ATTICA, Ohio — Chris Andrews knew he had to switch something up in order to wrestle the lead away from Cale Conley Friday at Attica Raceway Park.
Andrews, a two-time Attica 410 track champion, searched around on the track and found something in the middle and took the lead from Conley with two laps to go and went on to score his eighth career win at Attica on Kear’s Speed Shop/Carpenters’ Union 744 Night.
In the Callie’s Performance Products 410 Sprint feature, Conley, who scored Attica’s opening season win, bolted into the lead and but Andrews, from Sandusky, Ohio, began searching the track’s surface and found grip in the middle of turns three and four and raced under Conley late before executing a slider in his Mackey Motorsports machine in turns one and two with two laps to go.
“Cale got me opening night and he was not going to get me again,” Andrews said. “The one thing I couldn’t do was keep following him because of the dirty air. I started moving to the middle in one and two and running bottom of three and four and I could get to him but I just couldn’t seal the deal. I saw five to go and I knew I had to do something different. I just sailed it in there…that cushion was pretty sketchy. The car was good. Duane and Ken Mackey put us in some good stuff. Glen wrenching on this thing and Doug Berryman with the shocks…this thing is hooked up.”
Conley and Andrews brought the field to green for the 30-lap 410 sprint feature but Nate Dussel spun on the start, collecting DJ Foos, Hunter Schuerenberg, Jess Stiger and Buddy Kofoid.On the second attempt at green, Conley rocketed into the lead over Andrews while Trey Jacobs and Chad Kemenah battled for third.
On lap five Dussel and Travis Philo would bring out the caution, wiping out Conley’s lead over Andrews, Kemenah, Jacobs, Brian Lay and TJ Michael. On the restart Conley, Andrews and Kemenah pulled away while Jacobs and Michael battled for fourth with Lay and Tyler Gunn staying within striking distance. A debris caution at the half-way point saw the running order Conley, Andrews, Kemenah Jacobs, Michael, Gunn, Lay, Stuart Brubaker and Max Stambaugh.
With 10 laps to go, Andrews had moved his line and was closing on Conley while Kemenah, Jacobs, Michael, Lay and Stambaugh gave chase. With five laps to go it was a great three car battle for the lead between Conley, Andrews and Kemenah. Kemenah would slide off the track in turn two a lap later but came back on still in third while Conley and Andrews raced side by side for the lead. Andrews through a slider on Conley in turns one and two with two laps to go and made it stick to take the lead.
Andrews drove to the victory over Conley, Kemenah, Lay and Jacobs.
Attica’s defending Summit Racing Equipment UMP Late Model track champion Ryan Markham held off Doug Drown to score his 15th career win at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” speedplant.
Mitch Harble has run 410 sprint cars the majority of his driving career. A deal was struck Thursday night for Harble to drive Matt Russel’s 305 sprint car and it paid off. Harble led all 25 non-stop laps to score his first Attica victory.