Local Racing
Satterlee Cashes in at Bedford
BEDFORD, PA (October 24, 2020): Gregg Satterlee scored his biggest win of the season when he took the Keystone Cup at the Bedford Fairgrounds Speedway. The veteran driver carried $20,000 back to his home in Indiana, PA, in what may be his last race of the season.
“It is awesome to get a win this late in the year,” he said. I don’t know how much more we will get to race. This will make us sleep a little better this winter.”
Satterlee commended the track preparation crew. “The track was really good tonight. It got a little one lane later.” By then, it did not matter to him, for he was out front and pulling away. “It cleaned up real good and I could move around. I Had to conserve my tires, not use them up trying to run (the leaders) down.”
Satterlee started the 60 lap race in the fourth spot. Ahead of him were Darrell Lanigan and Mason Zeigler, and beside him was Tim McCreadie. Michael Norris and Matt Cosner were in the row behind. Kyle Hardy and Bryan Bernheisel were in row four, with Dan Stone and Alex Ferree in row five. Row six belonged to Jason Covert and Nathan LaSalle.
Zeigler surprised all by jumping out to the lead at the drop of the green. Lanigan fell in behind, with Satterlee in his wake. McCreadie and Cosner were dicing for fourth, along with Norris. The action did not last for long, as Jason Miller’s spin in turn two caused a quick caution.
On the ensuing Delaware double file restart, Satterlee slid into second. Just a few laps later, following caution for Gene Knaub, Lanigan was able to return the favor. The yellow fever continued for a little while longer, with additional cautions on laps six, sixteen, eighteen, twenty-two, and twenty-three. There were no major changes in the running order at the front of the field, but there was good action between McCreadie and Norris for the fourth position.
The racers got down to some serious business thereafter. They ran off 24 uninterrupted laps. Zeigler continued to control the race, but Lanigan was under attack by Satterlee. On lap 32, Satterlee went low in turn one and took over second. It did not take him very long to reel in Zeigler. The excitement built as the large crowd readied themselves for a battle for the lead.
Satterlee began to work the inside line, drawing closer and closer to Zeigler coming off the corners. Once again, he dipped to the inside in turn one to make his move. He took the lead on lap 39 and he began to pull away.
“I screwed up that one restart and Darrell got by me,” Satterlee explained. “It took me a while to get back to them.” But what seemed to be a misfortune at the time was only a brief setback. Satterlee was able to ride along in third, saving his tires for when it counted most.
Meanwhile, Zeigler held down second. But now Lanigan was showing some extra speed, closing in on the runner-up spot. McCreadie was comfortable in fourth. Norris was in a battle with Cosner for the fifth spot. Stone and Gary Stuhler were beginning to flex some muscle, too.
A caution on lap 47 closed up the ranks for the last time. Satterlee got away cleanly and he completed the last 13 laps without difficulty. Zeigler held off Lanigan and McCradie, who was closing in in the final rounds. Norris took fifth. Stone worked past Cosner in the final five laps to get sixth. After Cosner came Trevor Feathers, Stuhler, and Rick Eckert.
The remaining finishers were Matt Sponaugle, Bernheisel, Covert, Colton Flinner, and Hardy.
The B Main winner was Jon Lee. That race was red flagged for a spectacular crash by Tyler Ritchey. After getting crosswise in turn four, Ritchey was headed toward the wall and he ran over the nose of another car. That launched Ritchey high into the air and he sailed out of the park. The car landed upside down. Ritchey, who is disabled and drives with hand controls, needed assistance to be extracted from the car. Fortunately, he was unhurt.
In qualifications held on Friday night for the Super Late Models, Laningan was the fastest overall. He topped Group B with a lap of 19.032 around the big five-eighths oval. Mason Zeigler was best in Group A. Each of them won their respective semi-mains. Zeigler’s race was uneventful. He prevailed over McCreadie, Satterlee, Hardy, and Stone. Also transferring were Covert, Eckert, Knaub, and Miller. Lanigan’s race was more intense, as Norris made a daring outside move in turn one late in the race. Following Lanigan and Norris were Cosner, Bernheisel, Alex Ferree, LaSalle, Feathers, Jim Yoder, and Stuhler.
