ATTICA, Ohio (April 14, 2023) - It has been over a decade since Craig Mintz last found himself in Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory lane, 11 years and seven days to be exact, but the Gibsonburg, Ohio, native can finally put that drought to rest, as the former two-time Attica Raceway Park track champion scored night one of the Core & Main Spring Nationals for a $6,000 payday.
Mintz, who started seventh on Attica’s A-Main grid, led the only lap that counts, stealing the show from Angola, Indiana’s Zeb Wise with a last lap, last corner takeover. The final margin of victory measured at a mere-seven one-thousands of a second, automatically qualifying the All Star points opener as a “Race of the Year” candidate.
Although not taking command until the final circuit, Mintz, now a 17-time winner at Attica Raceway Park, as well as a two-time All Star winner, was in the hunt the entire 35-lap distance, working his way forward before being forced to pick a fight with Myerstown, Pennsylvania’s Brent Marks and “Hunter Percent” Hunter Schuerenberg. Once on the back bumper of Wise, who took the lead from Schuerenberg on lap 28, it was all Mintz could do to get by the Rudeen Racing No. 26, sliding Wise on lap 34 before making it stick the following circuit.
“We’ve been struggling with bleeders all night. Just couldn’t get going on those long runs. Regardless, I knew we had a great car and I probably showed my hand a little early. It’s fun to race with Zeb (Wise). We were both really going for it,” Craig Mintz said. “This means so much. My dad, the guys behind me, my wife, my kids…they all bust their butts to give me the chance to race. We’re out here doing it for fun.”
“That was frustrating,” Zeb Wise said. “Hats off to Craig. He drove one heck of a race. I feel like I let my team down there. I really didn’t know where to go in turns one and two.”
Hunter Schuerenberg held on to finish third, followed by Brent Marks and Parker Price-Miller.
Attica Raceway Park’s annual Core & Main Spring Nationals will continue tomorrow evening, Saturday, April 15, with another $6,000-to-win main event.
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Contingency Awards/Results: Attica Raceway Park | April 14, 2023:
Core & Main Spring Nationals | Night #1
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 41
Macri Concrete Hot Laps: Parker Price-Miller | 12.700
Hercules Tires Fast Qualifier: Stuart Brubaker | 12.579
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Hunter Schuerenberg
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Travis Philo
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Tyler Courtney
Kistler Racing Products Heat #4 Winner: Parker Price-Miller
Mobil 1 Heat #5 Winner: Trey Jacobs
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Hunter Schuerenberg
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting and Embroidery B-Main Winner: Stuart Brubaker
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Contingency Award: Sean Rayhall
Tezos A-Main Winner: Craig Mintz
Tezos A-Main Hard Charger: JJ Hickle (+10)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Conner Morrell
Tezos A Feature (35 Laps): 1. 09-Craig Mintz[7]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise[2]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[1]; 4. 19M-Brent Marks[3]; 5. 29-Parker Price Miller[4]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 7. 33W-Cap Henry[6]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo[9]; 9. 97-JJ Hickle[19]; 10. 5-Byron Reed[16]; 11. 4-Chris Windom[11]; 12. 9-Trey Jacobs[8]; 13. 99-Skylar Gee[14]; 14. 25R-Jordan Ryan[22]; 15. 35-Stuart Brubaker[21]; 16. 68G-Tyler Gunn[23]; 17. 23-Zeth Sabo[24]; 18. 8M-TJ Michael[20]; 19. 7N-Darin Naida[12]; 20. 70-Scotty Thiel[18]; 21. 28M-Conner Morrell[25]; 22. (DNF) 45-Tim Shaffer[15]; 23. (DNF) 4T-Tyler Street[10]; 24. (DNF) 15C-Chris Andrews[13]; 25. (DNF) 22-Brandon Spithaler[17] Lap Leaders: Hunter Schuerenberg (1-27), Zeb Wise (28-34), Craig Mintz (35)
Classic Ink USA B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[1]; 2. 25R-Jordan Ryan[6]; 3. 68G-Tyler Gunn[4]; 4. 23-Zeth Sabo[5]; 5. 19-Sean Rayhall[3]; 6. 49X-Cale Thomas[16]; 7. 71H-Max Stambaugh[13]; 8. 50YR-Ryan Ruhl[2]; 9. 15K-Creed Kemenah[10]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson[7]; 11. 32-Bryce Lucius[12]; 12. 16C-Tylar Rankin[11]; 13. 12-Kyle Capodice[14]; 14. 11J-David Kalb Jr[18]; 15. 28M-Conner Morrell[19]; 16. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[17]; 17. 75-Jerry Dahms[15]; 18. (DNF) 2-Ricky Peterson[8]; 19. (DNF) 20B-Cody Bova[9]
Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash (4 Laps): 1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]; 2. 26-Zeb Wise[1]; 3. 19M-Brent Marks[4]; 4. 29-Parker Price Miller[3]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[7]; 6. 33W-Cap Henry[5]; 7. 09-Craig Mintz[8]; 8. 9-Trey Jacobs[6]; 9. 5T-Travis Philo[9]
