Local Racing
Larson Wins Hodnett Classic and Speedweek Title at Port Royal
PORT ROYAL, PA (July 4, 2020 – Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Kyle Larson put an exclamation point on the 30th Annual Pennsylvania Sprint Car Speedweek. Although he clinched the Speedweek title simply by timing in for the night, Larson did not rest on his laurels. He went out and won his heat race and then he captured the Greg Hodnett Classic. It was Larson’s first career victory at the ‘Speed Palace’, Port Royal Speedway. Larson earned in excess of $11,000 for the effort, including a bounty of more than a thousand dollars for halting Anthony Macri’s winning streak. Larson also picked up the $5,000 point title for his eight days of racing in the area.
Larson was excited to get his fourth win of Speedweek and he was pleased that it came at another track that he had yet to conquer. “This place has probably turned into my favorite track,” Larson said enthusiastically. He gave props to Steve O’Neil, the promoter, and the entire Juniata County Fair Board for the amazing improvements that have taken place over the years. “They put every dollar that they earn back into the facility and it shows.” Larson was also complimentary of the track conditions, noting that the track retained some moisture, which helped the performance of his car. “What an amazing race car Paul Silva gave me. I had a lot of grip.”
While Larson said that he was looking forward to taking on the All Stars for several rounds of the Ohio Sprint Car Speedweek, he coyly admitted that he may be returning to Port Royal for some more action. Coming up soon will be the Bob Weikert Memorial with each race paying $10,000 to the winner. The big payday of course will be the Tuscarora 50 in September.
Two-time and defending track champion Logan Wagner obtained the pole position in the re-draw for starting positions. Brent Marks was beside him. Rico Abreu and Larson were in the second row, with Macri and Mike Wagner in the third row. Ryan Smith, sporting a Hodnett tribute wing, was in row four along with Kyle Reinhardt. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. and Lance Dewease were next on the grid.
At the drop of the green, Wagner and Marks charged into the first turn, with Larson, Abreu and Smith in tow. With one lap in the books, Kyle Moody flipped his racer in turn one, collecting Justin Schultz. Neither driver was injured, but they were both out for the rest of the race.
Wagner and Marks repeated their performance on the restart. However, once things got rolling, Marks and Wagner began exchanging slide jobs for the lead. Soon Larson was part of the battle for the lead. He grabbed second when Marks missed a slider on Wagner and scrubbed off some speed.
Larson stalked Wagner through lap nine. He pulled off a slider of his own to assume the lead in turn one. Marks soon followed suit to regain the second position. Now, he was chasing Larson, one of the hottest Sprint Car drivers in the country.
On lap 12, Marks caught Larson and pulled the trigger on a slider in turn three to take the lead away. Larson rallied though and returned the favor at the other end of the speedway. This time, Larson began to pull away from Marks.
Larson’s advantage was wiped out by a caution on lap 25 when Danny Dietrich was unable to get his faltering machine into the infield completely. Marks would get another shot at Larson three laps later when Macri was also unable to exit the speedway when his racer broke down. On neither occasion could Marks pull off a pass for the win.
Larson got away cleanly both times and led the remaining laps without any interference. Marks held on for second, followed by Abreu. Brock Zearfoss was fourth. Lance Dewease made up considerable ground in the last third of the race, coming home in fifth. Logan Wagner, Mike Wagner, Smith, Reinhardt, and A.J. Flick completed the top ten. Dylan Cisney picked up the hard charger award by climbing from the last row to eleventh at the finish.
Heat victories went to Larson, Abreu, Reinhardt, and Marks. The B Main went to Danny Dietrich, who entered the night with a theoretical chance to tie Larson for the Speedweek title. However, Dietrich had multiple problems over the course of the night ending his bid for a fifth Speedweek championship. The fastest qualifier on the night was Macri, who led Group A with a lap of 15.826. Logan Wagner topped the second flight with a time of 16.118.
Port Royal will return to action next Saturday, July 11, with 410 Sprints, Super Late Models, and Limited Late Models. The Super Late Models will context their Summer Championship, paying $3,000 to the winner. Then, on July 18 and 19, the All Stars will invade the speedway for the Bob Weikert Memorial. Support classes have yet to be determined for those races.
