FREMONT, Ohio – Kasey Jedrzejek has been very close to getting his first career sprint car win this season.
Many top five finishes have come along the way for the second year 305 driver, but that checkered flag has alluded him. Jedrzejek finally found victory lane Monday in dramatic fashion as he took the lead on the white flag lap and dodged lapped cars on a very tricky Fremont Speedway to score his first sprint car win.
The victory came on Fremont Fence Night that kicked off the 170th Sandusky County Fair.
Not only was the victory emotional being his first, but for Jedrzejek those emotions were deeper as his grandmother recently passed away.
“My grandma unfortunately passed away about a week and half ago,” Jedrzejek said. “My cousin won Friday night so I had to get it done tonight too.
“The track was just really rough out there. I almost got by Valenti (Shawn) one time there and I got really tight getting through the ruts down there. I wasn’t really sure where the fastest lane was in one and two and I was trying them both out — I’m just glad I found the right one. I have to thank everybody that works on this car — me and my dad, Denny — we put an awesome team together,” added Jedrzejek.
Jimmy McGrath jumped into the early lead of the 30-lap A-main with John Ivy, Valenti, Jamie Miller and Jedrzejek in tow. McGrath built a nearly three second lead when Bryan Sebetto took a tumble with five laps in. That kept McGrath out of very heavy traffic. On the restart Valenti and Jedrzejek battled hard for third while McGrath continued to lead Ivy.
A caution for an infield tire being moved onto the track with 11 laps scored set up Valenti to charge from third to the lead on the restart, bringing Jedrzejek into second.
Valenti found his way around the ruts in turn two and built a sizable lead until he caught the back of the field with 12 laps to go. Jedrzejek began to close and with four laps to go was right on Valenti’s rear bumper.
Jedrzejek made his move under Valenti as they raced to the white flag. Lapped cars nearly proved costly to the leader in the final two corners but he held his line and drove to the win over Valenti, a charging D.J. Foos, Miller and Mike Keegan.
The Finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 5K-Kasey Jedrzejek[5] ; 2. 28-Shawn Valenti[4] ; 3. 16-DJ Foos[11] ; 4. 26-Jamie Miller[6] ; 5. X-Mike Keegan[9] ; 6. 31-Paul Weaver[13] ; 7. 5i-John Ivy[2] ; 8. 10X-Dustin Stroup[21] ; 9. 7M-Brandon Moore[19] ; 10. 8-TJ Michael[14] ; 11. 19R-Steve Rando[10] ; 12. 63-Stuart Brubaker[8] ; 13. X15-Kasey Ziebold[7] ; 14. 10TS-Tyler Schiets[17] ; 15. 61-Tyler Shullick[3] ; 16. 20i-Kelsey Ivy[20] ; 17. 13S-Drew Siferd[22] ; 18. 13-Jeremy Duposki[15] ; 19. 51M-Haldon Miller[16] ; 20. 78-Austin Black [18] ; 21. 5Jr-Jimmy McGrath Jr[1] ; 22. 01-Bryan Sebetto[12]