By Brian Liskai

(Attica, OH) – April 16th, 2010 – While the cold temperatures and wind made for a chilly night Friday on True Value of Woodville Night at Attica Raceway Park Friday, the action on the track was very hot as Wooster, Ohio’s Doug Drown held off Rusty Schlenk, Jeep Van Wormer and Steve Casebolt to claim the opening feature win of the 2010 Sunoco American Late Model Series.

For the first 26 laps of the 30-lap late model feature it was Drown and Ryan Missler who swapped the lead, then sixth starter Schlenk got involved along with 10th starter VanWormer as they diced it out in lapped traffic. When the checkered flag flew, Drown held off Schlenk and VanWormer the last three laps for the win, his third career victory at “Ohio’s Finest Racing” venue.


“Ryan went with 20s and I went with 30s and I’m thinking ‘okay it’s early on’…he did a great job and obviously Rusty coming through there and when I saw him I thought ‘here we go.’ I thought it was over and he was going to slide in front of me because I was losing all the bite..all the traction in the turns when I didn’t stay up top but we came through one way or another. I can’t say enough about my guys…we’re having a good time this year and having more fun and obviously we’re getting better results,” said Drown beside his Wooster Blass, D.J Directional Serices, Malcuit Racin Engines backed #12.

In the late model feature, after a couple of bad starts that saw multi-car yellows, Missler, the defending Attica champion, bolted into the lead from his pole-starting spot with Drown, Ryan Markham, Jeremy Canada and Schlenk in tow. Missler, Drown and Markham would race nose to tail as Schlenk moved into four on lap 3 in the non-stop affair. Missler would use the extreme high side of the track to pull into lapped traffic by lap nine, as Drown would close with Markham comfortably in third with Schlenk, Steve Casebolt and Van Wormer waging a great race for fourth.

Missler would methodically work his way through traffic, as Drown remained in striking distance while Markham had his hands full with Schlenk and VanWormer for third. Missler would chose the bottom to deal with traffic exiting turn two, and Drown pounced on the opportunity to drive to the outside and take the lead on lap 15. Missler wasn’t ready to give up, as he raced side-by-side with Drown in lapped traffic as Schlenk, VanWormer and Casebolt waited for a mistake. You could cover the top five with a napkin over the next few laps, and now Drown had to deal with traffic, as Missler raced side-by-side with him until sliding off the high side of turn two on lap 26.

Now Schlenk, the opening night feature winner at ARP, would pressure Drown, who patiently followed lapped traffic on the high side. Several times Schlenk would pull along side of Drown, with Van Wormer right on both of their rear bumpers. With two laps to go, Drown was able to get a little bit of clear track and he held his line to score the win over Schlenk, VanWormer, Missler and Casebolt.

“I learned from Ryan in lapped traffic…he was the first one there and he dove down low and I thought “I’ve got him.’ I learned a lesson there by his mistake…wasn’t really a mistake…when you’re leading you have to do what you have to do. They were just as fast as us so you have to stay in line as long as possible. I got into the one car which I apologize for…but it’s going for the win and you’re in lapped traffic three wide and you have to do what you have to do,” said Drown.

Sunoco American Late Model Series

Heat 1 – Ultra Schield Race Products (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. C9-Steve Casebolt; 2. 23C-Jeremy Canada; 3. B4U-Brad Entiear; 4. 1C-Wayne Chinn; 5. 1-Jeff Babcock; 6. 95J-Jerry Bowersocks; 7. 11-Keith Berner; 8. WD40-Dusty Moore; 9. 15A-Phil Ausra; 10. 55T-Tom Ordway; 11. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth

Heat 2 – Bell Racing (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 5M-Ryan Markham; 2. 50Y-Ryan Missler; 3. 55V-Jeep Vanwormer; 4. 7-Matt Miller; 5. 9R-Curtis Roberts; 6. 13-Junior Hotovy; 7. 49-Brian Ruhlman; 8. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen; 9. 27-Ken Hahn; 10. 60-Dale Glassford

Heat 3 – Friendship Food Stores (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 12D-Doug Drown; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk; 3. 15-Jon Henry; 4. 16-Shawn Negangard; 5. 1N-Casey Noonan; 6. 84-Tim Sabo; 7. 99-Steve Sabo; 8. 12-Michael Stiltner II; 9. 12M-Bobby Michaels; 10. 49L-Matt Lindsey

Heat 4 – Tin Lizzy Collision (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 21-Larry Kingseed; 2. 22-Greg Oakes; 3. 3-Rick Delong; 4. 15B-Mike Bores; 5. 5H-Ernie Haynes; 6. X3-Dan Wallace; 7. 51-Devin Schiels; 8. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.; 9. 48-John Bores; 10. 30-Nate Potts

B-Main #1 – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 2 Transfer)
1. 9R-Curtis Roberts; 2. 1-Jeff Babcock; 3. 49-Brian Ruhlman; 4. 13-Junior Hotovy; 5. 11-Keith Berner; 6. 15A-Phil Ausra; 7. 95J-Jerry Bowersocks; 8. WD40-Dusty Moore; 9. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen; 10. 55T-Tom Ordway; 11. 2D-Curtis Deisenroth; 12. 27-Ken Hahn; 13. 60-Dale Glassford

B-Main #2 – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 2 Transfer)
1. 1N-Casey Noonan; 2. 5H-Ernie Haynes; 3. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr.; 4. X3-Dan Wallace; 5. 12-Michael Stiltner II; 6. 84-Tim Sabo; 7. 99-Steve Sabo; 8. 49L-Matt Lindsey; 9. 48-John Bores; 10. 51-Devin Schiels; 11. 12M-Bobby Michaels; 12. 30-Nate Potts

A-Main – (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 12D-Doug Drown[2]; 2. 91-Rusty Schlenk[6]; 3. 55V-Jeep Vanwormer[10]; 4. 50Y-Ryan Missler[1]; 5. C9-Steve Casebolt[8]; 6. 15-Jon Henry[11]; 7. 5M-Ryan Markham[4]; 8. 1C-Wayne Chinn[13]; 9. 7-Matt Miller[14]; 10. 9R-Curtis Roberts[17]; 11. 23C-Jeremy Canada[3]; 12. 1N-Casey Noonan[18]; 13. 49-Brian Ruhlman[21]; 14. B4U-Brad Entiear[9]; 15. 1-Jeff Babcock[19]; 16. 5H-Ernie Haynes[20]; 17. 23V-Ryan Vanderveen[22]; 18. 21-Larry Kingseed[7]; 19. 16-Shawn Negangard[15]; 20. 3-Rick Delong[12]; 21. 15B-Mike Bores[16]; 22. 22-Greg Oakes[5]