Friday, Sept. 16, 2011
By Brian Liskai

FREMONT, Ohio – Tim Shaffer shot around Rob Chaney in lapped traffic on lap 14 and then benefitted from a caution to give him a clear track as he went on to score the All Star Circuit of Champions win to open the Jim Ford Classic at Fremont Speedway on Friday night. It marked the 98th appearance of the All Stars at Fremont Speedway.

The win on All Pro Cylinder Heads Night was the 10th series win of the year for the two-time All Star champion and the 11th career win at Fremont. He will seek to sweep the weekend on Saturday in the $10,000-to-win, 50-lap finale on Ludwig Propane Night. It was also Shaffer’s 45th career All Star win to move him into sixth on the series’ all-time win list, just eight behind Frankie Kerr.

“Things really got interesting there for awhile…it was a great race. I didn’t think we were going to get there. But Brian (Kemenah, crew chief) and guys did such a great job on the car…it came on late. That caution helped a bunch…it seemed like everything kind of fell our way tonight,” said Shaffer in the Engine Pro Victory Lane beside his Aaron Call/Janet Holbrook Motorsports entry.

“You have to take it when it happens like this because a lot of nights it doesn’t. That’s dirt track racing…it changes all night and my guys changed the car and hit it right on the money,” added Shaffer of his Kistler Engines/Kistler Racing Products/VRP Shocks #83. “Tomorrow’s a whole new night and things can change. You have to start with a good qualifying effort and get through your heat and go from there. It will be a longer race which I seem to like…I just hope we can be up here tomorrow.”

While Shaffer had to be considered the odds on favorite to win – he’s won the $10,000 Ohio Sprint Speed Week Finale at “The Track That Action Built in June – many of the fans were hoping local driver Bryan Sebetto could provide an upset. The 2011 Kistler Racing Products FAST champion has won three times at Fremont this season, including the previous week.

Sebetto, the track’s current point leader, would charge from 10th to finish second.

“You can’t give Tim Shaffer a clear track…he’s the best in the business…the only shot I had was lapped traffic. He’s way better in traffic than I am…it would have taken him getting hung up in the right spot and giving me an opening. Congrats to Tim and the whole crew…they did a great job. You know they are the car to beat every time you pull into the pits for an All Star race..any race for that matter,” said Sebetto beside his Burmeister Racing/Steven Mapus Tools/JLH General Contractors backed #16.

“Once started to get the wing back a little bit I could move around…I was really good on the bottom in one and two but it was hard to hit the spot without sliding up into the slick,” added Sebetto.

For Rob Chaney who led the first 13 laps, a solid third place run was just was the Bryan Grove team needed.

“I’m not disappointed at all. We’ve really struggled…we’ve been fast since speedweek and our results don’t show it. We got a top three finish and hopefully we can finish the year out with some good finishes without any problems,” said Chaney beside his Canton Erectors/Tim Hawkins Logging backed #45. 

In the 12th Annual 305 Sprint Invitational Presented by Hoys Bar and Grill, paying $2,500 to win, Castalia, Ohio’s Caleb Griffith drove around Junior Felver on lap fiver to take the lead and then survived a wild incident on lap 23. Griffith was trying to lap Matt Merrill when Nate Dussel snuck under both to battle for the lead. As the trio entered turn three, Merrill and Dussel made contact, sending both spinning. With a clear track Griffith – a former 305 Fremont Speedway track champion - would power away for the biggest win of his sprint car driving career.

“The first night in this car earlier this year we went to the engine builder’s race at Attica and we were pretty fast…not going to say we were going to win it, but we had a pretty good shot. With about two to go we got a caution and it killed our momentum so tonight it helped us. I would have loved to race Nate…he’s a pretty good buddy of mine, we go back a long way. I saw him inside of me…him and Matt must have got together pretty good because I saw them push him off,” said Griffith beside his Al Davis Carpet and Laminate/Fremont Fence/Crown Battery/B&L Plumbing backed #40.

In the 20-lap Fremont Fence and Guardrail Dirt Truck feature, it was a wild one. Over the last eight laps it was a five truck race between Dan Hennig, Art Ball, Steve Sabo, Gary Ball and Cory Ward. Hennig would drive around Ball to take the lead with four laps remaining and went on to score his third victory of the season and 10th career win at the track.

