SHAFFER LEADS WIRE-TO-WIRE TO EARN 59TH CAREER ASCoC WIN; MAHONEY AND SIMMONS VICTORIOUS IN THE PA VINTAGE MODIFIEDS AND JUNIOR SPRINTS
By Tyler Beichner
July 23, 2017
(Franklin, PA)…On a hot and humid Sunday afternoon, cars began rolling into the pits of Tri-City Raceway Park under partly cloudy skies. The premier class of the event was Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions as they looked to complete Round 2 of the “I-79 Summer Shootout” that also included races at Eriez Speedway (Hammett, PA) and Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (Imperial, PA). Support divisions on the evening included the Pennsylvania Vintage Modifieds and the Jr. Sprints. Tim Shaffer was the big winner in the 410 Sprint Car class as he topped the field to claim the $5,000 winner’s prize. Marbles Mahoney took the checkers in the Vintage Modified class, and it was Jordan Simmons that found victory lane following the Junior Sprint feature.
The “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer has been impressive since the green flag dropped on the 2017 season. Tonight’s display was much of the same as he had the Demyan-Rudzik Racing #49 dialed in from the first time the cars hit the track. After topping the charts in All Star Circuit of Champions hot laps, Shaffer laid down the quickest time (15.683 seconds) in Lincoln Electric qualifying despite being one of the final cars to hit the track. Capitalizing on his front row starting spot, Shaffer fended off Dale Blaney on the first lap and was never seriously challenged for the remainder of the race.
“Hats off to my team,” expressed the Aliquippa native in victory lane. “We’ve been putting ourselves in position, but not taking advantage of it. Tonight we finally took advantage of it…We’ve got a lot of people on this program that help and make this happen.” The win for Shaffer was his 59th career All Star Circuit of Champions victory and second series win at Tri-City Raceway Park.
After jumping to the lead from his front row starting spot, Shaffer quickly opened up a gap between himself and the 2nd place running Blaney, amounting to a 2.526 second lead on Lap 5. The first stoppage of the race came with on Lap 7 of the feature as Brandon Spithaler and Jack Sodeman, Jr got together in turn two. The red flag was displayed for Sodeman, Jr who briefly tipped onto his side. Both drivers were okay.
On the ensuing restart Spithaler, who had made repairs and rejoined the field, spun on the top of turn four just as the green flag was displayed. Following that, the field returned to green for a brief two lap stint before back-to-back cautions were brought out for Jordan Mackison and the 5th place running Carson Macedo.
When the green flag was displayed once more, Tim Shaffer once again opened up a large gap over the rest of the field. The battle on the track was for the 2nd position as Dale Blaney, Spencer Bayston and series point-leader Chad Kemenah ran multiple laps with less than a second separating the three drivers. Kemenah finally made the move into the podium when he got by Bayston on a Lap 14 restart following a brief caution for Hunter Scheurenberg who encountered suspension problems.
The remaining 16 laps were ran caution-free. Chad Kemenah slid by Dale Blaney on Lap 23 to claim the second position, and thus set his sights on race-long leader Tim Shaffer. Despite a scattered group of lapped cars hindering the top-running cars, Kemenah was never able to get within serious striking distance the leader. Shaffer crossed under the checkers to pick 2.062 seconds ahead of Chad Kemenah. Dale Blaney held on for 3rd despite experiencing minor mechanical issues in the closing laps. Danny Holtgraver crossed the line in 4th, with Tyler Esh finishing a career-best 5th place. The 6th-10th place finishers were composed of John Garvin, Jr (career-best finish), Justin Barger, Carson Macedo, Ryan Smith and Dylan Cisney.
Justin Barger charged forward from his 18th place starting position to finish 7th and claim the Hard Charger Award. He was the highest finisher of the three drivers that advanced 11 positions in the main event (Ryan Smith [9th], Carl Bowser [11th].
Preliminary heat races for the 30-car field were won by Tyler Esh, Carson Macedo and Dale Blaney.
Marbles Mahoney emerged victorious in the PA Vintage Modifed feature, finishing at the top of the 11-car field. Just like Shaffer, Mahoney surged forward from his 2nd starting spot and led every lap until the checkers flew. Jim “Dingo” Kirkwood, Gary Beer, Dale Zimmer and Rick Hall finished in positions 2-5. Fan-favorite Les Myers experienced mechanical issues at the drop of the green flag and pulled into the infield before ever completing a lap.
