MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Danny Dietrich snapped a near two-year losing streak at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday night.
His last win at the track was July 31, 2020.
The inaugural Bill Gallagher 5G To Win main for USAC East 360 sprints was scored by Alex Bright for his third circuit win of the year.
Bright’s victory was an exciting one as the last eight laps of the feature saw the battle for the lead intensify.
Dietrich would end up wiring the field from the pole for the 25-lap 410 sprint car win however he had his challengers who both met with ill fate late in the going.
Dietrich came up on the rear of the field on the seventh tour and struggled at first to begin lapping cars before breaking free to stretch out a more than five-second lead by lap 10.
However, by that time, fourth-starter Anthony Macri was up to second and running him down and by lap 15 Dietrich’s lead was cut to 1.5 seconds.
Still working traffic with four laps go to, the leader’s advantage was down to less than a half second as Macri was honing in for a pass.
But then as he came to the stripe with three laps to go his car suddenly sputtered and slowed as third runner Brent Marks nearly ran over him as the pair raced down the frontstretch.
Marks then turned his car to speed into second and set his sights on leader Dietrich.
With a pair of lapped cars between himself and the leader, Marks drove every bit of his No. 19m into the first turn in an effort to put both cars behind him.
However, his move failed and he instead nearly wiped out the lappers while also spinning in the middle of the corner only to continue on.
His spin let Macri back by for the second spot as Dietrich sped to the checkers in the Kauffman No. 48 to get the victory by 3.183 seconds.
It was the 26th win of his career at Williams Grove.
Marks ended up third followed by Freddie Rahmer and Kyle Moody.
Mark Smith started on the pole of the 30-lap USAC East Gallagher Memorial and took command of the field with Kenny Miller and Mike Thompson giving chase.
Smith had a straightaway lead by lap eight when the first caution flag of the race appeared for a flat tire on Steve Wilbur’s racer.
Miller challenged for the lead on the restart before Smith broke free and again got away from the field only to be slowed once more one lap shy of the halfway point.
Miller, Joey Amantea, Steve Drevicki and Alex Bright followed for the restart.
Drevicki made a big move when action returned to drive the low lane into the second spot with Bright moving up to fourth.
And then the red flag appeared with 12 laps to go when both Mike Thompson and Amantea vaulted out of the speedway, exiting via turn four.
Both drivers climbed from their cars moments later.
The restart found Drevicki, Bright and point leader Briggs Danner giving chase for the win.
Drevicki pounced on Smith at the new green and took the lead on lap 20.
Smith reclaimed the lead briefly during the lap but Drevicki would persevere for control before Smith slowed to a stop with three laps to go.
This go around, Bright, Danner and Kody Swanson gave chase on the restart.
And Bright was up to the challenge as he moved to Drevicki’s inside as the pair raced down the backchute on lap 24 before diving into the top spot as the pair set their cars into the third turn.
Eyes then turned to Danner as he came forward to slide by Drevicki.
However, he ran out of time to get around Bright, instead crossing the line in second.
Drevicki, Miller and Swanson completed the top five finishers.
The finish:
Feature (25 laps): 1. Danny Dietrich, 2. Anthony Macri, 3. Brent Marks, 4. Freddie Rahmer, 5. Kyle Moody, 6. Devon Borden, 7. Lucas Wolfe, 8. Aaron Bollinger, 9. Tyler Ross, 10. Justin Whittall, 11. Dylan Norris, 12. T.J. Stutts, 13. Chase Dietz, 14. Dylan Cisney, 15. Steve Owings, 16. Dwight Leppo, 17. Bryn Gohn, 18. Anthony Fiore, 19. Chad Trout, 20. Brent Shearer, 21. John Walp
Keyword: Dietrich Ends Williams Grove Drought