Lincoln Speedway results 2003-08-23

Abbottstown, PA, 8/23/03 - The Eashs control the win tally, but Lance Dewease now has his first Lincoln track title after a thrilling 410 sprint feature at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night.

Darren Eash backed up his long-awaited 410 sprint win from a few weeks ago in the Gohn Memorial with another impressive run, starting fourth and leading every lap in the 25-lap feature. Though he led the whole way, it wasn't easy.

A three-car battle for second turned into a three-car race for the lead over the final laps. Brooke Weibley, Fred Rahmer, and Lance Dewease battled for second from laps six through 12, with Dewease squeezing under Rahmer for third on lap 13, then pulling the slider on Weibley for second on lap 19. Then Rahmer caught Weibley on lap 20, and closed in on Eash and Dewease as they were battling for the lead laps 21 through 24. Eash gave it everything he had to hold off the two sprint car superstars over the final lap, with Rahmer nipping Dewease for second at the line, .84 seconds behind the winner.

Ironically, Dewease's third place finish behind Rahmer was good enough to take the track championship away from Rahmer for the first time in seven years. It was Dewease's first-ever Lincoln title.

"This is just hard to believe," said a happy Eash in victory lane, "Things are going good, I've got Richie...everybody helps out, including (car owners) Jim and Sandy (Kline)."

"Tonight's kind of a cool night because my boy Greg here doesn't go too often to the races, and every time he goes I don't win. He finally got to see me win one. That was kind of cool."

"I saw Josh (Wells) was in front of me and he was fast enough that I didn't want to try anything stupid," said Eash, commenting on his dwindling lead over Dewease between laps 19 and 21, "I figured I'd stay behind him if I didn't see no body...then I saw Lance's (Dewease) nose and I had to sit up a little bit."

"I knew someone was there, and if I stayed on the top and kept my momentum up, I figured I'd be okay," said Eash, "Lance and Fred...they're the best in the country. Along with my brother (Cris), some of the best racers in the country are here."

"And those Outlaws," Eash continued, "If it wasn't for time trials, they'd be sitting in the pits a lot, too. They use time trials that are geared to them. We don't get that every week. If we got to do it every week, then maybe we'd have a chance. I'm not trying to take anything away from the Outlaw drivers, but start them 12th where Freddie, Lance, and Cris do and see what they'd do. They wouldn't be going right to the front like normal. That would change their story."

Eash was then asked about his two recent wins, increasing his career win total to four in the Pigeon Hills.

"To happen two times this quickly...I can't say enough for Jim and Sandy," Eash added. "Macri Concrete, Kriner Engines, Susquehanna Valley Harley Davidson, J&S Fabrication...(brother) Cris and his crew help us which is kind of good for us to work together."

"My dad's doing real good," Eash quickly added about his dad David Eash who underwent heart surgery a few weeks ago and joined him in victory lane, "It's been a long time since he got to see me win in a 410...that last time I won here was really emotional, really cool. Tonight I didn't need that extra boost, and we got the job done."

Brook Weibley crossed fourth, with Brian Montieth finishing fifth. Completing the top ten were Johnny Mackison, Jr., Doug Esh, Chris Knopp, Cris Eash, and Glenndon Forsythe.

Heats for the 23 "410" sprints were won by Rahmer, Glenndon Forsythe and Weibley.

Former Lincoln 410 sprint champ Dan Dietrich of Aspers grabbed the lead from race-long leader Rory Janney on a 12th-lap restart and held off California invader Steve Allard to claim his first win of the year in the 20-lap "358" sprint feature.

Allard, the 360 sprint points leader at the famous Chico Speedway in northern California, started 12th (one spot behind the points handicapping) in the #5 Novinger's car of Rusty Pressley. He drove a steady race to avoid numerous on-track incidents and climb into the top five when points leader Cory Haas spun while running fourth on lap 11. He drove under both Jon Keller and Tom Fraschetta for third on the restart, then passed Janney for the runner-up spot on lap 14. He showed Dietrich his nose during some gamesmanship on the final caution with three laps to go, but was never able to catch the Racers Used Parts Warehouse/Shellhamer's Hay & Straw #8.

