Unclebig
06-19-2011, 11:52 AM
Blaney takes ASCOC Speedweek $$$$
NASCAR Champ Stewart Charges from 24th to 7th
Berwanger and Adams take Support Features
By Brian Liskai/Scott Wolfe
CHILLICOTHE, OHO-Experiencing little mechanical issues over the past few O'Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champion events, George Fisher went to work on his Ti22 Performance sprint car. The result? A dominating performance by his driver Dale Blaney on the second night of the 29th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek at KC Raceway.
Blaney led all 30 laps Saturday to take his 79th career All Star win as he continues to work toward his fourth All Star championship and a possible fifth Ohio Sprint Speedweek title. Jeremy Berwanger claimed the AMRA Advanced Services Modified main, while Jamey Adams won the Dan Reno Hobby Stock main. Highlights of the evening were the appearances of NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart, who both raced their way into the A-main event.
"I love this place”, said Blaney. “George likes it...I mean it's kind of his home track. We always run pretty good here. The way the track was tonight you could race all over it," said Blaney. "We've been qualifying really well but we haven't been finishing off things. Tonight the car was really, really good from qualifying on and I tried to limit my mistakes to a few tonight. If we can continue to do that we will be in good shape."
"The traffic went pretty good for us. I tried to be aggressive because that 83 car (Tim Shaffer) is awful, awful fast, especially the last half of the race he gets really fast and you know he'll be there at the end. I was just trying to put as many lapped cars between us and it worked out pretty good," added Blaney.
Shaffer, who opened speedweek with a win on Friday, would race into second on lap nine, but caution flags and lapped cars would prevent him from getting to Blaney.
"It wasn't meant to be tonight. Dale and George and those guys did a great job. We couldn't get the breaks tonight. It's been a tough year already and hopefully during speedweek we can make up some ground," said Shaffer beside his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook owned machine sponsored by Kistler Engines.
Cole Duncan would take third on the third lap and that's where he would finish, as the cautions prevented him from challenging the top two.
"We had motor trouble yesterday and Charlie Fisher helped us out today and we got that thing running pretty good. We were pretty good on the long runs...we were good early but there were too many lapped cars there at the end," said Duncan beside his Bobby Labonte Racing, Wolfden Carbon Fiber Products, Motorcity Auto Transport backed #22. "We put this car together last week...we crashed here last Saturday so we put a new car together and it seems to be pretty good."
Blaney and Kyle Sauder would lead the field to the green with David Gravel, Shaffer, Duncan and Cap Henry in tow. Duncan would move into third on lap three and immediately challenged Sauder for the runner-up spot as Blaney pulled away. "The Low Rider" would hit lapped traffic by lap 7 as Sauder continued to battle Duncan and now Shaffer. Shaffer would drive by both Duncan and Sauder into second on lap 9. Meanwhile there was a great battle for third between Sauder, Duncan, Henry, Gravel and Randy Hannagan.
The caution would fly on lap 13 for a Sheldon Haudenschild/Rob Chaney tangle on the back stretch. Blaney would have four lapped cars between himself and Shaffer who had a lapped machine separating him and Duncan. With a clear track, Blaney would pull away as Shaffer struggled with the lapped cars. Duncan, Sauder, Hannagan and Henry would continue to wage a tremendous battle for third that would last until lap 28 when Travis Philo flipped hard in turn three with fifth place running Cap Henry spinning to avoid the crash.
With a green-white-checkered to finish the race - coupled with a clear track - Blaney would power away to the win over Shaffer, Duncah, Hannagan and Gravel. While the race for third was a dandy, the fans were also treated to NASCAR star Tony Stewart charging from 24th - last - to a seventh place finish.
In the AMRA Advanced Services modified main, former AMRA national champion Jeremy Berwanger fended off the defending AMRA champ Kenny Johnson. Bob Crace, Jr. gave Berwanger a run early, but as the race progressed Berwanger began to check out.
Crace and Kenny Johnson sparred early, and then continued their attack in reverse order once Johnson edged by following a restart. Father-son team of Jeremy and Tim Rayburn battled Fireball Pinkerton and defending K-C champion Brian Whiteman. Racing was once again close and racy throughout the pack, as the sizzling modifieds set the stage for the ensuing ASCOC Speedweek feature.
After a spin Whiteman went to the rear and started a charge the left a great impression on the open wheel crowd. Whiteman came from 17th to 8th in the run. Only Kevin Delaney was able to close the door on his charge to the front.
As Johnson gave it his all to catch the “Murray City Bandit” Berwanger, Crace, Rayburn, Pinkerton, and another contender Chris Wilson fought for position. Crace slowed momentarily, shuffling the top five, allowing Pinkerton to bag Rayburn for third and fourth. Veteran Crace recovered for a strong fifth.
John Arthurs was the co-hard-charger of the race in a 16th to tenth place run, while newcomer Shawn Donahue had a great run in his first appearance at K-C blasting from the tail to 11th. K-C racing Icon Bud Frazier blitzed from 14th to 9th.
Defending Road Warrior champion Matt Holcomb suffered mechanical woes as did Late Model transplant Greggie Oliver.
Rounding out the top ten were Berwanger, Johnson, Pinkerton, J. Rayburn, Crace, Jr., Wilson, Delaney, Whiteman, Frazier, and Arthurs.
Who says ‘nice guys finish last’? No matter where he starts, he puts on a show, and he wins against a whole group of talented, hard-charging Saturday night warriors. Yes, Jamey Adams did it again.
