Paul McMahan Scores Dean Knittel Memorial Title For $17,554

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (June 19, 2021) – In a wild and crazy turn of events, Nashville, Tennessee’s Paul McMahan proved to be the best in an epic game of survival of the fittest on Saturday night at Portsmouth Raceway Park, capping the 39th edition of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires with the Dean Knittel Memorial title worth $17,554.

Snapping a FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 winless streak that dated back to June 15, 2018, McMahan’s Knittel Memorial campaign commenced from the outside of row six, slowly picking his way through the field while capitalizing on others’ misfortunes. In fact, each and every competitor who led a segment of the Speedweek finale, minus McMahan, suffered a blow that forced the driver to ultimately lose command.

Suffice it to say, McMahan’s patience proved to be just as valuable as his luck, keeping himself out of harm’s way while slowly progressing through the field. The now six-time All Star winner did not take control of the main event until the final circuit, as Danny Dietrich, who inherited the lead after Rico Abreu suffered from a flat right-rear tire on lap 26, ran out of fuel at the white flag.

“I think we were a third-place car. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and we proved that tonight,” Paul McMahan said, driver of the CJB Motorsports/R.E. Pierson Construction/High Performance Lubricants/Nyce Crete and Landis/No. 5 sprint car. “It’s been a rough week but this makes the week worth it now. This is kinda unreal. I can’t thank my guys enough for all of their hard work the last seven or eight days. We finally got that win.”

Neptune City, New Jersey’s Kyle Reinhardt led the first six circuits before surrendering the lead to Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race champion, Zeb Wise. Wise, who started fourth, led lap seven before taking a backseat to Clauson Marshall Racing’s Tyler Courtney the very next circuit. Accidental contact between Reinhardt and Wise on lap 13 would send Wise hard into the turn three retaining wall; he would leave on the hook with Reinhardt forced to make repairs during the ensuing open red flag, restarting at the tail.

Meanwhile, Courtney, who led to that point, found some back luck of his own when his right-rear tire went flat directly following the open red, ultimately leaving the point to St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu. Courtney would make the tire change in the work area and restart at the tail. It should be noted that Courtney would persevere and rally to finish fourth.

As mentioned, Abreu’s command would run thin on lap 26, a right-rear tire issue being the culprit.

With that said, in his first try as a full-time All Star Circuit of Champions competitor, Indianapolis, Indiana’s Tyler Courtney is the 2021 Ohio Sprint Speedweek champion, closing the eight-race turned seven-race campaign with 980 points, 32 more than second-place finisher, Danny Dietrich. Utilizing a run of five top-five finishes in seven Speedweek stops, Courtney finished no worse than 11th across the seven features, claiming a $5,000 championship payday for his efforts. Muskingum winner, Justin Peck, finished third in the Speedweek championship, followed by Cap Henry and Cory Eliason.

The All Star Circuit of Champions will enjoy a two-weekend break before returning to competition on Friday evening, July 9, at the Stateline Speedway in Busti, New York. The weekend will continue with back-to-back Sharon Speedway stops on Saturday and Sunday, July 10-11. The Sharon doubleheader, each awarding $6,000 top prizes, will feature the Lou Blaney Memorial and Justin Snyder’s Salute to the Troops programs in respective fashion. The Friday night Stateline visit will also award $6,000.

For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.

Contingency Awards/Results: Portsmouth Raceway Park | Saturday, June 19, 2021:
Event: Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires
Entries: 37
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Rico Abreu | 12.783
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Tyler Courtney | 12.602
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Danny Dietrich
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Spencer Bayston
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Kyle Reinhardt
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Rico Abreu
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Rico Abreu
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Danny Dietrich
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Bill Balog
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Cole Macedo
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Paul McMahan
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Tim Shaffer (+13)

Qualifying

Group (A)

1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 12.602; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.781; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich, 12.837; 4. 21BP-Brinton Marvel, 12.868; 5. 28-Tim Shaffer, 12.976; 6. 22H-Jac Haudenschild, 12.981; 7. 21N-Frankie Nervo, 13.090; 8. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.140; 9. 4X-Jimmy Stinson, 13.346; 10. 84-Cale Stinson, —

Group (B)

1. 13-Justin Peck, 12.720; 2. 101-Lachlan McHugh, 12.758; 3. 5-Paul McMahan, 12.792; 4. 11-Spencer Bayston, 12.825; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan, 12.834; 6. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.846; 7. 4-Cap Henry, 12.914; 8. 3C-Cale Conley, 12.938; 9. 83X-Nate Reeser, 13.475

