RACE REPORT: Wilhelm Auto Parts Night at FREMONT
Saturday, 04 August 2007
Weaver takes Fremont 410 loot
By Brian Liskai
FREMONT, Ohio (Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007) - Sometimes bad things happen for a
reason. Such was the case for Fremont's Paul Weaver at Fremont Speedway on Wilhelm Auto Parts Night.
Weaver blew his motor racing Friday night. The team, led by his wife Andrea, installed a back-up engine from owner Dee Genzman and it propelled him to
victory in the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 sprints, his second win of the season.
Weaver escaped disaster on lap 23 while hunting down race leader Mike
Linder. Linder made contact with Chuck Wilson as he tried to put him a lap
down entering turn three. Linder flipped, with the crash also collecting
third place runner John Ivy, fourth place runner Byron Reed and fifth place
driver Mark Keegan. Only Keegan was able to restart at the tail.
"I don't know how I made it through that...I thought Mike (Linder) was going
to land on the wing," said Weaver in the Engine Pro Victory Lane. "Everyone was trying to run the bottom...I knew once we hit lapped traffic I could catch Mike by staying up top."
"I have to thank Dee for giving us this back-up engine. It's actually the
motor John (Ivy) ran last week here. To win number 22...to be tied with Rick Ferkel (and Roy Sheets and Dan Roepke for 18th on the all-time win list)...I
used to cheer for him...I wanted to be just like him," added Weaver beside
his M&L Excavating sponsored sprinter.
In the 410 sprint feature, Weaver, who turned down the "Deal" (move to 13th
starting spot and win and collect a $2,500 bonus), grabbed the initial lead, but it wasn't for long, as Linder moved underneath for the top spot a lap later. Linder would continue to lead while Weaver and teammate John Ivy swapped the second spot back and forth.
Linder would hit lapped traffic by lap 8, but second place Ivy couldn't make a move. The yellow would fly for a Troy Vacarro and Bryan Sebetto spin on lap 9. A lapped machine seperated Linder and Ivy, with Weaver, Mark Keegan and Byron Reed rounding out the top five.
On the restart, Weaver would drive around Ivy into second, with Keegan
following into third. Linder would again encounter lapped traffic by lap 16.
Weaver would begin pressuring Linder by lap 21, with Ivy back into third,
Reed fourth and Keegan falling back to fifth.
The disaster struck on lap 23, involving four of the top five runners -
Linder, Ivy, Reed and Keegan. Following the red flag, Weaver had three
lapped machines between he and second place running Gus Wasson. Weaver would
power to the win, with Wasson, 14th-starter Lee Jacobs, 10th-starter Brian
Smith and David Harrison rounding out the top five.
Outside front row starter Brandon Martin took the "deal," moving from second
to 13th starting spot for a chance at another $2,500 bonus had he won. He
finished ninth in the A-main.
The "New" Fremont Speedway (08-04-07)
Wilhelm Auto Parts Night
Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Super Sprints
Qualifying
1. X-Mark Keegan, 12.84; 2. 10-David Harrison, 12.85; 3. 51-John Ivy, 12.91; 4. 5R-Byron Reed, 12.96; 5. O-Gus Wasson, 12.98; 6. 3L-Mike Linder, 12.99; 7. O9-Craig Mintz, 13.07; 8. M20-Butch Schroeder, 13.09; 9. 11M-Brandon Martin, 13.10; 10. 1W-Paul Weaver, 13.12; 11. 2M-Dustin Daggett, 13.14; 12. 55-Brian Smith, 13.14; 13. 12-Caleb Griffith, 13.15; 14. 7T-Troy Vaccaro, 13.15; 15. 16-Lee Jacobs, 13.19; 16. 29-Bryan Sebetto, 13.20; 17. 99-Alvin Roepke, 13.20; 18. 3T-Tony Beaber, 13.22; 19. 49T-Gregg Dalman, 13.31; 20. 96AU-Bruce White, 13.55; 21. 31-Chuck Wilson, 13.55; 22. 27-Scott Euler, 13.64; 23. 11N-Ed Neumeister, 13.64; 24. 15C-Chris Andrews, 13.69; 25. 21-Rodney Morgan, 13.72; 26. 10S-Roger Shammo, 13.88; 27. 33-Steve Irwin, 13.93; 28. 5T-Travis Philo, 14.21; 29. 14H-Todd Heller, 14.27; 30. 11-Josh Harrison, 15.18
Heat 1 (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 11M-Brandon Martin; 2. 12-Caleb Griffith; 3. 31-Chuck Wilson; 4. X-Mark
Keegan; 5. O-Gus Wasson; 6. 99-Alvin Roepke; 7. 14H-Todd Heller; 8.
21-Rodney Morgan
Heat 2 (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 7T-Troy Vaccaro; 2. 1W-Paul Weaver; 3. 27-Scott Euler; 4. 3L-Mike Linder;
5. 10-David Harrison; 6. 3T-Tony Beaber; 7. 10S-Roger Shammo; 8. 11-Josh
Harrison
Heat 3 (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 49T-Gregg Dalman; 2. 16-Lee Jacobs; 3. 51-John Ivy; 4. 2M-Dustin Daggett;
5. O9-Craig Mintz; 6. 11N-Ed Neumeister; 7. 33-Steve Irwin
Heat 4 (8 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 96AU-Bruce White; 2. 29-Bryan Sebetto; 3. 5R-Byron Reed; 4. 15C-Chris
Andrews; 5. M20-Butch Schroeder; 6. 55-Brian Smith; 7. 5T-Travis Philo
B-main (10 laps, top 4 transfer to A-Main)
1. 10-David Harrison; 2. O9-Craig Mintz; 3. O-Gus Wasson; 4. 55-Brian Smith;
5. 3T-Tony Beaber; 6. M20-Butch Schroeder; 7. 10S-Roger Shammo; 8. 14H-Todd
Heller; 9. 33-Steve Irwin; 10. 99-Alvin Roepke; 11. 21-Rodney Morgan; 12.
11N-Ed Neumeister; 13. 11-Josh Harrison; 14. 5T-Travis Philo
A-main (30 laps) Starting Position [#]
1. 1W-Paul Weaver[1]; 2. O-Gus Wasson[7]; 3. 16-Lee Jacobs[14]; 4. 55-Brian
Smith[10]; 5. 10-David Harrison[6]; 6. 12-Caleb Griffith[11]; 7. O9-Craig Mintz[8]; 8. X-Mark Keegan[4]; 9. 11M-Brandon Martin[13]; 10. 2M-Dustin Daggett[9]; 11. 15C-Chris Andrews[20]; 12. 7T-Troy Vaccaro[12]; 13. 29-Bryan Sebetto[15]; 14. 27-Scott Euler[19]; 15. 49T-Gregg Dalman[16]; 16. 96AU-Bruce White[17]; 17. 3L-Mike Linder[3]; 18. 51-John Ivy[5]; 19.
5R-Byron Reed[2]; 20. 31-Chuck Wilson[18]
