Saturday, July 31, 2010
By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio – Craig Mintz has struggled in 2010. The defending Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) champion has had a difficult time adapting to the new Goodyear tires and then his crew chief had to take time off due to medical issues. But, the past couple of weeks things have started to look up and it culminated Saturday, July 31 with a 410 sprint win at Fremont Speedway on Kistler Engines Night.
“Everything kind of fell into place. We made the inversion and they drew a four which put us closer to the front. I couldn’t have had a more pathetic start. I think we went from fourth to seventh or eighth. It was one of those deals where you had to be patient. This Maxim, KS Sales and Service, Erie Shore Propane, Bobby’s Truck and Bus Repair…on the bottom I couldn’t ask for a better race car,” said Mintz in the Engine Pro Victory Lane. “I have to thank my dad and Brad and Kevin Shammo and everybody who helps out on this car. Also have to thank Kistler Engines…they put a heck of a bullet in this thing.”
Mintz took the lead on lap 9 with a low move off turn four on Todd Heller, and was able to hold off late race challenges from Lee Jacobs to secure his fourth career Fremont victory. The win also keeps Mintz atop the track’s point standings for the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints.
“I’ve never won a track championship in a sprint car. We were blessed enough to win a FAST championship last year. I want to get in the record books with all the people that have ran here…it would be quite an achievement,” added Mintz, who hails from Gibsonburg.
In the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprint feature, Bradner, Ohio’s Nate Dussel led all 25 laps, but it was far from an easy win. With 7 laps to go he was in heavy lapped traffic and veterans John Ivy and Paul Weaver closed. Dussel was patient with the lapped machines and was able to pick his way through and take his fourth career victory at “The Track That Action Built.”
“I knew I had to be aggressive in lapped traffic when you look up at the scoreboard and see Paul Weaver and John Ivy behind you. Then when that last caution came out (with three laps to go) and I heard them say I had lapped cars between me and them I could breathe a little easier,” said Dussel beside his Berrier Fabrication, Dussel Welding, Kistler Racing Products #1. “We finally got to start up front and that was the difference. My hats off to Rich Farmer (speedway promoter). They worked hard on this track this week and gave us a great surface.”
The Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks had two features to run – the make-up from the Beck Oil Night rain out of a week ago and the regular night’s main. In the make-up feature, defending track champion Steve Endicott held off a late race challenge from Kent Brewer to claim his 9th career Fremont victory and his second of 2010. In the Kistler Engines Night feature Jimmy McGrath Jr. survival restarts as there were seven cautions during the 20-lap event, and went on to claim his third victory of the year.
“I didn’t want to see that last caution (lap 17)…I was pretty wore out,” said McGrath beside his Winesburg Barbecue, J&F Miller Farms, Tower Driving Academy backed #5jr. “I especially have to thank Dennis Level for the motor and my mom and dad.”
“I was not going to give up the middle groove. I figured that’s where everyone wanted and I was going to stay right there,” said Endicott of his win aboard the Crown Battery, Bob’s Machine Shop, BMS Engines, Fostoria Bait and Tackle backed #8. “I have to thank Bob’s Machine Shop for a good strong motor every year, my crew, Bob’s (Dible) crew and all the sponsors.”
At the drop of the green for the 410 sprint feature Todd Heller jumped into the lead with Lee Jacobs, Bryan Sebetto, Jamie Miller, Mintz and Byron Reed in tow. Heller was setting a blistering pace, pulling away from the field with Jacobs comfortably in second and Sebetto, Mintz, Reed and Miller battling for third. Mintz would move into third on lap 7 and began to challenge Jacobs for second as the leaders caught the back of the field by lap 7. Mintz would drive into second a lap later and execute the winning move exiting the bottom of turn four on lap 9.
Mintz was able to pick his way through traffic and distance himself from the second place battle between Heller and Jacobs. At the halfway point of the 30-lap feature, the first caution would fly for a Sheldon Haudenschild spin. Mintz would have two lapped machines between himself and Heller with Sebetto taking third from Jacobs followed by Reed and Chris Andrews. A lap and another caution for Brandon Martin who stopped with a flat left rear tire. Now Mintz had one lapped machine between himself and Heller with Jacobs back in third.
