From Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio – Brandon Martin has been so close to finding Fremont Speedway’s Engine Pro Victory Lane over his 10-year 410 sprint car driving career, but it just didn’t come to be. That all changed for the Attica, Ohio driver Saturday, July 10 on Fisher Performance Night, as he took the lead with 10 laps to go and picked his way through traffic for the win.
Fremont, Ohio’s Paul Weaver dominated the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints, winning the make-up feature from Crown Battery Night that was rained out last month, and then scoring the victory in the night’s regular feature event. Weaver, a two-time track champion, has now won three features in 2010 to take his career total to 28 at “The Track That Action Built,” good for 12th on the all-time win list.
Wayne, Ohio’s John Brooks waged a tremendous battle throughout the E-mod feature with Bill Keeler before edging him for his second win of the year at Fremont.
Martin started third in the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprint feature and moved into second on lap three. He caught Lee Jacobs by lap six with Dustin Daggett and Craig Mintz right on their tails. Jacobs would hit lapped traffic by lap 11 as Martin continued to pull along side of him on the bottom of turns three and four. By lap 17, the crowd was on their feet watching a three-car battle for the lead with Jacobs, Martin and Mintz putting on a show. With 10 laps to go, Martin made his move, driving high in turn four to pass Jacobs for the lead. Martin would pick his way through traffic and take the checkered over Mintz, Lee Jacobs, Dale Blaney and Dean Jacobs
“I don’t know what to say…I’ve never been up here before,” said Martin in the Engine Pro Victory Lane beside his Martin Excavating and Trucking, Burns Electric, Eitle Machine, Sacsteder & Worland Insurance backed #11. “It’s about damn time. I’ve had a lot of great people behind me over these last 10 years…it’s been a long 10 years. I hope the wins can start coming now.”
“My hats off to everyone that works here every week and it’s great to have a nice crowd out here tonight. There’s a lot of things people could be doing other than dirt track racing so thanks for coming. I have to thank my crew…Guy Meyers started helping us again and Dillon Thorton and I have a little buddy from Attica come tonight and Ed Eitle, he’s been a big part of this team this year. The Keegan family has helped me since I can’t remember. I have to thank my parents…they’re not here and my wife’s at home. I just wasn’t expecting this. We come to win every week and finally got it done. We’re going to win some more though,” added Martin.
In the first 305 sprint feature, Jimmy Colvin looked to make it two wins in a row, taking the early lead over Dustin Dinan, Brad Bowman and Nate Dussel. The caution-filled event would see only half the field racing at the end. Colvin would hit lapped traffic by lap 10, but the race would grind to a halt on lap 11 when Dinan and Dussel would collide while battling for second, with both ending up on their sides. Colvin would continue to lead with Zack Kramer, Weaver, Bobby Clark and Stuart Brubaker in tow. Kramer would rocket off the bottom of turn two to take the lead on lap 15, but it was short-lived, as the caution would fly for debris on the track a lap later – the debris being Kramer’s muffler, which sent him to the pits. Colvin was back in the lead with Clark and Weaver right on his bumper. A lap later, Clark would drive off the bottom of turn two into the lead with Weaver and Brubaker getting around Colvin as well. With four laps to go, Clark’s run would end when the motor let go in his #81, handing the lead to Weaver. Weaver would pull away for the win over Brubaker, Colvin, John Ivy and Steve Rando.
“I thought I had a 12th place car. It just worked out for us. I have to thank De Genzman, Level Performance and my wife, Andrea for setting the car up,” said Weaver in the Engine Pro Victory Lane beside his M&L Excavating, Schiets Motorsports backed #1W.
In the 305 sprint feature for Fisher Performance Night, it was Dinan who would grab the early lead over Rando, Weaver, Colvin and Brubaker. Rando would drive into the lead on lap 3, bringing Weaver into second. The action would grind to a stop on lap four as Matt Merrill took a nasty flip on the front stretch (he was uninjured). On the restart, Weaver would pull away while Rando, Dinan and Brubaker waged a tremendous battle for second. Weaver hit lapped traffic by the 10th circuit and picked his way through like a surgeon. Meanwhile, Rando, Brubaker, Dinan and John Ivy were putting on a great show for second. Ivy would lap up to the 11th place car as he took the checkered in a race that only had one caution. Rando, Ivy, Brubaker and Brad Haudenschild would round out the top five.
Winning comes in bunches for the Weaver family, as Paul’s son Sam has won five races in a row in go-kart action.
“I know I had a 12th place car earlier, but my wife was here to fine-tune it and got it going a lot better. This definitely helped out point wise too,” said Weaver.
