MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – There seemed to be no alternate ending to Friday night’s Davey Brown Tribute Race at Williams Grove Speedway.
Lance Dewease, driving Don Kreitz’s famed No. 69k, drove to the opening night Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek win at the famed half-mile clay oval, a race he seemingly seized control of when he first arrived and eventually ran away with.
The National Sprint Car Hall of Famer led the final 15 of 25 laps for a $6,000 payday over runner-up Anthony Macri. The payout in gratitude, however, was far greater.
Winning in the race that honored his Hall of Fame crew chief, Dewease helped add another token to Brown’s ledger, a ledger already rich in success.
The 87-year-old Brown earned his 795th career victory on Friday, while for Dewease, it was win No. 102 at Williams Grove.
It came in fitting fashion. Dewease outsmarted the field to win by 5.247 seconds while Brown, with a wrench still in his hand, stayed ahead of the curve.
“It’s amazing,” Brown said. “It’s a heck of a night. A great night. Usually it doesn’t work that way. But it did tonight.”
“I don’t know if we were as good as we can be, but we did what we wanted to do and that’s win it, win it for [Davey Brown],” Dewease added. “Eighty-seven years old, he works hard. It makes you want to work hard, too, if not harder.”
Even before Dewease eventually set fast time in qualifying with a lap of 16.846 seconds, the stage seemed set for his success. Celebratory Brown shirts labeled with Brown’s Racing Engines were sold and worn, and while many invaders shook the 38-car field up on Friday, the attention never wavered from the No. 69k.
Dewease started fourth in the main event, but had to work to maintain his redraw status. He slipped to eighth on the start of his heat race, forcing him to scramble back into a transfer spot. Fortunately he did, and the rest fell into place from there.
Fan favorite Rico Abreu started on the pole and led the first 10 laps, but started to slip back when he caught lapped traffic on lap seven. Dirty air slowed his pace down, allowing Dylan Cisney and Dewease to close in.
On lap 11, Dewease executed a nifty two-for-one pass for the lead off turn four around Abreu and Cisney. Dewease then set sail.
“Our car normally takes a little bit to get going, normally takes five laps to get going,” Dewease said. “Everyone else, they kind of slow up as they go. It kind of showed.”
It had, and finished that way on the famed frontstretch at Williams Grove. The very machine Brown prepared wasn’t going to be denied.
“I ran her hard the whole time,” Dewease said. “We were going to win this one.”
Macri finished second and is the de facto Pennsylvania Speedweek points leader, since Dewease isn’t running the full week. Macri (150 points) holds an unofficial five-point lead over Danny Dietrich, who finished third, going into Lincoln Speedway on Saturday.
Freddie Rahmer earned hard charger honors, finishing fourth from 13th. Abreu, meanwhile, slipped to fifth.
Derek Locke won the companion 358 sprint car feature, his fourth triumph of the year at Williams Grove.
The finish:
1. Lance Dewease, 2. Anthony Macri, 3. Danny Dietrich, 4. Freddie Rahmer, 5. Rico Abreu, 6. Alan Krimes, 7. Dylan Cisney, 8. Brent Marks, 9. Sam Hafertepe Jr., 10. Logan Wagner, 11. Steve Buckwalter, 12. Justin Peck, 13. Lucas Wolfe, 14. Buddy Kofoid, 15. Ryan Smith, 16. Skylar Gee, 17. Paul McMahan, 18. Dylan Norris, 19. Chad Trout, 20. T.J. Stutts, 21. Mike Wagner, 22. Kyle Moody, 23. Matt Campbell, 24. Robbie Kendall.