No sprint car driver — not even National Hall of Famer Lance Dewease — is immune to bad breaks, but what separates the “Fayetteville Flyer” from most of his peers is how he reacts to the adversity.
Dewease was leading his 410 Sprints heat race at Port Royal Speedway on Saturday when he had a tire blow. He finished the race in dead last, but the 59-year-old legend didn’t get down, he got moving.
Banished to the back of the pack in the B-Main, Dewease made up a lot of ground in a hurry, moving from 11th to third in the eight-lap race. By virtue of his Top 4 finish, Dewease earned a spot in the 25-lap feature, but he was once again in a tough spot when he was slotted to start the race in the 23rd spot.
Despite the humble starting position, Dewease made more forward progress than any other driver, moving up 13 spots to take 10th and earn the Hard Charger Award.
While Dewease made his own luck at Port Royal, the drivers at Path Valley Speedway were not as fortunate, as the Butch Shatzer Memorial only got a handful of heat races completed before the program was canceled for saturated and unfavorable track conditions.
At Hagerstown Speedway, 10 drivers from the Local.News1 coverage area landed Top 10 finishes.
The Late Model Sportsman feature saw Greencastle’s Brian Booze and Hagerstown’s Wesley Bonebrake finish 2-3 behind race winner Codey Breeden. Greencastle’s DJ Myers and Brandon Bard finished fourth and ninth, respectively. Waynesboro’s Tyler Horst claimed the runner-up spot in the Crate Late Models feature and was chased to the finish line by Greencastle’s Cuyler Upperman (4th) and Hagerstown’s Avery McMellen (5th).
Also at Hagerstown, the FWD 4 Cylinder featured saw Top 10 finishes from Waynesboro’s Eric Moats (5th) and Malachi Doyle (8th), while Hagerstown’s Brady Neff finished sixth in the Semi Late Models.
Two Greencastle drivers — Todd Walls and Scott Palmer — landed big finishes at BAPS Motor Speedway. Walls conquered the PA Micro Midgets 500 race, while Palmer took second in the Limited Late Models feature.
Williams Grove and Lincoln Speedways were both rained out last weekend.
Below is a track-by-track, feature-by-feature look at races from last weekend that included drivers from the Local.News1 coverage area:
Feature results
Hagerstown Speedway
Saturday, May 31
Late Model Sportsman: 1. Codey Breeden (Fairplay, Md.), 2. Brian Booze (Greencastle), 3. Wesley Bonebrake (Hagerstown, Md.), 4. DJ Myers (Greencastle), 5. Kyle Lear (Severna Park, Md.), 6. Shawn Shoemaker (Mt. Union), 7. Matt Murphy (Bel Air, Md.), 8. Danny Atherton (Three Springs), 9. Brandon Bard (Greencastle), 10. Lee Zeger (Huntingdon), 11. Ray Kable (Westminster, Md.), 12. Kaiden Bard (Harrisonville), 13. Treyton Lee (Mercersburg), 14. Ray Ciccarelli (Upperco, Md.), 15. Daniel Garrett (Freeland, Md.), 16. Frankie Gordon (Mercersburg), 17. Brayden Anderson (Bunker Hill, W.Va.), 18. Ryan Zook (Mifflintown), 19. Eric Cronise (Boonsboro, Md.).
Crate Late Models: 1. Scott Sweeney Jr. (Stephens City, Va.), 2. Tyler Horst (Waynesboro), 3. Allen Whitt Jr. (Stephens City, Va.), 4. Cuyler Upperman (Greencastle), 5. Avery McMellen (Hagerstown, Md.), 6. Chuck Bowie (Welcome, Md.), 7. Dylan Pryor (Williamsport, Md.), 8. Luke Dill (Camden, Del.), 9. Donnie Tingle (Georgetown, Del.), 10. Brian Coe Jr. (Jessup, Md.), 11. Roy Deese Jr. (Laurel, Md.), 12. Jacob Whitt (Stephens City, Va.), 13. Ray Ciccarelli (Upperco, Md.), 14. Mason Booze (Greencastle), 15. Kevin Palmer (Woodbine, Md.), 16. Nick Hausenfluck (Winchester, Va.).
Semi Late Models: 1. Dillon Wilson (Cassville), 2. Bryan Kerns (Cross Junction, Va.), 3. Michael Grady (Winchester, Va.), 4. Jeremy Mills (Berkeley Springs, W.Va.), 5. Brian Swiger (Brunswick, Md.), 6. Brady Neff (Hagerstown, Md.).
FWD 4 Cylinder: 1. Nick McDaniel (Littlestown), 2. Robbie Carroll (Gettysburg), 3. Jeff Foster (Gardners), 4. James Fairall (Cumberland, Md.), 5. Eric Moats (Waynesboro), 6. Rob Rudisill Jr. (Hanover), 7. Colin Welsh (Flintstone, Md.), 8. Malachi Doyle (Chambersburg), 9. Matthew Chronister (Aspers), 10. Samuel Regitz (Tyrone), 11. Terry Hartlaub (Gettysburg), 12. Isaac Komanski (Altoona), 13. Matt Worley (North East, Md.), 14. Nevaeh Helsel (Duncansville).
