Zeb Wise Outruns The “Wild Child” In Closing Laps For All Star Sprint Win At Attica

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – ATTICA, OH – It has not been an easy season for Angola, Indiana’s Zeb Wise, but the recent high school graduate shook off the bad luck Friday night at Attica Raceway Park in Attica, Ohio, and cashed in for his second FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory of the 2021 season, outrunning National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Jac Haudenschild in the closing circuits to do so.

In addition, It was a first-ever Attica Raceway Park victory for the Indiana youngster; his first All Star victory since scoring $26,000 in Kokomo Speedway’s Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race in late May.

Jac Haudenschild hung on to finish second in the Attica Ambush opener, the only non-All Star within the top-five, followed by Skylar Gee, Spencer Bayston, and Hunter Schuerenberg.

“Man, the last month and a half have been so rough…a lot of things within our control, but a lot of things that weren’t. I don’t think I’ve ever had a year as rough as this one,” Zeb Wise said in Attica victory lane, driver of the Sundollar Restoration, Quick Pits Auto Parts, No. 10. “To stand up here after all of the hard work everyone has done is so rewarding, especially here…I love Attica…I love all of the fans…this place is electric and I love being here.”

Although Wise was the man on top on lap 35, the “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer was the man in charge for much of the 35-lap contest, leading the first 27 circuits from the outside-pole position. Shaffer set a solid pace, but it was not without challenges, as Buch Motorsports’ Justin Peck did his best to outduel Shaffer on many occasions, showing his nose multiple times between laps 16 and 19. Traffic was a factor between laps 11 and 16, but a pair of cautions on laps 17 and 19 cleared the track for Shaffer.

Unfortunately for Peck, any hope for victory came to a halt on lap 24, as a flat tire, discovered while awaiting clean up for a red flag incident, forced the Coastal Race Parts No. 13 to go to the work area.

Meanwhile, Wise, who started fourth, was already on the move, battling by Jac Haudenschild for third at the midpoint before working by Peck for second on lap 23. The lap 24 restart would allow Wise to get a run on Shaffer and show the Aliquippa, Pennsylvania-native his nose, but another red flag incident on lap 27 would halt Wise’s potential.

Determined to get by, Wise repeated his pass attempt the following restart, eventually sliding Shaffer between turns three and four to take the lead on lap 28. The main event’s final caution would appear on lap 30, this time for Tim Shaffer, who ultimately slowed due to mechanical issues.

From that point forward, it was all Wise at the front of the field, withstanding late race pressure from Jac Haudenschild before stretching his legs in the final three circuits.

“I looked up at the board at one point and saw that the ‘28’ was in front of me and the ‘3’ was behind me,” Wise continued. “I thought to myself these guys have been racing here longer than I’ve been alive.”

The All Star Circuit of Champions will conclude the 2021 Attica Ambush with the $10,000-to-win finale on Saturday, September 4. Racing is set to hit high gear at 6 p.m., sharp. Gates will open at 2 p.m.

Contingency Awards/Results: Attica Raceway Park | Friday, September 3, 2021:
Event: Attica Ambush | Night #1
Entries: 39
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Cory Eliason | 12.596
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Justin Peck | 12.100
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Tim Shaffer
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Jac Haudenschild
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Chris Andrews
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Justin Peck
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: Tim Shaffer
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Aaron Reutzel
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Ricky Peterson
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Zeb Wise (2)
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Travis Philo (+8)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 10-Zeb Wise, 12.434; 2. O7-Skylar Gee, 12.526; 3. 16-DJ Foos, 12.612; 4. 28-Tim Shaffer, 12.647; 5. 18-Gio Scelzi, 12.656; 6. 2-Ricky Peterson, 12.734; 7. 70-Sammy Swindell, 12.823; 8. 97-Greg Wilson, 12.885; 9. 12-Kyle Capodice, 13.270; 10. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.427

