By Brian Liskai Attica, Ohio – It’s often said in dirt track racing it takes a lot of things falling your way to end up in victory lane. Such was the case for Gibsonburg’s Craig Mintz on Friday at Attica Raceway Park on Edward Jones of Clyde/Mike Neill Financial Advisor Night.
The two time track champion benefitted from a good pill draw to start on the pole of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprint feature, and then the caution flags fell at opportune times as he led all 30 laps for his first win of the season at Attica. It was win #13 in Mintz’ career and times him for eighth on the track’s all time win list with Tim Shaffer and Frankie Kerr.
The win also puts him in position for a top three finish in the Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) Championship Series Presented by KS Sales and Service. With his fourth place finish, coupled with problems for Cap Henry, Byron Reed is set to earn an unprecedented third Kistler Cup and its $10,000 pay day.
Also, with his second place finish, former track champion Dean Jacobs gained more valuable points in his quest for the $10,000 Attica track title with only two point races left.
“I wish my wife and my baby girl were here. But work is first…wife had to work. My crew…if it wasn’t for them it would take a long time for us to be here. Stuart Williams gave us a trailer to use. My dad, Kevin, Hoagie, Sam and Rich….they do all the work, I just drive the race car,” said Mintz of his Real Geese Decoys, Design Graphics Group, Sennebogen backed #09.
“I saw someone coming out of four on the last lap. I was struggling…I was bleeding bad. The shorter runs helped. The bleeders came in and knocked some air out of the tires. I was good for about two laps and after that I was just trying to get a good run and not miss the top. I knew Dean (Jacobs) was coming…he’s probably the best driver I’ve seen on the bottom. Things fell right for us tonight,” added Mintz, thanking other sponsors, KS Sales and Service, Linder’s Speed Equipment, GF1 Chassis, Dave Story Equipment Repair, Erie Shore Propane, and Kistler Engines.
Doug Drown continued his awesome season, taking the lead from Rocky Owens with an outside move on a restart with two laps to go and driving to his sixth win of the season at Attica in the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models. Coupled with his six wins at Wayne County Speedway, he not only sits atop the Attica point standings but Wayne County and the Attica Raceway Park/Wayne County Speedway Late Model Series Championship points. Drown now has 12 career wins at Attica and sits third on the track’s all time win list.
“He (Owens) was leaving just enough room…man it was getting hairy…it was great tight racing. I know the fans had to enjoy that. I was sweating up a storm. I was wiping sweat out of my eyes and on that caution with two to go and said it’s time to get up on the wheel and cowboy it up,” said Drown of his Halls Auto Sales, Malcuit Racing Engines, Nationwide Vehicle Protection, Wooster Glass, Kar Konnections backed #240.
“Leroy Hall gave me a great opportunity and with all my family support…we had the whole family here to night and that makes it fun,” added Drown.
Bobby Clark inherited the lead when Jamie Miller jumped the cushion and flipped on lap six, and then survived a late race charge by Kyle Capodice to claim his third straight win in the Foster’s Auto Body 305 Sprints. The victory is the ninth overall of the season for Clark and essentially wraps up the JLH General Contractor 305 FAST Championship presented by Engine Pro. Clark now has 19 career 305 sprint wins at Attica and is fourth on the track’s all-time win list
“I knew once I caught traffic…everyone was right on the bottom. I figured who ever was behind me was there. Our hope coming into here tonight was to wrap up the FAST championship with a win,” said Clark beside his Fremont Fence, Kear’s Speed Shop, Kistler Engines, Nagy Equipment, Big D’s Pizza, Schiets Motorsports, Miller Rigging, Shelluke’s Bar, Willey’s Towing, B&L Plumbing, backed #8.
In the Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks, Fremont’s Matt Foos would take the lead when Dustin Keegan had mechanical woes on lap four, and would cruise to his second straight win and the fourth of the season at Attica. It was his sixth overall victory of 2015. Foos now has six career victories at Attica.
“It’s pretty cool I get to have my son in victory lane. The last time he was here we blew up leading. We thought we had an engine problem earlier in the week, but a lot of hard work, sweat and blood and here we are. It was actually the flex plate bolts backed out…that was a relief,” said Foos of his Fremont Fence, Level Performance, Pitstop Carryout, Automatic Fire Protection, D&R Transmissions, M&L Excavating backed #2.
Mintz and Jimmy Colvin brought the field to green for the 30 lap 410 sprint feature with Mintz gaining the advantage as third starter Jacobs jumped into second. Chris Andrews would bolt into third on lap three and took second a lap later.
