From Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio (September 10, 2022) — There’s an old saying “there’s nothing like home cooking.” That applied Saturday, Sept. 20 to the Seeling Motorsports team and driver Greg Wilson at Fremont Speedway. When a race team struggles tensions in the shop and track can run high but a win can fix a lot of those feelings and that’s exactly what the Benton Ridge, Ohio driver did, taking the lead with just nine laps to go and driving to his third 410 sprint win of the season at “The Track That Action Built.”
Wilson’s win was the 16th of his career at Fremont Speedway and came on Iron Works Local 55/Terra State Community College Night.
“We were good….I think we still have some stuff to work on but the race track was awesome tonight. It’s been a tough week at the 97 shop. We’ve been struggling and everybody gets a little irritated…we want to win. We come home to Fremont and you get a win like this…means so much. I want to thank the fans for making Fremont Speedway what it is. I say that every time I get lucky enough to be up here. Fremont is a racing town….always has been and when you are here you feel like you are some place special. Also, Joe and Diane (Seeling) are pretty attached to their dogs and they lost one week and it’s a part of the family so it’s been pretty sad around there. Hopefully this makes them smile a little bit,” said Wilson who also talked about a former crew member who lost his brother this week.
“We really weren’t planning on racing…I was supposed to be in Charlotte (N.C) to do a deal for Hercules Tire but a hurricane came through and wiped that out. I came into tonight pissed off at the world to prove a point so maybe I could teach my daughter something about intensity. My kids didn’t get to see me in the prime of my career so hopefully they can see me win some more races. Hopefully we have a little something for the Ford Classic later,” added Wilson beside his DNC Hydraulics, Ohio Logistics, Sugar Street Bar and Grill, Hercules Tires backed #97.
Lemmore, California’s Cole Macedo wrapped up the 2022 All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series presented by the Baumann Auto Group title.
“It’s awesome….I’m so happy for this team. They pour their hearts and souls into this deal and do it out of the kindness of their hearts. We came out this year to win all three championships but I had commitments to go to Knoxville and that hurt that but I’m glad we got the other two done. Thanks to Ray Brooks for taking a chance on us and let us have fun and hopefully we’re making him proud,” said Macedo.
After suffering through a bout of Covid last week, Fremont’s Paul Weaver stormed back with a vengeance Saturday, taking the lead from Matt Foos with four laps to go and driving to his fourth 305 sprint win of the season at Fremont. The three time Fremont 305 track champion scored his 68th career win at the track- placing him third on the all-time career win list – and also wrapped up his third straight NAPA of Bryan Attica Fremont Championship Series presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales title.
“On that restart (with five laps to go) Matt went to the bottom and I found some moisture in the middle and was able to move around him. I want to thank Duane Hancock for all the extra money he got out throughout the year through the AFCS…it really helps keep us racing. Also thanks to Bob Hampshire and Steve and Pam Brown of B&B Drain Service…I would have probably retired if it wasn’t for their help,” said Weaver, a three time Fremont 305 track champion.
The Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks had two features to run – the night’s regular event and a make-up feature from Aug. 13 that was rained out.
In the make-up feature Fostoria, Ohio’s Shawn Valenti held off numerous challenges from Jamie Miller to score his fourth truck win of the season and 73rd career victory at the track, moving him to just three away from tying hall of famer Art Ball atop the all-time win list.
“Hats off to my crew and owner Jeffrey Babcock. They had a lot of work to do on the engine this week and we had some issues at the track as well but we were able to overcome them,” said Valenti beside his A Plus Auto Center, Craig Miller Trucking, Best Performance Motorsports, Dave Story Equipment, KS Sales & Service, S&S Hauling and Excavation #7B.
The night’s truck feature was a barn-burner that saw only one caution in the 20-lap affair and featured Jeff Babcock and Ben Clapp swapping the lead several times over the last 15 laps. Babcock was able to hold on for his third win of the season and fourth of his career at the track.
“This America 25 was pretty good in the slick. Ben was there and under that caution I could see my crew waving me to go to the bottom because he was definitely there. It was a lot of fun and good hard clean racing,” said Babcock of his Roelle Racing #25.
In the 30-lap, $5,000 to win Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprint feature, Zeth Sabo grabbed the early lead over Wilson, Macedo, Travis Philo and Stuart Brubaker. Sabo built a sizeable lead before hitting lapped traffic by lap eight but Wilson could not close.
