California, Texas and Illinois Drivers Top 119 Sprint Cars in Fast-Paced Season Finale
ROSSBURG, Ohio (October 8, 2016) – Fan favorite Rico Abreu, barnstorming Aaron Reutzel and USAC champion Chris Windom each won their respective features Saturday night at the “#LastCallForMethanol – Sprintacular.” The event concluded Eldora Speedway’s 63rd consecutive season of racing.
A combined total of 119 cars from the three most popular forms of sprint car racing, winged 410 cubic inch (c.i.) sprints, winged 360 c.i. sprints and traditional (non-wing) sprints, filled Eldora’s infield and upper pit areas. The divisions were represented by the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC), K&L Ready Mix National Racing Alliance (NRA) Sprint Invaders and the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series (BOSS).
Abreu, from St. Helena, California, avenged a spin from the lead in the ASCoC portion of last month’s ‘Four Crown Nationals,’ by charging to the point from the third starting position to lead every circuit in the non-stop 30-lap feature.
Dale Blaney (Hartford, Ohio), who started fifth, attempted two slide jobs on Abreu but failed to complete the pass. Championship leader Chad Kemenah (Alvada, Ohio) lined up on the pole by virtue of his win in the Dash, rebounded from a poor start to finish third. Cap Henry (Bellevue, Ohio) raced his way from the 19th starting position to finish fourth with Cole Duncan (Lockbourne, Ohio) rounding out the top-five.
“Hats off to Eldora Speedway and the entire staff. There are a lot of cars here between all three of the divisions. That is definitely not easy,” said Abreu in victory lane. “I especially want to thank all of you fans for sticking this out through the cold weather here tonight. I’m not real used to this – I’m used to California weather. This is so much fun, though. I enjoy getting to come here and being a part of everything at Eldora Speedway.”
It was Abreu’s second win of the season at Eldora, the first coming in the USAC National Midget Series at Four Crown weekend, and second ASCoC win at the legendary half-mile clay oval. The seventh year driver showcased his versatility at Eldora this year with two wins, a second place finish to Christopher Bell in the NRA portion of May’s ‘Johnny Appleseed Classic,’ the runnerup position to Donny Schatz in the ‘Kings Royal,’ two third place finishes in the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series’ ‘Jokers Wild’ and ‘Knight Before The Kings Royal’ and a third place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ ‘Aspen Dental Dirt Derby.’
Heat race winners were Shawn Dancer (Delphos), Ian Madsen (Sydney, Australia), Abreu and Kemenah. Kemenah also won the Dash and Aaron Reutzel (Clute, Texas) won the B-Feature. Madsen was the fast qualifier.
First-time visitor Reutzel made the most of his trip competing in both the ASCoC program and with the NRA Sprint Invaders where he has showcased his prowess in the winged 360 c.i. division.
Starting third in the ‘Jimmy Johnston Classic,’ Reutzel made it three-wide on the start but fell back behind early leader Dustin Daggett (Grand Ledge, Michigan) and veteran Butch Schroeder (Leipsic, Ohio). Reutzel made the best of a refreshed upper lane to dispatch Schroeder as the field worked the second lap of the race but his pursuit of Daggett was interrupted by the red flag when Randy Hannagan (Pittsboro, Indiana) flipped violently on the backstretch. Hannagan was not injured.
On the restart, Reutzel looked like a veteran of the high-banks with a perfect slide job of Daggett in Turn 2. While he had the field covered, Reutzel was not without challenge as his engine cover started to flap on the 10th circuit and would do so for the remainder of the race. Schroeder edged Daggett for second with a last lap pass, while ninth starting Tim Allison (Cridersville, Ohio) and Devon Dobie (Wapakoneta, Ohio) rounded out the top-five.
Heat race winners were Hannagan, Daggett and Max Stambaugh (Elida, Ohio). Jack Dover (Springfield, Nebraska) won the B-Feature and raced his way to a seventh place finish in the main event.
