The ultra-competitive nature of the 2010 Ohio Sprint Speedweek became more evident with the 8th event of the nine race tour as 18-year old David Gravel became the 5th different winner with an impressive flag-to-flag win at Limaland Motorsports Park.
Near perfect weather conditions and a large enthusiastic crowd welcomed 36 cars to the competition. When the dust settled, Gravel had outlasted a stacked field of veteran racers including NASCAR campaigner Brad Sweet on a dramatic final lap chase. “I did see Brad Sweet coming through three and four at the end,” said admittedly tired Gravel. “I’m trying to catch my breath after this one. I was happy with a few of the late cautions. It let me stay on the outside, but I was still holding on for dear life.”
The first yellow flag of the 40-lap main came on the opening lap as fast qualifier Rob Chaney suffered a mechanical break. The notable development was Brad Sweet had already advanced from a seventh starting position to fourth in a single lap. It was an indicator of the Californian’s strength as he carried some momentum from a win in Speedweek just two nights earlier.
On the restart, All-Star points leader Tim Shaffer made it clear he would challenge Gravel through the early stages of the race as both drivers stormed around the high side of the ¼-mile oval. Around lap 5, they began to contest lapped traffic. Just as Shaffer had moved into a side-by-side battle with Gravel, a caution ensued as Brandon Wimmer stalled in turn one.
Gravel and Shaffer resumed their battle with the restart on lap 10 and Byron Reed was also making his presence known, moving to the third position after 15 circuits. By the 20th lap, slower cars again were an issue for the leaders with Brad Sweet occupying Tim Shaffer’s attention in a battle for second.
A spin by Cap Henry on lap 24 brought out another yellow, just as Shaffer had effectively closed on event leader Gravel. Lapped car Shawn Valenti separated Gravel and Shaffer on the lap 25 restart and three quick circuits later, Shaffer’s chances for a third Speedweek victory came to an end as he was forced to stop in turn 4 after a slight tangle in traffic.
The race was now a showdown between David Gravel and Brad Sweet, with Sweet chasing Gravel full throttle as both drivers rode the cushion through the final 12 laps. A rising young star from Connecticut, Gravel never wavered despite the heavy pressure and a daring last lap move from Sweet that came up just short.
The win marked Gravel’s first in Speedweek, his third in All-Star competition, and allowed him to pocket the $5,000 first place money. It also positioned him for the overall 2010 Ohio Speedweek crown entering the finale at Fremont Speedway.
In the K&N UMP Modifieds 20-lap feature, 2009 Limaland Motorsports Park track champion Jeff Babcock, making his second start of the season, proved the shortest distance around the track is sometimes the fastest path as he dominated the race from his inside row two starting position.
Former track champion Terry Hull broke from his pole starting position and led the first five laps holding off the powerful Babcock until the defining pass was made on the inside. Once Babcock took the point, he was clearly hooked up on the bottom and was not to be challenged for the duration. 2010 feature winners Hull, John Brooks and Todd Sherman were the top four finishers although none of them were able to genuinely pressure Babcock.
“I definitely wanted to be on the bottom as it was the place to be,” said Babcock, following his 7th career Modified win at Limaland. “It’s great to come back here as Limaland is special to me with all of these fans.” Babcock is a regular this season with a touring Late Model series
Action resumes at Limaland Motorsports Park on Friday, July 2 with Firecracker Friday featuring the return of the Engine Pro/NRA Sprint Invaders, the K&N UMP Modifieds and the Budweiser Thunderstocks. Spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with Hot Laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. and the full racing program underway at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for the 22nd Annual Brad Doty Classic, July 14, featuring the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, are on sale now. Call the ticket hotline at 419-998-3199. Seating information, plus all the latest news and information about America’s premier quarter-mile dirt track, can be found at www.limaland.com. You can also find 2010 Limaland Motorsports Park on Facebook.
