Lance Dewease outduels Freddie Rahmer for Hinnershitz Memorial title at Williams Grove Speedway

MECHANICSBURG, PA (April 28, 2017) - The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions launched their first Central Pennsylvania swing of the 2017 season in fantastic fashion on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway, putting on a show for “Pennsylvania Posse” fans in the form of a Lance Dewease and Freddie Rahmer duel for the 2017 Tommy Hinnershitz Memorial worth $5,000.

Despite periods of pressure from Rahmer, as well as a near-disastrous run-in with traffic, Dewease, pilot of the Don Kreitz-owned/Schannauer Plumbing & Heating/RVWorkshop.com/No. 69K, held on to claim the 30-lap program; his sixth Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions victory at Williams Grove Speedway and the 32nd Series win of his storied career. Freddie Rahmer crossed under the final checkers second in the running order, followed by Tim Shaffer, Aaron Ott and Danny Dietrich.

“We are really happy with this,” Lance Dewease explained in victory lane. “Davey [Brown] and Don [Kreitz] work really hard every week. They worked all winter to try and get us to qualify a little bit better. This car is a little different than what we had last year, so it has a little bit of a different feel. This is only our third race of the year. We’re not where we need to be yet, but we are getting close.”

Lance Dewease started fourth on the main event grid, driving to second by the completion of lap one, eventually making his first bid for the top spot on lap five. The Fayetteville, Pennsylvania, native took command officially on lap six, driving by the “Steel City Outlaw” Tim Shaffer with a move on the bottom of the speedway.

Despite Dewease’s initial ability to drive away from the rest of the field, Freddie Rahmer, who followed Lance Dewease around Tim Shaffer to take the runner-up position on lap 10, never lost sight of the familiar No. 69K. The pair were only separated by .6 seconds when the first and only caution appeared on lap 17.

Green flag conditions soon resumed with Dewease extending a slight advantage once again, stretching to a near-two second lead even after catching the back of the running order. Using traffic to his advantage, Freddie Rahmer was able to shrink Dewease’s command to less than a second, ultimately driving to the back bumper of the No. 69K by lap 28.  

With traffic an obvious obstacle for Dewease when entering turn one on the final circuit, Rahmer attempted to drive around the Central Pennsylvania veteran, as well as the lapped car of Anthony Macri. All three nearly made contact, with Dewease barely sneaking beyond Macri on the bottom of the speedway. Dewease’s bold move sealed the deal, driving on to score his first Arctic Cat All Star victory of the 2017 season by .814 seconds.

“Freddie [Rahmer] hauled it in there pretty hard like he’s supposed to,” Dewease explained. “He’s not here to run second. Macri slipped up just a little and I was able to jam it in there. Fortunately, I was able to get by. That allowed us to hold off Freddie for the last lap. He’s been good all night. He’s turning into a pretty good racer.”  

“This is their race track, for sure,” Freddie Rahmer said about Lance Dewease and his team. “I was just trying to go where Lance wasn’t. I think if he wouldn’t have snuck by Macri, we may have had enough to beat him. We were right there with him, so I’m pretty happy about that.”

Tony Stewart’s Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their first Central Pennsylvania swing of 2017 with a trip to the Port Royal Speedway “Speed Palace” on Saturday evening, April 29. Honoring the facility’s all-time winningest competitor, the Keith Kauffman Classic will feature a complete Arctic Cat All Star program, going 30 laps in distance and awarding a $5,000 top prize. Dale Blaney is the defending Keith Kauffman Classic winner, holding off eventual Arctic Cat All Star champion Chad Kemenah and Greg Hodnett for the four-figure payday.

The season’s first Arctic Cat All Star swing through Central Pennsylvania will come to a close on Sunday evening, April 30, with the Roy Morral Tribute at Bedford Speedway in Bedford.

For those who can not attend Port Royal Speedway, fans are invited to tune-in at www.speedshifttv.com. A live pay-per-view broadcast featuring the entire Keith Kauffman Classic program will be available for purchase.

