SPRINTS: Williams Grove 96-04-12
     r4 and Mr. G, my ten year old son Matt, traveled to Williams Grove again
this weekend.  If the weatherman could predict what the weather is really going
to do we would have also attended the race at Lincoln, but that is another
story.
     On the racing card Friday night were the 410 Super Sprints and Williams
Grove own 358 Sprint class.  In the pits thirty two 410 sprints were signed in
while there were twenty five of the 358 sprints present.  I will only cover the
410 sprints and will comment on the 358 sprints latter.  For the sprint cars
the heat races are ten laps with six cars qualifying, the first four being
handicapped into the top twelve starting spots by their drivers earning
average.  Last Wednesday night, on the show RPM 2 night on the ESPN 2 network
they showed the highlights from last weeks race at the Grove and mentioned that
Williams Grove is the richest weekly sprint car purse in the nation! 

HEAT ONE
Row	Car 	Driver		        Car#	Driver
1    	92A	Jon Armstrong		117	Mike Erdley
2	U5	Trevor Utt		45	Jeff Rohrbaugh
3	29	Tim Dietz		17	Alan Cole
4	5K	Mark Richard		1	Billy Pauch
5	88	Todd Shaffer		461	Lance Dewease
6	15	Mitch Bodine				

      As the field took the green flag there was a huge accident that started
in turn three and finished in turn four.  From where I was it appeared that the
#U5 of Trevor Utt lost control and started the accident.  Involved in the wreck
were the following cars: #17 of Cole who's car was cradled off the track
between two wreckers, #45 of Rohrbaugh who had front end damage, #461 of
Dewease who was pushed away with a flat right rear, the #15 of Bodine who was
pushed away from the wreck without obvious damage, the # 1 of Pauch who was
also pushed away from the wreck without obvious damage, and last but not least
the #29 of Dietz who appeared to have no damage.  All drivers were okay.
     After the lengthy red flag the field reformed for a complete restart minus
the #U5 of Utt, the #45 Rohrbaugh and the #17 of Cole.  I still can not figure
out the restart order since the #88 of Shaffer was in front of the #1 of Pauch.
 By the completion of lap one the #88 of Shaffer was in the lead as the #15 of
Bodine pulled into the pits.  At the completion of lap two the top three cars
were the #88 of Shaffer, the #5K of Richard and the #1 of Pauch.  
     On lap three the #461 slowed and came to a stop exiting turn three.  He
then moved down to turn one and entered the pits.  His right rear suspension
appeared to have broken.  The top four spots were the # 88, #5K, #1 and the #29
of Dietz.  The field takes the green and the #5K is all over the #88 going down
the backstretch.  
     On lap five the #92A of Armstrong went up in smoke and rolled to a stop on
the front stretch bringing out a yellow.  The only cars running were the #88,
#5K, #1, #29, and the #117.  On the restart the 5K jumped all over the #88 but
Shaffer pulled away as the #1 of Pauch was now all over the #5K.  On lap seven
the #1 of Pauch went high after trying the low side the lap before.  Pauch used
the cushion nicely and took the second spot from the #5K between turn one and
two.

HEAT ONE QUALIFIERS
#88, #1, #5K, #29, #117 and the #92A who was not running at the end of the heat
race.

HEAT TWO
Row	Car 	Driver		       Car#	Driver
1	77t	Jess Thomas		 49	Bob Howard
2	10N	Jeff Thompson		 5	Craig Eshenaur
3	10	Len Thompson		 16	Bill Brian
4    	59	K Kauffman		 17E	Cris Eash
5	69K	Don Kreitz Jr.		 85	Glen Clarke

     The field cleanly took the green and the #5 of Eshenaur passed the #49 of
Howard on the back stretch to take the lead.  On lap three the #10 of Thompson
was all over the #10N of Thompson and the #10 completed the pass on the back
stretch to move up the fourth qualifying spot.  On lap five the #59 of Kauffman
passed the #10N of Thompson to take fifth spot.
     The #85 of Clarke slowed and went by the starter but it appeared as if he
was going to get into the pits.  Unfortunately he went all the way around and
stopped just shy of the back stretch pit entrance bringing out the yellow.  The
starter was not happy and waved the yellow and them slamed the flag handle on
the starting stand.  The half lap lead that #5 of Eshenaur had was gone.
     The field lined up for the restart in the following order: #5, #49, #17E,
10, #59 and the #10N in the qualifying spots.  On the restart the #10 got loose
allowing the #59 and others by him.  The #5 was able to easily hold off the
#49.

