By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio – Darin Naida got his first laps in a sprint car at Fremont Speedway in 2022 and competed at “The Track That Action Built” many times over the past couple of years and the place frustrated him. Naida, from Adrian, Mich., put those years of frustration and learning to use Saturday, May 10, earning his first ever 410 sprint win at Fremont Speedway Presented by Gill Construction on Autokiniton Night.
Naida, who picked up a win the previous week at a track in Michigan, took the lead from Craig Mintz on a restart with just 10 laps to go and drove to the win over Mintz who led the first 19 laps of the race, Cap Henry, Kasey Jedrzejek and Bryce Lucius.
For Naida, Fremont Speedway’s 2022 410 sprint rookie of the year, it was a very emotional win considering his grandfather, John, was Fremont’s 1978 sprint car track champion and is inducted into the Fremont Speedway Hall of Fame.
“This means a ton. I’ve probably raced here more than anywhere else in the country and to come on top is crazy. I came here in 2022 never drove a sprint car before and man I hated this place for like two years. I have to thank so many people for getting me here. L and M Properties, and Deddy Bears and Poor Racing and Ackland Insurance and Level Utilities and STP Motorsports. I have to thank Tyson…he’s here tonight. My dad and my mom stuck with me through this all and all my crew guys and Harley for her support. I have to thank Evan and my little brother and Patrick and Greg. This means a ton,” said Naida.
“I struggled getting good on the restarts…I didn’t have a lot of grip but it made is so good everywhere else on the race track. I felt like I could get through one and two with way more speed than him (Mintz) and as soon as I saw him just trying to putt around the tires I just ran the shit out of that thing…we were so much better,” said Naida beside his Slusarski Excavating & Paving, Ackland Insurance, Poor Racing, L&M Properties, Deddy Bears, Rhino Racing, Level Utilities, Townline Variety backed #7N.
Cap Henry’s third place finish will keep him solidly atop the standings for the All Pro Aluminum Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series Presented by the Baumann Auto Group as he looks to earn his fourth series’ title.
While the stats will show Blayne Keckler led the first 14 laps of the 25-lap Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint A-main and Dustin Stroup led lap 15. But when Jamie Miller, Fremont’s defending 305 sprint track champion, drove from third to the lead at the half-way point he put on a dominating performance, lapping up to eighth place in the non-stop feature. Miller’s 53rd career Fremont Speedway victory came over Stroup, Keckler, Shawn Valenti and Matt Foos rounding out the top five.
It was a weekend sweep for Miller in the 305 sprints as he won the previous night at Attica Raceway Park. He looks to repeat as the Real Geese Decoys/Real Capz AFCS champion.
“The track was very technical tonight. You had a little of everything on the race track. It was very racy. Early in the race I didn’t know if I was going to get there. I was struggling a little bit but we started to burn some fuel off and the car got better and here I am again,” said Miller beside of Boca Construction, JLH General Contractors, Kenny Kolb Farms, Tuck Pointing America, Queen of Clean, Smitty’s Pizza, Roberts & Sons Contracting, Pizza Wheel, Crown Battery, Pub 400, Reedtown Tavern, Fostoria Mod Shop, Sandy’s Dad, Gressman Powersports, Phil Rister, Slade Shock Technology backed #26.
Once it got going the Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck A-main was entertaining with just a pair of cautions flying late. Craig Dippman lead the first five laps but it wasn’t easy as Dustin Keegan, Keith Sorg and Shawn Valenti applying pressure.
Valenti drove into the lead on lap six and built an over three second lead before a caution flew with just three laps to go. Sorg applied tremendous pressure for the lead the final three laps but Valenti hung on for the win with Sorg, Keegan, Brad Stuckey and Jamie Miller rounding out the top five.
The win is #83 at Fremont Speedway for Valenti is leads the all-time win list.
“I was rolling pretty good getting through lapped traffic and I didn’t know Keith was out there and I kind of squeezed him into the outside wall…I apologize for that. He caught me off-guard and made me get back on the wheel of this thing,” said Valenti beside his Craig Miller Trucking, Conrad Transportation, Dave Story Equipment, A Plus Auto Center, Smolders Speed Concepts, S&S Hauling and Excavating backed #7B.
Fremont Speedway Presented by Gill Construction will be back in action Wednesday, May 14 for the first ever visit of the Kubota High Limit Racing Series on Kistler Racing Products Night.
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 or follow on My Race Pass at www.myracepass.com
About Gill Construction – https://kgcpc.com
Owned and operated by Ray Brooks, and headquartered in nearby Port Clinton, Ohio, Gill Construction specializes in an array of land and water services, utilizing over five decades of experience to build an extensive repertoire which includes site excavation, site utilities, demolition, trenching, and marina service. Gill Construction boasts a dynamic, diverse, and experienced workforce, guaranteed to perform and complete any task with the utmost customer satisfaction.
