Duncan’s patience pays off with Fremont 410 win; Weaver sweeps 305 weekend; Valenti again in trucks
FREMONT, Ohio – Cole Duncan exhibited maturity beyond his 28 hears Saturday at Fremont Speedway as he was patient on a slick surface and with lapped traffic to claim the 410 sprint feature win on Custom Metal Works of Norwalk Night to open the 2020 racing season.
Duncan, who hails from Circleville, Ohio, took the lead on lap 2 and only had to survive one caution flag and heavy lapped traffic toward the end to score his fourth career Fremont win.
“This is old school Jim Ford Fremont (former track promoter). A lot of these guys have never watched when it was Jim Ford Fremont like this. I might not have a lot of experience on this track like this but I’ve watched a lot of races,” said Duncan in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
“We were pretty good all night with the exception of the heat race…we weren’t great. We went to work on it…threw a couple of things at it…we wanted to experiment a little bit. It paid off. It’s hard when you get out front like that. You don’t know if you drug someone behind you that’s finding a different line than you did. I was excited to get to lapped traffic and start moving around to see if I could find something. Then I got stuck behind lapped traffic and I started to get a little worried. Worst thing you can do is blow it off the end of the track or run into a lapped car and screw up your race. It’s a fine line between being aggressive and trying to get by lapped cars and being patient and making sure you hit whatever moisture you can to propel the car forward,” continued Duncan beside his Ohio Heating, Helms Construction, Motorcity Auto Transport, Gressman Powersports, FK Indy, Wolf Composites backed #22.
“I’m glad we’re getting back to normal. I’m glad we had these great fans out here tonight…that’s awesome. Hopefully we’re back to normal now and we can start going to some cool track and rattling off some more wins,” added Duncan.
Paul Weaver made it a clean sweep of the weekend in 305 sprint action, earning his 52nd career victory at “The Track That Action Built” putting him eighth on the track’s all-time win list. His victory Saturday came after he won at Attica Raceway Park the previous night.
“Pam and Steve Brown come on board last year to help me and I wouldn’t be here if it was for Dave Rice and Bob Hampshire at Hampshire Racing Engines,” said Weaver beside his B&B Drain Services, Hampshire Racing Engines, M&L Excavating, Seagate Sandblasting, Weaver Performance backed #1W.
Fostoria, Ohio’s Shawn Valenti picked right back up where he left off last year in the Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks, inheriting the lead when early leader Jim Holcomb had mechanical woes and driving to his 56th career win at Fremont Speedway. He now sits sixth on the track’s all-time feature win list.
“Jim Holcomb had a fast hot rod…not sure what happened to him but tough to see him break. Just another awesome deal to be back in this truck. I have to thank Jeff Babcock for still doing it and Adam from A Plus Auto Center and Chris and John Brooks…they all help out,” said Valenti beside his Craig Miller Trucking, Best Performance Motorsports, Dave Story Equipment, KS Sales & Service, Speedways Bar and Grill backed machine.
In the 30 lap Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprint A-main, Frankie Nervo and Trey Jacobs led the field to green with Nervo gaining the advantage over third starter Duncan, Byron Reed, Jacobs, Cale Conley and DJ Foos. Duncan put the wing back and drove into the lead on the next circuit and pulled steadily away.
Reed grabbed second on lap three but by just lap six was nearly four seconds behind Duncan. The only caution flew on lap seven, putting Reed right on Duncan’s rear bumper. It had little impact as Duncan once again drove away from Reed who now had his hands full with Foos. Foos took the runner-up spot on lap 11 and began to eat into Duncan’s lead while Reed, Jacobs and Zeb Wise put on an entertaining battle for third.
Heavy lapped traffic came into play with 12 laps remaining but Foos could not capitalize as Duncan maintained a two to three second lead. Reed and Jacobs continued to battle for third with Jacobs taking the position with nine laps to go.
With only a handful of laps remaining Duncan was struggling with a pair of lapped cars who were racing side by side. But, Foos could not capitalize as Duncan’s patience paid off as he took the checkers over Foos, Jacobs, Reed and Wise.
