Greg Hodnett’s eventful evening was capped off in style as he led all 30 laps to score the $20,000 Summer Nationals Makeup Feature from July. Lucas Wolfe came from eighth to finish second with Donny Schatz completing the podium.
Hodnett started on the front row and was strong from the drop of the green edging fellow front row starter, David Gravel early on. Gravel and Danny Dietrich had a spirited battle for second with the eventually latter taking over. Dietrich was strong on the cushion in turns one and two and closed on Hodnett significantly as the Heffner Racing No.27 was stuck in lapped traffic.
On lap 13, Dietrich got another big run coming off of turn two and dove to the inside of Hodnett down the long Williams Grove backstretch. Hodnett slammed the door on Dietrich, with the two making contact and Dietrich ending up backwards atop turn three. Brian Montieth, who was running sixth, was left with nowhere to go and was collected in the accident. Hodnett’s car was unscathed as he continued to lead.
The ensuing restart saw Lucas Wolfe charge into second with Donny Schatz following him into third. By the end of the 30-lap Feature the racing surface was exhausted with the bottom being the preferred line for most drivers. Hodnett went on to win over Wolfe, Schatz, Daryn Pittman and Gravel completing the top five.
“Didn’t want to crash in the first Feature. After that, the last thing I wanted to do was get together with Danny [Dietrich] in this one. I’m very fortunate to be standing here now,” Hodnett said in Victory Lane.
Wolfe, who came forward from eighth, said, “We were able to get going up top early, but once we got to the front we couldn’t get close enough to make a run for the lead. This was a good way to end the night. Hopefully we can be back up here tomorrow.”
For the second time in the evening, Freddie Rahmer was the KSE Hard Charger, this time coming from 26th to 11th.
Racing action continues in the Champion Racing Oil National Open Friday evening with another complete program. DIRTVision.com has you covered with live video of all the action if you can’t make it to the track.
- administrator on Sep 29, 2017
- Article Date: 9/28/2017