Local Racing
Yankowski Wins, then Crashes at Bridgeport in Mod 100; Cologiovanni Holds Off Smith in Sprints
BRIDGEPORT, NJ (November 7, 2020): Alex Yankowski experienced the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat in the final moments of the Danny Serrano Memorial 100 at Bridgeport Motorsports Park. Moments after the sixteen-year-old pilot from Covington Township, PA took the checkered flag for the biggest win of his young career, he was involved in a spectacular crash that heavily damaged his potent Big Block Modified.
Also picking up wins were Paulie Cologiovanni in the United Racing Club 360 Sprint Cars and Steve Davis in the 602 Crate Sportsmen Invitational.
Yankowski started the century grind deep in the pack, twenty-third to be exact. Through the first half of the race, he drove very conservatively. “I tried to ride around and save the car,” he explained. Even after the midpoint, Yankowski did not appear amongst the leaders. It was not until about 57 that he cracked into the top ten. The car really came to life in the final thirty laps. By that time, he reached fifth, and he had probably the fastest car on the track.
A restart on lap 73 had him in fourth spot, but not for long. When the green light flashed on, he darted into second and was pressing veteran Ryan Godown for the lead. Yankowski dove low in turn three four laps later and slid up ahead of Godown. The rest was history.
Yankowski had to fend off a challenge from Ryan Watt in the final laps. Watt drew up beside him in traffic once, but the youngster rolled the top in turn one and opened up a three car length advantage coming off the second corner. Watt never got close again.
On the cool down lap, Yankowski was following some lappers that were fighting for position on their final circuit. Peter Britten spun in turn four and Yankowski went high to avoid him. Yankowski got into some lose dirt out by the wall and he got sucked in. He climbed the wall and the nose of his car got above the concrete and into the catch fence. The fence did its job of keeping the car on the track, but Yankowski mowed down a couple of posts that held the chain link fence and cables. The right front wheel was torn off and the car tumbled to a halt by the flagstand. Fortunately, no other cars struck Yankowski’s mangled machine. He climbed out unscathed and walked over to the ambulance. After spending some time getting checked out, he waived out the ambulance door to the adoring crowd before emerging for his post-race interview.
“We had a good car, obviously not so good now,” he said with a smile. Yankowski promised to get it patched up for Sunday’s fifty lap finale.
Ryan Krachun and Jimmy Horton led the field to the green flag, followed by Mike Mahaney and Danny Bouc. Jeff Strunk and Jojo Watson were in the third row, with Watt and Dwayne Howard in row four. Jared Umbenhauer and Danny Sammons were next, followed by Dom Buffalino and Dillon Steuer.
Krachun led the way until turn three on the opening lap. He rapped the outside wall and turned the lead over to Horton. Soon thereafter, Krachun stopped his car due to the damage it sustained.
On the ensuing restart, Watson used the outside line to pass Horton. Watson held sway until lap 41, when Bouc assumed command. Bouc continued out front until lap 59, when Godown blasted by. Godown had started in twenty-fifth position and he steadily moved forward through the first half of the race, Some of his moves in traffic were simply amazing.
Godown got a scare on lap 68 when he brushed the wall between turns three and four. He kept the car moving and did not lose his lead. Bouc did cut into the margin, but he was not close enough to seize the opportunity to pass the leader.
The turning point of the race came between laps 70 and 77. Two quick cautions bunched the field up on laps 70 and 73, giving Yankowski the chance to pick off some competitors in bunches. As noted, he moved into second on a restart and took the lead with 23 laps remaining.
Watt was also coming forward in the stretch run. He was second by lap 85 and he did close in on the leader once. But, after Watt showed his nose beneath a lapped car, Yankowski fought back and he completed the rest of the laps with a comfortable margin.
Following Yankowski and Watt were Godown, Bouc, and Strunk. Frank Cozze, Mahaney, Matt Stangle, Rick Laubach, and Billy Pauch completed the top ten.
In the final race of the year for the URC Sprints, Alex Bright started on the pole, with Austin Bishop by his side. Cologiovanni was lined up third, with J.J. Grasson next to him. Chuck Hebing and Tim Tanner were in the third row, with R.J. Jacobs and Briggs Danner in the row behind. Then came Tyler Ross and Troy Betts and Ryan Smith and Derek Locke.
