MECHANICSBURG
 Call it desperation, Call it out of control, Call it wild, or call it just plain awesome. No matter how one looks at it, Doug Esh needed a win badly going into Friday night’s racing at Williams Grove Speedway.

 Esh delighted the crowd with a no holds barred performance that nearly saw him crash the Leach Brothers Motorsports owned sprinter several times but he managed to make all the right moves and ended a long dry spell that dated back to October of last season with his first win of the season in the 25-lap 410 Sprint car feature at the Grove.

 Esh’s win was his 12th of this Grove career and was worth $3,000.

 “I thought I forgot how to get back here,” the Lancaster driver stated in victory lane. “I got a little over anxious tonight and almost crashed a couple times we we’re here and hopefully it can help us turn our season around.”

 Young Jonathon Eriksen set the early pace off the front row but it was 11th starting Brian Leppo who was on a mission during the early laps.

 Leppo raced into the top five by lap five and was headed to the front when he spun out on lap nine.

 Esh, who lined up 10th, was up to fifth by lap 10 and then blasted around Niki Young and Chris Meleason a lap later to take the third spot.
 Meleason  brought out a red flag when he flipped right after Esh got around him.

 Eriksen continued to set the pace while Esh and Lucas Wolfe were putting a battle for the third spot at the halfway mark of the race.

 Bob Bennett took the top spot on lap 17 just as Esh made a bold move to take the runner-up spot as he nearly crashed in the first turn.

 Esh then made the race-winning move in turn one to lead lap 19 just before a yellow for Josh Wells, who stopped on the speedway.

 Esh was not challenged over the final five laps as he became the 11th different winner at the track this year.

 “We’ve been digging hard and I knew we would get one sooner or later,” said the driver of the Kinard Trucking, Benkowitsch Custom Counter Tops, Macri Concrete, JB Counter Tops sponsored No. 30 sprinter. “We’re running a different tire compound than we ran last year and we had that one figured out. Some of it was our confidence and we also had some steering problems and I just thought I couldn’t drive anymore. The whole team has been hanging our head and we had our chins on the ground but they had the car good tonight.”

 Esh noted that this was about the time his team turned up the wick a year ago and ended up winning 14 features, including the Williams Grove National Open.

 Last week’s winner Brian Montieth, of Phoenixville made a great charge through the field after starting 18th to finish second  ahead of Mechanicsburg’s Wolfe, Harrisburg’s Chad Layton up from 16th and Fayetteville’s Lance Dewease.

 Eriksen faded to sixth over Niki Young, Mark Smith, Leppo (up from the rear) and 22nd starting Greg Hodnett.

 Bennett flipped on the final lap running sixth.

 Etters driver Pat Cannon made a move on a lap 17 restart and turned it into his second win of the year in the 20-lap 358 Sprint car feature.

 Cannon started 12th in the Highlands Tire Service sprinter and passed Dillsburg’s John Westbrook on the 18th lap for the win. Westbrook had inherited the lead when race-long leader John Barnett crashed into the wall.

 The win was the fourth overall for Cannon and came over Westbrook, Carlisle’s Dave Calaman up from 17th, Carlisle’s Frankie Herr and Hamburg’s Keith Prutzman.

 Chad Trout, Mike Walter, Billy Johns, Dillsburg’s Todd Spangler and Chad Jumper were the top 10 finishers.

 Rick Lafferty, Young, Tommy Beavers and Meleason were 410 Sprint heat winners with Don Kreitz winning the B-Main for the 31-car field.

 Herr, Barnett, Johns and Jumper were 358 sprint heat winners. The consolations were won by Calaman and Elvin Diller III. There were 36 cars on hand.

 Williams Grove returns next Friday night with the Cindy Rowe Auto Glass Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek Mitch Smith Memorial. It will also be Diakon Adoption Night at the track.