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Blaney Has the Momentum in All Stars Go at PPMS

 
Thank You racers,fans,sponsors,media! Great racing, great coverage! Several articles Tony Stewart's All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars at PPMS. Dale Blaney, Ben Policz, & Todd Weldon winners!
Blaney Has the Momentum in All Stars Go at PPMS

by Lou Long

Imperial, PA: Dale Blaney talked of "momentum middle," after his recent World of Outlaws victory at Lernerville Speedway in the Don Martin Memorial, but Sunday at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway he demonstrated momentum in a different place. Blaney rode the rim in classic style to the front on his way to win his fifth straight in the UNOH All Stars Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series. His winning pass was a daring turn three slide job on leader Tim Shaffer, a driver who cut his teeth on Dirt's Monster Half Mile. Blaney's triumph was his eleventh with the All Stars this season and 126th of his career in the series.

"This place was really fun," he said. "You could pound the top, you could run the middle a little bit, you could run anywhere on the racetrack." But, the rim was where he seemed to be most comfortable, and effective. "The top was definitely the place to be with speed up." Blaney noted that his car was "really easy to drive." He attributed that to the tire selection. "I think we put on a little harder of a left rear tire than some of the guys and halfway through the race it really took off."

Shaffer pulled away from Greg Wilson on the opening lap, much to the surprise and delight of the fans. Shaffer may have had the home town following, as he lives just up the road in Aliquippa. But it was Wilson who had the benefit of winning when the touring series last visited the speedway. Plus, Wilson dominated a heat race and was second in the dash, which gave him the preferred outside lane to launch off turn four. Although they ran out front, Dale Blaney quietly moved into third and he methodically cut into the leaders' advantage.

Well before lap ten, Blaney had dispatched Wilson, and he had Shaffer in his sights. Blaney continued to pound the cushion, while Shaffer raced in the middle, just a car width below it. Blaney caught the leader entering the first turn on lap eleven, and then he executed an aggressive slider to assume command coming through the third turn. Instead of a classic slider entering the corner, Blaney entered the turn in the high groove, and turned down midway through to slide by Shaffer. Blaney then drifted to the top again between the third and fourth turns to complete the pass. From there, he had clear sailing in the non-stop affair.

Cody Darrah came alive midway through the race. He caught Shaffer and Blaney, and almost pulled off a surprise move. He dropped to the low side on the front stretch and had a run on both of them. However, he could not get his nose ahead of them when they were detained by the lapped traffic. So, the veterans rolled into turn one and were able to negotiate by the slower cars. While Blaney was able to make the unorthodox slide job work in turn three, it took Darrah another lap to pass Shaffer in turn one. But, Darrah was no match for Blaney the rest of the way. In his post-race interview, Darrah mentioned that he lost a cylinder, so it was remarkable that he kept second on the sprawling speedway.

A fantastic battle developed for positions three through six as the laps were counting down. Hometown favorite, Danny Holtgraver, worked into the top five from sixteenth on the starting grid, and he still had some more moves to make. Holtgraver made it to third by the time the checkers flew, and he had to hold off hard-charging Dave Blaney to keep the podium finish. Dave Blaney came from tenth on the grid this night.

Chad Kemenah took fifth from Sheldon Haudenschild, who found that the low groove was not the fastest way around the big track. Greg Wilson held on for sixth. Ryan Smith, edged out a fading Shaffer for eighth. Ed Lynch, Jr. was never a factor, but he did finish in the tenth spot.

The feature had an unusual start. Travis Philo did a complete 360 spin at the flagstand, got going again, and the race continued without interruption.

The heat race winners were Ryan Smith, Scott Priester, and Greg Wilson. Tim Shaffer copped the dash. Dale Blaney was the evening's fastest qualifier, turning the Monster Half Mile in 18.320 seconds.

Ben Policz cruised to an easy win in the RUSH Late Model twenty lapper that went non-stop. Finishing second was Josh Holtgraver, who did apply some early pressure. Third went to Toby Massie. Tom Schirnhofer, Justin Lamb, Paul Jablonski, Chuck Medved, Jacob Gunn, Tim Shaffer, and Jeffrey Haynes completed the running oder. The pair of heats went to Toby Massie and Ben Pollicz.

