Kalida Landis
HANOVER, Pa.: Danny Dietrich was looking for one good race to get his team moving in the right direction for the 2020 stretch run.
It wasn’t so much that Dietrich was struggling. His car had speed, but things just weren’t lining up for the Gettysburg driver to get back in Victory Lane.
All of that changed over the last weekend, and Dietrich went from having one good night to putting together a winning streak.
Dietrich topped the fields at Williams Grove and Lincoln Speedway Friday and Saturday night. On Sunday, he made it three wins in three days with a victory in the 29-lap Fourth annual Armin Hostetter Memorial at Trail-Way Speedway.
“I’m really happy to get back on track,” Dietrich said. “We were fast all weekend with two different cars and two different motors. We’ve had a little bit of motor trouble, but they run really good. It’s not our motor builder’s fault.
“I can’t say enough about our short-track program. To win here at Trail-Way and last night at Lincoln, it feels really good.”
Dietrich got some good fortune when he drew the No. 2 pill and started on the outside pole of the main event. That allowed him to beat Chase Dietz through the first and second corner to lead Lap 1.
Todd Gracey, who was running a 360 motor under the hood, also showed speed early. He slipped by Dietz on the inside of Turns 3 and 4 to take over the second position, dropping Dietz to third.
By the time the fifth circuit was scored, Dietrich built a 1.135-second lead. Gracey was making up time in lapped traffic on Lap 7, when he got into the back of the lapped car of Brent Shearer on the frontstretch and wheel hopped. He kept going, but Shearer rolled to a stop in Turn 2 on Lap 8.
Dietrich owned the restart and stretched his lead to 1.151 seconds by the 10th circuit. Clean air was key, and the leader continued to hit his marks over the next five laps to take a 1.940-second advantage.
The leaders caught the back of the field on Lap 16. Meanwhile, Brian Montieth passed Jason Solwold for fifth and started catching Billy Dietrich.
Getting past backmarkers was dicey, which helped Gracey close to .913 seconds by Lap 20. Dietrich cleared Trey Hivner one lap later in the Turn 3 and held a 1.386-second cushion with eight laps to go.
The leaders closed on Glenndon Forsythe. Gracey chopped into Dietrich’s lead and was .522 seconds back on Lap 25. Dietrich got around Forsythe as the yellow flew for the final time on Lap 27.
That was the race. Dietrich had a clear track over the last three circuits and drove away to a 1.245-second victory, his third in three nights, and a $4,000 payday.
“I just didn’t want to go into one and two and leave the bottom wide open,” Dietrich said. “[Todd’s] a gasser, and he had a 360 in the car, but at a place like this it doesn’t hurt you. We are all detuning to try to keep the tires under us and not overrun it into the corner.
“I thought to myself, ‘If he can run that 360 around the outside of me, that’s pretty impressive.’ So, I just tried to hit my marks, and we did that after the yellow and were good to go.”
Gracey settled for an impressive second-place finish. Dietz, Billy Dietrich, and Montieth completed the top five.
Travis McClelland charged from 13th to take the victory in the Central PA Legends presented by Harvest Chapel.
There was a six-car incident in the second corner on the initial start. Scott Smith took control at the start and led the first six circuits. McClelland made his way to the front on Lap 7 and held off the charge of Stephen Wurtzer at the finish.
Mike Racine finished third in the final rundown. Travis Perry and Brent Marquis completed the top five in the main event.
Trail-Way Speedway
Hanover, Pa.
Sunday, August 2, 2020
For Immediate Release
410 SPRINT CARS – 4TH ANNUAL ARMIN HOSTETTER MEMORIAL
Feature (29 Laps): 1. 48-Danny Dietrich III[2]; 2. 3-Todd Gracey[3]; 3. 75-Chase Dietz[1]; 4. 8D-Bill Dietrich[4]; 5. 21-Brian Montieth[8]; 6. 39-Jason Solwold[6]; 7. 44-Dylan Norris[5]; 8. 35-Steve Owings[13]; 9. 69-Tim Glatfelter[7]; 10. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[10]; 11. 77-David Holbrook[12]; 12. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe[11]; 13. 7-Trey Hivner[14]; 14. (DNF) 1ST-Stephen Surniak[9]; 15. (DNF) 15-Tyler Ross[17]; 16. (DNF) 27G-Jay Galloway Jr[16]; 17. (DNF) 0-Steve Storrie[15]; 18. (DNF) 12-Brent Shearer[18].
Lap Leaders: Danny Dietrich (1-29)
410 Sprint Car Heat 1 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 69-Tim Glatfelter[2]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich III[1]; 3. 3-Todd Gracey[3]; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5]; 5. 35-Steve Owings[6]; 6. 27G-Jay Galloway Jr[4].
410 Sprint Car Heat 2 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 1ST-Stephen Surniak[2]; 2. 39-Jason Solwold[1]; 3. 8D-Bill Dietrich[6]; 4. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe[5]; 5. 7-Trey Hivner[4]; 6. 15-Tyler Ross[3].
410 Sprint Car Heat 3 Finish (10 Laps/All Qualify): 1. 75-Chase Dietz[1]; 2. 21-Brian Montieth[4]; 3. 44-Dylan Norris[5]; 4. 77-David Holbrook[6]; 5. 0-Steve Storrie[3]; 6. 12-Brent Shearer[2].