Williams Grove National Open - 09/28/02, Central Pennsylnavia, sprint cars

World of Outlaws 25th Anniversary

Dewease Charges to Third National Open Championship By Richard Day MECHANICSBURG, PA (September 28) – Lance Dewease definitely got the most out of an engine “that wouldn’t take off on the starts” Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway. Dewease won his third Cleveland Brothers National Open championship in seven years, racing to the $30,000 victory from inside the seventh row. Dewease is the 16th driver to win a Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series “A” Feature this season. The victory pushed Al Hamilton into first place in career car owner victories at legendary Williams Grove Speedway.

“We just totally guessed on the setup,” Dewease admitted. “The motor wouldn’t take off on the starts. It did it in the heat and then again in the (O'Reilly Auto Parts) Dash. We didn’t really know just how good the car was at all. I really have to thank Penske Shocks. This is just the second time I ran with them, and I couldn’t have done it without them. They (the shocks) are cockpit adjustable, and I just kept dialing them one way and then the other during those early cautions.”

Dewease, who also won the National Open in 1996 and 2001, passed pole-sitter Danny Lasoski for the lead following a 32nd-lap caution period for provisional starter Randy Hannagan and took the checkered flag with 25 car-lengths to spare. Lasoski was racing at Williams Grove Speedway for the first time since suffering multiple injuries in a crash at the semi-banked, ½-mile oval July 26th.

“I got too tight at one point and then when we got it figured out, I thought maybe we’d have a shot at Lasoski and the caution just helped us out,” Dewease said. “My biggest problem was that I showed Steve Kinser the middle there in (turns) one and two. He came right back at me, and I wasn’t sure I was ever going to get by him. I saw Danny’s guys motion him down to the bottom on the restart, so I just tried the top. Danny gave me enough room down there – not too much, but as much as I needed.”

“This guy that finished second (Lasoski) – it’s just unbelievable how he’s come back here after the crash he took the last time. He’s getting better and better every time he comes here, and maybe next year we’ll get to race him again for the win.’

Lasoski, the ninth-fastest qualifier in the 38-car field, earned the right to start the 40-lap main event on the pole by winning his 17th O’Reilly Auto Parts Dash of the year. Johnny Herrera, who won the Second O’Reilly Auto Parts Dash, burst into the lead from outside the front row as the green flag fell in the “A” Feature, but spun in the second corner early in the opening lap. Lasoski drove NASCAR Winston Cup star Tony Stewart’s #20 J.D. Byrider Eagle into the lead as the green flag replaced the yellow. “The Dude” was racing away from the field when Mike Erdley stopped on the back straightaway early in the second lap Lasoski controlled a fifth-lap restart following Hannagan’s second-corner spin and was 20 car-lengths ahead of his closest pursuers when he entered lapped traffic eight laps later. Keith Kauffman took the leaders out of lapped traffic the next time around when he spun in turn two.

Dewease started charging to the front following Kauffman’s first-corner spin early in the 17th lap. Dewease drove Hamilton’s #77 past Cris Eash and Kinser on the back straightaway to take over seventh place seven laps later, then passed Tim Shaffer, Sean Michael, Todd Hestor, Joey Saldana and fast qualifier Craig Dollansky before the 32nd-lap caution period. Dewease raced past Lasoski between the first and second corners to take the lead as the race resumed. Kinser, the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series points leader, lost seventh place late in the 36th lap when ignition box problems in his #11 Quaker State Maxim forced him to stop in turn two.

“The King of the Outlaws” finished out of the top 10 for the first time in 14 events. Saldana steered the #17 Eagle Raceway/HEM Saw Eagle around Dollansky in the high groove between the third and fourth corners for third place late in lap 38 as Dewease built a comfortable advantage.

“We just got beat by a better team tonight,” Lasoski said. “When he (Dewease) went by me by driving through the middle of the track, I just thought, ‘I wish my car felt that good.’ It was actually kind of neat to watch, as well as he was getting around here. I think he’d have gotten us even without that caution, but we’re not giving up. We’ll just have to come back here next year and run a little better.”

Saldana finished in third place, ahead of Dollansky, Hestor, Mark Kinser, 23rd-starting Fred Rahmer, Shaffer, Michael and 24th-starting Greg Hodnett. Mark Kinser coasted into the infield with engine problems during the Third Heat Race. The 1995, 1998 and 1989 National Open champion won the “B” Feature, then raced into sixth place from outside the ninth row in the main event.

WoO 2002 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series 40th Annual Cleveland Brothers National Open Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA Saturday, September 28, Feature Program #60

