Mintz Breaks Dry Spell With Dominating Attica Win
7 min read
By Brian Liskai
(Attica, OH) You would have to excuse Craig Mintz if it took him a few minutes to remember where victory lane is at Attica Raceway Park. The track’s defending champion hasn’t won a sprint car feature since July 2013 but he broke that dry spell in a big way Friday, dominating the 410 sprint feature on Sutton Bank/Fisher Performance/Construction Equipment and Supply Night.
“I didn’t know where to go…I had to ask the guys at the scales where the horse track was,” joked Mintz beside his Damschroder Roofing/Real Geese Decoys/Erie Shore Propane/KS Sales and Service/Kistler Engines backed #09.
“We got up here just once last year and Fremont’s been kind of our nemesis. We love coming here and this GF1 chassis likes this place too. I was on the gas as much as I could. When you’re leading like that…I’ve lost too many of them with two or three to go just because you get into kind of a mode where you’re sitting still and not doing anything. I just kept trying to push and push and push and the lapped cars held their line and we did our job and here we are,” added Mintz of his 10th career Attica win in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints.
The last four laps of the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Model feature were exciting to say the least. Ryan Markham and Jeff Babcock were battling for the lead and encountered heavy lapped traffic that was battling side by side. When one of the lapped cars got out of shape it was almost disaster. But, Markham maintained his poise to claim his second win of the season at Attica. The Ashland, Ohio driver has five overall wins in 2014 (two at the NAPA Wayne County Speedway and one at Hilltop Speedway) and it was his third career victory at Attica.
“That was a little hairy there. I got out there and I was kind of just cruising and I thought I had a pretty good deal and then I saw somebody’s nose on the bottom…I thought I’d better pick up it. I have to thank everyone that’s helping us out this year. This Rocket Chassis is running really good. It’s one of them years and I just want to keep it going,” said Markham beside his Fultz Fabrications and Speed Shop/Accu-Force Shock Dyno/H&T Demolition/Innovative Graphics backed #5m.
“I’ve never had a start of season like this. Usually we don’t start getting rolling till about June. I think I’ve only ever won one race in April before this. It’s been a phenomenal year. This race car is working good and we’re keeping after it,” added Markham.
Last week Bobby Clark led the Foster’s Auto Body 305 Sprint feature until the final lap when Nate Dussel squeezed by for the win. Clark got a measure of redemption Friday, holding off Dussel on a couple of late race restarts to claim his 14th career victory at Attica. Clark now sits 7th on the track’s all-time win list for the 305 sprint division.
“That makes up for last week. We’ve been getting better and better every week. It’s taken me and Dave (Foos, crew chief) a little while to get to know each other…we’re coming,” said Clark beside his Fremont Fence/B&L Plumbing and Heating/Little Bar on the Prairie/Nagy Equipment Sales/CRF Concrete/Kear’s Speed shop backed #8.
“When you look up and see that #1 behind you on the scoreboard…that’s as bad as anything knowing he’s there,” added Clark.
Taylor Ferns and Brandon Martin brought the field to the green in the 30-lap 410 sprint feature. The pair would bang wheels down the front stretch with Martin stopping with a broken rear suspension. The second attempt at the start now had Ferns and Chris Andrews in the front row with Ferns gaining the advantage as Andrews fell back to Mintz with Caleb Griffith, Brian Lay, Brad Bowman and Travis Philo in tow.
Ferns was pulling away when she spun in turn two on lap two, handing the lead to Andrews. On the restart Mintz drove to the high side of Andrews to grab the lead with Griffith, Lay, Bowman and 11th starter Gary Taylor in pursuit. Griffith would steal second from Andrews on lap four.
While Mintz pulled away, Griffith ran comfortably in second with Andrews locked in a torrid battle with lay for third. The caution would fly on lap nine as Ferns spun again in turn two. When the green flew Mintz did also, pulling away as Griffith and Andrews now battled for second with Taylor, Lay, Philo and Bowman giving chase.
Mintz caught the back of the pack on lap 17 but Griffith could not close. With 9 laps to go, Mintz and Griffith were unchallenged as Andrews, Taylor and Philo battled for third. Taylor would take the position on lap 23 but with four to go Andrews rallied.
Mintz took the checkered nearly 12 car lengths ahead of Griffith as Andrews got around Taylor late for third with Philo rounding out the top five.
It took a couple of tries to get the 25-lap late model feature rolling. Steve Sabo and Cody Scott brought the field to the green but after a lap, Ryan Missler spin in turn two. On the restart Ky Harper rolled to a stop to necessitate another restart. Then, on lap three, Missler and Jeremy Canada got together for another caution. However, in those caution filled first three laps the crowd knew they were in for an exiting feature as Scott, Markham and Babock were three wide battling for the lead.
When the green flew for the restart, Markham led Scott, Babock, Chris Keller, Josh Haynes, Matt Irey, John Bores, Steve Sabo and Mike Bores. Babock took second on lap four as Scott and Keller were locked in a great battle for third. Just as Babock was applying pressure to Markham, he slid off the high side of turns three and four and dropped back to fifth.
Markham caught the back of the field on lap 10 but Scott and Keller could not close as they continued to battle for second as Irey and Babock waged war for fourth. Markham worked his way through traffic as Keller applied pressure to Scott for second as Babock drove into fourth.