Greg Moore drove a borrowed car to the win in the Late Model Sportsman feature. Ryan Sager was second. Taking third was the early leader, Robby Black. Devin Weyandt and Brian Lowery completed the top five. Kyle Lear, Clinton Hersh, Brad Freight, Taylor Farliing, and ageless Jim McBee were the next five finishers. McBee returned to the Sportsmen Saturday after failing to make the grade in the Super Late Model field on Friday.
In the Modified feature, Jonathan Taylor over Mike Altobelli, Jr. in a close finish. Taylor’s run to the checkers was punctuated by a stop with a track official while the field was under caution. Taylor’s air cleaner was loose and he wanted it to be checked. The official was unable to accommodate him, but the part stayed in place for the duration. Troy Johnson held off Evan Taylor for third. Mitch Thomas, Donnie Farliing, Alyssa Rowe, Keith Jackson, Ray Kable, and Jerry Foster were other top ten finishers.
In Friday support action, Nick Bechtell topped Brian Weyandt, Jr. in the Semi-Late Main event. Chubby Childers, Kyle Weyant, and Daniel Corman were in the top five. Erik Weyandt, Travis Calhoun, Josh Gustaf, Mark Patterson, and John Miller were next to cross.
The Pure Stock race went to Dalton Ritchey over Charlie Clise, Cheyenne Rinker, Derek Hinish, and Keith Killander. Jeremy Fama, Larry Food, Tyke Musselman, Travis Group, and Barry Clark were also in the top ten.
FRANKLIN, PA (May 31, 2026): A.J. Flick claimed his third championship in the Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. His first two titles came in 2023 and 2024.
“This whole week is so cool,” he said. He added, “I think consistency is important and I think that helped me.”
Flick started the week out very strongly, with wins at Michaels Mercer Raceway and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. He was fourth at Lernerville Speedway and fifth in the finale at Tr-City Raceway Park. His worst finish of the week was ninth at Sharon Speedway on Saturday night.
Flick was especially happy with his fifth place finish in the final round because he was not very comfortable in the car.
Other race winners during Speedweek were: Dale Blaney, at Lernerville, Logan Wagner, at Sharon, and Brandon Spithaler, at Tri-City.
Flick’s total earnings for the week were $14,750, which included the $3,000 championship stipend.
One other driver earned more than $10,000. That was Spithaler, who grossed $10.175.
Flick was one of sixteen drivers to enter all five events comprising Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. A total of sixty-one racers competed in at least one round of Speedweek.
The top ten drivers in the point standings shared the point fund, as follows:
- A.J. Flick, 452 points, $3,000
- Mark Smith, 412 points, $2,500
- Brandon Spithaler, 406 points, $2,000
- Jeremy Weaver, 393 points, $1,500
- Carl Bowser, 371 points, $1,000
- Michael Bauer, 368 points, $900
- Adam Kekich, 344 points, $800
- Brandon Matus, 338 points, $700
- Ricky Peterson, 320 points, $600
- Jacob Begenwald, 302 points, $500
Interestingly, one driver in the top ten in points missed a show along the way. Ricky Peterson was absent from Sharon because he had another commitment. He won the FAST on Dirt Sprint Car Series event at Skyline Speedway instead.
FRANKLIN, PA (May 31, 2026): Brandon Spithaler saved his best Speedweek performance for the final night of the five race series. The victory at Tri-City Raceway Park, his first of the season, netted the driver from Renfrew, PA a cool $6,000. He also finished third in Speedweek points, adding another $2,000 to his stash. Spithaler’s total winnings for the week amounted to $10,175, second only to the Speedweek champion, A.J. Flick.
Spithaler noted that “2026 hasn’t been very kind to us. We lost a motor, we trashed a car, we switched chassis. I think we’ve hit on something now.”
He added, “I felt like I was better than him, Ricky (Peterson, who finished a distant second). I was worried when he got by Logan (McCandless, the early leader), but I kept plugging away and I got by him (Peterson).”
Spithaler was especially good in traffic. He explained, “I am a fan of traffic. If we get a long run, I like picking my way through.”
Peterson, who held on for second place, had an opposite opinion about the traffic conditions. “I was really good early. I had issues with the lappers. I think I left a lane open for Brandon, and he got away from us.”
Mark Smith put on a strong charge in the second half of the race to grab the third position. He noted that it was a challenging night and that he changed some things around on his car between the heat and the feature. “We got it going, but it was a little too late. Maybe we needed 35 laps.”
