Last Corner Pass Secures $10,000 Open Wheel Championship For Dave Blaney

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – CHILLICOTHE, OH – Utilizing a last corner pass to secure his place in Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory lane, the “Buckeye Bullet” Dave Blaney scored the Open Wheel Championships finale victory on Saturday night at the Atomic (OH) Speedway high banks, driving under race leader, Chad Kemenah, at the exit of turn four for a $10,000 payday.

Blaney, pilot of the familiar Mohawk Northeast/Motter Equipment/Beltline Body Shop/No. 71M, started from outside-pole position and raced within the top-three the entire distance. After swapping positions with Lee Jacobs to re-secure second after a lap 18 caution, Blaney’s focus was solely on Kemenah, soon chasing down the defending Arctic Cat All Star champion in traffic, ultimately setting up his last corner pass for the five-figure pay check. Kemenah led the first 29 and 3/4 circuits before losing the top spot to Blaney.

“I think his car was definitely better,” Dave Blaney said about Chad Kemenah. “He got hung up in traffic and I was able to get a lucky break. I feel bad for Chad. I’ve lost some races that way and it really sucks. Regardless, I’m really excited for my guys. We don’t get to race a whole lot, so to come out here and win is big for us; this is a big night.”

Despite starting from the front row, Blaney’s trip to victory lane was not conducted flawlessly. The Ohio native, who now calls North Carolina home, battled early with Lee Jacobs, actually losing the runner-up position to the 1881 Racing entry on lap 10 just as the leaders entered traffic for the first time. A pair of cautions on lap 18 and lap 19 bundled the field back together allowing Blaney to return the favor and slip back by Jacobs during the lap 18 restart.

By lap 26, Blaney worked his way to the rear bumper of Kemenah, closing a near-straightaway advantage. The pair raced nose-to-tail for the final five circuits, all before Blaney was able to poke his nose and drive under the Hunter Racing/Seneca Energy/DKW Transport/No. 10H.

“This is hard to do,” Blaney said. “These guys are good and they are racing from top to bottom. To end up standing here is pretty surprising and pretty awesome.”

Kicking off a holiday weekend that will feature back-to-back $10,000-to-win programs in the Buckeye State, the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will return to competition on Saturday evening, September 2, at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio. Complete with a unique format that will utilize two rounds of heat race competition, the annual Dirt Classic Ohio will headline action at the Attica high banks during Labor Day weekend, highlighted with a 40-lap main event will award a $10,000 top prize; the peak of a purse exceeding $32,000.

In addition to the Dirt Classic Ohio main event, the evening schedule will also include the Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket make-up feature that was initially scheduled for June 16. The starting lineup is already set, Travis Philo and Cale Conley on the front row, and will award a $5,000 top prize.

Attica Raceway Park will open gates at 3:00pm on Saturday, September 2, with racing to follow at 6:00pm, sharp. Those seeking additional news and notes should visit Attica Raceway Park live the Web at www.atticaracewaypark.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Atomic Speedway- Saturday, August 26, 2017:
3rd Annual Open Wheel Championships
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 48 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Spencer Bayston – 11.974 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Cole Duncan – 12.545 seconds (5th quick)
Ford Performance Heat #1: Joey Saldana
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Chad Kemenah
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Caleb Helms
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Lee Jacobs
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts C-Main: John Garvin, Jr.
JE Pistons Dash #1: Chad Kemenah
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Dave Blaney
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Travis Philo
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Chad Kemenah (2nd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Cole Duncan (+10)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Dale Blaney
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Carson Macedo
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Caleb Armstrong
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 39-Spencer Bayston, 12.015; 2. 71-Joey Saldana, 12.241; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 12.415; 4. 9x-Cap Henry, 12.492; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan, 12.545; 6. 56R-Ryan Myers, 12.562; 7. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.739; 8. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 13.0238; 9. 27L-Brad Lamberson, 13.46; 10. 83X-Nate Reeser, 13.853; 11. 33-Brent Matus, 14.009; 12. 40-Mark Imler, 14.457

Group (B)
1. 3G-Carson Macedo, 12.792; 2. 55-Dale Blaney, 12.949; 3. 17b-Josh Baughman, 12.952; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.979; 5. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.018; 6. A67-Brandon Wimmer, 13.024; 7. 84-Brandon Hanks, 13.343; 8. 71A-Ayrton Olsen, 13.771; 9. 13-Brandon Matus, 14.113; 10. 35-Tyler Esh, 14.528; 11. 9C-Roger Campbell, 14.722; 12. 95-Hunter Mackison, 15.078

Group ( C )
1. 91-Cale Thomas, 12.935; 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 13.057; 3. 17-Caleb Helms, 13.171; 4. 35R-Ronnie Blair, 13.322; 5. 4-Danny Smith, 13.329; 6. 11n-Gary Taylor, 13.497; 7. 7W-Logan Wagner, 13.513; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.79; 9. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 13.847; 10. 16-Dallas Hewitt, 14.075; 11. 22D-Josh Davis, 14.408; 12. 3FX-Dean Kester, 14.513

