ATTICA, Ohio — Tanner Thorson moved from the cushion to the bottom of Attica Raceway Park with a pair of laps to go in the 410 sprint feature and the move paid off.
Thorson, from Carson City, Nevada, drove to his first Attica win aboard the Demyan/Rudzik sprint car.
It was anything but easy for the 2022 Chili Bowl champion and former USAC national midget champion. He took the lead from Travis Philo after Philo got sideways in traffic on lap nine.
But Philo came storming back and was right on Thorson’s rear bumper with two laps to go. That’s when Thorson came down off the cushion to the bottom of the track and pulled away for the win.
“I’m just getting a little more comfortable. We all have our different feels and BK (Brian Kemenah) has been working hard to get me better. Hats off to him and this whole crew. I’ve done good in the 49x before and finally get the monkey off our back. It’s been a trying year for me in multiple cars. I can’t thank these guys enough…Rudzik and everyone that’s involved in this program. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into the Doty,” said Thorson, who earned $4,000.
With his runner-up finish and Craig Mintz and Trey Jacobs finishing third and fourth, the point battle for the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series presented by the Baumann Auto Group really tightens up.
The Dirt Nerds Podcast/Propane.com UMP Late Model feature was a barn-burner. Ryan Markham, a former Attica track champion, used a restart with 10 laps to go to drive around Devin Shiels to take the lead and drove to his first Attica win of the year. It was his 20th career victory at the track.
Paul Weaver has more laps around Attica than any other competitor. The veteran, who has more victories at the track than anyone in Attica history, nearly gave one away. On the final lap Weaver drove off the high side of turn two off the track, but was able to bring it back on and hold off a charging Jimmy McGrath for his second victory of the season. It was his 66th career Fremont Fence 305 victory.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 49X-Tanner Thorson[2] ; 2. 5T-Travis Philo[1] ; 3. 09-Craig Mintz[3] ; 4. 3J-Trey Jacobs[4] ; 5. 101-Lachlan McHugh[6] ; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker[13] ; 7. 18-Cole Macedo[7] ; 8. 12-Kyle Capodice[5] ; 9. 16-DJ Foos[11] ; 10. 25R-Jordan Ryan[9] ; 11. 29-Zeth Sabo[16] ; 12. 49I-John Ivy[17] ; 13. 8M-TJ Michael[19] ; 14. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[15] ; 15. 68G-Tyler Gunn[18] ; 16. 28M-Conner Morrell[20] ; 17. 7N-Darin Naida[10] ; 18. 99-Skyler Gee[12] ; 19. 2+-Brian Smith[14] ; 20. 23-Chris Andrews[8]