Dewease is the 19th different World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series winner of the season
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. - July 19, 2014 - After a nearly three hour rain delay that pushed the start of the feature into the early morning hours of Sunday, Lance Dewease held off Donny Schatz to win night two of Summer Nationals at Williams Grove Speedway. Dewease's win gave the Pennsylvania Posse a sweep of Summer Nationals and made him the 19th different World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series winner of the season.
In the closing laps of the feature, Schatz gave Dewease a strong challenge.
"The lapped cars, I had to run the top," said Dewease, driver of the C.C. Dietz Builders car. "That was the only place I was any good at. I was trying to time the lapped cars so I could get a good run going into one so I could fly by them. I got to Chad and the 16 and they were kind of racing each other - kind of watched myself a little bit and I guess I backed off a little too much and let Donny try to slide me."
"This is special for me. It's been a while since I earned one of these flags. Anybody that knows me, this place means a lot to me and I love winning here and beating the Outlaws just makes it all the sweeter. It's a good rivalry between us and the Outlaws. They're great racers, we have great racers and that's what makes it so special."
Dewease, who ended a long drought with his win, scored the 300th win of his career. He has eight previous World of Outlaw wins.
Rain began to fall shortly after 9 p.m. bringing out red flag conditions. The Last Chance Showdown and A main had yet to be run on night two of Summer Nationals.
When track work began two hours later, most of the now wet but enthusiastic Williams Grove crowd remained at the facility. After brief hot laps sessions, the green flag fell on Last Chance Showdown. Dave Blaney went on to win with Brad Sweet, Greg Hodnett and Ryan Smith in close pursuit.
Lance Dewease and Lucas Wolfe led the field to the green flag in the A main. Wolfe, a Mechanicsburg, Pa. native, took an early lead as Schatz, who started fourth, challenged Shane Stewart for the third position. Following a red flag on lap two, Schatz took over the third position.
A caution on lap eight gave Dewease the opportunity he needed to get around Wolfe. Dewease led lap nine as Schatz took over the second place position from Wolfe.
On lap 18, Kraig Kinser experienced an engine failure and dropped oil onto the backstretch and into turns three and four right as the leaders caught up with him. Dewease got around, but Schatz hit the oil in his STP/Armor All car and after doing a complete 360-degree spin, kept his car going, maintaining position. A red flag flew right after, freezing the field as cleanup got underway.
Dewease jumped out to a dominate lead through much of what remained of the feature. Schatz closed the gap as the two encountered lapped traffic with just a few laps remaining. On lap 28, Schatz took one last shot at Dewease but could not get around.
"We ran him back down there at the end," Schatz said. "We needed traffic to win the race. It allowed us to get to him, got underneath him in three and four once but couldn't quite clear him. I thought we would get another run on him in the last lap but he cleared a lapped car and I didn't - just the way it worked."
After leading the first eight laps, Wolfe finished the night in the third position in his Zemco Speed Equipment car.
"It was certainly a little unusual tonight with the rain so we didn't know what the track was going to do," Wolfe said. "I just wasn't good enough there. It saved me having an open red there, I was able to work on it a little bit and salvage third.
"Disappointed to give up such a good opportunity like that, especially as good as the restarts were there on the top… but Lance did a great job. They were certainly a lot better, so congrats to them and their whole group. We'll just keep working on it and improve for the future."
Schatz extended his points lead over second place Daryn Pittman to 63 points. Third place Paul McMahan is 98 points out of the lead.
The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series next makes a swing through New York State, returning to the track Sunday at Lebanon Valley Speedway. Fulton Speedway hosts the Outlaws Wednesday before a three race stretch through Canada.
WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY NOTES: Lance Dewease became the 19th different winner of the season… Lance Dewease, Alan Krimes, Cody Darrah and Shane Stewart all won their heat races at Williams Grove… Don Kreitz Jr. scored the quick time on night two at Williams Grove… Danny Dietrich was the KSE Hard Charger of the night, advancing 15 positions to finish in ninth.
SEASON WINNERS: Daryn Pittman - 10 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 14, Calistoga Speedway on April 6, Devil's Bowl Speedway on April 19, Williams Grove Speedway on May 16 and May 17, Orange County Fair Speedway, May 18, New Egypt Speedway, May 20, Dodge City Raceway Park on July 4 and 5 and Lincoln Speedway on July 17); Donny Schatz - 9 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 15, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 6, Devil's Bowl Speedway on April 19, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 27, I-96 Speedway on May 31, River Cities Speedway on June 20, 34 Raceway on June 27, Cedar Lake Speedway on June 29 and Lernerville Speedway in July 15); Joey Saldana - 5 (Perris Auto Speedway on April 12, Salina Highbanks on April 25, The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 23, I-80 Speedway on June 6 and Jackson Speedway on June 13); Brad Sweet - 5 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Tucson International Raceway on March 8, Calistoga Speedway on April 5, Knoxville Raceway on June 14 and Beaver Dam Raceway on June 28); Kerry Madsen - 4 (Stockton Dirt track on March 22, El Paso Speedway Park on April 15, Lakeside Speedway on June 7 and Eldora Speedway on July 12); David Gravel - 3 (Merced Speedway on March 28, Eldora Speedway on May 3, and Wilmot Raceway on May 9); Paul McMahan - 3 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 5, Tri-State Speedway on May 10 and Limaland Motorsports Park on July 9); Cody Darrah - 2 (Kings Speedway on April 11 and Lernerville Speedway on July 15); Rico Abreu - 1 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 15); Sammy Swindell - 2 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on April 26 and Eldora Speedway on July 11); Dale Blaney - 1 (Attica Raceway Park on May 30); Christopher Bell - 1 (Jacksonville Speedway on May 7); Lance Dewease - 1 (July 20 at Williams Grove Speedway); Greg Hodnett - 1 (July 18 at Williams Grove Speedway); Roger Crockett - 1 (I-94 Speedway on June 21); Mark Dobmeier - 1 (Huset's Speedway on July 2); Steve Kinser - 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 16); Stevie Smith - 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 14); Shane Stewart - 1 (Eldora Speedway on May 2) .
- administrator on Jul 21, 2014
- Article Date: 7/20/2014