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Montgomery and Lynch Celebrate Holiday at Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex; No Race Until June 5

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MARKLEYSBURG, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Roaring Knob Motorsports Complex held a Memorial Day doubleheader weekend. On Saturday evening, Flyin’ Ryan Montgomery had a perfect night in the Super Late Model division, setting the fastest time and sweeping his heat, the dash, and the feature event. On Sunday night, third generation driver Sye Lynch won the 410 Sprint Car race. Both drivers received $3,000 for their wins. However, after four successful programs over a three-week period, Roaring Knob will be dark this weekend, as Pennsylvania State Police asked the speedway to shut down. The track plans to resume racing on Saturday, June 5.

Other winners on Saturday included Braeden Dellinger in the Fastrak Crate Late Models and Drake Troutman in the E-mods. Joining Lynch in victory lane Sunday were Garrett Bard in the Allegheny Sprint Tour 305s and Corey Myers in the 270 Micros.

Montgomery’s Magic

Ryan Montgomery and Tyler Carpenter were on the front row for the Late Model main, with Matt Sponnaugle and Michael Lake right behind them. Brian Bernheisel and Shawn Jones were in the third row, with Andy Anderson and Doug Eck in the fourth row. Ken Schaltenbrand and Travis Stickley made up row five.

It took two tries to get the race going, but when the laps started counting, it was clear that Montgomery was the man to beat this night. While he was able to lead the way, he could never break free form Carpenter, especially in the first half of the race. Numerous cautions for minor skirmishes kept giving Carpenter opportunities to challenge but he could not cash in on any of them.

Sponnaugle raced along in third the entire distance. But, behind him, things were pretty intense.
Lake and Bernheisel were mixing things up with Stickely, Jones, and Anderson. In the middle stage of the race, Bernheisel got to the fourth position. He started to close in on Sponnaugle in the second half of the contest, but he ran out of laps.

Drake Troutman came on strong in the second half as well. Starting in row seven, it did not take the young man very long to crack the top ten. He made it up to seventh or eighth and it looked as though that would be his place in the final running order. But then he found something extra and started his march toward the front, reaching fifth by the time the checkers waived.

At the finish, it was Montgomery by several car lengths over Carpenter. Sponnaugle, Bernheisel, and Troutman rounded out the top five. Lake faded to sixth. Dylan Lewis, Stickley, Kyle Knapp, and Clinton Herst were the rest of the top ten.

Heat winners were Montgomery, Anderson, Sponnaugle, and Carpenter. Montgomery won the dash. He also turned in a lap of 15.580 to get the bonus money put up for the fast time.

Trevor Collins jumped out to an early lead from his second starting spot in the Fastrak feature. However, Breaden Dellinger moved into second and he chased Collins for the first seven or eight laps. Just before the midpoint of the race, Dellinger made his move in turns three and four. He ducked under Collins to take the lead.

Dellinger then had to fend off the challenges of two-time winner Joe Martin over the second half of the race. Logan Zarin advanced from row six to the third position. Collins held off Michael Duritsky for fourth. Steve Lowery, John Over, Ryan Frazzee, Jennae Piper, and Andy Spooner were the next five finishers.

Collins, Over, and Martin prevailed in their preliminaries.

Drake Troutman went wire to wire in the E-mod fearure. Mitch Thomas rallied from an early spin to claim the second position. Darcy Rex fell back to third in the waning laps. Greg Hauger and Amber Mills completed the top five. Troutman was the heat winner as well.

Lynch’s Luck

A draw for the first two finishers from each of the four 410 Sprint Car heats put Landon Myers on the pole with Bradley Howard next to him. Sye Lynch lined up in third, flanked by Billy Dietrich. Then came Shelby Sheffer and A.J. Flick. Tim Shaffer shared row four with Chase Dietz, while Trey Jacobs was paired up with Danny Smith in row five.

Three Rivers Karting

Myers got out to an early lead, followed by Howard, Flick, Lynch, and Dietz. They maintained that running order through the first five laps. That was when Tyler Ross rolled to a stop on the backstretch. That stoppage enable Lynch to bolt into second on the restart. Shaffer followed into the fourth spot.

The field completed another five rounds before Danny Smith spun in turn two. The restart saw another move in the lead group, as Shaffer passed Howard for third in turn one after taking the green flag.

