By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio – Stuart Brubaker has been close to victory several times in 2023, including a pair of runner-up finishes at Fremont Speedway. The Fremont, Ohio driver was able to make adjustments late in the 410 feature Friday night and drove to his first win of the year on Fort Ball Pizza Palace Night.
Brubaker had built a nearly three second lead when a caution for debris came out at the half-way point of the 30-lap A-main. On the ensuing restart Byron Reed and Zeth Sabo applied strong pressure for the top spot until a caution flew with 12 laps to go. Brubaker went back to the line he had been running and drove away for his eighth career victory at “The Track That Action Built.”
Brubaker’s win tightens the points in the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products Attica Fremont Championship Series presented by the Baumann Auto Group as Cap Henry, who was the point leader coming into the night, suffered a problem on the opening lap. Behind Brubaker at the finish was Zeth Sabo, Travis Philo, Byron Reed and Chris Andrews capping off the top five.
“Thank God for that last caution. I saw Byron on the outside of me. I think I was just killing too much momentum there trying to huggy pole the bottom. Bill (crew chief) was telling me to go to the bottom but I was getting good runs down the back stretch in the middle. So I changed up some stuff because he told me to and here came the five car and I was like oh shit. Thank God that yellow came out and I went back where I was supposed to be. This thing just sat down in the center and just took off,” said Brubaker beside his SRM Construction, Edward Jones, G&L Oil, ASD Remodeling, Josh Kromers Seamless Gutters, KS Sales & Service, Nye Farms, Pit Stop Carryout, Story Equipment, Midwest Compost backed #35.
“We’ve been fast all year. We got crashed during speed week…we just been struggling a bit since then. Actually we’ve had this car tore apart two or three times trying to figure things out. We’re getting back toward the right track where we were at the beginning of the year,” he added.
In the Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 A-main, Jamie Miller jumped to the early lead with sixth starter Paul Weaver moving into second on lap five. Weaver quickly ate into Miller’s nearly three second lead, taking the top spot on lap 12.
A couple of cautions late in the race kept the field close but each time Weaver drove away. The four time and defending division track champion went unchallenged to his fourth victory of the season and the 75th of his career at Fremont. He is just one win away from tying Art Ball atop the track’s all-time win list.
The win also pads Weaver’s lead as he looks to claim his fourth straight title in the NAPA Auto Parts of Bryan Attica Fremont Championship Series presented by Jason Dietsch Trailer Sales, though Jamie Miller’s second place finish keeps him in contention. Tyler Shullick, Dustin Stroup and Mike Burkin completed the top five finishing order.
“Shawn Valenti and Jamie Miller are pretty young yet so they might catch me in wins. I tried to go back and do the math but I think I hit over 200 career wins sometime earlier this year among all the tracks. I have to thank Bob Hampshire, Pam and Steve Brown, Daniel. I want to thank Roger Campbell. This was a good, raceable track. I could move all over the place. What else could you ask for…top or bottom…it was a good track,” said Weaver beside his B&B Drain Service, M&L Excavating, Hampshire Engines backed #1W.
The Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck feature got off to a rocky start with several cautions. Once it got rolling so did Ottawa Lake, Michigan’s Dave Gumby Jr. He went unchallenged to his third win of the year at Fremont. His fifth career win at the track should vault him into the division point lead as Dana Fry, Cody Laird, Jamie Miller and Keith Sorg rounded out the top five.
“I have to thank Ron Miller for doing all the work the past few weeks on the right front. I want to thank my truck owner David, Tim Sr., Tim Jr., my wife and kid,” said Gumby.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, Aug. 5 with the AFCS 410 and 305 sprints and dirt trucks in action.
Keep up to date with Fremont Speedway by going to www.fremontohspeedway.com or on Facebook at www.facebook/FremontSpeedway or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/FremontSpeedway.
About Fort Ball Pizza Palace – www.fbpizzafremont.com/
Since opening its doors in March of 1990, Fort Ball Pizza Palace, located on West State Street in Fremont, has operated as a family owned business, dedicated to making great food and serving it in a family-friendly atmosphere. Fort Ball Pizza Palace has been affiliated with the Fremont Speedway and also works with a wide range of non-profit organizations whose goals are centered on benefiting and improving the local community.
