| Reed
gets late race pass for Fremont win; Merrill scores last lap 305 victory;
Ward nabs third straight truck win
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Contact Brian Liskai
419-271-3299
liskai2x@cros.net
FREMONT, Ohio - Byron Reed
took the lead with just four laps to go to
capture his second straight
410 sprint feature win at Fremont Speedway
Saturday, June 14 on Crown
Battery Night.
The Monclova, Ohio driver
capped off a great night, having come from the
tail to win the Alex Burkett
Australian Pursuit for an extra $1,000 payday.
Crown Battery and Fremont
Speedway made a $2,500 purse for the Pursuit in
honor of Burkett, who worked
at Crown Battery for over 30 years, and who
passed away Tuesday.
In the 30-lap feature for
the Fortball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints, Reed moved
from third to the lead in
just two laps, driving around Rob Chaney and Mike
Linder. His victory was
the 15th in his career at "The Track That Action
Built."
"Got stuck there in the middle
part of the race and then I found I could
move around in turns three
and four and that helped a lot. I was pretty much
stuck on the bottom of
one and two...that was the key," said Reed in the
Engine Pro Victory Lane
beside his Reebar Diecasting, JEI Chassis, ProShocks
sponsored #5.
Fremont's Matt Merrill only
led once...the final five feet, but it was
enough to give him his second
career Fremont win - by five feet over Brad
Haudenschild in the Fremont
Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints.
"The car was just awesome
on the bottom and I knew on that restart (on lap
22 of the 25-lap feature)
if I stayed there I could get under Brad. We
really needed this...this
is a huge confidence booster," said Merrill in the
Engine Pro Victory Lane
beside his Kash Kow, Wetzel's Sewer Cleaning backed
#39. "On that last turn
I just held it to the bottom and mashed on the
gas...it didn't do bad considering
this is the 50th race on that engine."
Not to be outdone, the Fremont
Fence Dirt Trucks put on a whale of a race
with four trucks swapping
the top four spots lap after lap before Sandusky's
Cory Ward drove under Steve
Endicott coming to the checkers for his third
straight win.Ward never
led a lap in the feature, grabbing the lead the last
20 yards to the flag stand.
"During the yellow (on the
19th lap of the 20-lap feature) I saw someone
point for Steve (Endicott)
to go high and I knew what to do...go to the
bottom. That was one heck
of a race. People don't realize how good these
drivers are in this division.
We ran side by side with three other trucks
the entire race and we all
raced each other clean," said Ward in the Engine
Pro Victory Lane beside
his Lakeshore Drywall, Eastside Cafe, Blue Chip
Machine and Tool, T.J. Hosang
Construction backed truck.
Phil Gressman grabbed the
early lead in the 410 sprint feature with Mike
Linder battling him hard.
It was short lived though as Paul Weaver, Caleb
Griffith, Mark Keegan and
John Ivy got together with Griffith ending up on
his side. On the ensuing
restart, John Ivy took a nasty tumble in turn two,
ending his night.
When the green flew again,
Gressman and Linder battled each other hard for
the top spot with Rob Chaney
holding off Mike Dussel and Reed. The yellow
would fly on lap 8 for a
Jody Keegan spin and on the restart, Linder would
drive high around Gressman
for the lead. Linder's advantage would disappear
on lap 11 when Lee Jacobs
took a bad flip on the front stretch.
Linder would power away on
the restart with Gressman, Chaney and Reed
putting on a heck of a show
for second. Chaney would move into the runner-up
spot on lap 15 and would
close on Linder who struck lapped traffic by the
18th circuit.With five laps
remaining, it was a three-car battle for the
lead with Linder holding
the high line, Chaney in his tire tracks, and Reed
on the bottom. Reed would
drive under Linder for the lead exiting turn four
on lap 25 and would hold
on for the win. Linder would take second with Brock
Mayes grabbing third on
the last lap, Chaney and Gressman rounding out the
top five.
At the drop of the green
for the 25-lap 305 sprint feature, Bill Kraylek and
Haudenschild would race
side by side for the lead with Merrill, Todd
Heuerman and Willie Keegan
battling hard for third. Haudenschild would power
to the outside and take
the lead on lap two and built a bit of an advantage.
