By Shawn Brouse
Mechanicsburg – Jimmy Siegel of New Oxford held off Adam Wilt and Doug Esh on Friday night to claim the 25-lap Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint car feature at Williams Grove Speedway while Eric Heydenreich of Bloomsburg won the 20-lap ARDC Midget main event.
Siegel started on the pole of the feature and would lead every lap for his fourth career triumph at the track.
The first 13 laps of the race went non-stop with Siegel entering lapped traffic on the seventh tour with Curt Michael directly behind him at the time.
But Michael would fade backwards as the race wore on and give way to Wilt at first and then eighth starter Esh with Cory Haas thrown in the mix.
The front four cars were within one turn of each other when the caution flag unfurled with 13 down for a stopped Danny Dietrich.
Wilt took a shot for the lead on the restart only to see Siegel get away on the backstretch but by the 10-to-go point, Esh had skirted by Haas for third despite some contact and began making his mark at the front.
He blasted underneath Wilt for second with seven laps to go and rapidly closed on Siegel before the red flag unfurled with six laps left for a backstretch collision by Brent Marks with the guardrail.
Wilt dove under Esh for second when green reappeared but Esh overcame to again set his sights on the lead.
It took him a few laps to build up enough steam to drive down Siegel but he had done so with two laps to go and seemed poised to pull the trigger, glued to Siegel’s fuel cell, when a final yellow flag slowed his pace and cooled his tires, much to his detriment.
Wilt made good on the restart and reclaimed second spot but fell short of Siegel at the finish.
Siegel pocketed $250 in lap money for wiring the field and took home a total of $3,850 for the regular event.
Esh settled for third followed by Haas and Ryan Smith.
Sixth through 10th went to Brian Leppo aboard the CJB Motorsports No. 51, Curt Michael, 19th starter Greg Hodnett, Lance Dewease and Chad Layton.
Heats went to Wilt, Brian Montieth and Layton.
Polesitter Ryan Greth threatened to turn in a flag to flag performance as well in the ARDC feature but Heydenreich busted up his party with a lap to go to pick up his first ever win at Williams Grove.
Heydenreich started fourth in the field and had rode around in second since the eighth tour before finally slipping under Greth for the lead and win off of the second corner.
Greth crossed the line second followed by Nick Wean, Steve Buckwalter and Trevor Kobylarz.
Sixth through 10th went to Shawn Jackson, Tim Buckwalter, Steve Drevicki, Brenden Bright and Alex Bright.
Heats went to Steve Buckwalter and Brenden Bright.
September 14, 2012 Feature Finishes:
410 sprint cars, 25 laps: 1. Jim Siegel, 2. Adam Wilt, 3. Doug Esh, 4. Cory Haas, 5. Ryan Smith, 6. Brian Leppo, 7. Curt Michael, 8. Greg Hodnett, 9. Lance Dewease, 10. Chad Layton. 11. Daryn Pittman, 12. Brian Montieth, 13. Rick Lafferty, 14. Davey Sammons, 15. Gerard McIntyre Jr., 16. Michael Ruttkamp, 17. Ryan Taylor, 18. Jim Shuster, 19. Glenndon Forsythe, 20. Hunter Mackison, 21. Brent Marks, 22. Randy Baughman, 23. Danny Dietrich, 24. Cliff Brian.
DNQ: Alan Krimes, Jay Reichard
ARDC Midgets, 20 laps: 1. Eric Heydenreich, 2. Ryan Greth, 3. Nick Wean, 4. Steve Buckwalter, 5. Trevor Kobylarz, 6. Shawn Jackson, 7. Tim Buckwalter, 8. Steve Drevicki, 9. Brenden Bright, 10. Alex Bright, 11. Brett Arndt, 12. Brett Wanner, 13. Bobby Courtwright, 14. Brian Gillmore, 15. Steve Craig, 16. Dave Shirk, 17. Dusty Heistand, 18. Bruce Buckwalter Jr., 19. Drew Heistand, 20. Jimmy Glenn, 21. Ray Bull, 22. Mark Gillmore