RAHMER CLASS OF THE FIELD AT LINCOLN

FREDDIE RAHMER CLASS OF THE FIELD IN WINNING HIS FIRST 410 SPRINT FEATURE OF THE SEASON AT LINCOLN SPEEDWAY;

Steve Wilbur tops field in 358 sprint action while Korey Sites rolls to street stock win

Story By: Milly Meyer/Lincoln Speedway

Photos By: George Steigerwalt/RacersGuide.com

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA 4/14/2018 – Freddie Rahmer was the class of the field Saturday night as he chased down 2-time 2018 winner Brian Montieth and held off the six-time defending 2017 track champ en route to his first win of 2018 in the 25-lap 410 sprint feature at the Fabulous Lincoln Speedway Saturday night.

“I’ll tell ya, this here really builds a lot of confidence to get this (win) out of the way,” said Rahmer on his first win of 2018 in victory lane. “I haven’t been doing a good job, and we’ve been sneaking in a few good runs”

“I was really good at the beginning of the race and I was good down here (turns 1 and 2),” said Rahmer on holding off Montieth in the closing laps. “But I knew down here (turns 3 and 4) I wasn’t getting through 3 so good so I knew Brian (Montieth) was going to be there…we still won so it don’t matter!”

Polesitter Dan Shetler grabbed the lead at the drop of the green with outside front row starter Montieth right behind. Then just as they got to lapped traffic on the ninth lap Montieth made his move to get around Shetler for the lead.

But right behind him was seventh-starting Freddie Rahmer who was quickly moving to the front and joined Montieth in getting around Shetler the same lap to move into second.

It was clear Rahmer was not content to follow Montieth. He drove around the Phoenixville racer the very next lap and had the lead with only nine laps in the books.

A new qualifying format this season is in effect that has featuring starting positions determined directly from the finish of their respective heat races. The “heads-up” feature line up put Montieth on the front row (2nd) after winning the second heat while Rahmer was relegated to inside the fourth row (7th) due to his second place finish in the first heat.

“With this new (qualifying) format, one position in a heat race could mean the difference between winning or running fifth,” said Rahmer on having to chase down Montieth in the feature. “With me starting seventh, and (Montieth) starting second I wasn’t going to give up…we had a good race car with a great start and it went nice.”

After a less than stellar start to the 2018 racing season, Rahmer was strong and was in the lead. But he now had to hold off Montieth for 16 laps.

It was quickly apparent that Rahmer had found his stride and was slowly pulling away in lapped traffic. But it wasn’t going to be that easy for Rahmer.

A TJ DeHaven flip in the first and second turns of the 15th lap put Montieth and fifth-starting Cory Haas on Rahmer’s bumper for the restart with a clear track ahead.

Rahmer weathered the initial challenges on the restart, only to have the red flag wave again, this time on the 18th lap for Dwayne Gutshall who flipped in turn 2. Now two-time track champ Alan Krimes joined the battle as he was charging up to the front from his eighth starting position and was in fourth place behind Montieth and Haas.

But Rahmer didn’t miss a beat on the restart and again pulled away. An ensuing battle between Montieth, Haas, and Krimes for 2nd through fourth place over the final five laps allowed Rahmer some breathing room as the laps wound down.

With two laps to go Montieth was clear of that battle and was able to focus on the leader. Montieth closed the gap with two laps to go and on the final lap was close enough heading up the backstretch to make a final dive to the inside of the final turns to the checkered.

But Montieth, the one they call “The Edge”, was a little dull this night as Rahmer calmly drove off the fourth turn strong to take the checkered .84-seconds ahead for his first 2018 Lincoln win of the season.

“He (Freddie) did really good,” said his father Fred in victory lane. “To beat Brian here…he’s a really good racer.

“We’ll just keep plugging away. This is going to be good for Freddy’s confidence. He’s been dragging his butt around a little bit so this will definitely help.”

Montieth settled for second, with Krimes, Haas, and fifth-starting Tyler Ross finishing third through fifth respectively.

“We really appreciate all Lincoln does and we wanted to support them tonight, said the winner. “I really want to thank all those that came out to watch us here and we’re looking forward to the next one (race).”

Completing the top-10 were Jim Siegel (started 10th), Kyle Moody (started 6th), Glenndon Forsythe (started 14th), Chad Trout (started 13th), and Brandon Rahmer (started 15th).

And then later his father added, “I wanted to dedicate this win to “Ozzy”. He was with Manheim Auto Auction for a lot of years and he just passed away. He was a great guy and will definitely be missed.”

“Heats for the 24 410 Sprinters on hand were won by Shetler, Montieth, and Cole Young.

Polesitter Steve Wilbur withstood a race-long challenge from Chase Dietz to pick up his first win of the year in the 20-lap 358 sprint feature.