Myers continued to set a torrid pace, while Shaffer began to close in on Lynch. Another caution came out just after the halfway mark, as Flick slowed. He drove off the track in turn two, ending his bid for a top ten finish.

Myers completed three more laps as the leader when he, too, suddenly slowed. He came to a stop midway down the backstretch, handing the lead over to Lynch.

Lynch held control for the remaining ten laps of the contest. Although Lynch was able to gain some separation in the race’s longest green flag run, Shaffer came storming back in the last few laps. Lynch had caught some slower traffic and that enabled the veteran to close the margin substantially.

When the lead duo took the white flag, Lynch’s lead had shrunk to just a car length or two. Shaffer tucked in behind Lynch as they raced through turns one and two, and he moved around on the backstretch searching for a spot to make a pass for the win. Shaffer dipped to the inside coming off turn four, while Lynch stayed in the middle of the track. Shaffer got to Lynch’s left rear wheel just as the checkers waived.

Behind Lynch and Shaffer was Billy Dietrich. Dietz turned in a creditable run for fourth. Fifth was Cole Duncan, who passed twelve cars to gain the hard charger bonus for the race.

Jeff Halligan was sixth, followed by Howard, Tyler Walton, Jack Sodeman, Jr., and Ross.

The heat winners were Flick, Lynch, Dietrich, and Sheffer. T.J. Michael looked like he would join that group, but a hard crash in turn one on the final lap eliminated him from further competition. he was unhurt. The pair of B Mains went to R.J. Jacobs and Dylan Cisney.

Layton Wagner and Jason Dolick also flipped in turn four in separate incidents, but neither of them were injured. Wagner was able to make repairs and started his heat and the B Main. Dolick was done after his heat race miscue.

In the Allegheny Sprint Tour feature, Bard made his big move on the opening lap wrestling the lead away from Jake Frye as they raced through turns one and two. Kyle Keen and Brandon Hawkins had ringside seats for that display of power. Kyle Colwell and Justin Clark raced along from their third row starting positions.

Bard , Frye, and Keen had a fairly easy time at the front of the field. Clark, Colwell, Hawkins, and Dave Brown were mixing things up for the next several positions. Their battle came to a halt when Colwell slowed for the second caution of the race, with just five laps to go. While the field was circulating under the yellow, Clark came to a stop as well, so two top contenders were eliminated.

Bard completed the final five rounds without incident, as did Frye and Keen. Hawkins crossed in fourth, followed by John Walp. The next five to the finish line were Brown, Larry McVey, Jacob Gomola, Tyler Cochran, and Don Melair.

The three heat winners were Frye, Hawkins, and Clark. Saban Bibent took his car back to Cincinnati with heavy damage as he crashed from the lead of the third heat. He, too, was unhurt. There was no B Main.

In the 270 Micros, Corey Myers easily outdistanced the other racers. But Brian Borawiec and Todd Ruesser put on quite a show fighting for the second spot, which ultimately went to Borawiec. Steve Dunmire was fourth and Ryan Fredericks was fifth. Federicks and Myers split the heats. There was no B Main.

Dirt Racing

Luck Rides with Larson to Third Chili Bowl Title

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Chili Bowl

TULSA, OK (January 18, 2025): There is an old adage in racing that goes something like this: “It is better to be lucky than good.” That statement accurately summed up Kyle Larson’s Chili Bowl win. Larson collected a cool $20,000 for his effort.

Larson survived two incidents on his way to a third Chili Bowl crown. The first came in the middle of the race when he ran over a disabled car between turns three and four. The other came with just three laps to go when he climbed the front stretch wall but drove off before a caution was called for debris.

“It just was a very difficult race track to run the line that I was running,” Larson observed. “It comes with a lot of reward with the risk that you’re taking. I messed up on the straightaway a couple of times. I’m glad that I kept going there because that caution really, really saved me and allowed it to be a little bit easier run to the finish. I think if we stayed in traffic, Daison (Pursley) would have had a lot of opportunities to throw stuff at me.”

Perhaps Larson’s good luck even started before the drop of the green. Larson started on pole.

The ten cars that locked into the A Main participated in the Pole Shuffle. The Pole Shuffle was a series of head-to-head timed laps. The faster driver continued on and the slower one was eliminated. Larson drew the number one, so he was assured of a front row starting spot regardless of how he timed.