Todd Weldon topped the Sportsman Stock Car event. Bryan Mitchell and Dustin Lamb were the othe rpodium finishers. Bill Robertson, Jake Simmons, Nick Kocuba, Steve Webb, Wayne Carbo, Shawn Neupert, and Gary Koteles were the other contestants. Weldon and Robertson led in the qualifiers.

All Stars Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars: Dale Blaney, Cody Darrah, Danny Holtgraver, Dave Blaney, Chad Kemenah, Sheldon Haudenschild, Greg Wilson, Ryan Smith, Tim Shaffer, Ed Lynch, Jr., A.J. Flick, Caleb Helms, Brandon Matus, Travis Philo, Danny Smith, Scott Priester, Brent Matus, Dan Kuriger, Eric L. Williams, Andrew Palker (DNS).

From August 3, 2015 FasTrak Racing Journal Online

Dale Blaney Claims
2nd Annual “Sprint Monster” at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway

IMPERIAL, PA Dale Blaney earned a fifth consecutive UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions main event victory on Sunday evening, August 2, at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway near Imperial, Pennsylvania. “The Low Rider” conquered “Dirt's Monster Half-Mile” during the 2nd annual “Sprint Monster” on Sunday night and collected $5,000 for his efforts. The pilot of the GoMuddy.com, Big Game Treestands, CH Motorsports, #1 earned top honors after starting fourth on the main event grid. Blaney would make the winning move around early race leader Tim Shaffer just before the halfway point of the nonstop 25-lapper; eventually opening up to a demanding lead during the remaining circuits to help cap off a “clean sweep” weekend in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The “Sprint Monster” victory makes 11 UNOH All Star wins on the season for Dale Blaney, with his career mark reaching 126. It was the third night in a row that UNOH All Star feature competition would go caution free. “Right now this car is really easy to drive” Dale Blaney said, “My guys give me a great car every night. (Pittsburgh) is really fun. I'm glad they decided to do a little track prep before our feature tonight. You could run anywhere on the race track, although the top was definitely the place to be in order to keep your speed up. Hats off to everyone at (Pittsburgh). They gave us a great surface to race on. Hopefully we put on a good show for them.” Red Lion, Pennsylvania's Cody Darrah would improve one position during feature competition to finish second in the running order. The former World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competitor, who follows the UNOH All Star schedule full-time in 2015, started third on the evening grid and would make his move into the runner-up position around Tim Shaffer with 12 laps in the books. Despite his ability to navigate traffic and maintain momentum on the top shelf of the speedway, Darrah would not be able to track down Dale Blaney. The J&K Salvage #89 team would lose a significant amount of engine power as a result of a dropped cylinder during feature action. “I'm really happy to drive this car”, said Cody Darrah, “I just want to thank my guys who work on this car. They work really hard. I don't get a chance to help them as much as I should so I appreciate everything they do. We had a really good car tonight. I thought I had something for Dale (Blaney) but we ended up dropping a cylinder. We are going to go back to the shop and just keep digging.” Perhaps the most impressive performance of the evening was that of Pittsburgh's own Danny Holtgraver. “Downtown” Danny Holtgraver rallied from a 14th starting position to finish third in the main event. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native charged his way The top three of the Sprint Monster UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions race pose for their customary celebration in Pennsylvania Motor Speedway's victory lane. (left) Danny Holtgraver, 3rd; (center) Dale Blaney, winner; (right) Cody Darrah, 2nd. (PAUL ARCH photo) into a top-three running position by the 18th circuit. The driver of the Phoenix Racing, Bonnell's Rod Shop, DKW Transport, #59 also earned the “Hard Charger” award after putting on a passing clinic. “Oh man, this feels incredible” said Danny Holtgraver, “This has been the toughest year of my life. I can't thank everyone enough for sticking behind me and this race team. I needed this one big time. It feels so good just to be back standing up here. Tonight was just awesome. They gave us a great race track. I'm the happiest I have been in a long time.” 21 UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions “410” sprint cars made the call on Sunday evening at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. Dale Blaney earned the fastest time of the night during Lincoln Electric qualifying time trials. The defending UNOH All Star Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway's 6-wide pace lap to open the main event. (PAUL ARCH photo) champion stopped the clocks with an official time of 18.320 seconds around the “P.P.M.S.” half-mile, dirt oval. Ryan Smith, Scott Priester and Greg Wilson each earned victories during UNOH All Star heat race competition. The “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer earned the evening's JE Pistons dash victory. The UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions will not return to competition until Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 21-23, with an action packed swing through areas of Michigan and northwestern Ohio. The regional travelers will make a stop at the I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan on Friday night, August 21. The Butler Speedway in Quincy, Michigan will host the UNOH All Stars the following evening on Saturday, August 22. The three-race weekend will conclude with a visit to the Millstream Speedway in Findlay, Ohio on Sunday night, August 23. All three events will pay $5,000 to the main event winner. Despite having a two week break before returning to UNOH All Star commitments, full-time series travelers will have the opportunity to participate in the 55th annual FVP Knoxville Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. The four day sprint car spectacle will take shape on August 1215, 2015; welcoming the world's greatest sprint car drivers for an opportunity to earn the world's greatest sprint car prize. The “best of the best” will make their way west toward the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” for a shot at the coveted $150,000 top prize.