Dirt Racing
Dietz Does It, Leads Posse Sweep
MECHANICSBURG, PA (October 3, 2025) – Chase Dietz, of York, PA, led a Posse sweep of four of the top five positions on night number one of the National Open Weekend at Williams Grove Speedway. Joining Dietz on the front stretch were second place finisher, Lance Dewease, and the third place runner, Danny Dietrich. Justin Whittall was fifth in the race. The only card carrying Outlaw was Carson Macedo, who led the first twenty-one laps before fading to fourth at the finish.
“I just want to soak it in,” Dietz said as he tried to catch his beath following the exhilarating victory, his first ever against the travelling band. Although Dietz noted that he had speed all year at the Grove, his team assembled a new car this week and, in doing so, they made a lot of changes. “The car was very maneuverable.”
Although Dietz ran most of the race in the top groove, he admitted, “I knew that the bottom was going to come in. I knew that I had to get down there before Lance (Dewease) did. I saw his nose.” As it turned out, Dietz barely got to the bottom ahead of Dewease, forcing the cagy veteran to move to the middle in the closing laps.
“We’re just extremely grateful to be here, this sport can be very humbling,” Dietz added. Even last year, when he was running his own cars, Dietz explained that they fought hard to be competitive with the Outlaws. Although they were winless, they showed good speed and had a podium finish against the Outlaws in the 2024 National Open. “I looked back at the nights when we didn’t win, and I tried to figure out what we needed to do to bet better.”
Dewease, who followed Dietz into second on lap twenty-two and wh briefly challenged him for the lead, commented, “the last three or four laps I wasn’t very good. The lapped cars made it interesting.”
Dietrich, who completed the podium for the Posse, felt that he may have had the fastest car in the final laps but, he added, “things didn’t go my way.” He explained that, when he did pass Dewease, he did not get enough of a gap on him, and that let him (Dewease) get back in.”
Macedo drew the pole for the Dash and his win in that event placed him on the pole for the twenty-five lap preliminary, which paid $12,000 to the winner. Dietrich lined up on his right, Dewease and Dietz made up row two, followed by David Gravel and Buddy Kofoid. Diason Pursley and Justin Whittall stacked our row four. Then came Daryn Pittman and Bill Balog. Row six paired Kody Hartlaub with Justin Peck.
The back of the field was almost as impressive as the first six rows. Back there were racers such as Kerry Madsen (fourteenth), Giovanni Scelzi (sixteenth), Brock Zearfoss (seventeenth), Brent Marks (eighteenth), Ryan Timms (nineteenth), Freddie Rahmer, Jr. (twentieth), Sheldon Haudenschild (twenty-first), Logan Schuchart (twenty-first), and Troy Wagaman (twenty-sixth).
Macedo held off Dietrich in turn one to assume control of the race. Dietz ran in third on the opening lap, but he drove under Dietrich in turn four to take over second one lap later. Dewease ran along in fourth, followed by Kofoid, Gravel, Whittall, Pittman, Pursley, and Balog in the early going.
The running order was pretty static through the first five or six laps. The top ten had a major shake-up on lap seven, though. Something broke on Pittman’s car in turn three, and he spun wildly toward the outside wall. In the process, he collected Pursley, Balog, and Hartlaub. Pittman and Pursely retired from the race due to the damage incurred, but Balog and Hartlaub were able to rejoin the field for the restart after pitting for repairs.
That fracas was the only caution of the race.
Macedo and Dietz resumed the battle for the lead on the restart. However, one lap later, Dewease moved into third, ahead of Dietrich, Kofoid, and Gravel. Whittall, Peck, Scelzi, and Rahmer made up the balance of the top ten. At that juncture, Wagaman was about six positions behind Rahmer in their race within the race for the point championship.
Through the middle stage of the race, Dietz began to close in on Macedo. Dewease continued in third, several car lengths behind the leaders. Dietrich was about the same distance back in fourth.
Dietz caught up to Macedo with about five or six laps remaining in the contest. He managed to pass Macedo on the inside of turn three on lap twenty-one, but Macedo countered in turn four to regain the lead.
Macedo dove to the inside heading into turn one, but he scrubbed off spme speed. Dietz was able to get some momentum coming through turn two and that propelled hin down the backstretch. He slid Macedo for the lead coming through turns three and four, and Dewease followed in his tire tracks to take over second coming off turn four.
Dietz missed the bottom entering turn one, and Dewease poked his nose under him going through the turn, Dietz recovered, and he got a good run off turn two to preserve his lead. Dietz then committed to the low line for the final laps, requiring Dewease to move more toward the middle of the track.
Dietrich dispatched Macedo and he got a run on Dewease near the end of the race. However, Dewease was able to reclaim second soon thereafter.