On the next lap Heller’s great run came to an end as he spun. On the restart Mintz continued to lead with Jacobs stalking in second while Reed made a great move to blast into third. The car on the move was Dean Jacobs who started 17th and had worked his way to sixth. With 10 laps to go the final caution would fly for Brian Smith with front end damage. Mintz had a clear track, but no lapped machines separated him from Jacobs and Reed with Dean Jacobs in fourth and Sebetto rounding out the top five. Mintz was able to put a little distance between himself and Lee Jacobs on the restart.
With five laps to go, Mintz was losing grip on the bottom groove and Lee Jacobs began to close. Mintz was able to hold him off for the victory with Reed coming home third and Sebetto and Dean Jacobs rounding out the top five.
“We started to turn things around a couple of weeks ago. We went back to the basics. We had some pretty trick stuff on this to try and make it work and it wasn’t working.
“I was just trying to push it…I didn’t see a race car for awhile. Coming off four the bottom was starting to go away and I figured he (Jacobs) might be on the top and getting grip coming out of four that I wasn’t. I was running the top of one and two trying to keep it off the curb,” said Mintz.
Dussel led the field to the green in the 305 sprint main with D.J. Foos, Zack Kramer, John Ivy, Paul Weaver and Dustin Stroup following. As Dussel pulled away, Ivy took third on lap three and moved into second a lap later, bringing Weaver into third. Dussel hit the back of the field by lap 9 and patiently picked his way through as Ivy and Weaver were waging a torrid battle for second with Kramer and Foos rounding out the top five. The continued in that order until lap 16 when Weaver took second as the leaders were in heavy lapped traffic. This allowed Weaver and Ivy to close on Dussel. Weaver would regain the runner-up position on lap 21.
Dussel again was patient and was able to pick off the lapped machines one at a time as he began to put a little distance between himself and now second place Ivy and Weaver. The only race stoppage would come on lap 22 when Josh Muntz got upside down. On the restart Dussel had two lapped machines between himself and now second place Weaver and he pulled away for the win. Weaver, Ivy, Kramer and Bill Kraylek would round out the top five.
In the make-up dirt truck main, there were three cautions in the first three laps. Once the racing got back to green on lap four, Endicott continued to lead with Jeff Wank, Kent Brewer, Bob Dible and Steve Sabo giving chase. By lap 7, Wank, Brewer and Dible were pressuring Endicott for the lead. Brewer would grab second on lap 8 and began to race to Endicott’s outside as Dible moved into third to challenge as well. Brewer and Dible would bump in turn two, causing Brewer to slow and gather up his machine and then in turn four, Brewer and Dible would again make contact with Dible ending up sideways to bring out the caution.
With 10 laps to go, Endicott had his hands full with Brewer as Wank, Dan Hennig and Steve Sabo gave chase. Endicott and Brewer would race side-by-side each of the last 10 laps with Endicott taking the win by half a truck length over Brewer, Hennig, Wank and Sabo.
In the night’s regular dirt truck feature, the early going was again a caution-filled event with five yellows in the first four laps. McGrath Jr. was able to lead every lap as Brewer, Endicott, Sabo, Dible, Cory Ward, Hennig and Jim McGrath Sr. waged a great battle for second. McGrath Sr. brought out another caution on lap six with a flat tire with the running order McGrath Jr., Brewer, Endicott, Dible, Ward and Hennig.
McGrath Jr. would pull away slightly on the restart as Brewer, Endicott, Sabo, Dible and Ward continued their battle for second. Sabo would move into third on lap 13 and closed on Brewer as they raced side by side until lap 17 when Keith Sorg spun, setting up a three-lap dash to the checkers. McGrath was able to pull away to the win with Brewer, Sabo, Ward and Endicott rounding out the top five.
Fremont Speedway - 7/31/2010
Kistler Engines Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints (26 Cars)
Qualifying - Kistler Engines
1. 16-Bryan Sebetto, 12.59; 2. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.69; 3. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild,
12.74; 4. 15C-Chris Andrews, 12.77; 5. X-Mark Keegan, 12.85;
6. 3J-Kevin Lee, 12.86; 7. 11M-Brandon Martin,
12.88; 8. 20X-Craig Mintz, 12.91; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 12.92; 10. 312-Mike
Linder, 12.93; 11. 2+-Brian Smith, 13.01; 12. 1X-Matt Linder, 13.03; 13. 24H-Lee
Jacobs, 13.04; 14. 53-Phil Gressman, 13.09; 15. 5M-Jamie Miller, 13.19; 16.