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[2]; 2. 33W-Cap Henry[1]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee[3]; 4. 22-Brandon Spithaler[5]; 5. 35-Stuart Brubaker[4]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson[7]; 7. 49X-Cale Thomas[9]; 8. 50YR-Ryan Ruhl[6]; 9. 28M-Conner Morrell[8]
CSI Shocks Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5T-Travis Philo[1]; 2. 4-Chris Windom[2]; 3. 26-Zeb Wise[4]; 4. 70-Scotty Thiel[5]; 5. 68G-Tyler Gunn[6]; 6. 20B-Cody Bova[7]; 7. 32-Bryce Lucius[3]; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[8]
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[1]; 2. 4T-Tyler Street[2]; 3. 19M-Brent Marks[4]; 4. 8M-TJ Michael[6]; 5. 19-Sean Rayhall[3]; 6. 15K-Creed Kemenah[5]; 7. 75-Jerry Dahms[8]; 8. (DNS) 42-Sye Lynch
Kistler Racing Products Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 29-Parker Price Miller[4]; 2. 7N-Darin Naida[1]; 3. 5-Byron Reed[6]; 4. 97-JJ Hickle[2]; 5. 23-Zeth Sabo[3]; 6. 2-Ricky Peterson[5]; 7. 71H-Max Stambaugh[7]; 8. (DNS) 16-DJ Foos
Mobil 1 Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Trey Jacobs[1]; 2. 15C-Chris Andrews[3]; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer[2]; 4. 09-Craig Mintz[4]; 5. 25R-Jordan Ryan[5]; 6. 16C-Tylar Rankin[6]; 7. 12-Kyle Capodice[7]; 8. 11J-David Kalb Jr[8]
Hercules Tire Qualifying: 1. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 00:12.580[5]; 2. 33W-Cap Henry, 00:12.766[8]; 3. 26-Zeb Wise, 00:12.768[12]; 4. 19M-Brent Marks, 00:12.780[24]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 00:12.783[9]; 6. 29-Parker Price Miller, 00:12.834[26]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee, 00:12.873[6]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo, 00:12.925[10]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 00:12.945[22]; 10. 4T-Tyler Street, 00:12.991[18]; 11. 4-Chris Windom, 00:13.005[11]; 12. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 00:13.053[3]; 13. 50YR-Ryan Ruhl, 00:13.072[1]; 14. W20-Greg Wilson, 00:13.076[2]; 15. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:13.089[17]; 16. 19-Sean Rayhall, 00:13.123[21]; 17. 09-Craig Mintz, 00:13.218[39]; 18. 70-Scotty Thiel, 00:13.227[13]; 19. 9-Trey Jacobs, 00:13.255[35]; 20. 45-Tim Shaffer, 00:13.270[38]; 21. 68G-Tyler Gunn, 00:13.287[16]; 22. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:13.290[30]; 23. 97-JJ Hickle, 00:13.304[31]; 24. 23-Zeth Sabo, 00:13.317[29]; 25. 2-Ricky Peterson, 00:13.338[33]; 26. 20B-Cody Bova, 00:13.375[15]; 27. 15C-Chris Andrews, 00:13.445[41]; 28. 15K-Creed Kemenah, 00:13.502[23]; 29. 8M-TJ Michael, 00:13.544[20]; 30. 25R-Jordan Ryan, 00:13.571[40]; 31. 5-Byron Reed, 00:13.596[27]; 32. 42-Sye Lynch, 00:13.598[19]; 33. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 00:13.689[36]; 34. 71H-Max Stambaugh, 00:13.752[32]; 35. 12-Kyle Capodice, 00:13.811[34]; 36. 28M-Conner Morrell, 00:14.007[4]; 37. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 00:14.012[14]; 38. 11J-David Kalb Jr, 00:14.067[37]; 39. 75-Jerry Dahms, 00:14.234[25]; 40. 16-DJ Foos, 00:59.999[28]; 41. 49X-Cale Thomas, 00:59.999[7]
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
Volusia Speedway Park, FL (February 7): Brad Sweet
Volusia Speedway Park, FL (February 8): Carson Macedo
East Bay Raceway Park, FL (February 13): Tyler Courtney
East Bay Raceway Park, FL (February 14): Tyler Courtney (2)
Attica Raceway Park, OH (April 14): Craig Mintz
2023 All Star Hercules Tires Fast Timers:
Volusia Speedway Park, FL (February 7): Alex Bowman | 13.453
Volusia Speedway Park, FL (February 8): Carson Macedo | 13.589
East Bay Raceway Park, FL (February 13): Alex Bowman | 12.746
East Bay Raceway Park, FL (February 14): Hunter Schuerenberg | 12.850
Attica Raceway Park, OH (April 14): Stuart Brubaker | 12.579
2023 All Star Tezos Hard Chargers:
Volusia Speedway Park, FL (February 7): Sheldon Haudenschild | +9
Volusia Speedway Park, FL (February 8): Brad Sweet | +11
East Bay Raceway Park, FL (February 13): Anthony Macri | +9
East Bay Raceway Park, FL (February 14): Zeb Wise | +17
Attica Raceway Park, OH (April 14): JJ Hickle | +10
2023 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings:
Craig Mintz - 150
Zeb Wise - 146
Hunter Schuerenberg -144
Brent Marks - 142
Parker Price-Miller - 140
Tyler Courtney - 138
Cap Henry - 136
Travis Philo - 134
JJ Hickle - 132
Byron Reed - 130
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About the All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first 'outlaw' Sprint Car organization of the modern era. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
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Photo: Wayne Riegle
Contact: Tyler Altmeyer
Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
(724) 954-4915, pr@tonystewart.com |