The action would grind to a halt on lap four when Tyler Gunn flipped, ending his night. On the restart Mintz pulled away slightly from Andrews with Jacobs, Stuart Brubaker, Byron Reed and Rob Chaney in tow. The top three of Mintz, Andrews and Jacobs put some distance between themselves and a tremendous battle for fourth between Brubaker, Reed, and Chaney with Caleb Griffith and T.J. Michael staying close.
With 10 laps scored, Andrews was gaining on Mintz but the caution would fall for DJ Foos. Mintz got a great restart to hold the lead over Andrews, Jacobs, Brubaker, Reed and Chaney. At the halfway point the running order was Mintz, Andrews, Jacobs, Brubaker, Chaney, Reed, Michael and Cap Henry.
Just as Mintz was set to hit heavy lapped traffic on lap 18, the caution came out for Bryan Nuckles. Again when the green flew Mintz got a tremendous restart as Andrews and Jacobs battled for second. Fourth place running Brubaker would experience mechanical woes on lap 20 and would retire to the pits.
Mintz could not escape Jacobs and Andrews with Chaney, Reed and Michael locked in a fun battle for fourth. As the laps ticked off, Jacobs utilized the bottom groove to edge closer to Mintz. As the white flew Jacobs was racing to the leader’s inside as fifth place Chaney went pit side with issues. As they raced out of turn four to the checkers, Jacobs was beside Mintz, but Mintz kept up his momentum and drove to the win. Jacobs, Andrews, Reed and Michael would round out the top five.
Chris Keller and Rocky Owens paced the field for the 25 lap late model feature with Owens gaining the advantage over Keller, Ryan Markham, Rusty Schlenk, Drown and Ryan Missler. As Owens pulled away slightly, the battle for second was outstanding involving Schlenk, Keller, Markham and Drown.
After a lap two caution for Josh Haynes and Nate Potts, Owens would again pull away while Keller, Markham, Drown and Missler battled for second as Schlenk slid off the track, losing several positions. Owens drove into lapped traffic by the eighth circuit as Markham battled with Keller, Drown and Mike Bores. Keller would take second on lap nine with Drown edging out Markham for third.
Ben Mott would spin on lap 13 with the running order Owens, Keller, Drown, Markham, Bores, Missler and Larry Kingseed. When the green flew Owens again maintained his advantage as Keller, Markham and Drown continued the battle for second. With 10 laps to go the running order was Owens, Keller, Markham, Bores, Drown, Kingseed and Missler.
Drown would utilize the high line to take third on lap 19 just before the caution flew again for Mott. When the green flew Keller and Drown challenged Owens with Kingseed taking fourth. Kent Brewer would bring out the final caution on lap 23 setting up a two lap shoot out.
When the green flew Owens went to the bottom of turns one and two and Drown blasted away at the cushion and rocked into the lead. Owens would drive away to the win over Owens, Keller, Markham and Kingseed.
In the 25 lap 305 sprint feature, Capodice and Clark brought the field to green, with Clark taking the lead. The car on the move was Jamie Miller who used the high line to grab second on lap three and then blasted around Clark for the lead on lap five. But, that cushion would bite Miller a lap later as he jumped the ledge and flipped.
Clark would pull away on the restart over Capodice, Jordan Ryan, Dustin Rall, Ricky Peterson, Alex Paden, Steve Rando and a charging Dustin Dinan. Dan Hennig would stop with suspension damage on lap eight with the restart order Clark, Capodice, Ryan, Rall, Peterson, Rando and Dinan. The race would go caution free the remaining laps.
With 10 laps to go the car on the move was Peterson who took fourth and a lap later drove around Ryan for third as the leaders raced into lapped traffic. Capodice began eating way at Clark’s lead with Peterson and Ryan locked in a good battle for third.
With three laps to go Capodice was beside Clark but as they flew into turn one, Capodice bobbled, doing a 360 spin and losing several spots. Clark would hold off Peterson for the win with Rando, Ryan and Capodice rounding out the top five.
In the 15 lap dirt truck feature, Foos and Dustin Keegan would bring the field to green and the pair would race side by side the first four laps with Keegan holding the slight advantage. But, Keegan would stop on the track with four laps recorded, ending his night.
The only thing to slow Foos down the remainder of the race was a caution on lap 8 for second place running Brad Keckler. When the green flew, Foos did as well and drove to the win over Eric Devanna, Keith Sorg, Curt Inks and Len Benyak.
Attica Raceway Park will not be racing on Friday, Aug. 14 due to the Attica Fair. Racing will resume Friday, Aug. 21st on WNWO Channel 24 NBC Night with the 410 sprints running for $3,000 to win along with another Attica/Wayne County Late Model Series point event with the 305 sprints and dirt trucks also in action.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com and follow the track on Twitter and like Attica Raceway Park on Facebook.
