FREMONT, OH (7-2-10) by Scott Porter – FAST Public Relations
The championship hunt continued at Fremont Speedway over the Fourth of July Weekend for both the Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship Series and the FAST 305 Championship Series competitors. Byron Reed would come into the night with a comfortable lead over Mark Keegan and Phil Gressman in the 410 sprint division, while in contrast D.J. Foos would find himself in an intense points battle with Paul Weaver and Stuart Brubaker separated by just 6-points. The evening also featured dual A-Mains for the Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship Series as the 410 sprints had make-up a lost feature from the June 12th rain out. With a lot of points on the line this evening could very well make or break a driver’s season in the FAST Kistler Cup points chase.
The evening started with the make-up feature from Night #10 of the FAST Championship Series. Pole sitter and FAST Rookie-of-the-Year contender Shawn Valenti jumped out to the early lead, while running under the hot summer sun. Bryan Sebetto, who returned to the track after a vicious flip the night before at Attica after he tangled with Phil Gressman, soon would challenge him for the top spot. As Sebetto gained a comfortable lead, “The Gasman” Phil Gressman made his climb into 2nd place and soon reeled in the leader in lapped traffic. A caution on lap 11 came out for a slowing car on the backstretch, but the leaders would then collide sending Phil Gressman tumbling end over end. The wreck ended the night for the Genzman Racing Enterprises #53 J&J as the team packed up to regroup. Sebetto would continue on in the lead, but the collision gave his Burmeister Racing #16 heavy top wing damage and a noticeable disadvantage once the race continued.
Chaney would inherit 2nd place from the incident and soon passed Sebetto for the lead. At the same time Dean Jacobs and Byron Reed started to make their move inside the Top-5. Wooster, Ohio’s Dean Jacobs would reel in Chaney in heavy lapped traffic as the laps ticked down. “The Sulfur City Outlaw” Kevin Lee would climb into the Top-5 as well and would go on to collect the KSE Steering Hard Charger Award in the process as he moved up from starting in 12th place. Back up front the battle for the lead intensified, as Dean’s front nose wing would collapse in the dirty air as he approached Chaney. With less than 2 to go, Jacobs would catch Chaney down the front stretch and power out of turn 2 to claim the top spot. Jacobs would go on to claim his first feature win in FAST competition and picked up his car owner's (Joe and Diane Seeling) first ever 410 sprint car victory.
“I got to running in the middle in turns one and two…there was a brown spot there that was good. I was really good on the bottom. I heard his guys tell him once he got into the lead to get up top and let’er eat and I knew I could beat him if he did that and it just worked out,” said Jacobs beside his Northwest Towing and Recovery, NAPA Truck and Auto Center backed #97. “We’ve been really fast all year and just been snake bit every night. We’ve passed a million cars all year but just can’t get a win. My crew chief Matt … he’s pretty much doing this by himself, working his butt off.”
In the regularly scheduled feature event, Brandon Wimmer and Jody Keegan would lead the field to the green. Wimmer would take the initial lead, but would soon be slowed by the first caution for a spin by Dean Jacobs. The green flag returned with Wimmer leading Jody Keegan, Kevin Lee, Brian Sebetto and Mark Keegan. Current FAST Kistler Cup points leader Byron Reed would soon bring out the next caution as “The Monclova Missile” did a 360 while running in the Top-10. Sebetto moved passed Lee to challenge for the lead on the next restart. Problems struck Sebetto again when a caution flew for debris and he would have to pull pit side for a deflating right rear tire. Sebetto’s misfortune would give Green Springs, Ohio’s Kevin Lee second place and the chance to challenge Wimmer for the lead on the next restart. Lee powered the 3J Motorsports entry around Wimmer, while Chris Andrews would take 3rd from Jody Keegan up front. The race was red flagged on lap 7 when David Harrison crashed into the safer barriers in turn 3. The man on the move before the race was halted was Craig Mintz who moved into the Top-5 after starting in 12th.
The race would soon find its rhythm as Kevin Lee pulled away from an intense battle for second behind him. Wimmer was under pressure from Chris Andrews and soon the defending FAST Champion Craig Mintz joined in on the fun. Andrews would get around the Rick Ferkel owned #0 of Wimmer and set his sights on Lee up front. By the halfway point, Andrews was closing in on Lee’s rear bumper as Mintz finally disposed of Wimmer. The two would soon be racing nose to tail in lapped traffic as only 10 laps remained in the race. Mintz would never pull even and made one last valiant effort on the last lap to power around Andrews to no avail. Andrews was just too good this night and would drive off to pick up the feature win over Mintz, Lee, Lee Jacobs and Brain Smith in tow.
