Lance Dewease Earns Record Fifth Tuscarora 50 Win at Port Royal Speedway in Dominating Fashion
Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR SERIES MEDIA
Photos By: DAN DEMARCO / RACERSGUIDE.COM
PORT ROYAL, PA. -September 10, 2016 – For an unprecedented fifth time, Lance Dewease is a Tuscarora 50 champion at the Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, Pennsylvania. The Central Pennsylvania veteran, who now owns 100 career victories at the Port Royal “Speed Palace,” as well as 31 career victories against the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, earned more than $12,000 for his record setting main event win, crossing under the final checkers nearly eight seconds ahead of Stevie Smith and Dale Blaney. Dewease took command officially on lap 12 and never looked back, utilizing the bottom groove of the Port Royal Speedway half-mile for the majority of his laps led.
“This feels great. It’s an honor to do it for these guys,” Dewease said on the Port Royal Speedway victory lane stage. “I think I may have won this race with five different car owners, too, so that makes it pretty special. I wanted this one so bad all year for these guys. We’ve been really good everywhere we’ve went. We had a really good race car last night, but had some mechanical problems that were nobody’s fault. I’m having a lot of fun driving for this race team. We are all really enjoying this limited schedule. We savor every one of these things.”
With a redraw setting the first five starting rows of the 50-lap, Tuscarora 50 feature finale, it was Greg Hodnett and T.J. Stutts setting the tone on the initial start. Hodnett jumped to the early advantage, leading Dale Blaney, T.J. Stutts, and Sheldon Haudenschild at the completion of lap one. Hodnett quickly opened up at the front of the field, extending his lead to a near-two second advantage by lap 10.
In the meantime, Lance Dewease, pilot of the Don Kreitz-owned/Sharman Builders/No. 69K, started to pick his way through the field. The Fayetteville, Pennsylvania, native drove forward from eighth on the grid, securing the third position by lap 10, second position by lap 11, and the top spot by lap 12, but not without help from Greg Hodnett. Hodnett, who was still controlling the point position during Dewease’s charge, slowed to a stop on lap 12, the result of mechanical woes. Dewease took advantage of Hodnett’s misfortune and quickly extended himself from his fellow front runners, chased to the lap 25 break by Stevie Smith, Dale Blaney, and Sheldon Haudenschild.
“That first 25 laps, I didn’t run that hard,” Dewease explained. “I knew we could go pretty soft on tires because I’m not that hard on tires. We came in during that red and my guys said my tires were still really good. So, I knew I could get going then. I just wanted to get inside the top-four before the break. I just found a line and was able to reel those guys in. You have to be there in the end in this deal. That’s what it’s all about. ”
The second segment of the Tuscarora 50 main event ignited with Lance Dewease returning to his place at the front of the field, followed by Stevie Smith and Dale Blaney. It would not take long for Dewease to once again open up his advantage, stretching to nearly four seconds by lap 30.
While Dewease dominated, a battle for second, third, and fourth would ensue involving Stevie Smith, Dale Blaney, and Cap Henry. Smith soon established himself in the runner-up position, followed by a lap-by-lap battle between Dale Blaney and Cap Henry. Despite all of their attempts to catch the familiar No.69K of Lance Dewease, nothing proved to be beneficial. Dewease ultimately scored the five-digit payday, followed by Stevie Smith and Dale Blaney to complete the podium.
“There are probably only a few of us here that have experience racing on the same set of tires for all 50 laps,” Lance Dewease said. “There is a little bit of a nact to it and a little bit of a patience to it. I’m happy to get it done for these guys.”
The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will close out the month of September with a visit to the World’s Greatest Dirt Track. The Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, will showcase Arctic Cat All Star competition on Saturday evening, September 24, during night two of the 35th Annual Four Crown Nationals. “America’s Series” will join all three national divisions of the United States Auto Club (USAC), Midget, Sprint, and Champ, during their visit to Eldora Speedway, the first time Eldora Speedway has hosted four divisions during the Saturday night portion of the Four Crown Nationals since 2007.