“It’s been a good year here…but I want to win more. I don’t know if that was oil or fuel that got up there on the top…I thought it was going to be a problem. But the cautions came out and it seemed to dry up and it worked for me,” said Hennig beside his Haunted Hydro/Peans Pizza & Subs/Village Pizza House/TNT Fabrication backed machine.

“I have to fix the left front…something is broke, but we’ll be back tomorrow to try and win the big money,” added Hennig who hails from Castalia, Ohio.

In the 30-lap All Star feature, Dale Blaney and Rob Chaney would lead the field to the green, with Chaney getting the advantage while Jac Haudenschild and Shaffer would give chase. Shaffer would take third on lap four, but Haudenschild would fight back to regain the position on the next lap.

As Chaney hit lapped traffic on the ninth circuit, Blaney would close while Haudenschild and Shaffer continued to run side-by-side for third. Meanwhile Byron Reed, Brandon Martin, Sebetto and 13th starter Dean Jacobs would race heard for fifth. Shaffer would grab third on the 11th lap and drove around Blaney into second a lap later, with Haudenschild taking third on lap 13. Just as the half-way point was completed, the caution would fly when David Gravel lost a right front wheel. The running order was Shaffer, a lapped car, Chaney, Sebetto, Haudenschild, Blaney and Jacobs.

With a clear track, Shaffer would pull away slightly while Chaney was locked in a torrid battle for second with Sebetto. With four laps to go, Sebetto was able to drive under Chaney for second with Haudenschild and Jacobs rounding out the top five. But, Sebetto ran out of time as Shaffer took the checkered. Chaney, Jacobs and Haudenschild would round out the top five.

In the 30-lap Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature, outside front row starter Junior Felver would grab the early lead over Jake Trevino, John Ivy and sixth place starter Griffith. Following a red for a Dustin Dinan spill on lap two, Griffith would utilize the outside on the restart to move from fourth to second and immediately pressure Felver. Griffith would drive high to take the lead on lap five with Ivy stealing second on lap eight. Just as Griffith hit the back of the pack on lap nine, the caution would fly, giving the leader a clear track. Meanwhile, the battle for second was on between Ivy, seventh place starter Nate Dussel and Paul Weaver. 

The caution would fly again on lap 14 for a Dan Hammond Spin – right in front of the leaders. Again Griffith would pull away while Ivy and Dussel continued to battle for second. Dussel would take the runner-up spot on lap 16 but could not close much on Griffith. It was when the leader caught the back of the pack on lap 22 that Dussel was able to close while Ivy, Weaver and Paige Polyak continue to battle for third. 

As Griffith struggled to get around the lapped machine of Matt Merrill in turns one and two, Dussel dove under both as they raced three wide down the back stretch on lap 23. Dussel and Merrill would touch wheels in turn three, sending both spinning and handing Griffith a clear track. 

Griffith would drive off the last seven laps for the win with Ivy, Weaver, 16th place starter Jimmy Colvin and D.J. Foos rounding out the top five.

The caution-filled dirt truck feature saw Brian Sorg grab the early lead over Art Howey Jr., Chuck Roelle, Art Ball, Steve Sabo and Cory Ward. The first caution would fly on lap three. A lap and another caution followed by a lap and another caution would see the running order as Sorg, Ball, Sabo and seventh place starter Hennig. On a lap five restart, Ball would grab the lead, bringing Sabo, Hennig and Ward along. A caution on lap six followed by a lap and another caution would see Ball leading Sabo, Hennig, Gary Ball and Ward.

Ball would drive the bottom groove to lead as Sabo and Hennig applied the pressure. The red would fly on lap 12 when Curt Inks’ machine caught fire – he was uninjured – with the running order Ball, Sabo, Hennig, Gary Ball and Ward. With five laps to go it was a three truck battle for the lead with Ball and Sabo on the bottom and Hennig up top. Hennig would drive around Sabo exiting turn two on lap 15 and drive around ball for the lead a lap later.

Hennig would win by a truck length over Ball, Sabo, Ward and Gary Ball.

