By Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
It’s rare that Attica actually opens their season on the scheduled opening night. It’s even rarer when opening night falls on a sunny and 75 degree day. That’s precisely what happened Friday night, and what a night it ended up being at the ⅓ mile oval. Here are some way-too-early-thoughts and things I noticed from Opening Night, where Cap Henry, Rusty Schlenk, and Jamie Miller all scored wins.
1) Cap Henry and the Jeff Ward Motorsports 33W team left no doubt that they are going to be the team to beat in the area in 2025. They unloaded out of the box fast, setting quicktime, which, combined with a third place heat race finish, would put him in the redraw, and would start eighth for the 30 lap feature. It didn’t take long for Henry to get to the lead, as he got by Craig Mintz on lap eight, and would hold Mintz off for the win. If Henry and Co. can keep the speed up, it might be a long year for the competition in northwest Ohio.
2) It was an entertaining 30 lap feature for the 410s with Henry, Mintz, DJ Foos, Dan McCarron, Brandon Spithaler and Bryan Sebetto all in the top five mix. I mentioned in my Ohio Sprint Car Preview article that Foos and Sebetto would be some drivers to watch in 2025. Hopefully they can keep their strong start to the season going and make me look like I may know what I’m talking about. Kinda.
3) Dan McCarron was also impressive in his season debut. He held off a race-long challenge from Craig Mintz in their heat race. McCarron started on pole and led a couple laps before getting passed by Mintz, but McCarron didn’t lose touch with Mintz or Henry for quite some time in the feature. McCarron faded to eighth by feature’s end, but for his first night in an all-new Glenn Styres Chassis, that isn’t anything to hang your head about. McCarron told me that he still had things to figure out with this new chassis. As he gets the subtle nuances figured out, I’d expect McCarron to get faster and more comfortable.
4) Chris Andrews was another driver I expected to be fast, and he was. The box score shows he went 18th-12th, but there was a lot that went into that result. After a DNS in his heat race, Andrews had to come through the BMain. Andrews then carved his way through the field, making his way up to eighth before slowing a stop part-way through the feature, relegating him to the back. Charging his way back up to P12 means that Andrews has a good car in traffic and has no issues passing cars.
5) The Late Models continue to put on a good show. There was a small but mighty bunch of late models on hand, with Rusty Schlenk picking up the win after fending off Devin Shiels. Honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if any of the top ten finishers were up front battling for the win. That’s what I love about the late models at Attica, the top guys are all right there with each other, and there are a bunch of guys on any given night that could win, and Attica tends to draw some travelers on occasion. With the increase in purse money, it could be a more interesting year in the late model division.
6) Jamie Miller, to no one’s surprise, took the 305 feature win, but he did have to work for it some. Blayne Keckler was the early leader, with Seth Schneider running second, and they weren’t too easy to pass. It’s worth noting that Keckler is looking for his first sprint car win, and is a teammate to Miller in 2025. With that kind of speed that Keckler showed, he could very well find himself in victory lane this season.
7) What a crowd. When the weather cooperates, and it’s the first race of the season, the fans have a tendency to show up and show out. That’s exactly what happened. The ticket line was darn near to the road, and once everyone filed in, it looked like an Outlaw-esque show. Heck, Attica ran the local pizza place out of dough and they had to shut down early. It was a good problem to have. A pretty incredible night through and through, and it has me excited for the rest of the season, not only at Attica, but overall.