The first ten positions in the starting line-up were reserved for the four heat winners and six of the fastest qualifiers.
Logan McCandless drew the pole position. He was joimed on the front row by the professor, Michael Bauer. Matt Farnham and A.J. Flick pulled the second row, followed by Peterson and Spithaler. Smith and Jeremy Weaver landed in row four. Then came Jared Zimbardi and D.J. Christie. Row six belonged to Tim Shaffer and John Jerich.
The initial start was waved off due to a crash between turns one and two, which claimed Jerich and Christie. Both cars tumbled, but neither driver was injured.
When the field was realigned for the start, Shaffer moved to the outside of row five and Bob Felmlee and Cody Bova became the new sixth row.
McCandless surged into the early lead, followed by Farnham, Bauer, Flick, Peterson, Spithaler, Weaver, Smith, Shaffer, Felmlee, and Zimbardi.
McCandless was exceptionally strong through the first half of the race. His lead grew to more than 1.8 seconds over Farnham through the first nine laps. Peterson moved into second position on lap ten. Gradually, he cut into McCandless’ advantage. On lap fifteen, the margin dwindled to just under a half a second.
Moving into the second half of the contest, McCandless began to have difficulty navigating through the traffic. Peterson narrowed the gap even further over the next few laps. On lap eighteen, Peterson drove by McCandless for the lead.
Meanwhile, Spithaler was closing in on both Peterson and McCandless. Spithaler moved ahead of McCandless on lap nineteen. Just one lap later, he passed Peterson in traffic.
In the final ten laps of the race, Spithaler was clearly superior to Peterson. The lead continued to grow with each lap. He was more than four seconds ahead of Peterson by lap twenty-six. The margin reached 5.338 seconds on the final lap.
Smith cracked the top five on lap sixteen. He held fourth from lap sixteen through lap twenty-nine. On the final trip around the big half mile, Smith moved into third.
McCandless held on for fourth, one spot ahead of Flick, who clinched the Speedweek championship with a steady performance. He was in or just outside the top five for the entire race.
Shaffer edged Farnham for sixth. Greg Wilson, Bauer, and Bova completed the top ten.
Flick, Weaver, Zimbardi, and Peterson won the heat races. Tyler Esh copped the B Main.
Brandon Matus was the night’s fastest qualifier. He topped Group A with a lap of 17.622. However, his night went downhill after that. While running in a transfer position on the last lap of his heat race, Matus flipped hard between turns three and four. His crew thrashed to get the car ready for the B Main with assistance from Spithaler and Weaver, among others. However, Matus finished fifth, with only four cars making the A Main.
Spithaler was the fastest member of Group B. His time was 17,796.
Blaze Myers took the lead on lap six of the RUSH Sprint Car feature and he cruised to an easy victory over Luke Mulichak. The early leader, Zach Morrow, finished in third. Brayden Blackshear and Samantha Priest were fourth and fifth. Lucas Roessner, Devon Deeter, Logen Lockhart, Grayson Bayle, and Ricky Tucker, III, rounded out the top ten. Myers and Roessner took the preliminaries.
The nightcap for the Mini Stock division went to Camden Franz. There was a constant three car battle for second throughout the fifteen lapper. Sheriff Tim Callahan prevailed, with Jordan Wheeler and Justin Forsyth following. Fifth went to Andy Thomson. Kevin Dotten, Michael Phillipson, Andrew Thompson, Ben Aley, and Jacob Wheeler were sixth through tenth.
IMPERIAL, PA (May 28, 2026): A.J. Flick romped to his second straight win in the Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. This one came at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway and it was worth $4,000. It was his second win of the season at PPMS and his fifth overall. Flick now has sole possession of the most career Speedweek wins–eight–breaking a tie with Dale Blaney.
“The number two pill made my life so much easier,” Flick said. Ironically, while the pill draw was in progress, the track crew was working on the outside line. Their efforts produced a lightning fast groove at the very top of the track. Flick added that “the track prep really made a difference.”
Without the track prep, Flick thought that the track was going to take rubber. “But, it was go, go, go.” He explained that he did not dare to slow his pace as the race went on, despite his commanding lead, because “I knew that the 49 (driven by Cale Thomas) and the 98 (driven by Ricky Peterson, Jr.) would be coming.”
The track prep did require Flick to change his approach to the set-up on his car. “We had to go backwards on the set-up to go with what would have been better early in the night (when there was still moisture in the surface).”
