Chris Andrews Opens Ohio Speedweek With First Career UNOH All Star Win; Schlenk Earns Late Model Victory at Attica
By Brian Liskai
(Attica, OH) There’s just something about Attica Raceway Park and Ohio Sprint Speedweek that brings out the best in racers.
Last year it was Danny Holtgraver who scored his first career University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions win at Attica to open speedweek. This year, Sandusky, Ohio’s Chris Andrews earned the biggest win of his career, holding off three time UNOH All Star champion Dale Blaney to score his first ever series win to begin the 31st Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek.
Andrews, the 2009 Attica champion, has struggled somewhat this year, but with four laps to go, he kept his composure on a restart and went on to score his four career win at Attica.
“It felt like I drove to California and back that’s how long that race felt like. Especially that last lap…I just wanted to get that over with,” said Andrews beside his Burmeister Racing/K&N Filters/Lucas Oil/Schiets Motorsports/Kistler Racing Products/Adkins Sanitation backed machine.
“The car was good and the track wasn’t looking too good earlier today but they really did a good job smoothing it out and making it racy. Hats off to my guys…we haven’t been running too well this season. Paul Kistler has given us awesome motors and Mikey (Sommers) spinning the wrenches and Sonny and Sharon Burmeister…I can’t thank them enough for the ride,” added Andrews.
“I knew I was in his (Blaney’s) territory and as long as I stayed there I knew I minimized my chances of him passing me. Dale’s the best on the bottom and I was just trying to hit my marks,” concluded Andrews in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
For Blaney, he was catching Andrews in the middle of the race, but just couldn’t get there as cautions interrupted his momentum. Then he was locked in a great battle with Tim Shaffer at the end of the race for second.
“In open traffic he (Andrews) was a little better than we were. I felt I was as good and getting better there in the middle of the race. I felt like I was maybe gaining a little bit on him. But, he ran a good race and never made a mistake. I was hoping to get to traffic and never did. It was all I could do to hang on to second. I know Shaffer was there and it was a good race,” said Blaney beside his Ti22 Performance/GF1 Chassis #2.
Caleb Griffith would come on strong at the end of the race to score a third place finish.
“I really have to give it to my crew. We timed in sixth which is really good for us and then the driver went out and laid an egg in the heat race so we had to come back from adversity all night. Had to come out of the B and blew a brake line in the B…it was just a thrash. To come from where we were to run third is a great night for us,” said Griffith beside his Al Davis Carpet/McDonald’s Restaurant/Young’s Batter Mix/Crown Battery #40DD.
In the Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Models, McClure, Ohio’s Rusty Schlenk held off Matt Miller following a restart with three laps to go, to claim his second Attica win of the season. It is the 16th of his career at Attica.
“I was too tight to run around the top. Thank goodness I was able to use the high side to get around lapped traffic. I had to stick to the bottom once I got into the clear,” said Schlenk about his Lazer Chassis/Micro-Armor Lubricants/Main & Company/Zeller Automotive backed #91. “He (Miller) is definitely one of the people I hate having behind me on a restart because he is so good on the starts. I expected him to try and roll me on the top…he usually does. I guess I kept my momentum up enough to keep him back there. I was peaking over my shoulder coming to the checkers.”
“We just got this new car out. I’m glad it’s working. We have the Summer Nationals coming here and I’d like to win that thing. Every time we race in that I end up breaking something. I have to thank my crew. We completely destroyed the front of the car and had to put it all back together and if it wasn’t for them guys we wouldn’t have made it out there for the feature,” added Schlenk.
D.J. Foos and Andrews would bring the field to the green for the 40 lap feature, but it was defending track champion Craig Mintz who shot into the lead from his fourth starting spot. Mintz began to pull away slightly as Andrews, Foos, Blaney, Shaffer and Stuart Williams gave chase.
Brad Sweet would coast to a stop on lap four to bring out the yellow flag and when the green flew again Blaney snuck under Foos for third. Foos would spin in turn four on lap six and on the ensuing restart, Andrews drove to Mintz’ outside to challenge with Blaney, Shaffer, Williams and Rob Chaney in tow.
