By Tony Veneziano
Mechanicsburg, PA- May 14, 2010- Starting back in the 24th spot on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway in the finale of the two-day World of Outlaws event at the famed half-mile, winning was the furthest thing from Fred Rahmer’s mind. He would have been very content with a solid Top-Five finish or even a Top-10, knowing how many stout cars were lined up in front of him. As the laps wound down in the 30-lap contest winning became more of a possibility and in the end Rahmer was able to sweep by both Sam Hafertepe and Brian Leppo with just two laps left to take the top spot and ultimately the win.
The win for Rahmer extended the Pennsylvania Posse’s win streak to six over the World of Outlaws at Williams Grove Speedway. The $12,000 triumph was the sixth of his career with the World of Outlaws and fourth with the series at the famed half-mile.
“This is unbelievable,” said Rahmer, who pilots the C&S Lawn & Landscape J&J. “I couldn’t be happier. I’m very proud to win against these guys, because I didn’t know if I would do it again. This is great.”
Rahmer lined up fourth on the final double file restart of the night with five laps remaining and quickly moved into third, before Daryn Pittman got back around him on the 27th lap. He battled right back and retook the third spot on the next lap, before working on the lead pair on the penultimate lap.
“I just thought if those guys got to messing around too much that I could sneak by,” stated the Hall of Famer of his plan on the final restart. “When it’s your day, it’s your day. I got very fortunate to not get in any crashes. This is probably the least track that anyone would figure me to win on, because it’s wet and heavy and I’m dry and slick. It’s a great win.”
For Rahmer it was his first World of Outlaws win since 2006 and fourth with the series at Williams Grove Speedway, on a day and night that Mother Nature interrupted a couple of times with rain, but with the hard work of the track crew at Williams Grove the entire program was completed.
“Just a win is special,” Rahmer stated. “With these guys you earn it. It doesn’t matter where you start. The likelihood of it was probably pretty small, but we did it.”
The 30-lap contest began with a wild 10-car accident on the front straightaway that began with contact between Donny Schatz, who started on the pole and Brian Montieth who started in the second row. The incident ended Schatz’s night after he got upside on the exit of the back straightaway. Stevie Smith had gotten the jump on the initial start to take the lead, but that was negated when the red flag flew and a complete restart was in order.
Brian Leppo shot into the lead on the second start after sliding up to the pole when the field was reset. The yellow flag flew on the eighth lap when Stevie Smith spun in turn two while running second.
On the double file restart that followed, Leppo chose the low line, with Hafertepe taking the lead on the high side of the track. Hafertepe had opened about a six car length lead when the yellow flag flew on the 15th lap setting up another double file restart.
Leppo took the lead again on the 23rd lap and wound up pacing the field for a total of 13 laps on the night before running out of fuel at the end of the race, falling to 15th in the final rundown.
Hafertepe wound up leading a total of 15 laps en route to his best finish of the season, which matched best run of his career at Williams Grove. The 24-year old has now finished second four times with the World of Outlaws as he continues to close in on his first series win aboard the G.H. Plumbing Maxim.
“Rick Ferkel once told me that you don’t get many opportunities to win races so have to take advantage of them and I don’t think we took advantage of it tonight,” lamented Hafertepe. “I think we did a lot of right moves, but also did a lot of wrong moves. I’ll be the first person to be hard on myself, because out here you don’t get the chances to win races. When you come that close and lead that many laps and fall short, it’s pretty heartbreaking.”
Daryn Pittman came from 14th to finish third on Friday night aboard the Indy Race Parts Eagle to score his best finish of the season with the World of Outlaws in just his fourth race with the series for the Buchs team.
“Third at an Outlaws show at The Grove is hardy anything to complain about, but our race car was just awesome,” Pittman said. “It’s a shame to feel like we kind of gave one away. We kept losing spots on restarts. If I pull that slider off on (Sam) Hafertepe with about two or three to go, I think we are going to win because (Brian) Leppo runs out of fuel. Hands down I don’t think anyone could argue, that we had one of the fastest cars all night tonight and last night we were excellent too.”
Hafertepe chose the high side of the track on all of the double file restart during which he was the leader. On the final restart of the night with five laps remaining Leppo chose the high side and got the jump on Hafertepe.
“It was the perfect choice,” explained the native of Sunnyvale, Texas. “With about ten (laps) to go, I kept running her harder because I didn’t think we would get a caution and I burned my tires up on the last restart. That was the whole problem and that’s why he got us on the last restart or we’d probably be standing in
Victory Lane
right now.”
Despite four cautions and two red flags, Pittman was able to stay focused on a very long night that saw the start of the program pushed by a late afternoon shower and then more rain during the C-Main pushed everything back yet again.
“When your car is that good, you make up your mind that you’re going where they are not,” said Pittman. “I felt like if they went to the top, then I could pass them on the bottom of (turns) one and two. In (turns) three and four I felt like I could slide them if they left the bottom open. It’s a lot easier to stay focused when your car is that good.”
