FREMONT, Ohio — Two days, two completely different racing surfaces, same results.
Cap Henry held off a last lap charge from Cale Thomas to sweep the 18th annual Jim Ford Classic weekend at Fremont Speedway presented by Gill Construction.
In a drag race to the checkers, Henry, who won the previous night, edged Thomas by 0.171 seconds for his second consecutive Ford Classic on All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/ Gill Construction Night.
Henry, who claimed $10,000 for his win, leads the nation in 410 sprint car wins in 2025 with 17. It was his fourth NAPA Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions Presented by Valvoline Oil victory of 2025 to run his career total to 12 with the series. It was also his sixth win of the year at Fremont to take his total at the track to 27.
Thomas led the first nine laps of the 40-lap affair before Henry took over. After a lap 11 caution, the race went to the distance unstopped. In heavy lapped traffic Thomas was able to close with three laps to go, setting up the dramatic finish. Devon Borden, Kalib Henry and Zeth Sabo rounded out the top five.
“I knew we were struggling there…lapped cars I was no faster than them. Watching the scoreboard and watching the lead go away. I had to run the top in three and four but didn’t know where to go in the bottom of one and two and I heard it getting louder and louder and I was trying to be patient…I didn’t think this would be possible for me and I’m so grateful for these guys back here. They are the ones who make this happen. I wanted to win the Jim Ford Classic for so long and now to do it back to back is just so special,” said Henry.
With his runner-up finish, Thomas secured the owner’s champion of the All Stars for the Rudzik Racing team while 2024 Fremont champion Kalib Henry secured the driver title for the series.
“I’ve put myself in this position before multiple times before in my career even as young as nine. Last year this race I had to be top 10 to beat Cap and I didn’t do it. This year I had the same mindset going in and…did I think I was going to be sliding Cap Henry on the last lap for the lead…I wasn’t even thinking about the points right there. I was brought back here to do this. I was originally supposed to be here so full circle. At the beginning of the year I had a big opportunity and I was probably at the lowest point of my racing career… you have the opportunity and it gets taken away. We did it! I can’t thank everyone enough on this team for believing in me. We didn’t win a lot of races but we ended the year with one of the best average finishes,” said Thomas.
“I worked my whole life to get here…a lot of blood sweat and tears. This year we had a big change on our end and didn’t know what to expect. It’s definitely been a season of ups and downs. Two months ago I was in the ICU and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to finish the championship. Toughest position I’ve ever been in mentally, physically. If it wasn’t for my family and my girlfriend backing me I wouldn’t have been able to get me back to where I was at. We might not have won the battle tonight but we won the war. To win the All Star Circuit of Champions is huge,” said Kalib Henry.
The Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints were divided into two features with Seth Schneider scoring the win in the first 25-lap A-main and John Ivy holding off a big late race challenge from TJ Michael to win the second.
For Schneider, the 2025 Attica Raceway Park track champion, it was his fifth overall win of 205 and his second at Fremont. He now has four career wins at Fremont Speedway.
“This is a blast. I don’t even know why I thought about quitting when you can win races and have this much fun,” said Schneider.
For Ivy it was his second overall win of 2025 and his 63rd career win at Fremont, placing him fourth on the track’s all-time win list.
“That was a hard hit that last lap. I never had a clue he (TJ Michael was there). We only won one last year and now we have two this year,” said Ivy.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, Sept. 20 for championship night for the 410 and 305 sprints and dirt trucks.
The finish:
Feature (40 laps): 1. 33W-Cap Henry[2]; 2. 49X-Cale Thomas[1]; 3. 45-Devon Borden[5]; 4. 101-Kalib Henry[3]; 5. 29-Zeth Sabo[10]; 6. 11N-Kasey Jedrzejek[4]; 7. 28N-Trey Jacobs[9]; 8. 15C-Chris Andrews[6]; 9. 1-Nate Dussel[16]; 10. W20-Greg Wilson[22]; 11. 32-Bryce Lucius[8]; 12. 4-Zane DeVault[19]; 13. 01-Bryan Sebetto[11]; 14. 5-Kody Brewer[20]; 15. 19H-Joel Myers Jr[12]; 16. 15K-Creed Kemenah[15]; 17. 16-DJ Foos[24]; 18. 7N-Darin Naida[7]; 19. 38-Leyton Wagner[26]; 20. 51-Scott Bogucki[14]; 21. 35-Stuart Brubaker[17]; 22. 22-Brandon Spithaler[21]; 23. X-Mike Keegan[18]; 24. 20B-Cody Bova[25]; 25. 19-TJ Michael[23]; 26. 70-Henry Malcuit[13]
