Chris Andrews Overcomes Illness To Tame Fremont FAST

By Brian Liskai

FREMONT, Ohio – Chris Andrews got off the couch – literally – came to Fremont Speedway and ended up in victory lane Saturday night.

The Sandusky, Ohio driver has been battling the flu the past few days but it couldn’t keep him from the track and his new Mintz family ride in the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints. Lapped cars allowed Byron Reed to close on Andrews the final four laps but Andrews made some big moves and drove to his eighth career win on Level Performance/Gressman Powersports Night.

The victory also gained Andrews valuable points in the chase for the Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) Championship Series Presented by KS Sales and Service. At season’s end the champion will take home $10,000.

“Literally I was sitting on a couch all day today. I’m sick as hell. If you would have told me at noon I’d be up here I’d have told you you were crazy. I’m going home and rest up a little. Definitely have to thank Les Mintz and Craig Mintz for putting me in this thing and Sennebogen and Real Geese Decoys…this is going to be a fun year,” said Andrews in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.

“I dealt with Jody Keegan there…he didn’t know I was behind him. His car was about 60 foot wide. Lapped traffic is usually not my better part. But tonight they gave me such a great car I could do just about where ever I wanted to. I knew our car was pretty tough to beat and kept my cool and kept rolling,” added Andrews of his Kistler Engines/Lucas Oil/Design Graphics Group/Erie Shore Propane/GF1 Chassis backed machine.

Last week Fremont, Ohio’s Bobby Clark took a nasty tumble in the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature. He shook it off and used a lapped car as a pick to drive past last week’s winner Steve Rando with four laps to go and went on to record his 30th career Fremont win. Clark sits 14th on the track’s all-time win list.

“Our other car was good and we crashed that last week. Dad’s been wanting us to try this car and we had no choice and I think this car is just as good,” said Clark of his Fremont Fence/Kear’s Speed Shop/B&L Plumbing and Cooling/Nagy Equipment Sales/Miller Rigging/Shellukes Bar/Willey’s Towing/Big D’s Pizza/Kistler Engines backed machine.

“I was gaining on him (Rando) in three and four and was just trying to hold my own in one and two and fortunately for me he got tied up with that lapped car. I was going to try to run the outside at the same time…his bad luck turned into my good luck but we’ll take it,” added Clark.

The win also makes Clark a main contender for the title in the JLH General Contractor 305 FAST Championship Series Presented by Engine Pro.

Fostoria, Ohio’s Kent Brewer would first battle with Cory Ward and then held off Ward and Matt Foos the final eight laps to score his fourth career Fremont victory in the AAA Ohio Auto Club Dirt Trucks.

“I knew Foosy was there…he was coming. We got to start up front…we got lucky all night tonight. If it wouldn’t be for my two brothers…we started on this thing at 7:30 this morning to fix it. It’s a family affair tonight for sure,” said Brewer beside his Fremont Fence/Kent’s Transmissions backed #8kb.

For the second week in a row, someone who was out of racing but decided to get a race car again with the creation of the McCullough Industries 602 Late Model Division, found themselves in the Engine Pro Victory Lane. Bowling Green, Ohio’s Dustin Sautter held off several challenges from Dale Cole to score his first career Fremont victory.

“I started back in 09 at Oakshade in a bomber and I quit for a few years. And Rich (Farmer, track promoter) came up with this (602 crate late model division) and I said I had to get back into it now. We almost got the win last week. Started on the tail and got up to second and fell just short. We changed a few things on the car and it’s dialed in good right now,” said Sautter aboard his Rusty Schlenk Racing/Sautter Farms/Shipley Auto and Towing backed machine.

Andrews and his car owner Craig Mintz would bring the field to green for the 30-lap 410 sprint feature. The pair battled early with Mintz leading lap one over Andrews, Reed, Cap Henry, Nate Dussel, Todd Heller, Brian Smith and Duane Zablocki. Andrews drove around Mintz for the lead on lap two but couldn’t shake Mintz or Reed.

