FREMONT, Ohio – Cole Macedo defended the home turf Saturday, defeating the All Star Circuit of Champions Presented by Mobile 1 in thrilling fashion to claim the 14th Annual Jim and Joanne Ford Classic at Fremont Speedway.
Macedo, who finished second in Fremont Speedway weekly points, earned his first All Star win worth $10,000 on Madison Motors/Kear’s Speed Shop Night.
It was Macedo’s fourth career win – all coming this year – at Fremont. He also became the 30th different All Star winner in 53 events this season. He took the lead from race-long leader Cap Henry on lap 27 and then made some daring moves in traffic on a challenging racing surface to secure the victory.
The race was the final event of the year for Fremont Speedway and the All Stars as Tyler Courtney was crowned the series champion.
“This is the most fun I’ve had all year. Just out there hanging it out and whoever runs hard is going to win. That was a lot of fun…I’m wore out. That last lap I was holding on with everything I could. It just shows how good this team is. Steven, Mike, Cody, Kasey, Braden…all the guys have been working their asses off this year and it’s paying off. Huge thanks to Ray Brooks…he’s one of the best car owners I’ve ever driven for. It’s been a trying year but all these guys have been pushing and I’ve been getting better and making less mistakes. I feel like that whole feature I didn’t make too many mistakes. If you want to get to the next level you have to minimize those,” said Macedo.
For Republic, Ohio’s Cap Henry is was a disappointing finish for his Lane Racing team but a solid end to the team’s first swing at following the travelling All Stars.
“It was a fun race other than not winning. The car was pretty good and I was just kind of trying to pace it…they were just better there the last half. I’m proud of my team. It’s been a long year but we made it. I think we will try the All Star deal again and see what we can do,” said Henry.
Monrovia, Indiana’s Justin Peck rounded out the podium aboard his Buch Motorsports No. 73.
“We were pretty solid most of that race. Probably 10 to 15 to go I got super tight and I come in and looked at the tire and sure as crap we got a hole in the thing. That’s just how it’s been the last couple of months for us. We’re fast but just not the entire night. I can’t thank The Tree Center, R. Norris Trucking, Coastal Race Parts and Tom Buch. They gave me a great opportunity to come out and race full-time for a living. We had a solid year, had a couple of wins and take it into next year and try to win a championship,” said Peck.
In the 40 lap All Star feature, Henry bolted into the lead from his outside front row starting spot with Hunter Schuerenberg, Greg Wilson, Macedo, Nate Dussel and Peck in pursuit. While Henry set a very fast pace and pulled away, the battle for second was entertaining involving Schuerenberg, Wilson, Macedo and Peck.
Henry caught lapped traffic by the seventh circuit but picked his way through as Macedo moved into second and by lap 14 was closing on Henry just as a caution flew. With a clear track Henry pulled away slightly from Macedo with Wilson, Schuerenberg, Peck, DJ Foos and Cory Eliason in pursuit. A few cautions through lap 22 kept the field close.
Macedo used an excellent restart on lap 23 to apply pressure on Henry who had a big bike in turn two on lap 26, opening the door for Macedo to take the lead. Following a caution on lap 27, Macedo pulled away to a nearly two second lead with 10 laps to go. As traffic once again came into play with just four laps to go Macedo made the move of the race, splitting two lapped cars exiting turn two. A bobble on the last lap gave Henry one last shot but he could not take advantage and Macedo drove to the win over Henry, Peck, Schuerenberg, and Eliason.
The Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints were split into two complete feature fields with Larry Kingseed Jr. getting his first Fremont win while Dustin Stroup scored his fifth victory of the season in the second feature.
The Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks were also split into two separate feature events and Jeff Babcock, after a couple of very, very close runner-up finishes, finally earned his first Fremont Speedway win, holding off several challenges from track champion Shawn Valenti. In the second truck feature, Jamie Miller held off several good challenges from Cory McCaughey to earn his sixth truck win of the year, the 30th career victory placing him 17th on the track’s all-time win list.
The finish:
1. 18-Cole Macedo [3]; 2. 4-Cap Henry [2]; 3. 73-Justin Peck [5]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [1]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [10]; 6. 97-Greg Wilson [4]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog [18]; 8. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [11]; 9. 5T-Travis Philo [15]; 10. 16-DJ Foos [8]; 11. 5S-Max Stambaugh [24]; 12. 10-Zeb Wise [12]; 13. 11-Parker Price Miller [14]; 14. 33W-Caleb Griffith [23]; 15. O7-Skylar Gee [16]; 16. 1-Nate Dussel [6]; 17. 12C-Kyle Capodice [20]; 18. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [25]; 19. 4Z-Zane DeVault [19]; 20. 25R-Jordan Ryan [21]; 21. 5-Paul McMahan [17]; 22. 7C-Phil Gressman [9]; 23. 3J-Trey Jacobs [13]; 24. 22-Cole Duncan [22]; 25. 70M-Henry Malcuit [7]