Duncan earns Ohio Speedweek finale victory, Shaffer claims third Speedweek championship

Cole Duncan earns Ohio Sprint Speedweek finale victory, Tim Shaffer claims third Speedweek championship

Story By: Tyler Altmeyer/ASCOC

Photos By: Vinve Vellella/ASCOC & Harry Meeks/RacersGuide.com

CHILLICOTHE, OH (June 25, 2017) – Ending a near-four year drought, Lockbourne, Ohio’s Cole Duncan is back in Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory lane, this time earning the 35th Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket finale win at Atomic Speedway over a field of 53 entries. The pilot of the Helms Construction/Motor City Auto Transport/Ohio Heating/No. 22C earned his $5,000 payday from the outside of row three, utilizing a lap 21 restart to take command officially on lap 22 over Muskingum County Speedway winner, Spencer Bayston. Duncan chased Bayston for six circuits before making the winning move, eventually driving under the familiar Kevin Swindell-owned No. 39 through turns three and four.

Duncan’s victory caps off an impressive Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket campaign for the second generation Arctic Cat All Star winner, finishing tied for second in the final Ohio Sprint Speedweek championship standings on the strength of one victory and five top-ten finishes, three of which inside the top-five. Despite ending in a tie, Duncan will be declared the official runner-up due to having a victory over Chad Kemenah.

Spencer Bayston held on to finish second on Saturday night at Atomic Speedway, followed by DJ Foos, Tanner Thorson and Caleb Armstrong.

“Man, I’ve been waiting to talk to you for a long time,” Cole Duncan explained in victory lane. “I just want to thank all of the fans for coming out tonight. It was a near-perfect night for racing. The track was in perfect shape. I’m so glad Brad (McCown) opened this place back up and did what he did. It feels so good to be in victory lane during an All Star event at my home track. This is the first Speedweek I’ve ever completed. I’m so proud of everyone.”

Cole Duncan won the battle on Saturday night, but it was the “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer who won the war, claiming his third Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket point championship worth $1,000. Shaffer’s Speedweek run ended with two victories, the first at Eldora Speedway and the second at Waynesfield Raceway Park, as well as five top-ten finishes, edging out Cole Duncan and Chad Kemenah in the final Ohio Sprint Speedweek title fight by 14 points.

“This was definitely a whole group effort. They did a great job, which made me look even better than I was,” said Tim Shaffer. “We’re running well at a perfect time of the year. I’m having more fun now than I ever have. They gave me a great car here tonight. We have the engines and the parts; everything we need to be better.”

The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will continue competition with visits to Kokomo (IN) Speedway and Wayne County (OH) Speedway on Friday and Saturday, June 30 and July 1. The Kokomo Speedway program was originally set for Friday, May 19, but was postponed due to Mother Nature. Tony Stewart, three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and Arctic Cat All Star owner, will join the field at Indiana’s baddest bullring; the only Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions appearance in the state of Indiana for 2017. Rico Abreu is the most recent winner during Arctic Cat All Star competition at Kokomo Speedway, earning the 2016 Dirt Classic Indiana worth $12,500.

The upcoming Wayne County Speedway appearance will be the third of five for the Arctic Cat All Stars in 2017, most recently during Ohio Sprint Speedway presented by Cometic Gasket on Monday, June 19. Kyle Larson was the Speedweek winner, his first of two Ohio Sprint Speedweek victories with the second coming one night later at Sharon (OH) Speedway.

Those seeking additional news and notes regarding the upcoming events at Kokomo Speedway and Wayne County Speedway should visit each facility live on the Web at www.kokomospeedway.net and www.waynecountyspeedway.com.

Contingency Awards/Results: Atomic Speedway – Saturday, June 24, 2017:
Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket Finale
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 53 entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Brady Bacon – 11.830 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Cole Duncan – 11.624 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Kevin Thomas Jr.
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Sean Zemunik
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Tanner Thorson
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: DJ Foos
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5: Caleb Armstrong
Computer Man, Inc. D-Main: Ryan Linder
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts C-Main: Mitch Harble
JE Pistons Dash #1: Caleb Armstrong
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Cale Thomas
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Cale Conley
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Caleb Armstrong (5th)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Carson Macedo (+14)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Caleb Armstrong
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Carson Macedo
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Danny Smith
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 91-Cale Thomas, 11.737; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs, 11.854; 3. 71X-Kevin Thomas Jr., 11.968; 4. 57X-Andrew Palker, 11.989; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison, 12.475; 6. 71-Ayrton Olsen, 12.544; 7. 45-Trevor Baker, 12.568; 8. 40-Mark Imler, 12.701; 9. 4au-Chris Ferrall, 12.826; 10. 9-Ryan Linder, 13.211; 11. 7R-Andy Rein, 99.11

