Port Royal race report 2002-09-06

Hodnett scores Tuscarora Preliminary; Hess wins Late Model main.

PORT ROYAL, PA - Simply said, it was a passing clinic.

That's the best way to describe Greg Hodnett's performance during Friday's 25-lap sprint car feature event at Port Royal Speedway.

Hodnett started 11th in the 24-car field, but it didn't matter.

No, Hodnett could have spotted the rest of the field a full lap.

A quick summary of Hodnett's move to the front; he was in fifth by the second lap, third on lap three second on lap four and first on the fifth lap.

The next 20 laps were a matter of formality.

Hodnett's victory was his second of the season at Port Royal and his 19th overall. It also locked him into Saturday's Tuscarora 50 along with Lance Dewease, Don Kreitz Jr. and Keith Kauffman, all who completed the top-four spots.

"We happened to catch some breaks," Hodnett said. "It really helped us out by having the top of the track get some moisture before the feature event."

That's exactly where Hodnett went at the start.

While most cars were opting to settle for the inside line, Hodnett stuck the Bob Stewart-owned car along the outside of the track and began to put on a passing clinic.

And it worked.

The first and only red flag of the race came out during the completion of lap two when Len Thompson and Mark Coldren made contact on the frontstretch. Both cars hit the inside fence. The cars sustained numerous damage, but neither driver was injured.

Hodnett pass for the lead came on the backstretch when he drifted to the outside of Kreitz coming off turn 2 to gather the lead.

He, then, went to extend a lead by a half straight.

Thanks to some lapped traffic, Dewease, who moved into second on lap 12, closed to within four car lengths at the end of the race.

Mark Smith completed the top five. Todd Hestor, Fred Rahmer, Sean Michael, Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Frey completed the top 10.

Heats for the 33 cars went to Michael, Hodnett, Dewease and Hestor. Troy Whitesel won the consolation.

In a thrilling 20-lap late model feature, Mike Hess held off Scott Haus on the final lap en route to claiming the the final main event of the season for the stock cars. Steve Campbell, Travis Dillman and Dale Kerstetter completed the top five.

Heats for the 23 late models went to Haus and Campbell.

-prs-