Seth Schneider and Weaver comprised the front row of the 25 lap Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint A-main. Before a lap could be completed three cars at the tail of the field tangled and on the ensuing restart three more had problems. When the green flew, Schneider gained the advantage over Weaver, Kyle Capodice, Matt Foos, Jamie Miller and Alvin Roepke.
Schneider maintained about a four car length advantage with Weaver staying within striking distance while Capodice ran comfortably in third with Miller, Foos and Roepke putting on an entertaining battle for fourth. Weaver raced to Schneider’s outside by lap 10 but a Mike Moore tumble halted the action.
When the green reappeared Schneider was able to hold off Weaver with Capodice, Roepke and Miller giving chase. Weaver’s constant pressure paid off on lap 15 as he drove into the lead.
Weaver pulled away for the victory with Schneider, Capodice, Roepke and Miller rounding out the top five.
Cautions marred the first hand full of laps for the Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck A-main but Jim Holcomb led at every restart. A great battle for second ensured involving Ben Class, Valenti and Cory McCaughey. Disaster struck for Holcomb on lap 13 as mechanical issues forced him to stop, handing the lead to Valenti.
The battle for second involving Ben Class, Dustin Keegan, Brad Mitten and Dana Fry was fun to watch before a caution flew for Keegan with just two laps to go. Valenti drove away on the restart to take the win over Clapp, Frey, Mitten and Brooks.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, June 27 on Willies Sales and Service Night featuring the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series (AFCS) 410 Sprints presented by the Baumann Auto Group, the NAPA of Bryan AFCS 305 sprints presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales, the NRA Sprint Invader 360 Sprints and the dirt trucks in action.
Keep up to date with Fremont Speedway by going to www.fremontohspeedway.com or on Facebook at www.facebook/FremontSpeedway or on Twitter https://twitter.com/FremontSpeedway
Fremont Speedway
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Starting position [*]
410 Sprints – Fort Ball Pizza Palace
Qualifying
1.11-Zeb Wise, 12.761; 2.22-Cole Duncan, 12.937; 3.3C-Cale Conley, 12.959; 4.4-Cap Henry, 12.960; 5.16-DJ Foos, 12.979; 6.35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.118; 7.41-Thomas Schinderle, 13.179; 8.23-Cole Macedo, 13.210; 9.2+-Brian Smith, 13.248; 10.77I-John Ivy, 13.279; 11.81-Lee Jacobs, 13.294; 12.1-Nate Dussel, 13.311; 13.21N-Frankie Nervo, 13.324; 14.70-Sye Lynch, 13.346; 15.19-Jordan Ryan, 13.362; 16.5-Byron Reed, 13.390; 17.8M-TJ Michael, 13.430; 18.3J-Trey Jacobs, 13.495; 19.20B-Cody Bova, 13.529; 20.40-Mark Imler, 13.679; 21.22M-Dan McCarron, 13.738; 22.84-Cale Stinson, 13.750; 23.2L-Landon LaLonde, 13.756; 24.22B-Ryan Broughton, 13.758; 25.9W-Lance Webb, 13.816; 26.9X-Ricky Peterson, 13.823; 27.39-Ross Rankin, 13.908; 28.68G-Tyler Gunn, 13.936; 29.14-Chad Wilson, 13.971; 30.14Z-Wyatt Zimmerman, 14.846; 31.15K-Chad Kemenah, 99.990;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top four to A)
