MINSERSVILLE, Pa. — Polesitter Cory Haas lost a cylinder two laps into Friday’s 30-lap sprint car feature at Big Diamond Speedway.
The reduction of power did nothing to hinder Haas, who led all 30 laps to win the first 410 event at the Minersville, Pa., clay oval since 2013 with ease.
The 44-year-old pedaled his Buzz Wilson-prepared No. 38 machine to a 2.381-second victory over Mark Smith, paying $4,500 for his winning effort.
It’s Haas’ second victory in a row. Last week, he charged from the rear of his heat race to win at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.
“I could feel I was down a cylinder because it had no power,” Haas said. “It had a hiss to it. All I did was try to arc the corner and keep the RPMs up, and do the best I could. There were times it was worse and times it was better. It was so slick. And it was one lane, kind of, so I thought we’d be OK as long as it didn’t shut off.”
Being handicapped likely helped Haas, who raced at Big Diamond for the first time since the early 2000s when he ran 358 sprints. The track was slick and bottom-dependent, adding emphasis on throttle control and simply being smooth.
“It was so slick, it didn’t really matter if I was down a cylinder,” Haas said. “Starting position was key.”
Only 13 sprint cars competed Friday, including Billy Dietrich, Chad Trout, Devon Borden, Ryan Smith, and Tyler Ross, all 410 winners from earlier this year. Open-wheel standout Alex Bright added his name to the slim field, too.
Borden set fast time with his lap of 13.398 seconds, but Haas wasn’t far behind at 13.410.
Haas finished second in his heat, putting him in the redraw, where he then drew the pole for the main event. Dietrich spun in turns one and two to draw the first caution on lap four.
By then, Trout moved by Mark Smith for second. But as raced down the leader on lap 10, Trout lost control of his No. 1X machine, barreled the turn four wall and flipped down the front stretch.
After Trout walked away from the incident, Haas settled back in, opening up a two-second lead before another caution on lap 14 for Ryan Smith. Once things got back going, Haas picked up where he left off.
“That’s two in a row now,” said Haas, who returns to Lincoln on Saturday eyeing his third win a row. “The best win is the next one. Hopefully tomorrow night.”