Local Racing
Buckwalter Best at Williams Grove
WILLIAMS GROVE, PA (Pittsburgh Racing Now – July 10, 2020): The “Royersford Rocket,” Steve Buckwalter, blasted away from the pole position in the Sprint Car feature at Williams Grove Speedway. Although he led the entire distance, he had to fend off several challenges from Kyle Reinhardt in the early going and the fast-closing Matt Campbell in the final laps.
Although Buckwalter had a good starting spot for the companion feature for the United Racing Club’s 360 Sprint Cars, he was unable to duplicate the feat. He finished a distant second to another moonlighting driver, Anthony Macri, from nearby Dillsburg, PA. Surprisingly, it was Macri’s first career feature win of any sort at the famed half mile.
Buckwalter lapped cars early and often. “The traffic, we got into it pretty quickly, and being first sucks becasue you don’t know where to go sometimes,” Buckwalter said. He admitted to being “too cautious” becasue he didn’t want to get into a lapped car. Although he got hung up once or twice, it never put his lead in jeopardy. “I heard somebody back there, but I didn’t know if it was a lapped car or second place.” As it turned out, it was Campbell, the second place driver who came on strong in the last five laps to cut the lead to .223 seconds at the checkers.
Buckwalter and Reinhardt had the front row for the 25 lap affair. Adrian Shaffer and Campbell had the second row, and Brent Micahlski and Ryan Smith were in row three. Brian Montieth and Landon Myers were in the fourth row. Danny Dietrich and Anthony Macri were in the fifth row. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. was in the eleventh spot for the start and track points leader, Lance Dewease, was mired in nineteenth, both having trouble moving forward in the heat races as this was a track-handicapped show that inverts divers based on their average earnings. To get a prime starting spot, a racer must finish in the top three of a heat, and neither Rahmer or Dewease could make the grade.
Buckwalter’s initial lead over Reinhardt, Shaffer, Campbell, and Montieth was wiped out by a stalled car on the third lap. That turned out to be the only stoppage of the race as the remaining 22 laps were completed without a hitch.
Buckwalter again assumed command on the restart, but Reinhardt stayed close enough to challenge a couple of times in the early going. But, by the time that Buckwalter reached the slower cars–and it did not take very long to do so–he was able to stretch things out as he put the slower cars down a lap.
Midway through the race, Campbell and Reinhardt began to mix things up. They traded second several times. With seven or eight laps to go, Campbell seized the position for good and he set his sights on Buckwalter. Campbell chopped away at the lead and came up a few car lengths short at the conclusion.
Following Buckwalter, Campbell, and Reinhardt were Smith and Brent Marks. Montieth crossed in sixth after racing as high as fourth in the early going. Dietrich was seventh. Then came Rahmer, Macri, and Dewease.
Heat wins were scored by Buckwalter, Reinhardt, and Shaffer. There was no B Main.
In the URC nightcap, Justin Barger and Macri paced the field. Series points leader, Josh Weller, and Buckwalter had row two. Jonathan Preston and Tyler Ross were in row three. Weller charged from third to first in the first two corners of the race and he set the pace through the first six laps. However, Macri overhauled him on the restart. Weller fought back once or twice thereafter, but Macri pulled away from him as the race went on.
Buckwalter and Ross had a tug of war going for the third position, but by the midpoint of the race, Buckwalter took over third. By lap 20, he was second, but Macri was too far out front for Buckwalter to be a factor.
At the finish, it was Macri over Buckwalter, Weller, Ross, and Jason Schultz. Derek Locke was sixth. Lucas Wolfe made up for his disappointing run in the 410s by taking seventh. Paulie Colagiovanni, Adam Carberry, and Justin Barger completed the top ten.
“It feels good to win someplace other than Port Royal,” Macri said. He had reeled off four straight in the 410 division at that track and added a URC feature for good measure. It was his third outing in Sean Michael’s machine and he has scored two wins. Macri also has a URC triumph with his family-owned machine.
Williams Grove Speedway will host the Tommy Classic next week featuring the All Stars Circuit of Champions. The race honors the Hall of Fame driver, Tommy Hinnershitz, who won the very first race held at the speedway some 81 years ago. Also on the card will be the 358 Sprint Cars.
SARVER, PA (April 26, 2024) AJ Flick picked up his first Peoples Natural Gas Sprint Car win of 2024 at Lernerville Speedway on Friday night and Michael Norris made it back-to-back wins in the Late Model Division.
Flick started fourth on the grid and passed leader and pole-sitter Carl Bowser using the bottom side on lap 8 while Bowser worked the high side. Bowser wouldn’t go away easily, pulling side-by-side with Flick at the halfway mark. Flick eventually was able to hold Bowser at bay, building a three-second lead as he encountered lap traffic.
A caution flag with five-laps-to-go bunched up the field but Flick got an impressive restart and kept the field at bay to pick up the victory. Bowser finished second and Michael Bauer finished third after starting eighth.
“I didn’t expect it to slick off as much as it did,” Flick said about the track conditions. “It was odd because it wasn’t really wide but yet the actual racing groove was getting slick and starting to come in already. I missed it in the heat race, but come feature time it seems like we’re starting to dial it in a bit more.”
Norris started 10th and put on a clinic coming through the field to make it two straight at ‘The action Track.’
“Luck was on our side tonight,” Norris said. “I always seem to have late race cautions. Thanks to John Garvin for leaving me a lane, he got me pretty good on that last restart but I knew as long as I could be even with him going into turn one, the top was so good and it was.”
