By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio – Jason Meyers made a fantastic move in turn three to pass Donny Schatz to take the lead on lap 14 and then survived a late race restart to take the World of Outlaws victory at Fremont Speedway Saturday on Coors Light/Miller Lite Night. For Meyers, the defending series champion, it was his fifth straight World of Outlaws victory and pads his big point lead.
“I’m running out of things to say about this team. God has blessed us with a lot of wonderful people,” said Meyers beside his DDN, All Star Performance backed machine.
“I had to be aggressive in lapped traffic. I saw Tim (Shaffer) under me a couple of times and I had to pick up the pace…this car was just awesome tonight. The track was great,” added Meyers of his 55th career World of Outlaws win. “My crew chief Brian (Bloomfield) and his wife Lindsay had a baby around Knoxville time and Lindsay hasn’t been able to go to many races. She’s been to the last five and we have won, so I guess she has to go next week.”
When Tim Shaffer spun with six laps to go trying to make a move in lapped traffic while chasing Meyers, Kerry Madsen would move into second and bring his Keneric Racing machine home in the runner-up spot.
“This is awesome to run second at Fremont. This place is notorious for being tough. I have to thank all my sponsors and all the guys who work hard on this thing,” said Madsen.
After flipping in his heat, and having to run the B-main, Fremont Speedway’s 2011 champion Bryan Sebetto would drive his Burmeister Racing machine from his 12th starting spot to a third place finish, much to the delight of his hometown fans.
“That was a lot of fun. I got to race with the best in the business…I passed Donny Schatz (four time series champion)!” said an elated Sebetto of his JLH General Contractors backed #16. “I’m so happy to give the Burmeisters this finish. The driver stunk it up in the heat, but Mikey and Rollie and the entire crew busted their butts to get me back out there. If I didn’t screw up in the heat I would have been in the dash and had a better starting spot.”
The Joe Stelter Memorial event honored the man who started racing at “The Track That Action Built” in 1951 and closed the speedway’s 60th anniversary season. It marked the return of “The Greatest Show on Dirt” to Fremont Speedway for the first time since 1993.
Schatz and Greg Wilson would lead the field to the green in the 40-lap feature, with Schatz grabbing the lead over third starting Meyers, with Wilson, Madsen, Craig Dollansky and Shaffer in tow. Schatz would open up a slight lead until he encountered lapped traffic by the sixth circuit. Meyers would quickly close and would take the lead from Schatz down the back stretch. But, Schatz would drive back in turns three and four to maintain the lead.
Meyers wouldn’t give up, and challenged Schatz several times as they raced in heavy lapped traffic from laps 7 through13. Meanwhile, Madsen would get around Wilson on lap seven for third while Dollansky and Shaffer followed. Meyers would execute a daring move in lapped traffic in turns three and four coming down to complete the 14th lap, taking the lead, as Madsen made it a three car battle for the top spot. Madsen would get by Schatz on lap 15 for second as Shaffer moved into fourth.
By lap 18, Meyers had built a two second lead over Madsen with Schatz, Shaffer, Wilson and Dollansky in pursuit. Wilson and Dollansky would spin in turn two on lap 23 for the event’s first caution. Wilson would come to a rest while Dollansky kept moving. All eyes were now on Sebetto who had worked his way up to sixth.
On the restart Meyers would pull away from Madsen who had his hands full with Shaffer. “The Steel City Outlaw” would grab the runner-up spot on lap 24 while Sebetto got around Dollansky for fifth and closed on Schatz. As Meyers raced back into lapped traffic on the 29th circuit, Shaffer closed. With eight laps remaining, Shaffer ducked under Meyers as they raced in heavy traffic. Disaster struck for Shaffer on lap 34 as he spun while trying to battle through traffic and take the lead. Turn two at Fremont has not been kind to Shaffer this season as he has flipped there twice and then spun Saturday battling for the win.
On the restart the running order was Meyers, Madsen, Schatz, Sebetto, Dollansky and Paul McMahan. With a clear track, Meyers would pull away from Madsen as Sebetto would drive around Schatz for third. Meyers would go on to take his second career victory at Fremont – he also won an All Star Circuit of Champions event on May 29. Madsen, Sebetto, Schatz and Dollansky would round out the top five.
The Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints and Fremont Fence and Guardrail Dirt Trucks each ran a feature event only.
In the 305 sprint main, John Ivy would take the lead on lap seven and then held off challenges from D.J. Foos and Bobby Clark to earn his 31st career win at Fremont Speedway. He now sits tied for 11th with Rollie Beale on the track’s all-time win list.
“We had to wait until the last race of the year to finally get a win. The cautions fell right for us tonight and my guys gave me a great car,” said Ivy beside his Level Performance/Wendy’s Restaurant/Tailgator’s Bar backed machine.
In the dirt truck feature, Brian Sorg took the lead when Daniel Roepke Jr. spun on the white flag lap while being pressured by Sorg. Sorg would survive the one lap battle to the checkered to earn his first career Fremont win.
