From Bill Meyer
Abbottstown, PA — (April 24, 2015) — A close call in turn four of lap 21 turned out to be the winning move for J.J. Grasso en route to his second Lincoln career win on Saturday night.
Grasso, who led every lap from his outside front row starting spot, was bogged down by side-by-side racing lapped traffic when he felt the heat from 11th-starting Lincoln points leader Brian Montieth.
“We had some tense moments there when I was getting to the lapped cars. I didn’t know how close anyone was getting to me, but I saw the 21 on the board and I had to make a move,” said Grasso in victory lane, “I had ‘em running two-wide in front of me and I couldn’t get by them.”
Grasso and Steve Owings actually made contact as Grasso was splitting lapped cars to stay in front. Owings saved it, but dropped to the infield with two laps to go.
“I feel a little bit bad for the 21A there, because I kind of scared him up. I was hoping I wasn’t gonna wreck, but I felt like I had to do it.”
“This is huge,” said Grasso, “I want to thank my dad. He’s put a lot of money in this, along with BK Trucking and C&B Mushrooms. This is unbelievable. We were quick from the get-go. We were terrible last week, but my dad and the crew worked on it hard, and again tonight in the pits.
Grasso’s final margin of victory was 1.53 seconds over Montieth, with Tyler Ross scoring his best-ever finish in third, Cory Haas fourth, and defending track champ Alan Krimes fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Freddie Rahmer, Adam Wilt, 16th-starting Jim Siegel, Kyle Moody, and 20th-starting Austin Hogue.
Heats for the 33 410 sprinters were won by Haas, Montieth, Grasso, and Freddie Rahmer, with Brandon Rahmer winning the consolation.
For the second time this season, Adrian Shaffer made a last turn pass to win a 358 sprint car feature.
Shaffer gave car owner Stewart Smith a 52nd birthday present by making a perfect last turn slider to get by Chris Arnold and score the win.
A disappointed Arnold crossed second, with tenth-starting Chandler Leiby, Doug Hammaker, and Kevin Nouse completing the top five. Sixth through tenth were Matt Campbell, 21st-starting Jeff Rohrbaugh, early race leader John Braim, 19th-starting Todd Rittenhouse, Jr., and Tyler Esh.
Heats for the 32 358 Sprinters were won by Esh, Leiby, Nouse, and Doug Hammaker, with Rohrbaugh winning the consolation.
Chad Glatfelter started on the outside front row, beat polesitter Harlon Leppo to the stripe to complete lap one, and led every lap of the 15-lap Central PA Legends feature. Leppo spun exiting turn four of the final lap, and was credited with a 17th place finish.
Taking advantage of Leppo’s bad luck was opening night winner Bob Stough, who ran third the entire race until Leppo’s final lap misfortune.
Third through fifth were Chad Earnst, Bill Diehl, and Mason Chaney.
Heats for the 23 Legends were won by Leppo, Chad Glatfelter, and Chaney.
Next Saturday night, April 25th, it is the 12TH ANNUAL WELDON STERNER MEMORIAL for 410 Sprints, plus 358 Sprints and All-American Outlaws Time trials get underway for the 410 sprinters at 7:30 PM, with gates opening at 5:30 PM and hot laps getting underway at 7 PM.
To get all the latest news, results, schedule changes and rule changes, visit Lincoln Speedway’s website at http://www.lincolnspeedway.com to stay up-to-date on all the action or pending weather conditions at Central Pennsylvania’s “Premier” Saturday night race track – The Fabulous Lincoln Speedway.
RACE RESULTS
Sat., April 25, 2015
LINCOLN SPEEDWAY
Abbottstown, PA
YORK COUNTY RACING CLUB NIGHT
LAWRENCE CHEVROLET 410 SPRINTS
