ABBOTTSTOWN
It was almost as if it was a full moon was lurking over Lincoln Speedway on Saturday night.

First the track was hit by heavy rain just before warm-ups were scheduled to begin which caused a near one hour delay then a thundercar barrel-rolled down the front stretch during heat race action.

Then the 410 Sprints took to the speedway for their first of Twin 20 lap features and it was a survival of the fittest to make it to the checkered flag.

Several red flags slowed the race but in the end it was 18-year-old Gerard McIntyre, Jr. driving to a career first 410 Sprint car feature win. The race took one hour to complete.
McIntyre started sixth and took the lead from Todd Rittenhouse on a lap 11 restart and never looked back in the $2,500 win.

In the second 20 lap feature, Brian Montieth made it win number seven on the season as he closed out the long night in victory lane.

McIntyre had new point leader (after the first feature) Alan Krimes closing fast over the final laps but was able to keep the Denver driver at bay.

“I looked up on the scoreboard and saw Alan was coming,” said the New Oxford driver. “He’s racing for points so he might have been just a little conservative. He had me worried though.”

Pat Cooper hit the wall on the start forcing a red flag for a fuel spin on his car.

On the next restart, Danny Dietrich and Jim Siegel tangled in turn four collecting Johnny Mackison and Fred Rahmer for another red flag. Rahmer and Mackison restarted.

Rittenhouse set the early pace as 10th starting Doug Esh was on the move through the field early, taking fifth on lap three and moving into fourth with 10 laps complete.

Following a caution for Cris Eash, who stopped on the track, Esh’s great run ended in spectacular fashion when he was battling for position in turn one and went airborne, nearly clearing the catch fence that separates the track from the thundercar pit area. Esh was transported to the hospital but as of deadline, there was no report on his injuries.

On the ensuing restart, Aaron Ott and Rittenhouse got together on the lap 11 restart with Ott taking a hard flip on the front stretch.

McIntyre snuck under Rittenhouse on the restart as Krimes, who started 11th began to move into contention, taking the runner-up spot on lap 13.

Krimes closed on McIntyre but was unable to make a pass for the win as McIntyre added his name as the 13th different winners in the Pigeon Hills this season. He was also the fifth new winner in 2009 at Lincoln.

“I’m not the greatest at driving one of these cars but we’re getting better,” said McIntyre, who recently had a career best runner-up finish in a Twin 20 feature at Williams Grove Speedway. “I’m trying hard and we were able to get a good start and stay up front tonight. These guys are tough in this class but we’ll take this win and enjoy it later tonight.”

McIntyre drew the number 12 feature inversion for the second feature event, which put Bobby Weaver and Johnny Mackison on the front row.

Mark Smith, of Tower City finished third over Red Lion’s Cody Darrah and Daryn Pittman of Owasso, Oklahoma, who started 18th.

Rahmer nipped Montieth at the finish for sixth place with Rittenhouse, Brent Marks and Cory Haas completing the top 10 finishers.

McIntyre drew the number 12 feature inversion for the second feature event, which put Bobby Weaver and Johnny Mackison on the front row.

Montieth started sixth in the field as Mackison set the early pace.

The second 20 lapper went smoother than the first as only three yellow flags for spins slowed the action but there was nothing slow about Montieth, of Phoenixville.

He took second spot on lap 10 and then tracked down Mackison on 14 for the lead. He then drove off from Fred Rahmer for the win. Rahmer had actually passed Montieth earlier during the feature.

With his win, Montieth retook the points lead going into next Saturday night’s final points race. He entered the night 10 ahead of Krimes, then went down by 25 after the first feature and is back on top by a mere 10 points.

“We’re not out there racing for points,” said Montieth, who actually made that statement at the first race of the season. “We’re here to win races and the points fall where they may. We are just having fun and Jerry gives us the opportunity to do this.”

Rahmer, Darrah, Mackison, Krimes, Haas, Pittman, Smith, Eash and Brent Marks were the top 10 finishers.

Esh, McIntyre and Cooper were the hear race winners for the 28 cars. Cris Eash won the consolation.

UPDATE 8/30/09 : Doug Esh suffered a back injury after his hard crash in the first feature. Car owner John Trone said Sunday morning that they are waiting for the official injury report from Doctors but he has a fracture to his lower back. Once there is an official word, we will post it.