ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. — Spencer Bayston cruised into Pennsylvania Posse country on Saturday night and won the inaugural Kramer Klash at Lincoln Speedway for a $7,300 payday with the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1.
The wire-to-wire victory pushed Bayston’s All Star win total to three, his first since dominating an Ohio Sprint Speedweek program at Muskingum County Speedway on June 22, 2017.
Aaron Reutzel battled ahead from sixth to finish second, followed by Brian Montieth, Tim Wagaman and a hard-charging Cory Eliason, who worked his way forward from 15th.
“I’m going to have to go back and watch this one again, because I feel like I was pretty ugly in traffic,” Spencer Bayston said jokingly in Lincoln Speedway victory lane, driver of the Swindell Speedlab No. 39 sprint car. “I kept hearing guys behind me, but I just tried to keep my eyes ahead and stay focused. I don’t have enough laps yet to have enough confidence to drive through traffic as hard as I should. But man, this car; every time I had the chance to drive it, we had speed. We had speed right out of the gate tonight.”
It was Reutzel who applied the pressure during the final 14 circuits of the 35-lap contest, but it was Gettysburg’s Danny Dietrich who applied the pressure during the first 21 circuits, utilizing the outside-pole position to power into second right from the drop of the green flag.
Using every inch of Lincoln’s configuration, Dietrich did everything he could to track down the Swindell Speedlab entry, eventually reaching the back bumper of the well-known No. 39 in traffic with 12 laps clicked off the counter.
By lap 17, the top three were battling under a blanket, now including Aaron Reutzel, who dived below multi-time track champion, Brian Montieth, to claim third just two laps prior.
Banging the topside of the speedway, the frontrunners continued their nose-to-tail battle for several circuits, that until Dietrich set-up, and partially executed, his first, true takeover attempt on lap 22. As the lead pair were entering turn one, Bayston stayed high, ultimately opening the bottom lane for Dietrich. The former Lincoln Speedway track champion took advantage and pulled off a perfect slider to get by Bayston, but to Dietrich’s demise, a lapped car was blocking his path causing the familiar No. 48 to spin.
The 360-degree spin forced Dietrich to retire to the tail of the field. Reutzel inherited second with Montieth following suit; that is where they stayed.
“I know they were close there a few times,” Bayston continued. “Those cautions really did fall in our favor. Having a little luck on our side isn’t a bad thing. I’m very lucky and I’m proud to be a part of this team. To leave here tonight on top after watching these guys race all year is just incredible. I’m so happy right now.”
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 39S-Spencer Bayston [1]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel [6]; 3. 21-Brian Montieth [3]; 4. 5E-Tim Wagaman [7]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [15]; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich [2]; 7. 1X-Chad Trout [4]; 8. 14-Tony Stewart [12]; 9. 88-Brandon Rahmer [14]; 10. 19-Troy Wagaman Jr. [9]; 11. O7-Gerard McIntyre [17]; 12. 13-Paul McMahan [16]; 13. 39-Justin Peck [19]; 14. 19M-Landon Myers [11]; 15. 99-Skylar Gee [20]; 16. 9-James McFadden [8]; 17. W20-Greg Wilson [22]; 18. 11-Zeb Wise [13]; 19. 5-Brent Marks [18]; 20. 51-Freddie Rahmer [5]; 21. 75-Chase Dietz [26]; 22. 16-Matt Campbell [24]; 23. 99M-Kyle Moody [23]; 24. 17-Josh Baughman [10]; 25. 87K-Alan Krimes [25]; 26. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe [21] Lap Leaders: Spencer Bayston (1-35)