Reed on a hot streak, takes Fremont FAST win

Saturday, June 15, 2013
By Brian Liskai

FREMONT, Ohio – Earlier this season, some may have thought Byron Reed didn’t have the enthusiasm to race any longer. After all, he is 40-years-old and has been racing sprint cars over half his life. The early season results may have added to those ideas. But after this weekend, rest assured…Byron Reed is back on his game.

The Monclova, Ohio driver scored his first win of the season Friday night at Attica Raceway Park and backed it up Saturday at Fremont Speedway, taking the $5,000 top prize – an additional $2,500 was added thanks to night sponsor Crown Battery. Reed, a three time Fremont track champion, took the lead from Brandon Martin at the half-way point of the feature and pulled away on a couple of late race restarts to earn his 24th career win at “The Track That Action Built,” tying him with Johnny Beaber for 18th on the track’s all-time win list.

The win also puts Reed back into contention for the $10,000 Kistler Racing Products FAST (Fremont Attica Sprint Title) Championship Series title which he won in 2010.

“I was in a slump, but my guys and my family wouldn’t let me give up. I have to thank Paul Kistler of Kistler Engines. He worked his butt off to try and help be get back up here. And, to win on Crown Battery Night…they have done so much for this sport. I’ve raced over 23 years and never had a sponsor and they became my first real sponsor and then I went into a slump. I’m glad I could reward them with this win,” said Reed beside his Reebar Diecasting/Crown Battery backed machine.

“After last night, my son said I looked just like Bryan Sebetto out there. I had to prove to them I can still race like these young guys,” Reed added in the Engine Pro Victory Lane. “I have to thank my crew, Kurt (Brewer) Kevin (Meyer), Dick (West), my mom and dad and my wife and sons. They stood behind me and worked hard even when I was down on myself. This really feels good and I’m looking forward to Speedweek. I like all the tracks we are going to and we are running well.”

Dustin Dinan and Nate Dussel once again were locked in a tremendous battle for the lead in the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature. The pair raced side by side and sliced through traffic battling for the top spot throughout the 25-lap feature. With three laps to go, Dussel tried to get around a lapped car as Dinan applied pressure. Dussel would make contact and spin in turn one, handing the lead to Dinan. Dinan would hold off John Ivy the final three laps for his fifth career win at Fremont. The victory is the third for the season for the Fremont, Ohio driver as he also has two at Attica.

“Last night I was too cautious with the lapped cars and Nate got around me. I made up my mind tonight I wasn’t going to let that happen again and I was aggressive. So last night I got bitten by the lapped cars and tonight Nate was,” said Dinan beside his Johnson’s Hunting and Fishing/Tanks Meats/Quality Welding/Hillside Pawnshop/Schiets Tender Touch Car Wash/Quaintance Farms backed #6. “I have to thank my crew, Dave Foos, Homeless, Richard, Jamie and A.J. for all their hard work and happy birthday to Shelly Liskai.”

The AAA Ohio Auto Club Dirt Truck feature was phenomenal. There were five trucks that literally battled nearly all 20 laps. But, it was John Ivy with a last corner, last lap pass of Daniel Roepke to take the victory by a front bumper. It was the 6th truck win at Fremont this season for Ivy and the 8th overall at the track as he also has a pair of 305 victories. Ivy, who won the truck feature Friday at Attica, now has 44 career wins at Fremont and ties Wayne Maffett Sr. for 7th on the track’s all-time win list, just one away from “Irish” Jim McCune.

“Wow….hope the fans enjoyed that one. That shows you how talented the drivers are in this division. For five of us to run side by side and nose to tail that close that long and to do it clean…wow,” said Ivy beside his Diversified Machine/Level Performance/Vision Quest #00. “I think I made Daniel nervous on the last lap and he made just one mistake and I got under him. These guys made me earn this one. This is a whole lot of fun and I hope we aren’t done yet.”

Mechanical failures have hounded Brandon Myers this season in the Computer Man Sports Compacts. The Grand Rapids, Ohio driver finally put it all together Saturday, leading the final eight laps to score his fourth career win at Fremont.

“My dad and everyone have worked hard on this thing. It didn’t handle the best tonight, but it got the job done,” said Myers beside his BG Radiator/Mark Shultz Signs/R&R Repair/Loren Sautter backed #32.

