Saturday, May 12, 2012
By Brian Liskai

FREMONT, Ohio – Knowledge of Fremont Speedway is certainly an advantage when ever a touring organization visits The Track That Action Built. Fremont Speedway’s tough 305 sprint division proved that Saturday on Roots Poultry Night taking five of the top seven finishing positions against the Buckeye Outlaw Super Sprints (BOSS) non-wing racers with Fostoria, Ohio’s Jamie Miller claiming the $2,000 victory.

“I enjoy taking the wing off every once and awhile…I usually run pretty good when we do. Last time I ran here non-wing I had a really bad crash and it was in this same car. It was fast then and it was fast tonight,” said Miller beside his Crown Battery backed #4m. “The first few laps I ran up top and there wasn’t much up there in one and two and I got really loose off the top there but I held my own.”

“I have to thank my dad and all my crew Jeff and Joe and my daughter, Kendra is here tonight and my girlfriend Valerie and Gressman Powersports. We had trouble with this motor when we put it in this car today and if it weren’t for Scott Gressman we wouldn’t be here right now,” added Miller in the Engine Pro Victory Lane. 

In the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 winged sprints, defending Fremont Speedway champion Bryan Sebetto used a late race restart to drive from fourth into second. Then Sebetto executed a perfect slide job on Phil Gressman for the lead on lap 22 and went on to the win on a Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) Championship Series night.

“This thing was a freakin’ rocketship all night. I was just biding my time, just bumping the wing back a little bit and a little bit and right before that restart (at the halfway point) I got back too far. I yanked it all the way back and said screw it and left it there and made a couple of laps and it was really tight…a little too tight. Then when we got that caution toward the end (on lap 18) I rolled the wing back forward there a little bit and once I got by those guys and got into the lead I pulled it all the way back and just started lettin’ it rip. I don’t know if they were keeping up with me but the car felt really good,” said Sebetto in the Engine Pro Victory Lane beside his Hammer Pallets, JLH General Contractors, Gressman Powersports, Crown Battery backed #24h. 

“Aaron and Guhn and Randy and Timmy P. isn’t here tonight…he’s going to be mad. These guys worked their butts off in the shop all week and they tuned it in great tonight…it was just a rocket ship and would go any where I wanted. I knew I was good around lap eight or ten when I started hitting the top down in one and two and there was no one else up there and my car was locked down up there. I was just running guys over coming off the corner and I could set them up and pull good slide jobs down in three and four. And cautions fell where they needed to to get us bunched back up. It was a lot of fun,” added Sebetto.

Art Ball went to the cardiologist this week and said, “it don’t sound good.” But, the 73-year-old Tiffin, Ohio driver didn’t seem to let that bother him. Ball, who has more victories at Fremont Speedway than any other driver in the track’s 61 year history (Ball has been racing for 51 years), held off a last week’s winner Dustin Keegan to score his 72nd career victory at The Track That Action Built.

“I’m tired. I told the cardiologist it’s a good thing they didn’t have that monitor in last Saturday (Ball battled with Dustin Keegan for the win). Dustin got under me a couple of times…he raced me clean just like I did him last week,” said Ball beside his Kear’s Speed Shop, Distel’s Septic Service, Ritzler Accounting, Chaney Roofing backed #01.

So, after scoring the win, what will Ball tell his cardiologist when he visits this week?

“I’m not sure yet. I’m going to tell him I didn’t do anything this weekend but sit in my lawn chair,” joked Ball.

The 25-lap non-wing sprint feature – which was sanctioned by the BOSS and Michigan Traditional Sprint Series – didn’t get off to a good start. The first attempt saw a massive collision involving Critter Malone, Mark Cassila and Dustin Smith. On the second try the red flew when Cory Crabtree, Chuck Wilson, Brian Smith, Mike Burkin and Dustin Dinan collided in turn three with Crabtree heading to the hospital with neck and back soreness. On the third attempt, Wilson would spin.

Once the race got going, it was a barn-burner as pole-sitter Roger Shammo took the lead over fellow 305 sprint drivers Miller and Stuart Brubaker with Tony Beaber right on their tails. Miller would rim-ride to Shammo’s outside on lap two as they battled side-by-side over the next two laps before Miller drove into the lead on lap 4. Miller narrowly avoided catastrophe on lap seven when he slid off the high side of turns one and two. But, he collected his machine back up and continued to lead with Shammo, Brubaker and Beaber locked in a torrid battle for second with 16th starter Steve Irwin closing.