At the finish, it was Dietz by a tad under eight tenths of a second over Dewease. Dietrich was third, followed by Macedo and Whittall. Kofoid, Gravel, Scelzi,Peck, and Marks completed the top ten.
Rahmer was eleventh, and Wagaman sixteenth. Although Wagaman was the hard charger at plus ten, he lost valuable points to Rahmer. The two racers will be separated by 125 points, unofficially, heading into Saturday’s season finale.
Heat wins were scored by Gravel, Kofoid, Dewease, and Pursley. Ryan Newton won the non-qualifiers race. Kyle Spence recovered from a tipover in his heat race to capture the C Main. The B Main went to Haudenschild. Gravel was the evening’s fastest qualifier, with a lap of 16.409 seconds topping Group A. Dewease timed the best in Group B, with a lap of 16.760 seconds. Fifty-six cars participated in the event.
Dirt Racing
Dale Blaney Wins World Of Outlaws At Sharon Speedway
HARTFORD, OH (September 27, 2025) – Dale Blaney had the hometown crowd on their feet and screaming after winning the World of Outlaws feature Saturday Night at Sharon Speedway, the track owned for years by the Blaney family.
Blaney started fifth and passed Cole Macedo on lap 11 for the lead then held off a furious last lap charge by Buddy Kofoid to win by just 0.136 seconds for the $12,000 payday!
The victory was Blaney’s first World of Outlaws victory in 10-years, becoming the oldest winner in Series history at 61 years 7 months and 28 days. Blaney broke the previous record set by his older brother Dave when he won at 58 years of age in 2021 at Sharon.
“There’re so many good young race car drivers out here, but to win a race at 61 (years old) is awesome,” said Blaney. ““I had the feeling that I was never going to win an Outlaw race ever again. I don’t race much. This is our sixth race this year. I haven’t run in seven weeks. The car was awesome. We just got it back together this week. I don’t know what to say. It’s great and cool to win this at Sharon Speedway- it’s the only place I’ve run this year. This is a special freaking night. I know that.”
“I wanted traffic,” said Kofoid. “My car is usually amazing in traffic. He slipped up, and then I kind of got in his air and got me slipped up. And then I hit the wall coming to the checkered, and it shot me down the track. I tried to send it and was close. I’m just happy for Dale and Dave.”
Sheldon Haudenschild finished third follow by WoO points leader David Gravel in fourth. Logan Schuchart rounded out the Top 5.
The night however belonged to the Blaney family, who fittingly closed out the the first year of the new ownership group of Dave Blaney, Ryan Blaney, and Will Thomas III in Victory Lane.
Dirt Racing
Rain Halts Fallen Heroes Memorial at Lincoln Speedway
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (September 27, 2025): A persistent, localized drizzle forced a stoppage of the Fallen Heroes Memorial at the Lincoln Speedway. The event, which was originally dubbed the Fallen Firefighters Memorial, was expanded to give tribute to the three York County police officers recently slain while serving a subpoena.
Brett and Jordan Strickler, policemen in the area, honored the fallen officers on the wings of their 410 Sprint Cars.
The 410 Sprint Cars were ready to take to the track for their feature event when the rain set in for the second time of the night. A brief shower interrupted the heat races for the 358 Sprint Cars. However, after the rain stopped, the track crew and push truck operators quickly prepared the surface so that all qualifications could be completed.
The line-ups for both feature races are set, and the events will be completed on October 18, along with the full program for both divisions in the Final 50. So, fans will be treated to four features that evening.
The point races in both divisions will conclude on October 18.
Dallas Schott, Kyle Moody, and Billy Dietrich won the heat races for the 410 Sprinters. Ryan “Fig” Newton prevailed in the B Main. Troy Wagaman, Jr. was the fastest qualifier of the twenty-nine cars on hand. His time was an astonishing 12.855 seconds. He was one of four racers to turn sub-thirteen second laps.
In the 358 Sprint Car preliminaries, the checkers waved for Cameron Merriman, Logan Spahr, and Cody Fletcher. There were twenty-one 358 Sprints checked in for the contest.
On October 4, Lincoln Speedway will present AMA Flat Track Motorcycles and Quads. There will be no auto races in consideration of the National Open to be held at Williams Grove Speedway. The World of Outlaws will take on the Pennsylvania Posse on October 11. The Lincoln season will conclude with the blockbuster event, the Final 50 plus the held over features.

