|
FORESTVILLE, P.A. – Lucas Wolfe has struggled for much of 2007 but on Thursday night at Big Diamond Raceway those struggles were forgotten. Wolfe, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., captured the win in the second round of the Keystone Cup while picking up $5,000 for his efforts.
“It’s always fun when you come to a place that we don’t race at a lot,” stated Wolfe after his first 410 Sprint win of the year. “It’s even better that we came here and got this result.”
Fred Rahmer, of Salfordville, Pa. was second followed by Todd Shaffer in third. Mark Smith finished in fourth while Stevie Smith worked his way from the 15th starting position to finish in fifth.
After the re-draw, Wolfe started on the outside front row alongside Sprint Car Hall of Fame member Keith Kauffman.
At the drop of the green, Wolfe got a good run into turn one taking the top spot away from Kauffman as the pair raced off the second turn.
“Sometimes the redraw can go against you and other times it can work for you,” said Wolfe. “I was fortunate to start up front. I knew I had to get a good start to try and get the lead early.
“Once you get out in front you have the luck of a clear racetrack and clean air.”
Wolfe settled into the top spot while Kauffman battled with Rahmer for second with the things ultimately going Rahmer’s way on lap 6.
By the halfway point, Wolfe found himself trying to maneuver his way through heavy lapped traffic with Rahmer taking advantage and closing in.
“It forced to me to work a little bit harder because I wanted to get as many cars between myself and whoever was in second,” said the 20-year-old driver. “I almost got into trouble on the front straightaway when a car that was pulling off the speedway slowed on the front straightaway. I barely missed him.”
With eight laps remaining, Kauffmann and the lapped car of Neil Petock got together. The incident caused a red flag and bunched the field up one final time.
“The red was a good thing because it opened the track up for me,” said Wolfe. “But it also gave everyone behind me a chance to think and adjust different things.”
When the race got back underway, Wolfe easily pulled away from Rahmer in his Allebach Racing Maxim to claim the win.
Rahmer, a former speedway champion, finished in the runner-up position. He earned $2,000 for his efforts.
“I was just a little too tight,” stated Rahmer. “I wish I could have made the car a little freer but this was a good run for us tonight.”
Rahmer was unable to make any headway after the red flag period as Wolfe easily pulled away.
“That red flag was a break even deal,” said Rahmer. “It put me in a better position because I had another chance at him (Wolfe) but it also cleared the track for him.”
In the 15-lap Roadrunner feature, Joe Hendricks captured the win.
Big Diamond Notes
Mike Eardley set quick time for the 25 cars taking time with a lap of 14.569.
Heat races were won by Craig Keel, Kevin Nouse and Smith.
After the event, Rahmer was happy to have a track that was willing to promote another 410 Sprint show.
“There aren’t a lot of tracks out there that put the effort in like this track did tonight,” stated Rahmer. “The track wasn’t rough and they made a real effort to take care of us.”
Smith was the biggest mover in the feature. Smith grabbed fifth on lap 20 but he was slowed by the red flag on lap 22.
“I had air come out of the bleeders under the red,” stated Smith. “It took me a few laps after that to get air back in the tires and by that point it was too late.”
410 SPRINT CAR Feature (30-laps): 1) #5W-Lucas Wolfe, 2) #51-Fred Rahmer, 3) #88-Todd Shaffer, 4) #55-Mark Smith, 5) #19-Stevie Smith, 6) #11-Mike Erdley, 7) #25-Lance Dewease, 8) #39-TJ Stutts, 9) #30-Doug Esh, 10) #71-Brian Leppo, 11) #22-Greg Hodnett, 12) #9-Craig Keel, 13) #12-Kevin Nouse, 14) #35-Alan Cole, 15) #56-Nate Snyder, 16) #12c-Blane Heimbach, 17) #7-Keith Kauffman, 18) #13-Cliff Brian, 19) #33-Scott Lutz, 20) #43-Doug Dodson, 21) #93-Jonathan Erikson, 22) #4-Neil Petock, 23) #x07-Bill Schoffstall, 24) #10-Mark Whitebread, 25) #3-Bob Bennett.
ROADRUNNERS Feature (15-laps): 1) #11x-Joe Hendricks, 2) #29B-Ricky Bender, 3) #97-Jeremy Becker, 4) #101-Gary Renninger, 5) #66-Chris Holland, 6) #450-Kevin Olenick, 7) #1-Dave Miller, 8) #11-Dan Strenkoski, 9) #555-Ryan Olenick, 10) #29W-Derek Bender, 11) #22-Tom Hablett, 12) #201-Brian Johnson, 13) #z71-Andy Zvorsky, 14) #93-Rob Pyle, 15) #711-Bob Ditzler, 16) #16-Robert Derfler, 17) #8-Davey Nester, 18) #37-Eric Pinkerton, 19) #17-Bud Vidal, 20) #72-Mark Paine.
|
|
