Kofoid Defends His Track Crown, Defeating the All Stars at Fremont Speedway
FREMONT, Ohio – For the second straight night of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek Presented by Hercules Tires, a driver defended his “home turf” from the invading Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions Presented by Mobil 1. Penngrove, California’s Buddy Kofoid, the 2019 track champion at Fremont Speedway, led all 35 laps of the Baumann Auto Group A-main at “The Track That Action Built” Saturday, July 4, to score his second career All Star win.
Kofoid’s third career win at Fremont didn’t come easy as heavy lapped traffic left him vulnerable to two-time All Star champion Aaron Reutzel. However, Kofoid, in only his third start behind the wheel of a sprint car in 2020, exhibited talent beyond his years, making a daring move around two lapped cars exiting turn 4 with just seven laps to go, putting some distance between him and Reutzel.
“Last year, honestly, if the track was like this we would have been maybe a podium or top-five car. Steven and the guys…they’ve picked it up. We’ve got our cars so good on the slick tracks like this and even Attica last night we were so good. All night if there was a cushion or bottom or through the slick we were right on point. Those lappers made me nervous but I’ve seen from the past if the bottom is only down here (turns one and two) you don’t want to move outside just follow them and try to let them slide up and get under them and slide them. I could rail the top in three and four at the end pretty good and get a run and get around them and back to the bottom. I had to try and get as many lapped cars between them and me as I could and hopefully they would have to take some time to get around like I did,” explained Kofoid beside his Gill Construction/CK Plumbing/Linder’s Speed Equipment backed machine.
“I can’t thank Ed Neumeister enough, Ray Brooks especially and the Linders for all they do for me. They let me come out here and have some fun. This is only my third sprint car race this year and I have a fourth and a second and a win with the All Stars is pretty damn cool. I have to leave after Monday to go run the midget. I enjoy coming back to these sprint car races and seeing all the fans,” added Kofoid. “Pretty cool to have both of my All Star wins come during speedweek.”
The Baumann Auto Group – the presenting sponsor of the Attica Fremont Championship Series – held a mini-challenge for series members involving Attica Raceway Park on Friday and Fremont on Saturday. Cale Conley scored the most points for the two nights and took home a $2,000 bonus.
Fostoria, Ohio’s Shawn Valenti and Jim Holcomb literally raced door to door the last 13 laps of the Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck A-main. Valenti held off Holcomb to claim his second win of the season at Fremont and the 57th of his career at the track, placing him sixth on the all-time win list.
“These guys in this division are getting better and better and they make it extremely tough. We had to change a rear end gear after our heat and that had us scrambling so to get this win was very rewarding. I have to thank the Babcocks for putting me in this truck and all our great sponsors,” said Valenti beside his Best Performance Motorsports; A Plus Auto Center; Craig Miller Trucking; KS Sales & Service; Gressman Powersports; Dave Story Equipment, Speedways Bar and Grill backed #7B.
At the drop of the green for the 35 lap All Star feature, Kofoid jumped into the early lead over Josh Baughman, Jac Haudenschild, Reutzel, Cole Duncan, Tim Shaffer and Adam Kekich. Kofoid immediately established himself as the car to beat, pulling away from Baughman while Haudenschild and Reutzel battled for third.
Action ground to a half on lap four when Zeb Wise went for a wild ride but walked away uninjured. It was a bad break for Reutzel who had blasted into the runner-up spot but had to restart third.
Kofoid once again pulled away when the Silver Top Sports Bar and Grill green flew. Reutzel and teammate Baughman battled hard for second. Following a caution on lap 14, that kept Kofoid out of lapped traffic, Reutzel jumped into the second spot on the restart.
Kofoid was able to grow his lead to nearly 1.7 seconds by lap 22 as Reutzel settled into second while Cole Duncan, who scored the win at Fremont two weeks ago, grabbed third after a spirited battle with Baughman. Kofoid’s lead began to disappear as he raced into lapped traffic on lap 23. Reutzel closed to the leader’s rear bumper with just seven laps to go when Kofoid blasted to the outside of two lapped cars who were racing side by side.
Now with a cushion of two lappers, Kofoid easily drove away to the win over Reutzel, Duncan, Greg Wilson, and Baughman.
In the 20 lap dirt truck A-main, Jim Holcomb grabbed the early lead over while a tremendous battle ensued behind him involving John brooks, Cody Truman, Valenti, Dustin Keegan and Brad Mitten. A couple of early cautions allowed Valenti to work his way into second and by lap eight he and Holcomb began their side by side battle that lasted until the checkers flew.
