Fan Notes from Attica All Stars Ohio Speedweek Opener

Attica Raceway Park (Tom Myers) – The 2019 edition of Ohio All Star Sprint Speedweek is upon us and opening night we find ourselves at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio, Friday June 14th. This year, the Speedweek champion will earn $4,000 from the Speedweek point fund, up $1,000 from last year. All the events will pay $5,000 to win with the exception of the final night at Wayne County paying $10,000 to win.

Fifty three 410 sprint cars signed in to start the grueling schedule of 9 straight races in 9 days. The weather was a sunny and breezy 74 degrees for the Speedweek opener and luckily, the breeze was blowing from the southwest. Even with all the rain, the track ended up being a bit dusty and it took rubber during the feature. If not for the wind, the crowd would have been covered with dirt! But it all worked out great and it was an entertaining first race.

This will be the 37th time the All Stars have sanctioned Ohio Speedweek, the first one being held way back in 1983. The first Speedweek champion was Bobby Davis Jr.,wow there’s a name for you!

During one of the breaks tonight, while the track surface was being reworked, Blake Anderson related a cool Speedweek story to the crowd. Blake told the crowd about one of the races held during that first Speedweek at McCutchenville Speedway. Evidently, Millstream cancelled the night before because of rain, so McCutchenville became the first track to ever host an Ohio Speedweek race. It rained at McCutchenville as well and evidently, many of the racers left and headed back to their hotels. Blake said that Rick Ferkel was somehow involved in the ownership or promotion of this track and was bound and determined to get the race in….so he made phone call after phone call persuading the racers to come back and that they would get the race in. Remember, this was before smart phones came along so I am sure that was quite the task trying to get a hold of everyone. Blake then went on to say that it was almost 7:00 AM when the checkered flag fell on that first feature race…but they got it in! Ha ha

Buddy Kofoid There is a really good field of cars here tonight. In addition to the All Star regulars, Kyle Larson, Rico Abreu, Tim Shaffer, Joey Saldana, Jac Haudenschild, Tony Stewart, Josh Baughman, Hunter Schuerenburg, Bill Balog, Justin Peck, Buddy Kofoid, Parker Price Miller, Lee Jacobs, Cap Henry, D.J. Foos, Byron Reed, Cale Conley and Cale Thomas. We were told that Gio Scelzi, Wayne Johnson and Christopher Bell would be joining in the fun later in the week. Larson would be racing the first 6 events and Bell will be racing the last 6 events.

We arrived at Attica around 6:00 and they were just finishing up engine heat. The track looked tacky and it stayed smooth through the evening except for a tall cushion that developed at the top of turns 1, 3 and 4. The cushion in turn 2 went away and smoothed out to the top and as a result, cars would slide off the top of the turn. Drivers would lean on it in turn 1 and get a burst of speed, then almost slide off of turn 2 but the cushion in 3 and 4 was for leaning on all the way around.

It must be Speedweek because all the engines sound really fresh as they roar around the racetrack and there are numerous pickup trucks parked all around the speedway with spare race car frames and sprint car parts sticking out the back!

I met a nice man in the pits just now. We got to talking as we both watched Caleb Helms and crew work on their racecar. His name is Jack, and he has been watching sprint cars for 10 years now. He told me he has always been a racing fan, watching Formula One, Indycars, etc…but got hooked on sprint cars on the dirt the first time he saw them and now says sprint racing is the best racing there is. I hear this same story a lot! I told Jack to look me up on OpenWheel101.com and I hope you read this Jack. It was nice to meet you and I will look for you at the next race!

Brad Doty took in the Attica stop for Ohio Speedweek Reutzel is fastest overall followed by Blaney and Larson. All three were in the first heat and were the first ones out to time. As time trials continued on, the track went away and became dusty and slick. Some leaned on the cushion in 3 and 4 and that was fast, but doing so in 1 and 2 was very tricky because cars were slipping off turn 2…ruining their times. The All Star format really helped out the later timers, especially with 53 cars. The group timing evens things out nicely because each group that came out had a slower track to time on than the ones before them. Saldana only got one lap to time because of engine troubles and that set him back all evening.

The track crew reworked the surface before the heats and made it tacky again. The heat races were entertaining for sure. In the first heat, you had Cale Thomas and Larson on the front followed by Reutzel and Blaney. Larson grabbed the lead as Thomas followed. Ruetzel was up to challenge Thomas for 2nd and at the exit of turn 2 on lap 2, Ruetzel, who was on the inside, squeezed Thomas up the track. Thomas didn’t want to go off the track and held his ground. It looked like Reutzel ran up into Thomas, causing Thomas to flip a few times. He was okay but really angry when he got out of his car. Ruetzel had a Jacobs ladder problem but didn’t go to the work area, he stayed out. Paul McMahon, who started 5th, went to the work area, effectively ruining his evening since it was so hard to pass. He finished 9th and was off to the C main. The heat finish was Larson, Ruetzel, Dale Blaney and Craig Mintz all going to the A Main.

