Tail Tanks and Torsion Bars

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 10/20/2010

2010-10-20T19:27:00.002-04:00

In this week: Brian Leppo & Justin Henderson
Out this week: Kieth Kauffman & Mike Erdley

Biggest move up: Danny Dietrich - Up 3 spots
Biggest move down: Kieth Kauffman - Out from 10

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 5th @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Pulled even with Lance in top-5 category after adding two more last week.
2. Lance Dewease(3) - 1st @ WG, 21st @ Lincoln - Each of Lance's last two wins were followed by finishes worse than 20th.
3. Brian Montieth(2) - 12th @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - Three second-place finishes in the last four races.
4. Daryn Pittman(5) - 3rd @ Lincoln - Not running often over the last month, but making the most of each race.
5. Alan Krimes(4) - 8th @ WG, 10th @ Lincoln - Only his 2nd race outside the top-5 at Lincoln since mid-June.
6. Chad Layton(7) - 4th @ WG, 9th @ Lincoln - Two top-10 weekend.
7. Fred Rahmer(6) - 14th @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln - With the inversion moving Fred to the front of the lineup at Fallfest, he's my pick to win.
8. Mark Smith(9) - 13th @ WG, 6th @ Lincoln - Decent weekend, almost cracked top-5 at Lincoln.
9. Danny Dietrich(12) - 11th @ WG, 14th @ Lincoln - Mid-pack weekend.
10. Stevie Smith(8) - Did Not Race - Didn't race, don't know when he'll be back out.
11. Justin Henderson(NR) - 9th @ WG, 7th @ Lincoln - Four straight top-10s including the win two weeks ago.
12. Brian Leppo(NR) - 20th @ WG, 5th @ Lincoln - Finished season just as he started, with a top-5.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 10/12/2010

2010-10-12T19:00:00.002-04:00

In this week: Danny Dietrich
Out this week: Tyler Walker(Injury)

Biggest move up: Alan Krimes - Up 4 spots
Biggest move down: Stevie Smith - Down 4 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 5th @ WG, 23rd @ Lincoln - Clinched first career championship at Williams Grove.
2. Brian Montieth(3) - 2nd @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - Close to picking up both wins over the weekend.
3. Lance Dewease(2) - 11th @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln - Leads all local drivers in top-5s and top-10s.
4. Alan Krimes(8) - 9th @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Is this considered a breakout season? Definitely his most consistent.
5. Daryn Pittman(6) - 5th @ Rolling Wheels - Anytime you can finish top-5 with the Outlaws is a good run.
6. Fred Rahmer(9) - 3rd @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - The last few weeks he's run more like the Fred we remember, minus the wins.
7. Chad Layton(5) - 15th @ WG, 6th @ Lincoln - Junked his primary car in heat race action at WG and ran his brother's car the rest of the weekend.
8. Stevie Smith(4) - Did Not Race - Don't know when he'll be back out.
9. Mark Smith(11) - 12th @ WG, 10th @ Lincoln - Didn't run up front at Lincoln, but he didn't drop out or wreck, which is a good thing.
10. Keith Kauffman(12) - 10th @ WG, 16th @ Lincoln - Another nice top-10 run for The Man.
11. Mike Erdley(10) - Did Not Race - May be done for the year. Hagerstown maybe?
12. Danny Dietrich(NR) - 13th @ WG, 9th @ Lincoln - Has run as many local races as anyone. Hoping the 48 team can finish out strong in their first year.
Honorable Mention. Justin Henderson() - 1st @ WG, 7th @ Lincoln - Finally picked up that elusive 1st PA win. Congrats to Justin and the entire Sorokach team.
Hard Luck. Aaron Ott() - DNS @ WG – Every time Aaron gets close to rejoining the Dirty Dozen, something happens. This week a nasty flip put him out of commission for the weekend.
Injury. Tyler Walker(7) - - Only off the list to make a spot for another deserving driver. Definitely one of the top-12 at the time of his surgery.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 10/6/2010

2010-10-06T21:12:00.002-04:00

In this week: Mike Erdley & Keith Kauffman
Out this week: Todd Shaffer & Brian Leppo

Biggest move up: Stevie Smith - Up 2 spots
Biggest move down: Alan Krimes - Down 3 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(2) - 1st @ WG, 12th @ WG - Hard charger after taking a Saturday provisional.
2. Lance Dewease(1) - DNQ @ WG, 2nd @ WG - Nearly pushed Posse streak to 10 vs. the Outlaws.
3. Brian Montieth(3) - 9th @ WG, 9th @ WG - Only full-time PA team to run top-10 both nights.
4. Stevie Smith(6) - 5th @ WG, 4th @ WG - Really wish this team ran full-time.
5. Chad Layton(4) - 20th @ WG, 16th @ WG - One of only three PA full-timers to race their way in both nights.
6. Daryn Pittman(8) - DNQ @ WG, 10th @ WG - Late time trial killed any chance of a good night Friday.
7. Tyler Walker(7) - 15th @ WG, 27th @ WG - Surgery will sideline Walker until November.
8. Alan Krimes(5) - 21st @ WG, 23rd @ WG - Needed a provisional to make Saturday night.
9. Fred Rahmer(9) - 18th @ WG, DNQ @ WG - Hard to imagine Fred not qualifyiing for the Open, let alone not being in line for a provisional.
10. Mike Erdley(NR) - 4th @ WG, DNQ @ WG - Great Friday night run for Mike. Really missed the Lisi 11 on Fridays at Williams Grove in 2010.
11. Mark Smith(10) - 22nd @ WG, DNQ @ WG - Would have missed both nights if not for a provisional on Friday.
12. Keith Kauffman(NR) - DNQ @ WG, 21st @ WG - Nice to see Keith make the big race on Saturday.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 9/29/2010

2010-09-29T19:13:00.001-04:00

In this week: Brian Leppo
Out this week: Brent Marks

Biggest move up: Tyler Walker - Up 5 spots
Biggest move down: Brent Marks - Down 5 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
Biggest move up: Brian Leppo - In at #11
Biggest move down: Tyler Walker - Down 3 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Lance Dewease(2) - 4th @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Consistently in the mix for the win no matter where he races.
2. Greg Hodnett(3) - 3rd @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - Hasn't won since the last WoO race at Williams Grove
3. Brian Montieth(1) - 19th @ WG, 20th @ Lincoln - Just a bad weekend.
5. Chad Layton(6) - 5th @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - May WoO winner.
6. Alan Krimes(7) - 7th @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln - Trails only Hodnett in local top-10s
6. Stevie Smith(5) - 16th @ WG, 7th @ Lincoln - Very inconsistent finishes over the last three weeks.
7. Tyler Walker(4) - 24th @ WG, 22nd @ Lincoln - Tough luck cost T-Dub big while out front at WG.
8. Daryn Pittman(8) - 5th @ Lincoln - Has run more races than any other regular Posse driver.
9. Fred Rahmer(9) - 6th @ WG, 8th @ Lincoln - Running better lately, still looking to win a few races.
10. Mark Smith(11) - 1st @ WG, 24th @ Lincoln - Return to Lincoln results in another finish near the bottom.
11. Brian Leppo(NR) - 12th @ WG, 10th @ Lincoln - Had some nice runs at WG recently. Looking to time well with the WoO in town.
12. Todd Shaffer(10) - Did not race - Probably not racing again this week.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 9/22/2010

2010-09-22T12:48:00.004-04:00

In this week: Todd Shaffer
Out this week: Danny Dietrich

Biggest move up: Tyler Walker - Up 5 spots
Biggest move down: Brent Marks - Down 5 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Brian Montieth(1)- 8th @ WG, 12th @ Selinsgrove, 8th @ Selinsgrove - Had an okay weekend and picked-up 2 more top-10s
2. Lance Dewease(3)- 20th @ WG, 6th @ Selinsgrove, 1st @ Selinsgrove - Rebounded from recent bad luck to score 2nd consecutive National Open at Selinsgrove.
3. Greg Hodnett(2)- 9th @ WG, 22nd @ Selinsgrove, 5th @ Selinsgrove - Had a good run coming from the rear in the second segment at Selinsgrove.
4. Tyler Walker(9)- 4th @ WG, 2nd @ Selinsgrove, 4th @ Selinsgrove - Worst finish in the last ten races…11th. Eight of those finishes are 6th or better.
5. Stevie Smith(5)- 4th @ Selinsgrove, 22nd @ Selinsgrove - Another very good run paired with a DNF.
6. Chad Layton(4)- 19th @ WG, 13th @ Selinsgrove, 14th @ Selinsgrove - Seems like Chad has two good weeks and then two not-so-good weeks.
7. Alan Krimes(6) - 6th @ WG - A good run in his only action in the last two weeks.
8. Daryn Pittman(8)- 14th @ Selinsgrove, 12th @ Selinsgrove - Hasn't been bad at all since Speedweek, but after setting the bar so high, the last couple of months seem down.
9. Fred Rahmer(11)- 11th @ WG, 10th @ Selinsgrove, 7th @ Selinsgrove - Results got better each time out this weekend.
10. Todd Shaffer(NR)- 3rd @ Selinsgrove, 3rd @ Selinsgrove - Mr. Excitement has racked up five top-5 finishes in the last 8 races he's started.
11. Mark Smith(10)- 12th @ WG, 7th @ Selinsgrove, 15th @ Selinsgrove - Been in a little mid-pack holding pattern since the triple-20s. At least he's not DNF-ing like he was at Lincoln.
12. Brent Marks(7 - 7th @ WG, 17th @ Selinsgrove, 19th @ Selinsgrove - Another nice run at Williams Grove. Flipped in four at Selinsgrove.

Honorable Mention. Pat Cannon()- 1st @ Selinsgrove, 2nd @ Selinsgrove - Nearly took the big bonus for winning both 22-lap segments of the Jim Nace Memorial.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 9/15/2010

2010-09-15T13:06:00.002-04:00

In this week: Fred Rahmer
Out this week: Aaron Ott

Biggest move up: Stevie Smith - Up 3 spots
Biggest move down: Danny Dietrich - Down 2 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Brian Montieth(2) - 3rd @ Port, 1st @ Port - 1st Career Port Royal win and it’s a big one.
2. Greg Hodnett(4) - 5th @ Port, 4th @ Port - Came back from an early wreck on Saturday.
3. Lance Dewease(1) - 2nd @ Port, 22nd @ Port - Running up front before early wreck ended chances at another T-50 crown.
4. Chad Layton(3) - 8th @ Port, 11th @ Port - Port Champ probably looking for a better weekend. Still finished solid.
5. Stevie Smith(8) - 1st@ Port, 23rd @ Port - First win since June. Collected in same wreck as Dewease and Hodnett while running up front.
6. Alan Krimes(5) - Did not race - Lincoln front-runner MIA at Port.
7. Brent Marks(6) - 4th @ Port, 18th @ Port - Mechanical problems ended his Saturday before the halfway point.
8. Daryn Pittman(7) - 13th @ Port, 12th @ Port - Odds-on favorite this week at Selinsgrove.
9. Tyler Walker(11) - 9th @ Port, 6th @ Port - Mechanic change may pay huge dividends, and at the pefect time of the season.
10. Mark Smith(9) - 12th @ Port, 8th @ Port - Also came back to score a top-10 after going to the rear early.
11. Fred Rahmer(12) - 14th @ Port, 2nd @ Port - May have been his best run since May WoO win.
12. Danny Dietrich(10) - 18th @ Port, 7th @ Port - Also came back from the rear of the field on Saturday. He did it twice though.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 9/8/2010

2010-09-08T20:12:00.002-04:00

In this week: Tyler Walker & Aaron Ott
Out this week: Rick Lafferty & Brian Leppo

Biggest move up: Chad Layton - Up 3 spots
Biggest move down: Rick Lafferty - Out from #8

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Lance Dewease(2) - 4th @ Lernerville, 5th @ Attica - Didn't race locally last week, but he didn't suffer the mediocre triple 20s performance the rest of last week's top-5 did.
2. Brian Montieth(1) - 15th @ WG, 16th @ WG, 17th @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln, 10th @ WG - Perhaps they were trying something new at Williams Grove and suffered for it? Won the race and the points at Lincoln.
3. Chad Layton(6) - 8th @ WG, 4th @ WG, 6th @ WG, 4th @ Port, 15th @ WG, 2nd @ Port - Clinched the Port Royal title and brought home 5 top-10s over the weekend.
4. Greg Hodnett(3) - 10th @ WG, 20th @ WG, 12th @ WG, 3rd @ Port, 7th @ WG - Didn't have a good weekend at Williams Grove but still gained in the points.
5. Alan Krimes(4) - 16th @ WG, 21st @ WG, 10th @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln, 12th @ WG - Finished third in Lincoln points after finishing as the runner-up in Saturday's race.
6. Brent Marks(5) - 11th @ WG, 10th @ WG, 13th @ WG, 5th @ Lincoln, 4th @ WG - Runner-up in Lincoln points. 14 of last 17 races have been top-10s
7. Daryn Pittman(7) - 1st @ WG, 9th @ WG, 9th @ WG, 14th @ WG, 1st @ Port - Book-ended the weekend with 410 wins and threw in a 360 win as well right in the middle.
8. Stevie Smith(11) - 2nd @ WG, 7th @ WG, 4th @ WG - As expected, ran up front in the trips.
9. Mark Smith(9) - 3rd @ WG, 5th @ WG, 3rd @ WG, 11th @ WG - Sunday's 11th place was his first finish worse than 10th at WG since the WoO were in town.
10. Danny Dietrich(10) - 4th @ WG, 6th @ WG, 5th @ WG, 6th @ Lincoln, 16th @ WG - Leads all driver is local races run this season.
11. Tyler Walker(NR) - 5th @ WG, 1st @ WG, 11th @ WG, 5th @ Port, 5th @ WG - A bunch of top-5s in the last few weeks, including a couple of wins.
12. Aaron Ott(NR) - 7th @ WG, 2nd @ WG, 8th @ WG, 2nd @ WG - 3 runner-up finishes in the last two weeks.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 8/31/2010

2010-08-31T19:55:00.003-04:00

In this week: Danny Dietrich
Out this week: Fred Rahmer

Biggest move up: Brent Marks - Up 4 spots
Biggest move down: Stevie Smith - Down 3 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Brian Montieth(2) - 3rd @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln, 3rd @ Lincoln - Has the Lincoln title pretty much wrapped-up. Gained signifigantly at the Grove as well.
2. Lance Dewease(3) - 2nd @ WG, 6th @ Lincoln, 1st @ Lincoln - More top-5s and top-10s than any other PA driver.
3. Greg Hodnett(1) - 22nd @ WG, 2nd @ Port - A couple hiccups in the last two weeks opened the door for Montieth and Dewease to jump ahead.
4. Alan Krimes(4) - 23rd @ WG, 14th @ Lincoln, 6th @ Lincoln - Not the best weekend, but the top-4 had enough cushion above the rest that it really didn't hurt too much.
5. Brent Marks(9) - 4th @ WG, 13th @ Lincoln, 5th @ Lincoln - Had the best average finish during August, not counting the 21 of course.
6. Chad Layton(7) - 10th @ WG, 5th @ Port - Only one race seperates Chad from his first career 410 championship at Port Royal.
7. Daryn Pittman(5) - Did Not Race - Should be back in action for the Williams Grove triple-20s.
8. Rick Lafferty(10) - 24th @ WG, 6th @ Port - First lap crash at Williams Grove, hard charger at Port.
9. Mark Smith(6) - 6th @ WG, 23rd @ Lincoln, DNS @ Lincoln - Struggles at Lincoln continue. Also picked up the Grove URC race Friday night.
10. Danny Dietrich(NR) - 8th @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln, 4th @ Lincoln - Rebounds with three top-10s after three bottom-half finishes the previous week.
11. Stevie Smith(8) - Did Not Race - Also, should be back for the triple-20s at Williams Grove.
12. Brian Leppo(11) - 14th @ WG, 10th @ Lincoln, 12th @ Lincoln - Wasn't great last week, but Brian did just enough to stay in the rankings for another week.

