2018 Ohio Sprint Speedweek – Eldora Speedway

Race Story

LARSON WINS SPEEDWEEK THRILLER

(courtesy ASCoC PR)
After spending the entire morning and an early portion of the afternoon rebuilding a car in the hotel parking lot, Elk Grove, California’s Kyle Larson rewarded his crew in a big way on Saturday night by claiming round two of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by C&R Racing at the world-famous Eldora Speedway. Larson’s first-ever Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 triumph at the World’s Greatest Dirt Track was accomplished his fantastic fashion, climbing ahead from eighth on the starting grid, ultimately withstanding a last lap surge by the “Buckeye Bullet” Dave Blaney to score the $5,000 payday.

Fellow California native Carson Macedo would sneak by Blaney in the final two corners to finish second at the final checkers, followed by Blaney, Tim Shaffer, and Clute, Texas, native Aaron Reutzel.

“I’m so happy to get it done here tonight for my guys. Paul Silva and the crew built this car this morning; this is a brand new car from the tires up. We got here just in time to catch the drivers meeting and get in the seat for hot laps,” Kyle Larson said, driver of the Paul Silva-owned/Brandt/Eneos/Finley Farms/Priority Aviation/No. 57 sprinter. “I made a mistake last night and it cost us a car. This really makes up for that. I’ve now won in every kind of car I have ever raced here at Eldora. That’s pretty cool considering I’ve only raced here like ten times.”

Forced to start on the outside of row four by way of dash result, Larson, who was taking advantage of an off-weekend from NASCAR competition to battle with Tony Stewart’s All Stars, wasted little time advancing to the front of the field, boosting himself to fourth as the front-runners raced by the flagstand for the first time.

By lap seven, Larson worked his way to second, now in pursuit of race-long leader, Aaron Reutzel, who owned a commanding lead equalling just over two seconds. Just two circuits later, Larson was on the tail tank of Reutzel, chasing the Baughman-Reutzel Motorsports entry through turns one and two on lap ten, eventually utilizing a slingshot move off of the corner to squeeze between Reutzel and a lapped car as the leaders raced down the back straightaway. Larson’s brave move worked, leading Reutzel to the line to officially lead lap ten.

Although impressive, Larson’s first campaign at the front of the field was short-lived as Dave Blaney was able to put the moves on the NASCAR star by using his preferred line through the middle of the speedway. Soon enough, Blaney caught Larson to take command on lap 13.

A pair of cautions on lap 17 and lap 19 gave Larson two opportunities to regain the top spot from the former World of Outlaws champion. Although the first attempt failed, unable to drive by the Premier Motorsports entry as the pair raced through turns one and two on lap 17, the second attempt proved to be more successful, allowing Larson to build enough momentum on the topside of the speedway to chase down Blaney by lap 23. On lap 24, Larson made a perfect bid for the race lead by sticking a textbook slider between turns one and two. Although escaping into traffic, Blaney never gave up, actually tracking down Larson before attempting a last-ditch effort slider in turn one on the final circuit. The slidejob attempt was unsuccessful.

“I actually saw Dave (Blaney) attempt to drive under me at one point there toward the end,” Kyle Larson continued. “Once I got to the top, I could really build some momentum.”

The victory was Larson’s seventh against the All Star Circuit of Champions.

Jacob Hawkins (DIRTcar Modifieds) and Gary Rahe Jr (Stock Cars) rounded out the list of Feature winners.

Race Results

Event Box Score

ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS SPRINT CARS

Group (A)
1. 57-Kyle Larson, 13.184; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo, 13.206; 3. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.339; 4. 70-Dave Blaney, 13.414; 5. 22B-Ryan Broughton, 13.493; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.568; 7. 11N-Cap Henry, 13.620; 8. 23-DJ Foos, 13.670; 9. 9J-Dean Jacobs, 14.141; 10. 96AU-Bruce White, 14.924

Group (B)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.074; 2. 4-Parker Price-Miller, 13.191; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.288; 4. 17b-Josh Baughman, 13.442; 5. 7K-Cale Conley, 13.764; 6. 22M-Dan McCarron, 13.860; 7. 35R-Ronnie Blair, 13.926; 8. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 13.979; 9. 28-Brian Paulus, 14.093

Group (C)
1. 12N-Cole Duncan, 13.219; 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 13.232; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.347; 4. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 13.508; 5. 51-John Garvin, 13.844; 6. 99-Jay Waugh, 13.986; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 14.047; 8. 97au-Mitchell Wormall, 14.206; 9. 9X-Paul Nienhiser, 99.270

