Saldana Uses Restart To Take Dirt Classic Ohio Win At Attica

By Brian Liskai:

ATTICA, Ohio – Joey Saldana used a restart with just four laps to go to pass Cole Duncan and drive to a $10,000 pay day at Attica Raceway Park Saturday, Sept. 2 for the 2nd Annual Dirt Classic Ohio with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions to close the track’s 30th season.

It was the second All Star win of the year for the “Brownsburg Bullet” and the 73rd of his career with the series, putting him third in all-time feature victories with “America’s Series.” Of those 73 All Star wins, five have now come at Attica Raceway Park where Saldana has a total of seven career victories.

Saldana, aboard the Bernie Stuebgen owned Indy Race Parts #71, tested Duncan on a restart with 10 laps to go, trying a slider that Duncan was able to hold off. When fourth running Brady Bacon spun with four laps to go, Saldana made his move, diving to Duncan’s inside once again and making it stick.

“The biggest thing with Cole is he has a really good car and he’s got a great dad teaching him how to race. That’s where I was a few years ago with my dad just trying to make it in racing. Getting these big shows is what it’s all about but Cole drove a hell of a race. He did a great job. It wasn’t that he did anything wrong, I just figured out how to back my corner on the restart just a little bit and then just got a run on him. We had a really good race early on. We banged wheels a little bit but good clean racing and got lucky we got a restart with four to go and it gave us a shot at it,” Saldana said.

“I can’t thank Betsy and Bernie with Indy Race Parts enough for giving me the opportunity to race these cars. They’re so expensive to do and be competitive. You can race but to be competitive it’s a different story. They definitely give me a car that’s competitive to win every night. It was a great night for us,” added Saldana

For Lockborne, Ohio’s Cole Duncan, who led the first 36 laps, it was yet another victory at Attica that slipped through his fingers.

“This win at Attica just keeps eluding us. Congrats to Joey and their team. They’ve been a rocket since Joey got there. The 71 car has always been fast but Joey takes it to another level and that’s hard to beat. Our night started out hectic. We had a mag-generator kind of take a dump on us so we didn’t get to hot lap…the first laps we saw were the two for qualifying but we put ourselves in a good position there. We weren’t great in the first heat but we were good in the second heat and passed a bunch of cars and got high point guy. That says something about our team and our car…we were able to overcome and sit on the pole for something that pays points is pretty cool. We led a lot of laps but not the most important ones,” said a dejected Duncan.

“I can’t thank all my guys enough…Helms Construction, Motorcity Auto Transport, EcoMend, Wolfden Products, Scott Gressman at Gressman Powersports…he’s been great, FK Rod Ends and Ohio Heating…Sheldon and his family is here so it’s good to put a good show on for them. But, this sucks. The restarts were killing me. I was getting away with doing pretty close the same thing every time. He cleared me once and I knew where I screwed up on that so I kept doing what I was doing…you know leading the whole race and not having mirrors to see what’s behind you…I would feel worse if I’d done something different and got beat than to keep doing what I was doing and lead laps and get beat. I guess getting beat by Joey isn’t a horrible day but it would have been nice to take home that one,” Duncan added.

Republic, Ohio’s Cap Henry brought the small Lane Racing Team car to a third place finish.

“These guys have been awesome all year. They were the first ones to give me another opportunity this year and I can’t thank them enough. We were really good but I’ll take it. It was a fun race and I can’t thank the Lanes enough and FK Rod Ends, J&J Auto Racing, Kistler Engines, Wings Unlimited…everyone who helps out,” he said.

The All Stars also made up their rained out A-main from the Ohio Sprint Speedweek from June 16 as the first event of Kistler Engines Night. That too came down to a late race restart after Travis Philo led the first 30 laps. Friday night’s Attica winner Tim Shaffer and Chad Kemenah battled with Philo following a caution with six laps to go with Shaffer gaining the lead on lap 31 and driving to his 60th All Star victory, six of which have now come at Attica. It was Shaffer’s third win of the year at Attica and 16th of his career at the track. It was also Shaffer’s third speedweek victory earning him an additional $3,000 bonus from Cometic Gasket making it a total payday of $8,000.

