By BRIAN LISKAI
FREMONT, Ohio – Bryan Sebetto grew up at Fremont Speedway, often telling his brother as the youngsters sat in the stands that he would be standing on the front stretch some day. Well, the 28-year-old was able to do just that for the 14th time in his young career, claiming the 410 sprint win Saturday, April 30 at “The Track That Action Built” on Baumann Auto Group Night.
Sebetto executed a slide-job on Dean Jacobs on lap 9 to take the lead and went on to the Engine Pro Victory Lane on the third night of racing for the Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) Championship Series.
“That was awesome… I got to start next to my best friend (Brad Haudenschild) on the front row…me and Brad are like brothers. I have to thank Mike Somers and Tommy and Rollie and Mango and Roddy and Jay and the entire Burmeister Family…everybody that helps on this thing. Me and Mikey always are thinking the same thing on what we want to do on the car…we have great chemistry,” said Sebetto beside the JLH General Contractors, Steven Mapus Productive Tools, Schiets Motorsports backed #16.
“I figured he (Jacobs) was breathing down my back. I was getting through lapped traffic pretty decent but he’s the master…he’s one of the best out here. He’s gotten to be a good friend of mine too over the years…it was pretty awesome driving by you Dean,” Sebetto added with a grin.
Jacobs redeemed himself later, dominating the last two-thirds of the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature to claim his third career victory at Fremont Speedway. Jacobs would pass John Ivy on a lap 8 restart and would go unchallenged the rest of the way.
“I was one short in that last race and that kind of upset me. Bryan did a heck of a job…I think his car was just a little better than mine was,” said Jacobs beside his Advantage Motorworks, American Tool & Manufacturing, MT Business Technologies backed #717.
“I tell you, driving this thing is an absolute blast…I’m having as much fun driving a race car as I’ve had in a long time. Gary Rath that owns the car built the motor and my son actually does the set-up… I don’t do anything but get in it and drive…it’s just a blast,” added Jacobs in the Engine Pro Victory Lane. “I love to race and the more I get to do that the more fun it is. There was a day when I didn’t like to come here but now I look forward to coming here every Saturday night.”
The 20-lap Fremont Fence Dirt Truck main was a barn-burner with Castalia’s Dan Hennig passing Kent Brewer on the white flag lap and then holding him off for his eighth career victory in his first night racing of the 2011 season.
“No way did I think I’d be standing here on the first night back. It was a work out…I need to get back in shape,” said Hennig beside his Peans Subs and Sudz, Tiffany’s Furniture, Village Pizza House, Haunted Hydro, Fleener Transmission backed #32H.
“The trick was catching that little rut in turn two just right. If you did that you could get around a lot of trucks…if you didn’t you got passed. Consistency is out the window when you can go for a win. I want to thank all my family…my brother was here to night crewing for me,” added Hennig.
At the drop of the green in the 30-lap feature for the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints, Jacobs would dive under both Haudenschild and Sebetto in turn one to take the lead. Sebetto would drive to Haudenschild’s outside into the runner-up spot a lap later and quickly closed on Jacobs by using the extreme high side in turns three and four. Meanwhile, Haudenschild was involved in tremendous race for third with Brandon Martin, Phil Gressman and Byron Reed.
The caution flew on lap five when Roger Campbell and Caleb Helms got together, putting Sebetto right on Jacobs’ rear bumper. On the restart, Tony Beaber spin in turn one, giving Sebetto another shot at Jacobs. However, Jacobs, the 2001 Ohio Sprint Speedweek Champion, was able to hold onto the lead, but not for long. Sebetto got a tremendous run down the back stretch on lap eight and dove under Jacobs entering three and slid up in front to take the lead.
Sebetto would catch the back of the field on lap 13, encountering the lapped machines at perfect places on the track, allowing him to pull away slightly from Jacobs. Meanwhile, the battle for third continued to heat up between Martin, Reed, Gressman, Haudenschild and Craig Mintz. The final caution of the event would fly for debris on lap 18 with Sebetto having a lapped machine separating him and Jacobs.
Sebetto would set sail on the restart with Jacobs quickly dispatching the lapped car while Martin, Reed, Gressman and a resurgent Haudenschild continuing their battle for third. With a clear track, Sebetto would pull away until encountering lapped traffic again with five laps remaining. But, Jacobs could not muster a late race charge as Sebetto took the win. Martin, Reed and Haudenschild would round out the top five.
