CALIFORNIA BORN DRIVERS RULE THE ROOST IN ELDORA’S SPRINTACULAR ~ UNOH Sponsored Season Finale Draws 112 Sprint Cars as Abreu, Hannagan and Meseraull Win Terry Murray + J&T photos ROSSBURG, OH (October 11) -- Horace Greeley may have coined the phrase “go west, young man, go west” for young folks seeking the opportunity to succeed, but in racing, the California drivers are saying “go east” to seek the gold as evidenced in Saturday’s season-closing UNOH Sprintacular at Eldora Speedway. Three drivers with Golden State heritage – Rice Abreu (All Star Sprints), Randy Hannagan (NRA Sprint Invaders) and Thomas Messeraul (BOSS Sprints) – prevailed over an assemblage of 112 Sprint Cars. With a dominant season that found him securing his fifth career All Star title long before the final race, Dale Blaney captured Saturday’s dash and earned the pole position for the 30-lap finale. At that point, everyone assumed the main event would be a race to see who would finish behind Blaney. When the green flag flew, it seemed that was exactly how the plot was going to play out. Randy Hannagan was giving a spirited chase and was soon joined by Greg Wilson and Christopher Bell, but deep in the pack, Abreu was on a mission. He was out to spoil the Blaney streak and he made it very apparent. In some of the boldest moves seen in recent years around the high-banked one-half mile oval, Abreu set sail for the front. At the end of one lap he was 7th, and within five laps was up to fifth. Two more laps passed and Abreu disposed of Bell and Wilson to move within inches of Hannagan in third. The ensuing battle between Hannagan and Abreu allowed Blaney to open a sizeable lead. Five laps later Abreu shot past Hannagan and it was an all-out assault on Blaney. Putting his car within inches of the outer wall, Abrue reeled in Blaney and the duo put on a three-lap battle that held the crowd in awe. As the drivers did slide jobs on each other and peak speed, lapped traffic entered in to the mix it looked as if Blaney’s years of Eldora experience would give him the upper hand. Abreu, in only his second season of racing at Eldora, did let that bother him. He was able to power past Blaney on lap 18 and despite a couple of close encounters in the closing stages, he was not to be denied. He cruised to his first Eldora winged Sprint Car victory and the crowd erupted. Blaney crossed the line second, as Hannagan, Wilson and Ian Madsen completed the top five. Hannagan and Wilson were unable to join the victory lane celebration as they immediately jumped behind the wheel of their NRA Sprint Invader entries to do yet another battle around Eldora. When the green flag flew on their 20-lap chase, it was Hud Horton powering out front ahead of Butch Schroeder, Hannagan, Devon Dobie and Wilson. That lead was short-lived as former NRA champion Schroeder shot into the lead on lap 2 and began distancing himself ahead of the field. One lap later, Hannagan also slid past Horton and his chase to the front was underway. Not wanting to score another runner-up finish, Hannagan continually narrowed the gap between himself and the leader in the non-stop affair and just past the half-way mark, was able to move into the lead he was to hold to the finish. Schroeder stayed within striking distance, but the night belonged to Hannagan. Crossing the line behind them were Dustin Daggett, Wilson and Ron Blair. Closing out the night of all Sprint Car racing were the non-winged BOSS (Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series) as the focus shifted from speed to driving ability. Referred to as ‘traditional’ sprints due their non-wing status, the 24-car field took to the high banks and in a completely different style of sideways racing through the turns. Logan Jarrett took the lead at the green flag over Travis Hery, as Dallas Hewit and Derek Hastings joined in to make a four-car battle up front. Hery soon faded from the front as C.J. Leary was the next to post his challenge among the top four. At this point, Meseraull was mired in sixth spot. As Jarrett slowly increased his lead, the cars behind him were stacking up in a four-wide battle around Eldora and swapping spots lap after lap. Mike Miller, who eventually claimed the BOSS 2014 championship title, soon through his cards into the mix and moved as high as third on lap six. Hewitt broke free first and set sail after Jarrett, followed by Leary to set up a classic three-way war for top honors. While those three were engaged in their battle, Meseraull slowly crept into the picture and within three laps went from fourth to the lead which he was able to hang on to, though the finish. A late race caution flew for heat race winner Jarrett Andretti who stopped on the back stretch, but that failed to stop Meseraull’s momentum. Leary remained close through the checkered flag, as Hewitt, Jarrett and Miller fought their own battled to finish in that order and complete the top five. With the completed the UNOH Sprintacular Eldora closed the books on its 61st consecutive season of racing. UNOH SPRINTACULR OCTOBER 11, 2014 All Star Sprints A FEATURE – 1. 24-Rico Abreu [5]; 2. 14K-Dale Blaney [1]; 3. 11N-Randy Hannagan [2]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson [4]; 5. 18-Ian Madsen [7]; 6. 53-Chris Bell [3]; 7. 09-Chris Andrews [22]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo [11]; 9. 4-Danny Smith [13]; 10. 59-Dean Jacobs [9]; 11. 21-D.j. Foos [14]; 12. 24H-Brandon Wimmer [20]; 13. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [12]; 14. 00-Jim Nier [15]; 15. 6-Jac Haudenschild [21]; 16. 71M-Paul May [18]; 17. 9W-Derek Hagar [10]; 18. 4T-Tyler Courtney [17]; 19. 55F-Taylor Ferns [23]; 20. 13-Mark Dobmeier [DNF]; 21. 13M- Brandon Matus [DNF]; 22. 2M-Dustin Daggett [DNF]; 23. 1ST-Gary Taylor [DNF]; 24. 81-Lee Jacobs [DNF]; NRA Sprints A FEATURE – 1. 22H-Randy Hannagan [6]; 2. 20B-Butch Schroeder [4]; 3. 2M-Dustin Daggett [5]; 4. 6S-Greg Wilson [3]; 5. 35-Ron Blair [8]; 6. 28H-Hud Horton [1]; 7. 10B-Mitch Brown [9]; 8. 23-Devon Dobie [2]; 9. 11-Tim Allison [7]; 10. 4A-Jon Agan [16]; 11. 83-Kyle Sauder [10]; 12. 6M-Max Stambaugh [11]; 13. 49-Shawn Dancer [12]; 14. 17-Jared Horstman [14]; 15. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [13]; 16. 3R-Shane Ross [19]; 17. 12R-Nick Roberts [17]; 18. 23G-Joe Geibe [DNF]; 19. 15-Brandon Ferguson [DNF]; 20. 33M-Beau Stewart [DNF]; BOSS Non-Winged Sprint Cars A FEATURE – 1. 18M-Thomas Meseraull [8]; 2. 30-C.j. Leary [6]; 3. 22S-Dallas Hewitt [3]; 4. 29-Logan Jarrett [1]; 5. 82M-Mike Miller [9]; 6. 4-Michael Fischesser [10]; 7. 57B-Brandon Spithaler [7]; 8. 320-Bill Rose [14]; 9. 0-Steve Irwin [22]; 10. 54-Matt Westfall [16]; 11. 32M-Derek Hastings [4]; 12. 77-Dustin Smith [15]; 13. 12W-Kent Walter [20]; 14. 17-Nick Bilbee [21]; 15. 5J-Joss Moffatt [24]; 16. 9N-Luke Hall [18]; 17. 26-Justin Owens [17]; 18. 18-Jarett Andretti [5]; 19. 21-Travis Hery [2]; 20. 1M-Mike Moore [13]; 21. 53-Steve Little [23]; 22. 24-Landon Simon [DNF]; 23. 401K-Travis Berryhill [DNF]; 24. 40-Justin Grant [DNF];
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 17:59:43 +0000
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