With the track slicked off to a refreshed high-line by the wall, the BOSS main event for traditional sprint cars, without the wing, was the show of the night. Dallas Hewitt (Troy, Ohio) started on the outside of the front row to take the early lead but pole sitter Dustin Smith (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) began to challenge him on lap 3. Trading slide jobs, the two were soon joined by sixth-starting Chris Windom (Canton, Illinois), the 2016 USAC Silver Crown Series champion and winner of the champ car feature at the Four Crown Nationals, and the trio began a thrilling series of passes and slide jobs on lap 8. Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, California) joined the fray on lap 14 after starting 10th. The four leaders battled each other swapping positions with slide jobs and crossover moves as they sliced through lapped traffic until Windom finally took the lead with two laps to go and set sail for the checkers. Meseraull got by Hewitt for the final time coming to the white flag for second, while Smith maintained the fourth position and Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio) finished fifth. 2016 BOSS champion, Shawn Westerfeld (Guilford, Indiana) was sixth.
Heat race winners were Bill Rose (Plainfield, Indiana), C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Indiana), Westfall, Windom, Meseraull and Smith. Brandon Whited (Richmond, Indiana) and Drew Abel (Columbus, Indiana) won the B-Features.
All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars
Qualifying 1.18-Ian Madsen, 14.193; 2.24-Rico Abreu, 14.267; 3.11K-Kraig Kinser, 14.282; 4.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 14.322; 5.57X-Andrew Palker, 14.358; 6.5T-Travis Philo, 14.410; 7.12N-Cole Duncan, 14.419; 8.1B-Dale Blaney, 14.426; 9.10H-Chad Kemenah, 14.453; 10.6M-Jac Haudenschild, 14.508; 11.81-Lee Jacobs, 14.514; 12.82-Sammy Swindell, 14.533; 13.17B-Bill Balog, 14.559; 14.23C-Tyler Courtney, 14.565; 15.7C-Caleb Armstrong, 14.567; 16.70-Danny Holtgraver, 14.613; 17.2M-Dustin Daggett, 14.619; 18.3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 14.664; 19.49D-Shawn Dancer, 14.718; 20.21C-Cap Henry, 14.754; 21.97-Aaron Reutzel, 14.821; 22.5M-Max Stambaugh, 14.887; 23.40-Caleb Helms, 14.897; 24.71M-Paul May, 14.933; 25.7-Joe Swanson, 14.978; 26.8M-TJ Michael, 15.148; 27.97A-Cale Conley, 15.209; 28.4-Danny Smith, 15.300; 29.60-Kory Crabtree, 15.346; 30.13M-Brandon Matus, 15.367; 31.49H-Bradley Howard, 15.389; 32.21K-Kyle Pruitt, 15.718; 33.07-Jacob Wilson, 15.788; 34.5J-Jeremy Schultz, 15.832; 35.59N-Bryan Nuckles, 15.887; 36.3FX-Dean Kester, 16.234; 37.16M-Danny Mumaw, 16.264; 38.83-Adam Cruea, 16.499; 39.11-Brian Benson, 16.685;
