by Jacob Hord, @HordRaceWatcher
Near perfect weather conditions greeted fans and race teams alike as the 41st edition of the All Star Circuit of Champions Ohio Speedweek kicked off Friday night at Attica Raceway Park. Thirty-six 410’s roared to life as the evening went on, all chasing a $6,000 payday and a coveted Speedweek win. All Star Zeb Wise and local Jordan Ryan would pace the field to green as they stared down the barrel of the 35 lap feature.
Ryan used the outside row to his advantage as the green flag waved. He drove around the outside of Wise to take the early lead with Wise, Tyler Courtney and Cole Macedo in tow. The yellow flag would come out with one lap complete as Caden Englehart found himself off the banking in turns one and two. Ryan held the lead on the restart, but now second place Courtney was right there. Melee in turns three and four wouldn’t allow ‘Sunshine’ to make a move on Ryan as the red flag came out.
On the second restart, Ryan got a good jump, but once again, action was halted by another yellow flag, this time for Zeth Sabo, who was stopped in turns three and four. Ryan once again held serve on the ensuing restart as Wise, who fell back to fourth, used the top of turns one and two to reclaim the third spot. Courtney was close to Ryan, but he wasn’t quite showing his hand yet, as there were still around 30 laps to go. As lap six turned into lap seven, Ryan and Courtney were side-by-side battling for the lead, and that continued through turns one and two. Courtney was able to get a good run down the backstretch and stake claim to the lead, taking Wise with him.
Things were tame for a few laps as Courtney set his pace, but by lap 11, the defending All Star Champion was dealing with lapped traffic. Although in traffic, Wise wasn’t able to cut into Courtney’s lead until he found something on the top of turns three and four. Wise got a run down the frontstretch and got to Courtney’s bumper for the lead. On lap 16, Courtney moved up to the top of turns three and four with Wise. Wise got a huge run off the exit of turn four as he and Courtney went side-by-side for the lead as lap 17 turned to lap 18. They continued to be side-by-side through turns one and two and down the backstretch, until the yellow flag flew once again.
On what would be the final restart, Courtney would get the jump, but Wise used the top of turns one and two to try and get a run, but his run fizzled down the backstretch. Wise then moved to the bottom of turns three and four, but again, it wasn’t quite enough to get by the current All Star points leader. On lap 21, Wise made his move for the lead. Wise slid Courtney in turns three and four, but Courtney countered with a slider of his own in turns one and two. Wise was still running up top in turns one and two and was able to use his momentum to power around the outside of Courtney down the backstretch and solidify himself as the leader.
Once again, things tamed a little bit as Wise now set his pace as he started to reel in lapped traffic. With eight laps remaining, Wise found himself in said lapped traffic. Wise was navigating through lapped traffic on lap 30 when he bobbled in what was a tricky turns one and two. Courtney had matched every one of Wise’s moves, eager to pounce at a potential mistake. Courtney didn’t waste his opportunity and as lap 30 turned to lap 31, Courtney retook the lead.
There was still heavy lapped traffic to deal with for the leaders as the laps clicked down. Wise started pounding the top of turns one and two, trying to do anything he could to make up ground on Courtney. As the white flag flew, Courtney still led, but had lapped traffic in his preferred line. Wise hit the top of turns one and two to gain momentum going into turns three and four. Courtney went to the bottom of turns three and four, but had a lapped car in his line. Wise, to no one’s surprise, went to the top of turns three and four and was able to power around the outside of Courtney to steal the win as the checkers flew!
“I got a terrible start and fell back to fourth right away. I bided my time with Cole [Macedo]; I really didn’t know what to do to get by him. I think I got by Jordan [Ryan] when he and Sunshine [Tyler Courtney] were battling,” said Wise. “Once I got to Sunshine, I was just waiting for the right time. I knew we’d get to traffic and every race at Attica, when you get to traffic, that’s where you win or lose it. I’ve lost it plenty of times. I wanted to get into traffic and pick my way around.”
“Fast forward to the last lap, I just sent it off in there. I told my crew guys that I went into turn three wide open. I knew that if I hit the wall off of four trying to win, that I could probably limp it to the line anyways. So I just sent it off in there and gave it all I had and it worked out,” continued Wise.
While it’s only night one of Speedweek, Wise is eager to get the rest of the week going.
“These are all tracks that I love. We go to Fremont tomorrow [Saturday], and I won a Speedweek show there last year. I’ve been very successful at Wayne County, never won there, but I always seem to run up front. Sharon is a place that I love, I always hit the wall there or something stupid,” Wise said with a laugh. “Then we end it at Atomic, Eldora and Portsmouth, all places that I love to go to. I’m really looking forward to it, and it’s going to be a fun week if it all goes like this,” Wise said.
Zeb Wise’s full post-race interview can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgFkhSZ_zE
Jordan Ryan’s post-race interview can be found here: Post-race with Jordan Ryan 6/9/23