Heavy lapped traffic with 10 laps to go allowed Wilson, who had just pulled his top wing back, to close quickly. Wilson drove under Sabo on lap 22 and was able to negotiate through heavy lapped traffic to score the win in the non-stop affair over Sabo, Philo, Macedo and Craig Mintz.
After a couple of cautions to start the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature, Matt Foos jumped into the lead over Dustin Stroup, Steve Rando, Jamie Miller and Weaver. Foos quickly found the back of the field by lap 10 and Weaver used lapped traffic to take second from Stroup a lap later.
Foos maintained a five car length advantage as the laps ticked off but a caution with five laps to go gave Weaver his chance. On the restart Weaver raced to Foos’ outside and took the lead on lap 22 and pulled away for the win over Foos, Stroup, Alvin Roepke from 14th and Tyler Shullick.
In the 20 lap dirt truck regular feature, Kevin Phillips grabbed the early lead while Babcock, Clapp, Jim Holcomb and RJ Cornett gave chase. Phillips, Clapp and Babcock battled hard with Babcock taking the lead on lap four. After battling side by side for a couple of laps, Clapp was able to take the top spot from Babcock on lap six. The lead duo continued to race door to door over the next hand full of laps before Babcock was able to regain the lead on lap 10
Babcock and Clapp continued their side by side battle until the first caution flew on lap 14. By then the night’s make-up feature winner Shawn Valenti had climbed to third. When the race resumed Babcock was fighting off Clapp, Valenti and Cornett with Jamie Miller charging from 16th to fifth.
A final caution set up a one lap dash to the finish with Babcock holding off Clapp, Miller, Valenti and Cornett for the victory.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, Sept. 17 with the 410 sprints, trucks and steel block pate model series 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 at https://twitter.com/FremontSpeedway.
Fremont Speedway
Fremont, Ohio
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Attica Fremont Challenge Series
Qualifying
1.97-Greg Wilson, 12.852; 2.18-Cole Macedo, 12.859; 3.16-DJ Foos, 13.034; 4.2X-Stuart Brubaker, 13.140; 5.33W-Caleb Griffith, 13.169; 6.68G-Tyler Gunn, 13.276; 7.47BC-Emerson Axson, 13.277; 8.23-Chris Andrews, 13.278; 9.12G-Corbin Gurley, 13.425; 10.49I-John Ivy, 13.431; 11.29-Zeth Sabo, 13.467; 12.5T-Travis Philo, 13.521; 13.7N-Darin Naida, 13.561; 14.09-Craig Mintz, 13.563; 15.7DK-Dylan Kingan, 13.576; 16.7T-Troy Vaccaro, 13.597; 17.15k-Creed Kemenah, 13.722; 18.2+-Brian Smith, 13.812; 19.11J-David Kalb Jr., 13.829; 20.86-Michael Lutz, 14.084; 21.28-Gray Leadbetter, 14.115; 22.6J-Jonah Aumend, 14.131; 23.75-Jerry Dahms, 14.547; 24.98-Robert Robenalt, 14.594; 25.8-Olivia Shelbo, 15.070;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1] ; 2. 97-Greg Wilson[4] ; 3. 23-Chris Andrews[6] ; 4. 2X-Stuart Brubaker[3] ; 5. 09-Craig Mintz[7] ; 6. 33W-Caleb Griffith[2] ; 7. 47BC-Emerson Axson[5] ; 8. 28-Gray Leadbetter[8] ; 9. 6J-Jonah Aumend[9]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 5T-Travis Philo[2] ; 2. 18-Cole Macedo[4] ; 3. 7N-Darin Naida[1] ; 4. 12G-Corbin Gurley[3] ; 5. 15k-Creed Kemenah[6] ; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[7] ; 7. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[5] ; 8. 75-Jerry Dahms[8]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 29-Zeth Sabo[2] ; 2. 16-DJ Foos[4] ; 3. 49I-John Ivy[3] ; 4. 11J-David Kalb Jr.[5] ; 5. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[1] ; 6. 86-Michael Lutz[6] ; 7. 8-Olivia Shelbo[8] ; 8. 98-Robert Robenalt[7]
