PORT ROYAL, PA (4-28-12) By Brian Liskai - Confidence. Simply put, it’s important in any sport, but particularly in sprint car racing. And when Greg Hodnett of Thomasville, Pa. walks through the gates at Port Royal Speedway, he exudes confidence. He led 29 of the 30 laps of the Weikert’s Livestock University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions Bob Weikert Memorial Saturday to take home $10,000 plus $2,900 in lap money.

“I’m very fortunate to have a team that has always run well here. We had a little racing luck tonight…several guys didn’t transfer from their heat and that put us in the dash and we were able to capitalize and start up front in the feature.  I don’t know what it is, but this place just fits my driving style. I’ve been good here since the first time I raced here with the All Stars in 1998,” said Hodnett beside his Trone Outdoor, Eagle Steel, Macri Concrete, H&H Excavating, Apple Chevrolet, Eagle Evergreens, Brickers backed #39.

It was Hodnett’s second consecutive win of the Bob Weikert Memorial and his third win of 2012 at Port Royal. He now has 27 career victories at Port Royal. Hodnett  now has six wins in 2012. The UNOH All Star victory is Hodnett’s 15th career win with the series.

The UNOH All Star drivers fared well at the Juniata County oval, taking four of the top seven finishing positions against the Pennsylvania Posse.

Watertown, Connecticut’s David Gravel and Hodnett started on the pole and flew the UNOH All Star colors high throughout the event after leading the first lap, as did third place starter Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s Danny Holtgraver.

After Gravel led the first circuit of the race, Hodnett pulled a slider in the first corner to take the lead and began to pull away. Hodnett’s pace was halted before three laps could be completed however when fifth starter Stevie Smith looped his car exiting turn two and got hit hard by Blaine Heimbach. The red flag unfurled for the crash that saw Heimbach’s #12 turn over. There were no injuries, but both drivers were done for the night.

Hodnett restarted in control and flew away the final 28 non-stop laps. Holtgraver blasted into second on lap 11 after a spirited battle with Gravel, and for a short time, was able to close on Hodnett as he worked lapped traffic. But, Hodnett’s experience at the oval was just too much, as he was able to extend his lead over the last half of the event, taking the checkered with nearly a half track advantage. Holtgraver, competing at Port Royal for the first time in his career, would finish second followed by Gravel. The top three finishers would receive a jacket from the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum.

Fourth went to Sam Hafertepe Jr. with All Star regular Paul McMahan finishing fifth. All Star East Region point leader Daryn Pittman would come home sixth with three time series champion and current national points leader Dale Blaney seventh followed by Aaron Ott, Mark Smith and Fred Rahmer. 

“I caught him (Hodnett) once in traffic, but once he got clear he was gone. I’m happy as hell to hold on to second having never seen this place before. It’s a fun track…very fast. I can’t wait to come back here,” said Holtgraver beside his Kargo Quality Cars, Alternative Power Source, Mel Bagley Auto Service, BKW Transport backed machine.

Gravel too expressed how impressed he was with Hodnett’s performance.

“I don’t know what they did between the dash and feature…we beat him pretty good in the dash. What ever it was, he was gone. We will take third and continue to work hard. I know we have some wins coming our way,” said Gravel beside his Musco Fuel, P&M Transportation, JRC Transportation, Model Craft backed #89G.

Heat races for the 38-car field worth $100 each in honor of late journalist Jerry Reigle as sponsored by hoseheads.com went to Tim Shaffer, Chad Layton, Brian Montieth and Doug Esh.

Jac Haudenschild set fast time over the stellar field with a fast lap of 15.693 seconds, just off of the track record of 15.652. Haudenschild pocketed $200 for his efforts.

Gravel won the dash to earn the pole for the feature and set a new six-lap track record with a time of 1:40.595.

Rahmer set a new 12-lap track record by scoring the B Main with a time of 3:30.028.

Mike Erdley, who suffered motor ills in warm-ups and scratched for the night, and Nate Snyder each received $100 as the highest drivers in Port Royal points who failed to qualify for the event. The awards were sponsored by Crankwerkz of Newville and Guisewite Moving Services of Paxtonville.