HEAT TWO QUALIFIERS
#5, #49, #59, #77T, #10N and #10

HEAT THREE
Row	Car 	Driver		     	Car#	Driver
1	1J	Steve Siegel		13	Scott Jones
2	121	Judi Bates		25	Todd Gracey
3	12	Fred Rahmer		3	Bob Bennett
4	55	Mike Wagner		77	Dave Calaman
5	92	K. Gobrecht		1X	Rick Hench

     Once again the field cleanly took the green and by the completion of lap
one the #25 of Gracey was in the lead.  On lap two a car got sideways in turn
four and the #121 of Bates hits it and slowly flips over, the #77 of Callaman
hit the outside guard rail and the #3 of Bennett stopped on the back stretch.
     The restart order was: #1J, #25, #13, #12, #55, #92, #1X and #77.  By the
end of lap three the #12 of Rahmer was up to third and by the completion of lap
four the #12 had passed the #25 on the back stretch.
     On lap five the #13 blew up on the back stretch and the # 25 who had been
running third stopped on the front stretch.  The restart order was: #1J, #12,
#55, #92, #77 and the 1X.  On the restart the #1J pulled away from the #12 and
the #92 of Gobrecht got a little loose in turn four and the #77 got by him. 
These two cars were fighting for the all important fourth qualifying spot for
the remainder of the heat.

HEAT THREE QUALIFIERS
#1J, #12, #55, #77, #92 and the #1X

CONSOLATION RACE
Since the #92A of Jon Armstrong who qualified through heat one scratched, seven
cars from the consolation race would qualify for the feature.

Row 	Car 	Driver		        Car#	Driver
1	461	Lance Dewease		69K	Don Kreitz Jr.
2	25	Todd Gracey		15	Mitch Bodine
3	17E	Cris Eash		13	Scott Jones
4	U5	Trevor Utt		16	Bill Brian
5	121	Judi Bates		45	Jeff Rohrbaugh
6	85	Glen Clarke		3	Bob Bennett
7	17	Alan Cole		33	Jeremy Trout

     Two cars scratched from the consolation race, the #121 of Judi Bates and
the #25 of Todd Gracey.
     On the start the #69K of Kreitz took the lead while the #461 of Dewease
was trying to figure out were to get by him.  On lap four the #461 riding the
cushion and passed the #69K in turn two.  
     On lap five the #85 of Clarke slowed and stopped on the back stretch
bringing out the yellow.  The restart order was he #461, #69K, #17E, #16,#U5,
#45, and the #17.  On lap seven the #17E of Eash passed the #16 of Brian on the
back stretch for third.  On lap eight the #17 of Cole slowed and stopped
exiting turn four.  He was pushed and restarted the field with obvious wing
damage.  The field took the green in the following order: #461, #69K, #17E,
#16, #U5, #45, #3 and the #33.

CONSOLATION RACE QUALIFIERS
#461, #69K, #17E, #16, #U5, #45, #3

25 LAP FEATURE
Row	Car 	Driver			Car#	Driver
1	77T	Jess Thomas		1J	Steve Siegel
2	49	Bob Howard		5	Cris Eash
3     	29	Tim Dietz		12	Fred Rahmer
4	5K	Mark Richard		59	K. Kauffman
5	55	Mike Wagner		1	Billy Pauch
6     	77	Dave Callaman		88	Todd Shaffer
7	117	Mike Erdley		10N	Jeff Thompson
8	92	K. Gobrecht		10	Len Thompson
9	1X	Rick Hench		461	Lance Dewease
10	69K	Don Kreitz Jr.		17E	Cris Eash
11	16	Bill Brian		U5	Trevor Utt
12	45	Jeff Rohrbaugh		3	Bob Bennett

