ABBOTTSTOWN, PA , 10/9/10
Never give up! Denver’s Alan Krimes thought he lost the race when he got jammed up behind a lapped car on lap nine and watched polesitter Brian Montieth fly by into the lead. But Krimes fought back, and swapped the lead several more times with the three-time track champ before taking control for good on lap 22, and raced to his second Lincoln win of 2010 in a thrilling 25-lap 22nd Annual Hank Gentzler Memorial/Manufacturers Night feature.
“I thought we were done,” said Krimes upon exiting his Conestoga Valley Garage/Krimes Racing Engines/Mike’s Powerwash No.87 in victory lane, “I kind of diamonded the corner (turn 4) and got behind the 19H car and he slowed down an awful lot, and then his hands hanging outside the car (signaling he was going to the infield) and I thought, “Oh no”, and Montieth drove away.”
Krimes, who started outside Montieth on the front row, grabbed the lead following two failed attempts to start the event with Montieth hot on his heels. Following a caution restart on the third lap for a stopped Steve Buckwalter, Krimes, Montieth, third-starting Lance Dewease, fourth-starting Fred Rahmer and sixth-starting Gerard McIntyre, Jr. set a torrid pace and approached lapped traffic on lap nine.
Krimes suddenly found himself behind a slower car, made contact, with Montieth taking advantage of the situation and drove by on the frontstretch.
“I thought that might have been the race there,” said Krimes. “But luckily, the lapped cars held him up just enough so I could get close enough to him.
But just when everyone thought Montieth would check out from that point, Krimes got back on the gas and started to close the gap quickly. On the 18th lap ,Krimes slid under Montieth exiting the fourth turn to beat him to the line to complete the lap, just as Brad McClelland stopped in turn two to bring out the caution. At that point, both Greg Hodnett and Brian Leppo pulled into the pits.
On the restart, Rahmer got a run on Dewease and got by to move into third. At that point Montieth made another charge on Krimes to retake the lead on the 19th lap.
But Krimes was not done.
Krimes passed Montieth on the backstretch of the 19th lap and took the high-line away from Montieth entering turn three. That was just what Krimes needed as he powered off the fourth turn with the lead and held firm the remaining laps to take the checkered 1.10-seconds ahead of Montieth for his eighth career Lincoln win.
“Finally we got the better end of a caution there and I just had him at the line when that yellow came out,” Krimes said, “That put me back in front of him, and what can you say after that. “I don’t know that there’s anyone more fun to race with that Brian, to tell you the truth,” added Krimes, “He gave me plenty of room and I gave him plenty of room…and it was who came out with the fastest car and luckily, I held him off. After that last restart, it was just an all-out battle there.”
Rahmer held on to third, with Dewease fourth, and McIntyre fifth.
Completing the top-10 were Chad Layton, Justin Henderson, 21st-starting Adam Wilt, 22nd-starting Danny Dietrich, and Mark Smith.
410 Sprint heats were won by Rahmer, McIntyre, Montieth, and Henderson, with Wilt winning the consolation. Montieth picked up a $400 bonus from Wings Unlimited for winning the Dash.
Fast time in time trials over the 36-car field was set by McIntyre, with a one-lap time of 13.181-seconds (102.420 MPH).