Those seeking additional information regarding the 35th Annual Four Crown Nationals program at The Big E should visit Eldora Speedway live on the Web at http://www.eldoraspeedway.com/event/35th-annual-four-crown-nationals/
Contingency Awards/Results: Port Royal Speedway – Saturday, September 10, 2016:
Event: 49th Annual Tuscarora 50
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 41 Entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Lance Dewease – 16.421 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Danny Dietrich – 16.479 seconds
Kistler Racing Products Heat #1: Blane Heimbach
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Dale Blaney
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Sheldon Haudenschild
EMi Heat #4: T.J. Stutts
JE Pistons Dash: N/A
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Dale Blaney (3rd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Chad Kemenah (+10)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Danny Dietrich
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Chad Kemenah
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Logan Wagner
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)
Qualifying
1.48-Danny Dietrich, 16.479; 2.51S-Stevie Smith, 16.522; 3.1Z-Lucas Wolfe, 16.537; 4.21M-Brian Montieth, 16.547; 5.69K-Lance Dewease, 16.563; 6.70-Danny Holtgraver, 16.586; 7.21-Cap Henry, 16.615; 8.57X-Andrew Palker, 16.657; 9.12-Blane Heimbach, 16.666; 10.1-Dale Blaney, 16.690; 11.5-Dylan Cisney, 16.696; 12.27-Greg Hodnett, 16.732; 13.13-Tim Shaffer, 16.772; 14.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 16.788; 15.71m-Dave Blaney, 16.805; 16.55-Mike Wagner, 16.865; 17.81-Lee Jacobs, 16.872; 18.25-Aaron Ott, 16.903; 19.19m-Brent Marks, 16.929; 20.O7-Doug Esh, 16.929; 21.11K-Kraig Kinser, 16.930; 22.25B-Tyler Bear, 16.935; 23.88-TJ Stutts, 17.023; 24.33-Curt Stroup, 17.026; 25.10H-Chad Kemenah, 17.071; 26.94-Ryan Smith, 17.097; 27.49H-Bradley Howard, 17.130; 28.3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 17.134; 29.7W-Logan Wagner, 17.210; 30.29-Jason Shultz, 17.248; 31.8M-TJ Michael, 17.338; 32.19G-Cale Grubb, 17.376; 33.40-Caleb Helms, 17.393; 34.1*-Tim Wagaman, 17.413; 35.75L-Kody Lehman, 17.433; 36.55W-Michael Wagner II, 17.507; 37.44-Joey Hershey, 17.656; 38.60-Kory Crabtree, 17.731; 39.24B-Dustin Baney, 17.918; 40.27D-Vincent Doughtery, 18.019; 41.91-Anthony Fiore, 18.060;
Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 12-Blane Heimbach[1] ; 2. 21-Cap Henry[2] ; 3. 21M-Brian Montieth[3] ; 4. 51S-Stevie Smith[4] ; 5. 19m-Brent Marks[7] ; 6. 81-Lee Jacobs[6] ; 7. 5-Dylan Cisney[5] ; 8. 7W-Logan Wagner[9] ; 9. 25B-Tyler Bear[8] ; 10. 19G-Cale Grubb[10] ; 11. 24B-Dustin Baney[11]
Heat 2, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 1-Dale Blaney[1] ; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease[3] ; 3. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe[4] ; 4. 25-Aaron Ott[6] ; 5. 57X-Andrew Palker[2] ; 6. 55-Mike Wagner[5] ; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser[7] ; 8. 29-Jason Shultz[9] ; 9. 49H-Bradley Howard[8] ; 10. 60-Kory Crabtree[10]
Heat 3, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[2] ; 2. 27-Greg Hodnett[3] ; 3. O7-Doug Esh[1] ; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich[4] ; 5. 94-Ryan Smith[6] ; 6. 33-Curt Stroup[5] ; 7. 1*-Tim Wagaman[8] ; 8. 8M-TJ Michael[7] ; 9. 55W-Michael Wagner II[9] ; 10. 27D-Vincent Doughtery[10]
