ATTICA, Ohio — Danny Dietrich’s decision to join the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 for another edition of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires turned out to be a good move.
Dietrich opened Speedweek competition with a $6,000 victory in Attica Raceway Park’s Bert and Brigitte Emick Classic on Friday night.
The triumph, Dietrich’s first All Star win of the season and the 16th of his career, occurred in fantastic fashion, opening the evening with heat race and dash victories, moving on to lead all 35 circuits.
Dietrich’s only real challenge transpired on lap 16 when the Gettysburg, Pa., native slipped off the backstretch in traffic forcing the 2021 Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek champion to take evasive action.
Despite the hiccup, which allowed second place running Bill Balog to close in on the leader, Dietrich pulled through. Even a few early race slide-job attempts by Cory Eliason proved no match for Dietrich, powering ahead of the slide by the exit of turn two.
“I had to pitch it sideways to get back on the track,” Dietrich said. “I was just glad to save it. I really didn’t have to move off the top tonight. I felt OK on the bottom of one and two, but I didn’t feel as well as I did on the top, especially in clean air. But hats off to this entire team. Everyone has been busting their butts. We have a wild month ahead of us. We could be racing for points back home, but we wanted to come out here and race Speedweek with you guys.”
Cautions on laps six, nine, 23, and 32 helped rid the speedway of any chaos, basically clearing the potential for any pressure from those behind him. Dietrich’s final restart on lap 32, which was executed perfectly by the ace of the Gary Kauffman Racing, Weikert’s Livestock, Sandoe’s Fruit Market, Pace Performance, Big Cove Whitetail Trophy Hunts, Drop Of Ink Tattoo, Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC, No. 48 sprint car.
“I’m glad the cautions fell when they did,” Dietrich continued. “It was getting pretty tough. All we can do now is regroup and try to do this tomorrow at Fremont.” Adding to the stat chart, the All Star Attica triumph bumps Dietrich’s overall season win total to seven, five of which accomplished at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.
Balog held on to finish second at Attica Raceway Park to open his Speedweek campaign, followed by Buch Motorsports’ Justin Peck, Lane Racing’s Cap Henry, and a hard-charging Zeb Wise, who advanced 18 positions from 23rd, securing his spot through the evening’s B-Main.
The finish
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 2. 17B-Bill Balog [3]; 3. 13-Justin Peck [8]; 4. 4-Cap Henry [11]; 5. 10-Zeb Wise [23]; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs [6]; 7. 97-Greg Wilson [22]; 8. 25R-Jordan Ryan [15]; 9. 28-Brandon Spithaler [10]; 10. 49X-Ian Madsen [19]; 11. 5T-Travis Philo [18]; 12. 19-Chris Windom [20]; 13. 11-Parker Price Miller [2]; 14. 17-Carson Short [14]; 15. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [12]; 16. 16-DJ Foos [9]; 17. O9-Craig Mintz [17]; 18. 23-Chris Andrews [21]; 19. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 20. 33W-Caleb Griffith [13]; 21. 18-Cole Macedo [5]; 22. 35-Stuart Brubaker [24]; 23. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [7]; 24. 99-Skylar Gee [16] Lap Leaders: Danny Dietrich (1-30)