Group (D)
1. G1-Gary Taylor, 13.393; 2. 11-Ryan Smith, 13.538; 3. 71x-Gio Scelzi, 13.592; 4. 39-Spencer Bayston, 13.637; 5. 17-Caleb Helms, 13.688; 6. A79-Brandon Wimmer, 13.714; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.732; 8. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.859; 9. 35-Tyler Esh, 13.907

Group (E)
1. 14-Tony Stewart, 13.320; 2. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.333; 3. 4K-Kasey Kahne, 13.375; 4. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.680; 5. 98-Carl Bowser, 13.706; 6. 49-Shawn Dancer, 13.707; 7. 35s-Stuart Brubaker, 13.720; 8. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.743; 9. 45-Trevor Baker, 14.060

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 70-Dave Blaney [1]; 2. 57-Kyle Larson [4]; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo [3]; 4. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 5. 11N-Cap Henry [7]; 6. 22B-Ryan Broughton [5]; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler [6]; 8. 96AU-Bruce White [10]; 9. 9J-Dean Jacobs [9]; 10. 23-DJ Foos [8]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 17B-Josh Baughman [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 4-Parker Price-Miller [3]; 4. 22M-Dan McCarron [6]; 5. 7K-Cale Conley [5]; 6. 28-Brian Paulus [9]; 7. 35R-Ronnie Blair [7]; 8. 71-Ayrton Olsen [8]; 9. 10H-Chad Kemenah [2]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 3. O7-Gerard McIntyre [1]; 4. 12N-Cole Duncan [4]; 5. 99-Jay Waugh [6]; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [7]; 7. 97AU-Mitchell Wormall [8]; 8. 51-John Garvin [5]; 9. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [9]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 39-Spencer Bayston [1]; 2. A79-Brandon Wimmer [6]; 3. 71X-Gio Scelzi [2]; 4. 11-Ryan Smith [3]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo [8]; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs [7]; 7. 17-Caleb Helms [5]; 8. 35-Tyler Esh [9]; 9. G1-Gary Taylor [4]

Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 4K-Kasey Kahne [2]; 2. 91-Cale Thomas [1]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [8]; 5. 49-Shawn Dancer [6]; 6. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [7]; 7. 14-Tony Stewart [4]; 8. 98-Carl Bowser [5]; 9. 45-Trevor Baker [9]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 3. 3G-Carson Macedo [3]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 5. 4-Parker Price-Miller [6]; 6. 17B-Josh Baughman [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 39-Spencer Bayston [2]; 2. 70-Dave Blaney [1]; 3. 91-Cale Thomas [4]; 4. 57-Kyle Larson [5]; 5. 4K-Kasey Kahne [6]; 6. A79-Brandon Wimmer [3]

C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 98-Carl Bowser [1]; 2. 51-John Garvin [2]; 3. 35-Tyler Esh [3]; 4. 96AU-Bruce White [5]; 5. 71-Ayrton Olsen [4]; 6. 45-Trevor Baker [7]; 7. G1-Gary Taylor [6]; 8. 9J-Dean Jacobs [9]; 9. 23-DJ Foos [10]; 10. 9X-Paul Nienhiser [8]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [2]; 2. 11N-Cap Henry [3]; 3. 5T-Travis Philo [6]; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs [10]; 5. 35S-Stuart Brubaker [9]; 6. 7K-Cale Conley [5]; 7. 28-Brian Paulus [12]; 8. 17-Caleb Helms [14]; 9. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 10. 35R-Ronnie Blair [15]; 11. 22-Brandon Spithaler [13]; 12. 98-Carl Bowser [17]; 13. 99-Jay Waugh [7]; 14. 97AU-Mitchell Wormall [16]; 15. 51-John Garvin [18]; 16. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [11]; 17. 22B-Ryan Broughton [8]; 18. 49-Shawn Dancer [4]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 57-Kyle Larson [8]; 2. 3G-Carson Macedo [5]; 3. 70-Dave Blaney [4]; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 6. 4-Parker Price-Miller [9]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan [13]; 8. 71X-Gio Scelzi [15]; 9. 48-Danny Dietrich [7]; 10. 24-Rico Abreu [17]; 11. 3-Jac Haudenschild [19]; 12. 91-Cale Thomas [6]; 13. 11-Ryan Smith [18]; 14. 11N-Cap Henry [22]; 15. 12N-Cole Duncan [16]; 16. 14-Tony Stewart [21]; 17. 17B-Josh Baughman [11]; 18. O7-Gerard McIntyre [14]; 19. 81-Lee Jacobs [24]; 20. 4K-Kasey Kahne [10]; 21. 39-Spencer Bayston [2]; 22. A79-Brandon Wimmer [12]; 23. 7K-Cale Conley [26]; 24. 5T-Travis Philo [23]; 25. 22M-Dan McCarron [20]; 26. 10H-Chad Kemenah [25] Lap Leaders: Aaron Reutzel (1-9), Kyle Larson (10-12), Dave Blaney (13-23), Kyle Larson (24-30)

