Duncan gets last corner, last lap pass for thrilling Fremont Speedweek win

By admin June 13, 2021 Fremont Speedway

FREMONT, Ohio – Cole Duncan pounced when he had to – the last corner of the last lap – to win night two of the Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek Presented by Hercules Tires at Fremont Speedway. Duncan squeezed between the front stretch wall and race-long leader Danny Dietrich to claim his fifth FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions Presented by Mobil 1 victory by a margin of just 0.248 seconds.

Ironically Duncan’s victory on Kistler Engines/Kistler Racing Products Night surpassed his dad Rodney Duncan’s career wins with the series and it was his sixth career win at Fremont, also surpassing his dad’s career win total at “The Track That Action Built.”

The 40-lap event featured intense battles throughout involving Dietrich, Justin Peck, and Duncan which had the capacity crowd on their feet and roaring above the sound of the sprint cars.

“I ain’t never had that much patience in my life. I knew I had a run off of two on Danny and I seen Peck kept sneaking under me in three and four but I knew I was better on the top. I knew as soon as I showed Danny my nose he would block that line. And I said screw it and I hung it out on the top and he raced me clean off the corner…I don’t even think we hit wheels. You couldn’t have fit a piece of paper between his wheel and my wheel and my wheel and the wall. Man what a hell of a race. Thank you fans for coming out…a hell of a crowd. I’ve got family and friends here and Sheldon and Julie from Ohio Heating here…I hope we made them proud tonight. My family…my dad, Jamie, my wife, my mom missed this one…she had graduation parties or something but she won’t miss the next one I bet. Pretty cool to pass my dad in All Star wins. I look up to my old man a lot and to get pass him in that win column…it’s really really tough to come by these All Star wins right now. This is probably the best I’ve seen in All Star field of cars since my dad ran in the 90s and early 2000s,” said Duncan beside his Ohio Heating/Helms Construction/Motor City Transport/Wolf Composites backed #22.

“In the heat and the dash we were just kind of hanging on. I’ll give it to my guys…they just went to work on it. Man, they got the tune on it there. As soon as I got the wing back it took off. I knew we were going to be good but I raced hard with Peck there but I kind of slid across the track and I thought I may have sealed my tire up but after a few laps it worked itself back in. It was a technical track. You can’t say it didn’t put on a good race. We came from eighth and a last-lap pass I don’t think you can ask for a much better race than that,” added Duncan.

Dietrich, who hails from Gettysburg, PA.,  led laps 1-39.75, and second, was very disappointing, to say the least.

“Hats off for all the fans for coming out. We came out here to Ohio because Ohio puts on the best racing in my mind. The fans are awesome and the tracks put on really good shows. I’ve been wanting to come here since I was here in 2014. Son-of-a-bitch we missed it by a quarter of a lap. He was coming, he was fast. I was trying to lean on him a little bit but not touch and try to get him to check up from the outside fence and beat him to the line but Cole is always good here. It’s a tough one to swallow. I really want to win in Ohio bad. We’re here for the whole week and we’re excited and I think everyone knows we’re here to play.  We’ve had two really good nights. I love these bullrings…I love the slick,” said Dietrich beside his Sweeney Chevy Buick GMC/Pace Performance/Weikerts Livestock/Sandoes Fruit Market backed machine.

Monrovia, Indiana’s Justin Peck really got his start in winged sprint car racing coming to Fremont Speedway and settled for third at the checkers.

“I felt like every now and then I could get a run and keep up with those guys. But Cole by far had the best car. He showed me his nose a couple of times and it was all I could do to try and keep him behind me. I need to get more consistent getting off of four here and I felt that’s where I would lose ground. All and all this Buch 13 has been pretty fast the past couple of nights so we will throw the wrenches on and try to get it a little bit faster and gets some wins this week,” said Peck beside his Coastal Race Parts.com/TheTree Center/Buch Motorsports Store.com backed #13.

Not to be outdone, the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints also put on a fantastic show with veterans Paul Weaver and Alvin Roepke battling for the lead while dealing with lapped traffic. With three laps to go the duo made contact exiting turn four and then Weaver got caught up in a lapped car spinning. Roepke was able to nurse his car which had a mangled front wing the last three laps for his second win of the season and the 11th of his career at Fremont.

“I think Paul was a little better than us…I got a little lucky there. But hey, I won at Fremont Speedway on a speedweek night. It doesn’t get much better than that,” said an elated Roepke beside his Fremont Auto Parts/NAPA/Darmofal Racing backed #99.