“I’ve been through hell all year … I don’t know what I did to upset God. But, my crew didn’t give up; they kept working and kept trying to keep me positive. We started to turn things around during Speedweek, slowly, but surely and then we had a good run last night (at Attica) and then to win here. I normally don’t run good on this type of track when it slicks off, but the car felt good on the bottom,” said Andrews next to his K&N Filters, Lucas Oil, Banshee Graphics, Goofy Golf #15C Maxim.
When the dust had settled it was Kevin Lee and Lee Jacobs having the most impressive nights as they were both able to finish inside the Top-5 in both feature events. With the misfortune of Gressman, Craig Mintz would climb into 3rd place in the FAST Kistler Cup Points, while Lee’s pair of Top-5s (and a 6th place at Attica) would help move him further inside the Top-5 in the race for the Kistler Cup. Unofficially Byron Reed would increase his lead over the rest of the field even after finishing outside of the Top-5 for the first time in 2010.
In the FAST 305 Championship Series feature event it was Dustin Stroup jumping out to the early lead on the high side. Jimmy Colvin was soon on the tail tank of the #10X and would power off turn 4 on the bottom to take away the lead from Stroup. The caution flew when Paige Polyak spun on the track. Colvin would drive off from Stroup, Zack Kramer, Dustin Dinan and Brad Haudenschild before a pair of cautions would slow the race. On the last restart on lap 14, Stroup would find himself in a battle with Haudenshild with Dinan in tow. Haudenschild would soon get around Stroup for second as Stroup and Dinan continued their battle. A calm, cool and collected Jimmy Colvin would hit his marks on the bottom and drive the Concealed Carry Classes, G&C Construction #9 into the victory lane and his first career win on dirt.
“I drove it as hard as I could, but had to be patient and found some moisture down low,” said Colvin in victory lane. “I have to thank my mom for drawing the good pills the last few weeks and for videotaping every week. Have to thank my dad and Grandpa Moyer and everyone who helps out.”
The evening would get a little sweeter for Jimmy Colvin as he pulled the #1 pill out of the Kears Speed Shop 305 Challenge Box giving himself an extra $100 of Kear's FAST cash in victory lane.
The Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship continues the long, hot summer stretch of racing next weekend at Attica Raceway Park on Friday, July 9th before returning to Fremont Speedway on Saturday, July 10th. The FAST 305 Championship Series takes a few weeks off until the July 23-24 weekend.
To find out more about the Kistler Racing Products F.A.S.T. Championship Series presented by SRP Pistons & Engine Pro, the drivers, the rules, the schedule, and to learn about the series' sponsors visit www.fastondirt.com.
For more information on admission prices, start times and directions to either Northern Ohio track Visit www.atticaracewaypark.com or www.fremontohspeedway.com for more information.
Night #10: Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship Series (6/12 make-up feature)
A-Main - (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
- 97-Dean Jacobs[9]; 2. 9X-Rob Chaney[4]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[8]; 4. 24H-Lee Jacobs[6]; 5. 3J-Kevin Lee[13]; 6. 28-Shawn Valenti[1]; 7. 15C-Chris Andrews[10]; 8. 20X-Craig Mintz[12]; 9. O-Brandon Wimmer[11]; 10. 60-Jody Keegan[2]; 11. X-Mark Keegan[17]; 12. 2+-Brian Smith[14]; 13. 45-Brian Lay[19]; 14. 10-David Harrison[15]; 15. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[16]; 16. 14H-Todd Heller[20]; 17. 312-Mike Linder[18]; 18. 16-Bryan Sebetto[5]; 19. 53-Phil Gressman[7]; 20. 47-Caleb Helms[3]
