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Tri-State Outlook.
With temps close to 70 and a partly cloudy sky,
Attica Raceway Park was ready to open last Friday
night. We seen and heard, via the inter-net, that the
officials at APR were working hard in the off-season
on major improvements at the 1/3rd mile oval. Everyone
was waiting for the gate to kick open to see for
themselves. Running late, due to my daughter's
basketball game at 5 pm, I was chomping at the bit to
get there to see the improvements myself. As we pulled
in around 7:30, the place was packed. Looks like
everyone was ready for some racing. As we parked, the
first thing I noticed was the one ticket booth was no
longer there. The main had more lines added to it.
This kept the fans going in one direction. Didn't look
and seem like too bad of an idea to me. After getting
our pit passes, off towards the pits we walk, behind
the main grandstands. I noticed a few extra concession
lines on the end of the stand and a new food trailer
vendor. Sneaking a peak as we walked, the new fence
was looking pretty sweet. Much higher and a lot
stronger than the original fence. Then, the new
grandstand appears as we hit the pits. What an awesome
addition. A nice huge grandstand for the pits with an
excellent view. After a brief stroll through the pits,
it was race time. Off to the new stands we go. The
stands were great. Plenty of leg room and a great
view. There was a few people concerned if the new
fence would cause some black-out area due to the
silver shine but, it was really pretty good. One
little spot you could see the shine from the fence
but, it didn't hamper your vision of the car or track.
By the way, the new lights made a world of difference
on the front stretch and looked pretty good though out
the track. I really believe all the improvements was
for the better. Man, what a crowd! It was the biggest
crowd I have seen at Attica, besides the Doty, in
years. The APR crew had to be smiling that all the
hard work was paying off. Another addition I spotted
was a little grandstand by the back pit gate. The only
glitch was the concessions were backed-up and running
low on stuff before the heats were over. Of course,
you would of never guessed a crowd that large would
turn out either. I know that caused some of the
problem. The staff did all they could to get more
stuff but, they just couldn't keep up. I really didn't
go there to eat anyways, so no worries from here. An
experienced race fan should of been wise enough to
know if they wanted anything, they better get it quick
because it wasn't going to last all night long.
25 410 sprints and 39 305's were pit side. We will
start with the 410 action. Before the action started,
some teams were having problems. Dustin Daggett broke
a rocker arm in hot laps. While Mike Linder and Bruce
Robenalt had fuel system problems during hot laps. As
the temps cooled off a little, it was race time. Fresh
cars, engines, and paint jobs and we are ready for
action. Lee Jacobs held off a chargin Brock Mayes to
take heat 1. The heat also sported the return of Gus
Wasson to sprint car racing. Gus still lives in North
Carolina but will head to Ohio to driver Rick Ferkel's
0 car and help his dad at the car lot. Brandon Martin
went from the inside of the last row to the lead
before lap 1 was in the books in heat 2. Martin went
on to win the heat. Dale Blaney had George Fisher's
red 2 hooked-up to take heat 3. 2006's national 410
rookie of the year, Neil Shepherd, took the B. The
heats and B featured some pretty good racing. When it
came time for the 30 lap A Main, things got a little
crazy. John Ivy and Greg Wilson paced the field. Ivy
gets the jump but, Ed Neumeister, Dustin Daggett, and
Ryan Grubaugh got together between turn 1 and 2.
Grubaugh flipped, collecting Martin and nearly getting
several others. Byron Reed had damage as well that
needed repaired. The line-up was a mess. A few laps to
sort things out after the push-off and we are ready.
Restart, Chris Andrews goes off the top of 2. Finally,
we are green. Ivy gets the lead. Business picks up
ASAP as Blaney and Wilson are quickly on Ivy's tail.
Wilson makes a move, gets the lead, but, caution waves
for a Martin spin. Ivy get the lead back. Restart,
Caleb Griffith flips in 2, collecting Wasson. Under
the red, Blaney pulls pit side. Green, Wilson takes a
shot at Ivy and make it stick, leading lap 5. Lap 6,
Mayes was fighting for 4th and loops it in turn 4. The
battle is excellent upfront when the caution or red
isn't displayed. Wilson, Ivy, Lee Jacobs, and Craig
Mintz are racing 2 and 3 wide. Restart, Reed and
Daggett spin. Now that half the field as went from the
front to the tail, the charge is on. Lap 9, Shepherd
spins after charging up 10 spots already from his 16th
place starting spot. Lap 10, Jacobs pulls off a slider
to take the lead. Lee is quick as Wilson falls a few
car lengths behind. Lap 15, Shepherd flys off the top
of 4, after charging back up to 8th in just 6 laps.
