YORK HAVEN, Pa.: Danny Dietrich hasn’t had much luck starting on the front row of Sprint Car events during the 2021 season.
First off, Dietrich has only started from the front row eight times in 79 starts. Of those opportunities, he’s only been victorious twice.
It was time to change that disturbing trend. Dietrich started from the pole in Thursday night’s Greg Hodnett Foundation Race presented by Drydene Performance Products at BAPS Motor Speedway, and he was determined to make it count.
Ryan Smith got the jump on Dietrich, but the Gettysburg driver was never worried. He had the faster car and used it to regain the top position and survive two late restarts to capture the 30-Lap event and a $5,000 payday.
“I think the racing is better when the track is like this, because it gets nice and wide,” Dietrich said. “That’s what everybody in Sprint Car racing is here to see, a wide racetrack with a high lane, and you can drive through the middle with a little moisture everywhere.
“It was kind of stale starting on the pole and winning, but I will take it with not being on the front row much this year.”
Brent Marks followed Dietrich to the stripe to finish second. Freddie Rahmer, who ran his first race for Rich Eichelberger, came from 12th to third. Ryan Smith, and Rico Abreu completed the top five.
KEY MOMENT: Ryan Smith nailed the cushion in Turn 1 and drove under Danny Dietrich in Turn 2 on the opening lap to grab the early lead.
Dietrich was .701 seconds back after a Lap 3 restart but closed the gap to .512 seconds by the completion of Lap 5.
The lead was down to .145 seconds on Lap 9. One lap later, Dietrich tried a slider, but Smith continued to lead after getting a push off the cushion.
It only postponed the inevitable. Dietrich stalked Smith over the next two laps before pulling off the winning slider through the third and fourth corner on Lap 12.
“I was better than he was, and I was just biding my time,” Dietrich said. “It kind of tells you how much speed you have when you are following someone.
“When you are out front, you really don’t know how much speed you have or how fast you are compared to other people. The fact that I was able to stalk him, I felt like I had good speed.”
THE BATTLE FOR SECOND: While Dietrich was opening up a two-second lead over the field, a three-car battle ensued for second.
Marks surged into second on Lap 13. One lap later, Smith returned the favor and continued to hold down the runner-up spot. All Star Circuit of Champions regular Justin Peck also got in the mix at the halfway point.
Smith couldn’t hold off Marks and gave way on the 16th circuit. Peck also got by Smith in traffic and started to challenge Marks with 12 laps remaining.
After a slight challenge from Peck, Marks was able to get away. He cut Dietrich’s lead down from 2.7145 seconds on Lap 20 to 1.912 seconds with five laps remaining.
LATE CAUTIONS: There was plenty of action on the Lap 26 double-file restart and Riley Emig spun in the fourth corner.
Dietrich was able to slip away from Marks, who was a solid second. Smith, who dropped back to fifth, pulled off a huge slider through Turns 3 and 4 to get past Peck and regain the third position.
Emig brought out the final caution of the event when he got upside down in the fourth corner with one to go. Dietrich was up to task and drove away on the final restart to take the win.
“I was just getting through lapped traffic so good that I couldn’t imagine anyone else getting through lapped traffic as good as I was,” Dietrich said. “That was the frustrating part of that first caution.
“It’s frustrating seeing the caution coming to the checker, but I was pretty confident with our restart with five to go that the one with one to go … I felt we would be OK.”
THEY SAID IT: “I think we were actually good enough that we could’ve started back again where we did the last time [at BAPS]. Maybe not 10th, because starting guys like Brent fourth, it would’ve been tough to catch him. The car was good. We were testing a little tonight, and I think it paid off. I got a little different feel than I’ve had in a while. Hopefully, we can keep that going and carry that into the rest of the weekend.” — Danny Dietrich on his car’s speed.
“I really wish it was single file there at the end, but unfortunately, the bottom was at a disadvantage on the starts. I don’t think there was one race won on the bottom on the starts. It feels like kind of a bummer, but we had a great car. I wish that long green-flag run would’ve stayed, and we didn’t get that yellow with five to go, because we really came on strong and felt really good. We ran Danny down from a long distance, and it would’ve been interesting with two to go to see what we could’ve done. But it was Danny’s night, and we will go tomorrow night and see if we can win that one.” — Brent Marks on his late restarts and finishing second at BAPS Motor Speedway.
410 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 30 Laps: 1. Danny Dietrich; 2. Brent Marks; 3. Freddie Rahmer; 4. Ryan Smith; 5. Rico Abreu; 6. Justin Peck; 7. Chase Dietz; 8. Anthony Macri; 9. Troy Wagaman; 10. Bill Balog; 11. Tyler Ross; 12. Aaron Reutzel; 13. Kyle Moody; 14. Devon Borden; 15. Bradley Howard; 16. Lucas Wolfe; 17. Dave Brown; 18. Dylan Norris; 19. Dwight Leppo; 20. Riley Emig; 21. Steven Kisamore; 22. Mark Smith; 23. Mark Coldren; 24. Doug Hammaker; 25. Gordon Senft Jr. DNS: Aaron Bollinger.