The second bit of pre-race luck was that Daison Pursley ran out of fuel one round too soon. Pursley showed consistent speed throughout the Pole Shuffle. He won the first several rounds. When he squared off against Landon Brooks in the penultimate round, his car sputtered to a stop. Brooks advanced to the final round by default.

So, the front row of the finale belonged to Larson and Brooks. Pursley and Logan Seavey were in row two. The third row consisted of Tanner Thorson and Emerson Axsom. Row four paired Gavin Miller and Shane Golobic. The last two members of the Pole Shuffle were in row five, Ryan Bernal and Brenham Crouch. The B Main winners, Corbin Rueschenberg and Christopher Bell, made up row six.

As expected, Larson scooted out to the early lead, followed by Brooks, Pursley, Seavey, Thorson, and Golobic. The leaders ran in formation at the top of the track through the first caution, which came on lap nine for a crash by Jonathan Beason in turn two. Beason was the only racer to transfer into the A Main from a C Main.

The caution nullified Thorson’s pass for fourth.

Larson led the parade after the restart. Pursley began to press Brooks for second. On lap thirteen, Pursley’s slider in turn three improved his position by one. He then chased Larson as the leaders started to work their way through traffic. Thorson picked off Seavey as the race approached the midpoint.

As the laps clicked off, the traffic intensified, Larson maintained his lead, but it was shrinking. Brooks, Thorson, and Seavey remained in the top five.

Three Rivers Karting

The first bit of drama occurred on lap twenty-two. Jacob Denney and Brenham Crouch tangled between turns three and four. Denney continued, but Crouch stopped in the middle of the track. His nose was slanted toward the infield. Larson had no place to go. He drove over the left front of Crouch’s car. Larson’s car stalled while in mid air. It refired when all four wheels returned to the track. Because Larson was able to keep moving, he was not called as part of the caution.

Larson’s car sustained no apparent damage. He was able to maintain the lead when the race resumed. Pursley kept pace with Larson. Brooks was still third, but after two laps, Golobic gained two positions. Thorson slipped back to fifth.

As Larson ran alone out front, Brooks was stalking Pursley. He took over second pn lap thirty-one, but Pursley regained second within a couple of laps. He then resumed his chase of the leader.

Pursley climbed the front stretch wall with about five laps to go. There was a large accumulation of dirt along the wall that acted as a ramp. It took a deft hand to pull the car down from the wall and to keep it straight. In the process, though, Pursley loosened a sponsor banner that was attached to the wall.

Larson tore the banner off on lap thirty-seven when he, too, climbed the wall. Larson climbed higher than Pursley, as the undercarriage was visible to the fans in the stands. Larson careened off the wall toward the infield. As he regained control, Pursley was coming. They entered the first turn side by side. Larson cut a better corner and kept the lead.

As Larson and Pursley raced off turn two, the caution light came on for debris, which was the banner that was now strewn across the middle of the track.

Larson kept the point for the final restart. He got away cleanly. Pursley stayed close. He tried a slider in turn four but he did not have enough momentum to get his nose ahead.

At the checkers it was Larson over Pursley. Pursley had mixed emotions afterwards. “I tried to pace Kyle for forty laps. It was a very technical track where you’d make room in one corner and then give it back the next.” He added, “it’s unfortunate. I really wanted to win this one, but there’s nothing to hang your head about when you’re racing against the likes of Kyle Larson. I’ve been coming here since I was little, so this really means a lot to me.” He concluded, “I thought we might have had the chance when the yellow came out due to the banner, but there’s so many woulda, coulda, shoulda’s that happen in this building, that’s what makes it so tough to win here.”

The Matt Wood team of Pursley, Golobic, Bernal, and Brooks completed the top five. While much attention was directed to the fleet of cars entered by Keith Kunz Motorsports, the accomplishments of the smaller Matt Wood Racing cannot be overstated. Golobic, who also acted as the crew chief for the entire team, gave props to Wood, who keeps the cars idle throughout the season. Golobic explained that they did not get a chance to knock the rust off because one of the Fall’s big events was rained out.

Positions six through ten went to Buddy Kofoid, Seavey, Miller, Axsom, and Bell.

Tim Buckwalter was the hard charger, racing from twenty-second to thirteenth.