Group (C)

1. 10-Zeb Wise, 12.676; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 12.779; 3. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 12.864; 4. O7-Skylar Gee, 12.990; 5. 22B-Ryan Broughton, 13.000; 6. 11N-Harli White, 13.011; 7. 18-Cole Macedo, 13.034; 8. 54-Danny Smith, 13.473; 9. 9W-Lance Webb, 13.614

Group (D)

1. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.694; 2. 1-Nate Dussel, 13.136; 3. 16-DJ Foos, 13.190; 4. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 13.449; 5. 25R-Jordan Ryan, 13.458; 6. 1B-Keith Baxter, 13.767; 7. 4S-Tyler Street, 13.891; 8. O8-Brandon Conkel, 14.138; 9. 4cs-Chris Smalley, 15.930

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

1. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [4]; 4. 21BP-Brinton Marvel [1]; 5. 28-Tim Shaffer [5]; 6. 22H-Jac Haudenschild [6]; 7. W20-Greg Wilson [8]; 8. 21N-Frankie Nervo [7]; 9. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [9]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

1. 11-Spencer Bayston [1]; 2. 5-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 101-Lachlan McHugh [3]; 4. 4-Cap Henry [7]; 5. 13-Justin Peck [4]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [6]; 7. 22C-Cole Duncan [5]; 8. 3C-Cale Conley [8]; 9. 83X-Nate Reeser [9]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

1. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [2]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 3. O7-Skylar Gee [1]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 5. 22B-Ryan Broughton [5]; 6. 11N-Harli White [6]; 7. 18-Cole Macedo [7]; 8. 9W-Lance Webb [9]; 9. 54-Danny Smith [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

1. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 2. 3J-Trey Jacobs [1]; 3. 1-Nate Dussel [3]; 4. 16-DJ Foos [2]; 5. 25R-Jordan Ryan [5]; 6. 1B-Keith Baxter [6]; 7. 4S-Tyler Street [7]; 8. O8-Brandon Conkel [8]; 9. 4CS-Chris Smalley [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)

1. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 2. 11-Spencer Bayston [2]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 5. 13-Justin Peck [3]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)

1. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [2]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [3]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 4. 1-Nate Dussel [4]; 5. 101-Lachlan McHugh [5]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

1. 17B-Bill Balog [2]; 2. 22C-Cole Duncan [1]; 3. 22H-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 4. 11N-Harli White [4]; 5. 18-Cole Macedo [6]; 6. 1B-Keith Baxter [5]; 7. 3C-Cale Conley [9]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 9. 21N-Frankie Nervo [10]; 10. 4S-Tyler Street [8]; 11. 83X-Nate Reeser [15]; 12. O8-Brandon Conkel [12]; 13. 9W-Lance Webb [11]; 14. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [13]; 15. 54-Danny Smith [14]

A-Main (30 Laps)

1. 5-Paul McMahan [12]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [11]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 5. 28-Tim Shaffer [18]; 6. 4-Cap Henry [16]; 7. 13-Justin Peck [9]; 8. 101-Lachlan McHugh [10]; 9. 26-Cory Eliason [7]; 10. 25R-Jordan Ryan [20]; 11. 22C-Cole Duncan [22]; 12. 16-DJ Foos [17]; 13. 1-Nate Dussel [8]; 14. 21BP-Brinton Marvel [15]; 15. 11N-Harli White [24]; 16. 17B-Bill Balog [21]; 17. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 18. 11-Spencer Bayston [3]; 19. 22H-Jac Haudenschild [23]; 20. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [2]; 21. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 22. 22B-Ryan Broughton [19]; 23. 54-Danny Smith [25]; 24. 3J-Trey Jacobs [13]; 25. O7-Skylar Gee [14] Lap Leaders: Kyle Reinhardt (1-6), Zeb Wise (7), Tyler Courtney (8-12), Rico Abreu (13-25), Danny Dietrich (26-29, Paul McMahan (30)

2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:

1. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 29, 2021): Donny Schatz
2. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 30, 2021): Aaron Reutzel
3. East Bay Raceway Park, Florida (February 2, 2021): Donny Schatz (2)
4. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 3, 2021): Logan Schuchart
5. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 4, 2021): Carson Macedo
6. Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (April 3, 2021): Justin Peck
7. Virginia Motor Speedway, Virginia (April 15, 2021): Tony Stewart
8. Williams Grove Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 16, 2021): Kyle Larson
9. Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 17, 2021): Logan Wagner
10. Bedford Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 18, 2021): Anthony Macri
11. Sharon Speedway, Ohio (May 1, 2021): Justin Peck (2)
12. Tri-City Raceway Park, Pennsylvania (May 2, 2021): Sam Hafertepe Jr.
13. I-96 Speedway, Michigan (May 14, 2021): Tyler Courtney
14. Dirt Oval at Route 66, Illinois (May 15, 2021): Kyle Reinhardt
15. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 20, 2021): Tyler Courtney (2)
16. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 21, 2021): Tyler Courtney (3)
17. Gas City I-69 Speedway, Indiana (May 22, 2021): Cap Henry
18. Kokomo Speedway, Indiana (May 23, 2021): Zeb Wise
19. Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania (May 31, 2021): Lance Dewease
20. Fairbury Speedway, Illinois (June 3, 2021): Tyler Courtney (4)
21. Wilmot Raceway, Wisconsin (June 4, 2021): Tyler Courtney (5)
22. Plymouth Dirt Track, Wisconsin (June 5, 2021): Bill Balog
23. Angell Park Speedway, Wisconsin (June 6, 2021): Bill Balog (2)
24. SW Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (June 11, 2021): Ian Madsen
25. SW Fremont Speedway, Ohio (June 12, 2021): Cole Duncan
26. SW Wayne County Speedway, Ohio (June 14, 2021): Kyle Larson (2)
27. SW Sharon Speedway, Ohio (June 15, 2021): Danny Dietrich
28. SW Waynesfield Raceway Park, Ohio (June 16, 2021): Kyle Larson (3)
29. SW Muskingum County Speedway, Ohio (June 17, 2021): Justin Peck (3)
30. SW Portsmouth Raceway Park, Ohio (June 19, 2021): Paul McMahan

2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (as of 6/19/21):

1. Tyler Courtney – 3488
2. Cory Eliason – 3232
3. Hunter Schuerenberg – 3232
4. Zeb Wise – 3180
5. Bill Balog – 3176
6. Cap Henry – 3170
7. Paul McMahan – 3112
8. Ian Madsen – 2926
9. Kyle Reinhardt – 2842
10. Rico Abreu – 2802

FINAL 2021 Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires Standings:

1. Tyler Courtney – 980
2. Danny Dietrich – 948
3. Justin Peck – 942
4. Cap Henry – 914
5. Cory Eliason – 910

About the 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. 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 FloSports:
Founded in 2006, FloSports is a subscription video streaming service dedicated to sports, offering live and on-demand access to hundreds of thousands of competition events across 25+ vertical sport categories in the US and abroad. FloSports’ mission is to give underserved sports the love they deserve. With a growing library of more than 300,000 hours of premium content including news, expert commentary, films, documentaries and more, FloSports has established itself as an innovator and leader in sports streaming. Finally, your sport has a home. For more information, please visit: flosports.tv.

About Mobil 1:
The world’s leading synthetic motor oil brand, Mobil 1™ features anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond our conventional motor oils. This technology allows Mobil 1 to meet or exceed the toughest standards of car builders and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even some of the most extreme conditions. Mobil 1 flows quickly in extreme temperatures to protect critical engine parts and is designed to maximize engine performance and help extend engine life. For more information, visit mobiloil.com, on Twitter @Mobil1 and, on Facebook, www.facebook.com/mobil1. Mobil, Mobil 1 and Mobil 1 Racing are registered trademarks of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries.

About Cometic Gasket:
Cometic Gasket is the Official Gasket of the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions. Cometic is a leading worldwide supplier of gaskets and engine sealing solutions for the Automotive Performance, Powersports, Original Equipment and Remanufactured Engine Industries. Cometic gaskets are must-haves for championship-winning teams across the globe. Cometic Gaskets are proudly made in the USA. For more information, log on to www.cometic.com. Cometic Gasket. Sealing championships since 1989.

About Hercules Tires:
Hercules Tires is widely recognized as the industry’s premier value brand with a comprehensive selection of passenger, UHP, light truck, medium truck and specialty tires. Since 1952, independent tire dealers and distributors have trusted Hercules to deliver outstanding quality, exceptional support, and unsurpassed value. Hercules is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Tire Distributors, Inc. American Tire Distributors is one of the largest independent suppliers of tires in the North American replacement tire market. The company offers an unsurpassed breadth and depth of inventory, frequent delivery and value-added services to approximately 80,000 customers across the U.S. and Canada.

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Photo: Dan McFarland | SprintFun
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com

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