Dewease Sets the Pace in Port Opener
PORT ROYAL, Pa. (March 31, 2018) – Lance Dewease of Fayetteville scored the 2018 season opener for 410 sprint cars at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday night, taking the lead from Jason Shultz to record the $4,000 victory which was the 107th of his career at the Juniata County oval.
Shultz and Dewease earned the front row for the 25-lap sprint car main with the first start aborted when Mark Smith spun in the third turn, collecting Jared Esh and Vince Snyder.
Dewease had gotten the upper hand on that initial start but the next try saw Shultz keep his rear wheels underneath his mount and take the lead over Dewease.
Shultz could only outlast Dewease’s 69K for two laps however before Dewease drove to his inside in the first and second turns to take control on the third lap.
Meanwhile, sixth starter Dylan Cisney was blasting around the speedway and drove into third on the fifth tour as Dewease hit traffic with seven away.
Cisney had driven down Shultz and Dewease to be in a challenging position when the caution flag unfurled with 11 laps completed.
However after the restart Cisney failed to be able to mount a bid and instead Dewease went uncontested to the victory, which was his third career Port Royal opening day checkers.
Finishing second, 2.5 seconds behind was Shultz with Mike Wagner getting third followed by Greg Hodnett and Cisney who faded later in the event.
Sixth through 10th went to Brock Zearfoss, Carl Bowser, Dave Blaney, Steve Buckwalter and Ryan Taylor.
Heats for the 27 sprint cars went to Cisney, Hodnett and Bowser with TJ Stutts taking the consolation.
Feature Finishes
3/31/18
410 sprints, 25 laps: 1. Lance Dewease, 2. Jason Shultz, 3. Mike Wagner, 4. Greg Hodnett, 5. Dylan Cisney, 6. Brock Zearfoss, 7. Carl Bowser, 8. Dave Blaney, 9. Steve Buckwalter, 10. Ryan Taylor, 11. Aaron Ott, 12. Logan Wagner, 13. AJ Flick, 14. Caleb Helms, 15. Coleman Gulick, 16. Max McGhee, 17. John Garvin, 18. Kody Lehman, 19. Vince Snyder, 20. Jared Esh, 21. Joe Kata, 22. TJ Stutts, 23. Rick Lafferty, 24. Mark Smith
DNQ: Shamus O’Donnell, Chris Priar, Kyle Reinhardt