Limaland Motorsports Park - 6/25/2010
Ohio Sprint Speedweek Night
All Star Circuit of Champions
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
- 9X-Rob Chaney, 11.036; 2. 5T-Travis Philo, 11.074; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer, 11.123; 4. 5R-Byron Reed, 11.159; 5. 2-Dale Blaney, 11.199; 6. 7K-Kyle Sauder, 11.219; 7. 89G-David Gravel, 11.233; 8. 1-Stevie Smith, 11.234; 9. X-Mark Keegan, 11.240; 10. 49-Brad Sweet, 11.255; 11. 97-Dean Jacobs, 11.294; 12. 3C-Cale Conley, 11.320; 13. 312-Mike Linder, 11.337; 14. 3J-Kevin Lee, 11.409; 15. 35-Ronnie Blair, 11.412; 16. 8H-Brian Paulus, 11.421; 17. O-Brandon Wimmer, 11.424; 18. O4-Cap Henry, 11.424; 19. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 11.495; 20. 11B-Brock Mayes, 11.512; 21. W20-Greg Wilson, 11.557; 22. 98-Phil Gressman, 11.633; 23. 12-Jared Ridge, 11.635; 24. 11M-Brandon Martin, 11.643; 25. 4K-Kody Kinser, 11.654; 26. 34-Luke Hall, 11.676; 27. 28-Shawn Valenti, 11.725; 28. 78-Todd Kane, 11.731; 29. V92-Matthew Reed, 11.790; 30. 5M-Jamie Miller, 11.813; 31. 6-Bill Rose, 11.902; 32. 39-Alec Martin, 12.069; 33. 45-Brian Lay, 12.342; 34. 24H-Lee Jacobs, 12.376; 35. 5I-Caleb Griffith, 12.405; 36. 6Z-Zack Ames, 12.574
Heat 1 - MSD Ignition (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer) 1. O-Brandon Wimmer; 2. 2-Dale Blaney; 3. W20-Greg Wilson; 4. 312-Mike Linder; 5. 9X-Rob Chaney; 6. 4K-Kody Kinser; 7. V92-Matthew Reed; 8. X-Mark Keegan; 9. 45-Brian Lay
Heat 2 - Kear's Speed Shop (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer) 1. 7K-Kyle Sauder; 2. 98-Phil Gressman; 3. 49-Brad Sweet; 4. O4-Cap Henry; 5. 24H-Lee Jacobs; 6. 34-Luke Hall; 7. 5M-Jamie Miller; 8. 3J-Kevin Lee; 9. 5T-Travis Philo
Heat 3 - All Pro Heads (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer) 1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild; 2. 83-Tim Shaffer; 3. 28-Shawn Valenti; 4. 89G-David Gravel; 5. 12-Jared Ridge; 6. 5I-Caleb Griffith; 7. 97-Dean Jacobs; 8. 35-Ronnie Blair; 9. 6-Bill Rose
Heat 4 - Outerwear's Performance Products (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer) 1. 11M-Brandon Martin; 2. 5R-Byron Reed; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes; 4. 8H-Brian Paulus; 5. 3C-Cale Conley; 6. 1-Stevie Smith; 7. 6Z-Zack Ames; 8. 78-Todd Kane; 9. 39-Alec Martin
Dash - Rubbn' Repair (6 Laps - Top - Transfer) 1. 89G-David Gravel; 2. 3C-Cale Conley; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer; 4. 49-Brad Sweet
B-Main -
University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps - Top 4 Transfer) 1. 1-Stevie Smith; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs; 3. 5T-Travis Philo; 4. X-Mark Keegan; 5. 6-Bill Rose; 6. 4K-Kody Kinser; 7. 35-Ronnie Blair; 8. 39-Alec Martin; 9. 5M-Jamie Miller; 10. 6Z-Zack Ames; 11. 34-Luke Hall; 12. V92-Matthew Reed; 13. 45-Brian Lay
A-Main - O’Reilly Auto Parts (40 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. 89G-David Gravel[1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[7]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[3]; 4. 8H-Brian Paulus[10]; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[14]; 6. 2-Dale Blaney[4]; 7. 7K-Kyle Sauder[6]; 8. 312-Mike Linder[9]; 9. X-Mark Keegan[13]; 10. 11B-Brock Mayes[18]; 11. 24H-Lee Jacobs[24]; 12. 11M-Brandon Martin[22]; 13. 83-Tim Shaffer[2]; 14. 1-Stevie Smith[12]; 15. W20-Greg Wilson[19]; 16. 3C-Cale Conley[8]; 17. 98-Phil Gressman[20]; 18. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 19. 28-Shawn Valenti[23]; 20. 12-Jared Ridge[21]; 21. 5T-Travis Philo[11]; 22. O4-Cap Henry[16]; 23. O-Brandon Wimmer[15]; 24. 9X-Rob Chaney[5]
K&N UMP Modifieds
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 65-Todd Sherman 2. 28-Chad Rosenbeck 3. O3-Cory Seeling 4. 45P-Brian Post 5. 33-Clint Reagle 6. L5-Casey Luedeke 7. 35C-Tim Cornett 8. 20K-Bill Keeler 9. 47-Jim Eklund
Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- O1-Chris Puskas 2. 40-Terry Hull 3. 19-Ryan Ordway 4. 22B-Andy Bibler 5. 22T-Tony Anderson 6. 15-Nick Katterhenry 7. 36-Kelly Bowlby 8. 1-Andy Strait
Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 52-Jeff Babcock 2. OO-John Brooks 3. 5X-Shawn Baliff 4. 42-Bob Baldwin 5. 11H-Mike Hohlbein 6. OOW-Kody Weisner 7. 55-Zach Schroeder 8. 2-Jerrid Back
B-Main - (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- L5-Casey Luedeke 2. 15-Nick Katterhenry 3. 55-Zach Schroeder 4. OOW-Kody Weisner 5. 1-Andy Strait 6. 20K-Bill Keeler 7. 2-Jerrid Back 8. 36-Kelly Bowlby 9. 35C-Tim Cornett 10. 47-Jim Eklund
A-Main - (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position 1. 52-Jeff Babcock[3] 2. 40-Terry Hull[1] 3. OO-John Brooks[6] 4. 65-Todd Sherman[5] 5. 45P-Brian Post[10] 6. 28-Chad Rosenbeck[2] 7. O1-Chris Puskas[4] 8. L5-Casey Luedeke[16] 9. 22T-Tony Anderson[14] 10. 33-Clint Reagle[13] 11. 55-Zach Schroeder[18] 12. 5X-Shawn Baliff[9] 13. 11H-Mike Hohlbein[15] 14. O3-Cory Seeling[7] 15. OOW-Kody Weisner[19] 16. 19-Ryan Ordway[8] 17. 22B-Andy Bibler[11] 18. 1-Andy Strait[20] 19. 42-Bob Baldwin[12] 20. 15-Nick Katterhenry[17]
- Bob Fricke on Jun 26, 2010
- Article Date: 6/26/2010