Hometown Hero Harrison Nets First All Star Victory

FREMONT, Ohio - (6-26-08) by Brian Liskai

David Harrison had to not only defeat 51 O'Reilly All Star
Circuit of Champion Sprint drivers, but Mother Nature as well at Fremont
Speedway Thursday night. The Burgoon, Ohio driver led all 40 laps under
threatening skies to score his first All Star win during the third leg of
the University of Northwest Ohio Sprint Speedweek on Budweiser Night.

The night began with over a two hour rain delay. Fremont Speedway and All
Star officials pushed the show along as thunderstorms were continued to
threaten the area, even making adjustments to the order of events to ensure
the big crowd got their money's worth.

Harrison, the night's second quick qualifier, started to the outside of the
front row and jumped into the lead at the drop of the green. He benefitted
from yellow flags when he was mired in heavy lapped traffic, and picked his
way through the backmarkers with precision skill to hold off Randy Hannagan
for second win of the season at "The Track That Action Built."

"Bill, Jamie and the crew had the car perfect. I could drive it around he
entire track and pick my spots in traffic," said Harrison beside his Crown
Battery, MCS Trucking, Genzman Racing, Blaster Racing #10.

"I want to dedicate this win to my father-in-law, Alex Burkett who we lost
a couple of weeks ago. To get my first All Star win in front of my home
crowd and during Speedweek...it just doesn't get any better than this,"
continued Harrison from the Engine Pro Victory Lane.

The Hurricane and Rain Couldn’t Derail Blaney’s Train

STEWART, OH (6-25-08) by Bryan Autullo – All Star PR Director

The O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions made their first appearance of 2008 at Billy Jarrell’s Skyline Speedway in Stewart, OH to complete the second full night of racing during the UNOH Ohio Sprint Speedweek.  The weather forecast produced more threats of rain which seems to be an ugly theme this week.  A 20 minute delay during the B-main was easy to endure after the multi-day rain outs early in the week.

There were 52 cars on hand to compete for the All Star loot with $5000 on the line and a shot at a $50,000 bonus.  Randy “The Hurricane” Hannagan won the Hilltop event and looked to have a legitimate shot at making it two in a row as the All Star “Pick 6” redraw put him on the front row once again – this time with Jimmy Nier to his outside.  Brian Ellenberger and Dale Blaney made up row two and Todd Kane sat next to Aussie Ian Louden in row three.

At the green flag, Nier jumped to a quick lead, but Hannagan stayed on him with Blaney making things interesting in third.  The caution flew on lap 3, and on the restart Nier held off the 1x for as long as he could, but by lap 8 Hannagan got past Nier to take the lead.  Blaney got around Nier and set his sites on Hannagan, finally making the charge to the lead on lap 18 as Brian Smith moved into third.

Hannagan Victorious at Hilltop Speedway

MILLERSBURG, OH (6-24-08) by Bryan Autullo – All Star PR Director 

The O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions finally dodged Mother Nature’s wrath to kick off the 26^th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek at Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg, OH.  Rain halted the action so far this week, but the sun shined down on the mountain as a huge crowd packed into Hilltop Speedway along with 48 of the best winged 410 sprint car drivers in the land. 

Randy Hannagan set the stage for the rest of his evening by ripping off the Kistler Engines quick time at 13.201.  The Penthouse Magazine sponsored 1x looked to be the car to beat from the beginning of the night. 

Hannagan started on the pole of the A-main by virtue of the All Star “Pick 6” redraw on the front stretch.  Mark Keegan would line up on the outside of row 1.  Dale Blaney and Byron Reed would make up row 2.  Lance Dewease lined up inside of Kenny Jacobs on row 3.  There were lots of heavy hitters with a shot at the win in the first 3 rows.

Mark Keegan jumped out to the initial lead, but Brad Haudenshild brought out the red flag on lap 1.  On the restart, Keegan looked unstoppable as he pulled away to a 10 car advantage. Hannagan held off Blaney as Reed charged up behind them and slipped past Blaney.  Rob Chaney got loose on the high side on lap 18 right in front of the leader.  Keegan slid sideways to avoid the 24h machine and stalled, bringing out a caution and ending his run for a Speedweek victory.  Hannagan inherited the lead on the restart.

Wet conditions at Federated Auto Parts Wayne County Speedway has forced All Star Officals and WCS personel to cancel night two of the 26th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek. Drivers and crews of the O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions will try yet again to get speedweek under way on Tuesday, June 24th at Hilltop Speedway. 

Keep up with all the news and action of the 26th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek at www.ohiospeedweek.com and learn more about the O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions by visiting. www.allstarsprint.com. Can't make it to the track next week? Well tune into the official vioce of the All Stars DC Bash and the BAS Racing Network on www.dirtvision.com.

