 PORT ROYAL, PA. (Friday, Sept. 7, 2012) By Brian Liskai– Sprint car drivers like to set goals going into a season. There’s always the “win more races” objective and the “win a championship” goal. For Dale Blaney, he added “win a race against the PA Posse” to his list of objectives for 2012.
The “Low Rider” did just that Friday at Port Royal Speedway. Despite a car that spewed heavy smoke the last part of the race, Blaney led all 30 laps to become the first UNOH All Star in the series’ history – since 1981 - to conquer the challenges of Port Royal Speedway in the Night Before The 50. He would roll into victory lane with a completely flat right rear tire.
The win aboard the Ti22 Performance #2 is Blaney’s 9th UNOH All Star victory of 2012 and the 93rd of his career, moving him to within five of typing Kenny Jacobs atop the series’ all-time win list. It is Blaney’s first victory since he scored back-to-back UNOH All Star wins July 21 and 24 at Wilmot (Wisconsin) and Hibbing (Minnesota).
“Luck was definitely on our side. Coming to the checkers I ran over something in turns three and four and when I rolled down the back stretch my right rear was completely flat. If we would have had a yellow I would have been done,” said Blaney of his George Fisher prepared machine.
“We’ve been really good at the Port the last three or four years but haven’t been able to close the deal. It’s tough here….other than when the Outlaws are here, this is VERY tough competition. We put ourselves in a good position tonight. We qualified well, got lucky with the card draw for the dash and got to start up front. It feels great to finally win one here for the All Stars,” added Blaney.
As for the oil, Blaney said the last seven or eight laps he knew something was wrong.
“It was blowing oil from some where. This motor was due to come out after Saturday. So, we’ll pull it and see what’s going on. The last seven or eight laps I don’t know if it was because the motor was laying down a little or the right rear was going flat, but something was helping me get a lot better on exit,” continued Blaney.
Blaney and Stevie Smith would bring the field to the green for the 30-lap feature, with Blaney grabbing the lead. Smith, Fred Rahmer, Lance Dewease, Paul McMahan, Danny Dietrich, David Gravel, Chad Layton, Tim Shaffer and Danny Lasoski in tow. Eighth starter Danny Dietrich was on the move early, driving up to fourth by the sixth lap.
Blaney would hit lapped traffic by lap 7, but Smith could only try to keep pace with the Hartford, Ohio driver as they worked through the back markers during the non-stop event. Dietrich would take third from Rahmer on lap 12 as Dewease, who clamed the UNOH All Star’s Eastern Region championship in 2011, drove into fourth with 10 circuits remaining.
But, just as it looked like Blaney would cruise to the win, smoke began spewing from his black and blue #2. But, Blaney never slowed as he threaded his way through lapped traffic to perfection, keeping Smith at bay.
Dewease would take third from Dietrich on lap 26 and applied heavy pressure to Smith for second all the way to the finish, but to no avail.
As Blaney rolled into victory lane, his right rear tire was completely flat.
Smith, Dewease, Dietrich and Rahmer would complete the top five, with Gravel, Shaffer, Danny Holtgraver, Layton and McMahan rounding out the top 10. In total, six of the top 10 finishers were UNOH All Star regulars, also making history with an impressive showing for the traveling band.
For Smith, the defending winner of the Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal, it was a hard-fought runner-up finish and he is excited about the 45th Annual AB Auto Glass Tuscarora 50 on Saturday. Smith also won the event in 1988.
“Dale was really good tonight. He got us on the start. But, I’m sure we made some gains tonight and I’m excited about tomorrow,” said Smith beside his CL Motorsports/DDNi/Spectro Oils backed Black Bandit #19. “I got loose about half way through and moved down and then held my own. You had to search around tonight to find where your car was best. The guys at Port Royal gave us a great, racy track.”
Dewease also commented he had to constantly search for traction on the track.