14H-Todd Heller, 13.21; 17. 97-Dean Jacobs, 13.32; 18. 28-Shawn Valenti, 13.33;
19. 70-Steven Lines, 13.37; 20. O6-Brandy Bower, 13.45; 21. 51-Roger Campbell,
13.61; 22. O-Bill Morrison, 13.63; 23. 40-Mark Imler, 13.69; 24. 24-Jeremy
Keegan, 14.01; 25. 36-Brent Coffman, 14.68; 26. 27-Scott Euler, 15.38
Heat 1 - Heat 1 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 24H-Lee Jacobs; 2. 14H-Todd Heller; 3. 11M-Brandon Martin; 4. 16-Bryan
Sebetto; 5. 70-Steven Lines; 6. 15C-Chris Andrews; 7. O-Bill Morrison; 8.
36-Brent Coffman; 9. 312-Mike Linder
Heat 2 - Bell Racing Products (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 20X-Craig Mintz; 2. 97-Dean Jacobs; 3. 53-Phil Gressman; 4. X-Mark Keegan; 5.
5R-Byron Reed; 6. 2+-Brian Smith; 7. 27-Scott Euler; 8. 40-Mark Imler; 9.
O6-Brandy Bower
Heat 3 - Heat 3 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 28-Shawn Valenti; 2. 5M-Jamie Miller; 3. 3J-Kevin
Lee[5]; 4. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild; 5. 9Z-Duane Zablocki; 6. 51-Roger
Campbell; 7. 24-Jeremy Keegan; 8. 1X-Matt Linder
B-Main - (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 15C-Chris Andrews; 2. 312-Mike Linder; 3. 1X-Matt Linder; 4. 2+-Brian Smith;
5. 27-Scott Euler; 6. 40-Mark Imler; 7. 51-Roger Campbell; 8. O6-Brandy Bower;
9. O-Bill Morrison; 10. 36-Brent Coffman; 11. 24-Jeremy Keegan
A-Main - (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 20X-Craig Mintz[4]; 2. 24H-Lee Jacobs[3]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed[6]; 4. 16-Bryan
Sebetto[5]; 5. 97-Dean Jacobs[17]; 6. 53-Phil Gressman[16]; 7. X-Mark Keegan[9];
8. 15C-Chris Andrews[8]; 9. 3J-Kevin Lee[10];
10. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[7]; 11. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[12]; 12. 312-Mike
Linder[13]; 13. 28-Shawn Valenti[18]; 14. 70-Steven Lines[19]; 15. 2+-Brian
Smith[14]; 16. 14H-Todd Heller[1]; 17. 11M-Brandon Martin[11]; 18. 5M-Jamie
Miller[2]; 19. 27-Scott Euler[20]; 20. 1X-Matt Linder[15]
Hard Charger: 97-Dean Jacobs[+12]
Fremont Federal Credit Union - 305 Sprints (26 Cars)
Heat 1 - Heat 1 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 312-Alvin Roepke; 2. 8K-Zack Kramer; 3. 10X-Dustin Stroup; 4. 94-John Ivy; 5.
2N-Brian Neeb; 6. 80-Jake Trevino; 7. 9-Jimmy Colvin; 8. 87-Ryan Hetrick; 9.
77J-Jim Sipe
Heat 2 - Bell Racing Products (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. M28-Josh Muntz; 2. 1-Nate Dussel; 3. 1W-Paul Weaver; 4. 11F-D.J. Foos; 5.
35-Stuart Brubaker; 6. 19R-Steve Rando; 7. 67M-Matt Ferrell; 8. 81-Bobby Clark;
9. 10S-Roger Shammo
Heat 3 - Heat 3 (8 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 51-Brad Bowman; 2. 71-Bill Kraylek; 3. 55-Benny Bowman; 4. 30-Adam Ollom; 5.