In heat 2, and on the first lap, Jacobs and Schuerenburg get together in turn 3 and Jacobs goes airborn. Jacobs was done for the evening. Schuerenburg, who is driving the 23 car Max Stambaugh was driving last week, returned and finished 7th. The finish was Peck, Foos, Balog and Greg Wilson.

Heat 3 gave the crowd a reason to boo as Jac Haudenschild was disqualified for not having a radio. Jac protested but eventually went back to the pits. The crowd was not very happy as boos were heard but those All Star rules are in effect for a reason. It was unclear whether the radio just was not working or that he didn’t have one. In any case that was that for Jac tonight. As this heat resumed, pole sitter Australian Darren Mollunoyux spins and goes to the tail. The finish is Buddy the kid Kofoid, Tony Stewart, Gary Taylor and Chris Andrews.

Kyle Larson won the opener at Attica Friday In heat 4, Pole sitter Philo spins in turn 2 and Rico Abreu hits him. Abreu heads to the pits. Philo goes to the back. On the restart, PPM grabs the lead and takes off, followed by Bayston who gets by 2nd starting Griffith. On lap 5, Philo spins off of turn 4 and then goes to the trailer. On lap 6, Baughman goes off of turn 4. The running order is PPM, Bayston, Griffith, and Trey Jacobs, who is barely holding onto the 4th spot as Zearfoss pressures him on every turn. As the race resumes, Jacobs gets by Griffith for third and Zearfoss gets by Griffith for the 4th and final transfer.

In the 5th heat, pole sitter T.J. Michaels forges into the lead, followed by Brubaker, Shaffer and Byron Reed. Palker, who started 4th, goes off turn 2 and loses a few spots. After an Eash spin we resume and then Eliason spins. When we resume, Shaffer struggles to get past Brubaker but eventually makes the pass up high out of turn 2 and makes it stick. Henry is up to challenge Palker for 5th and runs into Palker, allowing Eliason to get up to 6th. Palker keeps racing but that was a dirty move by Henry. Henry later gets passed by Eliason for 5th and then Palker passes Henry back at the checkers. The finish was Michaels, Shaffer, Brubaker and Reed.

Larson draws position 1 for his dash and Balog draws position 1 in his dash. After the dash races the starting order for the first 6 rows of the A main are Larson on the pole alongside Reutzel, row 2 is Stewart and Kofoid, row 3 is Blaney and Michael, followed by Foos and Balog, Bayston and PPM, Peck and Shaffer.

After more track work, the A main is ready to go. The last 4 transfers from the B main were Schurenburg, Eliason, Helms and Dussel. Saldana finishes 5th in the B and misses it by 1 . McMahan and Skylar Gee take a provisional and start from the tail.

At the start of the 40 lapper, Reutzel takes the lead busting around the high side up on the cushion and is followed by Larson, Kofoid, Michaels, Blaney and Balog. On lap 4, Stewart, who was 5th, slides off of turn 4. Stewart restarts at the tail, but the goes back to the pits. On lap 9, Andrews brings out a yellow as he slows on the back straight. The running order is still Reutzel, Larson, Kofoid, Michaels, Blaney, Bayston and Peck and Shaffer up from 12th, Foos, PPM. Balog is fading fast as others are coming up to pass him. On lap 15, disaster strikes the leader as Balog and Dussel and Helms tangle in turn 1 and 2. Reutzel was right there navigating the lappers and had nowhere to go as he hits someone and then flips it over. Larson and Kofoid get through untouched. This hands the lead to Larson. As the race resumes, Larson pulls away from Kofoid as the track starts going dry slick and taking rubber in a few spots. Blaney loves this and passes Kofoid for 2nd but he has nothing for Larson who has checked out up around the top. Kofoid hangs onto 3rd with Foos 4th and Shaffer coming up to finish 5th . Shaffer was followed by Bayston, PPM, Peck, 18th starting Greg Wilson and 21st starting Schurenburg!

Great race! Larson is amazing, Reutzel is fast and Buddy Kofoid continues to impress. Shaffer is a steady pro and Foos is making a name for himself! Thank you Attica and Thank you All Stars! See you later this week!