BOB FREY CLASSIC
 

Willison Holds Off Hamilton For Bob Frey Classic Win At Sandusky

david sink

SANDUSKY, Ohio (July 23, 2025) – Make it two straight for drivers hailing from “north of the border” with the Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series.

Canadian Aaron Willison drove to his first series win of the season Wednesday night in an intense Bob Frey Classic feature, leading all 30 laps at Sandusky Speedway but having to withstand heavy pressure from Davey Hamilton Jr. in the closing stages at the half-mile paved oval.

Following a restart with four to go, Willison fended off Hamilton’s advances and ultimately drove to his third career Must See Racing victory by .534 seconds in the Statham Construction-sponsored No. 36.

In the process, he brought veteran car owner Ken Statham back to the winner’s circle with the traveling 410 sprint car tour for the first time since Statham was injured at South Boston (Va.) Speedway three years ago and underwent surgery, missing significant time while he recovered and rehabbed.

“I wasn’t too impressed to see a [late-race] yellow come out inside five to go … that kind of sucked a little bit, but when I knew it would be a single-file restart, that was a huge relief,” said Willison, who won for the first time in his career at Sandusky.

“You don’t want to have a guy like Davey beside you on a restart; you just know how deep he’ll drive it in and how good he is at this style of racing, with a team that has it together each time out,” Willison added. “It’s good racing with them, though, and luckily we were able to get away there and hold them off.”

Named in honor of Hall of Fame racer and five-time Little 500 winner Bob Frey, who was in attendance at Sandusky Wednesday night, the Bob Frey Classic feature was frenetic right from the start.

Second-generation driver Sawyer Stout started from the pole in his Must See Racing 410 debut, but lost the lead in the first corner as Willison soared around the outside of the Kyle Capodice-owned No. 12.

It only got worse from there, as Stout got into two-time and defending series champion Joe Liguori in turn two as he fell back, spinning Liguori out on corner exit and drawing the caution flag for the first time.

The incident led to a complete restart, though Liguori was able to continue from the tail of the field.

Willison duplicated his feat on the second try, quickly motoring away from the field as Bobby Komisarski charged into second place, engaging in a spirited battle with Hamilton over an extended green-flag run.

Lap after lap, Hamilton tried to get past Komisarski, largely to no avail as Komisarski defended on both ends of the Sandusky half mile. As he did so, while trading sliders with Hamilton several times, Willison steadily built his advantage to nearly a half lap.

Finally, Hamilton successfully cleared Komisarski in turns three and four coming to five to go, with the latter’s car getting completely sideways as it developed a loose handling condition. A lap later, Komisarski spun in the fourth turn to bring out the final caution, setting up a dash to the finish and erasing an eight-second lead for Willison in the process.

Though Hamilton tried twice to get to Willison’s rear bumper following a single-file restart – all but getting there coming to two to go – Willison hung on and left the son of multi-time Indianapolis 500 starter Davey Hamilton to settle for runner-up honors.

“It is what it is,” admitted Hamilton Jr. “It’s part of racing. I just hated starting further back. It just got us stuck in dirty air, and made it really hard to get by the [No.] 7 for the longest time. He had enough speed to make it tough on me, and once we finally got past him Aaron was long gone.

“I knew my only chance at that point was a yellow, and we did get that, but it wasn’t enough. If we’d been second to Aaron from the start, I think we’d have had a really good race between us, but congratulations to the Statham team. They were strong all night and got the better of us this time.”

A late charge after restarting fifth gave five-time series champion Jimmy McCune the final place on the podium, followed by New Hampshire’s Alby Ovitt in his Must See Racing debut.

Kevin Mingus, who began his racing career in a go-kart at Sandusky two decades ago, completed the top five.

Hamilton Jr. kicked off the night by setting a new Must See Racing track record in qualifying with a lap of 15.089 seconds (119.292 mph). Mingus and Liguori, who rallied back to finish sixth in the feature after his earlier spin, won their respective heat races.

 

In other action, J.J. Henes and rookie Brandon Lemmerman split the victories in twin 20-lap features for the Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights crate sprint car division. Dylan Napier topped the compact feature.

Wednesday’s Bob Frey Classic kicked off the 48th Hy-Miler Nationals week at Sandusky, which culminates Saturday night with a 100-lap main event for the ISMA-MSS Supermodified Series.

The Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series continues its 2025 campaign Saturday night, Aug. 9 with its second visit of the year to Michigan’s Berlin Raceway. Bobby Santos III won at the track in May.

For more information, visit www.mustseeracing.com.

RESULTS: Must See Racing Perfit Sprint Car Series; Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway; July 23, 2025

TTI Machine Qualifying (best of two laps, top four to redraw): 1. Davey Hamilton Jr., 14, Morgan-15.089 (NTR); 2. Aaron Willison, 36, Statham-15.113; 3. Joe Liguori, 68, Liguori-15.238; 4. Sawyer Stout, 12, Capodice-15.476; 5. Bobby Komisarski, 7, Fogle-15.616; 6. Kevin Mingus, Z10, Mingus-15.696; 7. Alby Ovitt, 20, Parker-15.748; 8. Charlie Schultz, 9s, IBT-15.867; 9. Adam Biltz, 8A, Reiser-16.166- 10. Tom Geren, 11G, Geren-16.783; 11. Jeff Bloom, 26, Bloom-17.589; 12. Jimmy McCune, 88, McCune-19.188.

Heat #1 (8 laps, top two to redraw): 1. Kevin Mingus, 2. Aaron Willison, 3. Sawyer Stout, 4. Tom Geren, 5. Charlie Schultz, 6. Jimmy McCune (DNS). [2:09.271]

Heat #2 (8 laps, top two to redraw): 1. Joe Liguori, 2. Bobby Komisarski, 3. Davey Hamilton Jr., 4. Alby Ovitt, 5. Adam Biltz, 6. Jeff Bloom. [2:05.659]

Perfit Bob Frey Classic A-Feature (30 laps, starting position in brackets): 1. 36-Aaron Willison [2], 2. 14-Davey Hamilton Jr. [3], 3. 88-Jimmy McCune [12], 4. 20-Alby Ovitt [7], 5. Z10-Kevin Mingus [6], 6. 68-Joe Liguori [4], 7. 11-Tom Geren [10], 8. 8A-Adam Biltz [9], 9. 12-Sawyer Stout [1], 10. 7-Bobby Komisarski [5], 11. 26-Jeff Bloom [11], 12. 9s-Charlie Schultz [8]. [NT]

Lap Leader(s): Aaron Willison 1-30.

Hard Charger: 88-Jimmy McCune (+9)

 

Henes & Lemmerman Pick Up Midwest Lights Wins During Bob Frey Classic

Jacob Seelman

 

SANDUSKY, Ohio (July 23, 2025) – The all-time Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights winner and a true sprint car rookie split the laurels Wednesday night during the Bob Frey Classic at Sandusky Speedway.

Two-time and defending Midwest Lights champion J.J. Henes topped the first of Sandusky’s Twin 20s at the half-mile paved oval, while well-known modified racer Brandon Lemmerman won the nightcap in just his fourth-ever sprint car start.

After setting the fastest time (x seconds/x mph) in group qualifying, Henes started sixth in the first 20-lapper but wasted little time in working his way to the front.

The LaGrange, Ohio, native made the winning pass on lap five, driving inside polesitter Brandon Tregembo in turns three and four after Tregembo took the lead from Joe Liguori on the initial start.

Henes then held the field at bay on two subsequent restarts – one after Liguori slowed with a broken right-rear shock on lap nine and a second when Keegan Weese spun in turn two on lap 11 – to capture his record-extending 13th career Midwest Lights feature victory.

Henes took the checkered flag .466 seconds ahead of Charlie Baur, who roared from fifth to second with three to go, but ran out of time to catch Henes for the win.

“We had one get away from us earlier in the year at Owosso [Speedway], where I just had a bad restart, so that was in the back of my mind a little bit,” Henes admitted. “You never like to see a restart when you’re in the lead, so I’m just glad I was still able to come out on top.

“Winning during Hy-Miler is a big deal, with my family being so much in supermodified [history],” he added. “This was the race we always looked forward to each year, where we could get together and hang out with everyone. It’s not the Hy-Miler [Nationals] itself, but it still counts to me.”

Behind Henes and Baur, Andrew Bogusz completed the podium for the first feature, followed by Lemmerman and Keegan Weese.

The second feature saw the top five finishers from race one inverted on the starting grid, with Lemmerman rolling to the lead past polesitter Weese on the initial start and quickly building a lead of more than two seconds.

