Wagner Holds Off Holtgraver For First-Ever All Star Sprint Win

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – SARVER, PA – For the first time in his young career, Logan Wagner is a main event winner with the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, this time holding off a former Lernerville Speedway track champion, as well as the defending Arctic Cat All Star champion, for a $5,000 top prize. The Harrisonville, Pennsylvania, native started from the pole position and led all 30 circuits on Friday evening, June 2, at Lernerville Speedway, crossing under the final checkers nearly three seconds ahead of the competition. “Downtown” Danny Holtgraver crossed under the flagstand behind Wagner, followed by Chad Kemenah, Cole Duncan and Tim Shaffer.

“I can’t even put tonight into words,” Logan Wagner explained in Lernerville Speedway victory lane. “I gotta thank everyone that helps me out. My dad, especially, who does so much for me and my career. I didn’t think I was really that good tonight, but I was good enough to win and that is all that matters. This is amazing.”

Wagner took command at the drop of the initial green flag and immediately opened his advantage, stretching his lead to nearly two seconds by lap 10, ultimately pushing that margin to nearly three seconds during other segments of the main event.

A total of four cautions, three during the first 11 circuits, halted feature competition during the 30-lapper, and despite all four creating the potential for a takeover attempt, the clean air and open race track proved to be nothing more than an advantage for Logan Wagner. Even when traffic came into play during the midpoint of the main event, as well as during the last six circuits, Wagner’s preferred line around the thin, top edge of the speedway allowed for the most momentum.

“I just knew I had to run [turn one] the best that I could without getting up over the edge,” Wagner said in victory lane. “I know I went over the backstretch three or four times tonight. I was really tight through turns three and four, so I had to muscle my way around there. But I was able to really capitalize in turns one and two.”

Danny Holtgraver, Ryan Smith, Chad Kemenah and Cole Duncan each made their presence known with heated battles for the remaining positions inside the top-five. Holtgraver, the main event’s seventh starter who was making his first Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions appearance of the season, solidified the runner-up position on lap 21, ending a near-ten lap battle with Hunter Racing’s Chad Kemenah.

“It feels good to be back in a sprint car,” Danny Holtgraver explained. “We haven’t raced that much this year, but when we do plan to race, we plan to have fun and work for results like this. Tonight was a lot of fun.”

The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their short swing through Western Pennsylvania with a visit to Mercer Raceway Park on Saturday evening, June 3; the first and only appearance of the 2017 season, as well as the first visit in nearly two years.

“America’s Series” last visited the Mercer County short track on July 4, 2015. The holiday program was the third of three appearances at the speedway that season, two of which during Independence Day weekend. The “Kunkletown Kid” Ryan Smith was the main event winner on July 4, with former Knoxville Nationals main event starter Lee Jacobs taking the checkers one night prior on Friday, July 3.

Mercer Raceway Park will open pit gates at 3:00pm on Saturday, June 3. A mandatory drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:30pm with hot laps to follow at 6:30pm, sharp. Fans and race teams should be reminded that camping is available at no cost. Those who would like to learn more should visit Mercer Raceway Park live on the Web at www.mercerracewaypark.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Lernerville Speedway – Friday, June 2:
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 42 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Tim Shaffer – 13.262 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Parker Price-Miller – 13.022 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Parker Price-Miller
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: AJ Flick
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Caleb Armstrong
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Dean Jacobs
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts C-Main: Jack Sodeman, Jr.
JE Pistons Dash #1: Logan Wagner
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Ryan Smith
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Dan Shetler
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Chad Kemenah (3rd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Tim Shaffer (+7)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Tim Shaffer
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Caleb Armstrong
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Max Stambaugh
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 2-Parker Price-Miller, 13.022; 2. 22C-Cole Duncan, 13.0744; 3. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 13.231; 4. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 13.237; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.334; 6. 46-Michael Bauer, 13.485; 7. 51-John Garvin, 13.637; 8. 55W-Michael Wagner, 13.675; 9. 5-Justin Barger, 13.79; 10. 49H-Bradley Howard, 14.004; 11. 91S-Sadie Siegal, 15.292

Group (B)
1. 59-Ryan Smith, 13.252; 2. 98-Carl Bowser, 13.344; 3. 2F-AJ Flick, 13.54; 4. 16-Danny Mumaw, 13.541; 5. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 13.852; 6. 91-Anthony Fiore, 13.908; 7. 23-Darren Pifer, 14.066; 8. 9C-Roger Campbell, 14.386; 9. 29-Scott Barris, 99.1; 10. C1-Clay Riney, 99.2; 11. 27-Vincent Dougherty, 99.99