Port Royal Speedway thanks the following sponsors of the 2012 Bob Weikert Memorial: Weikerts Livestock, Fairfield PA; Virginia Cattle Compay, Moorefield WV; Hickory Bridge Farms, Orrtanna PA; Folkens Brothers Hauling, Lester IA; Roadcap Livestock, Quicksburg VA; Highland Farms, Gettysburg PA; Scott's Body Shop, Gettysburg PA; South Branch Livestock Exchange, Moorefield WV; Craig Livestock Market, Shippensburg PA; Nicholas Packing, Loganton PA; Joel Stein Show horses, Fairfield PA; Weiss Transport, Adrian MN; Upper Marsh Creek, Orrtanna PA; Miller & Associates Real Estate LLC, Gettysburg PA; Virginia Livestock Inc, Front Royal VA; Greencastle Livestock Market, Greencastle PA; Stan's Beverage, Carlisle PA; Antelope Springs Ranch, Blackwell TX; Steven K Bierly Trucking, Mill Hall PA; Mike Vis, Valley Springs, SD; Seth Snyder, Gettysburg PA; Omaha Commodities, Omaha NE; JB Cattle LLC, Biglerville PA; Hy Plains Feedyard, Montezuma KS; Heritage Cattle Company, Garden City KS; JAB Livestock Hauling LLC, Jersey Shore PA; JW Trueth Inc., Baltimore, MD; M&R Livestock Hauling, Gettysburg, PA; Stone Ridge Manor, Gettysburg PA; Flying W Express Inc., Fairfield PA; Todd Grim, East Berlin PA; Holtapp Trucking, Pomeroy IA; S & B Livestock, Herndon PA; Puckett and Associates, Nathalie VA; Crankwerkz, Newville PA; hoseheads.com, Drums PA; Guisewite Moving Services, Paxtonville PA; National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, Knoxville IA.
 

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Mechanicsburg, PA (4-27-12) By Brian Liskai – There’s a new Pennsylvania Posse member in town and his name is Logan Schuchart. The high school senior scored his first career victory at the historic Williams Grove Speedway Friday and his first career win against the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions.

Schuchart, whose car is owned by his hall of fame grandfather Bobby Allen,  held off Danny Dietrich to score the $5,000 Lawrence Chevrolet sprint car win. With that first win under his belt, Schuchart, 19, only has 42 more All Star wins to record to catch Allen who is ninth on the series’ all-time win list with 43 victories.

With the victory, Schuchart, who hails from Hanover, Pa., moves the Pennsylvania Posse’s win streak against the travelling All Stars to 25-0 at Williams Grove.

Dietrich, who won the track’s season opener in March, would stay within striking distance of Schuchart after the youngster took the lead on lap 3, but the youngster never altered, running smooth and straight along the inside line of the fast half-mile.

 “I could hear Danny back there, he had to be close…I heard a motor behind me,” said Schuchart beside his Shark Racing, Rick Fogle and Sons Custom Pole Buildings, Speedway 94, Don Ott Engines, Bealing Homes, C& B Mushrooms backed #1s. “Then, when we got that caution with two to go…there was water splashed up on the track in three and four and they threw a bunch of loose dirt on it and I had to change my line. But, the car was very darn good and it stuck.”

“Congrats to Logan on his first win. He was great on the bottom. I couldn’t run down there…we were just way too tight,” said Dietrich beside his Sandoe’s Fruit Market, APM Building.com, Route 30 Seafood, Kendall Motor Oil, Alwine Farms, Whisler’s Dry Cleaning backed machine. “All night it took two to four laps before our car would rotate through the corners and that probably cost us the raced tonight.”

“We have a first, second, fourth and seventh at the Grove this season and probably had two other top five runs but had rockers break. It’s been a great season so far,” added Dietrich.
UNOH All Star regular Paul McMahan would lead the field – which saw 47 competitors sign in for the night – to the green and took the early lead. Schuchart, who started outside the front row, would use an inside move off turn two to grab the lead with two laps recorded.

Veteran Donnie Krietz and Dietrich were moving through the top five and as McMahan slid back with steering woes. Schuchart continued to run a smooth race as Krietz and Dietrich closed and raced each other hard for second. Even in lapped traffic Schuchart maintained the lead, driving like a seasoned veteran – one mistake and Dietrich was there to pounce.

The only caution of the feature flew with two laps to go as Steve Buckwalter stopped on the inside of the front stretch after flames erupted from under the hood.

“That yellow was the last thing I wanted to see,” said Schuchart.
“I thought he might crack under pressure there. I’ve been there. When you are trying to get that first win and you know you have someone fast behind you…I had hoped to rattle his chains and get him thinking too much. But, he held his composure and hit his marks. He did an awesome job on that restart,” said Dietrich.
But, Schuchart was up to the challenge on the restart and was able to hold on for the win over Dietrich, Kreitz, Greg Hodnett and Daryn Pittman. Stevie Smith, McMahan, Dale Blaney, Tim Shaffer and Brian Montieth completed the top 10.