“I have to thank my brother, my son and everyone who helps on this thing. We destroyed our other truck last week and had to bring this old girl back out and she ran great,” said Sorg beside his Fremont Fence, M&L Excavating backed #4x.
It took two tried to get the 305 feature started. On the first attempt, Stuart Brubaker and Paige Polyak would get together to bring out the caution. On the second try, Zack Kramer and Dustin Dinan would flip on the front stretch. Once the race got underway, rookie Seth Schneider would grab the lead over Roger Shammo, Ivy, Bobby Clark, Jordan Ryan, D.J. Foos and Paul Weaver. Ivy would take second on lap four with Foos moving into third.
Ivy would drive under Schneider for the lead on lap seven with Foos following a lap later. Ivy would hit lapped traffic by the 13th circuit, allowing Foos and now third running Clark to close. The caution would fly for a Jimmy Colvin spin on lap 14, giving Ivy a clear track. Ivy would continue to lead on the restart with Clark and Weaver getting around Foos.
Ryan would flip exiting turn four on lap 16 with the running order Ivy, Clark, Weaver, Foos, Schneider, Caleb Griffith and Brubaker. Again with a clear track, Ivy would pull away from Clark as Weaver and Foos battled for third. Ivy would take the win over Clark, Foos, Weaver and Schneider.
Keith Sorg would take the lead over his dad, Brian, at the drop of the green in the dirt truck feature. Keith would continue to lead dad with Art Howey Jr., Kent Brewer and Daniel Roepke Jr. battling for third. The caution would fly on lap six for a tangle involving John Ivy, Willie Keegan and Andy Keegan. Keith Sorg would continue to lead on the restart with Brian Sorg battling Brewer and Roepke for third as Bob Dible also entered the picture.
At the half-way point it was Keith Sorg over Brian Sorg, Roepke, Dible, Brewer and Howey. The caution would fly on lap 11 for a crash involving Dan Hennig, Art Ball and Willie Keegan. On the restart Dible would drive around both Roepke and Brian Sorg into second and began to race under Keith Sorg for the lead. As they came through turns three and four to come down to complete the 14th lap, Dible tried a slide job on Keith Sorg and they made contact, allowing Roepke to drive under for the lead.
Roepke would continue to lead, but Brian Sorg applied the pressure. After taking the white flag, Roepke would spin while racing hard with Brian Sorg, handing him the lead. Sorg was able to hold off Howey and Brewer for the remaining lap for the win.
Fremont Speedway – 10/15/2011
Coors Light / Miller Lite Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (37 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 14-Jason Meyers, 12.866; 2. 6R-Ian Madsen, 12.901; 3. 15-Donny Shatz, 12.959; 4. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.001; 5. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 13.010; 6. 9-Joey Saldana, 13.015; 7. O9-Craig Mintz, 13.026; 8. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.053; 9. 92-Kerry Madsen, 13.142; 10. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.157; 11. 7-Craig Dollansky, 13.169; 12. 3T-Tony Beaber, 13.190; 13. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.195; 14. 83-Paul McMahan, 13.213; 15. 83X-Tim Shaffer, 13.222; 16. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.231; 17. 91-Cody Darrah, 13.237; 18. 6-Kraig Kinser, 13.251; 19. 312-Mike Linder, 13.313; 20. O4-Cap Henry, 13.319; 21. 51-Brad Bowman, 13.345; 22. 89G-David Gravel, 13.358; 23. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.379; 24. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.398; 25. O-Lee Jacobs, 13.402; 26. 53-Phil Gressman, 13.402; 27. 5W-Lucas wolfe, 13.424; 28. 2-Dale Blaney, 13.428; 29. 4-Danny Smith, 13.465; 30. 312X-Chris Andrews, 13.507; 31. 63-Chad Kemenah, 13.528; 32. 22-Cole Duncan, 13.555; 33. 60K-Jody Keegan, 13.562; 34. 4K-Kody Kinser, 13.585; 35. 40-Caleb Helms, 13.610; 36. 60-Kory Crabtree, 14.006; 37. 27L-Brad Lamberson, 14.197
