Cap Henry Keeps Rolling At Fremont
7 min readBy Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio – Cap Henry used to have a love-hate relationship with Fremont Speedway. But in 2019, the Republic, Ohio driver has taken a shine to “The Track That Action Built.” Henry drove to his third 410 sprint win of the season at the track Saturday, Aug. 3 on Pub 400 Family Fun Night.
“The crew did a great job on the track tonight. You could run all over it. Historically I hated this place but now I’m having some fun here. The car felt pretty maneuverable. I wasn’t quite sure what my crew chief was telling me with the hand signals so I was moving around a little bit and kind of got into a rhythm there around the bottom. The last five I kind of worried because I wasn’t sure of that was the right thing to do,” said Henry. “I want to thank Brett, Jim, Zach…they have been working really hard the past two days,” said Henry beside his Beer Barrel Bourbon, Lead Head Waterfowl, Kistler Engines, J&J Auto Racing, Pro Auto Wraps, Wings Unlimited, FK Rod Ends backed #4.
Fremont, Ohio’s Paul Weaver used patience with lapped cars and drove to his second straight Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature in a race that went green to checkers, taking a little over seven minutes to complete the 25 laps. It’s his third win of the year at Fremont and the 50th overall of his career at the track placing him eighth on the all-time win list.
“I could tell the track slowed down and I noticed a lot of guys were running in between the tires and throwing up the marbles and every other lap you didn’t know if the car was going to take out from under you. I thought they are doing so I’ll slow the guys down behind me and do it too,” said Weaver beside his B&B Drain Service, Hampshire Racing Engines, Adkins Motorsports, M&L Excavating, Schiets Motorsports, Miller Rigging, Weaver Performance backed #1W.
Fostoria, Ohio’s Shawn Valenti doubled up in the Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks, winning the make-up feature from May and the night’s regular event. Valenti has five wins on the season and now has 51 career victories at the track to place him seventh on the all-time win list. The second victory of the night wasn’t easy though as Keith Sorg raced side by side with Valenti the last half of the race.
“I knew when I was rolling along side of him when I passed him for the lead it was a touch and go deal and I wasn’t sure what he was going to counter-act. On restarts anything can happen and he stuck his nose in there…was good racing with him. I won two features in one night in a stock car race at Lima once…this is my second time. I have to thank the Babcocks, Craig Miller Trucking, Speedway Bar and Grill, A Plus Auto Center, Best Performance, KS Sales & Service,” said Valenti in the Engine Pro Victory Lane.
Broc Martin and Caleb Griffith brought the field to green for the 30 lap Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprint feature with Griffith gaining the advantage. Henry quickly moved into second on lap two while Martin was engaged in a great battle for third with Nate Dussel and DJ Foos.
By the fifth circuit Henry had closed on Griffith and made the winning move on lap seven, driving under the leader. Dussel, the fast qualifier, took second on lap eight with Foos moving into third by lap 10. At the half-way point Henry had stretched his lead to 2.5 seconds over Dussel who hit an infield tire, losing valuable real estate to the leader.
Henry continued to build his lead while Foos challenged Dussel for second. Henry raced into lapped traffic with eight laps to go with Dussel, Foos, Buddy Kofoid and Travis Philo giving chase. Foos was able to take second with five laps to go but Henry had put a pair of lapped machines between himself and second.
Henry was able to move around the track and pass lapped cars and drove to the win over Foos, Dussel, Kofoid and Philo.
Weaver and Brandon Moore brought the field to green for the 25-lap 305 A-main with Weaver taking the lead over Moore, John Ivy, Zeth Sabo, Jamie Miller and Bobby Clark. Weaver quickly built a 2.5 second lead by the fifth circuit.
Heavy lapped traffic awaited Weaver by the 10th circuit with Moore chopping time off the lead while Miller moved into third followed by Ivy and a closing Alvin Roepke. In a fast paced race, Weaver worked his way around the lapped machines and built his lead back to three second with eight laps to go.
Roepke was now on the move, third from Miller on lap 19 and getting around Moore for second when the white came out, but ran out of time as Weaver drove to the checkers. Roepke, Moore, Miller and Clark rounded out the top five.
In the make-up truck feature Valenti took control at the start and never looked back. The action behind him was exciting though as Dustin Keegan, Cory McCaughey, Kent Brewer, Jimmy McGrath Junior and John Brooks battled for second. Brewer finally moved into the runner-up spot on lap eight but could not close on Valenti.
Valenti easily took the checkers over Brewer, Keegan, McCaughey and Brad Mitten.
In the night’s regular truck feature Sorg and McCaughey brought the field to green with Sorg taking the lead over Jeff Ward, Valenti and Brewer. Valenti took second on lap two and drove around Sorg for the lead on lap five with Ward third and eight tracks waging a war for fourth.
At the half-way mark the first caution flew with Valenti leading Sorg, Ward, Jim Holcomb and Brewer. On the restart Sorg dove to Valenti’s inside and the pair raced side by side over the next three laps before a couple of cautions slowed the pace. When the green came back out with five laps to go, Valenti and Sorg raced side by side again with Ward, Brewer, Holcomb and Mitten giving chase.
