Tag Archive for: #sprintcar

Newlin was forced to dive right in Sunday night.  Group time trials set the heat lineups for the 23-car field, so his first laps in the Ron’s RV Sales, Butler Hill Maple Farm, Tuscarora Roofing Co., Dillman Hauling, FIT Transportation, Grove Financial & Associates, Precision Auto Repair Services, Snyders Knob, Christine Booker Realtor, Newlin Bar Service No.11z were on the clock.

After timing 7th quick in group 3, Newlin started and finished 7th in heat three as well.  

Newlin took what he learned from those laps, discussed the information with brother Lance Newlin, and the pair made adjustments for the 30-lap finale.  It made a difference.  He was able to climb as high as 16th during the first half of the race and ultimately finished 17th.

“It’s good to be back at the track with the family team.  We have been working on building this RPM car all year as finances allowed.  The final piece was the engine.  We didn’t even get a chance to come out and test, so tonight was like a test for us.“, Newlin said.

“It took some time to get comfortable tonight but we definitely made a lot of progress by the end of the night.  There are a couple components I want to change before we race again.  Hopefully we can use the rest of this year to shake the car down so we have something solid to start 2024 with.“

Thirty teams were on hand for the regular show Friday night at Williams Grove, which set heat lineups by the track’s handicapping system and the feature lineup was ‘heads up’ based on the heat race finishes.

Newlin started 7th in the third and final heat race of the evening.  He made quick work of the cars directly in front of him, racing into 5th on the opening lap.  He continued his push, claiming 4th on the following circuit and eventually 3rd on lap seven.  He pulled even with Justin Foster coming to the checkered flag but fell 0.030 seconds short of a runner-up finish.

The heat race charge provided Newlin with the 9th starting spot for the 20-lap A-main.  On the initial start he slipped back a couple spots but recovered within two trips around the legendary Mechanicsburg, PA half-mile. 

Once he found his rhythm, Newlin began to chip away toward the top five.  He took the 8th spot on lap three, then 7th the next time around.  A few laps later he moved into 6th and began his pursuit of Kody Hartlaub for a spot in the top five.

It never materialized and Newlin closed out the night with a 6th place finish.  The productive night brought his streak of top ten finishes to five, including a win in late July in the Manchester Hydraulics, Marlow’s Metal Fabrication, Safety Kleen, Lee Chassis Repair & Components, Will’s Lawncare, Mansberger Motorsports No.21m.

“We haven’t been out of the top ten anywhere we have gone with this car since May 5th, and that was an 11th place finish.“, Newlin said.  “We passed a lot of cars tonight.  We went forward every time we hit the track.  Almost had second in our heat from seventh.”

“It feels good to have Dan’s (Mansberger) car running the way it should be.  We struggled with odd issues and bad luck the last couple years, so it’s good to finally have things going our way and showing what we are capable of.  You have to be consistent and be there first, then the wins will come.  We have one so far and hopefully we can get a couple more before the season ends.“