Heat 1 – Heat 1 (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 92-Kerry Madsen[2] ; 2. 14-Jason Meyers[4] ; 3. O-Lee Jacobs[7] ; 4. 91-Cody Darrah[5] ; 5. 11-Steve Kinser[1] ; 6. 60K-Jody Keegan[9] ; 7. 27L-Brad Lamberson[10] ; 8. 4-Danny Smith[8] ; 9. 16-Bryan Sebetto[3] ; 10. 51-Brad Bowman[6]
Heat 2 – Heat 2 (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 83-Paul McMahan[1] ; 2. 7S-Jason Sides[2] ; 3. 6R-Ian Madsen[4] ; 4. 9-Joey Saldana[3] ; 5. 89G-David Gravel[6] ; 6. 6-Kraig Kinser[5] ; 7. 53-Phil Gressman[7] ; 8. 312X-Chris Andrews[8] ; 9. 4K-Kody Kinser[9]
Heat 3 – Heat 3 (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 83X-Tim Shaffer[1] ; 2. 7-Craig Dollansky[2] ; 3. 15-Donny Shatz[4] ; 4. O9-Craig Mintz[3] ; 5. 312-Mike Linder[5] ; 6. 5W-Lucas wolfe[7] ; 7. 63-Chad Kemenah[8] ; 8. 40-Caleb Helms[9] ; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[6]
Heat 4 – Heat 4 (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5R-Byron Reed[1] ; 2. W20-Greg Wilson[3] ; 3. 14H-Todd Heller[4] ; 4. O4-Cap Henry[5] ; 5. 2-Dale Blaney[7] ; 6. 60-Kory Crabtree[9] ; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[6] ; 8. 22-Cole Duncan[8] ; 9. 3T-Tony Beaber[2]
Dash – R & R (8 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature
1. 15-Donny Shatz[2] ; 2. W20-Greg Wilson[1] ; 3. 14-Jason Meyers[4] ; 4. 92-Kerry Madsen[5] ; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky[7] ; 6. 83-Paul McMahan[8] ; 7. 83X-Tim Shaffer[9] ; 8. 7S-Jason Sides[6] ; 9. 5R-Byron Reed[10] ; 10. 6R-Ian Madsen[3]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 16-Bryan Sebetto[1] [-]; 2. 6-Kraig Kinser[3] [-]; 3. 5W-Lucas wolfe[7] [-]; 4. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[5] [-]; 5. 4-Danny Smith[8] ; 6. 53-Phil Gressman[6] ; 7. 312X-Chris Andrews[9] ; 8. 3T-Tony Beaber[2] ; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[4] ; 10. 63-Chad Kemenah[10] ; 11. 40-Caleb Helms[14] ; 12. 4K-Kody Kinser[13] ; 13. 60K-Jody Keegan[12] ; 14. 22-Cole Duncan[11] ; 15. 27L-Brad Lamberson[16]
A-Main – (40 Laps)
1. 14-Jason Meyers[3]; 2. 92-Kerry Madsen[4]; 3. 16-Bryan Sebetto[12]; 4. 15-Donny Shatz[1]; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky[5]; 6. 83-Paul McMahan[6]; 7. 9-Joey Saldana[13]; 8. 7S-Jason Sides[8]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson[2]; 10. 11-Steve Kinser[15]; 11. 312-Mike Linder[18]; 12. 14H-Todd Heller[11]; 13. O9-Craig Mintz[14]; 14. 2-Dale Blaney[24]; 15. 89G-David Gravel[20]; 16. 5R-Byron Reed[9]; 17. O4-Cap Henry[19]; 18. 6-Kraig Kinser[17]; 19. 91-Cody Darrah[16]; 20. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[21]; 21. 6R-Ian Madsen[10]; 22. 83X-Tim Shaffer[7]; 23. 5W-Lucas wolfe[23]; 24. O-Lee Jacobs[22]
Hard Charger: 2-Dale Blaney[+10]
Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints (20 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 94-John Ivy[4]; 2. 8K-Bobby Clark[6]; 3. 11F-D.J. Foos[8]; 4. 1W-Paul Weaver[10]; 5. 36-Seth Schneider[1]; 6. 27-Paige Polyak[9]; 7. 40-Caleb Griffith[18]; 8. 4M-Jamie Miller[15]; 9. 35-Stuart Brubaker[11]; 10. 9-Jimmy Colvin[12]; 11. 10X-Dustin Stroup[19]; 12. 22D-Dan Hammond[14]; 13. 8J-Jess Stiger[16]; 14. 48-Mike Burkin[20]; 15. 36X-Dustin Keegan[17]; 16. 10S-Roger Shammo[2]; 17. 5R-Jordan Ryan[3]; 18. 25-Jason Keckler[5]; 19. 5-Dustin Dinan[7]; 20. 8B-Zack Kramer[13]
Hard Charger: 40-Caleb Griffith[+11]
Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks (19 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position
A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. 4X-Brian Sorg[4]; 2. 99-Art Howey Jr.[5]; 3. 8KB-Kent Brewer[7]; 4. 17-Bob Dible[8]; 5. 18W-Cory Ward[9]; 6. 4S-Keith Sorg[1]; 7. OO-John Ivy[12]; 8. O-Andy Keegan[19]; 9. 23M-Brad Mitten[3]; 10. 92-Loren Schwochow[13]; 11. 36X-Dustin Keegan[14]; 12. 32H-Dan Hennig[10]; 13. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[6]; 14. 99X-Gene Potridge[17]; 15. 115-Ben Good[15]; 16. O1-Art Ball[11]; 17. P51-Willie Keegan[16]; 18. 30-Dave Gibbs[2]; 19. 16-Steve Sabo[18]
Hard Charger: O-Andy Keegan[+11]