Sprint Car racing\u2019s crown jewels always provide a palpable atmosphere, but none resemble what the J&S Classics National Open at Williams Grove Speedway delivers.<\/p>\n
The electricity of the National Open is built on rivalry.<\/p>\n
On one side, you\u2019ve got the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. The longtime best Sprint Car drivers in the country invading tracks from coast to coast all year long. On the other side, you\u2019ve got the Pennsylvania Posse. The toughest local competition the World of Outlaws face ready to defend their territory on the biggest stage with major money on the line.<\/p>\n
Fans are perhaps the biggest contributors to the rivalry. Pennsylvanians are some of the most passionate in the nation, and they bring every ounce of energy to the National Open to cheer for the Posse and shower the World of Outlaws with boos.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the hype of it from the fan standpoint is crazy, crazy good,\u201d said six-time National Open winner, Donny Schatz. \u201cThe guys that they (Pennsylvania fans) come there and see weekly that they may not like are definitely who they like when the Outlaws come to town because I don\u2019t know that they dislike the Outlaws, but they definitely cheer for their guys and kind of take them as a whole versus when they single them out on a weekly program. It\u2019s pretty intense. A lot of hype and a lot of camaraderie on that side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Five years ago, a few unfortunate fans decided to poke the bear as Schatz was waiting to be pushed off for the 40-lap finale. The result was a record-extending sixth National Open title and a Schatz interview in Victory Lane that\u2019ll be played for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember sitting there waiting for the race to start, and people were screaming obscenities and all these different things,\u201d Schatz recalled with a laugh. \u201cYou just kind of chuckle. You don\u2019t normally get an opportunity like that. Obviously, we won the race, so it\u2019s kind of the first thing that popped in my mind was, \u2018Thanks for the extra motivation.\u2019 There\u2019s a lot of things you sit and chuckle at when you hear them, and obviously, I think there\u2019s a lot of alcohol involved and a lot of people riling people up. It\u2019s just all part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
That rivalry also makes for a unique, rewarding feeling for the winner on the World of Outlaws side. Sure, it\u2019s nice when the crowd is on your side and cheering for you in Victory Lane, but hearing the boos and knowing you\u2019ve won as an enemy brings its own kind of satisfaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a different type of gratification,\u201d said Carson Macedo, the defending National Open champion. \u201cYou know, I won the Roth (Dennis Roth Classic) race last year, and it paid 83 grand. I remember distinctly getting to Victory Lane, and it\u2019s a different type of happiness. When I won that race, I was around hometown fans, and I remember seeing most of the crowd, I can\u2019t speak for everyone, being genuinely happy to see me win the race. You could hear it with their cheers and all that good stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s that type of happiness, then there\u2019s the other kind you get at the National Open, which is seeing the fact that you\u2019re really not supposed to win the event. You\u2019re really kind of the rival that everybody is rooting against. To win the race and to win a race in my scenario, being from the state of California, you probably shouldn\u2019t win is gratification in itself just because it\u2019s so hard to kind of overcome those challenges. When you do and you\u2019re the villain, so to speak. I feel like it\u2019s just as gratifying as being on the other side of the fence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then there is the other side of the fence. The feeling of competing in the \u201cKeystone State\u2019s\u201d biggest event as a PA Posse representative. Few know it as well as Fayetteville, PA\u2019s Lance Dewease. He\u2019s one of the region\u2019s most successful drivers ever with a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that includes five National Open triumphs in four different decades. Competitors like Dewease are well aware of the passion their fans display, and they don\u2019t want to let them down.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur fans are diehard fans,\u201d Dewease said. \u201cThey want us to beat the Outlaws, and we\u2019re an area that has done it probably more regularly than other areas have. We take deep pride in doing it\u2026 It always means a lot. I pride myself on trying to win our big local shows. I\u2019ve been fortunate enough to win it five times against the best in the business. It\u2019s a pride thing with us guys here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The National Open creates an uncommon unity among the Pennsylvania fans. They have their week-to-week allegiances, but those vanish when the World of Outlaws come to town. If you\u2019re representing the PA Posse, they\u2019re cheering for you during the \u201cNatty O.\u201d Nothing proved this more than 2013.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to do with me, but I\u2019ll use Fred Rahmer as an example,\u201d Dewease said. \u201cFred Rahmer, during a weekly show there when he was still racing, wasn\u2019t very well liked by our fans. But when he won his one and only National Open, there probably wasn\u2019t a single \u2018boo\u2019 in the place for him because of two things: He was retiring, and because he beat the Outlaws. We always joke that they\u2019ll hate you the week before, but they\u2019ll love you the week of if you beat them (the World of Outlaws).<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty low key. I\u2019m a pretty mild-mannered person, so I don\u2019t get those types of ups and downs, but I just think it shows how passionate the fans are because the guys they don\u2019t care for week in and week out, they\u2019ll cheer them on for the next two days of the National Open.\u201d<\/p>\n
That unity even extends to the drivers. The Pennsylvanians who want to beat each other more than anything at a weekly race still want to win when the World of Outlaws come to town, but if they can\u2019t, one of their normal rivals might be the next best option.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a cool deal,\u201d said, Freddie Rahmer, Fred Rahmer\u2019s son and former World of Outlaws winner at Lincoln Speedway. \u201cIf we can\u2019t be up front and have a chance at either night, I want somebody I race against every week to because it\u2019s just better for the area. It\u2019s good for everybody to represent our part of the country as best we can and see where you\u2019re at versus everybody else\u2026 It\u2019s just cool. I know the nights I\u2019ve ran well or been with my dad or Stevie (Smith) or anybody involved, the fans are just so into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next edition of the National Open is ready to roll this weekend at \u201cThe Grove.\u201d The fans are as passionate as ever. The World of Outlaws and PA Posse representatives are ready for battle. All of it promises to create an atmosphere that can\u2019t be found anywhere else in the sport.<\/p>\n
For tickets to the 63rd running of the J&S Classics National Open (Oct. 3-4) at Mechanicsburg, PA\u2019s Williams Grove Speedway, CLICK HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n