Part of what makes Fort Ball unique from other restaurants is their commitment to using only the freshest and finest ingredients and making every dish fresh from scratch, daily. Fort Ball Pizza Palace offers a diverse menu of flavorful dishes based on traditional, Italian recipes. Their menu includes everything from pizza and subs to fresh pasta, foldovers, Stromboli and more. Fort Ball Pizza Palace is home of the all-you-can-eat Italian smorgasbord for lunch or dinner!
Fremont Speedway
Friday, Aug. 4, 2023
410 Sprints – Fort Ball Pizza Palace
Qualifying
1.23-Cale Thomas, 13.212; 2.33w-Cap Henry, 13.299; 3.35-Stuart Brubaker, 13.361; 4.97-Zeth Sabo, 13.581; 5.2+-Brian Smith, 13.651; 6.9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.703; 7.32-Bryce Lucius, 13.759; 8.22M-Dan McCarron, 13.826; 9.5T-Travis Philo, 13.835; 10.15C-Chris Andrews, 13.991; 11.5-Byron Reed, 14.037; 12.8M-TJ Michael, 14.047; 13.9-Trey Jacobs, 14.070; 14.2-Ricky Peterson, 14.201; 15.55-Jake Swanson, 14.206; 16.12-Brian Lay, 14.248; 17.98-Robert Robenalt, 14.373; 18.10-Justin Adams, 14.414; 19.4-Josh Turner, 14.461; 20.7N-Darin Naida, 14.537; 21.33$-Shane O’Banion, 14.643; 22.88-Jimmy McCune, 14.682; 23.86-Michael Lutz, 14.705; 24.75-Jerry Dahms, 15.555; 25.21-Larry Kingseed, 99.998; 26.13-Van Gurley, 99.999;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[2] ; 2. 2+-Brian Smith[1] ; 3. 23-Cale Thomas[4] ; 4. 33w-Cap Henry[3] ; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron[6] ; 6. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[5] ; 7. 2-Ricky Peterson[7] ; 8. 12-Brian Lay[8] ; 9. 98-Robert Robenalt[9]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 5-Byron Reed[3] ; 2. 8M-TJ Michael[2] ; 3. 32-Bryce Lucius[4] ; 4. 4-Josh Turner[6] ; 5. 21-Larry Kingseed[9] ; 6. 10-Justin Adams[5] ; 7. 55-Jake Swanson[1] ; 8. 33$-Shane O’Banion[7] ; 9. 86-Michael Lutz[8]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 15C-Chris Andrews[2] ; 2. 97-Zeth Sabo[4] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[3] ; 4. 9-Trey Jacobs[1] ; 5. 7N-Darin Naida[5] ; 6. 88-Jimmy McCune[6] ; 7. 75-Jerry Dahms[7] ; 8. 13-Van Gurley[8]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps)
1. 10-Justin Adams[2] ; 2. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[1] ; 3. 2-Ricky Peterson[4] ; 4. 12-Brian Lay[7] ; 5. 88-Jimmy McCune[3] ; 6. 55-Jake Swanson[5] ; 7. 75-Jerry Dahms[6] ; 8. 33$-Shane O’Banion[8] ; 9. 13-Van Gurley[9] ; 10. 86-Michael Lutz[11]
A-Main 1 – (30 Laps)
