Lance Dewease Scores ’21 Bob Weikert Memorial At Port Royal Speedway For $29,000 Payday

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – PORT ROYAL, PA – It was a special day in Port Royal for Fayetteville, Pennsylvania’s Lance Dewease, as the National Sprint Car Hall of Famer not only secured the 2021 Bob Weikert Memorial title for a 42nd-career FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory, a 13th Series win at the Port Royal “Speed Palace,” but the pilot of the ever-familiar Kreitz Racing No. 69K accomplished his first All Star triumph of season on Davey Brown’s 87th birthday; one of Central Pennsylvania’s legendary mechanics and the head wrench for Kreitz Racing. Dewease scored a $29,000 payday for his efforts, as well as the coveted bull trophy.

Three-time Port Royal Speedway track champion, Logan Wagner, finished second on Monday evening, followed by leading All Star Circuit of Champions title contender, Tyler Courtney, a hard-charging Danny Dietrich, and Mike Wagner.

“He didn’t come to victory lane at my 100th victory at Williams Grove. He was there, but left, so I told him we had to win this so he could be in victory lane with me because that’s what it’s all about,” Lance Dewease said in Port Royal Speedway victory lane. “He is 87 years old. Just think about that. And he still works on this race car and he is the drive behind this race car, working to make it go as fast as it can. If I get to that age and have that level of desire and dedication, I’ll be happy.”

Although Dewease, who started from eighth on the grid via top-ten redraw, led the majority of the 30-lap program, his march to Bob Weikert Memorial victory lane was full of challenges, as well as a few lucky breaks. In fact, a caution on lap seven for a slowing Brent Marks initiated Dewease’s first challenge for the top spot. Marks, who started fourth, had just slid early race leader, Hunter Schuerenberg, for the lead, but hard contact with the turn one and two wall forced the “Myerstown Missile” to retire. The ensuing restart saw Dewease power to the front, utilizing the low line through turns three and four to take command before crossing back under the flagstand.

Meanwhile, Anthony Macri, a 2021 All Star winner at Bedford who started tenth on the Weikert lineup, was on the move, using a caution on lap 10 to power by two cars in a single circuit to claim second. Another caution on lap 12 allowed Macri to restart on the tailtank of the Hall of Famer.

Laps 15 through 20 resulted in an all-out war between Macri and Dewease. Attempting slider after slider, Macri eventually made a move stick, barely edging out Dewease in a drag race back to the start/finish line to complete lap 20. All momentum would halt the following lap, as a caution would set up an open red.

On the ensuing restart, Dewease charged back by Macri, utilizing the lowline through turns one and two to reclaim the point over the Dillsburg-native. Refusing to give up, Macri hounded Dewease yet again, returning to the cushion with hopes of powering around the Kreitz Racing entry. Unfortunately for Macri, massive contact with the turn three wall ended his efforts on lap 26; he would be forced to leave on the hook.

Without further challenges, Lance Dewease drove on to claim the five-figure payday.

“Anthony is really good here. He pounds the wall hard,” Lance Dewease continued. “He was going to have to really earn it to get back by me. I guess he hit the wall too many times. We were really good on restarts. I could get into the corner flat out. I knew Anthony wasn’t going to go down to block me. He probably thought he wasn’t going to have to worry about me.

“It’s great to be here racing in the sunshine. Port Royal does such a fantastic job. I’m just really happy to be here.”

The All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their 2021 campaign with a four-pack in the Midwest, kicking-off the long weekend with a visit to Fairbury American Legion Speedway in Fairbury, Illinois, on Thursday, June 3, followed by a Wisconsin tripleheader at Wilmot Raceway, Plymouth Dirt Track, and Angell Park Speedway on Friday through Sunday, June 4-6.

Contingency Awards/Results: Port Royal Speedway – Monday, May 31, 2021
Event: Bob Weikert Memorial
Entries: 43
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Cory Eliason | 16.253
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: AJ Flick | 16.824
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Anthony Macri
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Jeff Halligan
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Michael Walter
Mobil 1 Heat #4 Winner: Danny Dietrich
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: Gerard McInyre
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Curt Stroup
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Lance Dewease
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: Danny Dietrich (+13)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 2-AJ Flick, 16.824; 2. 1-Logan Wagner, 17.207; 3. 69K-Lance Dewease, 17.222; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 17.224; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri, 17.272; 6. 55W-Mike Wagner, 17.305; 7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 17.354; 8. 19-Brent Marks, 17.357; 9. 5W-Lucas Wolfe, 17.383; 10. 26-Cory Eliason, 17.393; 11. 24-Rico Abreu, 17.415; 12. 10-Zeb Wise, 17.434; 13. 13-Justin Peck, 17.485; 14. 5-Paul McMahan, 17.540; 15. 17B-Bill Balog, 17.576; 16. 98-Jared Esh, 17.576; 17. 12-Blane Heimbach, 17.598; 18. 11-Ian Madsen, 17.641; 19. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 17.646; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., 17.675; 21. 11T-TJ Stutts, 17.697; 22. 19s-Curt Stroup, 17.726; 23. 15-Lynton Jeffrey, 17.750; 24. 4-Cap Henry, 17.758; 25. 33-Gerard McIntyre, 17.805; 26. 54-Zach Newlin, 17.810; 27. 5C-Dylan Cisney, 17.823; 28. 29-Danny Dietrich, 17.855; 29. 17s-Steve Buckwalter, 17.889; 30. 45-Jeff Halligan, 17.901; 31. 33W-Michael Walter, 18.015; 32. 8M-TJ Michael, 18.206; 33. 4R-Doug Hammaker, 18.240; 34. 42-Sye Lynch, 18.295; 35. 35-Tyler Reeser, 18.296; 36. 27-Tim Shaffer, 18.352; 37. 25-Tyler Bear, 18.509; 38. 17-Josh Baughman, 18.532; 39. 67-Justin Whittall, 18.567; 40. 29B-Michael Bauer, 18.662; 41. 23-Pat Cannon, 18.694; 42. 880-Drew Ritchey, 18.876; 43. 85-Ricky DiEva, 19.867