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DIRTCAR MODIFIEDS

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer
1. 18-Ryan Sutter[1]; 2. O9D-Joel Dick[4]; 3. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[5]; 4. 16-Jeff Koz[9]; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson[2]; 6. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[7]; 7. O1-Earnie Woodard[3]; 8. 7-Evan Taylor[10]; 9. 27-Frank Paladino[6]; 10. 30-Jon Raney[8]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer
1. 13H-Jacob Hawkins[3]; 2. 3W-Dylan Woodling[2]; 3. 5X-Tim Richardson[4]; 4. 20M-Josh Morton[6]; 5. 36-Brandon Vaughan[7]; 6. 1-Scott Williams[9]; 7. 5-Jonathan Taylor[8]; 8. 74-Lenny Guyton[1]; 9. 52-Weasel Phlipot[5]

A-Feature – (20)Laps
1. 13H-Jacob Hawkins[8]; 2. 20M-Josh Morton[2]; 3. 16-Jeff Koz[3]; 4. 95J-Jerry Bowersock[5]; 5. 22T-Tony Anderson[1]; 6. 5X-Tim Richardson[4]; 7. O9D-Joel Dick[7]; 8. 3W-Dylan Woodling[6]; 9. 5-Jonathan Taylor[14]; 10. 7-Evan Taylor[15]; 11. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[11]; 12. 52-Weasel Phlipot[18]; 13. 1-Scott Williams[12]; 14. 36-Brandon Vaughan[10]; 15. O1-Earnie Woodard[13]; 16. 18-Ryan Sutter[9]; 17. 74-Lenny Guyton[16]; 18. 27-Frank Paladino[17]; 19. 30-Jon Raney[19]

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STOCK CARS

Heat #1 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer
1. 22T-Tony Anderson[5]; 2. 82-Chris Douglas[2]; 3. 95-Gary Rahe Jr.[7]; 4. 87-Andy Welch[4]; 5. 11-TJ Smith[1]; 6. J2-Keith Lyall[6]; 7. 5W-Craig Swartz[3]

Heat #2 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer
1. O1-Earnie Woodard[2]; 2. 27-Frank Paladino[1]; 3. 463-Daniel Sanchez[4]; 4. OOP-Dean Pitts[5]; 5. 33-Erik Skaggs[6]; 6. 15-Drew Trick[3]; 7. 97-Frank Harvey[7]

Heat #3 – (8)Laps – Top 10 Transfer
1. 410-Paul Pardo[5]; 2. 99J-Donnie Jeschke[7]; 3. 17-Jeremy Creech[3]; 4. 17B-Nick Bowers[2]; 5. 23-Casey Barr[4]; 6. 91-Rob Trent[6]; 7. 5G-Anthony Goode[1]

A-Feature – (15)Laps
1. 95-Gary Rahe Jr.[2]; 2. 99J-Donnie Jeschke[3]; 3. 22T-Tony Anderson[8]; 4. 82-Chris Douglas[5]; 5. 17B-Nick Bowers[12]; 6. O1-Earnie Woodard[7]; 7. J2-Keith Lyall[16]; 8. 463-Daniel Sanchez[1]; 9. 11-TJ Smith[13]; 10. 87-Andy Welch[10]; 11. OOP-Dean Pitts[11]; 12. 5W-Craig Swartz[19]; 13. 17-Jeremy Creech[9]; 14. 27-Frank Paladino[4]; 15. 23-Casey Barr[15]; 16. 15-Drew Trick[17]; 17. 33-Erik Skaggs[14]; 18. 91-Rob Trent[18]; 19. 97-Frank Harvey[20]

Photos