Bright jumped out front, followed by Bishop, Cologiovanni, Grasso and Hebing. Bright blew his engine while leading and turned the lead over to Cologiovanni with ten laps complete. Hebing gave chase until the halfway mark. That was when Ryan Smith took over second.
Smith got a couple of shots at the leader and he was able to execute a slide job in turn one once to grab the lead. However, Cologiovanni turned back under Smith in turn two to regain the lead. From that point on, Cologiovanni drove defensively. “I couldn’t really tell where somebody was catching me,” he said. “So, I was driving a defensive line. A couple of times, I got up in the marbles and clipped the wall, but I cut off two and was pretty fast.”
Cologiovanni led Smith to the checkers. Danner came on for third, followed by Hebing and Locke. Sixth went to Jason Schultz. Then Tyler Ross and the two title contenders, Josh Weller and Adam Carberry. Troy Betts completed the top ten.
Smith’s combined finishes of fifth on Friday and second on Saturday earned him the Midge Miller Memorial trophy. Smith said that this weekend was the most fun that he had in a Sprint Car all season. Readers may remember that Smith lost the ride in the Mike Heffner number 72 410 Sprinter just before the month of money in Pennsylvania.
Carberry clinched the points championship despite struggling throughout the race. His cause was aided somewhat by attrition. Plus, his rival, Weller, was caught up in an incident with Grasso just before the halfway sign. Weller’s car sustained some damage to the right rear corner which affected its performance. He brought the wounded car home one spot ahead of Carberry, but that was not enough to overcome the thirteen point deficit.
Heat winners in the Sprint Car ranks were Bishop, Cologiovanni, Ross, and Bright. Schultz won the B Main. Two Central PA favorites were eliminated in heat race action. Lucas Wolfe had an oil leak which led to a fire. Mark Smith was involved in a minor skirmish that damaged the right rear suspension and flattened a tire. Neither Wolfe nor Smith answered the call for the B Main.
In the Sportsmen Invitational, the first 28 laps were run off without any interruptions. Steve Kemery led that entire distance. However, the fireworks came after that. Second place runner Steve Davis went on the offensive on the restart. There was plenty of contact between the two racers over the final two laps. While they roughed each other up, Peyton Talbot made a charge for the win. He came up just a couple of feet short at the checkers.
Davis got the win, much to the disappointment of the remaining fans. Kemery and Talbot followed. Dan Fleming, Ryan Simmons, Sammy Martz, Jr., Howie Finch, Danny Buccafusca, Matt Peck, and Jim Houseworth rounded out the top ten.
Buccafusca, Davis, and Kemery were the heat winners for the Sportsmen. Davis won the dash to earn the pole position for the feature.
Bridgeport Motorsports Park will close out its season on Sunday with a fifty lapper for the Modifieds. Sportsmen, Street Stocks, and Speedsters will also be on the card. Racing will begin at 3 p.m.
FRANKLIN, PA (June 1, 2025): In just his fifth winged 410 Sprint Car start ever, Steven Snyder, Jr. of Rising Sun, MD scored the big win at Tri City Raceway. The victory was his first in the class, and, most likely, his first top five finish as well. The highly successful driver of 600 Micros was the 100th 410 Sprint Car driver to grace victory lane at the Venango County oval. He earned $4,000 for the impressive effort and he secured second place in the points for the Western PA Speedweek series, which was abbreviated due to wet weather.
Blaze Myers and Jake Gomola won the support races for RUSH (Crate) Sprints and Allegheny Sprint Tour 305s, respectively.
“I didn’t expect to win,” Snyder said modestly. He explained that he had just finished some Midget racing in Illinois and it took him some time to get adjusted to the winged Sprint Car. The first night of Western PA Speedweek, at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway, may well have been his first race of the year in a Winged Sprint.
Snyder came on strong in the closing laps, chasing down and then passing Jeremy Weaver in the final 50 feet, or less. “I hope that you (the fans) enjoyed that,” Snyder exclaimed. “He (Weaver) was kinda bound up front. I saw him enter high down there (gesturing toward turns three and four). We were good in three and four.” Snyder then won the dash to the scoring loop.
