HARTFORD, Ohio – After thrilling the hometown crowd on May 22 against the World of Outlaws, Dave Blaney returned to victory lane on Saturday night in 410 sprint car action at Sharon Speedway.
The victory, worth $3,000 in the 410 sprint car feature, made Blaney the second repeat winner in 410 action this year at the track alongside Carl Bowser.
Blaney started eighth and made the winning pass on Adam Kekich on lap 12 and kept George Hobaugh at bay in the closing laps for his 34th Sharon 410 sprint car victory.
“This feels great to win here,” said Blaney. “I love coming up here and racing. This falls on September 11; that’s big for everyone. It’s great to see a great crowd on this day; I want to thank everyone for coming out and hope you had a good time. For awhile I thought I was pretty equal to them (Bowser and Kekich). I was trying to get some momentum and runs going to be able to do something with them and was able to slip by. Ryan Blaney Foundation is on this thing. It’s kind of a throwback to a 60s car paint job of my dad’s so that’s pretty cool with Ryan being on it. I have Rick Bates and Doug Kekich with me tonight so it’s a good night.”
Kekich jumped into the early lead in the 30-lap feature over Darin Gallagher, Bob Felmlee, Bowser, and Hobaugh. Bowser passed Felmlee for third on lap two. Blaney was halfway to the front in three laps when he dropped Felmlee back to fifth. Gallagher got into the fence on lap four allowing Bowser and Blaney to move into second and third respectively. By lap seven, the top three of Kekich, Bowser, and Blaney distanced themselves from the field. Blaney then put a big slider on Bowser in turns three and four on lap nine for second. Three laps later, Blaney made a similar move in turn four for the winning pass.
Kekich and Bowser went at it for second running side-by-side on lap 14 with Bowser making the pass. Bowser began to close in on Blaney on lap 17, while Hobaugh passed Kekich for third. Bowser stayed in Blaney’s tracks in traffic until a caution for a Steve Bright spin with 23 laps completed. Under caution, Bowser had a tire go down and went pit side handing second to Hobaugh.
Hobaugh stayed within striking distance over the final seven laps, but was unable to make a serious bid at the lead as Blaney’s No. 10 took the checkered flag first for his 37th overall win at Sharon by .570 seconds. Hobaugh was second after starting sixth. Kekich and 10th starting Caleb Griffith went at it over the final seven laps trading third back and forth with Kekich getting the spot for good on lap 25. Griffith was fourth, while Gallagher dropped to fifth.
Also capturing victories Saturday were Joe Martin (RUSH Late Models), Will Thomas III (Econo Mods), Chris McGuire (Pro Stocks) and Chas Wolbert (RUSH Sportsman Modifieds).