Tony Stewart stopped in to catch the feature and was interviewed by announcer, Jim Zufall, along with several drivers during track prep for the Tony Stewart's All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.
http://media.wix.com/ugd/28fc62_a0be04ca7d7348bc8629cbf74941ba52.pdf

Blaney Completes All Star Sweep
by NSSN Staff
Dale Blaney won his fifth-straight UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions event on Sunday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. (Paul Arch Photo)
IMPERIAL, Pa. – Dale Blaney earned his fifth consecutive UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions main event victory on Sunday evening at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway.
Blaney conquered half-mile track during the second annual Sprint Monster on Sunday night and collected $5,000 for his efforts. The pilot of the GoMuddy.com, Big Game Treestands, CH Motorsports No. 1 earned top honors after starting fourth on the main event grid.
Blaney would make the winning move around early race leader Tim Shaffer just before the halfway point of the non-stop 25-lapper, eventually opening up to a commanding lead during the remaining circuits to help cap off a clean sweep weekend in Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Sprint Monster victory makes 11 UNOH All Star wins on the season for Blaney, with his career mark reaching 126. It was the third night in a row that UNOH All Star feature competition would go caution free.
“Right now this car is really easy to drive” Blaney said. “My guys give me a great car every night. (Pittsburgh) is really fun. I’m glad they decided to do a little track prep before our feature tonight. You could run anywhere on the race track, although the top was definitely the place to be in order to keep your speed up. Hats off to everyone at (Pittsburgh). They gave us a great surface to race on. Hopefully we put on a good show for them.”
Cody Darrah would improve one position during feature competition to finish second in the running order. The former World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competitor, who follows the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions schedule full-time in 2015, started third on the evening grid and would make his move into the runner-up position around Tim Shaffer with 12 laps in the books.
Despite his ability to navigate traffic and maintain momentum on the top shelf of the speedway, Darrah would not be able to track down Blaney. The J&K Salvage No. 89 team would lose a significant amount of engine power as a result of a dropped cylinder during feature action.
“I’m really happy to drive this car,” said Darrah, “I just want to thank my guys who work on this car. They work really hard. I don’t get a chance to help them as much as I should so I appreciate everything they do. We had a really good car tonight. I thought I had something for Dale (Blaney) but we ended up dropping a cylinder. We are going to go back to the shop and just keep digging.”
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the evening was that of Pittsburgh’s own Danny Holtgraver. Holtgraver rallied from a 14th starting position to finish third in the main event. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native charged his way into a top-three running position by the 18th circuit.
“Oh man, this feels incredible” said Holtgraver, “This has been the toughest year of my life. I can’t thank everyone enough for sticking behind me and this race team. I needed this one big time. It feels so good just to be back standing up here. Tonight was just awesome. They gave us a great race track. I’m the happiest I have been in a long time.”
The finish:
Dale Blaney, Cody Darrah, Danny Holtgraver, Dave Blaney, Chad Kemenah, Sheldon Haudenschild, Greg Wilson, Ryan Smith, Tim Shaffer, Ed Lynch Jr., A.J. Flick, Caleb Helms, Brandon Matus, Travis Philo, Danny Smith, Scott Priester, Brent Matus, Danny Kuriger, Eric Williams, Andrew Palker.