The leaders were setting a torrid pace and caught lapped traffic by just the 11th circuit with Andrews now leading Reed, Mintz, Henry, Dussel and Smith. At the half way point Andrews was in extremely heavy lapped traffic but the first caution would fly when Jody Keegan spun in turn two and Dussel spun in turn four.

On the restart Andrews pulled away slightly as Mintz drove around Reed back into second. Reed would return the favor the next lap before the action ground to a halt when Heller and T.J. Michael got together in turn three send Heller flipping violent into the soft walls. Both drivers were okay.

Again on the restart Andrews could not shake Reed or Mintz with Henry, Smith, Dean Jacobs and Zablocki giving chase. The final caution would fly on lap 18 when Broc Martin spun in the first turn.

Again with a clear track Andrews was able to pull away from Reed, Mintz, Henry, Jacobs, Smith, Brian Lay and Zablocki. However, the lead pack would catch the rear of the field with four laps to go.

Andrews searched for a way to get around the lapped cars and Reed was closing quickly with Mintz, Henry, Jacobs and Smith staying close. With two laps to go Reed raced under Andrews but Andrews held his ground. Reed was making great progress on the bottom of turn two while Andrews with a little better in the middle of the track in turns three and four.

Andrews would hang on for the win over Reed, Mintz, Henry and Smith.

In the 25-lap 305 sprint feature Ricky Peterson and Rando would pace the field with Peterson gaining the advantage. Rando would drive to the leader’s outside on several occasions but the caution would fly on lap three for an Austin Ream spin.

When the green came back out the battle between Peterson and Rando resumed with Clark, Jordan Ryan, Trey Jacobs, Luke Griffith, T.J. Michael and Alvin Roepke giving chase. Rando would drive the cushion into the lead on lap six before Kyle Farmer would spin.

On the ensuing restart Clark would join the battle up front as Rando tried to hold off Peterson. After a quick caution the race for the lead would continue. Clark would drive into second on lap eight and stayed close to Rando.

Ream would bring out the final caution with 12 laps to go with the running order Rando, Clark, Peterson, Michael, Ryan, Jacobs, Roepke and Jamie Miller. While Rando and Clark pulled away the race for third was fantastic involving Peterson, Michael, Ryan and Roepke.

With six laps to go the crowd could tell Clark was slowly reeling Rando in. Exiting turn two with three to go, a lapped car held Rando up on the bottom of the track and Clark pounced to the outside to take the lead.

Clark would pull away for the win over Rando, Michael, Roepke and Peterson.

In the 20-lap dirt truck main, Brewer and Bradley Stuckey brought the field to green. But back to back cautions would bring about a couple of complete restarts. When the green flew again, Brewer jumped into the lead over Cory Ward, Dana Frey, Cory McCaughey, Brad Mitten, Eric Devanna and Curt Inks.

Brewer and Ward raced side by side over several laps but behind them it was at times a six truck battle for third involving McCaughey, Fry, Devanna, Matt Foos, Mitten and Keith Sorg. Frey would bring out the caution when he suffered a broken front end on lap 12.

On the restart Brewer pulled away slightly as Ward now had to deal with Foos while Devanna, McCaughey, Mitten and Sorg gave chase. Foos would take second on lap 17 with the caution flying with just two laps to go for an Inks spin.

On the restart Brewer, Foos and Ward battled for the win as they raced to the white flag. Brewer would get through one and two and drove away to the victory over Foos, Ward, Devanna and Mitten.

It took three attempts to get a lap in for the 602 late models but when they got rolling it was Sautter holding the lead over Dale Cole, Chester Fitch, Jeff Hites and Steve Sabo. Sautter and Cole would pull away from the field until the caution flew for a Fitch spin with just three laps to go.

Sautter would pull away for the victory over Cole, Steve Sabo, Fitch and Hites.

Part of the racing festivities included the Make It Fit Foundation having displays and raffles to raise funds for Sandusky County families dealing with Autism. Nearly $1,300 was raised for local families.

Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, April 25th for Adkins Sanitation Night. It’s the Fan Zone Contest Night and fans are encouraged to dress up and make signs to show support for their favorite race team. The groups will come to the front stretch where the fan applause will determine the winning team of fans who will get free general admission tickets to the next week’s races.

