By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio (September 25, 2021) – DJ Foos is having a dream season. The Fremont, Ohio driver of the Burmeister Racing 410 sprint car passed Nate Dussel late in the feature and drove to his sixth win of the season at Fremont Speedway Saturday, Sept. 25 on O’Reilly Auto Parts Night.
Foos’ 23rd career victory at “The Track That Action Built” increases his lead in the Fremont points heading into championship night on Saturday, Oct. 2.
“This is the stuff you dream of as a little kid. To be able to win six races here at Fremont Speedway is pretty huge for me. When me and Nate got into traffic we were both kind of moving around there and I found the middle lane was working for me. We basically had a perfect points night tonight. We set quick time, won the heat and won the feature. I really want to win that championship. We’re pretty close to 10 wins now. A win next week and an All Star win will put us there. I can’t thank Mikey Sommers, Mike Britt, Rodney and Rollie Burmeister and Sharon Burmeister for giving me this opportunity, the boys, Justin, LJ , Josh and Doug Berryman…we’re trying some different stuff right now with our shocks and we’re really believe in this deal and man it seems like it paid off tonight,” said Foos beside his Crown Battery, CR Juices, All in Tent Rentals, Dave Story Equipment, Burmeister Trophy, Sonny’s Signs, Vantage Branding, The Jet Express, Berryman Racing Shocks, Kistler Engines, Kistler Racing Products backed #16.
Lyons, Ohio’s BJ Gregory took the lead on lap three of the Steel Block Late Model Series feature and drove to his first ever feature win for the series’ first appearance at Fremont Speedway.
“I can’t even describe this right now. So much emotions. I’ve been following this steel block deal all year long…they are tough…they don’t mess around. I knew we had a shot coming here. This is amazing. We have a great crowd here tonight and a great field of cars. It makes me happy when tracks take a gamble like this and bring in a series they don’t normally race and we come in and put on a show. Thank you to Fremont Speedway and all the fans and my brother and crew guy for all their hard work,” said Gregory beside his Turnworks Machine & Fabrication, Robertson EDM, Aquatek Water Conditioning, CCR the Racers Connection backed #56.
Fremont, Ohio’s Dustin Stroup battled with Paul Weaver early in the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 A-main and narrowly avoided disaster when a lapped car spun right in front of him in the middle of the race. Stroup then held off a late race challenge from Fremont point leader Matt Foos to score his fourth win of the season. It was the sixth career win for Stroup at Fremont Speedway.
“I seen Adam down there the one lap and he had his arms out. I was like alright we have a decent lead so I was being cautious in three and four because it was very, very technical and if you hit it wrong…well you’re done. We had the car pretty good tonight and I didn’t want to over-due it because of three and four but to be fast you had to run up there. I have to thank everyone for this year…it’s been great. We have four wins here and one at Attica,” said Stroup beside his Automatic Fire Protection; MLP Lawncare & Snow Removal; Vantage Branding; Sulfer Town Pub, Level Performance; Advance Auto Parts backed #10x.
For the second straight week the Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck feature came down to the last lap and for the second straight week the winner took the checkers just a half a truck length ahead of the second place machine. This week it was two-time dirt truck track champion and current point leader Shawn Valenti who edged Jeff Babcock for the victory. For Valenti it’s his fifth truck victory of 2021 at Fremont and sixth overall win at the track as he also has a 305 sprint victory, pushing his career total to 67, just nine away from Art Ball, the track’s all-time feature winner.
“This thing just hasn’t felt right the past couple of weeks and Jeff Babcock went to work on it and got it back to where it was. I really had to concentrate on hitting my marks perfectly because Jeffrey Babcock has been very tough all year and one mistake and he would take advantage,” said Valenti beside his Best Performance Motorsports; A Plus Auto Center; Craig Miller Trucking; KS Sales & Service; Gressman Powersports; Dave Story Equipment, Speedways Bar and Grill; Roberts & Sons Contracting backed #7B.
In the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprint feature defending Fremont track champion Nate Dussel grabbed the early lead over Foos, Zane DeVault, Byron Reed, John Ivy and Cole Macedo. Foos closed quickly and by lap six he and Dussel were racing side by side for the lead while Reed moved into third.
Racing into lapped traffic by lap seven, Dussel used it to his advantage to pull away from Foos with Reed, DeVault and Macedo giving chase. With 14 laps to go Foos had closed again on Dussel and drove under him to take the lead on lap 22 while Reed, DeVault and Macedo battled hard for third.
Foos and Dussel took the checkers while DeVault and Macedo got together coming to the flag stand with Macedo tumbling. He was uninjured. DeVault, Reed and Mike Keegan, who made his 410 sprint debut, rounded out the top five.
