Patience Pays Off for Macedo with AFCS Fremont Victory

Cole Macedo. (Mike Campbell photo)

From Brian Lisaki

FREMONT, Ohio (July 8, 2022) — Cole Macedo has learned the fine art of patience as a sprint car driver. The Lemoore, California driver of the Ray Brooks Racing 410 sprint car watched video of Greg Wilson being patient on the bottom of Fremont Speedway and claiming wins this year. Macedo copied that mentality and drove to his fourth win of the year at “The Track That Action Built” Saturday, July 9 on Fort Ball Pizza Palace Night.

The victory, Macedo’s sixth overall win of 2022, solidified his spot atop the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series presented by the Baumann Auto Group. Macedo also leads the points at both Fremont Speedway and Attica Raceway Park.

Following back-to-back cautions – the only stoppages in the 30-lap main event – Macedo drove around Travis Philo to take the lead on lap 18 and picked his way through traffic for his eighth career Fremont victory.

“I’ve been getting beat here by Greg Wilson and I’m getting tired of it. I’ve been watching a lot of video and watching what he does. That is the first race in my life that I never even chanced running the top. It paid off. My guys have been working hard and have gotten me better and better. I have to thank Braden, his girlfriend, the Lang gang, Cody, Mike, Steven, Emily Linder, Stephanie…we have a lot of great supporters on this car,” said Macedo of his Fremont Auto Parts, Grant Decker Construction, Linder’s Speed Equipment, Gill Construction, CK Mechanical, ML Graphics, Catawba Island Club, Durst backed #18.

Fremont’s Paul Weaver took the lead in the 25-lap non-stop Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 A-main on lap 11 and drove away for his third straight win at Fremont and fifth overall for 2022. The victory also puts him in nearly a dead heat with Jamie Miller for the lead in the NAPA Auto Parts of Bryan AFCS presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales.

“I looked at the rule book and a lot of guys were switching over to the gas shocks. Doug Berryman hooked me up with the shocks. I tried over driving it but the harder you ran the worse it was because there were slick spots out there,” said Weaver beside his B&B Drain Service, M&L Excavating, Hampshire Racing Engines backed #31.

In a spectacular 20 lap Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck feature that featured side by side and at times three wide battles for the lead, Ottawa Lake, Michigan’s Dave Gumby Jr., a rookie this season, held off Jeff Babcock for his first career Fremont win. The race featured several lead changes with Jim Holcomb leading laps 1-3, Gumby leading laps 4-8, Babcock holding the point for laps 9-11, and Gumby leading laps 12-20. The feature saw only two cautions, after lap one and on lap 14 for debris.

Following Gumby to the checkers were Babcock, Shawn Valenti, Ben Clapp and Jamie Miller.

“This is my first actual win in a dirt car. I won at Sandusky (Asphalt) twice. Ron Miller – my wife Stephanie’s grandpa – built one hell of a hotrod. My truck owner David and his nephew Tim worked their asses off all winter on this thing. All you have to do is stay consistent and not mess up,” said Gumby beside his Ron Miller Race Cars, Get Bent Fab backed #P51.

Travis Philo grabbed the early lead of the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprint A-main with Kyle Capodice racing to his inside lap after lap after lap with Macedo being patient in third while Chris Andrews, Craig Mintz and DJ Foos gave chase. Capodice used traffic to grab the lead on lap seven but Philo retook the top spot on lap 10.

At the half-way point it was a tremendous three car battle for the lead involving Philo, Macedo and Capodice just as the caution flew for debris. On the restart third running Capodice spun. When the green flew Macedo immediately challenged Philo utilizing the bottom groove, taking the lead on lap 18.

Macedo encountered heavy lapped traffic with six laps to go, but he patiently picked them off one at a time and drove to the win over a charging Andrews, Philo, Foos and Mintz.

Jamie Miller lead the first 10 laps of the 305 A-main but had challenges from TJ Michael lap after lap. Traffic came into play and Weaver used it to take second and drove into the lead on lap 11. Once in front, Weaver steadily pulled away and built up a nearly four second lead by the time the checkers flew. Michael, Miller, Matt Foos and Kody Brewer rounded out the top five in the non-stop affair.

There will be no racing at Fremont Speedway on Saturday, July 16 but action resumes Saturday, July 23 with the AFCS 410 and 305 sprints along with the dirt trucks and the first ever appearance of the USAC D2 Midgets.

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.