“Hats off to Jeff Rudzik and Joe Demyan. What a great car and Cody (Jacobs) had this thing awesome again tonight. It was operating any where I wanted to go. It had to be a heck of a race to watch. I got under him (Philo) a couple of times and I got him to move and I figured I could zing him on the top. I went up and got in the dirty air and pushed real bad and Kemenah stuck in there and almost got both of us. It made for a great race and a lot of fun. I think we hurt the engine…I lost oil pressure there with six laps to go. We have another one…it’s wore out. This engine has 16 or 17 nights on it…it’s been pretty good to us,” Shaffer said.

The final race of the night – the 305 sprint A-main – also came down to a late race restart with Sandusky, Ohio’s Kyle Capodice passing rookie Chase Dunham with three laps to go to get his first win of the year and the third of his career at Attica.

“It took all year but we finally got a win. It was good close, hard racing. I knew I had to move up because Chase was pretty stout up top so I moved off the bottom up a groove and it made all the difference in the world. I want to thank my dad most of all…without him none of this would be possible. He’s in the shop day in and day out. Tyler Crump was helping us out tonight and my girlfriend Kiley. I want to thank Joe and Fran Darmofal, Franklin Sanitation, Fred Wolfe Auctioneer, Burns Electric, Greber Racing Components,” said Capodice.

In the 35-lap All Star make-up feature Philo and Cale Conley brought the field to green with Philo gaining the advantage. Philo set a blistering pace, driving away from the field and into lapped traffic by the sixth circuit with Conley, Cale Thomas, Shaffer, Kemenah, Lee Jacobs and Rob Chaney giving chase. With 10 laps scored the leaders encountered heavy lapped traffic which Shaffer used to take second

Continuing to race through lapped machines, Philo’s lead began to disappear and with 15 laps to go Shaffer was right on his rear bumper with Conley, Kemenah and Thomas battling hard for third. Philo and Shaffer raced side by side and nose to tail over the next nine laps until the only caution flew for a Craig Mintz spin with six to go. On the restart Kemenah dove under both Shaffer and Philo, sliding into second. On the next circuit Shaffer returned the favor, moving from third to first.

Shaffer then pulled away slightly as Kemenah and Philo battled for second. Philo would lose a tire on the final lap as Shaffer drove to the checkers over Kemenah, Conley, Chaney and Duncan.

For the 40 lap Dirt Classic Ohio event, Duncan and Saldana blasted into the lead with Henry, Carson Macedo, Sammy Swindell, Philo and DJ Foos giving chase. Duncan drove away as Saldana and Henry battled for second. Duncan encountered lapped traffic by lap seven but held a huge lead as Saldana, Henry and Macedo kept the crowd entertained in their fight for second. Macedo would flip on lap 14 which gave Duncan a clear track and out of heavy lapped traffic.

On the restart Saldana tried a slider in turns one and two but Duncan was able to hold him off. Once again Duncan began pulling away but a Justin Peck tip over at the half way mark kept the field close. Duncan got a much better restart this time and pulled way again from Saldana, Henry, Brady Bacon, Philo, Swindell and 20th starter Chris Andrews. With 15 laps to go Duncan held a commanding lead over Saldana, Henry, Bacon, Philo, Andrews and 22nd starter Shaffer.

Nothing changed in the top seven running order until there were four laps to go as Bacon spun while battling Henry for third. This time on the restart Saldana tried the slider again on Duncan and this time it stuck as he edged into the lead. Saldana pulled away for the victory over Duncan, Henry, Philo and Andrews.

Capodice and Dunham brought the field to green for the 25 lap 305 sprint A-main. A pair of cautions kept the event from getting underway but the third attempt saw Dunham jump into the lead over Capodice, Dustin Stroup, Steve Rando, Landon LaLonde and Kelsey Ivy. Dunham blasted away at the top cushion while Capodice inched closer on the bottom lap after lap. Following a caution on lap nine, Capodice attempt a run on the bottom for the lead but Dunham was just too strong on the cushion.

With 10 laps to go Capodice altered his line, moving up the track a groove and he started to close on Dunham. Capodice drove into the lead exiting turn two on lap 17 when Dunham bottled on the cushion. But, the caution came out putting Dunham back into the lead. On the green Dunham and Capodice side by side again for the top spot with Rando, John Ivy and Ricky Peterson giving chase.

