By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio – Bryan Sebetto isn’t a big man. But he was able to reach down and demand more from his weary body Saturday, July 24, at Fremont Speedway, and held on to score his second win of the year at “The Track That Action Built. Sebetto came back from a hot lap miscue, where he dumped his Burmeister owned sprinter, to take the victory on Beck Oil Night Presents the Mike Holman Memorial.
With nearly three inches of rain falling on Fremont Speedway the preceding two days, it was a miracle races even took place Saturday. But track crews worked hard on the surface all day, though it was a challenging track for the drivers.
“I am freaking whooped. I’ll tell you what, everyone was so fast even the lapped cars were just as fast…it was hard to get through traffic. And then to drive through all the bumps and stuff. I saw the five to go and I’m falling out of the seat and I counted down and I knew the one to go was coming and I saw the camera lights were flashing so I knew someone had to be close. So I’m yelling at myself that whole last lap ‘don’t give up, don’t give up, don’t give up,” said Sebetto in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
“My hats off to Rich Farmer (promoter) and the whole track crew. I know the track is rough, but with all the rain we’ve gotten here they did absolutely the best job they possibly could. I have to thank all the Burmeisters who work on this…we’ve had a really rough year. I got upside in hot laps earlier tonight because the driver’s an idiot. I have to thank all the sponsors, Kistler Engines, Stephen Mapus Tools, Party Light Candles, JLH Construction, Burns Petroleum, Schiets Motorsports, Kistler Racing Products and R&R Auto Wrecking,” added Sebetto.
With lightening striking in the background, it was a race of attrition for the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints as only five cars were left when an early checkered flag flew due to rain.
Race-long leader D.J. Foos got into the heavy cushion in turn 3 trying to hold off Zack Kramer and Bobby Clark, apparently breaking something on his mount. As he tried to drive down the front stretch there was something obviously broken on his car as he slowed, collecting Stuart Brubaker just as Bobby Clark took the lead, bringing out the caution. Reverting back to the last lap, with Foos out the lead now belonged to Kramer, and that’s when a light rain began to fall, causing the track to get slimy and ending the race on lap 16, and giving the Fremont youngster his very first feature win.
The Fremont Fence Dirt Truck A-main will be made up on Saturday, July 31 with double features for the division along with a regular program for the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints and 305 sprints.
“This is unbelievable…it’s about time. It was a rough race but it was fun. It was fast and demanding,” said Kramer, as he talked to his car-owner, his grandfather Kenny Clark on his cell phone. “I have to thank my grandpa for doing everything possible to keep me racing. I’ve torn up quite a bit of stuff over the years. I want to thank my grandma and all the guys who work on the car. I have to thank B&L Plumbing, Fremont Fence, Jenny’s Copper Penny, Level Performance, Jerry Zamora Roofing and Siding, and Kear’s Speed Shop especially.”
Brian Lay would grab the early lead of the 410 sprint feature with Sebetto, Todd Heller, Lee Jacobs, Chris Andrews, Phil Gressman and Dean Jacobs in tow. Sebetto would drive around Lay the next circuit to take the lead on a lightening fast track. Sebetto would tempt the cushion every lap as he hit the back of the field by lap five. The lapped traffic would hold Sebetto up allowing Lay and a fast-closing Lee Jacobs to close. With 10 laps in the books, Sebetto, Lay and Jacobs waged a tremendous battle for the top spot.
Jacobs seemed to have the faster machine, but on a tricky track and dealing with lapped machines, made passing difficult. He moved into second at the flag stand as they completed the 11th lap and drove in hard on the bottom of turn one and caught a big berm trying to take the lead, ending his night.
On the restart, Sebetto had a lapped machine between himself and Lay with fast-qualifier Dean Jacobs third and Australian Steve Lines, who started ninth, up to fourth and on the move. Dean Jacobs would drive under Lay on lap 16 to grab second and a lap later the red would fly for a Jody Keegan tip-over. On the ensuing restart, Sebetto would continue to tempt disaster as he ran on the ragged edge with Jacobs in second as Lay slipped up the track allowing Lines and Gressman to get by. Gressman would take third on lap 17, but Lines would return the favor the next circuit.
