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Tri State Outlook
by Duane Hancock
Other racing weekend in the books. Last weekend
found me at Attica Friday and Toledo Sunday.
Last Friday a rare occurrence happened at Attica
Raceway Park, the 410 sprints were the support
division. You could never of told it as 42 sprint cars
were pit side. Even though Friday's weather was pretty
decent, many tracks pulled the plug due to rains
during the week. So, an All Star type of field was
ready for action at Attica. Kevin Lee and Bryan
Sebetto were making their 2008 410 debut. Sebetto has
piloted a 410 before but, to the best of my knowledge,
which isn't much at times, it was Lee's 1st time ever
in a 410. I could be wrong at that but, I don't think
I am, who ever does?? With 52 WOO Late Models pit side
as well, the track looked very good for all the cars
in the pits. It was super smooth and very racy. Since
it was a regular local show for the 410's, the pill
draw was used for the heat line ups. This made for
some very interesting line-ups. Andy Shammo, Mike
Linder, Dale Blaney, and Greg Wilson won the heats. 3
of the 4 heats seen drivers that started in the last
row make a charge to one of the top 4 transfer spots.
Hud Horton and Rob Chaney made contact in the 4th
heating battling for the final transfer spot. Horton
ended up on his lid. Mike Hogan won the C Main. David
Harrison spin early in the stacked B Main, while
leading, collecting Caleb Griffith. Rob Chaney took
the B Main win. The driver of the night in the B was
Sebetto. Bryan charged from 11th to 3rd over a strong
field of cars. Chad Blonde also had a good run and
took the final transfer spot on the last lap. Brock
Mayes and Paul Weaver make-up the front row of the 30
lap A Main. The 410 A main was ran after the WOO Late
Model 50 lapper, so the track was hard and slick but
very smooth and very very racy. What a race! It looked
like many of the late model fans stayed to watch, what
they call tumble bunnies, I heard that many times
walking around Friday night from the late model
faithful. I am sure glad they did to see what a real
battle for the lead looks like. Granted, the late
model A Main was a decent one but, the sprint car one
was excellent. Paul Weaver jumped to the early lead.
Brock Mayes ran him strong as Blaney and Linder, who
started 8th and 9th, worked to the top 5. The event
went green to checkers and the battle was on. Weaver
and Mayes swap the lead a few times with Weaver still
leading at the line. With 10 to go, Blaney enters the
2 car battle. The last 10 laps, all 3 cars were just a
few feet apart at times. In and out of traffic, nose
to tail, side by side. Weaver running the high line,
Mayes and Blaney running the middle to the low side. 2
to go, all 3 look like they have an excellent shot to
win. Weaver actually looks the weakest. White flag, 3
wide into 1 and 2, Weaver still has the advantage,
Blaney middle, Mayes low. Going into 3, Blaney looks
for a side job, gets a run, thinks better of it,
Mayes, running the bottom gets a run too. Off 4,
Weaver's keeps the momentum on the high side and beats
them to the line. Blaney, Mayes, Brandon Martin, and
Linder round out the top 5. Blaney had a chance but
thought better of it. He might of been able to force
the issue but it looked like he would of fell short
and cause a huge mess. A very good race.
Sunday it was off to the ARCA race in Toledo to
catch former USAC drivers Ricky Stenhouse JR and Tom
Hessert III. Both kept their nose clean all day and
stayed out of the many accidents. Ricky looked to be
pretty fast on the long runs but, several cautions in
the final 50 laps gave him no shot at a win. Both guys
had great runs Ricky 7th, Tom 10th. Plus, Ricky still
hold the points lead by 10 points.
One oops from last week. I misspoke and stated
Jesse Hockett spun at Eldora collecting Brady Bacon
and Brad Sweet. Thanks to Jesse pointing it out to me
and refreshing my memory, Bacon actually spun up the
track causing Hockett to spin, then Sweet had no place
to go except into the pile. Bacon spun 1st, not
Hockett. Hey, at least I know Jesse reads what write
now.
The 1st major holiday weekend of the racing season
is on tap. So far, mother nature looks like she is
going to be nice to us. Lets hope so. Many tracks and
teams could use the races and get their shows in the
books. Let hope the $3.99 a gallon gas keeps people
closer to home and at their local race track. There is
many races to choose from this weekend, just make sure
you check at least one, if not more, out this weekend.
UPCOMING
THURSDAY
USAC Sprints Terre Haute IN
FRIDAY
NRA Limaland Motorsports Park
USAC Silver Crown Indy Fairgrounds
SATURDAY
All Stars Fremont OH
NRA Waynesfield OH
USAC Midgets ORP Indy
Little 500 Anderson IN
SUNDAY
NRA Eldora
MTS Crystal MI
MSCS Haubstadt IN
MONDAY
Buckeye Sprints Lorain County OH
Be safe, rubber side down, save a beer for me this
weekend. Not sure where I will be yet but looks like
at least a 3 race weekend, if not 4.
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