MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Ten straight top-five finishes, the longest personal stretch the past decade and seven victories. Statistically, Lance Dewease is formidable as ever at 56 years old.
But the glittering numbers are more tinsel than something of substance for Dewease and the Kreitz Racing No. 69k team, which have fought tooth and nail to cure recent car issues.
Engine gremlins may have kept Dewease out of victory lane for a second week in a row on Friday at Williams Grove Speedway, even though the National Sprint Car Hall of Famer still impressed from the rear of his heat to an 11th-to-second performance.
Like his runner-up effort a week earlier, though, the night started with a scramble to dissect faulty parts on the car.
“The motor isn’t taking off,” Dewease said, referring to his slowness on starts and restarts. “We have no clue what’s going on with it. We’ve changed everything we can on the car and can’t fix it. Running second, we’ll take it.”
The Kreitz team changed fuel pumps when the car sputtered during engine heat on Friday. When they made the fix, the car still acted up during the 10-lap heat race. Starting eighth because of the track’s handicap format, Dewease finished fourth and started 11th in the 25-lap main event.
By lap 20, Dewease was up to fourth. Sitting third with a restart with three laps to go, he found himself in contention for career win No. 104 at Williams Grove. But he needed a superb restart and great drive off the bottom in turns one and two for his best Hail Mary attempt.
Though he got by Chase Dietz for second with two laps left, he couldn’t catch winner Devon Borden.
Still, Dewease managed a genuine smile afterward.
“Second place, we’re padding the points,” said Dewease, who now maintains a 675-point lead in the Williams Grove track title race over Freddie Rahmer with six races left. “I’ll take our evening with all the problems we had.”
The month of money starts at the end of August in Central Pennsylvania, which includes nine All Star Circuit of Champions races, two weekends with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series, two races paying more than $50,000-to-win, and a host of other lucrative events.
Last year, Dewease outdueled Kyle Larson and Anthony Macri to win a record seventh Tuscarora 50, an emerging Crown Jewel across sprint car racing, at Port Royal Speedway.
A fifth Williams Grove National Open could be in the cards, too, and whatever else the Hall of Fame could pile up if the nights just went a little smoother.
Fortunately, with the Knoxville Nationals next week, there’s some uninterrupted time to figure it all out.
“We’re going to work hard to figure that out in the next few weeks,” Dewease said. “If they don’t find something, I will say we won’t have this motor in for a while.”