From Williams Grove
MECHANICSBURG, PA — Greg Hodnett took the lead with one lap left, then survived a restart to win the Outlaw Tuneup for sprint cars Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
The race was 30 laps in distance to allow the teams to set up their cars for the May 13-14 invasion by the World of Outlaws when the A-Main distance will be the same. And Hodnett, who won three of four Williams Grove WoO events in 2009, is a master of the 30-lappers.
Chad Layton took the early lead from the pole position with Stevie Smith, who started alongside him on the front row, running in second place.
A three-car battle for the lead ensued through the early stages between Layton, Smith and Brian Montieth before Alan Krimes moved into the picture. Krimes was working well on the inside of the race track and was up to third and challenging Layton and Smith before a mechanical problem sent him to the pits on lap twelve.
Smith took the lead from Layton on lap 22 and appeared to be headed for his second win of the season at Williams Grove before he began to run out of fuel on lap 29.
Hodnett, who started third, drove by Smith at the finish line just before a caution flag fell, which resulted in a fuel stop and allowed Smith another shot at the leader.
Hodnett was able to hold him off, however, and scored the $4000 victory, his first of the season at Williams Grove. It was the 43rd of his career, which tied him with Lynm Paxton for fifth place on the speedway’s list of sprint car winners.
Smith settled for a close second with Layton third. Lance Dewease came from the 17th starting position to finish fourth and Montieth completed the top five.
Rick Lafferty, Ryan Bohlke, David Gravel, Doug Esh ;and Brian Leppo finished in positions six through ten respectively.
Layton set fast time in qualifications with a lap of 17.019.
Heats for the 28 sprint cars in competition were won by Leppo, Todd Shaffer and Esh.
The B-main went to David Gravel.
Nicole Bower led all 20 laps of the non-stop 358 c.i. feature. It was the first time a woman has driven any type of sprint car to a victory at this historic speedway.
Rich Eichelberger, Cory Haas, Pat Cannon and Glenndon Forsythe completed the top five.
Cannon, Forsythe and Brie Hershey claimed heats for the 31 358-sprints in competition.
The consolation race was won by Jason Shultz.
Williams Grove Speedway Feature Finishes – May 7, 2010
Sprint Car Feature – 30 laps – 1. Greg Hodnett, 2. Stevie Smith, 3. Chad Layton, 4. Lance Dewease, 5. Brian Montieth, 6. Rick Lafferty, 7. Ryan Bohlke, 8. David Gravel, 9. Doug Esh, 10. Brian Leppo, 11. Todd Shaffer, 12. Jim Siegel, 13. Don Kreitz, Jr., 14. Brent Marks, 15. Adam Wilt, 16. Mark Smith, 17. Aaron Ott, 18. Johnny Mackison, 19. Steve Buckwalter, 20. Greg Wilson, 21. Derek Sell, 22. Alan Krimes, 23. Fred Rahmer, 24. Dave Ely. DNQ: Danny Dietrich, A. J. Michael, Chris Shuttlesworth, Chris Meleason
358 c.i. Sprint Car Feature – 20 laps – 1. Nicole Bower, 2. Rich Eichelberger, 3. Cory Haas, 4. Pat Cannon, 5. Glenndon Forsythe, 6. Mike Ressler, 7. Scott Geesey, 8. Logan Schuchart, 9. Kyle Moody, 10. Steve Fannasy, 11. Chad Criswell, 12. Nate Hammaker, 13. T. J. Stutts. 14. Blane Heimbach, 15. Matt Boland, 16. Nate Snyder, 17. Tim Berkheimer, 18. Brie Hershey, 19. Chad Trout. 20. Jordan Frontz, 21. Jason Shultz, 22. Ricky Stonebraker, 23. Amy Ott, 24, Ted Thomas. DNQ: Danny Massey, Jessica Anderson, Jimmy Reppert, Derek Frohlich, Stewart Smith, Michael Ruttkamp, Kevin Nouse