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Lernerville report 98-05-19

Rahmer Records First Outlaws Victory at Lernerville By Richard Day SARVER, PA (May 19) - Over the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' 20-year history, its regular drivers have won all but two "A" Features per ...

Rahmer Records First Outlaws Victory at Lernerville By Richard Day SARVER, PA (May 19) - Over the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' 20-year history, its regular drivers have won all but two "A" Features per season, on the average. It's not often, but sometimes a local star gets hot and beats the series' fire- breathing, mudslinging sprint cars under the checkered flag. Fred Rahmer put his name in the World of Outlaws record book Tuesday on Purvis Brothers/Pennzoil Night before a sellout crowd at Lernerville Speedway, passing fellow Pennsylania Posse member Lance Dewease late in the 22nd lap and leading the final 14 laps. The $10,000 victory was Rahmer's first in a Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series main event, and the first for owner Al Hamilton since series points leader Stevie Smith drove his red #77 to victory on April 1, 1994, at Hutchinson Raceway Park. It was the first time a World of Outlaws regular failed to lead a lap in one of its "A" Features since Dewease led all 40 in the 1996 Williams Grove National Open. "I thought I was a pretty good local driver, but tonight I'm a real driver," Rahmer said proudly. "I won tonight, but I know the Outlaws are going to be even tougher later this week (in the Channellock Spring Classic at Williams Grove Speedway). "We won four in a row last weekend and that gave us a lot of confidence coming into tonight. We'll be confident Thursday and Friday, but I'm sure the Outlaws will step it up a notch. I have so much respect for these guys. I may never get another one, so I'll enjoy it tonight. Al Hamilton has given me the best race car I've ever had, and I'm glad to win one for him." Rahmer, the third-fastest qualifier in the 55-car field, followed Tyler Walker and Dewease across the finish line in the Channellock Dash for the right to start the 35-lap "A" Feature inside the second row. Walker and Dewease raced wheel-to-wheel down the front straightaway and through the first corner before Dewease surged ahead in turn two. Rahmer passed Walker for second, then Danny Lasoski steered the #83 Beef Packers Eagle into the low groove between the third and fourth corners to take over third place. Dewease was six car-lengths ahead of Rahmer when he entered lapped traffic during the fifth lap. The leaders raced with the backmarkers for only a lap, however, before Johnny Herrera took the #47 Casey's General Stores Maxim for a spin in turn two. Dewease controlled the restart and caught the backmarkers again with a 12-car-length advantage four laps later. The 13th lap proved unlucky for Dewease. His back-stretch collision with Mike Woodring allowed Rahmer to narrow the gap to two car-lengths. Dewease increased his lead to eight car-lengths within four laps, only to have Rahmer narrow the gap in dense lapped traffic by lap 20. Rahmer took the lead with a low move through the third and fourth corners two laps later. A series of yellow and red periods kept Rahmer from building a comfortable advantage. Lasoski passed Dewease for second place during the 29th-lap restart, but was unable to challenge Rahmer during the final six laps. Rahmer took the checkered flag with six car-lengths to spare. Mark Kinser, winner of the last two Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup races at Lernerville, passed Dewease for third place during the 31st-lap restart. Sammy Swindell, the defending Purvis Brothers/Pennzoil champion, finished fifth, ahead of Steve Kinser, Walker, Jac Haudenschild, Smith and Kenny Jacobs. Mark Kinser received his fifth Vivarin Fast-Time Award of the year after pacing the qualifying session with a 13.102-second, 137.384-m.p.h. run around the semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval. WoO 1998 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Purvis Brothers/Pennzoil Night Lernerville Speedway, Sarver, PA Tuesday, May 19, Feature Program #17 Qualifications: 1. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 13.102; 2. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 13.237; 3. Fred Rahmer, Hamilton 77, 13.249; 4. Danny Lasoski, Roth 83, 13.256; 5. Tyler Walker, Walker 35, 13.291; 6. Lance Dewease, Dyer 461, 13.301; 7. Jeff Shepard, Stewart 4J, 13.315; 8. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 13.365; 9. Kenny Jacobs, Hughes 94, 13.370; 10. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 13.407; 11. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 13.423; 12. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 13.459; 13. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 104+, 13.489; 14. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 13.500; 15. Bob Felmlee, Franklin PA, Felmlee 6, 13.538; 16. Joe Gaerte, Holbrook 8H, 13.559; 17. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 13.587; 18. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 13.632; 19. Danny Smith, Brazier 21S, 13.654; 20. Mike Woodring, Woodring 19W, 13.659; 21. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 13.675; 22. Kevin Gobrecht, Gobrecht 92, 13.676; 23. Dale Blaney, Hylton-Blaney 93, 13.721; 24. Jimmy Hawley, Proffit C3, 13.729; 25. Billy Pauch, Zemaitis 1Z, 13.739; 26. Brian Ellenberger, Ellenberger 20, 13.795; 27. Keith Kauffman, Johnson U2, 13.836; 28. Ralph Spithaler, Spithaler 56, 13.890; 29. Dion Hindi, Hindi 18, 13.927; 30. Daryn Pittman, Pittman 11P, 13.935; 31. Larry Neighbors, Neighbors 29N, 13.941; 32. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 13.997; 33. Craig Rankin, Guzzo 77R, 14.003; 34. Arnie Kent, Kent 18K, 14.077; 35. Craig Dollansky, Stanton 75, 14.093; 36. Scott Bonnell, Bonnell 3, 14.213; 37. Richard Kerstetter, Kerstetter 11K, 14.227; 38. Bob Altmeyer, Altmeyer 14A, 14.266; 39. Tommy Marshall, Dionise 15H, 14.511; 40. Gary McCann, McCann 18M, 14.626; 41. C.W. Harshman, Harshman 53, 14.692; 42. Jim Damon, Damon 50x, 14.723; 43. Davey Jones, Jones 76, 14.869; 44. John Stickley, Stickley L7, 14.975; 45. Gale Ruth, Jr., Ruth 5x, 15.027; 46. Bob Walters, Walters 42, 15.114; 47. Brent Matus, Matus 33, 15.347; 48. Charley Holben, Holben 42G, 15.618; 49. Johnny Barlow, Barlow 57, 15.640; 50. Gary Rankin, Rankin 16, 15.777; 51. Mike Sub, Sub 78, 17.309; 52. Ed Lynch, Jr., Lynch 2L, no time; 53. William Kiley, Kiley 4K, no time; 54. Bryan Rivers, Rivers X, no time; 55. Brooke Tatnell, Tatnell 7K, no time. First Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Andy Hillenburg, 2. Joe Gaerte, 3. Lance Dewease, 4. Mark Kinser, 5. Brian Ellenberger, 6. Larry Neighbors, 7. Scott Bonnell, 8. C.W. Harshman, 9. Bob Walters, 10. Mike Sub, 11. Johnny Herrera. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Second Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Stevie Smith, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Greg Hodnett, 4. Kevin Gobrecht, 5. Jeff Shepard, 6. Brian Paulus, 7. Keith Kauffman, 8. Richard Kerstetter, 9. Jim Damon, 10. Brent Matus, 11. Bryan Rivers. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Third Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Lance Blevins, 2. Jeff Swindell, 3. Fred Rahmer, 4. Steve Kinser, 5. Dale Blaney, 6. Ralph Spithaler, 7. Craig Rankin, 8. Bob Altmeyer, 9. Charley Holben, 10. Davey Jones, 11. Brooke Tatnell. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Fourth Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Donny Schatz, 2. Danny Smith, 3. Danny Lasoski, 4. Kenny Jacobs, 5. Arnie Kent, 6. Jimmy Hawley, 7. Dion Hindi, 8. Ed Lynch, Jr., 9. John Stickley, 10. Tommy Marshall, 11. Johnny Barlow. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Fifth Racing Champions Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Bob Felmlee, 2. Tyler Walker, 3. Mike Woodring, 4. Jac Haudenschild, 5. Billy Pauch, 6. Daryn Pittman, 7. Craig Dollansky, 8. Gary Rankin, 9. Gale Ruth, Jr., 10. Gary McCann, 11. William Kiley. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) Channellock Dash (five laps): 1. Tyler Walker, 2. Lance Dewease, 3. Fred Rahmer, 4. Danny Lasoski, 5. Mark Kinser, 6. Sammy Swindell, 7. Steve Kinser, 8. Kenny Jacobs. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) C Feature (10 laps): 1. Bob Altmeyer, 2. Richard Kerstetter, 3. Ed Lynch, Jr. ($125); 4. Tommy Marshall ($100); 5. Gary McCann ($80); 6. Davey Jones ($70); 7. Gale Ruth, Jr. ($60); 8. C.W. Harshman ($50); 9. Jim Damon ($40); 10. Bob Walters ($35); 11. Charley Holben ($30); 12. John Stickley ($30); 13. Gary Rankin ($30); 14. Mike Sub ($30); 15. Johnny Barlow ($30); 16. Brent Matus ($30); 17. Bryan Rivers ($30); 18. Brooke Tatnell ($30); 19. William Kiley ($30). (first two qualified for the "B" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Dale Blaney, 2. Billy Pauch, 3. Jimmy Hawley, 4. Dion Hindi, 5. Daryn Pittman ($200); 6. Craig Rankin ($180); 7. Larry Neighbors ($150); 8. Ralph Spithaler ($110); 9. Bob Altmeyer ($90); 10. Scott Bonnell ($80); 11. Richard Kerstetter ($60); 12. Brian Ellenberger ($50); 13. Jeff Shepard ($50); 14. Craig Dollansky ($50); 15. Arnie Kent ($50); 16. Johnny Herrera, 17. Keith Kauffman ($50); 18. Brian Paulus ($50). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (35 laps): 1. Fred Rahmer ($10,000); 2. Danny Lasoski ($5,000); 3. Mark Kinser ($2,500); 4. Lance Dewease ($2,500); 5. Sammy Swindell ($2,300); 6. Steve Kinser ($2,200); 7. Tyler Walker ($2,100); 8. Jac Haudenschild ($2,000); 9. Stevie Smith ($1,700); 10. Kenny Jacobs ($1,600); 11. Jeff Swindell ($1,200); 12. Billy Pauch ($1,170); 13. Lance Blevins ($1,100); 14. Greg Hodnett ($1,050); 15. Andy Hillenburg ($1,000); 16. Dale Blaney ($720); 17. Bob Felmlee ($600); 18. Joe Gaerte ($500); 19. Johnny Herrera ($520); 20. Jimmy Hawley ($520); 21. Dion Hindi ($520); 22. Danny Smith ($500); 23. Donny Schatz ($500); 24. Kevin Gobrecht ($500); 25. Davey Jones ($520); 26. Mike Woodring ($500); 27. Ralph Spithaler ($520). Provisional starters: Johnny Herrera, Davey Jones, Ralph Spithaler Lap leaders: Lance Dewease 1-21, Fred Rahmer 22-35 Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Mark Kinser WoO

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