With a caution-free run that took just x minutes and x seconds to complete, Lemmerman continued to extend the margin and ultimately took the checkered flag in front by 2.633 seconds for his first sprint car victory of any kind.

Making the moment more special was the fact that track owner Kevin Jaycox is Lemmerman’s brother-in-law, creating a big family celebration in victory lane during the facility’s biggest racing week of the year.

“I have no clue how we pulled that off,” a jubilant Lemmerman said. “It’s amazing to be just my fourth race in a sprint car and to have a trophy in the trailer. I just drove it into turn one as far as I could and didn’t lift until I had no choice. Thankfully, it stuck and I was able to roll away after that.

“This is so big for me, for my family … we’ve all been involved in racing for so long … and going into this week, I said to everyone, ‘I just want to win a race during Hy-Miler week. I don’t care what it’s in – even a heat race win, I’d have been happy with – but to do it in the sprint car is unbelievable. It’s so special.”

Weese chased Lemmerman all the way and ultimately finished runner-up, with Bogusz, Henes, and Baur filling out the top-five finishers.

Henes further extended his point lead Wednesday night as he pursues a record third Midwest Lights championship in the familiar No. 36JR sprinter.

The Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights season continues Friday night, Aug. 15 at Lorain (Ohio) County Speedway during the track’s Trident Nationals event.

For more information, visit www.mustseeracing.com.

RESULTS: Must See Racing Maxima Midwest Lights; Sandusky (Ohio) Speedway; July 23, 2025

Qualifying (group format, best of three laps): 1. J.J. Henes, 36JR, Henes-16.187; 2. Keegan Weese, 37, Henes-16.598; 3. Joe Liguori, 51s, Sexton-16.686; 4. Charlie Baur, 23, CB1-16.790; 5. Brandon Lemmerman, 64, Henes-16.889; 6. Brandon Tregembo, 1, Drive 1-16.967; 7. Andrew Bogusz, 17, Fast Company-17.250; 8. Parker Corbin, 77, Corbin-17.979.

Maxima Racing Oils A-Feature #1 (20 laps): 1. 36JR-J.J. Henes [6], 2. 23-Charlie Baur [3], 3. 17-Andrew Bogusz [7], 4. 64-Brandon Lemmerman [2], 5. 37-Keegan Weese [5], 6. 1-Brandon Tregembo [1], 7. 51s-Joe Liguori [4], 8. 77-Parker Corbin [8].

Lap Leader(s): Brandon Tregembo 1-4, J.J. Henes 5-20.

Hard Charger: J.J. Henes (+5)

Maxima Racing Oils A-Feature #2 (20 laps): 1. 64-Brandon Lemmerman [2], 2. 37-Keegan Weese [1], 3. 17-Andrew Bogusz [3], 4. 36JR-J.J. Henes [5], 5. 23-Charlie Baur [4], 6. 51s-Joe Liguori [7], 7. 1-Brandon Tregembo [6], 8. 77-Parker Corbin [8].

Lap Leader(s): Brandon Lemmerman 1-20.

Hard Charger: 64-Brandon Lemmerman (+1)

 
 

BOB FREY CLASSIC ALL GO FOR THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT JULY 23

 July 20, 2025 - This Wednesday night July 23, 2025, 410-winged asphalt sprint cars will return to Sandusky Speedway for the third running of the Bob Frey Classic. The Must See Racing Sprint Series Presented by Perfit-Parts.Com will headline the event along with the Must See Racing Midwest Lights Series and Pro Compacts. The event will officially kick off the annual Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals Week.

Sandusky Speedway opened for business as a quarter-mile dirt track in May of 1950. It was increased to a half mile and paved prior to the 1955 racing season. Over the years it has been the home of Supermodified racing. Ironically in tracks seventy-five-year history, 410-winged sprint have only competed at the speedway six times previously.

Past 410-winged sprint car winners at Sandusky include Jeff Gordon, Troy DeCaire, Aaron Pierce, Jason Blonde, Jimmy McCune and Bobby Santos III. The first-ever 410-winged sprint car event ever held at Sandusky Speedway occurred on August 1, 1989. A young Jeff Gordon picked up the All Star Circuit of Champions victory nearly thirty-six years to the date of this year’s event.

Five-time series champion McCune headlines a stout list of expected entrants that also includes current points leader and defending series champion Joe Liguori.

