5/3/2015
All Star Circuit of Champions
Chad Kemenah Rolls to Win at Mercer Raceway Park
Former champion Chad Kemenah scored his first win of the season in the new UNOH All Stars Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series event held at Mercer Raceway Park. Kemenah is building confidence with his new team, and he’s ready to regain his winning form. “For years with the Outlaws, I got my (butt) kicked pretty hard, but I want to turn it around and start kicking.”
Kemenah was able to pounce when leader Lee Jacobs brushed the front-stretch wall after he got hung up behind a slower car. “Sometimes, when you are leading, it ain’t the best place to be,” Kemenah explained.
Cody Darrah, who put on a late race charge to take second in his first appearance at the Park, admitted that he was struggling earlier in the race. “I was having trouble with the top, and I started moving around and that helped me shake my car out.” He added, “I thought there for a minute that I had something for Chad, but he was so good on the bottom, and then he got through the lapped traffic, and I didn’t have a chance to get there.”
Jacobs noted that he “got into the wall with the right rear, and that’s what messed up my entry into one, and that’s when Chad was able to get around us.” While some would be disappointed with such a turn of events, Jacobs was pleased because his team had been struggling so far this season. “It was a big accomplishment for this team to qualify well, win the dash, and log a top three finish,” he said.
Lee Jacobs and Eric Williams had the fans on the edges of their seats, as they battled back and forth in the early stages of the main event. Jacobs held a slight advantage over the defending track champion. As the leaders got into lapped traffic, Jacobs was able to open a three car length lead over Williams. However, misfortune soon struck Williams. On lap 8, he spun in turn four as he tried the tricky outside groove to dispatch a lapper.
That put Kemenah into the second spot, with another local favorite, Jack Sodeman, Jr., right behind. Cody Darrah restarted in fourth, with Dale Blaney, Cole Duncan and Ed Lynch. Jr. in the mix.
Jacobs got away cleanly, but he could not shake free from Kemenah. With 16 laps down, Kemenah powered off turn two to take the lead from Jacobs, who got hung up behind a slower car. By now, Dale Blaney had worked his way into the third position. Meanwhile, Sodeman was keeping Darrah at bay.
While Kemenah and Jacobs led the way, Blaney, Sodeman, and Darrah hooked up in a three car battle for third. Darrah found the inside to his liking coming through turns one and two. On lap 22, he shot off the second turn, passing both Blaney and Jacobs.
Darrah then began to close in on Kemenah, but he simply ran out of laps. Kemenah swept under the checkers first, with Darrah just a couple of lengths back. Jacobs held on for third, one of his best outings of the season. Ed Lynch, Jr. scrambled up to the fourth spot in the final laps, with Sodeman getting fifth.
Blaney faded to sixth in the stretch run. Brandon Spithaler was seventh. Duncan, Greg Wilson, and Ryan Smith completed the top ten.
Jared Zimbardi, Dan Kuriger, Cody Darrah, and Ed Lynch, Jr. prevailed in the heat races. Lee Jacobs took the Dash win. Parker Price-Miller copped the B Main.
Dale Blaney was the evening’s fastest qualifier, setting a new track record at 13.241. Blaney did not eclipse the record set by Erin Crocker, when the track was smaller and the cars raced without weight restrictions. Kuriger had the misfortune of withdrawing from the dash after drawing the pole. He was unable to start the A Main in his own car, but switched to the Davey Jones 76 to get his starting money.
Article Credit: Mercer Raceway Park PR