Sebetto would again hit the back of the pack on lap 21, but Jacobs was unable to close as he was fighting with Lines and Gressman. Sebetto had several close calls on the challenging track, but was able to hang on for his 12th career victory over Dean Jacobs, Lines, Gressman and Lay.
In the 305 feature, Paige Polyak got upside down on the initial start, and when the green flew again pole-sitter Foos would take the lead with fourth-starting Trevino driving into second and Bill Kraylek, Josh Muntz and Dustin Dinan in tow. Brad Bowman would coast to a stop on the front stretch on lap three to bring out the caution. A lap later and a caution for debris. On the restart, Foos also challenged the tough cushion while trying to hold off a fast Trevino as cars continued to drop out of the race. On lap six, 13th place starter Bobby Clark was on the move, taking the third spot with Muntz and 14th place starter Kramer up to fifth. They continued to run in that order until lap 13 when Nate Dussel, who had moved from 18th to sixth, hit the inside berm, bringing out the caution and ending his night.
On the ensuing restart, Foos continued to lead Trevino, Clark and Kramer. Kramer would drive around his uncle, Bobby Clark, for third on lap 14. A lap later and Trevino’s night would end, moving Kramer to second and Clark into third. On the restart, Kramer and Clark would pressure Foos, who drove into turn three very hard, hitting the cushion, and apparently damaging something on the front end of his machine, allowing Clark and Kramer to drive to his inside. As they drove under the flag stand, Foos was having problems controlling his machine and was slowing dramatically, causing Stuart Brubaker to get into the rear of his car with damage to both as the caution flew.
Going back to the last completely scored lap, that would put Kramer in the lead with Clark, Dustin Dinan, Jimmy Colvin and Bill Kraylek rounding out the top five. As crews worked to get the cars of Foos and Brubaker on wreckers, a light rain began to fall, causing a slimy track and the end of the race at lap 16.
Fremont Speedway – 7/24/2010
Beck Oil Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (20 Cars)
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 97-Dean Jacobs, 13.18; 2. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 13.25; 3. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.28; 4. 53-Phil Gressman, 13.29; 5. 70-Steven Lines, 13.34; 6. 60-Jody Keegan, 13.43; 7. 312-Mike Linder, 13.46; 8. 15C-Chris Andrews, 13.49; 9. 24H-Lee Jacobs, 13.51; 10. 9X-Rob Chaney, 13.56; 11. 3J-Kevin Lee, 13.64; 12. 20X-Craig Mintz, 13.65; 13. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.69; 14. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.82; 15. 26-Cody White, 13.85; 16. 45-Brian Lay, 13.88; 17. 28-Shawn Valenti, 13.93; 18. X-Mark Keegan, 13.99; 19. O-Brandon Wimmer, 14.15; 20. 96AU-Bruce White, 14.58
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps)
1. 45-Brian Lay; 2. 14H-Todd Heller; 3. 9X-Rob Chaney; 4. 53-Phil Gressman; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs; 6. 312-Mike Linder; 7. O-Brandon Wimmer
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (8 Laps)
1. 28-Shawn Valenti; 2. 15C-Chris Andrews; 3. 16-Bryan Sebetto; 4. 3J-Kevin Lee; 5. 70-Steven Lines; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 7. 96AU-Bruce White
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps)
1. 24H-Lee Jacobs; 2. X-Mark Keegan; 3. 20X-Craig Mintz; 4. 5R-Byron Reed; 5. 26-Cody White; 6. 60-Jody Keegan