Fremont Speedway - 9/16/2011
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (31 Cars)

[#]-Starting Position
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 83-Tim Shaffer, 12.360; 2. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.376; 3. 45-Rob Chaney, 12.428; 4. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.434; 5. 14H-Todd Heller, 12.451; 6. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.463; 7. 70-Jac Haudenschild, 12.527; 8. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 12.529; 9. 9X-Brandon Martin, 12.556; 10. O4-Cap Henry, 12.560; 11. 312-Mike Linder, 12.560; 12. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 12.568; 13. 97-Dean Jacobs, 12.570; 14. 89G-David Gravel, 12.578; 15. W20-Greg Wilson, 12.591; 16. 22-Cole Duncan, 12.616; 17. 312X-Chris Andrews, 12.647; 18. 10-Brad Haudenschild, 12.678; 19. 40H-Caleb Helms, 12.738; 20. 4K-Kody Kinser, 12.748; 21. 4-Danny Smith, 12.847; 22. 2+-Brian Smith, 12.861; 23. O-Lee Jacobs, 12.872; 24. O8-Dan Kuriger, 12.916; 25. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.944; 26. 53-Phil Gressman, 12.950; 27. 1X-Matt Linder, 12.956; 28. 3-Pete Miller, 12.968; 29. 60-Jody Keegan, 13.018; 30. 27-Scott Euler, 13.336; 31. 40-Mark Imler, 13.352

Heat 1 - Heat 1 (10 Laps - Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs[2] ; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[1] ; 3. 70-Jac Haudenschild[4] ; 4. O4-Cap Henry[3] ; 5. 83-Tim Shaffer[6] ; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[8] ; 7. 3-Pete Miller[10] ; 8. 40-Mark Imler[9] ; 9. O9-Craig Mintz[5] ; 10. 40H-Caleb Helms[7] 

Heat 2 - Heat 2 (10 Laps - Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 312X-Chris Andrews[1] ; 2. 89G-David Gravel[2] ; 3. 312-Mike Linder[3] ; 4. D4-Danny Holtgraver[4] ; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[6] ; 6. 53-Phil Gressman[9] ; 7. 4K-Kody Kinser[7] ; 8. 60-Jody Keegan[10] ; 9. O-Lee Jacobs[8] ; 10. 14H-Todd Heller[5] 

Heat 3 - Heat 3 (10 Laps - Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 10-Brad Haudenschild[1] ; 2. 16-Bryan Sebetto[3] ; 3. 2-Dale Blaney[5] ; 4. 9X-Brandon Martin[4] ; 5. 45-Rob Chaney[6] ; 6. 4-Danny Smith[7] ; 7. 1X-Matt Linder[9] ; 8. O8-Dan Kuriger[8] ; 9. 27-Scott Euler[10] ; 10. W20-Greg Wilson[2] 

Dash - R & R (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 2-Dale Blaney[1] ; 2. 45-Rob Chaney[2] ; 3. 70-Jac Haudenschild[4] ; 4. 83-Tim Shaffer[3] ; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[6] ; 6. D4-Danny Holtgraver[5] 

B-Main - Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps - Top 6 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 14H-Todd Heller[2] ; 2. W20-Greg Wilson[3] ; 3. 40H-Caleb Helms[4] ; 4. O9-Craig Mintz[1] ; 5. 4K-Kody Kinser[5] ; 6. O-Lee Jacobs[6] ; 7. 3-Pete Miller[9] ; 8. 60-Jody Keegan[10] ; 9. 1X-Matt Linder[8] ; 10. 27-Scott Euler[11] ; 11. 40-Mark Imler[12] ; 12. O8-Dan Kuriger[7] 

A-Main - (30 Laps)
1. 83-Tim Shaffer[4]; 2. 16-Bryan Sebetto[10]; 3. 45-Rob Chaney[2]; 4. 97-Dean Jacobs[13]; 5. 70-Jac Haudenschild[3]; 6. 2-Dale Blaney[1]; 7. 5R-Byron Reed[5]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson[15]; 9. 312-Mike Linder[9]; 10. D4-Danny Holtgraver[6]; 11. O4-Cap Henry[8]; 12. 9X-Brandon Martin[7]; 13. 4K-Kody Kinser[20]; 14. 4-Danny Smith[21]; 15. 14H-Todd Heller[12]; 16. 312X-Chris Andrews[17]; 17. 22-Cole Duncan[16]; 18. 2+-Brian Smith[22]; 19. 40H-Caleb Helms[19]; 20. O-Lee Jacobs[23]; 21. 10-Brad Haudenschild[18]; 22. O9-Craig Mintz[11]; 23. 89G-David Gravel[14]; 24. 53-Phil Gressman[24]

