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| Zack Anthony Photography |
The 10th Annual Lou Blaney Memorial has become a true must see event over it's history, and on Saturday night, history was made as a legendary driver known to all became the first ever multi-time winner of the All Star Sprint Car portion of the event. Meanwhile, another driver who has been steadily improving at a good pace in recent years made his imprint on a memorable night for those in attendance, and a driver who looks to be on his way to becoming a household name managed to take his first BRP Modified Tour feature win as he bested a stout field of cars in Modified Tour racing action.
Dave Blaney, George Hobaugh and Michael Maresca each made their marks on Saturday night, giving fans a night to remember with moments provided by all three of them.
Blaney Holds Off Hobaugh To Make History
Carl Bowser and Blaney brought the Arcit Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars to the green flag where Blaney quickly jumped out the early lead in the first two laps of action. Australian invader Mitchell Wormall brought out the yellow flag just two laps in to the 30 lap main event and when action resumed, Blaney picked up right where he left off setting a quick pace at the front of the field. With seven laps down, the leader found himself dealing with lapped traffic where he would find himself being hunted with relentless pursuit from Hobaugh.
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| Rick Rarer Photo |
The Chicora, PA native had been having his share of good results and had looked impressive in an earlier All Star appearance at Sharon in May, and on this night, the current points championship contender at Lernerville Speedway found himself on the verge of scoring the biggest victory of his career to date as he made his way around red hot tour regular Carson Macedo and veteran West Coast Sprint Car pilot Gary Taylor in the very early stages and around Bowser for the second position just moments later. Using the bottom of the surface at critical times, Hobaugh arrived at Blaney's tail tank on lap 18, and on lap 21 he put himself under Blaney and in the lead for a brief period before Blaney made his way back around just before the caution flag waved for Parker Price Miller.
"We were fortunate the track slicked off cause I hate running the top so I tried to be good on the bottom," Hobaugh said. "It was really awesome to race with those guys. Dad raced with Lou for years. I got to watch Lou race when I was a kid and to be out here racing with Dave for the lead- that’s a blast and you can’t do any better than that.”
Blaney hit his marks the rest of the way and would not be run down again the rest of the way while Spencer Bayston finished his charge from the 8th starting spot to join Blaney and Hobaugh on the podium.
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| Rick Rarer Photo |
"I was just happy to win it once this is a very cool race for me and dale and the entire family to come be a part of," Blaney said. With the talent here winning it twice means so much to me and our family."
"We were able to salvage a 3rd after the mistake I made on the last restart," Bayston said post race. "I’m happy for Dave I know this means a lot to them and it was cool being part of it."
Feature Finish- Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars- 30 Laps ($5,000)
1. Dave Blaney 2. George Hobaugh (40) 3. Spencer Bayston )39) 4. Gary Taylor (11) 5. Chad Kemenah (10H) 6. Lee Jacobs (81) 7. Carl Bowser (98) 8. Paul McMahan 9. Carson Macedo (3G) 10. Max Stambaugh 5M) 11. Cale Conley (7K) 12. Dan Shetler (7K) 13. Jared Zimbardi (35) 14. Tim Shaffer (49X) 15. Andrew Palker (57x) 16. Dale Blaney (21) 17. Jac Haudenschild (3) 18. Aaron Reutzel (87) 19. John Garvin, Jr. (51) 20. Brandon Spithaler (22) 21. Mitchell Wormall (97AU) 22. Tyler Esh (35) 23. Parker Price-Miller (4) 24. Tony Stewart (14) 25. Brandon Matus (13)
Maresca Wires Caution Modified Main Event
It's been quite a season for Michael Maresca, one that started in Florida in February doing double duty with the National Late Model Tours and the Super DIRTcar Series Modifieds. And what he's learned in racing at high levels of competition in both cars, and what's he's taken in from veteran Late Model and Big Block Modified pilot Russ King looks to be paying off in either car. Maresca took his first two feature wins in the early part of 2018 and now has two Modified wins for the year as well as a weekly win at the legendary Fonda Speedway in 2017.
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| Rick rarer Photo |
Maresca shared the front row with Kevin Hoffman and was never threatened throughout 35 laps of racing. Maresca entered lapped traffic with 10 laps in the books and kept the field behind him, disposing of lappers with ease on virtually every lap. Hoffman was able to draw somewhat closer for different periods, but his attention was drawn away somewhat by Jim Weller Jr. which allowed Maresca to stretch his advantage over the field once again.
"We have been working a lot on maneuverability and being able to adjust and I think we were able to do that tonight," Maresca said. "The car felt good wherever we put it. Knowing who Lou Blaney, was this is defiantly cool to win this race and an honor to have won it.”
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| Zack Anthony Photo |
Feature Finish- The Modified Tour ($2,500 to win)- 35 laps
1. Mike Maresca (7m) 2. Kevin Hoffman (00) 3. Jim Weller, Jr. (31) 4. Rex King (65) 5. Rex King, Jr. (165) 6. Jim Rasey (32) 7. Dave Murdick (61) 8. Garrett Krummert (29) 9. Travis Shingledecker (73MD) 10. Rick Richner (26) 11. Rick Regalski, Jr. (13) 12. Jeremiah Shingledecker (37MD) 13. Will Thomas III (9) 14. Tyler Willard (777) 15. Chris Haines (35H) 16. J.R. McGinley (66M) 17. Sid Unverzagt, Jr. (17JR) 18. Lonny Riggs (Black 58) 19. Colton Walters (18) 20. Kyle Fink (66F) 21. Jimmy Holden (28H) 22. Bob Warren (96B) 23. Skip Moore (17M) 24. Mark Frankhouser (03) 25. Tom Holden (68H) 26. Brian Swartzlander (83).
Photos From Rick Rarer and Zack Anthony Photography
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