Honorable Mention. Josh Dressler() - 1st @ Port - Beat Hodnett to win his career first 410 feature at Port Royal.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 8/25/2010

2010-08-25T17:46:00.000-04:00

In this week: Brian Leppo
Out this week: Danny Dietrich

Biggest move up: Stevie Smith - Up 3 spots
Biggest move down: Danny Dietrich - Out from #9

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 2nd @ WG, 4th @ WG, 17th @ Lincoln - Was top-5 at Lincoln also until a late-race wreck took him out.
2. Brian Montieth(3) - 6th @ WG, 1st @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Five wins and a few close calls since mid-July, even at Port.
3. Lance Dewease(2) - 11th @ WG, 6th @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - Too bad for motor early motor issues at Williams Grove. Lance definitely passed the most cars last weekend.
4. Alan Krimes(4) - 7th @ WG, 2nd @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln - Adds 3 more top-10s to his already impressive 2010 resume.
5. Daryn Pittman(7) - 1st @ WG, 5th @ WG, 16th @ Lincoln - Also had a good finish at Linclon wiped out in the same late-race wreck as Hodnett.
6. Mark Smith(6) - 4th@ WG, 10th @ WG, 21st @ Lincoln - Must not like to run mid-pack at Lincoln. Seems like he is either top-5 or DNF.
7. Chad Layton(5) - 13th @ WG, 15th @ WG, 15th @ Lincoln - Only one top-5 and three top-10s at Williams Grove since Speedweek(9 races).
8. Stevie Smith(11) - 3rd @ WG, 8th @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - Solid in return to local time trial races. Probably off this week.
9. Brent Marks(8) - 9th @ WG, 9th @ WG, 10th @ Lincoln - Keeps top 10 streak alive, just barely.
10. Rick Lafferty(12) - 10th @ WG, 11th @ WG - Timed 2nd quick and held on for two decent runs. Rick has been pretty solid over the last two months.
11. Brian Leppo(NR) - 5th @ WG,7th @ WG, 11th @ Lincoln - Not a lot of consistency in 2010 for Brian. Let’s see if he can keep the 'Skunkmobile' running well.
12. Fred Rahmer(10) - 15th @ WG, 22nd @ WG, 9th @ Lincoln - Still in the top-12 because Fred is usually capable of reeling off a couple of quick wins. This is about the time last season he started having more success.

Honorable Mention. Don Kreitz, Jr.() - 8th @ WG, 3rd @ WG - Four straight top-10s for the four-time champ at Williams Grove.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 8/18/2010

2010-08-18T21:13:00.002-04:00

In this week: Stevie Smith & Rick Lafferty
Out this week: Tyler Walker & Doug Esh

Biggest move up: Brent Marks - Up 4 spots
Biggest move down: Tyler Walker - Out from #10

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 9th @ Knoxville, 6th @ Knoxville Nationals A - Best week of all the Central PA teams at Knoxville, no surprise.
2. Lance Dewease(2) - 24th @ Osky, 14th @ Knoxville, 12th @ Knoxville Nationals B - Not the best week in Iowa, but I don't think anybody is better right now in PA, sans 22 car.
3. Brian Montieth(4) - 1st @ WG, 8th @ Lincoln - Capitalized on opportunity to cut Williams Grove points deficit in half, and then some.
4. Alan Krimes(5) - 3rd @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - Only Hodnett has more top-10s locally.
5. Chad Layton(3) - 17th @ WG, 3rd @ Port - Chances at winning Williams Grove points are slipping away. Still tops at Port.
6. Mark Smith(6) - 5th @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - First weekend pair of top-5s this season.
7. Daryn Pittman(7) - 22nd @ Osky, 10th @ Knoxville, 11th @ Knoxville Nationals A - Nationals were perhaps Daryn's best performance in the 13 car to date.
8. Brent Marks(12) - 4th @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Streak of top-10s is at 6, including 5 top-5s.
9. Danny Dietrich(9) - 8th @ WG, 6th @ Lincoln - Blew the motor, started a fire and then changed it between events Williams Grove. Still finished 8th.
10. Fred Rahmer(8) - 18th @ Osky, DNQ @ Knoxville, 14th @ Knoxville(non-qual), 3rd @ Knoxville Nationals D - Things just started bad at Knoxville with time trials and it was an uphill battle from there.
11. Stevie Smith(NR) - 4th @ Knoxville, 10th @ Knoxville Nationals A - Undoubtedly a great driver/car combo, but skips handicapping shows and is hard to gauge where they stand.
12. Rick Lafferty(NR) - 2nd @ WG, 4th @ Port - Led a significant number of laps at Williams Grove.

Honorable Mention. Keith Kauffman() - 6th @ WG, 7th @ Port - Top-10 in 5 of last 6. He's knocking on the Dirty Dozen door.
Hard Luck. Justin Henderson() - DNQ @ Knoxville, DNQ @ Knoxville(non-qual), 9th @ Knoxville D - Timed bad and had heat race issues on qualifying night, then just missed the non-qualifiers feature.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 8/10/2010

2010-08-11T13:16:00.001-04:00

In this week: Brent Marks
Out this week: Rick Lafferty

Biggest move up: Brian Montieth - Up 2 spots
Biggest move down: Daryn Pittman - Down 2 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 5th@ WG, 21st @ Port - Leads all drivers at local tracks in combined wins, top-5s and top-10s.
2. Lance Dewease(2) - 8th @ I-55, 11th @ I-55 - Should have had two top-10 runs with the Outlaws last week.
3. Chad Layton(3) - 8th @ WG, 1st @ Port - Big win for Chad and crew in the Port Royal Dream Race Extreme.
4. Brian Montieth(6) - 3rd @ WG, 2nd @ Port - Might have been one lap away from back-to-back Grove wins, but we'll never know will we? Led significant portion of the Dream Extreme.
5. Alan Krimes(4) - 6th @ WG, 6th @ Port – Fast-timer at the Dream Race, adds a few more top-10s to his already impressive 2010 resume.
6. Mark Smith(8) - 7th @ WG, 3rd @ Port - Very nice rebound after last week's slip. Ran 2nd for a while in the Dream before settling for 3rd.
7. Daryn Pittman(5) - 12th @ WG, 15th @ Port - Racing in Iowa in the Buch 13 this week.
8. Fred Rahmer(7) - 15th @ I-55, 22nd @ I-55 - Making the show with the WoO at an unfamiliar track is nothing to sneeze at. Maybe Fred works some Knoxville magic again this week.
9. Danny Dietrich(9) - 21st @ WG, 8th @ Port - Wrong place at the wrong time at WG. Came back for a strong top-10 in the Dream.
10. Tyler Walker(10) - 16th @ I-55, 11th @ Knoxville - Its hard to rank Tyler compared to the rest of the Posse when he hasn't been racing against them much lately. Benefit of the doubt keeps him ranked. This week will give a better indication.
11. Doug Esh(11) - 21st @ Fulton, 21st @ I-55, 13th @ I-55 - Finished his run in the R19. In nine races he had two top-10s and a big win. Not too bad for not having any experience at most tracks he ran.
12. Brent Marks(NR) - 2nd @ WG, 8th @ Port - Nearly pulled out his first career WG win.

Honorable Mention. Ryan Taylor() - 5th @ Port - Finished 5th in the Dream and notched his 4th consecutive top-6 finish.
Hard Luck. Aaron Ott() - 19th @ WG - Flip victim of a bad slider while running top-5. Hard racing or not, it was a bad deal for the young gun looking to rejoin the Dirty Dozen. In the 360 nightcap at the Grove the top wing let go on lap 1 and he flipped again.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 8/3/2010

2010-08-03T21:08:00.003-04:00

In this week: Rick Lafferty
Out this week: Stevie Smith

Biggest move up: Brian Montieth - Up 3 spots
Biggest move down: Stevie Smith - Out from #10

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 3rd @ WG, 12th @ Port - Had another championship calibur run at Williams Grove and lead briefly at Port before dropping out
2. Lance Dewease(2) - DNS @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Motor problems force them to DNS, nice rebound on Saturday. His schedule has him heading out to I-55 this week.
3. Chad Layton(3) - 11th @ WG, 10th @ Port - Hard crash at Port nearly cost Chad the points lead. A borrowed car kept him on top, narrowly.
4. Alan Krimes(4) - 13th @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - It’s amazing how Alan just collects top-5 after top-5 at Lincoln. Leads the way with 12 in 17 races.
5. Daryn Pittman(5) - 8th @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - Picked up first top-5 since the Speedweek Finale
6. Brian Montieth(9) - 1st @ WG, 15th @ Lincoln - His last two non WoO races at Williams Grove: 17th to 1st and 10th to 1st.
7. Fred Rahmer(8) - 14th @ WG, 6th @ Lincoln - Hasn't been much of a factor on Fridays since his record-setting run with the Outlaws.
8. Mark Smith(6) - 9th @ WG, 22nd @ Lincoln - I'm making Mark my dark horse for the Dream Race Extreme at Port Royal. He's due up there.
9. Danny Dietrich(7) - 10th @ WG, 20th @ Lincoln - Danny's hot-streak cooled a little this week. Let's see how he rebounds.
10. Tyler Walker(12) - 5th @ Red River, 3rd @ Huset's, 23rd @ Knoxville, 2nd @ Huset's - Three top-5s with the All Satrs on the Midwest Tour.
11. Doug Esh(11) - 11th @ Autodrome Drummond, 7th @ Oshweken, 11th @ Oshweken - Very good runs for never seeing these tracks before.
12. Rick Lafferty(NR) - 16th @ WG, 1st @ Port - The Williams Grove finish nearly kept him out, but the win at Port was a big boost and really he should be leading points at Port Royal following last week's run.

Honorable Mention. Adam Wilt() - 4th @ WG, 5th @ Lincoln - It's been a while, but the Wid Open Motorsports team put together two good runs and notched their first back-to-back top-5s since week 3 of the season.
Hard Luck. Terry McCarl() - - He's not a local talent, but 2010 will be a season to forget for T-Mac. After suffering a non-racing injury that sidelined him earlier in the season, he subsequently lost his ride in the Big Game 24. Having since returned a few weeks ago, Terry picked up a few wins locally in the Midwest. Last Friday, Terry suffered a leg injury at Huset's that will likely end his 2010 season. Here's wishing T-Mac a full recovery and hopes that he will race again sometime in the not too distant future.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 7/28/2010

2010-07-28T19:43:00.002-04:00

In this week: Doug Esh & Tyler Walker
Out this week:Rick Lafferty & Brian Leppo

Biggest move up: Chad Layton - Up 3 spots
Biggest move down: Fred Rahmer - Down 3 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.

