From Brian Liskai
Fremont, OH — (May 19, 2013) — For the second week in a row, the fans at Fremont Speedway were treated to a thrilling 410 sprint car race that featured wheel banging, the winner coming from deep in the field and a late race charge from a rookie.
With four laps to go, Brian Smith was trying to hold off Greg Wilson who had charged from his 18th starting position, and rookie D.J. Foos as they sliced through lapped traffic. Smith and Wilson banged wheels entering turn one with Smith spinning into the infield with front end damage.
On the ensuing restart, Foos drove hard to Wilson’s outside as they battled side by side. Foos would lead lap 27 by a bumper. Wilson would slide back into the lead on the bottom as Foos continued to race to his outside. As they came to the white, Foos again had a big run on the top side of turns three and four, but Wilson was just too strong on the bottom of turns one and two. Coming to the checkers, Foos gave it one last shot on the high side, but Wilson drifted up exiting turn four, breaking Foos’ momentum as Wilson drove to his second win of the season on Roots Poultry Night.
It was a Kistler Racing Products FAST (Fremont Attica Sprint Title) Championship Series Presented by KS Sales and Service points race that will reward the champion at season’s end with $10,000.
“I’m sorry to you fans that me and Brian bumped cause that was going to be a hell of a race. I love this sport and we banged wheels going for the win and the first guy to congratulate me at the scales was Brian Smith. Now that’s one heck of a man right there,” said Wilson beside his DNC Hydraulics/Hercules Tire/All Star Plumbing and Heating/Ohio Logistics backed #w20.
“I knew D.J. was pretty good in three and four there…I could see that early on in the run. When we got going and I hit my marks down there we were pretty bad ass off the bottom. I can’t believe this. We started 18th and I’m sitting there and I’m thinking if we can run top five I’ll be happy and then the cautions fell at the right time and this Warnimont Motorsports car was awesome. I have to thank Zack, John, Roger, my dad and most of all, my wife and my kids. DNC Hydraulics is a big part of our team and has been for a lot of years and the Conaway family lost a father Friday night so this win is for them,” added Wilson in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
Fremont native John Ivy continued his hot streak, winning both the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature and the AAA Ohio Auto Club Dirt Truck feature for the second time this season. Ivy now has three truck wins and a pair of 305 sprint wins this season at Fremont Speedway, taking his career total to 41 as he now sits 8th on the track’s all-time win list.
“The boys had her dialed in tonight for me. Joey and my brother have been working on this thing real hard and Kistler gives us a heck of a motor. I had a couple of breaks there at the beginning but I’ll take it any way I can get it,” said Ivy beside his #8i 305 sprinter.
“I have to thank everyone on this deal. Sonny’s Machine Shop, B&L Plumbing, Kear’s Speedshop, Miller Rigging, the Little Bar on the Prairie, Big D’s Pizza, Fremont Fence…everybody that stands behind us. It’s been a fun year,” added Ivy.
In the dirt trucks took the lead on the third lap and never looked back on route to the win.
“I’m hoping we’re not done winning yet. I’m really liking this. I have to thank Charlie and Craig and everyone that helps us out. This is a ball and they work their butts off on this thing and I’m glad I can at least have them on the front stretch,” said Ivy beside his #00 truck. “Level Performance, Diversified Machine and Welding, Sonny’s, Vision Quest…they all help out a great deal on this.”
In a crash filled Surfin’ Sweepstakes Sports Compacts feature, Amanda Shammo of Gibsonburg led the first lap and it was all she had to lead as the time limit expired after just one circuit.
“It would have been nice to get to race the whole thing but a win is a win. I have to thank my dad…we built this Honda in two weeks. Also my sponsors Nettie’s Trucking, Wet Land Auto Parts, Design Graphics Group, Schroeder’s Outdoor Services, Willis Water Hauling and Braeden’s Bridge,” said Shammo in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
On a night dubbed Students Racing Into Summer – every school in Sandusky County was given free tickets for the students to attend the racing – a packed grandstands enjoyed an entertaining night or racing.
In the 30-lap Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprint Feature, Brian Lay and Jody Keegan would bring the field to the green, but before a circuit could be completed, Duane Zablocki would spin in turn three. When the green came back out, Lay grabbed the lead over Craig Mintz, Foos, Keegan, Smith and Stuart Brubaker.