Wilbur grabbed the lead at the outset with third-starting Ashley Cappetta and polesitter Kenny Kuhn in tow.

Seventh-starting Dietz was methodically working his way to the front and passed fifth-starting Trey Hivner for third place on the sixth lap. Dietz finally got by a strong Cappetta car for second place on the eighth lap and set his sights on race-long leader Wilbur.

Four separate cautions over the 2nd half of the race gave Dietz a chance to pass Wilbur for the lead, but, Wilbur maintained his line on each restart and weathered the storm to take the checkered .66-seconds ahead of Dietz for his second career win at Lincoln Speedway.

Cappetta settled for a hard-fought third place finish, with ninth-starting Jeff Halligan fourth, and eighth-starting Steven Drevicki fifth.

Completing the top-10 were sixth-starting Troy Wagaman, Jr., outside front row starter Kenny Kuhn, fourth-starting Brie Hershey, 10th-starting Steve Owings, and 13th-starting Chris Arnold.

Heats for the 26 358 Sprinters on hand were won by Owings, Chase Dietz, and Tracey, with Alyson Dietz winning the consolation.

Fourth-starting Korey Sites was in a league of his own in the 20-lap street stock feature as he drove from his fourth-starting spot to chase down polesitter Brian Walls by the second lap and made his race-winning pass on the fourth lap.

Sites comfortably led the rest of the way to take the checkered 3 seconds ahead of sixth-starting Randy Zechman for the win.

Ryan Smith settled for third, Josh Bloom fourth, Joey Hoffer fifth, Chad Smith sixth, Brad Bingaman seventh, hard-charger Wayne Dutterer eighth, and Bobby Meixsell ninth.

Heats for the 21 Street Stocks on hand were won by Jimmy Combs, Adams, Bobby Meixsell.

Lincoln Speedway is back in action next Saturday night, April 21st at 7 PM, for McSHERRYSTOWN MOOSE LODGE #720 NIGHT on AUTO RACING CLUB OF HAGERSTOWN (ARCH) NIGHT with the 410 Sprint and 358 Sprint regulars being joined by the 358 Late Models. Gates will open at 5 PM, with hot laps getting underway at 6:30 PM, and heats at 7 PM.

To get all the latest news, results, schedule changes and rule changes, visit Lincoln Speedway’s website at http://www.lincolnspeedway.com to stay up-to-date on all the action or pending weather conditions at Central Pennsylvania’s “Premier” Saturday night race track – The Fabulous Lincoln Speedway.

RACE RESULTS

Saturday, April 14, 2018

LINCOLN SPEEDWAY

Abbottstown, PA

LAWRENCE CHEVROLET 410 SPRINTS

410 Sprint Feature Finish (25 Laps) – 1. 51-Freddie Rahmer ($3,500); 2. 21-Brian Montieth; 3. 87-Alan Krimes; 4. 39-Cory Haas; 5. 5-Tyler Ross; 6. 59-Jim Siegel; 7. 99M-Kyle Moody; 8. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe; 9. 1X-Chad Trout; 10. 88-Brandon Rahmer; 11. 69-Tim Glatfelter; 12. 7K-Dan Shetler; 13. 21T-Scott Fisher; 14. 17N-Cole Young; 15. 73B-Brett Michalski; 16. 22T-Matt Boland; 17. 19-Landon Myers; 18. 75-Nicole Bower; 19. 6K-Chris Knopp; 20. 10-Zach Eucalano; 21. 3-Chris Priar (DNF); 22. 74-Dwayne Gutshall (DNF); 23. 74D-TJ DeHaven (DNF); DNS – 55-Gary Kriess. No Time

Lap Leaders – Dan Shetler (1-8), Freddie Rahmer (9-25)

410 Sprint Heat One Finish (10 laps) – 1. 7K-Dan Shetler; 2. 5-Tyler Ross; 51-Freddie Rahmer; 4. 59-Jim Siegel; 5. 1X-Chad Trout; 6. 22T-Matt Boland; 7. 74D-TJ DeHaven (DNF). No Time

410 Sprint Heat Two Finish (10 laps) – 1. 21-Brian Montieth; 2. 39-Cory Haas; 3. 87-Alan Krimes; 4. 73B-Brett Michalski; 5. 2W-Glenndon Forsythe; 6. 21T-Scott Fisher; 7. 6K-Chris Knopp; 8. 10-Zach Eucalano. No Time

410 Sprint Heat Three Finish (10 laps) – 1. 17-Cole Young; 2. 99M-Kyle Moody; 3. 69-Tim Glatfelter; 4. 19-Landon Myers; 5. 88-Brandon Rahmer; 6. 74-Dwayne Gutshall; 7. 75-Nicole Bower; 8. 3-Chris Priar (DNF). No Time

