LMS Charlotte race summary

Standing-Room-Only Crowd Cheers Lance Dewease To Rite Aid Outlaw Showdown Victory at The Dirt Track

CONCORD, N.C. (May 23, 2008) - A standing-room-only crowd cheered Keystone State sprint car veteran Lance Dewease to victory Friday night in the Rite Aid Outlaw Showdown at The Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Dewease, of Fayetteville, Pa., started outside the front row and led the entire 30-lap distance to claim his first Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws feature victory of the season. It was his fifth career triumph with the nomadic series, but the first outside his home state.

"Who says we can't win outside Pennsylvania?" Dewease asked after climbing from the No. 30c sprint car owned by Donnie Owens. "We love coming here, we just enjoy this place.

"We might not have the fastest race car, but we took advantage of a good starting spot," added Dewease, who banked $12,000. "The cautions at the end probably helped us because we were getting loose and having trouble with traffic."

While Dewease was cruising at the point, several incidents during the closing laps shuffled the standings behind him.

Series points leader Jason Meyers started 11th and sliced through the field to finish second while Shane Stewart ended up third. Veteran Jac Haudenschild ran among the top five the entire race and finished fourth while 17th-starting Craig Dollansky rounded out the top five.

The most serious incident of the night came on lap 27 when Jason Johnson tangled with Steve Kinser, sending Johnson's No. 19 Kasey Kahne Racing entry flipping violently down the backstretch. The Eunice, La., driver was not injured.

Joey Saldana was running third in Kasey Kahne's No. 9 when his right-rear tire exploded on lap 25 and Terry McCarl also spun at the same time.

The 10-lap World of Outlaws heat races were won by Lucas Wolfe, Jason Sides and Haudenschild while Saldana topped the Crane Cams Dash to earn the pole for the main event. Rob Chaney was the class of the field in the World of Outlaws B feature, leading the 12-lap run from flag-to-flag.

Stewart topped the 27 sprint cars in qualifying with a lap of 12.547 seconds, 114.768 mph, around the four-tenths-mile clay oval.

Following in his older brother's tire tracks, Ty Dillon, the 16-year-old grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, drove to victory in the 25-lap feature for the Goodyear FASTRAK Challenge late model series.

Dillon's brother, Austin, drove a black No. 3 late model to victory in this event one year ago while Ty wheeled a blue No. 2 machine into the winner's circle this year.

Dillon started ninth and took command when R.J. Otto spun out of the lead on lap eight. Once in front, Dillon was never seriously challenged as veteran Dennis "Rambo" Franklin tried to chase him down. Franklin settled for second with Kenny Peeples third. Otto recovered to claim fourth-place money with Timbo Mangum rounding out the top five.

The late model heat races were won by Seth Wimpey, Andy Blackwood, Otto and Chad Pearson while Franklin and Justin Hirt topped the 12-lap B features.

The next event at The Dirt Track is the Circle K Monster Truck Bash on Saturday night, Aug. 16. If purchased in advance, tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. They can be purchased online at www.lowesmotorspeedway.com or by calling the speedway ticket office at 1-800-455-FANS.

-credit: lms