In life, we run into certain circumstances that are constants. Everybody knows about the death-and-taxes one. The sun coming up in the morning, hopefully, is another. And in Pennsylvania, another rock-solid given in this world is that Lance Dewease is going to be in the hot seat of a sprint car, up on the wheel, and winning races.

At age 59. You look at that number and youre startled for a minute when you realize how long Dewease has been a continuous, triumphant presence on the Pennsylvania scene.

How important is this guy? Dewease is enshrined in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa, as a driver. Hes a three-time winner of the Williams Grove National Open. The Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal Speedway has been his seven times. He is a three-time champion of Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek.

Twenty times, he has defeated the World of Outlaws, with another 46 victories scored against the All-Star Circuit of Champions. He has also claimed sprint car wins in Florida, Ohio, Michigan and even a weekly show at Knoxville Raceway. Based on his calculations, Deweases win total comes to 376 features in a career that began in the early 1980s. Incidentally, his first win aboard a sprint car came in yet another place, Hagerstown, Md., back in 1986.

By any measure, thats a Hall of Fame career. Which Dewease intends to continue, even if its on a necessarily reduced basis for a racer of his seniority.

Im with Barry Shearer now at Shearer Motorsports, he explained. Billy Dietrich was in the car before I got in it. I think well probably do 40 or 50 races this year, Port Royal, Williams Grove, and all the local big shows. I really dont think were going to be traveling much. Thats kind of what Id been doing the last six or seven years in Donald Kreitzs car, probably only running about 40 shows a year.

At my age, its hard to do 80 races a year, or 90. It just takes a toll on your body, and it doesnt recover like it used to. I can be at 40 or 50 races and stay fresh, so you dont get beat up as much. When you show up, youre ready to go.

One could make a strong argument that Dewease was born ready. Now living in Fayetteville, in south-central Pennsylvania, Dewease dates his career to the early 1980s when he started out driving 270cc micro sprints and by his own admission, never won a race. Undeterred, he did the same thing any number of young Keystone Staters have decided to try, moving up.

The options back then were super sportsman and sprint cars, he explained. The super sportsman are great but they can get 80 cars a night, so its really tough. We had a sprint car that my father, my brother and a friend or so could work on, and back then, you could still do it on a workingmans paycheck.

Dewease migrated to a smorgasbord of the very best sprint cars that the brutally competitive Pennsylvania circuit had to offer. He did a single race in the cattle car of Bob Weikert before spending time with the late Carl Harz, the late Al Hamilton and the Dietz family. In a real sense, Deweases Hall of Fame success can be traced to two rides: First, the famed Brickmobile of Hall of Fame car owner Walter Dyer, in which Dewease enjoyed years of dominance at Port Royal.

In his Hall of Fame induction, which came as part of Knoxvilles Class of 2018, Dewease singled out Dyer as one of the great influences on his life, and his career, stating that if it wasnt for him, I wouldnt be where Im at. He took a shot and gave me my first big break with a good car and a good owner. For seven and a half years, it was a good relationship and I owe everything to him.

The other was the robins egg-blue No. 69k of Kreitz, another Hall of Famer, with the Hall of Fame mechanic Davey Brown Sr. handling mechanical matters. Before he exited the ride, Dewease combined with Kreitz and Brown to form a powerhouse team that scarfed up victories across Pennsylvania despite the fact all three principals wanted to run a lighter schedule of 40 to 50 races a year. Its still a viable plan for a racer, even one approaching the eventual end of his driving days.

In Pennsylvania, you take someone like Anthony Macri or Danny Dietrich and they run 100 races a year, 85 percent of them in Pennsylvania, with a lot of good-paying, big shows, Dewease said. Youve got two at Port Royal paying 50-something and another one that pays $75,000 to win. The National Open pays $75,000 to win. Theres also six Outlaw shows here and another six or seven High Limit shows around Pennsylvania. Its always been a viable thing here because you can race so much and not really have to travel.

To achieve proper perspective on Deweases career, perhaps its best to ask another Hall of Famer. In this case, its Alan Kreitzer, who went from driving race cars to being an acclaimed promoter at Keystone tracks including the Grove and Silver Spring Speedway. Hes had a unique view of the entirety of Deweases exploits.

Lance is really one of the greats in Pennsylvania, Kreitzer said. The races hes won, the big races, is really what sets him apart. He kind of had a resurgence with Donald Kreitz, and when he got hooked up with them, it was like a whole new world.

I think the thing that makes Lance stand out is the fans, and the way they react to him, Kreitzer continued. A lot of guys, when they win a lot, people become polarized. You love em or hate em. Lance never got that. He was always extremely popular with the fans no matter how much he won. I think a lot of it is because of the way he represented our area in the big events against the invaders. Lance was truly one of Pennsylvanias chosen ones. The fans loved him, and they still do.

Dewease skipped the annual odyssey to Florida this year, just because. Hes beginning to get his son, Cole, acclimated to micros in anticipation of his eventual transition to sprint cars. Dewease is both satisfied and proud of owning one of central Pennsylvanias most historically successful driving careers.

Im a pretty laid-back guy but Im just always trying to win and be better, he said. Ive raced against some of the best drivers to have ever driven a sprint car: Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Fred Rahmer, Greg Hodnett.

Whats neat about my career is that I raced against Steve Kinser, best sprint car driver who ever lived, and against Kyle Larson, whos the best driver Ive ever seen. Ive raced against some of the best drivers to ever race sprint cars. Its been good.