Gary Beer, who finished 3rd place overall, was the highest finishing 6 Cylinder driver and claimed the win for the “Sportsman” division of vintage modifieds. Marbles Mahoney and Dan Osmer split the two heat races.
Junior Sprints were the final division on the card as they took to the high-banked ½ mile. Tri-City Raceway Park is by far the biggest circuit they have competed on in previous years, as they typically frequent the smaller ¼ mile that our area has to offer. Eleven year old Jordan Simmons of Warren, OH used his pole position starting spot to his advantage as he burst into the lead at the start of the race. The young Simmons led all six laps in dominating fashion, picking up the win by nearly half a track over fellow competitors Alston Randall and Tyler Allison.
Jordan Simmons also picked up the win in the lone Junior Sprint heat race.
Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Donovan and Bauer Auto Group:
A-Main (30 Laps, $5,000 to-win): 1. 49X - Tim Shaffer [2]; 2. 10H - Chad Kemenah [3]; 3. 55XM - Dale Blaney [1]; 4. D4 - Danny Holtgraver [6]; 5. 35 - Tyler Esh [8]; 6. 51 - John Garvin, Jr [12]; 7. 5B - Justin Barger [18]; 8. 17 - Carson Macedo [5]; 9. 59 - Ryan Smith [20]; 10. 5 - Dylan Cisney [13]; 11. 98 - Carl Bowser [22]; 12. 7C - Caleb Armstrong [10]; 13. 22 - Brandon Spithaler [7]; 14. 42 - Sye Lynch [9]; 15. 2 - Jimmy Seger [14]; 16. 4N - Jimmy Morris [17]; 17. 39 - Spencer Bayston [4]; 18. 8M - T.J. Michael [23]; 19. 1080 - Jordan Mackison [19]; 20. 20N - Hunter Scheurenberg [15]; 21. 95 - Hunter Mackison [24]; 22. O8 - Dan Kuriger [21]; 23. 81 - Lee Jacobs [16]; 24. 23JR - Jack Sodeman, Jr [11]
B-Main (12 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 1080 - Jordan Mackison [1]; 2. 59 - Ryan Smith [3]; 3. O8 - Dan Kuriger [4]; 4. 98 - Carl Bowser [5]; 5. 8M - T.J. Michael [7]; 6. 95 - Hunter Mackison [6]; 7. 13 - Brandon Matus [8]; 8. 9C - Roger Campbell [9]; 9. 66 - Ken Rossey [11]; 10. 33M - Max Stambaugh [2]; 11. 33 - Brent Matus [12]; 12. 126 - Bryan Salisbury [10]
Dash (6 Laps): 1. 55XM - Dale Blaney [1]; 2. 49X - Tim Shaffer [3]; 3. 10H - Chad Kemenah [4]; 4. 39 - Spencer Bayston [2]; 5. 17 - Carson Macedo [6]; 6. D4 - Danny Holtgraver [5]; 7. 22 - Brandon Spithaler [7]; 8. 35 - Tyler Esh [8]
Heat 1 (8 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 35 - Tyler Esh [1]; 2. 10H - Chad Kemenah [4]; 3. 42 - Sye Lynch [2]; 4. 23JR - Jack Sodeman, Jr [3]; 5. 20N - Hunter Scheurenberg [6]; 6. 5B - Justin Barger [8]; 7. 1080 - Jordan Mackison [5]; 8. O8 - Dan Kuriger [7]; 9. 9C - Roger Campbell [9]; 10. 33 - Brent Matus [10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 17 - Carson Macedo [2]; 2. 22 - Brandon Spithaler [4]; 3. 7C - Caleb Armstrong [1]; 4. 51 - John Garvin, Jr [6]; 5. 2 - Jimmy Seger [3]; 6. 4N - Jimmy Morris [7]; 7. 33M - Max Stambaugh [5]; 8. 8M - T.J. Michael [8]; 9. 66 - Ken Rossey [10]; 10. 13 - Brandon Matus [9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps, Top 6 Transfer): 1. 55XM - Dale Blaney [1]; 2. D4 - Danny Holtgraver [2]; 3. 49X - Tim Shaffer [4]; 4. 39 - Spencer Bayston [3]; 5. 5 - Dylan Cisney [5]; 6. 81 - Lee Jacobs [6]; 7. 59 - Ryan Smith [7]; 8. 98 - Carl Bowser [8]; 9. 126 - Bryan Salisbury [10]; 10. 95 - Hunter Mackison [9]
