Dussel gets emotional 410 Fremont win; Hewitt earns BOSS victory; Weaver gets #54 in 305 sprints

Nate Dussel Mike Campbell photography

By Brian Liskai

FREMONT, Ohio – Bradner, Ohio’s Nate Dussel did not have a good Ohio Sprint Speedweek. But, the little family-owned team rolled up their sleeves and went to work and it paid off Saturday, July 18 at Fremont Speedway.

The former two-time 305 sprint champion at “The Track That Action Built” took the lead on lap two and held off several late race challenges from Cole Duncan, including a restart with just six laps to go, and drove to his 24th career victory on Fort Ball Pizza Palace Night in the 410 sprint division.

“To be honest that was the last car I wanted to see behind me on that last restart. I know when the track gets slick how good Cole is. Honestly I never saw anyone and I felt like I made some mistakes…I thought we must be pretty good because I kind of screwed up in three and four a couple of times with lapped traffic and never saw a nose. I knew if I just stayed straight and limit my mistakes I can make six laps around here,” said Dussel in the Engine Pro Victory lane describing his .360 second winning advantage.

“We are a small team and when you wipe out a complete race car (during speedweek)…it was just demoralizing because we were really excited to do that to see what we could do. It ended so quickly…I think this makes up for it. I have to thank Jason Fausey and my dad….Jason coming on board really improved our team. I can’t do it without all my guys. We scrambled and changed a steering…it feels like it’s been non-stop changing things and fixing things. It’s been years of being so close…damn it’s so hard to beat these guys,” added Dussel of his Northwest Installation/Industrial Movers, Fausey Farms, Berrier Custom Fabrication, JRC Transportation, NuFarm, Al Davis Carpet and Laminate, Real Geese Decoys, Gressman Powersports, A Plus Auto center, Box 7, Speedways Bar & Grille, DGGI, Wurtec, Swindell Speedlab backed machine.

The MPD Racing / Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series featuring non-wing machines, didn’t disappoint in their first appearance of the year at Fremont Speedway. The 25-lap feature went non-stop and when the dust settled Troy, Ohio’s Dallas Hewitt took his first Fremont victory. It wasn’t easy as he took the lead from Tyler Gunn on lap 15 and then held off many challenges from Gunn racing through lapped traffic the final five circuits.

Dallas Hewitt
Mike Campbell photography

“About 10 to go I was looking for the five to go…it couldn’t come soon enough. The last five laps felt like 15. This is my kind of track. I like them when they get slick to a cushion like this. With the lapped cars you never know where everyone is racing for position and it’s tight here…it was definitely had me a little nervous here getting into the lapped cars. To finally get a win at this track is special,” said Hewitt beside his Keen’s Auto Body & Sales, Cars & Parts, Loan Star Pawn Shop backed #18.

Fremont, Ohio’s Paul Weaver took the lead from Matt Foos on lap 10 and then held off a late race charge from Jamie Miller to score his third Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature win of the season at Fremont Speedway. The victory was Weaver’s 54th career checkered flag at the track, tying him with Herbie Robinson for 7th on the track’s all-time win list.

“It’s remarkable to see the heroes we are passing now in the all-time win list. Looking back on it when I tied De Genzmen and he came down on the front stretch…that was a special night. Russ Adkins came on board after he sold his car last year and it’s been a big help. Thanks to Pam and Steve Brown of B&B Drain, Dave Rice and Bob Hampshire, M&L Excavating, Seagate Sandblasting and everyone who helps,” said Weaver.

Perhaps the most exciting finish of the night was in the 20-lap Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks. Following a caution with just four laps to go, Cory McCaughey and Shawn Valenti traded paint on several occasions including coming to the checkers where McCaughey won by a bumper for his second career victory and his second of the season.

“I didn’t mean to hit him (Valenti) I just wanted to rattle his cage a little bit. I didn’t mean to push him over the ledge over in one and two. I smacked him the lap before the same way to loosen him up and he kept it together. Then he moved down..and I was like man we got a shot at this,” said McCaughey beside his KC Engineering; Ron Miller Race Cars, DAS Motors backed #911.

Lee Jacobs grabbed the lead at the drop of the green for the 30-lap Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 sprint feature with Dussel immediately putting on the pressure. Dussel took the lead a lap later just before the caution flew. On the restart Dussel pulled away from Jacobs while a great battle ensued for third involving Ryan Broughton, Duncan and Cole Macedo.

