Hodnett Thumps WoO at Lincoln – Posse 1, Outlaws 0
ABBOTTSTOWN, Pa. (May 13, 2015) – Score one for the Posse, as Greg Hodnett dominated Wednesday night’s 35-lap “Gettysburg Clash” World of Outlaws main event atop the 3/8-mile Lincoln Speedway as the series made its first Central Pennsylvania appearance of 2015.
After establishing the night’s quick time of 12.817 seconds in qualifying, Hodnett won the Dash and then led all 35 laps of the feature aboard the Heffner Racing Lelands.com No. 27 Triple-X chassis for his 14th career World of Outlaws win.
“If someone would have told me I would win an Outlaw race at Lincoln, I would have said you were lying,” Hodnett said after his sixth overall win of the year, this one worth $10,000. “We’ve really struggled here.”
Any Lincoln struggles for Hodnett and crew weren’t apparent on Wednesday night.
After setting quick time, Hodnett went from fourth to second in short order in his heat to secure a starting position in the Dash. And when the “zero” pill was drawn to give him the pole of the dash, it was as much as over.
“Drawing the zero was huge,” Hodnett said. “Really huge.”
Hodnett gunned into the lead at the outset and waded through a flurry of cautions in the initial half dozen rounds before the final 29 circuits ran off in non-stop fashion.
Stevie Smith gave chase throughout, but was never able to mount any of kind of challenge.
“I was running my butt off trying to catch him out there and then I nearly got passed for second at the end,” Smith commented afterward.
It was a challenge from un-related Ryan Smith that Stevie successfully fended off for runner-up honors while Ryan Smith’s run to third gave the Posse a sweep of the podium.
After running fourth much of the way, Lucas Wolfe slipped to sixth in the final circuits after falling behind the battling duo of Brad Sweet and Shane Stewart, who filled out the top five.
The Vitals…
Series: World of Outlaws
Track: Lincoln Speedway (Abbottstown, PA)
Car Count: 47
Quick Time: The 11th car out, Greg Hodnett set the standard at 12.817 as the track dropped off throughout. Thirteen of those making the 16-car heat race invert were among the first 15 qualifiers to hit the track. Shane Stewart (18th out) and Brent Marks (21st out) made the invert as did Daryn Pittman, who somehow pulled out tenth-quick time as the 43rd car out.
Heat Winners (starting position in parentheses): Kerry Madsen (1), Shane Stewart (1), Brad Sweet (2), Brent Marks (1).
Heat Moments: Starting eighth after a sub-par qualifying lap, Donny Schatz got turned around in turn two a lap into the first heat with Tim Glatfelter and Niki Young tangling in the same turn on the restart. Glatfleter had words of advice for Young. J.J. Grasso went for a wild flip in turn three on the opening lap of the second heat. Uninjured, a delay was necessary to repair a post that was cut in half by Grasso’s mount.
“B” Main Winner (starting position in parentheses): Lance Dewease (3).
“B” Main Moments: Late returning from the work area after an early caution, Cody Darrah ignored black flag and brought out a final caution when he spun in four with three laps remaining. Cory Haas held the final transfer until the final caution but lost the battle for fourth in the final rounds to Freddie Rahmer.
“A” Main Cautions: Four
Two laps – Craig Dollansky and Tim Glatfelter tangle in turn three. Both retire to the pit area with Hass disappearing to the work area as well after taking a provisional along with Dollansky, Schatz and Kyle Moody.
Lap three restart – Lance Dewease, Joey Saldana and Brian Montieth get jammed up in turn one with the red flag necessary when it took a while to unhook the Dewease and Saldana machines.
Four laps – Montieth spins to a stop at the top of turn two.
Six laps – Kraig Kinser comes to a stop at the bottom of turn one. Kinser rejoined the field but pulled to the infield before the checkered flew.
“A” Main Hard Charger: Donny Schatz earned the honor by advancing ten positions from his 25th starting position to finish 15th.
Complete results are available at http://www.woosprint.com/results/2015-results/3224-5-13-2015-lincoln-speedway.