From Brian Liskai
Fremont, OH — (July 19, 2014) — Rob Chaney survived a wild 410 sprint feature Saturday at Fremont Speedway to lead all 30 laps for his first win of the season on Ohio Logistics Night.
The racing got underway late due to a steady rain all morning at “The Track That Action Built.” Track crews worked hard to get the surface in shape and it produced a lot of wheel hiking excitement.
Chaney, from Millersburg, Ohio, who started the night setting fast time in qualifying, survived several cautions and red flag restarts and a near disaster when he caught a rut late in the race to score his 10th career win at Fremont Speedway in the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints.
“They were timing me up and you really couldn’t start early on the bottom or you’d push out in the moisture. I should have moved back to the top before I did. We had that red and they told me ‘hey, they’re timing you up so you need to move’ so I moved and you know a track like this I felt the top was the best way as long as you don’t make a mistake but that was easier said then done. You could get tripped up really easy. For what we all thought it was going to be to start with it turned out to be a good race. There were guys charging from the back. I saw Chris Bell was up there (from 11th)…and I knew I had to get after it with him and Andrews (Chris) and Kemenah (Chad),” said Chaney beside his Stan Cortad owned #9x.
“We were able to hang on. It feels good to win. You don’t know how many more races you get to win when you get to be the age I am now and the point I am know. It’s special to win here and I’m proud of Stan and all the guys that have helped. I have raced for him most of my career and I can’t thank him enough for everything he’s done for me,” added Chaney.
It was a Kistler Racing Products FAST (Fremont Attica Sprint Title) Championship Series event as well for the 410 sprints. Coming into the weekend Chris Andrews had a pretty commanding point lead, but a crash at Attica Friday and another at Fremont while running second late in the race Saturday saw that lead dwindle as Byron Reed closed significantly (go to www.fastondirt.com for the point standings). The FAST champion will earn $10,000 at season’s end.
In the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature, it looked like Tyler Gunn was on his way to his first career win. But, with six laps to go on a restart Gunn’s right rear wheel broke, handing the lead to Jordan Ryan. Ryan would then pull away for his third win of the year at Fremont and the fourth of his career at the track.
“That track was wet and fast and hard to race. It’s tough to figure things out on a track like this. It takes away a lot of your strength,” said Ryan beside his Griff’s Engines/Village Pizza House/Walton’s Cutting Crew/Frosty Frog/J&J Automotive/Big D Landscaping backed #5.
“I was under him (Gunn) a couple of times trying to slide him but he had a lot of momentum. I didn’t want something to happen to him like that…I wanted him to get his first win but when he hit that rut and went up I was pretty happy,” added Ryan. “I have to thank my dad and mom, Cody Brewer, my grandparents…without all those guys I couldn’t do it.”
Fostoria, Ohio’s Kent Brewer has been close all season to scoring a victory in the AAA Ohio Auto Club Dirt Trucks. Well, Saturday he finally got that accomplished though it wasn’t easy as he had to contend with Shawn Valenti the entire 20-lap feature and at the end with Dan Roepke Jr. and lapped trucks. For Brewer, it was his third career win at Fremont and his second straight victory of 2014 as he won the previous week at Attica Raceway Park.
“That was a lot of fun. That’s the most fun I’ve had racing out here…that’s really good racing when we can race wheel to wheel,” said Brewer beside his Kent’s Transmissions/Fremont Fence/Hummel’s Auto Service backed #8kb. “That last lap…whew. I saw Shawn on the bottom and I was like ‘I’d better get going again.’ I need to thank all my family and all the sponsors and all the guys that help me every week.”
For the 30-lap 410 sprint feature, Todd Heller and Rob Chaney would bring the field to the green with Chaney gaining the advantage over Heller, Travis Philo, Chad Kemenah, James McFadden, Chris Andrews, Christopher Bell and Bryan Sebetto. Brad Bowman would coast to a stop on lap two to bring out the caution. On the restart Chaney pulled away from Heller with Philo, Kemenah and Andrews in tow.
The top of the running order didn’t change much until the leaders hit lapped traffic by lap eight. Chaney continued to lead Heller but Philo and Kemenah were locked in a torrid battle for third with Andrews, McFadden, Bell and Sebetto giving chase. Kemenah would move into third on lap 10 and quickly closed on Heller. While battling for fourth on lap 14, Andrews and Philo would make contact with Philo ending up on his side on the front stretch. On the restart Broc Martin would tumble in turn three. All drivers were uninjured.
