ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. — On a beautiful night in the pigeon hills, fans at Lincoln Speedway witnessed an intense battle on the track as Chase Dietz powered to victory in the 33-lap, $7,069-to-win Weldon Sterner Memorial, marking the first appearance of the season for the PA Posse 410 Sprint Series.
Kyle Moody and Troy Wagaman led the field to green, with Wagaman getting the jump and leading the field into turn one. Moody settled into second while Brock Zearfoss held third, as Dietz quickly went to work from the second row.
By lap four, Dietz made his presence known, sliding past Zearfoss to take over third. As the leaders approached lapped traffic on lap seven, the intensity ramped up. Moody began to close in on Wagaman, but Dietz had other plans — driving into second and immediately setting his sights on the leader.
The battle for the top spot quickly became the focal point of the race, as Dietz and Wagaman traded momentum through heavy traffic. Zearfoss soon joined the fray, creating a thrilling three-car battle for the lead with lapped cars racing side-by-side ahead of them.
Dietz finally broke through on lap 17, making the winning move to take control of the race. Just one lap later, a caution for Doug Hammaker — who spun in turn two — gave Dietz a much-needed break after being briefly bottled up in traffic.
Following an additional delay for a loose wheel involving JJ Loss, Dietz led Wagaman, Zearfoss, Danny Dietrich, and Freddie Rahmer back to green.
While Dietz maintained control out front, the battle behind him remained fierce. Tyler Ross charged forward, challenging for a podium spot, while Rahmer and Zearfoss traded positions inside the top five.
The field saw two more cautions in the closing laps keeping the field tight, including incidents for Brent Shearer and Billy Dietrich.
Dietz was flawless on each restart, keeping Wagaman at bay over the final 11 laps to secure the prestigious victory. Behind him, the fight for fourth came down to the wire, with Rahmer and Danny Dietrich exchanging the position multiple times in the closing laps. Dietrich ultimately edged Rahmer at the stripe to claim fourth.
The victory was Dietz’s second of the season at Lincoln for Dietz.
Cody Fletcher capitalized on late-race misfortune to score his third consecutive 358 sprint car victory.
The finish:
Feature (33 Laps): 1. 23-Chase Dietz[3]; 2. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[2]; 3. 5-Tyler Ross[6]; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[7]; 5. 51-Freddie Rahmer[8]; 6. 67-Justin Whittall[11]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[4]; 8. 99M-Kyle Moody[1]; 9. 8E-Lance Dewease[17]; 10. 75-Cameron Smith[22]; 11. 95-Kody Hartlaub[5]; 12. 6-Ryan Smith[10]; 13. 38-Brett Strickler[20]; 14. 11A-Austin Bishop[16]; 15. 11-TJ Stutts[9]; 16. 1X-Chad Trout[15]; 17. 45-Jordan Givler[18]; 18. 22-Doug Hammaker[13]; 19. 12-Brent Shearer[12]; 20. 4-Ayden Hare[24]; 21. 11MT-Mike Thompson[14]; 22. (DNF) 8-Billy Dietrich[19]; 23. (DNF) 39-JJ Loss[23]; 24. (DNF) 88-Brandon Rahmer[21]