After a lap was in the books, Dean Jacobs got upside down in turn four – he was uninjured. On the restart, Brubaker spun off of turn three. Another lap was then completed and Sheldon Haudenschild spun. Then everyone calmed down and the racing heated up.
Lay would jump back into the lead with Mintz battling Foos and Smith for second while Byron Reed, Caleb Griffith and Todd Heller gave chase. Wilson would move into the top 10 by lap five. Just two laps later, Foos and Smith drove around Mintz and closed on Lay. Foos and Smith raced side by side for second over the next four circuits as they moved into lapped traffic. On lap 12, Smith would drive under Lay to take the lead as the caution flew a circuit later for Todd Heller.
The running order on the restart was Smith, Lay, Foos, Mintz, Reed and Wilson. When green came back out, Smith pulled away slightly as Foos blasted into second with Lay, Mintz and now Wilson in pursuit. Wilson would drive into fourth on lap 16 and picked off Lay for third on the next lap. Smith was coasting well on the bottom while Foos was blasting around the top and Wilson drove the low line. With 10 laps to go, both Foos and Wilson began inching closer to Smith who was catching the back of the pack. On lap 24, Wilson would drive into second as the leaders raced into lapped traffic.
As they raced to the flag stand for the five-to-go signal, Wilson was now on Smith’s rear bumper. As they exited turn four on lap 26, Smith, blocked Wilson’s advance and when they dove into turn one contact was made, sending Smith spinning as they tried to race each other and lapped machines.
On the restart, Foos got his elbows up and blasted to Wilson’s outside, actually leading by a nose on lap 27. But, Wilson hit his marks perfectly on the bottom of turns one and two and drove back into the lead. Racing to the white, Foos drove to Wilson’s outside as they battled wing to wing. Foos gave it one last shot in turns three and four coming to the checkered, but Wilson let his car drift up to break Foos’ momentum. Wilson took the win over Foos, Reed, Mintz and 13th starter Chris Andrews.
In the 25 lap 305 sprint feature, Alvin Roepke and Jimmy Colvin brought the field to the green, but a T.J. Michael spin would necessitate a complete restart. On the second attempt, Colvin and Roepke made contact with Roepke spinning. The third time was the charm, but it was Jordan Ryan who bolted into the lead over Ivy, Colvin, Bobby Clark, Paul Weaver, Nate Dussel and Dustin Dinan. Ivy would drive under Ryan for the lead on lap three and immediately put some distance between himself and the field.
Ivy would catch lapped traffic by lap 8, but Ryan couldn’t close and ran comfortably in second with Colvin, Weaver, Dinan and Clark giving chase. Jess Stiger would take a wild flip into the catch fence in turn four on lap 10. He would later go to the hospital for a check-up. On the restart, it was Weaver who got his elbows up as he blasted from fourth into second with Ryan, Dinan and Clark in pursuit.
Jason Keckler would spin on lap 14 with the running order Ivy, Weaver, Ryan, Dinan, Clark, Dussel and Colvin. On the restart Weaver tried to get around Ivy, as they banged wheels. The two raced side by side over the next two laps before Ivy started to pull away slightly. With five laps to go, Ryan rallied to challenge Weaver as Ivy raced into lapped traffic again. Once clear of the traffic, Ivy drove to the win while Ryan got around Weaver on the white flag lap and held on for second with Weaver, Dinan and Dussel completing the top five.
Brad Mitten and Keith Sorg would bring the field to the green for the 20-lap dirt truck main, but a mult-truck crash would necessitate a complete restart. When the green reappeared, Mitten jumped into the lead over Sorg, Shawn Valenti and Ivy. Ivy would take third on lap two and drove into the lead on lap three.
Following a caution for Steve Sabo, Ivy would pull away when the green came back out while Mitten had his hands full with Valenti and Jimmy McGrath Jr. Ivy pulled away as he hit lapped traffic by the 11th circuit while Mitten gave chase and Dan Roepke Jr. was closing in third. Roepke took second on lap 13 with Mitten, Valenti and Cory Ward battling for third. Valenti would take third with give laps to go.
Roepke could not close the gap the last five laps as Ivy drove to the win. Valenti, Mitten and Ward would round out the top five.