1. 4-Cap Henry[3] ; 2. 21N-Frankie Nervo[1] ; 3. 3C-Cale Conley[4] ; 4. 41-Thomas Schinderle[2] ; 5. 68G-Tyler Gunn[8] ; 6. 19-Jordan Ryan[5] ; 7. 20B-Cody Bova[6] ; 8. 40-Mark Imler[7]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 16-DJ Foos[2] ; 2. 11-Zeb Wise[4] ; 3. 81-Lee Jacobs[5] ; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[3] ; 5. 9W-Lance Webb[6] ; 6. 14-Chad Wilson[7] ; 7. 15K-Chad Kemenah[8] ; 8. 2+-Brian Smith[1]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 5-Byron Reed[1] ; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[4] ; 3. 23-Cole Macedo[3] ; 4. 8M-TJ Michael[5] ; 5. 70-Sye Lynch[2] ; 6. 2L-Landon LaLonde[7] ; 7. 84-Cale Stinson[6] ; 8. 9X-Ricky Peterson[8]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 3J-Trey Jacobs[2] ; 2. 1-Nate Dussel[3] ; 3. 77I-John Ivy[4] ; 4. 22B-Ryan Broughton[5] ; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron[1] ; 6. 39-Ross Rankin[6] ; 7. 14Z-Wyatt Zimmerman[7]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 2 to A)
1. 68G-Tyler Gunn[1] ; 2. 19-Jordan Ryan[3] ; 3. 15K-Chad Kemenah[6] ; 4. 9W-Lance Webb[2] ; 5. 20B-Cody Bova[5] ; 6. 14-Chad Wilson[4] ; 7. 40-Mark Imler[7] ; 8. 2+-Brian Smith[8]
B-Main 2 – (10 Laps, top 2 to A)
1. 70-Sye Lynch[1] ; 2. 2L-Landon LaLonde[3] ; 3. 22M-Dan McCarron[2] ; 4. 84-Cale Stinson[5] ; 5. 39-Ross Rankin[4] ; 6. 14Z-Wyatt Zimmerman[6] ; 7. 9X-Ricky Peterson[7]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 22-Cole Duncan[3] ; 2. 16-DJ Foos[5] ; 3. 3J-Trey Jacobs[2] ; 4. 5-Byron Reed[4] ; 5. 11-Zeb Wise[7] ; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs[11] ; 7. 1-Nate Dussel[10] ; 8. 4-Cap Henry[9] ; 9. 35-Stuart Brubaker[8] ; 10. 21N-Frankie Nervo[1] ; 11. 3C-Cale Conley[6] ; 12. 8M-TJ Michael[15] ; 13. 68G-Tyler Gunn[17] ; 14. 23-Cole Macedo[12] ; 15. 77I-John Ivy[13] ; 16. 22B-Ryan Broughton[16] ; 17. 2L-Landon LaLonde[20] ; 18. 41-Thomas Schinderle[14] ; 19. 70-Sye Lynch[18] ; 20. 19-Jordan Ryan[19]
Hard Charger: 81-Lee Jacobs +5
305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit UnionQualifying
1.26-Jamie Miller, 13.965; 2.1H-Zeth Sabo, 14.133; 3.12-Kyle Capodice, 14.193; 4.1W-Paul Weaver, 14.206; 5.36-Seth Schneider, 14.216; 6.21-Larry Kingseed JR, 14.288; 7.12F-Matt Foos, 14.470; 8.19R-Steve Rando, 14.475; 9.75-Jerry Dahms, 14.506; 10.51-Garrett Craine, 14.542; 11.99-Alvin Roepke, 14.544; 12.85-Shawn Valenti, 14.553; 13.7-Shawn Valenti, 14.553; 14.X-Mike Keegan, 14.554; 15.9-Logan Riehl, 14.555; 16.3X-Brandon Riehl, 14.567; 17.5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr, 14.580; 18.61-Tyler Shullick, 14.615; 19.97-Kyle Peters, 14.637; 20.3V-Chris Verda, 14.656; 21.29-Rich Farmer, 14.756; 22.X15-Kasey Ziebold, 14.828; 23.5M-Mike Moore, 14.841; 24.Z10-Brandon Moore, 14.857; 25.10-Josh Harrison, 14.864; 26.5-Kody Brewer, 14.947;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[3] ; 2. 