James McFadden slides by Dale Blaney late to score ‘Speedweek: Reloaded’ win at Atomic Speedway

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James McFadden slides by Dale Blaney late to score ‘Speedweek: Reloaded’ win at Atomic Speedway

Story By: Tyler Altmeyer/ASCOC

Photos By: Dan DeMarco/RacersGuide.com

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (September 12, 2019) – Certainly an exciting way to open the three-day Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 invasion of southern Ohio, Warrnambool, Australia’s James McFadden put fans on their feet on Thursday night in Chillicothe by overtaking six-time Series champion and all-time Series win leader, Dale Blaney, with just one and a half circuits remaining to score the ‘Speedweek: Reloaded’ victory on the highbanks of Atomic Speedway.

Starting third on the feature grid, the multi-time World Series of Sprintcars champion in Australia battled within the top three the entire distance, eventually overtaking the second position from defending All Star champion, Aaron Reutzel, on lap 21, all before stealing the top spot from Blaney in the closing circuits. For McFadden, the victory bumps his season total with Tony Stewart’s All Stars to three, now with five on his career. The $5,000 triumph was a first-ever at Atomic Speedway during All Star competition.

Despite losing grip on the lead, Blaney hung on to finish second, followed by fellow six-time Series champion, Chad Kemenah, Canadian All Star Rookie of the Year contender, Skylar Gee, and Clute, Texas’ Aaron Reutzel.

“I thought if I could slide him and block him out of turn two, we were going to be alright,” an elated James McFadden said in victory lane, driver of the Kasey Kahne Racing with Mike Curb/Wicked Energy Gum/Karavan/No. 9 sprint car. “It was a tough race. It was super hard to see where you needed to be at some points. The guys gave me a great car and I can’t thank them enough.”

Although the first ten circuits were filled with their share of chaos, two cautions including a red flag incident that eventually led to tire-wall repair, things started to really intensify once the leaders found traffic on lap 13. Blaney was in control, but Chad Kemenah and James McFadden were waiting in the wings and ready to strike. Trying to take advantage of Blaney’s momentum shift in traffic, Kemenah attempted a bid for the top spot on lap 16. Despite making his slider work through the corner, Blaney dove back underneath the No. K4 and exited turn two resuming control.

With Reutzel now in the mix, a nose-to-tail battle in traffic involving the top-four spots soon erupted. By lap 21, McFadden was in a prime position to advance, nose-diving to the bottom of turn one before sliding in front of Kemenah to gain second. The move worked, now setting his aim on race leader, Dale Blaney.

By lap 24, McFadden was all over the back bumper of Blaney, as no lapped cars separated himself from the race leader. Just as the front-runners received the two-to-go signal from the flagstand, McFadden put himself in position to execute, once again diving to the bottom of turn one in an attempt to slide up in front of the McGhee Motorsports No. 11. As it did with his move around Kemenah, the slide job worked, leading the last lap and a half to secure his place on top of the feature podium.

“Dale (Blaney) didn’t do anything wrong. We were in a position to capitalize,” James McFadden continued. “Luckily, it worked out. Sometimes it’s better to be the leader in the closing laps, sometimes it better to be second.”

The three-day All Star Circuit of Champions invasion of Atomic Speedway will continue Friday evening, September 13, with the ‘Night Before The Knittel’ program awarding a $5,054 payday. Less than half of the loot up for grabs one night later, the blockbuster weekend at Atomic Speedway will hit an even higher gear on Saturday night, September 14, with the 2nd Annual Dean Knittel Memorial awarding a $12,554 winner’s share.

Those seeking additional news and notes pertaining to Atomic Speedway should visit the facility live on the Web at www.atomicspeedway.net.

