Wagaman Wins 358 Sprint Car Feature at Lincoln Speedway

By Bill Meyer

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA 7/7/2018 – Troy Wagaman, Jr. took advantage of a penalty to race-leader Chase Dietz with five laps to go to inherit the lead and then held off Dietz the remaining laps to pick up the win in the special 25-lap $1,500-to-win K1 RaceGear 358 Sprint Summer Series feature at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night. The win, Wagaman’s second career Lincoln win, win was over a year in the making since his inaugural win back on August 13th, 2016. CJ Tracy then capped off his fourth-place run in the first feature of the night by leading every lap at the end of the night in the June 23rd make-up Fallen Firefighters Night in Memory of Brandon Little feature. Like Wagaman, Tracy’s win was the second of his career, backing up his first career win from May 28th, 2016. 1ST FEATURE – K1 RaceGear 358 Sprint Summer Series FeatureWagaman, who has been searching for his second career 358 sprint win for over a year, started on the pole of the featured event of the night yet watched outside front row starter CJ Tracy grab the lead with fifth-starting Chase Dietz getting by for second at the outset of the 25-lap feature. Dietz drove around Tracy on the fourth lap to take over the top spot with Wagaman still trailing in third place. Wagaman got by Tracy on the 11th lap to take over the runner-up spot as race-leading Dietz continued to set the pace through lapped traffic during the hectic non-stop action. Brett Shearer slowed the action on the 20th lap with the event’s only caution by spinning in the third and fourth turns. It was at that point officials penalized race-leading Dietz two positions for jumping on the original start of the feature. This put Dietz in third, handing the lead over to Wagaman and second place to Tracy. Wagaman took full advantage of Dietz’s misfortune by leading the final five laps to pick up his second career 358 sprint win and take home the K1 RaceGear 358 Sprint Summer Series Feature $1,500 winner’s check. Dietz tried in vain to get the lead back the final laps. Dietz got by Tracy on that final restart to move into second, but came up 1.03-seconds short of race-winner Wagaman at the checkered. Tyler Ross culminated a good run from his 12th starting spot to finish third, Tracy fourth, and 11th-starting Doug Hammaker fifth. Completing the top-10 were Hard Charger Award winner Chris Arnold who drove from his 22nd starting position to finish sixth, 15th-starting Jeff Halligan seventh, Kyle Denmyer eighth, Cody Hartlaub ninth, and Todd Rittenhouse, Jr. 10th. Heats for the 37 358 Sprints on hand were won by Hank Donovan, Jr., Matt Findley, Denmyer, and Shearer, with Rodney Westhafer winning the consolation. JUNE 23RD FALLEN FIREFIGHTERS NIGHT IN MEMORY OF BRANDON LITTLE MAKE-UP FEATURETracy started on the pole of the June 23rd make-up Fallen Firefighters Night feature and led every lap to pick up the win in the 20-lap 358 Sprint feature in Memory of Brandon Little. Outside front row starter Dalton Dietrich trailed Tracy the entire distance and settled for second, with third-starting Matt Findley doing the same by running third throughout and finished third. Fifth-starting Tyler Ross advanced one spot to finish fourth, with fourth-starting Ashley Cappetta losing that spot to Ross and settled for fifth. Completing the top-10 were Trey Hivner, Scott Geesey, Hard Charger Cody Hartlaub (who originally was scheduled to start 24th), Dave Brown, and 14th-starting Tyler Walton. GEESEMAN WIRES THE FIELD TO WIN STREET STOCK FEATURESecond-starting Jason Geeseman grabbed the lead from polesitter Aaron Beard at the outset of the 20-lap Street Stock feature and led the entire way, holding off a fast-closing by a mere .60-seconds for the win. Third-starting Cory Sites raced in the top-three the entire distance and settled for third, with Will Walls fourth, and 11th-starting Randy Zechman fifth. Completing the top-10 were Chris Derr, Chad Smith, Wayne Dutterer, Sam Gallagher, and