4/14/2006
All Star Circuit of Champions
Terry McCarl Takes Attica Spring Nationals Opener
TTICA, OH (4-14-06) - The All Star Circuit of Champions rolled into Northern Ohio under threatening skies once again, and again the weather gods spared the series as only a few rain drops fell prior to hot laps. The cars and fans came out in full force. 41 cars made the tow to Attica Raceway Park's 15^th Annual Coors Light Spring Nationals. There weren't many seats left open as the fans in this region appreciate the great competitive racing that the All Star's always bring to town. This race was like a marathon, with Altoona, Iowa's Terry McCarl surviving for the victory. McCarl just became an All Star member this past week and then put an exclamation point on his membership form with the win tonight.
The 40-lap A-main took over an hour before the checkered finally flew, as there were three red flags and four cautions slowing the action. Nobody was hurt, but there was a lot of twisted metal exiting the speedway on the hook.
McCarl, who currently sits third in the World of Outlaws point standings, admitted he was nervous leading. "I have had so many shows won here only to slip off the banking. They did a nice job with the track tonight and you could race all over the place," said McCarl beside his Big Game Tree Stand, Bosma Poultry sponsored #24. "This wasn't easy by any means. The All Stars are tough and the Attica regulars always race you hard. I screwed up at one point...moving my wing too far back and it made the car too tight. On that last restart I moved the wing forward and the car just took off."
The start of the feature saw Kevin Huntley spin in turn one. On the restart, 2005 ARP track champion Byron Reed and Paul May flipped hard down the front stretch. The third time wasn't the charm, as Ryan Coniam looped his Miller Rigging car in turn four on the next restart.
On the fourth try, Mark Keegan, the all-time winningest driver at Attica, bolted into the lead from his outside front row starting spot, with Greg Wilson, Andrew Palker, McCarl and Stevie Smith in tow. Keegan also became an All Star member this week and was looking to make a statement with a victory. The red would fly on lap five when Jon Trudeau tipped over in turn four, as Rob Chaney, driving a team car to Craig Mintz, stopped to avoid the crash.
Before the green would wave, Andrew Palker, who had moved into second, would duck into the pits to replace his fuel cap and would have to go to the tail. On the restart Keegan used the rim to build a lead over Wilson, Smith, David Harrison, and Mike Linder who had moved up from his 15th starting spot. All eyes were on Todd Kane who had moved from 17th up to ninth.
Just two laps later the caution would fly again for a Brock Mayes spin in turn two. The running order now was Keegan, McCarl, Wilson, Smith, Harrison, Linder, Dale Blaney, Chad Blonde, Kane and fast qualifier Butch Schroeder.
McCarl would execute his winning move on the restart, using the slide job to move in front of Keegan exiting turn four. The caution would fly a lap later for a Huntley spin. With 32 laps yet to go it was McCarl, Keegan, Wilson, Linder, Smith, Harrison and Blonde, up from 16th.
After the restart, McCarl pulled away, but the yellow would come out again on lap 14, as Wilson slid off the high side of turn two and would coast to a stop in turn four with a flat tire. McCarl would lead on the restart with the lapped car of Caleb Griffith between he and Keegan. Linder had moved into third with Smith fourth, Blonde up to fifth, Harrison and Kane in tow.
A lap later disaster would strike in turn three as Kane ended up on his lid. Once the track went back to green, the longest run of the feature would take place, as McCarl built a lead only to have it vanish in heavy lapped traffic as Keegan and Blonde closed. The final caution would fly on lap 30 for Harrison who slid off of turn three. That gave McCarl a clear track and he pulled away for the win. Behind him though, Keegan and Blonde raced side by side for second, with the All Star Rookie of the Year candidate from Litchfield, Mich., edging Keegan at the line. Linder would come home fourth, followed by Dale Blaney, Smith, Rob Chaney, Lee Jacobs, Jimmy Stinson, and Coniam rounding out the top 10.
In B-main action, it was Huggins Cams Fast Qualifier Butch Schroeder, Paul May, and Brock Mayes leading the charge with Rookie of the Year contender Brandon Martin make a hard charge for the final transfer spot. He made some bold moves and had a spot secured until a late race restart the caused his motor to stumble, which cost him several spots.
The Haulmark Dash was won by Rookie of the Year points leader, Chad Blonde.
The All Stars will be back in action at Attica Raceway Park on Saturday April 15th .
