ROSSBURG, OHIO – Alliquippa, Pennsylvania’s Tim Shaffer has won sprint car races all over the United States. He had been to Eldora Speedway’s famed victory stage before but Saturday night the four-time champion of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions finally scored his first All Star win at Eldora.
“I’ve never won an All Star show here so this feels pretty awesome,” Shaffer said after his 57th career win in the series. “My hats off to my crew. Everything just worked awesome tonight.”
Shaffer, the 2010 Knoxville Nationals champion, has three career World of Outlaw Craftsman Sprint Car Series wins at Eldora but was always snake bitten in All Star competition at Eldora. He came to Eldora to change all that on Saturday and the Rudzik #49x was clearly the fastest car on the high-banked, one-half mile clay oval all night.
Shaffer was the fastest qualifier of the 42 cars that took time, then won his heat race and followed that up with a win in the second dash to earn the outside pole starting position for the 30-lap main event.
He jumped to the lead at the drop of the green flag and despite several caution flags was never seriously challenged and picked up his first All Star win since September of 2015.
“I keep telling the guys that if we keep putting ourselves in position we are going to get there,” Shaffer said. “The main thing is, is we are getting the car really awesome. Me and (crew chief) Cody (Jacobs) are communicating great. The whole team is putting in a great effort.”
Travis Philo returned to Eldora for the first time since a scary accident during the #LetsRaceTwo weekend in May and challenged Shaffer the first few laps before Cale Thomas moved into the runner-up position on lap three.
Thomas was able to hold onto the runner-up position until the white flag lap when Rico Abreu completed a charge from the 16th starting position to finish in the runner-up position. Thomas’ machine limped to the finish after apparently running out of gas in the final two corners and was scored 16th at the finish.
“I just needed to start a little more forward,” Abreu said. “I don’t know if I didn’t try hard enough in my heat or what but I know I just made a lot of mistakes and I feel like I’ve done that a lot lately. But that car was really fun to drive and I am just really disappointed I didn’t win.
This is the best track in country. I don’t think there is any place that puts on better racing than Eldora. Obviously you can start anywhere and run up to the front,” Abreu added.
With Thomas faltering on the final lap, Philo came across the line in third-place, while Parker Price-Miller and two-time Kings Royal winner Dave Blaney completed the top-five.
Defending All Star champion Chad Kemenah, Ryan Smith, Dale Blaney, Tony Stewart and Caleb Helms completed the top ten.
Other heat races were won by Dave Blaney, Philo and Price-Miller. The two dashes were won by Philo and Shaffer. Andrew Palker captured the B-main.
Gary Rahe, Jr. picked up his first career Eldora win last month during the Johnny Appleseed Classic. He enjoyed Eldora’s victory stage so much he wasted little time and returned on Saturday night after picking up his second consecutive win.
Rahe, Jr., from Cincinnati, led from flag-to-flag, holding off a late charge by 1978 track champion Ed Hounshell. Daniel Sanchez finished in third-place while Casey Barr and former
track champion Frank Paladino rounded out the top five. Brandon Archey, Earnie Woodard, Anthony Goode, Rob Trent and T.J. Smith completed the top 10.
Stock Car heat races were won by Woodard and Rahe, Jr.
After a busy month of June, Eldora officials now take nearly a month off before one of the busiest weeks of the season. The prestigious 34th annual Kings Royal weekend kicks off with the Jokers Wild on Thursday, July 13th with a full program featuring the World of Outlaw Craftsman Sprint Car Series racing for a $10,000 top prize. The winged warriors return on Friday, July 14 for the Knight Before the Kings Royal and a $12,000 top prize.
The Kings Royal weekend wraps up on Saturday, July 15th with the richest one-day event in all of sprint car racing. Qualifying will be followed by the traditional six Eldora heat races, consolation feature events and the 40-lap, $50,000 to-win Kings Royal.
Just three days later, “The World’s Greatest Dirt Track” will host the 5th annual Eldora Dirt Derby featuring the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds.
The DIRTcar Big-Block Modifieds highlight the Tuesday night, July 18th action, while the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes center stage on Wednesday, July 19th with the only dirt event in NASCAR’s three national touring series; the 150-lap Eldora Dirt Derby.
