Zane DeVault grabs SOD MAHLE/Clevite BLC win at Crystal

ERIE, MI (April 29, 2018) – If last night’s Engine Pro Sprints On Dirt presented by ARP season opening MAHLE/Clevite Beyond Limits Challenge Race #1 was any indication of what lies ahead, SOD fans will be treated to an exciting, action packed season.

Johnny B photo

Zane DeVault, Plymouth, Indiana, drove to his first SOD victory by just 0.03 seconds over hard-charging Chad Blonde (Litchfield, MI) and Matt Foos (Fremont, OH). Not only was the racing exciting, but SOD’s “Beyond Limits” format once again proved itself with DeVault winning with a 360 engine over Blonde’s 410 and 305 of Foos.

The temperature may have been frigid, but the action couldn’t have been hotter! A huge crowd braved the cold and were rewarded with a “caution-free zone” at Crystal Motor Speedway as the Engine Pro Sprints On Dirt drivers put on a spectacular show that saw the SOD races go without a single caution.

Adam Cruea led the field to the start of the feature but was penalized two rows for jumping the start. Matt Foos and Jay Steinebach then led the field to the start with Steinebach taking the early lead. As the leaders quickly encountered traffic, Steinebach slipped high in turn two and Zane DeVault took the lead. Chad Blonde methodically moved from his sixth starting position into third, then made a late race pass of Foos to take second. Heavy traffic was a challenge and Blonde closed in on DeVault. On the last lap, Blonde took the lead in the high line by a couple feet down the back straight, but DeVault was able to squeeze below a lapped car to retake the lead in turns three and four to take the win over Blonde.

Gregg Dalman grabbed overall fast time in his 360 and Ryan Ruhl and Shawn Valenti scored Lane Automotive/MSD Ignition Fast Master fast time for their heats. 2017 SOD Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Andrew Scheid won the Allstar Performance Better Luck Next Time award after fighting gremlins all night, not being able to start his heat, then finishing nineteenth in the feature.

Qualifying – Lane Automotive/MSD Ignition Fast Masters (fast qualifiers) $50 each

Group	Time	#	Driver
Engler Machine & Tool Heat	13.337	49T	Gregg Dalman
COMP Cams Heat	13.484	71H	Ryan Ruhl
RockAuto.com Heat	14.147	7	Shawn Valenti

Heat Races

Engler Machine & Tool Heat #1
	#	Driver	Contingency
1	83	Adam Cruea
2	10s	Jay Steinebach
3	49T	Gregg Dalman	Benic Enterprises
4	41	Thomas Schinderle	Racing Optics
5	4T	Josh Turner
6	21T	Troy Chehowski
7	24	Eric Smith
8	8W	Josh Ward

COMP Cams Heat #2
	#	Driver	Contingency
1	5B	Chad Blonde
2	71H	Ryan Ruhl
3	5	Andy Teunessen	Benic Enterprises
4	7J	Joe Swanson	Racing Optics
5	5QB	Quentin Blonde
6	8	Justin Ward
7	91L	Alexis Adgate

RockAuto.com Heat #3
	#	Driver	Contingency
1	2F	Matt Foos
2	77Z	Zane DeVault
3	27B	Boston Mead	Benic Enterprises
4	7	Shawn Valenti	Racing Optics
5	1a	Mark Aldrich
6	0	Ricky Ferkel
7	77	Andrew Scheid

Feature

	#	Driver	Awards	Contingencies
1	77Z	Zane DeVault		Rod End Supply
2	5B	Chad Blonde	Jim Coffey & Son	Rod End Supply
3	2F	Matt Foos		Rod End Supply
4	71H	Ryan Ruhl		Schoenfeld Headers
5	49T	Gregg Dalman		ATL Racing Fuel Cells
6	10s	Jay Steinebach		Allstar Performance
7	27B	Boston Mead
8	83	Adam Cruea
9	7J	Joe Swanson		King Racing Products
10	7	Shawn Valenti
11	4T	Josh Turner		Keizer Aluminum Wheels
12	41	Thomas Schinderle
13	5QB	Quentin Blonde
14	5	Andy Teunessen
15	21T	Troy Chehowski
16	1a	Mark Aldrich
17	24	Eric Smith
18	8	Justin Ward
19	77	Andrew Scheid
20	0	Ricky Ferkel
21	91L	Alexis Adgate
22	8W	Josh Ward

KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Chad Blonde
BR Motorsports Contingency (feature top 10 draw) – Gregg Dalman
ARP Lucky Dog – Shawn Valenti
Allstar Performance Better Luck Next Time – Andrew Scheid

For more information about Engine Pro go to www.enginepro.com. For more information about ARP, go to www.arp-bolts.com. The full 2018 Sprints on Dirt schedule, rules, current news, and other information are available at www.sprintsondirt.com.