Lincoln Speedway 1999-04-17

Ken Plotkin - Motorsport News International

Abbottstown, PA (April 17, 1999) - Fred Rahmer won tonight's Super Sprint feature at Lincoln Speedway, a feat he has now accomplished three times this season and 77 times in his lifetime. Unlike many of his other wins, he was not the "happening" of the evening. That honor belonged to Cris Eash and Kevin Gobrecht, who wowed the crowd through their heats and two-thirds of the feature.

38 Super Sprints signed into Lincoln on a cold, dark night with threatening weather. Eash and Gobrecht have been hot this season, and continued to steam in their heat races. Gobrecht began Heat 2 in the third row, but immediately blasted into the lead, splitting Shane Smith and Donnie Kreitz Jr. through turn 1, with fractions of an inch to spare on each side. G-Man was never challenged, and drew out to more than half a lap over everybody else. Eash left a similar mark in Heat 3, quickly moving from fourth starting position to the lead and holding it all the way. Rahmer was content for a third in Heat 3, later saying "I'll give a little bit in the heat races, but come feature time I don't give."

When the 25 lap feature took the green and headed for Turn 1, Eash immediately dove from his fourth place start to the inside, and led the field through 2. Hot shoes further back began moving up quickly, Gobrecht jumping from eighth to fourth in that first lap. Action slowed after one lap for a spin, then was stopped in Lap 5 for a flip. The crowd was treated to an instant replay of sorts, when a number of great passes on Lap 5 were for naught because of the red, then re-done on the restart. Gobrecht was one of the "re-doers", moving into second place right onto Eash's tail. For the next dozen laps, the pair put on a spectacular show. Cris rode high, while Kevin stayed on his bumper and tried looking low, with no success as the top was the place to be.

There was good racing back in the pack, with Rahmer moving into third after a tough battle with Dave Ely. P.J. Chesson and Jamie Chesson ran strong behind that pair, and Lance Dewease moved up to challenge the Chessons. That was overshadowed by Eash and Gobrecht pulling half a straghtaway ahead of everybody else, keeping it up through heavy traffic.

With 17 laps in, the Cris and Kevin duel emerged from traffic into clear track. Gobrecht took another shot low going into 1, drew even with Eash, but then drifted up and made contact in 2, spinning both cars. In an instant the E and G show averaged itself into a pair of Fs.

As Eash and Gobrecht rejoined the back of the pack, third place Rahmer found himself in the lead, followed by Ely, James Chesson, P.J. Chesson, and Lance Dewease. On the green, Rahmer pulled out a safe lead over Ely, while Dewease began an assault on the Chessons, getting past them after several laps and setting his sights on Ely.

A final yellow came out after 24 laps, setting up a one-lap shootout. Rahmer, who never gives in the feature, kept control on the restart. Ely kept Dewease at bay on the start. But Lance kept his foot in it for the entire lap and nipped Ely by a whisker at the line for second place. They were followed by James Chesson, then Jeff Shepard who had worked past P.J Chesson after coming up from a 15th place start.

In Victory Lane, Rahmer was happy to have been in position to win when Eash and Gobrecht had their problem. Fred said that he was able to be there because of changes made to his car during the red. "We were in a great place, and I'm glad to win." He thinks the competition is tough this year, with some of his competitors stepping up their programs in response to his spectactular season last year. Fast Freddy still thinks he can hold his own. "There's a lot of guys that are gonna beat us on a lot of nights, but in the end I think I'll do my share of winning."

The evening was filled out by the season-opener of the ARDC Midgets and a full Thundercar program. Bryan Kobylarz continued his winning ways in the Midgets, taking both his heat race and the 25 lap feature. Craig Wagaman also swept in the Thundercars, winning his heat and leading all 15 laps of the feature.

Race Results Saturday, April 17, 1999 LINCOLN SPEEDWAY Abbottstown, PA

SUPER SPRINTS Feature (25 laps) 1. 77-Fred Rahmer ($2,500); 2. 461-Lance Dewease; 3. 77E-Dave Ely; 4. 22-James Chesson; 5. 4J-Jeff Shepard; 6. 76-P.J. Chesson; 7. 10N-Dave Haight; 8. 88-Todd Shaffer; 9. 69-Donnie Kreitz Jr.; 10. 59-Steve Siegel; 11. 88A -Kenny Adams; 12. 3-Bob Bennett; 13. 17E-Cris Eash; 14. 2W-Jesse Wentz; 15. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 16. 8-Danny Jones; 17. 00-Shane Smith; 18. 55S-Bill Sims; 19. 1B-Jimmy Burns; 20. 11-Kevin Gobrecht (DNF); 21. 25-Todd Gracey (DNF); 22. 7-Keith Kauffman ( DNF); 23. 3H-Kevin Higgins (DNF); 24. 94-Glendon Forsythe (DNF). No Time

Lap Leaders Cris Eash (1-17), Fred Rahmer (18-25)

1st Heat (10 Laps/4 to qualify) 1. 7-Keith Kauffman; 2. 3-Bob Bennett; 3. 76-P.J. Chesson; 4. 8J-Danny Jones; 5. 59-Steve Siegel; 6. 32-Randy Glover; 7. 10X-Doug Rohrbaugh; 8. 0-John Garrett; 9. X-Dan Long; 10. 3H-Kevin Higgins (DNF). Time - 2:18.59

2nd Heat (10 Laps/4 to qualify) 1. 11-Kevin Gobrecht; 2. 461-Lance Dewease; 3. 00-Shane Smith; 4. 69-Donnie Kreitz Jr.; 5. 88A-Kenny Adams; 6. 94-Glendon Forsythe; 7. 32W-Brook Weibley; 8. 43-Larry Shive; 9. 6W-Josh Wells (DNF). Time - 2:20.65

3rd Heat (10 Laps/4 to qualify) 1. 17E-Cris Eash; 2. 77E-Dave Ely; 3. 77-Fred Rahmer; 4. 4J-Jeff Shepard; 5. 10N-Dave Haight; 6. 03-Jeff Miller; 7. 12W-Troy Fraker; 8. 26-Pat Cooper; 9. 1M-Babe Mader; 10. 10-Chad Wolf (DNF). No Time

4th Heat (10 Laps/4 to qualify) 1. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 2. 22-James Chesson; 3. 2W-Jesse Wentz; 4. 88-Tod Shaffer; 5. 1B-Jimmy Burns; 6. 29-Jimmy McBee (DNF); 7. 25-Todd Shaffer (DNF); 8. 55S-Bill Sims (DNF); 9. 8D-Billy Dietrich (DNF). No Time

1st Consolation (10 Laps/4 to qualify) 1. 59-Steve Siegel; 2. 88A-Kenny Adams; 3. 94-Glendon Forsythe; 4. 3H-Kevin Higgins; 5. 32-Randy Glover; 6. X-Dan Long; 7. 6W-Josh Wells (DNF); 8. 32W-Brook Weibley (DNF); 9. 43-Larry Shive (DNF); 10. 10X-Doug Rohr baugh (DNF); 11. 0-John Garrett (DNF). No Time

2nd Consolation (10 Laps/4 to qualify) 1. 10N-Dave Haight; 2. 25-Todd Gracey; 3. 1B-Jimmy Burns; 4. 55S-Bill Sims; 5. 26-Pat Cooper; 6. 12W-Troy Fraker; 7. 03-Jeff Miller; 8. 7K-Dan Shetler; 9. 1M-Babe Mader; DNS - 29-Jimmy McBee, 8D-Billy Dietrich, 10- Chad Wolf. No Time