Port Royal Speedway
Saturday, May 31
410 Sprints: 1. Chase Dietz (York), 2. Michael Walter (Selinsgrove), 3. Devin Adams (Lebanon), 4. Brock Zearfoss (Jonestown), 5. Justin Whittall (Vincentown, N.J.), 6. Mike Wagner (Harrisonville), 7. Danny Dietrich (Gettysburg), 8. Nash Ely (Sinking Springs), 9. Freddie Rahmer (Salfordville), 10. Lance Dewease (Fayetteville), 11. Robbie Kendall (New Freedom), 12. Blane Heimbach (Selinsgrove), 13. Steve Buckwalter (Royersford), 14. Logan Wagner (Harrisonville), 15. Jeff Halligan (Ephrata), 16. Ryan Smith (Fleetwood), 17. Jake Karklin (Middleburg), 18. Gerard McIntyre Jr. (New Oxford), 19. Kody Lehman (Enola), 20. Doug Hammaker (Grantville), 21. Ryan Newton (Meridian Plains, QLD), 22. Austin Bishop (Morgantown), 23. Derek Hauck (Allenwood), 24. Kyle Keen (Carlisle).
410 Sprints (B-Main): 1. Austin Bishop (Morgantown), 2. Kody Lehman (Enola), 3. Lance Dewease (Fayetteville), 4. Derek Hauck (Allenwood), 5. Preston Lattomus (Lewes, Del.), 6. Mike Thompson (Newtown), 7. JT Ferry (Drums), 8. Zach Newlin (Millerstown), 9. Kassidy Kreitz (Sinking Spring), 10. Dustin Baney (Selinsgrove), 11. Devin Adams (Lebanon), 12. Jeremy Weaver (Stoneboro), 13. Samuel Miller (York Springs), 14. Chris Smith (Selinsgrove).
BAPS Motor Speedway
Saturday, May 31
Limited Late Models: 1. Lane Snook (Mifflintown), 2. Scott Palmer (Greencastle), 3. Tommy Slanker (York), 4. Jedadiah Latshaw (Dover), 5. Travis Mease (Harrisburg), 6. John Moser Jr. (East Berlin), 7. Chad Smith (Duncannon), 8. Cole Slanker (Strinestown), 9. Lou Egrie (Willow Grove), 10. Jennifer Lesher (Halifax), 11. Lucas Adams (New Cumberland) DNF, 12. Michael Walls (St. Thomas) DNF, 13. Devin Frey (Richland) DNF, 14. Jared Miller (Palmyra) DNF, 15. Wayne Pfeil (Elverson) DNF, 16. Trent Merkel (Boyertown) DNF, 17. Cameron Benyou (New Cumberland) DNF, 18. Eddie Drury (Pasadena, Md.) DNF, 19. Wes Hearn DNF, 20. Ross Leinbach (Mohnton) DNF, 21. Roy Warehime Jr. (Manchester, Md.) DNF, 22. Darrel Henry (Elliottsburg) DNF, 23. Dawson Walls (St. Thomas) DNF, 24. Kyle Moser (East Berlin) DNF.
PA Micro Midgets 500: 1. Todd Walls (Greencastle), 2. Josh Forry (Spring Grove), 3. Ryan Rost (Delta), 4. Justin Clare (Pottstown), 5. Andrew Ketterman (Taneytown, Md.), 6. Mason Noble (Seven Valleys), 7. Nick Decker (Halifax), 8. Chris Lennox (Eagle Bridge, N.Y.), 9. Ronald Blizzard Jr. (Gettysburg), 10. Hunter Scofield (St. Thomas), 11. Katelyn Johnson (Quarryville), 12. Landon Godfrey (Loganville), 13. CJ Kimm (Jonestown), 14. Byron Urey (Felton), 15. Chason Hauck (York), 16. Connor Geiman (Littlestown) DNF, 17. Bobby Geiman (Felton) DNF, 18. Chase Frey (Airville) DNF, 19. Jim Rost (Darlington, Md.) DNF, 20. Andrew Landis (Boiling Springs) DNF, 21. 21. Jeremy Sperlein (Littlestown) DNF, 22. Matt Kiefert (Colora, Md.) DNF, 23. Kensley Shearer (Newville) DNF, 24. Daniel Feltch (Quarryville) DNF.
PA Micro Midgets 500 (B-Main): 1. Byron Urey (Felton), 2. Jim Rost (Darlington, Md.), 3. CJ Kimm (Jonestown), 4. Jeremy Sperlein (Littlestown), 5. Ronald Blizzard Jr. (Gettysburg), 6. Hunter Scofield (St. Thomas), 7. Brady Wilt (York Springs), 8. Cody Johnson (Shiremanstown) DNF, 9. Ryan Wells (Jonestown) DNF.
