Mechanicsburg – Donnie Kreitz turned in a finish for the 410 sprint ages Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway, staging an eye-opening run for victory that saw him erase a more than seven-second lead by Brian Montieth to nip him by .010 seconds at the finish line.
Including bonus and lap monies, Kreitz pocketed well over $4,500 for the regular, 25-lap win, which was the 59th of his Williams Grove career.
Aaron Ott was the winner of the 25-lap URC sprint main, taking over $2,000 for his convincing victory.
Montieth started second and Kreitz seventh in the 410 sprint field and as could have been predicted Montieth took command at the start and went to work running down the rear of the field.
Cory Haas got by Justin Barger for second on the third lap as Kreitz ran sixth.
Montieth was into traffic already on the sixth lap with Kreitz now fifth and as Montieth streaked away by the halfway point, Kreitz was still only up to the fourth position.
However Kreitz continued his forward march and took third with 10 laps to go and then ran down Haas for second with six laps left.
But even by that time, Montieth was nearly still a half lap ahead and Kreitz couldn’t even see him but the Sinking Spring veteran just poured it on during the final two and a half miles as Montieth just beat the top groove into submission.
And that’s how Kreitz ran him down by the finish, with continual bite all the way around the speedway as Montieth scrubbed speed in the middle of the corners while running the cushion.
The finish was that close as the pair came down to the stripe for the final time with Kreitz just to Montieth’s inside at the flagstand that the track scoreboard was made blank until an official determination of who got to the finish first was made.
And after a check of the electronic scoring and timing it was concluded that Kreitz got the win by an amazing .010 seconds as the Montieth fans stood stunned.
“I thought I was passing him for third coming to the line,” Kreitz admitted while seemingly amazed at himself.
“I’m shocked. We’re just so happy to win. Just to get one. That’s too close.”
Montieth ended up second with last week’s winner, Steve Buckwalter in third followed by Haas and Justin Barger.
Sixth through 10th went to Ryan Smith, Greg Hodnett, Rick Lafferty, Lance Dewease and Doug Esh.
Heats for the 28 cars went to Buckwalter, Lafferty and Kreitz.
Glenndon Forsythe led the first three laps fo the URC main before fifth starter Ott got by for the lead.
Mark Smith was the next driver to advance substantially, moving into second on the 11th lap after beginning the race in ninth spot.
Smith had a few clear shots at Ott on restarts but failed to muster any challenges for the win.
A red flag for a six-car pileup on the frontstretch with seven laps to go marred the event but there were no injuries.
Ott was victorious over Smith, Robbie Stillwaggon, Howie Locke and Curt Michael.
Sixth through 10th went to Josh Weller, Glenndon Forsythe, Brock Zearfoss, Davie Franek and Kody Lehman.
Heats for the 34-car URC field went to Chad Trout, Randy West and Zearfoss with Michael taking the consolation.
June 6, 2014 Feature Finish:
410 sprints, 25 laps: 1. Don Kreitz Jr., 2. Brian Montieth, 3. Steve Buckwalter, 4. Cory Haas, 5. Justin Barger, 6. Ryan Smith, 7. Greg Hodnett, 8. Rick Lafferty, 9. Lance Dewease, 10. Doug Esh, 11. Danny Dietrich, 12. Blane Heimbach, 13. Austin Hogue, 14. Ryan Wilson, 15. Ryan Taylor, 16. Pat Cannon, 17. Troy Fraker, 18. Brent Marks, 19. Rodney Westhafer, 20. Glenndon Forsythe, 21. Nicole Bower, 22. Alan Krimes, 23. Scott Wilson, 24. Gerard McIntyre J r.
DNQ: Ryan Slothower, Joe Trenca, Brock Zearfoss, Jimmy Seger
URC sprints, 25 laps: 1. Aaron Ott, 2. Mark Smith, 3. Robbie Stillwaggon, 4. Howie Locke, 5. Curt Michael, 6. Josh Weller, 7. Glenndon Forsythe, 8. Brock Zearfoss, 9. Davie Franek, 10. Cody Lehman, 11. Kyle Purks, 12. Ed Aiken, 13. Chandler Leiby, 14. Jimmy Stitzel, 15. Andy Best, 16. Jordan Givler, 17. Jordan Thomas, 18. Randy West, 19. Chad Trout, 20. Jason Clause, 21. Jay Galloway, 22. Brian Carber, 23. Nate Snyder, 24. Jonathan Swanson
DNQ: Troy Betts, Larry Kelleher, Joe Trenca, Chris Arnold, Anthony Fiore, Brad Franks, Will Eggiman, Keith Prutzman, Sean Campbell, David Swanson