Behind that lead duo, the action was hot and heavy for third involving Brooks, Keegan, Mitten, Keith Sorg, and Dana Fry. When the dust settled Valenti eked out the win over Holcomb, Keegan, Brooks and Mitten.
Fremont Speedway will play host to night 3 of the Ohio Sprint Speedweek on Sunday, July 5 with the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints joining the racing card. Gates open at 4 p.m. with racing underway at 7 p.m. on Vision Quest Night.
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
About the Baumann Auto Group – www.baumannautogroup.com
In an era of continuous change, the Baumann Auto Group is celebrating 63 years of successfully serving the community. Buck Baumann is proud to continue his father Al’s vision with the same tradition of trust and family atmosphere in the seven dealerships that are in Fremont, Tiffin, Port Clinton and Genoa. Baumann Won’t Be Beat is more than a slogan, we don’t compromise honesty and ethics, we proudly employ high-quality people and we care about our loyal customers.
The Baumann Auto Group has an exceptional sales and service team. So not only can you purchase your new vehicle from Baumann’s, but they will keep it running smoothly with continued service maintenance. If you should have an unfortunate accident, Baumann’s body shop is a well-known “direct repair” facility for numerous insurance companies, performing collision repairs on all makes and models.
Fremont Speedway
Saturday, July 4, 2020
All Star Circuit of Champions
Baumann Auto Group Night
Qualifying
Group (A)
1. 3-Jac Haudenschild, 13.179; 2. 11N-Buddy Kofoid, 13.209; 3. 5-Byron Reed, 13.247; 4. 3C-Cale Conley, 13.256; 5. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 13.302; 6. 19R-Jordan Ryan, 13.331; 7. 22B-Ryan Broughton, 13.391; 8. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.520; 9. 15-Mitch Harble, 13.536; 10. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.627
Group (B)
1. 17-Josh Baughman, 12.841; 2. 11-Zeb Wise, 13.104; 3. 99-Skylar Gee, 13.473; 4. 28-Tim Shaffer, 13.493; 5. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.502; 6. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.560; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.646; 8. 4-Cap Henry, 13.720; 9. 2L-Landon LaLonde, 13.783; 10. 21N-Frankie Nervo, 13.992
Group (C)
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.329; 2. 77I-John Ivy, 13.541; 3. 16-DJ Foos, 13.614; 4. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.714; 5. 15k-Chad Kemenah, 13.904; 6. 23-Cole Macedo, 13.909; 7. 1-Nate Dussel, 14.025; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 14.037; 9. 5h-Jordan Harble, 14.242; 10. 4S-Tyler Street, 14.282
Group (D)
1. 5K-Adam Kekich, 13.436; 2. 13-Paul McMahan, 13.541; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.557; 4. 70-Sye Lynch, 13.720; 5. 5x-Justin Peck, 13.735; 6. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 13.801; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.847; 8. 9j-Dean Jacobs, 14.051; 9. 22C-Cole Duncan, 14.062; 10. 6-Frank Rodgers, 14.638
Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 3C-Cale Conley [1]; 2. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [3]; 3. 5-Byron Reed [2]; 4. 3-Jac Haudenschild [4]; 5. 19R-Jordan Ryan [6]; 6. 3J-Trey Jacobs [5]; 7. 8M-TJ Michael [8]; 8. 2+-Brian Smith [10]; 9. 15-Mitch Harble [9]; 10. 22B-Ryan Broughton [7]
Heat #2 – Group (B) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 28-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 99-Skylar Gee [2]; 3. 11-Zeb Wise [3]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [5]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman [4]; 6. 4-Cap Henry [8]; 7. 35-Stuart Brubaker [7]; 8. 5T-Travis Philo [6]; 9. 21N-Frankie Nervo [10]; 10. 2L-Landon LaLonde [9]
