RACE REPORT: Blaney scores 2nd Speedweek win at Fremont
June 28, 2007
DUSTIN Still Putting on a Great Show
By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio (Thursday, June 28, 2007) - Good things come to those who wait. Dale Blaney is the epitome of that adage. The Fowler, Ohio driver grabbed the lead on a lap 15 restart and went on to claim his second win of the University of Northwest Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by RacingJunk.com at Fremont Speedway in front of a packed house on Budweiser Night.
The win kept Blaney in contention for the $50,000 speedweek bonus, but he would have to win Friday at Limaland Motorsports Park and Saturday at Eldora Speedway. It marked Blaney's 57th career victory with the O'Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions. It was also Blaney's third win of the year at "The Track That Action Built."
"Brandon (Martin) was good early. I knew it was 40 laps and I just had to be patient and not press too hard and let the race come to me.We've won three of the four times we've been to Fremont this year. This track just suits my driving style," said Blaney in the Engine Pro Victory Lane beside his Berlin Natural Bakery/George Fisher Racing #2.
The 40-lap feature saw Martin jump into the early lead with Brian Paulus, Blaney, and Brian Ellenberger in tow. Martin built a pretty good lead as he lapped traffic on by the 9th circuit, which saw Blaney move into second. The first of seven yellows would fly on lap 14. On the restart, Blaney would making his winning move exiting turn 4. After a rash of yellows and a fuel stop, Blaney would set sail.
The real battle was heating up for second through sixth involving Martin, Pauls, Mike Linder, Byron Reed and 14th starting Phil Gressman. At the halfway mark, Blaney led over Martin , Paulus, Reed, Linder and Gressman.
That remained the running order until four laps from the end when Martin, Reed and Linder would race each other hard. Reed and Linder would split Martin in turn 3 to grabe the runner-up and third positions respectively. Then Reed and Linder had a spirited battle for the runner-up spot as Blaney cruised ahead.
At the checkers, Blaney would claim his 7th career Fremont victory over Reed, Linder, Martin and Gressman.
"We've had a pretty decent car all week...the results just don't show it," said Reed beside his Reebar Diecasting machine.
"That was some hard racing. We were pretty good on the restarts...after that we were just another car," said Linder of his Burns Iron & Metal backed sprinter.
Fremont Speedway will be back in action Saturday, July 7 for Schiets Motors Honda Yamaha Suzuki Night featuring the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints; Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints; and the Fremont Fence Dirt Trucks.
For more information log onto www.fremontohspeedway.com or call the track office at 419-862-2206.
Budweiser Night - Thursday, June 28, 2007 UNO All Star Sprint Speedweek
Huggins Cams Qualifications 1. 24h-Rob Chaney, 12.496; 2. 5b-Chad Blonde, 12.625; 3. X-Mark Keegan, 12.640; 4. 2-Dale Blaney, 12.712; 5. 20E-Brian Ellenberger; 6. 11M-Brandon Martin, 12.768; 7. 28-Brian Paulus, 12.777;
8.2m-Dustin Daggett, 12.795; 9. 15C-Chris Andrews, 12.817; 10. 3-Mike Linder, 12.840; 11. 8j-Kenny Jacobs, 12.858; 12. 1W-Paul Weaver, 12.870; 13. 10-David Harrison, 12.878; 14. 5-Byron Reed, 12.905; 15. 1r-Phil Gressman, 12.918; 16. 71m-Paul May, 12.928; 17. 6AU-David Doherty, 12.935; 18. 4m-Jamie Miller, 12.953; 19. 8h-Shane Stewart, 12.977; 20. 7k-Dean Jacobs; 21. 16-Lee Jacobs, 12.994; 22. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.012; 23. 11B-Brock Mayes, 13.026; 24. 6-Bill Rose, 13.047; 25. 0-Gus Wasson, 13.052; 26. 8s-Bobby Clark, 13.161; 27. 49T-Greg Dalman, 28. 7t-Troy Vaccaro, 13.182; 29. 51-John Ivy, 13.183; 30. 3t-Tony Beaber; 31. 55-Brian Smith, 13.195; 32. 22b-Ben Gregg, 13.204; 33. 31-Chuck Wilson, 13.220; 34. 4-Danny Smith, 13.222; 35. 09-Craig Mintz, 13.230; 36. 75-Ben Rutan, 13.242; 37. 97-Cory Seeling, 13.245; 38. 11n-Ed Neumeister, 13.255; 39. 14h-Todd Heller, 13.272; 40. 98-Bruce Robenalt, 13.343; 41. 20AU-Troy Little, 13.377; 42. 12-Caleb Griffith, 13.377; 43. 37z-Bryan Scott, 13.408; 44. 27-Scott Euler, 13.475; 45. 96AU-Bruce White, 13.500.