Night #10 FAST Special Award Winners:
TQ Fiberglass Quick Time Award: #53 Phil Gressman
Butlerbuilt B-Main Winner: #97 Dean Jacobs
KSE Steering Hard Charger: #97 Dean Jacobs
Weld Wheels Cool Move of the Race: #3J Kevin Lee
Hepfner Racing Products Tough Luck Award: #16 Bryan Sebetto
Night #10 FAST A-Main Certificate Winners:
1st - Fuel Safe, Zemco Headers, Competition Suspension: #97 Dean Jacobs
2nd - R2C Filters, Saldana Racing Products, Kinsler Injections: #9X Rob Chaney
3rd - Ti22 Performance, Keizer Wheels, OC Shocks: #5R Byron Reed
4th - Outerwears, King Racing Products: #24H Lee Jacobs
5th - DMI Race Components: #3J Kevin Lee
Night #12: Kistler Racing Products FAST Championship Series
Qualifying
- 15C-Chris Andrews, 12.79; 2. X-Mark Keegan, 12.93; 3. 9X-Rob Chaney, 13.02; 4. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 13.07; 5. 3J-Kevin Lee, 13.07; 6. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.10; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.10; 8. 47-Caleb Helms, 13.13; 9. O-Brandon Wimmer, 13.13; 10. 28-Shawn Valenti, 13.17; 11. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.18; 12. 20X-Craig Mintz, 13.21; 13. 60-Jody Keegan, 13.21; 14. 53-Phil Gressman, 13.27; 15. 24H-Lee Jacobs, 13.27; 16. 1X-Matt Linder, 13.31; 17. 97-Dean Jacobs, 13.41; 18. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.50; 19. 312-Mike Linder, 13.51; 20. 45-Brian Lay, 13.57; 21. 12-Jamie Miller, 13.64; 22. 98-Bruce Robenalt, 13.90; 23. 26-Cody White, 13.95; 24. 11-Josh Harrison, 14.06; 25. 24-Jeremy Keegan, 14.49; 26. 10-David Harrison, 99.00
Heat 1 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 16-Bryan Sebetto; 2. 60-Jody Keegan; 3. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 4. 1X-Matt Linder; 5. 312-Mike Linder; 6. 28-Shawn Valenti; 7. 15C-Chris Andrews; 8. 24-Jeremy Keegan; 9. 98-Bruce Robenalt
Heat 2 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 97-Dean Jacobs; 2. 3J-Kevin Lee; 3. X-Mark Keegan; 4. 2+-Brian Smith; 5. 10-David Harrison; 6. 45-Brian Lay; 7. 47-Caleb Helms; 8. 26-Cody White
Heat 3 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 24H-Lee Jacobs; 2. O-Brandon Wimmer; 3. 14H-Todd Heller; 4. 5R-Byron Reed; 5. 9X-Rob Chaney; 6. 20X-Craig Mintz; 7. 11-Josh Harrison; 8. 12-Jamie Miller
B-Main (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 28-Shawn Valenti; 2. 20X-Craig Mintz; 3. 15C-Chris Andrews; 4. 45-Brian Lay; 5. 24-Jeremy Keegan; 6. 47-Caleb Helms; 7. 11-Josh Harrison; 8. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 9. 26-Cody White; 10. 12-Jamie Miller
A-Main (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
- 15C-Chris Andrews[5]; 2. 20X-Craig Mintz[12]; 3. 3J-Kevin Lee[3]; 4. 24H-Lee Jacobs[13]; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[11]; 6. O-Brandon Wimmer[2]; 7. 97-Dean Jacobs[15]; 8. 16-Bryan Sebetto[4]; 9. 28-Shawn Valenti[10]; 10. X-Mark Keegan[6]; 11. 312-Mike Linder[17]; 12. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[9]; 13. 5R-Byron Reed[8]; 14. 14H-Todd Heller[16]; 15. 45-Brian Lay[18]; 16. 60-Jody Keegan[1]; 17. 1X-Matt Linder[14]; 18. 24-Jeremy Keegan[19]; 19. 10-David Harrison[20]; 20. 9X-Rob Chaney[7]
Night #12 FAST Special Award Winners:
TQ Fiberglass Quick Time Award: #15C Chris Andrews
Butlerbuilt B-Main Winner: #28 Shawn Valenti
KSE Steering Hard Charger: #20X Craig Mintz
Weld Wheels Cool Move of the Race: #15C Chris Andrews
Hepfner Racing Products Tough Luck Award: #16 Bryan Sebetto
Night #12 FAST A-Main Certificate Winners:
1st - Fuel Safe, Zemco Headers, Competition Suspension: #15C Chris Andrews