McCune will seek to add his name to the history books with a possible win in the Bob Frey Classic. A victory Wednesday night would make him the only repeat winner in Sandusky 410-winged sprint car competition and the first repeat Bob Frey Classic winner.

Former MSR winner Davey Hamilton Jr. returns to MSR competition on a mission. He seeks to get the monkey off his back and kick his bad luck to the curb. Hamilton Jr. has been in position to win multiple times in 2025 only to have bad luck derail his chances for success.

Also, on the card for Wednesday’s mid-week event will be the return of the MSR Lights Series. It will give fans a winged sprint car double-header treat. Fans will be treated to twin feature events for the MSR Lights, giving those in attendance the chance to witness three-winged sprint car feature events in the same night.

The MSR Midwest Lights points battle continues to be a back-and-forth affair each week. JJ Henes has a twenty-five-point lead over Charlie Baur. But only 1.5 points separates Baur from third place Andrew Bogusz.

Defending MSR National champion Joe Liguori is expected to make his MSR Lights debut at Sandusky Speedway.

Event Grand Marshal Bob Frey will also be on hand to meet fans and sign autographs early in the night. Frey, a 2022 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee, credits Sandusky Speedway with playing a huge part in his HoF career. He won countless times at the legendary half mile and viewed it as one of his favorite tracks.

Gates for Wednesday’s event open at 4 pm with racing set to begin at 7:45 pm. Adult tickets are $20, Seniors $18, and Kids 6-12 $10.

For more information on the Bob Frey Classic please visit www.mustseeraacing.com or www.Sanduskyspeedway.com.

 

 
   FREY SET TO RETURN TO SANDUSKY SPEEDWAY FOR RACE NAMED IN HIS HONOR

July 18, 2025 - Elyria, Ohio native Bob Frey will return to Sandusky Speedway for the third edition of the race named in his honor, The Bob Frey Classic, this Wednesday night July 23.

Frey, 74, who now calls home Wickenburg, Arizona, cut his teeth in the early years of his racing career at the half-mile Sandusky Speedway. The 2022 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee recently explained that the majority of his early career wins came at Sandusky running sprint cars/supermodifieds.

“LoraIn County Speedway (now Lorain Raceway Park) may have been my home track due to proximity to Elyria where I grew up, But Sandusky Speedway was equally as much a home track. We would run Lorain every Saturday night and then Sandusky on Sundays” explained Frey. “I preferred Sandusky more because it was a fast half mile and I liked going fast. I also won more at Sandusky than I did at Lorain”.

Frey returns to Sandusky Speedway this Wednesday night for a special mid-week event named in his honor. It will be the third such time the race has carried his name. The Bob Frey Classic will feature the fire breathing Must See Racing 410-winged sprint cars, Midwest Lights winged sprint cars, and Pro Compacts.

 The event will officially kick off Hy-Miler Supermodified Nationals Week. This will be the only time in 2025 fans can witness 410-winged sprint cars at the speedway.

The pavement sprint car legend left his Arizona home on Tuesday afternoon by way of his motorcycle. He plans to take his time getting to Sandusky while stopping to visit friends along the way.

Frey has experienced a love hate relationship with Sandusky Speedway over the years. Not only has it been the site of countless feature victories, it has also been the home of two very serious racing accidents in 1974 and 1981.

In May of 1974, the day after qualifying on the pole position for the Little 500, and setting new one and four lap track records, Frey suffered the most serious crash of his racing career. He flipped the Ernie Ensign #37 in turn three, and in the process, broke his arm.

While recovering from his accident in the hospital, Larry Dickson drove his car to a Little 500 victory two weeks later. It was a race Frey to this day feels he should have won.

Frey would go on to win five total Little 500 victories, three United States Auto Club National Sprint Car Series wins, and a USAC Silver Crown win as highlights of his career. He also dabbled in the IndyCar Series from 1980-82 with three failed attempts to crack the Indy 500 starting field.

Frey will be the Grand Marshall for Wednesday’s event and will be on hand to meet fans and participate in victory lane ceremonies.

Gates for Wednesday’s event open at 4 PM with racing set to begin at 7:45 PM. Adult tickets are $20, Seniors $18, and Kids 6-12 $10. For more information on the Bob Frey Classic please visit www.mustseeracing.com.