1. 35-Stuart Brubaker[2] ; 2. 97-Zeth Sabo[6] ; 3. 5T-Travis Philo[10] ; 4. 5-Byron Reed[7] ; 5. 15C-Chris Andrews[8] ; 6. 22M-Dan McCarron[13] ; 7. 8M-TJ Michael[1] ; 8. 23-Cale Thomas[3] ; 9. 9-Trey Jacobs[12] ; 10. 2+-Brian Smith[5] ; 11. 2-Ricky Peterson[18] ; 12. 88-Jimmy McCune[20] ; 13. 32-Bryce Lucius[9] ; 14. 4-Josh Turner[11] ; 15. 21-Larry Kingseed[14] ; 16. 12-Brian Lay[19] ; 17. 10-Justin Adams[16] ; 18. 7N-Darin Naida[15] ; 19. 9Z-Duane Zablocki[17] ; 20. 33w-Cap Henry[4]
305 Sprints – Fremont Federal Credit Union
Qualifying
1.10X-Dustin Stroup, 14.186; 2.5K-Kasey Jedrzejek, 14.312; 3.1W-Paul Weaver, 14.545; 4.X15-Kasey Ziebold, 14.565; 5.61-Tyler Shullick, 14.599; 6.36-Seth Schneider, 14.623; 7.26-Jamie Miller, 14.676; 8.9R-Logan Riehl, 14.694; 9.01-Bryan Sebetto, 14.716; 10.5DD-Dustin Dinan, 14.803; 11.5-Kody Brewer, 14.811; 12.49I-John Ivy, 14.849; 13.4K-Blayne Keckler, 14.970; 14.4X-Bobby Clark, 14.996; 15.48-Mike Burkin, 15.044; 16.10TS-Tyler Schiets, 15.083; 17.7M-Brandon Moore, 15.084; 18.0-Bradley Bateson, 15.102; 19.27-Calob Crispen, 15.186; 20.78-Austin Black , 15.194; 21.63-Randy Ruble, 15.250; 22.3M-Logan Mongeau, 15.266; 23.16-Lee Sommers, 15.333; 24.2s-Jackson Sebetto, 15.358; 25.11TS-Tate Schiets, 15.381; 26.8-Jim Leaser, 15.463; 27.98-Dave Hoppes, 15.592; 28.51M-Haldon Miller, 15.837; 29.1S-James Saam, 15.981;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 9R-Logan Riehl[2] ; 2. 10X-Dustin Stroup[4] ; 3. 78-Austin Black [1] ; 4. 2s-Jackson Sebetto[5] ; 5. X15-Kasey Ziebold[3] ; 6. 8-Jim Leaser[7] ; 7. 11TS-Tate Schiets[6] ; 8. 1S-James Saam[8]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 49I-John Ivy[1] ; 2. 5-Kody Brewer[2] ; 3. 5DD-Dustin Dinan[3] ; 4. 36-Seth Schneider[4] ; 5. 10TS-Tyler Schiets[6] ; 6. 98-Dave Hoppes[7] ; 7. 4K-Blayne Keckler[5]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 26-Jamie Miller[2] ; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver[3] ; 3. 01-Bryan Sebetto[1] ; 4. 5K-Kasey Jedrzejek[4] ; 5. 3M-Logan Mongeau[7] ; 6. 4X-Bobby Clark[5] ; 7. 0-Bradley Bateson[6]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps)
1. 61-Tyler Shullick[4] ; 2. 48-Mike Burkin[3] ; 3. 7M-Brandon Moore[7] ; 4. 27-Calob Crispen[2] ; 5. 51M-Haldon Miller[6] ; 6. 63-Randy Ruble[1] ; 7. 16-Lee Sommers[5]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps)
1. X15-Kasey Ziebold[1] ; 2. 10TS-Tyler Schiets[2] ; 3. 3M-Logan Mongeau[3] ; 4. 4K-Blayne Keckler[10] ; 5. 51M-Haldon Miller[4] ; 6. 4X-Bobby Clark[7] ; 7. 0-Bradley Bateson[11] ; 8. 8-Jim Leaser[5] ; 9. 16-Lee Sommers[12] ; 10. 63-Randy Ruble[8] ; 11. 1S-James Saam[13] ; 12. 11TS-Tate Schiets[9] ; 13. 98-Dave Hoppes[6]
A-Main 1 – (25 Laps)
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[6] ; 2. 26-Jamie Miller[1] ; 3. 61-Tyler Shullick[5] ; 4. 10X-Dustin Stroup[10] ; 5. 48-Mike Burkin[2] ; 6. 01-Bryan Sebetto[13] ; 7. 49I-John Ivy[3] ; 8. 5K-Kasey Jedrzejek[4] ; 9. 5-Kody Brewer[8] ; 10. 5DD-Dustin Dinan[12] ; 11. 36-Seth Schneider[7] ; 12. X15-Kasey Ziebold[17] ; 13. 9R-Logan Riehl[9] ; 14. 7M-Brandon Moore[14] ; 15. 10TS-Tyler Schiets[18] ; 16. 78-Austin Black [11] ; 17. 3M-Logan Mongeau[19] ; 18. 27-Calob Crispen[16] ; 19. 4K-Blayne Keckler[20] ; 20. 2s-Jackson Sebetto[15]