Heat 1 – (8 Laps) 1. 49D-Shawn Dancer[1] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[4] ; 3. 17B-Bill Balog[3] ; 4. 2M-Dustin Daggett[2] ; 5. 8M-TJ Michael[6] ; 6. 60-Kory Crabtree[7] ; 7. 71M-Paul May[5] ; 8. 59N-Bryan Nuckles[10] ; 9. 21K-Kyle Pruitt[8] ; 10. 07-Jacob Wilson[9]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps) 1. 18-Ian Madsen[4] ; 2. 5T-Travis Philo[2] ; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs[1] ; 4. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[5] ; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[6] ; 6. 97A-Cale Conley[9] ; 7. 5M-Max Stambaugh[7] ; 8. 7-Joe Swanson[8] ; 9. 3FX-Dean Kester[10] ; 10. 57X-Andrew Palker[3]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps) 1. 24-Rico Abreu[4] ; 2. 1B-Dale Blaney[2] ; 3. 82-Sammy Swindell[5] ; 4. 12N-Cole Duncan[3] ; 5. 21C-Cap Henry[8] ; 6. 23C-Tyler Courtney[6] ; 7. 70-Danny Holtgraver[7] ; 8. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[1] ; 9. 97-Aaron Reutzel[9] ; 10. 40-Caleb Helms[10]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps) 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah[3] ; 2. 13M-Brandon Matus[1] ; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 4. 4-Danny Smith[2] ; 5. 7K-Dallas Hewitt[7] ; 6. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[6] ; 7. 16M-Danny Mumaw[8] ; 8. 83-Adam Cruea[9] ; 9. 11-Brian Benson[10] ; 10. 49H-Bradley Howard[5]
Dash – (6 Laps) 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah[1] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[4] ; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser[3] ; 5. 1B-Dale Blaney[8] ; 6. 18-Ian Madsen[6] ; 7. 12N-Cole Duncan[5] ; 8. 5T-Travis Philo[7]
B-Feature – (12 Laps) 1. 97-Aaron Reutzel[5] ; 2. 23C-Tyler Courtney[3] ; 3. 70-Danny Holtgraver[4] ; 4. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[2] ; 5. 60-Kory Crabtree[11] ; 6. 71M-Paul May[8] ; 7. 40-Caleb Helms[7] ; 8. 07-Jacob Wilson[14] ; 9. 97A-Cale Conley[10] ; 10. 16M-Danny Mumaw[18] ; 11. 59N-Bryan Nuckles[16] ; 12. 49H-Bradley Howard[12] ; 13. 21K-Kyle Pruitt[13] ; 14. 83-Adam Cruea[19] ; 15. 11-Brian Benson[20] ; 16. 5J-Jeremy Schultz[15] ; 17. 3FX-Dean Kester[17] ; 18. 5M-Max Stambaugh[6] ; 19. 7-Joe Swanson[9] ; 20. 57X-Andrew Palker[1]
A-Feature – (30 Laps) 1. 24-Rico Abreu[3] ; 2. 1B-Dale Blaney[5] ; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[1] ; 4. 21C-Cap Henry[19] ; 5. 12N-Cole Duncan[7] ; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 7. 18-Ian Madsen[6] ; 8. 5T-Travis Philo[8] ; 9. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4] ; 10. 97-Aaron Reutzel[21] ; 11. 82-Sammy Swindell[13] ; 12. 70-Danny Holtgraver[23] ; 13. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[18] ; 14. 49D-Shawn Dancer[9] ; 15. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[15] ; 16. 23C-Tyler Courtney[22] ; 17. 6M-Jac Haudenschild[24] ; 18. 2M-Dustin Daggett[14] ; 19. 17B-Bill Balog[11] ; 20. 81-Lee Jacobs[12] ; 21. 7K-Dallas Hewitt[20] ; 22. 8M-TJ Michael[17] ; 23. 60-Kory Crabtree[25] ; 24. 4-Danny Smith[16] ; 25. 13M-Brandon Matus[10]