Attica Raceway Park
Edward Jones of Clyde/Mike Neill Financial Advisor Night
Friday, August 7, 2015
Starting position [*]
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (19 cars)
Qualifying
1.19-Chris Andrews, 12.392; 2.21-DJ Foos, 12.544; 3.53-Cap Henry, 12.576; 4.16-Stuart Brubaker, 12.602; 5.9x-Rob Chaney, 12.604; 6.97-Dean Jacobs, 12.653; 7.22-Cole Duncan, 12.681; 8.09-Craig Mintz, 12.704; 9.9R-Jordan Ryan, 12.739; 10.33M-Caleb Griffith, 12.766; 11.83M-Broc Martin, 12.807; 12.9-Jimmy Colvin, 12.840; 13.5R-Byron Reed, 12.881; 14.8M-TJ Michael, 12.910; 15.68G-Tyler Gunn, 12.925; 16.9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.946; 17.59-Bryan Nuckles, 13.015; 18.40DD-Nate Dussel, 13.071; 19.96AU-Bruce White, 13.611;
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 7 to A)
1. 5R-Byron Reed[1] ; 2. 09-Craig Mintz[3] ; 3. 33M-Caleb Griffith[2] ; 4. 53-Cap Henry[4] ; 5. 68G-Tyler Gunn[5] ; 6. 40DD-Nate Dussel[6] ; 7. 96AU-Bruce White[7]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 2. 16-Stuart Brubaker[4] ; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[5] ; 4. 9R-Jordan Ryan[1] ; 5. 59-Bryan Nuckles[6] ; 6. 22-Cole Duncan[2]
Ultra Shield Race Products Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 83M-Broc Martin[1] ; 2. 19-Chris Andrews[4] ; 3. 9x-Rob Chaney[2] ; 4. 8M-TJ Michael[5] ; 5. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[6] ; 6. 21-DJ Foos[3]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 09-Craig Mintz[1] ; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 3. 19-Chris Andrews[4] ; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[9] ; 5. 8M-TJ Michael[12] ; 6. 22-Cole Duncan[17] ; 7. 33M-Caleb Griffith[7] ; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[15] ; 9. 9-Jimmy Colvin[2] ; 10. 83M-Broc Martin[6] ; 11. 21-DJ Foos[18] ; 12. 9R-Jordan Ryan[11] ; 13. 40DD-Nate Dussel[16] ; 14. 9x-Rob Chaney[5] ; 15. 16-Stuart Brubaker[8] ; 16. 53-Cap Henry[10] ; 17. 59-Bryan Nuckles[14] ; 18. 96AU-Bruce White[19] ; 19. 68G-Tyler Gunn[13]
Hard Charger: Cole Duncan +11
Foster’s Auto Body 305 Sprints (30 cars)
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 5-Jordan Ryan[1] ; 2. 12-Kyle Capodice[4] ; 3. 8J-AJ Sleek[6] ; 4. 77I-John Ivy[7] ; 5. 11G-Luke Griffith[8] ; 6. 87-Brian Gibbs[3] ; 7. 75-Jerry Dahms[5] ; 8. 25-Jason Keckler[2]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 2-Ricky Peterson[1] ; 2. 39-Jamie Miller[6] ; 3. 8-Bobby Clark[3] ; 4. 4T-James Taddeo[2] ; 5. 99-Alvin Roepke[8] ; 6. 32H-Dan Hennig[4] ; 7. 18N-Frank Neill[5] ; 8. 4*-Tyler Street[7]
Ultra Shield Race Products Heat 3 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1] ; 2. 9R-Dustin Rall[2] ; 3. 22M-Dan McCarron[7] ; 4. 97-Kyle Peters[3] ; 5. 36-Seth Schneider[4] ; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs[6] ; 7. 94K-Kurt Huber[5]
Rock Auto.com Heat 4 – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 19R-Steve Rando[6] ; 2. 15-Gary Benjamin[1] ; 3. 24-Alex Paden[2] ; 4. 13-Jeremy Duposki[5] ; 5. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[3] ; 6. 42-Kevin Shirey[7] ; 7. 1X-Dustin Dinan[4]
