Casebolt Dominates Thrilling Bilstein 40 AELMT Event At Attica

Attica, OH (Friday, May 11, 2018) – For the second time in as many weeks, the cars and stars of the American Ethanol Late Model Tour (AELMT) made a first-time trip to one of the premier tracks in the Great Lakes Region. Nearly 50 cars made the commitment to the Attica Raceway Park in Attica, OH. for the inaugural Bilstein 40 lap main event Friday night. With that many cars on the property, some of the area’s biggest names in Late Model Racing, had an exceptionally difficult night.

Things got interesting early for the AELMT as a number of drivers struggled to find a handle on their cars during the early stages of hot laps and qualifying. A steep, wet, and heavy berm of dirt or “cushion” developed around the third-mile oval that was causing drivers to spin out, go off track, and even sent some cars onto two wheels and caused damage to others. Officials with the Attica Raceway Park knew that the current track conditions were not conducive to good side-by-side racing that fans know and love and made the decision to re-work the race track to take away the race tracks “fat lip”.

Drivers were much more comfortable during the Motul Oil and Lubricants qualifying session, coming within four tenths of a second from the Attica Raceway Park track record. Of the 48 drivers to qualify, Brandon Thirlby from Travers City, MI. Claimed the $100 Motul Oil and Lubricants fast qualifier award, turning a 14.565 lap time. Friday’s effort gives Thirlby 9 fast time awards with the AELMT, the most all time.

Heat Race and Last Chance Qualifier action was fierce all night as only the top three transferred to the main event from the heat races with the top two making the ever important redraw. From there, three Last Chance Qualifier races were held to determine the field for the main event with only the top two locking themselves in. Several notable AELMT drivers had to race their way in through the Last Chance Qualifiers such as Eric Spangler, Ryan VanderVeen, Hillard Miller, and Jason Playter, Jr.

From there the field was set for the Bilstein 40. A quick turnaround from the Last Chance Qualifiers made things difficult for those starting at the back. None of that, however, mattered for the pole sitter of the main event, Steve Casebolt. Casebolt, who had one career win with the AELMT coming into the event, lead flag-to-flag with minor incident. He saw a mid-race challenge from former Attica Raceway Park track champion Doug Drown when Casebolt got caught up in lap traffic. A timely caution on lap 24 for contact between Greg Goke and VanderVeen would help Casebolt separate himself again from Drown. On lap 27, the whole night changed for Drown as he and Ryan Markham made contact in the third turn; Drown was charged as the caution car and sent to the tail along with Markham. With just 13 laps to go, the stage was set for racing action to intensify, and the expectation was met.

At the time of the restart, major names with the AELMT were barely inside the top ten, such as Dona Marcoullier, Rusty Schlenk, Travis Stemler and more. That all changed quickly as Marcoullier, Schlenk and Devin Shields went four consecutive laps, nearly three wide the entire time and on a charge to the front. Marcoullier stalled out around sixth place but defending AELMT and Attica Raceway Park feature winner Rusty Schlenk wasn’t through. With a handful of laps left in the Bilstein 40, Schlenk encountered a counter attack from Brandon Thirlby. Inside of 10 laps to go, Thirlby and Schlenk made contact multiple times through the turns, and things finally boiled over on the front-straight-away when the two slammed doors and nearly wrecked out of the race. Schlenk would finish his charge and sneak by Logan Arntz at the finish for third spot, while Thirlby fell to fifth. Casebolt continued his dominating performance and went on to win the Bilstein 40.

“He races hard, [but] I’m not sure what I did to p*ss him off,” said Thirlby. “He almost ended the night for both of us racing for 5th. I guess he has one coming.”

Schlenk shared a differing view during his post-race interview.

“It wasn’t really a battle,” said Schlenk. “It was Thirlby trying to put me in the wall every lap.” He went on to say, “We usually race each other really clean but he’ll learn to give me some room next time.”