Group (D)
1. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 13.11; 2. 7K-Cale Conley, 13.305; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.308; 4. 71m-Dave Blaney, 13.314; 5. 4X-Jimmy Stinson, 13.553; 6. 22B-Ryan Broughton, 13.719; 7. 59-Ryan Smith, 13.789; 8. 27-Cody Gallogly, 13.859; 9. 51-John Garvin, 13.907; 10. 78-Todd Kane, 14.001; 11. 59N-Bryan Nuckles, 14.114; 12. 8M-TJ Michael, 14.455

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 71-Joey Saldana [3]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 3. 39-Spencer Bayston [4]; 4. 9X-Cap Henry [1]; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan [5]; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [8]; 7. 33-Brent Matus [11]; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser [10]; 9. 56R-Ryan Myers [6]; 10. 40-Mark Imler [12]; 11. 27L-Brad Lamberson [9]; 12. 5T-Travis Philo [7]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 55-Dale Blaney [3]; 3. 17B-Josh Baughman [2]; 4. A67-Brandon Wimmer [6]; 5. 3G-Carson Macedo [4]; 6. 95-Hunter Mackison [12]; 7. 14-Tony Stewart [5]; 8. 84-Brandon Hanks [7]; 9. 71A-Ayrton Olsen [8]; 10. 35-Tyler Esh [10]; 11. 9C-Roger Campbell [11]

Heat #3 – Group ( C ) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 17-Caleb Helms [2]; 2. 91-Cale Thomas [4]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 4-Danny Smith [5]; 5. 1080-Jordan Mackison [9]; 6. 7W-Logan Wagner [7]; 7. 35R-Ronnie Blair [1]; 8. 22D-Josh Davis [11]; 9. 11N-Gary Taylor [6]; 10. 16-Dallas Hewitt [10]; 11. 3FX-Dean Kester [12]; 12. 22-Brandon Spithaler [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 81-Lee Jacobs [2]; 2. 71M-Dave Blaney [1]; 3. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [5]; 4. 33M-Max Stambaugh [4]; 5. 59-Ryan Smith [7]; 6. 51-John Garvin [9]; 7. 27-Cody Gallogly [8]; 8. 78-Todd Kane [10]; 9. 22B-Ryan Broughton [6]; 10. 7K-Cale Conley [3]; 11. 8M-TJ Michael [12]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs [4]; 3. 71-Joey Saldana [2]; 4. 17-Caleb Helms [3]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 71M-Dave Blaney [2]; 2. 91-Cale Thomas [3]; 3. 9X-Cap Henry [1]; 4. 55-Dale Blaney [4]; 5. 39-Spencer Bayston [5]

C-Main (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 51-John Garvin [2]; 2. 27-Cody Gallogly [1]; 3. 22D-Josh Davis [7]; 4. 78-Todd Kane [3]; 5. 16-Dallas Hewitt [5]; 6. 3FX-Dean Kester [10]; 7. 40-Mark Imler [9]; 8. 9C-Roger Campbell [12]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 5T-Travis Philo [2]; 2. 14-Tony Stewart [3]; 3. 56R-Ryan Myers [1]; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [4]; 5. 7K-Cale Conley [5]; 6. 22B-Ryan Broughton [11]; 7. 11N-Gary Taylor [9]; 8. 51-John Garvin [15]; 9. 84-Brandon Hanks [7]; 10. 27L-Brad Lamberson [8]; 11. 22-Brandon Spithaler [13]; 12. 27-Cody Gallogly [16]; 13. 7W-Logan Wagner [10]; 14. 83X-Nate Reeser [14]; 15. 35R-Ronnie Blair [6]; 16. 71A-Ayrton Olsen [12]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 71M-Dave Blaney [2]; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 3. 91-Cale Thomas [4]; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs [3]; 5. 55-Dale Blaney [8]; 6. 71-Joey Saldana [5]; 7. 22C-Cole Duncan [17]; 8. 9X-Cap Henry [6]; 9. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12]; 10. 3G-Carson Macedo [18]; 11. 39-Spencer Bayston [10]; 12. 5T-Travis Philo [21]; 13. 24-Rico Abreu [9]; 14. 4-Danny Smith [16]; 15. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [24]; 16. 17B-Josh Baughman [11]; 17. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [13]; 18. 14-Tony Stewart [22]; 19. A67-Brandon Wimmer [14]; 20. 33M-Max Stambaugh [15]; 21. 59-Ryan Smith [19]; 22. 1080-Jordan Mackison [20]; 23. 17-Caleb Helms [7]; 24. 56R-Ryan Myers [23] Lap Leaders: Chad Kemenah [1-29], Dave Blaney [30]

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (August 26, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah – 5058
2. Ryan Smith – 4686
3. Caleb Armstrong – 4554
4. Max Stambaugh – 4288
5. Caleb Helms – 4116
6. Brandon Spithaler – 3959
7. T.J. Michael – 3921
8. Tyler Esh – 3857
9. Tim Shaffer – 3702
10. Brandon Matus – 3702