On the restart Chaney would get a great jump as Andrews rocketed from fourth to second, bringing Kemenah and Bell into third and fourth. The caution would fly when McFadden stopped on turn four at the half-way point. On the restart Byron Reed would stop but would refire. After two laps were completed, Cole Thomas would slide to the berm of turns three and four, bringing out another caution. Again Chaney would get a great restart over Andrews with Bell getting around Kemenah for third with Heller in fifth and Cap Henry up to sixth and by lap 18 into the top five.
With eight laps to go, Bell executed a huge bicycle in turns three and four as he attempted to get around Andrews and he would coast to turn two, bringing out the caution. On the restart Chaney would miss his marks ever so slightly and it was nearly costly as he jumped the cushion in turn one with Andrews racing to his inside. Chaney was able to gather it back in and continued to lead Andrews, Kemenah, Henry, Cole Duncan, Heller, Brian Smith and Stuart Williams.
With six laps to go disaster struck for Andrews as he jumped the cushion in turn four and tumbled, ending his great run. On the restart Chaney pulled away from Kemenah, Henry, Duncan, Heller and Smith. Chaney was able to rim ride the final five laps for the win with Kemenah, Henry, Duncan and Heller rounding out the top five.
Gunn and Ryan French would pace the field for the 25-lap 305 sprint feature with Gunn bolting into a big lead over French, Ryan, Paul Weaver, T.J. Michael, Nate Dussel and Luke Griffith. Josh Harrison would coast to a stop on lap three to bunch up the field and on the restart Bobby Clark would coast to a stop. When the green flew so did Gunn as Ryan and Weaver moved into second and third. As Gunn pulled away slightly, Ryan and Weaver battled for second with French, Michael, Dussel, John Ivy, Trey Jacobs and Zack Kramer in tow.
Gunn would catch the back of the pack by lap 9, but a caution for debris a lap later would give him a clear track. When the green flew so did Gunn as he pulled away with Ryan and Weaver still battling for second. Michael drove around French for fourth on lap 12 with Ivy taking fifth a circuit later just as the caution would fly for Seth Schneider who would coast to a stop. On the ensuing restart Steve Rando would spin.
Gunn got a great restart with 11 laps to go with Ryan, Weaver, Michael, Ivy, Dussel, French and Jacobs in pursuit. Another debris caution with nine laps to go would bunch up the field, but Gunn was too strong on the restart. On lap 19 Kramer would stop on turn four. Gunn again powered away on the restart over Ryan, Weaver, Michael, Ivy, Dussel and Jacobs. With five laps to go disaster struck for Gunn as his right rear wheel broke.
Ryan now led over Weaver, Michael, Ivy, Dussel, Jacobs and Dustin Dinan. Ryan would pull away the final hand full of laps for the win over Weaver, Michael, Ivy and Dussel.
In the 20-lap dirt truck feature, Matt Foos and Dustin Keegan brought the field to green. But, it was sixth starter Kent Brewer who was on the throttle, driving into the lead down the back stretch. Shawn Valenti would drive into second on lap two and closed on Brewer with Foos, Cory Ward and Jimmy McGrath Jr. in tow. Brewer and Valenti would race side by side over the first five laps before the caution flew for a stalled Ward.
When the green reappeared so did the tremendous battle between Brewer and Valenti with Foos, McGrath Jr., a closing Dan Roepke Jr., Cory McCaughey, Jeff Ward, Brad Keckler and Art Ball in pursuit. From lap five through lap 12 Brewer and Valenti would battle side by side and behind them McGrath, Foos and Roepke waged war for third. Roepke would eventually take the third position by lap nine.
Brewer would catch lapped traffic on lap 12 but it wouldn’t slow the battle with Valenti with Roepke now joining the fun. The second and final caution of the race would fly on lap 14 for a multi-truck crash involving Keckler, Foos and McCaughey. On the restart Brewer, Valenti and Roepke continued to thrill with their battle while McGrath, Jeff Ward, Ball and Keith Sorg gave chase. With three laps to go Brewer had put a little separation between himself and Valenti who had his hands full with Roepke.
As they took the white flag, the leaders had caught the back of the pack and as Brewer raced into turns three and four to the checker, he and Valenti were door to door. Brewer would clear the lapped machine and drove to the close win over Valenti, Roepke, McGrath Jr. and Jeff Ward.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, July 26 on Fort Ball Pizza Palace Presents Bring a Friend to the Races Night. Fans are encouraged to bring a friend to the night’s racing and if the track’s attendance record is broken more money will be added to the night’s purse. It will be a FAST points night for the 410 sprints and 305 sprints with the dirt trucks also in action.