KEIZER ALUMINUM WHEELS 358 SPRINTS

358 Sprint Feature Finish (20 Laps) – 1. 59-Steve Wilbur; 2. 4R-Chase Dietz; 3. 89-Ashley Cappetta; 4. 66-Jeff Halligan; 5. 19S-Steven Drevicki; 6. 19-Troy Wagaman, Jr.; 7. 8-Kenny Kuhn; 8. 97-Brie Hershey; 9. 35-Steve Owings; 10. 23-Chris Arnold; 11. 12-Brent Shearer; 12. 7-Trey Hivner; 13. 4-Dwight Leppo; 14. 66A-Cody Fletcher; 15. 9-Dalton Dietrich; 16. 28-Matt Findley; 17. 44-Dylan Norris; 18. 27-Dave Brown; 19. 11-Greg Plank; 20. 5A-Zachary Allman; 21. 27G-Jake Galloway (DNF); 22. 50-Alyson Dietz (DNF); 23. 14T-Tyler Walton (DNF); 24. 21-C.J. Tracy (DNF). No Time.

Lap Leaders – Steve Wilbur (1-20)

358 Sprint Heat One Finish (10 laps/6 to qualify) – 1. 35-Steve Owings; 2. 7-Trey Hivner; 3. 59-Steve Wilbur; 4. 89-Ashley Cappetta; 5. 23-Chris Arnold; 6. 66-Cody Fletcher; 7. 44-Dylan Norris; 8. 5A-Zachary Allman; 9. 38-Bret Strickler. Time – 2:32.72

358 Sprint Heat Two Finish (10 laps/6 to qualify) – 1. 4R-Chase Dietz; 2. 66-Jeff Halligan; 3. 12-Brett Shearer; 4. 8-Kenny Kuhn; 5. 4-Dwight Leppo; 6. 9-Dalton Dietrich; 7. 50-Alyson Dietz; 8. 27-Jay Galloway (DNF); DNS – 15-Andrew Frye. No Time

358 Sprint Heat Three Finish (10 laps/6 to qualify) – 1. 21-CJ Tracey; 2. 97-Brie Hershey; 3. 19-Troy Wagaman, Jr.; 4. 19S-Steven Drevicki; 5. 27-Dave Brown; 6. 14T-Tyler Walton; 7. 28-Matt Findley; 8. 11-Greg Plank (DNF). No Time

358 Sprint Consolation Finish (10 laps/6 to qualify) – 1. 50-Alyson Dietz; 2. 44-Dylan Norris; 3. 28-Matt Findley; 4. 5A-Zachary Allman; 5. 27-Jay Galloway; 6. 11-Greg Plank; 7. 38-Brett Strickler (DNF); 8. 15-Andrew Frye (DNF). No Time

STREET STOCKS:

Street Stock Feature (20 Laps) – 1. 21K-Kory Sites; 2. 2-Randy Zechman; 3. 59-Ryan Smith; 4. 00-Josh Bloom; 5. 21-Joey Hoffer; 6. 99-Chad Smith; 7. 32-Brad Bingaman; 8. 39-Wayne Dutterer; 9. 19M-Bobby Meixsell; 10. 60-Aaron Beard (DNF); 11. 83-Mikey Guise (DNF); 12. 9-Matt Adams (DNF); 13. 54-Jimmy Combs (DNF); 14. 2W-Brian Walls (DNF); 15. 81F-Gary Calimer, Jr. (DNF); 16. 7S-Kevin Siegler (DNF); 17. 189-Mark Hutchinson (DNF); 18. 16-Ryan Rost (DNF); 19. 26-Shawn Liddick (DNF); 20. 22-Sa Leonard (DNF); 21. 88-Jim Rost, Jr. (DNF); DNS – 17-Jim Rost, Sr. No Time

Lap Leaders – Brian Walls (1-3), Kory Sites (4-20)

Street Stock Heat One Finish (8 laps) – 1. 54-Jimmy Combs; 2. 21K-Kory Sites; 3. 81F-Gary Calimer, Jr.; 4. 60-Aaron Beard; 5. 32-Brad Bingaman; 6. 7S-Kevin Siegler; 7. 22-Sam Leonard; 8. 16-Ryan Rost. Time – 2:37.37

Street Stock Heat Two Finish (8 laps) – 1. 9-Matt Adams; 2. 2W-Brian Walls; 3. 26-Shawn Liddick; 4. 59-Ryan Smith; 5. 21-Joey Hoffer; 6. 88-Jim Rost, Jr. (DNF); 7. 91-Dalton Frye (DNF); 8. 189-Mark Hutchison (DNF). No Time

Street Stock Heat Three Finish (8 laps) – 1. 19M-Bobby Meixsell; 2. 2-Randy Zechman; 3. 83-Mikey Guise; 4. 00-Josh Bloom; 5. 99-Chad Smith; 6. 39-Wayne Dutterer; 7. 17-Jim Rost, Sr. (DNF). No Time