Travis Philo and Brandon Martin would bring the field to the green for the 30-lap feature for the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints. Philo would bolt into the lead over Martin, Reed, Bryan Sebetto, D.J. Foos and Stuart Williams. Martin would sling-shot into the lead on the second circuit with Reed taking second on lap four as Philo nearly spun.

With eight laps in, Reed was starting to close on Martin as they neared lapped traffic while Foos and Sebetto battled for third. Martin would catch the rear of the field on lap 10 with Reed right on his rear bumper. Martin was having difficulties with a lapped car on lap 14 when Max Stambaugh’s motor let go, bringing out the caution.

On the restart Reed blasted to the high side of turns one and two and rocketed into the lead with Sebetto taking third while Foos, Cole Duncan, Williams and Jody Keegan gave chase. Once in the lead Reed pulled away as now Martin had to deal with Sebetto with Foos, Duncan, Williams and 18th starter Dean Jacobs in pursuit.

Reed would catch lapped traffic with 10 laps to go, but a caution for a Caleb Griffith spin on lap 22 gave him a clear track. Now with Sebetto on his rear bumper on the restart, Reed didn’t take any chances and blasted away when the green reappeared. With five laps to go Chris Andrews would spin, giving Sebetto one last shot at Reed. But, once again Reed pulled away on the restart and drove to the victory. Sebetto, Martin, Duncan and Foos would round out the top five.

Also, an eight lap Australian Pursuit was contested with a $5,000 total purse thanks to Crown Battery. Philo would take the victory worth $2,000.

Dinan and Alvin Roepke paced the field for the 25-lap 305 sprint main with Dinan grabbing the lead over Roepke, Jordan Ryan, Dussel, Bobby Clark, John Ivy and Jimmy Colvin. Dinan would pull away as Roepke, Ryan and Dussel were locked in a good battle for second. Just as Dussel drove into second on lap three the caution would fly for Tyler Gunn. On the restart, Dussel immediately drove to Dinan’s outside as they battled for the lead with Roepke, Ryan, Clark and Ivy giving chase.

Dinan and Dussel would race side by side over the next handful of laps as they caught the back of the pack by lap 8. This allowed Ryan to close. With 11 laps in, Dinan and Dussel were into heavy lapped traffic and Dussel muscled his way under a lapped car to grab the lead exiting turn two. Dinan stayed close as they continued to slice through traffic with Ryan, Roepke, Ivy, Clark and 13th starter Dean Jacobs in pursuit.

With 10 laps to go, Dussel and Dinan were still in heavy traffic with Ryan and Ivy closing. The top two were literally inches apart as they blasted into turn one on lap 22 with a lapped car right in front of them. Dussel made contact with the slower car and spun with Dinan clearing for the lead. Meanwhile Ivy had pulled into third.

Dinan would pull away from Ivy on the restart to claim the win with Ryan finishing third followed by Jacobs and Roepke.

In the 20-lap feature for the dirt trucks, Matt Foos and Cory Ward brought the field to the green with Ward taking the top sport over Daniel Roepke, Shawn Valenti, Ivy and Dustin Keegan. Ward would continue to lead with second through fifth place chancing hands lap after lap. Ward, Valenti, Roepke, Ivy and Keegan continued this torrid battle until Ward spun in turn two on lap 11, handing the lead to Roepke. When the green came back out, the action seemed to quiet down as Roepke lead Valenti, Ivy, Keegan, Art Ball and Willie Keegan.

With three laps to go, Roepke looked headed to the win as Valenti and Ivy battled for second. Ivy would take the runner-up spot on lap 18 and closed to within feet of Roepke as they took the white flag. As they raced into turn three for the final time, Roepke slipped up the track just enough to allow Ivy to drive under and it was a drag race to the checkered with Ivy winning by a bumper. Valenti, Keegan and Ball would round out the top five.

In the sports compacts, Taylor Holland would grab the early lead over Eric Pocock, Myers, Amanda Shammo and Erik Paulson. Myers would drive from third into the lead on lap four as the Holland lost power to bring out the caution. Myers and Shammo would pull away on the restart as Tyler Sherman, Andrew Schroeder, Pocock and Brandon Leighton gave chase.

With two laps to go Leighton had moved into third as Myers and Shammo continued to run nose to tail. Myers would hold off Shammo for the victory with Leighton, Schroeder and Sherman rounding out the top five.

Fremont Speedway will be off next Saturday, but will host two legs of the 31st Annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek – Thursday, June 27 and the $10,000 to win finale on Saturday, June 29.