Jacobs gets a good restart but Wilson is finding his
groove as Ivy fades. Mayes and Reed are players in the
top 6 again. Lap 20, Wilson takes the lead. Jacobs
slammed the door the few laps before but not this
time, Wilson is strong and pulls away. Next lap,
Andrews spins again. After that, it was clear sailing
for Wilson. Greg showed why he took his 1st All Star
title in 06 and proved he will be a force to reckon
with again in 07. Wilson took the win over Jacobs,
Mayes, Reed, and Paul Weaver. All i all it was an
excellent race, when the green was out. It did take a
while to get in the books. You couldn't of asked for a
much closer battle the 1st 20 laps of the A. Great
runs by man guys. Reed, Mayes, and Shepherd all went
from the tail to the front again. Shepherd just spun
one too many times. How about Paul Weaver? He moved up
from the 305's and had a solid top 5 after starting
12th. Mintz was strong until a wing adjustment during
the 1 red. After that it seemed he was good but had
some handling problems. Many fast cars and good runs.
The crop of 305's is amazing this year. Many new
teams and drivers. Plus, a lot of young gun. I think
Craig Mintz said it best. His comment was something
like, I am only 21 and I caught myself calling some of
these drivers kids. There are some really nice looking
rides too. Scott Kraylek, Dustin Dinan, Kevin Lee, and
Andy Shammo took the heat wins. Cody Runion and Todd
Heuerman took the B's. The 305 heats and B's ran off
without hardly any incidents. By the way, the view off
the top of Neil Shepherd's hauler was excellent for
the 305 heats and the 410 B. The cars coming right at
you into turn 3. Stuart Brubaker and Dustin Dinan
paced the 305 field for their 25 lap A Main. A clean
1st start until Brad Haudenschild loops it in turn 4.
The next start, OUCH!! Dinan gets crossed-up coming
off 4 towards the green. He bounces off several cars
collecting half the field. Young Ricky Williams takes
a wild roll down the front stretch, Duane Zablocki was
doing the same thing not far behind him. Shammo, Scott
Kraylek, Matt Merrill, Jim Tadded, Brad Bowman,and
Heuerman were all collected in the pile. Most
restarted but, Williams and Zablocki were on the hook.
Benny Bowman took advantage of his new starting spot,
outside row 1, to take the lead. Brubaker was quickly
in tow and ready to take his 1st Attica A Main. Lap 3,
Brubaker takes the lead. Brubaker has a good run a
going and the race is moving quickly. Bryan Sebetto
and Kevin Lee work towards the leaders. 10 to go,
Brubaker is still is command, Sebetto is closing but
is looking like he might not have enough for Brubaker.
5 to go, Sebetto is closing quickly. Lap 21, Brubaker
tries to lap Shawn Colvin as the lead pack enters turn
3. Colvin moves down on Brubaker causing Stuart to run
over Colvin's left front, Colvin flips hard.
Brubaker's car is OK but, Sebetto is on his tail.
Restart, the race is on. Lap 23, Sebetto take the
lead. Bryan holds on to take the win over Brubaker,
Benny Bowman, Lee, and Steve Rando. Once again a
pretty decent race. Not as good as the 410 A Main but,
not a bad race either.
Many drivers were walking around pit side or MIA
due to not having their cars a 100% ready yet. 30 or
more 410s could of been pit side if everyone had their
rides ready...Look for Phil Gressman to pilot the
Aaron Call 360 at Limaland Raceway Park in a few
weeks...Neil Shepherd is looking for a shot at a
pavement ride. He would at least like a ride for the
Anderson USAC show on April 15th to try and get in the
top 10 of USAC points after the 1st 2 shows. Please
contact Neil, Terry, or send me an e-mail if you know
of a legit chance to run a pavement car that day.
There could be a few more cars with different drivers
before the end of April rolls around. I have heard of
at least 1 deal that is in the works that might put a
ride less driver back in the seat already...Looks like
a competitive but yet maybe a crazy year in sprint car
racing this season...The Attica Coors Light Spring
Nationals are already canceled for this weekend. Man,
from 70 to 30 in a day and of course it happens on the
1st major race weekend in Ohio for 07. The Spring
Nationals always sports a good car count and great
racing. The 2 shows have been rescheduled for May 4th
and May 25th.
UPCOMING:
We will move to next week since this week is already
in the scrap pile.
April 13 WOO Eldora
April 14 WOO Eldora, USAC Sprints North Vernon IN
April 15 USAC Sprints Anderson IN
See you at Eldora, mother nature willing,
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