1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 5th @ WG, 1st @ WG - Wins the only WoO race that escaped him last season at Williams Grove by taking the $20k Summer Nationals Finale.
2. Lance Dewease(2) - 1st at Lernerville, 9th @ Lernerville, 1st @ WG, 6th @ WG - Four Outlaw top-10s in 5 days including two victories. Tied for 2nd in points at Williams Grove.
3. Chad Layton(6) - 24th @ WG, 5th @ WG - The King ruined Chad's chances with a failed slide job on Friday. Mr Layton came back on Saturday for another WoO top-5.
4. Alan Krimes(4) - 8th @ WG, 18th @ WG - Used a provisional on Saturday after notching a top-10 in the Summer Nationals opener.
5. Daryn Pittman(3) - 26th @ Lernerville, 24th @ Lernerville, 22nd @ WG, 17th @ WG - All good things must come to an end and Lernerville put an end to the 21-race top-10 streak in the 27 car.
6. Mark Smith(7) - 12th @ WG, 19th @ WG - Mid-pack against the Outlaws has Mark inching closer to the top-5 in points.
7. Danny Dietrich(9) - 7th @ WG, DNQ @ WG - Very good race on Friday. Showed he isn't intimidated by the Outlaws or Sammy Swindell.
8. Fred Rahmer(5) - DNQ @ Lernerville, DNQ @ WG, 22nd @ WG - Blew up while leading Friday's Last Chance Showdown and coasted across the line 2 spots out.
9. Brian Montieth(8) - 19th @ WG, 27th @ WG - Chances to salvage the weekend were rained out Sunday at Lincoln.
10. Stevie Smith(12) - 25th @ Lernerville, 8th @ WG, 11th @ WG - Time's running out to gear up for Knoxville.
11. Doug Esh(NR) - 26th @ WG, 14th @ WG, 1st @ Lebanon Valley - Scored big win in New York with the R19 against the WoO. It appears he will be in the car until Jac returns from injury.
12. Tyler Walker(NR) - 14th @ Lernerville, 20th @ Lernerville, DNQ @ WG, 8th @ WG - Partially salvaged week with a top 10 in the Summer Nationals finale on Saturday.
Honorable Mention. Steve Buckwalter() - 25th @ WG, 15th @ WG - Raced from the C to the A on Friday including an impressive 18th to 4th run in the 12-lap B. Scored a solid 15th place finish on Saturday.
Hard Luck. Brent Marks() - DNQ @ Lernerville, DNQ @ WG, DNQ @ WG - Three WoO shows and three DNQs for the youngster.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 7/21/2010

2010-07-22T19:55:00.002-04:00

In this week: Rick Lafferty
Out this week: Brent Marks

Biggest move up: Rick Lafferty - In at 10
Biggest move down: Stevie Smith - Down 2 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 2nd @ WG, 1st @ Port - Runner-up finish now gives Greg enough cushion to miss a race(Knoxville) and still be right at the top of the points.
2. Lance Dewease(3) - 3rd @ WG, DNQ @ Lincoln, 5th @ Tri-City - DNQ at Lincoln not good, but he's been so good over the last month you can't drop him down.
3. Daryn Pittman(2) - DNQ @ Lima, 10th @ Eldora, 18th @ Eldora, 7th @ Tri-City - Not quite getting the same results from the 13 car on the road as he is from the 27.
4. Alan Krimes(4) - 7th @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln - Two more top-10s. Worst finish in the last month is 12th
5. Fred Rahmer(6) - 4th @ Can Am, 1st @ Utica-Rome, 6th @ WG, 13th @ Lincoln - Collected an All Star win up north and added 3 top-10s
6. Chad Layton(7) - 8th @ WG, 5th @ Port - May have been car to beat at Williams Grove but an incident with a lapped car while leading comfortably forced Chad to restart in the back and cost him valuable points.
7. Mark Smith(5) - 7th @ Can Am, 5th @ Utica-Rome, 17th @ WG, 5th @ Lincoln - Faltered a little at Williams Grove, but added two more top-5s.
8. Brian Montieth(9) - 1st @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - Impressive 17th to 1st run at Williams Grove for the Lincoln points leader.
9. Danny Dietrich(8) - 4th @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - Becoming a top-5 threat every race out. Let's see how this team fares against the Outlaws.
10. Rick Lafferty(NR) - 10th @ WG, 10th @ Port - Worst finish over the last seven races is a 12th. Historically skips WoO shows.
11. Brian Leppo(12) - 5th @ WG, 14th @ Lincoln - Scores another top-5 at Williams Grove. Currently sits 5th in points at Lincoln.
12. Stevie Smith(10) - 19th @ Eldora,20th @ Eldora, 4th @ Tri-City - Probably hoping for better results out on the road.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 7/14/2010

2010-07-14T18:13:00.004-04:00

In this week: Brian Leppo
Out this week: Tyler Walker

Biggest move up: Montieth - Up 1 spots
Biggest move down: Tyler Walker - Out from 12

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 9th @ WG, 7th @ Port - Starting to pull out to a commanding lead in Grove points.
2. Daryn Pittman(1) - 11th @ LaSalle, 12th @ Beaver Dam - Spent time running a couple of Outlaw races, didn't fare too bad.
3. Lance Dewease(3) - 6th @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - Only one finish worse than 6th in the last month.
4. Alan Krimes(4) - 7th @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Picked up first Lincoln win since August 2008.
5. Mark Smith(5) - 10th @ WG, 5th @ Lincoln - Continues to put his Mach1 chassis in the top 10.
6. Fred Rahmer(6) - 11th @ WG, 9th @ Lincoln - Two more mid-pack runs
7. Chad Layton(7) - 15th @ WG, 1st @ Port - Port Royal winner extends points lead.
8. Danny Dietrich(8) - 1st @ WG, 8th @ Lincoln - Another win at the Grove and a decent run at Lincoln
9. Brian Montieth(10) - 13th @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln - Involved in an early wreck at Williams Grove and another top-5 at Lincoln
10. Stevie Smith(9) - Did not race - Expected to be hitting the big money shows coming up.
11. Brent Marks(11) - 2nd @ WG, 7th @ Lincoln - Runner-up at Williams Grove...to Dietrich...again.
12. Brian Leppo(NR) - 3rd @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - Tremendous improvement over the previous three weeks.

Honorable Mention. Joey Hershey() - 2nd @ Port - Collected his second runner-up at Port Royal, led up until the final lap.
Hard Luck. Tyler Walker() - 4th @ WG, 14th @ Port - With Leppo's performance, somebody had to drop out of the top 12. Caught up in a nasty wreck at Port Royal, he'll be running out of town this weekend.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 7/7/2010

2010-07-07T18:19:00.002-04:00

In this week: Brent Marks
Out this week: Aaron Ott

Biggest move up: Alan Krimes - Up 5 spots
Biggest move down: Stevie Smith - Down 5 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1(tie). Greg Hodnett(2) - 7th @ Grandview, 2nd @ Hagerstown, 3rd @ Lincoln, 2nd @ WG, 1st @ Port, 4th @ Selinsgrove - Repeats as Speedweek Champ. Average finish was 3.56 and had a few quick times.
1(tie). Daryn Pittman(1) - 6th @ Grandview, 4th @ Hagerstown, 4th @ Lincoln,1st @ WG, 3rd @ Port, 1st @ Selinsgrove - Speedweek average of 3.88, finished runner-up and scored 2 more wins. 20 straight top-10s in the Heffner 27.
3. Lance Dewease(3) - 2nd @ Grandview, 6th @ Hagerstown, 1st @ Lincoln, 5th @ WG, 2nd @ Port, 2nd @ Selinsgrove - Winner at Lincoln also scored 3 second place finished en route to 3rd place in Speedweek points.
4. Alan Krimes(9) - 3rd @ Grandview, 1st @ Hagerstown, 5th @ Lincoln, 4th @ WG, 12th @ Port - Dominated Hagerstown and held points lead most of the week. Finished despite missing the last race.
5. Mark Smith(8) - 8th @ Grandview, 3rd @ Hagerstown, 13th @ Lincoln, 6th @ WG, 8th @ Port, 9th @ Selinsgrove - Seven top 10s during speedweek.
6. Fred Rahmer(5) - 10th @ Grandview, 13th @ Hagerstown, 8th @ Lincoln, 12th @ WG, 5th @ Port, 3rd @ Selinsgrove - Not the Speedweek Fred was looking for, but he finished strong.
7. Chad Layton(7) - 5th @ Grandview, 16th @ Hagerstown, 10th @ Lincoln, 8th @ WG, 7th @ Port, 15th @ Selinsgrove - Speedweek went better than Keystone Cup butthere were still a few places for improvement.
8. Danny Dietrich(12) - 4th @ Grandview, 5th @ Hagerstown, 12th @ Lincoln, 15th @ WG, 6th @ Port, 6th @ Selinsgrove - Great week for his first attempt at the full Speedweek schedule.
9. Stevie Smith(4) - 22nd @ Grandview, 8th @ Hagerstown, 11th @ Lincoln, 7th @ WG, 13th @ Port, 19th @ Selinsgrove - Continued struggle, looking to gear up for the 'Month of Money'
10. Brian Montieth(6) - 11th @ Grandview, 21st @ Hagerstown, 2nd @ Lincoln, 14th @ WG - Another awesome run at Lincoln. Nothing to awesome the rest of the week.
11. Brent Marks() - 12th @ Grandview, 15th @ Hagerstown, 6th @ Lincoln, 19th @ WG, 16th @ Port, 7th @ Selinsgrove - Had a solid top-10 Speedweek performance.
12. Tyler Walker(11) - 1st @ Grandview - Tecnically he was perfect for the week, but he only ran one race. A post race celebration injury sidelined Tyler for the balance of Speedweek.

Hard Luck. () - - Speedweek is tough on everybody, so we're gonna go easy and skip the Hard Luck and give everyone the…
Honorable Mention. () - - Great job to all who put on a good Speedweek including the drivers, teams and tracks.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 6/30/2010

2010-07-01T00:36:00.001-04:00

In this week: Danny Dietrich
Out this week: Brian Leppo

Biggest move up: Lance Dewease - Up 3 spots
Biggest move down: Brian Leppo - Out from 8

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Daryn Pittman(1) - 8th @ Sharon, 6th @ Lincoln, 6th @ Bedford - 3 more top 10s, bringing his streak to 14 in a row in the Heffner 27
2. Greg Hodnett(4) - 2nd @ WG, 8th @ Lincoln, 3rd @ Bedford - Extends WG points lead with a runner-up finish.
3. Lance Dewease(6) - 1st @ WG, 5th @ Lincoln, 22nd @ Bedford - Dominates in winning season leading 3rd Grove feature of 2010.
4. Stevie Smith(2) - 5th @ Wayne Co., 12th @ Hilltop, 7th @ Waynesfield, DNQ @ Sharon, 14th @ Lima, 2nd @ Fremont, 10th @ Bedford - Finished 6th in Ohio Speedweek, nearly took home the big check at Fremont.
5. Fred Rahmer(3) - 22nd @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln, 4th @ Bedford - Looked like the car to beat early at WG before a mechanical failure.
6. Brian Montieth(7) - 9th @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - Still on top of Lincoln points but fading in the Grove chase.
7. Chad Layton(5) - 6th @ WG, 14th @ Lincoln, 8th @ Bedford - Moved into the runner-up position in Grove points. Looking to improve on disappointing Keystone Cup during Speedweek.
8. Mark Smith(9) - 7th@ WG, 1st @ Lincoln, 5th @ Bedford - Lincoln winner leads Speedweek points out of the gate after two events.
9. Alan Krimes(10) - 11th @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln, 2nd @ Bedford - Nice rebound week for Alan, another 4th at Lincoln and a runner-up at Bedford.
10. Aaron Ott(12) - 3rd @ WG, 21st @ Lincoln, 7th @ Bedford - Back-to-back top-5 at Williams Grove.
11. Tyler Walker(11) - 3rd @ Wayne Co., 3rd @ Hilltop, 22nd @ Waynesfield, 3rd @ Sharon, 5th @ WG, 16th @ Lincoln, 13th @ Bedford - Four top-5s including three 3rd place finished in Ohio. Didn't start PA Speedweek well at all.
12. Danny Dietrich(NR) - 4th @ WG, 20th @ Lincoln,11th @ Bedford - Backed up last week's Grove win with a 4th. Didn't fare as well at Lincoln.

Honorable Mention. Keith Kauffman() - 14th @ WG, 15th @ Lincoln, 12th @ Bedford - Three solid mid-pack runs in the first action of the 2010 season for Keith. Welcome back "The Man".
Hard Luck. Dave Ely() - - Unfortunately, Dave is going to be out of action for the remainder of the season following his crash at Port Royal two weekends ago. Here's wishing for a full recovery and return in 2011.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 6/22/2010

2010-06-22T19:40:00.004-04:00

In this week: None
Out this week: None

Biggest move up: Chad Layton - Up 4 spots
Biggest move down: Brian Leppo - Down 3 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Daryn Pittman(1) - 7th @ WG, 8th @ Port Royal, 1st @ Sportsmans - More solid runs including a win in a surprise trip to Sportsmans Speedway in Knox, PA. One of the favorites to win Speedweek.
2. Stevie Smith(2) - 15th @ Attica, 13th @ KC, 5th @ Millstream - Trying to defend last year's Ohio Speedweek title. Off to a slow start but looking to improve on Sunday's 5th place run.
3. Fred Rahmer(3) - 13th @ WG, 11th @ Lincoln - The All-time Speedweek King will need to improve on last weeks results if he wants to regain his throne.
4. Greg Hodnett(6) - 6th @ WG, 17th @ Port Royal - Regains WG points with a solid run but falters at Port in an attempt to inch closer to the lead. Defending Speedweek Champ.
5. Chad Layton(9) - 10th @ WG, 1st @ Port Royal - Port winner also takes over the points lead for the first time this season.
6. Lance Dewease(7) - 12th @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln - 5th place in WG points. Pulls even with Mr. Rahmer for most top-10s. Past Speedweek Champion.
7. Brian Montieth(4) - 14th @ WG, 10th @ Lincoln - Has qualified for and started every race entered this season, the only driver running 10 or more races to do so.
8. Brian Leppo(5) - 23rd @ WG, 9th @ Lincoln - Four straight top-10s at Lincoln and sitting 4th in points.
9. Mark Smith(12) - 11th @ WG, 6th @ Lincoln - Still improving. Mark will be looking to have a strong Speedweek.
10. Alan Krimes(8) - 9th @ WG, 24th @ Lincoln - Another solid run at Williams Grove. Suffered worst finish at Lincoln this season. Yes, we said the same thing last week.
11. Tyler Walker(10) - 9th @ Attica, 23rd @ KC, 12th @ Millstream - Trying his hand at the Ohio Speedweek with mixed results.
12. Aaron Ott(11) - 5th @ WG, DNQ @ Lincoln - Recorded a top-5 at WG but followed with an unfortunate DNQ at Lincoln

Honorable Mention. Danny Dietrich() - 1st @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - Stellar weekend - Part one! He was close to making the top 12, but leading up to last week the results at WG and Lincoln were just not there recently, only one top-15 at each since May 1st. Ran well at the other Keystone Cup tracks though.
Honorable Mention. Brent Marks() - 2nd @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Stellar weekend - Part two! He's been very good at Lincoln, up to 2nd in points, but everywhere else not so much. Before last Friday's 2nd at WG, an 8th at Hagerstown was his only finish better than 14th away from Lincoln.
Hard Luck. Justin Henderson() - 17th @ WG, DNS @ Port Royal - Since his awesome performance during May Outlaws weekend, Justin's best finish is a 12th. Here's hoping for a strong Speedweek Performance.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 6/15/2010

