SELINSGROVE, Pa. — The 32nd annual PA Speedweek Sprint Car Series came down to a thrilling pass by Danny Dietrich with two laps to race in Sunday night’s 30-lap Opperman-Bogar-Heintzelman Memorial at Selinsgrove Speedway.
Dietrich drove by Brent Marks, who was going for his fifth win in a row and sixth in the nine-race series, in traffic to score the $10,099 victory.
It was Dietrich’s first win in the series and at the track this season at the wheel of the Kauffman Racing/Weikert’s Livestock No. 48.
Marks clinched his first PA Speedweek championship, finishing Sunday night’s race just 1.3 seconds behind Dietrich at the checkered flag. He was also the night’s Fast Tees Fast Qualifier with a lap time of 16.933.
Marks earned the $5,000 Selinsgrove Ford 10-for-10 bonus as he was the only driver to finish in the top 10 in all the series races. In fact, Marks finished in the top three positions in every event.
The 410 sprint car main event was a battle right out of the gate when polesitter Steve Buckwalter and third-place starter Brent Marks swapped the lead before the completion of the first lap.
For the first five laps, Marks and second-place starter Danny Dietrich closely chased Buckwalter. On the sixth circuit, Marks took command of the field with an inside pass on the backstretch. Sixth-place starter Justin Peck joined the battle in the fourth spot.
Dietrich advanced to second on lap 10 and began to reel in Marks. Meanwhile, an intense battle for the third position unfolded between Peck and fifth-place starter Rico Abreu.
Buckwalter’s solid night came to an end on lap 16 when his car rolled to a stop in turn four. When the race resumed, Marks maintained the lead using the bottom of the race track while Dietrich found momentum around the top.
The final 10 laps turned into an intense chase to the checkered flag as Marks and Dietrich navigated their way through slower traffic. Mike Walter, who started 11th, stormed into the top five in the closing laps.
Dietrich made the winning pass by Marks using the outside lane in turn two on the 28th lap. Marks attempted to reclaim the lead to no avail. Dietrich took the checkered flag by just 1.3 seconds over Marks, Peck, Walter and Abreu.
Kenny Heffner secured the lead at the halfway point of the 20-lap PASS/IMCA 305 sprint car feature and went on to score his first career win at Selinsgrove.
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1) 48 Danny Dietrich ($10,099) 2) 19M Brent Marks 3) 13 Justin Peck 4) 33W Michael Walter II 5) 24 Rico Abreu 6) 12 Blane Heimbach 7) 5 Dylan Cisney 8) 27 Devon Borden 9) 5T Ryan Timms 10) 11 TJ Stutts 11) 6 Ryan Smith 12) 51 Freddie Rahmer 13) 5W Lucas Wolfe 14) 35 Jason Shultz 15) 44 Dylan Norris 16) 99M Kyle Moody 17) 39 Chase Dietz 18) 17B Steve Buckwalter 19) 19R Matt Campbell 20) 91 Anthony Fiore 21) M1 Mark Smith 22) 11P Niki Young 23) 9 Ryan Linder