Foos Gets Fremont Win But Kofoid Wins Track Title

By Brian Liskai

FREMONT, Ohio – DJ Foos did all he could to try and claim the Fremont Speedway 410 track title Saturday, Sept. 14. He won the his second straight feature but it wasn’t enough to overtake Penngrove, California’s Michael “Buddy” Kofoid for the track title. Because Foos scored the win, Kofoid had to finish third or better to lock up his first ever championship and he did just that…finished third, to take the title by two points on Fremont Federal Credit Union Night.

For Foos, his fourth victory of the season and 15th of his career at “The Track That Action Built” was tempered with the fact he just missed winning the track title, after already claiming the Attica Raceway Park and All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series Presented by the Baumann Auto Group championships.

“I gave it everything I had. We won the race…I knew if I won the race he (Kofoid) would have to take care of the rest. Hats off to the Linders and Buddy Kofoid. It feels good to win but man I really wanted that trifecta. We definitely have something to go off of for next year. Mikey had the car pretty good. I felt like I could go any where. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity this year the Burmeisters have given to me,” said Foos beside his Jet Express/CR Juices/Crown Battery/Greer Automotive/Burmeister Trophy/KS Sales & Service/Kistler Racing Products/Kistler Engines/NAPA Auto Parts/Dave Story Equipment/Minor Customs/Berryman Shocks backed machine.

“I wish it didn’t have to come down to being that close. It’s stressful and I hate playing points like that. DJ and his crew have the best car at Fremont. We got a little bit better tonight in the slick. Hats off to DJ and his crew, they did all they could do. The 410 championship is pretty cool. I can’t thank Ed Neumeister enough and Ray Brooks with Gill Construction and CK Plumbing and all the Linders and everyone who makes this car what it is,” said Kofoid

Elmore, Ohio’s Alvin Roepke took the lead with just five laps to go in the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 feature and drove to his seventh career victory at Fremont Speedway.

With his fourth place finish, Fremont’s John Ivy claimed his second straight 305 track championship. It is Ivy’s eighth total track title as he has three 410 championships, four 305 titles and a dirt truck championship.

“Don’t ever leave me an inch because I’ll take a mile and he (Brandon Riehl) left just enough space in one for me to get under him. When track gets slick like this it’s just patience, patience, patience. My brother has the car running pretty good and he and Chad make a big difference,” said Roepke beside his NAPA Auto Parts/Crown Battery backed #99.

“We’re still having fun! I’m glad Alvin and those guys finally got a win there. I was just kind of running around there. I think we should have kept the tire on we had in the heat race. We won some races this year. Last year we won the track championship and didn’t win a race,” said Ivy.

Fostoria, Ohio’s Kent Brewer had to hold of a last lap charge by Brad Mitten to score his seventh career dirt truck feature win at Fremont Speedway. With his sixth place finish Fostoria, Ohio’s Shawn Valenti wrapped up his second career track championship.

“It’s been a long summer. Brad’s been fast last couple of weeks. We finally got one done. I want to say thanks to everyone who comes out here every week and supports this speedway and everyone who works hard at this track and all my family and friends,” said Brewer beside his Kent’s Transmissions/Fremont Fence backed machine.

“We got behind the eight ball right from the get-go with a bad pill draw and a tough heat race. And all these guys are getting faster but it’s pretty awesome to get another championship here. I have to thank the Babcocks for everything they do for me,” said Valenti of his track title.

Caleb Griffith and Gary Taylor brought the field to green for the 30 lap Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 feature with Griffith gaining the advantage over Taylor, Foos, Craig Mintz, Kofoid and Nate Dussel. Following a lap two caution, Griffith once again pulled away as Taylor had his hands full with Foos who eventually took the runner-up spot two laps later.

While Griffith was glued to the bottom, Foos was able to make up ground quickly using the middle line and took the lead on lap nine. Kofoid used lapped traffic to take third on lap 13 just before the caution flew. With a clear track Foos pulled away on the restart over Griffith, Kofoid, Taylor, Mintz and Stuart Brubaker.

