Watson closes on Smith for points lead with fifth thundercar win of ‘07

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA, 9/22/07 - A second-place run in his qualifying event is the only thing that kept Lucas Wolfe from a perfect night in the 19^th Annual Hank Gentzler Memorial Manufacturers Appreciation Race at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night.

The second-generation racer from Mechanicsburg set fast time in time trials, picked pill #0 for the inversion, started on the pole, and claimed the $4,000 top prize in the 25-lap feature for 410 sprinters.

Counting the $250 fast time award from Wings Unlimited, $75 for a second-place finish in his heat, the $4,000 for winning, and a $2,200-prize package given to each of the 24 feature starters by Hank’s Performance Products of York, Wolfe’s take on the night was in excess of $6,500.

After an inversion of five for each of the heats, the only thing that kept Wolfe from claiming the $500 Hank’s Perfect Performance Award was a second-place finish to Doug Esh in his qualifying run.

And for a while, it didn’t look like he’d even win the feature.

Wolfe led lap one from the pole, but then outside front row starter Cory Haas, the 2007 Lincoln "358" sprint champ, went to the wall to drive around the Allebach #5W through turns three and four of lap two to take the point. Haas led the next 15 laps before Wolfe reclaimed the lead in lapped traffic exiting turn four of lap 17.

But closing on the leaders was sixth-starting and 2007 track champ Fred Rahmer, who followed Wolfe by Haas and was scored second by the end of lap 18. Rahmer then drove under Wolfe for the race lead on lap 19. But Wolfe turned up the wick a lap later, and drove back around the ten-time track champ on lap 21.

"I was trying hard not to over-drive the car," said Wolfe in victory lane, "It’s easy to do here.Once Fred got by me, I had to push harder and harder and I found a little bit of something. Fred got held up by some lapped cars, and that let me get by him. Once I was out there, I figured it would be pretty hard for him to get back by me again, but you can never count him out, he’s always there until the end. It was a good win for us tonight."

From there, it was all Wolfe, who crossed 2.58 seconds in front of the 153-time winner.

"All the drivers appreciate all the effort that goes into weekly racing here," added Wolfe, "It’s always known for its close racing, and it definitely teaches you how to race with guys close. You just have to be patient at the right time and make the right moves at the right times."

It was Wolfe’s third win of the year and third career win in the Pigeon Hills.

Coming on strong at the end to finish third was ninth-starting Alan Krimes, with Haas and Greg Hodnett completing the top five. Sixth through tenth were Doug Esh, Brian Leppo, Lance Dewease, Tim Shaffer (driving a Joe Darrah team car to Cody Darrah), and Cris Eash.

Sprint heats were won by Esh, Hodnett, Eash and Rahmer, while Krimes won the B-Main.

Fast time in time trials over the 33-car "410" sprint field was set by Wolfe with a one-lap time of 13.439-seconds (100.454 MPH).

Todd Gracey won the special $400-to-win Apex Fence eight-lap non-qualifiers race.

Abbottstown’s Duane Watson ended defending track champion Neil Smith’s two-win win streak and closed the gap to 30 points in the battle for the 2007 thundercar track championship Saturday night with a convincing win in the 20-la feature.

Watson, who started 12^th, methodically worked his way through the field as polesitter Jimmy Combs led the field for the first 13 laps.

Watson got around Danny Beard for the runner-up spot on lap 13 and on the next lap drove under Combs into the lead up the backstretch. From there he raced away to his fifth win of 2007 by 1.48-seconds over Combs and closed to within 30-points of point leader Smith who struggled to a 13^th place finish. Craig Wagaman finished third, Beard fourth and Al Crammer fifth.

Completing the top-10 were Bob Bare, Greg Emlet Jr., Roy Warehime Jr., Ronnie Thomas and Scott Fisher.

Heats for the 16 Thundercars on hand were won by Beard and Wagaman.

Lincoln Speedway will take next Saturday night off to allow racers to travel to other special season-ending races. They will swing back into action the following Saturday night, October 6th, at 6 PM, with the 11^TH ANNUAL KENNY WELD MEMORIAL for the 410 Sprinter. The thundercars will round out the evening’s next-to-last racing program of the 2007 season. Time trials will get underway at 6 PM, with gates opening at 4 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 RESULTS
Saturday - September 22, 2007
LINCOLN SPEEDWAY
Abbottstown, PA
19TH ANNUAL HANK GENTZLER MEMORIAL
MANUFACTURERS APPRECIATION NIGHT
Feature (25 Laps) - 1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe ($4,000); 2. 51-Fred Rahmer; 3. 87-Alan Krimes; 4. 11C-Cory Haas; 5. 22-Greg Hodnett; 6. 30-Doug Esh; 7. 71-Brian Leppo; 8. 30C-Lance Dewease; 9. 1-Tim Shaffer; 10. 7E-Cris Eash; 11. 25-Chad Layton; 12. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 13. 21-Brian Montieth; 14. 7-Keith Kauffman; 15. 39-TJ Stutts; 16. 17B-Steve Buckwalter; 17. 47J-Jeff Busby; 18. 10N-Todd Hestor; 19. 6K-Chris Knopp; 20. 5-Mike Bittinger (DNF); 21. 20-Ryan Taylor (DNF); 22. X-Bobby Weaver (DNF); 23. 59-Jim Siegel (DNF); 24. 0-Rick Lafferty (DNF). No Time

Lap Leaders - Lucas Wolfe (1), Cory Haas (2-16), Lucas Wolfe (17-18), Fred Rahmer (19-20), Lucas Wolfe (21-25)