Contingency Awards/Results: Atomic Speedway – September 12, 2019:
Event: Speedweek-Reloaded
Entries: 33
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Justin Peck – 11.536 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Aaron Reutzel – 11.419 seconds
Ford Performance Heat #1: Skylar Gee
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Greg Wilson
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Chad Kemenah
Mobil 1 Heat #4: Tony Stewart
JE Pistons Dash #1: Dale Blaney
Fatheadz Eyewear Dash #2: Chad Kemenah
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting B-Main Winner: Josh Davis
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: James McFadden
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: John Garvin (+6)
Cometic Gasket Most A-Main Laps Led: Dale Blaney (1-28)
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Cody Gallogly
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation, Cometic Gasket: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)

87-Aaron Reutzel, 11.419; 2. 11-Dale Blaney, 11.530; 3. 99-Skylar Gee, 11.638; 4. 59-Bryan Nuckles, 11.762; 5. 4-Cap Henry, 11.791; 6. 40-George Hobaugh, 12.032; 7. 4X-Jimmy Stinson, 12.059; 8. 4D-Josh Davis, 12.148; 9. 27-Cody Gallogly, 99.190

Group (B)

22C-Cole Duncan, 11.566; 2. 21-Brinton Marvel, 11.763; 3. 42-Sye Lynch, 11.844; 4. W20-Greg Wilson, 11.906; 5. 33M-Mason Daniel, 11.914; 6. J4-John Garvin, 11.926; 7. 9X-Ricky Peterson, 12.099; 8. 54-Danny Smith, 12.131

Group (C)

9-James McFadden, 11.690; 2. 13-Paul McMahan, 11.691; 3. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 11.744; 4. K4-Chad Kemenah, 11.759; 5. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 11.783; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 11.927; 7. 6-Justin Grant, 11.937; 8. 9W-Lance Webb, 12.237

Group (D)

A79-Brandon Wimmer, 11.735; 2. 26-Cory Eliason, 11.736; 3. 70X-Justin Peck, 11.755; 4. 14-Tony Stewart, 11.780; 5. 45-Trevor Baker, 11.960; 6. 1B-Keith Baxter, 12.099; 7. 83X-Nate Reeser, 12.505; 8. 44-Charlie Vest, 12.805

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

99-Skylar Gee [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [5]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 5. 59-Bryan Nuckles [1]; 6. 4D-Josh Davis [8]; 7. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [7]; 8. 40-George Hobaugh [6]; 9. 27-Cody Gallogly [9]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

W20-Greg Wilson [1]; 2. 42-Sye Lynch [2]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 4. 33M-Mason Daniel [5]; 5. 9X-Ricky Peterson [7]; 6. J4-John Garvin [6]; 7. 21-Brinton Marvel [3]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

K4-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 9-James McFadden [4]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 4. 70-Brock Zearfoss [5]; 5. 6-Justin Grant [7]; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre [6]; 7. 9W-Lance Webb [8]; 8. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer

14-Tony Stewart [1]; 2. 70X-Justin Peck [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 4. 1B-Keith Baxter [6]; 5. 45-Trevor Baker [5]; 6. 83X-Nate Reeser [7]; 7. 44-Charlie Vest [8]; 8. A79-Brandon Wimmer [4]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)

11-Dale Blaney [2]; 2. 9-James McFadden [1]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [3]; 4. 70X-Justin Peck [5]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [4]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)

K4-Chad Kemenah [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee [3]; 4. 42-Sye Lynch [1]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [5]

B-Main (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

4D-Josh Davis [5]; 2. 21-Brinton Marvel [2]; 3. J4-John Garvin [3]; 4. 9W-Lance Webb [8]; 5. 27-Cody Gallogly [11]; 6. 4X-Jimmy Stinson [7]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [4]; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser [6]; 9. 40-George Hobaugh [10]; 10. 44-Charlie Vest [9]

A-Main (30 Laps)

9-James McFadden [3]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [1]; 3. K4-Chad Kemenah [2]; 4. 99-Skylar Gee [6]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 6. 70X-Justin Peck [7]; 7. 22C-Cole Duncan [5]; 8. 14-Tony Stewart [10]; 9. 4-Cap Henry [13]; 10. 13-Paul McMahan [11]; 11. 70-Brock Zearfoss [14]; 12. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 13. 26-Cory Eliason [12]; 14. 9X-Ricky Peterson [19]; 15. 1B-Keith Baxter [16]; 16. 4D-Josh Davis [21]; 17. J4-John Garvin [23]; 18. 21-Brinton Marvel [22]; 19. 45-Trevor Baker [18]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch [8]; 21. 9W-Lance Webb [24]; 22. 59-Bryan Nuckles [17]; 23. 6-Justin Grant [20]; 24. 33M-Mason Daniel [15] Lap Leaders: Dale Blaney (1-28), James McFadden (29, 30)

2019 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (After 9/12/2019):