Port Royal Speedway will open pit gates at 2:00pm on Saturday, April 29. A mandatory drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:30pm, followed by hot laps at 6:10. Those seeking additional news and notes should visit Port Royal Speedway live on the Web at www.portroyalspeedway.com.  

Contingency Awards/Results: Williams Grove Speedway - Friday, April 28, 2017:
Tommy Hinnershitz Memorial
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 45
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Lance Dewease -  16.354 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Tim Shaffer - 16.692 seconds (3rd Quick)
Ford Performance Heat #1: Freddie Rahmer
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Brian Montieth
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Lucas Wolfe
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Tony Stewart
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts C-Main: Rodney Westhafer
JE Pistons Dash #1: Tim Shaffer
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Freddie Rahmer
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Steve Buckwalter
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Tim Shaffer (3rd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Matt Campbell (+4)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Danny Dietrich
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Tony Stewart
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Caleb Armstrong (16th)
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying -
1. 69K-Lance Dewease, 16.446; 2. 51R-Freddie Rahmer, 16.681; 3. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 16.692; 4. 94-Ryan Smith, 16.819; 5. 27-Greg Hodnett, 16.859; 6. O7-Doug Esh, 16.896; 7. 38-Steve Buckwalter, 16.958; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 17.081; 9. 98-Carl Bowser, 17.083; 10. 8M-TJ Michael, 17.15; 11. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 17.261; 12. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 17.424

Group (B)
1. 11-TJ Stutts, 16.866; 2. 25-Aaron Ott, 16.887; 3. 1W-Eric Tomecek, 16.984; 4. 21-Brian Montieth, 17.097; 5. 88-Brandon Rahmer, 17.162; 6. 17-Caleb Helms, 17.167; 7. 95-Hunter Mackison, 17.272; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 17.506; 9. 9-Ryan Linder, 17.859; 10. 13-Brandon Matus, 17.956; 11. 33-Brent Matus, 18.487

Group (C)
1. 44S-Trey Starks, 16.757; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich, 16.93; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 16.967; 4. 24-Lucas Wolfe, 16.993; 5. M1-Mark Smith, 17.261; 6. 47K-Kody Lehman, 17.332; 7. 87-Alan Krimes, 17.359; 8. 75-Frankie Herr, 17.413; 9. 44W-Rodney Westhafer, 17.521; 10. 49H-Bradley Howard, 17.746; 11. 12w-Troy Fraker, 18.125

Group (D)
1. 1Z-Dale Blaney, 16.955; 2. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 16.971; 3. 39-Cory Haas, 17.029; 4. 14-Tony Stewart, 17.105; 5. OO-Dane Lorenc, 17.282; 6. 35-Tyler Esh, 17.313; 7. 39M-Anthony Macri, 17.313; 8. 16-Matt Campbell, 17.362; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell, 17.861; 10. 51-John Garvin, 18.115; 11. C4-Jim Shuster, 18.117

Heat #1 - (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 51R-Freddie Rahmer [3]; 2. 49X-Tim Shaffer [2]; 3. 69K-Lance Dewease [4]; 4. 94-Ryan Smith [1]; 5. O7-Doug Esh [6]; 6. 27-Greg Hodnett [5]; 7. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [8]; 8. 38-Steve Buckwalter [7]; 9. 8M-TJ Michael [10]; 10. 98-Carl Bowser [9]; 11. 1080-Jordan Mackison [11]; 12. 33M-Max Stambaugh [12]

Heat #2 - (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 21-Brian Montieth [1]; 2. 25-Aaron Ott [3]; 3. 11-TJ Stutts [4]; 4. 88-Brandon Rahmer [5]; 5. 95-Hunter Mackison [7]; 6. 17-Caleb Helms [6]; 7. 13-Brandon Matus [10]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [11]; 9. 1W-Eric Tomecek [2]; 10. 9-Ryan Linder [9]; 11. 22-Brandon Spithaler [8]

