ABBOTTSTOWN
 It was excitement at its best for Saturday night’s Keystone Cup Sprint Series event at Lincoln Speedway.

 And it was Stevie Smith who managed to stay out of the crashes and raced to the win in the 30 lap event. The win was his second of the season at Lincoln and his 22nd career win in the Pigeon Hills.

 Smith’s win came in the third night of the Keystone Cup series, pushing him to third in the series points standings and earned his race team $5,500.

 Smith also had the best seat in the house during the early laps while running fourth during the early laps as Fred Rahmer and Brian Montieth went at it for the top spot.

 “I was just trying to keep my position because we were a little snug there at the start,” said Smith, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. “There was a lot of excitement and I would have imagined the fans liked it. It was good looking from where I was and there was a lot going on behind me. We were just fortunate to have a good car and got the right breaks and ended up here on the front stretch.”

 Rahmer led the first lap from his front row starting spot before a crash slowed the pace.

 Keystone Cup points leader Jeff Shepard along with four other cars were in turn four for the yellow flag.

 Montieth and Rahmer made contact on lap five with Montieth leading the lap just before Doug Esh’s nasty backstretch flip brought out a red flag.

 Montieth’s crew had to fix a bent wheel during the red flag but he was able to stay out front following the restart.

 Rahmer challenged Montieth on lap eight and then pulled a slider gone wrong on lap nine resulting in Montieth’s front axle breaking in turn four as Greg Hodnett went for a wild ride after the Rahmer/Montieth tangle. Also involved with Friday night winner Brian Leppo.

 Mark Smith held the point until lap 14 when Smith drove by for the top spot only to have Mark Smith return the favor but Stevie Smith was able to lead at the line.

 Rahmer got back around Mark Smith on lap 16 for second but three laps later, Mark Smith went back into the second spot.

 With Stevie Smith checking out aboard the RAACE Foundation, Gaerte Engines, JEI Chassis, Mark Smith was doing all he could to keep Rahmer at bay, but gave up the runner-up spot on the final lap.

 But it was Stevie Smith taking the checkered flag by 1.4 seconds over Rahmer, the track points leader.

 “I wanted to slide up in front of Mark but I didn’t want it quite look as bad as the other one down here in this corner,” Smith said of the Rahmer slider earlier in the race. “That was my only chance and I had to try to bottle him up. I just hope I gave him enough room.”

 Alan Krimes finished fourth with Chad Layton fifth followed by Cory Haas, Michael Carber, Keith Kauffman, Cody Darrah and Jim Siegel.

 Steve Buckwalter paced the 34-car field during time trials with a lap of 13.150 seconds.

 Heats were won by Leppo, Stevie Smith, Rahmer and Carber. Doug Dodson won the consolation.

 Shepard continues to hold the Keystone Cup points lead heading into tonight’s race at Selinsgrove Speedway.