MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Danny Dietrich sped to the win in the 34th annual Pennsylvania Speedweek Series opener on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
Dietrich pocketed $10,800 for the victory including $800 in bonus money. It was the 13th win for Dietrich in the history of sprint car Speedweek action.
Doug Hammaker took the win in the 20-lap 358 sprint main.
Justin Whittall started on the pole of the 30-lap main alongside Dietrich.
Whittall took the lead when action began with Dietrich giving chase.
By lap four when the first caution flag of the race unfurled, fifth-starter Anthony Macri was up to third.
Macri got around Dietrich on lap six and set his sights on the leader.
By lap 10 Whittall was staring down the barrel of the rear of the field and he began attempting to work traffic with 12 away.
Lap 14 saw Dietrich briefly reclaim second over Macri only to again surrender the spot moments later.
At the halfway point Whittall had a .536-second lead with Macri closing fast in traffic.
And Macri made good on his momentum with 13 laps to go to net the top spot while bringing Dietrich with him as Whittall faltered.
The defending Speedweek series champion, Macri appeared headed unchallenged to the win until disaster struck with four laps to go.
Macri jumped the cushion in turns three and four and slammed the outside wall before coming to a stop.
This handed the lead to Dietrich who himself had smacked the outside backstretch wall a few laps earlier causing suspension damage.
The Gettysburg pilot took the win by 3.508 seconds.
Whittall had to fend off the challenges of Troy Wagaman Jr. over the final laps before surrendering the spot with less than two laps to go.
After starting 12th, Freddie Rahmer then pressured Whittall for third to the finish line before settling for fourth.
Chase Dietz ended up fifth.
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. Danny Dietrich, 2. Troy Wagaman Jr., 3. Justin Whittall, 4. Freddie Rahmer, 5. Chase Dietz, 6. Luacs Wolfe, 7. Dylan Cisney, 8. Logan Wagner, 9. Devon Borden, 10. Kyle Reinhardt, 11. Ryan Smith, 12. Lance Dewease, 13. Billy Dietrich, 14. TJ Stutts, 15. Chad Trout, 16. Kody Hartlaub, 17. Aaron Bollinger, 18. Tony Jackson, 19. Jeff Halligan, 20. Dylan Norris, 21. Anthony Macri, 22. Mike Wagner, 23. Cameron Smith, 24. Kyle Moody