During the AELMT Driver Meeting at Attica Raceway Park, it was announced that Saturday’s action at Fremont Speedway was cancelled due to the nearly 100 percent chance of rain throughout the day.

With that, the next event for the AELMT will be Friday, May 25th at I-96 Speedway and Events Center in Lake Odessa, MI. That is another scheduled double header for the AELMT, as the cars and stars will travel to Thunderbird Raceway on Saturday, May 26th.

For more on the AELMT, log onto aelmt.com, or find them on social media including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Stay up to date with MBM by “Liking” and following us on Facebook. Listen to all the MBM broadcasts including Horsepower Happenings and Race Day replays on-demand on SoundCloud.

Complete Results:

Allstar Performance Heat Race 1:

C9 – Steve Casebolt

21A – Logan Arntz

79 – Nick Kurtz

4G – Kody Evans

1 – Greg Gokey

8 – Rob AnderZack

44 – Matt Shipley

10 – Brett Miller

77 – Steve Kester

30 – Nate Potts

Bilstein Shock Absorbers Heat Race 2:

12 – Doug Drown

36 – Matt Irey

51 – Devin Shields

87M – David Mielke

RH21 – Gregg Haskell

23V – Ryan VanderVeen

23H – Ken Hahn

7 – Kevin Reeve

42 – Chad Finley

YellowHose.com Heat Race 3:

15 – Jon Henry

6M – Dona Marcoullier

5M – Ryan Markham

15B – Mike Bores

20 – Chad White

79M – Cory Maurice

4T – Andrew Terrill

7M – Brad Mann

50V – Ryan Missler

Quarter Master Heat Race 4:

3 – Matt Miller

X3 – Dan Wallace

13 – JR Hotovy

18R – Chris Ross

23W – Brad Wade

69 – Jeff Warnick

4 – Jason Playter, Jr.

185 – DJ Miller

17X – Dustin Keegan

Carbon Green BioEnergy Heat 5:

2 – Travis Stemler

M14 – Brandon Thirlby

CJ1 – Rusty Schlenk

21B – Rich Bell

27 – Eric Spangler

39 – Hillard Miller

11 – Rachel Carpenter

16 – Steve Sabo

69R – Doug Baird

Dupont Last Chance Qualifier 1:

27 – Eric Spangler

4G – Kody Evans

18R – Chris Ross

79M – Cory Maurice

RH21 – Gregg Haskell

7 – Kevin Reeve

30 – Nate Potts

4 – Jason Playter, Jr.

44 – Matt Shipley

16 – Steve Sabo

Nuvu Fuels Last Chance Qualifier 2:

87M – David Mielke

21B – Rich Bell

8 – Rob AnderZack

77 – Steve Kester

27H – Ken Hahn

7M – Brad Mann

11 – Rachel Carpenter

69 – Jeff Warnick

20 – Chad White

17X – Dustin Keegan

Michigan Corn Last Chance Qualifier 3:

15B – Mike Bores

1 – Greg Gokey

23V – Ryan VanderVeen (Champions Provisional)

185 – DJ Miller

10 – Brett Miller

23W – Brad Wade

4T – Andrew Terrill

39 – Hillard Miller

69R – Doug Baird

P3 – Jeff Robertson

Belstein 40:

C9 – Steve Casebolt

3 – Matt Miller

CJ1 – Rusty Schlenk

21A – Logan Artz

M14 – Brandon Tullihirlby

6M – Dona Marcoullier

12 – Doug Drown

51 – Devin Shields

2 – Travis Stemler

79 – Nick Kurtz

21B – Rich Bell

36 – Matt Irey

5M – Ryan Markham

1 – Greg Gokey

13 – JR Hotovy

87M – David Mielke

X3 – Dan Wallace

4G – Kody Evans

23V – Ryan VanderVeen

15B – Mike Bores

27 – Eric Spangler

15 – Jon Henry

Photo Credit: American Ethanol Late Model Tour / Kevtron Media

About The Author