Dewease Wins, Rahmer Is Champion

by NSSN Staff

SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Lance Dewease held off a late-race charge by Blane Heimbach to win Sunday night’s 30-lap Jan Opperman Memorial PA Speedweek finale for 410 sprint cars at Selinsgrove Speedway.

The $5,000 victory marked Dewease’s first of the series, fifth this season, and the 14th of his career at the track. Dewease was also the Fast Tees fast qualifier with a lap of 17.220 seconds on the half-mile dirt track.

With his fourth-place finish in the feature, Fred Rahmer clinched his 13th career PA Speedweek title.

Jim Shuster wired the field for his first career win in the 20-lap super sportsman feature.

Polesitter Mike Erdley pulled into the lead at the start of the sprint car feature. Before the first lap was completed, second-placed starter Danny Lasoski pulled off the race track with mechanical problems on his racer. On the third circuit, fourth-place starter Lance Dewease made a pass by third-place starter Daryn Pittman for the runner up position.

Racing down the backstretch on lap seven, Dewease made the winning pass by Erdley using the inside lane. Two laps later, eighth-place starter Greg Hodnett advanced to third and on lap 13 rocketed into second. At the halfway point, Dewease was leading Hodnett, Erdley, sixth-place starter Chad Layton, and fifth-place starter Fred Rahmer.

By lap 22, Hodnett reeled in Dewease in lapped traffic and was in striking distance with five laps remaining. The race’s first caution flag unfurled on lap 26 when Erdley’s car blew a tire. On the lap-27 restart, Rahmer drove by Layton for third while Dewease continued to set the pace in front of Hodnett.

On the 28th circuit, the second and final caution flag waved when Layton’s car rolled to a stop in turn four. On the final restart, 16th-place starter Blane Heimbach, who was restarting in the fourth position, rocketed around the top of the race track in turns one and two and into second. Heimbach made a last-ditch effort to catch and pass Dewease for the lead and win to no avail. At the checkered flag, Dewease was victorious by just .92 of a second over Heimbach, Hodnett, Rahmer, and seventh-place starter Rick Lafferty.

The finish:

Lance Dewease, Blane Heimbach, Greg Hodnett, Fred Rahmer, Rick Lafferty, Alan Krimes, T.J. Stutts, Aaron Ott, Stevie Smith, Brent Marks, Paul McMahan, Colby Womer, Daryn Pittman, Adam Wilt, Tyler Walker, Michael Ruttkamp, Ryan Kissinger, Chad Layton, Mike Erdley, Shane Stewart, Nicole Bower, Mark Zimmerman, Steve Buckwalter, Danny Lasoski.

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Posted by NSSN Staff on Jul 9 2012 Filed under Latest Headlines, MID-ATLANTIC, Other Sprint Cars, Racing Nation, Sprints & Midgets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.