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Tim Shaffer picks up 5th All Star win at Can Am Motorsports Park

LAVARGEVILLE, N.Y. – By Brian Liskai – (7-13-10) Defending O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions titlist Tim Shaffer is keeping his eye on the prize…the $50,000 champion’s check at the end of the season and is steadily building a big point lead. Shaffer drove his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook Motorsports #83 to a convincing victory Monday night at Can Am Motorsports Park, his fifth All Star win of the season.

“The Steel City Outlaw” now has a 547-point lead over two-time All Star champion Greg Wilson. Wilson, though, isn’t about to just hand the championship to Shaffer, as the Benton Ridge, Ohio driver has started to come on strong of late.

It was a long night in New York, as the racing was delayed twice due to rain showers – one after the heats were contested and another as the feature was rolling onto the 1/2 mile track. When the feature finally hit the track, Shaffer drove his J&J Chassis, Kistler Engines machine into the lead from his pole-starting position with David Gravel and Doug Esh in pursuit. The caution would fly on lap four when rookie JaredRidge slowed at the top of turn two. On the restart it was all Shaffer as he set a blistering pace, encountering lapped traffic by lap 9.

Picking his way through traffic like a brain surgeon, Shaffer, who hails from Aliquippa, Pa., did not look back. Meanwhile, Gravel was locked into a spirited battle with sixth-place starter Wilson. Wilson, aboard his All Star Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning backed #W20, drove into the runner-up spot on lap 18. Gravel, the 2010 Ohio Sprint Speedweek Champion, began to get loose, as NASCAR champion Tony Stewart, who started 10th, grabbed third on lap 21, with PA Posse member Fred Rahmer closing for fourth.

Shaffer continued to pull away and was nearly a half lap ahead of Wilson and Stewart. On the final lap, Gravel would spin in turn 3, but Shaffer had already taken his 24th career All Star checkered ahead of Wilson, Stewart, Rahmer and Jessica Zemken, who was coming off two wins over the weekend in ESS competition.

“Brian (Kemenah, crew chief) and the guys had the car so great I could move around about any where I wanted to and that helped in traffic. I could run the thing as hard as I could to get through traffic as best as I could,” said Shaffer beside his VRP Shocks, Technique Roofing backed #83. “I have to thank all the people who help on this. We have a bunch of different people who help out back home and on the road and it takes the entire team to do this.”

For Wilson, who picked up non-All Star win at Skyline Speedway on Friday, things are starting to turn around for the DNC Hydraulics, Don Snyder Excavating backed machine.

“We’ve been struggling and we’re real glad to get Veryl Warnimont car back up into the thick of things. That’s what we’ve been working hard for the last couple of years…me and Floyd. We brought A.J. Havens in and took some pressure off me. He’s doing a hell of a job on the race car…we’re getting close,” said Wilson beside his Maxim Chassis, Kistler Engines, Hampshire Engines backed #W20. “I want to thank the fans for coming out and toughing out all the weather. We really appreciate you guys having us all the way up here…we don’t get up here much and it’s pretty cool to see the turn-out.”

For Stewart, the opportunity to return to the seat of a sprint car is always special.

“I just kept going where Greg was…it’s hard to follow somebody with these cars because they’re so aero-dependent. If he went to the bottom I went to the top and if he went to the top I went to the bottom. I don’t know how far Timmy was ahead of us but I know Greg and I had a good race…it was a lot of fun. To come from 10th to third with this crowd is a pretty good run for us. I’ll be honest, I told myself if I got in the top five I was going to call it a good night,” said Stewart beside his Bass Pro Shops backed #20.

“I think this is like the 26th winged sprint car race I’ve run in my life so I’m still learning. It’s fun..these things are just so much fun to drive. They’re probably the hardest car I’ve ever had to learn how to drive. I had fun running last night with the 360 car and getting to run tonight is awesome. These two guys ahead of us aren’t slouches. they’re some of the best in the business. They both have All Star championships under their belts so there’s no shame in running third to these two,” added Stewart, who also thanked the fans for sticking around through the rain.

