Fan Notes from the Fremont Jim Ford Classic

Fremont Speedway (Tom Myers) 9-16-2023 What a beautiful days it was for the Jim Ford race Saturday at Fremont. It was a high of 70 degrees, and with a slight breeze and afternoon clouds, the track looked to stay tacky and fast all evening. Many times Fremont gets dry and slick off turn 2 come time trials. Not today, and that made me happy. Not too hot, not too cold, just right!

Evidently, there was a big car show in Fremont today as well. People lined the sidewalks, sitting in camping chairs, like there was a big parade coming through. There were signs that read, “We Love Burnouts” and” Judging Station.” It looked like the car show cars would proceed along the main road through Fremont. In front of us at the light, one souped up truck pulled out of the Rural King, where many classic cars and hot rods were parked and folks milling about. He proceeded to light em up and I thought, “Is this allowed on this busy street?” Ha Ha . Now, I’m no “Karen” …it’s all good and very cool. Was just wondering. Anyway, I will say that the coolest place to be in Fremont Saturday was not at the car show….but at the dirt track watching sprint cars, wouldn’t you agree?

I have been asking some questions these last 2 times at the races. How are the tires? Many are still having trouble dialing in with them. Some are getting better wear than before with these new tires. It’s a mixed bag. And of course, there’s the All Star and Hi-Limit merger rumor. The 3 people I talked to, 2 crew chiefs and a driver, all have reservations about what may be coming. No one knows yet, but all 3 said they thought that the two series would merge and along with more money being paid, there would be much more travel,… like trips to California. And the folks I talked with didn’t seem too enthused about that. Will this new entity compete directly with the World of Outlaws? What about the All Star teams that don’t have the resources? So, it will be interesting to see what actually happens. Maybe they will do away with points and just run for money? Maybe another series will step in and take the place of the All Stars? Maybe nothing will change….except the ownership or leadership?

Dale Blaney I talked with one fellow before entering the track and he told me he raced hobby stocks at Fremont years ago. One year he was the point leader but with 4 races to go, ran out of money and parked it. I guess the wife was happier! He said his name is next to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the Fremont list of feature winners….and then he chuckled.

There were 42 All Star sprints on hand and it was a stout field. It was good to see Dale Blaney on hand to race. Max Stambaugh was in the Seeling 97 tonight. Is your head spinning yet? Brandon Spithaler needed to show up at Mercer to win the FAST series points title so he couldn’t be here at Fremont tonight. Brandon had replaced Seth Sabo in the 97, who had replaced J.J. Hickle. What a crazy year it’s been.

Along those same lines, Kerry Madsen has been fast in the 55 car, replacing Hunter Schurenburg. Kyle Reinhardt has been fast in the 45 Grove car that Tim Shaffer had been driving and in fact, Kyle won the All Star feature last evening here.

Kraig Kinser is in the 70 car again and Parker Price Miller is back in his 9 car after getting edged out by a nose last night at the checkers, having to settle for runner up to Reinhardt. In hot laps, PPM blew an engine as he crossed by the flagstand as the session ended. A big cloud of blue and white smoke filled the air and the smell of antifreeze wafted up into the stands.

Bryce Lucius There are some talented youngsters coming up around here…..Creed Kemenah, Bryce Lucious, Darren Naida, Kasey Jedrzejek, Justin Clark, Mike Keegan and Larry Kingseed Jr.. These guys all have good car control and can really mix it up. I think they are all like 16 years old too!, Well maybe not Justin Clark, I think he’s older than that, someone knows, not me at the moment.

Your top 10 timers on a tacky track were fast timer Zeb Wise, Tyler Courtney, J.J. Hickle, Chris Windom, Cale Thomas, Kyle Reinhardt, Kerry Madsen, PPM, Creed Kemenah and Sye Lynch. PPM was able to change that motor and make it out to time, but just barely!

There would be 5 heats with the top 4 transferring to the A main. The 40 lap feature pays $10,000 to the winner tonight, $4,000 for 2nd and $2,500 for 3rd. I believe the next 7 spots pay $1,000 or so and it’s $700 to start the feature. In heat 1, the winner is Sye Lynch followed by Wise, Hickle and Chris Andrews. In heat 2 your winner is Reinhardt followed by, Henry, Thomas and Shaffer. Heat 3 got us Cole Duncan as the winner followed by PPM, D.J. Foos and Mad Max Stambaugh. In heat 4 the finish was Skylar Gee, Chris Windom, Tyler Courtney and Connor Morrell. In the last heat the winner was Bryce Lucious, Madsen, Seth Sabo and Kinser. This would be Bryce’s first All Star heat race win and his first All Star dash draw.

Speaking of the dash draw….I mean, you’ve got to be kidding me, right? So, they had some little kids drawing the numbers and Courtney gets 1 and Wise gets 2? And that’s how they finished the dash and they both start on the front row of the A main.

Zeb Wise won the Jim & Joanne Ford Classic Saturday I like Fremont because it’s a really nice facility located on an old fairgrounds. The lighting is state of the art and it’s fantastic. The loudspeakers are clear and loud enough to hear and the scoreboard is really a help, if you are keeping track of who’s who and where they start and where they finish. The track is always racy with not a lot of dust and there’s a ton of history here. Throw in the Hall of Fame behind the grandstand and it’s just a nice experience almost every time.

At the start of the feature, Courtney grabs the lead and Madsen goes to 2nd as Wise falls back a spot. They stayed this way until lap 15 when Wise got by Madsen for 2nd and set his sights on Courtney. In heavy traffic, and wild close quarters racing, Wise, who had been hounding Courtney, gets around and then sails away. Madsen then comes up and passes Courtney for 2nd as Courtney started his fade back to 7th. Then Reinhardt, who was up to 3rd and hounding Madsen in crazy traffic, got by Madsen for 2nd and started after Wise but he didn’t seem to making up much ground.

Then a caution on lap 31 changed all of that. On the restart Reinhardt dogged Wise as Zeb couldn’t seem to get away. Reingardt even pulled even out of turn two and down the backstretch at one point, but Zeb slammed the door. Even with another caution on lap 38, Wise was able to hold on for the win. The order was Wise, Reinhardt, Madsen, PPM, Duncan, Gee, Courtney, Cap Henry, Chris Windom and 18th staring Tim Shaffer up to 10th and Tim is the hard charger.

Thank you Fremont Speedway and Thank you All Star Circuit of Champions for putting on a great show and an exciting night of racing. Hopefully we will see you next year!