The final caution on lap 20 gave Capodice his shot at Dunham and he pounced, driving to the leader’s inside several times before taking the lead with three to go. Capodice held off a hard charging Rando for the win with Dunham, John Ivy and Peterson rounding out the top five.

Attica Raceway Park will be back in action in March 2018. 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
Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017
Kistler Engines Night
[*] indicates starting position

Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions
Dirt Classic Ohio

Qualifying
1. 23-DJ Foos, 12.315; 2. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 12.358; 3. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 12.377; 4. 22C-Cole Duncan, 12.387; 5. 71-Joey Saldana, 12.397; 6. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.401; 7. 70-Rob Chaney, 12.427; 8. 3G-Carson Macedo, 12.465; 9. 39-Sammy Swindell, 12.475; 10. 4-Cap Henry, 12.478; 11. 7K-Cale Conley, 12.5; 12. 17B-Dale Blaney, 12.5127; 13. 35-Tyler Esh, 12.513; 14. 99-Brady Bacon, 12.529; 15. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.537; 16. 91-Cale Thomas, 12.583; 17. 17-Caleb Helms, 12.598; 18. 8-Dean Jacobs, 12.599; 19. 11N-Craig Mintz, 12.628; 20. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.6281; 21. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 12.699; 22. 16-Chris Andrews, 12.704; 23. 81-Lee Jacobs, 12.709; 24. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.71; 25. 7-Shawn Valenti, 12.711; 26. 9M-Jordan Ryan, 12.724; 27. OO-Dane Lorenc, 12.731; 28. 57X-Andrew Palker, 12.735; 29. 27-Brad Lamberson, 12.759; 30. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 12.774; 31. 97-Broc Martin, 12.776; 32. 35s-Stuart Brubaker, 12.785; 33. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 12.794; 34. 84-Brandon Hanks, 12.81; 35. 59-Ryan Smith, 12.867; 36. 95-Hunter Mackison, 12.869; 37. 51-John Garvin, 12.913; 38. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.917; 39. 5X-Justin Peck, 12.925; 40. 13-Brandon Matus, 12.949; 41. 45-Trevor Baker, 12.972; 42. 40-George Hobaugh, 13.082; 43. 22M-Dan McCarron, 13.1487; 44. O8-Dan Kuriger, 13.149; 45. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.319; 46. 9C-Roger Campbell, 13.331; 47. 55-Gary Kriess, 13.392; 48. 33-Brent Matus, 13.442; 49. 1st-Gary Taylor, 99

Heat #1 (8 Laps)
1. 23-DJ Foos [1]; 2. 5T-Travis Philo [2]; 3. 7K-Cale Conley [3]; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [5]; 5. 9M-Jordan Ryan [6]; 6. 97-Broc Martin [7]; 7. 95-Hunter Mackison [8]; 8. 45-Trevor Baker [9]; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell [10]

Heat #2 (8 Laps)
1. 17-Caleb Helms [4]; 2. 17B-Dale Blaney [3]; 3. 70-Rob Chaney [2]; 4. 1080-Jordan Mackison [1]; 5. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [7]; 6. 16-Chris Andrews [5]; 7. 51-John Garvin [8]; 8. 40-George Hobaugh [9]; 9. 55-Gary Kriess [10]; 10. OO-Dane Lorenc [6]

Heat #3 (8 Laps)
1. 35-Tyler Esh [3]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [2]; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs [5]; 4. 57X-Andrew Palker [6]; 5. 8-Dean Jacobs [4]; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [8]; 7. 22M-Dan McCarron [9]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [10]; 9. 33M-Max Stambaugh [1]

Heat #4 (8 Laps)
1. 39-Sammy Swindell [2]; 2. 22C-Cole Duncan [1]; 3. 99-Brady Bacon [3]; 4. 5R-Byron Reed [5]; 5. 5X-Justin Peck [8]; 6. O8-Dan Kuriger [9]; 7. 27-Brad Lamberson [6]; 8. 84-Brandon Hanks [7]; 9. 11N-Craig Mintz [4]

Heat #5 (8 Laps)
1. 71-Joey Saldana [1]; 2. 4-Cap Henry [2]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [6]; 4. 7-Shawn Valenti [5]; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah [3]; 6. 59-Ryan Smith [7]; 7. 13-Brandon Matus [8]; 8. 8M-TJ Michael [9]

