Shaffer catches fire at Attica, gets back to back UNOH All Star wins
ATTICA, Ohio – (8-31-13) By Brian Liskai- Don’t look now, but Tim Shaffer is on his game. The four time University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions titlist passed Dale Blaney with nine laps to go Saturday and went on to sweep the weekend at Attica Raceway Park.
Shaffer earned $5,500 thanks to the Baumann Auto Group and just as important stays within striking distance of Blaney as he looks to take his unprecedented fifth straight UNOH All Star championship.
Shaffer, who came into the weekend double-header winless with the UNOH All Stars, now has 53 career series wins, tying him with Frankie Kerr for fourth on the all-time win list, just three away from matching the legendary Jack Hewitt. It’s Shaffer’s 12th career win at Attica, moving him to ninth on the track’s all-time win list, just one away from tying Frankie Kerr.
“It’s definitely good to come back to Attica. Here and Fremont are two awesome tracks and the fans are so awesome. They put such good racing on here. They give us two lanes to race and everyone races each other clean as you possibly can and I really respect that and I think everyone respects that two,” said Shaffer beside his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook owned machine.
Unlike the previous night when Shaffer used the extreme high line around the track, Saturday he used the bottom groove.
“Yeah it was like Shaff can run the top and the bottom again. It’s a lot of fun running the top like that but usually your days are numbered up there. To get the win last night was awesome and to come back tonight…we had a really bad ass car. These guys gave me a great car. It’s been awhile. I feel like Shaff’s back,” said a beaming Shaffer of his Kistler Engines/VRP Shocks/J&J Auto Racing/FK Rod Ends/Champion Oil/KSE Steering backed #83.
Bellevue, Ohio’s Cap Henry would battle with Blaney throughout the closing laps and would bring his Kistler Engines/K&N Filters/FK Rod Ends/Champion Oil/Keizer Wheels #54 home in second.
“My car was pretty awesome. We kind of got held up there and I had to make some stuff happen but that’s what racing is about. Those guys (lapped cars) got real fast all of a sudden. Wish they wouldn’t have but it is what it is. I kept seeing his (Shaffer’s) nose and I was like ‘I have to get going.’ I kind of got caught up there on one of the restarts,” said Henry.
Blaney was disappointed with his third place finish.
“The car was okay. We just got third. I made some mistakes in traffic…traffic didn’t go my way a couple of times and I didn’t pick the right lane a few times and we got beat. We’ve been running well. I just feel like I’ve disappointed myself. I’ve lead a couple races and I don’t want to say I’ve let them get away but I had an opportunity to win some races and I haven’t capitalized on it so I just have to come out and do a better job,” said Blaney beside his Ti22 Performance/GF1 chassis backed machine.
Cole Duncan and Danny Holtgraver would bring the field to the green for the 40 lap feature with Duncan grabbing the lead over Dean Jacobs, Holtgraver, Blaney, Henry, D.J. Foos and Shaffer. Duncan would pull away with Jacobs comfortably in second while Holtgraver, Blaney and Henry waged a great battle for third.
Duncan would find heavy lapped traffic by the seventh circuit but Jacobs couldn’t close as Blaney, Holtgraver, Henry and Shaffer gave chase. With 13 laps in the books Jacobs began to close and as Duncan exited turn two something went wrong with his mount as he stopped to bring out the caution. Duncan would retire to the pits, handing the lead to Jacobs with Blaney, Henry, Shaffer, Holtgraver, Foos, Byron Reed and Andrew Palker in tow.
When the green flew Jacobs pulled away slightly as Blaney and Henry were locked in a tremendous battle for second. The caution would fly again on lap 16 when Stuart Brubaker spin in turn one and Randy Hannagan stopped in turn four. When the green reappeared Jacobs again pulled away as Blaney, Henry and Shaffer battled for second.
As the laps ticked off, Blaney began to close on Jacobs and by lap 22 was racing to the leader’s inside as Henry, Shaffer, Foos and Reed gave chase. Blaney would drive under Jacobs for the lead on lap 24 as the leaders raced into heavy lapped traffic. Henry and Shaffer would use the traffic to move into second and third with Jacobs back to fourth. Shaffer would drive into second on lap 26 and closed on Blaney.
With 10 laps to go Shaffer was blasting under Blaney and finally took the lead a circuit later with Henry, Jacobs, Reed, Foos and Holtgraver in tow. Shaffer pulled away slightly as he negotiated traffic with Blaney and Henry locked in a torrid battle for second.
Shaffer got held up slightly by traffic with three laps to go and Blaney and Henry were there to challenge. But, Shaffer would be patient on the bottom of the track and drove to the win. Henry, Blaney, Jacobs and Reed would round out the top five.
All Star Circuit of Champions (35 Cars) [#]-Starting Position
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All Star Sprint Series
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
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.
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.