|
Art Ball wins #67 at Fremont Speedway; Reed scores 410 sprint win.
By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio (Saturday, June 9, 2007) - Like a fine wine, Art Ball just
keeps getting better - and faster - with age. Ball, who has more feature
wins then any other driver in the history of Fremont Speedway, scored win
#67 Saturday, on McDonald's Night victory.
In the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints, Monclova's Byron Reed found the
Engine Pro Victory Lane for the second time this season.
In the lady's Truck Powder Puff race, Clyde's Tammy McGrath scored the
victory. In the two school bus races, Darrin Dukeshire won the professional
bus driver's affair, while 305-sprint driver Rich Farmer took the race
driver's bus win.
For Ball, 68-years-old, racing - and winning - are still a lot of fun. The
Tiffin, Ohio driver said he has now won over 273 feature events spanning 45
years of racing - he has won a feature in five different decades. Ball won
the 1973 and 1975 Fremont Speedway track championship in the late models and
last year scored a track title at Attica Raceway Park in the dirt trucks.
"I never would have thought I'd be standing on the front stretch at Fremont
Speedway 45 years later holding a trophy," said Ball beside his Magers
Lumber, Smitty's Tavern, Air Cooled Engines sponsored truck. "Keith Pierce
and the boys built a new truck and we tried it out last night, but this old
one is so comfortable...I don't know if we can ever park it."
"Roy Pierce (former race car owner who passed away last year) is looking
down on us smiling. Seeing all these fans cheer for me after all these
years...that's what keeps me going. It's still a lot of fun," Ball added in
the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
Ball's victory in the Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks was worth $1,000 thanks to
associate sponsorship from Securance Services Inc. of Gibsonburg.
Reed's victory - the 12th of his career at Fremont - was the second of the
weekend for the driver of the Reebar Diecasting/Hoosier Tire sponsored
sprint car.
"I qualified bad and we changed a bunch of stuff on the car and it was
flawless in the feature. I'm glad we got the win...my father-in-law's health
has prevented him from coming to the track and he was here tonight to see
this win," said Reed.
In the lady's Truck Powder Puff race, Tammy McGrath drove her husband Jim's
dirt truck to the 8-lap victory. It wasn't easy, as Jenny Spitler - who has
won the last two powder puff events - mounted a last lap charge and nearly
stole the win.
"I just tried to stay on the bottom, then I saw Jenny stick a nose under me
and I just put the metal to the floor," said McGrath beside her B&K Auto
Services truck.
In the first school bus race - pitting professional school bus drivers -
Darrin Dukeshire took the win over Annie Brewster, Dawn Horn and Gary
Hartshorn. The first lap saw the bus of Kevin Rhineberger get on its side.
He was okay, but the bus was done for the night.
In the race drivers bus event, Farmer scored the win over 410 sprint driver
Craig Mintz, 410 sprint driver John Ivy and Scott Dukeshire.
In the dirt truck feature, a multi-truck crash on the first lap shook up the
line-up. Steve Endictott jumped into the early lead with Eric DeVanna,
Dwight Waltermeier, Art Howey Jr. and Steve Sabo in tow. Endicott, Howie and
last week's winner Cory Ward would battle hard up front, while Ball steadily
picked his way forward from his 11th starting spot.
Ward would take the lead on lap 7 with Endicott, Sabo, Ball and Howey
rounding out the top five. By lap 10, the battle for the lead featured
three-wide racing between Ward, Endicott and Ball. Two laps later, Ball
would drive under Ward for the lead, as Endicott jumped the inside berm to
bring out the caustion.
Ball would lead the rest of the way, with Ward sticking a nose under the #01
a couple of times only to see Ball slam the door shut.
At the checkered it was Ball over Ward, Howey, Sabo and Shawn Valenti who
found his way back to the front after being involved in the first lap malee.
The Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks would try their hand at qualifying, with
Tiffin's Brian Arnold picking up $100 from Excuses Lounge of Sandusky for
his run of 18.63 seconds, just off Howey's track record lap of 18.10.
Lee Jacobs would bolt into the lead of the 410 sprint feature from his pole
starting spot, with Reed, Bobby Clark, Greg Wilson and Paul Weaver
following. The action would only slow for one yellow on lap 8. Reed would
pull along side of Jacobs on the restart and would grab the top spot a lap
later.