Foos built up a four second lead with 10 laps to go while Griffith held off Kofoid with Dussel closing. A final caution flew with five laps to go, but Foos was too strong on the restart to pull away for the win over Griffith, Kofoid, Dussel and Taylor.

In the 25 lap 305 feature, Brandon Riehl jumped into the early lead from his pole starting position with Valenti, Matt Foos, Ivy, Roepke and Steve Rando giving chase. Foos took second on lap two with Ivy grabbing third a circuit later. Roepke drove into third on lap five and closed quickly on Foos, taking the runner-up spot on lap eight.

Riehl had built a 1.7 second lead by lap nine but Roepke started to take big bites out of that advantage and raced to Riehl’s outside as they encountered lapped traffic with 11 laps to go. Behind the battle for the lead, Foos and Ivy were going at it for third. With five laps to go Riehl slipped off the bottom every so slightly entering turn one and Roepke pounced to grab the lead. Foos drove into second with three to go but could not reel in Roepke who drove to the win. Riehl, Ivy and Valenti rounded out the top five.

Brewer jumped into the lead at the drop of the green for the 20-lap dirt truck feature with Jim McGrath, Dustin Keegan, Dan Hennig and Cory McCaughey giving chase. Keegan too second a lap later while McGrath, Hennig, McCaughey, Keith Sorg and 12th starter Mitten waged a war for third.

Following a couple of cautions with two laps scored, Brewer began to pull away once the green came back out, building his lead to 3.7 seconds with five laps to go. Meanwhile, Keegan now had his hands full with a closing Mitten as Hennig, McCaughey, McGrath continued to entertain with their battle for fourth.

With three laps to go Mitten had chocked a full second off of Brewer’s lead when the caution flew. On the restart Mitten drove to Brewer’s outside but could not make the pass. Coming to the checkers, Mitten gave it one last shot but Brewer held on to win by half a truck length, Keegan, Hennig and McGrath rounded out the top five.

Fremont Speedway will close out the season with a double-header, Friday and Saturday Sept. 20 and 21 for the 12th Annual Jim and Joanne Ford Classic featuring the FAST 410 Sprint Series. Friday night will reward the 410 feature winner $3,000 with the 305s going for $1,000 to win with the trucks also in action on All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Night. Saturday on Kear’s Speed Shop Night, the 410 winner will take home $10,000 with the 305s once again battling for $1,000 to win with the trucks also 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.

About Fremont Federal Credit Union – www.fremontfcu.com

Fremont Federal Credit Union is not just another community financial institution. We are a financial cooperative made up of members sharing a common bond – membership is open to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in all of Sandusky and Ottawa Counties and parts of Seneca and Wood Counties. We’ve been around since 1946 and have steadily built a strong reputation in Sandusky County for great service, low loan rates, higher than market deposit rates and payroll deduction.

Fremont Speedway
Fremont Federal Credit Union Night
Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019
[*] indicates starting position

410 Sprints – Fort Ball Pizza Palace

Qualifying
1.1-Nate Dussel, 15.262; 2.11N-Buddy Kofoid, 15.511; 3.16-DJ Foos, 15.533; 4.14-Chad Wilson, 15.770; 5.09-Craig Mintz, 15.807; 6.8M-TJ Michael, 15.811; 7.1st-Gary Taylor, 15.824; 8.22B-Ryan Broughton, 15.859; 9.33W-Caleb Griffith, 15.910; 10.20I-Kelsey Ivy, 15.982; 11.35-Stuart Brubaker, 16.012; 12.2L-Landon LaLonde, 16.035; 13.2+-Brian Smith, 16.095; 14.066-Trey Jacobs, 16.147; 15.27W-Ty Williams, 16.235; 16.27K-Brad Lamberson, 16.600; 17.27X-Boston Mead, 16.624; 18.11E-Ed Neumeister, 16.824; 19.10S-Jay Steinebach, 17.082; 20.23X-Chris Andrews, 17.356; 21.23P-Darren Pifer, 99.990;

Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[1] ; 2. 1st-Gary Taylor[2] ; 3. 1-Nate Dussel[4] ; 4. 14-Chad Wilson[3] ; 5. 2+-Brian Smith[5] ; 6. 27K-Brad Lamberson[6] ; 7. 10S-Jay Steinebach[7]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[1] ; 2. 09-Craig Mintz[3] ; 3. 11N-Buddy Kofoid[4] ; 4. 22B-Ryan Broughton[2] ; 5. 066-Trey Jacobs[5] ; 6. 23X-Chris Andrews[7] ; 7. 27X-Boston Mead[6]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 16-DJ Foos[4] ; 2. 33W-Caleb Griffith[2] ; 3. 2L-Landon Lalonde[1] ; 4. 8M-TJ Michael[3] ; 5. 11E-Ed Neumeister[6] ; 6. 27W-Ty Williams[5] ; 7. 23P-Darren Pifer[7]

A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 16-DJ Foos[4] ; 2. 33W-Caleb Griffith[1] ; 3. 11N-Buddy Kofoid[5] ; 4. 1-Nate Dussel[6] ; 5. 1st-Gary Taylor[2] ; 6. 8M-TJ Michael[12] ; 7. 066-Trey Jacobs[14] ; 8. 09-Craig Mintz[3] ; 9. 35-Stuart Brubaker[8] ; 10. 27K-Brad Lamberson[16] ; 11. 2+-Brian Smith[13] ; 12. 22B-Ryan Broughton[11] ; 13. 20I-Kelsey Ivy[7] ; 14. 14-Chad Wilson[10] ; 15. 27X-Boston Mead[20] ; 16. 2L-Landon Lalonde[9] ; 17. 10S-Jay Steinebach[19] ; 18. 27W-Ty Williams[18] ; 19. 23X-Chris Andrews[17] ; 20. 11E-Ed Neumeister[15]
Hard Charger: 006-Trey Jacobs +7

305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit Union

Qualifying
1.99-Alvin Roepke, 15.874; 2.8-Bobby Clark, 15.917; 3.36-Seth Schneider, 16.028; 4.3V-Chris Verda, 16.058; 5.77I-John Ivy, 16.127; 6.19R-Steve Rando, 16.208; 7.8C-Matt Foos, 16.279; 8.7-Shawn Valenti, 16.327; 9.3X-Brandon Riehl, 16.334; 10.25-Jason Keckler, 16.335; 11.1H-Zeth Sabo, 16.349; 12.26-Jamie Miller, 16.350; 13.X15-Kasey Ziebold, 16.417; 14.7M-Brandon Moore, 16.438; 15.5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr, 16.480; 16.21-Larry Kingseed, 16.775; 17.X-Mike Keegan, 16.781; 18.4T-Jim Taddeo, 16.784; 19.10-Josh Harrison, 16.858; 20.5M-Mike Moore, 16.948; 21.9-Logan Riehl, 17.011;

Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 25-Jason Keckler[1] ; 2. 8C-Matt Foos[2] ; 3. 99-Alvin Roepke[4] ; 4. 3V-Chris Verda[3] ; 5. X15-Kasey Ziebold[5] ; 6. 10-Josh Harrison[7] ; 7. 21-Larry Kingseed[6]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 77I-John Ivy[3] ; 2. 7-Shawn Valenti[2] ; 3. 1H-Zeth Sabo[1] ; 4. 7M-Brandon Moore[5] ; 5. X-Mike Keegan[6] ; 6. 5M-Mike Moore[7] ; 7. 8-Bobby Clark[4]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 26-Jamie Miller[1] ; 2. 19R-Steve Rando[3] ; 3. 3X-Brandon Riehl[2] ; 4. 36-Seth Schneider[4] ; 5. 4T-Jim Taddeo[6] ; 6. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[5] ; 7. 9-Logan Riehl[7]