Kyle Sizemore. Heats for the 24 Street Stocks on hand were won by Beard, Geeseman, and Sites. HITZLER ENDURES TO WIN XCEL MODIFIED FEATURERichie Hitzler got by polesitter and race-long leader Michael Borrows just past the halfway mark of the 20-lap 600 Xcel Modified feature and held off eighth-starting Korey Inglin for the victory. Burrows settled for third, with Matt Warner and Brian Blankenbillar finishing fourth and fifth respectively. Completing the top-10 were DJ Hunt, Jarrett Sechrist, Travis Fichter, Hunter Diehl, and Robert Martin. Heats for the 19 Xcel Modifieds on hand were won by Hitzler and Borrows. Next Saturday night, July 14th, it will be JOHN GLEIM JR. EXCAVATING NIGHT featuring the 410 Sprinters in a regularly scheduled feature and a make-up feature from the rain-postponed June 23rd Fallen Firefighters Night event. In addition, the 358 Sprinters will be on hand competing in a “Shootout” series event. The Central PA Sportsman will round out the three division show. Competition Pit gates will open at 5 PM, Spectator Pit Admission & General Admission gates will open at 5:30 PM. Hot laps will get underway at 7 PM, with heats getting underway at 7:30 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 RESULTSSaturday, July 7, 2018LINCOLN SPEEDWAYAbbottstown, PAK1 RaceGear 358 Sprint Summer SeriesK1 RaceGear 358 Sprint Summer Series Feature Finish (25 Laps) – 1. 19-Troy Wagaman, Jr. ($1,500); 2. 4R-Chase Dietz; 3. 41B-Tyler Ross; 4. 21-CJ Tracy; 5. 66H-Doug Hammaker; 6. 23-Chris Arnold (Hard Charger); 7. 66-Jeff Halligan; 8. 38D-Kyle Denmyer; 9. 11D-Cody Hartlaub; 10. 18-Todd Rittenhouse, Jr.; 11. 28-Matt Findley; 12. 14-Tyler Walton; 13. 6M-Hank Donovan, Jr.; 14. 12-Brett Shearer; 15. 80-Rodney Westhafer; 16. 54-Brett Wanner; 17. 9-Dalton Dietrich; 18. 66A-Cody Fletcher; 19. 00-Chris Arnold; 20. 4-Dwight Leppo; 21. 41-Scott Geesey; 22. 13S-Jon Stewart (DNF); 23. 44-Dylan Norris (DNF); 24. 19D-Wyatt Hinkle (DNF). No Time Lap Leaders – CJ Tracy (1-3), Chase Dietz (4-19), Troy Wagaman, Jr. (20-25) June 23rd Fallen Firefighters Night 358 Sprint Feature Finish (20-Laps) – 1. 21-CJ Tracy; 2. 9-Dalton Dietrich; 3. 28-Matt Findley; 4. 41B-Tyler Ross; 5. 89-Ashley Cappetta; 6. 7-Trey Hivner; 7. 41-Scott Geesey; 8. 11D-Cody Hartlaub; 9. 27-Dave Brown; 10. 14-Tyler Walton; 11. 19-Troy Wagaman, Jr.; 12. 44-Dylan Norris; 13. 38D-Kyle Denmyer; 14. 20-Devin Beidel; 15. 8-Kenny Kuhn; 16. 50-Alyson Dietz; 17. 12-Brett Shearer; 18. 13S-Jon Stewart; 19. 5A-Zachary Allman; DNS – 66-Jeff Halligan, 59-Steve Wilbur, 19D-Wyatt Hinkle. No Time Lap Leaders – CJ Tracy (1-20) 358 Sprint Heat One Finish (10 laps/5 to qualify) – 1. 6M-Hank Donovan, Jr.; 2. 4R-Chase Dietz; 3. 19D-Wyatt Hinkle; 4. 11D-Kody Hartlaub; 5. 44-Dylan Norris; 6. 50-Alyson Dietz; 7. 89-Ashley Cappetta; 8. 99M-Nyle Berkes; 9. 41-Scott Geesey; 10. 2-Denny Gross. Time – 2:40.54 358 Sprint Heat Two Finish (10 laps/5 to qualify) – 1. 28-Matt Findley; 2. 66H-Doug Hammaker; 3. 19-Troy Wagaman; 4. 14T-Tyler Walton; 5. 13S-Jon Stewart; 6. 80-Rodney Westhafer; 7. 27-Dave Brown; 8. 59-Steve Wilbur; 9. 5A-Zachary Allman. Time – 2:39.60 358 Sprint Heat Three Finish (10 laps/5 to qualify) – 1. 38D-Kyle Denmyer; 2. 41B-Tyler Ross; 3. 21-CJ Tracey; 4. 66-Jeff Halligan; 5. 00-Chris Frank; 6. 23-Chris Arnold; 7. 8-Kenny Kuhn (DNF); 8. 20-Devin Beidel (DNF); 9. 7-Trey Hivner (DNF). No Time 358 Sprint Heat Four Finish (10 laps/5 to qualify) – 1. 12-Brent Shearer; 2. 4-Dwight Leppo; 3. 18-Todd Rittenhouse, Jr.; 4. 9-Dalton Dietrich; 5. 66A-Cody Fletcher; 6. 54-Brett Wanner; 7. 27G-Jacob Galloway; 8. 34-Mark Van Horst; 9. 80R-Dan Richcreek. Time – 2:49.81 358 Sprint Consi Finish (12 laps/4 to qualify) – 1. 80-Rodney Westhafer; 2. 23-Chris Arnold; 3. 54-Brett Wanner; 4. 41-Scott Geesey; 5. 27-Dave Brown; 6. 89-Ashley Cappetta; 7. 99M-Nyle Berkes; 8. 27S-Jake Galloway; 9. 5A-Zachary Allman; 10. 50-Alyson Dietz; 11. 20-Devin Beidel; 12. 8-Kenny Kuhn; 13. 2-Denny Gross; 14. 34-Mark Van Horst; 15. 80M-Dan Richcreek (DNF); DNS – 59-Steve Wilbur, 7-Trey Hivner. No Time