Group (B)
1. 13-Justin Peck, 12.100; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 12.315; 3. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 12.660; 4. 5-Ian Madsen, 12.679; 5. 4-Cap Henry, 12.680; 6. 22C-Cole Duncan, 12.680; 7. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.681; 8. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.931; 9. 14-Tyler Street, 13.059; 10. 70M-Henry Malcuit, 13.801

Group (C)
1. 26-Cory Eliason, 12.365; 2. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 12.390; 3. 11-Spencer Bayston, 12.512; 4. 33W-Caleb Griffith, 12.876; 5. 18c-Cole Macedo, 12.922; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 12.931; 7. 17B-Bill Balog, 12.953; 8. 2L-Landon Lalonde, 12.975; 9. 27S-John Ivy, 13.438; 10. 20-Daniel Burkhart, 14.359

Group (D)
1. 8-Aaron Reutzel, 12.484; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.743; 3. 23-Chris Andrews, 12.746; 4. 101-Cale Thomas, 12.918; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.008; 6. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 13.057; 7. 19-Marcus Dumesny, 13.411; 8. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.574; 9. 75-Jerry Dahms, 14.205

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 28-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 3. 18-Gio Scelzi [5]; 4. O7-Skylar Gee [3]; 5. 70-Sammy Swindell [7]; 6. 12-Kyle Capodice [9]; 7. 2-Ricky Peterson [6]; 8. 16-DJ Foos [2]; 9. 97-Greg Wilson [8]; 10. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [10]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [4]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [5]; 4. 5R-Byron Reed [7]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo [8]; 6. 14-Tyler Street [9]; 7. 70M-Henry Malcuit [10]; 8. 5-Ian Madsen [1]; 9. 3J-Trey Jacobs [2]; 10. 22C-Cole Duncan [6]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 2. 11-Spencer Bayston [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. 18C-Cole Macedo [5]; 5. 17B-Bill Balog [7]; 6. 33W-Caleb Griffith [1]; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker [6]; 8. 27S-John Ivy [9]; 9. 2L-Landon Lalonde [8]; 10. 20-Daniel Burkhart [10]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 23-Chris Andrews [2]; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler [1]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 4. 101-Cale Thomas [5]; 5. 19-Marcus Dumesny [7]; 6. 8-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [6]; 8. 8M-TJ Michael [8]; 9. 75-Jerry Dahms [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 13-Justin Peck [2]; 2. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 3. 11-Spencer Bayston [1]; 4. O7-Skylar Gee [4]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 28-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [3]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [2]; 5. 23-Chris Andrews [4]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 8-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 16-DJ Foos [2]; 3. 33W-Caleb Griffith [3]; 4. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [8]; 5. 2-Ricky Peterson [6]; 6. 12-Kyle Capodice [5]; 7. 14-Tyler Street [4]; 8. 97-Greg Wilson [14]; 9. 35-Stuart Brubaker [7]; 10. 27S-John Ivy [11]; 11. 3J-Trey Jacobs [13]; 12. 8M-TJ Michael [12]; 13. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [17]; 14. 20-Daniel Burkhart [18]; 15. 75-Jerry Dahms [16]; 16. 2L-Landon Lalonde [15]

A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 2. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 3. O7-Skylar Gee [7]; 4. 11-Spencer Bayston [5]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [9]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [8]; 7. 4-Cap Henry [13]; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler [11]; 9. 18-Gio Scelzi [12]; 10. 5T-Travis Philo [18]; 11. 70-Sammy Swindell [17]; 12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [6]; 13. 101-Cale Thomas [15]; 14. 16-DJ Foos [22]; 15. 13-Justin Peck [1]; 16. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [24]; 17. 8-Aaron Reutzel [21]; 18. 17B-Bill Balog [19]; 19. 19-Marcus Dumesny [20]; 20. 28-Tim Shaffer [2]; 21. 18C-Cole Macedo [16]; 22. 23-Chris Andrews [10]; 23. 5R-Byron Reed [14]; 24. 33W-Caleb Griffith [23]; 25. 5-Ian Madsen [25] Lap Leaders: Tim Shaffer (1-27), Zeb Wise (28-35)