Reed would hit lapped traffic on lap 17, expertly cutting his way through
the field. However, with just 7 laps remaining, Reed would get hung up on a
lapped machine that was in his groove, allowing Jacobs, Wilson and Weaver to
close to within four car lengths. Reed would back off the lapped car and
continue to hit his marks, cruising to the win. Wilson would get by Jacobs
for second in the last two laps, with Weaver and Troy Vaccaro rounding out
the top five at the checkers.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, June 16 on Coors Beer
Night featuring the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints, Fremont Federal
Credit Union 305 Sprints and the Fremont Fence & Guardrail Dirt Trucks.
Gates open at 4:30 p.m. with racing action slated to get underway at 7:30
p.m.
For more information on Fremont Speedway, including point standings, ticket
prices, photos and more, log onto www.fremontohspeedway.com. You can reach
the track office at 419-862-2206.
The "New" Fremont Speedway (06-09-07)
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Super Sprints
Qualifying
1. 10-David Harrison, 12.66; 2. X-Mark Keegan, 12.88; 3. 55-Brian Smith,
13.21; 4. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.24; 5. 15C-Chris Andrews, 13.30; 6. 97-Cory
Seeling, 13.32; 7. 7T-Troy Vaccaro, 13.37; 8. 1W-Paul Weaver, 13.43; 9.
W20-Greg Wilson, 13.46; 10. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 13.47; 11. 48S-Andy Shammo,
13.57; 12. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.58; 13. 8S-Bobby Clark, 13.59; 14. 16-Lee
Jacobs, 13.63; 15. 51-John Ivy, 13.67; 16. 37Z-Bryan Scott, 13.68; 17. O-Gus
Wasson, 13.69; 18. 3T-Tony Beaber, 13.74; 19. 49T-Gregg Dalman, 13.77; 20.
12-Caleb Griffith, 13.78; 21. 3L-Mike Linder, 13.83; 22. 26-Cody White,
13.86; 23. 27-Scott Euler, 14.00; 24. 10S-Roger Shammo, 14.07; 25. O6-Brandy
Bower, 15.06; 26. 5T-Travis Philo, 15.62
Heat 1 (8 laps, top 5 transfer to A-Main)
1. 37Z-Bryan Scott; 2. 8S-Bobby Clark; 3. 14H-Todd Heller; 4. 7T-Troy
Vaccaro; 5. 49T-Gregg Dalman; 6. 26-Cody White; 7. 10-David Harrison; 8.
11N-Ed Neumeister; 9. O6-Brandy Bower
Heat 2 (8 laps, top 5 transfer to A-Main)
1. 16-Lee Jacobs; 2. O-Gus Wasson; 3. 12-Caleb Griffith; 4. 1W-Paul Weaver;
5. 48S-Andy Shammo; 6. 15C-Chris Andrews; 7. 27-Scott Euler; 8. 5T-Travis
Philo; 9. X-Mark Keegan
Heat 3 (8 laps, top 5 transfer to A-Main)
1. 5R-Byron Reed; 2. 3T-Tony Beaber; 3. 51-John Ivy; 4. W20-Greg Wilson; 5.
3L-Mike Linder; 6. 55-Brian Smith; 7. 10S-Roger Shammo; 8. 97-Cory Seeling
B-main (10 laps, top 5 transfer to A-Main)
1. 55-Brian Smith; 2. 15C-Chris Andrews; 3. 10-David Harrison; 4. 97-Cory
Seeling; 5. 26-Cody White; 6. 10S-Roger Shammo; 7. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 8.
27-Scott Euler; 9. O6-Brandy Bower; 10. 5T-Travis Philo
A-main (30 laps) Starting Position [#]
1. 5R-Byron Reed[3]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson[5]; 3. 16-Lee Jacobs[1]; 4. 1W-Paul
Weaver[6]; 5. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[7]; 6. 14H-Todd Heller[8]; 7. 8S-Bobby
Clark[2]; 8. 51-John Ivy[13]; 9. 48S-Andy Shammo[4]; 10. 3L-Mike Linder[19];
11. 55-Brian Smith[10]; 12. 97-Cory Seeling[12]; 13. 12-Caleb Griffith[18];
14. 3T-Tony Beaber[16]; 15. 49T-Gregg Dalman[17]; 16. O-Gus Wasson[15]; 17.
10-David Harrison[9]; 18. 15C-Chris Andrews[11]; 19. 26-Cody White[20]; 20.
