Dietrich holds off Zearfoss on Late Restart to Claim First Port Royal Victory of the Season

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: April 22, 2019

Photo by Bob Hockenbrock

Courtesy of Port Royal Speedway

Flinner, Hart and Mitch Pick up Late Model and Extreme Stock Victories

By Justin Snyder

PORT RYOAL, Pa- What a difference a one week makes? One week after Lance Dewease used a late restart to pass Danny Dietrich for the win during the Ollie’s Bargain Outlets All Star Circuit of Champions visit to Port Royal Speedway, Dietrich held off multiple late restarts and fought off a nearly 2-hour rain delay earlier in the night to bring home his first Weikert’s Livestock 410 Sprint Car Series victory of the season at ‘The Speed Palace’.

“Man, I really wanted this one tonight. I wasn’t going to let it get away this time on restarts,” said Dieterich, from Gettysburg. “I had to hold them off twice. 3 to go I had to hold off (George) Hobaugh and 1 to go I knew Brock (Zearfoss) was going to throw me a slider there. Just really happy to be standing in victory lane tonight.”

Hobaugh and Cory Haas led the field to the green, with Hobaugh jumping out to the early lead. Meanwhile, Dietrich was already in fourth place at the completion of the first lap using the high line from his 8th starting spot.

Zearfoss also began his trek to the front, moving into the 9th spot early and into the 8th spot by lap 4.

By lap 5, Hobaugh hit lap traffic and began to maneuver through the back end of the field with a lengthy lead over Haas and fourth starting Jared Esh. One lap later, Esh pulled into the infield with an issue handing 3rd place to Dietrich.

As Haas, Dietrich and rookie of the year contender Tyler Reeser attempted to track down Hobaugh, Zearfoss was continuing to move forward. He moved into 6th on lap 8 and then 5th on lap 9, using multiple lanes of the track to pass.

On lap 14, Dietrich and Reeser both pulled under Haas on the backstretch moving into 2nd and 3rd and they raced nose to tail towards Hobaugh. Two laps later, Zearfoss slid under Haas to move into 4th place as well.

On lap 17, Dietrich and Reeser had closed to within a car length of Hobaugh. Hobaugh slid the lap car of Jeff Miller in turn 1 and 2 and nearly made contact, allowing Dietrich and Reeser to pull right to the tail tank of Hobaugh coming down the backstretch.

Dietrich attempted a pull a slide job on the next circuit, only for Hobaugh to power off the top and regain the lead. However, the second time was the charm as Dietrich once again slid Hobaugh on lap 19 in turns 1 and 2, this time making it stick.

“Hats off to Hobaugh and his team for running such a good race and leading a bunch of laps,” said Dietrich. “However I know this place a little better than him and I knew if I got there, I could use that to my advantage.”

Two laps later, Reeser’s night ended when he made contact with the outside wall in turn 2 and slowed to a stop with mechanical issues in turn 3, bringing out the first caution of the night.

Dietrich sped off once green flag racing returned with Zearfoss sliding under Hobaugh for 2nd with only 3 to go. However, it looked to be too little, too late for the Jonestown native to make a run at Dietrich.

But Mike Wagner blew a tire on the white flag lap and came to a stop on the front stretch just before the flag stand setting up a one-lap shootout for the victory.

When the green flag dropped, Zearfoss slid under Dietrich and attempted to make it stick coming out of turn 2, however Dietrich powered back under him going down the backstretch and ran through the middle of turns 3 and 4 to claim his 6th career Port Royal Speedway victoryand the $3600 payday by a margin of .364 seconds over Zearfoss, Steve Buckwalter, Hobaugh and Haas.

“Brock and his guys have been so fast all season and I knew he was going to try and slide me there,” said Dietrich. “I just had to make it stick and hold my line and if we could do that I knew we’d get back by him.”

Zearfoss knew he only had once chance and he’d have to be perfect to claim the victory, but ultimately was pleased with a podium finish.

“Man that car was fast tonight and my guys gave me a great car,” said Zearfoss, who will be a regular with the All Star Tour in 2019. “I gave it everything I had, but ultimately we just needed a few more laps. We’ll take a second and some momentum and apply it to the rest of our season.”

Sixth place was AJ Flick, followed by new points leader Logan Wagner, Blane Heimbach, Dylan Cisney and Tj Stutts rounded out the top 10.

Weikert’s 410 Results- 1. Danny Dietrich 2. Brock Zearfoss 3. Steve Buckwalter 4. George Hobaugh 5. Cory Haas 6. AJ Flick 7. Logan Wagner 8. Blane Heimbach 9. Dylan Cisney 10. TJ Stutts 11. Cole Duncan 12. Gerrard McIntyre 13. Ryan Taylor 14. Nicole Bower 15. Jeff Miller 16. Adrian Shaffer 17. Sye Lynch 18. Trenton Sheaffer 19. Gary Kreiss 20. Mike Wagner 21. Dallas Schott 22. Tyler Reeser 23. Jack Sodeman 24. Jared Esh

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Super Late Models

Colton Flinner claimed his 2nd career River Valley Builders Super Late Model victory following a lap 2 pass of pole sitter Trent Brenneman during the nonstop 25 lap feature.

