DEWEASE’S LATE WINNING PASS ON MARKS

Over 24 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprintcar Series races held over the last three years in the state of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Posse had only won twice and both were thanks to Brent Marks following his full-time tenure.

The Beer Hill Gang had been longing for an inevitable return to glory at their place of worship, Williams Grove Speedway, and it finally came in a big way on Friday night (July 22).

Sweeping the podium and stopping the fleet of 15 full-time Outlaws, the PA Posse enjoyed their largest statement in several seasons as the Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals kicked off in dramatic fashion.

It was only fitting that 56-year-old Lance Dewease, the winningest driver in the history of the famed Mechanicsburg, PA 1/2-mile, led the charge for The Keystone State. With his trusty sidekicks – revered car owner Don Kreitz Junior. and legendary mechanic Davey Brown – making magic, Dewease brought the #69K back to Victory Lane with The Greatest Show on Dirt for the first time since May 2019.

The Fayetteville, PA native made his 106th career win at the track extra special by leading a PA Posse podium sweep with a red-hot Brent Marks of Myerstown, PA running a close second-place and young Anthony Macri of Dillsburg, PA, earning another third-place effort.

Dewease, a 2018 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee, moved his name further up the World of Outlaws All-Time Win List with his 18th career victory coming in his 300th start with the Series. He snapped a 26-race win-less run with the $10,000 score and only needed to lead the last five laps to get it done.

“We haven’t had a very good year compared to our standards, so it feels amazing to get a win against these World of Outlaws guys,” Dewease told a rambunctious crowd. “We even got an all-PA Posse top-three, how sweet is that? I can’t tell you enough how proud I am of this team. We just haven’t been our normal selves lately. We’ve been okay, but not as fast as we should be. We hit it right tonight, though. This feels awesome.”

Rolling from the fifth spot, Dewease quietly manoeuvred by Carson Macedo and Anthony Macri to take the third spot on Lap 10. The Fayetteville Flyer held the final podium spot while all eyes were glued to a nail-biting battle for the lead through lap traffic between Brent Marks and World of Outlaws championship leader, Brad Sweet.

Marks was going for a third Outlaws win at Williams Grove within the last year, while Sweet was pursuing his first-career win at the tricky 1/2-mile track. The duo seemed to be the clear favorites as they sliced and diced through traffic, but a Lap 18 caution changed everything and stacked up the field.

Dewease quickly passed Sweet on the low line on Lap 18 and immediately did the same to Marks as the #69K assumed the race lead on Lap 21 of 25. He was forced to fend off Marks’ high-side attack over the final five laps, but it was a job he could handle as Dewease cruised to a 1.757-second margin of victory at the stripe.

“I don’t know if we had the best car, but I have the most patience around this place,” Dewease added. “I knew I couldn’t show Brent my nose, because he’s damn good everywhere right now and would’ve taken that one away. He was so good on the bottom that I was shocked when he moved off it, but I figured that’s a product of lap traffic and where I was in the right place. I knew that caution would help us, and thankfully I made it all pay off.”

After leading the opening 20 laps, King Brent XXXIX succumbed to the veteran prowess of Dewease and finished second aboard the Murray-Marks #19. The reigning Summer Nationals champion will be back with a vengeance tomorrow as he chases his sixth World of Outlaws win of the season.

“Lance is just extremely good here and so is that #69K,” Marks complimented. “I didn’t know where to run at the end because I felt comfortable on the bottom and top, and now I know I made the wrong choice. I think the cushion got too big and made it too difficult for me to carry my speed around the outside. I let that one go, for sure. We’ve got a chance to bounce back tomorrow.”

Anthony Macri of Dillsburg, PA finished third with a last-lap pass on Brad Sweet to seal the deal on a Posse podium sweep. The Concrete Kid had high hopes rolling from the outside pole but settled for his seventh-career podium in World of Outlaws competition as the pursuit of his first-career win continues.

“You never want to go backward, but finishing on the podium of any World of Outlaws race is always cool, especially on home turf,” Macri mentioned. “I’m glad we could keep the fan happy tonight. We’ve got some stuff to clean up and we’ll be ready to get back after it tomorrow.”

Closing out the top-five behind a trio of PA Posse stars were the leading two championship contenders for the World of Outlaws. Brad Sweet finished fourth aboard the Kasey Kahne Racing #49, while David Gravel trailed him in fifth aboard the Big Game Motorsports #2.

Rounding out the top-10 on Friday night were Carson Macedo in the Jason Johnson Racing #41, Donny Schatz in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing #15, Danny Dietrich in the Gary Kauffman Racing #48, Kyle Larson in the Paul Silva #57, and Aussie James McFadden in the Roth Motorsports #83.

NOS NOTEBOOK

(WILLIAMS GROVE SPEEDWAY, 22/7/22)

James McFadden earned his second Quickest Time Award of the season, topping My Place Hotels Qualifying at 17.407 seconds around Williams Grove. It’s the fifth QuickTime of his World of Outlaws career.

NOS Energy Drink heat races were won by James McFadden (28th career), Brad Sweet (209th career), Donny Schatz (500th career), and Carson Macedo (75th career). Chase Dietz of York, PA scored the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown win, while Brent Marks of Myerstown, PA won the DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash.

An eventful night for Freddie Rahmer of Salfordville, PA ended on a high note as the Williams Grove points leader took the KSE Hard Charger Award for his 25th-to-15th run in the 25-lap Feature.

UP NEXT (Fri-Sat) – The World of Outlaws and PA Posse will continue Sprintcarr racing’s favourite rivalry on Saturday night with a $20,000-to-win finale at the Champion Racing Oil Summer Nationals. 

NOS Energy Drink Feature Race Results (25 Laps) – 

1. 69K-Lance Dewease [5][$10,000]; 2. 19-Brent Marks [1][$6,000]; 3. 39M-Anthony Macri [2][$3,500]; 4. 49-Brad Sweet [4][$2,800]; 5. 2-David Gravel [6][$2,500]; 6. 41-Carson Macedo [3][$2,300]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [7][$2,200]; 8. 48-Danny Dietrich [15][$2,100]; 9. 57-Kyle Larson [13][$2,050]; 10. 83-James McFadden [8][$2,000]; 11. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [19][$1,600]; 12. 1S-Logan Schuchart [16][$1,400]; 13. 44-Dylan Norris [12][$1,200]; 14. 5-Spencer Bayston [10][$1,100]; 15. 8-Freddie Rahmer [25][$50]; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen [9][$1,000]; 17. 99M-Kyle Moody [17][$1,000]; 18. 39-Chase Dietz [21][$1,000]; 19. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [11][$1,000]; 20. 27-Daryn Pittman [20][$1,000]; 21. 11-TJ Stutts [22][$1,000]; 22. 23-Devon Borden [14][$1,000]; 23. 11A-Austin Bishop [18][$1,000]; 24. 1W-Robbie Kendall [24][$1,000]; 25. 45-Jeff Halligan [23][$1,000]. 

      Lap Leaders:

      Brent Marks 1-20, Lance Dewease 21-25.

  KSE Hard Charger Award: 

      8-Freddie Rahmer[+10

     LATEST Championship Standings (After 42/77 Races) –1. Brad Sweet (5,656); 2. David Gravel     (-40); 3. Carson Macedo (-52); 4. Sheldon Haudenschild (-78); 5. Logan Schuchart (-140); 6. Donny Schatz (-182); 7. Spencer Bayston (-308); 8. James McFadden (-330); 9. Jacob Allen (-494); 10. Brock Zearfoss (-616).