Keegan Back In Fremont Victory Lane

By BRIAN LISKAI

FREMONT, Ohio – To say Saturday was a special night at Fremont Speedway is…well…a HUGE understatement.

And the outcome? Mark Keegan found victory lane for the 60th time in his career. Craig Mintz sported a throwback wing and claimed his second 410 sprint win of season. Shawn Valenti…well, was Shawn Valenti and scored his 7th win of the year in the dirt trucks.

While there were familiar faces in the Engine Pro Victory Lane, how they got there was the story of the evening.

Prior to the night’s racing, the sixth class was inducted into the Fremont Speedway Hall of Fame in front of a packed grandstands. There was laughter, tears and a lot of pride on display for the 11 individuals and their family and friends.

Then there was the racing on Vision Quest Night. Not only were the stars of the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints in competition, but for the first time, 21 drivers came out of retirement to compete once again in the Legends Race behind the wheel of the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints.

And when the checkered flew Mark Keegan celebrated his 56th birthday in familiar territory – victory lane.

“This is just a reminder of why I stopped racing. Winning helps but they are too much work and I have too much work at my shop. I don’t have the time it takes to do it and do it right,” said Mark Keegan beside his Jon Wright’s Custom Chrome Plating/Midwest Auto Sales/Al Pro Heads/Fremont Fence/American Sprint Repair/Kistler Racing Products backed machine.

“But, I’d do this deal again next year….this was a lot of fun,” continued Keegan beside the familiar X car.

In the 410 sprint feature, the crowd was treated to a shoot out between Craig Mintz and Cole Duncan with the pair trading slide jobs lap after lap. When the checkered flew Mintz was standing in the Engine Pro Victory Lane for the second time this season and the 7th time in his career. And, as a tribute to the Van Ness Family who were inducted into the hall of fame earlier in the day, Mintz carried the family’s familiar Bullwinkle logo and Norm’s Texaco banner on his wing.

“That was a blast. Hats off to Cole Duncan. He showed me his nose and blew by me and I decided it was time to get up on the wheel and run that curb a little harder. It bit me a couple of times. Lapped traffic is tough here when there’s multiple grooves and they were running side by side. We got lucky enough that we picked the right lane at the right time,” said Mintz beside his GF1 Chassis/Damschroder Roofing/Real Geese Decoys/Kistler Engines/KS Sales and Service/Erie Shore Propane backed machine.

“These Gibsonburg folks…the people behind that wing…the Van Ness family…it’s a close knit group around our area. It means a lot to fly their colors and put it in victory lane,” added Mintz who swept the weekend as he won Friday at Attica.

Not to be outdone, Valenti had to hold off a charging Dan Roepke Jr. to score the dirt truck win. Valenti also swept the weekend, taking the victory Friday at Attica. The Risingsun, Ohio driver now has 10 feature wins in 2014.

“When I was trying to battle those two lapped trucks I saw a nose under me and I was trying to get back to the cushion and I was able to do it,” said Valenti beside his Craig Miller Trucking Day Dream and Memories Crafts and Antiques/Best Performance Motorsports/Conrad Transport/KS Sales and Service/Dave Story Equipment Repair backed truck.

In the 25-lap Legends Race, Clay Keim and Charlie Fisher would bring the field to green but action would grind to a half when Jim Linder got upside down. He was uninjured.

On the second attempt Fisher would grab the lead over Keegan, Keim, Eric Rankine, Rodney Duncan, Brian Neeb and Ed Haudenschild. Keegan and Fisher would battle side by side the next circuit before Keegan took the top spot with Duncan, Rankine, Keim and Haudenschild in tow. Rankine would steal third on lap four.

The red would come out on lap five when George Dussel had trouble getting pit side and hit the fence followed by Kenny Clark Jr. getting upside down on the front stretch. Both drivers were okay.

On the ensuing restart Keegan blasted away as Fisher had his hands full with Rankine with Duncan, Keim, Haudenschild, Bobby Distel and Kenny Jacobs in tow. Keegan would build his lead while Rankine would slide into second on lap 12 with Fisher, Duncan and Jacobs staying close.

With 10 laps to go Keegan had a sizeable lead over Rankine with Duncan taking third followed by Fisher, Jacobs, Distel and Kelly Kinser. Kinser had taken the Baumann Auto Group Big Bucks Bump and went to the tail of the starting grid with the goal to win and take an additional $5,000.