A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 99-Alvin Roepke[6] ; 2. 8C-Matt Foos[3] ; 3. 3X-Brandon Riehl[1] ; 4. 77I-John Ivy[5] ; 5. 7-Shawn Valenti[2] ; 6. 19R-Steve Rando[4] ; 7. 25-Jason Keckler[7] ; 8. 1H-Zeth Sabo[9] ; 9. 26-Jamie Miller[8] ; 10. 7M-Brandon Moore[11] ; 11. 36-Seth Schneider[12] ; 12. 3V-Chris Verda[10] ; 13. 5M-Mike Moore[17] ; 14. X-Mike Keegan[14] ; 15. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[18] ; 16. 10-Josh Harrison[16] ; 17. 21-Larry Kingseed[19] ; 18. X15-Kasey Ziebold[13] ; 19. 4T-Jim Taddeo[15] ; 20. 9-Logan Riehl[21]
Hard charger: 99-Alvin Roepke +5

Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy

Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 17x-Dustin Keegan[5] ; 2. 32H-Dan Hennig[4] ; 3. 23m-Brad Mitten[7] ; 4. 5-Jim Mcgrath[3] ; 5. 1X-Brad Keckler[9] ; 6. 7X-Dana Frey[8] ; 7. 14T-Cody Truman[1] ; 8. 25-Bryce Black[6] ; 9. 5JR-Jimmy Mcgrath Jr[2]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 88-Dan Roepke Jr[2] ; 2. 4s-Keith Sorg[9] ; 3. 16-Jim Holcomb[4] ; 4. 5s-Brad Stuckey[5] ; 5. 13-Len Benyak[3] ; 6. 2C-Calob Crispen[1] ; 7. P51-Paul Brown JR[8] ; 8. 26-Kyle Lagrou[7] ; 9. 83-Noah Wagner[6]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[9] ; 2. 36M-Cory Mccaughey[1] ; 3. 33-Jeff Ward[2] ; 4. 32-Kevin Phillips[4] ; 5. 7B-Shawn Valenti[7] ; 6. 9-Curt Inks[5] ; 7. 1-John Brooks[8] ; 8. 75-Adam Dible[6] ; 9. 11-Austin Gibson[3]

B-Main 1 – (10 Laps)
1. 1-John Brooks[6] ; 2. 7X-Dana Frey[1] ; 3. 83-Noah Wagner[11] ; 4. 14T-Cody Truman[4] ; 5. 2C-Calob Crispen[2] ; 6. 11-Austin Gibson[12] ; 7. 25-Bryce Black[7] ; 8. 75-Adam Dible[9] ; 9. 26-Kyle Lagrou[8] ; 10. 9-Curt Inks[3] ; 11. P51-Paul Brown JR[5] ; 12. 5JR-Jimmy Mcgrath Jr[10]

A-Main 1 – (20 Laps)
1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[1] ; 2. 23m-Brad Mitten[12] ; 3. 17x-Dustin Keegan[3] ; 4. 32H-Dan Hennig[4] ; 5. 5-Jim Mcgrath[2] ; 6. 7B-Shawn Valenti[15] ; 7. 36M-Cory Mccaughey[6] ; 8. 4s-Keith Sorg[7] ; 9. 33-Jeff Ward[5] ; 10. 32-Kevin Phillips[10] ; 11. 16-Jim Holcomb[11] ; 12. 1X-Brad Keckler[13] ; 13. 88-Dan Roepke Jr[9] ; 14. 7X-Dana Frey[17] ; 15. 5s-Brad Stuckey[8] ; 16. 14T-Cody Truman[19] ; 17. 13-Len Benyak[14] ; 18. 83-Noah Wagner[18] ; 19. 2C-Calob Crispen[20] ; 20. 1-John Brooks[16]
Hard Charger: 23M-Brad Mitten +10