FREMONT, OH (5-29-11)By Brian Liskai – Dale Blaney and Jason Meyers shared
victories at Fremont Speedway Sunday as the O'Reilly Auto Parts All Star
Circuit of Champion Sprint Cars ran two feature events – a make-up from the
previous night's event that was cut short due to rain, and the regular
main.
Blaney took the lead from Phil Gressman with 10 laps to go in the make-up
feature from Kear’s Speed Shop Night and went on to score his 78th career
All Star win.
In the 40-lap main for McDonald’s Night, Meyers, the 2010 World of Outlaws
Champion, held off a late race challenge from defending All Star champion
Tim Shaffer to score his fourth career All Star victory and his first ever
at Fremont Speedway.
It was a long night of racing at "The Track That Action Built," as not only
was there the make-up All Star events, but a thunderstorm hit just as hot
laps were underway, causing over an hour and half delay.
In the 30-lap make-up feature, Blaney, who started fourth, battled with
Gressman from the eighth circuit until executing a slide job in turn four
on the 20th lap to take the lead. The Hartford, Ohio driver pulled away for
the victory.
"I was worried because Phil runs extremely well here. But he was struggling
in three and four and I could make up a lot of ground," said Blaney beside
his Ti22 Performance backed #2. "It was Phil’s crew chief’s (Bill
Dougherty) birthday today…guess I kind of spoiled that present."
Gressman would lead the first 19 laps and was somewhat disappointed with
his second place run.
"As the race went on I just kept getting tighter and tighter up against the
cushion in turns three and four. I knew bad things were going to happen…you
need to be peddling there. I was too loose in and too tight off," said
Gressman beside his Ludwig Propane, Level Performance backed #53. "I need
to thank Marilyn Genzman for all her support. She lost her husband and I
lost not only a great car owner but a good friend. We’re digging…we’ll get
him a win soon."
Bellevue, Ohio’s Cap Henry would just glad to finally finish a race after
having mechanical problems the past few weeks. The 2010 All Star Rookie of
the Year would come home third.
"I was telling the guys the longest run I had done prior to night was two
laps so 30 was unbelievable. I can’t thank my guys enough. Unfortunately my
crew chief Fuzz Lyons wasn’t able to make it tonight…he’s been having
health issues. I really have to thank Greg and Andrew Barman…they did a
great job to put us here…I couldn’t do it without them," said Henry beside
his Indy Race Parts, Stanton Mopar, Penske Shocks backed #04.
Meyers, whose crew drove all night from Charlotte, N.C. following
Saturday's World of Outlaws race, to compete at Fremont, praised the track
crew for their effort.
"They did a heck of a job with this place tonight. With that downpour that
came down I would have never thought we'd have this kind of a race track. I
want to thank the World of Outlaws for allowing us to come up here and get
track time and support a track that will support our series later in the
year (Oct. 15)," said Meyers of his first trip to Fremont Speedway.
"What a great weekend for us. We drove all night…no sleep and these guys
have been working their tails off. We haven't won any kind of race all
year…it's really great to do that here,” added Meyers beside his GLR
Investments, Digital Delivery Network, All Star Performance, Elite
Landscaping backed #14. "I want to thank all the fans who came out here and
spent their holiday weekend with us…really, really hoped you enjoyed it."
"It’s been one of those years where we didn’t have a terrible start, but
coming off the type of season we had and the way we ended everyone expected
bigger things, including ourselves. It’s just been one of those years…it's
very very competitive. Even coming here and racing guys like Dale Blaney
and Tim Shaffer…you don't come to their home track and just expect to beat
them. You really have to work hard at it. These guys are great drivers and
they have great teams. We're getting better..we turned our program around a
couple of weeks ago and now we're finally in victory lane," added Meyers.
For Shaffer, it was a complete turn-around from the make-up feature when he
tangled with Rob Chaney on the opening lap from his pole-starting spot and
flipped. His crew, with the help from others in the pits, rebuilt his car
and he nearly came back to take the victory.
"Chaney got a little hot there in the corner and he got loose and stayed in
the gas and turned and came down and we met at the same place…it was a heck
of ride. After something like that to rebound and come back strong…the guys
did an awesome job and gave me a great race car," said Shaffer beside his
Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook Racing machine backed by Kistler Engines and
Kistler Racing Products.
Blaney would finish third to finish off a pretty good night for "The Low
Rider" at Fremont Speedway.