2010-06-15T20:40:00.002-04:00

Since none of the local tracks got a race in 2 weeks ago, we skipped last week's rankings.
In this week: Aaron Ott
Out this week: Justin Henderson

Biggest move up: Brian Montieth - Up 4 spots
Biggest move down: Greg Hodnett - Down 4 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Daryn Pittman(3) - 1st @ Fonda, 4th @ WG, 5th @ Lincoln - Picks up where he left off in the Heffner 27, picking up three more top-5s. Raced at Knoxville in the Buch 13 the previous week.
2. Stevie Smith(4) - 1st @ WG, 8th @ Lincoln - Picked up 2nd Williams Grove win of the season, first time trial win overall for the specialist.
3. Fred Rahmer(1) - DNS @ Granby, 5th @ Fonda, 5th @ WG, 3rd @ Lincoln - Three top-5s to go along with a flip and a DNS in Granby, Quebec. Takes Grove points lead.
4. Brian Montieth(8) - 3rd @ WG, 1st @ Lincoln - Successfully defended last season's June All Star Circuit win.
5. Brian Leppo(7) - 2nd @ WG, 2nd @ Lincoln - One spot short both nights. Best performance at Williams Grove this season.
6. Greg Hodnett(2) - 7th @ WG - Drops points lead at WG.
7. Lance Dewease(5) - 9th @ WG, 10th @ Lincoln - Adds two more top-10s, sits one behind Rahmer for most among PA regulars. Raced at Knoxville the previous week.
8. Alan Krimes(6) - 6th @ WG, 20th @ Lincoln - Another solid run at Williams Grove. Suffered worst finish at Lincoln this season.
9. Chad Layton(9) - 8th @ WG - An improvement over the Keystone Cup finishes.
10. Tyler Walker(10) - 2nd @ Fonda, 14th @ WG, DNQ @ Lincoln - Runner-up at Fonda with the All Stars. Raced at Knoxville the previous week scoring a 3rd place finish.
11. Aaron Ott(NR) - 3rd @ Granby, 4th @ Fonda, 17th @ WG, 4th @ Lincoln - Three top-5s against the All Stars including a podium North of the Border at Autodrome-Granby.
12. Mark Smith(12) - 7th @ Fonda, 12th @ WG, 16th @ Lincoln - Looks like Mark has gotten away from the bad runs, now we'll see if he can consistenlt get in the top-10.

Honorable Mention. Mark Coldren, Dave Ely, Bob Howard & Adam Wilt() - - Just wanted to give a mention to a few of the unranked drivers who have done some travelling over the past few weeks and represented PA admirably.
Hard Luck. A.J. Michael() - - This isn't for anything on-track. Due to the economy and loss of some sponsorship, A.J.'s team was recently sold and A.J. will not be racing 410s at this time. It's sad to lose a team that supported Williams Grove week in and week out for the last few years so suddenly. Here's wishing A.J. well in his future racing endeavours.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 6/1/2010

2010-06-01T19:24:00.004-04:00

In this week: Daryn Pittman & Tyler Walker
Out this week: Doug Esh & Aaron Ott

Biggest move up: Daryn Pittman - In at #3
Biggest move down: Chad Layton - Down 6 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Fred Rahmer(1) - 4th @ Grandview, 5th @ Hagerstown, 8th @ Lincoln, 4th @ Selinsgrove, DNS @ Port Royal - DNS at Port was the lone blemish on an otherwise strong, yet overshadowed week.
2. Greg Hodnett(2) - 2nd @ Grandview, 10th @ Hagerstown, 7th @ Lincoln, DNQ @ Selinsgrove, 4th @ Port Royal - Mechanical failure at Selinsgrove for the Williams Grove points leader. Otherwise a solid week.
3. Daryn Pittman(NR) - 5th @ Grandview, 1st @ Hagerstown, 1st @ Lincoln, 1st @ Selinsgrove, 2nd @ Port Royal - Phenomenal week wins the Keystone Cup. Top-5 in all five races including Three wins. Heading to Knoxville this week.
4. Stevie Smith(6) - 6th @ Grandview, 4th @ Hagerstown, 14th @ Lincoln, 2nd @ Selinsgrove, 8th @ Port Royal - Finished 3rd in KC points.
5. Lance Dewease(5) - 3rd @ Grandview, 22nd @ Hagerstown, 5th @ Lincoln, 3rd @ Selinsgrove, 5th @ Port Royal - Four top-5s in KC, second only to Pittman.
6. Alan Krimes(7) - 7th @ Grandview, 3rd @ Hagerstown, 6th @ Lincoln - A solid top-10 at the Grove.
7. Brian Leppo(9) - 8th @ Grandview, 2nd @ Hagerstown, 9th @ Lincoln, 17th @ Selinsgrove, 15th @ Port Royal - Tailed off at the big half-miles up north.
8. Brian Montieth(4) - 2nd @ Lincoln - With WG cancelling, his only race was at Lincoln.
9. Chad Layton(3) - 15th @ Grandview, 11th @ Hagerstown, 17th @ Lincoln, 15th @ Selinsgrove, 10th @ Port Royal - Best finish was a tenth, not quite as expected with the strong season this team has had.
10. Tyler Walker(NR) - 1st @ Grandview, 9th @ Hagerstown, 4th @ Lincoln, 7th @ Selinsgrove, 6th @ Port Royal - Break-out week for Tyler finishing 2nd in KC points and picking up the win in the opener.
11. Justin Henderson(8) - 17th @ Grandview, 15th @ Hagerstown, 21st @ Lincoln, 20th @ Selinsgrove, 12th @ Port Royal - Not a very good week, but he did make all of the KC races. Still in on the strength of the strong WoO showing.
12. Mark Smith(11) - 16th @ Grandview, 7th @ Hagerstown, 16th @ Lincoln, 6th @ Selinsgrove, 11th @ Port Royal - Not a bad week, with two top-10s. Nothing great either.

Honorable Mention. Mike Erdley() - 9th @ Selinsgrove, 1st @ Port Royal - Picked up the win in the KC finale.
Honorable Mention. Danny Dietrich() - 9th @ Grandview, 6th @ Hagerstown, DNQ @ Lincoln, 11th @ Selinsgrove, 9th @ Port Royal - Three top-10s last week. Worst finish in qualified races was 11th.
Hard Luck. Doug Esh(10) - 10th @ Grandview, DNQ @ Hagerstown, 15th @ Lincoln - Split with the Trone team after an up and down season to this point. Looking to regroup before deciding on future plans.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 5/24/2010

2010-05-24T20:56:00.004-04:00

In this week: Mark Smith & Aaron Ott
Out this week: Daryn Pittman & Adam Wilt

Biggest move up: Alan Krimes - Up two spots
Biggest move down: Daryn Pittman - Out from #7

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Fred Rahmer(1) - 2nd @ Williams Grove - One spot short of going back-to-back at Williams Grove, from 16th this week.
2. Greg Hodnett(2) - 5th @ Williams Grove - Quietly recorded another top-5.
3. Chad Layton(3) - 4th @ Williams Grove - Looked like he might have had a winning car, but restarts hurt and he didn't have much left at the end.
4. Brian Montieth(5) - 11th @ Williams Grove - Not much noise from The Edge last week at the Grove.
5. Lance Dewease(6) - 9th @ Williams Grove - Solid rebound from nasty wreck the previous week.
6. Stevie Smith(4) - Did not race - Gearing up to defend Keystone Cup Championship.
7. Alan Krimes(10) - 8th @ Williams Grove - A solid top-10 at the Grove.
8. Justin Henderson(9) - 12th @ Williams Grove - Sitting 2nd in points at Port Royal
9. Brian Leppo(8) - 15th @ Williams Grove - A down week following a strong Outlaw showing for Brian.
10. Doug Esh(11) - 16th @ Williams Grove - Still sitting 5th in points at Williams Grove
11. Mark Smith(NR) - 1st @ Williams Grove - Picked up his 2nd PA win and first at Williams Grove this season
12. Aaron Ott(NR) - 7th @ Williams Grove - Aaron rebounds from a bad couple of weeks with a nice run.

Honorable Mention. Don Kreitz, Jr.() - 3rd @ Williams Grove - King Donald records best grove finish of 2010
Hard Luck. Daryn Pittman() - DNQ @ Williams Grove - DNQ and just didn't look that good. Defending Grandview KC winner.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 5/18/2010

2010-05-18T21:57:00.003-04:00

In this week: Brian Leppo and Justin Henderson
Out this week: Mark Smith and Aaron Ott

Biggest move up: Brian Leppo un at #8
Biggest move down: Alan Krimes - Down three spots

1. Fred Rahmer(4) - 17th @ WG / 1st @ WG / 13th @ Lincoln - He has to be a fan of double-file restarts. 24th to 1st is amazing and even 14th to 1st is impressive given the competition.
2. Greg Hodnett(1) - 19th @ WG / 23rd @ WG / 2nd @ Port - Wasn't a factor for the Outlaw shows, still leads points Williams Grove.
3. Chad Layton(6) - 1st @ WG / 27th @ WG / 3rd @ Port - Mastered the Outlaws on Thursday, caught up in an incident on Friday and a "work-area" violation cost them a chance to come back.
4. Stevie Smith(2) - 14th @ WG / 11th @ WG - Ran up front but a bent wing on Thursday and a spin Friday took Stevie out of contention.
5. Brian Montieth(3) - 22nd @ WG / 18th @ WG / 2nd @ Lincoln - 1st lap incidents on Thursday and Friday, rebounded for fourth 2nd of 2010 and regained the Lincoln points lead
6. Lance Dewease(5) - 9th @ WG / 25th @ WG - Good weekened ruined after being collected in lap one pile-up.
7. Daryn Pittman(8) - 24th @ WG / 3rd @ WG - Was a slide job away from picking up the win on Friday.
8. Brian Leppo(NR) - 6th @ WG / 15th @ WG / 6th @ Lincoln - Should read 6th, 1st, 6th. 2 gallons of fuel cost the Swope team $10,000 on Friday.
9. Justin Henderson(NR) - 5th @ WG / 6th @ WG / 4th @ Port - Rebounds from bad week on the road with two top-6 Outlaw runs and a 4th at Port. Best average vs. the Outlaws.
10. Alan Krimes(7) - 13th @ WG / DNQ @ WG / 4th @ Lincoln - Timed 8th and 3rd, but had to run the B both nights, breaking on Friday. Collected 7th top 5 at Lincoln
11. Doug Esh(9) - 26th @ WG / 9th @ WG / 3rd @ Lincoln - First-lap crash on Thursday, survived Friday and had a good run Saturday.
12. Adam Wilt(12) - 28th @ WG / 26th @ WG / 8th @ Lincoln - Stays on the list because he made both Outlaw shows and was better at Lincoln.

Honorable Mention. Brad McClelland() - 7th @ Lincoln - Consistent results including six top-10s have Brad 5th in points at Lincoln.
Hard Luck. Mark Smith() - DNQ @ WG / 19th @ WG / 22nd @ Lincoln - Mark's best finish in the last two weeks is a 16th.

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 5/11/2010

2010-05-11T22:09:00.003-04:00

In this week: Adam Wilt
Out this week: Justin Henderson

Biggest move up:Stevie Smith - Up two spots
Biggest move down:Aaron Ott - Down two spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 1st @ WG - Greg picks up his first Grove win of 2010 as well as the points lead
2. Stevie Smith(4) - 2nd @ WG - These guys don't seem to miss a beat in PA time trial races
3. Brian Montieth(3) - 5th @ WG / 6th @ Lincoln - A solid week after a couple weeks of okay results
4. Fred Rahmer(2) - 23rd @ WG / 4th @ Lincoln - Running well before contact ended Rahmer's night at WG
5. Lance Dewease(5) - 4th @ WG - Charged through the field at WG
6. Chad Layton(7) - 3rd @ WG - Was in position to pick up second Grove win, had to settle for 3rd
7. Alan Krimes(6) - 22nd @ WG / 5th @ Lincoln - Had a great run going at WG before a malfunction, and picked up another top 5 at Lincoln
8. Daryn Pittman(8) - 20th @ Eldora / 6th @ Eldora - A strong 6th against the Outlaws in his 3rd car in last 3 weeks
9. Doug Esh(11) - 9th @ WG / 8th @ Lincoln - And the rollercoaster heads back up the hill with 2 top-10 finishes
10. Mark Smith(10) - 16th @ WG / 22nd @ Lincoln - Just didn't have it last week
11. Aaron Ott(9) - 17th @ WG / 23rd @ Lincoln - Took a step back after a really good previous week
12. Adam Wilt(NR) - 15th @ WG / 1st @ Lincoln - Picked up first career win at Lincoln

Honorable Mention. Brent Marks() - 14th @ WG / 2nd @ Lincoln - Has been solid at Lincoln and a runner-up finish moves the young gun to the runner-up points position
Hard Luck. Justin Henderson() - DNQ @ Eldora / DNQ @ Eldora - Justin and the #35 travelled to Ohio and came home with 2 DNQs

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 5/5/2010

2010-05-05T21:42:00.003-04:00

In this week: Aaron Ott, Mark Smith and Justin Henderson
Out this week:Tyler Walker, Adam Wilt and Dave Ely