26-Jamie Miller[4] ; 3. 12F-Matt Foos[2] ; 4. X-Mike Keegan[5] ; 5. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[6] ; 6. 3V-Chris Verda[7] ; 7. 5-Kody Brewer[9] ; 8. 5M-Mike Moore[8] ; 9. 51-Garrett Craine[1]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 36-Seth Schneider[3] ; 2. 99-Alvin Roepke[1] ; 3. 19R-Steve Rando[2] ; 4. Z10-Brandon Moore[8] ; 5. 1H-Zeth Sabo[4] ; 6. 61-Tyler Shullick[6] ; 7. 9-Logan Riehl[5] ; 8. 29-Rich Farmer[7]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 85-Shawn Valenti[1] ; 2. 12-Kyle Capodice[4] ; 3. 97-Kyle Peters[6] ; 4. 10-Josh Harrison[8] ; 5. 3X-Brandon Riehl[5] ; 6. 75-Jerry Dahms[2] ; 7. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[3] ; 8. X15-Kasey Ziebold[7]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps, top 5 to A)
1. 61-Tyler Shullick[2] ; 2. 3V-Chris Verda[1] ; 3. 5-Kody Brewer[4] ; 4. 9-Logan Riehl[5] ; 5. 5M-Mike Moore[6] ; 6. 75-Jerry Dahms[3] ; 7. X15-Kasey Ziebold[8] ; 8. 29-Rich Farmer[7] ; 9. 51-Garrett Craine[9]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[2] ; 2. 36-Seth Schneider[1] ; 3. 12-Kyle Capodice[3] ; 4. 99-Alvin Roepke[6] ; 5. 26-Jamie Miller[4] ; 6. 12F-Matt Foos[7] ; 7. 1H-Zeth Sabo[14] ; 8. 9-Logan Riehl[19] ; 9. X-Mike Keegan[10] ; 10. Z10-Brandon Moore[11] ; 11. 97-Kyle Peters[9] ; 12. 61-Tyler Shullick[16] ; 13. 19R-Steve Rando[8] ; 14. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[13] ; 15. 5-Kody Brewer[18] ; 16. 10-Josh Harrison[12] ; 17. 5M-Mike Moore[20] ; 18. 85-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 19. 3V-Chris Verda[17] ; 20. 3X-Brandon Riehl[15] ; 21. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[21]
Hard Charger: 9-Logan Riehl +11
Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy
Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 2. 1-John Brooks[2] ; 3. 11-Austin Gibson[4] ; 4. 14T-Cody Truman[1] ; 5. 78-Austin Black [3] ; 6. 7X-Dana Frey[7] ; 7. 26-Kyle Lagrou[6]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 17x-Dustin Keegan[4] ; 2. 4s-Keith Sorg[1] ; 3. 32H-Dan Hennig[5] ; 4. 67-Ben Clapp[3] ; 5. 93-Bryce Black[7] ; 6. 8W-Allen White[2]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 16-Jim Holcomb[4] ; 2. 911-Cory Mccaughey[6] ; 3. 23m-Brad Mitten[3] ; 4. 27-Calob Crispen[1] ; 5. 7H-JT Horn[5] ; 6. 20-Caleb Shearn[2]
A-Main 1 – (0 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[7] ; 2. 67-Ben Clapp[1] ; 3. 7X-Dana Frey[16] ; 4. 23m-Brad Mitten[12] ; 5. 1-John Brooks[3] ; 6. 32H-Dan Hennig[6] ; 7. 14T-Cody Truman[11] ; 8. 78-Austin Black [13] ; 9. 7H-JT Horn[15] ; 10. 17x-Dustin Keegan[9] ; 11. 93-Bryce Black[14] ; 12. 911-Cory Mccaughey[5] ; 13. 16-Jim Holcomb[2] ; 14. 11-Austin Gibson[4] ; 15. 27-Calob Crispen[8] ; 16. 4s-Keith Sorg[10] ; 17. 20-Caleb Shearn[18] ; 18. 8W-Allen White[17]
Hard Charger: 7x-Dana Frey +13
Sources: Brian Liskai/Fremont Speedway PR