My shot of Lance Dewease and Terry McCarl May 31, 2003
(Bill W) May 22, 2019, Monroe, IA – Recently, it was fun to know the rivalry between central Pennsylvania and the World of Outlaws still exist. I remember my first trip to central PA and watching the local fans boo and even throw things at the WoO rigs pulling in. Times are a little different now thankfully, but it’s good to know the good old fashioned rivalry is still strong!
Someone brought up the term “Porch Sitters” again. It’s a reference to drivers from central PA that don’t leave their porch. Instead of traveling, they stay close to home. Frankly, “Porch Sitters” can be found anywhere. Maybe their budget or life goals don’t dictate hitting the highway every weekend. Honestly, “Porch Sitters” are the teams that keep your local weekly racing alive. In turn, that keeps the sport moving in the right direction…but I digress.
I almost choked last weekend when someone mentioned Lance Dewease in the category of “Porch Sitter.” For those that haven’t been around the sport long, maybe ignorance is bliss. Lance, owner Don Kreitz Jr. and mechanic Davey Brown Sr. have all seen their share of the highway…and all are duly inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa. Sure at times, they have stayed closer to home, but all have won on the road as well.
As luck would have it, I was putting some archives on OpenWheel101.com and came across Lance’s victory at Knoxville in 2003. Often, I can’t remember who won last week, but that’s why I write it down! This one, I remember well.
Lance was in town on May 31, as his car owner at the time, Al Hamilton, was being inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Al was a long-time suite holder at the Hall as well, and why not bring the car? Lance did not disappoint.
Coming out the 38th of 42 410’s that evening, Lance set second quick time. Finishing fourth in his heat, and with an invert of 12, he would start inside row six. Terry McCarl was in the midst of another track championship and started in row five. He spun on lap one and went to the tail. By the tenth lap, Lance was all over pole-sitter Kerry Madsen for the lead. A great battle ensued, with Lance grabbing the point on lap 16. Meanwhile, McCarl was putting on a show from the tail, and finished third. Lance would return in August to claim Terry’s Front Row Challenge in Oskaloosa as well.
That wasn’t even the best feature of the night! The 2nd Annual Knoxville Midget Nationals feature had five lead changes, with Chad DeSelle reigning supreme over 40 cars and defending champion Mike Hess, who now is on the non-“Porch Sitting Side” as competition director with the WoO.
Enjoy my report from that night below! Remember you can access previous results at OpenWheel101.com by using the Search page. Search years, winners, tracks, events and series.
Midwest Thunder Sprints Wet!
Two weeks have passed without a race for the Midwest Thunder Sprints. Rain in Knoxville and in Wisconsin wiped things out again last weekend. This weekend, events at Knoxville, Jacksonville and at 141 Speedway in Wisconsin are scheduled.
Remember, if you’d like to contribute/sponsor the Midwest Thunder Sprints presented by OpenWheel101.com, 100% of the proceeds go to help our drivers and your banner is free on the website! Just contact me at the address below! Recently, Matt Juhl received a $100 bonus from us at the Bobby Parker Jr. Memorial at I-80 Speedway, and we’re sponsoring laps for the Don Gillette Memorial for the ESS in Brewerton, New York on Friday, and the Earl Halaquist Memorial for the Patriot Sprint Tour at Fonda Speedway in New York on Saturday.
5/31/03
Knoxville Raceway
42 410s
40 Midgets
410s
Colin Northway met the turn one wall in hot laps and had to bring out a backup car. He would not make time trials and had to start his heat at the tail. Greg Jones also failed to get a qualifying lap in. Blake Feese (1st car out time) set the pace in qualifications over the stout field with a lap of 15.183 seconds. Lance Dewease (38th car out) was second quick, followed by Justin Henderson (4th), Brooke Tatnell (2nd), Terry McCarl (40th), Jaymie Moyle (16th), Travis Cram (9th), Kevin Frey (5th), Kim Mock (23rd), and Jeff Mitrisin (10th). Josh Higday timed in 12th quick with a lap at the end, despite missing his time spot with motor woes.
