Dewease Goes Wire-To-Wire For Keith Kauffman Classic Win At Port Royal

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – PORT ROYAL, PA – For the second time in as many nights, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania’s Lance Dewease is an Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions main event winner in Central Pennsylvania, this time dominating feature action from the front row to score the second annual Keith Kauffman Classic at Port Royal Speedway.

The victory, the 33rd Arctic Cat All Star win of Dewease’s career and his sixth at the Port Royal “Speed Palace,” was conducted in near-record fashion, crossing under the final checkers 6.748 seconds ahead of the field, lapping up to eleventh place during the ten minute, non-stop 30-lapper.

“These guys work so hard,” said Lance Dewease about the Don Kreitz-owned/Schannauer Plumbing & Heating/RVWorkshop.com/No. 69K operation. “That’s why we run such a limited schedule. That allows my guys enough time to look over everything and make sure we’re ready to go for the next race. The track was great tonight. Hats off to everyone here at Port Royal Speedway. It’s a dream to drive for this team.”

Lance Dewease started from the pole position and wasted no time gaining the early advantage, crossing under the flagstand for the first time by a margin of 2.2 seconds ahead of Ryan Smith and Blane Heimbach. Even with traffic coming into play by lap six, Dewease still managed to keep positive momentum, extending his lead to nearly four seconds at halfway. Meanwhile, Hartford, Ohio’s Dale Blaney charged forward from the outside of row three to third by lap ten, falling in line behind Ryan Smith and Lance Dewease.

Despite two hiccups, making contact with the inside retaining wall, as well as making contact with Doug Esh during an attempt to put “The Hammer” a lap down, Dewease drove on to score the $5,000 payday with no challenges, followed at the finish by Ryan Smith, Dale Blaney, Dylan Cisney, and Blane Heimbach. The victory was number 101 for Lance Dewease at Port Royal Speedway.

“Finishing second to these guys is like a win for us,” Ryan Smith said. “I can’t thank my team enough for what they do for me. Hopefully we can get a win soon and get the monkey off of our back.”

The Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions will conclude their first Central Pennsylvania swing of 2017 with a visit to the Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway in Bedford on Sunday evening, April 30. Honoring the former Bedford Speedway promoter and Central Pennsylvania car owner, the Roy Morral Tribute will headline competition at the Bedford half-mile; the first of two Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions appearances in Bedford, Pennsylvania, in 2017.

Five-time and defending Arctic Cat All Star champion Chad Kemenah is the most recent winner at Bedford Speedway during Series competition, holding back Greg Hodnett and Cap Henry at the final checkers for a $5,000 payday.

Bedford Speedway officials will open pit gates at 4:00pm on Sunday, April 30. A mandatory drivers meeting will be conducted at 5:30pm, followed by hot laps at 6:00pm. Fans who can not attend the Roy Morral Tribute are invited to watch online via www.speedshifttv.com. Speed Shift TV will be hosting a pay-per-view internet broadcast which is available for purchase starting at $24.95. Visit Speed Shift TV online for more information.

Contingency Awards/Results: Port Royal Speedway – Saturday, April 29, 2017:
Keith Kauffman Classic
EMi Driver’s Meeting: 42 Entries
State Water Heaters Warm-Ups: Mike Wagner – 17.513 seconds
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Ryan Smith – 17.646 seconds (2nd Quick)
Ford Performance Heat #1: Dylan Cisney
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Dale Blaney
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Chad Kemenah
Daido Engine Bearings Heat #4: Steve Buckwalter
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts C-Main: Brandon Spithaler
JE Pistons Dash #1: Lance Dewease
Kistler Racing Products Dash #2: Blane Heimbach
Classic Ink USA B-Main: Aaron Ott
Daido Engine Bearings Main Event Winner: Ryan Smith (2nd)
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Caleb Armstrong (+5)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 5th Place Finisher: Steve Buckwalter (6th)
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 10th Place Finisher: Mike Wagner
Outback Steakhouse A-Main 15th Place Finisher: Greg Hodnett
(Lincoln Electric, Daido Engine Bearings, MSD Performance, Outback Steakhouse: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying:

Group (A)

1. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss, 18.036; 2. 49x-Tim Shaffer, 18.238; 3. 5-Dylan Cisney, 18.325; 4. 27-Greg Hodnett, 18.346; 5. 10-Tyler Bear, 18.621; 6. 98-Carl Bowser, 18.768; 7. M1-Mark Smith, 18.804; 8. 91-Anthony Fiore, 18.824; 9. 33S-Curt Stroup, 18.952; 10. 13-Brandon Matus, 19.036; 11. 8M-TJ Michael, 19.258

Group (B)

1. 94-Ryan Smith, 17.646; 2. 1Z-Dale Blaney, 17.79; 3. 12-Blane Heimbach, 17.962; 4. 33M-Max Stambaugh, 18.384; 5. 44-Joey Hershey, 18.609; 6. 51-John Garvin, 18.668; 7. OO-Dane Lorenc, 18.84; 8. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 19.056; 9. 8S-Trenton Sheaffer, 19.387; 10. 98T-Joe Trenca, 19.81; 11. 1080-Jordan Mackison, 20.396

Group (C)
1. 14-Tony Stewart, 18.048; 2. 11-TJ Stutts, 18.191; 3. 17-Caleb Helms, 18.213; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 18.386; 5. 47K-Kody Lehman, 18.467; 6. 17B-Josh Baughman, 18.551; 7. 35-Tyler Esh, 18.877; 8. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 18.963; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell, 19.092; 10. 49H-Bradley Howard, 19.37

