ATTICA, Ohio — It has not been an easy season for Zeb Wise, but the recent high school graduate shook off the bad luck Friday night at Attica Raceway Park and secured his second FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory of season.
Wise had to outrun National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Jac Haudenschild during the closing circuits to do so. It was Wise’s first Attica Raceway Park victory triumph and his first All Star victory since scoring $26,000 in Kokomo Speedway’s Rayce Rudeen Foundation Race in late May.
Haudenschild hung on to finish second in the Attica Ambush opener, the only non-All Star within the top five, followed by Skylar Gee, Spencer Bayston, and Hunter Schuerenberg.
“Man, the last month and a half have been so rough…a lot of things within our control, but a lot of things that weren’t. I don’t think I’ve ever had a year as rough as this one,” said Wise. “To stand up here after all of the hard work everyone has done is so rewarding, especially here…I love Attica…I love all of the fans…this place is electric and I love being here.”
Although Wise was the man on top on lap 35, the “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer was the man in charge for much of the 35-lap contest, leading the first 27 circuits from the outside-pole position.
Shaffer set a solid pace, but it was not without challenges, as Buch Motorsports’ Justin Peck did his best to outduel Shaffer on many occasions, showing his nose multiple times between laps 16 and 19. Traffic was a factor between laps 11 and 16, but a pair of cautions on laps 17 and 19 cleared the track for Shaffer.
Unfortunately for Peck, any hope for victory came to a halt on lap 24, as a flat tire, discovered while awaiting clean up for a red flag incident, forced the Coastal Race Parts No. 13 to go to the work area.
Meanwhile, Wise, who started fourth, was already on the move, battling by Jac Haudenschild for third at the midpoint before working by Peck for second on lap 23. The lap 24 restart would allow Wise to get a run on Shaffer and show the Aliquippa, Pennsylvania-native his nose, but another red flag incident on lap 27 would halt Wise’s potential.
Determined to get past, Wise repeated his pass attempt the following restart, eventually sliding Shaffer between turns three and four to take the lead on lap 28. The main event’s final caution would appear on lap 30, this time for Tim Shaffer, who ultimately slowed due to mechanical issues.
From that point forward, it was all Wise at the front of the field, withstanding late race pressure from Haudenschild before stretching his legs in the final three circuits.
“I looked up at the board at one point and saw that the ‘28’ was in front of me and the ‘3’ was behind me,” Wise continued. “I thought to myself these guys have been racing here longer than I’ve been alive.”
Steve Casebolt won the late model feature.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 2. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 3. O7-Skylar Gee [7]; 4. 11-Spencer Bayston [5]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [9]; 6. 26-Cory Eliason [8]; 7. 4-Cap Henry [13]; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler [11]; 9. 18-Gio Scelzi [12]; 10. 5T-Travis Philo [18]; 11. 70-Sammy Swindell [17]; 12. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [6]; 13. 101-Cale Thomas [15]; 14. 16-DJ Foos [22]; 15. 13-Justin Peck [1]; 16. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [24]; 17. 8-Aaron Reutzel [21]; 18. 17B-Bill Balog [19]; 19. 19-Marcus Dumesny [20]; 20. 28-Tim Shaffer [2]; 21. 18C-Cole Macedo [16]; 22. 23-Chris Andrews [10]; 23. 5R-Byron Reed [14]; 24. 33W-Caleb Griffith [23]; 25. 5-Ian Madsen [25] Lap Leaders: Tim Shaffer (1-27), Zeb Wise (28-35)