It was Dietrich's third career win in the 358 division to go along with his 19 career 410 wins.

Janney hit the outside wall in turn four and brought out the caution to end his night on lap 15. Scott Ausherman was uninjured when he flipped over a spinning Billy Dietrich on lap three.

Fraschetta, Chad Trout, and Alan Krimes completed the top five, with Shawn Weaver, Keller, Eric Stambaugh (driving the Ken Berwager #85 after destroying his car at Williams Grove Friday night), Haas (who returned from the rear), and Jeff Young rounding out the top ten.

Heats for the 34 "358" sprints were won by Janney, Dan Dietrich and Scott Ausherman, with Keith Prutzman winning the consolation.

Bonneville's Steve Clabaugh turned in one of the most historic nights in thundercar history at Lincoln Speedway by claiming two feature wins in the same night.

The first win came in the make-up feature from last week's 8/16 rained-out event. Clabaugh inherited the lead when race-leader Craig Wagaman pulled into the pits under an eighth-lap caution and then led the rest of the way to take the checkered .84 seconds ahead of Greg Messersmith for his first Lincoln win of 2003. The win, his 26th of his career at Lincoln tied him with Jeremy Miller for third on the all-time win list.

Nat Tuckey finished third, Doug Devilbiss fourth, and Allen Cullum fifth.

In the regularly scheduled 20 lap thundercar feature, it didn't come quite as easily. But when it was done, Clabaugh took over sole possession of third place on the all time win list with his second win of the night.

In victory lane earlier in the night, Clabaugh said that he though the rear-end was going bad late in the race. And he was right.

Repairing the damaged rear-end forced Clabaugh to miss his heat race. And with no consolation race scheduled, was forced to tag the rear of the start of the second 20 lap feature.

But that didn't deter the determined 358 sprint and thundercar driver, as he methodically worked his way through the field and slipped around Tuckey exiting the second of the 15th lap, and then held on for the remaining laps to score the win over Tuckey, point leader Bernie Beard, Messersmith and Cullum.

Heats for the 29 thundercars were won by Wagaman, Messersmith and Ciezobka.

Next Saturday night, August 30th, is a big night as the 410 sprints compete in there final point race towards the Cindy Rowe Paintless Dent Removal Championship. The historic 51st championship race finale will honor one of the Pigeon Hill's most endearing drivers, Bobby Abel, with the Ninth Annual Memorial event.

Fred Rahmer's six-year reign as the 410 Sprint Cindy Rowe Champion will officially come to end at the conclusion of the Abel Memorial since the second winningist driver in Lincoln Speedway history is 725 points behind current point leader Lance Dewease and has already been mathematically eliminated from going after a record-breaking seventh straight title.

The 358 sprints will also be in competition this night in there next-to-last point race with defending champ Cory Haas holding a slim 50 point advantage over 2001 champ Eric Stambaugh.

The visiting INEX Legends will round out the evening's racing action.

Gates will open at 5:30 PM, with the first heat taking the green at 7:30 PM.

To get all the latest news, results, schedule changes and rule changes, visit Lincoln Speedway's website at http://www.lincolnspeedway.com to stay up-to-date on all the action or pending weather conditions at Central Pennsylvania's "Premier" Saturday night race track - The Fabulous Lincoln Speedway.