"Overall it was a good night. I was probably way, way, way too conservative
in that second feature…especially getting into one. I wasn’t running it as
hard as the other guys were. It took me 40 laps to find myself," said
Blaney beside his George Fisher owned machine. "The guys gave me a really
good race car all night…this is a step in the right direction."
In the make-up feature, Shaffer would tangle with Chaney and flip hard
exiting turn two on the opening lap. That would move Gressman from his
third starting spot to the outside front row on the restart and he used
that to blast into the lead with Chaney racing hard with Blaney for second
while Brandon Martin and Dean Jacobs gave chase.
Blaney, who leads the All Star’s national, eastern region and Ohio region
points, would take second on lap three just before Martin would tip over.
Gressman could not shake Blaney on the restart while Chaney had his hands
full with Henry. The caution flew on lap four for a Shawn Valenti spin. A
lap and another caution for a stalled Scott Euler. On the restart Gressman
was able to pull away slightly from Blaney with Chaney and Henry continuing
their battle for third while Byron Reed and Kevin Lee raced hard for fifth.
Henry would take the third spot on lap seven.
Jared Ridge would coast to a stop on lap nine to bunch up the field. Blaney
would use the opportunity to really apply the pressure to Gressman while
Henry, Chaney, Reed and Lee gave chase. The caution would fly again on lap
when Duane Zablocki would spin with Lee also stopping. Now the running
order was Gressman, Blaney, Henry, Chaney, Reed, Chris Andrews and David
Gravel.
Gressman was now having problems getting through turns three and four and
Blaney closed quickly. Blaney would drive under Gressman on lap 20 and slid
into the lead. Henry would then begin to apply pressure to Gressman for
second as Blaney hit lapped traffic with six laps to go. No one would catch
Blaney the remaining handful of laps as he took the checkered for his 12th
career win at Fremont while Gressman, Henry, Bryan Sebetto – up from 21st
starting spot – and Chaney would round out the top five.
In the night’s 40 lap feature, Meyers would bolt into the lead from his
pole starting spot with Blaney grabbing second as Martin drove into third
and Shaffer and Mike Linder rounding out the top five. Jody Keegan would
tumble exiting turn two to bring out the read and on the restart, Linder
would slip off the high side of turn three allowing Craig Mintz and Danny
Holtgraver to move into the top five. Meyers would set a blistering pace,
catching the rear of the field just five laps after going back to green.
Blaney could close slightly with Shaffer following in his tire tracks while
Martin ran comfortably in fourth. Henry would bring out the caution on lap
10 with Meyers leading over Blaney who had a lapped machine separating him
and Shaffer.
Again, with a clean track ahead, Meyers would blast away out front,
encountering lapped traffic just six laps later. This now allowed Blaney,
Shaffer and Martin to close. Blaney would dive to Meyers inside to
challenge for the lead on lap 19 with Shaffer right on their rear bumpers.
At the half-way mark, Meyers would lead as Shaffer drove into second and
stayed glued to the leaders’ tail. Just as Shaffer began to set Meyers up
to try and take the lead, the caution flew on lap 30 for a stalled Brooke
Tatnell. Meyers would have a lapped car cushion over Shaffer while Blaney,
Martin, Mintz, Reed and Gravel trailed.
On the restart Shaffer was able to quickly dispose of the lapped car and
applied pressure to Meyers, but another caution for a Bryan Sebetto spin
would stop the action. This time Meyers left nothing to chance, pulling
away for the victory with Shaffer, Blaney, Martin and Reed rounding out the
top five.
The All Stars will be back in action Sunday, June 5 at Clinton County
Raceway in Mackeyville, Pa., for an Eastern Region points race.
For more information go to www.allstarsprint.com
Fremont Speedway - 5/29/2011 (Make-up from 5/28/2011)
Kears Speed Shop Night
O'Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (31 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 53-Phil Gressman, 12.312; 2. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.316; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer,
12.389; 4. 45-Rob Chaney, 12.409; 5. 9X-Brandon Martin, 12.437; 6. O4-Cap
Henry, 12.449; 7. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.479; 8. 91-Aaron Middaugh, 12.485; 9.
97-Dean Jacobs, 12.517; 10. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 12.518; 11. 51-Brad
Bowman, 12.521; 12. 28-Shawn Valenti, 12.552; 13. 3J-Kevin Lee, 12.602; 14.
