Lake Odessa, MI – (May 4, 2013) – Ron Blair used multiple restarts to his advantage to win Saturday night’s Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP event co-sanctioned with the K&L Ready Mix National Racing Alliance. The box score shows Blair leading every lap from the front row, but had to hold off multiple challenges from Ryan Ruhl on the way to winning the feature.
“The car was great in clean air, and I knew if we were out by ourselves we were good,” said Blair. “I couldn’t get the car to maneuver in the lapped traffic, and I saw Ryan (Ruhl) underneath me. (Ruhl) ran a great race.”
Blair and Andy Teunessen started on the front row for the 25-lap feature event. Blair took the lead at the start with Ruhl moving into second around Teunessen. Behind them Dustin Daggett moved up from eighth starting spot after a slide job on Brett Mann to take the fifth spot. Kyle Sauder followed Daggett by Mann two laps later.
Up front Ruhl caught Blair and kept looking on the bottom for the lead through turns three and four. After multiple attempts Ruhl got a run into turns one and two and took the lead, but before the duo crossed the finish line Todd Heureman flipped in turn four. Heureman exited the car under his own power.
Blair retained the lead for the restart with Ruhl and Teunessen behind him. Daggett moved around Tuenessen on the restart as the top three cars pulled away from the rest of the field. Behind them Sauder and Tim Allison, who moved up to fifth, began to run down the top three.
As the lead trio began to encounter slower traffic, Shawn Dancer spun and hit a light pole in the infield to bring out the caution flag. Dancer’s car was pushed back into the pit area and remarkably repairs made for him to join the restart
On the restart Sauder dove inside of Dustin Daggett in turn two and took over the third spot. Shortly after Daggett slowed with a flat left rear tire to bring out the caution flag in turn three, and J.R. Stewart also slid off the backstretch, and also has a flat right rear tire. Both drivers were able to restart.
Blair was able to pull away on the restart with Ruhl catching him as the laps wore on. On lap 20 Ruhl mad another challenge for the lead, but Joe Geibe slid off the race track to bring out the caution flag.
During the final restart Blair pulled away and opened up enough of an advantage to hold Ruhl at bay. Mann made a last ditch effort to race around the top and get up to the final podium position. Sauder and Gregg Dalman rounded out the top five.
In hot laps Mann tagged an inside marker tire and turned over in turn two. Mann made repairs and went on to win the first heat race. In heat race #3 D.J. Lamance slammed the wall in turn four and turned over hard. Lamance was uninjured.

Hoosier Racing Tire Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 19 – Brett Mann, 2. 7 – Darren Long, 3. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 4. 17 – Jared Horstman, 5. 18 – Todd Heureman, 6. 27 – Beau Stewart, 7. 8 – Tim Champlin, 8. 22T – Tank Brakenberry, 9. 2T – Ralph Brakenberry.

All Star Performance / Comp Cams Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 10s – Jay Steinbach, 2. 23 – Joe Geibe, 3. 22d – Dennis Yoakam, 4. 49 – Shawn Dancer, 5. 10J – Chris Jones, 6. 46 – Robert Huisken, 7. 21 – Kirk Cheney, 8. 18 – D.J. Lamance. DNS: D.Bonstrum.

Speed Pro Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 16 -Ryan Ruhl, 2, 35 – Ron Blair, 3. 2M – Daggett, 4. 6 – J.R. Stewart, 5. 23 – Devon Dobbie, 6. 77 – Keith Love, 7. 6 – Nate Bostrum, 8. 6 – Nate Bostrum , 9. 16c – Greg Wheeler.

ARP Fastners Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 31 – Andy Teunessen, 2. 20B – Butch Schroeder, 3. 11 – Tim Allison, 4. 2 –Kyle Sauder, 5. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 6. 50B – Mike Burns, 7. 3w – Ryan Grubaugh, 8. 4 – Eric Smith.

