Starring roles for Dewease, Hodnett in Pa. Speed Weeks
PENNSYLVANIA SPEED WEEKS >> PA Speed Weeks started with a rain out at Williams Grove Speedway so the opening was shifted to Lincoln Speedway on Saturday night for a $7,000 race. Lance Dewease, driving the Donnie Kreitz No. 69, was the winner of round one. They then moved to the Fred Rahmer-promoted Path Valley and $6,600 where Greg Hodnett picked up the win over Indianapolis 500 veteran Bryan Clauson.
After Monday’s off day, Tuesday they traveled to Grandview Speedway where Greg Hodnett was the leader when the rains came. Grandview will pick up on lap 16 on July 26 when they will present a double show with two 410 Sprint features and two Modified features. Kreitz opted to pass on the last two races but was on hand for the Wednesday show at Hagerstown, Md., where he collected the $5,000 first place.
Thursday evening the sprinters traveled to Port Royal Speedway where again in victory lane was Lance Dewease now making it three for three and $5,000 richer. Friday evening it was back to Williams Grove Speedway for the Mitch Smith Memorial and $10,000 waiting in Victory Lane. Greg Hodnett seemed on his way to the win but Danny Dietrich went as low as he could under Hodnett with 5 laps to go and went on to victory.
Saturday evening they again visited Port Royal Speedway for a $7,000 to win race and Lucus Wolf pulled off the victory. The last race for Speed Weeks was scheduled for Sunday at Selinsgrove Speedway.
Speed Week point leaders as of Saturday vying for the $5,000 bonus are Danny Dietrich, Greg Hodnett, Lance Dewease and Lucus Wolf.
GRANDVIEW >> Ray Swinehart and Frank Cozze, two of the elder statesmen in Modified action at Grandview Speedway, battled for several laps with Swinehart on the high groove and Cozze down low. On
the 26th lap coming off turn four, Cozze took Swinehart to the limit and was able to put the Tom Umbenhauer-owned/Harry’s U-Pull-It No. 4 into the top spot. At the same time Jeff Strunk, one of the younger veterans took over second to challenge. Cozze, a DIRT Hall of Famer, never let up and went on to score his second T.P. Trailers NASCAR 358 Modified All-American Racing Series 30-lap feature sponsored by Whelen Engineering. He also received $250 from T.P. Trailers.
Chuck Schutz scored his third 25-lap BRC NASCAR Late Model feature win by holding off runner-up Wayne Pfeil’s bids for first. Schutz picked up an additional $100 from T.P. Trailers.
Paul “The Dude” Kline took home the checkered in the 25-lap Sportsman feature to become the first repeat winner in the division and earned an extra $100 bonus from T.P. Trailers.
Eight lucky youngsters went home with new bicycles courtesy of Kory Fleming and Sleepy Hollow Racing. The bike giveaway has become a great tradition.
Next on the schedule will be the big event of the season for the BRC Late Models as they take part in the Firecracker 40 being sponsored by Chapman Ford Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealership in Horsham. In addition to the Late Models racing for increased prize money the TP Trailers NASCAR 358 Modifieds will be in action along with the Sportsman stock cars. Topping off the night will be the annual fireworks display.
All the activities on this night, Saturday, July 9th, get underway at 7:30 p.m. Adult admission is $25 with kids 6 thru 11 admitted for $5 while children under six admitted for free.
Blaine Bracelin Jr. was the early leader in the Modified feature until Swinehart overtook him on the third lap.
While Swinehart showed the way for the 28-car starting grid, behind him dicing for positions were Bracelin Jr., Cozze, Danny Erb and Ryan Grim.
Erb, while running fourth, spun in turn four bringing out the caution on the ninth lap. Cars behind him scrambled and also caught up in the melee was Craig VonDohren as he pitted before the restart. VonDohren returned to action, but his 17th place finish was hit in the points as Strunk is now the current point leader by a narrow margin as he seeks his 11th NASCAR track title. When racing resumed Swinehart remained first, but now Cozze was on his bumper putting heavy pressure on him. Third through fifth waiting for their turn at the leader were Ryan Grim, Kevin Hirthler and Doug Manmiller. Waiting in the wings was Strunk for a shot at advancement.
With ten laps remaining Strunk joined the Swinehart and Cozze battle. Not only did Cozze have to deal with Swinehart for the lead, he had to be sure Strunk didn’t get past the two of them.
Lap after lap Swinehart and Cozze continued to run their same lines with Cozze moving Swinehart up higher each time off of four hoping to catch him off guard.
With four laps to go Cozze made his move stick and was now first with Strunk coming along for second to attempt to put another win in the books.
Cozze was determined to keep everyone behind him and that’s just what he did as he scored his third career victory at the 1/3-mile oval with Strunk second, for the third time this year. Swinehart hung on for third followed by Brett Kressley, already a feature winner this season and Kenny Gilmore, driving his own car.
Strunk, Kressley and Hirthler were the heat winners. The consi was won by Duane Howard.
In Late Model action Bryon Sipe overtook Shawn Horning on the second lap to see if he could muster up another win.
Sipe had command of the race until the tenth lap when Schutz charged to the front with Pfeil moving into second at the same time.
Pfeil made several bids for first, but in a few laps Schutz checked out and increased the distance each lap around.
Horning brought out the last yellow on the 12th lap when he spun in the fourth turn regrouping the field. Before action continued, Bill Henning, who was running a solid fourth, went pit side with a flat tire and was out of competition. Schutz was still the leader on the restart.
No one was able to get the lead away from Schutz and he went on to claim his 43rd career win. Finishing second was Pfeil trailed by Sipe, Devin Frey and Dan Green.
Drew Weisser and Sipe won the qualifying heats.
Rookie racer Kenny Bock led the Sportsman feature for six laps before Kline put his Precision Landscaping No. 1 into the lead.
Behind Kline jockeying for positions were Bock, Steve Searock, Brad Brightbill and Ryan Beltz.
A multi-car accident in the fourth turn brought out the final yellow on the 12th lap. Brightbill, who was right in the thick of the mix, was out of action for the night since he pitted before the restart and never rejoined the field.
The order behind Kline was constantly changing and at the Dan’s Deli ½-way hoagie mark second through fifth now consisted of Searock, Beltz, Ken Eckert Jr. and Brandon Whitmoyer.
Once Kline advanced to first he stayed there the rest of the laps to pull into the winner’s circle once again. Placing second for his best season finish was Searock followed by Beltz, Eckert and Jordan Henn, the current point leader.
Heats were won by Chris Jenkins, Kline and Searock. Brian Papiez won the consi.