8J-Jess Stiger; 6. 25-Jason Keckler; 7. 3B-Tim Bottles; 8. 83X-Nate Reeser
B-Main - (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 19R-Steve Rando; 2. 80-Jake Trevino; 3. 67M-Matt Ferrell; 4. 81-Bobby Clark;
5. 9-Jimmy Colvin; 6. 10S-Roger Shammo; 7. 25-Jason Keckler; 8. 87-Ryan Hetrick;
9. 77J-Jim Sipe
A-Main - (25 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 1-Nate Dussel[2]; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver[6]; 3. 94-John Ivy[3]; 4. 8K-Zack
Kramer[4]; 5. 71-Bill Kraylek[9]; 6. 312-Alvin Roepke[7]; 7. 10X-Dustin
Stroup[5]; 8. 11F-D.J. Foos[1]; 9. 80-Jake Trevino[17]; 10. 35-Stuart
Brubaker[14]; 11. 81-Bobby Clark[19]; 12. 51-Brad Bowman[11]; 13. 55-Benny
Bowman[12]; 14. 9-Jimmy Colvin[20]; 15. 2N-Brian Neeb[13]; 16. 67M-Matt
Ferrell[18]; 17. 19R-Steve Rando[16]; 18. 8J-Jess Stiger[15]; 19. M28-Josh
Muntz[8]; 20. 30-Adam Ollom[10]
Hard Charger: 80-Jake Trevino[+8]
Fremont Fence Co. Dirt Trucks (30 Trucks) Make-up Feature from 7-24-2010
A-Main - (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 8-Steve Endicott[3]; 2. 8KB-Kent Brewer[4]; 3. 32H-Dan Hennig[8]; 4. O9-Jeff
Wank[2]; 5. 16-Steve Sabo[6]; 6. 99-Art Howey Jr.[9]; 7. O-Andy Keegan[12]; 8.
84-Adam Jones[20]; 9. 71-Craig Holland[18]; 10. 4S-Keith Sorg[17]; 11. 99X-Gene
Potridge[19]; 12. 17-Bob Dible[7]; 13. P51-Paul Brown Jr.[10]; 14. O1-Art
Ball[14]; 15. 18W-Cory Ward[5]; 16. 36X-Dustin Keegan[1]; 17. 23M-Brad
Mitten[16]; 18. 4X-Brian Sorg[15]; 19. 3R-Chuck Rolle[11]; 20. 92-Loren
Schwochow[13]
Hard Charger: 84-Adam Jones[+12]
Fremont Fence Co. Dirt Trucks (30 Trucks) Regular Scheduled Show
Heat 1 - Heat 1 (7 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 8-Steve Endicott; 2. P51-Paul Brown Jr.; 3. O1-Art Ball; 4. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath
Jr.; 5. O-Andy Keegan; 6. 92-Loren Schwochow; 7. 12-Dana Fry; 8. 4-Jeremy Lozano
Heat 2 - Bell Racing Products (7 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 18W-Cory Ward; 2. 8KB-Kent Brewer; 3. 32H-Dan Hennig; 4. 16-Steve Sabo; 5.
11-Jason Focht; 6. 56-Alex Weichman; 7. 6-Linda Sabo; 8. 84-Adam Jones; 9.
1S-James Saam
Heat 3 - Heat 3 (7 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 17-Bob Dible; 2. 4X-Brian Sorg; 3. 5-Jim McGrath; 4. 99-Art Howey Jr.; 5.
O9-Jeff Wank; 6. 71-Craig Holland; 7. 9-Curt Inks; 8. 4S-Keith Sorg; 9. 25-Chris
Tezek; 10. 36X-Dustin Keegan
B-Main - (10 Laps - Top 5 Transfer)
1. 56-Alex Weichman; 2. 9-Curt Inks; 3. 71-Craig Holland; 4. 92-Loren Schwochow;
5. 4S-Keith Sorg; 6. 84-Adam Jones; 7. 99X-Gene Potridge; 8. 6-Linda Sabo; 9.
12-Dana Fry; 10. 4-Jeremy Lozano
A-Main - (20 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 5JR-Jimmy McGrath Jr.[1]; 2. 8KB-Kent Brewer[2]; 3. 16-Steve Sabo[3]; 4.
18W-Cory Ward[8]; 5. 8-Steve Endicott[4]; 6. 17-Bob Dible[5]; 7. 32H-Dan
Hennig[6]; 8. 4X-Brian Sorg[10]; 9. O1-Art Ball[7]; 10. 5-Jim McGrath[11]; 11.
9-Curt Inks[17]; 12. O-Andy Keegan[13]; 13. 99-Art Howey Jr.[9]; 14. 92-Loren
Schwochow[19]; 15. 4S-Keith Sorg[18]; 16. 11-Jason Focht[12]; 17. 56-Alex
Weichman[14]; 18. O9-Jeff Wank[15]; 19. 84-Adam Jones[20]; 20. 71-Craig
Holland[16]
Hard Charger: 9-Curt Inks[+6]
©2010 - Results Provided by: Computer Man Inc. Fremont, OH
