Fan Notes from Ohio Speedweek Saturday at Fremont

Danny Dietrich (Tom Myers) 6/11/2022 - The weather was kind of iffy. No rain was called for until maybe 11:00 pm but clouds did roll in and there were showers around us. Thankfully, the All Stars got their 2nd race of Ohio Sprint Speedweek completed and the 35 lap A - main was done by 10:15.

Pretty good considering the good car count and that there was a C, B and A main….not to mention the Fremont dirt trucks as the support division.

The track ended up being very tricky, as usual for Fremont. It slicked off at the top in the turn 2 exit and did the same in turn 3 and 4. There were tacky patches around the bottom of 1 and 2 and at the exit of turn 4 in the middle. The first timers out were the fastest as the surface slicked off as time trials wore on. There were 44 cars on hand to do battle for the 2nd largest winner’s payout of the week.

Double D was in the pits, fresh off his victory at Attica to open this year’s Speedweek the previous evening. This reminded me of when I first started going to the races with my Dad, back in 1975 or 76. I was 10 or 11 at the time and I remember the mid-week races that were held in Ohio, I think it was the All Star group back then too. I vividly remember the corn pickers on the cars and the PA guys who would out motor the Ohio stars to win all the races…at least the races I attended. If it wasn’t Bobby Allen winning, then Kramer Williamson or Dub May or Steve Smith or Paul Pitzer would win it. I rooted for Ferkel and the Linders and Harold McGilton, but the PA guys would just leap out of the turns and out pull my heroes down the straights. I remember the discussion at the time were the cylinder heads. I understand that PA has those big tracks and horsepower is important. I don’t get how that translates to the Ohio dry and slick shorter tracks, but those PA guys always seem to pull it off, more times than not. We will never hear the end of this on the Hoseheads Forum I am sure! Ha Ha.

Craig Mintz Also on hand were Ian Madsen, driving the 49x machine and he was being helped by Brian Kemenah. It would be cool to see them gel and have some success this year. I didn’t ask so I am unsure if this was just a Speedweek arrangement or a more permanent arrangement going forward?

Where was Scott Bogucki? Maybe he or KTJ will show up later in the week? Kyle Larson? Buddy Kofoid? Carson Short was in the Snow racing 17 and that combination is a full time All Star campaign now. Skyler Gee was racing as well as Paige Polyak and Cole Duncan. I expected Duncan to take the All Star loot on this evening. He runs good here. Danny Smith was here but he blew a motor in time trials and was done for the weekend. Cole Macedo, Chris Myers and Trey and Lee Jacobs were racing. Lee had engine troubles and didn’t even to get to time trial with full power. Greg Wilson was also racing along with Fremont runners D.J. Foos, John Ivy, Nate Dussel, Craig Mintz, T.J. Michaels, Kyle Capodice, Byron Reed, and Stuart Brubaker. A few Wayne County regulars were on hand, Zach Ames, Jordan Ryan and Daniel Burkhart. Travis Philo, Dan McCarron and Lachie McHugh were also competing.

Lachie has his crew chief from Australia with him. Together they won most of the big races down under this year. Seth Sabo was in the 11n Numeister car and Chris Andrews, who earlier in the day, had plans to go to Put -In-Bay because he didn’t have a motor, showed up with a borrowed engine in the 23 Kiser car…at the last minute. And as we would find out later, that borrowed motor was a runner! One young fellow, 305 racer Larry Kingseed Jr., was making his first All Star start with a 410 and he drove really well. He seemed to be down on motor but he mixed it up well and had good car control.

Tyler Courtney and Chris Windom The fastest time trailer was Justin Peck. He went out first I believe. The next 9 qualifiers in order behind Peck were Windom, Short, Polyak, Myers, Wilson, Wise, Price-Miller, Dietrich and Eliason. It’s really good to see Chris Windom doing better. He’s a really good driver and it looks like the lack of early success this year is really getting to him. I imagine it’s not easy to go from winning or being in the top 5 most nights to struggling to make an A main.

The rest of time trials were a struggle as the timers who came out later had trouble finding where to run. Zach Ames did a great job in is time trial. He came out at the very end of time trials and timed 20th quick, just running through the middle and bottom of the turns and grabbing whatever moisture was there, unlike the others who blasted through the dry-slick areas.

