PORT ROYAL, Pa. — Doug Esh was in control of Thursday night’s Bob Weikert Memorial at Port Royal Speedway, but a cut tire with three laps remaining sent Esh spinning and Greg Hodnett to victory lane.
The event, sanctioned by the O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions, was rained out in May and rescheduled, with Esh taking the lead from the start of the 30-lap feature on the half-mile oval.
Esh was in control throughout, but on lap 28, he cut a tire and nearly flipped while spinning in turn three. Hodnett inherited the lead and romped to his 13th-career All Star triumph.
“Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” said Hodnett, who pocketed $5,000 for the victory. “Don’t get me wrong. The guys did a great job with the car tonight, and it put us in a position to take advantage of the misfortune of others.”
Fred Rahmer, who started 16th, charged to a second-place finish.
The summary:
Fast time: Kenny Jacobs, 16.281 seconds (41 cars).
First Heat: Lucas Wolfe, Brandon Martin, Keith Kauffman, Sean Michael, Kevin Nouse, Brian Ellenberger, Bob Bennett, Josh Wells, Vince Snyder, Pancho Lawler.
Second Heat: Lucas Wolfe, Todd Shaffer, Jeff Shepard, Lance Dewease, Brock Mayes, Dale Blaney, Paul May, Bill Rose, Karl Baker.
Third Heat: Fred Rahmer, Alan Cole, Greg Hodnett, Craig Keel, Brian Paulus, Dave Hahn, Cliff Brian, Craig Mintz, Clark Simonton.
Fourth Heat: Danny Smith, Greg Wilson, T.J. Stutts, Rick Lafferty, Mike Erdley, Chad Layton, Steve Buckwalter, Matt Horst.
B Main: Erdley, Mintz, Layton, Blaney, Simonton, Bennett, May, Buckwalter, Ellenberger, Snyder, Brian, Wells, Hahn, Lawler, Rose, Horst.
Feature: Hodnett, Rahmer, Nouse, Wilson, Kauffman, Shaffer, Stutts, Erdley, Layton, Paulus, Shepard, Smith, Cole, Martin, Keel, Esh, Wolfe, Jacobs, Michael, Mayes, Mintz, Dewease.