Lance Dewease Has the Right Stuff in Rite Aid Outlaw Showdown
Lance Dewease has been one of the best drivers in Central Pennsylvania over the course of the last 20 years. After winning well over 200 races and numerous track championships in the Keystone state, he decided to expand his horizons this season and take to the road, for a very ambitious schedule that will see him compete nearly 100 times all across the country.
One of the dates on his calendar was the Rite Aid Outlaw Showdown at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He made the most of his trip south, as he led all 30 laps of the contest to earn his fifth career Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature win. He earned $12,000 for his victory which aired live on SPEED, before a standing room only, sell-out crowd at the track.
“Any win against the Outlaws is real special,” said Dewease. “To win on television definitely means a lot and it’s pretty special for all of the people involved that sponsored this event and who sponsor our team. I love sprint car racing and it’s all I ever want to do. We are looking forward to the rest of the year.”
Dewease lined up second for the A-Feature aboard the Dreez Builders/America’s Best Builders J&J and quickly darted to the lead in the first turn as he battled Joey Saldana in the early going. The win was the second this season for a J&J chassis with the World of Outlaws.
Lucas Wolfe, the series leading rookie this season moved into second on the opening lap and set his sights on Dewease. As the pair approached lapped traffic on the fifth lap, Wolfe began to close in, before a yellow flag flew for Daryn Pittman who lost a rear end.
On the ensuing restart, Joey Saldana used the extreme high side of the track to get a run on Wolfe and nearly move into the runner-up spot. Jac Haudenschild in fourth also closed in on the lead battle before another caution flag flew. Under yellow a hole in the fuel line was discovered in Lucas Wolfe’s car, thus ending his night and his hopes for his first World of Outlaws win, while running second.
After an extended green flag period, Dewease began to pull away, while Jason Meyers steadily worked his way into the Top-Five, as did Jason Sides and Danny Lasoski. With 10 laps to go Dewease again got into heavy traffic, with Jac Haudenschild just behind him and closing fast. The yellow flag flew with just six laps to go after Saldana has a right rear tire explode while running fourth.
The restart saw Dewease again jump to a large lead, with Meyers moving into second. After just one more lap was in the books, the red flag flew for a Jason Johnson flip. After Johnson made contact with Steve Kinser, the latter had a hole in his right rear tire, which his crew patched during the open red flag. The 20-time series champion would soldier on for a seventh-place finish.
Meyers the current World of Outlaws championship point leader had a very solid night, coming from the 11th starting spot to finish second. He has nine Top-10 finishes in 10 starts, with eight of those being in the Top-Five. He extended his lead in the standings to 11 markers over Craig Dollansky, who finished fifth on Friday night.
“It was a great run for this entire team tonight,” said Meyers, who pilots the GLR Investments KPC. “What a great run on television. The guys worked hard on the car all night. We were pretty good all night. We qualified just a little bit behind where we needed to be. They gave me a great race car as always. Congratulations to Lance Dewease on a great run. He’s a great competitor and I’m proud to see him run up front. I wish we would have had something for him there at the end, but I just kind of was out of tire.”
After beginning the night as the fastest qualifier for the third time this season, Shane Stewart earned his second Top-Five finish of 2008 with a third-place performance on Friday. He lined up fifth for the 30-lap event and ran in the Top-Five for most of the race aboard the Roth Motorsports machine.
“It was survival of the fittest to say the least,” Stewart said. “My guys have been working really hard. We haven’t been racing that much and it seems like we are three-quarters through the year. We went to Indianapolis and got a few new cars. This was the first night on it and it looks like it has been through a torture chamber. It’s beat up and bruised, but overall I’m excited with a third. It seems like when we do good, we are third, so next time I do good, I’ll have to move up a couple more spots. It was a good finish for the team and hopefully we can carry it on in the races to come.”
After running second for a number of laps, Jac Haudenschild lost a couple of positions late in the race as his car began to overheat, but still managed a fourth-place run to earn his fifth Top-10 finish of the season. In heavy lapped traffic, he was able to close in on Dewease several times during the race.
“The car felt good,” said the veteran driver of the Owen-Corning Fiberglass Maxim. “We were quick all night. We were good in the heat and the (Crane Cams) dash and we qualified better than we have been qualifying. We’ll take fourth.”
Craig Dollansky was fifth in the Rite Aid Outlaw Showdown to earn the KSE Race Products Hard Charger Award after staring in the 17th spot. He had a different look to his car for the event, with Aggressive Hydraulics on the side of his No. 2 Maxim and a special paint scheme.