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Dirt Racing

Success for Seavey

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Chili Bowl

TULSA, OK (January 17, 2025): Logan Seavey, a two-time and defending Chili Bowl Champion, was confident throughout the Friday preliminary event, and it showed even when his car did not perform up to his lofty expectations. “I ran a little bit of an ugly race but when it mattered I ran good laps, and my car was good enough to do it,” he explained. He stuck a hard slider to take the lead on lap twenty-seven and he led the remaining laps to lock into the Saturday A Main. “I could see Gavin (Miller) and there’s like two laps where he made mistakes and those were probably my two fastest laps of the race. I got off two really good and just went for it.”

“I’m always confident,” Seavey added. “Even today where I didn’t feel as good as I have in the past, still had speed, could still keep up with guys, lost a little balance to be able to maneuver as good as I needed to in traffic. When I could get up against the cushion by myself I could make a tin of speed. Finally in the feature, I could crawl the bottom and make speed early. We definitely got going in the right direction which helped. I feel like I made a lot of ugly laps there, and fortunately I happened to make them at the right times. When I did make good laps, it was really when I needed them.”

The first three cars in the starting line-up were fielded by Keith Kunz Motorsports. The drivers in the front row were Ryan Timms and Michael Pickens. In third spot was Gavin Miller. Tyler Edwards was his dance partner. Daryn Pittman started in row three, along with Jason McDougal. Seavey and Justin Grant took up row four, followed by Andrew Felker and Cole Vanderheiden. Michael Faccinto and Tyler Courtney made up row six.

The KKM triumvirate took the top three spots at the drop of the green, with Edwards and McDougal looking on. The action was slowed a couple of times, most notably when Pickens suddenly stopped in turn two on lap two. Timms and Miller took off again when the race resumed. McDougal, Pittman, and Seavey took up the chase.

An engine failure caused an extended caution on lap six so the oil could be worked into the surface.

The next ten laps under the green had Timms continuing out front, but Miller was staying close to his teammate. McDougal, Pittman, and Seavey battled for third, with Seavey and Pittman shuffling McDougal back in the running order.

Seavey did piece together a couple of competitive laps and he was making a bid for the second position. Miller picked up his pace as well.

Three Rivers Karting

Unfortunately, the leader, Timms, was hard on his brakes entering turn three and Miller was unable to check up. There was contact, and Timms spun to the inside, ending his chance for a win.

Miller was apologetic for the incident. “I was just racing very hard with Logan there, and Ryan kind of slowed up a lot towards the middle of that race. Me trying to cross back Logan there, Ryan went to the bottom I really didn’t think he was going to slow up that much. I kind of locked up the brakes, just slid too far, kind of hooked his bumper. Apologized to him, talked to him back at the trailer, it wasn’t anything I really meant to do, it was just hard racing.”

Nonetheless, Miller assumed control for the lap sixteen restart. Seavey and Pittman were battling for second. McDougal came upon them quickly and he made contact with Pittman. McDougal spun from contention on lap eighteen.

Pittman made a good restart and took over second with a power move on the inside of turn two. Within a couple of laps, however, Seavey drove by Pittman for second.

Seavey started to stalk Miller. Seavey got a good run off turn two with three laps remaining. He entered turn three with a lot of momentum. His slider came up a bit short, and there was contact with Miller. Miller checked up and Seavey drove away with the lead.

Miller drove conservatively for the final laps to ensure his transfer into the Saturday A Main.

Tyler Courtney closed fast to get third ahead of Pittman and Justin Grant. Edwards, Faccinto, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Sam Johnson, and Felker completed the top ten.

Nine heat races started the night. The winners were Timms, Chase McDermand, Felker, Stenhouse, McDougal, Miller, Vanderheiden, Grant, and T.J. Smith. Grant, Miller, Pittman, and Edwards prevailed in the qualifiers. Ronnie Gardner and Taylor Courtney topped the D Mains. Gardner and Don Droud, Jr. captured the C Main victories. The B Mains went to Hayden Reinbold and McDermand.

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Dirt Racing

Thorson Thrills on Thursday

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TULSA, OK (January 16, 2025): After regaining the lead from Christopher Bell with five laps to go, Tanner Thorson had to survive a frantic two-lap dash to the finish with Bell and Ryan Bernal to capture the fourth preliminary night victory at the Chili Bowl.