Engine Pro B-Main #1 (10 Laps): 1. 27 – Beau Stewart, 2. 3w – Ryan Grubaugh, 3. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 4. 8 – Tim Champlin, 5. 10J – Chris Jones, 7. 22t – Tank Brakenberry, 8. 50 B – Mike Burns. DNS: 2t – R.Brakenberry, 36 – D.Bostrum (First two finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

Engine Pro B-Main #2 (10 Laps): 1. 18 – Todd Heureman, 2. 23 – Devon Dobbie, 3. 77 – Keith Love, 4. 46 – Robert Huisken, 5. 16c – Greg Wheeler, 7. 21 – Kirk Cheney, 8. 4 – Eric Smith. DNS: 18 – D.J. Lamance. (First two finishers transferred to the A-Main)

Nitro Black Dash (4 Laps): 1. 17 – Jared Horstman, 2. 2 – Kyle Sauder, 3. 11 – Tim Allison, 4. 49 – Shawn Dancer. (Determined starting positions 9-12 in the A-Main)

Engine Pro / ARP A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 35 – Ron Blair, 2. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 3. 19 – Brett Mann, 4. 2 – Kyle Sauder, 5. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 6. 11 – Tim Allison, 7. 17 – Jared Horstman, 8. 22d – Dennis Yoakam, 9. 7 – Darren Long, 10. 20B – Butch Schroeder, 11. 2m – Dustin Daggett, 12. 49 – Shawn Dancer, 13. 27 – Beau Stewart, 14. 6s – J.R. Stewart, 15. 3w – Ryan Grubuagh, 16. 10s – Jay Steinbach, 17. 31 – Andy Teunessen, 18. 23 – Devon Dobbie, 19. 23G – Joe Geibe , 20. Todd Heuerman.

Lap Leaders: Blair 1-25

Crystal, MI – (April 28, 2013) – Dustin Daggett overcame a flat tire on the opening lap and restarting at the tail of the field to win the opening event of the 2013 season for the Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP. Daggett was involved in an opening lap skirmish and cut a right rear tire down. Daggett rejoined the field at the tail, raced his way through the field, and swapped the lead back and forth with Ryan Ruhl through heavy lapped traffic before clearing the slower cars and motoring to victory.

“I think everyone got stacked up on the opening lap and I got hit in the right rear,” said Daggett after the feature. “Luckily we were able to get off the track and get the tire changed. The traffic was running two abreast and they wouldn’t separate and we were blocked behind them. (Ruhl) kind of caught a break and got back ahead of me. It was one heck of a race”

After the opening lap skirmish Greg Wheeler to the lead while Ruhl raced with Tim Champlin for second. Ruhl disposed of Champlin and set out after Wheeler for the lead. Meanwhile Daggett along with Ryan Grubaugh and defending SOD champions Gregg Dalman were rocketing through the field. Daggett was up into the top five quickly and set out after the leaders.

After a caution for a spin by Joe Geibe, Ruhl was slowing reeling in the Wheeler and slid by in turn one to take the lead on lap nine. Wheeler then had to deal with Daggett and Dalman on his back bumper, shuffling Wheeler back to fourth. Ruhl was under heavy pressure from Daggett for the lead. As the duo approached lapped traffic Daggett took the lead motoring around the outside of Ruhl on lap 13. Ruhl refused to give up the top spot willingly and hung to Daggett’s back bumper racing around several slower cars running side by side for position. Daggett and Ruhl then went on to race three abreast through slower cars with Ruhl regaining the top spot on lap 17, but then Ruhl got boxed in as Daggett motored around the top of the track three wide off of turn four around slower cars and opened up some distance. That was all Daggett needed to score the 21st feature victory of his career in SOD competition at Crystal . Ruhl, Dalman, Grubaugh, and Wheeler rounded out the top five.

