Lance Dewease enjoying dream sprint racing season

Every dirt track racer is searching for that magic formula that leads to multiple trips to victory lane.

It happens when you've got a fast car, your team works well together, you know how to race at certain tracks, you use your experience to take advantage of every opening, and you get some good breaks.

That's the world Lance Dewease is living in.

Dewease, of Fayetteville, a veteran of 30-plus years of racing 410 sprint cars, is having the time of his life in this 2016 season.

To a sprint car driver in Central Pennsylvania, it doesn't get any better than winning a race against the touring World of Outlaws drivers. Dewease has done it twice already this season, including last Saturday at Williams Grove in the Summer Nationals, which earned his team a cool $25,000 prize and retained the Morgan Cup for the Pennsylvania Posse.

He's winning. He's winning consistently. And he's winning big-money, prestigious races.

Even better, he's not having to race every weekend to pile up all those successes. Dewease has won eight races already, but he's only had to race in 16 events to do so. He's finished three times as the runner-up.

"I knew we'd be fast and competitive, but I didn't know we'd have this kind of year," Dewease said. "We've had some wins when we've had the best race car, and we've had some when we didn't. You need the draws and the formats to work for you and they have."

The "we" is a very important part of Dewease's winning formula. He is paired with the owner of No. 69K, former successful driver Donnie Kreitz Jr. and mechanic Davey Brown.

Dewease said, "It's just a good deal we have going. With all the years the three of us have put into racing, we've seen it all in this sport. When we have a bad night, it's not the end of the world."

And that's a big key to Dewease's happiness.

Because the team has done so well, and because they have planned all along to race a limited schedule, the pressure is greatly reduced. Full-time drivers can compete in up to 80 or more races a year. The Kreitz-Dewease team will finish with fewer than 30.

"Because we're not racing every week, the guys have the time to get the car ready, so when we do race, all I have to do is show up and drive," Dewease said. "That's different from most teams and that puts less pressure on me. They've worked very hard on this program with the car and they've fine-tuned everything. Very seldom do they have to search for the right setup.

"But to do this, you need the right owner and the right team - Donnie was a great driver and Davey is the best mechanic that's ever been. I could see some other teams might try it this way, but if you're not doing well, then you're going to feel like you have to run every week."

At the end of last year, Dewease had no idea what his driving future looked like. He had some offers on the table, but nothing that got his juices flowing.

"I was semi-looking at getting out of it," said the 50-year-old.

But then Krietz, who is located in Sinking Springs in Berks County, gave Dewease a call and his proposal made a lot of sense.

"My wife and I talked about it and we liked the idea of not doing 80 races," Dewease said. "I'm coming down toward the end of my career and this way I could have some weekends off. I think I can be competitive for a few more years, but your body doesn't recover like it used to. So having extra time off really helps."

But it's not like Dewease is sitting on a couch watching TV in his free time. He's not wired that way.

In addition to holding down "a regular job," Dewease began his own shock business three years ago, and he works on the cars of quite a few local drivers. He's also worked as the crew chief for Sprint driver Wayne Dadetto.

And, just to keep his competitive edge, he plays a lot of golf. Good golf.

"I'm a pretty accomplished golfer and that helps with my competitive side," said Dewease, who plays in the Golf Channel Am Tour and has already qualified for the national tournament in September at Innisbrook Resort in Florida. "Golf is addicting, just like racing, and it's something competitive I can do when I'm not racing."

When he is racing, he's been the man to beat.

The first time the Outlaws came into the area, Dewease won the warmup race the week before at Williams Grove, then took the Friday night feature. Two weeks ago he won the warmup race again, and last weekend, he was the runner-up Friday to Daryn Pittman.

But on Saturday he got one of those good breaks. While leading the race near the end, the 69K began to run out of fuel. Dewease milked it as much as possible, but just after taking the white flag, his car stopped. Fortunately, just before that happened, the race was stopped for a caution, all the cars were allowed to refuel, and Dewease kept his lead.

Dewease wins wild Summer Nationals at Williams Grove

It was his 10th win all-time over the Outlaws, tying him at that number with Kreitz.

"It is always big to beat the Outlaws," Dewease said, speaking both for himself and the Pennsylvania Posse. "They are at the top of our sport, so we take a lot of pride in beating them. There are some other places with good drivers, but I've been doing this for 30 years and Central Pa. has always been a tough spot for the Outlaws."

It certainly is when the Kreitz-Dewease team is waiting for them.