37Z-Bryan Scott[14]
Fremont Fence & Guardrail Dirt Trucks
Excuses Lounge Qualifying
1. 33-Brian Arnold, 18.63; 2. 18W-Cory Ward, 18.63; 3. O1-Art Ball, 18.70;
4. 16-Steve Sabo, 18.73; 5. 5-Jim McGrath, 18.74; 6. 39-Dwight Waltermier,
18.82; 7. 20-Andy Maynard, 18.88; 8. 28-Shawn Valenti, 18.98; 9. 56-Alex
Wiechman, 19.00; 10. 8-Steve Endicott, 19.02; 11. 8H-Art Howey Jr., 19.05;
12. 37-Eric Devanna, 19.07; 13. 34-Aaron Schatzinger, 19.13; 14. 17-Bob
Dible, 19.17; 15. 96-James Mcclure, 19.23; 16. 3X-Shawn Schultz, 19.24; 17.
6-Linda Sabo, 19.33; 18. 34M-Jamie Miller, 19.41; 19. 83B-Dave Brewer,
19.45; 20. P51-Paul Brown Jr., 19.46; 21. 92-Loren Schwochow, 19.53; 22.
X-Tim Keegan, 19.60; 23. 19-Jimmy Sebetto, 19.61; 24. 7C-Jacob Dick, 19.81;
25. 5W-Ralph Willey, 19.82; 26. 3R-Chuck Roelle, 19.84; 27. 23M-Brad Mitten,
19.95; 28. 30-Dave Gibbs, 20.07; 29. 8K-Zack Kramer, 20.09; 30. 2-Bob
Sinkevitch Jr., 20.69; 31. 4X-Brian Sorg, 20.90
Bob's Machine Shop Heat 1 (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 33-Brian Arnold; 2. 5-Jim McGrath; 3. 56-Alex Wiechman; 4. 34-Aaron
Schatzinger; 5. 6-Linda Sabo; 6. 92-Loren Schwochow; 7. 8K-Zack Kramer; 8.
5W-Ralph Willey
Bob's Machine Shop Heat 2 (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 18W-Cory Ward; 2. 39-Dwight Waltermier; 3. 8-Steve Endicott; 4. 34M-Jamie
Miller; 5. 17-Bob Dible; 6. 3R-Chuck Roelle; 7. X-Tim Keegan; 8. 2-Bob
Sinkevitch Jr.
Bob's Machine Shop Heat 3 (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 8H-Art Howey Jr.; 2. 83B-Dave Brewer; 3. 4X-Brian Sorg; 4. 96-James
Mcclure; 5. 23M-Brad Mitten; 6. 19-Jimmy Sebetto; 7. 20-Andy Maynard; 8.
O1-Art Ball
Bob's Machine Shop Heat 4 (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 37-Eric Devanna; 2. 28-Shawn Valenti; 3. 16-Steve Sabo; 4. 3X-Shawn
Schultz; 5. P51-Paul Brown Jr.; 6. 7C-Jacob Dick; 7. 30-Dave Gibbs
B-main (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. O1-Art Ball; 2. 17-Bob Dible; 3. 3R-Chuck Roelle; 4. 20-Andy Maynard; 5.
6-Linda Sabo; 6. 8K-Zack Kramer; 7. 7C-Jacob Dick; 8. 92-Loren Schwochow; 9.
23M-Brad Mitten; 10. 30-Dave Gibbs; 11. 19-Jimmy Sebetto; 12. 5W-Ralph
Willey
A-main (25 laps) Starting Position [#]
1. O1-Art Ball[11]; 2. 18W-Cory Ward[9]; 3. 8H-Art Howey Jr.[2]; 4. 16-Steve
Sabo[8]; 5. 28-Shawn Valenti[5]; 6. 34-Aaron Schatzinger[13]; 7. 17-Bob
Dible[14]; 8. 39-Dwight Waltermier[6]; 9. 37-Eric Devanna[1]; 10. 20-Andy
Maynard[12]; 11. 5-Jim McGrath[7]; 12. 3X-Shawn Schultz[16]; 13. 4X-Brian
Sorg[20]; 14. 96-James Mcclure[15]; 15. 8-Steve Endicott[3]; 16. 3R-Chuck
Roelle[19]; 17. 83B-Dave Brewer[18]; 18. 34M-Jamie Miller[17]; 19. 56-Alex
Wiechman[4]; 20. 33-Brian Arnold[10]
Ladies Powder Puff - Trucks
A-main (10 laps) Starting Position [#]
1. 5-Tammy McGrath[3]; 2. 6-Jenny Spitler[2]; 3. 5W-Staci Laws[11]; 4.
92-Amy Holland[8]; 5. 19-Sylvia Moreno[6]; 6. 4X-Katiya Sorg[1]; 7. 20-Teri
Harrison[12]; 8. P51-Michelle Green[10]; 9. 17-Nicki Workman[5]; 10. 96-Val
DeVanna[9]; 11. O1-Chris Hetzel[4]; 12. 37-Judy Dorsey[7]
|
|
