Fan Notes from All Star Attica Opener

Greg Wilson Tom Myers ( 4/15/2022 ) The weather was finally warmer but very, very windy here at Attica Raceway Park for the first points race of the season for the All Star Circuit of Champions. This was also Attica’s first race of the year because of the bad weather that has plagued the area for the last 2-3 weeks. Rain and cold, snow and wind….repeat. There have been a few 65 degree sunny days mixed in recently…..but always during the work week. The weekends as a rule, have been nasty. But hey, we finally got a race in!

Attica is making more improvements to their facility. Last year they added seating and extended the grandstands another 10 rows or so at the top. This year they built a new building behind the main grandstand, where the old building was. You know, the place where they sold Attica t-shirts and hoodies and candy along with racing photos. The new building is nice looking with white siding and a green roof. It has a nice overhang all around so folks can stand under it if a rainstorm pops up. Attica is a nice place to watch a race and they keep improving it. If you have never been there, it’s worth the trip.

Potential problems on the horizon include the diesel fuel prices for the race teams, and also a racing tire shortage. Some folks in the pits were saying that they may run out of tires soon! The shortage of workers and delays with raw material shipments is affecting the racing industry like everything else has been affected….and as a result, the tire makers can’t keep up with the demand. And the cost for the tires has gone up dramatically too. I wonder how this will play out!

Kevin Thomas Jr. There were a healthy 49 cars on hand for this first race at Attica, and the field was pretty stacked. There is a good group of All Star followers this year with 14 full timers. Most of last year’s racers are back again for another try at the championship. New to the series this year are USAC veterans Kevin Thomas Jr. and Chris Windom, 360 racer Scott Bogucki, former All Star runner Bradley Howard and multi-time All Star champion Tim Shaffer. In addition to the All Star guys, other notable racers on hand were Brady Bacon, Cole Duncan, Skylar Gee, Cale Conley, Brandon Spithaler, Cale Thomas, Greg Wilson, Cole Macedo, Craig Mintz and multi-time All Star champ Chad Kemenah.

The wind was strong from the west and at our backs…..and that was good for us in the stands because it was blowing all the dust away from us. The wind was so strong however, that it was blowing some cars off the exit of turn 2. The wind also dried out the turn 2 dirt and as time trials got underway, some cars would drift up and over the turn 2 banking and have to continue down the backstretch outside of the track. And the dust really kicked up too, but the track was smooth….for a first race of the year….to the credit of the Attica crew. The wind was also a challenge for the Flo Racing camera drone….it had to tilt into the wind as it flied…..to prevent it from being blown off course!

Craig Mintz The fast timer was Brady Bacon, followed by Bogucki, Courtney, Price-Miller, Peck, Schurenburg, Henry, Eliason, Spithaler and Macedo. The fastest timer in each heat group starts 4th. If he or she wins the heat, then only that driver from that heat goes to the dash draw. Otherwise the top finisher and fastest timer who finished in a transfer spot goes to the dash draw from that heat. In the 4th group of timers Max Stambaugh backed it off turn 3 at full speed and hit the pit guardrail and the Styrofoam blocks that line the rail. He hit tail first and almost at full speed. He was okay but the 71 car was done for the night.

Your heat winners were Schuerenburg, Peck, Courtney, Wilson and Mintz. Wilson and Shaffer put on a nice show in heat 4, both of them throwing sliders back and forth for a few laps before Wilson finally prevailed.

The C main winner was Chris Andrews and the B main winner was Cory Eliason. Eliason was followed by Windom, Balog and Duncan. As Jordan Ryan and Skylar Gee were waging a torrid battle for the 4th and last transfer spot, Duncan snuck by them both for the spot with about a lap to go.

Tyler Courtney won at Attica Friday (Video Highlights from FloRacing.com) The wind then abruptly shifted direction and it started blowing in from the north. It brought cooler air with it as the temps dropped a good 10 degrees. Thankfully, the All Stars rushed to get the A main started. And that ended up being a good thing because it started to rain right after the A main was done.

The front row of the A main was Peck on the pole with Mintz alongside. Row 2 was Courtney and Wilson and row 3 was Thomas Jr. and Bogucki. At the green, Mintz raced out to the lead with Peck close behind. Peck catches Mintz and goes around him for the lead on lap 4. On lap 9 Eliason spins into the turn 4 infield. Running order is Peck, Mintz, Courtney, Bogucki, Wilson, KTJ, Wise, Shurenburg, Bacon, PPM, Henry, Balog, Macedo and Shaffer. When action resumed, Peck raced away from Mintz as the field followed. Courtney got around Mintz and then set sail for Peck. In heavy traffic, Courtney got close to Peck a few times but couldn’t pass. On lap 26, Cale Conley spins it in turn 2. The running order is Peck, Courtney, Wise, Mintz, Bogucki, Wilson, Schurenburg, KTJ, Balog, PPM, Henry and Bacon. With a clear track, Peck races to the restart but Courtney sticks close to him and the two exchange slide jobs for a couple of laps. On lap 29 Courtney executes a slide job in turn 3 and as he drifted up high into turn 4 Peck had nowhere to go but to go higher and Peck got over the burm at the turn 4 exit and spun but kept it going. The officials threw the yellow, so Peck, after a lengthy talk with an official, had to go back to 9th in the running order…everyone else he had lapped. On the restart Courtney flew away from the field. Wise then brought out another yellow with a few laps remaining and he went to the work area. On the restart Courtney raced to the win. Behind him Wilson got around Mintz for 2nd. A great run for Wilson. Mintz held on for 3rd, followed by Bogucki, PPM and Balog, who came up from 22nd starting spot. Henry, Schurenburg, Peck and Macedo finished 7th thru 10th.

A Thank you goes out to the All Stars and also to Attica Raceway Park, for putting on a great race!