Danny Dietrich

Danny Dietrich earned his third win of the season at Lincoln Speedway Saturday night in the 30-lap feature. (Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com)

ABBOTTSTOWN: Danny Dietrich stood in his pit area dripping wet from ice and water being dumped down his shoulders and back.

The team didn't have a bucket, so a cooler had to suffice for a much-needed and satisfying victory celebration at Lincoln Speedway.

See, Dietrich has been struggling of late. And it wasn't until this week that the problem was pinned down to the steering box.

That's fixed, and Dietrich made it back to Victory Lane. He marched through the field Saturday night, collecting his third win of the season at the Abbottstown oval in the 30-lap Sprint Car main event.

"This is pretty big," said Dietrich after his 21st career Lincoln Speedway victory. "Our confidence was starting to go down a little bit, and we were worried about a slump.

"We needed to get out of it. To start 11th here at Lincoln and win is a big boost to our team and everyone involved."

Dietrich was on the road the last couple weeks, traveling to the Ironman 55 and Knoxville Nationals. The penalty was that he had to start in the back of the cars that got handicapped to the front of the feature lineup.

Didn't matter.

Dietrich methodically made his way to the front. He set a consistent pace, entering the top five on a lap 9 restart after Alan Krimes spun in Turn 3.

Meanwhile, rookie Freddie Rahmer was setting the pace. He started fourth and was on the point by the completion of lap 2, sliding past Mike Bittinger in Turn 4 to take the lead.

"The green flag dropped, and we were good," Dietrich said. "I know Alan Krimes is always good at the beginning, and I knew if I could keep up with him that we would be set up for the end of the race."

Dietrich shot past Kyle Moody on lap 10 and set his sights on the front of the field, which was starting to bunch up in lapped traffic.

The bottom of the track started to go away for Rahmer. That allowed Bittinger, Robbie Kendall and Dietrich to close in by lap 16.

Dietrich showed his hand on lap 23. Bittinger and Kendall ducked low in Turns 3 and 4, and the Gettysburg driver rode the cushion, blasting by both cars to take over second and close on the leader Rahmer.

"There was no point in pushing it, and I just kind of settled in there," Dietrich said. "I looked up, and it was lap 21. I figured I better get going if I was going to win this thing.

"I was waiting for someone to clear a path. They were all in the fast lane and as soon as they went low, I got by and it worked out the way I thought it would."

Next up was Rahmer, who was struggling at the top of Turns 1 and 2. He was also having problems lapping his brother Brandon.

Dietrich took advantage. He followed Rahmer down the backstretch, ducked low in Turn 3 and slid across the track in Turn 4 to lead lap 25.

"I knew [Freddie] was going to be up there," Dietrich said. "It was just one of those things, experience in lapped traffic and knowing how to use it to your advantage."

Said Rahmer, "I should have moved up earlier. It was just so hard to tell with no cars around me. My dad told me before the race that the bottom was going to get worn out.

"We were good at Grandview and good tonight. We just have to put a whole night together and that first win will sneak up."

Dietrich owned the final five laps, pulling away to victory over Rahmer, Bittinger, Kendall and Moody.

Alex Bright captured the 25-lap ARDC Midget feature, passing Steve Buckwalter after a caution with five laps to go.

PORT ROYAL: Mike Wagner started on the pole and held off a charging Greg Hodnett to secure the 25-lap Sprint Car win.

Logan Wagner, Blane Heimbach and Doug Esh followed Wagner and Hodnett to the stripe and completed the top five.

SELINSGROVE: Cody Keller stopped Mark Smith's dominance at the Snyder County oval and captured the 25-lap 360 Sprint Car main.

Smith, Jason Shultz, TJ Stutts and Larry Kelleher completed the top five. Coleby Frye won the Late Model feature.

WILLIAMS GROVE: Bobby Hockenberry was victorious in the 20-lap Super Sportsman feature. Randy Croop won his second 358 Late Model feature of the season.