45L-Brian Lay, 12.604; 15. 312-Mike Linder, 12.621; 16. 89G-David Gravel,
12.634; 17. 27-Scott Euler, 12.638; 18. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.639; 19. O-Chris
Andrews, 12.653; 20. 2+-Brian Smith, 12.733; 21. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.748;
22. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.753; 23. 12-Jarred Ridge, 12.779; 24. 10-Brad
Haudenschild, 12.789; 25. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.836; 26. 14H-Todd Heller,
12.873; 27. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 12.892; 28. 51C-Roger Campbell, 12.946; 29.
3-Pete Miller, 13.012; 30. 40-Mark Imler, 13.482; 31. 22T-Miranda
Throckmorton, 99.000
Heat 1 -(10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. W20-Greg Wilson[1] ; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[6] ; 3. 3J-Kevin Lee[3] ; 4.
9X-Brandon Martin[5] ; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[4] ; 6. 60-Jody Keegan[7] ; 7.
27-Scott Euler[2] ; 8. 3-Pete Miller[8]
Heat 2 -10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O9-Craig Mintz[2] ; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[1] ; 3. D4-Danny Holtgraver[4]
; 4. O4-Cap Henry[5] ; 5. 2-Dale Blaney[6] ; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[3] ; 7.
14H-Todd Heller[7] ; 8. 40-Mark Imler[8]
Heat 3 -(10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 12-Jarred Ridge[1] ; 2. 312-Mike Linder[3] ; 3. 16-Bryan Sebetto[7] ; 4.
O-Chris Andrews[2] ; 5. 83-Tim Shaffer[6] ; 6. 5R-Byron Reed[5] ; 7.
51-Brad Bowman[4] ; 8. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton[8]
Heat 4 -(10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 10-Brad Haudenschild[1] ; 2. 89G-David Gravel[3] ; 3. 28-Shawn
Valenti[4] ; 4. 45-Rob Chaney[6] ; 5. 51C-Roger Campbell[7] ; 6. 91-Aaron
Middaugh[5] ; 7. 2+-Brian Smith[2]
Dash - Outerwear's Performance Products(6 Laps, finishing order determined
first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[1] ; 2. 45-Rob Chaney[3] ; 3. 53-Phil Gressman[4] ; 4.
2-Dale Blaney[6] ; 5. 9X-Brandon Martin[5] ; 6. O4-Cap Henry[2]
B-Main - University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps - Top 4 finishers
transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5R-Byron Reed[1] ; 2. 51-Brad Bowman[3] ; 3. 27-Scott Euler[5] ; 4.
60-Jody Keegan[7] ; 5. 45L-Brian Lay[4] ; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[6] ; 7.
14H-Todd Heller[8] ; 8. 91-Aaron Middaugh[2] ; 9. 3-Pete Miller[9] ; 10.
22T-Miranda Throckmorton[11]
A-Main - O'Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps)
1. 2-Dale Blaney[4]; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[3]; 3. O4-Cap Henry[6]; 4.
16-Bryan Sebetto[23]; 5. 45-Rob Chaney[2]; 6. 5R-Byron Reed[11]; 7. 10-Brad
Haudenschild[21]; 8. 89G-David Gravel[14]; 9. O-Chris Andrews[17]; 10.
W20-Greg Wilson[18]; 11. O9-Craig Mintz[16]; 12. 97-Dean Jacobs[7]; 13.
312-Mike Linder[13]; 14. D4-Danny Holtgraver[8]; 15. 51-Brad Bowman[12];
16. 60-Jody Keegan[22]; 17. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[19]; 18. 3J-Kevin Lee[10];
19. 28-Shawn Valenti[9]; 20. 12-Jarred Ridge[20]; 21. 51C-Roger
Campbell[24]; 22. 27-Scott Euler[15]; 23. 9X-Brandon Martin[5]; 24. 83-Tim
Shaffer[1]
Hard Charger: 16-Bryan Sebetto[+19]
Fremont Speedway - 5/29/2011 Regular Scheduled Event
O'Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (34 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.368; 2. 89G-David Gravel, 12.421; 3. 53-Phil Gressman,
12.432; 4. 9X-Brandon Martin, 12.473; 5. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 12.498; 6.