NASCAR Champ Stewart Charges from 24th to 7th
Berwanger and Adams take Support Features
By Brian Liskai/Scott Wolfe
CHILLICOTHE, OHO-Experiencing little mechanical issues over the past few O'Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champion events, George Fisher went to work on his Ti22 Performance sprint car. The result? A dominating performance by his driver Dale Blaney on the second night of the 29th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek at KC Raceway.
Blaney led all 30 laps Saturday to take his 79th career All Star win as he continues to work toward his fourth All Star championship and a possible fifth Ohio Sprint Speedweek title. Jeremy Berwanger claimed the AMRA Advanced Services Modified main, while Jamey Adams won the Dan Reno Hobby Stock main. Highlights of the evening were the appearances of NASCAR Sprint Cup stars Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart, who both raced their way into the A-main event.
"I love this place”, said Blaney. “George likes it...I mean it's kind of his home track. We always run pretty good here. The way the track was tonight you could race all over it," said Blaney. "We've been qualifying really well but we haven't been finishing off things. Tonight the car was really, really good from qualifying on and I tried to limit my mistakes to a few tonight. If we can continue to do that we will be in good shape."
"The traffic went pretty good for us. I tried to be aggressive because that 83 car (Tim Shaffer) is awful, awful fast, especially the last half of the race he gets really fast and you know he'll be there at the end. I was just trying to put as many lapped cars between us and it worked out pretty good," added Blaney.
Shaffer, who opened speedweek with a win on Friday, would race into second on lap nine, but caution flags and lapped cars would prevent him from getting to Blaney.
"It wasn't meant to be tonight. Dale and George and those guys did a great job. We couldn't get the breaks tonight. It's been a tough year already and hopefully during speedweek we can make up some ground," said Shaffer beside his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook owned machine sponsored by Kistler Engines.
Cole Duncan would take third on the third lap and that's where he would finish, as the cautions prevented him from challenging the top two.
"We had motor trouble yesterday and Charlie Fisher helped us out today and we got that thing running pretty good. We were pretty good on the long runs...we were good early but there were too many lapped cars there at the end," said Duncan beside his Bobby Labonte Racing, Wolfden Carbon Fiber Products, Motorcity Auto Transport backed #22. "We put this car together last week...we crashed here last Saturday so we put a new car together and it seems to be pretty good."
Blaney and Kyle Sauder would lead the field to the green with David Gravel, Shaffer, Duncan and Cap Henry in tow. Duncan would move into third on lap three and immediately challenged Sauder for the runner-up spot as Blaney pulled away. "The Low Rider" would hit lapped traffic by lap 7 as Sauder continued to battle Duncan and now Shaffer. Shaffer would drive by both Duncan and Sauder into second on lap 9. Meanwhile there was a great battle for third between Sauder, Duncan, Henry, Gravel and Randy Hannagan.
The caution would fly on lap 13 for a Sheldon Haudenschild/Rob Chaney tangle on the back stretch. Blaney would have four lapped cars between himself and Shaffer who had a lapped machine separating him and Duncan. With a clear track, Blaney would pull away as Shaffer struggled with the lapped cars. Duncan, Sauder, Hannagan and Henry would continue to wage a tremendous battle for third that would last until lap 28 when Travis Philo flipped hard in turn three with fifth place running Cap Henry spinning to avoid the crash.
With a green-white-checkered to finish the race - coupled with a clear track - Blaney would power away to the win over Shaffer, Duncah, Hannagan and Gravel. While the race for third was a dandy, the fans were also treated to NASCAR star Tony Stewart charging from 24th - last - to a seventh place finish.
In the AMRA Advanced Services modified main, former AMRA national champion Jeremy Berwanger fended off the defending AMRA champ Kenny Johnson. Bob Crace, Jr. gave Berwanger a run early, but as the race progressed Berwanger began to check out.
Crace and Kenny Johnson sparred early, and then continued their attack in reverse order once Johnson edged by following a restart. Father-son team of Jeremy and Tim Rayburn battled Fireball Pinkerton and defending K-C champion Brian Whiteman. Racing was once again close and racy throughout the pack, as the sizzling modifieds set the stage for the ensuing ASCOC Speedweek feature.
After a spin Whiteman went to the rear and started a charge the left a great impression on the open wheel crowd. Whiteman came from 17th to 8th in the run. Only Kevin Delaney was able to close the door on his charge to the front.
As Johnson gave it his all to catch the “Murray City Bandit” Berwanger, Crace, Rayburn, Pinkerton, and another contender Chris Wilson fought for position. Crace slowed momentarily, shuffling the top five, allowing Pinkerton to bag Rayburn for third and fourth. Veteran Crace recovered for a strong fifth.
John Arthurs was the co-hard-charger of the race in a 16th to tenth place run, while newcomer Shawn Donahue had a great run in his first appearance at K-C blasting from the tail to 11th. K-C racing Icon Bud Frazier blitzed from 14th to 9th.
Defending Road Warrior champion Matt Holcomb suffered mechanical woes as did Late Model transplant Greggie Oliver.
Rounding out the top ten were Berwanger, Johnson, Pinkerton, J. Rayburn, Crace, Jr., Wilson, Delaney, Whiteman, Frazier, and Arthurs.
Who says ‘nice guys finish last’? No matter where he starts, he puts on a show, and he wins against a whole group of talented, hard-charging Saturday night warriors. Yes, Jamey Adams did it again.