However, Kraylek began closing
and moved under Haudenschild on lap 10 when
the yellow flew. On the
restart, Haudenschild would pull away with Kraylek,
Merrill and Heuerman putting
on a great battle behind.
By lap 14, Kraylek was again
catchin Haudenschild, bringing Merrill along on
the bottom of the racey
surface. By lap 17, Haudenschild's lead was
beginning to vanish as Kraylek
now had his hands full with Merrill's charge
while Dustin Dinan, Heuerman
and a fast-closing Bobby Clark were waging a
torrid battle for fourth.
Merrill would drive around Kraylek into second on
lap 18 and was slowly reeling
in Haudenschild while Kraylek was left to
battle Dinan and Clark for
third. The yellow would fly on lap 22 with the
running order Haudenschild,
Merrill, Clark, Kraylek, Dinan and Heuerman.
When the green came back
out, Haudenschild went right back to his high line,
with Merrill utilizing the
bottom groove and now Clark trying to get by both
in the middle. As the white
flag was displayed, Haudenschild and Merrill
were side by side with Clark
right on their rear bumper. In the final two
turns, Haudenschild ran
the cushion with Clark in the middle and Merrill on
the bottom. It was a drag
race to the checkers with Merrill edging
Haudenschild, Clark, Kraylek
and Dinan.
Dan Henning grabbed the initial
lead in the 20-lap truck feature, but he
spun, moving him to the
tail. Art Ball led the restart over Dave Brewer,
Steve Endicott Ward and
Andy Maynard. Brewer would drive around Ball intot
he lead on lap three, but
Ball would continue to race him side by side with
Ward right on their rear
deck lid and Endicott racing to his outside. Those
four would race side by
side the next 15 laps until Ball got sideways in
turn two and made contact
with Endicott and spinning after having regained
the lead.
Endicott was now the leader
with Brewer, Ward, a closing Bob Dible and Steve
Sabo in tow. Ward would
move into second on lap 17 and raced under Endicott
as they battled door to
door while Brewer ran in their tire tracks. A
caution just after Endicott
took the white flag, setting up a one-lap dash
to the checkers.
On the restart, Endicott
slipped up the race track allowing Ward to close on
the bottom and Brewer within
striking distance as they raced down the
backstretch. In the final
two turns, Endicott again chose the high line,
allowing Ward to drive under.
The two banged doors coming to the checkers
with Ward getting the narrow
win. Endicott, Brewer, Dible and Jim McGrath
would round out the top
five.
Fremont Speedway will be
back in action Saturday, June 21 on Burger King
Night featuring the Fort
Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints, Fremont Federal
Credit Union 305 Sprints
and Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks. Gates open at 4 p.m.
with the racing action getting
underway at 7 p.m.
The O'Reilly All Star Circuit
of Champions invade "The Track That Action
Built" for leg #5 of the
Ohio Sprint Speedweek on Thursday, June 26 on
Budweiser Night. Speedweek
- featuring seven straight nights of racing
across the Buckeye State
- kicks off Sunday, June 22 at Attica Raceway Park.
For more information log
onto www.fremontohspeedway.com
The Fremont Speedway (06-14-08)
CROWN BATTERY NIGHT
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410
Super Sprints
Qualifying
1. 11B-Brock Mayes, 12.65;
2. 12-Caleb Griffith, 12.74; 3. 24H-Rob Chaney,
12.75; 4. 6-Mike Dussell
(R), 12.82; 5. 83-Phil Gressman, 12.85; 6. 16-Lee
Jacobs, 12.88; 7. 312-Mike
Linder, 12.89; 8. 1W-Paul Weaver, 12.90; 9.
15C-Chris Andrews, 12.93;
10. 20X-Brian Smith, 12.93; 11. 5R-Byron Reed,
12.94; 12. 8S-Craig Mintz,
12.96; 13. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.99; 14. 20AU-Troy
Little, 13.01; 15. 48S-Andy
Shammo, 13.03; 16. X-Mark Keegan, 13.04; 17.
55-John Ivy, 13.07; 18.
