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Dale Blaney Opens I-79 Summer Shootout presented by Classic Ink USA with Victory at Eriez Speedway

(Photo: Dale Blaney waves to the crowd from Eriez Speedway victory lane on Friday, July 29 - Vince Vellella Photo Credit)

Dale Blaney Opens I-79 Summer Shootout presented by Classic Ink USA with Victory at Eriez Speedway,
I-79 action continues Saturday at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway

HAMMETT, PA (July 29, 2016) - For the first time since June 19, the “Low Rider” Dale Blaney earned his place in Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory lane, this time at the Eriez Speedway in Erie, Pennsylvania, during round one of the I-79 Summer Shootout presented by Classic Ink USA. The Hartford, Ohio, native, who started third on the feature grid, took command of the 30-lap main event on lap 18, driving under race leader Sheldon Haudenschild at the exit of turn two to solidify a $5,000 payday. For Blaney, the victory was his sixth of the 2016 Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions season, bumping his career win total to 133. It was the first All Star appearance at Eriez Speedway since 1981.

“It has been a while,” Dale Blaney explained. “It’s been a while since we’ve consistently run good. We got better every time we got on the race track tonight. We really didn’t qualify all that well, but we got better in the heat race, made some gains in the dash, and now we are up here. I knew we had a good car from the get-go. I can’t thank everyone enough: Big Game Treestands, Muddy, CH Motorsports with Janet Holbrook and Aaron Call, Todd Quiring out in Minnesota - they all play a huge role in this and I can’t thank them enough for this opportunity.”

Sheldon Haudenschild and Kraig Kinser led the 23 feature starters to green at Eriez Speedway on Friday, July 29. By the completion of lap one, Haudenschild had already established a clear advantage, utilizing his all-too-familiar top groove of the speedway. Dale Blaney settled himself into second, followed by outside polesitter Kraig Kinser. Those three would eventually create some separation, racing in that order until lap 15 when Kinser made contact with a lapped car causing the Bloomington, Indiana, native to get upside-down. Kinser walked away unharmed.

Green flag conditions returned to the speedway with Haudenschild still on the point, followed by Dale Blaney and now “Downtown” Danny Holtgraver, who moved forward from sixth on the grid. Despite a few attempts to work underneath Haudenschild during the first 15 circuits of the 30-lap main, Blaney made his first true bid for the top spot on lap 18, driving underneath Haudenschild as he slipped over the cushion between turns one and two. From that point, Blaney raced forward carefully; navigating traffic through the bottom and middle lanes of the speedway while still holding off challenges by Sheldon Haudenschild and Danny Holtgraver. Those three raced nearly nose to tail for several circuits until caution lights reappeared on the final lap, creating a green-white-checkered scenario. Unfortunately for Holtgraver, he was the victim, spinning at the entrance of turn one after making contact with a lapped car.

The first green-white-checkered attempt turned unsuccessful, leading to a second. Back-to-back two-lap shootouts proved to be no distraction for Dale Blaney, eventually rolling under the final checkers on top of the running order. Sheldon Haudenschild finished second, followed by Cap Henry, Cole Duncan, and Chad Kemenah.

“We really got things going during that A-main,” Blaney said. “I just had to be patient with my tires and get rolling around the bottom. Sheldon (Haudenschild) was working up the race track and I was keeping myself closer to the bottom. My car really came on when it needed to. (Haudenschild) got over the top early in the race, too, but I couldn’t really capitalize on it. I just kept pressing him and showed him my nose a few times. I wanted him to keep racing harder and harder and it worked out.”

The inaugural I-79 Summer Shootout presented by Classic Ink USA featuring the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will continue on Saturday evening, July 30, with a visit to Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway near Imperial, Pennsylvania. “Dirt’s Monster Half-Mile” will showcase “America’s Series” for the 15th time in the track’s storied history on Saturday evening, awarding a $5,000 top prize, as well as points toward the $3,000, I-79 Summer Shootout championship point fund. Dale Blaney is the most recent Arctic Cat All Star to visit PPMS victory lane, earning top honors on August 2, 2015.

Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway will open pit gates at 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon, July 30. The drivers meeting is set to begin at 5:30 pm, followed by hot laps at 6:30 pm. More news and information can be found on the Web at www.ppms.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Eriez Speedway - Friday, July 29, 2016:

Event: Round 1 of I-79 Summer Shootout presented by Classic Ink USA

EMi Driver’s Meeting: 23 Entries

State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Danny Holtgraver - 13.598 seconds

Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Cap Henry - 13.547 seconds

Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Sheldon Haudenschild

All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Dale Blaney

Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Carl Bowser

JE Pistons Dash: Sheldon Haudenschild

Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Dale Blaney

MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Caleb Helms (+16)

Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Chad Kemenah

Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Brent Marks

Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Danny Smith

(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse; Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

1.21-Cap Henry, 13.547; 2.70-Danny Holtgraver, 13.662; 3.22-Cole Duncan, 13.670; 4.11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.674; 5.22S-Brandon Spithaler, 13.683; 6.19m-Brent Marks, 13.742; 7.12J-Logan Wagner, 13.749; 8.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.765; 9.1-Dale Blaney, 13.816; 10.49-Tim Shaffer, 13.906; 11.10-Carl Bowser, 13.942; 12.10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.958; 13.57X-Andrew Palker, 14.031; 14.8M-TJ Michael, 14.042; 15.40-Caleb Helms, 14.142; 16.4-Danny Smith, 14.233; 17.49H-Bradley Howard, 14.241; 18.19-Joe Kubiniec, 14.268; 19.60-Kory Crabtree, 14.332; 20.44-Joe McEwen, 14.598; 21.5X-Gale Ruth Jr., 14.741; 22.1R-Gale Ruth Sr., 15.115;

Heat 1, Group A - (8 Laps)

1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[1] ; 2. 12J-Logan Wagner[2] ; 3. 21-Cap Henry[4] ; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah[6] ; 5. 22-Cole Duncan[3] ; 6. 49-Tim Shaffer[5] ; 7. 57X-Andrew Palker[7] ; 8. 40-Caleb Helms[8]

Heat 2, Group B - (8 Laps)

1. 1-Dale Blaney[2] ; 2. 19-Joe Kubiniec[1] ; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 4. 60-Kory Crabtree[5] ; 5. 19m-Brent Marks[3] ; 6. 44-Joe McEwen[6] ; 7. 1R-Gale Ruth Sr.[7]

Heat 3, Group C - (8 Laps)

1. 10-Carl Bowser[2] ; 2. 8M-TJ Michael[1] ; 3. 70-Danny Holtgraver[4] ; 4. 22S-Brandon Spithaler[3] ; 5. 4-Danny Smith[5] ; 6. 49H-Bradley Howard[6] ; 7. 5X-Gale Ruth Jr.[7]

Dash 1 - (6 Laps)

1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[4] ; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser[1] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[3] ; 4. 21-Cap Henry[8] ; 5. 22-Cole Duncan[6] ; 6. 70-Danny Holtgraver[5] ; 7. 10-Carl Bowser[7] ; 8. 12J-Logan Wagner[2]

A-Main 1 - (30 Laps)

1. 1-Dale Blaney[3] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[1] ; 3. 21-Cap Henry[4] ; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[5] ; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah[11] ; 6. 40-Caleb Helms[22] ; 7. 12J-Logan Wagner[8] ; 8. 8M-TJ Michael[9] ; 9. 10-Carl Bowser[7] ; 10. 19m-Brent Marks[14] ; 11. 49-Tim Shaffer[16] ; 12. 70-Danny Holtgraver[6] ; 13. 22S-Brandon Spithaler[13] ; 14. 57X-Andrew Palker[19] ; 15. 4-Danny Smith[15] ; 16. 81-Lee Jacobs[23] ; 17. 19-Joe Kubiniec[10] ; 18. 5X-Gale Ruth Jr.[21] ; 19. 1R-Gale Ruth Sr.[20] ; 20. 60-Kory Crabtree[12] ; 21. 11K-Kraig Kinser[2] ; 22. 44-Joe McEwen[17] ; 23. 49H-Bradley Howard[18]

Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (July 29, 2016):

1. Chad Kemenah: 3394

2. Dale Blaney: 3346

3. Sheldon Haudenschild: 3300

4. Cap Henry: 3186

5. Danny Holtgraver: 3172

6. Kraig Kinser: 3080

7. T.J. Michael: 3064

8. Caleb Helms: 2924

9. Lee Jacobs: 2906

10. Andrew Palker: 2702

Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:

Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit their official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.

About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:

All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.

About Arctic Cat:

The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Its common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “ACAT.” More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.

Contact: Tyler Altmeyer

Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions

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