In the 12-lap sports compact feature, Eric Pocock and Taylor Holland led the field to the green, but it was third starter Amanda Shammo who took the lead. After a lap was completed, there was a rash of crashes. After 15 minutes of trying to get the race back underway, the feature was eventually called complete after just one lap.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action on Saturday and Sunday, May 25 and 26 with the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions in competition both days. And, on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. there will be a kick ball tournament involving drivers, race teams and fans along with an action to raise funds for the Kick-It Foundation, a nationwide series of events that raise money to combat childhood cancer. For more information go to www.kick-it.org or www.fremontohspeedway.com and check out the information on the Fremont Speedway Facebook page.
Fremont Speedway – 5/18/2013
Root’s Poultry Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (26 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying – Fricker’s Restaurant/Callie’s Performance
1. 53-DJ Foos, 12.920; 2. 14H-Todd Heller, 12.982; 3. 7C-Max Stambaugh, 13.060; 4. 16-Chris Andrews, 13.064; 5. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.094; 6. O9-Craig Mintz, 13.120; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.143; 8. 60-Jody Keegan, 13.147; 9. 45L-Brian Lay, 13.156; 10. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.162; 11. 9-Dean Jacobs, 13.232; 12. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.235; 13. 57X-Andrew Palker, 13.255; 14. 40DD-Caleb Griffith, 13.266; 15. 83M-Broc Martin, 13.278; 16. 97-Phil Gressman, 13.287; 17. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.397; 18. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.409; 19. 10X-Dustin Stroup, 13.640; 20. 51-Roger Campbell, 13.668; 21. 312-Mike Linder, 13.675; 22. O6-Brandy Bower, 14.077; 23. 50B-Mike Burns, 14.550; 24. 38-Dennis Wagner, 14.625; 25. 26-Rodney Hurst, 15.299; 26. 55-Brad Bowman, 99.000
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 97-Phil Gressman[1] ; 2. 57X-Andrew Palker[2] ; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker[4] ; 4. 2+-Brian Smith[3] ; 5. 53-DJ Foos[6] ; 6. 16-Chris Andrews[5] ; 7. 10X-Dustin Stroup[7] ; 8. O6-Brandy Bower[8]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[1] ; 2. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[2] ; 3. 9-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 4. 60-Jody Keegan[4] ; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[5] ; 6. 14H-Todd Heller[6] ; 7. 51-Roger Campbell[7] ; 8. 50B-Mike Burns[8]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. W20-Greg Wilson[1] ; 2. 45L-Brian Lay[4] ; 3. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[3] ; 4. 83M-Broc Martin[2] ; 5. O9-Craig Mintz[5] ; 6. 7C-Max Stambaugh[6] ; 7. 312-Mike Linder[7] ; 8. 38-Dennis Wagner[8]
B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 16-Chris Andrews[3] ; 2. 14H-Todd Heller[1] ; 3. 10X-Dustin Stroup[4] ; 4. 7C-Max Stambaugh[2] ; 5. 312-Mike Linder[6] ; 6. 51-Roger Campbell[5] ; 7. 38-Dennis Wagner[9] ; 8. O6-Brandy Bower[7] ; 9. 26-Rodney Hurst[10] ; 10. 50B-Mike Burns[8]
A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. W20-Greg Wilson[18]; 2. 53-DJ Foos[6]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[5]; 4. O9-Craig Mintz[4]; 5. 16-Chris Andrews[13]; 6. 83M-Broc Martin[15]; 7. 45L-Brian Lay[1]; 8. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[14]; 9. 10X-Dustin Stroup[19]; 10. 60-Jody Keegan[2]; 11. 7C-Max Stambaugh[12]; 12. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[9]; 13. 57X-Andrew Palker[10]; 14. 2+-Brian Smith[7]; 15. 312-Mike Linder[20]; 16. 14H-Todd Heller[11]; 17. 97-Phil Gressman[16]; 18. 35-Stuart Brubaker[3]; 19. 9-Dean Jacobs[8]; 20. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[17]
