By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio – No one thought they would get to see racing Saturday at Fremont Speedway. Heavy showers hit “The Track That Action Built” around 4:30 p.m., and a valiant effort by the track crew with fantastic support from the push truck drivers and the races were on…and the loyal fans were treated to a fantastic feature.
At one point as the crews were working on the track, promoter Rich Farmer called all the drivers together to see if they still wanted to try and race. A big majority of them said they wanted to race, but many were skeptical it could be done given the conditions, including 2010 Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title Champion Byron Reed.
But, at the end the night, Reed was standing in the Engine Pro Victory Lane with his 21st career Fremont victory on Roots Poultry Night. It wasn’t easy though, as Bryan Sebetto was on Reed’s bumper from lap five on and even drove under him for the lead on lap 23. Reed returned the favor a lap later and then held on last five laps for the win on the FAST Championship Series Night.
“I sure didn’t think we’d get this one in tonight. I definitely got to give them credit. The track was in pretty good shape for what they went through. I want to thank the fans for sticking it out…I’m not sure I would have stuck around this long if I wasn’t driving,” said Reed beside his Reebar Diecasting, ProShocks, Weld Wheels, Schoenfeld Headers backed #5.
The first green flag for racing didn’t fall until 10:20 p.m. and the final checkered flew just three hours later.
For Reed, a three-time Fremont Speedway champion, the wet spring has caused him difficulty in getting back into a racing groove.
“I probably had a few more wins than this at this point last year but we probably raced five more times. On a night like this, starting on the pole, you’re expected to get it done,” said Reed of the win in the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints.
Fremont’s D.J. Foos hounded early race leader Josh Muntz in the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint main before diving low exiting turn two to grab the lead on lap 11. Muntz would not let Foos escape and stayed glued to his rear bumper and had one more shot at the win when the caution flew on lap 20. However, Foos was strong on the restart and pulled away for his second career Fremont victory.
“I just couldn’t get a good run on him (Muntz)…he was better in three and four than me but I could catch him in one and two,” said Foos beside his Burger King, Buckshot Farms, Pit Stop Carryout, Schiets Motorsports backed #11F.
“I could get used to this winning at home if they let me,” added an elated Foos. “I have to thank my guys, Jamie, Markus, my Dad (Dave), Zack, my mom, Kate, my Grandpa and Level Performance for building me a great motor,” added Foos.
In a classic three truck battle, it was former Fremont track champions Steve Endicott who came out victorious in the Fremont Fence & Guardrail Dirt Truck feature. Endicott led from the drop of the green, but Jimmy McGrath Jr. stole the top spot on lap nine with a low pass exiting turn four. Endicott would return the favor two laps later and then had to hold off Cory Ward and McGrath following two late race cautions.
“There was a little bit of sweat there when I saw Junior (McGrath) come around me,” said Endicott of his 11th career Fremont victory. “I couldn’t sell my truck…and there was no sense leaving it in the barn, so we came back out racing this year. I have to thank my crew, Bob’s crew (Dible) and Bob’s Machine Shop.”
In the 30 lap 410 sprint feature, Reed would bolt into the lead from his pole starting spot with Brian Smith, Sebetto, Mike Linder and Craig Mintz in tow. The first caution would fly on lap three when Andrew Palker had difficulty getting off the track, and all attention was on two-time All Star champion Tim Shaffer who had already moved from 16th to 9th.
On the restart, Reed would pull away slightly while Smith had his hands full with Sebetto while Linder, Bryan Lay, Mintz and Brad Haudenschild trailed. Sebetto would drive around Smith on lap five and set his sights on Reed while Linder would take third on lap 7. Reed would encounter lapped traffic by the ninth circuit, allowing Sebetto to close quickly while Linder ran comfortably in third with Smith, Lay, Mintz and Shaffer battling for fourth.
On the fast, tacky track, Reed would have difficulty getting around the lapped machines and when he got hung up ever so slightly by Dean Jacobs exiting turn two on lap 23, Sebetto was there to pounce and take the lead. However, Reed maintained his cool and simply dove under Sebetto in turn four a lap later to regain the top spot as Linder closed in. The caution would fly with five laps remaining for a stalled Brian Lay.
On the restart, Sebetto gave it one more try on the high side to get around Reed. Meanwhile, Linder and Shaffer raced side-by-side for third with Smith and Jac Haudenschild closing. Reed was able to take the win over Sebetto, Shaffer with a last lap pass for third, Linder and Smith rounding out the top five.