Fremont Speedway
Fremont, Ohio
Saturday, July 9, 2022

Winged 410 Sprint Cars
Qualifying
1.18-Cole Macedo, 12.907
2.1-Nate Dussel, 12.939
3.5T-Travis Philo, 13.025
4.35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.053
5.16-DJ Foos, 13.078
6.49I-John Ivy, 13.080
7.8M-TJ Michael, 13.093
8.23-Chris Andrews, 13.109
9.09X-Brian Smith, 13.109
10.09-Craig Mintz, 13.122
11.12-Kyle Capodice, 13.181
12.24D-Danny Sams, 13.182
13.68G-Tyler Gunn, 13.205
14.22M-Dan McCarron, 13.217
15.5-Byron Reed, 13.252
16.28M-Conner Morrell, 13.277
17.84-Cale Stinson, 13.308
18.7N-Darin Naida, 13.317
19.9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.377
20.26W-Cody White, 13.527
21.28-Gray Leadbetter, 13.549
22.75-Jerry Dahms, 14.191
23.7T-Troy Vaccaro, 14.714
24.X-Mike Keegan, 99.999

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 12-Kyle Capodice[1]
2. 23-Chris Andrews[2]
3. 18-Cole Macedo[4]
4. 8M-TJ Michael[3]
5. 28M-Conner Morrell[6]
6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7]
7. 22M-Dan McCarron[5]
8. 28-Gray Leadbetter[8]

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 1-Nate Dussel[4]
2. 16-DJ Foos[2]
3. 49I-John Ivy[1]
4. 35-Stuart Brubaker[3]
5. 09X-Brian Smith[5]
6. 24D-Danny Sams[6]
7. 5-Byron Reed[7]
8. 84-Cale Stinson[8]

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 09-Craig Mintz[3]
2. 68G-Tyler Gunn[2]
3. 7N-Darin Naida[1]
4. 5T-Travis Philo[4]
5. X-Mike Keegan[8]
6. 26W-Cody White[5]
7. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[7]
8. 75-Jerry Dahms[6]

A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 18-Cole Macedo[3]
2. 23-Chris Andrews[4]
3. 5T-Travis Philo[2]
4. 16-DJ Foos[5]
5. 09-Craig Mintz[6]
6. 68G-Tyler Gunn[8]
7. 1-Nate Dussel[7]
8. 49I-John Ivy[9]
9. 8M-TJ Michael[11]
10. 5-Byron Reed[20]
11. 35-Stuart Brubaker[12]
12. 24D-Danny Sams[17]
13. 22M-Dan McCarron[19]
14. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[16]
15. 28M-Conner Morrell[13]
16. 09X-Brian Smith[14]
17. 26W-Cody White[18]
18. X-Mike Keegan[15]
19. 7N-Darin Naida[10]
20. 12-Kyle Capodice[1]
21. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[21]
22. 28-Gray Leadbetter[22]

Winged 305 Sprint Cars

Qualifying
1.9R-Logan Riehl, 13.749
2.31-Paul Weaver, 13.752
3.28-Shawn Valenti, 13.803
4.5K-Kasey Jedrzejek, 13.905
5.12-Matt Foos, 13.923
6.8-TJ Michael, 13.960
7.15k-Creed Kemenah, 14.030
8.99-Alvin Roepke, 14.043
9.X-Mike Keegan, 14.047
10.21-Larry Kingseed JR, 14.058
11.36-Seth Schneider, 14.093
12.5-Kody Brewer, 14.103
13.26-Jamie Miller, 14.144
14.20i-Kelsey Ivy, 14.168
15.5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr, 14.220
16.19R-Steve Rando, 14.224
17.3V-Chris Verda, 14.240
18.78-Austin Black , 14.247
19.3X-Brandon Riehl, 14.300
20.3F-Wade Fraley, 14.396
21.34-Jud Dickerson, 14.477
22.7M-Brandon Moore, 14.538
23.10TS-Tyler Schiets, 14.671
24.13-Jeremy Duposki, 14.701
25.13S-Drew Siferd, 14.832
26.97X-Rodney Hurst, 14.919

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 12-Matt Foos[1]
2. 31-Paul Weaver[3]
3. 8-TJ Michael[5]
4. 15k-Creed Kemenah[6]
5. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[8]
6. 28-Shawn Valenti[2]
7. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[7]
8. 78-Austin Black [9]
9. 9R-Logan Riehl[4]

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 36-Seth Schneider[2]
2. 5-Kody Brewer[1]
3. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[3]
4. 3V-Chris Verda[5]
5. X-Mike Keegan[4]
6. 34-Jud Dickerson[7]
7. 13S-Drew Siferd[8]
8. 3F-Wade Fraley[6]
9. 97X-Rodney Hurst[9]

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 26-Jamie Miller[2]
2. 99-Alvin Roepke[3]
3. 19R-Steve Rando[1]
4. 5K-Kasey Jedrzejek[4]
5. 3X-Brandon Riehl[5]
6. 7M-Brandon Moore[6]
7. 13-Jeremy Duposki[8]
8. 10TS-Tyler Schiets[7]

B-Main (10 Laps)
1. 28-Shawn Valenti[1]
2. 34-Jud Dickerson[2]
3. 7M-Brandon Moore[3]
4. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[4]
5. 9R-Logan Riehl[10]
6. 10TS-Tyler Schiets[9]
7. 78-Austin Black [7]
8. 13-Jeremy Duposki[6]
9. 13S-Drew Siferd[5]
10. 3F-Wade Fraley[8]
11. 97X-Rodney Hurst[11]