What is even more remarkable about Snyder’s win is that he survived a kamikaze attack by Ricky Peterson on lap nine. Snyder was leading at the time, with a lapped car separating him from Peterson, who was then racing in second. Peterson dove low entering turn three to get under the lapper, and his extreme momentum carried him well past the slower car and directly into Snyder. The two collided side to side very forcefully and, amazingly, they both maintained control of their cars. They bounced away from each other and kept on going. In the confusion, Weaver snuck by them both, grabbing the lead which he held until the stretch run on the last lap.
“I don’t know what that guy (Peterson) was thinking,” Snyder mused. “He about cleared us out.”
Weaver, who also ran second to Brandon Spithaler in the opening round of Speedweek, noted “I’m trying not to pout too bad. That’s two (races) that I gave away in traffic this week.” Weaver, who was running his old faithful mount this night, chalked it up to experience. His disappointment with the individual race results was assuaged by his achievement in the abbreviated series. His pair of second place finishes clinched the point championship by eight markers over Snyder. The adjusted point fund paid him $2,000.
Taking third was another unexpected competitor, Brock Hallett. His first outing at the track was a successful one for the Australian pilot. “That was different,” he said. Elaborating, he mentioned that the tracks in his homeland are much smaller than Tri City. He added, “I would have liked a few more laps. I like it in traffic.” He was able to reel in Snyder and Weaver in the closing laps as he negotiated the slower cars.
The luck of the draw placed Weaver and Snyder on the front row for the twenty-five lap finale. Behind them were Hallett and Peterson. In the third row were Brandon Spithaler and Adam Kekich. Then came Matt Farnham and Michael Bauer. Zane Devault and Brandon Matus were the last two racers eligible for the drawing. To be eligible, one had to finish first or second in the heat or be first or second in qualifying time.
Snyder used the middle of the track to race out to the early lead over Weaver. They were followed by Peterson, Hallett, Kekich, Spithaler, Bauer, Farnham, Devault, and Brandon Matus. Spithaler soon slowed to a stop, bringing out the only caution of the race on lap two. His misfortune eliminated him from any chance of taking the overall Speedweek title.
On the restart, Snyder resumed control, with Peterson holding second over a trio of cars numbered five: Weaver, Hallett, and Kekich. Farnham moved ahead of Bauer. Devault, Matus, and A.J. Flick closely followed.
Snyder maintained his lead despite encountering some lapped cars. However, on lap nine, he averted disaster. After being struck by Peterson, Snyder relinquished the lead to Weaver, who ducked low to avoid any involvement with them. In the aftermath of that incident, Hallett also advanced past Peterson. Kekich remained in fifth.
In the second half of the event, three racers moved forward. Farnham and Flick moved into the top five and Logan McCandless reached the top ten. Peterson faded, due in part to wing damage he sustained in his shunt with Snyder. Kekich also drifted out of the top ten.
Although Snyder’s car was leaking some oil, it continued to run smoothly. He chased down Weaver, who was having some difficulty with lapped traffic. Snyder made his dramatic move coming off turn four, nipping Weaver by just 0.079 seconds at the line.
Following Snyder, Weaver, and Hallett were Farnham and a fast closing Flick. Positions six through ten went to Devault, Peterson, McCandless, Bauer, and Brandon Matus.
Farnham, Devault, Bauer, and Hallett won their respective heats. Brent Matus prevailed in teh B Main. The evening’s fastest qualifier was Brandon Spithaler, with a lap of 15.104 seconds.
In the RUSH Sprint Car twenty lapper, Cooper Fritz used his front row starting spot to grab the early lead. However, eighth starting Blaze Myers zipped past him four laps into the fray. Gale Ruth, Jr. moved into second by the halfway mark.
Myers led the ramaining laps to earn his second victory of the season at Tri City. Ruth was second, followed by Fritz, Curt Emings, and Zach Morrow. Luke Mullichak, Arnie Kent, Ricky Tucker, III, Lucas Roessner, and Devon Deeter completed the top ten.
Ruth, Morrow, and Myers scored in the preliminaries. There was no B Main.
The Allegheny Sprint Tour closed out the night of open wheeled action. Jake Gomola, the founder of the AST, swept the heat and feature events. On the fifteen lap main, Gomola took the lead on the opening round. Although a caution wiped out his substantial lead, he was again able to build up a comfortable margin over Jim Pattock in the final six circuits.