“We had a second place car. It was hard to drive at times tonight. Dirty air was a big issue. It was a weird night for us. At times we were very good, then we were bad and then I’d move around and we’d be good again. The old surface of the track is beginning to come through and there’s spots where it’s very dirty. It’s racy and you have to move around. We are excited about tomorrow,” said Dewease beside his Catoctin Motorsports/Conduit Connections/Viper Risk Management Group/Advanced Development Services/Law Offices of Weinberg & Miller backed #30c.
Port Royal Speedway - 9/7/2012
All Star Circuit of Champions (46 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 89G-David Gravel, 16.080; 2. 51-Fred Rahmer, 16.125; 3. 27-Daryn Pittman, 16.219; 4. 15-Adam Wilt, 16.231; 5. 98-Danny Holtgraver, 16.236; 6. 19-Stevie Smith, 16.243; 7. 45-Paul McMahan, 16.252; 8. 30C-Lance Dewease, 16.261; 9. 2-Dale Blaney, 16.277; 10. 8H-Keith Kauffman, 16.288; 11. 83-Tim Shaffer, 16.335; 12. 69-Ryan Smith, 16.336; 13. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.358; 14. 7-Chad Layton, 16.416; 15. 1Z-Danny Lasoski, 16.419; 16. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 16.424; 17. 39-Greg Hodnett, 16.429; 18. 55-Mike Wagner, 16.440; 19. O7-Mark Coldren, 16.443; 20. 20S-Derek Sell, 16.449; 21. 30-Doug Esh, 16.470; 22. 20-Ryan Taylor, 16.519; 23. 54-Cap Henry, 16.534; 24. 26-Curt Stroup, 16.548; 25. 77-Aaron Ott, 16.550; 26. 5-Dylan Cisney, 16.553; 27. 19M-Brent Marks, 16.556; 28. 21-Brian Montieth, 16.620; 29. 11E-Mike Erdley, 16.648; 30. 12-Blane Heimbach, 16.684; 31. U2-Trevor Utt, 16.697; 32. 19F-Jordan Frontz, 16.710; 33. 25-Jimmy Seger, 16.718; 34. O-Rick Lafferty, 16.718; 35. 747-Davey Sammons, 16.721; 36. 8R-Mike Ruttkamp, 16.748; 37. 87-Alan Krimes, 16.761; 38. 44H-Joey Hershey, 16.769; 39. 24-Cliff Brian, 16.802; 40. 44-Frank Cozze, 17.000; 41. 72-Dan Shetler, 17.001; 42. 18-Bob Bennett, 17.050; 43. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 17.136; 44. 8S-Trenton Sheaffer, 17.893; 45. 21S-Rod Stroup, .000; 46. 3J-Vince Snyder, .000
Heat 1 - Kears Speed Shop (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 30-Doug Esh[1] ; 2. 39-Greg Hodnett[2] ; 3. 89G-David Gravel[6] ; 4. 2-Dale Blaney[4] ; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich[3] ; 6. 11E-Mike Erdley[8] ; 7. 98-Danny Holtgraver[5] ; 8. 87-Alan Krimes[10] ; 9. 72-Dan Shetler[11] ; 10. 25-Jimmy Seger[9] ; 11. 77-Aaron Ott[7]
Heat 2 - All Pro Aluminum Heads (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 20-Ryan Taylor[1] ; 2. 55-Mike Wagner[2] ; 3. 7-Chad Layton[3] ; 4. 51-Fred Rahmer[6] ; 5. 19-Stevie Smith[5] ; 6. 8H-Keith Kauffman[4] ; 7. 12-Blane Heimbach[8] ; 8. O-Rick Lafferty[9] ; 9. 5-Dylan Cisney[7] ; 10. 44H-Joey Hershey[10] ; 11. 18-Bob Bennett[11]
Heat 3 - Dragon Race Fuel (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 54-Cap Henry[1] ; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 3. 1Z-Danny Lasoski[3] ; 4. O7-Mark Coldren[2] ; 5. 45-Paul McMahan[5] ; 6. 19M-Brent Marks[7] ; 7. 27-Daryn Pittman[6] ; 8. 24-Cliff Brian[10] ; 9. 747-Davey Sammons[9] ; 10. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[11] ; 11. U2-Trevor Utt[8]