Biggest move up:Stevie Smith - Up four spots
Biggest move down:Doug Esh - Down five spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 12th @ WG / 1st @ Port - Port Royal Winner has finished top-3 in over half of his 13 races
2. Fred Rahmer(3) - 16th @ WG / 1st @ Lincoln - Big points day at Lincoln with many early season top guns faltering
3. Brian Montieth(2) - 2nd @ WG / 21st @ Lincoln - New Points leader at Williams Grove, but dropped top spot at Lincoln with 22nd place run
4. Stevie Smith(8) - 4th @ WG / 3rd @ Lincoln - Streak of top-3s snapped at four, now on a six-race top-4 streak
5. Lance Dewease(5) - 1st @ WG / 24th @ Lincoln - Dominated at Williams Grove, DNF at Lincoln. Not quite "Checkers or wreckers" but he's had seven top-5s and three DNF in the last 10
6. Alan Krimes(7) - 5th @ WG / 4th @ Lincoln - Pencil him in for 4th at Lincoln, four times he's come across fourth in the Oigeon Hills
7. Chad Layton(4) - DNQ @ WG / 11th @ Port - DNQ at WG costs him his big cushion in the top-4 in points. Also dropped a spot at Lincoln
8. Daryn Pittman(9) - 11th @ WG / 12th @Lincoln - Decent runs in his 1st weekend in the Heffner car
9. Aaron Ott(NR) - 8th @ WG / 2nd @ Lincoln - six top-10s in last seven races as the young gun moves to the top of the Lincoln standings
10. Mark Smith(NR) - 6th @ WG / 5th @ Lincoln - Appears that the Mach 1 is back to running near the front again
11. Doug Esh(6) - 15th @ WG / 20th @ Lincoln - Follows up a solid week with a mediocre week. Been on a roller coaster all year
12. Justin Henderson(NR) - 18th @ WG / 4th @ Port - Having some solid runs, not having the bad runs like some of the others who dropped out

Honorable Mention. Rick Lafferty() - 9th @ WG / 6th @ Port - Still leading points at Port although its tightening up, could use more solid runs at WG
Honorable Mention. Mike Erdley() - 5th @ Port - Moving up the Port standings with solid finishes after opening with a last place
Hard Luck. Tyler Walker() - DNQ @ WG / 7th @ Port - The hard luck recipients are intertwined, Tyler had the final transfer in the Grove B before being passed on the last lap by…
Hard Luck. Brent Marks() - DNQ @ WG / 11th @ Lincoln - Brent made a great last lap pass of Walker only to hit the turn 4 wall causing him to lose momentum and the final transfer to…
Hard Luck. Adam Wilt() - 21st @ WG / DNQ @ Lincoln - Adam had the final transfer at WG gift wrapped when Marks and Walter got into the wall on the last lap, he then DNQd at Lincoln. Not a good weekend

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 4/28/2010

2010-04-28T18:53:00.002-04:00

In this week: Tyler Walker
Out this week: Brian Leppo

Biggest move up:Doug Esh - Up two spots
Biggest move down:Daryn Pittman - Down four spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 10th @ WG / 2nd @ Port - Last out to time trial at Williams Grove put Greg behind the 8-ball early, salvaged a top 10 after starting last
2. Brian Montieth(2) - 6th @ WG / 12th @ Lincoln - Last two weeks at Lincoln were the worst of the season, but still manages to move to the top of the points
3. Fred Rahmer(3) - 4th @ WG / 1st @ Lincoln - Lincoln winner, also looked strong at WG after time trials put him mid-pack at the start
4. Chad Layton(4) - 1st @ WG / 5th @ Port - Williams Grove winner,2nd in points at Port and tied for 3rd at WG
5. Lance Dewease(6) - 22d @ WG / 4th @ Port - 4th at Lincoln two weeks ago and 4th at Port last week. Not so good at WG, pulled in for 22nd
6. Doug Esh(8) - 5th @ WG / 5th @ Lincoln - Two 5ths last week, first top 5s since opening weekend
7. Alan Krimes(7) - 7th @ WG / 8th @ Lincoln - DNQ at Lincoln two weeks moved him from 1st to 10th in points, solid runs at WG and Lincoln last week
8. Stevie Smith(9) - 2nd @ WG - Another top 3, coming home 2nd at WG, 3 races on tap this weekend
9. Daryn Pittman(5) - DNQ @ WG - 6th at Lincoln two weeks ago, moving to a new ride after a DNQ at WG last week
10. Tyler Walker(NR) - 9th @ WG / 1st @ Port - Port winner moving to Pittman's old ride, 4 straight top 10s
11. Adam Wilt(11) - 12th @ WG / 11th @ Lincoln - 6th in pooints at WG and Lincoln. Consistent runner since 1st week issues
12. Dave Ely(12) - 15th @ WG / 7th @ Port - Another guy who does't drop out. Worst finish is a 16th. Sits 8th at WG and 5th at Port in points

Hard Luck. David Gravel() - DNQ @ WG / 19th @ Port - Out of towner DNQs at WG and flips hard at Port

Williams Grove 4/17 Photos

2010-04-19T21:32:00.001-04:00

WG20100417

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 4/14/2010

2010-04-14T22:31:00.003-04:00

In this week: Lance Dewease, Adam Wilt and Dave Ely
Out this week: Todd Shaffer, Justin Henderson and Rick Lafferty

Biggest move up: Lance Dewease - In at #6
Biggest move down: Brian Leppo - 6 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(1) - 3rd @ WG / 13th @ Port / 3rd @ SSP - Last lap tire problem while leading ruined three top 3 finish weekend
2. Brian Montieth(2) - 6th @ WG / 2nd @ Lincoln - Still hasn't finished worse than 6th, top 3 in points at two tracks
3. Fred Rahmer(3) - 8th @ WG / 16th @ Lincoln / 5th @ SSP - Can't seem to shake bad luck at Lincoln, 2nd in points at WG
4. Chad Layton(5) - 9th @ WG / 3rd @ Port / 21st @ SSP - Up to 2nd in points at Port, had worst finish of the season at SSP
5. Daryn Pittman(8) - 5th @ WG / 8th @ Port / 10th @ SSP - Three top 10s, consistent so far in PA with 12th being the worst finish
6. Lance Dewease(NR) - 1st @ WG / 2nd @ Port / 4th @ SSP - Don't know what happened, but the 30c had a heck of a turn-around weekend
7. Alan Krimes(6) - 15th @ WG / 4th @ Lincoln / 19th @ SSP - Great at Lincoln despite not winning, can't say the same about other tracks, except the not winning part
8. Doug Esh(10) - 7th @ WG / 17th @ Lincoln / 7th @ SSP - Too good be running this inconsistent
9. Stevie Smith(7) - DNR - Hard to rank when he doesn't race but he'll likely run top 5 when he does race
10. Brian Leppo(4) - 20th @ WG / 15th @ Lincoln / 16th @ SSP - Bad weekend a fluke? Or was it a return to last year's form?
11. Adam Wilt(NR) - 11th @ WG / 3rd @ Lincoln/ 17th @ SSP - Sitting 6th and 5th in points at WG and Lincoln, respectively.
12. Dave Ely(NR) - 10th @ WG / 9th @ Port - Another consistent runner, only 3 other's sit 7th or better in points at two tracks

Honorable Mention. Rick Lafferty(12) - DNQ @ WG / 1st @ Port - Points leader and winner at Port, but a DNQ at Williams Grove keeps Rick out
Honorable Mention. Aaron Ott() - 21st @ WG /1st @ Lincoln / 6th @ SSP - Winner at Lincoln had a good run going early at WG before dropping out. Followed up with a sloid SSP run
Honorable Mention. Don Kreitz, Jr.() - 13th @ WG / 1st @ SSP - Picked up the big win at SSP, maybe this will be a springboard to some better runs at WG
Honorable Mention. Tyler Walker() - 23rd @ WG / 4th @ Port / 2nd @ SSP - Turned things around with a 4th and 2nd after weeks of struggles and mechanical issues
Hard Luck. Steve Buckwalter() - DNS @ WG - Broken drive line after the consi finish force Steve to scratch, also had problems on last lap after dominating midget run at SSP
Hard Luck. Derek Sell() - 24th @ WG - Alternate at WG, took Buckwalter's position on the grid and promptly flipped in turn 1 of the first lap

Williams Grove Report 4/9/2010

2010-04-11T13:28:00.003-04:00

Cars in attendance: 0-Rick Lafferty, 07-Mark Coldren, 1w-T.J. Stutts, 3-Bob Bennett, 3w-Kyle Moody, 7-Chad Layton, 7m-Mark Smith, 8m-Chris Meleason, 11c-Cory Haas, 14-Doug Dodson, 15-Adam Wilt, 17-Daryn Pittman, 17b-Steve Buckwalter 19m-Brent Marks, 20s-Derek Sell, 21-Brian Montieth, 22-Greg Hodnett, 25-Aaron Ott, 27-Tyler Walker, 30c-Lance Dewease, 35-Justin Henderson, 39-Doug Esh, 45-A.J. Michael, 48-Danny Dietrich, 51-Fred Rahmer, 69k-Don Kreitz, Jr., 71-Brian Leppo, 75-Dave Ely, 87-Alan Krimes

In what has been a yo-yo season as far as temperatures are concerned, the mercury again dipped low into the 40s with a steady wind all night that made it feel like it was in the low to mid 30s. Track conditions for tonight look good and the low temps should help keep the moisture in for the sprint cars. 29 410s signed in, with T.J. Stutts making his 2010 410 debut in the John Westbrook owned 1w.

Cory Haas appeared to have some sort of motor problem in the first set of hot laps, however he was able to push off to fire the motor just after session #2. Possibly something small that the crew was able to fix quickly. The format for tonight’s program will include three 10-lap heat races, a consolation and a 25-lap feature. Starting spots in heats were determined by money average with low averages starting up front and drivers making their first starts tagging the rear of the field. The top 6 in each heat transfer, with the top 4 being handicapped in the top 12 based on average, again with the low average up front.

Heat 1(Starting position in parentheses):

1. 30c-Dewease (7), 2. 8m-Meleason(3), 3. 51-Rahmer(10), 4. 27-Walker(4), 5. 17-Pittman(9), 6. 39-Esh(8), 7. 45-Michael(2), 8. 14-Dodson(5), 9. 0-Lafferty(6), 10. 20s-Sell(1)

On the first lap, pole-sitter Sell spins in turn 3 and also involved is Dodson. Sell has a flat LF as well as other damage and is forced to retire. Dodson rejoins field. On the restart, Meleason leads and Dewease gets up to 2nd early on. Rahmer moves up to 4th by passing Esh and Walker. Esh also gets by T-Dub. On lap 6, Walker slides by Esh. Esh nearly into the turn 2 wall and Pittman is able to get by. Michael gets passed by Rahmer and Pittman on lap 7, while Meleason continues to lead. Walker gets by Pittman for the last invert position. Esh slides past Michael for the last transfer. Dewease takes the lead going into 3 with two to go and would hold on from there.

Heat 2:

1. 25-Ott(3), 2. 48-Dietrich(5), 3. 21-Montieth(9), 4. 11c-Haas(4), 5.75-Ely(6), 6. 1w-Stutts(10), 7.71-Leppo(8), 8. 35-Henderson(7), 9. 3-Bennett(1), 10. 07-Coldren(2)

As the cars are pushing off, word comes down that there is moisture accumulating on the windshield of the pace vehicle. A very fine snow is coming down and you have to look into the lights to see it. Bennett leads on the start. Ott gets by Coldren going into 3 on lap 1 and takes the lead on lap 2. Yellow comes out on lap 3 for Stutts, who looped it in Turn 4. Montieth up to 6th on lap 5. Coldren and Dietrich move by Bennett on lap 6 and then the yellow flies as the precipitation has turned to a steadier rain/snow mix. After a few laps under caution the red is displayed and the cars return to the pits. Lap 6 RO – 25, 07, 48, 3, 11c, 21, 75, 1w, 35, 71. After a short 15 minute delay the cars are given 3 laps by the pace truck to lineup. Coldren is late and moved to the rear of the field. On lap 7, Haas moves by Bennett and Montieth would do the same on lap 8. Ely also gets by Bennett going down the backstretch as Montieth moves by Hass in turn 4 coming to the white flag. Stutts then moves by Bennett for the final transfer. Ott wins the heat race.

Heat 3:

1. 7m-Smith(2), 2. 3w-Moody(1), 3. 22-Hodnett(9), 4. 87-Krimes(6), 5.69k-Kreitz(3), 6. 7-Layton(8), 7. 15-Wilt(7), 8. 19m-Marks(4), 9. 17b-Buckwalter(5)

Smith leads on the start. Krimes up to 3rd early and Hodnett is up to 4th on lap 3. Kreitz looks to be leaking oil and has a brief flare up coming across the line on lap 4. Yellow out, Buckwalter spins and pulls into the pits on lap 5. Layton takes final transfer from Marks on lap 6. Hodnett moves around Krimes on lap 6. Kreitz up to 4th after passing Krimes on lap 7. Smith leads the distance to win. Krimes gets back around Kreitz on the last lap to make the top 12 inversion for the feature.

Consolation:

1. 71-Leppo(1), 2. 35-Henderson(4), 3.15-Wilt(2), 4. 19m-Marks(6), 5. 14-Dodson(4), 6. 17b-Buckwalter(8), 7. 20s-Sell(10) 8. 3-Bennett(8), 9. 45-Michael(1), DQ. 0-Lafferty(7), DNS. 07-Coldren(11)

Coldren scratched. Leppo leads on the start. Wilt moves to 2nd out of turn 4 on the first lap. Henderson and Dodson move by Michael on lap 2. Buckwalter passes Bennett on lap 3 but the pass is negated when Michael brings out the caution after a spin in turn 3. Lafferty is also involved and his wing would fold up on the restart. 45 done for the night. Marks gets by Lafferty for 4th and Buckwalter again passes Bennett. On lap 4, Buckwalter gets by Lafferty for 6th. Bennett drops out late and the last half of the race sees no passing except a last lap pass by Henderson to take 2nd.

Following the last chance race, the 17b stopped on the backstretch just out of turn 2. Buckwalter emerged from the car on his own but in obvious pain. The red was brought out and the ambulance was called to assist. The official call was a broken drive shaft. Buckwalter called off the ambulance crew and seemed to be okay after walking it out a little. To add to this, Rick Lafferty did not go to the scales after finishing 7th which makes Derek Sell the first alternate in the event that Buckwalter is unable to go in the feature event.