Qualifying - Kistler Engines

1. 8B-Alain Bergeron, 14.733; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer, 14.794; 3. 51-Fred Rahmer, 14.799; 4. 89G-David Gravel, 14.799; 5. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.902; 6. 93-Doug Esh, 14.907; 7. 14-Jessica Zemken, 14.952; 8. 6-Bill Rose, 15.096; 9. 87-George Suprick, 15.108; 10. 20-Tony Stewart, 15.175; 11. 9-Bobby Breen, 15.230; 12. 7M-Mark Smith, 15.250; 13. 8-Blake Breen, 15.281; 14. O4-Cap Henry, 15.312; 15. 32-Justin Barger, 15.371; 16. 3-Pete Miller III, 15.580; 17. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr., 15.590; 18. 12-Jared Ridge, 15.651; 19.. 15AW-April Wilson, 15.753; 20. O7-Mark Coldren, 15.765; 21. 13-Kevin Ward, 16.041; 22. 214-Steve Wilson, 16.042; 23. 71C-Jack Helget, 16.072; 24. 10-Jeff Cook, 16.097; 25. 1K-Mike Mahaney, 16.199; 26. 17T-Jeff Taylor, 16.284; 27. 5-Vern Wasson, 16.397; 28. 42W-Rick Wilson, 16.581

Heat 1 - MSD Ignition (8 Laps - Top 6 Transfer)

1. 3-Pete Miller III; 2. 20-Tony Stewart; 3. 14-Jessica Zemken; 4. 8-Blake Breen; 5. 89G-David Gravel; 6. 8B-Alain Bergeron; 7. 214-Steve Wilson; 8. 1K-Mike Mahaney; 9. 15AW-April Wilson; 10. 42W-Rick Wilson

Heat 2 - Kear's Speed Shop (8 Laps - Top 6 Transfer)

1. O4-Cap Henry; 2. 9-Bobby Breen; 3. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr.; 4. 83-Tim Shaffer; 5. W20-Greg Wilson; 6. 6-Bill Rose; 7. O7-Mark Coldren; 8. 17T-Jeff Taylor; 9. 71C-Jack Helget

Heat 3 - All Pro Heads (8 Laps - Top 6 Transfer)

1. 32-Justin Barger; 2. 7M-Mark Smith; 3. 12-Jared Ridge; 4. 93-Doug Esh; 5. 87-George Suprick; 6. 51-Fred Rahmer; 7. 13-Kevin Ward; 8. 10-Jeff Cook; 9. 5-Vern Wasson

B-Main - University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps - Top 6 Transfer)

1. 13-Kevin Ward; 2. O7-Mark Coldren; 3. 15AW-April Wilson; 4. 17T-Jeff Taylor; 5. 1K-Mike Mahaney; 6. 5-Vern Wasson; 7. 214-Steve Wilson; 8. 71C-Jack Helget; 9. 10-Jeff Cook; 10. 42W-Rick Wilson

A-Main – O’Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position

1. 83-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson[6]; 3. 20-Tony Stewart[10]; 4. 51-Fred Rahmer[5]; 5. 14-Jessica Zemken[7]; 6. 93-Doug Esh[3]; 7. 7M-Mark Smith[12]; 8. 89G-David Gravel[2]; 9. 32-Justin Barger[15]; 10. 8B-Alain Bergeron[4]; 11. 9-Bobby Breen[11]; 12. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr.[17]; 13. 6-Bill Rose[8]; 14. 3-Pete Miller III[16]; 15. 8-Blake Breen[13]; 16. O4-Cap Henry[14]; 17. 87-George Suprick[9]; 18. 1K-Mike Mahaney[22]; 19. 15AW-April Wilson[19]; 20. 13-Kevin Ward[21]; 21. O7-Mark Coldren[20]; 22. 5-Vern Wasson[24]; 23. 17T-Jeff Taylor[23]; 24. 12-Jared Ridge[18]

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