MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Freddie Rahmer continued his positive swing of momentum at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, leading all 25 laps from the pole for his third victory in four races at the legendary half-mile oval.
The 24-year-old registered a 1.104-second victory over Anthony Macri on a night that used the World of Outlaws format as the series is set to host the National Open next weekend.
While it’s his seventh win in central Pennsylvania this year, Rahmer came down hard on himself when assessing his race management.
“I think I did 60 percent of what I should have, but the car is decent and we got it done,” Rahmer said. “We have to be a little better. … But tonight is a little bit of momentum. At Lincoln [in last week’s Dirt Classic], we struggled. Last week [at Williams Grove] we were good. Just a little momentum helps.”
T.J. Stutts started the night by winning quick time with a lap of 16.629, and Rahmer timed fourth, .211 seconds off the pace. The two started on the front row for the first heat, where Rahmer surged to the lead on the initial jump to win the eight-lap qualifying race.
Rahmer won the dash to start on the pole and jumped out to a three-second on Robbie Kendall five laps in. He approached the tailend of the field on lap six, but it took Rahmer six laps to pass his first car in traffic. By then, his sizeable lead had shrunk to a half second, as Kendall and Macri closed in.
“When I got to lapped cars, I moved down and killed all my speed,” Rahmer said. “I should’ve just been on the hammer and slid when I got to them. I was trying to be conservative. Once I got in the clear, I thought we made good time.”
Feeling the heat from behind, Rahmer powered across the nose of Kyle Moody off turn four with 10 laps to go and extended his lead to a second. Shortly after, Rahmer’s advantage grew to two seconds.
“We just have to carry more speed,” Rahmer said of his decision-making in lapped traffic.
For the fifth time in the past eight races at the speedway, Macri finished on the podium.
“The start didn’t play out the way it looked like it was going to, but it was somewhat OK,” Macri said. “I wish lapped cars would move the [heck] out of the way when they are showing the flag and not try to race everyone, or else I think that race could have played out differently. But you have to take what we’re given. Once we got through lapped traffic, got past Kendall, I drove our car a lot harder than I could when I got behind all those guys. … Another couple laps I think we could have had something.”
Brent Marks finished third after starting seventh. Kendall and Brian Montieth rounded out the top five.
Derek Locke won the 358 sprint car and claimed the track championship.
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. Freddie Rahmer, 2. Anthony Macri, 3. Brent Marks, 4. Robbie Kendall, 5. Brian Montieth, 6. TJ Stutts, 7. Brian Brown, 8. Matt Campbell, 9. Danny Dietrich, 10. Kyle Reinhardt, 11, Dylan Cisney, 12. Logan Wagner, 13. Lucas Wolfe, 14. Chad Trout, 15. Landon Myers, 16. Troy Wagaman, 17. Justin Peck, 18. Steve Buckwalter, 19. Jeff Halligan, 20. Doug Hammaker, 21. Tim Glatfelter, 22. Kyle Moody, 23. Lance Dewease, 24. Mark Smith