Dietrich with Dream Win at Williams Grove
Saldana one position shy of milestone
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – Oct. 14, 2016 – A late push to the top Friday night ended in a victory lane celebration on the front stretch for Danny Dietrich, who won the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series Champion Racing Oil National Open at Williams Grove Speedway. The Gettysburg, Pa. driver hoisted the $25,000 check in the air in front of a local crowd.
“This is pretty incredible,” Dietrich said. “This may have been one of the toughest races I’ve ever ran. They were setting a heck of a pace. It was no easy win. Props to those guys for racing me clean. I hope the fans got their money’s worth. These are the toughest guys to race against – ever. This is the National Open and people dream about winning this. But, dreams do come true.”
Dietrich, who finished on the podium in the series’ previous show at Fulton Speedway (N.Y.), finished mid-pack in qualifying earlier in the night’s program. Tim Wagaman recorded the fastest lap time at Williams Grove all season with a 16.314 in qualifying. Logan Schuchart, who set the track record at Fulton, was two-thousandths of a second slower than Wagaman in the following group.
It was Dietrich’s second place finish in the third heat that gave him a favorable starting spot for the feature. Dietrich finished sixth in the Craftsman Club® Dash and started in the spot for the 40-lap A-Main. However, he was not an outsider looking into the top five for long. When the green flag waved the 26-car field into the feature, Dietrich’s No. 48 car sprang into action.
In the opening lap, second place starter Brad Sweet moved to the inside of the half-mile oval; Dietrich followed suit, eventually challenging seven-time Series Champion Donny Schatz for fourth position in turn three of the second lap. Platinum driver David Gravel, who beat Dietrich in the heat race, was also in the mix.
Entering lapped traffic by the sixth lap, Gravel swapped third position with Schatz while Sweet briefly overtook pole-sitter Joey Saldana for first. Both Saldana and Schatz avenged their battles, and Schatz moved by Sweet with 21 laps remaining. On lap 23, Dietrich knocked Sweet’s No. 49 car out of his podium position before the feature’s first caution.
“We had the speed,” Sweet said. “You just need to get the track position. Things went right for us there. We were off the front row. I’m a little disappointed because I thought we had a car capable of winning the race. I felt like the driver gave it away a little there.”
The field endured an open red that allowed teams to refuel their winged-sprints. On the restart, Dietrich powered through Schatz into second position before the race’s second caution on lap 24. Including another yellow flag on lap 26, Saldana strung together a series of strong restarts to retain first position. Even so, Dietrich gained on Saldana with each lap. Dietrich consistently cut the corner in turn three, shaving seconds off Saldana’s half-second lead. Dietrich momentarily passed Saldana until the fourth caution on lap 27.
“These guys are really good out here when you come here to race,” Saldana said. “[Dietrich] snickered me on that restart there, and I just got lucky. We did have a good car. You have to come out here and perform.”
One more near-perfect restart from Saldana kept his No. 83 car in front of the field; however, Dietrich resumed his strategy by sticking to the inside groove. On lap 34, Dietrich was able to get under Saldana exiting turn four for the lead. Saldana fought back. In a back-and-forth, Saldana was back out front.
“I kept working the bottom there,” Dietrich said. “I really wasn’t good anywhere but the bottom, so I just kept working it. I felt I could keep-up better down there than running on the top. I was a little too loose to be running around the top. I just couldn’t get to the exit with speed like I needed to. If you told me by lap 10 I’d be standing up here [in victory lane], I would’ve laughed.”
In the final laps, Saldana moved to the bottom of the track to block a hard-charging Dietrich. With four laps remaining, Dietrich overpowered Saldana for the lead. Dietrich ultimately won the battle, while Saldana and Sweet rounded-out the podium. In victory lane – removing the storied Outlaws-PA Posse rivalry from the picture in that moment – the three joked and laughed. Surrounded by a packed front stretch, the crowd applauded the three for another instant-classic to be added into the event’s 54-year history.
Saldana, who won the dash and led the field into the green flag, was in position to win his 100th series race of his career. He was in contention to join Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Donny Schatz, Mark Kinser and Doug Wolfgang as the only series drivers to record 100-plus series wins.
“That’s something I want to accomplish before I’m done is to get at least 100 [wins],” said Saldana, who was not even thinking about his milestone during the race. “We were close tonight, just couldn’t get it done.”
Williams Grove Speedway Notebook
RACE NOTES:Danny Dietrich used the bottom of William Grove Speedway’s half-mile oval to his advantage Friday night, capturing the 54th Annual Champion Racing Oil National Open. After battling pole-sitter Joey Saldana for much of the second half, Dietrich made a late push in the race’s closing laps to seal the deal.