Just as Mintz was set to hit heavy lapped traffic on lap 13, something broke in the front of his car and he stopped exiting turn four, handing the lead to Andrews. A lap and a caution for Brad Bowman who suffered a flat tire. The restart running order was Andrews, Blaney, Shaffer, Brand Martin (up from 15th), Chaney, Greg Wilson, Williams and Griffith.
Cap Henry would spin on lap 17 with the running order Andrews, Blaney, Shaffer, Martin, Chaney and Wilson. The running order stayed that way until Caleb Helms spun on lap 24. On the ensuing restart Bryan Sebetto smacked the fourth turn fence, bringing out another caution which led to a red flag fuel stop. The restart running order was Andrews, Blaney, Shaffer, Martin, Wilson and Griffith. Wilson and Griffith would get around Martin on lap 28.
Sheldon Haudenschild would spin on lap 29 just as Blaney and Shaffer were inching closer to Andrews. On the restart Andrews would pull away slightly while Blaney and Shaffer battled hard for second while Griffith moved into fourth as Martin drove back by Wilson for fifth. Someone clipped one of the infield tires on lap 36, necessitating another caution.
That gave Blaney and Shaffer one last shot at Andrews. On the restart Andrews stuck to his bottom grove as Brandon Martin executed a bonsai move and nearly took out Shaffer and Griffith. Griffith moved into third with Martin, Dean Jacobs and Shaffer regrouping.
Andrews would hit his marks perfectly the last four laps to take the win. Blaney, Griffith, Martin and Jacobs would round out the top five.
Mike Bores and Brandon Thirlby would bring the late model field to the green for their 25-lap feature with Bores taking the lead. Schlenk, who started 7th, quickly moved into second and immediately challenged Bores by just the second lap with Thirlby, 11th starter Brad Malcuit and Miller in tow. Schlenk would drive under Bores for the top spot on lap three with Miller charging into third. Josh Haynes would spin to bring the action to a halt.
On the ensuing restart Schlenk pulled away as Bores had to battle with Miller while Malcuit moved into fourth over Thirlby, Matt Irey, John Mayes Jr. and Ryan Missler. As Schlenk drove into lapped traffic on lap 10, Miller, who took second on lap five, began to close as Malcuit drove into third, bringing Thirlby to fourth and Bores back to fifth. The car on the move was last week’s feature winner Cody Scott who had drive from his 20th starting spot – last – to 9th.
Schlenk hit heavy lapped traffic with nine laps to go and Miller closed as Malcuit ran comfortably in third. John Bores would spin on lap 21, giving Schlenk a clear track. But, after a lap was recorded Tim Sabo would stop in turn four to bunch up the field once again. When the green reappeared, Miller really pressured Schlenk as they pulled away from Malcuit, Thirlby, Scott and Mike Bores.
As they raced out of turn four for the checkered, Miller dove to Schlenk’s inside and lost by half a car length at the start-finish line. Malcuit, Thirlby and Scott would round out the top five.
Attica Raceway Park will be back in action Friday, July 5 for Kear’s Speed Shop Fan Appreciation Night. General admission is just $10 for adults with the 410 sprints, 305 sprints, late models and dirt trucks in action.