Group (D)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease, 17.559; 2. 55-Mike Wagner, 17.77; 3. 7W-Logan Wagner, 17.873; 4. 38-Steve Buckwalter, 18.015; 5. 25-Aaron Ott, 18.264; 6. 20-Ryan Taylor, 18.306; 7. O7-Doug Esh, 18.394; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison, 19.069; 9. 33-Brent Matus, 19.354; 10. 9-Ryan Linder, 99.42

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 5-Dylan Cisney [2]; 2. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [4]; 3. 49X-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 27-Greg Hodnett [1]; 5. 10-Tyler Bear [5]; 6. 98-Carl Bowser [6]; 7. M1-Mark Smith [7]; 8. 33S-Curt Stroup [9]; 9. 91-Anthony Fiore [8]; 10. 8M-TJ Michael [11]; 11. 13-Brandon Matus [10]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 1Z-Dale Blaney [3]; 2. 12-Blane Heimbach [2]; 3. 33M-Max Stambaugh [1]; 4. 94-Ryan Smith [4]; 5. 44-Joey Hershey [5]; 6. 51-John Garvin [6]; 7. 22-Brandon Spithaler [8]; 8. OO-Dane Lorenc [7]; 9. 98T-Joe Trenca [10]; 10. 8S-Trenton Sheaffer [9]; 11. 1080-Jordan Mackison [11]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 10H-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 17-Caleb Helms [2]; 3. 11-TJ Stutts [3]; 4. 47K-Kody Lehman [5]; 5. 14-Tony Stewart [4]; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [8]; 7. 35-Tyler Esh [7]; 8. 17B-Josh Baughman [6]; 9. 9C-Roger Campbell [9]; 10. 49H-Bradley Howard [10]

Heat #4 – Group (D) (8 Laps) – Top 5 Transfer
1. 38-Steve Buckwalter [1]; 2. 55-Mike Wagner [3]; 3. 69K-Lance Dewease [4]; 4. 7W-Logan Wagner [2]; 5. O7-Doug Esh [7]; 6. 20-Ryan Taylor [6]; 7. 25-Aaron Ott [5]; 8. 95-Hunter Mackison [8]; 9. 33-Brent Matus [9]; 10. 9-Ryan Linder [10]

Dash #1 (4 Laps)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease [3]; 2. 94-Ryan Smith [1]; 3. 5-Dylan Cisney [5]; 4. 17-Caleb Helms [2]; 5. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [4]

Dash #2 (4 Laps)
1. 12-Blane Heimbach [1]; 2. 38-Steve Buckwalter [2]; 3. 1Z-Dale Blaney [5]; 4. 55-Mike Wagner [3]; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah [4]

C-Main (10 Laps) – Top 2 Transfer
1. 22-Brandon Spithaler [1]; 2. 98T-Joe Trenca [8]; 3. 9C-Roger Campbell [3]; 4. 8M-TJ Michael [4]; 5. 49H-Bradley Howard [6]; 6. 33-Brent Matus [5]; 7. 95-Hunter Mackison [2]; 8. 8S-Trenton Sheaffer [7]; 9. 1080-Jordan Mackison [9]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 25-Aaron Ott [1]; 2. 20-Ryan Taylor [2]; 3. 33S-Curt Stroup [10]; 4. 98-Carl Bowser [5]; 5. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [11]; 6. 17B-Josh Baughman [3]; 7. 35-Tyler Esh [9]; 8. 51-John Garvin [4]; 9. 91-Anthony Fiore [7]; 10. 22-Brandon Spithaler [13]; 11. 98T-Joe Trenca [14]; 12. 13-Brandon Matus [12]; 13. OO-Dane Lorenc [8]; 14. M1-Mark Smith [6]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease [1]; 2. 94-Ryan Smith [3]; 3. 1Z-Dale Blaney [6]; 4. 5-Dylan Cisney [5]; 5. 12-Blane Heimbach [2]; 6. 38-Steve Buckwalter [4]; 7. 10H-Chad Kemenah [10]; 8. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [9]; 9. 11-TJ Stutts [11]; 10. 55-Mike Wagner [8]; 11. 25-Aaron Ott [21]; 12. 49X-Tim Shaffer [12]; 13. O7-Doug Esh [18]; 14. 17-Caleb Helms [7]; 15. 27-Greg Hodnett [15]; 16. 20-Ryan Taylor [22]; 17. 7W-Logan Wagner [14]; 18. 14-Tony Stewart [17]; 19. 33M-Max Stambaugh [13]; 20. 7C-Caleb Armstrong [25]; 21. 47K-Kody Lehman [16]; 22. 98-Carl Bowser [24]; 23. 44-Joey Hershey [19]; 24. 33S-Curt Stroup [23]; 25. 8M-TJ Michael [27]; 26. 10-Tyler Bear [20]; 27. 98T-Joe Trenca [26] Lap Leaders: Lance Dewease: [1-30]

Current Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions Standings (April 29, 2017):
1. Chad Kemenah: 1366
2. Caleb Armstrong: 1256
3. Caleb Helms: 1196
4. Ryan Smith: 1182
5. Tim Shaffer: 1112
6. T.J. Michael: 1038
7. Max Stambaugh: 1034
8. Brandon Matus: 956
9. Brent Matus: 924
10. John Garvin: 914