10-David Harrison, 13.10; 19. 14H-Todd Heller,
13.11; 20. 27-Scott Euler,
13.13; 21. 45-Brian Lay (R), 13.13; 22. 10S-Roger
Shammo, 13.16; 23. 4M-Jamie
Miller, 13.19; 24. 7T-Troy Vaccaro, 13.28; 25.
63AU-Roddy Bellbowen, 13.40;
26. 21-Rodney Morgan, 13.40; 27. D7-Tony
Beaber, 13.42; 28. 5T-Travis
Philo, 13.45; 29. 1-Doug Berryman, 13.69; 30.
51M-Roger Campbell Jr.,
13.79; 31. 9-Chad Goeff, 14.06; 32. 11-Josh
Harrison, 14.96; 33. 27J-Cody
Jacobs, 15.07
Heat 1 (8 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 55-John Ivy; 2. 11B-Brock
Mayes; 3. 83-Phil Gressman; 4. 60-Jody Keegan;
5. 45-Brian Lay (R); 6.
63AU-Roddy Bellbowen; 7. 27J-Cody Jacobs; 8. 1-Doug
Berryman; 9. 15C-Chris Andrews
Heat 2 (8 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 10-David Harrison; 2.
10S-Roger Shammo; 3. 12-Caleb Griffith; 4.
20AU-Troy Little; 5. 16-Lee
Jacobs; 6. 51M-Roger Campbell Jr.; 7. 21-Rodney
Morgan; 8. 20X-Brian Smith
Heat 3 (8 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 312-Mike Linder; 2. 5R-Byron
Reed; 3. 24H-Rob Chaney; 4. 14H-Todd Heller;
5. 48S-Andy Shammo; 6. 9-Chad
Goeff; 7. 4M-Jamie Miller; 8. D7-Tony Beaber
Heat 4 (8 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. X-Mark Keegan; 2. 27-Scott
Euler; 3. 6-Mike Dussell (R); 4. 8S-Craig
Mintz; 5. 1W-Paul Weaver;
6. 11-Josh Harrison; 7. 7T-Troy Vaccaro
B-main (10 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 16-Lee Jacobs; 2. 1W-Paul
Weaver; 3. 15C-Chris Andrews; 4. 48S-Andy
Shammo; 5. 20X-Brian Smith;
6. 4M-Jamie Miller; 7. 63AU-Roddy Bellbowen; 8.
51M-Roger Campbell Jr.;
9. 45-Brian Lay (R); 10. D7-Tony Beaber; 11.
21-Rodney Morgan; 12. 27J-Cody
Jacobs; 13. 1-Doug Berryman; 14. 9-Chad
Goeff; 15. 11-Josh Harrison
A-main (30 laps) Starting
Position [#]
1. 5R-Byron Reed[10]; 2.
312-Mike Linder[1]; 3. 11B-Brock Mayes[6]; 4.
24H-Rob Chaney[4]; 5. 83-Phil
Gressman[2]; 6. X-Mark Keegan[15]; 7. 8S-Craig
Mintz[11]; 8. 48S-Andy Shammo[14];
9. 12-Caleb Griffith[5]; 10. 10-David
Harrison[17]; 11. 6-Mike
Dussell (R)[3]; 12. 15C-Chris Andrews[9]; 13.
20AU-Troy Little[13]; 14.
14H-Todd Heller[18]; 15. 1W-Paul Weaver[8]; 16.
10S-Roger Shammo[20]; 17.
27-Scott Euler[19]; 18. 16-Lee Jacobs[7]; 19.
60-Jody Keegan[12]; 20.
55-John Ivy[16]
Fremont Federal Credit Union
305 Sprints
Heat 1 (8 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 5-Dustin Dinan; 2. 18-Todd
Heuerman; 3. 11F-D.J. Foos (R); 4. 28-Shaun
Valenti (R); 5. 24-Josh
Mcafee; 6. 26-Zack Moore; 7. 61L-Adam Thacker (R);
8. 8K-Zack Kramer (R)
Heat 2 (8 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 1-Nate Dussel; 2. 3J-Kevin
Lee; 3. 23-Willie Keegan; 4. 3X-Brad Keckler;
5. 80-Jake Trevino (R);
6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 7. 25P-Mark Pridemore; 8.