Dietrich and Zeb Wise brought the field to green for the All Star 40 lap feature with Dietrich bolting into the lead over Wise, Stuart Brubaker, and Peck. Dietrich built a sizeable lead by lap five over Wise and Peck while Brubaker, Duncan, and Cory Eliason battled hard for fourth.  Back-to-back cautions on lap eight kept the field close and when the green flew Dietrich pulled away again while Peck and Duncan put on a show battling for second.

Following a caution on lap 12, Dietrich couldn’t escape this time as both Peck and Duncan stayed close while Wise and Travis Philo battled for fourth. Heavy lapped traffic came into play at the halfway point as Dietrich continued to hold a narrow lead over Peck and Duncan. With seven laps to go Dietrich had been able to put a couple of lapped cars between himself and Duncan and Peck.

But Duncan was able to use the high line exiting turn two and made up valuable real estate once around the lapped cars. As they took the white flag Duncan charged to Dietrich’s outside but Dietrich moved up and blocked. Entering the final two turns Duncan sailed his car to the top and pinched himself between Dietrich and the wall and won the drag race to the checkers.

In the 25 lap 305 A-main Chris Verda and Kody Brewer brought the field to green with Brewer gaining the slight advantage over Verda, Weaver, and fifth starting Roepke. Weaver moved into second by lap four and quickly pressured Brewer, eventually grabbing the top spot on lap eight.

 

A caution on lap 13 saw the running order Weaver, Brewer, Roepke, Verda, Brandon Moore, Matt Foos, and Steve Rando. Weaver would keep Roepke at bay until they entered heavy lapped traffic with just six laps to go. Roepke closed quickly and as they came to the line to complete lap 22 the duo made contact with Roepke leading by a bumper. Entering turns one and two Roepke had just cleared a lapped car which spun right in front of Weaver sending him spinning.

Roepke had a completely destroyed front wing that was rubbing on his right front tire. But, he was able to nurse it home for the win over Brewer, Verda, Foos, and Rando.

Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, June 26 on Willie’s Sales and Service Night. The Kistler Racing Products/All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads 410 Attica Fremont Championship Series Presented by the Baumann Auto Group will battle for $4,000 to win while AFCS 305 Sprints and Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks will also be in action.

Keep up to date with Fremont Speedway by going to  www.fremontohspeedway.com or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FremontSpeedway or on Twitter https://twitter.com/FremontSpeedway.

About Kistler Engines – www.kistlerengines.com

Kistler Engines was established in 1993 and builds lightweight, high-performance racing engines with a commitment to quality. At Kistlers we pride ourselves in high tech, innovative designs, producing highly competitive engines for sprint cars (410 c.i., 360 c.i. and 305 c.i.), as well as, late models and midgets. Kistler Engines has also earned a great reputation for our service among professional race teams due to our quick turnaround time on engine rebuilds. Kistlers uses of state-of-the-art equipment, the highest standard quality parts, and invest in constant research and development. Customers powered by Kistler engines have set numerous quick times, track records, and have also won on the local level as well as on national traveling series such as the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, All Star Circuit of Champions, and USAC.

About Kistler Racing Products  – https://kistlerracing.com

In 2008, Kistler Racing Products opened to add a full product line to the already 15 year established business located within Kistler Engines Inc. shop in rural Fremont, Ohio. Kistler Racing Products is proud to provide a wide array of high-quality, dependable, and race-winning capable parts, most in stock. Kistler Racing Products and Kistler Engines are proud of their unique niche – the only comprehensive shop for dirt sprints in the United States where you can build a car from the ground up including motor and arrive at the race track in a one-stop shopping atmosphere. Kistlers supplies everything you need from A – Z: Axles to Zeus buttons including product line Arai Helmets to Zemco – if you need it, we’ve got it. Kistler Racing Products will get all the technical support and one on one personalized customer service that you deserve.