3J-Kevin Lee, 12.512; 7. 45C-Rob Chaney, 12.529; 8. 14-Jason Meyers,
12.532; 9. 83-Tim Shaffer, 12.533; 10. O4-Cap Henry, 12.566; 11. O9-Craig
Mintz, 12.577; 12. 312-Mike Linder, 12.582; 13. 12-Jarred Ridge, 12.584;
14. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.591; 15. 28-Shawn Valenti, 12.600; 16. 27-Scott
Euler, 12.686; 17. 51-Brad Bowman, 12.716; 18. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 12.719;
19. 59-Brooke Tatnell, 12.736; 20. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.745; 21. 14H-Todd
Heller, 12.761; 22. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.766; 23. 97-Dean Jacobs, 12.855;
24. 2+-Brian Smith, 12.875; 25. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.887; 26. O-Chris
Andrews, 12.933; 27. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 12.963; 28. 22T-Miranda
Throckmorton, 12.966; 29. 91-Aaron Middaugh, 13.015; 30. 45L-Brian Lay,
13.038; 31. 4-Danny Smith, 13.069; 32. 3-Pete Miller, 13.173; 33. 10-Brad
Haudenschild, 13.211; 34. 51C-Roger Campbell, 13.380
Heat 1 -(10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 51-Brad Bowman[2] ; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 3. 12-Jarred Ridge[3] ; 4.
2-Dale Blaney[6] ; 5. D4-Danny Holtgraver[5] ; 6. W20-Greg Wilson[7] ; 7.
10-Brad Haudenschild[9] ; 8. 91-Aaron Middaugh[8] ; 9. 14H-Todd Heller[1]
Heat 2 -(10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[2] ; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[1] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[3] ;
4. 51C-Roger Campbell[9] ; 5. O4-Cap Henry[4] ; 6. 89G-David Gravel[6] ; 7.
O-Chris Andrews[7] ; 8. 45L-Brian Lay[8] ; 9. 3J-Kevin Lee[5]
Heat 3 -(10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 59-Brooke Tatnell[2] ; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs[1] ; 3. O9-Craig Mintz[4] ; 4.
16-Bryan Sebetto[7] ; 5. 4-Danny Smith[8] ; 6. 53-Phil Gressman[6] ; 7.
28-Shawn Valenti[3] ; 8. 45C-Rob Chaney[5]
Heat 4 -(10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 60-Jody Keegan[2] ; 2. 312-Mike Linder[4] ; 3. 9X-Brandon Martin[6] ; 4.
2+-Brian Smith[1] ; 5. 14-Jason Meyers[5] ; 6. 3-Pete Miller[8] ; 7.
22T-Miranda Throckmorton[7] ; 8. 27-Scott Euler[3]
Dash - Outerwear's Performance Products (6 Laps, finishing order determined
first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 14-Jason Meyers[1] ; 2. 2-Dale Blaney[2] ; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 4.
9X-Brandon Martin[6] ; 5. O4-Cap Henry[3] ; 6. D4-Danny Holtgraver[5]
B-Main - University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps - Top 4 finishers
transfer to the A-feature)
1. 53-Phil Gressman[2] ; 2. 45C-Rob Chaney[4] ; 3. 89G-David Gravel[1] ; 4.
W20-Greg Wilson[8] ; 5. 10-Brad Haudenschild[14] ; 6. O-Chris Andrews[9] ;
7. 14H-Todd Heller[7] ; 8. 28-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 9. 3-Pete Miller[13] ; 10.
91-Aaron Middaugh[11] ; 11. 3J-Kevin Lee[3] ; 12. 22T-Miranda
Throckmorton[10] ; 13. 27-Scott Euler[6]
A-Main -O'Reilly Auto Parts (40 Laps)
1. 14-Jason Meyers[1]; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer[3]; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[2]; 4.
9X-Brandon Martin[4]; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[10]; 6. O9-Craig Mintz[7]; 7.
53-Phil Gressman[12]; 8. 45C-Rob Chaney[13]; 9. 89G-David Gravel[11]; 10.
97-Dean Jacobs[19]; 11. 12-Jarred Ridge[9]; 12. 312-Mike Linder[8]; 13.
4-Danny Smith[23]; 14. W20-Greg Wilson[21]; 15. 51-Brad Bowman[14]; 16.
2+-Brian Smith[20]; 17. 16-Bryan Sebetto[22]; 18. 59-Brooke Tatnell[16];
19. 1Z-Jessica Zemken[15]; 20. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[18]; 21. 51C-Roger
Campbell[24]; 22. D4-Danny Holtgraver[6]; 23. O4-Cap Henry[5]; 24. 60-Jody
Keegan[17]
Hard Charger: 4-Danny Smith[+10]
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