For more information go to www.fremontohspeedway.com
Fremont Speedway – 7/19/2014
Ohio Logistics Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (31 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Fricker’s Restaurant/Callie’s Performance
1. 9X-Rob Chaney, 12.668; 2. 40DD-Caleb Griffith, 12.705; 3. 63-Chad Kemenah, 12.709; 4. 53C-Christopher Bell, 12.834; 5. 97-Bryan Sebetto, 12.941; 6. 14H-Todd Heller, 12.955; 7. 55-Brad Bowman, 12.982; 8. 16-Chris Andrews, 13.034; 9. O9-Craig Mintz, 13.054; 10. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.077; 11. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 13.098; 12. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.113; 13. 83M-Broc Martin, 13.129; 14. 40I-Mark Imler, 13.161; 15. 3G-James McFadden, 13.197; 16. 9-Dean Jacobs, 13.205; 17. 53-Cap Henry, 13.335; 18. 22-Cole Duncan, 13.357; 19. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.373; 20. 91-Cale Thomas, 13.422; 21. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.471; 22. 11F-DJ Foos, 13.508; 23. 45L-Brian Lay, 13.898; 24. 25AU-Jack Lee, 13.909; 25. 17-Scott Euler, 14.001; 26. 96AU-Bruce White, 14.007; 27. 39M-Matt Merrill, 14.072; 28. O7X-Dain Naida, 14.308; 29. 60-Jody Keegan, 14.490; 30. 50B-Mike Burns, 14.607; 31. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 19.100
Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 53-Cap Henry[2] ; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[1] ; 3. 97-Bryan Sebetto[5] ; 4. 9X-Rob Chaney[6] ; 5. O9-Craig Mintz[4] ; 6. 60-Jody Keegan[8] ; 7. 83M-Broc Martin[3] ; 8. 17-Scott Euler[7]
Heat 2 – Kistler Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 11F-DJ Foos[1] ; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[2] ; 3. 14H-Todd Heller[5] ; 4. 5T-Travis Philo[4] ; 5. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[6] ; 6. 40I-Mark Imler[3] ; 7. 96AU-Bruce White[7] ; 8. 50B-Mike Burns[8]
Heat 3 – Hoosier Racing Tires (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 45L-Brian Lay[1] ; 2. 5R-Byron Reed[2] ; 3. 3G-James McFadden[3] ; 4. 63-Chad Kemenah[6] ; 5. 46AU-Stuart Williams[4] ; 6. 55-Brad Bowman[5] ; 7. 39M-Matt Merrill[7] ; 8. 35-Stuart Brubaker[8]
Heat 4 – The Computer Man (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 91-Cale Thomas[2] ; 2. 25AU-Jack Lee[1] ; 3. 2+-Brian Smith[4] ; 4. 16-Chris Andrews[5] ; 5. 53C-Christopher Bell[6] ; 6. 9-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 7. O7X-Dain Naida[7]
Dash – Borer Glass & Mirror (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 14H-Todd Heller[1] ; 2. 9X-Rob Chaney[4] ; 3. 63-Chad Kemenah[3] ; 4. 5T-Travis Philo[6] ; 5. 16-Chris Andrews[5] ; 6. 97-Bryan Sebetto[2]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 53C-Christopher Bell[2] ; 2. 55-Brad Bowman[3] ; 3. 46AU-Stuart Williams[5] ; 4. 83M-Broc Martin[6] ; 5. 9-Dean Jacobs[8] ; 6. 60-Jody Keegan[13] ; 7. 17-Scott Euler[9] ; 8. 96AU-Bruce White[10] ; 9. 39M-Matt Merrill[11] ; 10. O7X-Dain Naida[12] ; 11. 40I-Mark Imler[7] ; 12. 50B-Mike Burns[14] ; 13. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[1]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 9X-Rob Chaney[2]; 2. 63-Chad Kemenah[3]; 3. 53-Cap Henry[9]; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[10]; 5. 14H-Todd Heller[1]; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[7]; 7. 46AU-Stuart Williams[13]; 8. 5R-Byron Reed[15]; 9. 45L-Brian Lay[19]; 10. 11F-DJ Foos[18]; 11. 25AU-Jack Lee[20]; 12. 16-Chris Andrews[5]; 13. 53C-Christopher Bell[11]; 14. 91-Cale Thomas[16]; 15. 3G-James McFadden[8]; 16. 97-Bryan Sebetto[6]; 17. 5T-Travis Philo[4]; 18. 83M-Broc Martin[14]; 19. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[17]; 20. 55-Brad Bowman[12]
