ALLSTAR Sprints: Williams Grove Results
9 May 1999
By Bill MeyerMECHANICSBURG, PA - Practice makes perfect. Fred Rahmer used his practice time at Williams Grove a few weeks ago to his advantage and turned it into a romp Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway in winning the 30-lap All Star Circuit of Champions feature.
Rahmer, who started sixth, tracked-down race-long leader Lance Dewease and grabbed the lead from the Waynesboro speedster on the 13th lap and then pulled away the rest of the way to record his first win of the year at Williams Grove Speedway. The convincing 7.17 second win was also a milestone win for his car-owner Al Hamilton as it marked his 300th career sprint car win.
"Thats the best Ive ever felt here," said Rahmer exiting his Al Hamilton-owned Chevrolet-powered Manheim Auto Auction No.77 sprinter in victory lane. "It could have rained-out right after time trials because Im a no-time-trialing-dog and I quick-timed...that made me happy."
"We were struggling the beginning of this year and people said I got hurt and now Im wounded," Rahmer added. "If the car dont work nobody can drive it."
"When it worked the way it did tonight you could put the guy that finished last in it and he could have drove this car to the win."
After a failed start to the feature when Donnie Kreitz Jr. spun-out in the first turn, pole sitter Dewease grabbed the lead over outside front row starter Greg Hodnett, P.J. Chesson, James Chesson and Rahmer.
A five-car melee in the third and fourth turns saw P.J. Chesson and Dean Jacobs flip while collecting Brian Paulus, Kasey Kahne and Brad Furr. After that it was green-flag racing to the end with Dewease continuing to pace the field while Rahmer was quickly picking his way to the front. Rahmer moved around James Chesson on the second lap restart for third, and then worked his way past Hodnett for second place on the fourth lap.
From there Rahmer steadily working away at Deweases 1.25 second lead and was on the leaders bumper as they headed into lapped traffic on the 11th lap, setting up his race-winning low-side move in the third and fourth turns of the 13th lap.
Rahmer ran unchallenged the rest of the way to score his sixth win overall in 1999, and his 33rd career win at the historic half-mile. Rahmers success, was his time trialing by setting quick-time on the night over the 49-car strong field. And he was quick to credit his car owner for his success.
"When youve got a car-owner like (Hamilton), hes won 300 races for one reason, he does what it takes to win," said Rahmer on his time trialing secret. "Everybody else tries too, but he goes out and does it."
"We come up (and tested here at Williams Grove) and I told him how fast I thought it would go and thats exactly how fast it went. And by the end of the night I was six-tenths quicker. So I guess all them Winston Cup guys dont test for nothing...and it paid off."
The best race was for second place in the closing laps with James Chesson making a last turn, last lap pass of Dewease for second place. Dewease settled for second, and was followed by Hodnett and Joey Saldana. Completing the top ten were Keith Kauffman, Cris Eash, Dale Blaney aboard the Tim Hughes 94, Kenny Jacobs and Dave Ely. The win, worth $5,000, also marked Rahmers 209th career sprint car win. Heats were won by Hodnett, Eash, Ely and Todd Shaffer. Mike Wagner won the Georgia Marketing & Promotions C-Main while James Chesson won the United Expressline B-Main. Paul McMahan won the Commercial Truck & Trailer Dash.
Time Trials - 1. Fred Rahmer, 77, 17.404; 2. Joey Saldana, 17, 17.590; 3. P.J. Chesson, 76, 17.595; 4. Jamie Chesson, 22, 17.607; 5. Greg Hodnett, 12, 17.689; 6. Lance Dewease, 461, 17.702; 7. Dean Jacobs, 8, 17.739; 8. Keith Kauffman, 7, 17.765; 9. Paul McMahan, U2, 17.769; 10. Donnie Kreitz Jr., 69, 17.803; 11. Kasey Kahne, 23K, 17.814; 12. Dale Blaney, 94, 17.829; 13. Jeff Shepard, 1, 17.839; 14. Kenny Jacobs, 6, 17.846; 15. Dave Ely, 77E, 17.872; 16. Brad Furr, 2, 17.887; 17. Brian Paulus, 28, 17.894; 18. Cris Eash, 17E, 17.928; 19. Frankie Kerr, 23S, 17.937; 20. Todd Shaffer, 88, 17.952; 21. George Suprick III, 87, 17.977; 22. Brian Ellenberger, 20, 18.029; 23. Kenny Adams, 88A, 18.072; 24. Steve Siegel, 59, 18.141; 25. Johnny Mackison Jr., 65, 18.150; 26. Shawn Keen, 53, 18.177; 27. Dave Haight, 10N, 18.189; 28. Danny Jones, 8J, 18.224; 29. Todd Gracey, 25, 18.224; 30. Greg Wilson, 63, 18.276; 31. Rodney Duncan, 22, 18.323; 32. Curt Michael, 6M, 18.413; 33. Len Thompson, 10, 18.418; 34. Ed Lynch Jr., 2L, 18.466; 35. Chris Knopp, 6K, 18.468; 36. Jerrod Hull, 51, 18.521; 37. Brook Weibley, 32, 18.567; 38. Jonathon Stevens, 99S, 18.578; 39. Brian Carlson, 18, 18.610; 40. Jess Thomas, 77T, 18.614; 41. Bob Bennett, 3, 18.645; 42. Rick Kaylor, 13, 18.760; 43. Boston Reid, 9, 18.793; 44. Billy Dietrich, 8D, 18.878; 45.. Mike Wagner, 55, 19.047; 46. Jimmy Burns, 1B, 19.186; 47. Mark Smith, 22M, 19.210; 48. Dan Long, X, 20.338; 49. Jim Damon, 50X, NT.