For more information go to www.fremontohspeedway.com

Fremont Speedway – 6/15/2013
Crown Battery Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (25 Cars)

[#]-Starting Position

Qualifying – Fricker’s Restaurant/Callie’s Performance

1. 24H-Bryan Sebetto, 12.194; 2. 40DD-Caleb Griffith, 12.503; 3. 53-DJ Foos, 12.547; 4. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 12.550; 5. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.560; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.672; 7. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.673; 8. 11X-Brandon Martin, 12.675; 9. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 12.681; 10. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.718; 11. 9W-Brandon Wimmer, 12.750; 12. 22-Cole Duncan, 12.754; 13. 45L-Brian Lay, 12.789; 14. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.803; 15. 16-Chris Andrews, 12.840; 16. 14H-Todd Heller, 12.869; 17. 7C-Max Stambaugh, 12.922; 18. 9-Dean Jacobs, 12.937; 19. 83M-Broc Martin, 12.942; 20. 39M-Matt Merrill, 12.997; 21. 55-Brad Bowman, 13.002; 22. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton, 13.029; 23. 312-Mike Linder, 13.034; 24. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.114; 25. 97X-Rodney Hurst, 14.832

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 14H-Todd Heller[1] ; 2. 45L-Brian Lay[2] ; 3. 46AU-Stuart Williams[5] ; 4. 5T-Travis Philo[3] ; 5. 24H-Bryan Sebetto[6] ; 6. 83M-Broc Martin[7] ; 7. 60-Jody Keegan[4] ; 8. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton[8] ; 9. 97X-Rodney Hurst[9]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 7C-Max Stambaugh[1] ; 2. O9-Craig Mintz[2] ; 3. 9W-Brandon Wimmer[3] ; 4. 11X-Brandon Martin[4] ; 5. 5R-Byron Reed[5] ; 6. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[6] ; 7. 39M-Matt Merrill[7] ; 8. 312-Mike Linder[8]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 9-Dean Jacobs[1] ; 2. 16-Chris Andrews[2] ; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[3] ; 4. 53-DJ Foos[6] ; 5. 55-Brad Bowman[7] ; 6. 35-Stuart Brubaker[4] ; 7. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[5] ; 8. 2+-Brian Smith[8]

Australian Persuit – Dash Sponsor (8 Laps – Top – finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5T-Travis Philo[1] ; 2. 11X-Brandon Martin[2] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[3] ; 4. 46AU-Stuart Williams[4] ; 5. 24H-Bryan Sebetto[6] ; 6. 16-Chris Andrews[7] ; 7. 53-DJ Foos[5] ; 8. O9-Craig Mintz[8]

B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[1] ; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[2] ; 3. 35-Stuart Brubaker[4] ; 4. 60-Jody Keegan[3] ; 5. 83M-Broc Martin[5] ; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[9] ; 7. 22T-Miranda Throckmorton[7] ; 8. 39M-Matt Merrill[6] ; 9. 97X-Rodney Hurst[10] ; 10. 312-Mike Linder[8]

A-Main – (30 Laps)

1. 5R-Byron Reed[3]; 2. 24H-Bryan Sebetto[6]; 3. 11X-Brandon Martin[2]; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[8]; 5. 53-DJ Foos[5]; 6. 9W-Brandon Wimmer[7]; 7. 46AU-Stuart Williams[4]; 8. 9-Dean Jacobs[18]; 9. 5T-Travis Philo[1]; 10. O9-Craig Mintz[10]; 11. 45L-Brian Lay[9]; 12. 83M-Broc Martin[20]; 13. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[12]; 14. 35-Stuart Brubaker[14]; 15. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[11]; 16. 16-Chris Andrews[15]; 17. 60-Jody Keegan[13]; 18. 55-Brad Bowman[19]; 19. 14H-Todd Heller[16]; 20. 7C-Max Stambaugh[17]

Hard Charger: 9-Dean Jacobs[+10]

Fremont Federal Credit Untion 305 Sprints (22 Cars)

[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 5R-Jordan Ryan[2] ; 2. 6-Dustin Dinan[1] ; 3. 8I-John Ivy[4] ; 4. OO-Alvin Roepke[6] ; 5. 39-Dean Jacobs[5] ; 6. 10-Josh Harrison[7] ; 7. 8M-T.J Michael[3] ; 8. 22D-Dan Hammond[8]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 1-Nate Dussel[2] ; 2. 13D-Jeremy Duposki[1] ; 3. 9-Jimmy Colvin[3] ; 4. 36-Seth Schneider[6] ; 5. 10H-Dave Harrison[5] ; 6. 22M-Dan McCarron[7] ; 7. 10S-Roger Shammo[4]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 8 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 4K-Bobby Clark[5] ; 2. 25-Jason Keckler[1] ; 3. 68G-Tyler Gunn[4] ; 4. 4M-Jamie Miller[2] ; 5. 19R-Steve Rando[6] ; 6. 8J-Jess Stiger[7] ; 7. 7P-Brandon Moore[3]

