OCALA, FL (2-24-12)By Brian Liskai Dale Blaney sees every race as an opportunity to learn something. On Thursday at Bubba Raceway Park, The Low Rider had to settle for a second place run on a narrow track. Friday, when given the opportunity once again to start up front, he took the experience from the previous night, and grabbed the early lead and went on to his 85th career victory with the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions.
Weve been up front all weekendthe cars been good. Last night I just didnt get the jump on Danny (Lasoski) and the track was narrow and there was nothing I could do after that. Ive been lucky enough to qualify well and put myself in a position to start up front. Qualifying has been the name of the game down here, said Blaney beside his George Fisher owned, Ti22 Performance backed machine.
For Blaney, a three time UNOH All Star champion, his first win of 2012 moves him to within 13 victories from tying the series all-time feature winner Kenny Jacobs.
Fast qualifier Daryn Pittman, who opened the All Star season with a win at Screven Motor Speedway two weeks ago, would chase Blaney the entire race and would come home second. Pittmans consistent finishes have him atop the UNOH All Star point standings both nationally and for the Eastern Region.
Texas native Sam Hafertepe Jr. continued his strong opening season runs to come home third with his new Zemco Speed Equipment team.
We didnt get a good start to the season in Georgia. Then we went to Volusia and blew a tire the first night, but since then weve finished in the top 10 every night. We are starting to click as a team, said Hafertepe. We had so much rain down here the previous two daysthe track was pretty much one groove. But, tonight it was starting to slick off and widen out. Tonight (Saturday) it should be much better for racing.
Blaney and Pittman would pace the field to the green for the 30-lap main with Blaney getting the jump and the lead. George Riden would spin in turn three on lap two to bring out the first caution. Blaney would continue to lead on the restart over Pittman, Hafertepe, Fred Rahmer and Aaron Ott. Riden would stop in turn one on lap five to bring the caution out once again. After the green came back out, Cole Duncan would get upside down exiting turn four (he was okay). The restart order would continue to be Blaney, Pittman, Hafertepe, Rahmer and Ott.
The leaders would hit lapped traffic by lap 10, allowing Pittman to close on Blaney. Danny Smith would slap the backstretch wall on lap 18, stopping on the track. Paul May and Brad Wickham would go pit side during the caution.
With a clear track, Blaney would pull away the remaining 12 laps for the victory over Pittman, Hafertepe, Rahmer and Danny Lasoski. Rounding out the top 10 were Ott, defending UNOH All Star champion Tim Shaffer, Cap Henry, David Gravel, who experienced engine woes in qualifying and earned the hard charger honor coming from 24th starting spot, and Danny Holtgraver.
Bubba Raceway Park – 2/24/2012
All Star Circuit of Champions (26 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 27-Pittman Daryn, 12.019; 2. 33-Danny Lasoski, 12.103; 3. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.178; 4. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 12.248; 5. 1-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 12.335; 6. 51-Fred Rahmer, 12.369; 7. 45-Paul McMahon, 12.372; 8. 77-Aaron Ott, 12.378; 9. 83-Tim Shaffer, 12.388; 10. 54-Cap Henry, 12.429; 11. M1-Mark Smith, 12.434; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 12.540; 13. 14K-Cole Duncan, 12.545; 14. 3-Pete Miller III, 12.556; 15. 71-Paul May, 12.638; 16. 39-Greg Hodnett, 12.743; 17. 4-Danny Smith, 12.755; 18. O7-Mark Coldren, 12.811; 19. 5-Jac Haudenschild, 12.822; 20. O7i-George Riden, 12.938; 21. 80-Spud Gustin, 13.179; 22. 13-Brandon Matus, 13.285; 23. 6W-Brad Wickham, 13.508; 24. 33X-Brent Matus, 13.728; 25. 4X-David Smith, 14.223; 26. 89G-David Gravel, 99.999
Heat 1 – Kears Speed Shop (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 3-Pete Miller III[2] ; 2. 4-Danny Smith[1] ; 3. 54-Cap Henry[3] ; 4. 45-Paul McMahon[4] ; 5. D4-Danny Holtgraver[5] ; 6. 27-Pittman Daryn[6] ; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[7] ; 8. 13-Brandon Matus[8] ; 9. 4X-David Smith[9]
Heat 2 – All Pro Aluminum Heads (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 77-Aaron Ott[4] ; 2. M1-Mark Smith[3] ; 3. 71-Paul May[2] ; 4. 33-Danny Lasoski[6] ; 5. O7-Mark Coldren[1] ; 6. 1-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[5] ; 7. 89G-David Gravel[9] ; 8. 6W-Brad Wickham[8] ; 9. O7i-George Riden[7]
Heat 3 – Dragon Race Fuel (8 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 39-Greg Hodnett[2] ; 2. 14K-Cole Duncan[3] ; 3. 51-Fred Rahmer[5] ; 4. 83-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 5. 2-Dale Blaney[6] ; 6. 33X-Brent Matus[8] ; 7. 80-Spud Gustin[7] ; 8. 5-Jac Haudenschild[1]
Dash – Outerwears Performance Products (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature)
1. 2-Dale Blaney[2] ; 2. 27-Pittman Daryn[1] ; 3. 1-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[4] ; 4. 51-Fred Rahmer[3] ; 5. D4-Danny Holtgraver[6] ; 6. 33-Danny Lasoski[5]
B-Main – MSD Ignition (10 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1] ; 2. O7i-George Riden[2] ; 3. 89G-David Gravel[7] ; 4. 80-Spud Gustin[3] ; 5. 13-Brandon Matus[4] ; 6. 6W-Brad Wickham[5] ; 7. 4X-David Smith[6] ; 8. 5-Jac Haudenschild[8]
A-Main – University of Northwestern Ohio (30 Laps)
1. 2-Dale Blaney[1]; 2. 27-Pittman Daryn[2]; 3. 1-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[3]; 4. 51-Fred Rahmer[4]; 5. 33-Danny Lasoski[6]; 6. 77-Aaron Ott[8]; 7. 83-Tim Shaffer[9]; 8. 54-Cap Henry[10]; 9. 89G-David Gravel[24]; 10. D4-Danny Holtgraver[5]; 11. 45-Paul McMahon[7]; 12. M1-Mark Smith[11]; 13. 39-Greg Hodnett[15]; 14. 1S-Logan Schuchart[18]; 15. 3-Pete Miller III[13]; 16. O7-Mark Coldren[17]; 17. 80-Spud Gustin[20]; 18. 4-Danny Smith[16]; 19. 71-Paul May[14]; 20. 6W-Brad Wickham[22]; 21. 13-Brandon Matus[21]; 22. 33X-Brent Matus[23]; 23. 14K-Cole Duncan[12]; 24. O7i-George Riden[19]
Hard Charger: 89G-David Gravel[+15]