Heat one (started): 1. Don Droud Jr. 55 (2) 2. Aaron Berryhill 97 (1) 3. Mock 1m (4) 4. Feese 5 (6) 5. Derek Beckman 50D (3) / 6. Wayne Johnson 12x (8) 7. Clint Garner 47 (10) 8. Brent Antill 1 (7) 9. Jesse Giannetto D1 (9) 10. Frey 2K (5) DNS - Jones 35
Droud blistered the field. Frey exited immediately. Feese was in his maiden voyage in the Forbrook 5. Berryhill was making his first Knoxville start of the year. Mock was in on a night off for the IRA.
Heat two (started): 1. Larry Ball Jr. 1s (1) 2. Skip Jackson 21 (2) 3. Mitrisin 5J (4) 4. Dewease (6) 5. Cram (5) / 6. Northway 60 (10) 7. Eric Vanderploeg 57a (3) 8. Mike Moore 69 (9) 9. Mike Kertscher 80K (7) 10. Robert Bell 71 (8) DNS - Tim St. Arnold 7s
Northway and Moore came together on the frontstretch when the race went green. Ball led on the restart and held off a determined Jackson the last half of the race for the win. A caution came out at the halfway mark when Moore came to a stop. He restarted at the tail. Northway's bid for a transfer from the tail fell one spot short.
Heat three (started): 1. Ricky Logan 17G (1) 2. Chris Walraven 56 (2) 3. Kerry Madsen 82 (3) 4. Calvin Landis 70 (4) 5. Moyle 10 (5) / 6. Henderson R19 (6) 7. Mike Reinke 02 (9) 8. Eddie Leavitt Jr. 1A (7) 9. Adam West 20 (10) 10. Jeff Johnson 11J (8)
J. Johnson went up in smoke on lap five. Logan led the distance in this single file affair.
Heat four (started): 1. Lynton Jeffrey 4K (1) 2. McCarl 24 (5) 3. Tatnell 66 (6) 4. Brian Brown 6 (3) 5. Higday 24x (4) / 6. Jon Agan 4 (2) 7. Joe Beaver 53 (9) 8. Scotty Neitzel 2w (8) 9. Bobby Mincer 15 (7) 10. Tyler Houseman 50 (10)
Jeffrey led the distance but had to hold off McCarl who was getting the low side to work for him on a track that was opening up three grooves. Tatnell and Brown exchanged a series of slide jobs, before Tatnell took third for good with two laps remaining. Higday captured the final transfer spot on the last lap.
B main (started): 1. Henderson (1) 2. W. Johnson (9) 3. Antill (5) 4. Reinke (11) / 5. Kertscher (4) 6. Beaver (12) 7. Vanderploeg (3) 8. Mincer (6) 9. Garner (13) 10. Neitzel (8) 11. Leavitt (7) 12. Bell (14) 13. West (15) 14. Houseman (16) 15. Agan (2) 16. Moore (10) DNS - Frey, St. Arnold, J. Johnson, Giannetto, Northway, Jones
Moore spun and tipped over in the warm up period. He restarted at the tail, but his damaged wing disintegrated and he bowed out on lap six. Agan also retired early. Henderson was on a rail, while W. Johnson and Reinke were really on the charge to get into transfer spots. Reinke benefited from a lap 10 yellow for a spun Houseman.
A main (started): 1. Dewease (11) 2. Madsen (1) 3. McCarl (9) 4. Mitrisin (5) 5. Landis (4) 6. Jackson (15) 7. Cram (7) 8. Feese (12) 9. Brown (2) 10. Henderson (21) 11. Moyle (8) 12. Mock (6) 13. Antill (23) 14. Higday (3) 15. Droud (14) 16. W. Johnson (22) 17. Logan (18) 18. Jeffrey (17) 19. Berryhill (20) 20. Walraven (16) 21. Beckman (13) 22. Ball (19) 23. Reinke (24) 24. Tatnell (10)
Great feature race. McCarl spun out on lap one, sending him to restart on the tail. Madsen jumped out to an early lead, until Tatnell stopped with problems on the backstretch. He was towed in. The restart saw Madsen leading a smoking Brown, Landis, Mitrisin and a charging Dewease. On lap 16, Dewease worked his way around Madsen after trying so for six laps. Meanwhile, McCarl had the fastest car on the speedway and had moved from the tail to third. That is the way they would finish. Technically, Henderson was the hard-charger finishing eleven spots ahead of his starting position.
