Pennsylvania driver Greg Hodnett took the checkered flag for his first 2014 World of Outlaws (WoO) win at Williams Grove Speedway.
Hodnett wrestled the lead from Joey Saldana after a restart with 10 laps to go and never looked back.
“Double-file restarts hurt us last night (at Lincoln Speedway), but they sure helped us tonight,” Hodnett said after the win. “Tried some different things with the car and moved the motors around.”
The 1993 WoO rookie of the year won his heat race and finished fourth in the Dash for his starting spot in the A-main.
Saldana had a three-second lead on second-place in the early laps until he caught lapped traffic and allowing the pack to close in.
“You don’t conserve out here,” he said of the first 15 laps. “I’m obviously running as hard as I could and just came up short.”
Saldana won the Dash to start on the pole and showed his speed early in the main feature.
“We were just too good too soon,” Saldana said. “We had speed early, but to win these races, you have to be good at the end.”
Another Pennsylvania driver, Brent Marks, ran down Saldana before a lap 15 crash involving Cody Darrah and Kerry Madsen stopped the race briefly.
“Once my fuel load wore off, the car really curved there,” Marks said. “I was able to work the cushion real nice. When I caught up to him (Saldana), I see he was really backing up the corner and slowing down there, I figured really wasn’t that good.”
Marks tried to reel in Hodnett at the end, but settled for second.
“Anytime you get a podium finish in the World of Outlaws you’ve accomplished something,” he added. “We were able to put ourselves in position and that’s what it’s all about, so hopefully in the future and I can do a few things differently and capitalize on it.”
Pennsylvania drivers took the first two spots as Saldana came home in third.
Daryn Pittman finished fifth in the A-Main after a victory at Lincoln (Pa.) Speedway Thursday night. Pittman swept both nights at Williams Grove in May in his No.9 Kasey Kahne Racing machine.
Pittman’s teammate Brad Sweet won the last chance race and the top four-finishers in that race moved on to run in Friday’s main feature. The same good luck couldn’t be said for his teammate Darrah, who was part of a lap 15 crash in the feature and his No. 4 team worked on the car during the red flag to come back into the race. 26 cars ran the A-main with Dave Blaney and Kraig Kinser being a few of the notables to miss the main feature.
Kraig’s father, Steve “King” Kinser, qualified and finished in the 11th position in the main feature. Kinser’s Tony Stewart Racing teammate and current points leader Donny Schatz finished ninth in his No. 15 STP machine in the A-main.
The World of Outlaws will run again Williams Grove on Saturday for the second night of the Summer Nationals.
Friday’s A-Main at Williams Grove Top 10
#27 Greg Hodnett
#19M Brent Marks
#71M Joey Saldana
#2 Shane Stewart
#9 Daryn Pittman
#51 Paul McMahan
#21 Brian Montieth
#1Z Lucas Wolfe
#15 Donny Schatz
#51S Stevie Smith
