By Shawn Brouse
Port Royal – Lance Dewease was the winner of an electrifying 410 sprint car feature at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night in a race that saw three different drivers take turns at the lead along with at least a half dozen lead changes between Ryan Taylor, Dewease and Doug Esh.
In the late model main Dylan Yoder set a new 20 lap track record as he scored the victory, taking the laurels away from local favorite Patrick Bryner with two laps to go.
Jeff Miller Jr. took over the point lead in the 305 sprint series with victory in his division while Jason Zook drove to victory in the xtreme stock division.
Polesitter Ryan Taylor got the drop on Dewease on the start of the 25 lap 410 sprint car main with Dewease close behind.
For a few laps Taylor crept out of striking distance but quickly Dewease closed up the gap and took the lead for the first time with 14 down.
Taylor kept Dewease close during the ensuing circuits and as the race raged through traffic Taylor pounced on the 11th tour when Dewease got bottled up behind the slow car of Trenton Schaeffer.
It was impossible for Taylor to get away however as Dewease came right back to again drive by for control on the 13th tour.
Meanwhile, ninth starter Doug Esh was blistering through the pack and was up to fifth behind Dewease, Taylor, Rodney Westhafer and Mike Wagner when the red flag appeared with 11 laps to go for Westhafer who had climbed the rear end of Schaffer’s car on the backchute before flipping.
Esh drove by Wagner for third on the restart and then surpassed Taylor for second with six to go.
With Dewease in his sights, Esh began chomping two tenths of a second off of the leader’s advantage and he was a car length back of Dewease when a caution flag slowed the pace with just two laps left.
A big old slider came Dewease’s way on the restart as the Esh thrust his No. 8H deep into the first corner to slide up and take the lead in the second corner.
But Dewease fought back to reclaim the spot as the pair raced into the third turn ready to bring the field to the white flag.
On the final lap Esh had made another attempt but came up short by just .364 seconds at the rousing finish.
The victory was the 97th of Dewease’s career at the track, worth $3,000 that made him the 12th different sprint car winner at the track this year.
Taylor rode home third followed by Rick Lafferty and Nate Snyder.
Sixth through 10th went to Mike Wagner, Blane Heimbach, Mike Erdley, Chad Layton and Ryan Smith.
Heats for the 22 car field went to Lafferty, Wagner and Heimbach.
Patrick Bryner of Port Royal took control of the late model main at the start and never looked back with control, chased by Justin Kann for the majority of the race.
Lap after lap Bryner hit his marks in the corners and with 10 laps to go at the halfway point the upstart was pulling away from the field.
But lurking back in the pack was fifth starter Dylan Yoder who began coming to life with about eight laps to go.
He took third from Tim Smith Jr. with five to go and then got by Kann with three to go.
It took until the leaders raced into the third turn as they headed for the white flag for Yoder to finally catch Bryner for the win.
He dove his No. 24 deep into the third turn to drive off of the fourth corner with the lead and then held on for the final lap to pick up the victory and become the 11th different late model winner in as many races at Port Royal this season.
Yoder’s new 20 lap track record was set at 6:55.213, with Bryner settling for second followed by Kann, Mike Lupfer and Smith Jr.
Sixth through 10th went to Coleby Frye, Brett Schadel, Rance Garlock, Mitch Hack and Jason Schmidt.
Heats for the 22 car field were taken by Yoder, Kann and Schadel.
Tyler Reeser led the first 11 laps of the 20 lap 305 sprint main before Jeff Miller Jr. took over.
And then just a lap after taking control Reeser was taken out of the race via a first turn accident.
Mike Wagner II., assumed second for the restart but failed to mount a challenge for the win.
Ninth starter John Braim motored to third at the finish followed by Lance Newlin and Nathan Gramley.
Sixth through 10th went to Reed Thompson, Roger Irvine, Ken Duke, Matt Mountz and Paul Snyder.
Heats for the 26 cars in action went to Reeser, Braim and Thompson.
Jason Zook claimed his second xtreme stock main of the year, taking the lead from Corey Kepner when he got out of shape on the 12th tour.
Zook then held off point leader Bill Powell to the finish followed by Kepner, Bob Bussey and Mike Goodwin.
Race Results:
8/9/14
410 sprints, 35 laps, A Main: 1. Lance Dewease, 2. Doug Esh, 3. Ryan Taylor, 4. Rick Lafferty, 5. Nate Snyder, 6. Mike Wagner, 7. Blane Heimbach, 8. Mike Erdley, 9. Chad Layton, 10. Ryan Smith, 11. Curt Stroup, 12. Brock Zearfoss, 13. Joey Hershey, 14. Logan Wagner, 15. Dylan Cisney, 16. Daryl Stimeling, 17. Trenton Schaeffer, 18. Steve Buckwalter, 19. Rodney Westhafer, 20. Jordan Givler
DNS: Dave Ely, Davey Sammons
Late models, 20 laps: 1. Dylan Yoder, 2. Patrick Bryner, 3. Justin Kann, 4. Mike Lupfer, 5. Tim Smith Jr., 6. Coleby Frye, 7. Brett Schadel, 8. Rance Garlock, 9. Mitch Hack, 10. Jason Schmidt, 11. Tim Fedder, 12. Cole Amsden, 13. Scott Flickinger, 14. Eric Zembower, 15. Denny Nace, 16. Trent Brenneman, 17. Brian Hack, 18. Mike Mort
DNS: Bob Dunn, Steve Bailor, Tim Wilson, Matt Parks
305 sprint feature, 20 laps: 1: Jeff Miller, Jr., 2. Michael Wagner II., 3. John Braim, 4. Lance Newlin, 5. Nathan Gramley, 6. Reed Thompson, 7. Roger Irvine, 8. Ken Duke, 9. Matt Mountz, 10. Paul Snyde, 11. Tyler Bear, 12. Mark Watkins, 13. Jason Bergstresser, 14. Wayne Dadetto, 15. Erin Statler, 16. Jake Waters, 17. Scott Ellerman, 18. Anthony Fiori, 19. Ryan Lynn, 20. Randy Kaylor, 21. James Pryde, 22. Mike Alleman, 23. Tyler Reeser, 24. Eric Parker, 25. Cory Thornton, 26. Zach Newlin