HARTFORD, Ohio — Cap Henry has certainly developed a soft spot for s Sharon Speedway and for the second time this season, the ace of the Lane Racing No. 4 parked it on the speedway’s frontstretch victory lane, doing so by claiming the annual Lou Blaney Memorial title for a $12,000 Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 payday.
Ultimately leading every circuit of the 35-lap affair, a non-stop feature after a caution on the initial start forced a complete restart, Henry’s winning campaign commenced from the front row, battling through waves of heavy pressure by Rico Abreu, Justin Peck and Brent Marks.
Henry’s career All Star victory count now sits at eight, six of which accomplished in the Buckeye State.
“This is actually the car I won my very first All Star race with back in 2019…we pulled it out of the weeds this week,” Henry said. “I’m just super proud of my guys. We’ve really struggled in the slick this year, especially in the last two weeks. Definitely some trying weeks there…I just really appreciate everyone’s hard work.”
As mentioned, although Henry led all 35, pressure was a constant, mostly from St. Helena, California’s Rico Abreu. Abreu, who started alongside Henry on the front row, did everything he could to power around the Buckeye, actually sliding by the Blake’s Hard Cider entry through turns one and two on lap 17.
Despite Abreu leading the pair down the backstretch, Henry was able to squeeze back by the Rowdy Energy No. 24, beating Abreu in a drag race back to the flag stand.
“I knew I had one shot there to get back by him,” Henry said. “I kinda rode his left rear there getting into three. I was really hoping he was going to slide up across the track through three and four and leave the bottom open for me to park it. It just all worked out tonight and I’m super proud of everyone.”
After starting fifth, the “Myerstown Missile” Brent Marks would eventually move into second on lap 31, chased to the line by Abreu, Hunter Schuerenberg and Justin Peck.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 4-Cap Henry [2]; 2. 19M-Brent Marks [5]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [1]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 5. 13-Justin Peck [4]; 6. 10B-Dale Blaney [13]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise [6]; 8. 2-AJ Flick [9]; 9. 9-Kasey Kahne [10]; 10. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [14]; 11. 11-Anthony Macri [7]; 12. 10-Dave Blaney [11]; 13. 42-Sye Lynch [8]; 14. 97-Greg Wilson [21]; 15. 19-Chris Windom [15]; 16. 81-Lee Jacobs [18]; 17. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [16]; 18. 17B-Bill Balog [20]; 19. 11J-David Kalb Jr. [17]; 20. 40-George Hobaugh [22]; 21. 5-Jeremy Weaver [23]; 22. 22-Cole Duncan [24]; 23. 28M-Conner Morrell [19]; 24. 18-Gio Scelzi [12]