Valenti was finally able to pull away slightly from Sorg with two laps to go and drove to the win over Sorg, Ward, Brewer and Holcomb.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, Aug. 10 in a date added from the original schedule thanks to marketing partner American Powersports of Findlay, Sandusky and Cleveland. The 410 and 305 sprints and dirt trucks will be in action.
For more information go to www.fremontohspeedway.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FremontSpeedway or on Twitter https://twitter.com/FremontSpeedway.
Fremont Speedway
Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019
Pub 400 Night
[*] indicates starting position
410 Sprints – Fort Ball Pizza Palace
Qualifying
1.1-Nate Dussel, 14.025; 2.16-DJ Foos, 14.101; 3.11N-Buddy Kofoid, 14.240; 4.5-Byron Reed, 14.472; 5.4-Cap Henry, 14.548; 6.45-Brian Lay, 14.565; 7.33W-Caleb Griffith, 14.866; 8.83M-Broc Martin, 14.939; 9.20I-Kelsey Ivy, 14.958; 10.46AU-Stuart Williams, 14.990; 11.5T-Travis Philo, 15.297; 12.14-Chad Wilson, 15.966; 13.23-Stuart Brubaker, 92.999;
Heat 1 (8 Laps)
1. 4-Cap Henry[2] ; 2. 33W-Caleb Griffith[1] ; 3. 11N-Buddy Kofoid[3] ; 4. 1-Nate Dussel[4] ; 5. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[5] ; 6. 5T-Travis Philo[6] ; 7. 14-Chad Wilson[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps)
1. 16-DJ Foos[4] ; 2. 45-Brian Lay[2] ; 3. 83M-Broc Martin[1] ; 4. 5-Byron Reed[3] ; 5. 23-Stuart Brubaker[6] ; 6. 46AU-Stuart Williams[5]
A-Main 1 (30 Laps)
1. 4-Cap Henry[4] ; 2. 16-DJ Foos[6] ; 3. 1-Nate Dussel[7] ; 4. 11N-Buddy Kofoid[5] ; 5. 5T-Travis Philo[11] ; 6. 5-Byron Reed[8] ; 7. 23-Stuart Brubaker[10] ; 8. 33W-Caleb Griffith[2] ; 9. 14-Chad Wilson[13] ; 10. 83M-Broc Martin[1] ; 11. 46AU-Stuart Williams[12] ; 12. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[9] ; 13. 45-Brian Lay[3]
Hard Charger – 5T-Travis Philo +6
305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit Union
Qualifying
1.19R-Steve Rando, 15.205; 2.4*-Tyler Street, 15.450; 3.7-Shawn Valenti, 15.450; 4.21-Larry Kingseed JR, 15.453; 5.99-Alvin Roepke, 15.498; 6.8-Bobby Clark, 15.580; 7.1H-Zeth Sabo, 15.594; 8.77I-John Ivy, 15.600; 9.7M-Brandon Moore, 15.741; 10.1W-Paul Weaver, 15.765; 11.3V-Chris Verda, 15.853; 12.12-Kyle Capodice, 15.866; 13.X-Mike Keegan, 15.922; 14.26-Jamie Miller, 15.967; 15.5-Kody Brewer, 15.994; 16.97-Kyle Peters, 16.023; 17.4T-Jim Taddeo, 16.036; 18.X15-Kasey Ziebold, 16.172; 19.5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr, 16.180; 20.3X-Brandon Riehl, 16.419;
Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1] ; 2. 1H-Zeth Sabo[2] ; 3. X-Mike Keegan[5] ; 4. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[3] ; 5. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[7] ; 6. 19R-Steve Rando[4] ; 7. 97-Kyle Peters[6]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 99-Alvin Roepke[3] ; 2. 26-Jamie Miller[5] ; 3. 77I-John Ivy[2] ; 4. 4*-Tyler Street[4] ; 5. 3V-Chris Verda[1] ; 6. 4T-Jim Taddeo[6] ; 7. 3X-Brandon Riehl[7]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 7M-Brandon Moore[2] ; 2. 12-Kyle Capodice[1] ; 3. 8-Bobby Clark[3] ; 4. 7-Shawn Valenti[4] ; 5. X15-Kasey Ziebold[6] ; 6. 5-Kody Brewer[5]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1] ; 2. 99-Alvin Roepke[6] ; 3. 7M-Brandon Moore[2] ; 4. 26-Jamie Miller[7] ; 5. 8-Bobby Clark[5] ; 6. 77I-John Ivy[3] ; 7. 1H-Zeth Sabo[4] ; 8. 12-Kyle Capodice[8] ; 9. 21-Larry Kingseed JR[10] ; 10. X-Mike Keegan[9] ; 11. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[13] ; 12. 7-Shawn Valenti[12] ; 13. 4*-Tyler Street[11] ; 14. 3V-Chris Verda[14] ; 15. 4T-Jim Taddeo[17] ; 16. 5-Kody Brewer[18] ; 17. 3X-Brandon Riehl[20] ; 18. X15-Kasey Ziebold[15] ; 19. 19R-Steve Rando[16] ; 20. 97-Kyle Peters[19]