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ATTICA, OH (4-6-12) By Brian Liskai – Dale Blaney is nearly unflappable behind the wheel of a sprint car. He is patient, smooth and consistent and that paid off as he passed Craig Mintz after taking the white flag and went on to score his 86^th career victory with the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions to open up the 21^st Annual HD Supply Spring Nationals at Attica Raceway Park Friday night.

For Blaney, a three time All Star champion, it was his second series’ win of 2012 and vaults him into the National and Ohio Region points lead. It was also his second straight win at Attica, where he now has 15 career triumphs, moving him into a tie with Todd Kane for fifth on the track’s all-time win list. Blaney has now won four of the last seven Spring National features at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” venue.

“When Joey got off the track trying to get through traffic, I knew we had a shot…the car just kept getting better and better. George (Fisher, owner) and Troy (Psurny) had the car great once again. We’ve been good all year,” said Blaney beside his Ti22 Performance backed machine. “I was good on the bottom and middle. I just had to be patient and wait for traffic. When I got to Craig, I knew I was just a little better than him…it’s a shame, because he drives one of these George Fisher built cars, but we’ll take a first and second.”

Blaney was running fifth when race-long leader Joey Saldana slipped over the cushion of turns three and four while trying to negotiate his way through traffic while battling six-time Attica champion Byron Reed. Saldana slipped back to fifth while Reed now had his hands full with Mintz with Dustin Daggett and Blaney battling for third. Mintz would grab the lead on lap 21 with Blaney moving into third the next circuit, bringing Saldana into fourth. Blaney would grab second on lap 24 and quickly closed on Mintz. As they raced into lapped traffic, Saldana had regrouped and was closing in on the top sports. As Mintz took the white flag, Blaney dove under him entering turn one and slid up and front and went on to the victory.

“We’ve been so close on a few of these All Star races. Dale was just a little better than we were. But, we’ll take a second and look forward to getting after them tomorrow,” said Mintz beside his Design Graphics Group, Reel Geese Decoys, R2C Filters, Ti22 backed #09. “To race with Dale and Joey and Byron like that….that gives me a lot of confidence.”

For Saldana, he accepted the blame and seemed very determined to redeem himself.

“Last year I screwed up here and spun in the heat and we had to fight our way back all night for a top three run. I messed up in lapped traffic and I’m going to work my tail off tomorrow for my guys. My sons Spring Break was this week in Florida and they weren’t too happy to have to come here, so I have to get them a trophy this weekend,” said Saldana beside his Kasey Kahne Racing, Great Clips #9.

Joey Saldana and Dustin Daggett would lead the field to the green for the 30-lap UNOH All Star feature. Saldana, who sits third on the series all-time win list with 70 victories, blasted into the lead with Daggett leading Reed, Brad Sweet and Mintz. The caution would soon fly for a Jody Keegan spin. On the restart, Saldana again rocketed away while Daggett, battled Reed while Mintz ran comfortably in fourth with Sweet battling Cap Henry, Paul McMahan, Stevie Smith, Blaney and Kasey Kahne. The caution would fly for a Henry spin on lap six, which collected Tony Stewart. The yellow gave Saldana a clear track as he was just getting ready to catch lapped traffic.

Again on the restart Saldana would pull away slightly from the Daggett/Reed battle while Mintz continued to run fourth. Saldana would encounter traffic on lap 14 as Reed had grabbed second with Mintz moving into third at the half-way point with 11^th starter Blaney closing in on Daggett for fourth. As Reed closed on Saldana, the pair raced side by side exiting turn two on lap 17 as they raced into heavy traffic. Saldana would try to drive to the outside but slipped over the cushion in turn three while Reed ducked low and grabbed the lead with Mintz moving into second and Daggett and Blaney following with Saldana falling in line in fifth.

With 10 laps to go, Mintz’ car came to life and he raced to Reed’s outside and grabbed the lead. Reed did not give up, as the pair raced side-by-side over the next four circuits. Meanwhile, Blaney had disposed of Daggett and stalked the leaders. With six laps to go, Blaney drove around Reed, but would he run out of laps to catch Mintz? Lapped traffic came into play, as Mintz had to get out of his comfort groove to find away around, allowing Blaney to quickly close.

As Mintz took the white flag, Blaney was to his inside and a lapped machine was to his outside. Blaney was able to slide in front of Mintz and went on to the win with Saldana rebounding for third followed Reed and Kahne, up from 12^th starting spot.

It was a star-studded field at Attica Friday, including several World of Outlaw teams and NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart and NASCAR Camping World Driver Brad Sweet.

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CAMARGO, IL (4-4-12) By Brian Liskai– The University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions has announced changes to the series’ open red rules effective immediately.