9-Jimmy Colvin (R); 9. 29-Chris
Lang
Heat 3 (8 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 40-Bobby Clark; 2. 39-Matt
Merrill; 3. O4-Cap Henry; 4. 82-Travis
Hoffbauer; 5. 19R-Steve
Rando; 6. 13-Junior Felver; 7. 36X-Dustin Keegan; 8.
83X-Nate Reeser; 9. 24X-Tom
Nichols
Heat 4 (8 laps, top 4 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 10-Brad Haudenschild;
2. 71-Bill Kraylek; 3. 49-Coty Runion; 4. 35-Stuart
Brubaker; 5. 14-Chad Wilson;
6. 65-Mark Lang; 7. X-Dustin Stroup (R); 8.
66L-Brad Bowman
B1 Main (10 laps, top 2 transfer
to A-main)
1. 8K-Zack Kramer (R); 2.
9Z-Duane Zablocki; 3. 80-Jake Trevino (R); 4.
29-Chris Lang; 5. 26-Zack
Moore; 6. 9-Jimmy Colvin (R); 7. 61L-Adam Thacker
(R); 8. 25P-Mark Pridemore
B2 Main (10 laps, top 2 transfer
to A-Main)
1. 14-Chad Wilson; 2. 36X-Dustin
Keegan; 3. 66L-Brad Bowman; 4. 19R-Steve
Rando; 5. X-Dustin Stroup
(R); 6. 65-Mark Lang; 7. 24X-Tom Nichols; 8.
13-Junior Felver
A-main (25 laps) Starting
Position [#]
1. 39-Matt Merrill[3]; 2.
10-Brad Haudenschild[4]; 3. 40-Bobby Clark[7]; 4.
71-Bill Kraylek[1]; 5. 5-Dustin
Dinan[9]; 6. 23-Willie Keegan[2]; 7. 18-Todd
Heuerman[5]; 8. O4-Cap Henry[11];
9. 35-Stuart Brubaker[16]; 10. 1-Nate
Dussel[8]; 11. 3J-Kevin
Lee[10]; 12. 49-Coty Runion[6]; 13. 36X-Dustin
Keegan[20]; 14. 3X-Brad
Keckler[14]; 15. 82-Travis Hoffbauer[15]; 16.
28-Shaun Valenti (R)[13];
17. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[19]; 18. 14-Chad Wilson[18];
19. 8K-Zack Kramer (R)[17];
20. 11F-D.J. Foos (R)[12]
Fremont Fence Co. Dirt Trucks
Heat 1 (7 laps)
1. O1-Art Ball; 2. 88-Dave
Brewer; 3. 32H-Dan Hennig; 4. 16-Steve Sabo; 5.
8K-Kent Brewer; 6. 17-Bob
Dible; 7. 6-Linda Sabo; 8. 5JR-Jim McGrath Jr.; 9.
91-Roger Inks; 10. 34K-George
Miller; 11. 39-Dwight Waltermier
Heat 2 (7 laps)
1. 8-Steve Endicott; 2.
5-Jim McGrath; 3. 18W-Cory Ward; 4. 56-Alex
Wiechman; 5. 20-Andy Maynard;
6. O-Jim Keegan; 7. 92-Loren Schwochow; 8.
4X-Brian Sorg; 9. 23M-Brad
Mitten; 10. 25-Jarod Martin
A-main (20 laps) Starting
Position [#]
1. 18W-Cory Ward[8]; 2.
8-Steve Endicott[3]; 3. 88-Dave Brewer[6]; 4. 17-Bob
Dible[7]; 5. 5-Jim McGrath[11];
6. 39-Dwight Waltermier[21]; 7. 16-Steve
Sabo[9]; 8. O-Jim Keegan[10];
9. 32H-Dan Hennig[2]; 10. 20-Andy Maynard[5];
11. 8K-Kent Brewer[12];
12. O1-Art Ball[4]; 13. 56-Alex Wiechman[1]; 14.
23M-Brad Mitten[18]; 15.
91-Roger Inks[17]; 16. 6-Linda Sabo[13]; 17.
5JR-Jim McGrath Jr.[15];
18. 34K-George Miller[19]; 19. 25-Jarod Martin[20];
20. 4X-Brian Sorg[16]
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