Dewease races to Williams Grove checkered
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MECHANICSBURG -- Lance Dewease continues adding to his legacy at Williams Grove Speedway.
The Hall of Fame sprint car driver from Fayetteville scored the feature win Friday night. The win was No. 112 for him at the Grove alone. Dewease has 121 wins at Port Royal Speedway. He ranks first at the Grove and second at Por Royal on the career win lists.
Dewease is already in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa. His car owner, Don Kreitz Jr., and mechanic, Davey Brown Sr., are enshrined there as well. Dewease could be there on his career at the Grove alone where he's been winning championships and the biggest races since the early 1990s.
Typically, Dewease, and the 69K Team, don't run 'regular' shows. They stick to the higher paying time trial races, such as the Williams Grove National Open that they won last year and a big $75,000 payday.
However, Hoosier came out with new racing tires for the sprint cars this season. Dewease needed more laps on those tires to get better for the year ahead.
While he did start on the pole of the 25-lap feature Friday night, he had to turn back Danny Dietrich a few times in lapped traffic before scoring the win -his first of the '23 season.
"I wasn't very good at the beginning, but I got rolling at the end," Dewease said. "Danny kind of woke me up. I haven't been doing a very good job this year so far. That's why we're racing more. The car was better than it was last week. I couldn't hesitate any more with those lapped cars."
Dewease will be after an $8,000 payday this Friday night as the Grove presents the Tommy Hinnershitz Classic. Hinnershitz won the first ever race at the Grove back on May 21, 1939. He went on to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and was one of the greatest racers of his era.
The race will be unsanctioned this year. Dewease is a three-time Hinnershitz Classic winner.
"That's why we're here tonight, to get better for that," he said. "Everybody knows we work towards those big shows."
Dewease and Dietrich traded the lead during the mid-part of the 25-lap feature. Dewease got back around Dietrich and was a bit better through traffic than Dietrich over the final 10 laps.
The tread pattern and compound are different on the new tires, so old set-ups don't work anymore. The tires are mandated by all local speedways and the World of Outlaws and All-Star Circuit of Champions.
"These new tires are totally different and they're working hard to get the car better," Dewease said.
It was Dewease over Dietrich as Devon Borden crossed third, but was penalized two spots for jumping on the initial start. Freddie Rahmer, Kyle Reinhardt and Borden completed the top five. Austin Bishop, TJ Stutts, Dylan Cisney, Lucas Wolfe, and Steve Buckwalter rounded out the top 10.
Logan Spahr went from fourth to first on the opening lap of the 20-lap feature for the 305 sprint cars. He easily scored the win over Seth Schnoke, Timmy Bittner, Ken Duke Jr. and Austin Reed.
Alex Bright held off Briggs Danner to win the USAC East Coast Wingless 360 sprint feature at the Grove Friday night. Bobby Butler, Christian Bruno, and Steve Snyder completed the top five.
RACING ROUNDUP
Port Royal Speedway was rained out Saturday night. This Saturday, the speedway presents a $10,000 to win race for the sprint cars. The late models and limited late models are also on the schedule.
Dylan Cisney, Lucas Wolfe and Borden have won sprint car features so far. Dillan Stake, Drake Troutman and Gregg Satterlee have late model wins. Devon Hart won the only limited late model feature and Logan Spahr the lone 305 sprint car feature.