Miller, who used the low line in turns one and two and the high groove in turns three and four, pulled away slightly while Shammo and Brubaker battled hard for second with Beaber and Irwin in tow. On lap 10 Brubaker, a three-time Fremont 305 sprint champion, finally got around Shammo for second. Miller’s patience was put to the test when he caught the back of the field on lap 14 as they raced side-by-side in front of him. This allowed Brubaker to close while Shammo was locked in a battle with Beaber and Irwin for third. 

Miller and Brubaker raced nose to tail and at times side-by-side splitting lapped cars over the next six laps. Beaber would drive into third on lap 18, but traffic kept him from closing on the top two machines. With five laps to go Brubaker took a peak at Miller’s inside, but Miller held off the challenge and went on to his 10th career Fremont victory. Brubaker, Beaber, Irwin and Mike Burkin, who came from the tail after that opening lap incident, rounded out the top five.

Byron Reed and Broc Martin would lead the 410 winged field to the green for their 30-lap feature, but Brad Bowman would crash hard in turn three to halt the action before a lap could be completed. On the second attempt, Reed would drive into the lead over Martin, Brian Lay, Cole Duncan, Phil Gressman, Chris Andrews and Sebetto. Martin would spin in turn two after a lap was scored and on the restart, Gressman used the high line to drive around both Duncan and Lay into second. Duncan would move into third on lap three with Andrews taking fourth a lap later. 

While Reed used the low line all the way around the speedway, Gressman would use the high side in turns three and four and the bottom in one and two, and by lap seven had closed on Reed’s rear bumper. As they raced to the flag stand to complete the ninth circuit, Gressman blasted off the high side of turn four to grab the lead with Reed trying to regain the top spot on the bottom of turns one and two as they raced into heavy lapped traffic. Duncan would continue to run third with Andrews, Sebetto, Lay and Dean Jacobs battling for fourth.

Gressman sliced his way through the lapped machines and started to pull away when the yellow flew at the half-way point for a Jody Keegan spin in turn four. The restart running order was Gressman, the lapped machine of Matt Linder, Reed, Duncan, the lapped car of Caleb Helms, Andrews and Sebetto. When the green flew, Gressman pulled away from Reed who quickly disposed of the lapped car as did Duncan, while Sebetto drove around Andrews into fourth. Martin would spin again on lap 18 to bunch up the field.

On the ensuing restart, Sebetto would rocket around the high side in turns one and two, driving around Duncan and Reed into second. With nine laps remaining, Sebetto was on Gressman’s rear bumper and as they entered turn three, he executed the slider for the lead with Gressman attempting to return the favor in turns one and two but to no avail. 

With four laps to go, Sebetto and Gressman were in heavy lapped traffic, but Sebetto was able to drive his car any where to negotiate the back markers. Gressman would finish second, with Andrews making a late race charge to finish third with Duncan and Reed rounding out the top five.

In the 20-lap Fremont Fence Dirt Truck feature, Kent Brewer and Craig Holland would bring the field to the green. Brewer would grab the lead while ball would use the low groove to vault into second, bringing Cory Ward to third. Ball would drive under Brewer on the second circuit for the lead. 

The first caution would fly on lap four for a stalled Jimmy McGrath Jr. with the running order Ball, Brewer, Willie Keegan, Chuck Roelle, Dustin Keegan and Steve Sabo. Ball would lead on the restart with Willie Keegan getting by Brewer for second. Dustin Keegan would drive into third on lap seven just as the yellow flew for Willie Keegan who coasted to a stop on the front stretch. 

Just like the previous week, Ball and Dustin Keegan would then wage a torrid battle for the lead with Sabo battling Brewer, Roelle, Bob Dible and John Ivy for third. As they completed the 13th lap, Ball would slide off the bottom in turns one and two and Keegan drove under for the lead, but it was for naught as the caution flew for a Jeff Wank spin. That gave the lead back to Ball. When the green came back out, Ball and Keegan raced side-by-side in the turns the rest of the way with Ball taking the checkered by half a truck length over Dustin Keegan with Sabo, Ivy and Dible rounding out the top five.

Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, May 29 for Ohio Logistics Night with the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints, Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints and Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks in action. It will be a Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship Series night for the 410 sprints along with a FAST event for the 305 sprints.

For more information go to www.fremontohspeedway.com.