Fremont Speedway

Saturday, June 12, 2021

Qualifying

Group (A)

  1. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.121; 2. 16-DJ Foos, 13.131; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.200; 4. 101-Lachlan McHugh, 13.349; 5. 27S-John Ivy, 13.407; 6. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.427; 7. 1-Nate Dussel, 13.452; 8. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 13.526; 9. 25R-Jordan Ryan, 13.546

Group (B)

  1. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.357; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.391; 3. 5-Paul McMahan, 13.468; 4. 13-Justin Peck, 13.520; 5. 23-Chris Andrews, 13.633; 6. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.703; 7. 14-Chad Kemenah, 13.849; 8. 22M-Dan McCarron, 14.009; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 14.024

Group (C)

  1. 22C-Cole Duncan, 13.410; 2. 11N-Harli White, 13.694; 3. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.823; 4. 18T-Tanner Holmes, 13.937; 5. 3C-Cale Conley, 14.055; 6. 55v-CJ Leary, 14.095; 7. 7-Zane DeVault, 14.121; 8. 2+-Brian Smith, 14.326; 9. 21N-Frankie Nervo, —

Group (D)

  1. 10-Zeb Wise, 13.744; 2. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.856; 3. 49X-Cale Thomas, 13.877; 4. 24W-Garet Williamson, 13.880; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 14.135; 6. 12-Kyle Capodice, 14.309; 7. 11-Ian Madsen, 14.390; 8. 2-Ricky Peterson, 14.566; 9. 22-Ryan Broughton, —

 

Group (E)

  1. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.878; 2. 4-Cap Henry, 13.938; 3. 19-Brandon Spithaler, 14.067; 4. O7-Skylar Gee, 14.125; 5. 28-Tim Shaffer, 14.225; 6. 17B-Bill Balog, 14.373; 7. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 14.416; 8. 18-Cole Macedo, 14.450

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

  1. 101-Lachlan McHugh [1]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [4]; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker [2]; 4. 16-DJ Foos [3]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 6. 1-Nate Dussel [7]; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [8]; 8. 27S-John Ivy [5]; 9. 25R-Jordan Ryan [9]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

  1. 13-Justin Peck [1]; 2. 5-Paul McMahan [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [3]; 5. 5R-Byron Reed [6]; 6. 14-Chad Kemenah [7]; 7. 23-Chris Andrews [5]; 8. 22M-Dan McCarron [8]; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [9]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

  1. 5T-Travis Philo [2]; 2. 18T-Tanner Holmes [1]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 4. 55V-CJ Leary [6]; 5. 11N-Harli White [3]; 6. 7-Zane DeVault [7]; 7. 3C-Cale Conley [5]; 8. 21N-Frankie Nervo [9]; 9. 2+-Brian Smith [8]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

  1. 24-Rico Abreu [3]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 4. 49X-Cale Thomas [2]; 5. 11-Ian Madsen [7]; 6. 24W-Garet Williamson [1]; 7. 2-Ricky Peterson [8]; 8. 12-Kyle Capodice [6]; 9. 22-Ryan Broughton [9]

Heat #5 – Group (E) (8 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

  1. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 2. 28-Tim Shaffer [5]; 3. O7-Skylar Gee [1]; 4. 19-Brandon Spithaler [2]; 5. 8M-TJ Michael [4]; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs [7]; 7. 18-Cole Macedo [8]; 8. 17B-Bill Balog [6]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)

  1. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 2. 13-Justin Peck [5]; 3. 5T-Travis Philo [2]; 4. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 5. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 6. 101-Lachlan McHugh [4]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)

  1. 10-Zeb Wise [2]; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker [1]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 4. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 5. 16-DJ Foos [5]; 6. 19-Brandon Spithaler [6]

C-Main (8 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer

  1. 17B-Bill Balog [4]; 2. 22M-Dan McCarron [1]; 3. 21N-Frankie Nervo [2]; 4. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [6]; 5. 12-Kyle Capodice [3]; 6. 2+-Brian Smith [7]; 7. 22-Ryan Broughton [8]; 8. 25R-Jordan Ryan [5]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer

  1. W20-Greg Wilson [2]; 2. 27S-John Ivy [1]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed [4]; 4. 1-Nate Dussel [7]; 5. 8M-TJ Michael [5]; 6. 11-Ian Madsen [6]; 7. 11N-Harli White [3]; 8. 18-Cole Macedo [15]; 9. 14-Chad Kemenah [8]; 10. 23-Chris Andrews [13]; 11. 3C-Cale Conley [14]; 12. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [12]; 13. 17B-Bill Balog [17]; 14. 3J-Trey Jacobs [11]; 15. 24W-Garet Williamson [9]; 16. 7-Zane DeVault [10]; 17. 2-Ricky Peterson [16]; 18. 22M-Dan McCarron [18]

A-Main (40 Laps)

