SPRINTS: WIlliams Grove, PA  96-06-07
Mechanicsburg, PA         
	Signed into the pits were 31 of the 410 Sprint cars and 35 of the NAPA Super
Sportsman sprints.  Remember that highlights from the open wheel ranks,
including Williams Grove, are shown on Wednesday evening on ESPN 2 on RPM 2
night.  The #39 owned by Dan Dietrich was absent, however the #8, Dan's old
number, driven by Phil Walter was indeed a Dan Dietrich owned machine.
	Each heat race is ten laps in length with six to qualify.  The feature is
twenty five laps in length.		
			
HEAT ONE
The line up for heat one was as follows:  
Row 1: #117 Mike Erdley 	#10 Len Thompson	 
Row 2: #12 Kieth Kauffman 	#88 Todd Shaffer
Row 3: #77 Fred Rahmer		#6F Bob Fannasy 		
Row 4: #49 Bob Howard		#07 Dave Haight   
Row 5: #25 Todd Gracey		#29 Dave Calaman
Row 6: #119 Greg Leiby
The #6F of Fannasy dropped to the rear of the field prior to the start of the
heat.  Bob has limited experience in the 410 super sprints.
	The green dropped and the action began.  Thompson, Shaffer and Kauffman tried
to make it three wide but the #10 of Thompson was able to grab the lead.  The
#77 of Rahmer was pressuring the #12 of Kauffman and managed to complete the
pass going under the bridge on the back stretch on lap one.  By lap two the #12
of Kauffman was pressuring the #77 of Rahmer hard in turn four but then
Kauffman dropped back.  By lap four the #88 of Shaffer began closing on the
leader #10 of Len Thompson.  On lap six the engine of the #29 of Calaman soured
as he went down the front stretch and the car came to a stop against the
outside guard rail in turn two.  The running order was #10, 388, 377, 312, #07,
#25  
	On the restart everyone expected Shaffer to pass the #10 of Thompson but that
did not happen.  The #77 of Rahmer went low and tried to pass the #88 of
Shaffer who was running the high line in turn one and two.  By lap nine the #12
of Kauffman was going low trying to get by the #77 of Rahmer but he was unable
to complete the pass.   
HEAT ONE QUALIFIERS
#10, #88, #77, #12, #07, #25.  


HEAT TWO
The line up for heat two was as follows:  
Row 1: #10N Jeff Thompson	#59 Bill Brian Jr. 		 
Row 2: #17e Cris Eash		#1J Steve Siegel  
Row 3: #461 Lance Dewease	#7 Dave Cordier Jr.		  
Row 4: #77T Jess Thomas		#3 Bob Bennett 
Row 5: #81x Mike Dillman	#X Bobby Weaver 
	The field took the green and the #10N of Jeff Thomas immediately started
dropping back.  As he came down the front stretch he had both front wheels of
the racing surface.  The #59 of Brian took the lead as the #10N slows
dramatically and traffic started stacking up among the back markers.  On lap
two the #461 of Dewease got high in turn two and hooked the cushion and slowed
while regaining control of the car and lost a few positions.  On lap four the
yellow came out for the #77T of Thomas who had spun in turn two and required a
push truck before he rejoined the field.  
	On the restart the #17e of Eash grabbed the lead as he dove low and passed the
#59 of Brian.  Brian tried his best to do a sling shot back by Eash in turns
one and two but ended up sliding all the way to the cushion in turns two which
let the #1J of Siegel get past him.  By lap seven the #59 of Brian was trying
to use the cushion again but he hooked it in turn two which allowed the #461 of
Dewease to get past him as he fought to regain control of the car.  The #1J of
Siegel managed to get past the leader Eash on the back stretch on lap eight. 
On lap nine the #77T of Thomas spun again and came to a stop in turn four which
set up a one lap dash to the finish.
	On the restart the #461 of Dewease powered by the #17e of Eash who was
experiencing motor problems and the #59 of Brian also passed the #17e of Eash
going down the front stretch.  The #5 of Eshenaur passed the #X of Bobby Weaver
on the back stretch on the final lap.    
HEAT TWO QUALIFIERS
#1J, #461, #59, #17e, #5, #X.
  

HEAT THREE
The line up for heat three was as follows:  
Row 1: #8 Phil Walter  		#69K Don Kreitz Jr.   
Row 2: #92 Kevin Gobrecht	#1 Billy Pauch
Row 3: #92A Jon Armstrong	#3 Scott Jones 
Row 4: #2C Will Cramer		#17 Alan Cole 
Row 5: #55 Mike Wagner		#12B Brian Monteith 
	From the drop of the green the #1 of Billy Pauch was on the move.  By lap two
Pauch was using the high groove and easily passed the #69K of Kreitz as he
attempted to use the low groove.  The #2C of Cramer and the #17 of Cole were
fighting for position on lap three and the 2C of Cramer finally pulled away. 
On lap four the yellow flew for the #55 of Wagner had stopped in turn four. 
After receiving a push he was able to rejoin the field.
	The green came back out immediately followed by the yellow for the #12B of
Monteith who stopped in turn four.  On the restart the #69K of Kreitz tried to
go low and challenge the #1 of Pauch but Pauch was able to pull away.  On the
last lap the #2C of Cramer who had been running in a qualifying spot came to a
stop on the back stretch. 
HEAT THREE QUALIFIERS
#1, #69K, #92, #17, #8, #55.     

