By Brian Liskai
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (6-11-11) – Danny Dietrich was able to
pounce when early race leaders experienced problems Saturday at Lincoln
Speedway to score his biggest career 410 sprint car win, taking the
O’Reilly Auto Parts All Star Circuit of Champions victory.
Dietrich started third and followed front row starter Stevie Smith and
polesitter Cap Henry for the first three laps before Henry – the 2010 All
Star Rookie of the Year – broke and dove into the pits on lap four. Smith
then took over the lead the next 10 laps before he jumped the cushion in
turn four, handing the lead over to Dietrich. Dietrich would negotiate
through lapped traffic and survive a late race restart to capture the
victory.
“This definitely is my biggest win,” said Dietrich after exiting his
Sandoe’s Fruit Market/APM Buildings/Racers Used Parts Wharehouse #48 in
victory lane. “I gotta thank these guys behind me. One night I’m fast and
the next night we’re not. I don’t know what the issue is, but tonight we
put it all together and that’s all that matters.”
“When you’re trying to get by (lapped traffic) you know the top is
definitely the way to go. Greg was probably coming on the bottom. Every lap
around the top of this place tonight…you gotta be on your tippy toes
because as all the fans can see, you’re running really fast three feet from
the wall.”
Dietrich credited the clear track he had on the last restart that took him
out of lapped traffic.
“You can’t spend much time behind a lapped car… I think we spent like 10
laps behind Tony (Stewart) there but you have to get buy him cause you have
23 other guys behind you coming. You just have to get going,” said
Dietrich, also thanking his car owner Gary Kauffman.
Henry would take the initial lead, but after a lap was recorded Mark Smith
would slow in turn four to bring out the caution. Henry would continue to
lead on the restart with Smith, Dietrich, Tyler Walker and Greg Hodnett in
tow. Disaster struck for Henry as he encountered mechanical woes on lap
four and pulled to the pit area, handing the lead to Smith.
Smith would catch the rear of the field by lap 8, as his big lead would
evaporate with Dietrich closing. With 14 laps in, the battle for the lead
had the fans on their feet as Smith jumped the cushion, along Dietrich to
take the lead with Walker following into second. However, Smith rallied and
regained the lead when Dietrich bobbled in turn 2 trying to get around
lapped traffic. Dietrich didn’t panic and blasted back around Smith on lap
17.
With nine circuits remaining, Smith and Walker applied pressure to
Dietrich, but that battle came to a halt on lap 23 when Smith slowed again
to bring out the caution. The restart order was Dietrich, Smith and Walker.
Meanwhile, all eyes were on Hodnett who had steadily worked his way to the
front from his 10th starting spot.
With a clear track, Dietrich was able to pull away on the restart as the
battle for second heated up. Smith would get loose on lap 24 and Walker
pounced as Hodnett moved into fourth. A lap later and Hodnett blasted
around both Smith and Walker into second. But, he ran out of laps to catch
Dietrich.
“On that last restart I found something kind of off the bottom in the
middle and caught those guys. I just couldn’t keep my momentum and I kind
of figured out how to keep my momentum and got the thing rolling pretty
good. Danny was pretty good…I couldn’t run the top as hard as I would like
cause it would get down on the left too hard. So I tried to keep it a
little straighter. We never caught traffic again so I didn’t get the
opportunity,” said Hodnett beside his Trone Outdoor Motorsports/Macri
Concrete/Eagle Steel backed #39.
“We were really close. I want to thank Jesse and Lorraine Keen for giving
me this wonderful opportunity. We’ve struggled the past couple of weeks but
we’re getting close. We found out what our problems were. We keep taking
one step at a time and making progress,” said Walker of his third place
run. “I have to thank my guys…we’re starting to have fun again. We’re
getting back up into a position to win again. We haven’t got to win this
season…we’ve been really close and probably should have had a couple of
wins. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve in racing are the story of your life.
I’m really happy to be in Pennsylvania racing.”
“I didn’t need to see that yellow there on lap 23…our race car was working
and the traffic was working toward our advantage. We never really got going
after that,” said Walker beside his Hunter Truck Sales, Peterbuilt backed
#17.
