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Roepke
wins Sandusky County Fair race
By Brian
Liskai
FREMONT,
Ohio (Aug. 20, 2002) - For the first time in nearly 30 years,
the roar of engines was mixed with carnival music and animal
sounds as racing returned to the Sandusky County Fair on
Tuesday, Aug. 20.
"The
Track That Action Built" hosted dirt truck racing in
front of a large crowd of curious fairgoers. They were treated
to side-by-side, exciting racing. The dirt truck division
was created at Fremont Speedway three years ago when Jim
Ford took over promotion of the historical clay oval track.
"The
fair race used to be the biggest event at Fremont Speedway,"
said track promoter Jim Ford. "Hopefully, thanks to
the big crowd and exciting racing...it's back on the fair
schedule in the future."
There
was also plenty of excitement among the 49 dirt truck drivers
that signed into the pit area. Many grew up watching the
fair races at Fremont Speedway.
"I
told all these younger drivers, this is very special. You're
performing in front of your family and friends. I'm glad
I got the opportunity to race during the fair before I retire,"
said Clyde, Ohio driver L.J. Connors.
In the
end, it was Woodville, Ohio's Danny Roepke who picked up
the feature win, his sixth of the season at Fremont. Roepke,
the 2000 Fremont Speedway Dirt Truck Track Champion, took
home $450 and a beautiful trophy thanks to race sponsor
Henry Motorsports of Bellevue, Ohio.
But,
it wasn't eash for Roepke, as he had to hold off Fremont's
Bobby Davis, who earlier had won a make-up feature from
an earlier season rainout. Mike Porter of Port Clinton ran
a great race to finish third, with Tiffin's Matt Lucius
fourth and Fremont's John Rhoads rounding out the top five.
Rhoads also picked up a $50 hard-charger bonus from Henry
Motorsports for passing the most trucks in the feature -
he started 16th in the A-Main.
"I
remember growing up and all we heard about was the fair
race at Fremont," said Roepke. "This is probably
the biggest win of my career...and to do it in front of
all my family and friends is special. I hope the fans enjoyed
this...hopefully we created some new racing fans tonight
and we can come back next year."
Fremont's
Steve Sabo set a new track record in qualifying with a clocking
of 18.78. Heat race wins went to Fostoria's Darrell Brown,
Fremont's Rich Farmer, Tiffin's Brian Arnold, Davis and
Risingson, Ohio's Steve Endicott. The B-Mains fell to Sabo
and Fremont's Bobby Sears. Carey, Ohio's Greg Summit took
the win in the four-truck fast qualifier Henry Motorsports
Dash for Cash.
In the
A-Main make-up from July 27, Davis took the checkered over
Lucius, Arnold, Fremont's Jeff Dougherty and Findlay's Jay
Boyd.
"Wow,
it's about time. We've really struggled this year...we've
had miserable luck," said Davis. "This is so much
fun racing in front of the fair crowd. I hope all the racers
appreciate how special this is."
Rhoads
scored the win in the make-up B-main.
During
the evening, members of the Townsend Blue Ribbon Boys 4-H
Club collected over $700 from fans in memory of Jon Ruffing.
Ruffing, 14, an avid race fan and an active 4-H member,
was killed in a farm accident on Aug. 15. The money will
be used to build a new dairy beef feeder barn at the fairgrounds
in Ruffing's name. Those wishing to contribute to the fund
may call 419-547-9115 or 419-547-9614.
Racing
resumes at Fremont Speedway on Monday, Sept. 2 with the
Third Annual Baumann Auto Group 305 Sprint Invitational,
the biggest paying 305 sprint event in the United States.
DIRT
TRUCK RESULTS:
Make-up
B-main (from July 27 rainout): 1. John Rhoads; 2. Steve
Rando, 3. Rich Farmer, 4. Steve Rodd, 5. Rick Potts, 6.
L.J. Connors, 7. Dwight Waltermier, 8. Rex Haubert, 9. Dustin
Keegan, 10. Linda Sabo, 11. Jim McGrath, 12. Scott Beard,
13. Bruce Beard, 14. Bryan Lehmann, 15. Jason Crispen, 16.
Darrin Dukeshire, 17. Steve Endicott, 18. Paul Diamond,
19. Todd Keegan, 20. Jimmy Brown.
Make-up
A-Main (from July 27 rainout): 1. Bobby Davis, 2. Matt Lucius,
3. Brian Arnold, 4. Jeff Dougherty, 5. Jay Boyd, 6. John
Rhoads, 7. Rex Wright, 8. Ernie Haynes, 9. Steve Rando,
10. Bob Dible, 11. David Gibbs, 12. Jeff Hites, 13. Andy
Maynard, 14. Rich Farmer, 15. Steve Rodd, 16. Jim Maglosky,
17. Greg Summit, 18. Steve Sabo, 19. Danny Roepke, 20. Greg
Harmon.