     First Alternate the #33 of Jeremy Trout.  The #117 went back into the pits
and had to rejoin the field at the end.
     As the green waved the action began, the #461 of Dewease went high trying
to use the cushion and bounced around.  The #77 of Calaman stopped in turn two.
 The yellow waved, however in turn four the #92 of Gobrecht hit the outside
guard rail hard between turn three and four and flipped onto it side.  The #117
of Erdley and the #U5 of Utt were also involved and turn over onto their side
near the inside guard rail.  All drivers were okay.  The #92 had severe front
end damage and was brought to the pits cradled between two wreckers.  The #45
of Rohrbaugh was also brought into the pits on a wrecker.  	
     Since a lap had not been completed under the green the field was
completely restarted.  On the restart the #1J of Siegel took the lead with the
#5 of Eash in second.  However by end of lap two the #12 of Rahmer was working
on taking second from the #5 of Eash.  On lap six the #49 of Howard stopped on
the back stretch bringing out the yellow.  The cars aligned for the restart in
the following order: #1J, #5, #12, #59, #1, #77T, #29, #5K, #88 and #69K.
	    On lap seven the #1 of Pauch went above the cushion and lost at least two
spots in turn two.  By lap nine the #12 of Rahmer was pressuring the #5 of Eash
for second spot.  On lap thirteen the #5 of Eash brought out the yellow when he
came to a stop in turn one, he had been running second at the time.  The field
formed for a restart in the following order: #1J, #12, #59, #88, #1, #29, #69K,
#77, #17E, #5K, #461, #10, #77T, #55, #117 and #10N.
	    As the green waved the #1J still lead the #12 but Rahmer wanted the spot
and was putting a great deal of pressure on Siegel.  On lap fifteen the #12 of
Rahmer jumped low and passed the #1J of Siegel.  On lap sixteen the #17E of
Eash had a flash fire in the engine area going down the back stretch and
finally came to stop in turn four bringing out the yellow.  The field reformed
for the green in the following order: #12, #1J, #59, #88, #29, #1, #69K, #77,
#5K, #461, #10, #77T, #55, #117, and the #10N.
	    The field took the green and the #88 of Shaffer passed the #1J to take
third.  On lap eighteen the #77 of Calaman violently flipped in turn three and
cleared the outside guard rail and was up against the fence above the race
track surface.  The red flag came out.  Calaman climbed from the car and
appeared to be uninjured.  The wrecker had to go around by the front stretch
concession stands to get to the accident location.  The #1 of Pauch had a right
rear and was forced to the end of the field.
	   Once again the field formed for the restart and took the green with the
same result.  This time the #29 of Dietz went out of the track at the same
exact location.  However, this time the car went through the outside guard rail
instead of going over it.  Tim Dietz also climbed from the car and appeared to
be uninjured.  Once again the red was out and the wrecker had to go around by
the front stretch concession stands to get to the accident location.  This was
a lengthy red since it required the guard rail to be repaired.  A cold front
had been forcasted to move through the area with light rain but so far the
night had been beautiful.  Then the wind hit.  The wind was strong, the flags
were flying straight out and I would estimate the wind to have hit close to 45
m.p.h. gusts.  However, the only pouring was the crowd from the grandstands, I
mean the majority of people literally got up and ran for their cars.  I firmly
believed that the Grove officials would call the race due to the winds but they
announced that the accident scene was repaired and that crew members should
leave the track.
	    I still could not believe they were going to restart the race but we
stayed to watch.  On lap eighteen the #88 of Shaffer hit the outside guard rail
exiting turn one hard, the front end came way up off the racing surface but he
kept his foot on the pedal and the car under control.  Could this have been due
to the wind?  On lap twenty the #117 of Erdley lost control in between turn
three and four but managed to regain it.

THE TOP TEN
#12, #59, #88, #69K, #5K, #461, #10, #55, #1, #77T

VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW
	    The first thing Fred said in the victory lane interview was that he had
all he could do to control the car on the front stretch and back stretch.  He
even said he wouldn't want to be one of the 358 sprints if they planned on
running the feature.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY AT WILLIAMS GROVE
o  The GOOD, thankfully none of the drivers were injured considering all the
equipment that was destroyed.
o  The BAD, was what I am assuming was a lousy track surface with all the
accidents that occurred.  I think they must have had launching ramps in the
turns.  It was a good thing the represenative from the WoO was at the Grove
last one week ago and not this week with all the wrecked equipment.  In the 358
sprints a car violently flipped in turn one and cleared the fence landing
outside the track.  The driver was not injured but the brand new race car was
demolished.  
	Another bad item was once again the announcing, or should I say the lack of
announcing of all who scratched from the events and giving one line up for a
restart but actually having the cars in a different order.  
o  The UGLY is the 358 sprint class at Williams Grove.  This is STUPID in my
opinion!  This is our local version of the CART versus IRL battle.  Why create
another sprint car class?  We already have so many that it is confusing trying
to figure out what the differences are.  
	How many types of cars can an area support?  A few weeks ago at Williams Grove
they honored Jack Gunn with a race in his memory.  One of the things Jack did
was to create the KARS, Keystone Auto Racing Speedways. They have run many
races at the Grove over the years, but not this year.  The Grove 358 cars are
only different from the KARS in a few ways that I can figure out.  The KARS has
a mandatory club right rear tire while the Grove allows any type of right rear
tire but there is a mandatory requirement for a chevy crank. 

TRIVIA QUESTION
Last week my question was "When was Kevin Gobrecht's first win and at what
track?"  The answer is July 29, 1995, at Lincoln.

This weeks question is: Who was the first driver to win a race at Williams
Grove Speedway?

As always I welcome any comments, suggestions or questions.  You can reach me
at:  rgould@oehs.upenn.edu  

If you drop me a line let me know where you read my report since it does seem
to get around.  Also please let me know what state you are in since my son is
going to keep track of the information and use it in his computer class, my how
times have changed.  Until next time this is r4 wishing you a clear track.