Heat #3 – Group (C) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. W20-Greg Wilson [1]; 2. 16-DJ Foos [2]; 3. 15K-Chad Kemenah [5]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. 77I-John Ivy [3]; 6. 1-Nate Dussel [7]; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [8]; 8. 4S-Tyler Street [10]; 9. 23-Cole Macedo [6]; 10. 5H-Jordan Harble [9]
Heat #4 – Group (D) (10 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 22C-Cole Duncan [9]; 2. 5K-Adam Kekich [4]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 4. O7-Gerard McIntyre [6]; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs [7]; 6. 9J-Dean Jacobs [8]; 7. 5X-Justin Peck [5]; 8. 6-Frank Rodgers [10]; 9. 70-Sye Lynch [1]; 10. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]
Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [1]; 2. 3-Jac Haudenschild [2]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel [3]; 4. 28-Tim Shaffer [5]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [4]
Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 17-Josh Baughman [1]; 2. 22C-Cole Duncan [2]; 3. 5K-Adam Kekich [4]; 4. 3C-Cale Conley [5]; 5. 11-Zeb Wise [3]
B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 3J-Trey Jacobs [1]; 2. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 3. 8M-TJ Michael [6]; 4. 9J-Dean Jacobs [5]; 5. 1-Nate Dussel [4]; 6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [18]; 7. 5T-Travis Philo [10]; 8. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [9]; 9. 2+-Brian Smith [11]; 10. 35-Stuart Brubaker [7]; 11. 5X-Justin Peck [8]; 12. 15-Mitch Harble [14]; 13. 21N-Frankie Nervo [17]; 14. 2L-Landon LaLonde [19]; 15. 4S-Tyler Street [12]; 16. 6-Frank Rodgers [13]; 17. 22B-Ryan Broughton [2]; 18. 23-Cole Macedo [16]
A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 11N-Buddy Kofoid [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [5]; 3. 22C-Cole Duncan [4]; 4. W20-Greg Wilson [9]; 5. 17-Josh Baughman [2]; 6. 99-Skylar Gee [11]; 7. 3-Jac Haudenschild [3]; 8. 3C-Cale Conley [8]; 9. 13-Paul McMahan [14]; 10. 28-Tim Shaffer [7]; 11. 5-Byron Reed [13]; 12. 4-Cap Henry [22]; 13. 15K-Chad Kemenah [15]; 14. 3J-Trey Jacobs [21]; 15. 26-Cory Eliason [16]; 16. O7-Gerard McIntyre [17]; 17. 19R-Jordan Ryan [18]; 18. 5K-Adam Kekich [6]; 19. 8M-TJ Michael [23]; 20. 9J-Dean Jacobs [24]; 21. 81-Lee Jacobs [20]; 22. 11-Zeb Wise [10]; 23. 16-DJ Foos [12]; 24. 77I-John Ivy [19]
Hard Charger: 4-Cap Henry +10
Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy
Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 2. 67-Ben Clapp[4] ; 3. 7X-Dana Frey[7] ; 4. 4m-Jamie Miller[8] ; 5. 26-Kyle Lagrou[1] ; 6. 27-Calob Crispen[3] ; 7. 20-Caleb Shearn[2] ; 8. 33-Jeff Ward[6]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 16-Jim Holcomb[1] ; 2. 17x-Dustin Keegan[3] ; 3. 911-Cory McCaughey[6] ; 4. 14T-Cody Truman[4] ; 5. 11-Austin Gibson[2] ; 6. 32H-Dan Hennig[7] ; 7. 09c-Chris Bitters[8] ; 8. 78-Austin Black [5]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 1-John Brooks[2] ; 2. 4s-Keith Sorg[5] ; 3. 23m-Brad Mitten[3] ; 4. 32-Kevin Phillips[1] ; 5. 7H-JT Horn[6] ; 6. 6-Steve Sabo[7]
A-Main 1 – (0 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[4] ; 2. 16-Jim Holcomb[2] ; 3. 17x-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 4. 1-John Brooks[1] ; 5. 23m-Brad Mitten[6] ; 6. 4s-Keith Sorg[10] ; 7. 7X-Dana Frey[8] ; 8. 67-Ben Clapp[11] ; 9. 911-Cory McCaughey[9] ; 10. 4m-Jamie Miller[12] ; 11. 32H-Dan Hennig[17] ; 12. 14T-Cody Truman[3] ; 13. 78-Austin Black [20] ; 14. 26-Kyle Lagrou[13] ; 15. 09c-Chris Bitters[23] ; 16. 32-Kevin Phillips[7] ; 17. P51-Paul Brown JR[21] ; 18. 27-Calob Crispen[16] ; 19. 11-Austin Gibson[14] ; 20. 7H-JT Horn[15] ; 21. 6-Steve Sabo[18] ; 22. 33-Jeff Ward[22]
Sources: Brian Liskai/Fremont Speedway PR