Posted by NSSN Staff on Aug 3 2015 Filed under Latest Headlines, Other Sprint Cars, Sprints & Midgets, Top Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Dale Blaney Claims 2nd Annual “Sprint Monster” at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway
Fifth Consecutive UNOH All Star Victory for “The Low Rider”

Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
All Star Circuit of Champions
altmeyer119@gmail.com
724-954-4915

Imperial, PA (August 2, 2015) – Dale Blaney earned a fifth consecutive UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions main event victory on Sunday evening, August 2, at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway near Imperial, Pennsylvania. “The Low Rider” conquered “Dirt’s Monster Half-Mile” during the 2nd annual “Sprint Monster” on Sunday night and collected $5,000 for his efforts. The pilot of the GoMuddy.com, Big Game Treestands, CH Motorsports, #1 earned top honors after starting fourth on the main event grid. Blaney would make the winning move around early race leader Tim Shaffer just before the halfway point of the non-stop 25-lapper; eventually opening up to a demanding lead during the remaining circuits to help cap off a “clean sweep” weekend in Ohio and Pennsylvania. The “Sprint Monster” victory makes 11 UNOH All Star wins on the season for Dale Blaney, with his career mark reaching 126. It was the third night in a row that UNOH All Star feature competition would go caution free.
“Right now this car is really easy to drive” Dale Blaney said, “My guys give me a great car every night. (Pittsburgh) is really fun. I’m glad they decided to do a little track prep before our feature tonight. You could run anywhere on the race track, although the top was definitely the place to be in order to keep your speed up. Hats off to everyone at (Pittsburgh). They gave us a great surface to race on. Hopefully we put on a good show for them.”
Red Lion, Pennsylvania’s Cody Darrah would improve one position during feature competition to finish second in the running order. The former World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series competitor, who follows the UNOH All Star schedule full-time in 2015, started third on the evening grid and would make his move into the runner-up position around Tim Shaffer with 12 laps in the books. Despite his ability to navigate traffic and maintain momentum on the top shelf of the speedway, Darrah would not be able to track down Dale Blaney. The J&K Salvage #89 team would lose a significant amount of engine power as a result of a dropped cylinder during feature action.
“I’m really happy to drive this car”, said Cody Darrah, “I just want to thank my guys who work on this car. They work really hard. I don’t get a chance to help them as much as I should so I appreciate everything they do. We had a really good car tonight. I thought I had something for Dale (Blaney) but we ended up dropping a cylinder. We are going to go back to the shop and just keep digging.”
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the evening was that of Pittsburgh’s own Danny Holtgraver. “Downtown” Danny Holtgraver rallied from a 14th starting position to finish third in the main event. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native charged his way into a top-three running position by the 18th circuit. The driver of the Phoenix Racing, Bonnell’s Rod Shop, DKW Transport, #59 also earned the “Hard Charger” award after putting on a passing clinic.
“Oh man, this feels incredible” said Danny Holtgraver, “This has been the toughest year of my life. I can’t thank everyone enough for sticking behind me and this race team. I needed this one big time. It feels so good just to be back standing up here. Tonight was just awesome. They gave us a great race track. I’m the happiest I have been in a long time.”
21 UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions “410” sprint cars made the call on Sunday evening at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. Dale Blaney earned the fastest time of the night during Lincoln Electric qualifying time trials. The defending UNOH All Star champion stopped the clocks with an official time of 18.320 seconds around the “P.P.M.S.” half-mile, dirt oval. Ryan Smith, Scott Priester and Greg Wilson each earned victories during UNOH All Star heat race competition. The “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer earned the evening’s JE Pistons dash victory.
The UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions will not return to competition until Friday, Saturday and Sunday, August 21-23, with an action packed swing through areas of Michigan and northwestern Ohio. The regional travelers will make a stop at the I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan on Friday night, August 21. The Butler Speedway in Quincy, Michigan will host the UNOH All Stars the following evening on Saturday, August 22. The three-race weekend will conclude with a visit to the Millstream Speedway in Findlay, Ohio on Sunday night, August 23. All three events will pay $5,000 to the main event winner.
Despite having a two week break before returning to UNOH All Star commitments, full-time series travelers will have the opportunity to participate in the 55th annual FVP Knoxville Nationals at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. The four day sprint car spectacle will take shape on August 12-15, 2015; welcoming the world’s greatest sprint car drivers for an opportunity to earn the world’s greatest sprint car prize. The “best of the best” will make their way west toward the “Sprint Car Capital of the World” for a shot at the coveted $150,000 top prize.
Contingency Awards/Results - Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway - Sunday, August 2, 2015:
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Dale Blaney – 18.320
Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Ryan Smith
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Scott Priester
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Greg Wilson
JE Pistons Dash: Tim Shaffer
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Dale Blaney
MSD A-Main 3rd Place Finisher: Danny Holtgraver
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Caleb Helms (12th place)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Danny Smith
Qualifying
1.1-Dale Blaney, 18.320; 2.40-Caleb Helms, 18.457; 3.98H-Dave Blaney, 18.659; 4.45-Tim Shaffer, 18.683; 5.89-Cody Darrah, 18.708; 6.10H-Chad Kemenah, 18.722; 7.94-Ryan Smith, 18.732; 8.W20-Greg Wilson, 18.830; 9.57X-Andrew Palker, 18.857; 10.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 18.932; 11.15-Scott Priester, 18.937; 12.13-Brandon Matus, 19.064; 13.59-Danny Holtgraver, 19.075; 14.2-AJ Flick, 19.174; 15.4-Danny Smith, 19.207; 16.2L-Ed Lynch Jr., 19.236; 17.O8-Dan Kuriger, 19.312; 18.5T-Travis Philo, 19.332; 19.4W-Eric Williams, 19.579; 20.33-Brent Matus, 19.774; 21.8-David Smith, 99.990;
Heat 1, Group A - (8 Laps)