Donny Schatz, the two-time defending series champion finished sixth aboard the Armor All J&J for Tony Stewart Racing, to remain the only driver that has finished in the Top-10 in all 10 races this season with the World of Outlaws.
Steve Kinser help on for a seventh-place finish in the Q Oil Maxim, after having his right rear tire patched during the red flag with three laps to go. Kerry Madsen was eighth in the TK Concrete Maxim, with Kraig Kinser ninth driving the Bass Pro Shops Maxim and Sam Hafertepe Jr. rounded out the Top-10 in the G.H. Plumbing J&J.
The win for Dewease was his first with the World of Outlaws away from Williams Grove Speedway, where he has four win with the series, including three in the Morgan Hughes National Open.
“People say that we can’t win away from Pennsylvania,” he noted. “We race a lot there, and this is really the first year that we have done a lot of traveling. We are going to do a ton of traveling this year. I am looking forward to the rest of this year.”
The raced featured five yellow flags and a late red flag, which gave Dewease open race track to work with. He used several strong restarts to quickly pull away from the field.
“I needed the cautions,” explained the native of Fayetteville, Pennsylvania. “We got real loose after about 10 or 15 laps. On restarts I felt pretty good and was able to cool the tires down under the cautions. I thought we would be ok on restarts. I wasn’t sure about long runs, because lapped cars were starting to give me a fit.”
A red flag with just three laps to go for a hard flip by Jason Johnson set up a shootout between Dewease and current series point leader Jason Meyers. Jason Sides was running in the Top-Five before some engine trouble with two laps to go took him out of contention, as a number of front running cars encountered trouble over the course of the night
“We made a couple minor chassis adjustments, but nothing major,” shared Dewease of what his team did during the open red flag. “We just wanted to get a good clean start. The goal was to get through (turns) one and two without getting messed up and getting down the back stretch. Jason (Meyers) has been fast all year and I figured as long as I didn’t mess up, it would take an awfully good car to beat me.”
Meyers had a couple of chances to battled Dewease for the lead on restarts late, but each time, the latter used very strong starts to dart to the lead.
“For me, I didn’t need that last red (flag),” said the native of Clovis, California. “It kind of hurt me a little bit with tire temperature. I think that traffic would have helped. You get slowed up and the cushion was pretty treacherous. It’s one of those things that traffic may have helped or traffic may have hurt depending on who got lucky and who got unlucky. You never how that will go. To come from 11th to second, we are happy with that. We gained a few points as well and hopefully we can keep extending that.”
The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Saturday, May 24 with their inaugural visit to Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Virginia.
RITE AID OUTLAW SHOWDOWN NOTEBOOK
• A FIRST TIME VISITOR: The Goodyear Blimp made its first ever appearance at an Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event on Friday night. The Sprit of Innovation based in Pompano Beach, Florida hovered above the Rite Aid Outlaw Showdown for a majority of the race at the high-speed four-tenth-mile.
• FAST QUALIFIER: Shane Stewart paced the 27 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the semi-banked four-tenths-mile oval at 12.547 seconds at 114.768 mph. For his qualifying effort, Stewart earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Ed Lynch Jr. (4), Daryn Pittman (3), Terry McCarl (2), and Donny Schatz (1).
• QUALIFYING WINNERS: Lucas Wolfe, Jason Sides and Jac Haudenschild won heat races… Joey Saldana won the Crane Cams Dash… Rob Chaney won the B-Main.
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There have been 10 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2008. The winners include: Jason Meyers (Volusia Speedway Park, Manzanita Speedway, I-55 Raceway and Lernerville Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Volusia Speedway Park and Eldora Speedway), Lance Dewease (The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway), Steve Kinser (Williams Grove Speedway), Danny Lasoski (Volusia Speedway Park) and Donny Schatz (Knoxville Raceway).
The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway is a semi–banked 0.4-mile oval. The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series have raced twice this season on a track that size. The winners include: Lance Dewease (The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway) and Jason Meyers (Lernerville Speedway).
The Official Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Web site is at http://www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint. Among the features are updated driver biographies with individual statistics and pictures, race-by-race statistics, detailed track information and race coverage, series news and team press releases. Also, links to the 2008 Official Rulebook can be found at the bottom of the home page.
• UPCOMING EVENTS: The first East Coast swing of the season wraps up at Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in New York on Memorial Day.
Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Rite Aid Outlaw Showdown; Concord, NC; May 23, 2008
Qualifying
1) 83-Shane Stewart 12.547
2) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. 12.597
3) 21-Daryn Pittman 12.697
4) 24-Terry McCarl 12.714
5) 15-Donny Schatz 12.732
6) 14-Jason Meyers 12.739
7) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 12.742
8) 9-Joey Saldana 12.749
9) 30C-Lance Dewease 12.768
10) 20-Kraig Kinser 12.773
11) 7S-Jason Sides 12.815
12) R19-Jac Haudenschild 12.820
13) 55-Kerry Madsen 12.855
14) 19-Jason Johnson 12.858
15) 11-Steve Kinser 12.870
16) 5-Danny Lasoski 12.879
17) 2-Craig Dollansky 12.898
18) 24H-Rob Chaney 12.919
19) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 12.971
20) 8K-Chad Kemenah 12.972
21) 6-Tim Shaffer 13.002
22) 5C-Chad Hillier 13.007
23) 5B-Chad Blonde 13.024
24) 18-Tony Bruce Jr. 13.044
25) 56R-Ryan Myers 13.118
26) 13-Paul McMahan 13.165
27) 81-Craig Folmar 13.709
Heat 1 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
2) 83-Shane Stewart
3) 20-Kraig Kinser
4) 24-Terry McCarl
5) 5-Danny Lasoski
6) 55-Kerry Madsen
7) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
8) 5C-Chad Hillier
9) 56R-Ryan Myers
Heat 2 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 7S-Jason Sides
2) 9-Joey Saldana
3) 15-Donny Schatz
4) 2-Craig Dollansky
5) 19-Jason Johnson
6) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.
7) 13-Paul McMahan
8) 8K-Chad Kemenah
Heat 3 (10 Laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) R19-Jac Haudenschild
2) 30C-Lance Dewease
3) 21-Daryn Pittman
4) 11-Steve Kinser
5) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.
6) 14-Jason Meyers
7) 24H-Rob Chaney
8) 6-Tim Shaffer
9) 81-Craig Folmar
Crane Cams Dash (8 laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature)
1) 9-Joey Saldana
2) 30C-Lance Dewease
3) R19-Jac Haudenschild
4) 5W-Lucas Wolfe
5) 83-Shane Stewart
6) 7S-Jason Sides
7) 15-Donny Schatz
8) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.
9) 24-Terry McCarl
10) 21-Daryn Pittman
B-main (12 laps, top 6 finishers transferred to A-feature)
1) 24H-Rob Chaney
2) 8K-Chad Kemenah
3) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.
4) 6-Tim Shaffer
5) 5C-Chad Hillier
6) 13-Paul McMahan
7) 5B-Chad Blonde [$200]
8) 56R-Ryan Myers [$180]
9) 81-Craig Folmar [$175]
A-main (35 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 30C-Lance Dewease[2] [$12,000]
2) 14-Jason Meyers[11] [$5,500]
3) 83-Shane Stewart[5] [$4,000]
4) R19-Jac Haudenschild[3] [$3,000]
5) 2-Craig Dollansky[17] [$2,700]
6) 15-Donny Schatz[7] [$2,400]
7) 11-Steve Kinser[15] [$2,100]
8) 55-Kerry Madsen[13] [$2,000]
9) 20-Kraig Kinser[12] [$1,900]
10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[19] [$1,800]
11) 18-Tony Bruce Jr.[23] [$1,700]
12) 24-Terry McCarl[9] [$1,600]
13) 5C-Chad Hillier[22] [$1,500]
14) 7S-Jason Sides[6] [$1,200]
15) 6-Tim Shaffer[21] [$1,100]
16) 8K-Chad Kemenah[20] [$1,000]
17) 19-Jason Johnson[14] [$900]
18) 9-Joey Saldana[1] [$850]
19) 5-Danny Lasoski[16] [$800]
20) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[4] [$800]
21) 13-Paul McMahan[24] [$800]
22) 24H-Rob Chaney[18] [$800]
23) 21-Daryn Pittman[10] [$800]
24) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[8] [$800]
Lap Leaders: Lance Dewease 1-30
Chicken Hawk Hot Lap Award: Lance Dewease
Penske Power Position Award: Shane Stewart
KSE Hard Charger Award: Craig Dollansky
2008 STAT ATTACK
There have been 10 Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events this season.