Heat 4, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 88-TJ Stutts[1] ; 2. 13-Tim Shaffer[3] ; 3. 71m-Dave Blaney[2] ; 4. 70-Danny Holtgraver[4] ; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah[5] ; 6. 44-Joey Hershey[9] ; 7. 91-Anthony Fiore[10] ; 8. 75L-Kody Lehman[8] ; 9. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[6] ; 10. 40-Caleb Helms[7]
B-Main 1 – (12 Laps)
1. 55-Mike Wagner[5] ; 2. 5-Dylan Cisney[1] ; 3. 7W-Logan Wagner[9] ; 4. 33-Curt Stroup[2] ; 5. 44-Joey Hershey[4] ; 6. 29-Jason Shultz[11] ; 7. 81-Lee Jacobs[3] ; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser[7] ; 9. 91-Anthony Fiore[8] ; 10. 1*-Tim Wagaman[6] ; 11. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[16] ; 12. 19G-Cale Grubb[17] ; 13. 8M-TJ Michael[10] ; 14. 24B-Dustin Baney[21] ; 15. 55W-Michael Wagner II[14] ; 16. 27D-Vincent Doughtery[18] ; 17. 25B-Tyler Bear[13] ; 18. 75L-Kody Lehman[12] ; 19. 49H-Bradley Howard[15] ; 20. 60-Kory Crabtree[19] ; 21. 40-Caleb Helms[20]
A-Main 1 – (50 Laps)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease[8] ; 2. 51S-Stevie Smith[10] ; 3. 1-Dale Blaney[3] ; 4. 21-Cap Henry[6] ; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich[9] ; 6. 1Z-Lucas Wolfe[13] ; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[5] ; 8. 19m-Brent Marks[17] ; 9. 12-Blane Heimbach[7] ; 10. 10H-Chad Kemenah[20] ; 11. 71m-Dave Blaney[14] ; 12. 94-Ryan Smith[18] ; 13. 5-Dylan Cisney[22] ; 14. O7-Doug Esh[12] ; 15. 7W-Logan Wagner[23] ; 16. 55-Mike Wagner[21] ; 17. 88-TJ Stutts[2] ; 18. 21M-Brian Montieth[11] ; 19. 70-Danny Holtgraver[16] ; 20. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss[25] ; 21. 57X-Andrew Palker[19] ; 22. 33-Curt Stroup[24] ; 23. 13-Tim Shaffer[4] ; 24. 25-Aaron Ott[15] ; 25. 27-Greg Hodnett[1]
Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (September 10, 2016):
1. Dale Blaney – 4836
2. Chad Kemenah – 4814
3. Sheldon Haudenschild – 4780
4. Cap Henry – 4510
5. Danny Holtgraver – 4452
6. Kraig Kinser – 4444
7. T.J. Michael – 4262
8. Caleb Helms – 4076
9. Lee Jacobs – 3936
10. Andrew Palker – 3864
Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions ??should visit their official online home at www.allstarsprint.com. Series updates and breaking news will be posted regularly on the official Twitter account of the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions: https://twitter.com/ASCoC. Find full text results from each and every event, as well as an up-to-date schedule, online at www.allstarsprint.com/schedule/.
About the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions:
All Star Enterprises, LLC, wholly owned by Tony Stewart, d/b/a the All Star Circuit of Champions, is a winged sprint car series. The All-Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series is one of the oldest traveling 410 sprint car organizations and is a staple of grassroots, open-wheel racing. Formed in 1970 by Bud Miller, the series has largely been considered the first ‘outlaw’ Sprint Car organization of the modern era. After a 10 year stint as owner of the All Stars, Miller passed control of the series to Bert Emick in 1980; a reign that would continue through 2002. Guy Webb then purchased the series from Emick in the summer of 2002 and served as the series President for the next 12 years. Motorsports entrepreneur Tony Stewart agreed to terms with Guy Webb to become the sole owner of the original winged sprint car tour in January of 2015.
