Spencer Bayston scores first All Star victory of 2021 in Sharon Speedway’s 13th Annual Lou Blaney Memorial
HARTFORD, Ohio (July 10, 2021) – Adding his name to an impressive list of former event champions, a list that includes such names as Tony Stewart, Christopher Bell, Brad Sweet, Dave Blaney, and Dale Blaney, Lebanon, Indiana’s Spencer Bayston is now a Lou Blaney Memorial champion at Sharon Speedway, scoring the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory over a stout field and packed house, ultimately withstanding a last-ditch effort slider by “Sunshine” Tyler Courtney to secure the $8,000 payday. The victory, Bayston’s first-ever All Star win at Sharon Speedway and his first Series win since August of 2020, bumped his career win total to four with the traveling aces, now at the helm of the Sam McGhee Motorsports No. 11.
“I’m happy to get it done,” an elated, but tired Spencer Bayston said in Sharon Speedway victory lane. “The throttle was actually hanging at about 3000 rpms under caution, so I was forced to mess with my throttle by hand under caution. But, it’s done and we’re here in victory lane. I can’t say enough about Mike McGhee and the entire Sam McGhee Motorsports team. They are a great team that provides awesome equipment and they certainly made my job easy tonight. It’s so cool to be a part of this event. Hopefully the weather cooperates on Sunday and we can come out here and do it again.”
Starting third on the Blaney grid, Bayston made his living around Sharon’s outer edge, battling his way to second by lap 11 before taking control of the field on lap 13. A single-file restart on lap 11 is what allowed Bayston to move to the runner-up position, utilizing a slingshot move through turns three and four to work by former World of Outlaws champion, Dave Blaney. Meanwhile, local standout and Chicora native George Hobaugh was the man in charge, taking advantage of the outside-pole position to lead from the drop of the green.
Using his momentum from the exact same aforementioned restart, Bayston made his first official move for the lead on lap 13, diving into corner number one to squeeze between Hobaugh and the infield tractor tires. The move worked, taking command by the time the frontrunners made their way into turn two. Unfortunately for Hobaugh, his night would come to an end on lap 17, as contact with an infield tire sent the Krill Recycling No. 40 for a wild ride between turns one and two; he was OK.
Although the ensuing restart allowed Bayston to drive away in clean air, Tyler Courtney, who had already worked his way to second from ninth, kept the Mike McGhee and Associates No. 11 sprinter within reach. Using two and three wide traffic to his advantage, Courtney powered himself to a car length by lap 27, following Bayston around Sharon’s outer, but thin edge. Two circuits later, Courtney made his move, diving to the bottom of turn one before power sliding across Bayston’s nose. The move nearly worked, but hard contact with the turn two wall cost Courtney momentum and a right-rear tire. Bayston regained control and drove on to claim the signature Blaney trophy; Courtney limped home fifth.
The New York/Ohio All Star swing will conclude on Sunday, July 11, with the annual Justin Snyder’s Salute to the Troops program presented by Self Made Racing, honoring military veteran and open wheel advocate, the late Justin Snyder. Derek Snyder, owner and founder of Self Made Racing, as well as the executive manager and partner of Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC in Boardman, Ohio, will honor his brother with the season’s final All Star visit to Sharon Speedway, set to award a $6,000 payday.
For those who can not witness the All Star Circuit of Champions live and in person, FloRacing.com, the official media partner and broadcast provider of the All Stars, has you covered. To access live and on-demand racing action from the All Star Circuit of Champions, visit FloRacing.com and become an annual PRO subscriber. Race fans can see all the USAC and dirt late-model action they want in addition to Eldora Speedway’s slate of races and those of the All Star Circuit of Champions. The subscription unlocks access to premium content across the entire FloSports network. Watch the events across all screens by downloading the FloSports app on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire and Chromecast.