Heat #1 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 39M-Anthony Macri [7]; 2. 17S-Steve Buckwalter [1]; 3. 33-Gerard McIntyre [2]; 4. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [6]; 5. 12-Blane Heimbach [4]; 6. 13-Justin Peck [5]; 7. 4R-Doug Hammaker [9]; 8. 11T-TJ Stutts [3]; 9. 2-AJ Flick [8]; 10. 25-Tyler Bear [10]; 11. 23-Pat Cannon [11]

Heat #2 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 45-Jeff Halligan [1]; 2. 11-Ian Madsen [4]; 3. 5-Paul McMahan [5]; 4. 26-Cory Eliason [6]; 5. 55W-Mike Wagner [7]; 6. 1-Logan Wagner [8]; 7. 19S-Curt Stroup [3]; 8. 17-Josh Baughman [10]; 9. 54-Zach Newlin [2]; 10. 42-Sye Lynch [9]; 11. 880-Drew Ritchey [11]

Heat #3 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 33W-Michael Walter [1]; 2. 5C-Dylan Cisney [2]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [6]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [7]; 5. 69K-Lance Dewease [8]; 6. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [4]; 7. 35-Tyler Reeser [9]; 8. 85-Ricky DiEva [11]; 9. 15-Lynton Jeffrey [3]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog [5]; 11. 67-Justin Whittall [10]

Heat #4 – Group (A) (10 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 29-Danny Dietrich [2]; 2. 19-Brent Marks [7]; 3. 4-Cap Henry [3]; 4. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 5. 98-Jared Esh [5]; 6. 10-Zeb Wise [6]; 7. 8M-TJ Michael [1]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4]; 9. 29B-Michael Bauer [10]; 10. 27-Tim Shaffer [9]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 4 Transfer
1. 33-Gerard McIntyre [2]; 2. 45-Jeff Halligan [1]; 3. 33W-Michael Walter [3]; 4. 67-Justin Whittall [21]; 5. 19S-Curt Stroup [6]; 6. 17S-Steve Buckwalter [5]; 7. 4R-Doug Hammaker [10]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [7]; 9. 11T-TJ Stutts [9]; 10. 54-Zach Newlin [13]; 11. 29B-Michael Bauer [18]; 12. 42-Sye Lynch [17]; 13. 880-Drew Ritchey [23]; 14. 27-Tim Shaffer [19]; 15. 25-Tyler Bear [20]; 16. 17-Josh Baughman [15]; 17. 85-Ricky DiEva [16]; 18. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [4]; 19. 8M-TJ Michael [14]; 20. 17B-Bill Balog [8]; 21. 15-Lynton Jeffrey [11]; 22. 35-Tyler Reeser [12]; 23. 23-Pat Cannon [22]

A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 69K-Lance Dewease [8]; 2. 1-Logan Wagner [6]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 4. 29-Danny Dietrich [17]; 5. 55W-Mike Wagner [3]; 6. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 7. 24-Rico Abreu [9]; 8. 12-Blane Heimbach [18]; 9. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 10. 11-Ian Madsen [12]; 11. 5-Paul McMahan [11]; 12. 5W-Lucas Wolfe [7]; 13. 33W-Michael Walter [23]; 14. 5C-Dylan Cisney [20]; 15. 45-Jeff Halligan [22]; 16. 33-Gerard McIntyre [21]; 17. 10-Zeb Wise [14]; 18. 13-Justin Peck [15]; 19. 2-AJ Flick [13]; 20. 29B-Michael Bauer [27]; 21. 4-Cap Henry [19]; 22. 39M-Anthony Macri [10]; 23. 17B-Bill Balog [25]; 24. 67-Justin Whittall [24]; 25. 35-Tyler Reeser [26]; 26. 98-Jared Esh [16]; 27. 19-Brent Marks [4] Lap Leaders: Hunter Schuerenberg (1-6), Lance Dewease (7-19), Anthony Macri (20), Lance Dewease (21-30)