Steve Miller took the early lead of the 25 lap late model A-main but fifth starter Gregory bolted into the top spot on lap three. A couple of early race cautions kept the field close, but after a yellow for debris and a spinning machine on lap nine, the rest of the race went off without a hitch with Gregory building a commanding lead.
Gregory took the checkers with a nearly four second advantage over Corey Delancey, the current series point leader, 14th starter Drew Smith, Miller and Zach Milbee.
Stroup wasted little time in the 305 A-main, taking the lead at the drop of the green over Paul Weaver, Chris Verda, Matt Foos, Mike Keegan and Jamie Miller. Stroup and Weaver ran nose to tail until a lapped car spun in front of them on lap seven, with Stroup narrowly missing the spinner but Weaver wasn’t so lucky, ending up on his side.
Stroup now had to fend off Foos with Tyler Shullick, Keegan and Miller waging a tremendous battle for third. The final race stoppage came on lap 13 with Stroup leading Foos, Keegan, Shullick and Miller. Stroup built up a two second lead with just seven laps to go but Foos rebounded and closed on the leader with just three circuits remaining.
Stroup got hung up on some lapped cars and Foos made it a drag race to the checkers with Stroup holding off the challenge for the win. Keegan, Shullick and Miller rounded out the top five.
The entire 20 lap dirt truck feature was the Valenti and Babcock show as the duo raced side by side the entire distance. Only a red on lap 10 slowed the action.
Coming to the checkers Babcock got a great run on Valenti in the final two turns but came up just a tad short for the second week in a row. Valenti earned the win over Babcock, 12th starter Cory McCaughey, Jim Holcomb and Dustin Keegan.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 2 for season championship night with the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions closing out their season and the track’s 70th anniversary season for the Jim and Joanne Classic Friday and Saturday, Oct. 8-9.
Keep up to date with Fremont Speedway by going to www.fremontohspeedway.com or on Facebook at www.facebook/FremontSpeedway or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/FremontSpeedway.
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Fremont Speedway
Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021
410 Sprints – Fort Ball Pizza Palace
Qualifying: 1.16-DJ Foos, 14.128; 2.28m-Conner Morrell, 14.330; 3.27s-John Ivy, 14.341; 4.1-Nate Dussel, 14.422; 5.5R-Byron Reed, 14.423; 6.35-Stuart Brubaker, 14.438; 7.12C-Kyle Capodice, 14.531; 8.7z-Zane DeVault, 14.553; 9.X-Mike Keegan, 14.742; 10.9Z-Duane Zablocki, 14.757; 11.7T-Troy Vaccaro, 14.892; 12.7C-Phil Gressman, 14.901; 13.2+-Brian Smith, 15.293; 14.75-Jerry Dahms, 15.467; 15.09A-Justin Adams, 15.904; 16.18-Cole Macedo, 16.464;
Heat 1, Group A (8 Laps): 1. 16-DJ Foos[4] ; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[1] ; 3. 27s-John Ivy[2] ; 4. X-Mike Keegan[6] ; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[7] ; 6. 28m-Conner Morrell[3] ; 7. 12C-Kyle Capodice[5] ; 8. 75-Jerry Dahms[8]
Heat 2, Group B (8 Laps): 1. 7z-Zane DeVault[2] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[4] ; 3. 18-Cole Macedo[8] ; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[3] ; 5. 7C-Phil Gressman[6] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[1] ; 7. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[5] ; 8. 09A-Justin Adams[7]
