Mechanicsburg, PA — (April 6, 2012) — For the second week in a row, Greg Hodnett of Thomasville took the victory in the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint car feature at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night. The win was the 48th of his Grove career.
Elsewhere, Kevin Nouse of Lewisberry drove to victory in the Tool Shed of America 358 sprint feature in an exciting event, holding off Pat Cannon.
Second starter Aaron Ott took the lead on the first lap of the 25 circuit 410 sprint main and soon saw fifth starter Ryan Bohlke settle into second.
But after starting 11th in the event, a fleet-running Hodnett was already up to third on the fourth tour of the oval and looking for more.
However the field was strung out around the half-mile and it took until there was just eight laps left for Hodnett to secure second from Bohlke and begin to attempt to bite into Ott’s advantage.
The race for the lead never developed however because just as Ott was ready to pick up the five to go sign, he blew a left rear tire as he headed for the stripe and performed a slow roll over at the flagstand, giving the lead to Hodnett.
From there, Hodnett was home free with the battle at the front left to be waged between fourth row starters Doug Esh and Chad Layton.
Layton ended up second followed by Esh, 12th starter Danny Dietrich and Bohlke.
Sixth through 10th went to Ryan Smith, Logan Schuchart, Alan Krimes, Fred Rahmer and Cody Darrah.
Heats for the 36-car field went to Dietrich, Hodnett, Derek Sell and Lance Dewease with Rick Lafferty scoring the consolation race.
Ott racked up some $190 in lap money while Hodnett pocketed not only $3,600 as base pay for the victory but also a $500 bonus for winning from the sixth row plus another $60 in lap money.
Nouse drove a flawless 20-lap race to hold of Pat Cannon for the 358 sprint checkers.
From his second starting position, Nouse fended of Cannon’s challenges for the entire distance, outfoxing the 358 powerhouse in every corner all along the way and through lapped traffic.
It was Nouse’s fifth career Grove 358 triumph. He had one win at the track last season.
Cannon settled for second followed by Mark Smith, Josh Beard and Tim Berkheimer.
Sixth through 10th went to Adrian Shaffer, Dale Hammaker, Ted Thomas Jr., Davie Franek and Jacob Allen.
A trio of heats went to Nate Hammaker, Dale Hammaker and Mark Smith.
Williams Grove Speedway returns to action on April 13 with the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprints and the Tool Shed of America 358 sprint cars at 7:30 pm.