  1. 22C-Cole Duncan [8]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 3. 13-Justin Peck [3]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo [5]; 5. 4-Cap Henry [7]; 6. 10-Zeb Wise [2]; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker [4]; 8. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 9. 101-Lachlan McHugh [11]; 10. 24-Rico Abreu [9]; 11. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [18]; 12. 28-Tim Shaffer [15]; 13. 5-Paul McMahan [13]; 14. 55V-CJ Leary [20]; 15. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [17]; 16. 49X-Cale Thomas [19]; 17. 1-Nate Dussel [24]; 18. 16-DJ Foos [10]; 19. 11-Ian Madsen [25]; 20. W20-Greg Wilson [21]; 21. O7-Skylar Gee [16]; 22. 5R-Byron Reed [23]; 23. 27S-John Ivy [22]; 24. 18T-Tanner Holmes [14]; 25. 19-Brandon Spithaler [12]; 26. 17B-Bill Balog [26]

Hard Charger: 22C-Cole Duncan +7

305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit Union

Qualifying

1.99-Alvin Roepke, 14.783; 2.36-Seth Schneider, 15.020; 3.3V-Chris Verda, 15.085; 4.1W-Paul Weaver, 15.110; 5.5-Kody Brewer, 15.181; 6.12F-Matt Foos, 15.208; 7.19R-Steve Rando, 15.346; 8.21-Larry Kingseed JR, 15.381; 9.26-Jamie Miller, 15.474; 10.5Jr-Jimmy  McGrath Jr, 15.537; 11.X-Mike Keegan, 15.580; 12.X15-Kasey Ziebold, 15.651; 13.Z10-Brandon Moore, 15.795; 14.20i-Kelsey Ivy, 15.876; 15.32-Bryce Lucius, 15.954; 16.1H-Zeth Sabo, 16.034; 17.3x-Brandon Reihl, 16.209; 18.34-Jud Dickerson, 16.216; 19.6-Jimmie Ward, 16.271; 20.27-Joey Pendergrass, 16.282; 21.2-Brenden Torok, 16.444; 22.51-Garrett Craine, 16.680; 23.63-Randy Ruble, 16.731; 24.B15-Brad Reber, 16.983;

Heat 1, Group A –  (8 Laps)

  1. 99-Alvin Roepke[4] ; 2. 5-Kody Brewer[1] ; 3. 3V-Chris Verda[2] ; 4. 12F-Matt Foos[5] ; 5. 36-Seth Schneider[3] ; 6. 5Jr-Jimmy  McGrath Jr[6] ; 7. X15-Kasey Ziebold[7] ; 8. 34-Jud Dickerson[8]

Heat 2, Group B –  (8 Laps)

  1. Z10-Brandon Moore[2] ; 2. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[1] ; 3. X-Mike Keegan[3] ; 4. 3x-Brandon Reihl[5] ; 5. 2-Brenden Torok[8] ; 6. 27-Joey Pendergrass[7] ; 7. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[4] ; 8. 6-Jimmie Ward[6]

Heat 3, Group C –  (8 Laps)

  1. 1W-Paul Weaver[4] ; 2. 32-Bryce Lucius[1] ; 3. 19R-Steve Rando[3] ; 4. 26-Jamie Miller[2] ; 5. 1H-Zeth Sabo[5] ; 6. 51-Garrett Craine[6] ; 7. B15-Brad Reber[8] ; 8. 63-Randy Ruble[7]

A-Main 1 –  (25 Laps)

  1. 99-Alvin Roepke[5] ; 2. 5-Kody Brewer[2] ; 3. 3V-Chris Verda[1] ; 4. 12F-Matt Foos[6] ; 5. 19R-Steve Rando[10] ; 6. Z10-Brandon Moore[3] ; 7. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[7] ; 8. 1H-Zeth Sabo[15] ; 9. 26-Jamie Miller[12] ; 10. 32-Bryce Lucius[8] ; 11. 3x-Brandon Reihl[11] ; 12. X-Mike Keegan[9] ; 13. 2-Brenden Torok[14] ; 14. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[20] ; 15. 27-Joey Pendergrass[17] ; 16. X15-Kasey Ziebold[19] ; 17. B15-Brad Reber[21] ; 18. 36-Seth Schneider[13] ; 19. 34-Jud Dickerson[22] ; 20. 6-Jimmie Ward[23] ; 21. 51-Garrett Craine[18] ; 22. 1W-Paul Weaver[4] ; 23. 5Jr-Jimmy  McGrath Jr[16] ; 24. 63-Randy Ruble[24]

Hard Charger: 1H-Zeth Sabo +7

Sources: Brian Liskai/Fremont Speedway PR