Hard Charger: 97-Dean Jacobs[+9]

Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints (34 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position

Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 4M-Jamie Miller, 13.550; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.677; 3. 1-Nate Dussel, 13.708; 4. 8K-Bobby Clark, 13.721; 5. 40-Caleb Griffith, 13.722; 6. 1W-Paul Weaver, 13.738; 7. OO-Alvin Roepke, 13.739; 8. 94-John Ivy, 13.788; 9. 8B-Zack Kramer, 13.842; 10. 25-Jason Keckler, 13.873; 11. 55-Benny Bowman, 13.886; 12. 13-Junior Felver, 13.902; 13. 80-Jake Trevino, 13.923; 14. 5R-Jordan Ryan, 13.926; 15. 11F-D.J. Foos, 13.944; 16. 36X-Dustin Keegan, 13.981; 17. 39-Matt Merrill, 14.018; 18. 27-Paige Polyak, 14.064; 19. 38-Dennis Wagner, 14.064; 20. 9-Jimmy Colvin, 14.084; 21. 10S-Roger Shammo, 14.102; 22. 36-Seth Schneider, 14.168; 23. 83X-Nate Reeser, 14.175; 24. 5-Dustin Dinan, 14.180; 25. 67M-Matt Ferrell, 14.185; 26. 717-Dean Jacobs, 14.211; 27. 22D-Dan Hammond, 14.265; 28. 8J-Jess Stiger, 14.299; 29. 48-Mike Burkin, 14.462; 30. 10X-Dustin Stroup, 14.482; 31. 72C-Ross Moore, 14.592; 32. 11-Rich Farmer, 14.615; 33. 1M-Mike Moore, 15.262; 34. 27X-Skip Dougherty, 15.487

Heat 1 - Heat 1 (8 Laps - Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 39-Matt Merrill[2] ; 2. 10S-Roger Shammo[1] ; 3. 80-Jake Trevino[3] ; 4. 40-Caleb Griffith[5] ; 5. 8B-Zack Kramer[4] ; 6. 48-Mike Burkin[8] ; 7. 4M-Jamie Miller[6] ; 8. 1M-Mike Moore[9] 

Heat 2 - Heat 2 (8 Laps - Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[5] ; 2. 27-Paige Polyak[2] ; 3. 36-Seth Schneider[1] ; 4. 35-Stuart Brubaker[6] ; 5. 25-Jason Keckler[4] ; 6. 5R-Jordan Ryan[3] ; 7. 10X-Dustin Stroup[8] 

Heat 3 - Heat 3 (8 Laps - Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 83X-Nate Reeser[1] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[6] ; 3. 11F-D.J. Foos[3] ; 4. OO-Alvin Roepke[5] ; 5. 55-Benny Bowman[4] ; 6. 22D-Dan Hammond[7] ; 7. 72C-Ross Moore[8] ; 8. 38-Dennis Wagner[2] 

Heat 4 - Heat 4 (8 Laps - Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 9-Jimmy Colvin[2] ; 2. 5-Dustin Dinan[1] ; 3. 13-Junior Felver[4] ; 4. 94-John Ivy[5] ; 5. 36X-Dustin Keegan[3] ; 6. 8K-Bobby Clark[6] ; 7. 8J-Jess Stiger[7] 

B-Main - Computer Man Inc. (12 Laps - Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 4M-Jamie Miller[1] ; 2. 8K-Bobby Clark[2] ; 3. 25-Jason Keckler[4] ; 4. 5R-Jordan Ryan[6] ; 5. 8B-Zack Kramer[3] ; 6. 36X-Dustin Keegan[7] ; 7. 48-Mike Burkin[12] ; 8. 10X-Dustin Stroup[13] ; 9. 67M-Matt Ferrell[9] ; 10. 22D-Dan Hammond[10] ; 11. 55-Benny Bowman[5] ; 12. 8J-Jess Stiger[11] ; 13. 72C-Ross Moore[14] ; 14. 1M-Mike Moore[15] ; 15. 38-Dennis Wagner[8] 