As Keegan threaded his way through traffic with Rankine trying to make up ground, with five laps to go there was a tremendous battle for third involving Duncan, Jacobs and Fisher.

Keegan would drive to the win with the large crowd roaring their approval with Rankine, Duncan, Jacobs (who flipped in his heat) and Fisher rounding out the top five.

Mintz and Cole Duncan would bring the field to the green in the 410 sprint feature as outside front row starter Jody Keegan accepted the Baumann Auto Group Big Bucks Bump and went to the tail for the possible $5,000 bonus.

Mintz would grab the lead with Duncan staying close as Brad Bowman, Caleb Griffith, Chris Andrews, Rob Chaney, Byron Reed and Stuart Brubaker gave chase. Griffith would blast into third on lap two as the caution flew for debris.

On the restart Mintz would have his hands full with Duncan as Griffith, Bowman and Chaney battled for third. Mintz and Duncan would drive into lapped traffic on lap eight with Bowman, Griffith, Chaney, Reed, Andrews and Brian Lay staying close.

On lap 12 Bowman would slide up the track and Griffith, Chaney and Reed would move by. Kody Kinser would bring out the last caution of the rac eon lap 14 with the running order Mintz, Duncan, Griffith, Chaney, Reed, Bowman, Andrews, Lay and Travis Philo.

When the green flew so did Mintz and Duncan as the pair battled side by side for the lead. Duncan found something on the bottom of turns three and four and drove into the lead on lap 17. Two laps later Mintz blasted around the high side to regain the top spot in turn two. A circuit later and Duncan would use a lapped car as a pick and moved back into the lead.

On lap 21 Mintz executed a slider in turns three and four to regain the lead with Chaney, Griffith, Reed and Lay in pursuit. Mintz and Duncan would run nose to tail over the next hand full of laps and with three to go Duncan got a good run off the bottom of turn four to pull beside Mintz.

Mintz would keep his cool and drove to the win over Duncan, Chaney, Reed and Griffith.

In the 20-lap AAA Ohio Auto Club Dirt Trucks Brad Keckler and Art Ball brought the field to the green. Pole-sitter Dustin Keegan also accepted the Baumann Auto Group Big Bucks Bump and went to the tail for the chance at the $5,000 bonus.

The opening lap served notice it was going to be an entertaining feature with Keckler holding a slight lead over Jim McGrath, Valenti, Jeff Ward, Cory Ward, John Ivy and Kent Brewer. Keckler’s run would end a lap later as fire erupted under the hood of his truck. Jeff Ward would go to the pits to change a flat tire and Cory Ward retired from the event.

On the restart McGrath led Valenti, Brewer, Ball, Jimmy McGrath, Roepke and Ivy. But, Andrew Lutman would spin to bring out the yellow again. On the restart Valenti drove into the lead with McGrath Sr. challenging to his inside with Brewer, Ball, McGrath Jr., Roepke and Matt Foos staying close.

The final caution would fly on lap seven for debris. On the restart Valenti led McGrath Sr., Brewer, Roepke, Ball, McGrath Jr., Foos and Ward who had come from the tail. At the half-way point it was a three truck battle up front between Valenti, Roepke and Brewer. Roepke would take second on lap 11 and started to slowly eat into Valenti’s lead.

With three laps to go the leaders found heavy lapped traffic and Roepke drove to Valenti’s inside to challenge with Brewer, McGrath Sr. and ball staying close. Valenti and Roepke raced side by side slicing through traffic. Once clear, Valenti drove away for the win with Roepke, Brewer, McGrath Sr. and Ball rounding out the top five.

Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, June 14 on Crown Battery Salutes the Local Heroes with the 410 and 305 sprints in action along with the dirt trucks.