CONTINGENCY WINNERS: MSD Ignitions ($25 cash): Paul McMahan; MSD Ignitions ($50 cash): Danny Dietrich; Penske Shocks ($50 cash): Donny Schatz; JE Pistons ($50 cash): Logan Schuchart; VP Racing Fuels ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Edelbrock ($50 cash): Jason Sides; Comp Cams ($50 cash): Dale Blaney; Morton Buildings ($50 cash): Jason Johnson; Cometic Gasket ($50 cash): Jason Johnson; Super Flow ($50 cash): Joey Saldana; Craftsman Club Fast Five ($100 cash): Brad Sweet, David Gravel, Jason Sides; Craftsman/Sears: Dave Blaney; KSE Hard Charger: Doug Esh; Comp Cams ($50 product certificate): Danny Dietrich; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Jason Johnson; JE Pistons (Set of Rings): Paul McMahan
SEASON WINNERS: Donny Schatz – 24 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 4, Stockton Dirt Track on March 18, Stockton Dirt Track on March 19, Silver Dollar Speedway on April 2, Lincoln Speedway on May 19, Weedsport Speedway on May 22, Lincoln Park Speedway on June 8, Knoxville Raceway on June 11, River Cities Speedway on June 17, Rockford Speedway on June 29, Badlands Motor Speedway on July 3, Cedar Lake Speedway on July 9, Attica Raceway Park on July 12, Eldora Speedway on July 16, Ohsweken Speedway on July 26, Junction Motor Speedway on August 16, Angell Park Speedway on August 21, River Cities Speedway on August 26, Nodak Speedway on August 28, Willamette Speedway on September 7, Clay County Fair Speedway on September 16, Lernerville Speedway on September 24, Fulton Speedway on October 8); David Gravel – 9 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 12, Tri-State Speedway on May 14, I-96 Speedway on June 6, Eldora Speedway on July 14, Lernerville Speedway on July 19, Wilmot Raceway on July 30, Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 5, Skagit Speedway on Sept 2 and 3); Shane Stewart – 8 (Arizona Speedway on March 6, Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 23, Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 30, Granite City Speedway on June 15, Brown County Speedway on June 19, Silver Dollar Speedway on September 9; Hartford Speedway on September 22; Eldora Speedway on September 24); Daryn Pittman – 7 (Royal Purple Raceway on Feb. 27, Perris Auto Speedway on April 16, USA Raceway on April 18, New Egypt Speedway on May 24, Jackson Motorplex on June 24, Eldora Speedway on July 15, Williams Grove Speedway on July 22); Brad Sweet – 7 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 13, Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 14, Cotton Bowl Speedway on Feb. 26, Ocean Speedway on April 1, Bakersfield Speedway on April 15, Plymouth Speedway on May 13, Badlands Motor Speedway on July 2); Joey Saldana – 5 (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas on March 3, Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 22, Jacksonville Speedway on May 4, I-80 Speedway on June 22, U.S. 36 Raceway on September 17); Jason Johnson – 3 (Placerville Speedway on March 24, Knoxville Nationals on August 13, El Paso County Raceway on September 14); Lance Dewease – 2 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 20, Williams Grove Speedway on July 23); Kerry Madsen – 2 (Eldora Speedway on May 6 and 7); Rico Abreu – 2 (Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 on Aug. 6, Silver Dollar Speedway on September 10); Bill Balog – 1 (Beaver Dam Raceway on June 25); Chad Kemenah – 1 (Fremont Speedway on June 3); Terry McCarl – 1 (Knoxville Raceway on June 10); Logan Schuchart – 1 (Cedar Lake Speedway on July 9); Jason Sides – 1 (I-30 Speedway on April 26); Greg Wilson – 1 (The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 27); Danny Dietrich – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on October 14)
World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Williams Grove Speedway, Pa.; Oct. 14, 2016
