Danny Dietrich Wins Night 4 Of All Star Sprint OH Sprint Speedweek At Sharon Speedway

Story By: MIKE LEONE / SHARON SPEEDWAY – HARTFORD, OH – Sharon Speedway hosted round number four of Cometic Gaskets Ohio Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires on Tuesday night in the second of four appearances by Tony Stewart’s FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 during the 92nd anniversary season.

Scoring the victory and celebrating in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply victory lane was Danny Dietrich.

Dietrich out-dueled George Hobaugh on the opening lap and fended off All Star points leader Tyler Courtney for his first career Sharon Speedway win as he became the fifth different “410” Sprint Car winner in as many 2021 races. Dietrich earned $6,000 in the 35-lap All Star feature for his first career Ohio Speedweek victory as well.

“You’re never owed anything in racing- you just have to keep digging,” explained the 33-year-old Gettysburg, Pa. racer, who lost one on the last lap to Cole Duncan on Saturday night at Fremont Speedway. “We’ve been fast this whole week. Man this feels good. This one is for Derek (Snyder). He’s our biggest supporter out here and this is his home track. This is awesome. Our goal was to come to Ohio and get one and compete for the (Speedweek) championship and by golly we’re doing! It’s always good when the Posse can come to Ohio and get a win whether it’s me or someone else.”

Dietrich was able to overtake May 15 Sharon winner, Hobaugh, for the early lead. Courtney started in fifth and made his way to third on the opening lap. Courtney ran down Hobaugh and was all over the western Pa. local on lap six, while Ian Madsen closed in making it a three-car battle for second on lap eight. Courtney was finally able to dispose of Hobaugh on lap nine just before Dietrich caught traffic on the 10th circuit; meanwhile, seventh starting Justin Peck passed Madsen for fourth Courtney then reeled in Dietrich, who was dealing with lapped traffic, on lap 11.

Kyle Larson, who won Monday’s Ohio Speedweek event at Wayne County Speedway from the 10th starting spot, once again was on the move. Larson started eighth this time and cracked the top five on lap 19 when he dropped Madsen back another spot. After 24 caution-free laps, action slowed for a spin by Cap Henry. When green replaced yellow on lap 25, Larson continued to move forward taking the fourth spot from Hobaugh.

On lap 30, Dietrich once again caught lapped traffic, but then got a break when the event’s second and final caution was displayed for a spin by Cole Macedo. That caution setup a five-lap dash to the checkered as Dietrich kept Courtney at bay to become the third new Sharon Speedway “410” winner in 2021 and the 167th all-time winner at the track. Dietrich’s 14th career All Star win came in the Gary Kauffman-owned, Sandoe’s Fruit Market/Weikert’s Livestock/Pace Performance/Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC-sponsored #48.

“Tyler (Courtney) ran second and he’s been real good lately,” continued Dietrich. “I know it rubbered up, but we were good all night long. It was just when you needed to move down the race track in the feature. It’s a technical track even when it rubbered up cause it’s so round. It’s so easy if you don’t get down to miss the rubber and then you were in trouble. I was working real hard on those lapped cars trying not to make a mistake then the yellow came out, they all went away, and Tyler was back on my bumper. I just kept telling myself to hit the bottom and keep it tight on the tractor tires.”

Peck, who won the May 1 All Star show for his first career Sharon victory, was third. Larson came home fourth. Hobaugh dropped to fifth. Hunter Schuerenberg was sixth. Cole Duncan raced from 18th to seventh just missing the hard charger. Madsen dropped to eighth. Local A.J. Flick was ninth with Australian Lachlan McHugh completing the top 10 in his first ever appearance. After taking a provisional, Paul McMahan went 25th to 13th to earn the hard charger.

Schuerenberg set fast time overall against the 53-car field with a lap of 15.771. Heat winners were Schuerenberg, Bill Balog, Courtney, Peck, and Hobaugh. Rico Abreu was victorious in the C main, while Cory Eliason won the B main. Hobaugh won his first career dash to earn the pole position, while Dietrich won dash number two to earn the outside pole. The All Stars will return to Sharon on Saturday, July 10 for the “Lou Blaney Memorial” and Sunday, July 11 for Justin Snyder’s “Salute to the Troops”.

All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars (35 laps, $6,000 to-win): 1. DANNY DIETRICH (Kauffman 48) 2. Tyler Courtney (Clauson/Marshall 7BC) 3. Justin Peck (Buch 13) 4. Kyle Larson (Silva 57) 5. George Hobaugh (40) 6. Hunter Schuerenberg (Vermeer 55) 7. Cole Duncan (22) 8. Ian Madsen (McGhee 11) 9. A.J. Flick (2) 10. Lachlan McHugh (Muth 101) 11. Buddy Kofoid (Clemens 5X) 12. Bill Balog (17B) 13. Paul McMahan (Clemens 5) 14. Tim Shaffer (Grove 28) 15. Cale Conley (3c) 16. Sye Lynch (42) 17. Cory Eliason (Rudeen 26) 18. Zeb Wise (10) 19. Cole Macedo (Brooks 28) 20. Kyle Reinhardt (Quakenbush 91) 21. Adam Kekich (5K) 22. Darren Pifer (23) 23. Cap Henry (Lane 4) 24. Lee Jacobs (Lewis 81) 25. Greg Wilson (w20).

DNQ for the feature: Carl Bowser (11), Jac Haudenschild (Abreu 22), Bob Felmlee (6), Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Hills 15H), D.J. Foos (Burmeister 16), Frankie Nervo (21N), Cale Thomas (Demyan/Rudzik 49x), Rico Abreu (24), Jordan Ryan (MAR Motorsports 25R), Tanner Holmes (18T), Brent Matus (33), Henry Malcuit (70M), David Kalb, Jr. (11J), Brandon Conkel (08), Duane Zablocki (9z), Skylar Gee (Coldren 07), Stuart Brubaker (35), Landon Lalonde (2L), Brett Brunkenhoefer (47), Ricky Peterson (2), R.J. Jacobs (18J), Garret Williamson (24), T.J. Michael (8M), Dan Kuriger (08), Brandon Matus (13), Brandon Spithaler (22), Chris Andrews (Kiser 23), Nate Dussel (1).