Heat #6 (8 Laps)
1. 9M-Jordan Ryan [3]; 2. 97-Broc Martin [2]; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [4]; 4. 7K-Cale Conley [6]; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison [1]; 6. 5T-Travis Philo [7]; 7. 45-Trevor Baker [9]; 8. 23-DJ Foos [8]; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell [10]

Heat #7 (8 Laps)
1. 35s-Stuart Brubaker [2]; 2. 16-Chris Andrews [4]; 3. 51-John Garvin [1]; 4. 17B-Dale Blaney [6]; 5. 17-Caleb Helms [5]; 6. OO-Dane Lorenc [3]; 7. 1080-Jordan Mackison [8]; 8. 55-Gary Kriess [10]; 9. 40-George Hobaugh [9]; 10. 70-Rob Chaney [7]

Heat #8 (8 Laps)
1. 57X-Andrew Palker [2]; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [1]; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs [3]; 4. 3G-Carson Macedo [6]; 5. 8-Dean Jacobs [4]; 6. 35-Tyler Esh [5]; 7. 33M-Max Stambaugh [7]; 8. 22M-Dan McCarron [8]; 9. 33-Brent Matus [9]

Heat #9 (8 Laps)
1. 5X-Justin Peck [1]; 2. 5R-Byron Reed [4]; 3. 99-Brady Bacon [6]; 4. 22C-Cole Duncan [8]; 5. 39-Sammy Swindell [7]; 6. 84-Brandon Hanks [2]; 7. 27-Brad Lamberson [3]; 8. O8-Dan Kuriger [9]

Heat #10 (8 Laps)
1. 59-Ryan Smith [2]; 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer [3]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [7]; 4. 13-Brandon Matus [1]; 5. 71-Joey Saldana [8]; 6. 10H-Chad Kemenah [6]; 7. 7-Shawn Valenti [4]; 8. 8M-TJ Michael [9]

C-Main (8 Laps, top 2 to B) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 22M-Dan McCarron [1]; 2. 40-George Hobaugh [2]; 3. 9C-Roger Campbell [6]; 4. 8M-TJ Michael [3]; 5. 33-Brent Matus [5]; 6. 55-Gary Kriess [4]; 7. 11N-Craig Mintz [7]; 8. 91-Cale Thomas [8]; 9. 60-Jody Keegan [9]; 10. 22-Brandon Spithaler [10]; 11. 1st-Gary Taylor [11]

B-Main (12 Laps, top 4 to A) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [2]; 3. 97-Broc Martin [6]; 4. 5X-Justin Peck [9]; 5. 59-Ryan Smith [8]; 6. 8-Dean Jacobs [4]; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [10]; 8. 33M-Max Stambaugh [3]; 9. 7-Shawn Valenti [7]; 10. 95-Hunter Mackison [13]; 11. 22M-Dan McCarron [19]; 12. 13-Brandon Matus [15]; 13. 51-John Garvin [11]; 14. 40-George Hobaugh [20]; 15. 45-Trevor Baker [17]; 16. OO-Dane Lorenc [14]; 17. 27-Brad Lamberson [12]; 18. 84-Brandon Hanks [16]; 19. 35s-Stuart Brubaker [5]; 20. O8-Dan Kuriger [18]

A-Main (40 Laps)
1. 71-Joey Saldana [2]; 2. 22C-Cole Duncan [1]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo [7]; 5. 16-Chris Andrews [20]; 6. 5R-Byron Reed [16]; 7. 49X-Tim Shaffer [22]; 8. 39-Sammy Swindell [6]; 9. 10H-Chad Kemenah [19]; 10. 23-DJ Foos [5]; 11. 59-Ryan Smith [23]; 12. 17-Caleb Helms [13]; 13. 99-Brady Bacon [10]; 14. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [15]; 15. 35-Tyler Esh [12]; 16. 13-Brandon Matus [26]; 17. 9M-Jordan Ryan [17]; 18. 7K-Cale Conley [9]; 19. 5X-Justin Peck [24]; 20. 1080-Jordan Mackison [11]; 21. 17B-Dale Blaney [8]; 22. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 23. 97-Broc Martin [21]; 24. 81-Lee Jacobs [14]; 25. 57X-Andrew Palker [18]; 26. 70-Rob Chaney [25]
Hard Charger: 16-Chris Andrews +15