Attica OH (6-21-08) by Brian Liskai – Attica Raceway Park Announcer/ PR

Rain struck Attica Raceway Park Sunday just as hotlaps were getting ready to take to the track to kick off the 26th Annual University of Northwestern Ohio Sprint Speedweek, forcing the cancellation of the night's action.

There were 55 O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champion sprints in the pits for the Aarons Sales & Lease/Ohio CAT Night of racing and a strong contingent of Service Drive Solution UMP Attica Late Models.

The Ohio Sprint Speedweek - featuring seven straight nights of racing across the Buckeye State - moves on to Wayne County Speedway Monday, June 23.

For more information on Ohio Sprint Speedweek, log onto www.ohiospeedweek.com

Waynesfield, OH (6-21-08) by Bryan Autullo – All Star PR Director

Several serve storms raced into the Waynesfield Motor Sports Park area Saturday afternoon forcing the O'Reilly All Star Officials and WMSP management to make the decision to cancel the June 21st event. 

CAMARGO, IL (6-20-08) by Bryan Autullo – All Star PR Director 

The O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions is set to kick off the 26th Annual UNOH Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by RacingJunk.com.  KS Sales & Service has also rejoined the All Stars in 2008 to help make the week of events another roaring success.  The 2007 Speedweek was one of the best yet with Dale Blaney nearly picking up the $50,000 bonus winning 3 of the 7 races.  Shane Stewart was the most consistent driver walking away with the 2007 Ohio Speedweek Champion’s trophy. 

The 2008 version of Ohio Speedweek has some minor changes in scheduling from 2007.  The week kicks off with a warm up night at WaynesfieldMotor Sports Park on Saturday June 21st.  The All Stars have some special promotions for the fans at Waynesfield as one lucky fan will walk away with an extra $5000 in his pocket.  Fans will register for a chance to draw from 24 starting positions and if the car that wins the A-main was drawn, they’ll go home with $5,000.

Mark Smith Takes Home Bear Trophy

CLEARFIELD, PA (6-15-08) by Bryan Autullo – All Star PR Director

The O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions rounded out their three day weekend tour of Central Pennsylvania on Father's Day with an appearance at Tim Bainey’s Central PA Speedway, also known as The Big Track to the local fans.  This was the first appearance of winged 410 sprint cars at the speedway and only the second event under the direction of Bainey who recently took over promotion of the track. 

A unique feature of The Big Track is the big hill along the backstretch and turns three and four where fans line up in campers and pickup trucks and have a great vantage point to view the race, grill some food, and socialize with friends.  Another unique feature is the large Bear Trophy carved out of a log and weighing in around 50 pounds.  This will be a conversation piece for all future winners at Central PA Speedway.

Paul McMahan nearly swept the night as he set the track record in qualifying, won his heat, won the All Star dash, and led a good portion of the A-main event before mechanical failure on lap 20 ended his night.  The Central PA demons continue to haunt the All Star series when visiting the Keystone State. 

Eash Beats Rain, the All Stars, and Rahmer to Pick Up 3rd Straight Win

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (6-14-08) by Bryan Autullo – All Star PR Director

The O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions dodged another bullet from Mother Nature in the form of rain. The skies opened up just about the time the pit gates were set to open and the rain fell just enough to be annoying, yet never enough to cancel the night’s events. As every other track in the area were calling it a night, the Lincoln Speedway track crew was hard at work to keep the track under their control as the light rains continued to fall well into the night. The hard work paid off and hot laps fired off at around 10:15 pm.

There were 33 cars signed in before the rains came, but with the cancellation of other area tracks, two more teams were able to tow in for a total of 35 cars. The fans stuck it out and waited in their cars until the motors were fired and the stands filled up once again. The wait was worth it as the main event was a wild one. Cris Eash picked up the win around 1:30 am over 158 time Lincoln Speedway winner Fred Rahmer and a hard charging Brian Monteith.

The All Star Pick 6 redraw put two time All Star Champion Greg Wilson on the front row along side Rahmer who would be hard to beat starting on the front row. On the initial start, Rahmer jumped out to the lead and looked like he was shot out of a cannon, but the caution flew as Cory Haas and Paul McMahan got together on the backstretch ending both of their nights.

On the restart, Wilson was ready and jumped out in front of Rahmer to lead the first 17 laps of the 30 lap event. Wilson was running strong and was never challenged for the lead until the midway point, but the action behind him was intense. Rahmer battled Eash and Monteith as the three sliced and diced their way around the speedway with Rahmer falling back to fourth at one point and Eash ran second.

As the three raced each other, they caught up to Wilson who looked to have some handling issues by mid-race. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place cars got around him as he continued to fall all the way back to 8th place.

Eash took the lead on lap 18 and held off several charges from Rahmer as Monteith gave him fits battling for second place. Eash drove to the checkers with Rahmer in tow and Monteith third. Doug Esh and Chad Layton rounded out the Top 5.