Hard Charger: W20-Greg Wilson[+17]
Fremont Federal Credit Untion 305 Sprints (18 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 10 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5R-Jordan Ryan[1] ; 2. 8J-Jess Stiger[2] ; 3. 68G-Tyler Gunn[3] ; 4. 6-Dustin Dinan[6] ; 5. OO-Alvin Roepke[5] ; 6. 9-Jimmy Colvin[8] ; 7. 25-Jason Keckler[9] ; 8. 10S-Roger Shammo[4] ; 9. 10-Josh Harrison[7]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 10 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1-Nate Dussel[1] ; 2. 8I-John Ivy[3] ; 3. 4X-Bobby Clark[6] ; 4. 22D-Dan Hammond[2] ; 5. 8M-T.J Michael[7] ; 6. 1W-Paul Weaver[9] ; 7. 13D-Jeremy Duposki[5] ; 8. 7P-Brandon Moore[8]
A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 8I-John Ivy[5]; 2. 5R-Jordan Ryan[3]; 3. 1W-Paul Weaver[7]; 4. 6-Dustin Dinan[8]; 5. 1-Nate Dussel[6]; 6. 4X-Bobby Clark[4]; 7. OO-Alvin Roepke[1]; 8. 8M-T.J Michael[10]; 9. 9-Jimmy Colvin[2]; 10. 10S-Roger Shammo[15]; 11. 25-Jason Keckler[13]; 12. 68G-Tyler Gunn[12]; 13. 22D-Dan Hammond[11]; 14. 13D-Jeremy Duposki[14]; 15. 10-Josh Harrison[17]; 16. 7P-Brandon Moore[16]; 17. 36-Seth Schneider[18]; 18. 8J-Jess Stiger[9]
Hard Charger: 10S-Roger Shammo[+5]
AAA Auto Club Dirt Trucks (21 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 23M-Brad Mitten[1] ; 2. OO-John Ivy[5] ; 3. 2-Matt Foos[2] ; 4. 45-Brian Melnek[4] ; 5. D1-Dustin Keegan[7] ; 6. 37-Eric Devanna[6] ; 7. 99X-Gene Potridge[3]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 18W-Cory Ward[4] ; 2. P51-Willie Keegan[2] ; 3. 18-Jeff Ward[1] ; 4. 115-Ben Good[5] ; 5. 36M-Cory McCaughey[6] ; 6. O1-Art Ball[7]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 7 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[7] ; 2. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[2] ; 3. 7B-Shawn Valenti[6] ; 4. 95-Keith Sorg[1] ; 5. 16-Steve Sabo[5] ; 6. 5-Jim McGrath[3] ; 7. 79-Andrew Lutman[4]
A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. OO-John Ivy[6]; 2. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[7]; 3. 7B-Shawn Valenti[3]; 4. 23M-Brad Mitten[1]; 5. 18W-Cory Ward[8]; 6. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[5]; 7. 2-Matt Foos[4]; 8. D1-Dustin Keegan[13]; 9. O1-Art Ball[17]; 10. 5-Jim McGrath[18]; 11. 37-Eric Devanna[16]; 12. 115-Ben Good[9]; 13. P51-Willie Keegan[12]; 14. 45-Brian Melnek[10]; 15. 18-Jeff Ward[11]; 16. 99X-Gene Potridge[19]; 17. 95-Keith Sorg[2]; 18. 79-Andrew Lutman[20]; 19. 16-Steve Sabo[15]
Hard Charger: O1-Art Ball[+8]
Surf’n Sweepstakes Compacts (12 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 – (4 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 23-Andrew Schroeder[2] ; 2. 14-Amanda Shammo[1] ; 3. 5-Tyler Sherman[4] ; 4. 32-Brandon Myers[6] ; 5. 92-Kyle Farmer[3] ; 6. pi-Erik Paulson[5]
Heat 2 – (4 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7P-Evan Patynko[3] ; 2. 99-Eric Pocock[1] ; 3. 711-Taylor Holland[4] ; 4. 22-Brandon Leighton[5] ; 5. 34S-McKenzie Biddle[2] ; 6. 29-Chevy Farmer[6]
A-Main – (12 Laps)
1. 14-Amanda Shammo[3]; 2. 99-Eric Pocock[1]; 3. 23-Andrew Schroeder[5]; 4. 711-Taylor Holland[2]; 5. 7P-Evan Patynko[4]; 6. 34S-McKenzie Biddle[10]; 7. PI-Erik Paulson[11]; 8. 5-Tyler Sherman[6]; 9. 92-Kyle Farmer[9]; 10. 32-Brandon Myers[7]; 11. 22-Brandon Leighton[8]; 12. 29-Chevy Farmer[12]
Hard Charger: 34S-McKenzie Biddle[+4]