All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars
Qualifying 1.49x-Tim Shaffer, 14.466; 2.17-Caleb Helms, 14.521; 3.91-Cale Thomas, 14.557; 4.11N-Dale Blaney, 14.679; 5.49-Shawn Dancer, 14.942; 6.59-Ryan Smith, 14.944; 7.57X-Andrew Palker, 14.983; 8.10H-Chad Kemenah, 15.112; 9.14-Tony Stewart, 15.271; 10.3G-Carson Macedo, 15.298; 11.71m-Dave Blaney, 15.312; 12.9XX-Paul Nienhiser, 15.336; 13.27Z-Sean Zemunik, 15.374; 14.7K-Cale Conley, 15.412; 15.A67-Brandon Wimmer, 15.430; 16.12-Daniel Harding, 15.484; 17.24-Rico Abreu, 15.544; 18.2-Parker Price-Miller, 15.600; 19.70-Tanner Thorson, 15.721; 20.1080-Jordan Mackison, 15.779; 21.45-Trevor Baker, 15.834; 22.5T-Travis Philo, 15.844; 23.13-Brandon Matus, 15.857; 24.97W-Mitchell Wormall, 15.940; 25.8M-TJ Michael, 15.961; 26.33M-Max Stambaugh, 15.994; 27.92A-Sammy Walsh, 15.996; 28.O7-Jacob Wilson, 16.000; 29.51-John Garvin, 16.078; 30.12n-Cole Duncan, 16.087; 31.9C-Roger Campbell, 16.097; 32.35-Tyler Esh, 16.116; 33.7C-Caleb Armstrong, 16.138; 34.39-Spencer Bayston, 16.190; 35.81-Lee Jacobs, 16.272; 36.22-Brandon Spithaler, 16.372; 37.33-Brent Matus, 16.714; 38.83-Adam Cruea, 16.824; 39.95-Hunter Mackison, 16.845; 40.3FX-Dean Kester, 18.624; 41.9-Ryan Linder, 99.991; 42.16-Matt Campbell, 99.993;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps) 1. 49x-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 2. 11N-Dale Blaney[1] ; 3. 91-Cale Thomas[2] ; 4. 17-Caleb Helms[3] ; 5. 49-Shawn Dancer[5] ; 6. 57X-Andrew Palker[6] ; 7. 27Z-Sean Zemunik[7] ; 8. 1080-Jordan Mackison[8] ; 9. 45-Trevor Baker[9] ; 10. 83-Adam Cruea[10]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps) 1. 71m-Dave Blaney[2] ; 2. 7K-Cale Conley[1] ; 3. 59-Ryan Smith[4] ; 4. 14-Tony Stewart[3] ; 5. 70-Tanner Thorson[6] ; 6. 12-Daniel Harding[5] ; 7. 13-Brandon Matus[7] ; 8. 97W-Mitchell Wormall[8] ; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell[10] ; 10. 51-John Garvin[9] ; 11. 3FX-Dean Kester[11]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps) 1. 5T-Travis Philo[2] ; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo[4] ; 3. 33M-Max Stambaugh[1] ; 4. 24-Rico Abreu[3] ; 5. 35-Tyler Esh[6] ; 6. 39-Spencer Bayston[7] ; 7. 92A-Sammy Walsh[5] ; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler[8] ; 9. 95-Hunter Mackison[9]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps) 1. 2-Parker Price-Miller[1] ; 2. A67-Brandon Wimmer[2] ; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 4. 9XX-Paul Nienhiser[3] ; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs[9] ; 6. 12n-Cole Duncan[7] ; 7. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[8] ; 8. O7-Jacob Wilson[6] ; 9. 33-Brent Matus[10] ; 10. 8M-TJ Michael[5]
Dash 1 – (4 Laps) 1. 5T-Travis Philo[1] ; 2. 91-Cale Thomas[2] ; 3. 2-Parker Price-Miller[4] ; 4. A67-Brandon Wimmer[3]
Dash 2 – (4 Laps) 1. 49x-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 2. 11N-Dale Blaney[1] ; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo[4] ; 4. 17-Caleb Helms[5] ; 5. 71m-Dave Blaney[3]