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NRA Sprint Invaders
Qualifying 1.22H-Randy Hannagan, 15.356; 2.2-Kyle Sauder, 15.419; 3.79-Jordan Thomas, 15.516; 4.23D-Devon Dobie, 15.658; 5.87-Aaron Reutzel, 15.683; 6.53-Jack Dover, 15.735; 7.20B-Butch Schroeder, 15.789; 8.71H-Dustin Daggett, 15.797; 9.35-Ron Blair, 15.896; 10.17-Jared Horstman, 15.899; 11.11-Tim Allison, 15.917; 12.6S-Max Stambaugh, 15.981; 13.14-Coleman Gulick, 16.023; 14.14H-Jim Huppunen, 16.032; 15.11N-Ed Neumeister, 16.038; 16.27-Brad Lamberson, 16.248; 17.5W-Jeff Williams, 16.308; 18.10B-Mitch Brown, 16.382; 19.7J-Joe Swanson, 16.387; 20.31-Andy Tuenessen, 16.432; 21.22R-Kevin Roberts Jr., 16.450; 22.10J-Jared DeLong, 16.647; 23.20H-Andy Chehowski, 16.799; 24.97-Cory Turner, 16.865; 25.77x-Alex Hill, 17.239; 26.89-Chris Pobanz, 17.351; 27.84-Kyle Poortenga, 17.469; 28.12R-Nick Roberts, 17.605; 29.2CK-Kenny Long, 20.129;
Heat 1 – (8 Laps) 1. 22H-Randy Hannagan[4] ; 2. 20B-Butch Schroeder[2] ; 3. 17-Jared Horstman[1] ; 4. 23D-Devon Dobie[3] ; 5. 27-Brad Lamberson[6] ; 6. 10J-Jared DeLong[8] ; 7. 77x-Alex Hill[9] ; 8. 7J-Joe Swanson[7] ; 9. 12R-Nick Roberts[10] ; 10. 14-Coleman Gulick[5]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps) 1. 71H-Dustin Daggett[2] ; 2. 2-Kyle Sauder[4] ; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel[3] ; 4. 14H-Jim Huppunen[5] ; 5. 11-Tim Allison[1] ; 6. 5W-Jeff Williams[6] ; 7. 31-Andy Tuenessen[7] ; 8. 89-Chris Pobanz[9] ; 9. 20H-Andy Chehowski[8] ; 10. 2CK-Kenny Long[10]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps) 1. 6S-Max Stambaugh[1] ; 2. 10B-Mitch Brown[6] ; 3. 35-Ron Blair[2] ; 4. 11N-Ed Neumeister[5] ; 5. 97-Cory Turner[8] ; 6. 53-Jack Dover[3] ; 7. 79-Jordan Thomas[4] ; 8. 84-Kyle Poortenga[9] ; 9. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr.[7]
B-Feature – (10 Laps) 1. 53-Jack Dover[2] ; 2. 79-Jordan Thomas[1] ; 3. 31-Andy Tuenessen[6] ; 4. 5W-Jeff Williams[4] ; 5. 77x-Alex Hill[10] ; 6. 10J-Jared DeLong[8] ; 7. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr.[7] ; 8. 89-Chris Pobanz[11] ; 9. 7J-Joe Swanson[5] ; 10. 84-Kyle Poortenga[12] ; 11. 20H-Andy Chehowski[9] ; 12. 12R-Nick Roberts[13] ; 13. 14-Coleman Gulick[3] ; 14. 2CK-Kenny Long[14]
A-Feature – (25 Laps) 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[3] ; 2. 20B-Butch Schroeder[2] ; 3. 71H-Dustin Daggett[1] ; 4. 11-Tim Allison[9] ; 5. 23D-Devon Dobie[4] ; 6. 2-Kyle Sauder[5] ; 7. 53-Jack Dover[16] ; 8. 17-Jared Horstman[8] ; 9. 35-Ron Blair[7] ; 10. 6S-Max Stambaugh[10] ; 11. 10B-Mitch Brown[14] ; 12. 79-Jordan Thomas[17] ; 13. 31-Andy Tuenessen[18] ; 14. 77x-Alex Hill[20] ; 15. 97-Cory Turner[15] ; 16. 11N-Ed Neumeister[12] ; 17. 14H-Jim Huppunen[11] ; 18. 5W-Jeff Williams[19] ; 19. 27-Brad Lamberson[13] ; 20. 22H-Randy Hannagan[6]
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BOSS Sprint Cars
