Dietrich wins Nace Memorial at Selinsgrove

Selinsgrove Speedway top Story
Danny Dietrich. (T.J. Buffenbarger Photo)
Danny Dietrich. (T.J. Buffenbarger Photo)

From Selinsgrove Speedway

Selinsgrove, PA — (September 19, 2015) — Danny Dietrich of Gettysburg wired the field for his first-ever win at Selinsgrove Speedway in Saturday night’s Jim Nace Memorial 33rd Annual National Open for 410 sprint cars sponsored by Paul Stine Chevrolet.

The $10,000 victory at the wheel of the Kauffman Racing/ Sandoe’s Fruit Market No. 48 was Dietrich’s 15th overall win in sprint car racing this season.

Brock Zearfoss of Jonestown was the Fast Tees Fast Qualifier with a lap time of 16.554.

Dylan Yoder of Selinsgrove won his first race of the season at Selinsgrove and fourth overall this year in the 25-lap super late model main event.

Saturday night’s race closed out the 2015 racing season at the 70-year-old facility and marked the end of Charlie Paige’s 15-year term as track promoter. The Selinsgrove Fair Association, which governs the speedway, is working on a succession plan for racing to continue in 2016.

Dietrich started on the pole and powered into the lead in the sprint car main event with second-place starter Lucas Wolfe and third-place starter Greg Hodnett in pursuit. On the ninth circuit, Hodnett drove by Wolfe for the runner-up spot racing out of turn four.

The race’s first caution flag unfurled on lap 12 when Aaron Ott’s car blew a tire on the frontstretch. Ott did a remarkable job keeping the car from making contact with the guardrail and was able to rejoin the race.

On the lap 13 restart, Dietrich continued to set a blistering pace with Hodnett clearing the lapped cars and setting his sights on the leader. On the 16th lap, fourth-place starter TJ Stutts started to show a lot of speed and passed Wolfe for the third position.

Ott, meanwhile, stormed into the ninth position after restarting on the rear of the field. On lap 18, however, misfortune struck the East Berlin driver again when his car slammed the inside wall and was struck by Michael Walter’s car. Both drivers escaped injury.

With 15 laps to race, Stutts started to pressure Hodnett for the second position. In the final five laps, Dietrich encountered and navigated his way around slower traffic. Stutts made a last-ditch effort at Hodnett for second to no avail. At the checkered flag, Dietrich was victorious by 2.7 seconds over Hodnett, Stutts, seventh-place starter Brent Marks, and Wolfe.

Polesitter Dylan Yoder pulled into the lead at the start of the late model main event while second-place starter Pancho Lawler held down the runner-up position for several laps. With three laps down, fourth-place starter Jim Yoder and fifth-place starter Jeff Rine dueled for the third position.

On the seventh circuit, Rine took the third spot then advanced to second with a pass by Lawler out of turn four. A lap later, J. Yoder secured the third spot. The second half of the race D. Yoder dueled with Rine for the lead. Both drivers streaked around the top of the race track in the first and second spots.

Despite several restarts, D. Yoder maintained an edge over Rine to the finish. At the checkered flag, D. Yoder was victorious by 1.2 seconds over Rine, Andy Haus, J. Yoder, and Chad Hollenbeck.

SELINSGROVE SPEEDWAY RACE SUMMARY – 19 September 2015
410 Sprint Cars – 24 Entries
35-Lap A-Main: 1) 48 Danny Dietrich $10,000 2) 27 Greg Hodnett 3) 23 TJ Stutts 4) 19M Brent Marks 5) 1Z Lucas Wolfe 6) 3Z Brock Zearfoss 7) 28F Davie Franek 8) 7 Todd Shaffer 9) 14 Lance Dewease 10) 12 Blane Heimbach 11) 3 Pat Cannon 12) 98H Mike Erdley 13) 33 Curt Stroup 14) 29 Jason Shultz 15) 66 Ryan Kissinger 16) 24B Dustin Baney 17) 71C Charlie Anderson 18) 73 Jevon Ahner 19) 21R Kyle Reinhart 20) 25 Aaron Ott 21) 33W Michael Walter 22) 51B Karl Baker 23) 13 Jac Haudenschild 24) 07 Doug Esh
Heat Winners: Lucas Wolfe, Danny Dietrich, Greg Hodnett
Time Trials: 1) 3Z Brock Zearfoss 16.554 2) 19M Brent Marks 16.563 3) 13 Jac Haudenschild 16.583 4) 3 Pat Cannon 16.639 5) 23 TJ Stutts 16.657 6) 27 Greg Hodnett 16.658 7) 1Z Lucas Wolfe 16.692 8) 48 Danny Deitrich 16.701 9) 07 Doug Esh 16.710 10) 33W Michael Walter 16.765 11)25 Aaron Ott 16.772 12) 21R Kyle Reinhart 16.816 13) 12 Blane Heimbach 16.842 14) 7 Todd Shaffer 16.860 15) 14 Lance Dewease 16.975 16) 98H Mike Erdley 17.061 17) 33 Curt Stroup 17.196 18) 28F Davie Franek 17.262 19) 24B Dustin Baney 17.381 20) 29 Jason Shultz 17.883 21) 66 Ryan Kissinger 17.957 22) 73 Jevon Ahner 18.149 23) 71C Charlie Anderson 18.355 24) 51B Karl Baker 19.044
Late Models – 24 Entries
25-Lap A-main: 1) 24 Dylan Yoder 2) 2J Jeff Rine 3) 33 Andy Haus 4) 27 Jim Yoder 5) 4D Chad Hollenbeck 6) 15F Scott Flickinger 7) 17 Nick Dickson 8) 119B Bryan Bernheisel 9) 10 Dave Stamm 10) 99 Steve Stitt 11) 45 Eric Hons 12) 24J Jon Rohacevich 13) 50R Cody Robbins 14) 88T Ernie Millon 15) 61 Ken Trevitz 16) 93 Pancho Lawler 17) 0F Coleby Frye 18) 26 Jerry Bard 19) 67 Tommy Slanker 20) 90 Kyle Rhoads 21) 0B Larry Baer 22) 41 Chris Casner 23) 99Z Dave Zona 24) 06 Mike Lupfer
Heat Winners: Coleby Frye, Dave Stamm, Dave Zona