Weekend race summary 2003-10-05

Williams Grove

History was made once again.

The winningist driver in World of Outlaw history and the winningist driver in history at Williams Grove Speedway battled in a race for the ages Saturday night in the 41st running of the Williams Grove National Open.

And when the dust had cleared, "The King" Steve Kinser became the first four-time winner of the most prestigious sprint car race in the East.

Kinser, after shadowing Dewease's every move for several laps, slid under the defending three-time National Open winner in the first and second turns of the 33rd lap to grab the lead.

And then in what could be considered the biggest move of the race, immediately dove down to the inside guardrail heading down the backstretch exiting the second turn to block Dewease's anticipated attempt to take the top spot back.

After shutting the door on Dewease's retaliatory move, the 17-time World of Outlaw champion drove flawlessly over the final seven laps to become the first four-time winner of sprint car racing's most prestigious race east of the a Mississippi.

"Racing at this place (Williams Grove) is as tough as it gets," said the Bloomington, Indiana racer. "It feels good anytime you win here with the caliber of cars and the drivers that race here you've accomplished something."

"I knew if I drifted high he'd (Lance Dewease) try to get me back on the bottom in turns three and four," said Kinser about his race-winning move to block Dewease after taking the lead on the 33rd lap. "I kind of drove down to the bottom on the backstretch."

2000 National Open winner Donny Schatz grabbed the lead at the outset of the 40 lap $30,000-to-win event from his pole position

Outside frontrow starter Keith Kauffman, looking to win the one race he's failed to win over his storied racing career, stalked the South Dakota racer for the first nine laps.

But Kauffman's hopes of winning ended on the 10th lap when the ageless veteran lost the handle in the third and fourth turns, spun and came to a stop.

Kauffman's spin allowed fourth-starting Dewease to take over the chase in second place behind Schatz on the subsequent restart. The Fayetteville racer then made his bid to become the first four-time National Open winner by sliding under Schatz through the third and fourth turns of the 12th lap to take the lead.

Officials then decided to stop 40 lap race at the half-way point to give all the teams the opportunity the refuel for the final 20 laps.

A lap after restarting the red flag waved for a violent six-car accident in the first and second turns that saw Jason Meyers and Brooke Weibley flip with Jac Haudenschild, Jason Sides, Sammy Swindell, Jonathan Allard, and Johnny Herrera involved as well. All drivers involved were uninjured with Sides, Haudenschild, and Herrera able to restart.

Third-starting Kinser then began his march to the front and passed Schatz exiting the seconds turn of the 22nd lap to move into second. Kinser immediately closed onto Dewease's bumper and made his race-winning move exiting the second turn of the 33rd lap.

As Kinser exited the second turn following his pass for the lead, he immediately dove down to the inside of the backstretch to block Dewease's anticipated move to try and reclaim the lead.

Dewease, forced to back out of the throttle, was forced to fall in line behind Kinser and couldn't find any way to get back around the 35-time Williams Grove winner over the race's final seven lap as Kinser took the checkered six car-lengths ahead of Dewease.

Dewease's second place finish did have a silver lining as he clinched his third-straight, and fifth overall Williams Grove Speedway track championship in the final point race of the season.

Danny Lasoski lost a little more ground in his race to catch Kinser in the battle for the World of Outlaw championship by finishing behind the point leader in third. Schatz held on for a fourth place finish over Mark Kinser who ended up fifth.

Finishing sixth through 10th were Greg Hodnett, Daryn Pittman, Doug Esh, Tim Shaffer and Brian Paulus.

All the heat races, the C-Feature, and the B-main went caution free, with Kraig Kinser setting a new eight-lap track record (2 minutes 13.85 seconds) in winning his heat.

Schatz won Friday nights 25 lap $5,000-to-win preliminary National Open feature over Keith Kauffman, Kinser, and Dewease, locking all four into Saturday night's National Open with a starting spot in the dash.

OTHER AREA RACING ACTION

JASON MEYERS DOMINATES PORT ROYAL OUTLAW ACTION

Jason Meyers led all 25 laps en route to his fifth win on the World of Outlaw circuit Thursday night at Port Royal Speedway.

Meyers started outside the front row and drove under the checkered flag with a straightaway to spare for his fourth A-Feature win during the Outlaw series' 25th Anniversary Season.

Meyers, the ninth-fastest car in the 40-car field, won his seventh Dash Race of the season for the privilege of starting next to Jac Haudenschild on the front row.

The front-row starters raced wheel-to-wheel down the front stretch and through the first corner with Meyers surging ahead high in turn two.

After 25 laps Meyers took the checkered by almost a straightaway over Daryn Pittman, with World of Outlaws Series points leader Steve Kinser finishing third, Tim Shaffer fourth, and Danny Lasoski fifth.

Finishing sixth through 10th were 18th-starting Kraig Kinser, 19th-starting Jason Sides, female racer Erin Crocker, 20th-starting Mike Erdley and Johnny Herrera.

TRAIL-WAY RESCHEDULES KEVIN GOBRECHT MEMORIAL

Saturday night's Kevin Gobrecht Memorial for the micro-sprints at Trail-Way Speedway was postponed until Sunday afternoon, October 5th due to rain.

RAIN POSTPONES WEST VIRGINIA XTREME DIRTCAR SERIES EVENT UNTIL SUNDAY

Rain on Saturday forced postponement of the $25,000-to-win Xtreme DirtCar Series/Renegade DirtCar Series Charter Communications RaceFest World Championship at West Virginia Motor Speedway until Sunday afternoon, October 5th.

-bill meyer-