Qualifications: 1. Craig Dollansky, Karavan Racing 7, 16.756; 2. Joey Saldana, Saldana 17, 16.835; 3. Cris Eash, Eash 17E, 16.891; 4. Don Kreitz, Jr., Kreitz 69, 16.950; 5. Brad Furr, Furr 2, 16.977; 6. Mark Kinser, Kinser 5M, 16.977; 7. Sean Michael, Zemaitis 1, 17.025; 8. Johnny Herrera, Wilburn 2W, 17.038; 9. Danny Lasoski, Stewart 20, 17.062; 10. Randy Hannagan, TH Racing 1x, 17.065; 11. Todd Hestor, Middleswarth 7M, 17.085; 12. P.J. Chesson, Chesson 76, 17.092; 13. Tim Shaffer, Roth 83, 17.095; 14. Stevie Smith, Helm 11H, 17.112; 15. Daryn Pittman, Sher-Don Motorsports 21, 17.117; 16. Rick Lafferty, Lafferty 0, 17.124; 17. Lance Dewease, Hamilton 77, 17.134; 18. Brian Paulus, P and P Motorsports 28, 17.197; 19. Mike Erdley, Lisi 11E, 17.203; 20. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 17.208; 21. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 17.220; 22. Danny Wood, Parsons 6, 17.301; 23. Keith Kauffman, Middleswarth 7K, 17.318; 24. Jac Haudenschild, Forbrook 5, 17.329; 25. Fred Rahmer, Harz 88H, 17.357; 26. Greg Hodnett, Apple 12, 17.359; 27. Jason Hagenbuch, Hagenbuch 17H, 17.440; 28. Doug Esh, Leach 30, 17.474; 29. Darren Eash, Parrish 21E, 17.475; 30. Brooke Weibley, Weibley 32, 17.498; 31. Len Thompson, Tanger 07, 17.502; 32. Smokey Snellbaker, Performance Restoration 7E, 17.534; 33. Troy Whitesel, Ritter 17B, 17.618; 34. Mark Smith, Smith 22M, 17.782; 35. Kevin Frey, Frey 2K, 17.933; 36. Todd Allen, Allen 1a, 18.133; 37. Randy Bauchman, Bauchman 3B, 18.181; 38. Bill Kiley, Kiley 4K, 19.732.

First Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Jac Haudenschild, 2. Danny Lasoski, 3. Lance Dewease, 4. Johnny Herrera, 5. Craig Dollansky, 6. Rick Lafferty, 7. Fred Rahmer, 8. Darren Eash, 9. Troy Whitesel, 10. Randy Bauchman. (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)

Second Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Keith Kauffman, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Brian Paulus, 4. Sean Michael, 5. Joey Saldana, 6. Greg Hodnett, 7. Randy Hannagan, 8. Brooke Weibley, 9. Mark Smith, 10. Bill Kiley. (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)

Third Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Danny Wood, 2. Mike Erdley, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Todd Hestor, 5. Cris Eash, 6. Jason Hagenbuch, 7. Len Thompson, 8. Kevin Frey, 9. Mark Kinser. (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)

Fourth Heat Race (eight laps): 1. Tim Shaffer, 2. Donny Schatz, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Brad Furr, 5. P.J. Chesson, 6. Don Kreitz, Jr., 7. Doug Esh, 8. Todd Allen, 9. Smokey Snellbaker. (first five qualified for the “A” Feature)

First O'Reilly Auto Parts Dash (five laps): 1. Danny Lasoski, 2. Sean Michael, 3. Craig Dollansky, 4. Stevie Smith, 5. Cris Eash, 6. Mike Erdley, 7. Lance Dewease, 8. P.J. Chesson. (finish determined the inside starting positions in the first eight rows in the “A” Feature)

Second O'Reilly Auto Parts Dash (five laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Joey Saldana, 3. Brad Furr, 4. Todd Hestor, 5. Tim Shaffer, 6. Steve Kinser, 7. Daryn Pittman, 8. Brian Paulus. (finish determined the outside starting positions in the first eight rows in the “A” Feature)

B Feature (12 laps): 1. Mark Kinser, 2. Don Kreitz, Jr., 3. Greg Hodnett, 4. Fred Rahmer, 5. Randy Hannagan, 6. Darren Eash ($200); 7. Rick Lafferty ($175); 8. Brooke Weibley, 9. Len Thompson ($150); 10. Jason Hagenbuch ($100); 11. Troy Whitesel ($90); 12. Todd Allen ($80); 13. Doug Esh ($60); 14. Randy Bauchman ($50); 15. Bill Kiley ($50); 16. Smokey Snellbaker ($50). (first four qualified for the “A” Feature)

A Feature (40 laps): 1. Lance Dewease [13] ($30,000); 2. Danny Lasoski [1] ($12,000); 3. Joey Saldana [4] ($7,500); 4. Craig Dollansky [5] ($5,000); 5. Todd Hestor [8] ($4,000); 6. Mark Kinser [18] ($3,520); 7. Fred Rahmer [23] ($3,220); 8. Tim Shaffer [10] ($2,750); 9. Sean Michael [3] ($2,300); 10. Greg Hodnett [24] ($2,220); 11. Cris Eash [9] ($2,100); 12. Brad Furr [6] ($1,700); 13. Jac Haudenschild [22] ($1,600); 14. Don Kreitz, Jr. [17] ($1,320); 15. Daryn Pittman [14] ($1,200); 16. Donny Schatz [19] ($1,100); 17. Keith Kauffman [21] ($1,100); 18. Steve Kinser [12] ($1,000); 19. Brian Paulus [16] ($1,000); 20. Johnny Herrera [2] ($1,000); 21. Danny Wood [20] ($900); 22. Stevie Smith [7] ($900); 23. Brooke Weibley [23] ($920); 24. Randy Hannagan [24] ($920); 25. P.J. Chesson [15] ($900); 26. Mike Erdley [11] ($900).

Provisional starters: Randy Hannagan, Brooke Weibley

Lap leaders: Danny Lasoski 1-32, Lance Dewease 33-40

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