Dussel raced into heavy lapped traffic by the 10th circuit but Jacobs could not close while Duncan moved in on the top two. A caution on lap 18 followed by another a lap later gave Duncan the chance to drive into second on the restart and he steadily closed on Dussel.

The final caution flew with just six laps to go. Dussel got a tremendous restart but a few laps later Duncan had closed again. Dussel made no mistakes the final three laps and drove to the win over Duncan, Jacobs, Stuart Brubaker and 12th starter DJ Foos.

In the 25 lap BOSS feature Dustin Smith grabbed the early lead over Isaac Chapple, Tyler Gunn, Hewitt and Lee Underwood. Gunn took second a lap later and stayed within a car length of Smith. Gunn made his move to take the lead on lap 12, bringing Hewitt into second with Smith falling to third.

Gunn’s run at the point lasted only three laps as Hewitt took command on lap 15 over Gunn and Ricky Peterson. Hewitt held a three car length advantage while Gunn and Peterson battle for the runner-up spot.

Hewitt charged into heavy lapped traffic with just four laps to go and Gunn closed quickly. The pair raced side by side for a couple of laps with Hewitt getting through traffic and taking the win over Gunn, Peterson, Matt Westfall and Smith.

Matt Foos took the early lead in the 305 sprint feature over Steve Rando, Weaver, Luke Griffith and Seth Schneider. Weaver drove into second on lap two and closed on Foos. Following a caution on lap eight, Weaver bolted into the lead on lap 10 and never looked back. Only a few cautions would keep the field close, but the final one on with five to go put Jamie Miller right on Weaver’s rear bumper.

Weaver got an excellent restart and drove to the win over Miller, Schneider, Alvin Roepke and Griffith.

Cautions marred the first few laps of the dirt truck feature but when it got going with just six laps in, it was a barn-burner. Valenti led but McCaughey stalked him with Kent Brewer joining in on the fun as they raced into lapped traffic on lap 12.

A caution with just five laps to go gave McCaughey the chance he needed and he let Valenti know he was there on several occasions. Coming to the checkers McCaughey drove to Valenti’s outside with the pair banging and bumping to the checkers where McCaughey held the advantage, Brewer, Jim Holcomb and John Brooks rounded out the top five.

Fremont Speedway plans to be back in action Saturday, July 25 with the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series 410 Sprints Presented by the Baumann Auto Group, the NAPA Auto Parts of Bryan 305 ASCS Presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales and the Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks in action.

Keep up to date with Fremont Speedway by going to www.fremontohspeedway.com or on Facebook at www.facebook/FremontSpeedway or on Twitter https://twitter.com/FremontSpeedway

Fremont Speedway

Saturday, July 18, 2020

Fort Ball Pizza Palace Night

410 Sprints – Fort Ball Pizza Palace

Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)

1. 00-Thomas Meseraull[3] ; 2. 11N-Craig Mintz[4] ; 3. 1-Nate Dussel[1] ; 4. 2-Ricky Peterson[6] ; 5. 14-Chad Wilson[2] ; 6. 41-Thomas Schinderle[5] ; 7. 39-Tylar Rankin[7]

Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)

1. 22-Cole Duncan[1] ; 2. 23-Cole Macedo[2] ; 3. 22M-Dan McCarron[4] ; 4. 33W-Caleb Griffith[5] ; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[3] ; 6. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[6] ; 7. 4T-Josh Turner[7]

Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)

1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[2] ; 2. 22B-Ryan Broughton[1] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[4] ; 4. 16-DJ Foos[6] ; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs[3] ; 6. 77I-John Ivy[5] ; 7. 23d-Devon Dobie[7]

A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)

1. 1-Nate Dussel[4] ; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[3] ; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs[1] ; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker[7] ; 5. 16-DJ Foos[12] ; 6. 22B-Ryan Broughton[2] ; 7. 5T-Travis Philo[8] ; 8. 2+-Brian Smith[14] ; 9. 11N-Craig Mintz[10] ; 10. 22M-Dan McCarron[9] ; 11. 77I-John Ivy[18] ; 12. 41-Thomas Schinderle[15] ; 13. 2-Ricky Peterson[13] ; 14. 23d-Devon Dobie[21] ; 15. 14-Chad Wilson[16] ; 16. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[17] ; 17. 39-Tylar Rankin[19] ; 18. 4T-Josh Turner[20] ; 19. 23-Cole Macedo[5] ; 20. 33W-Caleb Griffith[11] ; 21. 00-Thomas Meseraull[6]