For more information go to www.fremontohspeedway.com or follow the track on Twitter @FremontSpeedway

Fremont Speedway – 4/18/2015
Level Performance / Gressman Powersports Night

Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (24 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position

Qualifying – Fricker’s Restaurant/Callie’s Performance
1. 19-Chris Andrews, 12.616; 2. 40DD-Nate Dussel, 12.873; 3. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.874; 4. 16-Stuart Brubaker, 12.915; 5. 83M-Broc Martin, 12.958; 6. 1ST-Gary Taylor, 12.999; 7. 53-Cap Henry, 13.009; 8. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.046; 9. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.063; 10. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.067; 11. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.073; 12. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.115; 13. 45L-Brian Lay, 13.127; 14. 97-Dean Jacobs, 13.145; 15. 77-Dain Naida, 13.150; 16. 6M-Max Stambaugh, 13.163; 17. 60-Jody Keegan, 13.183; 18. 33K-Kyle Patrick, 13.184; 19. 68G-Tyler Gunn, 13.197; 20. 16X-Ryan Ruhl, 13.302; 21. 25M-Ken Mackey, 13.573; 22. 17-Jared Horstman, 13.610; 23. 59J-Kirk Jeffries, 13.629; 24. 50B-Mike Burns, 14.255

Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 6M-Max Stambaugh[1] ; 2. 53-Cap Henry[4] ; 3. 45L-Brian Lay[2] ; 4. 19-Chris Andrews[6] ; 5. 68G-Tyler Gunn[7] ; 6. 16-Stuart Brubaker[5] ; 7. 8M-TJ Michael[3] ; 8. 17-Jared Horstman[8]

Heat 2 – Kistler Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 97-Dean Jacobs[2] ; 2. 60-Jody Keegan[1] ; 3. 14H-Todd Heller[4] ; 4. 40DD-Nate Dussel[6] ; 5. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[3] ; 6. 83M-Broc Martin[5] ; 7. 59J-Kirk Jeffries[8] ; 8. 16X-Ryan Ruhl[7]

Heat 3 – Hoosier Racing Tires (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 77-Dain Naida[2] ; 2. 33K-Kyle Patrick[1] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[4] ; 4. O9-Craig Mintz[6] ; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[3] ; 6. 1ST-Gary Taylor[5] ; 7. 25M-Ken Mackey[7] ; 8. 50B-Mike Burns[8]

Dash – Borer Glass & Mirror (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature
1. 19-Chris Andrews[6] ; 2. O9-Craig Mintz[4] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[1] ; 4. 53-Cap Henry[3] ; 5. 14H-Todd Heller[2] ; 6. 40DD-Nate Dussel[5]

B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 16-Stuart Brubaker[1] ; 2. 83M-Broc Martin[2] ; 3. 8M-TJ Michael[4] ; 4. 1ST-Gary Taylor[3] ; 5. 16X-Ryan Ruhl[5] ; 6. 25M-Ken Mackey[6] ; 7. 59J-Kirk Jeffries[8] ; 8. 50B-Mike Burns[9]

A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 19-Chris Andrews[1]; 2. 5R-Byron Reed[3]; 3. O9-Craig Mintz[2]; 4. 53-Cap Henry[4]; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[8]; 6. 97-Dean Jacobs[10]; 7. 45L-Brian Lay[9]; 8. 1ST-Gary Taylor[13]; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[7]; 10. 16-Stuart Brubaker[11]; 11. 77-Dain Naida[15]; 12. 83M-Broc Martin[12]; 13. 68G-Tyler Gunn[19]; 14. 40DD-Nate Dussel[6]; 15. 33K-Kyle Patrick[18]; 16. 16X-Ryan Ruhl[20]; 17. 60-Jody Keegan[17]; 18. 14H-Todd Heller[5]; 19. 8M-TJ Michael[14]; 20. 6M-Max Stambaugh[16]
Hard Charger: 68G-Tyler Gunn[+6]