Fremont Speedway - 5/12/2012
Root's Poultry Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (28 Cars)

[#]-Starting Position

Qualifying - Callie's Performance
1. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.605; 2. 55-Brad Bowman, 12.708; 3. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.758; 4. 24H-Brian Sebetto, 12.865; 5. 53-Phil Gressman, 12.872; 6. 16-Chris Andrews, 12.873; 7. 22-Cole Duncan, 12.982; 8. 45L-Brian Lay, 12.988; 9. 83M-Broc Martin, 13.024; 10. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.040; 11. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.057; 12. 97-Dean Jacobs, 13.064; 13. 9X-Brandon Martin, 13.090; 14. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.116; 15. 3T-Tony Beaber, 13.135; 16. 40-Caleb Helms, 13.142; 17. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.163; 18. 1X-Matt Linder, 13.201; 19. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 13.208; 20. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.260; 21. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.283; 22. 35R-Ronnie Blair, 13.325; 23. 14-Chad Wilson, 13.442; 24. 7-Critter Malone, 13.721; 25. 3-Mike Linder, 13.903; 26. 73-Joe Armbruster, 14.222; 27. 10-Chris Plascak, 14.996; 28. 26-Jeff Conrad, 99.990

Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 9X-Brandon Martin[2] ; 2. 40-Caleb Helms[1] ; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[4] ; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[3] ; 5. 24H-Brian Sebetto[5] ; 6. O9-Craig Mintz[6] ; 7. 35R-Ronnie Blair[8] ; 8. 44W-Austen Wheatley[7] ; 9. 3-Mike Linder[9] 

Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[2] ; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[5] ; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker[7] ; 4. 45L-Brian Lay[4] ; 5. 14H-Todd Heller[1] ; 6. 5T-Travis Philo[3] ; 7. 14-Chad Wilson[8] ; 8. 55-Brad Bowman[6] ; 9. 73-Joe Armbruster[9] 

Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs[3] ; 2. 16-Chris Andrews[5] ; 3. 83M-Broc Martin[4] ; 4. 1X-Matt Linder[1] ; 5. 60-Jody Keegan[6] ; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[7] ; 7. 3T-Tony Beaber[2] ; 8. 7-Critter Malone[8] ; 9. 10-Chris Plascak[9] 

B-Main - Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. O9-Craig Mintz[1] ; 2. 55-Brad Bowman[2] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[3] ; 4. 2+-Brian Smith[6] ; 5. 3T-Tony Beaber[4] ; 6. 44W-Austen Wheatley[5] ; 7. 3-Mike Linder[10] ; 8. 35R-Ronnie Blair[7] ; 9. 14-Chad Wilson[8] ; 10. 7-Critter Malone[9] ; 11. 73-Joe Armbruster[11] ; 12. 10-Chris Plascak[12] 

A-Main - (30 Laps)
1. 24H-Brian Sebetto[7]; 2. 53-Phil Gressman[6]; 3. 16-Chris Andrews[5]; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[4]; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[1]; 6. 9X-Brandon Martin[13]; 7. O9-Craig Mintz[9]; 8. 97-Dean Jacobs[12]; 9. 45L-Brian Lay[3]; 10. 5T-Travis Philo[11]; 11. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[14]; 12. 14H-Todd Heller[17]; 13. 35-Stuart Brubaker[19]; 14. 60-Jody Keegan[8]; 15. 2+-Brian Smith[20]; 16. 3T-Tony Beaber[15]; 17. 1X-Matt Linder[18]; 18. 40-Caleb Helms[16]; 19. 83M-Broc Martin[2]; 20. 55-Brad Bowman[10]

Hard Charger: 9X-Brandon Martin[+7]

BOSS Non-Wing 410 Sprints (30 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position
Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 48-Mike Burkin[4] ; 2. 4M-Jamie Miller[1] ; 3. 2+-Brian Smith[2] ; 4. 3T-Tony Beaber[7] ; 5. 60C-Kory Crabtree[9] ; 6. 8-Lewie Christian[8] ; 7. 6-Ryan Dickey[3] ; 8. J1-Mark Shultz[10] ; 9. 26-Bill Griffith[6] 

Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 37-Dustin Smith[3] ; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[2] ; 3. 91X-Aaron Middaugh[6] ; 4. 10S-Roger Shammo[5] ; 5. 31-Chuck Wilson[7] ; 6. OO-Joe Irwin[4] ; 7. 3-Mark Irwin[1] ; 8. 6B-Nate Bostrom[8] 

Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7-Critter Malone[1] ; 2. 91-Mark Cassila[4] ; 3. 59J-Kirk Jeffries[3] ; 4. 5-Dustin Dinan[6] ; 5. 14-Chad Wilson[7] ; 6. 9-Jimmy Colvin[5] ; 7. 1-Steve Irwin[8] ; 8. 2-Mike Galajda[9] ; 9. 8C-Tim Chaplain[10] ; 10. 1M-Mike Moore[2] 

B-Main - Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1-Steve Irwin[6] ; 2. 2-Mike Galajda[9] ; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[3] ; 4. OO-Joe Irwin[2] ; 5. 8-Lewie Christian[1] ; 6. 6B-Nate Bostrom[8] ; 7. 1M-Mike Moore[12] ; 8. 3-Mark Irwin[5] ; 9. J1-Mark Shultz[7] ; 10. 26C-Jeff Conrad[14] ; 11. 8C-Tim Chaplain[11] ; 12. 6-Ryan Dickey[4] ; 13. 74-Tony Main[13] 

A-Main - (25 Laps)
1. 4M-Jamie Miller[4]; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[3]; 3. 3T-Tony Beaber[11]; 4. 1-Steve Irwin[16]; 5. 48-Mike Burkin[10]; 6. 10S-Roger Shammo[1]; 7. 5-Dustin Dinan[8]; 8. 2-Mike Galajda[17]; 9. 37-Dustin Smith[5]; 10. 59J-Kirk Jeffries[6]; 11. 91X-Aaron Middaugh[2]; 12. 9-Jimmy Colvin[18]; 13. 14-Chad Wilson[15]; 14. OO-Joe Irwin[19]; 15. 2+-Brian Smith[12]; 16. 31-Chuck Wilson[14]; 17. 7-Critter Malone[7]; 18. 91-Mark Cassila[9]; 19. 60C-Kory Crabtree[13]; 20. 8-Lewie Christian[20]

Hard Charger: 1-Steve Irwin[+12]

Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks (25 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 94-John Ivy[4] ; 2. 17-Bob Dible[7] ; 3. D1-Dustin Keegan[6] ; 4. 8KB-Kent Brewer[2] ; 5. 16-Steve Sabo[5] ; 6. 99X-Gene Potridge[8] ; 7. 95-Keith Sorg[3] ; 8. 52-Charlie Gingrich[9] ; 9. 4-Dave Brewer[1] 

Heat 2 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 3R-Chuck Rolle[2] ; 2. P51-Willie Keegan[1] ; 3. 9-Curt Inks[4] ; 4. O1-Art Ball[8] ; 5. 45-Brian Melnek Jr.[5] ; 6. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[6] ; 7. 79-Andrew Lutman[7] ; 8. 41C-Chad Stahl[3] 

Heat 3 - (8 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[7] ; 2. 18W-Cory Ward[6] ; 3. 4X-Brian Sorg[5] ; 4. 71-Craig Holland[3] ; 5. 23M-Brad Mitten[4] ; 6. 22J-Josh Kiser[2] ; 7. 73-Cody Basinger[8] ; 8. O9-Jeff Wank[1] 

B-Main - Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps - Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[2] ; 2. O9-Jeff Wank[9] ; 3. 95-Keith Sorg[4] ; 4. 99X-Gene Potridge[1] ; 5. 22J-Josh Kiser[3] ; 6. 41C-Chad Stahl[8] ; 7. 79-Andrew Lutman[5] ; 8. 73-Cody Basinger[6] ; 9. 52-Charlie Gingrich[7] ; 10. 4-Dave Brewer[10] 

A-Main - (20 Laps)
1. O1-Art Ball[3]; 2. D1-Dustin Keegan[11]; 3. 16-Steve Sabo[13]; 4. 94-John Ivy[7]; 5. 17-Bob Dible[8]; 6. 3R-Chuck Rolle[5]; 7. 8KB-Kent Brewer[1]; 8. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[10]; 9. 71-Craig Holland[2]; 10. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[16]; 11. 45-Brian Melnek Jr.[14]; 12. 4X-Brian Sorg[12]; 13. 9-Curt Inks[9]; 14. 23M-Brad Mitten[15]; 15. O9-Jeff Wank[17]; 16. 99X-Gene Potridge[19]; 17. 22J-Josh Kiser[20]; 18. 18W-Cory Ward[4]; 19. 95-Keith Sorg[18]; 20. P51-Willie Keegan[6]

Hard Charger: 16-Steve Sabo[+10]

©2012 - Results Provided by: Computer Man Inc. Fremont, OH