Joey Saldana, the current World of Outlaws point leader, used a very consistent night to finish fourth in the Budweiser Maxim and gained four points on 20-time series champion Steve Kinser and now holds a five point advantage in the title chase.
Kinser powered his way to a fifth-place finish in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim after having to use a provisional for the second straight night. He also earned the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award for his efforts.
Justin Henderson came from 19th to finish sixth in the Sorokach Motorsports JEI. Jason Sides came from 27th to finish seventh in the Wetherington Tractor Service Maxim after also having to use a World of Outlaws provisional to start the main event. Kraig Kinser lined up 23 rd and finished eight aboard the Quaker State Maxim to earn his second straight Top-10 at Williams Grove. Doug Esh, who used a track provisional to start shotgun on the 28-car field, wound up ninth in the Trone Outdoor J&J. Jac Haudenschild rounded out the Top-10 coming from 21 st to finish 10th in the Owens-Corning Fiberglass XXX.
The World of Outlaws are back in action on Saturday night at Virginia Motor Speedway in the Third Annual Paul Sawyer Memorial.
WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY NIGHT #2 NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Brian Leppo paced the 45 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked 1/2-mile oval at 16.597 seconds at 108.453 mph. For his qualifying effort, Leppo earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Brian Montieth (4), Alan Krimes (3), Joey Saldana (2) and Lucas Wolfe (1).
•WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY NIGHT #2 QUALIFYING WINNERS: Stevie Smith, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Brad Sweet and Adam Wilt won heat races. Donny Schatz won the dash. Kerry Madsen won the B-Main. Brooke Tatnell won the C-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 17 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway and Tri-State (Okla.) Speedway), Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, I-55 Raceway and Eldora Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park and Jackson Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway), Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park) and Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park).
•1/2-MILE WINNERS: Williams Grove Speedway is a high-banked half-mile. The World of Outlaws have raced nine times at a track that size in 2010. The winners include: Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park and Jackson Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway), Joey Saldana (Eldora Speedway), Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway) and Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Williams Grove Speedway; Mechanicsburg, PA; May 14, 2010
Qualifying
1) 71-Brian Leppo 16.597
2) 21-Brian Montieth 16.640
3) 87-Alan Krimes 16.688
4) 9-Joey Saldana 16.711
5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 16.752
6) 14-Jason Meyers 16.791
7) 13-Daryn Pittman 16.809
8) 7L-ChadLayton 16.827
9) 1-Stevie Smith 16.835
10) 15-Donny Schatz 16.844
11) 91-Paul McMahan 16.847
12) 7-Craig Dollansky 16.877
13) 30C-Lance Dewease 16.890
14) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 16.896
15) 49-Brad Sweet 16.901
16) 15X-Adam Wilt 16.917
17) 24-Sammy Swindell 16.972
18) 3-Kerry Madsen 16.974
19) 25-Aaron Ott 16.993
20) 35-Justin Henderson 17.014
21) 7M-Mark Smith 17.033
22) R19-Jac Haudenschild 17.039
23) 63-Chad Kemenah 17.058
24) 69K-Donald Kreitz Jr. 17.060
25) 11K-Kraig Kinser 17.084
26) 48-Danny Dietrich 17.107
27) 4X-Toni Lutar 17.112
28) 39-Doug Esh 17.119
29) 22H-Greg Hodnett 17.127
30) 7S-Jason Sides 17.128
31) 59-Jim Siegel 17.134
32) 2B-Ben Gregg 17.151
33) 11-Steve Kinser 17.153
34) 18-Ryan Bohlke 17.161
35) 51-Fred Rahmer 17.181
36) 14D-Doug Dodson 17.186
37) 17-Tyler Walker 17.206
38) 3T-Brooke Tatnell 17.240
39) 6-Danny Lasoski 17.283
40) 8M-Chris Meleason 17.291
41) 20S-Derek Sell 17.427
42) 22-Brian Ellenberger 17.513
43) 17B-Steve Buckwalter 17.561
44) 45-A J Michael 17.822