Heat #3 - (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 24-Lucas Wolfe [1]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 3. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [2]; 4. 44S-Trey Starks [4]; 5. M1-Mark Smith [5]; 6. 87-Alan Krimes [7]; 7. 47K-Kody Lehman [6]; 8. 75-Frankie Herr [8]; 9. 12W-Troy Fraker [11]; 10. 49H-Bradley Howard [10]; 11. 44W-Rodney Westhafer [9]

Heat #4 - (8 Laps) - Top 5 Transfer
1. 14-Tony Stewart [1]; 2. 39-Cory Haas [2]; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah [3]; 4. 1Z-Dale Blaney [4]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri [6]; 6. 35-Tyler Esh [7]; 7. 16-Matt Campbell [8]; 8. 51-John Garvin [10]; 9. C4-Jim Shuster [11]; 10. 9C-Roger Campbell [9]; 11. OO-Dane Lorenc [5]

Dash #1 - (4 Laps)
1. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 25-Aaron Ott [2]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich [3]; 4. 21-Brian Montieth [4]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [5]

Dash #2 - (4 Laps)
1. 51R-Freddie Rahmer [2]; 2. 69K-Lance Dewease [3]; 3. 44S-Trey Starks [1]; 4. 24-Lucas Wolfe [4]; 5. 39-Cory Haas [5]

C-Main (10 Laps) - Top 2 Transfer
1. 44W-Rodney Westhafer [2]; 2. 22-Brandon Spithaler [1]; 3. 13-Brandon Matus [6]; 4. 9C-Roger Campbell [5]; 5. C4-Jim Shuster [8]; 6. 51-John Garvin [7]; 7. 12W-Troy Fraker [9]; 8. 33-Brent Matus [10]; 9. 49H-Bradley Howard [3]; 10. 9-Ryan Linder [4]; 11. 1W-Eric Tomecek [11]

B-Main (12 Laps) - Top 4 Transfer
1. 38-Steve Buckwalter [2]; 2. 27-Greg Hodnett [1]; 3. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [3]; 4. 87-Alan Krimes [11]; 5. 17-Caleb Helms [6]; 6. 98-Carl Bowser [4]; 7. 47K-Kody Lehman [10]; 8. 16-Matt Campbell [12]; 9. 8M-TJ Michael [5]; 10. 35-Tyler Esh [9]; 11. 44W-Rodney Westhafer [15]; 12. 75-Frankie Herr [13]; 13. 1080-Jordan Mackison [7]; 14. 22-Brandon Spithaler [16]; 15. OO-Dane Lorenc [8]; 16. 33M-Max Stambaugh [14]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease [4]; 2. 51R-Freddie Rahmer [2]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [1]; 4. 25-Aaron Ott [3]; 5. 48-Danny Dietrich [5]; 6. 44S-Trey Starks [6]; 7. 21-Brian Montieth [7]; 8. 24-Lucas Wolfe [8]; 9. 11-TJ Stutts [11]; 10. 14-Tony Stewart [9]; 11. 39-Cory Haas [10]; 12. 94-Ryan Smith [14]; 13. 1Z-Dale Blaney [15]; 14. O7-Doug Esh [17]; 15. 88-Brandon Rahmer [16]; 16. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [12]; 17. 10H-Chad Kemenah [13]; 18. M1-Mark Smith [18]; 19. 87-Alan Krimes [24]; 20. 27-Greg Hodnett [22]; 21. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [23]; 22. 39M-Anthony Macri [20]; 23. 16-Matt Campbell [27]; 24. 8M-TJ Michael [25]; 25. 17-Caleb Helms [26]; 26. 38-Steve Buckwalter [21]; 27. 95-Hunter Mackison [19] Lap Leaders: Tim Shaffer [1-5]; Lance Dewease [6-30]

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (April 28, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah: 1230
2. Caleb Armstrong: 1148
3. Caleb Helms: 1074
4. Ryan Smith: 1036
5. Tim Shaffer: 986
6. T.J. Michael: 936
7. Max Stambaugh: 924
8. Brandon Matus: 866
9. Danny Dietrich: 842
10. Brent Matus: 834

Additional Arctic Cat All Star Series Info:
Those seeking additional information regarding the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions should visit its 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.