In the 305 sprint feature, pole starter John Ivy would grab the early lead over Bobby Clark, Jake Trevino, Jacobs and Jason Keckler. Jacobs wasted little time getting to the front, passing Trevino on lap 2 and Clark for second the following circuit. The caution would fly for a stalled Steve Rando on lap eight. Jacobs would dive under Ivy entering turn one on the restart and for all intent and purposes, that was the race. A Dustin Stroup flip on lap nine would give Ivy a shot, but Jacobs was just too strong, pulling away on the restart.
While Jacobs blasted away out front, the race for second was entertaining between Ivy, Clark, Jake Trevino, Keckler and Nate Dussel. Clark would take the position on lap 12 as Ivy had his hands full with Trevino, the later moving into third on lap 18. Dussel, who took the win the previous night at Attica Raceway Park, would get around Ivy on lap 19 for the fourth spot.
Jacobs would take the checkered nearly a full half-lap ahead of Clark with Trevino, Dussel and Ivy rounding out the top five.
Sandusky’s Cory Ward would lead the first two laps of the dirt truck feature with 2010 rookie of the year Jeff Wank racing to his outside with Bob Dible, Brad Mitten and Paul Brown Jr. in tow. Wank would drive to Ward’s outside to take the lead on lap three as fifth place starter Kent Brewer moved into third with Mitten and Art Ball following very close.
The caution would fly for debris on lap six with the running order Wank, Ward, Brewer, Mitten, Ball and 10th place starter Hennig. The side-by-side battle for the lead between Wank and Ward would continue on the restart with Brewer right on their rear bumper. Hennig would use the middle groove to take fourth on lap nine. Ward would regain the lead on lap 11 and Wank’s run to the front would end a lap later as he spun in turn one. Now the running order was Ward, Brewer, Hennig, Ball, Jimmy McGrath Jr., Mitten and Steve Sabo.
On the restart Brewer would drive to Ward’s outside to grab the lead, but he was unable to shake Ward, Hennig, Ball and McGrath Jr. Those five trucks raced in each other’s tire tracks until lap 17 when Hennig would take second. McGrath Jr. would experience a flat tire on lap 18 with Jim McGrath Sr. also experience mechanical woes as he stopped on the track to bring out the caution, setting up a two lap shootout. Brewer led Hennig, Sabo, Ball and Art Howey Jr.
Hennig would shoot to Brewer’s outside on the restart and would take the lead as they raced to the white flag. Brewer would try one last pass in turns one and two, but Hennig was too strong and would take the victory by half a truck length over Brewer with Sabo, Howey and Brian Sorg rounding out the top five.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, May 7 for Underground Utilities Inc. Night featuring the late models, 305 sprints and dirt trucks. For more information go to www.fremontohspeedway.com
Fremont Speedway – 4/30/2011
