FREMONT, Ohio – D.J. Foos waited until the white flag lap to take the point from race-long leader Trey Jacobs, then held off a last-lap challenge from Byron Reed to earn his second 410 sprint car win of the year in thrilling fashion at Fremont Speedway Saturday during Great Lakes Truck Centers Night.
It was Foos’ second straight victory in the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 sprint car class and the 19th of his career at Fremont.
The win pads Foos’ lead in his quest for a second championship for the All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads/Kistler Racing Products 410 Attica Fremont Championship Series Presented by the Baumann Auto Group as well.
“Trey bobbled a couple of times on the cushion in one and two which is pretty easy to do tonight … there’s a pretty massive curb. I was kind of cheating it,” said Foos. “My guys kept me pretty snug so I was rolling underneath the cushion and caught the moisture on the way out. I wondered if I was ever going to get to the lead on this deal. I messed up on the restart (with 11 to go) and gave him a pretty big lead. I didn’t have anything for him but he made a couple of mistakes and I was able to capitalize on it.
“It’s so easy to make complacent mistakes when you are leading. I can’t say enough for the Burmeister family for the opportunity. This is the second night out on this car and we had amazing speed last night and tonight we were able to capitalize on it.”
Following an opening lap mishap, Jacobs grabbed the early lead in the night’s regular 410 feature. Just as things were heating up for second between Nate Dussel and Foos, the caution flew on lap five. Jacobs got a great restart and pulled away slightly as Dussel and Foos battled very hard for second.
Following a caution on lap 12, Jacobs again drove away on the restart as Dussel and Foos continued their battle for second with Landon LaLonde, Chris Andrews, Craig Mintz and Greg Wilson challenging fourth.
Just as Dussel was closing on Jacobs on lap 19, the caution flew, and it was for a Dussel spin. When the green reappeared, the car on the move was Reed as he drove into third. With eight laps to go, Foos had chopped a lot of time off Jacobs’ lead and when they raced to the white flag, Foos and Jacobs were side by side with Foos gaining the advantage.
It was Reed who was mounting the serious challenge, however, but coming to the checkers Foos was able to hold off Reed, with Jacobs, Andrews and California’s Cole Macedo rounding out the top five.
In the make-up feature for Pub 400 Night from April 24, Macedo took the lead from Stuart Brubaker on a restart and never looked back, winning by nearly six seconds for his first Fremont Speedway victory.
“Me and my team … we didn’t qualify very good tonight and these guys went through the car and found some things wrong and it’s a rocket ship now. It just shows how good these guys are; Mike and Steven bust their tails every week and it shows,” said Macedo. “So many people that help out on this team…Cody, Sam, Jason, the Finsel boys … there are so many people who make this thing possible. I have to thank Ray Brooks for taking a chance on us.”
After a caution to start the make-up 410 feature, Stuart Brubaker jumped into the early lead over Frankie Nervo, Macedo, Travis Philo, Foos and Chris Andrews. On lap five Nervo took a nasty spill but was uninjured. On the restart Byron Reed tipped over, and Cale Thomas took a spill on a subsequent restart.
When the green finally waved again, Macedo drove into the lead over Brubaker, Philo, Andrews and Foos.
The race went the rest of the way caution-free and Macedo dominated, leading by over five seconds at times. He eventually took the win over Brubaker, Philo, Foos and Brian Smith.
In another fantastic race, Fremont’s Dustin Stroup held off a very late-race challenge from defending Fremont Speedway track champion Paul Weaver to earn his second straight Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 sprint car win.
With two laps to go, Stroup nearly gave the race away with a bobble on the cushion in turns one and two, with Weaver breathing down his neck and a trio of lapped cars racing hard in front of him.
But Stroup was able to hold on for the win over Weaver, early leader Mike Keegan, and Alvin Roepke.
Fostoria, Ohio’s Shawn Valenti held off several challenges and drove to his second Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck feature win of the year.
It was his 63rd career victory at Fremont Speedway, placing him alone in second on the all-time win list just 13 behind Art Ball, and the 80th total win for that truck at various tracks over the years.
The finishes:
A-Main (30 laps): 1. 16-DJ Foos [4]; 2. 5-Byron Reed [8]; 3. 0-Trey Jacobs [1]; 4. 23-Chris Andrews [6]; 5. 18-Cole Macedo [12]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [10]; 7. 09-Craig Mintz [7]; 8. 55-CJ Leary [9]; 9. 2L-Landon Lalonde [3]; 10. 2+-Brian Smith [17]; 11. 97-Gary Taylor [23]; 12. 22M-Dan McCarron [16]; 13. 83-Wesley McIntyre [19]; 14. 1-Nate Dussel [2]; 15. 35-Stuart Brubaker [11]; 16. 7T-Troy Vaccaro [21]; 17. 12-Kyle Capodice [5]; 18. 14-Chad Wilson [20]; 19. 29-Zeth Sabo [18]; 20. 5T-Travis Philo [15]; 21. 27s-John Ivy [13]; 22. 11N-Harli White [14]; 23. 21N-Frankie Nervo [22].
Make-Up A-Main (30 laps): 1. 18-Cole Macedo [4]; 2. 35-Stuart Brubaker [2]; 3. 5T-Travis Philo [5]; 4. 16-DJ Foos [6]; 5. 2+-Brian Smith [8]; 6. 23-Chris Andrews [7]; 7. 11N-Harli White [12]; 8. 27s-John Ivy [9]; 9. 1-Nate Dussel [3]; 10. 14-Chad Wilson [11]; 11. 12-Kyle Capodice [13]; 12. 7T-Troy Vaccaro [14]; 13. 97-Gary Taylor [15]; 14. 5-Byron Reed [10]; 15. 21N-Frankie Nervo [1].