Huggins Cams Qualifying
- 7K-Butch Schroeder, 11.939; 2. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.007; 3. 24-Terry McCarl, 12.016; 4. K-Andrew Palker, 12.044; 5. 19-Stevie Smith, 12.102; 6. X-Mark Keegan, 12.102; 7. OH-Tim Hunter, 12.121; 8. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.206; 9. 10-David Harrison, 12.213; 10. 11B-Brock Mayes, 12.231; 11. 70-Kevin Huntley, 12.232; 12. 71M-Paul May, 12.238; 13. 12M-James Mosher, 12.242; 14. 16-Lee Jacobs, 12.252; 15. 11M-Brandon Martin, 12.254; 16. 5-Byron Reed, 12.268; 17. 2G-Caleb Griffith, 12.272; 18. 3L-Mike Linder, 12.284; 19. 5B-Chad Blonde, 12.287; 20. 78-Todd Kane, 12.376; 21. 23-Jon Trudeau, 12.378; 22. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.425; 23. 8S-Craig Mintz, 12.443; 24. 2X-Ryan Coniam, 12.448; 25. 8-Rob Cheney, 12.487; 26. 37Z-Brian Scott, 12.507; 27. 84-Jimmy Stinson, 12.628; 28. 27-Scott Euler, 12.655; 29. F1-Jon Finsel, 12.661; 30. 25M-Ken Mackey, 12.680; 31. 10S-Roger Shammo, 12.688; 32. 8C-Bobby Clark, 12.741; 33. 4N-Niel Shepard, 12.775; 34. 63R-Barry Ruble, 12.819; 35. 45-Bryan Grove, 12.859; 36. 55-John Ivy, 12.864; 37. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 12.880; 38. 98-Bruce Robenalt, 12.907; 39. 48-Mike Burkin, 13.084; 40. 99-Alvin Roepke, 13.979; 41. 33-Nick Patterson
Outerwears Pre-Filters Heat 1 (top 5 transfer to the A-main)
- 2G-Caleb Griffith; 2. 10-David Harrison; 3. 19-Stevie Smith; 4. 23-Jon Trudeau; 5. 8-Rob Cheney; 6. F1-Jon Finsel; 7. 7K-Butch Schroeder; 8.12M-James Mosher; 9. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 10. 4N-Niel Shepard
B&B; Oval Track Products Heat 2 (top 5 transfer to the A-main)
- 60-Jody Keegan; 2. 16-Lee Jacobs; 3. 2-Dale Blaney; 4. 3L-Mike Linder; 5. X-Mark Keegan; 6. 11B-Brock Mayes; 7. 37Z-Brian Scott; 8. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 9. 63R-Barry Ruble; 10. 25M-Ken Mackey
Engler Machine & Tool Heat 3 (top 5 transfer to the A-main)
- 5B-Chad Blonde; 2. 70-Kevin Huntley; 3. 24-Terry McCarl; 4. 8S-Craig Mintz; 5. 84-Jimmy Stinson; 6. 11M-Brandon Martin; 7. OH-Tim Hunter; 8. 45-Bryan Grove; 9. 10S-Roger Shammo; 10. 48-Mike Burkin
TP Wings Heat 4 (top 5 transfer to the A-main)
- 78-Todd Kane; 2. 2X-Ryan Coniam; 3. 5-Byron Reed; 4. W20-Greg Wilson; 5. K-Andrew Palker; 6. 8C-Bobby Clark; 7. 55-John Ivy; 8. 99-Alvin Roepke; 9. 27-Scott Euler; 10. 71M-Paul May
Haulmark Dash
- 5B-Chad Blonde; 2. 24-Terry McCarl; 3. W20-Greg Wilson; 4. 2-Dale Blaney; 5. X-Mark Keegan
University of Northwestern Ohio B-main (top 4 transfer to the A-main)
- 7K-Butch Schroeder; 2. 71M-Paul May; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes; 4. 8C-Bobby Clark; 5. 55-John Ivy; 6. 25M-Ken Mackey; 7. 27-Scott Euler; 8. 37Z-Brian Scott; 9. 10S-Roger Shammo; 10. 4N-Niel Shepard; 11. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 12. 63R-Barry Ruble; 13. 11M-Brandon Martin; 14. OH-Tim Hunter; 15. 99-Alvin Roepke; 16. F1-Jon Finsel; 17. 48-Mike Burkin; 18. 45-Bryan Grove; 19. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 20. 12M-James Mosher
MSD Ignition A-main (40 laps) - Starting Position []
- 24-Terry McCarl[5]; 2. 5B-Chad Blonde[16]; 3. X-Mark Keegan[2]; 4. 3L-Mike Linder[15]; 5. 2-Dale Blaney[6]; 6. 19-Stevie Smith[3]; 7. 8-Rob Cheney[22]; 8. 16-Lee Jacobs[12]; 9. 84-Jimmy Stinson[23]; 10. 2X-Ryan Coniam[21]; 11. 10-David Harrison[8]; 12. K-Andrew Palker[4]; 13. 8C-Bobby Clark[24]; 14. 70-Kevin Huntley[10]; 15. 7K-Butch Schroeder[7]; 16. W20-Greg Wilson[1]; 17. 60-Jody Keegan[19]; 18. 2G-Caleb Griffith[14]; 19. 78-Todd Kane[17]; 20. 11B-Brock Mayes[9]; 21. 8S-Craig Mintz[20]; 22. 23-Jon Trudeau[18]; 23. 71M-Paul May[11]; 24. 5-Byron Reed[13]
(A-main running time: 1 hr 15 min)
Submitted By: Ross Paulson