Contingency Awards/Results: Sharon Speedway | Saturday, July 10, 2021:
Event: 13th Annual Lou Blaney Memorial
Entries: 43
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Paul McMahan | 14.608
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Brent Marks | 14.733
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Justin Peck
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Cory Eliason
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: George Hobaugh
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Sye Lynch
Kistler Racing Products Heat #5 Winner: Skylar Gee
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash #1 Winner: Cap Henry
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash #2 Winner: George Hobaugh
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Brent Marks
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Darren Pifer
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Spencer Bayston
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Brent Marks (+15)
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 29B-Dale Blaney, 15.026; 2. 22C-Cole Duncan, 15.075; 3. 13-Justin Peck, 15.113; 4. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 15.251; 5. 5K-Adam Kekich, 15.348; 6. 10-Zeb Wise, 15.368; 7. 38-Leyton Wagner, 16.334; 8. 35-Jeremy Weaver, 16.368; 9. 55s-Matt Sherlock, 16.712
Group (B)
1. 19-Brent Marks, 14.733; 2. 24-Rico Abreu, 14.912; 3. 11-Spencer Bayston, 14.935; 4. 26-Cory Eliason, 14.952; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 14.993; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 15.248; 7. 13M-Brandon Matus, 15.541; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs, 15.637; 9. 11X-George Englert, 16.433
Group (C)
1. 17B-Bill Balog, 14.897; 2. 4-Cap Henry, 15.035; 3. 5-Paul McMahan, 15.084; 4. 40-George Hobaugh, 15.086; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 15.422; 6. 3C-Cale Conley, 15.555; 7. 29-Michael Bauer, 15.954; 8. 29M-Logan McCandless, 16.117; 9. 20B-Cody Bova, 99.100
Group (D)
1. 42-Sye Lynch, 15.167; 2. 28-Tim Shaffer, 15.398; 3. 33-Brent Matus, 15.564; 4. 11B-Carl Bowser, 15.617; 5. 6-Bob Felmlee, 15.792; 6. 21N-Frankie Nervo, 16.020; 7. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau, 16.425; 8. 22R-Ryan Fredericks, 99.200
Group (E)
1. 10B-Dave Blaney, 15.068; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich, 15.076; 3. O7-Skylar Gee, 15.145; 4. 17-Josh Baughman, 15.165; 5. 23-Darren Pifer, 15.584; 6. 97-Greg Wilson, 15.986; 7. 11J-David Kalb Jr., 16.026; 8. 99-Cameron Nastasi, 16.101
Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 13-Justin Peck [2]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [6]; 3. 22-Brandon Spithaler [1]; 4. 29B-Dale Blaney [4]; 5. 22C-Cole Duncan [3]; 6. 5K-Adam Kekich [5]; 7. 38-Leyton Wagner [7]; 8. 35-Jeremy Weaver [8]; 9. 55S-Matt Sherlock [9]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. 11-Spencer Bayston [2]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [6]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 5. 19-Brent Marks [4]; 6. 13M-Brandon Matus [7]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 8. 81-Lee Jacobs [8]; 9. 11X-George Englert [9]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 40-George Hobaugh [1]; 2. 5-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [5]; 6. 3C-Cale Conley [6]; 7. 29-Michael Bauer [7]; 8. 20B-Cody Bova [9]; 9. 29M-Logan McCandless [8]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 42-Sye Lynch [4]; 2. 11B-Carl Bowser [1]; 3. 28-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 33-Brent Matus [2]; 5. 6-Bob Felmlee [5]; 6. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau [7]; 7. 21N-Frankie Nervo [6]; 8. 22R-Ryan Fredericks [8]
Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. O7-Skylar Gee [2]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 3. 10B-Dave Blaney [4]; 4. 17-Josh Baughman [1]; 5. 23-Darren Pifer [5]; 6. 97-Greg Wilson [6]; 7. 11J-David Kalb Jr. [7]; 8. 99-Cameron Nastasi [8]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 4-Cap Henry [1]; 2. 11-Spencer Bayston [4]; 3. 29B-Dale Blaney [2]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [5]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [6]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 40-George Hobaugh [1]; 2. 10B-Dave Blaney [2]; 3. 28-Tim Shaffer [4]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 5. 42-Sye Lynch [5]; 6. O7-Skylar Gee [3]