Feature – (40 Laps) –1. 48-Danny Dietrich [6] [$25,000]; 2. 83-Joey Saldana [1] [$12,000]; 3. 49-Brad Sweet [2] [$6,000]; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [4] [$5,250]; 5. 5-David Gravel [3] [$4,500]; 6. 27-Greg Hodnett [11] [$4,000]; 7. 9-Daryn Pittman [14][$3,500]; 8. 1S-Logan Schuchart [10] [$3,000]; 9. 69K-Lance Dewease [7] [$2,750]; 10. 7S-Jason Sides [8] [$2,500]; 11. 1B-Dale Blaney [16] [$2,300]; 12. 21-Brian Brown [12] [$2,250]; 13. 51-Freddie Rahmer [17] [$2,000]; 14. 51S-Stevie Smith [22] [$1,600]; 15. O7-Doug Esh [23] [$1,500]; 16. 41-Jason Johnson [24] [$1,300]; 17. 17W-Kerry Madsen [13] [$1,250]; 18. 2-Shane Stewart [19] [$1,050]; 19. 1-Lucas Wolfe [15] [$1,050]; 20. 1T-Tim Wagaman [9] [$1,050]; 21. 88-T.J. Stutts [21] [$1,000]; 22. 71M-Dave Blaney [5] [$1,000]; 23. 21P-Brian Montieth [25] [$]; 24. 70-Danny Holtgraver [20] [$1,000]; 25. 7-Paul McMahan [18] [$1,000]; 26. 11C-Cory Haas [26] [$]Lap Leaders:Joey Saldana 1-14, 16-38; Brad Sweet 15, Danny Dietrich 39-40 KSE Hard Charger Award:51S-Stevie Smith[+8]
Qualifying –1. 1T-Tim Wagaman, 16.314; 2. 49-Brad Sweet, 16.348; 3. 71M-Dave Blaney, 16.413; 4. 7S-Jason Sides, 16.438; 5. 15-Donny Schatz, 16.463; 6. 27-Greg Hodnett, 16.468; 7. 17W-Kerry Madsen, 16.483; 8. 1-Lucas Wolfe, 16.499; 9. 88-T.J. Stutts, 16.536; 10. 1A-Jacob Allen, 16.537; 11. 51-Freddie Rahmer, 16.538; 12. 2-Shane Stewart, 16.548; 13. 19-Paige Polyak, 16.596; 14. 25-Aaron Ott, 16.714; 15. M1-Mark Smith, 16.721; 16. 11C-Cory Haas, 16.737; 17. 5G-Chase Dietz, 16.802; 18. 13X-Tim Shaffer, 16.891; 19. W20-Greg Wilson, 16.935; 20. 69-Tim Glatfelter, 16.975; 21. 1X-Chad Trout, 16.991; 22. 71A-R.J. Johnson, 17.244; 23. 13-Clyde Knipp, 17.252; 24. 87-Alan Krimes, 17.777; 25. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 16.316; 26. 83-Joey Saldana, 16.408; 27. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.485; 28. 69K-Lance Dewease, 16.502; 29. 9-Daryn Pittman, 16.515; 30. 21-Brian Brown, 16.517; 31. 5-David Gravel, 16.533; 32. 70-Danny Holtgraver, 16.574; 33. 51S-Stevie Smith, 16.586; 34. 1B-Dale Blaney, 16.652; 35. 7-Paul McMahan, 16.688; 36. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter, 16.702; 37. O7-Doug Esh, 16.779; 38. 41-Jason Johnson, 16.821; 39. 17B-Bill Balog, 16.862; 40. 21P-Brian Montieth, 16.890; 41. 19M-Brent Marks, 16.921; 42. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 16.928; 43. 94-Ryan Smith, 16.969; 44. 44W-Rodney Westhafer, 17.003; 45. 7W-Logan Wagner, 17.009; 46. 75-Nicole Bower, 17.067; 47. 49X-Craig Dollansky, 17.745; 48. 12W-Troy Fraker, 17.847
Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) –1. 71M-Dave Blaney [2] ; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [3] ; 3. 1T-Tim Wagaman [1] ; 4. 17W-Kerry Madsen [4] ; 5. 51-Freddie Rahmer [6] ; 6. 88-T.J. Stutts [5] ; 7. M1-Mark Smith [8] ; 8. 13X-Tim Shaffer [10] ; 9. 19-Paige Polyak [7] ; 10. 69-Tim Glatfelter [11] ; 11. 71A-R.J. Johnson [12] ; 12. 87-Alan Krimes [9]
Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) –1. 49-Brad Sweet [1] ; 2. 7S-Jason Sides [2] ; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett [3] ; 4. 1-Lucas Wolfe [4] ; 5. 2-Shane Stewart [6] ; 6. 25-Aaron Ott [7] ; 7. 5G-Chase Dietz [9] ; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [10] ; 9. 1A-Jacob Allen [5] ; 10. 13-Clyde Knipp [12] ; 11. 1X-Chad Trout [11] ; 12. 11C-Cory Haas [8]
Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature)– 1. 5-David Gravel [4] ; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [2] ; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [1] ; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman [3] ; 5. 7-Paul McMahan [6] ; 6. 51S-Stevie Smith [5] ; 7. 19M-Brent Marks [9] ; 8. 94-Ryan Smith [10] ; 9. 17B-Bill Balog [8] ; 10. O7-Doug Esh [7] ; 11. 7W-Logan Wagner [11] ; 12. 49X-Craig Dollansky [12]
Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature) –1. 83-Joey Saldana [1] ; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease [2] ; 3. 21-Brian Brown [3] ; 4. 1B-Dale Blaney [5] ; 5. 70-Danny Holtgraver [4] ; 6. 21P-Brian Montieth [8] ; 7. 41-Jason Johnson [7] ; 8. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter [6] ; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [9] ; 10. 12W-Troy Fraker [12] ; 11. 44W-Rodney Westhafer [10] ; 12. 75-Nicole Bower [11]
Craftsman Club®Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 8 starting positions of A-feature) –1. 83-Joey Saldana [4] ; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [3] ; 3. 5-David Gravel [2] ; 4. 15-Donny Schatz [5] ; 5. 71M-Dave Blaney [1] ; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich [6] ; 7. 69K-Lance Dewease [8] ; 8. 7S-Jason Sides [7]
C-Main – (10 Laps – Top 2 finishers transfer to the B-feature)– 1. 13X-Tim Shaffer [1] [-]; 2. 94-Ryan Smith [4] [-]; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [2] [$150]; 4. 7W-Logan Wagner [8] [$150]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [3] [$150]; 6. 1X-Chad Trout [7] [$125]; 7. 71A-R.J. Johnson [9] [$125]; 8. 13-Clyde Knipp [11] [$125]; 9. 12W-Troy Fraker [14] [$125]; 10. 49X-Craig Dollansky [12] [$125]; 11. 69-Tim Glatfelter [5] [$125]; 12. 75-Nicole Bower [10] [$125]; 13. 44W-Rodney Westhafer [6] [$125]; 14. 87-Alan Krimes [13] [$125]
Last Chance Showdown – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) –1. 88-T.J. Stutts [1] [-]; 2. 51S-Stevie Smith [2] [-]; 3. O7-Doug Esh [6] [-]; 4. 41-Jason Johnson [8] [-]; 5. 17BX-Steve Buckwalter [4] [$300]; 6. 11C-Cory Haas [11] [$250]; 7. 19M-Brent Marks [14] [$225]; 8. 21P-Brian Montieth [12] [$200]; 9. 5G-Chase Dietz [13] [$200]; 10. M1-Mark Smith [9] [$200]; 11. 1A-Jacob Allen [3] [$200]; 12. 94-Ryan Smith [16] [$200]; 13. 17B-Bill Balog [10] [$200]; 14. 19-Paige Polyak [5] [$200]; 15. 25-Aaron Ott [7] [$200]; 16. 13X-Tim Shaffer [15] [$200]
Unofficial World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series Championship Standings
Pos. | Car | Driver | Total | Diff | Wins | Top 5’s | Top 10’s | QT |
1 | 15 | Donny Schatz | 10609 | 0 | 24 | 57 | 72 | 5 |
2 | 9 | Daryn Pittman | 10311 | -298 | 7 | 43 | 63 | 7 |
3 | 5 | David Gravel | 10302 | -307 | 9 | 44 | 64 | 6 |
4 | 49 | Brad Sweet | 10299 | -310 | 7 | 43 | 61 | 13 |
5 | 83 | Joey Saldana | 10124 | -485 | 5 | 29 | 57 | 10 |
6 | 2 | Shane Stewart | 10096 | -513 | 8 | 37 | 62 | 4 |
7 | 41 | Jason Johnson | 9594 | -1015 | 3 | 17 | 44 | 4 |
8 | 1S | Logan Schuchart | 9441 | -1168 | 1 | 16 | 35 | 3 |
9 | 7S | Jason Sides | 9252 | -1357 | 1 | 5 | 27 | 2 |
10 | 7 | Paul McMahan | 8912 | -1697 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 0 |
11 | W20 | Greg Wilson | 8554 | -2055 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 0 |
12 | 1A | Jacob Allen | 8296 | -2313 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
13 | 83JR | Kerry Madsen | 6153 | -4456 | 2 | 12 | 29 | 2 |
14 | 13 | Clyde Knipp | 5528 | -5081 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
15 | 11k | Kraig Kinser | 3264 | -7345 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
16 | 24 | Terry McCarl | 3226 | -7383 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
17 | 41X | Dominic Scelzi | 3076 | -7533 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
18 | 1 | Sammy Swindell | 2947 | -7662 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
19 | 18 | Ian Madsen | 2941 | -7668 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
20 | 49X | Tim Shaffer | 2646 | -7963 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Bad Boy Off Road (Official Side-by-Side Vehicle), Craftsman (Official Tool), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Morton Buildings (Official Building), Sears (Official Home Store), The Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience (Official Racing Experience) and VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, KSE Racing Products, MSD, Penske Shocks, and Superflow Dynos; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, S&S Volvo and TNT Rescue.