Feature:

1. 30c-Dewease(9), 2. 7m-Smith(2), 3. 22-Hodnett(11), 4. 48-Dietrich(7), 5. 17-Pittman(13), 6. 21-Montieth(10), 7. 39-Esh(16) 8. 51-Rahmer(12), 9. 7-Layton(18), 10. 75-Ely(14) 11. 15-Wilt(21), 12. 1w-Stutts(17), 13. 69k-Kreitz(15), 14. 19m-Marks(22), 15. 87-Krimes(8), 16. 35-Henderson(20), 17. 11c-Haas(6) 18. 14-Dodson(23), 19. 3w-Moody(1), 20. 71-Leppo(19), 21. 25-Ott(4) 22. 8m-Meleason(3), 23. 27-Walker(5), 24. 20s-Sell(24)

17b scratches and the 20s will start 24th. 3w leads initial start. Sell gets into turn 1 wall and flips bringing out the red flag. While lining up for the complete restart, Walker stops on the back stretch and needs to be towed in. Broken torque tube on the 27. 3w again leads on the start but Smith takes control out of turn 4 to complete lap 1. 7m, 3w, 25, 48, 30c – top 5. Hodnett passes Haas in turn 2 on lap 3 and Rahmer follows suit in turn 3 with Montieth sending Haas back another spot in turn 4. On the next circuit, the 21 battles the 51 and takes 7th, meanwhile, Dewease moves into 3rd. Hodnett and Montieth both move by Moody on lap 6 and Dewease passes Ott for to move into the runner-up spot. Esh now into the top 10. Pittman makes a move around Moody and Rahmer in turn 2 on lap 7 and is now 7th. Smith has now pulled out to about a half straight lead. Esh passes Rahmer on lap 9. Leader catching lapped traffic on lap 11. Ott starts falling back getting passed by Hodnett and Montieth. Leaders in heavy traffic on lap 14 and Dewease is catching the leader. Lap 16, Dewease is right behind Smith. Dewease takes the lead on lap 17 in turn 4. Montieth begins to pressure Hodnett on lap 19 as Dewease start pulling away from Smith. Yellow out for Ott who has come to a stop on the back stretch with 22 laps in the books. RO – 30c, 7m, 48, 22, 21, 17, 39, 51, 7, 75, 15, 1w, 19m, 87, 69k lead lap cars with 35, 3w, 11c, 14, 71 all down a lap. On the restart, Pittman gets by Montieth for 5th and Rahmer gets by Esh. Hodnett passes Dietrich for 3rd in turn four coming to the white flag. Dewease leads the final 8 laps to win his first race of 2010.

Notes:

The win was Lance Dewease’s 71st career at the Speedway which is second only to Rahmer

Dewease continued the trend of winning a heat race before winning the main event

Dewease was the first driver to not win the third heat race and also the first to not start 3rd in the feature. Rahmer, Lucas Wolfe and Stevie Smith all won the third heat and started 3rd the night they won the feature

Jamie Lathroun won the Three State Flyers Series Late Model feature

Steve Buckwalter was okay after being hit in the leg with a broken drive shaft and will be running his midget Sunday at Susquehanna Speedway Park

358s are back on the card next week

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 4/7/2010

2010-04-07T13:11:00.005-04:00

In this week: Stevie Smith, Justin Henderson and Rick Lafferty
Out this week: Mark Smith, Lance Dewease, Curt Michael

Biggest move up: Stevie Smith - In at #7
Biggest move down: Mark Smith - Out from #7

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Greg Hodnett(2) - 2nd @ WG/1st @ Port - Four top 5 finishes in six PA races for Williams Grove points leader. Charging hard at WG.
2. Brian Montieth(3) - 5th @ WG/1st @ Lincoln - Lincoln winner, 4 straight top 5 finishes, top 3 in points at two tracks
3. Fred Rahmer(1) - 10th @ WG/5th @ Lincoln - Decent weekend just not enough to keep on top early in the season
4. Brian Leppo(5) - 8th @ WG/7th @ Lincoln - Consistent top 10 finishes have him sitting 3rd at Lincoln and 6th in Grove points
5. Chad Layton(6) - 7th @ WG/11th @ Port - 4th in points at Grove and Port, worst PA finish so far? 12th.
6. Alan Krimes(8) - 16th @ WG/2nd @ Lincoln - Lincoln points leader, still looking for first win in a long time
7. Stevie Smith(NR) - 1st @ WG / 3rd @ Lincoln - Probably should be higher but DSQ in first Grove start skews stats
8. Daryn Pittman(4) - 11th @ WG/12th @ Port - Follows up stellar weekend with a mediocre weekend
9. Todd Shaffer(11) - 2nd @ Port - Comes back strong at Port after disappointing opener. Chose to skip the Grove for the first time in quite a few years
10. Doug Esh(10) - 13th @ WG/13th @ Lincoln - Hasn't really shown much since great opening weekend.
11. Justin Henderson(NR) - 3rd @ WG/4th @ Port - Fantastic weekend, came up just a few laps short of first career Williams Grove checkers
12. Rick Lafferty(NR) - 21st @ WG/9th @ Port - Points leader at Port, also some nice runs at Williams Grove

Honorable Mention. Dave Ely() - 15th @ WG / 3rd @ Port - Call this 12a, always steady, has not finished worse than 16th, 8th in points at WG
Honorable Mention. Adam Wilt() - 4th @ WG / 12th @ Lincoln - And 12b, having some decent runs since lackluster opening weekend
Honorable Mention. Doug Dodson() - 6th @ WG / 11th @ Lincoln - After two DNQs, a 16th and a 17th in the first two weeks, this past weekend had to be a nice change
Hard Luck. Mark Smith(7) - DNQ @ WG/24th @ Lincoln - Since winning at Lincoln, has scratched after heat race twice at WG and recorded 7th and 24th place finishes at Lincoln

Williams Grove Report 4/2/2010

2010-04-03T02:58:00.004-04:00

Cars in attendance: 0-Rick Lafferty, 07-Mark Coldren, 1-Stevie Smith, 3w-Kyle Moody, 4-Kasey Kahne, 5w-Lucas Wolfe, 7-Chad Layton, 7m-Mark Smith, 8m-Chris Meleason, 14-Doug Dodson, 15-Adam Wilt, 17-Daryn Pittman, 17b-Steve Buckwalter 19m-Brent Marks, 20s-Derek Sell, 21-Brian Montieth, 22-Greg Hodnett, 25-Aaron Ott, 27-Tyler Walker, 30c-Lance Dewease, 35-Justin Henderson, 39-Doug Esh, 45-A.J. Michael, 48-Danny Dietrich, 49-Brad Sweet, 51-Fred Rahmer, 65-Johnny Mackison, Jr., 69k-Don Kreitz, Jr., 71-Brian Leppo, 75-Dave Ely, 87-Alan Krimes, 89g-David Gravel

Temps in the 70s and a sky full of sun greeted teams and spectators for the 3rd race at Williams Grove. Tonight marks the first race of the season to use the PA handicapping system. In attendance tonight is NASCAR Cup star Kasey Kahne as well as KKR team driver Brad Sweet. 32 410s signed in, with three drivers making their 2010 Grove debuts including David Gravel in addition to the KKR duo.

Hot laps went off without a hitch tonight. The 27 of Walker did encounter some problems however and would retire for the night. The format for the racing will include four 10-lap heat races, a consolation and a 25-lap feature. Starting spots in heats were determined by money average with low averages starting up front and drivers making their first starts tagging the rear of the field. The top 5 in each heat transfer, with the top 3 being handicapped in the top 12 based on average, again with the low average up front.

Heat 1(Starting position in parentheses):

1. 14-Dodson(1), 2. 15-Wilt(4), 3. 17-Pittman(7), 4. 5w-Wolfe(8), 5. 65-Mackison(3), 6. 45-Michael(2), 7. 30c-Dewease(6), 8. 0-Lafferty(5)

Dodson leads the distance. Pittman up to 3rd and Wolfe up to 5th on lap 2. Dodson out front by half straight-away by lap 5. 5w passes 45 and begins chasing the 17 for the inversion. 5w is unable to get by 17 and settles for 4th. Mackison takes final transfer at the end by less than .02 seconds.

Heat 2:

1. 3w-Moody(1), 2.35-Henderson(2), 3. 7-Layton(6), 4. 21-Montieth(7), 5.75-Ely(5), 6. 4-Kahne(8), 7. 69k-Kreitz(4), 8.7m-M.Smith(3)

Moody gets out to early lead. On first lap, Smith contacts the guardrail in turn 3 and is done for the night. Layton up to 3rd for the restart with 1 lap in the books. On lap 3, Kahne moves by 69k for 6th and begins tracking down Ely for the last transfer spot. Cars get strung out by lap 7 and no positions change hands during the last half of the race.

Heat 3:

1. 1-S.Smith(1), 2. 8m-Meleason(2), 3. 71-Leppo(3), 4. 49-Sweet(8), 5.22-Hodnett(7), 6. 87-Krimes(5), 7. 07-Coldren(3), 8.27-Walker(4)

Walker DNS for heat three and scratched for the night. Outside lane slides up a row. On initial start, Sweet gets into turn 1 guardrail and also involved is Coldren who is forced to drop out with a flat rear tire. Sweet tags the rear of the field. Only 6 cars left. Sweet passes Krimes on lap 2 to move up to 4th. Smith by half of a straight. Hodnett not looking too good and sits in 6th place. Hodnett passes Krimes for last transfer on lap 8. Smith leads the distance, winning by almost a half-lap.

Heat 4:

1. 19m-Marks(3), 2. 51-Rahmer(7), 3.17b- Buckwalter(4), 4. 25-Ott(2), 5. 39-Esh(6), 6. 48-Dietrich(5), 7. 89g-Gravel(8), 8. 20s-Sell(1)

Initial start waved off for a false start. Front two rows change, Marks now on the pole. Gravel spins in turn 1. Marks leads over Buckwalter. Esh up to 4th and Rahmer to 5th after one lap. Rahmer then moves by Esh on lap 2. Rahmer to 3rd on lap 3. Dietrich gets by Esh for last transfer on lap 7. Marks lead is a half straight. Dietrich appears to be having problems. 51 to 2nd on lap 8. Dietrich breaks on last lap going down backstretch. Esh reclaims 5th and Dietrich comes across 6th with a plug wire off.

Consolation:

1. 4-Kahne(2), 2. 87-Krimes(3), 3.0-Lafferty(9), 4. 30c-Dewease(5), 5. 69k-Kreitz(4), 6. 45-Michael(1), 7. 89g-Gravel(7) 8. 07-Coldren(8), 9. 20s-Sell(8), 10. 48-Dietrich(10) DNS, 7m-M.Smith, 27-Walker

Lafferty passes Dietrich on lap 1. Dewease and Kreitz move by Michael on lap 2. Gravel brings out yellow, spinning in turn 1 on lap 4. Dietrich is moved back 2 spots for jumping the start, moving Coldren and Sell up one spot each. 89g rejoins field. Lafferty begins to move up after restart. After passing the 45, Lafferty passes Kreitz for the last transfer spot. Dietrich also passes Kreitz and is now one spot out of transferring. Dietrich gets right up to the 30 in turn two of the final lap and appears to make contact, but cannot pull off the pass. The 48 breaks then and fails to cross the line.

Feature:

1. 1-S.Smith(3), 2. 22-Hodnett(19), 3. 35-Henderson(4), 4. 15-Wilt(7), 5. 21-Montieth(14), 6. 14-Dodson(1), 7. 7-Layton(9) 8. Leppo(10), 9. 5w-Wolfe(13), 10. Rahmer(12) 11. 17-Pittman(11), 12. 49-Sweet(15), 13. 39-Esh(20), 14. 25-Ott(16), 15. 75-Ely(18), 16. 87-Krimes(22), 17. 17b-Buckwalter(8) 18. 65-Mackison(17), 19. 3w-Moody(2), 20. 19m-Marks(6), 21. 0-Lafferty(23) 22. 8m-Meleason(5), 23. 30c-Dewease(24), 24. 4-Kahne(21)

Dodson leads early on with Henderson moving into the runner-up spot on the first tour of the speedway. Wilt also moves up from 7th to 4th as Stevie Smith drops back. Leppo moves to 6th on lap 3 and passes Smith for 5th on the next go-around as the leaders start to spread out. Last week’s winner, Wolfe falls to around 17th. On lap 9, Kahne makes hard contact with the turn 3 guardrail, gets airborne and spins twice while up in the air, yet somehow manages to keep the car moving. Dewease is also involved and brings out the yellow. Kahne would retire with front end damage, including a collapsed front wing. Lap 8 RO: 14, 35, 3w, 15, 71, 1, 7, 19m, 51, 17, 22, 25, 8m, 17b, 21, 5w, 39, 49, 65, 75, 0, 87, 30c, 4. Henderson goes to the lead following the restart and Smith moves back into 4th while Leppo drops back. 35 extends his lead to over 25 car-lengths. Hodnett passes Moody for 6th and Dewease pulls off. Moody, Rahmer and Leppo battle for 7th on lap 14. Dodson starts tracking down Henderson and on lap 16, the lead is back to about 10 car-lengths. Hodnett cracks the top 5 after a pass on Layton and begins reeling in the 1 and 15. The top 5 really gets tight on lap 20. On lap 20, Smith passes Wilt for 3rd and then Dodson for 2nd on the next lap. Wilt passes Dodson on lap 22. Smith blasted past Henderson in turn 4 of lap 23 for the lead. Hodnett also passes Henderson but doesn’t have enough time to run down Smith. Smith wins and Hodnett records his 2nd runner-up finish of the season.

The win was Stevie Smith’s 22nd career at the Speedway.

Notes:

Pat Cannon won the 358 feature

The track was very dusty for the 410 feature race

Defending track champion Todd Shaffer was not in attendance, the team announced earlier this year that they would be scaling back their schedule to about 30 races

Late models make their return next week with the sprint cars

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 3/31/2010

2010-03-31T22:52:00.003-04:00

This week was tough, with a lot of the top guys having at least one bad result last weekend and a bunch of other guys having solid weekends.