Computer Man B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 99-Alvin Roepke[2] ; 2. 1X-Dustin Dinan[12] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[3] ; 4. 3J-Trey Jacobs[7] ; 5. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[4] ; 6. 32H-Dan Hennig[6] ; 7. 4*-Tyler Street[14] ; 8. 87-Brian Gibbs[5] ; 9. 75-Jerry Dahms[9] ; 10. 94K-Kurt Huber[11] ; 11. 42-Kevin Shirey[8] ; 12. 11G-Luke Griffith[1] ; 13. 25-Jason Keckler[13] ; 14. 18N-Frank Neill[10]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 8-Bobby Clark[2] ; 2. 2-Ricky Peterson[12] ; 3. 19R-Steve Rando[9] ; 4. 5-Jordan Ryan[3] ; 5. 12-Kyle Capodice[1] ; 6. 1X-Dustin Dinan[18] ; 7. 77I-John Ivy[13] ; 8. 1W-Paul Weaver[10] ; 9. 9R-Dustin Rall[4] ; 10. 24-Alex Paden[7] ; 11. 99-Alvin Roepke[17] ; 12. 3J-Trey Jacobs[20] ; 13. 22M-Dan McCarron[11] ; 14. 4T-James Taddeo[14] ; 15. 15-Gary Benjamin[5] ; 16. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[21] ; 17. 13-Jeremy Duposki[16] ; 18. 36-Seth Schneider[19] ; 19. 97-Kyle Peters[15] ; 20. 8J-AJ Sleek[8] ; 21. 32H-Dan Hennig[22] ; 22. 39-Jamie Miller[6]
Hard Charger: Dustin Dinan +12
Summit Racing Equipment Late Models (19 cars)
Qualifying
1.00-Chris Keller, 14.708; 2.240-Doug Drown, 14.902; 3.5M-Ryan Markham, 15.024; 4.15B-Mike Bores, 15.102; 5.21-Larry Kingseed, 15.117; 6.29-Rocky Owens, 15.238; 7.50Y-Ryan Missler, 15.271; 8.51-Devin Shiels, 15.393; 9.27-Rusty Schlenk, 15.402; 10.03-Jim Gingery, 15.494; 11.92-Cody Scott, 15.539; 12.61-George Lee, 15.637; 13.1-Ben Mott, 15.826; 14.30-Nate Potts, 16.102; 15.12-Kent Brewer, 16.601; 16.69R-Doug Baird, 16.790; 17.5Z-Josh Haynes, 18.088; 18.00G-BJ Gregory, 99.800; 19.36-Matt Irey, 99.990;
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 7 to A)
1. 240-Doug Drown[3] ; 2. 00-Chris Keller[4] ; 3. 27-Rusty Schlenk[2] ; 4. 03-Jim Gingery[1] ; 5. 61-George Lee[5] ; 6. 00G-BJ Gregory[7] ; 7. 30-Nate Potts[6]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 51-Devin Shiels[2] ; 2. 5M-Ryan Markham[4] ; 3. 15B-Mike Bores[3] ; 4. 92-Cody Scott[1] ; 5. 12-Kent Brewer[5] ; 6. 36-Matt Irey[6]
Ultra Shield Race Products Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 6 to A)
1. 50Y-Ryan Missler[2] ; 2. 21-Larry Kingseed[4] ; 3. 29-Rocky Owens[3] ; 4. 1-Ben Mott[1] ; 5. 69R-Doug Baird[5] ; 6. 5Z-Josh Haynes[6]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 240-Doug Drown[6] ; 2. 29-Rocky Owens[2] ; 3. 00-Chris Keller[1] ; 4. 5M-Ryan Markham[3] ; 5. 21-Larry Kingseed[9] ; 6. 15B-Mike Bores[7] ; 7. 27-Rusty Schlenk[4] ; 8. 50Y-Ryan Missler[5] ; 9. 51-Devin Shiels[8] ; 10. 92-Cody Scott[11] ; 11. 03-Jim Gingery[10] ; 12. 30-Nate Potts[19] ; 13. 12-Kent Brewer[14] ; 14. 69R-Doug Baird[15] ; 15. 61-George Lee[13] ; 16. 1-Ben Mott[12] ; 17. 00G-BJ Gregory[16] ; 18. 5Z-Josh Haynes[18]
Hard Charger: Nate Potts +7
Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks –
Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 17X-Dustin Keegan[4] ; 2. 2-Matt Foos[1] ; 3. P51-Brad Keckler[8] ; 4. 4S-Keith Sorg[5] ; 5. 9-Curt Inks[2] ; 6. 37-Eric Devanna[7] ; 7. 22-Brandon Leighton[6] ; 8. 13-Len Benyak[9]
A-Main 1 (15 Laps)
1. 2-Matt Foos[1] ; 2. 37-Eric Devanna[6] ; 3. 4S-Keith Sorg[3] ; 4. 9-Curt Inks[5] ; 5. 13-Len Benyak[8] ; 6. 22-Brandon Leighton[7] ; 7. P51-Brad Keckler[4] ; 8. 17X-Dustin Keegan[2]
Hard Charger: Eric Devanna +4