Ruhl, Jared Horstman, John Gall, and Jay Steinbach won heat race events. Dalman won the B-Main after being involved in a heat race incident while Keith Love won the Dash. During the B-Main Eric Smith flipped and Jim Lingar was collected in the accident. Both drivers exited the cars under their own power.

The Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP series continues next Saturday night at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Michigan for the first co-sanctioned event of the 2013 season with the Engine Pro National Racing Alliance.

Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP
Saturday April 28, 2013
Crystal Motor Speedway – Crystal MI
Heat Races (Top 16 in passing points transferred to the “A” Feature)

Hoosier Racing Tire Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 2. 8 – Tim Champlin, 3. 77 – Keith Love, 4. 22t – Tank Brakenberry, 5. 187 – Gavin Hunyady, 6. 70 – Jim Lingar, 7. 36 – Nate Bostrum.

All Star Performance / Comp Cams Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 17 – Jared Horstman, 2. 2m – Dustin Daggett, 3. 46 – Robert Huisken, 4. 23 – Joe Geibe, 5. 31 – Andy Teunessen, 6. 20A – Andy Chehowski. DNS: 2t – Ralph Brakenberry, 19 – Brett Mann

Speed Pro Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 81 – John Gall, 2. 3R – Shane Ross, 3. 89 – Chris Pobanz, 4. 10J – Chris Jones, 5. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 6. 49 – Shawn Dancer. DNS: 00 – Joe Irwin

ARP Fastners Heat Race #4 (8 Laps): 1. 10s – Jay Steinbach, 2. 27k – Ryan Kirkendall, 3. 16c – Greg Wheeler, 4. 21 – Kirk Cheney, 5. 4 – Eric Smith, 6. 88 – Mike Daggett. DNS: 29s – Max Stambaugh.

B-Main (8 Laps): 1. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 2. Andy Teunessen, 3. Mike Daggett, 4. 3w – Ryan Grubaugh, 5. Nate Bostrum, 6. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 7. 4 – Eric Smith, 8. 70 – Jim Lingar.

Nitro Black Dash (4 Laps): 1. 77 – Keith Love, 2. 46 – Robert Huisken, 3. 22t – Tank Brakenberry, 4. 10J – Chris Jones. (Determined starting positions 9-12 in the “A” Feature)

Engine Pro B-Main (8 Laps): 1. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 2. 31 – Andy Teunessen, 3. 88 – Mike Daggett, 4. 3w – Ryan Grubaugh, 4. 36 – Nate Bostrum, 5. 20A – Andy Chehowski, 6. 4 – Eric Smith, 7. 70 – Jim Lingar, 8. 00 – Joe Irwin. DNS: 19 – Brett Mann, 29s – Max Stambaugh, 2t – Ralph Brakenberry. (First four finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

Engine Pro / ARP A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 2m – Dustin Daggett, 2. 16 – Ryan Ruhl, 3. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 4. 3w – Ryan Grubaugh, 5. 16c – Greg Wheeler, 6. 88 – Mike Daggett, 7. 8 – Tim Champlin, 8. 3 – Shane Ross, 9. 81 – John Gall, 10. 77 – Keith Love, 11. 10s – Jay Steinbach, 12. 10J – Chris Jones, 13. 23 – Joe Geibe, 14. 21 – Kirk Cheney, 15. 22t – Tank Brakenberry, 16. 27K – Ryan Kirkendall, 17. 187 – Gavin Hunyady, 18. 89 – Chris Pobanz, 19. 31 – Andy Tuenesaen, 20. 46 – Robert Huisken. (Jared Horstman scratched from the “A” Feature)

Lap leaders: Wheeler 1-8, Ruhl 9-12, Daggett 13-16, Ruhl 17, Daggett 18-25

Engine Pro Hard Luck Award: Greg Wheeler

Check out tonight’s Engine Pro Sprints on Dirt presented by ARP event from Crystal Motor Speedway with live audio and video courtesy of Races on the Web. Click the headline to visit their site.