FREMONT, Ohio — Danny Dietrich finds his way to the Buckeye State each and every year for Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Cometic Gasket.
After a slow start to the 41st edition with a tenth-place result in the Speedweek opener at Attica Raceway Park one night ago, the Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, native was back in Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory lane, earning Fremont Speedway’s Rick Ferkel Classic title for a $10,000 score.
In dramatic fashion, much like Attica’s conclusion with Zeb Wise and Tyler Courtney, “Double-D” earned the Rick Ferkel Classic payday with a final lap, final corner takeover, driving by race-long leader, Cap Henry, with a diamond move off of turn four. Dietrich and Henry would ultimately drag race to the finish with Dietrich crossing the line ahead of Henry by .054 seconds.
The Fremont Speedway All Star victory, a first-ever for the two-time Williams Grove Speedway track champion, bumps Dietrich’s career total to 20, four of which accomplished in the great state of Ohio.
“My car owner was probably mad at me for coming out here instead of racing for $7,000 at Lincoln (Pa.) Speedway tonight, but $10,000 sounds a little bit better,” Dietrich said. “I remember losing one this way to Cole Duncan, so heading into turn three on that last lap, all I could replay in my head was that move by Cole, so I just tried to do what he did.
“Just hats off to everyone back home who allows us to come out here and do this. We have so many people to thank, and I know they are at home watching, but we certainly couldn’t do any of this without our supporters, and of course, the fans.”
Henry led the first 39 and a half circuits before finishing second in the Fremont Speedway main event, followed by Courtney, Wise and Buddy Kofoid.
“We just got beat fair and square,” Henry said. “I hate leading a race early. We were definitely hanging in those last five laps or so…just trying to hang on. But, we’re up here standing in second after a bad start last night at Attica. We’ll take this and move forward.”
Feature Finish (40 Laps)
1. 48-Danny Dietrich[6]; 2. 33W-Cap Henry[2]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]; 4. 26-Zeb Wise[1]; 5. 55-Michael Kofoid[8]; 6. 4-Chris Windom[12]; 7. 09-Craig Mintz[7]; 8. 29M-Cole Macedo[3]; 9. 97-JJ Hickle[17]; 10. 32-Bryce Lucius[15]; 11. 99-Skylar Gee[13]; 12. 22-Brandon Spithaler[21]; 13. 2L-Logan Forler[5]; 14. 5-Byron Reed[22]; 15. 101-Cody Maroske[11]; 16. 2-Ricky Peterson[16]; 17. 70-Scotty Thiel[9]; 18. 81-Lee Jacobs[19]; 19. 29-Sye Lynch[20]; 20. 7N-Darin Naida[24]; 21. (DNF) 45-Tim Shaffer[25]; 22. (DNF) 1-Nate Dussel[18]; 23. (DNF) 5T-Travis Philo[23]; 24. (DNF) 35-Stuart Brubaker[10]; 25. (DNF) 49X-Cale Thomas[14] LAP LEADERS: Cap Henry (1-39), Danny Dietrich (40)