B-Main 1 – (0 Laps)
1. 47BC-Emerson Axson[4] ; 2. 2+-Brian Smith[2] ; 3. 33W-Caleb Griffith[1] ; 4. 86-Michael Lutz[3] ; 5. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[5] ; 6. 28-Gray Leadbetter[7] ; 7. 6J-Jonah Aumend[10] ; 8. 75-Jerry Dahms[8] ; 9. 98-Robert Robenalt[9] ; 10. 8-Olivia Shelbo[6]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 97-Greg Wilson[2] ; 2. 29-Zeth Sabo[1] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[6] ; 4. 18-Cole Macedo[4] ; 5. 09-Craig Mintz[13] ; 6. 68G-Tyler Gunn[5] ; 7. 16-DJ Foos[8] ; 8. 49I-John Ivy[10] ; 9. 47BC-Emerson Axson[16] ; 10. 11J-David Kalb Jr.[12] ; 11. 2X-Stuart Brubaker[3] ; 12. 7N-Darin Naida[9] ; 13. 33W-Caleb Griffith[18] ; 14. 2+-Brian Smith[17] ; 15. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[15] ; 16. 12G-Corbin Gurley[11] ; 17. 15k-Creed Kemenah[14] ; 18. 86-Michael Lutz[19] ; 19. 7DK-Dylan Kingan[20] ; 20. 23-Chris Andrews[7]
305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit Union
Qualifying
1.31-Paul Weaver, 13.689; 2.5K-Kasey Jedrzejek, 13.751; 3.X15-Kasey Ziebold, 13.758; 4.26-Jamie Miller, 13.839; 5.61-Tyler Shullick, 13.842; 6.7M-Brandon Moore, 13.946; 7.9R-Logan Riehl, 13.986; 8.19R-Steve Rando, 14.026; 9.10X-Dustin Stroup, 14.060; 10.15K-Creed Kemenah, 14.105; 11.8-John Ivy, 14.184; 12.3F-Wade Fraley, 14.224; 13.X-Mike Keegan, 14.261; 14.99-Alvin Roepke, 14.307; 15.28-Shawn Valenti, 14.317; 16.5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr, 14.328; 17.12-Matt Foos, 14.328; 18.34-Jud Dickerson, 14.341; 19.5-Kody Brewer, 14.479; 20.20i-Kelsey Ivy, 14.660; 21.16-Lee Summers, 14.875; 22.51M-Haldon Miller, 14.879;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 10X-Dustin Stroup[1] ; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[2] ; 3. 31-Paul Weaver[4] ; 4. X15-Kasey Ziebold[3] ; 5. 8-John Ivy[5] ; 6. X-Mike Keegan[7] ; 7. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[8] ; 8. 3F-Wade Fraley[6]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 9R-Logan Riehl[1] ; 2. 7M-Brandon Moore[2] ; 3. 5K-Kasey Jedrzejek[4] ; 4. 61-Tyler Shullick[3] ; 5. 99-Alvin Roepke[6] ; 6. 15K-Creed Kemenah[5] ; 7. 16-Lee Summers[7]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 12-Matt Foos[2] ; 2. 26-Jamie Miller[4] ; 3. 34-Jud Dickerson[1] ; 4. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[6] ; 5. 28-Shawn Valenti[3] ; 6. 51M-Haldon Miller[7] ; 7. 5-Kody Brewer[5]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 31-Paul Weaver[5] ; 2. 12-Matt Foos[2] ; 3. 10X-Dustin Stroup[1] ; 4. 99-Alvin Roepke[14] ; 5. 61-Tyler Shullick[11] ; 6. 19R-Steve Rando[4] ; 7. 9R-Logan Riehl[6] ; 8. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[19] ; 9. 26-Jamie Miller[3] ; 10. 7M-Brandon Moore[8] ; 11. 28-Shawn Valenti[15] ; 12. 5-Kody Brewer[21] ; 13. X-Mike Keegan[16] ; 14. 5K-Kasey Jedrzejek[7] ; 15. 8-John Ivy[13] ; 16. 3F-Wade Fraley[22] ; 17. 15K-Creed Kemenah[17] ; 18. X15-Kasey Ziebold[10] ; 19. 16-Lee Summers[20] ; 20. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[12] ; 21. 34-Jud Dickerson[9] ; 22. 51M-Haldon Miller[18]
Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy
Qualifying
1.25-Jeff Babcock, 17.175; 2.4M-Jamie Miller, 17.401; 3.67-Ben Clapp, 17.582; 4.7b-Shawn Valenti, 17.668; 5.P51-Dave Gumby Jr., 17.718; 6.X-Cory McCaughey, 17.764; 7.101-Chester Fitch, 17.778; 8.7X-Dana Frey, 17.945; 9.11H-Jim Holcomb, 17.963; 10.26-Kyle Lagrou, 17.977; 11.8-RJ Cornett, 18.123; 12.17X-Dustin Keegan, 18.133; 13.28-Cody Laird, 18.146; 14.4s-Keith Sorg, 18.155; 15.8KB-Kent Brewer, 18.248; 16.23m-Brad Mitten, 18.258; 17.8S-Brandon Stuckey, 18.275; 18.5s-Kenny Workman, 18.370; 19.32-Kevin Phillips, 18.447; 20.6-Butch Latte, 18.488; 21.9-Curt Inks, 18.550; 22.7H-JT Horn, 18.615; 23.14T-Cody Truman, 18.626; 24.51-David Bankey, 18.682; 25.18s-Randy Swiecicki, 18.790; 26.73-Dale Aikman, 99.999; 27.57MS-Mason Stull, 99.999;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 7b-Shawn Valenti[4] ; 2. P51-Dave Gumby Jr.[3] ; 3. 7X-Dana Frey[1] ; 4. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[7] ; 5. X-Cory McCaughey[2] ; 6. 51-David Bankey[8] ; 7. 4s-Keith Sorg[6] ; 8. 26-Kyle Lagrou[5] ; 9. 73-Dale Aikman[9]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 8-RJ Cornett[3] ; 2. 32-Kevin Phillips[1] ; 3. 9-Curt Inks[6] ; 4. 6-Butch Latte[5] ; 5. 5s-Kenny Workman[2] ; 6. 18s-Randy Swiecicki[8] ; 7. 57MS-Mason Stull[9] ; 8. 4M-Jamie Miller[4] ; 9. 7H-JT Horn[7]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 11H-Jim Holcomb[1] ; 2. 25-Jeff Babcock[4] ; 3. 67-Ben Clapp[3] ; 4. 17X-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 5. 101-Chester Fitch[2] ; 6. 23m-Brad Mitten[8] ; 7. 28-Cody Laird[6] ; 8. 8KB-Kent Brewer[7] ; 9. 14T-Cody Truman[9]
B-Main 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 4M-Jamie Miller[8] ; 2. 4s-Keith Sorg[4] ; 3. 23m-Brad Mitten[3] ; 4. 8KB-Kent Brewer[9] ; 5. 28-Cody Laird[6] ; 6. 14T-Cody Truman[12] ; 7. 51-David Bankey[1] ; 8. 57MS-Mason Stull[5] ; 9. 18s-Randy Swiecicki[2]
A-Main 1 – (20 Laps)
1. 25-Jeff Babcock[4] ; 2. 67-Ben Clapp[5] ; 3. 4M-Jamie Miller[16] ; 4. 7b-Shawn Valenti[8] ; 5. 8-RJ Cornett[7] ; 6. 17X-Dustin Keegan[12] ; 7. 7X-Dana Frey[6] ; 8. 11H-Jim Holcomb[2] ; 9. 23m-Brad Mitten[18] ; 10. 6-Butch Latte[11] ; 11. 101-Chester Fitch[15] ; 12. 9-Curt Inks[9] ; 13. X-Cory McCaughey[13] ; 14. 28-Cody Laird[20] ; 15. 4s-Keith Sorg[17] ; 16. 5s-Kenny Workman[14] ; 17. 8KB-Kent Brewer[19] ; 18. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[10] ; 19. 32-Kevin Phillips[3]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps) (8-13-22 Makeup)
1. 36M-Cory McCaughey[7] ; 2. 7X-Dana Frey[2] ; 3. 8KB-Kent Brewer[8] ; 4. 6-Butch Latte[10] ; 5. 5s-Kenny Workman[4] ; 6. 9-Curt Inks[3] ; 7. 18s-Randy Swiecicki[6] ; 8. 73-Troy Aikman[1] ; 9. 14T-Cody Truman[5] ; 10. 57MS-Mason Stull[9]
A-Main 1 – (20 Laps) (8-13-22 Makeup)
1. 7b-Shawn Valenti[1] ; 2. 4M-Jamie Miller[5] ; 3. P51-Dave Gumby Jr.[6] ; 4. 11H-Jim Holcomb[3] ; 5. 36M-Cory McCaughey[16] ; 6. 17x-Dustin Keegan[10] ; 7. 67-Ben Clapp[11] ; 8. 28-Cody Laird[12] ; 9. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[7] ; 10. 8KB-Kent Brewer[18] ; 11. 7X-Dana Frey[17] ; 12. 23m-Brad Mitten[15] ; 13. 6-Butch Latte[19] ; 14. 7H-JT Horn[13] ; 16. 26-Kyle Lagrou[2] ; 17. 101-Chester Fitch[8] ; 18. 25-Jeff Babcock[4] ; 19. 5s-Kenny Workman[20] ; 20. 4s-Keith Sorg[9]