FREMONT, Ohio — David Harrison had to not only defeat 51 O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champion sprint-car drivers but Mother Nature as well at Fremont Speedway Thursday night.
The Burgoon, Ohio, driver led all 40 laps under threatening skies to score his first All Star victory during the third leg of the University of Northwest Ohio Sprint Speedweek.
The night began with a more than two-hour rain delay, and with more rain in the area, the program was pushed along swiftly.
Harrison, the night’s second quick qualifier, started to the outside of the front row and jumped into the lead at the start. He benefited from yellow flags when he was mired in lapped traffic and picked his way through the backmarkers with precision, holding off Randy Hannagan for his second victory of the season at the third-mile oval.
“I want to dedicate this win to my father-in-law, Alex Burkett, who we lost a couple of weeks ago. To get my first All Star win in front of my home crowd and during Speedweek, it just doesn’t get any better than this,” Harrison said.
At the checkered flag, Harrison scored his eighth-career victory at Fremont by four car lengths over Hannagan, Byron Reed, Brock Mayes and Dean Jacobs. Hannagan has a victory and two runner-up finishes in three Speedweek events.
“We have turned our whole season around during Speedweek,” said Hannagan. “We just struggled in lapped traffic for some reason tonight. But hey, we have a shot at the Speedweek championship and we are as consistent as we’ve been in quite some time.”
The summary:
Fast time: Tim Shaffer, 12.145 seconds (50 cars).
First Heat: Mike Dussell, Brock Mayes, Jeremy Campbell, Dean Jacobs, Lee Jacobs, Tim Shaffer, Ian Loudon, Tim Hunter, Jesse Hockett, Todd King, Bruce Robenalt, Bryan Lay, Josh Harrison.
Second Heat: Brian Ellenberger, Phil Gressman, David Harrison, Randy Hannagan, Jody Keegan, Blake Feese, Dan Shetler, Travis Philo, Brian Smith, Tony Beaber, Roger Shammo, Lee Stark.
Third Heat: Craig Mintz, Rob Chaney, Danny Smith, Byron Reed, Chris Andrews, Bruce White, Jamie Miller, Scott Euler, Andy Shammo, Paul Weaver, Ryan Myers, Kody Jacobs.
Fourth Heat: Dustin Daggett, Greg Wilson, Brandon Martin, Chad Blonde, Dale Blaney, Lance Dewease, John Ivy, Mike Linder, Caleb Griffith, Troy Vaccaro, Chad Goff, Kenny Jacobs.
Dash: D. Smith, D. Jacobs, Mayes, Gressman, Hannagan, Blaney.
C Main: Robenalt, Hockett, Beaber, Shetler, Myers, Shammo, Ko. Jacobs, Vaccaro, Lay, Goff, J. Harrison, Griffith, White.
B Main: Shaffer, Dewease, Feese, Euler, Miller, Loudon, Linder, Ke. Jacobs, Hockett, Ivy, B. Smith, Philo, King, Stark, Beaber, Robenalt, Hunter, Weaver.
Feature: Harrison, Hannagan, Reed, Mayes, D. Jacobs, L. Jacobs, Shaffer, Martin, Blaney, D. Smith, Wilson, Blonde, Dewease, Dussell, Ellenberger, Campbell, Keegan, Chaney, Daggett, Andrews, Mintz, Feese, Euler, Gressman.