MECHANICSBURG, Pa.: Lance Dewease takes pride in holding on to a lead when he gets out in front of the field. It’s something he’s done throughout his career.
A week ago, that wasn’t the case. Danny Dietrich tracked Dewease down to win the second Twin 20 during the Jack Gunn Memorial at Williams Grove Speedway, which also featured the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions.
That stuck with Dewease throughout the week. So, when he paced the field Friday night at the historical oval, he wasn’t about to give it up.
Dewease wasn’t at his best, but he was good enough. The 56-year-old driver held off Dietrich on a pair of restarts and showed plenty of speed in clean air over the 25-Lap distance to capture the Joe Harz Tribute Race.
“When we get the lead and drop back to third [like last week], that doesn’t sit well for me or the guys,” Dewease said after the $6,000 victory. “I pride myself over my career that if I get the lead, I can adjust and change lines and do something to fix things if I’m not right. I can just be smooth and make those guys beat me.
“It didn’t matter who beat me last week. We weren’t that good, and I was upset no matter what. When you draw the pole, you are expected to win and not waste that opportunity, and we took advantage of it.”
The win had extra meaning for Dewease. Not only did he make up for last week’s setback in some small way, he was able to honor Harz, a long-time car-owner in the central Pennsylvania region.
Dewease partnered with Harz for two and a half seasons and racked up 46 wins, including victories in the Williams Grove National Open and Tuscarora 50. This performance allowed the Fayetteville, Pa., driver to stand in Victory Lane with Harz one more time.
“This means a lot, because I’m the only one in the field who has driven for him,” Dewease chuckled. “It’s a meaningful win, because he’s helped me just like Walter Dyer, Al Hamilton, Donald [Kreitz], and all of the other owners.
“Joe and his family are low key, kind of like Dyer was, not arrogant, not cocky, and they just enjoyed the racing. That’s what made it so fun.”
Dewease lined up on the pole and was able to beat Lucas Wolfe through the first and second corner to take the lead. Danny Dietrich, who started fifth, sailed into third behind third-place running Brian Brown.
Dietrich wasted little time carving his way to the front. The Gettysburg, Pa., driver unleashed a slider through the first and second corner to take third on Lap 2 and closed on Wolfe, who was still running second.
At the front, it was all Dewease. He pulled out to a 2.546-second lead on the fifth circuit and started to encounter lapped traffic one lap later. As for Dietrich, he slid past Wolfe in Turns 3 and 4 on the seventh circuit.
This was starting to look like last week’s main event. Dietrich chopped into Dewease’s lead, closing the gap by almost a second and half in only three laps.
The red flag was thrown on Lap 11, when Austin Bishop caught fire near the tail tank at the exit of Turn 4. He climbed from his car and was OK.
Dewease used the clean air to his advantage and held Dietrich off by .357 seconds on the restart. By the completion of Lap 12, Dewease had built a 1.077-second lead.
“We didn’t need a yellow,” Dietrich said. “The first one, I thought I was in the movie ‘Jaws.’ I was just mowing him down. I felt like we were definitely going to win that, but you give Lance clean air, and you’re just not going to beat him.
“Dirty air, I thought my car was better than his. I could run a lot lower in three and four, and I thought that was going to be the key to winning. We just never got enough lapped traffic.”
Dewease continued to increase his cushion and was leading by 1.828 seconds on Lap 15. Then came lapped traffic, which allowed Dietrich to start cutting down the distance.
By the time Lap 19 was scored, Dietrich had erased a half-second and was coming fast. Unfortunately for Dietrich, Dylan Norris stopped along the outside wall on the frontstretch to bring out the caution on Lap 20.
“It’s weird, because at times, I felt really good,” Dewease said. “At times, I felt really bad, and I just didn’t know what Danny was like. He got to second, and he showed me a nose on that restart, but I never heard him after that.
“I just didn’t know if he could run the bottom or not, and I just didn’t know what to do. I just tried to stay smooth, stay straight, and hit my marks. When I hit my marks, I felt really nice, but I could only do it one lap. The next lap, I would be sitting. Some of it was the racetrack, but we took advantage of it.”
Dewease was back in clean air and was able to drive away at the finish. He owned the last six laps and took the checker for the 107th time at the speedway by a hefty 2.922 seconds.
As for Dietrich, he had to settle for second. Wolfe, Brown, and Chase Dietz completed the top five in the main event.
“My car was really good,” Dietrich said. “I got beat by an antique that’s still got a lot of gas in the tank. Nah, Lance said he got mad last week because he prides himself in taking the lead and not losing races. He was pissed off because he got passed, and when he drew the one, I told him to get ready to be pissed off again tonight.
“On the restart, I think I was as good as him, but clean air is that important on a night like tonight. I just needed five more feet going into three on that first restart to clear him. So, I just wish we wouldn’t have seen those cautions.”
Derek Locke started second on the grid and made his way to the front in a hurry to capture the 358 Sprint Car Match Race. He earned $2,021 for his win in the 25-Lap affair.
Matt Findley led the first circuit before Locke made his way to the front by a half car-length at the stripe to complete Lap 2. From there, it was all Locke, and he led the rest of the way to earn another Williams Grove victory.
Cody Fletcher advanced from fifth to second on Lap 9 and stayed there, finishing 1.822 seconds off the pace. Doug Hammaker, Kody Hartlaub, and Findley completed the top five.
410 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Lance Dewease; 2. Danny Dietrich; 3. Lucas Wolfe; 4. Brian Brown; 5. Chase Dietz; 6. Freddie Rahmer; 7. TJ Stutts; 8. Devon Borden; 9. Chad Trout; 10. Tyler Ross; 11. Steve Buckwatler; 12. Justin Whittall; 13. Chris Arnold; 14. Rick Lafferty; 15. Robbie Kendall; 16. Kyle Moody; 17. Brent Shearer; 18. Bryn Gohn; 19. Barry Shearer; 20. Troy Fraker; 21. Dylan Norris; 22. Austin Bishop; 23. Tyler Reeser.
385 Sprint Car Feature Finish, 25 Laps: 1. Derek Locke; 2. Cody Fletcher; 3. Doug Hammaker; 4. Kody Hartlaub; 5. Matt Findley; 6. Chris Frank; 7. Wyatt Hinkle; 8. Chad Criswell; 9. Matt Campbell; 10. Tyler Brehm; 11. Zach Newlin; 12. Frankie Herr; 13. Dylan Norris; 14. Nash Ely; 15. Travis Scott; 16. Steve Owings; 17. Jayden Wolf; 18. Hayden Miller; 19. Steve Wilbur; 20. Kyle Denmyer; 21. Justin Foster; 22. Devin Adams; 23. Jordan Strickler; 24. Brett Wanner.