There were 5 heats of 8 laps and they were entertaining. The top 4 would transfer to the A. The first heat turned into an epic battle between Peck and Eliason for the transfer spot. After switching places back and forth, Eliason muscled and crowded his way past Peck right at the flag stand. The finish was Windom, Short, Wilson and Eliason. Fast timer Peck missed the transfer.

In heat 2 the finish was Wise, PPM, Foos and Cole Duncan, who got past Reinhardt right under the checkers….an exciting finish again, for the last transfer spot!

In the 3rd heat Dietrich fell back and then spun it in turn 2 on the 2nd or 3rd lap. He made a furious charge back through the field but missed the transfer. The finish was Henry, Courtney, Macedo and Schurenburg. Macedo hurt his motor and coasted to a stop after the finish. He had to change it before the A main. Bill Balog, who finished 2nd to Dietrich the night before, struggled and ended up in the C main.

Fremont Speedway In heat 4, Jordan Ryan spins it while in a transfer spot. The finish was Trey Jacobs out front followed by Mintz, Ivy and McHugh.

In the final heat, Andrews wins it followed by Madsen, Brubacker and Philo.

Before the dash draw, Blake Anderson was interviewing each of the drivers. When he interviewed PPM, my mind was blown. Parker explained that he has been down on himself and discouraged because he has had some bad luck. We all know about Parkers recent battle with his health. On the racing front, he has been timing well all year but hasn’t been able to translate that into a win. A cut tire here, a spin out there, just some bad luck. So during the interview, Parker said he called Rick Ferkel for some advice. Rick was my childhood hero and Rick and his wife Cathy are Christians, I believe. During the interview, Parker told the Fremont crowd that Rick told him he needed to be thankful to God and to be grateful. Great advice! Why should we feel that way? Well, because none of us is guaranteed a tomorrow. And because of this truth, we all should be happy and grateful for what we have, the people around us, where we are and what we can do now, in spite of our circumstances and the outcomes that we cannot control.

My wife and I hold church services for folks in nursing homes and we are often confronted with the question, “why am I here, why did this happen to me?” So, I tell them what the Bible says.

I tell them that their question should be, “am I going to heaven?” Jesus told his disciples to rejoice that their names were written in heaven and that their sins were forgiven….. not that they could do a few miracles that Jesus gave them the power to do for a short time. In the Bible, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In all things give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Parker Price-Miller For example, my middle son Jared, (he is 26 and married now) when he was 7 years old, his best friend Adam died from a brain tumor. It was heart breaking and tragic. But healing came when we learned to be thankful to God for the time we had with Adam. It was just so random and made no sense that this would happen to such a young child….but often life is like that, as many of the readers can attest to I am sure. This is not heaven after all. But God knew what would happen. So God gives us life and things to enjoy, in spite of this world and this life often being very hard and cruel. Our lives are a gift from God, whether we live 7 years or 70. And someday, we all must die, we just don’t know when or how. But God also promises to fix it all in the end. Eternal life is the true goal, and it is a gift from God. This life is temporary, but eternal life is eternal. That’s the main event. So, we must trust God. God says He loves all of us and because of that, He gave His only begotten Son to die and pay for our sins. John 3:16. For this we should be grateful, no matter what happens to us.

Rick made a huge impression upon me…because of the correct Biblical advice he gave to Parker, in trying to help him. As a result, my childhood hero just became an even bigger hero in my mind.

And then Parker went out and won the feature! At the start, Chris Andrews grabbed the lead and opened up a nice distance between himself and Craig Mintz. Courtney and PPM had a nice battle going on behind them for 3rd. As the laps wore on and traffic got thick, Mintz caught and passed Andrews who was getting bottled up. Then Andrews started to fade as PPM grabbed 3rd from Courtney and then came up and passed Andrews for 2nd…. and then Parker closed in on Mintz. On lap 26 Parker went under Mintz in 1 and 2 and held onto the lead until a lap 34 yellow…..just to increase the drama I guess! So with a green - white - checker ending, Parker held on for the win as Mintz was a close second behind.

Great race and I am so happy for Parker. His 2nd All Star win! Ferkel was the crew chief for Parker when he won his first All Star race at Wayne County back in 2015. The finishing order behind PPM and Mintz were Courtney, Henry, Windom, Andrews, Trey Jacobs, Wilson, Short Foos, and Peck, up from 22nd.

Thank you All Stars and Thank you Fremont Speedway!
Can’t wait until Monday at Wayne County. Hope to see you there.