For more information go to www.atticaracewaypark.com
Attica Raceway Park – 6/21/2013
Ohio Caterpillar Night
O’Reilly Auto Parts 410 Sprints (41 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 54-Cap Henry, 12.272; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer, 12.297; 3. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.306; 4. 16-Chris Andrews, 12.331; 5. 53-DJ Foos, 12.387; 6. 40DD-Caleb Griffith, 12.409; 7. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.410; 8. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 12.423; 9. 9W-Brandon Wimmer, 12.428; 10. 9x-Rob Chaney, 12.443; 11. 97-Dean Jacobs, 12.502; 12. 49-Brad Sweet, 12.503; 13. w20-Greg Wilson, 12.518; 14. 24H-Bryan Sebetto, 12.531; 15. 11X-Brandon Martin, 12.539; 16. 45-Danny Holtgraver, 12.540; 17. 59-Jac Haudenschild, 12.624; 18. 33M-Sheldon Haudenschild, 12.629; 19. 7K-Cole Duncan, 12.632; 20. 15H-Mitch Harble, 12.643; 21. 45L-Brian Lay, 12.648; 22. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.657; 23. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 12.703; 24. 40-Caleb Helms, 12.716; 25. 2m-Dallas Hewitt, 12.717; 26. 15-Adam Wilt, 12.717; 27. 5t-Travis Philo, 12.726; 28. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.737; 29. 10-Dave Blaney, 12.743; 30. 4-Danny Smith, 12.749; 31. 55-Brad Bowman, 12.758; 32. 40T-Gary Taylor, 12.759; 33. 5-Byron Reed, 12.829; 34. O-Justin Henderson, 12.841; 35. 27P-Paige Polyak, 12.989; 36. 1a-Jacob Allan, 13.213; 37. 5H-Jordon Harble, 13.219; 38. 97x-Rodney Hurst, 13.448; 39. 80-Trey Gustin, 13.468; 40. 787-Jimmy Pooler, 13.673; 41. 96AU-Bruce White, 13.685
Heat 1 – Kear’s Speed Shop (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 45L-Brian Lay[1] ; 2. w20-Greg Wilson[3] ; 3. 9W-Brandon Wimmer[4] ; 4. 53-DJ Foos[5] ; 5. 5-Byron Reed[9] ; 6. 2m-Dallas Hewitt[7] ; 7. 5H-Jordon Harble[10] ; 8. 54-Cap Henry[6] ; 9. 10-Dave Blaney[8]
Heat 2 – All Pro Aluminum Heads (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1] ; 2. 24H-Bryan Sebetto[3] ; 3. 9x-Rob Chaney[4] ; 4. 33M-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 5. 83-Tim Shaffer[6] ; 6. O-Justin Henderson[9] ; 7. 4-Danny Smith[8] ; 8. 15-Adam Wilt[7] ; 9. 97x-Rodney Hurst[10] ; 10. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[5]
Heat 3 – Dragon Race Fuel (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7K-Cole Duncan[2] ; 2. 11X-Brandon Martin[3] ; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[6] ; 4. O9-Craig Mintz[5] ; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[4] ; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker[1] ; 7. 5t-Travis Philo[7] ; 8. 55-Brad Bowman[8] ; 9. 27P-Paige Polyak[9] ; 10. 80-Trey Gustin[10]
Heat 4 – Kinsler Fuel Injection (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 40-Caleb Helms[1] ; 2. 45-Danny Holtgraver[3] ; 3. 16-Chris Andrews[6] ; 4. 49-Brad Sweet[4] ; 5. 46AU-Stuart Williams[5] ; 6. 40T-Gary Taylor[8] ; 7. 1a-Jacob Allan[9] ; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7] ; 9. 787-Jimmy Pooler[10] ; 10. 15H-Mitch Harble[2]
Dash – Outerwear’s Performance Products (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 53-DJ Foos[2] ; 2. 16-Chris Andrews[4] ; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[1] ; 4. O9-Craig Mintz[3] ; 5. 46AU-Stuart Williams[6] ; 6. 83-Tim Shaffer[5]