Lincoln Speedway – 6/11/2011
All Star Circuit of Champions
Qualifying – Kistler Engines
1. 1-Stevie Smith, 13.367
2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 13.606
3. 7M-Mark Smith, 13.621
4. 59-Jim Siegel, 13.625
5. 20S-Derek Sell, 13.641
6. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.649
7. 14D-Doug Dodson, 13.761
8. 21-Brian Montieth, 13.762
9. O4-Cap Henry, 13.765
10. 17-Tyler Walker, 13.805
11. 83-Tim Shaffer, 13.839
12. 30C-Lance Dewease, 13.887
13. 70-Sam Scholsberg, 13.887
14. 77-Aaron Ott, 13.916
15. 39-Greg Hodnett, 13.919
16. 71-Brian Leppo, 13.930
17. 69-Tim Glatfelter, 13.958
18. 2-Dale Blaney, 13.961
19. 3-Pete Miller III, 13.962
20. 6-Brad Mcclelland, 13.976
21. 85-Gerart Mcintyre, 14.022
22. 51-Fred Rahmer, 14.024
23. 19M-Brent Marks, 14.026
24. 89G-David Gravel, 14.048
25. 87-Alan Krimes, 14.052
26. D4-Danny Holtgraver, 14.059
27. 27-Daryn Pittman, 14.099
28. 14-Tony Stewart, 14.103
29. 92-Justin Collett, 14.120
30. 11C-Cory Haas, 14.179
31. 84C-Chad Criswell, 14.286
32. 30-Doug Esh, 14.305
33. 1Z-Jessica Zemken, 14.338
34. 26-Pat Cooper, 14.396
35. 21K-Kyle Pruitt, 14.455
36. 15-Adam Wilt, 99.999
Heat 1 – MSD Ignition (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 85-Gerart Mcintyre
2. O4-Cap Henry
3. 87-Alan Krimes
4. 1-Stevie Smith
5. 70-Sam Scholsberg
6. 92-Justin Collett
7. 1Z-Jessica Zemken
8. 69-Tim Glatfelter
9. 20S-Derek Sell
Heat 2 – Kears Speed Shop (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 51-Fred Rahmer
2. 2-Dale Blaney
3. 77-Aaron Ott
4. 17-Tyler Walker
5. 48-Danny Dietrich
6. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
7. D4-Danny Holtgraver
8. 11C-Cory Haas
9. 26-Pat Cooper
Heat 3 – All Pro Heads (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 19M-Brent Marks
2. 39-Greg Hodnett
3. 83-Tim Shaffer
4. 7M-Mark Smith
5. 27-Daryn Pittman
6. 14D-Doug Dodson
7. 21K-Kyle Pruitt
8. 3-Pete Miller III
9. 84C-Chad Criswell
Heat 4 – Kinsler Fuel Injection (10 Laps – Top 5 Transfer)
1. 89G-David Gravel
2. 71-Brian Leppo
3. 6-Brad Mcclelland
4. 30-Doug Esh
5. 30C-Lance Dewease
6. 21-Brian Montieth
7. 59-Jim Siegel
8. 14-Tony Stewart
9. 15-Adam Wilt
B-Main –
University of Northwestern Ohio (12 Laps – Top 4 Transfer)
1. 14D-Doug Dodson
2. 59-Jim Siegel
3. 21-Brian Montieth
4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
5. D4-Danny Holtgraver
6. 69-Tim Glatfelter
7. 14-Tony Stewart
8. 92-Justin Collett
9. 11C-Cory Haas
10. 3-Pete Miller III
11. 84C-Chad Criswell
12. 21K-Kyle Pruitt
13. 20S-Derek Sell
14. 1Z-Jessica Zemken
15. 26-Pat Cooper
16. 15-Adam Wilt
Outerwear’s Performance Products Dash:
1. 04- Cap Henry [1]
2. 1- Stevie Smith [2]
3. 48- Danny Dietrich [4]
4. 17- Tyler Walker [3]
5. 83- Tim Shaffer [5]
6. 7M- Mark Smith [6]
A-Main – O’Reilly Auto Parts (30 Laps) [#]-Starting Position
1. 48-Danny Dietrich[3]
2. 39-Greg Hodnett[10]
3. 17-Tyler Walker[4]
4. 1-Stevie Smith[2]
5. 83-Tim Shaffer[5]
6. 71-Brian Leppo[15]
7. 70-Sam Scholsberg[8]
8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[11]
9. 30C-Lance Dewease[7]
10. 21-Brian Montieth[14]
11. 51-Fred Rahmer[19]
12. 77-Aaron Ott[9]
13. 14D-Doug Dodson[13]
14. 59-Jim Siegel[12]
15. 87-Alan Krimes[22]
16. 27-Daryn Pittman[23]
17. 2-Dale Blaney[16]
18. 85-Gerart Mcintyre[18]
19. 6-Brad Mcclelland[17]
20. 89G-David Gravel[21]
21. 14-Tony Stewart[25]
22. 7M-Mark Smith[6]
23. 30-Doug Esh[24]
24. 19M-Brent Marks[20]
25. O4-Cap Henry[1]