With 10 laps remaining Keller grabbed second with Babock driving around Scott for third two circuits later. With five laps to go Markham held a half car length advantage over Babock as they raced into heavy lapped traffic that was battling side by side. As the leaders battled out of turn four to complete the 23rd lap, three lapped cars got together with one driving down the track right in front of Markham. Markham was able to avoid the car as Babcock got held up. The pair raced nose to tail around the track the final lap. Exiting turn four for the checkered Babock gave it one final try but Markham was too strong as he took the win. Babcock, Keller, Scott and Larry Kingseed would round out the top five.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, May 16 for the Eric Phillips 26th Anniversary Classic on American Powersports of Findlay and Sandusky Night. It is a Kistler Racing Products FAST (Fremont Attica Sprint Title) Championship Series points night for the 410 sprints who will be battling for $3,000 to win. It is also a JLH General Contractor FAST Championship Series points night for the 305 sprints with the UMP late models also in action. For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park – 5/9/2014
Sutton Bank/ Fisher Performance/ Columbus Equipment Night
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (16 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 55-Brad Bowman[2] ; 2. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[4] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[6] ; 4. 16-Chris Andrews[5] ; 5. 60-Jody Keegan[1] ; 6. 1-Gary Taylor[8] ; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7] ; 8. 2+-Brian Smith[3]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O9-Craig Mintz[5] ; 2. 11X-Brandon Martin[1] ; 3. 55F-Taylor Ferns[4] ; 4. 45L-Brian Lay[6] ; 5. O7X-Dain Naida[3] ; 6. 46AU-Stuart Williams[7] ; 7. 9A-Troy Decaire[8] ; 8. 59-Bryan Nuckles[2]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. O9-Craig Mintz[3]; 2. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[6]; 3. 16-Chris Andrews[4]; 4. 1-Gary Taylor[11]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo[7]; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[8]; 7. 55-Brad Bowman[5]; 8. 46AU-Stuart Williams[12]; 9. 2+-Brian Smith[15]; 10. 9A-Troy Decaire[14]; 11. O7X-Dain Naida[10]; 12. 59-Bryan Nuckles[16]; 13. 60-Jody Keegan[9]; 14. 55F-Taylor Ferns[1]; 15. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[13]; 16. 11X-Brandon Martin[2]
Hard Charger: 1-Gary Taylor[+7]
Summit Racing Equipment Late Models (20 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 92-Cody Scott[1] ; 2. 51-Devin Shiels[3] ; 3. OO-Chris Keller[5] ; 4. 15B-Mike Bores[4] ; 5. 23C-Jeremy Canada[6] ; 6. 45-Nate Potts[2] ; 7. 98-Tim Sabo[7]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1-Jeff Babcock[6] ; 2. 5M-Ryan Markham[7] ; 3. 27-Ken Hahn[2] ; 4. 5J-Josh Haynes[4] ; 5. 12-Ky Harper[1] ; 6. 66-Bobby Hutchins[5] ; 7. O3-Jim Gingery[3]
Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 50Y-Ryan Missler[6] ; 2. 36-Matt Irey[4] ; 3. 48-John Bores[1] ; 4. 53-Steve Sabo[2] ; 5. 69R-Doug Baird[3] ; 6. 21-Larry Kingseed[5]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 5M-Ryan Markham[4]; 2. 1-Jeff Babcock[3]; 3. OO-Chris Keller[7]; 4. 92-Cody Scott[2]; 5. 21-Larry Kingseed[18]; 6. 15B-Mike Bores[8]; 7. 51-Devin Shiels[9]; 8. 98-Tim Sabo[19]; 9. 27-Ken Hahn[11]; 10. 12-Ky Harper[14]; 11. 5J-Josh Haynes[5]; 12. 48-John Bores[6]; 13. 53-Steve Sabo[1]; 14. 66-Bobby Hutchins[17]; 15. 69R-Doug Baird[15]; 16. 36-Matt Irey[10]; 17. 45-Nate Potts[16]; 18. O3-Jim Gingery[20]; 19. 23C-Jeremy Canada[13]; 20. 50Y-Ryan Missler[12]
Hard Charger: 21-Larry Kingseed[+13]
Foster Auto Body 305 Sprints (22 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8I-John Ivy[2] ; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[3] ; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[5] ; 4. 13-Jeremy Duposki[4] ; 5. 1J-Jeremy Shambaugh[1] ; 6. 22M-Dan McCarron[7] ; 7. 4T-Jim Taddeo[8] ; 8. 32-Dan Hennig[6]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7M-Brandon Moore[1] ; 2. 11G-Luke Griffith[2] ; 3. 8M-T.J Michael[4] ; 4. 2-Ricky Peterson[6] ; 5. 25-Jason Keckler[7] ; 6. 36-Seth Schneider[3] ; 7. 22D-Dan Hammond[5]
Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5R-Jordan Ryan[2] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[7] ; 3. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1] ; 4. 8-Bobby Clark[3] ; 5. 1W-Paul Weaver[5] ; 6. 12-Kyle Capodice[6] ; 7. 39C-Scott Riley[4]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 8-Bobby Clark[2]; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[8]; 3. 5R-Jordan Ryan[7]; 4. 2-Ricky Peterson[6]; 5. 8I-John Ivy[5]; 6. 9-Jimmy Colvin[1]; 7. 19R-Steve Rando[4]; 8. 7M-Brandon Moore[9]; 9. 8M-T.J Michael[10]; 10. 68G-Tyler Gunn[12]; 11. 12-Kyle Capodice[18]; 12. 25-Jason Keckler[14]; 13. 22D-Dan Hammond[20]; 14. 11G-Luke Griffith[3]; 15. 22M-Dan McCarron[16]; 16. 4T-Jim Taddeo[19]; 17. 1J-Jeremy Shambaugh[13]; 18. 13-Jeremy Duposki[11]; 19. 36-Seth Schneider[17]; 20. 39C-Scott Riley[21]; 21. 32-Dan Hennig[22]; 22. 1W-Paul Weaver[15]
Hard Charger: 12-Kyle Capodice[+7]
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