Lernerville report 2000-07-29

MECHANICSBURG, PA (July 29) -- Pennsylvania has been very good to Sammy Swindell this season. The three-time Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series champion won the first two "A" Features at Lernerville Speedway and finished second in a rain-shortened main event at Williams Grove Speedway in May before Saturday's rain-delayed finale at "The Grove." Swindell won the eighth "A" Feature of his career at Williams Grove, taking the lead during the 12th lap when Preliminary Feature winner Lance Dewease crashed, and leading the final 19. "I didn't really see what happened to Lance there, but I think something must have broken," Swindell said following his seventh victory of the season. "He's too good a driver to just spin by himself. I don't know if I would have had anything for him or not. We were pretty close there at the beginning." Swindell, who passed six cars to finish 14th in Thursday's Preliminary Feature, got off to a fast start. He received his 12th Vivarin Fast-Time Award of the year for pacing the qualifying session with a 100.812-m.p.h. lap around the legendary semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval. He won the First NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race and his runner-up run in the CHANNELLOCK Dash gave him privilege of starting the main event outside the front row. "We tried a new motor Thursday -- something a little different -- and it really didn't do what we wanted it to do," Sammy said. "We put this one back in and went with something we know tonight." Dewease, who won both CHANNELLOCK Dashes in Williams Grove's double-feature event, burst into the lead as the green flag fell in the 30-lap "A" Feature. Cris Eash challenged Swindell for second place before Second NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race winner Greg Hodnett drove Jimmy Vasser's #V12 Wirtgen Maxim into the high groove between the first and second corners to pass the 1987 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Rookie of the Year. Dewease was 1.5 seconds ahead of Swindell when he entered lapped traffic during the eighth lap. Lance spun into Todd Shaffer in turn one four laps later, however, and Swindell's #1 CHANNELLOCK Stealth was at the front of the field when the race resumed. Jac Haudenschild, who held Williams Grove's single-lap record for almost three years before Jeff Shepard broke it Thursday, took the high line around Eash for third place midway through the race. Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series points leader Steve Kinser, who started inside the sixth row, passed Eash one lap later. Third NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race winner Don Kreitz, Jr., relegated Eash to sixth place before a mechanical malfunction caused Dewease to stop on the back straightaway late in lap 17. Kreitz passed Kinser for fourth, then challenged "The Wild Child" for third for the next four laps. "The King of the Outlaws" drove his #11 Quaker State Maxim around Kreitz high in turn two, then took the low line through turns three and four to pass Haudenschild for third place during the 23rd lap. Swindell caught the backmarkers with a 1.5-second advantage two laps later, only to have Kinser narrow the gap to .7 seconds by lap 27. Kinser almost took the lead with an inside move into the fourth corner late in the 29th lap. "The King of the Outlaws" attempted the same move as the leaders headed for the checkered flag, but was .3 seconds behind when Swindell took the checkered flag. "I knew I was slowing up a little there at the end, especially when I got into lapped traffic," Swindell admitted. "The CHANNELLOCK car was good enough to win, but that's about it. I know there were some other guys faster there at the end. When the track gets slick, it's hard to make up your momentum. "I never saw him (Kinser) at the end. I was just close to the wall trying not to make any mistakes. I didn't know anything but running the top and, fortunately, I didn't have to change my line in traffic." Hodnett held off Kreitz for third place. Haudenschild finished fifth, ahead of Dale Blaney, Andy Hillenburg, Johnny Herrera, Eash and Shepard, who started inside the ninth row. The Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series will take a week off before sanctioning the "Night Before The Big One" race at Eldora Speedway Saturday. WoO 2000 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA Saturday, July 29, Feature Program #41 Vivarin qualifications: 1. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 17.855; 2. Greg Hodnett, Millennium Racing V12, 17.859; 3. Dale Blaney, DB Racing 93, 17.925; 4. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 17.959; 5. Daryn Pittman, Pittman 3, 17.959; 6. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 17.982; 7. Don Kreitz, Jr., Kreitz 69, 18.011; 8. Skip Jackson, Keen 53K, 18.056; 9. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 18.091; 10. Johnny Herrera, DOCC Motorsports 20, 18.108; 11. Tim Shaffer, Helm 11H, 18.159; 12. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 18.161; 13. Jeff Shepard, Double L Racing 4J, 18.184; 14. Curt Michael, Dyer 461, 18.257; 15. Danny Wood, Woodburn 21W, 18.278; 16. Fred Rahmer, Hamilton 77, 18.288; 17. Brad Furr, Furr 2F, 18.292; 18. Danny Lasoski, Roth 83, 18.323; 19. Dean Jacobs, Holbrook 8H, 18.330; 20. Todd Shaffer, Beam 88, 18.362; 21. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 18.385; 22. Jason Statler, ATM/Rios 00, 18.387; 23. Joey Saldana, Saldana 17, 18.421; 24. Paul McMahan, Johnson U2, 18.423; 25. Brian Paulus, Parsons 6, 18.494; 26. Sean Michael, Zematis 1Z, 18.494; 27. Len Thompson, Thompson 10, 18.889; 28. Shawn Keen, Keen 53, 19.010; 29. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 19.017; 30. Jim Carter, Rudeen 14C, 19.025; 31. Mike Wagner, Wagner 55W, 19.110; 32. Rick Lafferty, Lafferty 0, 19.374; 33. Todd Rittenhouse, Jr., Gallagher 5G, 19.957; 34. Bob Bennett, Mickle 3B, 20.088; 35. Dan Shetler, Shetler 7K, 20.235; 36. Ed Fischl II, Fischl 40, 20.690; 37. Troy Fraker, Fraker 21T, 20.837; 38. Brooke Tatnell, Parsons 6L, no time. First NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Andy Hillenburg, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Brad Furr, 6. Jeff Shepard, 7. Sean Michael, 8. Todd Rittenhouse, Jr., 9. Troy Fraker, 10. Mark Kinser. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Second NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Greg Hodnett, 2. Danny Lasoski, 3. Johnny Herrera, 4. Steve Kinser, 5. Curt Michael, 6. Jason Statler, 7. Brian Paulus, 8. Jim Carter, 9. Bob Bennett. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Third NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Don Kreitz, Jr., 2. Dale Blaney, 3. Tim Shaffer, 4. Joey Saldana, 5. Danny Wood, 6. Dean Jacobs, 7. Len Thompson, 8. Mike Wagner, 9. Dan Shetler (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Fourth NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jac Haudenschild, 2. Paul McMahan, 3. Fred Rahmer, 4. Donny Schatz, 5. Skip Jackson, 6. Todd Shaffer, 7. Shawn Keen, 8. Rick Lafferty, 9. Ed Fischl II. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Finishing 1-4 in Thursday's Preliminary Feature qualified Lance Dewease, Cris Eash, Keith Kauffman and Dave Ely for the first four starting positions in the CHANNELLOCK Dash. CHANNELLOCK Dash (six laps): 1. Lance Dewease, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Cris Eash, 4. Dave Ely, 5. Greg Hodnett, 6. Don Kreitz, Jr., 7. Keith Kauffman, 8. Jac Haudenschild. (finish determined first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Jeff Shepard, 2. Skip Jackson, 3. Dean Jacobs, 4. Sean Michael, 5. Danny Wood, 6. Brad Furr ($200); 7. Todd Shaffer, 8. Shawn Keen, 9. Brian Paulus ($90); 10. Jason Statler ($80); 11. Mark Kinser, 12. Mike Wagner ($50); 13. Len Thompson ($50); 14. Rick Lafferty ($50); 15. Jim Carter ($50); 16. Bob Bennett ($50); 17. Troy Fraker ($50); 18. Curt Michael ($50); 19. Dan Shetler ($50); 20. Ed Fischl II ($50); 21. Todd Rittenhouse, Jr. ($50). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (30 laps): 1. Sammy Swindell ($12,000); 2. Steve Kinser ($6,000); 3. Greg Hodnett ($3,500); 4. Don Kreitz, Jr. ($3,200); 5. Jac Haudenschild ($3,000); 6. Dale Blaney ($2,500); 7. Andy Hillenburg ($2,300); 8. Johnny Herrera ($2,200); 9. Cris Eash ($2,100); 10. Jeff Shepard ($2,070); 11. Danny Lasoski ($2,000); 12. Keith Kauffman ($1,600); 13. Daryn Pittman ($1,500); 14. Stevie Smith ($1,200); 15. Joey Saldana ($1,100); 16. Donny Schatz ($1,000); 17. Dean Jacobs ($920); 18. Tim Shaffer ($700); 19. Shawn Keen ($720); 20. Mark Kinser ($720); 21. Paul McMahan ($700); 22. Fred Rahmer ($700); 23. Sean Michael ($720); 24. Danny Wood ($720); 25. Dave Ely ($700); 26. Todd Shaffer ($720); 27. Lance Dewease ($700); 28. Skip Jackson ($720). Provisional starters -- Mark Kinser, Danny Wood, Todd Shaffer, Shawn Keen Lap leaders: Lance Dewease 1-11, Sammy Swindell 12-30 Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Sammy Swindell WoO