Danny Dietrich Finds A Way To Win All-Star A-Main At Weedsport Speedway

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – WEEDSPORT, NY – Gettysburg, Pennsylvania’s Danny Dietrich has certainly been on a roll in 2019, and now he can add an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory at Weedsport Speedway to his list of 2019 accomplishments.

Dietrich, driver of the Gary Kauffman Racing/Weikert’s Livestock/Sandoe’s Fruit Market/Pace Performance/Big Cove Whitetail Trophy Hunts/Drop Of Ink Tattoo/Sweeney Cars/Self Made/No. 48 sprint car, put fans on their feet Sunday night in central New York, utilizing a late-race restart to power around Danny Varin with just five circuits remaining. Impressive enough, Dietrich accomplished his feat with a severed component in the rear suspension; a bent w-link.

“We are really starting to like this place,” Danny Dietrich said of Weedsport Speedway, who now owns eight victories in 2019 including his $5,000 All Star Circuit of Champions triumph. “Hats off to this entire team. We are clicking really well right now and the results show. There are so many people that help make all of this possible. Just a surreal feeling right now. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going into next weekend.”

Starting from the outside of row four, Dietrich was not speedy in his pursuit of the top spot, ultimately fading to a position just outside of the top-five during the first few circuits. In fact, Dietrich did not crack into the top three until lap 26 of 35.

During his late-race surge to the top, Dietrich was given some help, as Larry Wright, who was racing just ahead of Dietrich in the runner-up spot, made contact with the outside retaining wall on the 27th circuit, ultimately ending his night. The ensuing caution, which allowed ‘Double-D’ to restart on the tailtank of race leader Danny Varin, created the recipe for Dietrich’s eventual takeover.

Although Dietrich relied on the bottom of the speedway to get to himself that far forward, it was the top that proved to be the winning route. Utilizing momentum, Dietrich used a slingshot move around Weedsport’s cushion to gain command for the first time on lap 30, navigating the narrow edge in turns three and four to eventually work around Varin.

“I knew that is where I needed to be,” Dietrich continued. “[Danny Varin] was pretty good on the bottom, so I knew if I kept my pace up and built some momentum, I’d have a shot at him around the top. That late caution really helped us out. It gave me a chance to move up a lane and use clean air to get around him.”

Danny Varin chased Dietrich to the final checkers, followed by Spencer Bayston, Cory Eliason and Greg Wilson.

With their first New York visit of the season complete, Tony Stewart’s All Star Circuit of Champions will now turn their focus toward the Buckeye State, set to invade eight facilities in nine days during the 37th edition of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Indy Metal Finishing. Action will kick-off, officially, on Friday evening, April 14, with a visit to Attica Raceway Park.

Contingency Awards/Results: Weedsport Speedway – Sunday, June 9, 2019:
Event: 2019 All Star Showcase
Entries: 30
C&R Racing All Star Warm-Ups: Aaron Reutzel – 14.156
Lincoln Electric Fast Qualifier: Cory Eliason – 14.532
Ford Performance Heat #1: Lucas Wolfe
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2: Aaron Reutzel
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3: Greg Wilson
JE Pistons Dash presented by Fatheadz Eyewear: Cory Eliason
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Chad Kemenah
Ollie’s Bargain Outlet A-Main Winner: Danny Dietrich
MSD Performance Hard Charger Award: Danny Dietrich (+17)
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Michael Bauer
(Lincoln Electric, MSD Performance, Fatheadz Eyewear, Rayce Rudeen Foundation: Need decal to qualify for contingency award)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 26-Cory Eliason, 14.532; 2. 98H-Dave Blaney, 14.791; 3. 99L-Larry Wight, 15.104; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 15.242; 5. O7-Gerard McIntyre, 15.320; 6. 28F-Dave Franek, 15.347; 7. 35-Tyler Esh, 15.505; 8. 45-Chuck Hebing, 15.660; 9. X-Dan Bennett, 15.982; 10. 98-Joe Trenca, 16.073

Group (B)
1. 70X-Spencer Bayston, 14.603; 2. 11-Dale Blaney, 14.606; 3. OO-Danny Varin, 15.022; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 15.098; 5. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 15.154; 6. K4-Chad Kemenah, 15.229; 7. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni, 15.413; 8. 88C-Chad Miller, 15.488; 9. 40-George Hobaugh, 15.701; 10. 53-Jessie Attard, 15.870

Group (C)
1. 70-Brock Zearfoss, 14.996; 2. 13-Paul McMahan, 15.069; 3. W20-Greg Wilson, 15.337; 4. 48-Danny Dietrich, 15.368; 5. 14-Tony Stewart, 15.408; 6. 99-Skylar Gee, 15.489; 7. 46-Michael Bauer, 15.611; 8. 5-Justin Barger, 15.729; 9. J4-John Garvin, 15.913; 10. 2L-Landon Lalonde, 16.749

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [1]; 2. 99L-Larry Wight [2]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason [4]; 4. 98H-Dave Blaney [3]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca [10]; 6. 35-Tyler Esh [7]; 7. O7-Gerard McIntyre [5]; 8. X-Dan Bennett [9]; 9. 45-Chuck Hebing [8]

Heat #2 – Group (B) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 87-Aaron Reutzel [1]; 2. OO-Danny Varin [2]; 3. 70X-Spencer Bayston [4]; 4. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 5. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni [7]; 6. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [5]; 7. K4-Chad Kemenah [6]; 8. 88C-Chad Miller [8]; 9. 53-Jessie Attard [10]; 10. 40-George Hobaugh [9]

Heat #3 – Group (C) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. W20-Greg Wilson [2]; 2. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 3. 13-Paul McMahan [3]; 4. 14-Tony Stewart [5]; 5. 70-Brock Zearfoss [4]; 6. 5-Justin Barger [8]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee [6]; 8. 46-Michael Bauer [7]; 9. J4-John Garvin [9]; 10. 2L-Landon Lalonde [10]

Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. OO-Danny Varin [3]; 3. 70X-Spencer Bayston [2]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 6. 99L-Larry Wight [5]; 7. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [8]; 8. 48-Danny Dietrich [7]

B-Main (10 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. K4-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. O7-Gerard McIntyre [2]; 3. 88C-Chad Miller [4]; 4. 45-Chuck Hebing [7]; 5. 99-Skylar Gee [3]; 6. X-Dan Bennett [6]; 7. 46-Michael Bauer [5]; 8. 53-Jessie Attard [8]; 9. 40-George Hobaugh [10]; 10. 2L-Landon Lalonde [11]

A-Main (35 Laps)
1. 48-Danny Dietrich [8]; 2. OO-Danny Varin [2]; 3. 70X-Spencer Bayston [3]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 5. W20-Greg Wilson [5]; 6. 13-Paul McMahan [9]; 7. 98H-Dave Blaney [11]; 8. 14-Tony Stewart [12]; 9. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [7]; 10. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 11. 11-Dale Blaney [10]; 12. K4-Chad Kemenah [19]; 13. 70-Brock Zearfoss [13]; 14. 10-Paulie Colagiovanni [14]; 15. O7-Gerard McIntyre [20]; 16. 98-Joe Trenca [15]; 17. 47X-Dylan Westbrook [16]; 18. 5-Justin Barger [18]; 19. 45-Chuck Hebing [22]; 20. 99-Skylar Gee [23]; 21. 35-Tyler Esh [17]; 22. 99L-Larry Wight [6]; 23. 88C-Chad Miller [21]; 24. X-Dan Bennett [24] Lap Leaders: Cory Eliason (1-10), Danny Varin (11-29), Danny Dietrich (30-35)