FREMONT, OH (9-15-12) By Brian Liskai All it took was one very little mistake by Dale Blaney on a restart with four laps to go Friday at Fremont Speedway and Bryan Sebetto was there to pounce. Sebetto executed a perfect slide job in turns three and four to take the lead and went on to score his 22nd career win at The Track That Action Built. While the win against the University of Northwestern Ohio All Star Circuit of Champions is the third of his career, it was the first for Sebetto s car owners Randy and Lisa Hammer.
Blaney came into the weekend at Fremont having won all four of the UNOH All Star events at the track in 2012. But, Sebetto gave notice in the dash that he was going to be a force to be reckoned with on the opening night of the Jim Ford Classic weekend presented by All Pro Cylinder Heads. Sebetto hounded Blaney the entire distance of the six lap race and Blaney knew come feature time he would have his hands full with Fremont Speedway’s 2011 champion and the recently crowned Kistler Racing Products Fremont Attica Sprint Title (FAST) champion.
The victory was the second straight at Sebettto s hometown track. Overall Sebetto has nine wins in 2012 4 at Attica Raceway Park.
I was winning Gressman (Scott, the engine builder) an All Star race. That was my mind on that restart I m not running second, said Sebetto beside his Hammer Pallets/Crown Batter/Gressman Powersports/Meggit Powder Coating/OC Shocks backed machine. I told Blaney he wasn t winning all the All Star shows at Fremont this year. I say the same thing every time this team is just so freaking awesome. We ve had such awesome luck and I have such great people behind me. It was a great honor to win the Jim Ford Classic last year. I knew Jim Ford personally and I want to make it two in a row. I know we ll have our hands full tomorrow night, but this team can get it done.
For Blaney, who has nine UNOH All Star wins in 2012, he was pleased with his car.
I just made a mistake on that restart. We were really maneuverable and traffic was really good for us. If we don t get into open area those last four laps we re probably okay. I didn t catch it real good down in one and two and I should have protected myself going down into three. I thought half way down the back straight away I should have turned left and drive across. I had a feeling he was probably coming but I thought if I got it in there hard and beat him into four I d be okay. I didn t do it I just made a mistake and he ran a good race, said Blaney beside his Ti22 Performance #2.
David Gravel, who finished second with the UNOH All Stars last week at Port Royal Speedway, would come home third, and was happy with how he is progressing at Fremont.
We usually qualify here really well but have trouble in the heat race or B-main or something happens in the feature. But, it was a smooth night. I m excited about 50 laps tomorrow because we got a lot better towards the end of that race. I want to get good consistently here and I think we re getting closer to that, said Gravel beside his P&M Transportation/Musco Fuel Services/Model Craft backed #89G.
Blaney and Sebetto would bring the field to the green for the 30-lap UNOH All Star feature, but before they could exit turn two, third place starter Stevie Smith would take a tumble, ending his night. On the complete restart, Sebetto would drive into the lead with Blaney, Brad Bowman, Gravel, Chris Bell, Tim Shaffer and Cole Duncan in tow. Sebetto and Blaney would pull away from the pack, setting a blistering pace, encountering lapped traffic by the fifth circuit.
It was in traffic that Blaney would make his move, driving under Sebetto to take the lead on lap eight. Bell would drive around Gravel on the second lap and then would take third from Bowman on lap 10, but one circuit later, he would spin in turn three. On the restart, again Blaney and Sebetto showed they were the class of the field, pulling away from Bowman, Gravel and 11th starter Rob Chaney, but the caution would fly again on lap 13 when Shaffer stopped in turn one. The running order was now Blaney, Sebetto, Gravel, Bowman, Chaney, Jody Keegan and 22nd starter Dean Jacobs.
With 12 laps to go, Sebetto began really putting pressure on Blaney while Gravel was comfortably in third with a tremendous battle ensuing for fourth involving Bowman, Chaney, Keegan and Jacobs. Chaney would move into fourth on lap 20. The action slowed on lap 24 when Craig Mintz stopped on the speedway. Now, Blaney and Sebetto had a four lapped car cushion back to third place running Gravel with Chaney and Jacobs rounding out the top five. Keegan s good run would come to an end on lap 26 when he encountered trouble.
On the restart, Sebetto would drive to Blaney s outside in turns one and two, but the Low Rider would slam the door. But, Sebetto kept up his momentum and drove into turn three extremely aggressive and executed the slide job for the lead. Gravel would pull away in third while Chaney, Jacobs, Bowman and 18th starter Brandon Martin were locked in a fantastic race for fourth. Sebetto would pull away the final three laps for the win with Blaney, Gravel, Chaney and Jacobs rounding out the top five.