Non-Qualifiers Feature (8-Laps) - 1. 67-Todd Gracey; 2. 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr.; 3. 4-John Rudisill; 4. 26-Pat Cooper; 5. 2H-Dave Hahn; 6. 45-AJ Michael; 7. 25O-Aaron Ott. No Time

1st Heat (10 Laps/5 to qualify) - 1. 30-Doug Esh; 2. 5W-Lucas Wolfe; 3. 1-Tim Shaffer; 4. X-Bobby Weaver; 5. 0-Rick Lafferty; 6. 7-Keith Kauffman; 7. 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr.; 8. 6K-Chris Knopp (DNF). No Time

2nd Heat (10 Laps/5 to qualify) - 1. 22-Greg Hodnett; 2. 47J-Jeff Busby; 3. 17B-Steve Buckwalter; 4. 59-Jim Siegel; 5. 10N-Todd Hestor; 6. 89-Cody Darrah; 7. 5-Mike Bittinger; 8. 67-Todd Gracey. No Time

3rd Heat (10 Laps/5 to qualify) - 1. 7E-Cris Eash; 2. 30C-Lance Dewease; 3. 21-Brian Montieth; 4. 71-Brian Leppo; 5. 20-Ryan Taylor; 6. 87-Alan Krimes; 7. 25O-Aaron Ott; 8. 45-AJ Michael. Time - 2:27.328

4th Heat (10 Laps/5 to qualify) - 1. 51-Fred Rahmer; 2. 25-Chad Layton; 3. 65-Johnny Mackison, Jr.; 4. 39-T.J. Stutts; 5. 11C-Cory Haas; 6. 26-Pat Cooper; 7. 2H-Dave Hahn; 8. 4-John Rudisill. No Time

B-Main (10 Laps/4 to qualify) - 1. 87-Alan Krimes; 2. 7-Keith Kauffman; 3. 5-Mike Bittinger; 4. 6K-Chris Knopp; 5. 26-Pat Cooper; 6. 67-Todd Gracey; 7. 25O-Aaron Ott; 8. 38N-Nick Schlauch Jr.; 9. 4-John Rudisill; 10. 2H-Dave Hahn (DNF); 11. 89-Cody Darrah (DNF); 12. 45-AJ Michael (DNF). No Time

Time Trials - 1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 13.439 (100.454 MPH); 2. 89-Cody Darrah, 13.497; 3. 87-Alan Krimes, 13.558; 4. 11C-Cory Haas, 13.561; 5. 1 -Tim Shaffer, 13.622; 6. 22-Greg Hodnett, 13.652; 7. 71-Brian Leppo, 13.685; 8. 51-Fred Rahmer, 13.702; 9. 0-Rick Lafferty, 13.784; 10. 17B-Steve Buckwalter, 13.789; 11. 30C-Lance Dewease, 13.791; 12. 65-Johnny Mackison, 13.833; 13. 30-Doug Esh, 13.841; 14. 47J-Jeff Busby, 13.863; 15. 7E-Cris Eash, 13.880; 16. 25-Chad Layton, 13.892; 17. X-Bobby Weaver, 13.895; 18. 59-Jim Siegel, 13.897; 19. 21-Brian Montieth, 13.925; 20. 26-Pat Cooper, 13.951; 21. 7-Keith Kauffman, 13.997; 22. 10N-Todd Hestor, 14.016; 23. 20-Ryan Taylor, 14.083; 24. 39-T.J. Stutts, 14.090; 25. 6K-Chris Knopp, 14.115; 26. 5-Mike Bittinger, 14.138; 27. 25O-Aaron Ott, 14.185; 28. 4-John Rudisill, 14.275; 29. 38N-Nick Schlauch, Jr., 14.335; 30. 67-Todd Gracey, 14.404; 31. 45-A.J Michael, 14.408; 32. 51B-Karl Baker, 14.427; 33. 2H-Dave Hahn, NT.

THUNDERCARS:
Feature (20 Laps) - 1. 3W-Duane Watson; 2. 54J-Jimmy Combs; 3. 30-Craig Wagaman; 4. 60-Danny Beard; 5. 9-Al Crammer; 6. 76-Bob Bare; 7. 1E-Greg Emlet, Jr.; 8. 54W-Roy Warehime, Jr.; 9. 21-Ronnie Thomas; 10. 20-Scott Fisher; 11. 61-Hurricane Menges; 12. 33-Gino Comi; 13. 1B-Neil Smith; 14. 61M-Mike Slaybaugh (DNF); 15. 35-Smoke Christine (DNF); 16. 1-Greg Feltch (DNF). No Time

Lap Leaders - Jimmy Combs (1-13); Duane Watson (14-20)

1st Heat (8 Laps) - 1. 30-Craig Wagaman; 2. 54J-Jimmy Combs; 3. 3W-Duane Watson; 4. 33-Gino Comi; 5. 61M-Mike Slaybaugh; 6. 54W-Roy Warehime, Jr.; 7. 20-Scott Fisher; 8. 61-Hurricane Menges. Time - 2:47.43

2nd Heat (8 Laps) - 1. 60-Danny Beard; 2. 35-Smoke Christine; 3. 1B-Neil Smith; 4. 1E-Greg Emlet Jr.; 5. 9-Al Crammer; 6. 21-Ronnie Thomas; 7. 76-Bob Bare; 8. 1-Greg Feltch. Time - 2:47.71