RACE RESULTS
Saturday - August 23, 2003
Lincoln Speedway
Abbottstown, PA

410 Sprints:

Feature (25 Laps) - 1. 22-Darren Eash ($2,500); 2. 88H-Fred Rahmer; 3. 77-Lance Dewease; 4. 32-Brook Weibley; 5. 10N-Niki Young; 6. 21P-Brian Montieth; 7. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr. 8. 30-Doug Esh; 9. 6K-Chris Knopp; 10. 17E-Cris Eash; 11. 21-Glenndon Forsythe; 12. 71-Brian Leppo; 13. 6W-Josh Wells; 14. X-Bobby Weaver; 15. 31D-Kevin Drury; 16. 47J-Jeff Busby; 17. 43-Larry Shive' 18. 25-Niki Gower; 19. 3W-Chris Webb; 20. 7K-Dan Shetler; 21. 66-Jim Siegel; 22. 51-Chappy Knaack; 23. 10X-Doug Rohrbaugh. No Time

Lap Leaders - Darren Eash (1-25)

1st Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 88H-Fred Rahmer; 2. 66-Jim Siegel; 3. 22-Darren Eash; 4. 77-Lance Dewease; 5. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 6. 47J-Jeff Busby; 7. 43-Larry Shive; 8. 10X-Doug Rohrbaugh (DNF). No Time

2nd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 21-Glenndon Forsythe; 2. X-Bobby Weaver; 3. 30-Doug Esh; 4. 6K-Chris Knopp; 5. 6W-Josh Wells; 6. 25-Nik Gower; 7. 51-Chappy Knaack (DNF); 8. 3W-Chris Webb (DNF). Time - 2:36.82

3rd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 32-Brook Weibley; 2. 17e-Cris Eash; 3. 10N-Niki Young; 4. 21P-Brian Montieth; 5. 31D-Kevin Drury; 6. 71-Brian Leppo; 7. 7K-Dan Shetler. Time - 2:35.90

358 Sprints:

Feature (20 Laps) - 1. 8-Dan Dietrich; 2. 5-Steven Allard; 3. 9C-Tom Fraschetta; 4. 7C-Chad Trout; 5. 87-Alan Krimes; 6. 7V-Shawn Weaver; 7. 20-Jon Keller; 8. 85-Eric Stambaugh; 9. 11C-Cory Haas; 10. 22D-Jeff Young; 11. 28-Keith Prutzman; 12. 2J-Billy Johns; 13. 8F-Stan Fleming; 14. 12-Mike Bittinger; 15. 00-Shane Smith; 16. 3-Clair Wintermyer; 17. 6H-Tim Hershey; 18. 24B-Pat Small; 19. 5A-Brian Allman; 20. 83-Michael Hamer (DNF); 21. 88J-Rory Janney (DNF); 22. 96-Al DeAngelis (DNF); 23. 8D-Billy Dietrich (DNF); 24. 39-Scott Ausherman (DNF). No time.

Lap Leaders - Rory Janney (1-11), Dan Dietrich (12-20)

1st Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 88J-Rory Janney; 2. 11C-Cory Haas; 3. 9C-Tom Fraschetta; 4. 20-Jon Keller; 5. 87-Alan Krimes; 6. 7V-Shawn Weaver; 7. 28-Keith Prutzman; 8. 00-Shane Smith; 9. 09-Brandon Grandstaff; 10. 27-Jay Galloway; 11. 31J-Joey Palmerino (DNF); 12. 1B-David Bull (DNF). No Time

2nd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 8-Dan Dietrich; 2. 8D-Billy Dietrich; 3. 22D-Jeff Young; 4. 7C-Chad Trout; 5. 83-Michael Hamer; 6. 8F-Stan Fleming; 7. 5A-Brian Allman; 8. 29K-Brent Kluge; 9. 15-Adam Wilt; 10. 4R-Mark Freeland (DNF). Time - 2:31.48

3rd Heat (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 39-Scott Ausherman; 2. 3-Clair Wintermyer; 3. 24B-Pat Small; 4. 5-Steven Allard; 5. 96-Al DeAngelis; 6. 12-Mike Bittinger; 7. 6H-Tim Hershey; 8. 85-Eric Stambaugh; 9. 2J-Billy Johns; 10. 6-Bill Sherman; 11. 6M-Brad McClelland (DNF). No Time

