Gene Knaub Bags Super Late Models
WRT Speedwerx photo
Mechanicsburg – Young Devon Borden of Raymond, Washington, took the first 410 sprint car victory of what is sure to be many more in his career, on Friday night at Williams Grove Speedway.
The 18-year old hot shoe got the call in early June to pilot the Mike Heffner-owned No. 27 and within two months he made good on the call for the $5,500 payday in the annual Billy Kimmel Memorial.
The victory marked the cars first trip back to the Williams Grove winner’s circle since Greg Hodnett last put it there in June, 2018.
The 20-lap super late model main went to Dover’s Gene Knaub for his first ever super late model win at the track where he owns multiple limited late wins and track titles.
Borden started on the pole of the 25-lap Kimmel Memorial and would lead every lap to the finish while surviving a pair of late race restarts.
Already on lap two Borden had a 1.8 second lead over third starter Chase Dietz and by lap six he began putting cars a lap down with a more than two second advantage.
Point leader Lance Dewease started 11th in the field and was up to fifth by lap five and then for the next several laps he battled with Alan Krimes for the fourth spot before finally taking the spot on the ninth tour.
At the halfway point, Borden had a 2.4 second lead and with 10 laps to go, he was a full straightaway ahead of Dietz, Tyler Ross and Dewease.
The first caution flag unfurled on lap 15 for a spun Bryn Gohn and Dewease took third from Ross on the restart while Borden raced into the first turn comfortably.
Borden’s lead was out to 1.5 seconds over his challengers with three laps to go when the final yellow flag appeared for a stopped car on the backchute.
While Dietz may have had designs on the lead when action resumed by bolting underneath in the first and second turns, Borden rode the cushion to his outside to slingshot back around and pull away onto the backstretch.
Dewease then went to work on Dietz and got second by the finish, ending up 1.694 seconds behind Borden at the checkers.
“This is amazing,†Borden said after pulling into victory lane.
“Just a sigh of relief. These Heffner guys are awesome. I can’t thank them enough for giving me this opportunity. We finally put it in victory lane and I’m thrilled.â€
Borden said it was surreal and a dream come true when car owner Mike Heffner called in early June, just as he was graduating high school, asking him to take over the wheel of the No. 27.
“At the beginning of this year, I was nobody. We made a quick trip back here. Don Ott helped us out quite a bit. It allowed me to get on the map and perform good enough to get in this Heffner ride. It’s a dream come true. Man, we just won at Williams Grove!â€
“I saw Chase and the famous Lance Dewease,†said Borden about the restart. “I tried to hit my marks and not think about who was behind me and hope for the best.â€
Dietz finished third followed by Ross and Freddie Rahmer.
Sixth through 10th went to Aaron Bollinger, Zeb Wise, Alan Krimes, Kyle Moody and Dylan Norris.
Heats went to Borden, Ross and Dietz.
Gene Knaub led all 20 laps of the super late model main over veteran Gary Stuhler.
Stuhler tried to mount a challenge at times before allowing Knaub to slip away on a few occasions.
Early in the race, Mike Lupfer and Dylan Yoder raced side by side for fourth for several laps before Yoder finally secured the spot.
Justin Weaver started third and finished in the spot, behind Stuhler.
Randy Christine Jr. ended up fifth.
Heats went to Mike Lupfer and Danny Snyder.
Feature Finishes
410 sprint cars, 25 laps: 1. Devon Borden. 2. Lance Dewease. 3. Chase Dietz. 4. Tyler Ross. 5. Freddie Rahmer. 6. Aaron Bollinger. 7. Zeb Wise. 8. Alan Krimes. 9. Kyle Moody. 10. Dylan Norris. 11. Doug Hammaker. 12. TJ Stutts. 13. Jared Esh. 14. Matt Campbell. 15. Justin Whittall. 16. Jordan Givler. 17. Chad Trout. 18. Tyler Bear. 19. Dwight Leppo. 20. Stephen Downs. 21. Bryn Gohn. 22. Todd Allen. 23. Chris Arnold. 24. Mark Smith.
Super late models, 20 laps: 1. Gene Knaub, 2. Gary Stuhler, 3. Justin Weaver, 4. Dylan Yoder, 5. Randy Christine Jr., 6. Mike Lupfer, 7. Chad Myers, 8. Keith Koontz, 9. Jim McBee Sr., 10. Larry Neiderer, 11. Danny Snyder
DNS: Tyler Horst, Devin Frey