About Autokiniton – https://www.autokiniton.com
Autokiniton, located on St. Rt. 269 south, Bellevue, boasts an advanced facility with over 200 skilled employees. For 30 years, they’ve meticulously crafted truck frames for major automakers like Ford. Autokiniton provides value-driven, sustainable automotive components and assembly solutions for the leading North American supplier of Ford F-150 truck frames! They offer a rewarding compensation and benefits package along with an opportunity to grow within a stable environment that’s building a better foundation for every vehicle on the road.
Fremont Speedway
Saturday, May 10, 2025
410 Sprints – Fort Ball Pizza Palace
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 7N-Darin Naida[4]; 2. 09-Craig Mintz[1]; 3. 33W-Cap Henry[7]; 4. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[5]; 5. 32-Bryce Lucius[6]; 6. 1-Nate Dussel[3]; 7. 16-DJ Foos[12]; 8. 19-TJ Michael[15]; 9. 29-Zeth Sabo[9]; 10. 97-Justin Clark[18]; 11. 15C-Chris Andrews[10]; 12. 22M-Dan McCarron[16]; 13. 01-Bryan Sebetto[8]; 14. 5-Kody Brewer[13]; 15. 75-Jerry Dahms[20]; 16. 101-Kalib Henry[14]; 17. 35-Stuart Brubaker[11]; 18. 16E-Caleb Erwin[22]; 19. 20B-Cody Bova[21]; 20. X-Mike Keegan[2]; 21. 1B-Keith Baxter[19]; 22. 21-Larry Kingseed Jr[17]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Nate Dussel[2]; 2. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[3]; 3. 33W-Cap Henry[4]; 4. 101-Kalib Henry[7]; 5. 5-Kody Brewer[6]; 6. 22M-Dan McCarron[1]; 7. 97-Justin Clark[5]; 8. 16E-Caleb Erwin[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bryce Lucius[3]; 2. 15C-Chris Andrews[1]; 3. 09-Craig Mintz[2]; 4. 7N-Darin Naida[4]; 5. 19-TJ Michael[6]; 6. 21-Larry Kingseed Jr[5]; 7. 20B-Cody Bova[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Bryan Sebetto[4]; 2. X-Mike Keegan[2]; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker[1]; 4. 16-DJ Foos[5]; 5. 29-Zeth Sabo[3]; 6. 75-Jerry Dahms[7]; 7. 1B-Keith Baxter[6]
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 33W-Cap Henry, 00:12.186[6]; 2. 7N-Darin Naida, 00:12.273[19]; 3. 01-Bryan Sebetto, 00:12.397[14]; 4. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek, 00:12.480[21]; 5. 32-Bryce Lucius, 00:12.485[5]; 6. 29-Zeth Sabo, 00:12.498[12]; 7. 1-Nate Dussel, 00:12.531[18]; 8. 09-Craig Mintz, 00:12.545[8]; 9. X-Mike Keegan, 00:12.577[10]; 10. 22M-Dan McCarron, 00:12.580[16]; 11. 15C-Chris Andrews, 00:12.593[4]; 12. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 00:12.641[2]; 13. 97-Justin Clark, 00:12.643[9]; 14. 21-Larry Kingseed Jr, 00:12.646[20]; 15. 16-DJ Foos, 00:12.650[13]; 16. 5-Kody Brewer, 00:12.940[17]; 17. 19-TJ Michael, 00:12.951[3]; 18. 1B-Keith Baxter, 00:12.983[1]; 19. 101-Kalib Henry, 00:13.015[7]; 20. 20B-Cody Bova, 00:13.015[11]; 21. 75-Jerry Dahms, 00:13.063[15]; 22. 16E-Caleb Erwin, 00:13.517[22]
305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit Union
