ALLSTAR: Attica: Race report

ATTICA, OH -- Jeff Shepard outlasted 64 other drivers in dominating fashion Saturday night at Attica Raceway Park to win the All Star sprint 40-lap feature. The Coors Nationals were co-sanctioned by the Interstate Racing Ass'n (IRA) and paid Shepard $7,000 for his sixth career Attica win.

"The only place we could find any traction was on the horse track off the back stretch," Shepard joked. "The first half of the race I was just trying to keep out of the holes, I didn't want to crash. I saw the high side was the best way around the track and just tried to hang on for 40 laps." It was Shepard's first win for the Denny Ashworth Imperial Packaging team, utilizing Kriner Engines. Shepard was the only car in the entire pit area on Goodyear tires. Shepard also thanked the fans for braving the cold, stating "I can't take the cold out there on the racetrack."

After polesitter Jody Keegan took the green flag, outside front row man Kinser grabbed the initial lead followed by Greg Wilson and Kenny Jacobs. A red on lap three stopped the action due to a Scott Nietzel flip with Travis Whitney stopping on the track to avoid him. Kinser led on the ensuing restart over Wilson and Jacobs, Reed and sixth starter Shepard. By the mid way point of the event, action really began to heat up with Wilson and Shepard applying heavy pressure to the leader. Wilson was right on Kinser's bumper in lapped traffic, but fell back slightly allowing Shepard to dive low for second on lap 23, and run high on the backstretch to get right on Kinser's back bumper and take over the lead exiting turn four on lap 26. >From that point on, Shepard stretched his advantage every lap, the only driver able to tame Attica's rough high groove. A lap 35 restart saw Shepard have an advantage of four lapped cars over Kinser and Wilson and he pushed it out to a quarter lap at the finish.

Kinser rode home second with Wilson third, Kemenah fourth and 19th starter Dean Jacobs fifth.

"I thought we could have held him (Shepard) off," recalled Kinser. But he was just better in the rough stuff than we were." "The hole in one and two kept messing me up," third place Wilson recalled. I thought we could have had second."

The Crown Battery heat fell to Phil Gressman, the B&B Products heat went to Dale Blaney, the Engler Machine and Tool heat was won by Dean Jacobs and the TP Wings heat fell to Mike Wagner. Joe Roe won the Georgia Marketing & Promotions C Main while Dave Uttech captured the last chance race. The B Main fell to Chad Kemenah and Kenny Jacobs captured the Haulmark Dash. Jeff Shepard's fast time from Ramsey Trucking was worth $200. Mike Marteney won the limited late model feature.

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