ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa.: Tim Shaffer’s had a mixed bag of results in early-season action behind the wheel of the Mike Heffner-owned entry.

The performances have been good in 360 Sprint Car competition. Shaffer has a pair of wins and has been fast every time he’s touched the track. As for the 410 events, the results have been lacking.

In five races, Shaffer has an average finish of 12th and failed to qualify for an event at Volusia Speedway Park. The speed picked up a little bit last week on a narrow opening day track at Lincoln Speedway.

It carried over to a frigid and blustery Week 2 Saturday affair at Lincoln, and none of the above statistics mattered in the outcome. Shaffer started near the front and was able to negotiate difficult track conditions to capture the 30-Lap main event.

“I thought they were crazy for racing today, but it turned out great for us,” said Shaffer after the $4,000 win. “The track got better and better as the day went on.

“Hats off to Mike Heffner and the guys. It comes with communication and getting along. Me and Heath [Moyle] seem to be hitting it off from the beginning, and that means a lot.”

Hunter Schuerenberg, and All Star Circuit of Champions regular in 2021, started on the outside pole and blew around pole-sitter Glenndon Forysthe to take the early lead.

The pace was slowed on the second circuit, when Chad Trout stopped along the inside guardrail at the end of the frontstretch. Schuerenberg owned the restart and tip-toed out to a 1.409-second lead by Lap 5.

Schuerenberg caught the back of the field on Lap 6 and got into a lapped car two laps later. It allowed Forysthe to get by, but the pass was negated when Trout stopped again out of Turn 4.

With a bent nose wing and host of other issues, Schuerenberg was back out front and led on the restart. Before a lap could be scored, Steve Buckwalter got upside down in the second corner. He was OK.

Schuerenberg led Forsythe on the restart. Shaffer, who started third and fell back to fourth, slipped by Billy Dietrich for third on Lap 9.

The battle for second was close over the next six circuits. Schuerenberg, meanwhile, held a .661-second advantage by the halfway point.

Shaffer turned his car hard toward the bottom at the exit of Turn 4 on Lap 18. It allowed him to nip Forsythe for second at the line and gave the Aliquippa, Pa., ace an advantage entering the first corner.

“It was only two lanes wide, but you could really move around,” Shaffer said. “I could really bend the corner and come off low, which is really hard to do here.

“It was key today where I could bend and with guys pushing up the track, I could sneak by on the bottom. Just a great car, and everything is just really coming together.”

It looked that way over the last 12 laps. Shaffer closed to within .294 seconds with 10 to go and maintained that distance for the next five laps.

Shaffer made the winning pass on the 26th circuit. Schuerenberg opened the bottom lane through Turns 3 and 4, and Shaffer surged off the corner and took the lead going down the frontstretch.

Once out front, Shaffer dominated. He distanced himself from the field and took his second career Lincoln Speedway victory by 2.409 seconds. His first win came in the 2018 Dirt Classic at the speedway.

“I’ve always loved this place,” Shaffer said. “Being with Lee [Stauffer] in the 12-car for a year and a half, we never won, but we finished second 20-some times. They are hard to get here … this place isn’t easy.”

Schuerenberg finished second in his first career Lincoln Speedway start in a winged car. Billy Dietrich, Forsythe, and Kyle Moody completed the top five.

“I really wish we hadn’t had that mishap with the lapped car,” Schuerenberg said. “I think our car was exceptional.

“We bent the left front torsion tube, broke the left front shock off it. I think we could’ve dealt with that, but when I hit that guy, something in the fuel system jarred loose, and my legs were soaked in fuel.

“The last thing I wanted to do is slam on the brakes real hard and throw a spark into the cockpit and cause a fire. So, I was really trying not to catch lapped traffic and use the brakes, and it just didn’t work out.”

Sprint Car Feature Finish, 30 Laps: 1. Tim Shaffer; 2. Hunter Schuerenberg; 3. Billy Dietrich; 4. Glenndon Forsythe; 5. Kyle Moody; 6. Danny Dietrich; 7. Chase Dietz; 8. Freddie Rahmer; 9. Tim Glatfelter; 10. Rick Lafferty; 11. Kerry Madsen; 12. Tyler Ross; 13. Matt Campbell; 14. Anthony Macri; 15. Tim Wagaman; 16. Dylan Norris; 17. Trey Hivner; 18. Steve Buckwalter; 19. Chad Trout; 20. Scott Fisher; 21. Brandon Rahmer; 22. Bradley Howard; 23. Alan Krimes; 24. Jordan Givler.

DNQ: Mike Lutz Jr.; Rickey Peterson; Jimmy Siegel.