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Tri State Outlook
by Duane Hancock
Labor Day weekend is the last major holiday weekend of racing. As well as some tracks final events of the year. With more and more races scheduled each year on holiday weekends and more choices where to spend your entertainment dollar, it was great to see excellent crowds at all the events I attended over the weekend.
My weekend started Friday at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima OH. Sadly, this is their last race in 08. I have been to Limaland more this season than the past few combined. A little closer to home than my other Friday night choices. Plus, each week the racing is good, the track stays in pretty good shape, the program is moved along pretty decent, and its nice to see some of my 360 friends that I only get to see a few times a year. The Elwer Fence 360 Sprint title was still on the line entering the night. JR Stewart was just a mere 6 points ahead of Mike Miller. JR had just clinched the NRA title the week prior. 29 360's were on hand for the final night. The $3000 to win King Of The Quarter Mile race was on the agenda as well. Dustin Daggett, JR Stewart, and Darren Long won the heats. All 3 heats were fairly decent racing. Tim Allison took the B Main that seen plenty of action. Tim Viles climbed the turn 1 fence, flipping back to the track surface.
Mike Dussell, John Ivy, and Dennis Yoakum all earned transfer spots from deep in the pack. From 7th, 10th, and 12th to be exact. Dwain Leiber and Darren Long made-up the front row for the 25 lap A Main. Dustin Daggett is in town to try and steal the show plus, the $3000 dash after the A Main. Daggett dives from 4th to 1st before lap 1 is complete. Tim Allison has early problems that slow him on lap 3. He re-fires. Lap 5, Jared Horstman takes a nasty tumble down the back stretch. He was OK. Next lap, Allison takes a wild tumble in turn 2. Getting that out of the way, the green is back out and some laps are getting into the books. Daggett is running away from the field, so most eyes are watching Stewart and Miller. They are running just 2 spots apart, 4th and 6th. JR is looks to be driving very cautious, tip-toeing past traffic. Less than 10 to go, the pack is reeling Daggett back in. Stewart has worked up to 3rd, as Miller is falling back through the
pack. Lap 20, Bob Gehr Jr spins directly in front of Stewart. JR misses him by less than 6 inches. Restart 5 to go, Daggett gets a good start but Long and Stewart are not giving it too him. Both charge after Daggett. Daggett takes the win. Long narrowly holds off Stewart for 2nd, Mike Brecht, and Mike Dussell, up from 18th, round out the top 5. A wild night really. It was like full contact racing in all the divisions. It was like, tonight is the last night, wreckers or checkers. It was a decent A Main. Daggett had them pretty much covered the entire event but a late caution made him earn it. How about JR Stewart! The last 10 laps he put it on the line and was racing for the win as well as the title. After looking cautious the first half of the race, he put that aside and raced his way to the title with some very close calls on the way. Capping the night off was the 10 lap King Of The 1/4 Mile Dash. A $3000 to win event for all of the A Main winners
during the 08 season. JR Stewart drew the pole and let er rip as the green dropped. JR, normally a bottom feeder, was riding the cushion and bouncing off of it like he needed to be to stay upfront. With laps flying by, JR was hooked-up and never looked back. Stewart takes the $3000 win. What a 7 days for JR. First the NRA title. The very next Friday, the Elwer Fence LMP title. Then, cap it off with the King Of The 1/4 Mile win. I would say not bad at all for a driver that many thought was not deserving of the Hammond ride when he was hired.
Saturday it was off to Attica Raceway Park for the All Stars and the Attica Ambush. It was very nice seeing the Ambush back at Attica. Instead of the original Monday date like in years past, this edition took place on Saturday night. Plus, this closes out the ARP 2008 season as well. Yes, its sad that the season is almost over already. 47 cars signed in for the action. The Attica Ambush was always a favor of mine, a Monday night show that you weren't sure of who might show up, and some excellent racing. Even though it was on Saturday, the same could be said for this night. Ed Lynch JR., Mark Smith, Tyler Walker, and Kody Kinser were a few of the surprise entries. Danny Smith, Tyler Walker, Mike Dussell, and Jody Keegan took the heat race wins. The heats had some good racing and some crazy action too. In heat 3, Lance DeWease had the 5th and final transfer spot tied up until coming off turn 4 to the checkered flag. Lance's car shut-off exiting 4,
stacking the field up behind him. Caleb Helms, Jamie Miller, and Mike Hogan all flipped at the same time in the accident. Brian Ellenberger got caught-up in the accident too but slide across the line, with a broken front axle, to take the final transfer spot. Also, in heat 3, Bryan Sebetto backed into the turn 4 wall hard. Bryan received a broken tail bone. Let all hope Bryan recovers quickly. Ed Neumeister took the C Main. Chris Andrews on his 1st ever All Star Dash. DeWease came back to take the B Main win. Jimmy Stinson flipped in the B, collecting Ryan Meyers. 40 laps, $5000 to win, with the season winding down, the showdown was set. A showdown it was! 40 lap A Main at Attica always seem to provide excellent results. I remember for years, like 95% of the time, the driver leading on lap 30, never won at the end of lap 40. Ask Steve Kinser, oops, just had too. Make that a green to checkered A Main, the battle will rage, just like last Saturday. Rob
Chaney jumped to the lead quickly after the green waved. Rob set a quick pace and opened up a few car length lead. With a handful of laps, the lead pack entered lapped traffic. Like more often than not, even in the pits, when you see Chaney, you better be looking for Blaney. Dale was working his low-rider groove each circuit, gaining on Chaney. Just past half-way, lap 21, Blaney made the pass for the lead. Blaney was in heavy lapped traffic and Tim Shaffer, Lee Jacobs, and DeWease are gaining ground on the leaders as well. A very tight battle upfront for many of the mid race laps. In the later stages of the high 20's in laps, Blaney stretched the lead some. Lee Jacobs is getting faster and faster each lap. Blaney still leads but wiht 5 to go, Jacobs is the quickest car in the closing stage of the race. 2 to go, Lee can almost touch Dale's fuel cell. Lee follows Dale on the low side around traffic. With a lap and a half to go, lee finds the high side.
White flag, Dale low into 1, Lee high. Dale has the advantage off 2 but Lee is right there. Into 3, Blaney is about in the middle, Lee high. As they enter 4, Blaney slides up the cushion and back off, down towards the middle. Lee shoots off 4, gets under Blaney, drag race to the line, its Blaney by about 6 feet over Jacobs. Shaffer, up from 11th, Chaney, and DeWease, up from 12th, round out the top 5. An excellent finish with plenty of passing through out. My only wish, that they would move the show back to Monday night. Hey, its a show on a day where nothing else is going on and I am greedy, the only way to make a 3 day race weeknd better, is make it a 4 day race weekend.
Jimmy Sneed took a nasty ride at Waynesfeild Motorsports Park last Saturday night. Jimmy will make a full recovery but will be out for the rest of the year. Get Well soon Jimmy!
UPCOMING:
FRIDAY
SOD Hartford MI
SATURDAY
SOD I-96 MI
AVSS Dixie MI
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