Port Royal, PA — (April 7, 2012) — A high-flying night of racing action at Port Royal Fairgrounds Speedway Saturday night saw Greg Hodnett of Thomasville and Lance Dewease of Fayetteville split twin 25-lap Aumillers Insurance sprint car features while Scott Haus claimed the first race of the season for the AB Auto Glass late models.
Veteran Jeff Bryner returned to Port Royal victory lane after several years away from the sport in the Millers Auto Parts pro stock division while Jason Zook pocketed the Casners Service/Juniata Tire enduro dash.
Lance Dewease restarted on the pole of the make up sprint car feature held over from March 31 after Keith Kauffman suffered motor ills and scratched for the night.
Dewease entered lapped traffic with the lead on the seventh tour followed by Fred Rahmer and original ninth starter Greg Hodnett.
Hodnett was on a mission in the event and drove by Rahmer for second with 13 away before going to work tracking down Dewease.
After snaring second from Rahmer, Hodnett rapidly erased Dewease’s advantage and took the lead with 10 laps to go just moments before the caution flag unfurled, regrouping the field.
Rahmer got by Dewease for second on the restart but was never able to challenge for the win as Hodnett won for the 26th time in his career at Port Royal going away at the checkers.
Rahmer ended second followed by Dewease, Chad Layton and original 14th starter Justin Henderson.
Heats run on March 31 for the event went to Kauffman, Rahmer and Mark Coldren.
The regularly slated sprint car feature got started with Rahmer on the pole for the race and Dewease lining up third.
Dewease drove up to second on the first circuit and the next 24 laps proved to be a match of wills as the pair of veterans dueled to the finish, keeping the fans guessing who would lead each lap and prevail at the end.
Dewease repeatedly hustled his No. 30C high around Rahmer’s No. 51 as the pair entered the third corner only to see Rahmer hold control out of the fourth turn.
In and out of traffic the pair snaked from the ninth lap to the finish, playing cat and mouse until the final turns of the final lap.
That’s when Dewease poked the nose of his car low enough into Rahmer’s groove while along side him in three and four to pull out of the corner with the lead to the finish line, bringing the fans to their feet in order to see who took the victory.
Rahmer settled for his second runner-up finish on the night followed by Doug Esh, Mike Erdley and invader Jessica Zemken of Sprakers, Ny.
Heats for the 25-car field went to Dewease, Hodnett and Mike Wagner.
The win was the 95th of Dewease’s career at the oval.
Haus of Hamburg started the 20-lap late model main in the fourth spot and drove into the lead on the first lap to take a command he would never relinquish.
Second starter Mike Lupfer started second and held strong the entire event to finish in the spot.
Polesitter Mitch Hack slid back to third for the finish with Bob Dunn fourth and Tim Wilson fifth.
Heats for the 20-car field went to Andy Haus and Lupfer.
Haus’ victory was his 94th at the track.
Jeff Bryner made his return to the racing wars a profitable one in the 15-lap pro stock main after starting out second in the race.
He took the lead on the first lap and then was able to enjoy his run at the front while Keith Garman, AJ Stroup and John Heane battled for second.
Keith Garman ended up with the spot followed by Stroup, Heane and Derek Garman.
Heats were taken by Stroup and Scott Landis.
Donnie Murphy led the first three laps of the enduro dash before loosing the handle in the second turn just after Jason Zook took the lead.
Once in control Zook was never heeded for his 14th career win in the division.
The balance of the top five went to Brady Cauffman, Ryan Renninger, Deron Henry and Jan Powell.
The speedway returns to action on April 14 at 6 pm with Race To Cure Cancer Night featuring 410 sprints, late models and the first race of the Port season for the 305 sprints. The make up late model feature from March 31 is also on the agenda.
April 7, 2012 Feature Finishes:
March 31 make up 410 sprint feature, 25 laps: 1. Greg Hodnett, 2. Fred Rahmer, 3. Lance Dewease, 4. Cahd Layton, 5. Justin Henderson, 6. Doug Esh, 7. Mike Erdley, 8. Rick Lafferty, 9. Mike Wagner, 10. Cliff Brian, 11. Nate Snyder, 12. Michael Ruttkamp, 13. Dave Hahn, 14. Brian Ehrenzeller, 15. Jon Brennfleck, 16. Nicole Bower, 17. Mark Coldren, 18. Keith Kauffman, 19. David Gravel, 20. Steve Buckwalter, Brian Steinman
Lap leaders: Dewease 1- 14, Hodnett 15 – 25
April 7 410 sprint feature, 25 laps: 1. Dewease, 2. Rahmer, 3. Esh, 4. Erdley, 5. Jessica Zemken, 6. Bower, 7. Wagner, 8. Layton, 9. Hodnett, 10. Snyder, 11. Henderson, 12. Lafferty, 13. Joey Hershey, 14. Curt Stroup, 15. Brennfleck, 16. Bob Bennett, 17. Brian, 18. Ruttkamp, 19. Ehrenzeller, 20. Hahn, 21. Dan Shetler, 22. Daryn Pittman, 23. Coldren
Lap leaders: Rahmer, 1 – 24, Dewease 25
Late model feature, 20 laps: : 1. Scott Haus, 2. Mike Lupfer, 3. Mitch Hack, 4. Bob Dunn, 5. Tim Wilson, 6. Scott Flickinger, 7. Brett Schadel, 8. Andy Haus, 9. Matt Parks, 10. Eric Zembower, 11. Terry Naugle, 12. Derrick Casner, 13. Patrick Bryner, 14. Bryon Sipe, 15. Chad Hollenbeck, 16. Harold Ranck, 17. Trent Brenneman, 18. Todd Snook, 19. Bud Barton, 20. Waylon Wagner
Lap leaders: Scott Haus 1 – 20.
Pro stock feature, 15 laps: 1. Jeff Bryner, 2. Keith Garman, 3. AJ Stroup, 4. John Heane, 5. Derek Garman, 6. Matt Hornberger, 7. Dan Berry, 8. Dave Brouse Jr., 9. Nate Fisher, 10. Dave Berry, 11. Dave Bowsman, 12. Harold Ranck, 13. Scott Landis, 14. Tony Stoner, 15. Josh Angle, 16. Hank Rowe
Lap leaders: Bryner 1 – 15
Enduro dash feature, 15 laps: 1. Jason Zook, 2. Brady Cauffman, 3. Ryan Renninger, 4. Deron Henry, 5. Jan Powell, 6. Jared Fulkroad, 7. John Goshorn, 8. Ryan Leister, 9. Rich Adair, 10. Don Murphy, 11. Tyler Ampower, 12. Devin Hart, 13. Jesse Brown
Lap leaders: Murphy 1 – 3, Zook 4 – 15.