ATTICA, Ohio – Despite all teams in attendance being forced to execute hurry mode in hopes of outrunning incoming weather, Spencer Bayston was unfazed, eventually beating Mother Nature, as well as the best that the Attica Ambush had to offer, ultimately cashing in for a $10,000 score at Attica Raceway Park Saturday.
The victory, Bayston’s second of the season during FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented Mobil 1 competition, commenced from the outside of row four, slowly picking his way through the field before chasing down Friday night winner Zeb Wise on lap 36. Impressive enough, the $10,000 score was actually Bayston’s second of the season at Attica, as the Mike McGhee & Associates ace won Attica’s Brad Doty Classic against the Outlaws for another five-figure payday.
Zeb Wise, who led laps 28 through 35, held on to finish second in Attica’s Ambush finale, followed by Tyler Courtney, early leader Craig Mintz and Justin Peck.
“That was a lot of fun,” Spencer Bayston said in All Star victory lane, a fifth-career visit to the All Star winner’s circle. “With the rain coming, I knew I had to be as aggressive as I could on the start. I really came to life the last half of that race. I got my wing back and I started to move around. I was starting to get really comfortable with what I was doing. I was really the only one running the top in turns one and two and I could really transition my momentum that way.”
Before Bayston was even in the picture, it was the Craig Mintz and Zeb Wise show at Attica, with Mintz earning the initial command after starting from the outside-pole position. Lap after lap, Wise hounded Mintz for the race lead, showing his nose on multiple occasions before earning the race lead for a single circuit on lap 10. Mintz immediately retook the point, resliding Wise in turn four to lead lap 11.
Although Mintz was able to stretch his legs after regaining the top spot, Wise rebounded and used slower traffic to his advantage, ultimately tracking down Mintz to a car length by lap 27. The following circuit, Wise was the new man in charge, beating Mintz in a drag race back to the line to officially lead lap 28. Meanwhile, Bayston was beginning to make his presence known, working by Tyler Courtney for third on lap 25 before setting his aim on Wise and Mintz.
By lap 32, Bayston was all over the lead duo, first getting by Mintz on lap 33, then using the turn one and two cushion to power around Wise on lap 36.
“To think, the last two years or so, I was sitting at home watching these races,” Bayston added. “I owe it all to Mike McGhee…Sam and Kevin…and to all of the hard work they put into this thing. A big thanks to all of the fans for coming out and sticking out the weather. I’m glad we got it in and hopefully that was fun to watch.”
The finish:
1. 11-Spencer Bayston [8]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [3]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [6]; 4. O9-Craig Mintz [2]; 5. 13-Justin Peck [7]; 6. 97-Greg Wilson [24]; 7. 18-Gio Scelzi [4]; 8. 16-DJ Foos [9]; 9. 26-Cory Eliason [10]; 10. 101-Cale Thomas [13]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [11]; 12. O7-Skylar Gee [17]; 13. 4-Cap Henry [19]; 14. 18C-Cole Macedo [5]; 15. 23-Chris Andrews [21]; 16. 1-Nate Dussel [15]; 17. 3-Jac Haudenschild [1]; 18. 19P-Paige Polyak [16]; 19. 22-Brandon Spithaler [20]; 20. 70-Sammy Swindell [18]; 21. 35-Stuart Brubaker [23]; 22. 70M-Henry Malcuit [14]; 23. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [12]; 24. 28-Tim Shaffer [22]