Jereme Wall outlasts the field to pick up first Battle of the Fenders Win!

December 16th, 2023 ( Dacono, CO)

On a spectacular Saturday in December, fans were treated to a fantastic afternoon of great racing in what has now become an annual tradition at Colorado National Speedway. The 7th running of the Battle of the Fenders did not disappoint as fans witnessed three and four wide racing, spin outs and even a loose tire that tried to make an entire lap around the speedway.

Former winner of this race Tommy Roe led from the drop of the green flag in his No.1 machine, while No.15 Jereme Wall & No.18 Ed Vecchiarelli chased Roe as they dodged and made daring moves to get around the lapped traffic. Roe began to stretch his advantage over Wall & Vecchiarelli who were both locked in a tight battle for second place, but by lap 50, Wall was able to shake Vecchiarelli and chased down Roe to take over the lead. On the move was 2022 Battle of the Fenders winner No.90 Lee Kemmit who started deep in the field and made his way up to 2nd by lap 55 & looked to chase down Wall for the lead. On lap 56 No. 04 David Wheeler spun down the backstretch and Vecchiarelli got collected in the incident; ending the afternoon for both drivers. Two laps later, Kemmit dove under Wall in Turn 3 to take the lead and began setting a torrid pace.

Just a few laps after getting passed for the lead, Wall began slowing his pace considerably and lost a couple of positions with what looked to be an issue with the car. Kemmit continued to extend his lead over Roe, and by lap 102, Kemmit was the only car remaining on the lead lap. Towards the end of the first 150 lap segment, Wall began to turn up the wick on his No.15 machine and got by Roe for 2nd. On Lap 145 the yellow flag came out for a stalled call in Turn 1 who was sitting in a vulnerable position. This led into the halfway break which consisted of 20 minutes to add fuel, make adjustments, and change drivers.

The field was re-racked on the restart which brought all the front runners onto the led lap and within striking distance of leader Lee Kemmit. A couple of spins took place to start the second segment, and on Lap 170, leader Lee Kemmit nearly stalled in turn 2 with a transmission issue which bottled up the field behind him. During the chaos. No.1 Doug Fornstrom got clipped; sending his car into the spin cycle as his Right Rear tire came flying off. Kemmit was able to pull off the speedway, and the tire off Fornstrom’s car raced by itself all the way around the track; stopping close to the start finish line where it would park itself for the remainder of the race. The crowd cheered as the tire cruised around the race track.

With Kemmit slowed by a mechanical issue, the battle for the lead was handed back over to Roe & Wall who both raced hard; splitting cars & dodging lapped traffic. On Lap 187, Wall got by Roe for the lead and began pulling away from the only three cars left on the lead lap which included No.555 of Bobby Durand. By lap 220, Wall stretched his lead to over a half-track ahead of Roe, and made some daring 3 wide passes near the outside concrete wall: bringing the fans to their feet as they cheered Wall’s intensity. Several cars began to drop out as attrition started to set in and the cars & drivers were both becoming fatigued. With only 20 laps to go, Wall passed Roe which meant he was the only car remaining on the lead lap. Roe was stuck in traffic behind a few cars including third place runner No. 6J DJ Banks. The two had a spirited battle throughout, and ended up making contact a couple times but maintaining track position.

In the end, Jereme Wall was able to hold on for all 300 laps and take home his first Battle of the Fenders victory driving his championship winning figure 8 car.

Colorado National Speedway would like to extend our gratitude and send a huge thank you to all the race fans who came out along with all the racers & sponsors who made this year’s event possible.

Sponsors:

Buckeye Welding

GTI Golf Cars

James C. Hill Real Estate

MATCO Tools & Wayne Appelhans

Appelhans Designs

Accublast Dustless Blasting

5280 Pit Lighting

Garage Rents Racing

1st Place: $2,000 (Jereme Wall)

2nd Place: $1,000 (Tommy Roe)

3rd Place: $750 (DJ Banks)