The second ever appearance of the E-mods at Fremont Speedway was well worth the price of admission for the fans. Eddie “Chili Dog” Shaner grabbed the early lead of the feature with Bill Keeler, Mike Hohlbein, John Brooks and Brian Post in tow. Shaner and Keeler would race side by side for two laps before Keeler would grab the lead as Brooks made it a three car battle. Brooks would drive under Keeler for the top spot on lap 6, but Keeler continued to race to his outside. Brooks and Keeler ran side-by-side, never touching fenders over the next 14 laps. Keeler would take the lead on lap 10, only to see Brooks drive back under him into the top spot a lap later. With five circuits to go the leaders hit lapped traffic and Keeler used it to his advantage, retaking the lead. Keeler and Brooks were racing through traffic and continued to battle for the lead. As the white flag flew, Brooks made a daring move on the bottom of turn three through two lapped machines to race into the lead. Keeler wouldn’t give up as the two raced side by side down the back stretch with lapped machines right in front of them. Brooks would squeeze through traffic and would hold off Keeler for the win. Shawn Bayliff would finish third with Chris Ullery and Shaner rounding out the top five.
“I was kind of rough on a couple of those lapped guys but we were coming down to it and I knew I could lose it any time to Bill… he ran a hell of a race. I’d like to come here more often I only live 20 minutes away,” said Brooks beside his Government Logistics Services, Teeth by Heath, Graham Performance Engines, Luckey Truck and Auto backed #00. “I have to thank Brian Foster out of Wayne, Ohio…he builds our motors. I have to thank my wife for putting up with me being in the garage all the time and my mom and dad who always have believed in me and helped me out.”
Fremont Speedway will be idle for July 17, but will be back in action Saturday, July 24 on Beck Oil Night with the 410 sprints, 305 sprints and dirt trucks in action.
For more information log onto www.fremontohspeedway.com
Fremont Speedway – 7/10/2010
305 Makeup Feature from 6-12-2010 rain-out
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. M28-Josh Muntz; 2. 22D-Dan Hammond; 3. 10S-Roger Shammo; 4. 10X-Dustin Stroup; 5. 83X-Nate Reeser; 6. 71-Bill Kraylek; 7. 12-Brett Lane; 8. 25-Jason Keckler; 9. 87-Ryan Hetrick; 10. 3B-Tim Bottles; 11. 77J-Jim Sipe
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[6]; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[8]; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[3]; 4. 94-John Ivy[14]; 5. 19R-Steve Rando[13]; 6. 39M-Matt Merrill[12]; 7. 10S-Roger Shammo[18]; 8. 22D-Dan Hammond[17]; 9. 30-Adam Ollom[15]; 10. 10X-Dustin Stroup[19]; 11. 81-Bobby Clark[7]; 12. M28-Josh Muntz[16]; 13. 27-Paige Polyak[10]; 14. 8K-Zack Kramer[5]; 15. 83X-Nate Reeser[20]; 16. 5-Dustin Dinan[2]; 17. 1-Nate Dussel[1]; 18. 55-Brad Bowman[4]; 19. 11F-D.J. Foos[9]; 20. 8J-Jess Stiger[11]
Hard Charger: 10S-Roger Shammo[+11]
Fisher Performance Night Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (29 Cars)
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 97-Dean Jacobs, 12.81; 2. O-Brandon Wimmer, 12.82; 3. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.90; 4. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.93; 5. 20X-Craig Mintz, 12.97; 6. 60-Jody Keegan, 13.02; 7. X-Mark Keegan, 13.03; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.09; 9. 312-Mike Linder, 13.10; 10. 28-Shawn Valenti, 13.16; 11. 45-Brian Lay, 13.22; 12. 47-Caleb Helms, 13.22; 13. 27-Scott Euler, 13.27; 14. 11M-Brandon Martin, 13.28; 15. 2M-Dustin Daggett, 13.30; 16. 24H-Lee Jacobs, 13.30; 17. 15C-Chris Andrews, 13.32; 18. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.35; 19. 4K-Kody Kinser, 13.36; 20. 53-Phil Gressman, 13.43; 21. 3J-Kevin Lee, 13.45; 22. O6-Brandy Bower, 13.48; 23. 1X-Matt Linder, 13.54; 24. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 13.70; 25. 26-Cody White, 13.75; 26. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.84; 27. 96AU-Bruce White, 13.89; 28. 24-Jeremy Keegan, 14.56; 29. 11-Josh Harrison, 99.00
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 24H-Lee Jacobs; 2. 5R-Byron Reed; 3. 27-Scott Euler; 4. X-Mark Keegan; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs; 6. 4K-Kody Kinser; 7. 28-Shawn Valenti; 8. 26-Cody White; 9. 24-Jeremy Keegan; 10. O6-Brandy Bower