Brenneman and Kyle Knapp lead the field to the green flag with Brenneman jumping out to the early lead. However, it was short lasting as Flinner drove alongside of him on the outside of the track taking the lead for good on the next circuit coming out of turn 2.

Flinner sped off to a large lead and approached lap traffic on lap 11, allowing the competitors to mount a challenge.

By lap 15, Flinner, 6th place starter Dylan Yoder and 9th place starter Kyle Hardy were all nose to tail coming down the backstretch .

Two laps later, Yoder would make slight contact with a lap car on the front stretch, allowing Flinner to once again move out to a sizeable lead. Over the remaining 8 laps Yoder would again start to track down Flinner and he attempted a last ditch slide job in turns 3 and 4 coming to the checkered flag.

However it wasn’t enough as he couldn’t gain enough momentum to pass him and Flinner would go out to claim the $2000 winner’s share over Yoder, Hardy, Jeff Rine and Michael Maresca.

” We were trying a new car the last few times we were here. This is the car we had in Florida and it’s really good. I hope nothing ever happens to it,” said Flinner. “I didn’t know Yoder was coming, but he;s so good at this place on the top. So I’m just glad to hold him off”.

Kyle Lee, Nick Dickson, Brenneman, Dillan Stake and Ralph Morgan rounded out the top 10.

Super Late Model Results- 1. Colton Flinner 2. Dylan Yoder 3. Kyle Hardy 4. Jeff Rine 5. Micheal Maresca 6. Kyle Lee 7. Nick Dickson 8. Trent Brenneman 9. Dillan Stake 10. Ralph Morgan 11. Andy Haus 12. Justin Weaver 13. Austin Berry 14. Kyle Knapp 15. Justin Kann 16. Dave Brouse Jr. 17. Tim Wilson 18. Chad Myers 19. Nathan Lasalle 20. Scott Flickinger DNF- MIKE LUPFER, CHRIS CASNER, KODY LYTER DNS- GENE KNAUB

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Limited Late Models

Following a week of disappointment after finding out he’d been disqualified after a tech violation found during Mason Dixon Limited Late Model action at the Port Royal Speedway last Saturday, Devin Hart only knew one way to move forward….win.

With a chip on his shoulder and a point to make, Hart passed Troy Miller in lap traffic on lap 11 and went unchallenged in nonstop feature action to claim his second Selinsgrove Ford Limited Late Model feature win of the season.

Hart, who started 5th, quickly made his way through the field and moved into 2nd by lap 5.

By lap 9, the top 3 cars of Miller, Hart and Ryan Zook were all nose to tail as Miller entered lap traffic. Over the next few laps, Hart attempted to pass Miller before finally pulling off the pass in turns 1 and 2 on lap 11.

Andrew Yoder, who started 8th, mounted a late challenge as Hart attempted to maneuver lap traffic on the final lap. However, he was never able to really pull close enough to make a move and Hart went on to best Yoder, Miller, Zook and Dillan Stake by a .661 second for the $800 victory.

“We came back with a point to prove. What happened last week shouldn’t have happened and this just proves it,” said Hart. “There was no issues with our car tonight and it’s going to stay this way. It was a long week and it’s nice to finish it off with a win and some redemption.”

Kenny Yoder, Chase Bowsman, Shaun Miller, Todd Snook and Devin Frey rounded out the top 10.

Limited Late Model Results- 1. Devin Hart 2. Andrew Yoder 3. Troy Miller 4. Ryan Zook 5. Dillan Stake 6. Kenny Yoder 7. Chase Bowsman 8. Shaun Miller 9. Todd Snook 10. Devin Frey 11. Derick Garman 12. Derrick Gahagan 13. Jason Davis 14. Andrew Stotler 15. Taylor Farlling 16. Steve Todorow 17. Larry Neiderer 18. Tim Krape 19. Eric Hohol 20. Bobby Dunn 21. Joe Lusk 22. Jared Fulkroad DNF- Scott Landis, Ethan Beasom

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Xtreme Stocks

Brad Mitch came form the 5th starting position to beat Pete Leister in the 15 lap Juniata Junction Restaurant Extreme Stock Series feature.

Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Imes and Chuck Bryner rounded out the top 5 followed by Walt Peters, Josh Bender, Hunter Shelley, Zach Knepp and Ken Wright.

Extreme Stocks Results- 1. Brad Mitch 2. Pete Leister 3. Dustin Hoffman 4. Kevin Imes 5. Chuck Bryner 6. Walt Peters 7. Josh Bender 8. Hunter Shelley 9. Zach Knepp 10. Ken Wright DNF- Bill Cooper