Erick Rudolph made the trip to Sarver from Ransomville, New York and it paid off. Rudolph took home the feature victory in the Diehl Automotive Big Block Modified main event.
“There’s something about Lernerville Speedway,” said Rudolph. “It’s one of my favorite tracks in the country and anytime we get a chance to come down here it’s always something we look forward to.”
Tyler Dietz proved to be the class of the field once again, garnering his first feature win in the Millerstown Pic-A-Part Pro Stock main event. Dietz survived a late race restart and held off front row starter Tim Bish and a hard charging Chris Schneider to grab the checkered flag.
“I kind of thought that he (Bish) was going to take the bottom,” Dietz stated, remarking about the crucial restart. “I was hoping he would go high because I think I was better up high but I just never got the chance to go up there.”
PITTSBURGH, PA (April 24, 2025) The Historic Stock Car Racing Association (HSCRA) is joining the lineup of racing groups at this year’s Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix (PVGP) Historics at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. This is the first time the HSCRA will race in the PVGP Historics 3-day weekend, July 26 to 28, 2024.
“We are thrilled to welcome the HSCRA to our 2024 event,” said Dan DelBianco, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. “Their participation not only broadens the appeal of the PVGP Historics but also aligns with our mission to celebrate all automotive history. This is a fantastic opportunity for race fans of all types to witness the power and beauty of historic stock cars in action.”
The HSCRA, renowned for its commitment to preserving and celebrating the history of stock car racing, will bring a new dimension to the PVGP Historics. The group is open to all stock cars that ran in one of the major NASCAR series.
“The HSCRA is anxious to bring NASCAR to Pittsburgh,” said Carlus Gann of HSCRA. “We look forward to making this a regular stop on our tour. Western Pennsylvania has deep roots in racing, and building a world-class track at Pitt Race in Beaver County makes it a perfect fit.”
The most popular class is Generation 4 Cup cars built for the 1992-2007 seasons. During this era, teams built a few cars for the two road courses on the schedule.
“We are hoping for a full field of meticulously restored stock cars,” added Chris Evans of the HSCRA. “Former NASCAR winners like Joe Nemechek and a competitive lineup of today’s top historic stock car drivers will be on hand.”
Gary Moore, a seasoned participant in over a dozen PVGP races, knows the intricacies and challenges of the Pitt Race track. Moore will be showcasing his 1969 Mercury Cyclone (right), victoriously driven by Cale Yarborough, exclaiming, “It’s quite the adventure behind the wheel!”
The HSCRA will have a practice session in the morning and a qualifying race in the afternoon on Friday, July 26. A morning and afternoon practice session on Saturday, July 27. Sunday, July 28 will see the HSCRA have a short morning warm-up prior to being one of the featured Sunday afternoon races.
The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Motorsport Festival features two weekends of racing action. The first weekend is the PVGP Historics at Pittsburgh International Race Complex. The second weekend is racing through a 2.33-mile road course set on the streets of Pittsburgh’s Schenley Park. In addition to the race weekends, the PVGP stages car shows, parties, road rallies, and a black-tie formal. The PVGP’s mission is to provide residential care, treatment and support for people with autism and intellectual/developmental disabilities – donating $6.7 million to charity since 1983.
IMPERIAL, PA (April 20, 2024) Aliquippa’s Tim Shaffer started on the pole position and survived several caution flags and restarts to win the Herb Scott Memorial Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (PPMS).
“Boy I earned that one huh,” said Shaffer following the race. “These wins just keep getting better and better. Herb Scott won a lot of features and I have a long way to go to catch him, but my career went on the road and it became hard to win races. It’s kind of back home racing now for me and it’s a lot of fun.”
Brock Pinkerous and Dave Hess Jr. staged an epic battle over the last several laps with Pinkerous scoring an emotional runner-up finish.
“Congrats to Tim on the win,” said Pinkerous, who hails from Ellenville, NY. “He’s really good at this track. Him and Dave are legends around this area. It’s really cool to battle with them; they raced me clean and I raced them clean. Even though we didn’t win tonight, this is for my uncle tonight who passed away about a month ago. I hope he’s watching over us tonight, and I really love you uncle Chris.”
“We were really good on those restarts,” said Hess, the 39-year-old Waterford, Pa. driver. “A little tweak to the car and maybe a gear change and we could have had something for the leaders. Once those two (Shaffer and Pinkerous) got rolling, they were a little better than I was.”
Kyle Lukon finished fifth and Logan Roberson rounded out the Top 5.
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 45-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. 555-Brock Pinkerous[4]; 3. 44-Dave Hess Jr[21]; 4. 184-Kyle Lukon[5]; 5. 17R-Logan Roberson[19]; 6. 10S-Joe Martin[16]; 7. 36-Cody Dawson[7]; 8. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[10]; 9. 42-Daryl Charlier[6]; 10. 184C-Justin Chance[13]; 11. 21J-Jim Rasey[24]; 12. 184P-Cole Petrelle[20]; 13. 77-Tom Klein[23]; 14. 57-Charlie Sandercock[11]; 15. 36B-Colby Beighey[15]; 16. 18-Mike Wonderling[25]; 17. 29-Ryan Hare[17]; 18. 60H-Brian Huchko[22]; 19. 9R-Mike Reft[14]; 20. 25-Zachary Kane[9]; 21. 72B-Kassidy Kamicker[18]; 22. 75-Jared Miley[3]; 23. 60-Brandon Burgoon[2]; 24. 14AJ-AJ Miller[8]; 25. 14G-Jake Gunn[12]
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