Montieth Gets Over $5,000 For Regular Williams Grove Win, Takes Second In A Row
Eric Tomecek wins over Wilson in 358 sprint championship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
6/29/12
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Mechanicsburg, PA – For the second week in a row, Brian Montieth of Phoenixville drove to victory in the Lawrence Chevrolet 410 sprint car feature at Williams Grove Speedway and this week, he took home over $5,000 for his checkers.
In the Tool Shed of America 358 sprint extra-distance championship main, Eric Tomecek came out the winner after a spirited late race duel with Ryan Wilson and became the seventh winner in as many races at the track.
Montieth started from the inside of the fourth row in the 25-lap 410 sprint main and had Gerard McIntyre Jr. leading the way when the green flag fell.
The first of many cautions in the race came out with only two laps down and Montieth lined up third for the restart.
Two more laps and another caution found Montieth lining up second behind McIntyre for a restart but he didn’t challenge for the lead at first.
Instead, he made his first move for the win on the ninth lap with a sweeping slider in the first and second turns that backfired when he jumped the cushion instead of catching it, allowing McIntyre to drive back into command.
He made the same move stick on the next circuit when he repeated it, only this time in turns three and four.
And right after he passed McIntyre for the lead, McIntyre promptly backed his car into the outside rail between the first and second corners, unfurling another yellow flag.
The race for fifth brought out another caution with 13 away when 12th starter Sheldon Haudenschild went after 16th starter Alarn Krimes for the spot entering the third turn.
Both men backed their cars into the outside fence and collected Fred Rahmer.
Another yellow flag with nine laps left turned red for refueling and it would be the last slowing of the race pace.
Brent Marks ended up second after racing into the spot behind Montieth back on lap four.
Tenth starter Danny Dietrich came on late to finish third followed by Greg Hodnett and Cory Haas.
Sixth through 10th went to Chad Layton, Lance Dewease, Don Kreitz Jr., Tyler Walker and Davey Sammons.
Montieth naturally claimed $3,600 for the posted win and then thanks to a lucky roll of the prize winning dice in victory lane, he upped his total another $1,000 to $4,600.
That coupled with an already posted bonus of $500 for winning from the fourth row plus $160 in lap money put his final earnings for the regular feature at $5,260.
Heats for the 25-car field went to Hodnett, Walker and Adam Wilt with Steve Buckwalter scoring the consolation race.
Tomecek of Abbottstown started 10th in the 25-lap 358 sprint championship worth $1,200 to win.
Todd Berkheimer took the early lead from the second spot followed by Brian Garland.
Eighth starter Ryan Wilson drove into third on just the first lap and was soon followed by Tomecek into fourth.
The first 18 laps of the race went non-stop with Wilson driving by Berkheimer for the lead with 10 away only to see Tomecek follow him through and into second two laps later.
Tomecek quickly closed on Wilson and tried a 16th lap slider that failed, allowing Wilson to reclaim control while leaving Tomecek a full straightway back after he was able to recover from a brush by Wilson that saw him loop his car and keep going.
Tomecek’s saving grace came with 18 in the books when the first caution flag appeared and erased the massive advantage he had just given Wilson when he looped his car.
On the restart Tomececk took the lead from Wilson but Wilson never gave up his bid for a career first Grove win.
He traded the lead several times with Tomececk, both before and after a red flag with two to go for a flipping Brie Hershey.
But in the end, Tomececk took Williams Grove career victory number four.
Wilson was second followed by 15th starter Adrian Shaffer, Kevin Nouse and Garland.
Sixth through 10th went to Jay Galloway, Nate Hammaker, Rocky Magaro, Dale Hammaker and Berkheimer.
Heats for the 19-car field went to Wilson and Tomecek.
Williams Grove returns to action with back to back nights of PA Speedweek action on July 5 and 6 at 7:30 pm.
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June 29, 2012 Feature Finishes:
410 sprint cars, 25 laps: 1. Brian Montieth, 2. Brent Marks, 3. Danny Dietrich, 4. Greg Hodnett, 5. Cory Haas, 6. Chad Layton, 7. Lance Dewease, 8. Don Kreitz Jr., 9. Tyler Walker, 10. Davey Sammons, 11. Adam Wilt, 12. Frank Cozze, 13. Nicole Bower, 14. Joey Hershey, 15. Hunter Mackison, 16. Luke Bowey, 17. Steve Buckwalter, 18. Ryan Smith, 19. Sheldon Haudenschild, 20. Alan Krimes, 21. Darren Mollenoyux, 22. Fred Rahmer, 23. Derek Sell, 24. Gerard McIntyre, Jr.
DNQ: Jim Shuster
358 sprint cars, 25 laps: 1. Eric Tomecek, 2. Ryan Wilson, 3. Adrian Shaffer, 4. Kevin Nouse, 5. Brian Garland, 6. Jay Galloway, 7. Nate Hammaker, 8. Rocky Magaro, 9. Dale Hammaker, 10. Todd Berkheimer, 11. Derek Locke, 12. Matt Mountz, 13. Brie Hershey, 14. Rodney Westhafer, 15. Leah Starner, 16. Dave Thrush, 17. Aaron Eichelberger, 18. Scott Fisher