Hard Charger: 16-DJ Foos +7

305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit Union

Qualifying

1.21-Larry Kingseed JR, 14.452; 2.36-Seth Schneider, 14.632; 3.5-Kody Brewer, 14.670; 4.1W-Paul Weaver, 14.671; 5.11G-Luke Griffith, 14.681; 6.12F-Matt Foos, 14.698; 7.19R-Steve Rando, 14.719; 8.99-Alvin Roepke, 14.724; 9.26-Jamie Miller, 14.726; 10.61-Tyler Shullick, 14.792; 11.85-Shawn Valenti, 14.889; 12.1H-Zeth Sabo, 14.914; 13.75-Jerry Dahms, 14.935; 14.X-Mike Keegan, 14.992; 15.Z10-Brandon Moore, 14.998; 16.3V-Chris Verda, 15.133; 17.9-Logan Riehl, 15.138; 18.29-Rich Farmer, 15.149; 19.12-Kyle Capodice, 15.231; 20.X15-Kasey Ziebold, 15.341; 21.3X-Brandon Riehl, 15.389; 22.47-Matt Lucius, 15.546; 23.13-Jeremy Duposki, 15.563; 24.51-Garrett Craine, 15.711;

Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)

1. 1W-Paul Weaver[3] ; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[2] ; 3. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[4] ; 4. 75-Jerry Dahms[5] ; 5. 12-Kyle Capodice[7] ; 6. 3V-Chris Verda[6] ; 7. 47-Matt Lucius[8]

Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)

1. 99-Alvin Roepke[2] ; 2. 11G-Luke Griffith[3] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[4] ; 4. 85-Shawn Valenti[1] ; 5. X-Mike Keegan[5] ; 6. 9-Logan Riehl[6] ; 7. 13-Jeremy Duposki[8] ; 8. X15-Kasey Ziebold[7]

Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)

1. 26-Jamie Miller[2] ; 2. 1H-Zeth Sabo[1] ; 3. 12F-Matt Foos[3] ; 4. 5-Kody Brewer[4] ; 5. Z10-Brandon Moore[5] ; 6. 29-Rich Farmer[6] ; 7. 3X-Brandon Riehl[7]

A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)

1. 1W-Paul Weaver[4] ; 2. 26-Jamie Miller[8] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[5] ; 4. 99-Alvin Roepke[7] ; 5. 11G-Luke Griffith[3] ; 6. 85-Shawn Valenti[11] ; 7. Z10-Brandon Moore[15] ; 8. 1H-Zeth Sabo[9] ; 9. 12-Kyle Capodice[13] ; 10. 61-Tyler Shullick[23] ; 11. 5-Kody Brewer[12] ; 12. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[6] ; 13. X-Mike Keegan[14] ; 14. 13-Jeremy Duposki[20] ; 15. 47-Matt Lucius[19] ; 16. 9-Logan Riehl[17] ; 17. 75-Jerry Dahms[10] ; 18. X15-Kasey Ziebold[22] ; 19. 29-Rich Farmer[18] ; 20. 19R-Steve Rando[1] ; 21. 3V-Chris Verda[16] ; 22. 12F-Matt Foos[2] ; 23. 3X-Brandon Riehl[21] ; 24. 51-Garrett Craine[24]

Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy

Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)

1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[9] ; 2. 1-John Brooks[5] ; 3. 32H-Dan Hennig[7] ; 4. 78-Austin Black [3] ; 5. 6-Steve Sabo[2] ; 6. 8W-Allen White[6] ; 7. 20-Caleb Shearn[1] ; 8. 27-Calob Crispen[4] ; 9. P51-Paul Brown JR[10] ; 10. 55-DJ Mestrey[8]

Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)

1. 4s-Keith Sorg[2] ; 2. 67-Ben Clapp[3] ; 3. 26-Kyle Lagrou[10] ; 4. 4M-Jamie Miller[9] ; 5. 11-Austin Gibson[8] ; 6. 93B-Bryce Black[5] ; 7. 1x-Patrick Pinkston[1] ; 8. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[6] ; 9. 62-Levi Beery[7] ; 10. 17x-Dustin Kingston[4]

Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)