Heat 1 – (8 Laps) 1. 320-Bill Rose[1] ; 2. 14W-Chad Wilson[7] ; 3. 17G-Justin Grant[6] ; 4. 21-Carmen Pergio[2] ; 5. 39-Matt Goodnight[3] ; 6. 6-Chris Phillips[9] ; 7. 08-Andy Feil[5] ; 8. 97J-Andy Fike[4] ; 9. 76-JJ Hughes[8]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps) 1. 30-CJ Leary[5] ; 2. 57-Shane Cottle[4] ; 3. 19-Matt Cooley[3] ; 4. 11-David Applegate[2] ; 5. 18D-Bob Distel[8] ; 6. 71-Stratton Briggs[6] ; 7. 0C-Chris Vandewiele[7] ; 8. 13-Brandon Mans[1]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps) 1. 33M-Matt Westfall[8] ; 2. 9N-Luke Hall[1] ; 3. 4F-Michael Fischesser[7] ; 4. 15-Brandon Whited[6] ; 5. 19X-Cooper Clouse[4] ; 6. 97-Bret Mellenberndt[3] ; 7. 3-Joe Butera[5] ; 8. 69R-Cody Gardner[2]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps) 1. 5-Chris Windom[2] ; 2. 89-Shawn Westerfeld[8] ; 3. 23S-Kyle Simon[6] ; 4. 74-Drew Rader[1] ; 5. 53-Steve Little[7] ; 6. 26-John Watson[5] ; 7. 13H-Ian Hunter [3] ; 8. 24-Landon Simon[4]
Heat 5 – (8 Laps) 1. 9X-Thomas Meseraull[4] ; 2. 18K-Dallas Hewitt[6] ; 3. 17B-Nick Bilbee[2] ; 4. 4J-Justin Owen[3] ; 5. 5M-Bob McMillin[5] ; 6. 86-Rick Holley[8] ; 7. 91X-Aaron Middaugh[7] ; 8. 2DI-Dustin Ingle[1]
Heat 6 – (8 Laps) 1. 77-Dustin Smith[4] ; 2. 7X-Logan Hupp[2] ; 3. 27-Zach Morrow[6] ; 4. 32M-Derek Hastings[8] ; 5. 04-Drew Abel[1] ; 6. 97H-Scott Hardman[3] ; 7. 1J-Jeremy Shambaugh[7] ; 8. 71C-Barney Craig[5]
B-Feature 1 – (12 Laps) 1. 15-Brandon Whited[2] ; 2. 6-Chris Phillips[7] ; 3. 19X-Cooper Clouse[5] ; 4. 5M-Bob McMillin[6] ; 5. 21-Carmen Pergio[1] ; 6. 39-Matt Goodnight[4] ; 7. 91X-Aaron Middaugh[12] ; 8. 2DI-Dustin Ingle[15] ; 9. 08-Andy Feil[10] ; 10. 97J-Andy Fike[13] ; 11. 3-Joe Butera[11] ; 12. 4J-Justin Owen[3] ; 13. 97-Bret Mellenberndt[8] ; 14. 86-Rick Holley[9] ; 15. 69R-Cody Gardner[14] ; 16. 76-JJ Hughes[16]
B-Feature 2 – (12 Laps) 1. 04-Drew Abel[6] ; 2. 74-Drew Rader[2] ; 3. 32M-Derek Hastings[3] ; 4. 53-Steve Little[5] ; 5. 18D-Bob Distel[4] ; 6. 11-David Applegate[1] ; 7. 26-John Watson[8] ; 8. 71-Stratton Briggs[7] ; 9. 1J-Jeremy Shambaugh[12] ; 10. 0C-Chris Vandewiele[10] ; 11. 97H-Scott Hardman[9] ; 12. 13H-Ian Hunter [11] ; 13. 71C-Barney Craig[15] ; 14. 13-Brandon Mans[13] ; 15. 24-Landon Simon[14]
A-Feature – (25 Laps) 1. 5-Chris Windom[6] ; 2. 9X-Thomas Meseraull[10] ; 3. 18K-Dallas Hewitt[2] ; 4. 77-Dustin Smith[1] ; 5. 33M-Matt Westfall[7] ; 6. 89-Shawn Westerfeld[4] ; 7. 4F-Michael Fischesser[15] ; 8. 320-Bill Rose[11] ; 9. 17G-Justin Grant[13] ; 10. 17B-Nick Bilbee[17] ; 11. 15-Brandon Whited[19] ; 12. 7X-Logan Hupp[12] ; 13. 19X-Cooper Clouse[23] ; 14. 23S-Kyle Simon[16] ; 15. 6-Chris Phillips[21] ; 16. 57-Shane Cottle[3] ; 17. 74-Drew Rader[22] ; 18. 04-Drew Abel[20] ; 19. 19-Matt Cooley[14] ; 20. 27-Zach Morrow[18] ; 21. 14W-Chad Wilson[5] ; 22. 32M-Derek Hastings[24] ; 23. 9N-Luke Hall[9] ; 24. 30-CJ Leary[8]
Courtesy CampbellPhoto.com
Lap chart PDF documents can be viewed below. The charts show running order, lap times and charge (+/-) for each lap crossing and each car.