A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 31-Paul Weaver[4]
2. 8-TJ Michael[2]
3. 26-Jamie Miller[1]
4. 12-Matt Foos[8]
5. 5-Kody Brewer[5]
6. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[9]
7. 5K-Kasey Jedrzejek[7]
8. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[13]
9. 15k-Creed Kemenah[11]
10. 99-Alvin Roepke[6]
11. X-Mike Keegan[14]
12. 36-Seth Schneider[3]
13. 19R-Steve Rando[10]
14. 3V-Chris Verda[12]
15. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[19]
16. 9R-Logan Riehl[20]
17. 3X-Brandon Riehl[15]
18. 28-Shawn Valenti[16]
19. 34-Jud Dickerson[17]
20. 7M-Brandon Moore[18]

Dirt Trucks

1.25-Jeff Babcock, 17.609
2.4M-Jamie Miller, 17.788
3.36M-Cory McCaughey, 17.843
4.7b-Shawn Valenti, 17.970
5.P51-Dave Gumby Jr., 18.040
6.32H-Dan Hennig , 18.048
7.67-Ben Clapp, 18.054
8.11H-Jim Holcomb, 18.056
9.26-Kyle Lagrou, 18.200
10.8KB-Kent Brewer, 18.271
11.0-Jody Keegan, 18.273
12.8-RJ Cornett, 18.298
13.7X-Dana Frey, 18.323
14.19-Tony Burns, 18.350
15.23m-Brad Mitten, 18.355
16.17X-Dustin Keegan, 18.371
17.83-Butch Latte, 18.501
18.6-Steve Sabo, 18.563
19.4s-Keith Sorg, 18.593
20.5s-Bradley Stuckey, 18.707
21.9-Curt Inks, 18.905
22.7H-JT Horn, 19.118
23.8S-Brandon Stuckey, 19.126
24.3-Devan McEwan, 19.245
25.28-Cody Laird, 19.262
26.51-David Bankey, 19.707
27.2-Jackson Sebetto, 19.895
28.57MS-Mason Stull, 20.409
29.18s-Randy Swiecicki, 99.998
30.21-Todd Warnick, 99.999

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. P51-Dave Gumby Jr.[3]
2. 7b-Shawn Valenti[4]
3. 17X-Dustin Keegan[6]
4. 7X-Dana Frey[5]
5. 9-Curt Inks[8]
6. 8KB-Kent Brewer[1]
7. 83-Butch Latte[7]
8. 26-Kyle Lagrou[2]
9. 57MS-Mason Stull[9]
10. 21-Todd Warnick[10]

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 36M-Cory McCaughey[4]
2. 32H-Dan Hennig [3]
3. 19-Tony Burns[5]
4. 8-RJ Cornett[1]
5. 6-Steve Sabo[6]
6. 0-Jody Keegan[2]
7. 7H-JT Horn[8]
8. 2-Jackson Sebetto[10]
9. 4s-Keith Sorg[7]
10. 28-Cody Laird[9]

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 25-Jeff Babcock[4]
2. 67-Ben Clapp[2]
3. 11H-Jim Holcomb[1]
4. 5s-Bradley Stuckey[6]
5. 23m-Brad Mitten[5]
6. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[7]
7. 51-David Bankey[9]
8. 18s-Randy Swiecicki[10]
9. 4M-Jamie Miller[3]
10. 3-Devan McEwan[8]

B-Main (10 Laps)
1. 4M-Jamie Miller[12]
2. 8KB-Kent Brewer[1]
3. 4s-Keith Sorg[11]
4. 0-Jody Keegan[2]
5. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[3]
6. 26-Kyle Lagrou[7]
7. 28-Cody Laird[14]
8. 7H-JT Horn[5]
9. 51-David Bankey[6]
10. 18s-Randy Swiecicki[9]
11. 83-Butch Latte[4]
12. 57MS-Mason Stull[10]
13. 2-Jackson Sebetto[8]
14. 21-Todd Warnick[13]
15. 3-Devan McEwan[15]

A-Main (20 Laps)
1. P51-Dave Gumby Jr.[3]
2. 25-Jeff Babcock[4]
3. 7b-Shawn Valenti[2]
4. 67-Ben Clapp[8]
5. 4M-Jamie Miller[16]
6. 36M-Cory McCaughey[6]
7. 17X-Dustin Keegan[9]
8. 11H-Jim Holcomb[1]
9. 7X-Dana Frey[11]
10. 19-Tony Burns[10]
11. 8-RJ Cornett[7]
12. 8KB-Kent Brewer[17]
13. 5s-Bradley Stuckey[12]
14. 9-Curt Inks[13]
15. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[20]
16. 32H-Dan Hennig [5]
17. 6-Steve Sabo[14]
18. 23m-Brad Mitten[15]
19. 4s-Keith Sorg[18]
20. 0-Jody Keegan[19]