Consi
The line up for the consi was as follows:  
Row 1: #117 Mike Erdley		#81x Mike Dillman 
Row 2: #2C Will Cramer		#49 Bob Howard
Row 3: #7 Dave Cordier Jr.	#13 Scott Jones
Row 4: #29 Dave Calaman 	#77T Jess Thomas  
Row 5: #12B Brian Monteith	#10N Jeff Thompson 
Row 6: #3 Bob Bennett		#92A Jon Armstrong
Row 7: #6F Bill Fannasy		#119 Greg Leiby
	As the green waved the #117 of Erdley took the lead only to be passed by the
#2C of Cramer in turn three who had obviously fixed his problem.  On the first
lap the #29 of Calaman passed the #117 of Erdley on the front stretch.  On the
next lap Erdley hooked the cushion and almost lost the car.  By lap six Calaman
had closed on the leader Cramer and on lap seven Calaman dove low in turns
three and four and emerged the leader.		  
Consi QUALIFIERS
#29, #2C, #117, #749, #3, #7.     

Feature 25 Laps
Row 1:  #10 Len Thompson	#59 Bill Brian		
Row 2:  #69K Don Kreitz Jr.	#12 Keith Kauffman	
Row 3:  #17e Cris Eash		#92 Kevin Gobrecht	
Row 4:  #88 Todd Shaffer	#1J Steve Siegel
Row 5:  #1 Billy Pauch		#77 Fred Rahmer
Row 6:  #461 Lance Dewease	#17 Alan Cole
Row 7:  #07 Dave Haight		#5 Craig Eshenaur	
Row 8:  #8 Phil Walter		#25 Todd Gracey
Row 9:  #X Bobby Weaver		#55 Mike Wagner
Row 10: #29 Dave Calaman	#2C Will Cramer
Row 11: #117 Mike Erdley 	#49 Bob Howard
Row 12: #3 Bob Bennett		#7 Dave Cordier Jr.
The #17e of Cris Eash scratched from the event since they were unable to
complete an engine change in time to make the feature.  The #119 of Greg Leiby
was the first alternate and started shot gun on the field.  
	When they say "It's show time at Williams Grove" they mean it.  When the green
dropped the #10 of Len Thompson took the lead but the #59 of Brian passed him
back only to have the #10 of Thompson pass him again.  Working the second lap
the #69K of Kreitz passed Brain on the back stretch to take second.  Meanwhile
the #461 of Dewease was closing on the #77 of Rahmer and completed the pass
going down the back stretch while working lap three.  At the same time Kreitz
started to close on the leader Thompson.  On lap five the #1 of Pauch passed
Dewease in turn four only to have Dewease pass him back as the yellow came out
on lap six.  The #07 of Haight had come to a stop in turn two.  The #119 of
Leiby and the #X went into the pits with Leiby returning to the field.  The
front runners were: #10, #69K, #59, #92, #12, #461, #1, #77, #1J, #25, #88.
	On the restart the #1J of Siegel jumped on Rahmer and completed the pass in
turn two.  Unfortunately the green did not stay out long as the #12B of Brian
Monteith's car comes to a stop on the back stretch.  Once the green came out
again the action started again.  The #92 of Gobrecht passed the #59 of Brian on
the front stretch only to have Brian pass him in turn two only to have Gobrecht
pass Brian again on the back stretch only to have Brian pass Gobrecht in turn
four, all of this happening while working lap eight while Kreitz passed
Thompson on the front stretch as the yellow came out for the #29 of Calaman who
had looped it in turn four. The front runners were: #10, #69K, #59, #92, #461,
#1J, #1, #77, #25, #88.
	On the restart Dewease jumped on Gobrecht and completed the pass in turn two. 
Then the action began.  While working lap ten Kreitz got next to Thompson and
those two raced side by side for five laps when Kreitz finally got by in turn
two.  Those two guys put on one heck of a show.  
	On lap sixteen I noticed that the #1J of Siegel had front wing damage but I
did not see how or when it occurred.  On lap seventeen the #59 of Brian and the
#1 of Pauch got together in turn four with Pauch appearing to go over the right
rear tire of Brian.  Pauch showed upper wing damage but was able to continue
while Brian stopped in turn four. The front runners were: #69K, #1J, #10, #461,
#1, #77, #92, #25, #88.
	On the restart Dewease tried to get by Thompson but was unable to.  Meanwhile
Thompson used the high groove to start to pressure Siegel who was using the low
groove, Thompson did get around Siegel but he retook the position on lap twenty
in turn four.  Thompson then slide back another position when Dewease was able
to pass him on the back stretch on lap twenty.  On lap twenty three the 392 of
Gobrecht was able to pass Pauch on the front stretch to take fifth.  

TOP TEN FINISHERS
#69K, #1J, #461, #10, #92, #1, #25, #77, #12, #29

VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW
This was Donny Kreitz's thirty third visit to victory lane at Williams Grove. 
The announcer asked Donny if this was a "Vintage Kreitz Performance" and Donny
said no because he had almost forgotten how to get to victory lane.  The first
thing Donny did was to congratulate the #1 Zemco team for beating the World of
Outlaws on the New York swing.  Donny said that each week their effort was
getting stronger and that this week with 5 lanes to choose from and his
starting position it just came his way.   
	
  

NAPA Super Sportsman
Heat One:	#10 Don Beaver Jr.
Heat Two:	#22 Mark Smith
Heat Three:	#25 Bob Himmelberger
Heat Four:	#5G Bobby Weaver
Consi #1:	#77 Russ Mitten Jr.
Consi #2:	#1W Jim Shuttlesworth
Feature:	1.) #5G Bobby Weaver
		2.) #3 Larry Jackson
		3.) #8 Rich Eichelberger  

Next Friday the 410 Sprints and Williams Grove own 358 Sprints are scheduled. 
Williams Grove now has its own home page and as soon as I get it to work for me
I will pass the location along.

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