Heat 4 - Kinsler Fuel Injection (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 30C-Lance Dewease[5] ; 2. 20S-Derek Sell[2] ; 3. 21-Brian Montieth[7] ; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart[3] ; 5. 26-Curt Stroup[1] ; 6. 8R-Mike Ruttkamp[9] ; 7. 19F-Jordan Frontz[8] ; 8. 8S-Trenton Sheaffer[11] ; 9. 69-Ryan Smith[4] ; 10. 44-Frank Cozze[10] ; 11. 15-Adam Wilt[6]
Dash - Outerwears Performance Products (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 2-Dale Blaney[2] ; 2. 19-Stevie Smith[4] ; 3. 51-Fred Rahmer[1] ; 4. 45-Paul McMahan[3] ; 5. 89G-David Gravel[5] ; 6. 30C-Lance Dewease[6]
B-Main - MSD Ignition (12 Laps - Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 27-Daryn Pittman[1] ; 2. 8H-Keith Kauffman[4] ; 3. 5-Dylan Cisney[6] ; 4. 98-Danny Holtgraver[3] ; 5. 11E-Mike Erdley[8] ; 6. 12-Blane Heimbach[9] ; 7. 69-Ryan Smith[5] ; 8. 19M-Brent Marks[7] ; 9. U2-Trevor Utt[10] ; 10. 87-Alan Krimes[16] ; 11. 747-Davey Sammons[14] ; 12. 8R-Mike Ruttkamp[15] ; 13. 72-Dan Shetler[20] ; 14. 44-Frank Cozze[19] ; 15. 44H-Joey Hershey[17] ; 16. 18-Bob Bennett[21] ; 17. 8S-Trenton Sheaffer[23] ; 18. 25-Jimmy Seger[12] ; 19. 17B-Steve Buckwalter[22] ; 20. 19F-Jordan Frontz[11]
A-Main - University of Northwestern Ohio (30 Laps)
1. 2-Dale Blaney[1]; 2. 19-Stevie Smith[2]; 3. 30C-Lance Dewease[6]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[8]; 5. 51-Fred Rahmer[3]; 6. 89G-David Gravel[5]; 7. 83-Tim Shaffer[7]; 8. 98-Danny Holtgraver[12]; 9. 7-Chad Layton[9]; 10. 45-Paul McMahan[4]; 11. 30-Doug Esh[19]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart[14]; 13. 27-Daryn Pittman[11]; 14. 55-Mike Wagner[16]; 15. 8H-Keith Kauffman[13]; 16. 39-Greg Hodnett[15]; 17. 21-Brian Montieth[24]; 18. 20-Ryan Taylor[20]; 19. 54-Cap Henry[21]; 20. 20S-Derek Sell[18]; 21. 26-Curt Stroup[22]; 22. 5-Dylan Cisney[23]; 23. O7-Mark Coldren[17]; 24. 1Z-Danny Lasoski[10]
Hard Charger: 30-Doug Esh[+8] |
The All Stars are one of the premier sprint car sanctioning bodies in the USA. It is owned by an Illinois businessman, and now in their 30th year of operation, the All Stars take pride in their reputation of providing highly competitive, fair, exciting racing for outlaw sprint cars with many different winners in a year. About 400 drivers participate in All Star races yearly in front of an average of 5,000 spectators per event. Currently 40+ races are scheduled in numerous states, such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Tennessee, Nebraska, West Virginia, and Kansas. 
Ohio Sprint Speedweek proves to be one of the most competitive weeks in racing during the 2010 All Star season. Tough battles happened in the 2010 Ohio Sprint Speedweek season, as it included nine straight nights of racing action in the buckeye state, it challenged the best of the best, but young David Gravel- DDR Motorsports was crowned the 2010 champion.