C-Main (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 81-Lee Jacobs [1]; 2. 99-Cameron Nastasi [2]; 3. 20B-Cody Bova [4]; 4. 29M-Logan McCandless [6]; 5. 35-Jeremy Weaver [3]; 6. 55S-Matt Sherlock [8]; 7. 11X-George Englert [7]; 8. 22R-Ryan Fredericks [5]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 19-Brent Marks [1]; 2. 22C-Cole Duncan [3]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [2]; 4. 6-Bob Felmlee [6]; 5. 23-Darren Pifer [5]; 6. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [4]; 7. 5K-Adam Kekich [7]; 8. 27K-Jeremy Kornbau [11]; 9. 11J-David Kalb Jr. [14]; 10. 97-Greg Wilson [10]; 11. 13M-Brandon Matus [8]; 12. 29-Michael Bauer [12]; 13. 81-Lee Jacobs [16]; 14. 3C-Cale Conley [9]; 15. 21N-Frankie Nervo [13]; 16. 38-Leyton Wagner [15]; 17. 99-Cameron Nastasi [17]
A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 11-Spencer Bayston [3]; 2. 26-Cory Eliason [8]; 3. 17B-Bill Balog [7]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich [13]; 5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [9]; 6. 19-Brent Marks [21]; 7. 13-Justin Peck [11]; 8. 10-Zeb Wise [15]; 9. 4-Cap Henry [1]; 10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [17]; 11. 42-Sye Lynch [10]; 12. O7-Skylar Gee [12]; 13. 24-Rico Abreu [23]; 14. 5-Paul McMahan [14]; 15. 6-Bob Felmlee [24]; 16. 22C-Cole Duncan [22]; 17. 17-Josh Baughman [19]; 18. 33-Brent Matus [20]; 19. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [25]; 20. 22-Brandon Spithaler [18]; 21. 11B-Carl Bowser [16]; 22. 10B-Dave Blaney [4]; 23. 40-George Hobaugh [2]; 24. 28-Tim Shaffer [6]; 25. 29B-Dale Blaney [5] Lap Leaders: George Hobaugh (1-12), Spencer Bayston (13-30)
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Winners:
1. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 29, 2021): Donny Schatz
2. Screven Motor Speedway, Georgia (January 30, 2021): Aaron Reutzel
3. East Bay Raceway Park, Florida (February 2, 2021): Donny Schatz (2)
4. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 3, 2021): Logan Schuchart
5. Volusia Speedway Park, Florida (February 4, 2021): Carson Macedo
6. Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (April 3, 2021): Justin Peck
7. Virginia Motor Speedway, Virginia (April 15, 2021): Tony Stewart
8. Williams Grove Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 16, 2021): Kyle Larson
9. Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 17, 2021): Logan Wagner
10. Bedford Speedway, Pennsylvania (April 18, 2021): Anthony Macri
11. Sharon Speedway, Ohio (May 1, 2021): Justin Peck (2)
12. Tri-City Raceway Park, Pennsylvania (May 2, 2021): Sam Hafertepe Jr.
13. I-96 Speedway, Michigan (May 14, 2021): Tyler Courtney
14. Dirt Oval at Route 66, Illinois (May 15, 2021): Kyle Reinhardt
15. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 20, 2021): Tyler Courtney (2)
16. Circle City Raceway, Indiana (May 21, 2021): Tyler Courtney (3)
17. Gas City I-69 Speedway, Indiana (May 22, 2021): Cap Henry
18. Kokomo Speedway, Indiana (May 23, 2021): Zeb Wise
19. Port Royal Speedway, Pennsylvania (May 31, 2021): Lance Dewease
20. Fairbury Speedway, Illinois (June 3, 2021): Tyler Courtney (4)
21. Wilmot Raceway, Wisconsin (June 4, 2021): Tyler Courtney (5)
22. Plymouth Dirt Track, Wisconsin (June 5, 2021): Bill Balog
23. Angell Park Speedway, Wisconsin (June 6, 2021): Bill Balog (2)
24. SW Attica Raceway Park, Ohio (June 11, 2021): Ian Madsen
25. SW Fremont Speedway, Ohio (June 12, 2021): Cole Duncan
26. SW Wayne County Speedway, Ohio (June 14, 2021): Kyle Larson (2)
27. SW Sharon Speedway, Ohio (June 15, 2021): Danny Dietrich
28. SW Waynesfield Raceway Park, Ohio (June 16, 2021): Kyle Larson (3)
29. SW Muskingum County Speedway, Ohio (June 17, 2021): Justin Peck (3)
30. SW Portsmouth Raceway Park, Ohio (June 19, 2021): Paul McMahan
31. Stateline Speedway, New York (July 9, 2021): Hunter Schuerenberg
32. Sharon Speedway, Ohio (July 10, 2021): Spencer Bayston
2021 All Star Circuit of Champions Driver Standings (as of 7/10/21):
1. Tyler Courtney – 3766
2. Cory Eliason – 3518
3. Hunter Schuerenberg – 3512
4. Zeb Wise – 3460
5. Bill Balog – 3448
6. Cap Henry – 3438
7. Paul McMahan – 3376
8. Justin Peck – 3078
9. Kyle Reinhardt – 3076
10. Ian Madsen – 2926
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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Sources: Tyler Altmeyer/FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 PR
Photo: Rick Rarer | SprintCarNews.com