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Gravel's heart-break turns into another victory for Shaffer

BELLEVILLE, Kansas (8-5-10) By Brian Liskai– When you’re on a roll, things just seem to fall your way. So it was Thursday for current O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions point leader Tim Shaffer. When leader David Gravel experienced mechanical woes late in the race at Belleville High Banks, Shaffer was there to take advantage to record his fourth consecutive feature win during the Thunder Through the Plains.

Shaffer, the defending All Star champion, continues has not finished out of the top three in 10 of the last 11 All Star events and has now picked up six wins in the last 9 All Star features. He now has 29 career All Star victories, moving him into a tie with Gary Wright for 16th on the series’ all-time win list, just one away from Danny Smith and three wins away from Danny Lasoski.

“I have a great crew. The car was a little tight early but that thing just kept coming and coming. Gravel had some bad luck there…I think they blew a rear or something but I think we could have made it interesting,” said Shaffer beside his CH Motorsports, Kistler Racing Products backed #83. “I was running the car as hard as I could and tried to save some tires early for later on and it worked out great. The car just kept getting better and better as the race went. Hopefully we put a great show and can come back next year. This facility is awesome. It’s a neat place to run on and it’s hard to do a track this big and get it this nice. We had a couple of lanes…it was a lot of fun.”

“I have to thank Aaron Call and Janet Holbrook for giving us everything we need to win. We have a great team with Brian (Kemenah) with Leonard (McCarl) and Bobby (Basinger) and Jimmy..it’s just a neat group of guys we threw together and they do a great job,” added the Steel City Outlaw.

Watertown, Connecticut’s David Gravel, coming off a second place run behind Shaffer the previous night, would bolt into the lead at the drop of the green on the fast half-mile with Greg Wilson, Shaffer and Brad Greer in tow. Shaffer would quickly dispose of Wilson and begin his chase of Gravel who set a blistering pace, encountering lapped traffic by the sixth circuit. Gravel would race around the outer rim of the track, quickly putting three lapped machines between himself and Shaffer.

Disaster nearly struck for Shaffer on lap 8, as he slipped up in turn two, nearly driving off the track. However, he quickly recovered and again set his sights on chasing down Gravel. By lap 10, Gravel and Shaffer had cleared some of the lapped traffic and pulled away from the rest of the field. At the half-way mark, Gravel had three lapped machines between himself and Shaffer. The caution would fly for a Greer spin in turn two on lap 16. Gravel had two lapped machines between himself and Shaffer for the restart, but one would pull into the infield, putting Shaffer that much closer to the front.

On the restart, heartbreak for Gravel and something broke in his car as he coasted into the infield, handing the lead to Shaffer. As Shaffer pulled away, All Star rookie Cap Henry of Bellevue, Ohio, would drive into second. The caution would fly for the final time on lap 20 when Jon Freeman looped it out on the front stretch. Shaffer’s Kistler Engines powered machine was just too strong as he took the checkered over Henry, Bill Balog, Jared Ridge and Stuart Snyder, up from his 14th place starting spot.

For Henry, who had struggled somewhat during the Thunder Through the Plains, it was his second runner-up finish with the All Stars in 2010, the other coming during the season’s opening races in Florida. His second place run is even more impressive considering he had never competed on the Belleville High Banks.

“It’s pretty cool here. Honestly, it’s kind of boring to drive…you’re just barely bumping the wheel, but I like it, it treated us pretty good tonight,” said Henry beside his TNT Graphics, Kistler Racing Products, Bell Racing, G-Force Race Gear backed #04. “We were good right out of the trailer, setting quick time, winning our heat and running second in the dash. A.J. Havens helped me out a little bit. Unfortunately on that last restart if the lapped car would have moved over maybe we would have had a better shot at Shaffer.”

“I really have to thank Cody Lean and Mitch Chapman…that’s the only crew I’ve got out here. I have to thank my dad (Kit) and the family…they’re doing an awesome job,” added Henry.

For Balog, who hails from North Pole, Alaska, his third place run was exciting, considering it came in only his second time racing with the O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions.

“It’s a fast race track…we had a lot of fun here tonight,” said Balog beside his B Squared Motorsports, Buesser Concrete, Hoeft Builder, Hepner Racing Products backed machine. “The car worked pretty good…we didn’t have anything for them other guys. It was our second All Star race and our first time at this track. We had a pretty rough night last night so this kind of makes up for that.”

Qualifying - Kistler Engines

1. O4-Cap Henry, 14.468; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer, 14.473; 3. 89G-David Gravel, 14.513; 4. 3B-Brad Greer, 14.743; 5. W20-Greg Wilson, 14.753; 6. 1H-Bill Balog, 14.760; 7. 6-Bill Rose, 14.781; 8. 12-Jared Ridge, 15.191; 9. 96AU-Bruce White, 15.703; 10. 27-Andy Shouse, 15.992; 11. 81-Jon Freeman, 16.057; 12. 19-Patrick Stasa, 16.222; 13. 91-Jeff Stasa, 16.224; 14. 23S-Stuart Snyder, 16.246

Heat 1 - MSD Ignition (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)

1. O4-Cap Henry; 2. W20-Greg Wilson; 3. 89G-David Gravel; 4. 96AU-Bruce White; 5. 81-Jon Freeman; 6. 6-Bill Rose; 7. 91-Jeff Stasa

Heat 2 - Kear's Speed Shop (8 Laps - Top 7 Transfer)

1. 1H-Bill Balog; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer; 3. 3B-Brad Greer; 4. 12-Jared Ridge; 5. 19-Patrick Stasa; 6. 23S-Stuart Snyder; 7. 27-Andy Shouse

Dash - Rubbn' Repair (6 Laps - Top - Transfer)

1. 83-Tim Shaffer; 2. O4-Cap Henry; 3. 89G-David Gravel; 4. W20-Greg Wilson; 5. 6-Bill Rose; 6. 12-Jared Ridge [DNS]

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

1. 83-Tim Shaffer[4]; 2. O4-Cap Henry[6]; 3. 1H-Bill Balog[5]; 4. 12-Jared Ridge[8]; 5. 23S-Stuart Snyder[14]; 6. 19-Patrick Stasa[12]; 7. 3B-Brad Greer[3]; 8. 27-Andy Shouse[11]; 9. 96AU-Bruce White[9]; 10. 91-Jeff Stasa[13]; 11. W20-Greg Wilson[2]; 12. 81-Jon Freeman[10]; 13. 89G-David Gravel[1]; 14. 6-Bill Rose[7]

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