Dietrich Downs Outlaws Again, Repeats in Gettysburg Clash at Lincoln
PA Posse racer tops World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car stars for second year in a row
ABOTTSTOWN, Pa. – May 16, 2013 – A year after being schooled by the vaunted Pennsylvania Posse at Lincoln Speedway, the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series racers made great strides but still came up short as local star Danny Dietrich powered to victory in the Gettysburg Clash for the second consecutive season.

Last year it was hard to find an Outlaw in the top 10 at Lincoln, this time around Donny Schatz pressured Dietrich for the entire 35 laps before settling for second by about a car length at the checkered flag. Sammy Swindell, Tim Kaeding and Brad Sweet rounded out the top five on the first of four consecutive nights of action for the Outlaws.

Dietrich remained faithful to the bottom of the race track, making Schatz have to use the high side to get around him. Schatz kept pace using the high side early on, but as the bottom proved to be the preferred line he moved down and tried to force Dietrich into a making mistake.

“Just was determined to get the jump on every restart, I screwed up a couple of times, but was able to recover from it,” said Dietrich, of Aspers, Pa. “I saw his nose probably half a dozen times, I was just trying to hit my marks, I figured if I could just hit my marks everything would probably be OK. It just feels real good to beat the best of the best guys in the world.”

Dietrich wound up leading all 35 laps in his Sandoes Fruit Market Maxim, and the capacity crowd went crazy as the PA Posse member pulled into victory lane.

“I tried everything, tried pulling the wing back, putting it forward,” said Schatz, driver of the Tony Stewart Racing STP/Armor All J&J from Fargo, N.D. “The guys did a tremendous job, you come out here there is some pretty stiff competition, we’re not happy with second, but it is definitely a step in the right direction.”

Also for the second consecutive year at Lincoln, Sammy Swindell qualified at the top of the charts in the Big Game Treestands Eagle and was able to earn a position in the dash. An unlucky dash draw of eight, though, shifted Swindell from the front to row to the fourth row, where he eventually worked his way back to a podium finish by the end of the night.

“The last couple of weeks have been really bad for us, and so it’s good to come here and get a third,” said Sammy Swindell, of Germantown, Tenn. “We were a little scared to go too far. Everything we did the first part of the year seemed to be wrong. To come here and get a third is just great.”

Sixth-place finishing Brent Marks was the next PA Posse driver in the finishing order, one spot ahead of World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship point leader Daryn Pittman.

The night did not go so well for one of the PA Posse’s biggest stars, Greg Hodnett, from Thomasville, Pa. He went out late in time trials and qualified an impressive eighth, when few drivers were moving up in the qualifying order. But Hodnett’s night would end there, as a mechanical failure would keep the car off of the track for the rest of the event.

Kerry Madsen managed to save what could have been a rough night. The Aussie qualified a dismal 40th but he was able to work his way up to the third position in his heat race, and was racing for a spot in the dash. He would not be able to take the dash spot away from Hafertepe Jr., but he would go to the feature. Madsen started 24th in the feature due to his qualifying position, but picked up eight spots to finish 16th.

The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series heads to Williams Grove Speedway on Friday and Saturday, with Saturday night’s feature now the determining event for where the Morgan Cup trophy will reside the remainder of 2013. The traveling trophy goes to the organization represented by the highest finishing Outlaw or PA Posse racer in Saturday’s A-main. The past two seasons, a dash determined the Morgan Cup winner, with Jason Sides and Steve Kinser earning victories that let the trophy find a home in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series office in North Carolina.