HARTFORD, Ohio — Hall of Fame sprint car driver Dale Blaney returned to victory lane Wednesday night at Sharon Speedway, winning the 30-lap 410 winged sprint car night during the Wednesday Night Thunder program.
Blaney passed Lee Jacobs on lap three and held off a valiant effort by Cale Thomas and a hard-charging Zeth Sabo for the $4,000 payday at the site of his first career win back in 1990.
“It’s pretty awesome,” acknowledged the 59-year-old Hartford, Ohio native. “Jerry and Scooter are two great guys that gave me an opportunity to come out here to compete and win races. We’ve struggled a little bit, but got a good draw tonight and was up front the whole race. It felt good to get to traffic a little bit. I adjusted my line a bit in turn two and was a lot better. It was a good night. Every win now is special because you never know when the last one is going to be.”Â
Blaney finished .976 seconds ahead of Thomas to earn his 18th career victory at Sharon.
Sabo finished second, with Jacobs and Blaney’s older brother, Dave Blaney, rounding out the top five.
Chad Ruhlman may be four-for-four now this season at Sharon in the RUSH Sprint Cars, but they certainly haven’t come easy. Ruhlman won the June 17 event from the 17th starting spot after a back and forth duel with Blaze Myers. Though Ruhlman would start third on Wednesday night, Myers gave him all he had challenging the standout for the final 15 laps.Â
Ruhlman’s 13th win in 28 RUSH Sprint Car races at Sharon was worth $800 in the caution-free 20-lap Terry Bowser Excavating feature that was timed in 7:10.649.
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1. 32B-Dale Blaney[2]; 2. 49X-Cale Thomas[3]; 3. 29X-Zeth Sabo[13]; 4. 81-Lee Jacobs[1]; 5. 10-Dave Blaney[8]; 6. 35B-Stuart Brubaker[4]; 7. 40-George Hobaugh Jr[7]; 8. 97-JJ Hickle[24]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson[14]; 10. 29M-Sye Lynch[9]; 11. 11-Carl Bowser[6]; 12. 6-Bob Felmlee[15]; 13. 5K-Adam Kekich[11]; 14. 13-Brandon Matus[10]; 15. 35W-Jeremy Weaver[17]; 16. 76-Leyton Wagner[22]; 17. 11T-Blaze Myers[12]; 18. 33-Brent Matus[21]; 19. 23V-Zane DeVault[18]; 20. 2P-Ricky Peterson[16]; 21. 2-AJ Flick[5]; 22. 23JR-Jack Sodeman Jr[19]; 23. 15K-Creed Kemenah[20]; 24. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau[23].
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