B-Main – MSD Ignitions (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 54-Cap Henry[1] ; 2. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[2] ; 3. 5t-Travis Philo[8] ; 4. 55-Brad Bowman[12] ; 5. 15-Adam Wilt[7] ; 6. 2m-Dallas Hewitt[6] ; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[9] ; 8. 4-Danny Smith[11] ; 9. 40T-Gary Taylor[13] ; 10. 27P-Paige Polyak[15] ; 11. 80-Trey Gustin[19] ; 12. 1a-Jacob Allan[16] ; 13. 97x-Rodney Hurst[18] ; 14. 787-Jimmy Pooler[20] ; 15. 96AU-Bruce White[21] ; 16. 5H-Jordon Harble[17] ; 17. 35-Stuart Brubaker[5] ; 18. 15H-Mitch Harble[4] ; 19. O-Justin Henderson[14] ; 20. 10-Dave Blaney[10] ; 21. 59-Jac Haudenschild[3]
UNOH A-Main – (40 Laps)
1. 16-Chris Andrews[2]; 2. 2-Dale Blaney[3]; 3. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[12]; 4. 11X-Brandon Martin[15]; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[9]; 6. 83-Tim Shaffer[6]; 7. 5-Byron Reed[24]; 8. 45-Danny Holtgraver[16]; 9. w20-Greg Wilson[13]; 10. 53-DJ Foos[1]; 11. 1S-Logan Schuchart[20]; 12. 45L-Brian Lay[19]; 13. 9W-Brandon Wimmer[7]; 14. 46AU-Stuart Williams[5]; 15. 24H-Bryan Sebetto[14]; 16. 54-Cap Henry[11]; 17. 33M-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 18. 40-Caleb Helms[21]; 19. 9x-Rob Chaney[8]; 20. 55-Brad Bowman[23]; 21. 5t-Travis Philo[22]; 22. O9-Craig Mintz[4]; 23. 7K-Cole Duncan[18]; 24. 49-Brad Sweet[10]
Hard Charger: 5-Byron Reed[+17]
Summit Racing Equipment Late Models (29 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Nitro Black Performance by Engine Pro (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 18R-Chris Ross[1] ; 2. M14-Brandon Thirlby[2] ; 3. 15B-Mike Bores[5] ; 4. O3-Ryan Missler[3] ; 5. 5J-Josh Haynes[6] ; 6. 98-Tim Sabo[9] ; 7. O2-Jeff McCoy[10] ; 8. 27-Ken Hahn[7] ; 9. 25-Ryan Eddleblute[4] ; 10. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.[8]
Heat 2 – Summit Racing Equipment (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 91-Rusty Schlenk[1] ; 2. 79-Brad Malcuit[2] ; 3. 3-Matt Miller[8] ; 4. 240-Charlie Duncan[9] ; 5. 51-Devin Shiels[6] ; 6. 77-Coby Bartram[3] ; 7. 59-Larry Bellman[7] ; 8. O1-Brandon Perkins[5] ; 9. 99-Steve Sabo[10]
Heat 3 – Ultra Shield Race Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 36-Matt Irey[2] ; 2. 69-John Mayes Jr.[1] ; 3. 21-Larry Kingseed[4] ; 4. OO-Chris Keller[8] ; 5. 48-John Bores[6] ; 6. 30-Nate Potts[3] ; 7. 5M-Ryan Markham[9] ; 8. 92-Cody Scott[7] ; 9. 24-Jerry Aber[5]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 98-Tim Sabo[1] ; 2. 30-Nate Potts[3] ; 3. 5M-Ryan Markham[6] ; 4. 77-Coby Bartram[2] ; 5. 92-Cody Scott[9] ; 6. 59-Larry Bellman[5] ; 7. 27-Ken Hahn[7] ; 8. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.[13] ; 9. 99-Steve Sabo[11] ; 10. 25-Ryan Eddleblute[10] ; 11. 24-Jerry Aber[12] ; 12. O2-Jeff McCoy[4] ; 13. O1-Brandon Perkins[8]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 91-Rusty Schlenk[7]; 2. 3-Matt Miller[6]; 3. 79-Brad Malcuit[11]; 4. M14-Brandon Thirlby[2]; 5. 92-Cody Scott[20]; 6. 15B-Mike Bores[1]; 7. 69-John Mayes Jr.[4]; 8. 36-Matt Irey[9]; 9. O3-Ryan Missler[8]; 10. 5M-Ryan Markham[18]; 11. 51-Devin Shiels[14]; 12. 21-Larry Kingseed[10]; 13. 98-Tim Sabo[16]; 14. 77-Coby Bartram[19]; 15. 48-John Bores[15]; 16. 30-Nate Potts[17]; 17. OO-Chris Keller[12]; 18. 5J-Josh Haynes[13]; 19. 18R-Chris Ross[3]; 20. 240-Charlie Duncan[5]
Hard Charger: 92-Cody Scott[+15]
©2013 – Results Provided by: Computer Man Inc. Fremont, OH