Hard Charger: 45L-Brian Lay[+10]
Fremont Federal Credit Untion 305 Sprints (22 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 68G-Tyler Gunn[2] ; 2. 36-Seth Schneider[1] ; 3. 10-Josh Harrison[4] ; 4. 1W-Paul Weaver[5] ; 5. 8I-John Ivy[8] ; 6. 7A-Alvin Roepke[3] ; 7. O2-Kevin Lee[6] ; 8. 25-Jason Keckler[7]
Heat 2 – Kistler Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5R-Jordan Ryan[1] ; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[2] ; 3. 3J-Trey Jacobs[3] ; 4. 32-Ryan French[5] ; 5. 12-Kyle Capodice[4] ; 6. 7M-Brandon Moore[6] ; 7. 2L-Landon Lalonde[7]
Heat 3 – Hoosier Racing Tires (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8M-T.J Michael[2] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[4] ; 3. 11G-Luke Griffith[1] ; 4. 18-Zack Kramer[3] ; 5. 8-Bobby Clark[7] ; 6. 6-Dustin Dinan[6] ; 7. 22M-Dan McCarron[5]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 5R-Jordan Ryan[4]; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver[3]; 3. 8M-T.J Michael[5]; 4. 8I-John Ivy[13]; 5. 1-Nate Dussel[8]; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs[9]; 7. 6-Dustin Dinan[18]; 8. 11G-Luke Griffith[7]; 9. 32-Ryan French[2]; 10. 7A-Alvin Roepke[16]; 11. 12-Kyle Capodice[14]; 12. O2-Kevin Lee[19]; 13. 19R-Steve Rando[12]; 14. 25-Jason Keckler[22]; 15. 7M-Brandon Moore[17]; 16. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1]; 17. 18-Zack Kramer[11]; 18. 2L-Landon Lalonde[20]; 19. 10-Josh Harrison[10]; 20. 36-Seth Schneider[6]; 21. 22M-Dan McCarron[21]; 22. 8-Bobby Clark[15]
Hard Charger: 6-Dustin Dinan[+11]
AAA Auto Club Dirt Trucks (24 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 33-Jeff Ward[2] ; 2. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 3. OO-John Ivy[8] ; 4. 4S-Keith Sorg[7] ; 5. 22-Brandon Leighton[1] ; 6. 79-Andrew Lutman[3] ; 7. 13-Cody Benyak[4] ; 8. 3-Andy Earnhart[6]
Heat 2 – Kistler Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[3] ; 2. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[5] ; 3. 3X-Brad Keckler[2] ; 4. 2-Matt Foos[4] ; 5. 9-Curt Inks[8] ; 6. 99X-Gene Portidge[7] ; 7. 85S-Bradley Stuckey[6] ; 8. 115-Ben Good[1]
Heat 3 – Hoosier Racing Tires (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 18W-Cory Ward[2] ; 2. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[5] ; 3. 36M-Cory McCaughey[7] ; 4. D1-Dustin Keegan[1] ; 5. 5-Jim McGrath[8] ; 6. O1-Art Ball[6] ; 7. 7-Dana Frey[3] ; 8. 45M-Brian Melnek Jr.[4]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O1-Art Ball[6] ; 2. 99X-Gene Portidge[5] ; 3. 85S-Bradley Stuckey[8] ; 4. 79-Andrew Lutman[4] ; 5. 7-Dana Frey[9] ; 6. 13-Cody Benyak[7] ; 7. 115-Ben Good[11] ; 8. 3-Andy Earnhart[10]
A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[6]; 2. 7B-Shawn Valenti[4]; 3. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[7]; 4. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[8]; 5. 33-Jeff Ward[9]; 6. O1-Art Ball[16]; 7. 4S-Keith Sorg[12]; 8. D1-Dustin Keegan[2]; 9. 5-Jim McGrath[13]; 10. 22-Brandon Leighton[11]; 11. 99X-Gene Portidge[15]; 12. 7-Dana Frey[20]; 13. 9-Curt Inks[14]; 14. 3X-Brad Keckler[10]; 15. 13-Cody Benyak[19]; 16. 2-Matt Foos[1]; 17. 36M-Cory McCaughey[5]; 18. 18W-Cory Ward[3]; 19. 79-Andrew Lutman[17]; 20. 85S-Bradley Stuckey[18]
Hard Charger: O1-Art Ball[+10]