. 29-Rocky Owens[3] ; 4. 27-Ken Hahn[5] ; 5. 97-Greg Walters[6] ; 6. 03-Jim Gingery[1] ; 7. 30-Nate Potts[7] ; 8. 12-Kent Brewer[8] ; 9. 6-Graeme Short[9]

Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 8-Rob Anderzack[2] ; 2. 5M-Ryan Markham[3] ; 3. 007-Rick Bond[4] ; 4. 14-JR Gentry[6] ; 5. 95-Jerry Bowersock[7] ; 6. 00-Mathew Chapman[1] ; 7. RH21-Gregg Haskell[5] ; 8. 12M-Bobby Michaels[8] ; 9. 24-Jerry Aber[9]

Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 92-Cody Scott[1] ; 2. 71-Dave Hornikel[3] ; 3. 15B-Mike Bores[4] ; 4. 48-John Bores[5] ; 5. 21-Larry Kingseed[7] ; 6. 1N-Casey Noonan[6] ; 7. 69R-Doug Baird[8]

B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 240-Doug Drown[11] ; 2. 1N-Casey Noonan[3] ; 3. 00-Mathew Chapman[2] ; 4. 03-Jim Gingery[1] ; 5. RH21-Gregg Haskell[5] ; 6. 30-Nate Potts[4] ; 7. 12-Kent Brewer[7] ; 8. 12M-Bobby Michaels[8] ; 9. 24-Jerry Aber[10] ; 10. 6-Graeme Short[9] ; 11. 69R-Doug Baird[6]

A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 36-Matt Irey[7] ; 2. 51-Devin Shiels[2] ; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[1] ; 4. 92-Cody Scott[4] ; 5. 007-Rick Bond[6] ; 6. 21-Larry Kingseed[14] ; 7. 71-Dave Hornikel[5] ; 8. 1N-Casey Noonan[17] ; 9. 8-Rob Anderzack[3] ; 10. 15B-Mike Bores[10] ; 11. 95-Jerry Bowersock[13] ; 12. 240-Doug Drown[16] ; 13. 97-Greg Walters[15] ; 14. 00-Mathew Chapman[18] ; 15. RH21-Gregg Haskell[20] ; 16. 29-Rocky Owens[8] ; 17. 48-John Bores[9] ; 18. 14-JR Gentry[12] ; 19. 27-Ken Hahn[11] ; 20. 03-Jim Gingery[19]
Hard Charger: Casey Noonan +9

Dirt Trucks –

Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 5S-Brad Stuckey[1] ; 2. 4S-Keith Sorg[6] ; 3. 7F-Dana Frey[4] ; 4. 17X-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 5. 9-Curt Inks[7] ; 6. 8KB-Kody Brewer[3]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 33-Brian Arnold[2] ; 2. 36M-Cory McCaughey[1] ; 3. 22-Brandon Leighton[6] ; 4. 33W-Jeff Ward[5] ; 5. 26-Kyle Lagrou[3] ; 6. J7-John Jones[4]

A-Main 1 – (15 Laps)
1. 4S-Keith Sorg[3] ; 2. 36M-Cory McCaughey[2] ; 3. 5S-Brad Stuckey[6] ; 4. 17X-Dustin Keegan[7] ; 5. 9-Curt Inks[9] ; 6. J7-John Jones[12] ; 7. 8KB-Kody Brewer[11] ; 8. 22-Brandon Leighton[4] ; 9. 33W-Jeff Ward[8] ; 10. 26-Kyle Lagrou[10] ; 11. 33-Brian Arnold[5]
Hard Charger: John Jones +6