Hard Charger – 99-Alvin Roepke +4
Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy
Heat 1 (8 laps top 4 to A)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[3] ; 2. 32H-Dan Hennig[1] ; 3. 16-Jim Holcomb[4] ; 4. 32-Kevin Phillips[2] ; 5. 7X-Dana Frey[5] ; 6. P51-Paul Brown JR[6] ; 7. 26-Kyle Lagrou[7] ; 8. 14T-Cody Truman[8]
Heat 2 (8 laps top 4 to A)
1. 36M-Cory Mccaughey[1] ; 2. 911-Mark Kachnmeister[8] ; 3. 23m-Brad Mitten[3] ; 4. 115-Ben Good[6] ; 5. 9-Curt Inks[7] ; 6. 25-Bryce Black[4] ; 7. 11-Austin Gibson[5] ; 8. 75-Adam Dible[2]
Heat 3 (8 laps top 4 to A)
1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[3] ; 2. 17x-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 3. 4s-Keith Sorg[2] ; 4. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[7] ; 5. 83-Noah Wagner[6] ; 6. 10-Roger Inks[8] ; 7. 13-Len Benyak[1] ; 8. 67-Ben Clapp[4]
Heat 4 (8 laps top 4 to A)
1. 1X-Brad Keckler[1] ; 2. 88-Dan Roepke[2] ; 3. 33-Jeff Ward[3] ; 4. 5s-Brad Stuckey[4] ; 5. 2-Tim Sabo[6] ; 6. 5-Jim Mcgrath[5] ; 7. 1-John Brooks[7]
B-Main 1 (10 Laps, top 4 to A)
1. 83-Noah Wagner[3] ; 2. 2-Tim Sabo[4] ; 3. 7X-Dana Frey[1] ; 4. 11-Austin Gibson[9] ; 5. 26-Kyle Lagrou[8] ; 6. 13-Len Benyak[10] ; 7. 25-Bryce Black[6] ; 8. P51-Paul Brown JR[5] ; 9. 10-Roger Inks[7] ; 10. 9-Curt Inks[2] ; 11. 14T-Cody Truman[11] ; 12. 67-Ben Clapp[12] ; 13. 75-Adam Dible[13] ; 14. 5-Jim Mcgrath[14]
A-Main 1 (20 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 2. 4s-Keith Sorg[1] ; 3. 33-Jeff Ward[3] ; 4. 8KB-Kent Brewer[6] ; 5. 16-Jim Holcomb[7] ; 6. 17x-Dustin Keegan[12] ; 7. 23m-Brad Mitten[9] ; 8. 1X-Brad Keckler[11] ; 9. 32-Kevin Phillips[13] ; 10. 115-Ben Good[14] ; 11. 83-Noah Wagner[17] ; 12. 36M-Cory Mccaughey[2] ; 13. 5s-Brad Stuckey[16] ; 14. 911-Mark Kachnmeister[4] ; 15. 7X-Dana Frey[19] ; 16. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[15] ; 17. 88-Dan Roepke[10] ; 18. 32H-Dan Hennig[8] ; 19. 2-Tim Sabo[18] ; 20. 11-Austin Gibson[20]
Hard Charger: 17x-Dustin Keegan, +6
Make Up from May 26
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps)
1. 4s-Keith Sorg[11] ; 2. 1X-Brad Keckler[7] ; 3. 5-Jim Mcgrath[9] ; 4. 7X-Dana Frey[1] ; 5. 33-Jeff Ward[8] ; 6. 83-Noah Wagner[2] ; 7. 32-Kevin Phillips[5] ; 8. 11-Austin Gibson[3] ; 9. 75-Adam Dible[6] ; 10. 5s-Brad Stuckey[10] ; 11. 7G-Bryce Black[4]
A-Main 1 – (20 Laps)
1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[3] ; 2. 8KB-Kent Brewer[9] ; 3. 17x-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 4. 36M-Cory Mccaughey[1] ; 5. 23m-Brad Mitten[2] ; 6. 16-Jim Holcomb[12] ; 7. 5JR-Jimmy Mcgrath Jr[6] ; 8. 4s-Keith Sorg[17] ; 9. 115-Ben Good[13] ; 10. 67-Ben Clapp[8] ; 11. 7X-Dana Frey[20] ; 12. 26-Kyle Lagrou[11] ; 13. 1X-Brad Keckler[18] ; 14. 14T-Cody Truman[16] ; 15. 9-Curt Inks[15] ; 16. 1-John Brooks[10] ; 17. 2-Steve Endicott[4] ; 18. 911-Mark Kachnmeister[7] ; 19. P51-Paul Brown JR[14] ; 20. 5-Jim Mcgrath[19]
Hard Charger: 4s-Keith Sorg +9