United Expressline Heat (8 Laps/5 to qualify) - 1. 12-Greg Hodnett; 2. 1-Jeff Shepard; 3. 77-Fred Rahmer; 4. 28-Brian Paulus; 5. U2-Paul McMahan; 6. 87-George Suprick III; 7. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 8. 55-Mike Wagner; 9. 10-Len Thompson; 10. 32-Brook Weibley (DNF); 11. 25-Todd Gracey (DNF); DNS - 3-Bob Bennett. Time - 2:22.47
Southwest Expressline Heat (8 Laps/5 to qualify) - 1. 17E-Cris Eash; 2. 6-Kenny Jacobs; 3. 69-Donnie Kreitz Jr.; 4. 461-Lance Dewease; 5. 17-Joey Saldana; 6. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.; 7. 63-Greg Wilson; 8. 13K-Rick Kaylor; 9. 99S-Jonathon Stevens; 10. 1B-Jimmy Burns (DNF); 11. 20-Brian Ellenberger (DNF); 12. 53-Shawn Keen (DNF). No Time
Southwest Glass Heat (8 Laps/5 to qualify) - 1. 77E-Dave Ely; 2. 23S-Frankie Kerr; 3. 88A-Kenny Adams; 4. 23K-Kasey Kahne; 5. 76-P.J. Chesson; 6. 10N-Dave Haight; 7. 8-Dean Jacobs; 8. 22-Rodney Duncan; 9. 6K-Chris Knopp; 10. 22M-Mark Smith; 11. 9-Boston Reid; 12. 18-Brian Carlson (DNF). Time - 2:26.22
United Specialties Heat (8 Laps/5 to qualify) - 1. 88-Todd Shaffer; 2. 59-Steve Siegel; 3. 94-Dale Blaney; 4. 7-Keith Kauffman; 5. 2-Brad Furr; 6. 8J-Danny Jones; 7. 22-James Chesson; 8. 77T-Jess Thomas; 9. 51-Jerrod Hull; 10. 6M-Curt Michael; 11. X-Dan Long; 12. 50X-Jim Damon. Time - 2:26.78
Georgia Marketing & Promotions C-Main (10 Laps/4 to advance to B-Main) - 1. 55-Mike Wagner; 2. 32-Brook Weibley; 3. 77T-Jess Thomas; 4. 13K-Rick Kaylor; 5. 99S-Jonathon Stevens; 6. 9-Boston Reid; 7. 1B-Jimmy Burns; 8. 18-Brian Carlson; 9. 22M-Mark Smith; 10. X-Dan Long; 11. 50X-Jim Damon (DNF); 12. 3-Bob Bennett (DNF). Time - 3:11.85
Commercial Truck & Trailer Dash (4 Laps) - 1. U2-Paul McMahan; 2. 461-Lance Dewease; 3. 12-Greg Hodnett; 4. 77-Fred Rahmer; 5. 76-P.J. Chesson; 6. 17-Joey Saldana. Time - 1:14.07
United Expressline B-Main (12 Laps/4 to qualify) - 1. 22-James Chesson; 2. 8-Dean Jacobs; 3. 87-George Suprick III; 4. 8J-Danny Jones; 5. 25-Todd Gracey; 6. 55-Mike Wagner; 7. 65-Johnny Mackison Jr.; 8. 6M-Curt Michael; 9. 10-Len Thompson; 10. 10N-Dave Haight; 11. 51-Jerrod Hull; 12. 32-Brook Weibley; 13. 22D-Rodney Duncan; 14. 63-Greg Wilson; 15. 13K-Rick Kaylor; 16. 99S-Jonathon Stevens; 17. 6K-Chris Knopp; 18. 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. (DNF); 19. 53-Shawn Keen (DNF); DNS - Brian Ellenberger. Time - 3:49.70
Feature (30 laps) - 1. 77-Fred Rahmer ($5,000); 2. 22-James Chesson ($2,500); 3. 461-Lance Dewease ($1,700); 4. 12-Greg Hodnett ($1,400); 5. 17-Joey Saldana ($1,250); 6. 7-Keith Kauffman ($1,200); 7. 17E-Cris Eash ($1,150); 8. 94-Dale Blaney ($1,100); 9. 6-Kenny Jacobs ($1,050); 10. 77E-Dave Ely ($1,000); 11. 88-Todd Shaffer ($800); 12. 1-Jeff Shepard ($600); 13. 88A-Kenny Adams ($520); 14. 8J-Danny Jones ($500); 15. 87-George Suprick III ($500); 16. 2-Brad Furr ($500); 17. 59-Steve Siegel ($500)(DNF); 18. U2-Paul McMahan ($500)(DNF); 19. 23S-Frankie Kerr ($400)(DNF); 20. 76-P.J. Chesson ($400)(DNF); 21. 8-Dean Jacobs ($400)(DNF); 22. 23K-Kasey Kahne ($400)(DNF); 23. 28-Brian Paulus ($400)(DNF); 24. 69-Donnie Kreitz Jr. ($400)(DNF). No Time
Lap Leaders - Lance Dewease (1-12), Fred Rahmer (13-30)
Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.