A-Main – (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 16-Bryan Sebetto[6]; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs[5]; 3. 70-Steven Lines[9]; 4. 53-Phil Gressman[8]; 5. 45-Brian Lay[1]; 6. 5R-Byron Reed[7]; 7. 3J-Kevin Lee[13]; 8. 15C-Chris Andrews[4]; 9. 20X-Craig Mintz[14]; 10. X-Mark Keegan[18]; 11. 14H-Todd Heller[2]; 12. O-Brandon Wimmer[19]; 13. 9X-Rob Chaney[12]; 14. 28-Shawn Valenti[17]; 15. 26-Cody White[16]; 16. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[15]; 17. 60-Jody Keegan[10]; 18. 96AU-Bruce White[20]; 19. 24H-Lee Jacobs[3]; 20. 312-Mike Linder[11]
Hard Charger: X-Mark Keegan[+8]
Fremont Federal Credit Union – 305 Sprints (30 Cars)
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 80-Jake Trevino; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker; 3. 55-Jamie Miller; 4. 71-Bill Kraylek; 5. 81-Bobby Clark; 6. 9-Jimmy Colvin; 7. 39M-Matt Merrill; 8. 24X-Tom Nichols; 9. 3B-Tim Bottles; 10. 19R-Steve Rando
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 11F-D.J. Foos; 2. 312-Alvin Roepke; 3. 25-Jason Keckler; 4. 5X-Dustin Dinan; 5. 8K-Zack Kramer; 6. 1-Nate Dussel; 7. 30-Adam Ollom; 8. 8J-Jess Stiger; 9. 83X-Nate Reeser; 10. 87-Ryan Hetrick
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 27-Paige Polyak; 2. M28-Josh Muntz; 3. 1W-Paul Weaver; 4. 10-Brad Haudenschild; 5. 94-John Ivy; 6. 10X-Dustin Stroup; 7. 51-Brad Bowman; 8. 10S-Roger Shammo; 9. 5-Jordon Ryan; 10. 22D-Dan Hammond
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 1-Nate Dussel; 2. 10X-Dustin Stroup; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin; 4. 51-Brad Bowman; 5. 10S-Roger Shammo; 6. 83X-Nate Reeser; 7. 22D-Dan Hammond; 8. 30-Adam Ollom; 9. 3B-Tim Bottles; 10. 5-Jordon Ryan; 11. 87-Ryan Hetrick; 12. 8J-Jess Stiger; 13. 39M-Matt Merrill
A-Main – (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 8K-Zack Kramer[14]; 2. 81-Bobby Clark[13]; 3. 5X-Dustin Dinan[6]; 4. 9-Jimmy Colvin[18]; 5. 71-Bill Kraylek[2]; 6. 11F-D.J. Foos[1]; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker[8]; 8. 10X-Dustin Stroup[17]; 9. 80-Jake Trevino[4]; 10. 25-Jason Keckler[10]; 11. M28-Josh Muntz[3]; 12. 1-Nate Dussel[16]; 13. 55-Jamie Miller[11]; 14. 10-Brad Haudenschild[5]; 15. 1W-Paul Weaver[7]; 16. 94-John Ivy[15]; 17. 51-Brad Bowman[19]; 18. 312-Alvin Roepke[12]; 19. 10S-Roger Shammo[20]; 20. 27-Paige Polyak[9]
Hard Charger: 9-Jimmy Colvin[+14]
Fremont Fence Co. Dirt Trucks (26 Trucks)
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (7 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 32H-Dan Hennig; 2. 18W-Cory Ward; 3. 8KB-Kent Brewer; 4. 99-Art Howey Jr.; 5. 92-Loren Schwochow; 6. 99X-Gene Potridge; 7. 84-Adam Jones; 8. 4S-Keith Sorg
Heat 2 – Bell Racing Products (7 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 3R-Chuck Rolle; 2. 8-Steve Endicott; 3. O9-Jeff Wank; 4. P51-Paul Brown Jr.; 5. O1-Art Ball; 6. 30-Dave Gibbs; 7. 14-Scott Beard; 8. 71-Craig Holland
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (7 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 17-Bob Dible; 2. 16-Steve Sabo; 3. O-Andy Keegan; 4. 36X-Dustin Keegan; 5. 4X-Brian Sorg; 6. 23M-Brad Mitten; 7. 4-Josh Lozano
B-Main – (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 23M-Brad Mitten; 2. 4S-Keith Sorg; 3. 71-Craig Holland; 4. 99X-Gene Potridge; 5. 84-Adam Jones; 6. 14-Scott Beard; 7. 11-Dan Roepke Jr.; 8. 30-Dave Gibbs; 9. 50-Jeff Potridge