Fremont Speedway
(Tom Myers) 6/3/2016 - We were excited to attend the World of Outlaws show at Fremont last evening because the Outlaws don't get around here in northern Ohio too often and Fremont is not hosting any All Star races this year so we thought a visit to Fremont was in order.
We normally park in the back lot behind the grandstand but it was closed, so we went up the hill and parked across the street from the track back stretch. The track is situated in the middle of a fairgrounds, so we had to walk through and around a bunch of barns and fair buildings to get around to the track entrance. It's a really cool fairgrounds with some historic, old buildings on it and it is just a very picturesque place to visit....not to mention the history of racing here.
The track was drying out in spots after hot laps and a very tall cushion was developing. So much so that it was difficult to get over it in spots without really upsetting the car. The ledge that developed looked like it was almost a foot tall in some spots. Some guys would get up it enough to grab the tackier dirt....and as the right rear would grab and bounce off the curb at the turn 4 exit, many times throwing clods of material into the stands, the cars would jerk left toward the infield, sometimes right towards the front stretch wall.... before the drivers could straighten them out. The early timers would do better than the later timers because the track would continue to get dryer and slicker. I was told that they have not had much rain here the last two weeks...combine that with the warm, breezy weather and you have a perfect recipe for a fast drying surface. Especially in Ohio.
There were 42 cars on hand to compete for the Outlaw loot. James McFadden was on hand to race but his luck wasn't good as he drew the last spot in the qualifying order. When it was time for Chad Kemenah to qualify, he didn't like his warm-up lap. Entering turn 3, before he took the green, he got the car upset on the ledge of the cushion...so, he turned around and went the other direction....and then did a 180 in turn one to get going the right way.......and to make a better run at it! He then started and completed his two qualifying laps. At the end of qualifying, a few late timers attempted to stay low around the bottom.....there was a little more traction there and it seemed to help. The rest of the track was slicked off...up to the tall cushion. Shane Stewart and Joey Saldana had the top two times in the first group and Rob Chaney and Darrin Pittman had the top two times in the second group.
Before the heats, the track workers did scrape the ledge off the cushion so the top would be safer to run. During the lull in action, I looked around the stands and saw some of the same folks I always see here. There was the guy who looks just like Steve Kinser, and the dude who reminds me of Jeebs in the Men in Black movie. There was a controversy about the seating, because of the reserved seating setup. And there were the 3 little girls sitting in front of me, who would get up and go to the concession stand every 5 minutes and wave their checkered flags in my face during the heat races. I honestly thought I was going to get poked in an eye with the end of one of those things!
Heat one was kind of boring with not much passing among the top 6 cars. Shane Stewart, Greg Wilson, Chris Andrews, and Paul McMahon, Caleb Griffith, ( who did pass a couple of guys) and Tim Shaffer, who faded from the front row, rounded out the top finishers.
Saldana got the jump and won heat 2, followed by Dean Jacobs, Kerry Madsen, Jason Johnson, Jason Sides, TJ Michaels and Kraig Kinser.....not much passing again.
Heat 3 featured All Star guys except David Gravel, who started on the front. He won the heat, followed by Rob Chaney, Dale Blaney, Byron Reed, Sheldon Haud, James McFadden, Danny Holtgraver....McFadden and Haud passed a few cars, making it interesting as they ran around the top with careless abandon. I really like watching McFadden. He is a very good racer and entertaining as well.
Chad Kemenah won heat 4 as Donnie Schatz and Darrin Pittman traded slide jobs. Brad Sweet came from the back to finish 4th, followed by Brent Marks and Logan Schuchart. Travis Philo flipped it hard into the turn 3 foam. He later came back to race in the B main.
During the dash draw, I couldn't hear the announcer over the PA system. After an interview with all of the dash drivers, Chad Kemenah ended up on the front row of the dash. I just wish I could have heard this much better....
The dash had 4 WoO guys and 4 All Star guys in it. Well, 5 WoO guys but I like calling Greg Wilson an honorary All Star. The finish was Gravel, Kemenah, Saldana, Stewart, Schatz, Wilson, Jacobs and Chaney.
The start of the feature produced a tangle between Sheldon Haud and Brad Sweet on the front straight. Sweet was able to go to the work area and after what seemed like more than the allowed time, came back on the track. Haud was done. Madsen suffered damage too but was able to come back out for the restart. On the restart, Stewart collects Holtgraver in turn 3. Holtgraver exits, Stewart continues at the back. We then had the 3rd try to restart and got it underway, but Pittman stops on the backstretch with a flat right rear. He restarts at the rear. Stewart, Pittman, Sweet and Madsen now all at the rear! Stewart started in the second row! After the 4th restart, Gravel gets out to the lead with Kemenah and Saldana following. On lap 4, Sweet gets tangled with the turn 4 tire and ends up with the front of his car resting on top of the large earth mover tire! He gets to restart at the rear after it is determined his car is okay.
Finally, we get going and Gravel gets out to a lead again. Kemenah follows closely with Saldana and Schatz in tow. The leaders were tip toeing around the bottom but Saldana was up on the cushion, which was rapidly disappearing. He was able to keep pace with the leaders for awhile, but started to fade. Gravel worked to a bigger lead as Schatz and now Greg Wilson moved around Saldana. The front runners were just about to get into lapped traffic on lap 20 when Chaney stopped in turn two. On the restart, Schatz passes Kemenah for second but luckily for Kemenah, Stewart again spins out, negating the restart. By this time, the track was really dusty and slick and it looked like it may have been taking a little rubber in one and two down low. The leaders were now going low in the first two turns and riding high in 3 and 4.
Gravel again keeps the lead on the ensuing restart but on lap 22 Kemenah gets by him by using the middle of turns one and two....to go around the low lane riding Gravel. The crowd roared in approval and saw Chad stretch his lead to almost a full straightaway. However, on lap 34, that darn Donnie Schatz finally got by Gravel and started to reel in Kemanah. 5 more laps and Donnie would have had him, but Kemenah was in first when the checkered flag waived.
A good feature, the best it could be, given the tough conditions. Thank you Fremont Speedway and thank you World of Outlaws.