Back From Rare Road Trip, Rahmer Rules The Grove

LIVERPOOL, Pa.
Fred Rahmer’s done a lot of things in his Hall of Fame sprint-car career.

One thing he hasn’t done is travel much with the World of Outlaws. The beginning of this season was a little different for Fast Freddie.

With Pennsylvania race tracks covered in snow and then in mud, Rahmer spent three weeks on the road in the Chad and Jenn Clemens sprinter traveling to Las Vegas, California and Texas.

His best finish came at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., where he finished third. He had a sixth at Tulare as well.

“Chad gave me the opportunity to do something I’ve never done,” Rahmer said. “I got to race some different tracks and get seat time. It was a really neat experience and I really appreciated the opportunity.”

Once he returned home, he did something he’s done a lot of in his career and that was win at Williams Grove Speedway. Rahmer won the season opener. He has 82 career wins at the historic speedway and now has five opening-day triumphs.

Rahmer is seeking his ninth-career Grove title and each time he has won the opener, he has gone on to win the title (1997-98, 2005, 2008).

It was the 21st-consecutive season that Rahmer has won at the Grove.

It will not be easy for Rahmer as he will have plenty of tough competition for the title this season, including Doug Esh, who led 23 laps of the opener before running low on fuel, Greg Hodnett, who won the most races there last year, Brian Montieth, Mark Smith and Chad Layton.

Todd Shaffer won two of the last three Grove championships. At this point, Shaffer says he will not run for the title.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a real intense rivalry in Central Pa., but I believe one is brewing between Esh and Rahmer.

Former Outlaws Justin Henderson and Tyler Walker are racing in central Pennsylvania this season. Henderson in the Sorokach No. 35 and Walker in the Heffner No. 27. Neither had great opening weekends.

Daryn Pittman returns for his second season in the Jesse Keen No. 17.

Pennsylvania has produced the last two national sprint-car rookies in Pat Cannon and Adam Wilt. Kyle Moody is a rookie in the 410 sprints this season.

Absolute home runs for Williams Grove and Lincoln speedways last weekend. The crowds at both tracks were huge. The Lincoln crowd was one of the biggest I’ve ever seen there and the Grove looked like an Outlaws show.

The sprint-car counts were a little less than I expected with 29 at both tracks. Lance Dewease and Daryn Pittman were racing with the Outlaws and a few others were missing.

Mark Smith builds Mach 1 chassis for sprint cars and he had a good opening weekend. He won the Lincoln opener and Blane Heimbach won the 358 sprint-car opener at the Grove in a Mach 1 car.

Smith could be a force in Pennsylvania this year as he begins his second season with veteran crew chief Timmy Elwell. Rahmer and Dewease won a lot of races and championships with Elwell turning the wrenches.

Smith won two races at the end of the last year and was in the Grove title hunt. He already has two this year with his win in the Lincoln opener and an All Star race at East Bay Raceway Park in Florida.

A few Outlaws could make an appearance at the Grove as they have the next few weeks off.

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Posted by Todd Heintzleman on Mar 23 2010 Filed under Columns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.