A-Main – (25 Laps)

1. 6-Dustin Dinan[1]; 2. 8I-John Ivy[5]; 3. 5R-Jordan Ryan[4]; 4. 39-Dean Jacobs[13]; 5. OO-Alvin Roepke[2]; 6. 19R-Steve Rando[15]; 7. 9-Jimmy Colvin[8]; 8. 4M-Jamie Miller[12]; 9. 8M-T.J Michael[19]; 10. 4K-Bobby Clark[3]; 11. 10-Josh Harrison[16]; 12. 25-Jason Keckler[7]; 13. 1-Nate Dussel[6]; 14. 13D-Jeremy Duposki[11]; 15. 22D-Dan Hammond[22]; 16. 68G-Tyler Gunn[9]; 17. 8J-Jess Stiger[18]; 18. 10S-Roger Shammo[20]; 19. 7P-Brandon Moore[21]; 20. 10H-Dave Harrison[14]; 21. 22M-Dan McCarron[17]; 22. 36-Seth Schneider[10]

Hard Charger: 8M-T.J Michael[+10]

AAA Auto Club Dirt Trucks (23 Trucks)

[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 95-Keith Sorg[2] ; 2. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[3] ; 3. P51-Willie Keegan[4] ; 4. 99H-Art Howey Jr.[6] ; 5. 36M-Cory McCaughey[8] ; 6. 23M-Brad Mitten[5] ; 7. 3G-Dave Gibbs[1] ; 8. 79-Andrew Lutman[7]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. O1-Art Ball[1] ; 2. 18W-Cory Ward[6] ; 3. 2-Matt Foos[5] ; 4. 18-Jeff Ward[2] ; 5. 115-Ben Good[4] ; 6. 16-Craig Holland[8] ; 7. 99X-Gene Potridge[7] ; 8. 37-Eric Devanna[3]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 17-Bob Dible[1] ; 2. OO-John Ivy[7] ; 3. D1-Dustin Keegan[2] ; 4. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 5. 8KB-Kent Brewer[4] ; 6. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[3] ; 7. 7-Bobby Davis[6]

B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 23M-Brad Mitten[1] ; 2. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[3] ; 3. 16-Craig Holland[2] ; 4. 7-Bobby Davis[6] ; 5. 3G-Dave Gibbs[4] ; 6. 37-Eric Devanna[8] ; 7. 99X-Gene Potridge[5] ; 8. 79-Andrew Lutman[7]

A-Main – (20 Laps)

1. OO-John Ivy[6]; 2. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[4]; 3. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5]; 4. D1-Dustin Keegan[3]; 5. O1-Art Ball[7]; 6. 17-Bob Dible[8]; 7. 115-Ben Good[14]; 8. P51-Willie Keegan[10]; 9. 8KB-Kent Brewer[15]; 10. 99H-Art Howey Jr.[12]; 11. 23M-Brad Mitten[16]; 12. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[17]; 13. 95-Keith Sorg[11]; 14. 18W-Cory Ward[2]; 15. 18-Jeff Ward[9]; 16. 7-Bobby Davis[19]; 17. 36M-Cory McCaughey[13]; 18. 3G-Dave Gibbs[20]; 19. 16-Craig Holland[18]; 20. 2-Matt Foos[1]

Hard Charger: 115-Ben Good[+7]

Computer Man Compacts (11 Cars)

[#]-Starting Position

A-Main – (12 Laps)

1. 32-Brandon Myers[6]; 2. 14-Amanda Shammo[7]; 3. 22-Brandon Leighton[5]; 4. 23-Andrew Schroeder[10]; 5. 5-Tyler Sherman[8]; 6. 99-Eric Pocock[2]; 7. PI-Erik Paulson[3]; 8. 34S-McKenzie Biddle[4]; 9. 7P-Evan Patynko[9]; 10. 85-Andy Earnhart[11]; 11. 711-Taylor Holland[1]

Hard Charger: 23-Andrew Schroeder[+6]