CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — The remnants of Ian came and crashed the party for the highly-anticipated World of Outlaws versus the Pennsylvania Posse during the 60th National Open at Williams Grove.
Friday’s race tied for the shortest race in series history while the $75,000 purse was put on hold and will have to wait three weeks.
It was a loaded field as 51 cars visited the paperclip Friday night. The Outlaws made their third and final trip to Central Pa., for now.
The Posse are on a roll this year winning three of the five contests against the series in 2022.
Missouri’s Ayrton Gennetten made his Williams Grove debut the night before the natty open.
The Shark Racing teammates looked to extend their hot streak. Logan Schuchart finished third and second the last two National Opens while Jacob Allen looked to redeem himself after running out of fuel during the Outlaws last trip to the Summer Nationals and entered with 13-straight top 10 finishes.
The Myerstown Missile set the overall quick-time in Flight B of 16.520 seconds. That’s Brent Marks’ second-ever Outlaw quick-time and he then went on to win his heat.
The rain moved in early, just before the feature pushed off, but it wasn't raining hard enough to not race.
Lance Dewease won the dash and went on to lead the field to green. The precipitation began to pick up and the caution came out with just seven laps down.
They pulled in for a few minutes then pushed back out and when they got back to green, Marks was catching Sheldon Haudenschild for second. Haudenschild got his right rear over the cushion. Marks reacted to the 17 slow-up, hopped the cushion, and catapulted the car outside the track. Marks was okay.
With 10 laps down, officials called the race. It tied for the shortest contest in series history. Dewease won his fourth straight race at the Grove and extended his win count to 110 at the track.
The rain washed out the competition on Saturday. The 60th Anniversary of the National Open at Williams Grove has been rescheduled for a one-day show on Oct. 22.
Baps and the speed palace moved their Saturday shows to Friday. So, the Outlaws can come back in town for one night and battle for $75,000.
The Outlaws head to Port Royal next weekend for the Nittany Open Friday and Saturday.