“I felt good there that last bit kind of tracking down Bell and then the yellow came out and Bell is the last person I wanted behind me on a restart. I’m looking for my guys to tell me where to go. I didn’t know where to go, I about gave it away. I thought it was going to be Bell on my inside, and it’s Bernal, I’m like, ‘Holy Crap,’ we’re about to get our doors blown off.”

Bernal made the most of the last caution and the final restart. He explained, “the white flag came up and those two (C.J. Leary and Parker Jones) got together and (I) literally did monster truck() over both of them. I was like “well, we’re in third now,’ and now green, white, checkered and I’m looking up at Shane (Golobic) and he (was) telling me to be smart, and come around again he says be smart again and just go to the bottom because I didn’t run a consistent lap all night on the top. It worked out great. I missed the bottom miserably coming to the checkered but we are locked in.”

Bell became the odd man out in the final two laps. He took the green in second–a transfer spot–but could not hold on to it. One might have thought that he would be disappointed with the outcome. But, surprisingly, he was enthused. “The last green, white, checkered was just cat and mouse. (It) was wherever Tanner went I was going to go opposite, and I felt like I was really in a good spot coming off turn two, he ran the bottom I ran the up and I had momentum on him. Bernal plugged the bottom and blocked my line. Once Bernal blocked the bottom, it was pretty . . . I (thought) I was going to be OK and Bernal snuck by on the bottom and made us three wide and it was a great race!”

Thorson started the feature from the pole position. His running mate was Karter Sharff. C.J. Leary and Christopher Bell were in row two, followed by Ryan Bernal and Parker Jones. Shane Cottle and Matt Westfall made up row four, with Matt Sherrell and Kyle Spence in row five. Jacob Denney and Bradley Fezard were next in line.

Thorson took the lead at the drop of the green, but on lap three, Sharff executed a slider in turn four to take the lead. Leary, Bell, and Bernal were looking on.

On the next trip around, there was a six-car tangle in turn three.

After the race resumed, Sharff was still the leader, but Thorson regained the lead one lap later. He held control for a couple of laps, but he was being challenged by Sharff and Bell. Bell got the inside line working, and he made a bid for the lead in turn one on lap seven. He could not pull off the pass, but he persisted. He went two-for-one in turn four to take the point on lap ten.

Three Rivers Karting

Bell continued to lead through the next caution, on lap twenty-one. During his time out front, he began searching for a quicker line, as Thorson was pressing him for the lead. Bell moved to the top and he seemed to be comfortable up there.

However, on the restart, Bell went back to the bottom. That worked for several laps. But the outside line was open for Thorson. He went upstairs and passed Bell with five laps to go. Thorson explained that he was able to adjust his shocks under the caution.

Soon thereafter, a caution was displayed for a flip by Casey Shuman.

When the green light flashed on again, Bell was chasing Thorson. Behind them, the action was heating up. Things boiled over on lap twenty-nine, when three cars running in the top five got together in turn two. Eliminated from the race were Leary and Sharff. Jones was able to continue. The biggest beneficiary of this development was Bernal, who drove through the carnage and moved into third for the restart.

This incident set up a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Thorson and Bell went high into turn one. Bernal got a great restart, and he entered turn one on the bottom.

The three-car battle for the lead intensified after the white flag came out. The contestants were three abreast! Bernal was on the bottom, Bell was in the middle, and Thorson was on the cushion. Bernal and Thorson got a slight advantage on Bell coming through turn two. Bell got a good run into turn three, and he tried the high line. Thorson came off the top to try to thwart Bernal’s inside charge. Bell was charging on the outside, but his car faltered coming off turn four.

At the checkers, it was Thorson over Bernal by less than a car length. Bell was a close third. Westfall and Denney completed the top five. Frank Flud, Spence, Shane Cottle, Brody Fuson, and Brady Bacon were sixth through tenth.

There were nine heat races. Bradley Fezard, Jeff Stasa, Cottle, Sharff, Bacon, Thorson, Bell, Chris Windom, and Bernal were the victors. Thorson, Sharff, Sherrell, and Bernal won the qualifiers. The pair of D Mains went to Elijah Gile and Jeffrey Newell. C Main wins belonged to Cade Morton and Spencer Bayston. Drake Edwards and Casey Shuman split the B Main honors.

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