A-Main 1 (30 Laps): 1. 16-DJ Foos[1] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[2] ; 3. 7z-Zane DeVault[4] ; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[6] ; 5. X-Mike Keegan[8] ; 6. 27s-John Ivy[3] ; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker[5] ; 8. 18-Cole Macedo[7] ; 9. 2+-Brian Smith[9] ; 10. 7C-Phil Gressman[10] ; 11. 12C-Kyle Capodice[13] ; 12. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[12] ; 13. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[14] ; 14. 28m-Conner Morrell[11] ; 15. 09A-Justin Adams[16] ; 16. 75-Jerry Dahms[15]
Steel Block Late Model Series
Qualifying: 1.5M-Zach Milbee, 16.137; 2.C2-Corey Delancey, 16.431; 3.43-Dustin Sprouse, 16.514; 4.5C-Jacob Curnutte, 16.522; 5.56-BJ Gregory, 16.541; 6.34-Kyle Wiser, 16.542; 7.W1-Cory Workman, 16.583; 8.P3-Josh Robertson, 16.769; 9.95-Steve Miller, 16.814; 10.21-Larry Kingseed JR, 16.851; 11.9-Toma Johnson, 16.858; 12.19M-Carter Murday, 16.913; 13.25J-Ted Johnson, 16.997; 14.20-Troy Hahn, 17.094; 15.69-John Mayes, 17.094; 16.0-Cameron Tusing, 17.103; 17.16-Steve Sabo, 17.107; 18.35-Ron Miller, 17.225; 19.45-Travis Abbott, 17.234; 20.71-Drew Smith, 17.390; 21.46-Chris Williams, 17.403; 22.24-Jimmy Morey, 17.527; 23.25-Ted Johnson JR, 17.600; 24.67Sr-Scott Robertson, 17.621; 25.27K-Jay King, 17.873; 26.7-Trevor Miller, 17.900; 27.82SS-Shaun Sharp, 18.334; 28.17x-Dustin Keegan, 99.999;
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5M-Zach Milbee[1] ; 2. 0-Cameron Tusing[6] ; 3. 5C-Jacob Curnutte[2] ; 4. 25J-Ted Johnson[5] ; 5. 45-Travis Abbott[7] ; 6. 17x-Dustin Keegan[10] ; 7. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[4] ; 8. W1-Cory Workman[3] ; 9. 27K-Jay King[9] ; 10. 24-Jimmy Morey[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. C2-Corey Delancey[1] ; 2. 56-BJ Gregory[2] ; 3. P3-Josh Robertson[3] ; 4. 16-Steve Sabo[6] ; 5. 71-Drew Smith[7] ; 6. 25-Ted Johnson JR[8] ; 7. 20-Troy Hahn[5] ; 8. 9-Toma Johnson[4] ; 9. 7-Trevor Miller[9]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 43-Dustin Sprouse[1] ; 2. 95-Steve Miller[3] ; 3. 19M-Carter Murday[4] ; 4. 35-Ron Miller[6] ; 5. 69-John Mayes[5] ; 6. 46-Chris Williams[7] ; 7. 67Sr-Scott Robertson[8] ; 8. 82SS-Shaun Sharp[9] ; 9. 34-Kyle Wiser[2]
B-Main 1 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[4] ; 2. 17x-Dustin Keegan[1] ; 3. 20-Troy Hahn[5] ; 4. 46-Chris Williams[3] ; 5. 9-Toma Johnson[8] ; 6. 82SS-Shaun Sharp[9] ; 7. 67Sr-Scott Robertson[6] ; 8. 25-Ted Johnson JR[2] ; 9. W1-Cory Workman[7] ; 10. 27K-Jay King[10] ; 11. 34-Kyle Wiser[12] ; 12. 24-Jimmy Morey[13] ; 13. 7-Trevor Miller[11]
A-Main 1 (25 Laps): 1. 56-BJ Gregory[5] ; 2. C2-Corey Delancey[4] ; 3. 71-Drew Smith[14] ; 4. 95-Steve Miller[1] ; 5. 5M-Zach Milbee[6] ; 6. 19M-Carter Murday[9] ; 7. P3-Josh Robertson[8] ; 8. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[16] ; 9. 5C-Jacob Curnutte[7] ; 10. 16-Steve Sabo[11] ; 11. 69-John Mayes[15] ; 12. 45-Travis Abbott[13] ; 13. 25-Ted Johnson JR[19] ; 14. 17x-Dustin Keegan[17] ; 15. 20-Troy Hahn[18] ; 16. 0-Cameron Tusing[2] ; 17. 35-Ron Miller[12] ; 18. 43-Dustin Sprouse[3] ; 19. 25J-Ted Johnson[10]
305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit Union
