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Tyler Carr Photo
The Pennsylvanian gets by Carson Macedo late and holds off the legendary Lance Dewease for his first Series win
The J&S Classics National Open is all about the intense rivalry between the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars and Pennsylvania Posse, and it was on full display Friday night.
The Greatest Show on Dirt rolled into Williams Grove Speedway for the opener of the 63rd National Open. The World of Outlaws were aiming to invade and steal the show while the locals prepared to defend home turf.
At first, it looked as if the travelers may have their way. Defending “Natty O” champion Carson Macedo started on the pole and took off with the top spot early. Behind Macedo a swarm of PA Posse drivers stalked the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41. Chase Dietz (York, PA), Danny Dietrich (Gettysburg, PA), and Lance Dewease (Fayetteville, PA) battled it out before Dietz gained control and started the charge after Macedo.
Laps clicked away, and Dietz closed right on the tail tank of the Lemoore, CA native. On the 22nd circuit, Dietz built a strong run out of Turn 2 and pounced heading into the next set of corners. He ducked under Macedo and finished the slide job for the lead.
But the battle wasn’t over. Lance Dewease rolled by Macedo right after Dietz cleared him and pulled alongside the Stehman Motorsports No. 23D. Dietz stayed just enough ahead to close the door entering Turn 1, and that was the winning move. He drove away to his first World of Outlaws win much to the delight of the packed Williams Grove stands.
“I just want to soak it in,” Dietz said. “This week we put a whole different car together and everything. They bust their asses. We’ve had a hell of a year. I know how fast we could be here for “The Grove,” and we just haven’t had that speed all season long and just made big changes this week to get there. Man, we did it all, and it ended up working out. These things are so damn difficult to win. We had to chase him (down) and get there. We were so maneuverable. We’ve just been fighting that all season long. I’m just so damn proud of these guys. John and Kelly Stehman giving us the opportunity to do this is unbelievable”
Dietz became the 155th different victor in Series history and joined Ryan Timms as the second first time winner this year. He’s the 16th different driver to top a World of Outlaws race in 2025. Dietz pushed the PA Posse’s advantage to three races to one over the travelers as Anthony Macri (Dillsburg, PA) collected checkered flags at Williams Grove in May and BAPS Motor Speedway in July. The one World of Outlaws win so far was delivered by Michael “Buddy” Kofoid at Lincoln Speedway in May.
Lance Dewease claimed the second spot in the Barry Shearer No. 12, marking his first World of Outlaws podium since winning the National Open in 2022. Dewease’s speed made it clear he’ll be in contention for a record-tying sixth “Natty O” title on Saturday.
“I was pretty good there in the middle,” Dewease said. “Then Chase came down in my line and kind of ended me in (Turns) 3 and 4, but during the last probably three laps I wasn’t that great. Lapped cars around this place are really tough, and that’s how the racing has been really good here once we get to lapped cars. It’s nice to see a PA (podium) sweep. Hopefully I’m the one sitting up there tomorrow.”
As Dewease noted, the PA Posse swept the podium thanks to Danny Dietrich bringing the Gary Kauffman Racing No. 48 home third. That’s also where he finished against the World of Outlaws in May at Williams Grove. The Gettysburg, PA native was ripping toward the two leaders near the end of the race and needed a little more time to potentially challenge for his first Series triumph since 2019.
“It’s just frustrating on our end,” Deitrich said. “I felt like we had the fastest race car because I don’t think they could run (Turns) 1 and 2 like I was. I was just hammering the top. This is still pretty cool. This is old school Williams Grove. This is what the fans come to see. This is fun as a race car driver. You feel like you have a shot, and we ran third. There’re no complaints. It’s a stout field of really good race car drivers and teams, and hopefully we can do this again tomorrow but maybe a little bit better. I can guarantee there the last couple laps I was making sure I could get in front of the 41 (Macedo) because we wanted to sweep this front stretch for the Posse.”
Carson Macedo and Justin Whittall completed the top five.
Troy Wagaman Jr. drove the Heffer Racing No. 27 from 26th to 16th to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger.
David Gravel earned his 20th Simpson Quick Time of the season in Honest Abe Roofing Qualifying.
Heat Races belonged to David Gravel (NOS Energy Drink Heat One), Buddy Kofoid (Real American Beer Heat Two), Lance Dewease (WIX Filters Heat Three), and Daison Pursley (TheGreatestStoreonDirt.com Heat Four).
The SPA Technique #1 Redraw went to Danny Dietrich.
Carson Macedo topped the Toyota Dash.
Sheldon Haudenschild won the Micro-Lite Last Chance Showdown.
The Smith Titanium Brake Systems Break of the Race went to Daison Pursley.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars battle the Pennsylvania Posse for $75,000 and bragging rights at Williams Grove Speedway’s J&S Classics National Open finale on Saturday, Oct. 4. For tickets, CLICK HERE.
If you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
FEATURE RESULTS:
NOS Energy Drink Feature (25 Laps): 1. 23D-Chase Dietz[4]; 2. 12-Lance Dewease[3]; 3. 48-Danny Dietrich[2]; 4. 41-Carson Macedo[1]; 5. 67-Justin Whittall[8]; 6. 83-Michael Kofoid[6]; 7. 2-David Gravel[5]; 8. 7BC-Giovanni Scelzi[16]; 9. 26-Justin Peck[12]; 10. 19-Brent Marks[18]; 11. 51-Freddie Rahmer[20]; 12. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild[21]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart[22]; 14. 8-Brock Zearfoss[17]; 15. 11-TJ Stutts[13]; 16. 27-Troy Wagaman Jr[26]; 17. 75-Cameron Smith[23]; 18. 1A-Ashton Torgerson[24]; 19. 10-Ryan Timms[19]; 20. 15S-Kerry Madsen[14]; 21. 1X-Chad Trout[15]; 22. 17B-Bill Balog[10]; 23. 35-Austin Bishop[28]; 24. 18-Cory Eliason[25]; 25. 2C-Cole Macedo[27]; 26. 95-Kody Hartlaub[11]; 27. 69K-Daryn Pittman[9]; 28. 13-Daison Pursley[7]
For complete results, CLICK HERE.