In this week: Alan Krimes and Curt Michael
Out this week: Johnny Mackison, Jr. and Danny Dietrich

Biggest move up: Daryn Pittman - 6 spots
Biggest move down: Doug Esh - 8 spots

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Fred Rahmer(1) - 3rd @ WG/23rd @ Lincoln - Still the best of the bunch despite a DNF at Lincoln
2. Greg Hodnett(3) - 5th @ WG/18th @ Port - Another good run from mid-pack at the Grove, not so much at Port
3. Brian Montieth(6) - 2nd @ WG/5th @ Lincoln - Couldn't quite get the win at WG, better at Lincoln this time
4. Daryn Pittman(10) - 4th @ WG/2nd @ Port - Best average finish last week, we'll see how things go with the Grove handicapping
5. Brian Leppo(8) - 22nd @ WG/1st @ Lincoln - Hero at Lincoln, zero at the Grove
6. Chad Layton(9) - 10th @ WG/3rd @ Port - Nothing special at WG, 3rd in Port opener
7. Mark Smith(5) - DNQ @ WG/7th @ Lincoln - Motor issues plague Grove effort, solid effort at Lincoln
8. Alan Krimes(NR) - 7th @ WG/4th @ Lincoln - Last three races, 4th, 7th, 4th, Always solid at Lincoln
9. Lance Dewease(7) - 8th @ WG/11th @ Port - Nothing great to report but he didn't have a bad one like many others this week
10. Doug Esh(2) - 14th @ WG/22nd @ Lincoln - A tale of two weeks: Last week's average finish - 2.5. This week - 18
11. Todd Shaffer(4) - 21st @ WG/15th @ Port - Going nowhere at WG, flip at Port
12. Curt Michael(NR) - 6th @ WG/5th @ Port - Some good runs for the 5g so far in 2010

Honorable Mention. Rick Lafferty - 12th @ WG/1st @ Port - Rick has a 12th, and a 10th at WG so far this year and pulled off the big win in the Port opener.
Hard Luck. Stevie Smith - DSQ @ WG / 3rd @ Lincoln - Disqualification at WG ruined what could have been a pretty good opening weekend for the 1z in PA
Hard Luck. Cory Haas - 23rd @ WG / 24th @ Lincoln - Its pretty hard to do worse than the 23rd place finish at WG, but Cory pulled it off with the 24th at Lincoln

Williams Grove Report 3/26/2010

2010-03-27T02:42:00.003-04:00

Cars in attendance: 0-Rick Lafferty, 07-Mark Coldren, 1-Stevie Smith, 3-Bob Bennett, 3h-Pat Cannon, 3w-Kyle Moody, 5g-Curt Michael, 5w-Lucas Wolfe, 7-Chad Layton, 7m-Mark Smith, 8m-Chris Meleason, 11c-Cory Haas, 14-Doug Dodson, 15-Adam Wilt, 17-Daryn Pittman, 17b-Steve Buckwalter 19m-Brent Marks, 21-Brian Montieth, 22-Greg Hodnett, 25-Aaron Ott, 27-Tyler Walker, 30c-Lance Dewease, 35-Justin Henderson, 39-Doug Esh, 45-A.J. Michael, 48-Danny Dietrich, 51-Fred Rahmer, 65-Johnny Mackison, Jr., 69k-Don Kreitz, Jr., 71-Brian Leppo, 75-Dave Ely, 87-Alan Krimes, 88-Todd Shaffer

Conditions for race number two at Williams Grove honestly, were quite brutal and a far cry from the gorgeous conditions experienced last week. With temps in the 30s, a constant breeze and an overnight period or rain ending late Friday morning the decision to race was still up in the air until late afternoon. 33 410s signed in with eight drivers making their 2010 Grove debuts, including 5-time track champion, Lance Dewease, the hometown Outlaw, Lucas Wolfe, and defending 358 champ, Cory Haas, who picked up a 3rd place finish last Saturday at Lincoln Speedway . The crowd was respectable considering the forecasted near-freezing temps.

The only stoppage in hot laps came during the third session when Wilt blew a motor and stopped in turn one. The groove steadily moved up and by the time the last laps were turned in warm-ups the quick line was about halfway up in three and four. Dietrich and Mark Smith also experienced motor problems. The format for the racing will include four 10-lap heat races, a consolation and a 25-lap feature. Starting spots in heats determined by pill draw and the feature lined up by passing points and an inversion pill.

Heat 1(Starting position in parentheses):

1. 17b-Buckwalter(2), 2. 21-Montieth(6), 3. 3h-Cannon(4), 4. 19m-Marks(3), 5. 27-Walker(8), 6. 8m-Meleason(5), 7. 11c-Haas(7), 8. 14-Dodson(1), DNS. 48-Dietrich

Dietrich scratched from the heat, sliding outside lane starters Cannon and Montieth up a row and putting Walker outside row four. Buckwalter leads on initial start and also on a complete restart following a Haas lap 1 spin in turn one. Cannon and Montieth pass Dodson on lap 1. Dodson spins on lap 3 and pulls in. Cannon attempts a pass on the restart but Buckwalter, who tied for the most heat race wins in 2009, would hold on and lead the rest of the way. Walker grabs the last transfer from Meleason on lap 6 and Montieth would claim the runner-up spot on the final lap.

Heat 2:

1. 35-Henderson(1), 2. 5g-C.Michael(4), 3. 71-Leppo(3), 4. 39-Esh(5), 5. 07-Coldren(7), 6. M.Smith(6), 7. 65-Mackison(8), DQ. S.Smith(2)

Henderson leads early as last week’s winner at Lincoln Speedway, Mark Smith, moves past Esh on lap 1 and then Michael on lap 2 to move into 4th place. Mackison brings out the caution with a blown motor and a brief oil fire. Stevie Smith would take the lead in the Zemco car on lap 4. The 39 and 5g would swap the final transfer spot on laps 4 and 5. Mark Smith blows up on lap 7 bringing out another yellow. Michael gets past Leppo for 3rd on lap 8. At the line it’s the 1 followed by the 35, 5g, 71 and 39. However, the 1 car would pull into his pit stall before scaling and was disqualified from the race and forced to run the consolation. This moved everyone up one position, making Coldren the final transfer.

Heat 3:

1. 5w-Wolfe(2), 2. 87-Krimes(1), 3. 17-Pittman(6), 4. 30c-Dewease(4), 5. 88-Shaffer(3), 6. 75-Ely(7), 7. 25-Ott(5), 8.45-A.J. Michael(8)

Krimes and Wolfe battle for lead with the 5w taking control in turn three of the first lap. Pittman moves up to 3rd by lap 3. Ott brings out the caution on lap 5. Dewease is back up to 4th on lap 8. Not much action is this one.

During the 3rd heat race, word came down via track communications that some physical contact was made with an official and the 1 of Stevie Smith was parked for the remainder of the evening.

Heat 4:

1. 51-Rahmer(2), 2. 69k-Kreitz(1), 3. Layton(3), 4. 22-Hodnett(6), 5. 0-Lafferty(5), 6. 15-Wilt(8), 7. 3w-Moody(4), 8. 3-Bennett(7)

Wilt stops in turn two on initial start. After the restart, Kreitz leads lap 1 with Rahmer moving to the top spot on lap 2. Wilt moves up to 6th on lap 2. Bennett pulls in on lap 4. No passing after this point and Rahmer takes a heat win for the second consecutive week. Kreitz stayed close throughout.

Montieth is determined to be high points man and draws a 6 tonight, putting the Keen Motorsports car and driver Daryn Pittman on the pole for the feature event.

Consolation:

1. 15-Wilt(1), 2. 75-Ely(2), 3.11c-Haas(4), 4. 48-Dietrich(8), 5. 8m-Meleason(3), 6. 3w-Moody(7), 7. 45-A.J. Michael(6) 8. 25-Ott(5), DNS. 1-S.Smith, 3-Bennett, 7m-M.Smith, 14-Dodson, 65-Mackison

Wilt leads the distance. Caution for Dietrich stopping on lap 2. Ott passes Hass for last transfer on lap 6. 45 pulls into pits on lap 7, meanwhile Ott spins in turn two on lap 8 and lays the car on its side. Ott is uninjured, but concedes the final transfer back to Haas. On the restart, Haas passes Meleason for 3rd and Dietrich starts working the 8m for 4th. The 48 gets past the 8m on lap 9 but Meleason regains the spot a half lap later. In the final turn Dietrich again passes Meleason to take the last transfer into tonight’s feature event.

Feature:

1. 5w-Wolfe(3), 2. 21-Montieth(6), 3. 51-Rahmer(5), 4. 17-Pittman(1), 5. 22-Hodnett(10), 6. 5g-C.Michael(2), 7. 87-Krimes(12) 8. 30c-Dewease(17), 9. 17b-Buckwalter(4), 10. 7-Layton(14) 11. 27-Walker(9), 12. 0-Lafferty(18), 13. 69k-Kreitz(11), 14. 39-Esh(15), 15. 15-Wilt(21), 16. 75-Ely(22), 17. 48-Dietrich(24) 18. 19m-Marks(19), 19. 35-Henderson(8), 20. 3h-Cannon(7), 21. 88-Shaffer(20) 22. 71-Leppo(13), 23. 11c-Haas(23),24. 07-Coldren(16)

17 leads early with 5g and 5w close behind. 21 up to 4th after 4 laps. 5w passes 5g for 2nd on lap 5 and the 21 moves past 5g on lap 6. Montieth begins gaining on the leaders as they have lap traffic just in front of them. On lap 9, Wolfe dives under Pittman in three to take the lead. In turns one and two Montieth goes high with Pittman on the bottom giving the 5w the opportunity to pull away a little bit. On lap 11 for the leaders, Dietrich spins and completes a full 360 just as they are approaching. 5w loses all momentum avoiding the spinning car and the top 4 are now bunched up with the running order 5w, 17, 21, 51, 5g. Pittman gets under Wolfe in 3 and Wolfe crosses over in 4 to retain the lead. Going through turn two on lap 12, the top 3 are so close you could throw a blanket over them. Rahmer is not far behind. 21 passes the 17 down the backstretch and then gets low under the 5w in turn three. Wolfe holds-on down the front stretch but both drift high in one and two allowing Pittman to jump to the bottom to move past Montieth and race side-by-side with Wolfe down the back chute on lap 13. Montieth goes back around Pittman as Rahmer moves into the battle. 51 passes 17 for 3rd on lap 14 and moves even with the 21 on the backstretch. 5w, 21, 51, 17 all in laped traffic and Rahmer takes 2nd on lap 15 allowing Wolfe to pull out to a 15 car-lengths lead. Running order with 17 down: 5w, 51, 21, 17, 5g, 22, 87, 30c, 27, 39, 17b. Hodnett moves into the top 5 passing Michael on lap 19. Wolfe is now ahead by 20 car-lengths. Montieth regains the runner-up position on lap 20. Buckwalter and Layton are fighting it out for 11th. Cannon brings out the first caution on lap 22. RO: 5w, 21, 51, 17, 22, 5g, 87, 30c, 27, 39, 17b, 7, 0, 69k, 35 are all lead lap cars with 15, 75, 48, 19m still on the track but not on the lead lap. On the initial restart, Wolfe went high in turn one, with Montieth in the middle and Rahmer trying low. However, this start was waved off since the lapped car of Wilt was supposed to be in front of Rahmer. With the cars ordered correctly, the second restart saw Wolfe get a better jump, pulling out to a 10 car-lengths lead. Henderson’s motor went south on the restart but he was able to get back to the pits and Wolfe led the final 3 lap unchallenged.

The win was Wolfe’s 9th career at the Speedway, moving him even with Paul Pitzer, Jeff Shepard, Steve Siegel, Mark Smith and Bobby Weaver on the all-time list. The win also broke a winless drought going back to the season finale of 2007, just prior to joining the WoO tour full-time.

Notes:

Jason Covert won the Late Model feature

Lots of motor problems but I can’t say I am surprised considering the bitter cold temperatures at race time.

410/358 doube-dip at The Grove next week

Handicapping starts next week for 410s

TT&TB's PA Posse Dirty Dozen 3/23/2010

2010-03-23T19:52:00.005-04:00

Last week's ranking in parentheses.
1. Fred Rahmer(4) - 1st @ WG/7th @ Lincoln - Williams Grove winner has had strong runs in WoO shows leading up to the Pennsylvania openers.
2. Doug Esh(5) - 3rd @ WG/2nd @ Lincoln - Looked like he had the WG opener, led first 23 laps. Also ran strong second at Lincoln. Highest average finish last week
3. Greg Hodnett(1) - 2nd @ WG/16th @ Lincoln - Preseason #1 made last lap run at the WG win, came up short; victim of a wreck at Lincoln
4. Todd Shaffer(2) - 5th @ WG - Ran top 5 nearly entire race at Williams Grove, nothing great, nothing bad
5. Mark Smith(9) - 9th @ WG/1st @ Lincoln - Lincoln winner battled back from early wreck at WG to salvage a top 10
6. Brian Montieth(3) - 12th @ WG/8th @ Lincoln - In contention early at WG before wreck
7. Lance Dewease(8) - DNQ @ WoO/2nd @ WoO - A DNQ sandwiched by top 10 runs against Outlaws including 2nd at Bulls Gap last week, back home this week
8. Brian Leppo(13) - 4th @ WG/6th @ Lincoln - Two top 6 runs to open season, a good start
9. Chad Layton(10) - 6th @WG/12th @ Lincoln - Good run at WG, flat tire ruined day at Lincoln
10. Daryn Pittman(7) - 8th @ WoO/16th @ WoO - Qualified for all 7 races on WoO tour since leaving Florida, top 12 five times
11. Johnny Mackison , Jr.(NR) - 13th @ WG/5th @ Lincoln - Rare visit to WG nets a 13th place finish and then placed 5th the following night at Lincoln
12. Danny Dietrich(NR) - 7th @ WG/13th @ Lincoln - New team collects 7th and 13th place runs despite numerous setbacks including a oil fire at Lincoln resulting in burns to the driver's neck

Honorable Mention. Cory Haas - 3rd @ Lincoln - Solid 3rd place run at Lincoln to open season
Honorable Mention. Alan Krimes - 18th @ WG/4th @ Lincoln - Came back from lackluster Grove run to finish 4th at Lincoln
Hard Luck. Ryan Taylor - 24th @ WG - Won heat started 2nd only to flip end over end on first lap of the feature at WG
Hard Luck. Tyler Walker - 21st @ WG/DNQ @ Lincoln - Tough opening weekend for the California Kid, 21st at WG
Hard Luck. Williams Grove Pace Truck - DNS - Gauges not working, check engine light on…Feature event DNS

Williams Grove 3/19 photos

2010-03-20T13:31:00.001-04:00

WG20100319

Williams Grove Report 3/19/2010

2010-03-20T03:27:00.003-04:00

Williams Grove Speedway – 2010 Northeast Sprint Car opener – March 19th, 2010

Cars in attendance: 0-Rick Lafferty, 3w-Kyle Moody, 5g-Curt Michael, 7-Chad Layton, 7m-Mark Smith, 8m-Chris Meleason, 14-Doug Dodson, 15-Adam Wilt, 17b-Steve Buckwalter 19m-Brent Marks, 20-Ryan Taylor, 20s-Derek Sell, 21-Brian Montieth, 22-Greg Hodnett, 25-Aaron Ott, 27-Tyler Walker, 35-Justin Henderson, 39-Doug Esh, 45-A.J. Michael, 48-Danny Dietrich, 49-Bob Howard, 51-Fred Rahmer, 65-Johnny Mackison, Jr., 69k-Don Kreitz, Jr., 71-Brian Leppo, 75-Dave Ely, 79-Davey Sammons, 87-Alan Krimes, 88-Todd Shaffer

For the opening race at Williams Grove, we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful March Friday evening. Temps were in the 60s and there wasn’t a rain cloud anywhere close to Central Pennsylvania. 29 410s were in attendance for their double-header with the 358 sprinters. The crowd was phenomenal as there was a line of spectators at least 100 yards long to get in through the backstretch gate. I’d estimate that it wasn’t quite a Speedweek size crowd, it was pretty darn close.