Crown Battery Heat 1 (top 5 to A): 1. 16-Lee Jacobs; 2. 15c-Chris Andrews; 3. 24h-Rob Chaney; 4. 20E-Brian Ellenberger; 5. 0-Gus Wasson; 6. 6AU-David Doherty; 7. 20AU-Troy Little; 8. 51-John Ivy; 9. 97-Cory Seeling; 10. 10-David Harrison; 11. 31-Chuck Wilson; 12. 96AU-Bruce White.
Hoosier Racing Tire Heat 2 (top 5 to A): 1. W20-Greg Wilson; 2. 3-Mike Linder; 3. 11m-Brandon Martin; 4. 5r-Byron Reed; 5. 5b-Chad Blonde; 6. 4m-Jamie Miller; 7. 4-Danny Smith; 8. 8s-Bobby Clark; 9. 12-Caleb Griffith; 10. 3t-Tony Beaber; 11. 11n-Ed Neumeister
Engler Macine Heat 3 (top 5 to A): 1. 8h-Shane Stewart; 2. 11b-Brock Mayes; 3. 28-Brian Paulus; 4. 1r-Phil Gressman; 5. 8j-Kenny Jacobs; 6. 49t-Greg Dalman; 7. 55-Brian Smith; 8. 14h-Todd Heller; 9. 09-Craig Mintz; 10. 37z-Bryan Scott; 11. X-Mark Keegan
Taylor Wings Heat 4 (top 5 to A): 1. 7k-Dean Jacobs; 2. 71m-Paul May; 3. 6-Bill Rose; 4. 2-Dale Blaney; 5. 2m-Dustin Daggett; 6. 7t-Troy Vaccaro; 7. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 8. 75-Ben Rutan; 9. 22b-Ben Gregg; 10. 27-Scott Euler; 11. 1w-Paul Weaver
Hoserville Ohio Dash: 1. 28-Brian Paulus; 2. 2m-Dustin Daggett; 3. 2-Dale Blaney; 4. 11m-Brandon Martin; 5. 20e-Brian Ellenberger; 6. 24h-Rob Chaney
Outerwears Pre-Filters & Racing Accessories C-Main (top 4 to B) 1. 14h-Todd Heller; 2. 97-Cory Seeling; 3. 27-Scott Euler; 4. 11n-Ed Neumeister; 5. 12-Caleb Griffith; 6. 98-Bruce Robenalt; 7. 20AU-Troy Little; 8. 37z-Bryan Scott; 9. 96AU-Bruce White
University of Northwest Ohio B-Main (top 4 to A): 1. X-Mark Keegan; 2. 10-David Harrison; 3. 8s-Bobby Clark; 4. 4-Danny Smith; 5. 51-John Ivy; 6. 09-Craig Mintz; 7. 49t-Greg Dalman; 8. 97-Cory Seeling; 9. 14h-Todd Heller; 10. 6AU-David Doherty; 11. 55-Brian Smith; 12. 31-Chuck Wilson; 13. 22b-Ben Gregg; 14. 3t-Tony Beaber; 15. 75-Ben Rutan; 16. 7t-Troy Vaccaro; 17. 4m-Jamie Miller; 18. 11n-Ed Neumeister; 19. 1W-Paul Weaver; 20. 27-Scott Euler.
MSD Ignition A-Main (40 laps) starting spot [#] 1. 2-Dale Blaney [4]; 2. 5r-Byron Reed [10]; 3. 3-Mike Linder [9]; 4. 11m-Brandon Martin [2]; 5. 1r-Phil Gressman [14]; 6. 24h-Rob Chaney [6]; 7. 8h-Shane Stewart [16]; 8. 8j-Kenny Jacobs [11]; 9. 28-Brian Paulus [28]; 10. 11b-Brock Mayes [20]; 11. 71m-Paul May [15]; 12. 4-Danny Smith [24]; 13. 16-Lee Jacobs [18]; 14. 20E-Brian Ellenberger [3]; 15. 10-David Harrison [13]; 16. 15c-Chris Andrews [8]; 17. 2m-Dustin Daggett [7]; 18. 7k-Dean Jacobs [17]; 19. X-Mark Keegan [12]; 20. W20-Greg Wilson [19]; 21. 5b-Chad Blonde [5]; 22. 8s-Bobby Clark [23]; 23. 6-Bill Rose [21]; 24. 0-Gus Wasson [22]