1. 16-Jim Holcomb[7] ; 2. 911-Cory McCaughey[4] ; 3. 5s-Bradley Stuckey[2] ; 4. 8KB-Kent Brewer[8] ; 5. 7X-Dana Frey[6] ; 6. 14T-Cody Truman[9] ; 7. 23m-Brad Mitten[5] ; 8. 7H-JT Horn[1] ; 9. 33-Jeff Ward[3]

B-Main 1 – (8 Laps)

1. 23m-Brad Mitten[6] ; 1. 4M-Jamie Miller[9] ; 2. 14T-Cody Truman[1] ; 3. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[8] ; 4. 7H-JT Horn[5] ; 5. P51-Paul Brown JR[7] ; 6. 1x-Patrick Pinkston[3] ; 7. 20-Caleb Shearn[4] ; 8. 93B-Bryce Black[2] ; 10. 55-DJ Mestrey[14] ; 11. 62-Levi Beery[13] ; 12. 33-Jeff Ward[12] ; 13. 27-Calob Crispen[11] ; 14. 8W-Allen White[10]

A-Main 1 – (20 Laps)

1. 911-Cory McCaughey[1] ; 2. 7B-Shawn Valenti[2] ; 3. 8KB-Kent Brewer[5] ; 4. 16-Jim Holcomb[7] ; 5. 1-John Brooks[3] ; 6. 67-Ben Clapp[9] ; 7. 23m-Brad Mitten[17] ; 8. 17x-Dustin Kingston[12] ; 9. 4s-Keith Sorg[11] ; 10. 32H-Dan Hennig[6] ; 11. 78-Austin Black [10] ; 12. 5s-Bradley Stuckey[4] ; 13. 7X-Dana Frey[15] ; 14. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[19] ; 15. 7H-JT Horn[20] ; 16. 14T-Cody Truman[18] ; 17. 4M-Jamie Miller[16] ; 18. 11-Austin Gibson[14] ; 19. 26-Kyle Lagrou[8] ; 20. 6-Steve Sabo[13]

B.O.S.S Non-Wing –

Qualifying

1.18-Dallas Hewitt, 16.315; 2.24L-Lee Underwood, 16.320; 3.9N-Luke Hall, 16.399; 4.0-Steve Irwin, 16.407; 5.52-Isaac Chapple, 16.434; 6.33M-Matt Westfall, 16.443; 7.00-Thomas Meseraull, 16.505; 8.2+-Brian Smith, 16.583; 9.68G-Tyler Gunn, 16.596; 10.21-Carmen Perigo, 16.679; 11.9X-Ricky Peterson, 16.719; 12.77-Dustin Smith, 16.746; 13.81-Lee Jacobs, 16.748; 14.53-Steve Little, 16.857; 15.2DI-Dustin Ingle, 16.955; 16.07-Ricky Lewis, 17.085; 17.14-Chad Wilson, 17.248; 18.2-Mike Galajda, 17.323; 19.7M-Brandon Moore, 17.377; 20.18D-Bobby Distel, 17.602; 21.31L-Buddy Lowther, 17.910; 22.25-Max Frank, 17.916; 23.5M-Mike Moore, 17.944; 24.49-Brian Ruhlman, 18.055;

A-main – (25 Laps)

1. 18-Dallas Hewitt[6] ; 2. 68G-Tyler Gunn[4] ; 3. 9X-Ricky Peterson[8] ; 4. 33M-Matt Westfall[10] ; 5. 77-Dustin Smith[2] ; 6. 52-Isaac Chapple[1] ; 7. 0-Steve Irwin[5] ; 8. 00-Thomas Meseraull[11] ; 9. 24L-Lee Underwood[3] ; 10. 2+-Brian Smith[16] ; 11. 9N-Luke Hall[7] ; 12. 07-Ricky Lewis[14] ; 13. 7M-Brandon Moore[20] ; 14. 21-Carmen Perigo[13] ; 15. 81-Lee Jacobs[17] ; 16. 53-Steve Little[9] ; 17. 5M-Mike Moore[15] ; 18. 2-Mike Galajda[19] ; 19. 14-Chad Wilson[23] ; 20. 18D-Bobby Distel[12] ; 21. 49-Brian Ruhlman[22] ; 22. 25-Max Frank[18] ; 23. 31L-Buddy Lowther[21] ; 24. 2DI-Dustin Ingle[24]