All Star Circuit of Champions
Make-up Feature From June 16
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 49x-Tim Shaffer [4]; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah [6]; 3. 7K-Cale Conley [2]; 4. 83-Rob Chaney [10]; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan [9]; 6. 3G-Carson Macedo [16]; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs [8]; 8. 59-Ryan Smith [7]; 9. 33M-Max Stambaugh [12]; 10. 5R-Byron Reed [11]; 11. 17-Caleb Helms [20]; 12. 5T-Travis Philo [1]; 13. 91-Cale Thomas [3]; 14. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [18]; 15. 9M-Jordan Ryan [17]; 16. 11N-Craig Mintz [22]; 17. 8-Dean Jacobs [19]; 18. 9X-Stuart Brubaker [23]; 19. 22-Brandon Spithaler [5]; 20. 23-DJ Foos [15]; 21. 2-Chris Andrews [21]; 22. 57X-Andrew Palker [13]; 23. 60-Jody Keegan [14]; 24. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [24] Lap Leaders: Travis Philo [1-30], Tim Shaffer [31-35]

Hard Charger: 3G-Carson Macedo +10

305 Sprints – Fremont Fence

Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)

1. 21-Dustin Stroup[6] ; 2. 26-Ryan French[2] ; 3. 11G-Luke Griffith[3] ; 4. 75-Jerry Dahms[7] ; 5. 88N-Frank Neill[4] ; 6. 09-Justin Adams[5] ; 7. 63-Tad Peck[8] ; 8. 97-Kyle Peters[1]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)

1. 2-Ricky Peterson[4] ; 2. 12-Kyle Capodice[2] ; 3. 66D-Chase Dunham[5] ; 4. 47-Matt Lucius[3] ; 5. 36-Seth Schneider[6] ; 6. 73-Joe Armbruster[1] ; 7. 18R-Ray Moon[7]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)

1. 77I-John Ivy[3] ; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver[4] ; 3. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[1] ; 4. 20B-Cody Bova[2] ; 5. 4*-Tyler Street[5] ; 6. 4T-James Taddeo[6] ; 7. 8-Bobby Clark[7]

Heat 4 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)

1. 19R-Steve Rando[3] ; 2. 2L-Landon LaLonde[2] ; 3. 2F-Matt Foos[4] ; 4. 9R-Dustin Rall[6] ; 5. 25-Jason Keckler[5] ; 6. 14-Luke Daugherty[7] ; 7. 46AU-Stuart Williams[1]

B-Main 1 – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)

1. 36-Seth Schneider[2] ; 2. 25-Jason Keckler[4] ; 3. 4*-Tyler Street[3] ; 4. 8-Bobby Clark[11] ; 5. 88N-Frank Neill[1] ; 6. 97-Kyle Peters[13] ; 7. 09-Justin Adams[5] ; 8. 4T-James Taddeo[7] ; 9. 14-Luke Daugherty[8] ; 10. 73-Joe Armbruster[6] ; 11. 63-Tad Peck[9] ; 12. 18R-Ray Moon[10] ; 13. 46AU-Stuart Williams[12]

A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)

1. 12-Kyle Capodice[1] ; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[6] ; 3. 66D-Chase Dunham[2] ; 4. 77I-John Ivy[9] ; 5. 2-Ricky Peterson[12] ; 6. 36-Seth Schneider[17] ; 7. 21-Dustin Stroup[3] ; 8. 8-Bobby Clark[20] ; 9. 25-Jason Keckler[18] ; 10. 20B-Cody Bova[15] ; 11. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[8] ; 12. 2F-Matt Foos[10] ; 13. 47-Matt Lucius[14] ; 14. 4*-Tyler Street[19] ; 15. 88N-Frank Neill[21] ; 16. 9R-Dustin Rall[16] ; 17. 2L-Landon LaLonde[5] ; 18. 26-Ryan French[4] ; 19. 11G-Luke Griffith[7] ; 20. 75-Jerry Dahms[13] ; 21. 1W-Paul Weaver[11] ; 22. 97-Kyle Peters[22]

Hard Charger: 8-Bobby Clark +12