B-Feature – (12 Laps) 1. 57X-Andrew Palker[1] ; 2. 27Z-Sean Zemunik[2] ; 3. 12-Daniel Harding[3] ; 4. 12n-Cole Duncan[12] ; 5. O7-Jacob Wilson[10] ; 6. 92A-Sammy Walsh[9] ; 7. 97W-Mitchell Wormall[7] ; 8. 13-Brandon Matus[6] ; 9. 39-Spencer Bayston[15] ; 10. 22-Brandon Spithaler[16] ; 11. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[14] ; 12. 45-Trevor Baker[5] ; 13. 95-Hunter Mackison[19] ; 14. 9C-Roger Campbell[13] ; 15. 1080-Jordan Mackison[4] ; 16. 51-John Garvin[11] ; 17. 83-Adam Cruea[18] ; 18. 33-Brent Matus[17]
A-Feature – (30 Laps) 1. 49x-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[16] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[1] ; 4. 2-Parker Price-Miller[5] ; 5. 71m-Dave Blaney[10] ; 6. 10H-Chad Kemenah[12] ; 7. 59-Ryan Smith[11] ; 8. 11N-Dale Blaney[4] ; 9. 14-Tony Stewart[14] ; 10. 17-Caleb Helms[8] ; 11. 3G-Carson Macedo[6] ; 12. A67-Brandon Wimmer[7] ; 13. 12n-Cole Duncan[22] ; 14. 12-Daniel Harding[23] ; 15. 7K-Cale Conley[9] ; 16. 91-Cale Thomas[3] ; 17. 57X-Andrew Palker[21] ; 18. 49-Shawn Dancer[17] ; 19. 70-Tanner Thorson[18] ; 20. 9XX-Paul Nienhiser[15] ; 21. 35-Tyler Esh[19] ; 22. 22-Brandon Spithaler[24] ; 23. 33M-Max Stambaugh[13] ; 24. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[25] ; 25. 81-Lee Jacobs[20] ; 26. O7-Jacob Wilson[26]
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Eldora Stock Cars
Qualifying 1.99J-Donnie Jeschke, 20.723; 2.91-Ed Hounshell, 20.730; 3.01-Earnie Woodard, 20.828; 4.7-Jordan Conover, 20.840; 5.87-Andy Welch, 21.017; 6.23-Casey Barr, 21.027; 7.J2-Rob Trent, 21.062; 8.95-Gary Rahe Jr, 21.194; 9.5G-Anthony Goode, 21.228; 10.17-Red Harvey Jr., 21.335; 11.17c-Jeremy Creech, 21.335; 12.463-Daniel Sanchez, 21.441; 13.55-Brandon Archey, 21.574; 14.27-Frank Paladino, 21.614; 15.99-Andy King, 21.686; 16.15-Drew Trick, 21.720; 17.11-T.J Smith, 22.216; 18.33-Erik Skaggs, 22.519; 19.7R-Walter Ruby, 24.208;
Heat 1 – (8 Laps) 1. 01-Earnie Woodard[5] ; 2. 99J-Donnie Jeschke[6] ; 3. 17c-Jeremy Creech[1] ; 4. 5G-Anthony Goode[2] ; 5. J2-Rob Trent[3] ; 6. 55-Brandon Archey[7] ; 7. 11-T.J Smith[9] ; 8. 99-Andy King[8] ; 9. 7R-Walter Ruby[10] ; 10. 87-Andy Welch[4]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps) 1. 95-Gary Rahe Jr[3] ; 2. 91-Ed Hounshell[6] ; 3. 463-Daniel Sanchez[1] ; 4. 7-Jordan Conover[5] ; 5. 27-Frank Paladino[7] ; 6. 23-Casey Barr[4] ; 7. 15-Drew Trick[8] ; 8. 33-Erik Skaggs[9]
A Feature – (15 Laps) 1. 95-Gary Rahe Jr[4] ; 2. 91-Ed Hounshell[7] ; 3. 463-Daniel Sanchez[1] ; 4. 23-Casey Barr[12] ; 5. 27-Frank Paladino[10] ; 6. 55-Brandon Archey[11] ; 7. 01-Earnie Woodard[6] ; 8. 5G-Anthony Goode[3] ; 9. J2-Rob Trent[9] ; 10. 11-T.J Smith[13] ; 11. 87-Andy Welch[18] ; 12. 99-Andy King[15] ; 13. 33-Erik Skaggs[16] ; 14. 15-Drew Trick[14] ; 15. 7R-Walter Ruby[17] ; 16. 17-Red Harvey Jr.[19] ; 17. 7-Jordan Conover[5] ; 18. 99J-Donnie Jeschke[8]
Courtesy Mike Campbell Photos
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Lap chart PDF documents can be viewed below. The charts show running order, lap times and charge (+/-) for each lap crossing and each car.