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 26-Jamie Miller[6]; 2. 10X-Dustin Stroup[4]; 3. 4X-Blayne Keckler[1]; 4. 28-Shawn Valenti[3]; 5. 2F-Matt Foos[10]; 6. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath[9]; 7. 6-Dustin Dinan[7]; 8. 6W-Chad Wilson[2]; 9. 9R-Logan Riehl[8]; 10. 2-Brenden Torok[13]; 11. X15-Kasey Ziebold[17]; 12. 36-Seth Schneider[5]; 13. 12-Dylan Watson[23]; 14. 19R-Steve Rando[12]; 15. 1W-Paul Weaver[14]; 16. 49I-John Ivy[15]; 17. 61-Tyler Shullick[11]; 18. 5M-Brandon Moore[16]; 19. 8K-Zach Kramer[20]; 20. 36JR-JJ Henes[19]; 21. 14S-Jackson Sebetto[18]; 22. 63-Randy Ruble[21]; 23. 26S-Lee Sommers[24]; 24. 55-Jim Leaser[22]
B Feature 1 (8 Laps): 1. X15-Kasey Ziebold[1]; 2. 36JR-JJ Henes[4]; 3. 63-Randy Ruble[6]; 4. 12-Dylan Watson[2]; 5. 1S-James Saam[9]; 6. 39T-Trevor St Clair[10]; 7. 98-Dave Hoppes[8]; 8. 27D-Steven Dolphin[7]; 9. 0-Bradley Bateson[3]; 10. 88-Jimmy McCune Jr[5]
B Feature 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14S-Jackson Sebetto[2]; 2. 8K-Zach Kramer[4]; 3. 55-Jim Leaser[1]; 4. 26S-Lee Sommers[8]; 5. 11-Brayden Harrison[7]; 6. 78-Austin Black[5]; 7. 3M-Logan Mongeau[6]; 8. 09-Daniel Hoffman[3]; 9. 14T-Tim Freeman[9]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Jamie Miller[4]; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[1]; 3. 2F-Matt Foos[2]; 4. 6W-Chad Wilson[3]; 5. 0-Bradley Bateson[7]; 6. 55-Jim Leaser[5]; 7. 09-Daniel Hoffman[6]; 8. 1S-James Saam[9]; 9. 98-Dave Hoppes[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 36-Seth Schneider[4]; 2. 49I-John Ivy[1]; 3. 61-Tyler Shullick[2]; 4. 9R-Logan Riehl[3]; 5. 14S-Jackson Sebetto[6]; 6. 8K-Zach Kramer[7]; 7. 27D-Steven Dolphin[8]; 8. 14T-Tim Freeman[9]; 9. 88-Jimmy McCune Jr[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath[2]; 2. 10X-Dustin Stroup[4]; 3. 6-Dustin Dinan[3]; 4. 5M-Brandon Moore[1]; 5. X15-Kasey Ziebold[5]; 6. 63-Randy Ruble[7]; 7. 36JR-JJ Henes[6]; 8. 11-Brayden Harrison[8]; 9. 39T-Trevor St Clair[9]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Brenden Torok[1]; 2. 4X-Blayne Keckler[3]; 3. 1W-Paul Weaver[2]; 4. 28-Shawn Valenti[4]; 5. 12-Dylan Watson[5]; 6. 3M-Logan Mongeau[7]; 7. 78-Austin Black[6]; 8. 26S-Lee Sommers[8]
Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 26-Jamie Miller, 00:13.257[6]; 2. 36-Seth Schneider, 00:13.310[26]; 3. 10X-Dustin Stroup, 00:13.360[27]; 4. 28-Shawn Valenti, 00:13.380[9]; 5. 6W-Chad Wilson, 00:13.402[35]; 6. 9R-Logan Riehl, 00:13.426[34]; 7. 6-Dustin Dinan, 00:13.428[14]; 8. 4X-Blayne Keckler, 00:13.451[2]; 9. 2F-Matt Foos, 00:13.484[10]; 10. 61-Tyler Shullick, 00:13.487[19]; 11. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath, 00:13.546[8]; 12. 1W-Paul Weaver, 00:13.557[7]; 13. 19R-Steve Rando, 00:13.562[33]; 14. 49I-John Ivy, 00:13.603[25]; 15. 5M-Brandon Moore, 00:13.733[13]; 16. 2-Brenden Torok, 00:13.754[18]; 17. 55-Jim Leaser, 00:13.787[12]; 18. 88-Jimmy McCune Jr, 00:13.819[17]; 19. X15-Kasey Ziebold, 00:13.863[23]; 20. 12-Dylan Watson, 00:13.873[4]; 21. 09-Daniel Hoffman, 00:13.885[5]; 22. 14S-Jackson Sebetto, 00:13.896[29]; 23. 36JR-JJ Henes, 00:13.903[3]; 24. 78-Austin Black, 00:13.969[22]; 25. 0-Bradley Bateson, 00:13.997[11]; 26. 8K-Zach Kramer, 00:14.058[30]; 27. 63-Randy Ruble, 00:14.137[31]; 28. 3M-Logan Mongeau, 00:14.159[15]; 29. 98-Dave Hoppes, 00:14.161[20]; 30. 27D-Steven Dolphin, 00:14.243[28]; 31. 11-Brayden Harrison, 00:14.291[16]; 32. 26S-Lee Sommers, 00:14.580[32]; 33. 1S-James Saam, 00:14.717[24]; 34. 14T-Tim Freeman, 00:14.763[1]; 35. 39T-Trevor St Clair, 00:15.045[21]
Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[8]; 2. 4S-Keith Sorg[7]; 3. 17X-Dustin Keegan[5]; 4. 5S-Bradley Stuckey[4]; 5. P51-Jamie Miller[6]; 6. 99H-Art Howey Jr[2]; 7. 8KB-Kent Brewer[16]; 8. 1M-Scott Milligan[3]; 9. 8S-Brandon Stukey[18]; 10. 19H-Adam Heminger[19]; 11. 20-Caleb Shearn[10]; 12. 73-Mike Duncan[13]; 13. 74D-Craig Dippman[1]; 14. 28K-Jackson Keegan[14]; 15. 9E-Alex Erfman[15]; 16. 34-Todd Warnick[9]; 17. 9-Curt Inks[11]; 18. 50D-Dan Hennig[17]; 19. 57MS-Mason Stull[12]; 20. 18S-Randy Swiecicki[20]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[10]; 2. 50D-Dan Hennig[3]; 3. 8S-Brandon Stukey[4]; 4. 19H-Adam Heminger[6]; 5. 18S-Randy Swiecicki[7]; 6. 45-Collin Burns[11]; 7. 51-Dave Bankey[8]; 8. 39-Brandon Goad[9]; 9. 7-Josh Keegan[2]; 10. 3B-Kaydin Bailey[13]; 11. (DNS) 35-Steve Miller; 12. (DNS) 9S-Tony Parker; 13. (DNS) 99-Keith Whaley
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[4]; 2. 17X-Dustin Keegan[3]; 3. 1M-Scott Milligan[2]; 4. 34-Todd Warnick[1]; 5. 9-Curt Inks[5]; 6. 8S-Brandon Stukey[6]; 7. 51-Dave Bankey[8]; 8. 18S-Randy Swiecicki[7]; 9. 45-Collin Burns[9]; 10. 3B-Kaydin Bailey[10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4S-Keith Sorg[4]; 2. 5S-Bradley Stuckey[3]; 3. 74D-Craig Dippman[2]; 4. 57MS-Mason Stull[7]; 5. 28K-Jackson Keegan[8]; 6. 7-Josh Keegan[5]; 7. 8KB-Kent Brewer[9]; 8. (DNS) 50D-Dan Hennig; 9. (DNS) 39-Brandon Goad
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. P51-Jamie Miller[4]; 2. 99H-Art Howey Jr[2]; 3. 20-Caleb Shearn[1]; 4. 73-Mike Duncan[7]; 5. 9E-Alex Erfman[8]; 6. 9S-Tony Parker[6]; 7. 35-Steve Miller[3]; 8. 19H-Adam Heminger[5]; 9. (DNS) 99-Keith Whaley
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 7B-Shawn Valenti, 00:17.110[22]; 2. 4S-Keith Sorg, 00:17.179[12]; 3. P51-Jamie Miller, 00:17.298[19]; 4. 17X-Dustin Keegan, 00:17.502[14]; 5. 5S-Bradley Stuckey, 00:17.568[1]; 6. 35-Steve Miller, 00:17.694[25]; 7. 1M-Scott Milligan, 00:17.864[23]; 8. 74D-Craig Dippman, 00:17.879[16]; 9. 99H-Art Howey Jr, 00:18.084[3]; 10. 34-Todd Warnick, 00:18.155[13]; 11. 50D-Dan Hennig, 00:18.223[21]; 12. 20-Caleb Shearn, 00:18.340[28]; 13. 9-Curt Inks, 00:18.357[24]; 14. 7-Josh Keegan, 00:18.424[11]; 15. 19H-Adam Heminger, 00:18.544[10]; 16. 8S-Brandon Stukey, 00:18.623[7]; 17. 39-Brandon Goad, 00:18.756[17]; 18. 9S-Tony Parker, 00:18.945[18]; 19. 18S-Randy Swiecicki, 00:19.005[26]; 20. 57MS-Mason Stull, 00:19.024[6]; 21. 73-Mike Duncan, 00:19.149[4]; 22. 51-Dave Bankey, 00:19.263[20]; 23. 28K-Jackson Keegan, 00:19.326[27]; 24. 9E-Alex Erfman, 00:20.071[2]; 25. 45-Collin Burns, 00:20.081[8]; 26. 8KB-Kent Brewer, 00:20.787[5]; 27. 99-Keith Whaley, 00:24.994[15]; 28. 3B-Kaydin Bailey, 00:59.998[9] 
Mick Campbell Photo
Mike Campbell Photo