Dirt Trucks – Burmeister Trophy
Qualifying
1.4M-Jamie Miller, 17.833; 2.36m-Cory McCaughey, 18.001; 3.25-Jeff Babcock, 18.121; 4.P51-Dave Gumby Jr., 18.186; 5.5s-Bradley Stuckey, 18.286; 6.19-Tony Burns, 18.297; 7.28-Cody Laird, 18.297; 8.44X-Jim Holcomb, 18.326; 9.23m-Brad Mitten, 18.342; 10.4x-Keith Sorg, 18.357; 11.32H-Craig Dippman, 18.364; 12.8KB-Kent Brewer, 18.380; 13.17x-Dustin Keegan, 18.415; 14.26-Kyle Lagrou, 18.453; 15.8S-Brandon Stuckey, 18.497; 16.7X-Dana Frey, 18.574; 17.9-Curt Inks, 18.587; 18.34-Todd Warnick, 18.607; 19.X-Andy Keegan, 18.729; 20.1-Scott Milligan, 18.847; 21.23W-Butch Latte, 18.877; 22.99-Eric Potridge, 19.059; 23.18s-Randy Swiecicki, 19.209; 24.51-David Bankey, 19.426; 25.57MS-Mason Stull, 19.504; 26.43-Kyle Pogue, 20.256; 27.3b-Kaydin Bailey, 99.998; 28.101-Chester Fitch, 99.999;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 25-Jeff Babcock[4] ; 2. 19-Tony Burns[3] ; 3. 4x-Keith Sorg[2] ; 4. 26-Kyle Lagrou[1] ; 5. 34-Todd Warnick[5] ; 6. 23W-Butch Latte[7] ; 7. 1-Scott Milligan[6]
Heat 2, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 7X-Dana Frey[1] ; 2. 28-Cody Laird[2] ; 3. 5s-Bradley Stuckey[3] ; 4. 9-Curt Inks[5] ; 5. 4M-Jamie Miller[4] ; 6. 3b-Kaydin Bailey[7]
Heat 3, Group C – (8 Laps)
1. 32H-Craig Dippman[3] ; 2. 8KB-Kent Brewer[2] ; 3. 44X-Jim Holcomb[4] ; 4. X-Andy Keegan[1] ; 5. 57MS-Mason Stull[6] ; 6. 18s-Randy Swiecicki[5] ; 7. 101-Chester Fitch[7]
Heat 4, Group D – (8 Laps)
1. 23m-Brad Mitten[2] ; 2. P51-Dave Gumby Jr.[3] ; 3. 36m-Cory McCaughey[4] ; 4. 17x-Dustin Keegan[1] ; 5. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[5] ; 6. 99-Eric Potridge[6] ; 7. 43-Kyle Pogue[7]
B-Main 1 – (10 Laps)
1. 4M-Jamie Miller[2] ; 2. 34-Todd Warnick[1] ; 3. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[4] ; 4. 23W-Butch Latte[5] ; 5. 1-Scott Milligan[9] ; 6. 18s-Randy Swiecicki[7] ; 7. 99-Eric Potridge[8] ; 8. 3b-Kaydin Bailey[6] ; 9. 101-Chester Fitch[10]
A-Main 1 – (20 Laps)
1. P51-Dave Gumby Jr.[2] ; 2. 7X-Dana Frey[6] ; 3. 28-Cody Laird[4] ; 4. 4M-Jamie Miller[17] ; 5. 4x-Keith Sorg[11] ; 6. 44X-Jim Holcomb[12] ; 7. 23m-Brad Mitten[10] ; 8. 8KB-Kent Brewer[7] ; 9. 5s-Bradley Stuckey[3] ; 10. 34-Todd Warnick[18] ; 11. 8S-Brandon Stuckey[19] ; 12. X-Andy Keegan[15] ; 13. 9-Curt Inks[14] ; 14. 23W-Butch Latte[20] ; 15. 17x-Dustin Keegan[16] ; 16. 19-Tony Burns[9] ; 17. 25-Jeff Babcock[5] ; 18. 36m-Cory McCaughey[1] ; 19. 32H-Craig Dippman[8] ; 20. 26-Kyle Lagrou[13]