FEATURE (25 laps) – 1. 37-JJ Grasso ($3,200); 2. 21-Brian Montieth; 3. 5-Tyler Ross; 4. 11C-Cory Haas; 5. 87-Alan Krimes; 6. 51-Freddie Rahmer; 7. 15-Adam Wilt; 8. 59-Jim Siegel; 9. 99M-Kyle Moody; 10. 52-Austin Hogue; 11. 69-Shane Hoff; 12. 44-Chase Dietz; 13. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe; 14. 16-Gerard McIntyre, Jr.; 15. 88-Brandon Rahmer; 16. 21T-Scott Fisher; 17. 49-Bradley Howard; 18. 29W-Ryan Wilson; 19. 92-Niki Young; 20. 21A-Steve Owings; 21. 55K-Robbie Kendall; 22. 95-Hunter Mackison; 23. 45-Kevin Nagy; 24. 8-Billy Dietrich. No Time
Lap Leaders – JJ Grasso (1-25)
410 Sprint Heat One Finish (10 laps/5 qualify) – 1. 11C-Cory Haas; 2. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe; 3. 87-Alan Krimes; 4. 48H-Bradley Howard; 5. 69-Shane Hoff; 6. 1080-Jordon Mackison; 7. 23B-Dustin Baney; 8. 91-David Quackenbush; 9. 12-Mike Bittinger (DNF). No Time
410 Sprint Heat Two Finish (10 laps/5 qualify) – 1. 21-Brian Montieth; 2. 99M-Kyle Moody; 3. 15-Adam Wilt; 4. 45-Kevin Nagy; 5. 29W-Ryan Wilson; 6. 88-Brandon Rahmer; 7. 8-Billy Dietrich; 8. 22T-Matt Boland. Time – 2:18.336
410 Sprint Heat Three Finish (10 laps/5 qualify) – 1. 37-JJ Grasso; 2. 95-Hunter Mackison; 3. 55K-Robbie Kendall; 4. 44-Chase Dietz; 5. 92-Niki Young; 6. 21A-Steve Owings; 7. 1*-Tim Wagaman; 8. 74-Dwayne Gutshall. Time – 2:23.077
410 Sprint Heat Four Finish (10 laps/5 qualify) – 1. 51-Freddie Rahmer; 2. 5-Tyler Ross; 3. 21T-Scott Fisher; 4. 59-Jim Siegel; 5. 52-Austin Hogue; 6. 16-Gerard McIntyre, Jr.; 7. 15M-Bobby Mazingo; 8. 10-Zach Eucalano (DNF). Time – 2:29.360
410 Sprint Consolation Finish (10 laps/4 qualify) – 1. 88-Brandon Rahmer; 2. 16-Gerard McIntyre, Jr.; 3. 21A-Steve Owings; 4. 8-Billy Dietrich; 5. 1*-Tim Wagaman; 6. 1080-Jordon Mackison; 7. 22T-Matt Boland; 8. 24B-Dustin Baney; 9. 74-Dwayne Gutshall; 10. 10-Zach Eucalano; 11. 91-David Quackenbush; 12. 15M-Bobby Mazingo (DNF); DNS – 12-Mike Bittinger. Time – 2:31.374
KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS 358 SPRINTS
FEATURE (20 laps) – 1. 27S-Adrian Shaffer; 2. 23A-Chris Arnold; 3. 119-Chandler Leiby; 4. 66-Doug Hammaker; 5. 1J-Kevin Nouse; 6. 16-Matt Campbell; 7. 45-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 8. 44-John Braim; 9. 23-Todd Rittenhouse, Jr.; 10. 35-Tyler Esh; 11. 47-Michael Hamer; 12. 97-Brie Hershey; 13. 17-Cole Young; 14. 66A-Cody Fletcher; 15. 5-Phil Walter; 16. 38-Kyle Denmyer; 17. 28-Matt Findley; 18. 7-CJ Quirk; 19. 00-Chris Frank; 20. 4R-Ryan Wilson (DNF); 21. 14C-Dave Carlberg (DNF); 22. 21-CJ Tracey (DNF); 23. 89-Ashley Cappetta (DNF); 24. 15-Lucas Montgomery (DNF). No Time
Lap Leaders – John Braim (1-9), Chris Arnold (10-19), Adrian Shaffer (20)
358 Sprint Heat One Finish (10 laps/5 qualify) – 1. 35-Tyler Esh; 2. 4R-Ryan Wilson; 3. 38D-Kyle Denmyer; 4. 17-Cole Young; 5. 00-Chris Frank; 6. 28-Matt Findley; 7. 45-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 8. 19D-Wyatt Hinkle. No Time
358 Sprint Heat Two Finish (10 laps/5 qualify) – 1. 119-Chandler Leiby; 2. 44-John Braim; 3. 15-Lucas Montgomery; 4. 89-Ashley Cappetta; 5. 14C-Dave Carlberg (DNF); 6. 97-Brie Hershey (DNF); 7. 45H-Jeff Halligan (DNF); DNS – 18F-Dylan Welsh. No Time
358 Sprint Heat Three Finish (10 laps/5 qualify) – 1. 1J-Kevin Nouse; 2. 16-Matt Campbell; 3. 47-Michael Hamer; 4. 5-Phil Walter; 5. 23-Todd Rittenhouse, Jr.; 6. 51N-Nick Palmerino; 7. 7-CJ Quirk; 8. 66R-Russell Hammaker. Time – 2:27.06
358 Sprint Heat Four Finish (10 laps/5 qualify) – 1. 66-Doug Hammaker; 2. 27S-Adrian Shaffer; 3. 23A-Chris Arnold; 4. 66A-Cody Fletcher; 5. 21-CJ Tracey; 6. 5A-Brian Allman; 7. 0-Ryan Hansen (DNF); DNS – 23J-Jake Eldreth. Time – 2:23.62
358 Sprint Consolation Finish (10 laps/4 qualify) – 1. 45-Jeff Rohrbaugh; 2. 28-Matt Findley; 3. 97-Brie Hershey; 4. 7-CJ Quirk; 5. 5A-Brian Allman; 6. 66R-Russell Hammaker; 7. 9-Ryan Hansen; 8. 51N-Nick Palmerino; 9. 18F-Dylan Welsh; 10. 23J-Jake Eldreth (DNF); 11. 45H-Jeff Halligan (DNF); DNS – 19D-Wyatt Hinkle. No Time