Consolation (10 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 28-Keith Prutzman; 2. 6H-Tim Hershey; 3. 2J-Billy Johns; 4. 85-Eric Stambaugh; 5. 5A-Brian Allman; 6. 00-Shane Smith; 7. 6M-Brad McClelland; 8. 09-Brandon Grindstaff; 9. 29K-Brent Kluge; 10. 31J-Joey Palmerino; 11. 27-Jay Galloway; 12. 15-Adam Wilt; 13. 1B-David Bull; 14. 56M-Mark Zellers; 15. 4R-Mark Freeland; 16. 6-Bill Sherman. No Time

Thundercars:

Make-up 8/16 Feature (20 Laps) - 1. 10-Steve Clabaugh; 2. 34-Greg Messersmith; 3. 52-Nat Tuckey; 4. 15-Doug Devilbiss; 5. 95-Allen Cullum; 6. X-Bernie Beard; 7. 1-Neil Smith; 8. 14-Chet McCormick; 9. 9-Al Cramer; 10. 4-Greg Feltch; 11. 7X-Tony Rose; 12. 25-Sean Herrick (DNF); 13. 30-Craig Wagaman (DNF); 14. 39-Wayne Dutterer (DNF); 15. 98-Dan Zechman (DNF); 16. 34M-Jim Martz Jr. (DNF); 17. 61S-Mike Slaybaugh (DNF); 18. 61-Mike Ciezobka (DNF); 19. 21A-Mike Zeigler Jr. (DNF); 20. 3-Mike Gladfelter (DNF); 21. 81-Mike Zeigler Sr. (DNF); 22. 70-Duane Hahn (DNF); 23. 63-William Knauss (DNF); 24. 6G-Ronald Grim (DNF). No Time

Lap Leaders - Sean Herrick (1-7), Steve Clabaugh (8-20)

Regularly Scheduled Feature (20 Laps) - 1. 10-Steve Clabaugh; 2. 52-Nat Tuckey; 3. X-Bernie Beard; 4. 34-Greg Messersmith; 5. 95-Allen Cullum; 6. 61-Mike Ciezobka; 7. 34M-Jim Martz Jr.; 8. 21A-Mike Zeigler Jr.; 9. 3-Mike Gladfelter; 10. 7X-Doug Rose; 11. 27-Ronnie Thomas; 12. 15-Doug Devilbiss; 13. 14-Chet McCormick; 14. 00-Barry Williams Jr.; 15. 17H-Tim Hahn; 16. 4-Greg Feltch; 17. 1-Neil Smith; 18. 88-Twain Toot; 19. 98-Randy Zechman; 20. 3R-Bobby Rudisill; 21. 25-Sean Herrick; 22. 9-Al Cramer; 23. 30-Craig Wagaman. No Time

Lap Leaders - Tim Hahn (1), Mike Ciezobka (2-9), Neil Smith (10-11), Nat Tuckey (12-14), Steve Clabaugh (15-20)

1st Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 30-Craig Wagaman; 2. 9-Al Cramer; 3. 14-Chet McCormick; 4. 17H-Tim Hahn; 5. 95-Allen Cullum; 6. 00-Barry Williams, Jr.; 7. 88-Dewain Toot; 8. 4-Greg Feltch (DNF); 9. 98-Dan Zechman (DNS); 10. 10-Steve Clabaugh (DNS). No Time

2nd Heat (8 Laps/6 to qualify) - 1. 34-Gregg Messersmith; 2. 25-Sean Herrick; 3. 34M-Jim Martz, Jr.; 4. 7X-Tony Rose; 5. 1-Neil Smith; 6. 27-Ronnie Thomas; 7. 3R-Bobby Rudisill (DQ); 8. X-Bernie Beard (DNF); 9. 21A-Mike Zeigler, Jr. (DNS); 10. 70-Duane Hahn (DNS). No Time

3rd Heat (1 Lap/6 to qualify) - 1. 61-Mike Ciezobka; 2. 15-Doug Devilbiss; 3. 3-Mike Gladfelter; 4. 52-Nat Tuckey; 5. 39-Wayne Dutter (DNF); DNS - 61S-Mike Slaybaugh, 63-William Knauss, 81-Mike Zeigler Sr., 6G-Ronald Grim. No Time