FREMONT, Ohio — Most racers will tell you it’s better to be running second toward the end of a race. That is exactly what benefitted Craig Mintz on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Fremont Speedway Presented by Gill Construction on Fremont Federal Credit Union Night.
Mintz pressured Kalib Henry the last third of the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprint feature. Henry switched his line on the last lap, opening the top side of the track for Mintz who drove to the top side and around Henry for his first win of the year at Fremont. Mintz, a former four-time Fremont track champion, earned his 18th career win at “The Track That Action Built” over Henry, Chris Andrews, Bryce Lucius and Trey Jacobs. Jacobs led the first four laps before sixth starter Henry blasted into the lead, setting up the dramatic last-lap pass by fifth starter Mintz to steal the win.
“That’s the benefit of running second every now and then. I think he was better on the top in one and two and he switched his line which helped me get a run. That’s the great thing about not running for points … if I would have stuck it in the fence I wouldn’t have cared,” said Mintz.
Henry, who scored five wins at Fremont in 2024, finishing second for the fifth time this year earned him the track’s division championship. Henry becomes the second driver from California to earn a Fremont Speedway track title, joining Michael “Buddy” Kofoid who claimed the title in 2019.
“I just messed up there. I made the wrong decision. I was running the top the whole race and saw him show a nose. Stupid on my part … I let him make me change what I was doing. I should have let him slide me or do something different there. Big picture …. we won the championship and I appreciate the fans for coming out … but damn second sucks,” said Henry.
The Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints also had the fans on their feet. Jimmy McGrath led laps 1 through 24 but on the last lap, his teammate, Dustin Dinan, got a tremendous run on the outside groove. The pair had a drag race coming to the checkers with Dinan squeaking out his ninth career win at Fremont by a mere .008 seconds over McGrath, Dustin Stroup, Brendan Torok and Kasey Ziebold.
“We’ve been working on this thing and making changes the last month and it paid off. It’s been since 2010 since I’ve won here. It’s the last race of the year and just let it all hang out. I can’t thank the McGraths enough for giving me the opportunity to race again. It’s been a lot of fun,” said Dinan.
Jamie Miller, despite flipping in the feature, claimed his first-ever 305 sprint track title, adding to his 2024 Attica Raceway Park championship and the title of the Attica Fremont Championship Series. He joins his dad, Skip, who won the 305 track championship in 1991. It’s his second overall track title as he claimed the dirt truck championship in 2022.
“We put in a lot of hard work to win all three of these titles this year. I wish we would have had a better championship night but you can’t win them all. We finally figured this place out. As I got older I slowed down a little bit and tried not to wreck and finish the race. We’ve been fast the past couple of years and Dad can’t have that championship over me anymore,” said Miller.
In a caution-filled 20-lap Burmeister Trophy Dirt Truck feature, Shawn Valenti took the lead from Kent Brewer on lap four and held off several challenges from Brewer and Keith Sorg to score his seventh win of the year at Fremont. The victory puts Valenti in a tie atop the track’s all-time win list with Paul Weaver, both having 81 career feature wins. Steve Miller would charge from 15th to second with Sorg, Brewer and Brad Stuckey rounding out the top five.
“I didn’t think that one was ever going to be over. Once we got this new truck out it’s been one of those years where we aren’t looking forward to the season being over. Hats off to Ron Miller Race Cars. This thing has been phenomenal since we brought it out. Thanks to all my guys for all their hard work in the shop and at the track,” said Valenti.
Sorg claimed his third truck championship to go with his 2016 and 2018 titles.
“We built this truck two years ago and we did it for half the money … home built and built by us,” said Sorg.