45) 12W-Troy Fraker 18.188
46) 19M-Brent Marks -.—
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 1-Stevie Smith[2]
2) 30C-Lance Dewease[1]
3) 71-Brian Leppo[4]
4) 24-Sammy Swindell[5]
5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[3]
6) 7M-Mark Smith[6]
7) 11-Steve Kinser[9]
8) 22H-Greg Hodnett[8]
9) 11K-Kraig Kinser[7]
10) 17-Tyler Walker[10]
11) 20S-Derek Sell[11]
12) 12W-Troy Fraker[12]
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[1]
2) 15-Donny Schatz[2]
3) 21-Brian Montieth[4]
4) 14-Jason Meyers[3]
5) R19-Jac Haudenschild[6]
6) 3-Kerry Madsen[5]
7) 7S-Jason Sides[8]
8) 48-Danny Dietrich[7]
9) 3T-Brooke Tatnell[10]
10) 22-Brian Ellenberger[11]
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 49-Brad Sweet[1]
2) 91-Paul McMahan[2]
3) 13-Daryn Pittman[3]
4) 25-Aaron Ott[5]
5) 51-Fred Rahmer[9]
6) 87-Alan Krimes[4]
7) 63-Chad Kemenah[6]
8) 17B-Steve Buckwalter[11]
9) 59-Jim Siegel[8]
10) 6-Danny Lasoski[10]
11) 4X-Toni Lutar[7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 5 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15X-Adam Wilt[1]
2) 7-Craig Dollansky[2]
3) 9-Joey Saldana[4]
4) 69K-Donald Kreitz Jr.[6]
5) 7L-ChadLayton[3]
6) 35-Justin Henderson[5]
7) 39-Doug Esh[7]
8) 2B-Ben Gregg[8]
9) 8M-Chris Meleason[10]
10) 14D-Doug Dodson[9]
11) 45-A J Michael[11]
Dash (6 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15-Donny Schatz[1]
2) 1-Stevie Smith[2]
3) 71-Brian Leppo[4]
4) 21-Brian Montieth[3]
5) 7-Craig Dollansky[6]
6) 91-Paul McMahan[5]
7) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[8]
8) 49-Brad Sweet[9]
9) 30C-Lance Dewease[7]
10) 15X-Adam Wilt[10]
C-main (10 laps, top 2 finishers transferred to B-main) – Starting Position [#]
1) 3T-Brooke Tatnell[1]
2) 20S-Derek Sell[4]
3) 22-Brian Ellenberger[5] [$125]
4) 8M-Chris Meleason[3] [$125]
5) 12W-Troy Fraker[8] [$125]
6) 45-A J Michael[7] [$100]
7) 6-Danny Lasoski[2] [$100]
8) 18-Ryan Bohlke[9] [$100]
9) 17B-Steve Buckwalter[6] [$100]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 3-Kerry Madsen[2]
2) 11K-Kraig Kinser[6]
3) 7M-Mark Smith[4]
4) 35-Justin Henderson[3]
5) 48-Danny Dietrich[7] [$200]
6) 63-Chad Kemenah[5] [$180]
7) 39-Doug Esh[9] [$175]
8) 22H-Greg Hodnett[10] [$160]
9) 3T-Brooke Tatnell[17] [$150]
10) 2B-Ben Gregg[13] [$150]
11) 20S-Derek Sell[18] [$150]
12) 59-Jim Siegel[12] [$150]
13) 87-Alan Krimes[1] [$150]
14) 7S-Jason Sides[11] [$150]
15) 11-Steve Kinser[14] [$150]
16) 4X-Toni Lutar[8] [$150]
17) 14D-Doug Dodson[15] [$150]
18) 17-Tyler Walker[16] [$150]
A-main (30 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 51-Fred Rahmer[24] [$12,000]
2) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[7] [$5,700]
3) 13-Daryn Pittman[14] [$3,500]
4) 9-Joey Saldana[11] [$3,000]
5) 11-Steve Kinser[25] [$1,800]
6) 35-Justin Henderson[19] [$2,400]
7) 7S-Jason Sides[27] [$1,500]
8) 11K-Kraig Kinser[23] [$2,200]
9) 39-Doug Esh[28] [$1,350]
10) R19-Jac Haudenschild[21] [$2,100]
11) 1-Stevie Smith[2] [$1,600]
12) 24-Sammy Swindell[16] [$1,350]
13) 14-Jason Meyers[13] [$1,300]
14) 25-Aaron Ott[18] [$1,200]
15) 71-Brian Leppo[3] [$1,100]
16) 7-Craig Dollansky[5] [$1,000]
17) 49-Brad Sweet[8] [$900]
18) 21-Brian Montieth[4] [$850]
19) 7M-Mark Smith[20] [$800]
20) 69K-Donald Kreitz Jr.[22] [$800]
21) 91-Paul McMahan[6] [$800]
22) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[12] [$800]
23) 22H-Greg Hodnett[26] [$0]
24) 15-Donny Schatz[1] [$800]
25) 30C-Lance Dewease[9] [$800]
26) 15X-Adam Wilt[10] [$800]
27) 7L-ChadLayton[15] [$800]
28) 3-Kerry Madsen[17] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Brian Leppo 1-7, 23-28; Sam Hafertepe Jr. 8-22; Fred Rahmer 29-30
KSE Hard Charger Award: Fred Rahmer
Note: Steve Kinser and Jason Sides used World of Outlaws provisionals to start the A-Feature. Greg Hodnett and Doug Esh used Williams Grove Speedway provisionals to start the A-Feature.
Top-10 in World of Outlaws Championship Standings
1. Joey Saldana 2404
2. Steve Kinser 2399 -5
3. Jason Meyers 2379 -25
4. Donny Schatz 2280 -124
5. Jason Sides 2253 -151
6. Paul McMahan 2198 -206
7. Danny Lasoski 2169 -235
8. Kraig Kinser 2169 -235
9. Jac Haudenschild 2168 -236
10. Lucas Wolfe 2156 -248