Thomas, who recorded his second consecutive runner-up finish of Speedweek, commented “it was super fun. Hats off to the track crew, they did a good job bringing the surface back to life.”
The third place finisher, Ricky Peterson, Jr., agreed. He added, “we’re just tring to get better each night, We’re just chipping away at it. We’re giving it 110% effort.”
Unfortunately, both Thomas and Peterson will be missing from Speedweek action in the days ahead due to prior commitments to race elsewhere with Ohio-based tours. Thomas will compete with the All Star Circuit of Champions on Friday in Indiana, and Peterson will be in action with the FAST Series in Ohio, weather permitting. Both drivers anticipate returning to complete the Western PA Speedweek after they satisfy their other obligations.
Once again, the first ten starting positions were reserved for the heat winners and fast qualifiers. The random draw placed Michael Bauer on the pole, with Flick as his running mate. Jason Shultz and Carl Bowser were next in line, followed by defending Speedweek champion, Jeremy Weaver, and Peterson. Dale Blaney drew into row four, along with Mark Smith, The final preferred spots went to Thomas and Brandon Matus. Billy Dietrich and Brandon Spithaler earned sixth row starts based upon their heat race finishes.
Flick reached turn one ahead of Bauer on the opening lap of the race, which was shortened to twenty circuits due to anticipated fuel consumption. Flick planted the right rear tire of his machine in the freshly manicured top groove.
Bauer, known as the Professor, tucked into second, also on the high line, but he was already several car lengths behind the leader by the completion of lap one. Schultz, Bowser, Peterson, Thomas, Blaney, Smith, Brandon Matus, and Weaver followed suit.
Flick stretched his advantage over Bauer in the clean air. Bowser advanced to third in the early laps. Thomas and Blaney also moved ahead of Shultz. Bowser picked up the second position by the midpoint of the race. Meanwhile, Thomas and Peterson were also moving forward in the running order.
Despite racing through traffic in the closing laps, Flick grew his lead to more than 3.7 seconds at the checkers. Thomas and Peterson supplanted Bowser, and Smith came on strong to nab fifth at the finish. Shultz, Blaney, Spithaler, Brandon Matus, and Jacob Begenwald rounded out the top ten.
Veteran Carmen Perigo was the hard charger, passing eight cars on his way to twelfth.
Three heats were needed for the twenty-eight cars that registered for the event. The winners were Brandon Matus, Thomas, and Flick. David Kalb scored the win in the B Main. Dale Blaney was the evening’s fastest qualifier, at 16.204 seconds. Astonishingly, he was more than a second faster than any other competitor.
The support was provided by the Woah Nellie Modified Series. Jonathan Taylor registered the win aboard his new Lethal Chassis. The other podium finishers, Mason Lobb, and Dan Davies, were also driving the same brand of car.
Jonathan Taylor wrestled the lead away from his brother, Evan, on the opening lap. Evan ran in second for the first sixteen laps. One lap after Lobb moved into second, a caution was thrown for debris on the speedway. That wiped out Jonathan Talor’s lead of more than four seconds.
On the restart, Lobb and Davies applied pressure to Jonathan Taylor, However, within a lap or so, Jonathan regained his momentum and he began to slip away from them.
Ty Rhoades charged into the fourth position in the final eight laps of the race. Evan Taylor held on for fifth. Coleton Longwell, David Stremme, Andre Leyfield, Wyatt Scott, and Andrew Hammond completed the top ten.
Evan Taylor won the dash over his brother, Jonathan, who made some spectacular slide jobs to reach second. The heat wins went to Leyfield and Longwell. There was no B Main needed for the fifteen cars. Jonathan Taylor was the fastest qualifier with a time of 21.155 seconds.
Say it ain’t so Scott – Dixon leaving Chip Ganassi Racing
Macri Romps At Hagerstown
Dietz and Shultz Get Dramatic Wins at Port Royal
Macri and Pauch Get Grandview Glory
Dietz Doubles Down Speedweek Style; Adam Edkin Scores First Career Sportsman Win
Alex Palou wins fourth straight pole position at World Wide Technology Raceway
Rough day for Wright at Michigan
Denny Hamlin grabs the NASCAR Cup pole at Pocono Raceway
Heim holds off Honeycutt to win Truck race at Michigan
