By Shawn Brouse
Mechanicsburg – Danny Dietrich sped to the win in the 34th annual Pennsylvania Speedweek Series opener on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
Dietrich pocketed $10,800 for the victory including $800 in bonus moneys. It was the 13th win for Dietrich in the history of sprint car speedweek action.
Doug Hammaker took the win in the 20-lap 358 sprint main.
Justin Whittall started on the pole of the 30-lap speedweek main alongside Dietrich.
Whittall took the lead when action began with Dietrich giving chase.
By lap four when the first caution flag of the race unfurled, fifth starter Anthony Macri was up to third.
Macri got around Dietrich on lap six and set his sights on the leader.
By lap 10 Whittall was staring down the barrel of the rear of the field and he began attempting to work traffic with 12 away.
Lap 14 saw Dietrich briefly reclaim second over Macri only to again surrender the spot moments later.
At the halfway point Whittall had a .536 second lead with Macri closing fast in traffic.
And Macri made good on his momentum with 13 laps to go to net the top spot while bringing Dietrich with him as Whittall faltered.
The defending speedweek series champion, Macri appeared headed unchallenged to the win until disaster struck with four laps to go.
Macri jumped the cushion in turns three and four and slammed the outside wall before coming to a stop.
This handed the lead to Dietrich who himself had smacked the outside backstretch wall a few laps earlier causing suspension damage.
The Gettysburg pilot took the win by 3.508 seconds.
Whittall had to fend off the challenges of Troy Wagaman Jr. over the final laps before surrendering the spot with less than two laps to go.
After starting 12th, Freddie Rahmer then pressured Whittall for third to the finish line before settling for fourth.
Chase Dietz ended up fifth.
Sixth through 10th went to Lucas Wolfe, Dylan Cisney, Logan Wagner, Devon Borden and Kyle Reinhardt.
Heats were taken by Dietrich, Wagaman, Macri and Whittall with Cameron Smith taking the B Main.
Dietrich set quick time with a lap of 18.560 seconds.
Polesitter Jude Siegel led the first 13 laps of the 358 sprint main before Doug Hammaker made a move in traffic to take the lead in the fourth corner.
Derek Locke drove into second with five laps to go but failed to close on the leader as Hammaker took his second oval win of the year by 2.364 seconds.
Chad Criswell, Preston Lattomus and Siegel completed the top five finishers.
Sixth through 10th went to Logan Rumsey, Scott Fisher, Seth Schnoke, Cole Young and Dylan Norris.
Heats went to Siegel, Schnoke and Criswell.
Feature Finishes:
6/28/24
410 sprints, 25 laps: 1. Danny Dietrich, 2. Troy Wagaman Jr., 3. Justin Whittall, 4. Freddie Rahmer, 5. Chase Dietz, 6. Luacs Wolfe, 7. Dylan Cisney, 8. Logan Wagner, 9. Devon Borden, 10. Kyle Reinhardt, 11. Ryan Smith, 12. Lance Dewease, 13. Billy Dietrich, 14. TJ Stutts, 15. Chad Trout, 16. Kody Hartlaub, 17. Aaron Bollinger, 18. Tony Jackson, 19. Jeff Halligan, 20. Dylan Norris, 21. Anthony Macri, 22. Mike Wagner, 23. Cameron Smith, 24. Kyle Moody
DNQ: Kyle Keen, Ryan Taylor, Matt Miller, Chris Arnold, Jarrett Cavalett, Austin Bishop, Kody Lehman, Jessie Attard, Mike Walter II., Steve Buckwalter
358 sprints, 20 laps: 1. Doug Hammaker, 2. Derek Locke, 3. Chad Criswell, 4. Preston Lattomus, 5. Jude Siegel, 6. Logan Rumsey, 7. Scott Fisher, 8. Seth Schnoke, 9. Cole Young, 10. Dylan Norris, 11. Chris Frank, 12. Adam Carberry, 13. Cody Fletcher, 14. Frankie Herr, 15. Wyatt Hinkle, 16. Kyle Spence, 17. Chase Gutshall, 18. Cole Knopp, 19. Jake Galloway, 20. Matt Findley, 21. Samuel Miller, 22. Andy Best, 23. Steve Downs, 24. Nat Tuckey, 25. Dwight Leppo, 26. Zach Newlin
DNS: Bryn Gohn