Lonnie Wheatley, TAMPA, Fla. (February 26, 2010) – Tim Shaffer made it two wins in as many nights of “Kings” competition at East Bay Raceway Park’s 34th Annual Winter Nationals by charging to the winner’s circle in Friday night’s 25-lap American Sprint Car Series Rebel Region preliminary main event. The veteran Aliquippa, PA, hotshoe solidly established himself as a favorite for Saturday night’s $14,500 to win Ninth Annual Ronald Laney Memorial with his second win in a row aboard the Kistler-powered C&H Motorsports No. 83 J&J.

And for the second night in a row, it as Canadian Lou Kennedy, Jr., that Shaffer chased down for the lead. But, after a late move on Thursday night, Shaffer needed just four laps to race from his fifth starting position into the lead on Friday night.

While traffic was a factor much of the way after the race’s lone caution appeared after seven laps, it did little to deter Shaffer’s winning pace. “The car was so good, I could move around where they weren’t.”

Shaffer was ultimately chased to the stripe by defending Ronald Laney Memorial winner Jesse Hockett, who took second away from Kennedy at the midway point.

Danny Smith claimed the show position, with Tony Bruce, Jr., and Mark Smith rounding out the top five.

Travis Rilat was sixth, with Kennedy, Gary Wright, Tommy Worley, Jr., and Wayne Johnson completing the top ten.

Shaffer, Kennedy, Tony Bruce, Jr., Rilat and Hockett topped Friday night’s heat race action, with Glenn Styres, Chris Williams and J.D. Johnson winning the “B” Mains.

With two nights of ASCS Rebel Region action in the books at East Bay Raceway Park, Shaffer stands undefeated with two heat race wins and two main events leading into Saturday night’s Ninth Annual Ronald Laney Memorial.

The originally posted winner’s share of $10,000 has been boosted to $14,500. An extra $7,000 has been added to the purse by the Laney family, with an extra $4,000 to first, $2,000 to second and $1,000 to third. C&B Mushroom Farms has also added an extra $500 to the top spot, with an extra $500 bonus available for Shaffer as the winner of both prelims. Thus, if Shaffer takes Saturday’s top spot, he would collect $15,000.

American Sprint Car Series Rebel Region Friday Night Results from East Bay Raceway Park’s 34th Annual Winter Nationals:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 83-Tim Shaffer, 2. 0x-Wayne Johnson, 3. 8x-Chris Williams, 4. A12-Tommy Worley, Jr,. 5. 3b-Brad Greer, 6. 00-Michael Dupuy, 7. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 8. 82-A.J. Maddox, 9. 11-Carl Zaniboni.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 2. D12-Danny Smith, 3. 98x-J.D. Johnson, 4. 7m-Mark Smith, 5. 3g-Darren Long, 6. 12-Tim Kelly, 7. 48-David Brown, 8. 47-Caleb Helms, 9. 83-Bob Auld.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 9x-Gary Wright, 3. 33-Stewart Friesen, 4. 24-Jeff VanDusen, 5. 21T-T.J. Luedke, 6. 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 7. W20-Greg Wilson, 8. 02-Gene Lasker.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 6s-Jessica Zemken, 3. 98-Joe Ramaker, 4. 81-Sport Allen, 5. 0-Glenn Styres, 6. 2b-Frank Beck III, 7. 35-Jared Zimbardi, 8. 20-Frank Carlsson.

Heat Five (8 Laps): 1. 75-Jesse Hockett, 2. 6-Mike Schroeder, 3. 92-Matt Kurtz, 4. 09-Timmy Thrash, 5. 88-Shane Kreidler, 6. 4m-Michael Miller, 7. 11T-T.J. Winegardner, 8. 22d-Bruce DeWick.

First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 0-Glenn Styres, 2. 3g-Darren Long, 3. 6s-Jessica Zemken, 4. 24-Jeff VanDusen, 5. 11T-T.J. Winegardner, 6. 2b-Frank Beck III, 7. 20-Frank Carlsson, 8. 83-Bob Auld. DNS: 20k-Thomas Kennedy, 02-Gene Lasker.

Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 8x-Chris Williams, 2. 3b-Brad Greer, 3. W20-Greg Wilson, 4. 12-Tim Kelly, 5. 48-David Brown, 6. 21T-T.J. Luedke, 7. 82-A.J. Maddox, 8. 47-Caleb Helms. DNS: 6-Mike Schroeder.

Third “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 98x-J.D. Johnson, 2. 92-Matt Kurtz, 3. 17b-Ryan Bickett, 4. 35- Jared Zimbardi, 5. 00-Michael Dupuy, 6. 88-Shane Kreidler, 7. 11-Carl Zaniboni, 8. 22d-Bruce DeWick. DNS: 4m-Michael Miller.

“A” Feature (25 Laps): 1. 83-Tim Shaffer, 2. 75-Jesse Hockett, 3. D12-Danny Smith, 4. 18-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 7m-Mark Smith, 6. 29-Travis Rilat, 7. 21k-Lou Kennedy, Jr., 8. 9x-Gary Wright, 9. A12-Tommy Worley, Jr., 10. 0x-Wayne Johnson, 11. 33-Stewart Friesen, 12. 98x-J.D. Johnson, 13. 8x-Chris Williams, 14. 98-Joe Ramaker, 15. 0-Glenn Styres, 16. 81-Sport Allen, 17. 3g-Darren Long, 18. 09-Timmy Thrash, 19. 92-Matt Kurtz, 20. 3b-Brad Greer.

ASCS Rebel Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Tim Shaffer 100, 2. (tie) Lou Kennedy, Jr. and Mark Smith 91, 4. Danny Smith 90, 5. (tie) Travis Rilat and Tony Bruce, Jr. 88, 7. (tie) Gary Wright and Jesse Hockett 87, 9. J.D. Johnson 75, 10. (tie) Darren Long, Wayne Johnson and Sport Allen 74.