Group (B)
1. 22C-Cole Duncan, 11.624; 2. 7K-Cale Conley, 11.66; 3. 39-Spencer Bayston, 11.744; 4. 27Z-Sean Zemunik, 11.961; 5. 35-Tyler Esh, 12.036; 6. 11N-Craig Mintz, 12.046; 7. 4-Danny Smith, 12.107; 8. 8M-TJ Michael, 12.2838; 9. 83X-Nate Reeser, 12.534; 10. 9J-Jessie McCreary, 13.032; 11. 80-Lance Webb, 13.486

Group ( C )
1. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 11.855; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 12.014; 3. 70-Tanner Thorson, 12.035; 4. 59-Ryan Smith, 12.09; 5. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 12.157; 6. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.284; 7. 99-Brady Bacon, 12.401; 8. 5-Jordan Harble, 12.609; 9. 12-Daniel Harding, 12.7; 10. 51-John Garvin, 13.135; 11. 4X-Jimmy Stinson, 13.2

Group (D)
1. A67-Brandon Wimmer, 12.172; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.177; 3. 23-DJ Foos, 12.535; 4. 97W-Mitchell Wormall, 12.704; 5. 15H-Mitch Harble, 12.734; 6. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 12.894; 7. 83-Adam Cruea, 13.408; 8. 22D-Josh Davis, 13.477; 9. 3FX-Dean Kester, 14.89; 10. 92A-Sammy Walsh, 99

Group (E)
1. 17-Caleb Helms, 12.168; 2. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 12.348; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 12.356; 4. 35R-Ronnie Blair, 12.404; 5. 3G-Carson Macedo, 12.443; 6. O7-Jacob Wilson, 12.795; 7. 59N-Bryan Nuckles, 12.977; 8. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.019; 9. 13-Brandon Matus, 13.128; 10. 33-Brent Matus, 13.944

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 71X-Kevin Thomas Jr. [2]; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker [1]; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs [3]; 4. 91-Cale Thomas [4]; 5. 45-Trevor Baker [7]; 6. 95-Hunter Mackison [5]; 7. 71-Ayrton Olsen [6]; 8. 40-Mark Imler [8]; 9. 9-Ryan Linder [10]; 10. 4AU-Chris Ferrall [9]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 27Z-Sean Zemunik [1]; 2. 39-Spencer Bayston [2]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 4. 11N-Craig Mintz [6]; 5. 7K-Cale Conley [3]; 6. 4-Danny Smith [7]; 7. 35-Tyler Esh [5]; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser [9]; 9. 8M-TJ Michael [8]; 10. 80-Lance Webb [11]; 11. 9J-Jessie McCreary [10]

Heat #3 – Group ( C ) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 70-Tanner Thorson [2]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [4]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [3]; 4. 22-Brandon Spithaler [5]; 5. 99-Brady Bacon [7]; 6. 51-John Garvin [10]; 7. 12-Daniel Harding [9]; 8. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 9. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [11]; 10. 59-Ryan Smith [1]; 11. 5-Jordan Harble [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 23-DJ Foos [2]; 2. A67-Brandon Wimmer [4]; 3. 97W-Mitchell Wormall [1]; 4. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [3]; 5. 1080-Jordan Mackison [6]; 6. 15H-Mitch Harble [5]; 7. 22D-Josh Davis [8]; 8. 92A-Sammy Walsh [10]; 9. 3FX-Dean Kester [9]; 10. 83-Adam Cruea [7]

Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [2]; 2. 35R-Ronnie Blair [1]; 3. 17-Caleb Helms [4]; 4. 33M-Max Stambaugh [3]; 5. 3G-Carson Macedo [5]; 6. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [7]; 7. O7-Jacob Wilson [6]; 8. 5R-Byron Reed [8]; 9. 13-Brandon Matus [9]; 10. 33-Brent Matus [10]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [1]; 2. 39-Spencer Bayston [2]; 3. 70-Tanner Thorson [4]; 4. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 5. A67-Brandon Wimmer [6]; 6. 57X-Andrew Palker [5]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 91-Cale Thomas [3]; 2. 23-DJ Foos [4]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [6]; 4. 35R-Ronnie Blair [5]; 5. 27Z-Sean Zemunik [1]; 6. 71X-Kevin Thomas Jr. [2]