Qualifying: 1.99-Alvin Roepke, 14.534; 2.X-Mike Keegan, 14.675; 3.28-Shawn Valenti, 14.775; 4.26-Jamie Miller, 14.827; 5.19R-Steve Rando, 14.895; 6.z10-Chris Verda, 14.963; 7.1W-Paul Weaver, 15.036; 8.12F-Matt Foos, 15.055; 9.16-Zeth Sabo, 15.062; 10.32-Bryce Lucius, 15.076; 11.21-Larry Kingseed JR, 15.078; 12.10X-Dustin Stroup, 15.107; 13.5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr, 15.143; 14.15k-Creed Kemenah, 15.187; 15.61-Tyler Shullick, 15.324; 16.7M-Brandon Moore, 15.383; 17.20i-Kelsey Ivy, 15.516; 18.9R-Logan Riehl, 15.696; 19.34-Jud Dickerson, 15.863; 20.86-Zack Miller, 16.116; 21.63-Randy Ruble, 16.130; 22.6-Jimmie Ward, 16.402;
Heat 1, Group A (8 Laps): 1. 26-Jamie Miller[1] ; 2. 28-Shawn Valenti[2] ; 3. 16-Zeth Sabo[6] ; 4. X-Mike Keegan[3] ; 5. 19R-Steve Rando[5] ; 6. 99-Alvin Roepke[4] ; 7. 32-Bryce Lucius[7] ; 8. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[8]
Heat 2, Group B (8 Laps): 1. 1W-Paul Weaver[3] ; 2. 12F-Matt Foos[2] ; 3. z10-Chris Verda[4] ; 4. 9R-Logan Riehl[5] ; 5. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[1] ; 6. 6-Jimmie Ward[7] ; 7. 86-Zack Miller[6]
Heat 3, Group C (8 Laps): 1. 61-Tyler Shullick[1] ; 2. 10X-Dustin Stroup[3] ; 3. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[4] ; 4. 7M-Brandon Moore[5] ; 5. 34-Jud Dickerson[6] ; 6. 15k-Creed Kemenah[2] ; 7. 63-Randy Ruble[7]
A-Main 1 (25 Laps): 1. 10X-Dustin Stroup[2] ; 2. 12F-Matt Foos[3] ; 3. X-Mike Keegan[5] ; 4. 61-Tyler Shullick[7] ; 5. 26-Jamie Miller[6] ; 6. 16-Zeth Sabo[9] ; 7. 28-Shawn Valenti[8] ; 8. z10-Chris Verda[1] ; 9. 99-Alvin Roepke[16] ; 10. 7M-Brandon Moore[12] ; 11. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[10] ; 12. 9R-Logan Riehl[11] ; 13. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[14] ; 14. 32-Bryce Lucius[19] ; 15. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[22] ; 16. 15k-Creed Kemenah[18] ; 17. 63-Randy Ruble[21] ; 18. 19R-Steve Rando[13] ; 19. 6-Jimmie Ward[17] ; 20. 1W-Paul Weaver[4] ; 21. 34-Jud Dickerson[15] ; 22. 86-Zack Miller[20]
Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Jeff Babcock[3] ; 2. 4s-Keith Sorg[2] ; 3. 7B-Shawn Valenti[8] ; 4. 23m-Brad Mitten[7] ; 5. P51-Cory Ward[5] ; 6. 14T-Cody Truman[4] ; 7. 88-Conor Emch[1] ; 8. 4M-Jamie Miller[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 911-Cory McCaughey[7] ; 2. 6-Steve Sabo[5] ; 3. 7X-Dana Frey[6] ; 4. 8KB-Kent Brewer[2] ; 5. 78-Austin Black [3] ; 6. 73-Troy Aikman[1] ; 7. 7H-JT Horn[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 17x-Dustin Keegan[7] ; 2. 19-Tony Burns[5] ; 3. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[4] ; 4. 32-Kevin Phillips[2] ; 5. 11-Austin Gibson[1] ; 6. 67-Ben Clapp[6] ; 7. 9-Curt Inks[3]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Jim Holcomb[1] ; 2. 4X-Brian Sorg[3] ; 3. 28-Cody Laird[5] ; 4. 62-Levi Beery[2] ; 5. 26-Kyle Lagrou[7] ; 6. 5s-Bradley Stuckey[6] ; 7. 32H-Dan Hennig[4]
B-Main 1 (10 Laps): 1. 4M-Jamie Miller[12] ; 2. P51-Cory Ward[1] ; 3. 67-Ben Clapp[7] ; 4. 14T-Cody Truman[5] ; 5. 11-Austin Gibson[3] ; 6. 7H-JT Horn[10] ; 7. 78-Austin Black [2] ; 8. 26-Kyle Lagrou[4] ; 9. 73-Troy Aikman[6] ; 10. 32H-Dan Hennig[11] ; 11. 5s-Bradley Stuckey[8] ; 12. 88-Conor Emch[9] ; 13. 9-Curt Inks[13]
A-Main 1 (20 Laps): 1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[3] ; 2. 25-Jeff Babcock[2] ; 3. 911-Cory McCaughey[12] ; 4. 16-Jim Holcomb[5] ; 5. 17x-Dustin Keegan[10] ; 6. 6-Steve Sabo[7] ; 7. 4s-Keith Sorg[6] ; 8. P51-Cory Ward[18] ; 9. 23m-Brad Mitten[13] ; 10. 32-Kevin Phillips[15] ; 11. 8KB-Kent Brewer[14] ; 12. 67-Ben Clapp[19] ; 13. 4X-Brian Sorg[9] ; 14. 19-Tony Burns[8] ; 15. 28-Cody Laird[11] ; 16. 14T-Cody Truman[20] ; 17. 7X-Dana Frey[1] ; 18. 62-Levi Beery[16] ; 19. 4M-Jamie Miller[17] ; 20. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[4]