1. 94-Ryan Smith[1] ; 2. 89-Cody Darrah[2] ; 3. 40-Caleb Helms[3] ; 4. 1-Dale Blaney[4] ; 5. 4-Danny Smith[6] ; 6. 59-Danny Holtgraver[5] ; 7. 33-Brent Matus[7]
   Heat 2, Group B - (8 Laps)
2. 15-Scott Priester[2] ; 2. 13-Brandon Matus[1] ; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 4. 2-AJ Flick[5] ; 5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[3] ; 6. 5T-Travis Philo[6] ; 7. 4W-Eric Williams[7]
   Heat 3, Group C - (8 Laps)
3. W20-Greg Wilson[2] ; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer[3] ; 3. 98H-Dave Blaney[4] ; 4. 57X-Andrew Palker[1] ; 5. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[5] ; 6. O8-Dan Kuriger[6]
   Dash 1 - (6 Laps)
4. 45-Tim Shaffer[3] ; 2. W20-Greg Wilson[1] ; 3. 89-Cody Darrah[5] ; 4. 1-Dale Blaney[4] ; 5. 13-Brandon Matus[2] ; 6. 15-Scott Priester[6] ; 7. 40-Caleb Helms[8] ; 8. 94-Ryan Smith[7]
   A-Main 1 - (25 Laps)
5. 1-Dale Blaney[4] ; 2. 89-Cody Darrah[3] ; 3. 59-Danny Holtgraver[14] ; 4. 98H-Dave Blaney[10] ; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah[9] ; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[12] ; 7. W20-Greg Wilson[2] ; 8. 94-Ryan Smith[8] ; 9. 45-Tim Shaffer[1] ; 10. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[15] ; 11. 2-AJ Flick[11] ; 12. 40-Caleb Helms[7] ; 13. 13-Brandon Matus[5] ; 14. 5T-Travis Philo[17] ; 15. 4-Danny Smith[13] ; 16. 15-Scott Priester[6] ; 17. 33-Brent Matus[19] ; 18. O8-Dan Kuriger[16] ; 19. 4W-Eric Williams[18] ; 20. 57X-Andrew Palker[20]
   Find full text results from each and every UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions event here: www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/
   Those seeking additional information regarding the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions should visit the official online home of the UNOH All Stars at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the UNOH All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC
   About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
   All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015. The 2015 schedule includes 54 events in Ohio (29), Pennsylvania (14), Florida (5), Michigan (3), Indiana (1), New York (1) and Wisconsin (1).

 

 

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