For more information go to www.fremontohspeedway.com

Fremont Speedway – 6/7/2014

Vision Quest Night

Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (22 Cars)

[#]-Starting Position

Qualifying – Fricker’s Restaurant/Callie’s Performance

1. 9X-Rob Chaney, 12.579; 2. 22-Cole Duncan, 12.589; 3. 4K-Kody Kinser, 12.653; 4. 55-Brad Bowman, 12.780; 5. 40DD-Caleb Griffith, 12.781; 6. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.809; 7. 2+-Brian Smith, 12.830; 8. 60-Jody Keegan, 12.868; 9. 35-Stuart Brubaker, 12.916; 10. 16-Chris Andrews, 12.928; 11. 5T-Travis Philo, 12.945; 12. 53-DJ Foos, 12.957; 13. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.971; 14. 45L-Brian Lay, 12.995; 15. 14H-Todd Heller, 13.000; 16. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.066; 17. O7X-Dain Naida, 13.165; 18. 39M-Matt Merrill, 13.215; 19. 40I-Mark Imler, 13.366; 20. 96AU-Bruce White, 13.643; 21. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 13.682; 22. O2-Kevin Lee, 29.212

Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[1] ; 2. 16-Chris Andrews[3] ; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[2] ; 4. 9X-Rob Chaney[6] ; 5. 55-Brad Bowman[5] ; 6. 2+-Brian Smith[4] ; 7. O2-Kevin Lee[8] ; 8. 40I-Mark Imler[7]

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

1. 45L-Brian Lay[2] ; 2. 60-Jody Keegan[4] ; 3. 22-Cole Duncan[6] ; 4. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[5] ; 5. O7X-Dain Naida[1] ; 6. 5T-Travis Philo[3] ; 7. 96AU-Bruce White[7]

Heat 3 – Hoosier Racing Tires (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 14H-Todd Heller[2] ; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker[4] ; 3. 53-DJ Foos[3] ; 4. O9-Craig Mintz[5] ; 5. 39M-Matt Merrill[1] ; 6. 4K-Kody Kinser[6]

Dash – Borer Glass & Mirror (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 6 starting positions of A-feature

1. O9-Craig Mintz[2] ; 2. 60-Jody Keegan[1] ; 3. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[3] ; 4. 22-Cole Duncan[5] ; 5. 55-Brad Bowman[4] ; 6. 9X-Rob Chaney[6]

A-Main – (30 Laps)

1. O9-Craig Mintz[1]; 2. 22-Cole Duncan[2]; 3. 9X-Rob Chaney[4]; 4. 5R-Byron Reed[8]; 5. 40DD-Caleb Griffith[3]; 6. 45L-Brian Lay[12]; 7. 55-Brad Bowman[5]; 8. 16-Chris Andrews[6]; 9. 5T-Travis Philo[13]; 10. 53-DJ Foos[9]; 11. 35-Stuart Brubaker[7]; 12. 2+-Brian Smith[10]; 13. 46AU-Stuart Williams[21]; 14. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[14]; 15. 60-Jody Keegan[22]; 16. O7X-Dain Naida[17]; 17. 14H-Todd Heller[15]; 18. O2-Kevin Lee[20]; 19. 40I-Mark Imler[19]; 20. 39M-Matt Merrill[16]; 21. 96AU-Bruce White[18]; 22. 4K-Kody Kinser[11]

Hard Charger: 46AU-Stuart Williams[+8]

Fremont Federal Credit Untion 305 Sprints (21 Cars)

[#]-Starting Position

Qualifying – Callie’s Performance

1. 39-Kenny Jacobs, 13.554; 2. X-Mark Keegan, 13.561; 3. 7A-Eric Rankin, 13.618; 4. 4T-Charlie Fisher, 13.799; 5. 28-Lee Potter, 13.862; 6. 5R-Kelly Kinser, 13.927; 7. 22-Clay Kiem, 13.928; 8. 22D-Rodney Duncan, 13.941; 9. 312-Jim Linder, 13.965; 10. 22D1-Bobby Distel, 14.007; 11. 2-Rick Daugherty, 14.140; 12. 9-Ed Haudenschild, 14.285; 13. 29-Kenny Clark Jr., 14.437; 14. 2N-Brian Neeb, 14.455; 15. K5-Joe Keegan, 14.585; 16. 16-Jerry Nemire, 14.697; 17. 1W-Larry Helms, 14.715; 18. O-Rick Ferkel, 15.251; 19. 32-Al Liskai, 15.348; 20. 49-Jimmy Leaser, 15.823; 21. 3-George Dussel, 16.313

Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 29-Kenny Clark Jr.[2] ; 2. 22-Clay Kiem[4] ; 3. 22D1-Bobby Distel[3] ; 4. 4T-Charlie Fisher[5] ; 5. 16-Jerry Nemire[1] ; 6. 32-Al Liskai[7] ; 7. 39-Kenny Jacobs[6]

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

1. 22D-Rodney Duncan[4] ; 2. X-Mark Keegan[6] ; 3. 2N-Brian Neeb[2] ; 4. 2-Rick Daugherty[3] ; 5. 28-Lee Potter[5] ; 6. 1W-Larry Helms[1] ; 7. 49-Jimmy Leaser[7]

Heat 3 – Hoosier Racing Tires (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 7A-Eric Rankin[6] ; 2. K5-Joe Keegan[2] ; 3. 5R-Kelly Kinser[5] ; 4. 312-Jim Linder[4] ; 5. 9-Ed Haudenschild[3] ; 6. O-Rick Ferkel[1] ; 7. 3-George Dussel[7]

A-Main – (25 Laps)

1. X-Mark Keegan[4]; 2. 7A-Eric Rankin[5]; 3. 22D-Rodney Duncan[7]; 4. 39-Kenny Jacobs[11]; 5. 4T-Charlie Fisher[2]; 6. 22D1-Bobby Distel[9]; 7. 5R-Kelly Kinser[21]; 8. 9-Ed Haudenschild[10]; 9. K5-Joe Keegan[15]; 10. 22-Clay Kiem[1]; 11. 2N-Brian Neeb[12]; 12. 2-Rick Daugherty[8]; 13. O-Rick Ferkel[16]; 14. 28-Lee Potter[3]; 15. 16-Jerry Nemire[14]; 16. 1W-Larry Helms[17]; 17. 29-Kenny Clark Jr.[13]; 18. 3-George Dussel[20]; 19. 32-Al Liskai[19]; 20. 49-Jimmy Leaser[18]; 21. 312-Jim Linder[6]

Hard Charger: 5R-Kelly Kinser[+14]

AAA Auto Club Dirt Trucks (22 Trucks)

[#]-Starting Position

Heat 1 – American Power Sports (8 Laps – Top 10 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. O1-Art Ball[1] ; 2. 5-Jim McGrath[5] ; 3. 3X-Brad Keckler[6] ; 4. 18W-Cory Ward[4] ; 5. 99X-Gene Portidge[3] ; 6. 4S-Keith Sorg[7] ; 7. 3G-Dave Gibbs[8] ; 8. O-Jim Keegan[2]

Heat 2 – Kistler Racing Products (8 Laps – Top 10 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 8KB-Kent Brewer[1] ; 2. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5] ; 3. 33-Jeff Ward[3] ; 4. 2-Matt Foos[2] ; 5. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[7] ; 6. 36M-Cory McCaughey[6] ; 7. 22-Brandon Leighton[4]

Heat 3 – Hoosier Racing Tires (8 Laps – Top 10 finishers transfer to the A-feature)

1. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[2] ; 2. D1-Dustin Keegan[1] ; 3. OO-John Ivy[7] ; 4. 37-Eric Devanna[3] ; 5. 85S-Bradley Stuckey[4] ; 6. 7-Dana Frey[6] ; 7. 79-Andrew Lutman[5]

A-Main – (20 Laps)

1. 7B-Shawn Valenti[5]; 2. 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[14]; 3. 8KB-Kent Brewer[8]; 4. 5-Jim McGrath[3]; 5. O1-Art Ball[2]; 6. 2-Matt Foos[12]; 7. 33-Jeff Ward[7]; 8. 36M-Cory McCaughey[15]; 9. 37-Eric Devanna[9]; 10. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[10]; 11. D1-Dustin Keegan[21]; 12. O-Jim Keegan[22]; 13. 4S-Keith Sorg[16]; 14. 7-Dana Frey[18]; 15. 85S-Bradley Stuckey[13]; 16. 3G-Dave Gibbs[17]; 17. 79-Andrew Lutman[19]; 18. 22-Brandon Leighton[20]; 19. OO-John Ivy[6]; 20. 99X-Gene Portidge[11]; 21. 3X-Brad Keckler[1]; 22. 18W-Cory Ward[4]

Hard Charger: 88-Dan Roepke Jr.[+12]