Qualifying
(Aug. 20): 1. Steve Sabo, 18.78 (NTR), 2. Danny Roepke,
18.83, 3. Greg Summit, 18.86, 4. Bobby Davis, 18.89, 5.
Matt Lucius, 18.94, 6. Jeff Dougherty, 18.94, 7. Mike Porter,
19.02; 8. Steve Rando, 19.18; 9. Ralph Wiley, 19.22; 10.
Jimmy Brown, 19.24, 11. Bob Dible, 19.27; 12. Jay Boyd,
19.35, 13. Jim McGrath, 19.37; 14. Jim Keegan, 19.45; 15.
Dwight Waltermeier, 19.51; 16. Rex Wright, 19.51; 17. Bobby
Sears, 19.54; 18. Ron Kepling, 19.58; 19. Ernie Haynes,
19.59; 20. Jim Maglosky, 19.59; 21. John Rhoads, 19.67;
22. Paul Diamond, 19.67; 23. Brian Arnold, 19.78; 24. Scott
Beard, 19.82; 25. Dustin Keegan, 19.87; 26. Andy Maynard,
19.95; 27. Rich Farmer, 20.20; 28. Rick Potts, 20.29; 29.
L.J. Connors, 20.33; 30. Dave Gibbs, 20.42; 31. Bruce Beard,
20.46; 32. Greg Harmon, 20.61; 33. Bryan Lehmann, 20.67;
34. Jeremy Cogar, 20.67; 35. Steve Endicott, 20.80; 36.
Darrell Brown, 20.83; 37. Tony Sauseda, 30.86; 38. Jim Welty,
20.93; 39. Steve Rodd, 21.01; 40. Rex Haubert, 21.01; 41.
Jason Crispen, 21.10; 42. Jeff Hites, 21.11; 43. Mike Linder,
21.25; 44. Darrin Dukeshire, 21.28; 45. J.R. Heschel, 21.38;
46. Linda Sabo, 21.44; 47. Bill. Bruen, 21.53; 48. Todd
Keegan, 21.62; 49. Tim Sabo, 21.80.
Dash:
1. Greg Summit; 2. Danny Roepke; 3. Bobby Davis; 4. Steve
Sabo
1st
heat (top 4 to A): 1. Darrell Brown; 2. John Rhoads; 3.
Rex Wright; 4. Bob Dible
2nd
heat (top 4 to A): 1. Rich Farmer; 2. Danny Roepke; 3. Paul
Diamond; 4. Jay Boyd
3rd
heat (top 4 to A): 1. Brian Arnold; 2. Greg Summit; 3. Jim
McGrath; 4. Ron Kepling
4th
heat (top 4 to A): 1. Bobby Davis; 2. Tim Sabo; 3. Ernie
Haynes; 4. Steve Rodd
5th
heat (top 4 to A): 1. Steve Endicott; 2. Jimmy Brown; 3.
Matt Lucius; 4. Dave Gibbs
B-main
(top 2 to A): 1. Steve Sabo; 2. Mike Porter; 3. Dwight Waltermeier;
4. Ralph Wiley; 5. L.J. Connors; 6. Greg Harmon; 7. Jim
Maglosky; 8. Rex Haubert; 9. Darrin Dukeshire; 10. Linda
Sabo; 11. Todd Keegan; 12. Dustin Keegan
B-main
(top 2 to A): 1. Bobby Sears; 2. Jim Keegan; 3. Andy Maynard;
4. Mike Linder; 5. Jeff Dougherty; 6. Steve Rando; 7. Jim
Welty; 8. Bill Bruen; 9. Rick Potts; 10. Bruce Beard; 11.
Scott Beard; 12. J. R. Heschel
Henry
Motorsports A-main (20 laps): 1. Danny Roepke; 2. Bobby
Davis; 3. Mike Porter; 4. Matt Lucius; 5. John Rhoads; 6.
Steve Sabo; 7. Bob Dible; 8. Jimmy Brown; 9. Bobby Sears;
10. Brian Arnold; 11. Rex Wright; 12. Jim Keegan; 13. Paul
Diamond; 14. Darrell Brown; 15. Dave Gibbs; 16. Ron Kepling;
17. Tim Sabo; 18. Steve Endicott; 19. Steve Rodd; 20. Jim
McGrath; 21. Jay Boyd; 22. Ernie Haynes; 23. Rich Farmer;
24. Greg Summit
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