Group ©
1. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.084; 2. 35-Tyler Esh, 13.354; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 13.528; 4. 7W-Logan Wagner, 13.694; 5. 13-Brandon Matus, 13.728; 6. 95-Hunter Mackison, 14.022; 7. 4X-Rod George, 14.633; 8. 4K-William Kiley, 15.332; 9. 76-David Jones, 48.195; 10. 40-George Hobaugh, 99.4

Group (D)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.074; 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 13.12; 3. 17-Caleb Helms, 13.232; 4. 8-Dean Jacobs, 13.345; 5. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.674; 6. 7K-Dan Shetler, 13.745; 7. O8-Dan Kuriger, 13.795; 8. 33-Brent Matus, 14.362; 9. 9-Ryan Linder, 16.318; 10. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr., 99.5

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 2-Parker Price-Miller [4]; 2. D4-Danny Holtgraver [2]; 3. 33M-Max Stambaugh [1]; 4. 22C-Cole Duncan [3]; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler [5]; 6. 46-Michael Bauer [6]; 7. 51-John Garvin [7]; 8. 5-Justin Barger [9]; 9. 49H-Bradley Howard [10]; 10. 55W-Michael Wagner [8]; 11. 91S-Sadie Siegal [11]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 2F-AJ Flick [2]; 2. 59-Ryan Smith [4]; 3. 16-Danny Mumaw [1]; 4. 98-Carl Bowser [3]; 5. 91-Anthony Fiore [6]; 6. 23-Darren Pifer [7]; 7. C1-Clay Riney [10]; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison [5]; 9. 29-Scott Barris [9]; 10. 9C-Roger Campbell [8]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [2]; 2. 7W-Logan Wagner [1]; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs [4]; 4. 40-George Hobaugh [10]; 5. 13-Brandon Matus [5]; 6. 35-Tyler Esh [3]; 7. 76-David Jones [9]; 8. 4K-William Kiley [8]; 9. 95-Hunter Mackison [6]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 8-Dean Jacobs [1]; 2. 17-Caleb Helms [2]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah [4]; 5. 8M-TJ Michael [5]; 6. 7K-Dan Shetler [6]; 7. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [10]; 8. O8-Dan Kuriger [7]; 9. 33-Brent Matus [8]; 10. 9-Ryan Linder [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 7W-Logan Wagner [2]; 2. 2-Parker Price-Miller [1]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [3]; 4. D4-Danny Holtgraver [4]; 5. 17-Caleb Helms [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 59-Ryan Smith [1]; 2. 22C-Cole Duncan [3]; 3. 8-Dean Jacobs [4]; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [5]; 5. 2F-AJ Flick [2]

C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [9]; 2. 9-Ryan Linder [5]; 3. 76-David Jones [6]; 4. C1-Clay Riney [8]; 5. 4X-Rod George [2]; 6. 29-Scott Barris [7]; 7. 4K-William Kiley [4]; 8. 91S-Sadie Siegal [3]; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell [1]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 7K-Dan Shetler [5]; 2. O8-Dan Kuriger [7]; 3. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [13]; 4. 35-Tyler Esh [1]; 5. 46-Michael Bauer [2]; 6. 1080-Jordan Mackison [8]; 7. 55W-Michael Wagner [4]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [12]; 9. 5-Justin Barger [6]; 10. 9-Ryan Linder [14]; 11. 49H-Bradley Howard [9]; 12. 51-John Garvin [3]; 13. 23-Darren Pifer [11]; 14. 95-Hunter Mackison [10]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 7W-Logan Wagner [1]; 2. D4-Danny Holtgraver [7]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [5]; 4. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 5. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12]; 6. 59-Ryan Smith [6]; 7. 2F-AJ Flick [10]; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs [11]; 9. 98-Carl Bowser [15]; 10. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [8]; 11. 2-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 12. 8-Dean Jacobs [2]; 13. O8-Dan Kuriger [22]; 14. 17-Caleb Helms [9]; 15. 33M-Max Stambaugh [13]; 16. 13-Brandon Matus [19]; 17. 8M-TJ Michael [18]; 18. 7K-Dan Shetler [21]; 19. 16-Danny Mumaw [14]; 20. 33-Brent Matus [25]; 21. 51-John Garvin [27]; 22. 35-Tyler Esh [24]; 23. 40-George Hobaugh [16]; 24. 91-Anthony Fiore [20]; 25. 22-Brandon Spithaler [17]; 26. 46-Michael Bauer [26]; 27. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr. [23] Lap Leaders: Logan Wagner [1-30]

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (June 2, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah: 1714
2. Caleb Armstrong: 1606
3. Caleb Helms: 1592
4. Ryan Smith: 1550
5. Max Stambaugh: 1398
6. Tim Shaffer: 1394
7. T.J. Michael: 1334
8. Brandon Matus: 1254
9. Brent Matus: 1214
10. Brandon Spithaler: 1203