“About half way through the race…I’m not sure what happened but it seemed like the thing didn’t feel right. It almost felt like the right front arm fell off or something. It just felt like something went wrong with it,” said Reed. “I was worried about Bryan…this is his type of race track. He had my attention…I definitely noticed when he got to second. Bryan got up on me in lapped traffic but luckily the bottom down in two wasn’t bad and I was able to get back by him.”
In the 25-lap 305 sprint main Muntz would grab the early lead from the pole with third staring Foos driving into second followed by Dean Jacobs, Jimmy Colvin, Matt Merrill and Zack Kramer. The caution would fly on lap two for a stalled Jess Stiger, with Muntz jumping back into the lead on the restart. With five laps in the books, Foos had caught Muntz and began showing him his nose as Jacobs ran comfortably in third.
Just as Muntz and Foos got ready to race into heavy lapped traffic, right in front of them Jamie Miller made contact with Jordan Ryan, sending Ryan into the front stretch wall, breaking his front end. As Ryan coasted down the track without any steering, he collected Jacobs as Muntz and Foos were able to get away unscathed.
On the restart, Foos would drive under Muntz for the lead as Colvin had his hands full with Dustin Dinan and Zack Kramer for third. They continued to run in that order until lap 20 when a Caleb Griffith spin would bring out the caution. Foos hit his marks the last five laps for the win with Muntz, Colvin, Dinan and Kramer rounding out the top five.
In the 20-lap dirt truck main, Endicott would take the initial lead from the pole with McGrath Jr., Brad Mitten, Brian Sorg and Steve Sabo in tow. A quick caution after one lap, and the battle up front was on between Endicott and McGrath, as soon seventh place starter Cory Ward would make it a three truck race fro the win. Another caution on lap four would find the running order Endicott, McGrath Jr., Ward, Mitten, Sabo and Bob Dible. Endicott, McGrath and Ward were able to pull away and you could throw a blanket on them over the next five laps before a multi-truck tangle would bring out the caution on lap eight.
On the restart McGrath was able to drive under Endicott for the lead exiting turn four with Ward also challenging. Two laps later Endicott would return the favor exiting turn two to regain the lead, bringing Ward into second, dropping McGrath back to third followed by Jim McGrath Sr. and Art Ball. McGrath Jr. would retake second on lap 16 as it appeared Ward’s motor might have been souring.
A caution on lap 16 would find Endicott leading McGrath Jr., Ward, McGrath Sr. and Ball. Endicott and McGrath Jr. would continue their torrid battle until another caution with just two laps remaining for debris. Endicott was able to hold off McGrath Jr. for the win while McGrath Sr., Ward and Ball would round out the top five.
Fremont Speedway will be off on May 20, but will host a double-header on Saturday and Sunday, May 28-29 featuring the O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champion Sprint Cars.
For prices, times and more go to www.fremontohspeedway.com
Fremont Speedway – 5/14/2011
Roots Poultry Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (25 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O9-Craig Mintz[2] ; 2. 16-Bryan Sebetto[6] ; 3. 2+-Brian Smith[1] ; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[4] ; 5. 53-Phil Gressman[7] ; 6. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[3] ; 7. 32-Chase Stockon[8] ; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[5] ; 9. O4-Cap Henry[9]
Heat 2 – Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 60C-Kory Crabtree[2] ; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker[1] ; 3. 45L-Brian Lay[4] ; 4. 51-Brad Bowman[6] ; 5. 60-Jody Keegan[3] ; 6. 83-Tim Shaffer[5] ; 7. 3J-Kevin Lee[8] ; 8. 97-Dean Jacobs[7]