Hot laps were uneventful as the preferred line was mostly around the bottom lane and there were no incidents on track. The format for the racing will include 3 heat races, a consolation and a feature. Starting spots in heats determined by pill draw and the feature lined up by passing points and an inversion pill.

Heat 1(Starting position in parentheses):
1. 20-Taylor(2), 2. 48-Dietrich(1), 3. 71-Leppo(4), 4. Layton(7), 5. 45-A.J. Michael(3), 6. 87-Krimes(5), 7. 17b-Buckwalter(9) 8. 5g-C. Michael(8), 9. 19m-Marks(10), 10. 3w-Moody(6)

Not much from this heat. After lap one it got strung out and only Buckwalter and Marks made a pass. Taylor and Dietrich looked strong for having little experience at The Grove.

Heat 2
1. 21-Montieth(2), 2. 69k-Kreitz(3), 3. 7m-Smith(6), 4. 79-Sammons(1), 5. 27-Walker(9), 6. 0-Lafferty(8), 7. 8m-Meleason(7) 8. 49-Howard(5), 9. 14-Dodson(4), 10. 20s-Sell(10)

Montieth jumps out to the early lead as Lafferty and Walker pick up a few positions. Dodson slpas turn four wall on lap 4. Dodson having mechanical issues and Sell spins on lap 5. Walker up to 5th at caution. Dodson is crop dusting throughout the heat. Walker challenges Smith for 4th on lap 7. Montieth pulls out to a three-quarters straightaway lead on his way to winning. Better action than heat one.

Heat 3
1. 51-Rahmer(2), 2. 39-Esh(4), 3. 22-Hodnett(3), 4. 88-Shaffer(6), 5. 65-Mackison(8), 6. 75-Ely(5), 7. 25-Ott(9) 8. 35-Henderson(1), 9. 15-Wilt(7)

This heat was stacked up compared to the first two. 2009 National Rookie of the Year Adam Wilt spins in turn four before getting the green and drops out. Rahmer leads lap 1 before Henderson breaks on the frontstretch and also drops out. Esh tries the lowside on the restart but Rahmer secures the lead in 3 and 4. Ott then spins on lap 4 to bring out yellow once again. Ott would spin again a couple of laps later but would do a full 360 and stay green but way out of contention. The field would be strung out by this point and run the final 4 laps without a pass for position.

Montieth is determined to be high points man and draws a 4 for inversion. This puts Doug Esh on the pole for the feature event.

Consolation:
1. 17b-Buckwalter(1), 2. 5g-C.Michael(4), 3.25-Ott(2), 4. 19m-Marks(5), 5. 15-Wilt(8), 6. 8m-Meleason(3), 7. 35-Henderson(10) 8. 20s-Sell(6), 9. 3w-Moody(9), 10. 49-Howard(7)

Buckwalter leads early from the top. Wilt recovers from heat race to move into a transfer in the consi. Henderson tries to get past Meleason late but is unable to grab the last transfer.

Feature:
1. 51-Rahmer(3), 2. 22-Hodnett(13), 3.39-Esh(1), 4. 71-Leppo(9), 5. 88-Shaffer(11), 6. 7-Layton(8), 7. 48-Dietrich(12) 8. 75-Ely(17), 9. 7m-Smith(5), 10. 0-Lafferty(14) 11. 5g-C.Michael(20), 12. 21-Montieth(4), 13.65-Mackison(10), 14. 25-Ott(21),1 5. 19m-Marks(22), 16. 8m-Meleason(24), 17. 69k-Kreitz(6) 18. 87-Krimes(16), 19. 45-A.J. Michael(18), 20. 79-Sammons(15), 21. 27-Walker(7) 22. 15-Wilt(23), 23. 17b-Buckwalter(19),24. 20-Taylor(2)

Esh leads on the strart, but caution flies for Wilt who spins in turn two. Taylor then flips in three and Smith gets into the wall. Taylor is unhurt but done for the night. Wilt and Smith tag the rear and Montieth is now outside front row. Esh again takes the lead and begins pulling out when Buckwalter clips inside rail in four and spins to the outside guardrail. Single-file restart sees Esh lead again. Rahmer challenges Montieth for 2nd. Leppo passes Layton for 5th and Shaffer is up to 7th on lap 5. Smith has already advanced to 12th after restarting at the rear. Lap 6, A.J. Michael spins in front of the leaders, Esh narrowly avoids hitting him in turn three. Montieth must spin to avoid contact as does Kreitz. A 4th car also spun but did a 360 and kept going. 45, 21 and 69k go to the rear. On the restart Rahmer pressures Esh but can’t make a pass. Leppo closes on the 51 and makes a move to the high side in 1, but Rahmer slams the door shut. Hodnett is beginning to move. 39, 51, 71, 88 7 running order after 9. Hodnett passes Layton for 5th and Smith cracks the top 10 on lap 10. Leader in traffic on lap 14. A.J. Michael and Sammons go a lap down. Rahmer nearly gets the wall while passing the 45. Smith to 8th on lap 16. Dietrich closes on Layton and Smith is catching both of them. After 17 the 21 is back up to 11th. Wilt brings out another yellow on lap 18. Rahmer tries to get by Esh on the restart and tries a slider in turn three but Esh comes back around. Rahmer tries again in turn one with Esh crossing over and taking the inside line into three to secure the lead. Leppo closing on the leaders. Esh starts pulling away gaining 15 car-lengths. R.O. lap 19 – 39, 51, 71, 88 ,22. Krimes brings out the yellow on lap 20. Walker pulls into the pits and is done. Battle for 3rd on the restart between Leppo, Shaffer and Hodnett. The 22 takes 4th on lap 21. Esh out to a 10 car-length lead. With 2 to go it looks like Esh has this one, but Rahmer get a big run down the backchute. Esh may have problems and Rahmer takes the lead out of four. Esh puts last ditch effort into a topside pass in turn one to no avail. Hodnett passes Esh to move into the runner-up spot and gets close to Rahmer but not close enough as Fast Freddy takes his first checkered flag of 2010.

Congrats to Fred Rahmer on the win!

I’ll be posting photos soon.

Notes:
Blane Heimbach won the 358 feature.

Goodyear had more than plenty of tires on hand.

Mike Erdley was NOT in attendance. Rumor has it that the team will not be running Williams Grove on Fridays. Nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

29 cars on opening night is a scary number if you ask me. Are less than full fields to be expected this year if more teams are going to be travelling?

Lance Dewease and Darryn Pittman are racing in Tennessee with the WoO this weekend.

2010 Preseason Rankings

2010-03-04T20:45:00.008-05:00

With Lincoln Speedway set to possibly open this weekend, I’ve decided to unveil my pre-season rankings of Central PA 410 sprint cars. The rankings will focus on the teams who primarily race at Williams Grove, Lincoln and Port Royal Speedways but will take into consideration all of the racing these guys do, whether it be right here at home, Knoxville or Chico for that matter. I’m going to start the poll off with a top 20 list, but after that, expect to see a top 10 and maybe a few honorable mentions. There could also be a few extra awards throughout the season depending on the circumstances. So without further adieu, here is the first installment of the Tail Tanks and Torsion Bars' 410 Sprint Car Rankings.

1. Greg Hodnett – The J&S Fabrication team won 10 times in 2009 including three WoO victories at Williams Grove, most notably the $50,000 to win Morgan Hughes National Open in October. They were also triumphant in the Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal. So far in 2010, the results have not been great for the 2009 PA Speedweek champs, but the Jim & Sandy Kline owned #22 did qualify for all but one race against some very stout competition in Florida. I like Greg to contend for Championships at both Williams Grove and Port Royal. However, travel will probably hamper those efforts. 12 wins is the total.

2. Todd Shaffer – The Beam team started 2009 on fire having won 4 out of 5 and notched 6 wins by the second week in May including an All-Star win at Williams Grove. The Gary & Patty Beam owned #88 would go on to win 2 more times throughout the season and would once again claim the points championships at both Williams Grove and Port Royal. If they decide to run the full complement of races Todd should again be a favorite for both titles. Total wins for the 88 should be somewhere around 7 again.

3. Brian Montieth – If 2009 wasn’t a statement year from the Premier team, then I don’t know what it was. Brian started off the season with a surprise win at the Icebreaker after the first and second place cars were involved in a wreck with 2 to go and from there things just started to click. Brian would win a season high 7 races at Lincoln en route to a second consecutive championship. The Jerry Parish owned car was also in contention at Williams Grove until late in the season and notched 2 wins there as well. Brian will be a contender at both tracks again in 2010. 7 wins is my prediction.

4. Fred Rahmer – The Hall of Famer is probably looking to carry over some of his 2009 late season success into 2010. Though 2010 has not started out great, it hasn’t been bad considering Fred has started slow in past seasons and usually seems to be among the top of the class in PA when its all said and done. The #51 is going to be running as often as they can and will be doing some travelling this year. They are currently in the midst of a Western swing with stops in Vegas, Tulare and two more races in the Lone Star State with the WoO. If they travel often, Rahmer will obviously not be in the hunt for any titles, but he will be strong when he runs locally. I’m going with 9 wins on the season.

5. Doug Esh – The Hammer is my pick to really stir things up in PA this year. Doug only won 3 races last year but I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a break-out year for the Trone Special. Doug made all of the Florida races and I am confident that they are going to be strong right out of the box when the PA season gets underway. I like Doug to be in the thick of things in the Lincoln points battle, however I think that missing to go to Knoxville may be too much to overcome. Doug will park the #39 in victory lane 9 times this year.

6. Stevie Smith – Stevie ran a limited schedule in 2009 yet managed 12 wins between Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida along with the Ohio Speedweek title. It looks like the Zemco car will be running a similar schedule this season, therefore a similar number of wins is likely.

7. Daryn Pittman – Daryn won 6 races in 2009 including the Mitch Smith and Jack Gunn Memorial races at Williams Grove while driving for two different owners. The Keen Motorsports team has planned an aggressive schedule that will see them run close to 100 events. I am looking at about a dozen wins in 2010.

8. Lance Dewease – The Catoctin Motorsports #30 is sporting a special paint scheme in honor of Lance’s 25th year in sprint cars. While it’s unlikely that Lance will match the win totals of his heyday of the 1990s, a half dozen wins on the super competitive PA circuit is completely possible following last year’s total of five that included a Selinsgrove Open victory.

9. Mark Smith – The pilot of the Mach 1 Chassis flagship will be looking to have a breakout in his self built car. 2009 saw Mark notch two wins, but he was in the title hunt at Williams Grove up until the very end and the team switched from Port Royal to Lincoln late in the summer. Mark could easily see his win total triple over last year and another run for the title isn’t out of the question.

10. Chad Layton – 2009 saw Chad move from the family owned #55 to the Dave Middleswarth #7 at the end of May. “Bad” Chad won one race prior to the move and then two more after, including The Octoberfest 50 at Hagerstown. With a full season to work with, the Middleswarth team could contend for a title at Port Royal in 2010.

11. Tyler Walker - 2009 King of Cali comes back to PA
12. Alan Krimes - Lincoln points runner-up
13. Brian Leppo - Coming off of a disappointing season
14. Mike Erdley - Former Port Royal champ will contest the title again in '10
15. Jim Siegel - Could surprise and contend at Lincoln.
16. Dave Ely - 2009 return to 410s was impressive
17. Don Kreitz - King Donald can still get it done, but often struggles too
18. Aaron Ott - Looking for more good things from AO
19. Adam Wilt - Last year's National Rookie of the Year
20. Steve Buckwalter - Can this team break through and get a win already

Hello World!

2010-02-22T21:24:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Tail Tanks and Torsion Bars, a new blog featuring news, stories and results from the open wheel racing world of Eastern and Central Pennsylvania. 410 cubic inch winged sprint cars will be the main focus, but I also plan to delve into 358 sprinters as well as sportsmen and wingless midgets from throughout the region. Williams Grove will be the backdrop for many of the reports and will be supplemented with updates from wherever the road may lead. I'll also try to sneak in some commentary from happenings around the motorsports world and possibly throw in a few other things of interest when the mood hits.

Writing is something I've enjoyed since my school days in at Lebanon(PA) Junior High School. I've never been formally trained or taken any classes outside of the required curriculum in high school, so my style may be a bit unorthodox and I doubt that I'll be compared to the great Chris Economaki anytime soon. Really, I doubt that I'll be compared to any other reasonably good auto racing journalist out there either. My main goal is to entertain or maybe even educate a few people along the way. If I can do that, I'll consider this endeavor a complete success.

I expect to have the first update ready to go shortly after the opener at Lincoln Speedway and will continue from the Pigeon Hills oval before switching over to cover Williams Grove weekly once they open later in March.

So until next time, thanks for stopping by and hope you come back again real soon.