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 15C-Chris Andrews; 2. 11M-Brandon Martin; 3. 45-Brian Lay; 4. 53-Phil Gressman; 5. O-Brandon Wimmer; 6. 20X-Craig Mintz; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 8. 1X-Matt Linder; 9. 5T-Travis Philo
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 2M-Dustin Daggett; 2. 14H-Todd Heller; 3. 2-Dale Blaney; 4. 16-Bryan Sebetto; 5. 312-Mike Linder; 6. 3J-Kevin Lee; 7. 60-Jody Keegan; 8. 96AU-Bruce White; 9. 47-Caleb Helms
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 20X-Craig Mintz; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 3. 3J-Kevin Lee; 4. 28-Shawn Valenti; 5. 60-Jody Keegan; 6. 4K-Kody Kinser; 7. 1X-Matt Linder; 8. O6-Brandy Bower; 9. 5T-Travis Philo; 10. 26-Cody White; 11. 96AU-Bruce White; 12. 24-Jeremy Keegan
A-Main – (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 11M-Brandon Martin[3]; 2. 20X-Craig Mintz[8]; 3. 24H-Lee Jacobs[1]; 4. 2-Dale Blaney[7]; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[5]; 6. 2M-Dustin Daggett[2]; 7. O-Brandon Wimmer[6]; 8. X-Mark Keegan[10]; 9. 45-Brian Lay[14]; 10. 312-Mike Linder[12]; 11. 53-Phil Gressman[18]; 12. 28-Shawn Valenti[13]; 13. 14H-Todd Heller[17]; 14. 60-Jody Keegan[9]; 15. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[11]; 16. 5R-Byron Reed[4]; 17. 16-Bryan Sebetto[20]; 18. 3J-Kevin Lee[19]; 19. 15C-Chris Andrews[16]; 20. 27-Scott Euler[15]
Hard Charger: 53-Phil Gressman[+7]
Fremont Federal Credit Union – 305 Sprints (34 Cars)
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 10X-Dustin Stroup; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin; 4. 2N-Brian Neeb; 5. 24-Mike Burkin; 6. 12-Brett Lane; 7. 8J-Jess Stiger
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 94-John Ivy; 2. 11F-D.J. Foos; 3. 1-Nate Dussel; 4. 39M-Matt Merrill; 5. 71-Bill Kraylek; 6. 87-Ryan Hetrick; 7. 83X-Nate Reeser; 8. 72C-Ross Moore; 9. 24X-Tom Nichols
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 10-Brad Haudenschild; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker; 3. 10S-Roger Shammo; 4. 67M-Matt Ferrell; 5. 8K-Zack Kramer; 6. 312-Alvin Roepke; 7. 22D-Dan Hammond
Heat 4 – Heat 4 (8 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 5-Dustin Dinan; 2. 19R-Steve Rando; 3. 80-Jake Trevino; 4. 81-Bobby Clark; 5. 30-Adam Ollom; 6. 25-Jason Keckler; 7. 3B-Tim Bottles; 8. 77J-Jim Sipe
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 71-Bill Kraylek; 2. 8K-Zack Kramer; 3. 312-Alvin Roepke; 4. 24-Mike Burkin; 5. 25-Jason Keckler; 6. 83X-Nate Reeser; 7. M28-Josh Muntz; 8. 12-Brett Lane; 9. 8J-Jess Stiger; 10. 24X-Tom Nichols; 11. 3B-Tim Bottles; 12. 77J-Jim Sipe; 13. 30-Adam Ollom; 14. 72C-Ross Moore; 15. 87-Ryan Hetrick; 16. 22D-Dan Hammond
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[4]; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[2]; 3. 94-John Ivy[5]; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6]; 5. 10-Brad Haudenschild[9]; 6. 81-Bobby Clark[16]; 7. 5-Dustin Dinan[1]; 8. 9-Jimmy Colvin[3]; 9. 1-Nate Dussel[8]; 10. 312-Alvin Roepke[17]; 11. 10X-Dustin Stroup[7]; 12. 11F-D.J. Foos[10]; 13. 8K-Zack Kramer[18]; 14. 80-Jake Trevino[12]; 15. 67M-Matt Ferrell[13]; 16. 10S-Roger Shammo[11]; 17. 25-Jason Keckler[19]; 18. 71-Bill Kraylek[15]; 19. 24-Mike Burkin[20]; 20. 39M-Matt Merrill[14]
Hard Charger: 81-Bobby Clark[+10]
UMP E-Mods (18 Cars)
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 10 Transfer)
1. 55S-Zachary Schroeder; 2. 5X-Shawn Bayliff; 3. 19-Ryan Ordway; 4. 11H-Mike Hohlbein; 5. 67-Eddie Shaner; 6. 66W-Jack Waldfogel; 7. 6-Dave Sibberson; 8. 31B-Bob Dible
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 10 Transfer)
1. 45P-Brian Post; 2. 112-Chris Ullery; 3. OO-John Brooks; 4. 20K-Bill Keeler; 5. 55H-Jeremy Hoenie; 6. 18-Ryan Sutter; 7. 31J-Ben Johnson; 8. 19S-Steve Sabo
A-Main – (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. oo-John Brooks[6]; 2. 20k-Bill Keeler[4]; 3. 5x-Shawn Bayliff[9]; 4. 112-Chris Ullery[10]; 5. 67-Eddie Shaner[2]; 6. 55s-Zachary Schroeder[7]; 7. 15-Nick Katterhenry[18]; 8. 45p-Brian Post[5]; 9. 19-Ryan Ordway[8]; 10. 6-Dave Sibberson[13]; 11. 18-Ryan Sutter[12]; 12. 31j-Ben Johnson[14]; 13. 55h-Jeremy Hoenie[1]; 14. X4-Zach Bowen[17]; 15. 19s-Steve Sabo[16]; 16. 66-Steve Sabo[11]; 17. 11h-Mike Hohlbein[3]
Hard Charger: 15-Nick Katterhenry[+11]