LANCE DEWEASE'S 300TH SPRINT WIN COMES AT THE WILLIAMS GROVE SUMMER NATIONALS
By TODD HEINTZELMAN
MECHANICSBURG, PA – Lance
Dewease picked a good time to break a 14-month winless drought at Williams
Grove Speedway.
Early Sunday morning,
Dewease, of Fayetteville, would hold off Donny Schatz to win $20,000 in the
World of Outlaws sanctioned Summer Nationals A-main for his first Grove win
of the season and the 300th of his sprint car career. It was his
first Grove win, also, in the Dietz Motorsports No. 14.
“I had to run the top,” said
Dewease. “That was the only place I was any good. I was trying to time my
lapped cars so I would get good runs going into one so I could fly them.
I had to watch myself a little bit
and I guess I backed off a little bit too much and let Donny try to slide
me. I was really good in one and two and I knew it was going to take a
really good racecar to beat me in the open. He knows how to get around this
place as good as anybody, especially when it gets slick.”
Lucas Wolfe started second
and grabbed the early race lead over Dewease and Shane Stewart. The red flag
flew with two laps completed when Dave Blaney flipped in turn four.
Dewease, a six-time Grove
champion, closed on Wolfe while Donny Schatz passed Stewart for second on
the frontstretch. Just as Dewease was really pressuring Wolfe for the lead
off turn two when the caution flag flew for the spinning cars of Brent Marks
and Kraig Kinser in turn three.
Once again, Wolfe picked the
outside for the restart.
Wolfe raced just below the
cushion and Dewease tried to pass him on the outside, but couldn’t make the
move. Schatz, meanwhile, was right there trying to make the bottom work.
Wolfe led lap seven with
Dewease and Schatz breathing down his neck. Dewease drove under Wolfe in
turn three and slid into the lead on lap nine. The next time around, Schatz
drove under Wolfe to take second.
“I was trying to find a way
to get by Lucas without showing him my nose and making him change his line,”
said Dewease.
Dewease and Schatz would
streak away from Wolfe, Stewart and Cody Darrah was up to fifth.
Kraig Kinser blew an engine
on lap 18. The red flag was displayed because flames erupted from the car.
Schatz spun in the fluid from Kinser’s car in turn four, but never stopped
and would restart second behind Dewease, who picked the outside lane for the
double-file restart.
“We tightened it back up a
little bit,” said Dewease. “I didn’t want to get too crazy with it. It was a
lot better for about five laps, but the longer we run, it gets a little
looser. This place means a lot to me. I love winning here and beating the
Outlaws makes it all the sweeter.”
Dewease drove through the
middle of turn one and streaked away from Schatz on a very fast racing
surface thanks to rain.
Schatz began to close with
three laps to go as Dewease closed on traffic. Schatz was right there with
two laps remaining.
He ducked under Dewease in
turn three, but couldn’t clear the pass as they raced off turn four headed
for the white flag.
Dewease
would slide and clear Chad Layton in turns one and two to keep Schatz behind
him. That gave him the advantage he needed as he would hold off Schatz for
his 300th career sprint car win.
“This means everything to
the Dietz Family and I’m having a blast driving for them.” said Dewease. “To
get 300 this way is perfect. We were fortunate to have a good draw tonight
and take advantage of it. My car was really good on starts.”
Schatz, Wolfe, Darrah and
Alan Krimes completed the top five. Joey Saldana, Paul McMahan, Shane
Stewart, Danny Dietrich, from last, and Kerry Madsen rounded out the top 10.
“He got a good start and I
got in behind his dirty air,” said Schatz. “We ran him back down at the end,
but needed traffic to win the race. I thought we were going to get another
run on him on the last lap, but he cleared a lapped car and I didn’t so just
the way it worked.”
A rain shower hit the
speedway just as the B-main was lining up on the track. It delayed the show
for over two hours. The B-main restarted at around 12:20 a.m. and the A-main
took the green just before 1 a.m.
Donnie Kreitz set fast time
over the 44-car field with a lap of 16.757 seconds. Joey Saldana, Rodney
Westhafer, Lucas Wolfe and Donny Schatz were the top five qualifiers.
Lance Dewease, Alan Krimes,
Cody Darrah and Shane Stewart won the eight-lap heat races. Ryan Taylor won
the C-main. Dewease won the dash.
Dave Blaney won the B-main.
Sprint Car Feature (30
laps): 1. Lance Dewease. 2. Donny Schatz. 3. Lucas Wolfe. 4. Cody Darrah. 5.
Alan Krimes. 6. Joey Saldana. 7. Paul McMahan. 8. Shane Stewart. 9. Danny
Dietrich. 10. Kerry Madsen. 11. Stevie Smith. 12. Daryn Pittman. 13. Doug
Esh. 14. Brad Sweet. 15. Brent Marks. 16. Greg Hodnett. 17. David Gravel.
18. Donnie Kreitz. 19. Gerard McIntyre Jr. 20. Chad Layton. 21. Pat Cannon.
22. Kraig Kinser. 23. Dave Blaney. 24. Ryan Smith.
Did Not Qualify: Justin
Barger, Rodney Westhafer, Adam Wilt, Brian Montieth, Ryan Taylor, Ryan
Bohlke, Cory Haas, Steve Kinser, Curt Michael, Ryan Wilson, Aaron Ott, Jason
Sides, Nicole Bower, Troy Fraker, Logan Schuchart, Glenndon Forsythe, Tim
Shaffer, Jacob Allen, Steve Buckwalter, Austin Hogue.