A-Feature winners (6 Different Drivers) Driver, Hometown – Wins
1- Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 4
2- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 2
3- Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania- 1
Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1
Lap leaders, including A-features and preliminary features Car, driver, hometown – Total laps led (11 Drivers have led laps)
1- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 71 laps
2- Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 61 laps
3- Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania- 30 laps
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 30 laps
5- Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 27 laps
6- Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 25 laps
7- Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana- 20 laps
8- Craig Keel, Weedsport, New York- 17 laps
9- Terry McCarl, Altoona, Iowa- 9 laps
10- Dale Blaney, Hartford, Ohio- 8 laps
11- Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 7 laps
Time trial leaders (7 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Quick times
1- Shane Stewart, Bixby, Oklahoma- 3
2- Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota – 2
3- Cody Darrah, Red Lion, Pennsylvania- 1
Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 1
Greg Hodnett, Thomasville, Pennsylvania- 1
Chad Kemenah, Findlay, Ohio – 1
Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana- 1
Dash Winners (9 different winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Dash Wins
1- Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana – 2
2- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota – 1
Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, Ohio- 1
Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 1
Craig Keel, Weedsport, New York- 1
Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Daryn Pittman, Owasso, Oklahoma- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1
Pole Positions (9 different drivers) Rank – Driver, Hometown – Poles
1- Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana – 2
2- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota – 1
Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, Ohio- 1
Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 1
Craig Keel, Weedsport, New York- 1
Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Daryn Pittman, Owasso, Oklahoma- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1
B-main Winners (9 different winners) Rank – Driver, Hometown – B-Main Wins
1- Pat Cannon, Etters, Pennsylvania- 1
Rob Chaney, Wooster, Ohio-1
Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, Texas- 1
Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, Ohio- 1
Chad Kemenah, Findlay, Ohio- 1
Terry McCarl, Altoona, Iowa- 1
Brian Paulus, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania- 1
Danny Smith, Danville, Indiana – 1
T.J. Stutts, Liverpool, Pennsylvania- 1
Top-10 in championship points through May 23
1. Jason Meyers 1447
2. Craig Dollansky 1436
3. Donny Schatz 1433
4. Joey Saldana 1376
5. Steve Kinser 1321
6. Jac Haudenschild 1294
7. Kerry Madsen 1286
8. Terry McCarl 1264
9. Chad Kemenah 1257
10. Daryn Pittman 1179
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award
1- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 2
Kerry Madsen, St. Mary’s, NWS- 2
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 2
4- Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania- 1
Kraig Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 1
Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania- 1
Penske Power Position
1- Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana- 3
2- Shane Stewart, Bixby, Oklahoma- 2
3- Jac Haudenschild, Wooster, Ohio- 1
Chad Kemenah, Findlay, Ohio- 1
Terry McCarl, Altoona, Iowa- 1
Jason Meyers, Clovis, California- 1
Jason Sides, Bartlett, Tennessee- 1
Chicken Hawk Hot Lap
1- Craig Dollansky, Elk River, Minnesota- 2
2- Dale Blaney, Hartford, Ohio- 1
Lance Dewease, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania- 1
Tim Kaeding, San Jose, California- 1
Craig Keel, Weedsport, New York- 1
Steve Kinser, Bloomington, Indiana- 1
Danny Lasoski, Dover, Missouri- 1
Joey Saldana, Brownsburg, Indiana- 1
Donny Schatz, Fargo, North Dakota- 1
Qwik Liner Cup Points through May 23
Craig Dollansky 22
Jason Meyers 15
Shane Stewart 15
Joey Saldana 12
Donny Schatz 11
Cody Darrah 10
Ed Lynch Jr. 8
Greg Hodnett 7
Kerry Madsen 6
Daryn Pittman 6
Jeff Shepard 6
Sam Hafertepe Jr. 5
Chad Kemenah 5
Jac Haudenschild 4
Steve Kinser 3
Danny Lasoski 3
Sammy Swindell 3
Randy Hannagan 2
Terry McCarl 2
Jason Sides 2
Alan Cole 1
Crane Cams Engine Builder Challenge
Shaver Specialties 42
Don Ott Engines 33 / -9
Speedway Engines 33 / -9
Kistler Engines 31 / -11
Chassis Builder Challenge
Maxim 48
J&J 42 / -6
Triple X Race Co. 15 / -33
Headquartered in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts, a leading automotive aftermarket retailer of parts, accessories, batteries, and maintenance items in the United States, serves both the do-it-yourself and professional installer markets As of April 19, 2008, the Company operated 3,291 stores in 40 states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Additional information about the Company, employment opportunities, customer services, and on-line shopping for parts and accessories can be found on the Company’s web site at www.AdvanceAutoParts.com.