A-Main - (30 Laps)
1. 40-Caleb Griffith[6]; 2. 94-John Ivy[3]; 3. 1W-Paul Weaver[5]; 4. 9-Jimmy Colvin[16]; 5. 11F-D.J. Foos[13]; 6. 4M-Jamie Miller[9]; 7. 8K-Bobby Clark[10]; 8. 13-Junior Felver[2]; 9. 5R-Jordan Ryan[12]; 10. 25-Jason Keckler[11]; 11. 8B-Zack Kramer[21]; 12. 36-Seth Schneider[18]; 13. 80-Jake Trevino[1]; 14. 10S-Roger Shammo[17]; 15. OO-Alvin Roepke[4]; 16. 27-Paige Polyak[15]; 17. 22D-Dan Hammond[24]; 18. 83X-Nate Reeser[19]; 19. 55-Benny Bowman[22]; 20. 1-Nate Dussel[7]; 21. 35-Stuart Brubaker[8]; 22. 39-Matt Merrill[14]; 23. 36X-Dustin Keegan[23]; 24. 5-Dustin Dinan[20]

Hard Charger: 9-Jimmy Colvin[+12]

Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks (30 Trucks)

[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 - Heat 1 (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 32H-Dan Hennig[1] ; 2. 99-Art Howey Jr.[2] ; 3. 16-Steve Sabo[6] ; 4. OO-John Ivy[4] ; 5. P51-Willie Keegan[10] ; 6. 33-Brian Arnold[5] ; 7. O1X-Gary Ball[3] ; 8. 4S-Keith Sorg[7] ; 9. 56-Alex Wiechman[9] ; 10. 23M-Brad Mitten[8] 

Heat 2 - Heat 2 (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O1-Art Ball[1] ; 2. 3R-Chuck Roelle[3] ; 3. O-Andy Keegan[10] ; 4. 9-Curt Inks[5] ; 5. 18W-Cory Ward[9] ; 6. 21-Scott Fowler[4] ; 7. 115-Ben Good[6] ; 8. 30-Dave Gibbs[7] ; 9. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[8] 

Heat 3 - Heat 3 (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[4] ; 2. 4X-Brian Sorg[2] ; 3. 4-Dave Brewer[1] ; 4. 8-Steve Endicott[8] ; 5. 8KB-Kent Brewer[10] ; 6. 92-Loren Schwochow[6] ; 7. 17-Bob Dible[9] ; 8. 36X-Phil Burroughs[5] ; 9. 22J-Josh Kiser[7] ; 10. 6-Linda Sabo[3] 

B-Main - Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O1X-Gary Ball[4] ; 2. 23M-Brad Mitten[13] ; 3. 56-Alex Wiechman[10] ; 4. 92-Loren Schwochow[3] ; 5. 22J-Josh Kiser[12] ; 6. 17-Bob Dible[6] ; 7. 30-Dave Gibbs[8] ; 8. 4S-Keith Sorg[7] ; 9. 33-Brian Arnold[1] ; 10. 21-Scott Fowler[2] ; 11. 115-Ben Good[5] ; 12. 6-Linda Sabo[14] ; 13. 99X-Gene Potridge[15] 

A-Main - (20 Laps)
1. 32H-Dan Hennig[7]; 2. O1-Art Ball[6]; 3. 16-Steve Sabo[5]; 4. 18W-Cory Ward[10]; 5. O1X-Gary Ball[12]; 6. 17-Bob Dible[20]; 7. P51-Willie Keegan[13]; 8. 8KB-Kent Brewer[15]; 9. 23M-Brad Mitten[17]; 10. 4X-Brian Sorg[1]; 11. 92-Loren Schwochow[18]; 12. 4-Dave Brewer[8]; 13. 9-Curt Inks[11]; 14. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[19]; 15. 56-Alex Wiechman[14]; 16. 22J-Josh Kiser[16]; 17. 3R-Chuck Roelle[3]; 18. 99-Art Howey Jr.[2]; 19. O-Andy Keegan[9]; 20. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[4]

Hard Charger: 17-Bob Dible[+14]

©2011 - Results Provided by: Computer Man Inc. Fremont, OH