Lucas Wolfe would not keep a flat tire from allowing him to park in Victory Lane in Sunday night’s ASCS Mid-Atlantic Regional feature at Susquehanna Speedway Park. Instead, he turned it into his second consecutive win at the track. Wolfe, 20, of Mechanicsburg, Penna., won at SSP on April 29, which was an ASCS-sanctioned local race.
“I felt something four laps from the end, ” Wolfe said. “I felt something clicking, then it really got bad towards the end. ” That would the flat right-rear tire, something that no one could predict. He won with only three working tires.
Wolfe, who drives 410 Sprint Cars in Central Pennsylvania, pilots the Rick Kayor-owned No. 13K under the ASCS banner. Davie Franek, 20, of Wantage, N.J., finished second and could see the right-rear tread going down.
“I saw the sparks, ” Franek said. “It caught my attention, especially when I saw the tire deflating. ” Dave Ely finished third, followed by Chad Layton and Pat Cannon, the Mid-Atlantic Region opening-night winner three weeks ago, finished fifth. Franek, who started in the second spot, fell back to fourth by the second tour, but he quickly sailed forward, catching Pat Cannon for third then Layton for second on the fourth lap.
“I got really loose at the start, ” Franek said. “I was caught up high on the track and those guys got by me. “When Franek moved into the runner-up spot, Wolfe already had control of the race. He kept a steady line around the track, speeding down the frontstretch and backstretch and worked the inside guardrail in the turns.
The first and only caution of the race came out on the seventh lap, when Rod Ort stopped his car in the fourth turn. Franek didn’t want to see the field slow down. “I think I had something for him if we got into lapped traffic, ” Franek said, “but we got to it too late. The outcome could have been different if we didn’t have the caution. “
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