Attica, OH (Sunday, March 28, 2021) - A beautiful spring Saturday night greeted fans of Attica Raceway Park as they prepared for a three-in-one program featuring 410 Sprint Cars, DIRTcar UMP Late Models, and 305 Sprint Cars. A total of 27 410s, 28 Late Models, and 31 305 Sprints were on property to battle for the chance at an Attica Win.
In the 410 Sprints, an increased $4,000 payday was on the line for their 30 feature event. Dry-slick and dusty track conditions proved difficult for some, but no issue for others; including DJ Foos, Byron Reed, and Cap Henry among others. Food started on the pole and that was all he needed to get to victory lane. Foos did have to survive a number of restarts to pick up the win, plus hold of a hard-charging Reed.
Reed didn’t turn a single lap in his Heat race earlier in the night, which automatically sent him to a B-Main. Reed did exactly what he needed to do, grabbing the fourth and final transfer spot out of the B. That lined him up 19th on the grid, directly behind Henry. Henry also had trouble in his heat race, when making a pass for the lead, his care seemingly lost power exiting the corners. Reed and Henry found no issue though driving through the field, with Henry topping out in 6th place, while Reed settled for the runner-up spot.
In Late Model action, a solid field of cars rolled to the track for their 25 lap contest. Young Colin Shipley led the field to green alongside Todd Brennan, with Rusty Schlenk and Travis Stemler in row two. Shipley jumped out to an early lead, but unlike his heat race, it was not commanding. Shipley worked the bottom of the race track, much like he did in route to his heat race win, while his Domination Race Cars teammate (and step-father), Schlenk blew off the top side of the race track. Meanwhile, Stemler planted his Longhorn Chassis on the bottom and began reeling in both Schlenk and Shipley.
Just before the halfway point, Schlenk was nearly past Shipley for the lead as Shipley’s car appeared to get tight. As that happened, Stemler also began looking to the inside for a chance to pass. The opportunity to get around Shipley came at the exact same moment for both Stemler and Schlenk - off turn four at crossed flags. The same duo that battled for a Challenge Series Championship in Michigan last year, split Shipley three-wide off turn four down the front stretch. After the pass, Shipley continued to fall out of the top five, while Schlenk and Stemler waged a classic battle.
Schlenk was still very committed to the top of the race track, a line that appeared fast in turns one and two, but had its disadvantages in turns three and four. Stemler on the other hand, continued to feed on the bottom all the way around the track. For a moment, with inside 10 laps to go, Schlenk had appeared to take the lead down the front stretch heading into turn one, but that changed quickly when he lost the top of the race track, and slid down the turn two banking. He was able to jump back on the track on the backstretch, but not before losing two spots. This allowed Stemler to walk away with the win in the closing laps.
In the 305 feature, the multiple cautions that plagued the 410 race were again present in the 305 event. It would prove no problem though for Fremont, Ohio’s Paul Weaver – the all-time winningest driver in the history of Attica Raceway Park, he took the lead on lap eight of the Fremont Fence 305 Sprint feature and never looked back, scoring his second victory in a row and the 58th of his career in the division.
Attica Raceway Park is scheduled to be in action again this Friday and Saturday night with the FloRacing All-Star Circuit of Champions. Find out more at www.atticaracewaypark.com and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
For more stories from around the region, be sure to log ontowww.horsepowerhappenings.com. Listen to on-demand episodes of the Horsepower Happenings Podcast, with new episodes every Monday night at 9:00 pm.
Story - Zach Hiser, Horsepower Happenings
Photo - Horsepower Happenings
Comments