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 312-Mike Linder[2] ; 2. 6-Jac Haudenschild[3] ; 3. 10-Brad Haudenschild[1] ; 4. 14H-Todd Heller[6] ; 5. 5T-Travis Philo[8] ; 6. O-Chris Andrews[7] ; 7. 28-Shawn Valenti[4]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[2] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[1] ; 3. 3J-Kevin Lee[5] ; 4. 97-Dean Jacobs[8] ; 5. 28-Shawn Valenti[6] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7] ; 7. 32-Chase Stockon[4] ; 8. O-Chris Andrews[3] ; 9. O4-Cap Henry[9]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 5R-Byron Reed[1]; 2. 16-Bryan Sebetto[4]; 3. 83-Tim Shaffer[16]; 4. 312-Mike Linder[7]; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[2]; 6. 6-Jac Haudenschild[10]; 7. 53-Phil Gressman[13]; 8. O9-Craig Mintz[5]; 9. 14H-Todd Heller[12]; 10. 3J-Kevin Lee[18]; 11. 60C-Kory Crabtree[6]; 12. 97-Dean Jacobs[19]; 13. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[17]; 14. 5T-Travis Philo[15]; 15. 28-Shawn Valenti[20]; 16. 45L-Brian Lay[8]; 17. 51-Brad Bowman[11]; 18. 10-Brad Haudenschild[9]; 19. 57X-Andrew Palker[3]; 20. 60-Jody Keegan[14]
Hard Charger: 83-Tim Shaffer[+13]
Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints (27 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[1] ; 2. 717-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 3. 5R-Jordan Ryan[2] ; 4. 11F-D.J. Foos[5] ; 5. 94-John Ivy[6] ; 6. 10S-Roger Shammo[4] ; 7. 8B-Bobby Clark[9] ; 8. 40-Justin Franks[7] ; 9. 36X-Dustin Keegan[8]
Heat 2 – Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 25-Jason Keckler[2] ; 2. 39-Matt Merrill[1] ; 3. 8K-Zack Kramer[4] ; 4. M28-Josh Muntz[7] ; 5. 48-Mike Burkin[8] ; 6. 1W-Paul Weaver[9] ; 7. 55-Jim Cushing[6] ; 8. 36-Seth Schneider[5] ; 9. 80-Jake Trevino[3]
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8J-Jess Stiger[2] ; 2. 5-Dustin Dinan[1] ; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[6] ; 4. 4X-Caleb Griffith[5] ; 5. 4M-Jamie Miller[3] ; 6. 27-Paige Polyak[7] ; 7. 1-Nate Dussel[8] ; 8. 2-Kyle Mills[4] ; 9. 15-Nick Molnar[9]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[2] ; 2. 27-Paige Polyak[3] ; 3. 10S-Roger Shammo[1] ; 4. 8B-Bobby Clark[4] ; 5. 1-Nate Dussel[6] ; 6. 2-Kyle Mills[9] ; 7. 55-Jim Cushing[5] ; 8. 15-Nick Molnar[12] ; 9. 36X-Dustin Keegan[10] ; 10. 40-Justin Franks[7] ; 11. 36-Seth Schneider[8]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 11F-D.J. Foos[3]; 2. M28-Josh Muntz[1]; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[6]; 4. 5-Dustin Dinan[10]; 5. 8K-Zack Kramer[9]; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker[7]; 7. 1-Nate Dussel[20]; 8. 94-John Ivy[13]; 9. 27-Paige Polyak[17]; 10. 39-Matt Merrill[5]; 11. 25-Jason Keckler[11]; 12. 10S-Roger Shammo[18]; 13. 4X-Caleb Griffith[8]; 14. 4M-Jamie Miller[15]; 15. 8B-Bobby Clark[19]; 16. 717-Dean Jacobs[4]; 17. 48-Mike Burkin[14]; 18. 5R-Jordan Ryan[12]; 19. 8J-Jess Stiger[2]; 20. 1W-Paul Weaver[16]
Hard Charger: 1-Nate Dussel[+13]
Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks (20 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O1-Art Ball[1] ; 2. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[5] ; 3. 4X-Brian Sorg[4] ; 4. 4S-Keith Sorg[2] ; 5. 92-Loren Schwochow[7] ; 6. 8KB-Kent Brewer[3] ; 7. 1S-James Saam[6]
Heat 2 – Heat 2 (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 18W-Cory Ward[4] ; 2. 30-Dave Gibbs[7] ; 3. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[3] ; 4. 8-Steve Endicott[6] ; 5. 115-Ben Good[1] ; 6. 6-Linda Sabo[2] ; 7. 99-Art Howey Jr.[5]
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 17-Bob Dible[2] ; 2. 5-Jim McGrath[1] ; 3. 16-Steve Sabo[4] ; 4. 23M-Brad Mitten[3] ; 5. 9-Curt Inks[6] ; 6. 36X-Wally Hemminger[5]
A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. 8-Steve Endicott[1]; 2. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[2]; 3. 5-Jim McGrath[12]; 4. 18W-Cory Ward[7]; 5. O1-Art Ball[10]; 6. 30-Dave Gibbs[9]; 7. 8KB-Kent Brewer[16]; 8. 99-Art Howey Jr.[20]; 9. 23M-Brad Mitten[3]; 10. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[8]; 11. 4X-Brian Sorg[5]; 12. 92-Loren Schwochow[13]; 13. 9-Curt Inks[15]; 14. 4S-Keith Sorg[4]; 15. 36X-Wally Hemminger[18]; 16. 17-Bob Dible[11]; 17. 16-Steve Sabo[6]; 18. 115-Ben Good[14]
Hard Charger: 99-Art Howey Jr.[+12]
Photo Gallery
