This message was edited on
May 26, 2011 at
12:23:49 PM by Smitty51
BECHTELSVILLE – Brian Leppo held off Fred Rahmer to win the sprint-car feature on opening night of the 5th Annual Keystone Cup at Grandview Speedway.
For the New Oxford driver, his third overall win of the season was worth $5,000. It was his third career win during the Keystone Cup series, which continues tonight at Port Royal Speedway.
“My car was fast and I tried to hit my lines for 35 laps,” Leppo said. “Fred is one of the best and he’s very familiar with this place. I know he’s going to race me clean and I’m going to race him clean. To beat Fred Rahmer always makes you feel good and that’s a compliment to him. It’s cool to win a cup race.”
Leppo started second in a sprinter owned by Floyd Swope and drove into the lead over Daryn Pittman and Stevie Smith before the caution flag flew on lap one.
Tyler Walker’s second turn spin brought out another caution. Walker was up to seventh from 11th. He won the Keystone Cup race at Grandview last year.
Pittman drove under Leppo looking for the lead on lap eight, but Leppo cleared lapped traffic quicker and maintained first.
Smith flipped in turn three stopping the race on lap 13. He was uninjured.
Rahmer was up to third from sixth and went after Pittman on the restart. A low move in turns one and two gained Rahmer the spot.
Walker spun again in turn three on lap 21.
Rahmer went low on Leppo after the restart, but Leppo maintained the lead. Rahmer ducked under Leppo again in turn three with a few laps to go and they raced side-by-side off turn four.
Leppo would hold on for his first career win at the Berks County oval by a car length over Rahmer, Sam Hafertepe Jr., who started 14th, Pittman and Lance Dewease.
“He’s not going to make a mistake and he’s going to take advantage of you if you get yourself into a sticky situation,” Leppo said. “I felt like we were as good as we were going to get and weren’t going to get any better on that kind of racetrack. I tried to use the lapped cars to my advantage. I didn’t know how many laps to go because you go around this place so fast so don’t even pay attention to the counter. I’m thankful to hang on.”
Chad Layton, Mark Smith, Alan Krimes, Danny Dietrich and Brian Montieth completed the top 10.
Leppo set fast time over the 22-car field with a lap of 11.926.
Rahmer, Pittman and Layton won the 10-lap heat races.
Grandview Speedway
Keystone Cup Race No. 1
410 Sprints, 35 laps: 1. Brian Leppo. 2. Fred Rahmer. 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. 4. Daryn Pittman. 5. Lance Dewease. 6. Chad Layton. 7. Mark Smith. 8. Alan Krimes. 9. Danny Dietrich. 10. Brian Montieth.
Fast Time: Leppo, 11.926.
Heats: Rahmer, Pittman, Layton.
http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnewssports/2011/05/leppo_holds_off_rahmer_to_win.html
Excellent racing at Grandview! Hafertepe looked FAST all night, coming from 14th to 3rd in the Feature. Walker looked fast early in the feature, but then spun out twice. Hodnett never got going last night.
Remind me to pick up some GOOD food before I get to the track next time. Aside from the fries, the food sucked!
Chalk another win up for Mach 1 chassis...now if the guy making them can get his car hooked up!
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Smitty, good recap. Even though I am a Rahmer fan, I was glad to see Leppo win.Freddie did push him though.You are right, Leppo has had his Mach 1 hooked up over the last several weeks. It won't be long until Mark Smith gets another win. Overall, it was a very entertaining night at Grandview to kick off the Keystone Cup.
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I grew up with Brian and his cousins were some of my best friends that I hung out with everyday. Growing up has seperated us a bit, but it's great to see Brian and Floyd Swope having this level of success. As of December, this was going to be Floyd's last year, winning has a way of changing things....
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