Time Trials: 1. 49X – Tim Shaffer (15.683); 2. 39 – Spencer Bayston; 3. D4 – Danny Holtgraver; 4. 10H – Chad Kemenah; 5. 22 – Brandon Spithaler; 6. 55XM – Dale Blaney; 7. 23JR – Jack Sodeman, Jr; 8. 5 – Dylan Cisney; 9. 81- Lee Jacobs; 10. 42 – Sye Lynch; 11. 2 – Jimmy Seger; 12. 17 – Carson Macedo; 13. 7C – Caleb Armstrong; 14. 35 – Tyler Esh; 15. 1080 – Jordan Mackison; 16. 20N – Hunter Scheurenberg; 17. 33M – Max Stambaugh; 18. 59 – Ryan Smith; 19. O8 – Dan Kuriger; 20. 98 – Carl Bowser; 21. 51 – John Garvin, Jr; 22. 4N – Jimmy Morris; 23. 95 – Hunter Mackison; 24. 5B – Justin Barger; 25. 8M – T.J. Michael; 26. 13 – Brandon Matus; 27. 9C – Roger Campbell; 28. 126 – Bryan Salisbury; 29. 66 – Ken Rossey; 30. 33 – Brent Matus
Junior Sprints:
Feature: 1. 13 - Jordan Simmons [1]; 2. 36 - Alston Randall [7]; 3. 25BAD - Tyer Allison [4]; 4. 22 - Stone Lapcevich [2]; 5. 18L - Luke Mulichak [6]; 6. 25 - Blain Schlecthy [3]; 7. 27 - Brianna Parker [5]; 8. 86 - Michael Lutz, Jr [8]
Heat 1: 1. 13 - Jordan Simmons [1]; 2. 25 - Blain Schlecthy [3]; 3. 18L - Luke Mulichak [6]; 4. 22 - Stone Lapcevich [2]; 5. 36 - Alston Randall [7]; 6. 86 - Michael Lutz, Jr [8]; 7. 25A - Tyer Allison [4]; DNS 27 - Brianna Parker [5]
Vintage Modifieds:
Feature (15 Laps): 1. 4 - Marbles Mahoney [2]; 2. A1 - Jim Kirkwood [3]; 3. 71B - Gary Beer [9]; 4. 62 - Dale Zimmer [10]; 5. 47B - Rick Hall [4]; 6. 72M - Jeff Mitchell [7]; 7. 32 - Vern Dille [6]; 8. 85 - Chris Ketch [1]; 9. 6 - Dan Osmer [8]; 10. X3 - Les Myers [5]; DNS 89 - David Myers [11]
Heat 1: 1. 4 - Marbles Mahoney [5]; 2. X3 - Les Myers [1]; 3. 47B - Rick Hall [7]; 4. A1 - Jim Kirkwood [3]; 5. 85 - Chris Ketch [6]; 6. 32 - Vern Dille [4]; 7. 89 - David Myers [2]
Heat 2: 1. 6 - Dan Osmer [4]; 2. 62 - Dale Zimmer [2]; 3. 71B - Gary Beer [1]; 4. 72M - Jeff Mitchell [3]
Tri-City Raceway Park returns to racing action on Sunday August 20th with a full four-division slate scheduled to compete. The Engles Trucking 410 Sprint Cars will make their 3rd appearance of the year, while the Rush Late Model touring series will visit the ½ mile oval for the second time of 2017 as Tri-City hosts their series’ manufacturing night for the second consecutive season. Accompanying those two classes will be the UEMS E-Mods presented by Barrs Insurance and AMP Electric and the R&R Garage Pro Stocks.
For more information, you can visit our website at www.tricityracewaypark.com. For additional coverage you can like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TriCityRacewayPark or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TriCityRaceway.
###
Edited by Tyler Beichner, 23 July 2017 - 10:55 PM.