Baumann Auto Group Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (35 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.77; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.78; 3. 51-Brad Bowman, 12.86; 4. 45L-Brian Lay, 12.89; 5. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.91; 6. 53-Phil Gressman, 12.94; 7. 11X-Brandon Martin, 12.96; 8. 97-Dean Jacobs, 12.98; 9. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 13.04; 10. 10-Brad Haudenschild, 13.07; 11. 57X-Andrew Palker, 13.07; 12. 3J-Kevin Lee, 13.09; 13. 1X-Matt Linder, 13.09; 14. O-Chris Andrews, 13.13; 15. 28-Shawn Valenti, 13.15; 16. 60-Jody Keegan, 13.23; 17. 6-Mike Dussel, 13.26; 18. 3T-Tony Beaber, 13.26; 19. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton, 13.27; 20. 40-Caleb Helms, 13.30; 21. 60C-Kory Crabtree, 13.46; 22. 27-Scott Euler, 13.50; 23. 51C-Roger Campbell, 13.62; 24. 91X-Bob Lime, 13.85; 25. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.86; 26. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.88; 27. 83M-Broc Martin, 13.88; 28. 312-Mike Linder, 14.03; 29. 11H-Shawn Hubler, 14.04; 30. 24-Jeremy Keegan, 14.21; 31. 40I-Mark Imler, 14.21; 32. 27B-Beau Stewart, 14.80; 33. 98-Robert Robenalt, 17.05; 34. 97S-Aaron Shaffer, 99.10; 35. 36-Jerry McClure, 99.20
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 16-Bryan Sebetto[4] ; 2. 6-Mike Dussel[2] ; 3. 60C-Kory Crabtree[1] ; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[5] ; 5. O9-Craig Mintz[6] ; 6. 1X-Matt Linder[3] ; 7. 2+-Brian Smith[7] ; 8. 11H-Shawn Hubler[8] ; 9. 98-Robert Robenalt[9]
Heat 2 – Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 3T-Tony Beaber[2] ; 2. O-Chris Andrews[3] ; 3. 53-Phil Gressman[5] ; 4. 10-Brad Haudenschild[4] ; 5. 27-Scott Euler[1] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[6] ; 7. 97S-Aaron Shaffer[9] ; 8. 14H-Todd Heller[7] ; 9. 24-Jeremy Keegan[8]
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 57X-Andrew Palker[4] ; 2. 11X-Brandon Martin[5] ; 3. 51C-Roger Campbell[1] ; 4. 83M-Broc Martin[7] ; 5. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton[2] ; 6. 28-Shawn Valenti[3] ; 7. 51-Brad Bowman[6] ; 8. 40I-Mark Imler[8] ; 9. 36-Jerry McClure[9]
Heat 4 – Heat 4 (8 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs[5] ; 2. 40-Caleb Helms[2] ; 3. 3J-Kevin Lee[4] ; 4. 60-Jody Keegan[3] ; 5. 312-Mike Linder[7] ; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[6] ; 7. 91X-Bob Lime[1] ; 8. 27B-Beau Stewart[8]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O9-Craig Mintz[1] ; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[2] ; 3. 2+-Brian Smith[10] ; 4. 1X-Matt Linder[5] ; 5. 45L-Brian Lay[4] ; 6. 312-Mike Linder[12] ; 7. 14H-Todd Heller[11] ; 8. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton[7] ; 9. 28-Shawn Valenti[6] ; 10. 91X-Bob Lime[9] ; 11. 11H-Shawn Hubler[13] ; 12. 40I-Mark Imler[15] ; 13. 36-Jerry McClure[19] ; 14. 98-Robert Robenalt[17] ; 15. 27-Scott Euler[8] ; 16. 51-Brad Bowman[3] ; 17. 24-Jeremy Keegan[14] ; 18. 27B-Beau Stewart[16] ; 19. 97S-Aaron Shaffer[18]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 16-Bryan Sebetto[2]; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs[3]; 3. 11X-Brandon Martin[4]; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[6]; 5. 10-Brad Haudenschild[1]; 6. 53-Phil Gressman[5]; 7. O9-Craig Mintz[7]; 8. 3J-Kevin Lee[10]; 9. 2+-Brian Smith[19]; 10. O-Chris Andrews[12]; 11. 60-Jody Keegan[13]; 12. 57X-Andrew Palker[9]; 13. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[8]; 14. 83M-Broc Martin[20]; 15. 1X-Matt Linder[11]; 16. 3T-Tony Beaber[15]; 17. 60C-Kory Crabtree[17]; 18. 6-Mike Dussel[14]; 19. 51C-Roger Campbell[18]; 20. 40-Caleb Helms[16]
Hard Charger: 2+-Brian Smith[+10]
Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints (29 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 80-Jake Trevino[3] ; 2. 10S-Roger Shammo[4] ; 3. 1W-Paul Weaver[7] ; 4. 8B-Bobby Clark[9] ; 5. 27-Paige Polyak[10] ; 6. 8K-Zack Kramer[8] ; 7. 77S-Jim Sipe[1] ; 8. 36-Seth Schneider[5] ; 9. 80Z-Nick Molnar[6] ; 10. 8J-Jess Stiger[2]
Heat 2 – Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1-Nate Dussel[1] ; 2. 94-John Ivy[2] ; 3. 5-Dustin Dinan[6] ; 4. 717-Dean Jacobs[9] ; 5. 11F-D.J. Foos[3] ; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker[5] ; 7. 39-Matt Merrill[4] ; 8. M28-Josh Muntz[7] ; 9. OOS-Bryan Scott[8] ; 10. 2-Kyle Mills[10]
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 48-Mike Burkin[1] ; 2. 25-Jason Keckler[2] ; 3. 19R-Steve Rando[4] ; 4. 10X-Dustin Stroup[6] ; 5. 40-Justin Franks[3] ; 6. 5R-Jordan Ryan[5] ; 7. 10H-Josh Harrison[9] ; 8. 22D-Dan Hammond[8] ; 9. 36X-Dustin Keegan[7]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[2] ; 2. 8K-Zack Kramer[1] ; 3. 39-Matt Merrill[5] ; 4. 5R-Jordan Ryan[3] ; 5. M28-Josh Muntz[8] ; 6. OOS-Bryan Scott[11] ; 7. 77S-Jim Sipe[4] ; 8. 22D-Dan Hammond[9] ; 9. 2-Kyle Mills[14] ; 10. 80Z-Nick Molnar[10] ; 11. 36X-Dustin Keegan[12] ; 12. 10H-Josh Harrison[6] ; 13. 36-Seth Schneider[7]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 717-Dean Jacobs[4]; 2. 8B-Bobby Clark[3]; 3. 80-Jake Trevino[2]; 4. 1-Nate Dussel[7]; 5. 94-John Ivy[1]; 6. 11F-D.J. Foos[14]; 7. 5-Dustin Dinan[12]; 8. 8K-Zack Kramer[17]; 9. 25-Jason Keckler[6]; 10. 10S-Roger Shammo[5]; 11. 39-Matt Merrill[18]; 12. 35-Stuart Brubaker[16]; 13. 48-Mike Burkin[11]; 14. M28-Josh Muntz[20]; 15. 5R-Jordan Ryan[19]; 16. 40-Justin Franks[15]; 17. 1W-Paul Weaver[10]; 18. 27-Paige Polyak[13]; 19. 10X-Dustin Stroup[9]; 20. 19R-Steve Rando[8]
Hard Charger: 8K-Zack Kramer[+9]
Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks (26 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 17-Bob Dible[6] ; 2. 92-Loren Schwochow[1] ; 3. 16-Steve Sabo[4] ; 4. O9-Jeff Wank[8] ; 5. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[9] ; 6. 8-Steve Endicott[5] ; 7. 4X-Brian Sorg[3] ; 8. 30-Dave Gibbs[2] ; 9. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[7]
Heat 2 – Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[1] ; 2. O1-Art Ball[4] ; 3. 23M-Brad Mitten[2] ; 4. 5-Jim McGrath[6] ; 5. 71-Craig Holland[5] ; 6. 115-Ben Good[7] ; 7. 22J-Josh Kiser[9] ; 8. 4C-Chris Royster[3] ; 9. 41C-Chad Stahl[8]
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. P51-Paul Brown Jr.[4] ; 2. 18W-Cory Ward[1] ; 3. 32H-Dan Hennig[8] ; 4. OO-John Ivy[5] ; 5. 99-Art Howey Jr.[3] ; 6. 4S-Keith Sorg[2] ; 7. 6-Linda Sabo[7]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8-Steve Endicott[1] ; 2. 4X-Brian Sorg[4] ; 3. 4S-Keith Sorg[3] ; 4. 30-Dave Gibbs[7] ; 5. 6-Linda Sabo[6] ; 6. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[9] ; 7. 115-Ben Good[2] ; 8. 22J-Josh Kiser[5] ; 9. 41C-Chad Stahl[10] ; 10. 4C-Chris Royster[8]
A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. 32H-Dan Hennig[10]; 2. 8KB-Kent Brewer[5]; 3. 16-Steve Sabo[9]; 4. 99-Art Howey Jr.[15]; 5. 4X-Brian Sorg[17]; 6. 8-Steve Endicott[16]; 7. 4S-Keith Sorg[18]; 8. 6-Linda Sabo[20]; 9. 92-Loren Schwochow[11]; 10. O1-Art Ball[7]; 11. 18W-Cory Ward[2]; 12. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[13]; 13. O9-Jeff Wank[1]; 14. 5-Jim McGrath[12]; 15. 23M-Brad Mitten[4]; 16. 30-Dave Gibbs[19]; 17. P51-Paul Brown Jr.[3]; 18. OO-John Ivy[6]; 19. 17-Bob Dible[8]; 20. 71-Craig Holland[14]
Hard Charger: 4X-Brian Sorg[+12]