D-Main (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 9-Ryan Linder [1]; 2. 22D-Josh Davis [3]; 3. 92A-Sammy Walsh [7]; 4. 80-Lance Webb [4]; 5. 83-Adam Cruea [2]; 6. 3FX-Dean Kester [6]; 7. 33-Brent Matus [5]; 8. 5-Jordan Harble [8]; 9. 7R-Andy Rein [9]

C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 15H-Mitch Harble [1]; 2. 4AU-Chris Ferrall [3]; 3. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [10]; 4. 9J-Jessie McCreary [7]; 5. 22D-Josh Davis [12]; 6. 9-Ryan Linder [11]; 7. O7-Jacob Wilson [2]; 8. 59N-Bryan Nuckles [5]; 9. 1080-Jordan Mackison [4]; 10. 5R-Byron Reed [6]; 11. 13-Brandon Matus [8]; 12. 51-John Garvin [9]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 7K-Cale Conley [1]; 2. 4-Danny Smith [4]; 3. 59-Ryan Smith [3]; 4. 3G-Carson Macedo [8]; 5. 99-Brady Bacon [7]; 6. 8M-TJ Michael [5]; 7. 20N-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison [9]; 9. 45-Trevor Baker [12]; 10. 83X-Nate Reeser [10]; 11. 35-Tyler Esh [2]; 12. 12-Daniel Harding [13]; 13. 4AU-Chris Ferrall [16]; 14. 71-Ayrton Olsen [11]; 15. 40-Mark Imler [14]; 16. 15H-Mitch Harble [15]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 22C-Cole Duncan [6]; 2. 39-Spencer Bayston [3]; 3. 23-DJ Foos [4]; 4. 70-Tanner Thorson [5]; 5. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [1]; 6. 49X-Tim Shaffer [7]; 7. A67-Brandon Wimmer [9]; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs [13]; 9. 71X-Kevin Thomas Jr. [12]; 10. 3G-Carson Macedo [24]; 11. 59-Ryan Smith [23]; 12. 10H-Chad Kemenah [14]; 13. 57X-Andrew Palker [11]; 14. 33M-Max Stambaugh [20]; 15. 4-Danny Smith [22]; 16. 8M-TJ Michael [25]; 17. 11N-Craig Mintz [17]; 18. 22-Brandon Spithaler [18]; 19. 91-Cale Thomas [2]; 20. 35-Tyler Esh [26]; 21. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [19]; 22. 17-Caleb Helms [15]; 23. 35R-Ronnie Blair [8]; 24. 27Z-Sean Zemunik [10]; 25. 97W-Mitchell Wormall [16]; 26. 7K-Cale Conley [21] Lap Leaders: Caleb Armstrong [1-5]; Spencer Bayston [6-21]; Cole Duncan [22-30]

FINAL Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket Point Standings:
1. Tim Shaffer – 930
2. Cole Duncan – 916
3. Chad Kemenah – 916
4. Carson Macedo – 888
5. Ryan Smith – 852
6. Caleb Armstrong – 812
7. Lee Jacobs – 806
8. Max Stambaugh – 780
9. Andrew Palker – 774
10. Caleb Helms – 772

Win Bonus Count presented by Cometic Gasket:
Tim Shaffer – 2 – Eldora Speedway, Waynesfield Raceway Park [+500]
Kyle Larson – 2 – Wayne County Speedway, Sharon Speedway [+$500]
Spencer Bayston – 1 – Muskingum County Speedway
Cole Duncan – 1 – Atomic Speedway

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (June 24, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah – 3128
2. Ryan Smith – 2870
3. Caleb Armstrong – 2856
4. Caleb Helms – 2754
5. Max Stambaugh – 2624
6. T.J. Michael – 2433
7. Tim Shaffer – 2378
8. Brandon Spithaler – 2341
9. Tyler Esh – 2267
10. Brandon Matus – 2256

About Cometic Gasket:
Cometic Gasket, Inc., is a leading worldwide supplier of gaskets and engine sealing solutions for the Automotive, Powersports, Original Equipment and Remanufactured Engine Industries. Cometic was founded in 1989 and has grown into a global leader and innovator in the highly competitive engine supplier marketplace. Housed in a 70,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art R&D and manufacturing center in Concord, Ohio, Cometic Gasket is family owned and operated, offering over 90,000 SKUs, shipping gaskets and engine sealing solutions across the globe.

Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit its official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.

About the Arctic Cat 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.

About Arctic Cat:
The Arctic Cat brand is among the most widely recognized and respected in the recreational vehicle industry. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and markets all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), side-by-sides and snowmobiles, in addition to related parts, garments and accessories under the Arctic Cat® and Motorfist® brand names. Arctic Cat Inc.’s world headquarters is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. More information about Arctic Cat and its products is available at www.ArcticCat.com.