Fremont Federal Credit Untion 305 Sprints (21 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8-Bobby Clark[2] ; 2. 18-TJ Michael[7] ; 3. 25-Jason Keckler[1] ; 4. 11G-Luke Griffith[4] ; 5. 99-Alvin Roepke[3] ; 6. 12-Kyle Capodice[5]

Heat 2 – Kistler Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 19R-Steve Rando[3] ; 2. 5R-Jordan Ryan[5] ; 3. 3J-Trey Jacobs[1] ; 4. 7M-Brandon Moore[2] ; 5. 18N-Frank Neill[4] ; 6. 36-Seth Schneider[6] ; 7. 44-Kyle Farmer[7]

Heat 3 – Hoosier Racing Tires (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 2-Ricky Peterson[5] ; 2. 77I-John Ivy[1] ; 3. 75-Jerry Dahms[7] ; 4. 87-Brian Gibbs[2] ; 5. 39-Jamie Miller[3] ; 6. 37-Austin Ream[6]

B-Main – Computer Man Inc. (10 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 12-Kyle Capodice[1] ; 2. 36-Seth Schneider[2] ; 3. 37-Austin Ream[3] ; 4. 44-Kyle Farmer[4]

A-Main – (25 Laps)
1. 8-Bobby Clark[4]; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[2]; 3. 18-TJ Michael[8]; 4. 99-Alvin Roepke[13]; 5. 2-Ricky Peterson[3]; 6. 5R-Jordan Ryan[6]; 7. 77I-John Ivy[12]; 8. 3J-Trey Jacobs[5]; 9. 39-Jamie Miller[15]; 10. 12-Kyle Capodice[16]; 11. 11G-Luke Griffith[7]; 12. 25-Jason Keckler[10]; 13. 36-Seth Schneider[17]; 14. 7M-Brandon Moore[9]; 15. 18N-Frank Neill[14]; 16. 75-Jerry Dahms[1]; 17. 37-Austin Ream[18]; 18. 44-Kyle Farmer[19]
Hard Charger: 99-Alvin Roepke[+9]

AAA Auto Club Dirt Trucks (15 Trucks)
[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 10 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 37-Eric Devanna[1] ; 2. 33-Jeff Ward[2] ; 3. 7F-Dana Frey[4] ; 4. 85S-Bradley Stuckey[5] ; 5. 2-Matt Foos[7] ; 6. 4S-Keith Sorg[8] ; 7. 17X-Dustin Keegan[3]

Heat 2 – Kistler Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 10 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[7] ; 2. 18W-Cory Ward[2] ; 3. 36M-Cory McCaughey[4] ; 4. 9-Curt Inks[6] ; 5. 115-Ben Good[5] ; 6. 16-Brad Mitten[3] ; 7. 22-Brandon Leighton[1]

A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[1]; 2. 2-Matt Foos[9]; 3. 18W-Cory Ward[4]; 4. 37-Eric Devanna[5]; 5. 16-Brad Mitten[12]; 6. 4S-Keith Sorg[11]; 7. 36M-Cory McCaughey[3]; 8. 33-Jeff Ward[8]; 9. 85S-Bradley Stuckey[2]; 10. 17X-Dustin Keegan[13]; 11. 9-Curt Inks[7]; 12. 22-Brandon Leighton[14]; 13. 7F-Dana Frey[6]; 14. 115-Ben Good[10]
Hard Charger: 2-Matt Foos[+7]

McCullough Industries 602 Late Models (7 Cars)
[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 – American Power Sports (6 Laps – Top 10 finishers transfer to the A-feature)
1. 23-Dustin Sautter[1] ; 2. 98-Tim Sabo[3] ; 3. 116-Steve Sabo[4] ; 4. 3-Dale Cole[7] ; 5. 101-Chester Fitch[5] ; 6. O4-Jeff Hites[2] ; 7. 17x-Dustin Keegan[6]

A-Main – (15 Laps)
1. 23-Dustin Sautter[2]; 2. 3-Dale Cole[3]; 3. 116-Steve Sabo[6]; 4. 101-Chester Fitch[7]; 5. O4-Jeff Hites[-]; 6. 98-Tim Sabo[1]; 7. 17X-Dustin Keegan[4]
Hard Charger: 116-Steve Sabo[+3]