Dewease Triumphs Again at Port Royal Against All Star Circuit of Champions, Yoder Wins Mason Dixon Late Models Feature Following Devin Hart DQ

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: April 14, 2019

Courtesy of Port Royal

By Justin Snyder

PORT ROYAL, Pa- Even the most dominant competitors in all of sports sometimes need a little luck. Whether it’s a missed call on the football field, a ball that just isn’t dropping on the basketball court or injury/misfortune for others, it all plays into the final outcome.

However, it’s how the veterans of the sports world react and how they capitalize on these breaks that makes the difference.

Following a lucky late-race caution with 2 laps to go, Lance Dewease found his groove and made the race-winning pass coming to the white flag over a dominant Danny Dietrich to claim the $6,000 Keith Kauffman Classic at Port Royal Speedway sanctioned by the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Circuit of Champions Presented by Mobil 1 April 13.

The win was Dewease’s 111th career victory at the Port Royal Speedway and his 38th Career All Star triumph. Specifically Dewease has won 6 of the last 7 visits by the series to the speedway.

“I was happy when that caution came out because It meant we had a shot,” said Dewease. “I had a line and I could run the middle for a couple laps, but the longer we ran, I couldn’t do it.

“I could run it up 1 and 2 and make gains, but after about 5-6 laps I couldn’t keep up, so I just got in line and followed him. I was just saving tires and seeing what would happen in the end and we got a restart and here we are.”

Dietrich and Anthony Macri would lead the field to the green and Dietrich would race out to the early lead. Meanwhile, Dewease, from his 6th starting position, was already into 4th on the backstretch of lap 2.

Logan Wagner, who started 13th, was also on the early move sliding into 9th by lap 6. By this time, Dietrich was closing in on lap traffic and Macri was on his bumper.

The two cars swapped the lead in turn 4, with Dietrich prevailing at the line on lap 8. Macri tried to pull ahead of Dietrich heading into turn 3 and the two cars made contact, sending Macri into the inside guardrail and rolling over lightly to bring out the red flag. Macri would walk away unharmed.

“I feel bad for Anthony, but with the mufflers on these things you can’t really hear anything out there and I definitely couldn’t see him,” said Dietrich, of the incident. “I’m lucky I didn’t go for a ride myself honestly. My dad taught me at a young age, left fronts and rights rear don’t go well together and in that position you’re at the mercy of the guy in front of you and his right rear. I feel bad, but it’s just kind of a learning moment and racing deal for him.”

Dietrich once again led the field back to the green flag, however it was Dewease moving again. After he gained 3rd as a result of the accident, he slid under Dale Blaney for second in turn four and began to set his sights on Dietrich on lap 9.

Dietrich once again approached lap traffic at the halfway point and by lap 21, Dewease was nose to tail with Dietrich. For the next several laps, Dietrich hugged the bottom of the speedway while Dewease attempted to maneuver the middle of the track, unable to ever pull past the leader.

It looked like Dietrich was going to go non-stop, but Brock Zearfoss came to a stop on the front stretch with 2 laps to go with a flat right rear tire, setting up for a 2 lap dash to the checkers.

Dietrich led the field to the green flag for the final time and Dewease pounced, pulling along side the leader and turns 1 and 2. Coming down the backstretch, Dewease and Dietrich were side by side, as Dewease made the winning move to roar of the crowd coming to the white flag.

Dewease would pull away slightly and complete the final circuit to take his first checkered flag of 2019.

“Me and Danny were wheel to wheel. I got to him and I knew if I I could get ahead of him in the middle of the corner he wouldn’t be able to get off the corner if I got that close,” said Dewease. “It worked out. This is only our 2nd race together this year and I’m extremely happy to get a win.”

For Dietrich, he felt his car was much better in traffic and that if they didn’t get that late caution, he had the race won.

“That last caution really killed us and I didn’t want to see that. We had a really great car out in traffic and I knew once that happened we were kind of a sitting duck,” said Dietrich, of Gettysburg, Pa. “I knew he was going to go pretty much wherever we didn’t and I just got to give my hats off to them. They were better in open air and anytime you lose to that team you can’t be too upset because they are one of the best in the country for a reason.”

Wagner finished third, followed by Aaron Reutzel, Blaney, Lucas Wolfe, Ryan Smith, Dylan Cisney, Freddie Rahmer and Steve Buckwalter rounding out the top 10.

Spencer Bayston, who took a provisional to start the race and started 27th, was the hard charger after gaining 16 positions to finish 12th.

Feature Finish, 30 Laps: 1. Lance Dewease; 2. Danny Dietrich; 3. Logan Wagner; 4. Aaron Reutzel; 5. Dale Blaney; 6. Lucas Wolfe; 7. Ryan Smith; 8. Dylan Cisney; 9. Freddie Rahmer; 10. Steve Buckwalter; 11. Mike Wagner; 12. Spencer Bayston; 13. Paul McMahan; 14. Tim Shaffer; 15. Blane Heimbach; 16. Dave Blaney; 17. T.J. Stutts; 18. Jared Esh; 19. Tyler Reeser; 20. Cory Eliason; 21. A.J. Flick; 22. Ryan Taylor; 23. Cale Conley; 24. George Hobaugh; 25. Brock Zearfoss; 26. Cory Haas; 27. Anthony Fiore; 28. Anthony Macri.

LATE MODELS

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Devin Hart’s night started off on the front stretch behind the grandstand signing autographs for fans and applying the sticker from his victory he had at Port Royal Speedway earlier this season.

After a dominating performance during the Mason-Dixon Shootout Limited Late Model feature where he took the lead on lap 2 and never looked back, it looked as if Hart would once again be celebrating and applying another decal.

However, after failing a post race inspection, it was instead Andrew Yoder being crowned the victor late Saturday night over Todd Snook, Shaun Miller, and Kenny Yoder and Chad Myers.

The disqualification came as a result of a carb spacer issue that was found during post-race inspections. Yoder stated that it happened as a result of a changed motor following an issue with the car during practice.

“I just want to let the Port Royal staff and fans know that I apologize over the tech deal and disqualification. I would never cheat and I know what was found did not win that race,” said Devin Hart. ” The carb spacer rule got overlooked by us when I hurt my engine in practice and we put this one in”

“It is what it is. We will be back with a point to prove and I hope all the fans and officials at Port Royal still look at me and my team the same. We are here to win fair and square and we will do it”

Feature Finish, 20 Laps: 1. Andrew Yoder 2. Todd Snook 3 Shaun Miller 4. Kenny Yoder 5. Chad Myers 6. Dillan Stake 7.Derick Garman 8. Matt Cohran 9. Joe Westerman 10. Eric Hohol 11. Matt Murphy 12. Shawn Shioemaker 13. Jared Fulkroad 14. Devin Frey 15. Taylor Farling 16. Jason Davis 17. Chuck Schultz 18. Tyler Ritchey 19. Paul Cursey 20. Ryan Zook 21. Brad McGinnis 22. Steve Kent 23. Kevin Probst 24. Devin Weyandt 25. Curt Dunn DQ- Devin Hart