2nd - R2C Filters, Saldana Racing Products, Kinsler Injections: #20X Craig Mintz
3rd - Ti22 Performance, Keizer Wheels, OC Shocks: #3J Kevin Lee
4th - Outerwears, King Racing Products: #24H Lee Jacobs
5th - DMI Race Components: #2+ Brian Smith
Night #6: FAST 305 Championship Series presented by Kears Speed Shop & Cleveland Golf
Heat 1 - Heat 1 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- M28-Josh Muntz; 2. 8K-Zack Kramer; 3. 5-Dustin Dinan; 4. 10X-Dustin Stroup; 5. 1W-Paul Weaver; 6. 83X-Nate Reeser; 7. 27-Paige Polyak; 8. 30-Adam Ollom; 9. 10S-Roger Shammo; 10. 81-Bobby Clark
Heat 2 - Bell Racing Products (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 35-Stuart Brubaker; 2. 1-Nate Dussel; 3. 39M-Matt Merrill; 4. 94-John Ivy; 5. 80-Jake Trevino; 6. 22D-Dan Hammond; 7. 3B-Tim Bottles; 8. 8J-Jess Stiger; 9. 24X-Tom Nichols; 10. 55-Brad Bowman
Heat 3 - Heat 3 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 10-Brad Haudenschild; 2. 9-Jimmy Colvin; 3. 11F-D.J. Foos; 4. 19R-Steve Rando; 5. 71-Bill Kraylek; 6. 12-Brett Lane; 7. 25-Jason Keckler; 8. 312-Alvin Roepke; 9. 87-Ryan Hetrick
B-Main - (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
- 27-Paige Polyak; 2. 22D-Dan Hammond; 3. 312-Alvin Roepke; 4. 83X-Nate Reeser; 5. 81-Bobby Clark; 6. 25-Jason Keckler; 7. 55-Brad Bowman; 8. 3B-Tim Bottles; 9. 8J-Jess Stiger; 10. 24X-Tom Nichols; 11. 87-Ryan Hetrick; 12. 12-Brett Lane; 13. 30-Adam Ollom
A-Main - (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
- 9-Jimmy Colvin[3]; 2. 10-Brad Haudenschild[11]; 3. 10X-Dustin Stroup[1]; 4. 5-Dustin Dinan[2]; 5. 1-Nate Dussel[9]; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker[8]; 7. 1W-Paul Weaver[13]; 8. M28-Josh Muntz[5]; 9. 80-Jake Trevino[14]; 10. 8K-Zack Kramer[4]; 11. 312-Alvin Roepke[18]; 12. 81-Bobby Clark[20]; 13. 11F-D.J. Foos[10]; 14. 39M-Matt Merrill[12]; 15. 71-Bill Kraylek[15]; 16. 22D-Dan Hammond[17]; 17. 19R-Steve Rando[6]; 18. 83X-Nate Reeser[19]; 19. 94-John Ivy[7]; 20. 27-Paige Polyak[16]
Hard Charger: 10-Brad Haudenschild[+9]
Kear's FAST Cash $100 Bonus Winner: #9 Jimmy Colvin
FAST on Dirt, Inc. would like to thank the following contributors to the 2010 FAST Championship Series point fund:
Kistler Racing Products, Engine Pro, JE/SRP Pistons, Design Graphics Group, Inc, KS Sales & Service, Engler Machine & Tool, Oliver Rods, Henry MotorSports Inc., J&F Construction, Black Swamp Media Group, MyHeroCards.com, Kears Speed Shop, Computer Man, Inc., SCS Gearbox, RockAuto.com, Hoserville Ohio, Hoseheads.com, Level Performance, R&R Auto Wrecking, Reebar Diecasting, The King's Den, FSR Radiator, Real Geese, Buckeye IT Services, High Vista Video, Racers Racing for a Cure, Gressman Powersports, NAPA (Bryan, OH), Gaerte Engines, Action Photos, PostNet (Fremont, OH), New York Life (Jeremy Shambaugh), Young's RV Center, October Hills Farms, and OC Shocks
Also, a very special thanks to all of our contingency award sponsors:
R2C Filters, Hepfner Racing Products, TQ Fiberglass, Fuel Safe, Racing Optics, Rocket Headers, Wings Unlimited, VRP Shocks, Kinsler Injections, RAM Engineering Midwest, PRO Shocks, ButlerBuilt, Zemco Headers, Kinser Filters, Outerwears, Inc, DMI Race Components, Keizer Wheels, Linders Speed Equipment, Saldana Racing Products, XXX Race Components, Randy's Racing Filters, Hinchman Indy Uniforms, King Racing Products, Golden Graphics, OC Shocks, Weld Wheels, KSE Steering, Competition Suspension, Inc, Ti22 Performance, All Pro Heads, FSR Radiator, Speed Meets Art, Productive Tools & Equipment, Arizona Sport Shirts, and Fisher Performance
- Bryan Autullo on Jul 06, 2010
- Article Date: 7/6/2010