Midgets
B main 1 (started): 1. Brandon Waelti 3 (2) 2. Kerry Madsen 57 (10) / 3. Nick Lundgreen 40 (9) 4. Kevin Doty 75 (6) 5. Donnie Lehmann 31 (3) 6. Ron Kuhn 10K (1) 7. Randy Fiscus 6 (4) 8. David Gough 82 (5) 9. Todd Beach 15B (7) 10. Andy Mason 47 (8)
Mason flipped on lap two. He was uninjured. Waelti led the distance, but Madsen put on a show, racing from scratch to second and the final transfer. Lundgreen also put on a charge.
B main 2 (started): 1. Aaron Fike 95 (1) 2. Ryan Durst 51x (5) / 3. AJ Felker 37 (2) 4. Rick Mueller 22 (4) 5. Paul Farrell 21x (9) 6. Marc Dailey 2m (6) 7. Jim Doyle 79 (3) 8. Tim Siner 73 (7) 9. Dave Camfield Sr. 78 (8) 10. Brian Terry 4 (10)
Terry took a nasty ride on lap two, flipping four or five times. He was taken in to the hospital, but was conscious and moving. Fike wasted the field, but there was great three-wide action back through the field. Camfield Sr. exited early.
Dash (started): 1. Mike Hess 51 (2) 2. Scott Hatton 15 (3) 3. Davey Ray 51D (5) 4. Aaron Fike 7 (6) 5. Craig Carey 30 (7) 6. AJ Fike 69 (1) 7. Ray Bull 22m (8) 8. Damion Gardner 11G (4) 9. Boyd Calvert 23 (10) 10. Brian Gerster 94 (9)
Hess set his second track record in as many nights and earned the pole for the feature in the process. Gerster went up in smoke on the white flag lap of the six lapper. He would not make the call for the feature.
A main (started): 1. Chad DeSelle 2 (13) 2. A. Fiscus (4) 3. Hess (1) 4. Aaron Fike (20) 5. Gardner (8) 6. Carey (5) 7. Critter Malone 7c (18) 8. Lundgreen (30) 9. Quinn McCabe 20 (15) 10. Waelti (21) 11. Brad Kuhn 99 (11) 12. Durst (22) 13. Doty (28) 14. Dailey (25) 15. Ray (3) 16. AJ Fike (6) 17. Lehmann (27) 18. Dave Camfield Jr. 86 (14) 19. Sarah McCune 8 (10) 20. Beach (26) 21. Gough (24) 22. Calvert (9) 23. Don Droud Jr. (17) 24. Bull (7) 25. Steve Knepper 55 (12) 26. Rik Forbes 95x (19) 27. Madsen (23) 28. Hatton (2) 29. Doyle (29) DNS - Rich Camfield 87 (16), Gerster
Truly the feature of the year so far at Knoxville. Hess jumped out to the early lead riding the cushion. Lap nine saw A. Fiscus get under Hess using the low side. The 25 lapper slowed with a lap 11 caution for a stopped Doyle, who was done. The restart saw A. Fiscus leading Hess, Bull, Hatton and DeSelle. Droud proceeded to make a charge from his lap nine starting spot at this time using the cushion, while most were hugging the low side. Droud picked the leaders off one at a time and took command on lap 20. A. Fiscus came back under Droud to lead a lap later. Droud would bring out the second caution when his charge was ended for good with a halt on the front straightaway. The last caution came after the restart when Ray took out Bull's front end trying to get by. Ray would also suffer problems and fade late. DeSelle took the high side to get by Hess and then took the lead around A. Fiscus as the white flag was unfurled earning $4000. Nine drivers finished at least ten spots ahead of where they started. Lundgreen advanced 22 positions.
Bill Wright
Bill W Media
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
Website: www.OpenWheel101.com