AUTO RACING: Lucas Wolfe earns win against Dave Blaney, Kasey Kahne
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series drivers Kasey Kahne and Dave Blaney attracted a large crowd to Williams Grove Speedway on Wednesday night for the Ollie's Bargain Shootout, a special event for the 360 sprints of the URC (United Racing Club) against the local 358 sprint contingent.
But Mechanicsburg driver Lucas Wolfe put on a show and collected $4,000, including an additional bonus from Ollie's for any driver who could beat Kasey Kahne or Blaney. It was the 20-year-old's sixth overall win of the season.
"I was happy to put the whole thing together," Wolfe said. "It was all about a good starting spot, good time trial lap and we had a good invert for the feature."
Wolfe began the evening by setting the fast time of the 47 entries with a lap of 18.228 seconds around the half mile. By the time qualifications were completed, the rains arrived and delayed the program for more than an hour.
After the track was readied again and qualifying completed, the third attempt at getting the 25-lap feature started with a six-car incident. The crash eliminated both Kasey Kahne, the B Main winner, and Blaney, along with four other drivers.
Starting fourth, Wolfe got behind Kevin Welsh on the start, but Fred Rahmer took his spot on the fourth lap. On the next circuit, Wolfe pulled off an aggressive move in turn four to get around both Rahmer and Welsh and take command.
Rahmer dropped out with mechanical problems on lap 14 with another caution displayed on lap 15. Trevor Lewis moved into second, but couldn't stay with Wolfe, who stretched a lead of more than a full straightaway to the checkered.
Welsh followed in third, with Chad Layton (qualified 15th) taking fourth and Curt Michael (qualified 19th) completing the top five. Kasey Kahne ended 22nd and Blaney 19th.
Kasey Kahne had previously raced several times at the Grove and owns a victory at opening day in 2000.
"Probably the biggest deal was when I called my father and told him I just won a sprint car race at Williams Grove Speedway," Kasey Kahne said. "That was a big deal to us. It's pretty big when you can beat Pennsylvania sprint car drivers. Everyone who's ever done this knows it."
Kasey Kahne also spent time with the race fans and signed at least 150 autographs to lucky fans chosen through advance tickets sales.
"I saw pictures of Williams Grove Speedway," he said. "As a kid, I looked at those photographs. It was neat to see. Pennsylvania has always been known for its great sprint car racing and great fans. Now, the fans have followed me into NASCAR and they cheer for the No. 9."
The proceeds from the event went to the Kasey Kahne Foundation, which raises money for chronically ill children and their families as well as disadvantaged youth.
Information on the foundation may be found at www.kaseykahnefoundation.com.
Williams Grove Results
Ollie's Bargain Outlet 360 URC/358 Challenge -- 1.Lucas Wolfe, 2.Trevor Lewis, 3.Kevin Welsh, 4.Chad Layton, 5.Curt Michael, 6.Ed Aikin, 7.Kevin Nouse, 8.Billy Johns, 9.Mark Bitner, 10.Jason Clauss
Limited Late Models -- 1.Jake Lettich, 2.Gene Knaub, 3.Larry Baer, 4.Mike Walls, 5.Bob Dunn, 6.Pat Beard, 7.Dave Shulski, 8.Jerry Bard, 9.Steve Weikel, 10.Jared Miller
See more at www.publicopiniononline.com
