FREMONT, Ohio — The opening night of the 19th Annual Jim Ford Classic at Fremont Speedway Presented by the FriendShip Kitchen turned into an exciting shootout on Kistler Engines Night.
When the checkers flew it was 2026 track champion Cap Henry holding off a charging Zeth Sabo and Cale Thomas for the NAPA Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Valvoline win.
It was Henry’s second series win at “The Track That Action Built” in 2026, the five-time Fremont champion’s ninth overall victory of 2026 and his 15th career All Star win.
“I think we’re not quite as good as the 49x still but I’ll take it. I’m so thankful for all my guys and sponsors. Early on in that thing I didn’t think we were very good and I kind of needed traffic to get there,” said Henry.
D.J. Foos led the first 14 laps of the 35-lap feature before sixth starter Henry drove into the lead in lapped traffic. A wild fight at the front involving Henry, Foos, Cale Thomas and Craig Mintz ensued as they battled in lapped traffic. Unfortunately, Mintz made contact with the front stretch wall ending his night with the running order Henry, Andrews, Thomas, Foos and Zeth Sabo.
Thomas moved into second on lap 20 and immediately drove to Henry’s outside to challenge for the lead. Henry began to pull away slightly as Thomas and Andrews battled side by side for second. Following a pair of cautions on laps 22 and 24, Henry led Thomas, Andrews, Sabo and Foos.
By lap 28, it was a three car battle up front involving Henry, Thomas and Sabo, who picked up the win last week at Fremont. That trio battled nose to tail and side by side over the next hand full of laps with Henry taking the checkers for his 29th career Fremont win with Sabo edging out Thomas for second with Andrews and Kalib Henry rounding out the top five.
For Sabo, his second place run has him excited for Saturday’s Jim Ford Classic finale.
“My guys worked hard all night. Quick time, win the heat…we weren’t very good in the dash but I knew they would get it turned around. I struggled at the start and Kevin told me on one of the reds I just needed to rip the top at both ends. I have to thank the car owners…I know they are watching back home…Cole, Joe, Kevin, Sheldon, Rider…everyone that makes this possible,” said Sabo.
Thomas, who picked up an All Star win at Butler Motor Speedway a couple of weeks ago, the third-place finish has him closing in on series point leader Kalib Henry.
“I caught everything wrong it seemed like. The cautions and stuff didn’t go my way. There was a time if I get by DJ (Foos) I’m standing where Cap’s at. I didn’t want to leave the top…I showed Cap the top earlier and tried to make the bottom work and Zeth showed me the top and I tried to make a move on Cap and Zeth got by me…it was great racing,” said Thomas.
The Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks were split into two feature events with Shawn Valenti and Noah Wagner taking victories.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 33W-Cap Henry[6]; 2. 49X-Zeth Sabo[5]; 3. 45-Cale Thomas[1]; 4. 15C-Chris Andrews[7]; 5. 101-Kalib Henry[8]; 6. 3-DJ Foos[2]; 7. 15K-Creed Kemenah[9]; 8. 16-Gauge Garcia[13]; 9. 29-Logan McCandless[14]; 10. 38-Leyton Wagner[22]; 11. 7M-Brandon Moore[23]; 12. 12-Jimmy McGrath Jr[10]; 13. X-Mike Keegan[12]; 14. 19-TJ Michael[15]; 15. 47-Todd King[21]; 16. 5-Kody Brewer[18]; 17. 09X-Graham Huffman[20]; 18. 20B-Cody Bova[17]; 19. 75-Jerry Dahms[24]; 20. 18SR-Brian Razum[25]; 21. 35-Stuart Brubaker[11]; 22. 5T-Travis Philo[16]; 23. 09-Craig Mintz[3]; 24. 14-Zane DeVault[4]; 25. 5E-Bobby Elliott[19]; 26. (DNS) 98-Matt Foos