Vivian Jones fought off Jeremy Kornbau in the second half of the race to earn the third position. Arnie Kent came on late for fifth. Roman Jones and Jazlyn Boyles were the final two finishers. Nolan Groves and Brandon McWilliams did not finish. Seth Harrelson did not start the contest.
Western PA Speedweek Round 2 Official Finish: Steven Snyder, Jr., Jeremy Weaver, Brock Hallett, Matt Farnham, A.J. Flick, Zane Devault, Rocky Peterson, Jr., Logan McCandless, Michael Bauer, Brandon Matus, Adam Kekich, Carl Bowser, Dalton Rumbaugh, Cody Bova, D.J. Christie, Jacob Begenwald, Dusty Larson, Todd Hoddick, Chase Metheny, Bodey McClintock, Andy Cavanaugh, Brent Matus, Brandon Spithaler, Michael Lutz, Jr. DNQ: Jimmy Morris, Jack Sodeman, Jr., Steve Bright, Louie Mattes, IV, Natalie Brannon, David Kalb, Jr., Davey Jones, Cale Thomas, Logen Lockhart.
RUSH Sprint Cars: Blaze Myers, Gale Ruth, Jr., Cooper Fritz, Curt Emings, Zach Morrow, Luke Mullichak, Aenie Kent, Ricky Rucker, III, Lucas Roessner, Devon Deeter, Grayson Bayle, Charlie Utsinger, T.J. Rosario, Cooper Macormac, Zach Wilson, John Mollick, Wyatt Long, Samantha Priest, Joe Buccola (DNS), Jesse Armstrong (DNS).
Allegheny Sprint Tour 305 Sprint Cars: Jake Gomola, Jimmy Pattock, Vivian Jones, Jeremy Kornbau, Arnie Kent, Roman Jones, Jazlyn Boyles, Nolan Groves, Brandon McWilliams, Seth Harrelson (DNS).
IMPERIAL, PA (May 31, 2025): Christian Schneider had a perfect night at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. He captured heat and feature wins in the top two divisions, RUSH (Crate) Late Models and Penn Ohio Pro Stocks. Also reaching victory lane were Leroy Brown in the Hobby Stocks and Cameron Hollister in the Open Four Cylinders.
After the RUSH Late Model win, Schneider said, “this thing has been a rocket ship since we got it. We’re still learning.”
Daryl Charlier and Clinton Hersh brought the RUSH Late Models to the green flag. They were followed by Brandon Burgoon and Kassidy Kamicker. In row three were Schneider and Brian Huchko. Timmy Shaffer and Jacob Billyk lined up in row four.
Hersh drove by Charlier in turns one and two to take the early lead, with Schneider up to third on the opening lap. Burgoon, Kamicker, and Huchko trailed. Charlier used the high line to take the lead away from Hersh on lap seven. Schneider soon followed into second.
Schneider also used the outside line in turn four to grab the lead on lap eleven. He pulled away from Charlier in the remaining nine laps.
Following Schneider and Charlier at the checkers were Hersh, Burgoon, and Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr. Kamicker, Huchko, Matthew Bernard, Billyk, and Michael Stephens completed the top ten.
Charlier and Schneider took the heat wins. There was no B Main.
In the Penn Ohio Pro Stock fifteen lapper, Stephen Shelpman blasted from the pole to the early lead. However, Christian Schneider claimed the second position on the opening lap, followed by Cody Koteles, Chris Schneider, and A.J. Poljak.
Christian Schneider grabbed the lead on lap four and Poljak took over second two laps later. Christian Schneider maintained a comfortable margin for the balance of the event.
At the checkers, it was Christian Schneider ahead of Poljak, Chris Schneider, Shelpman, and Cody Koteles. Daryl Charlier, Nick Cocuba, Logan Koteles, Jason Fosnaught, and Jackson Billyk were the next five finishers.
Poljak and Christian Schneider claimed the preliminaries. There was no B Main.
Leroy Brown went wire to wire for his win in the Hobby Stocks. Young Mark Corio was second, followed by Garrett O’Patchen, Joe Brown, Jr., and Kyle Janas. The next five to cross the scoring loop were Devan Jones, Tom Anton, Karlee Kovacs, Cole Cochran, and Sadie Snatchko.
O’Patchen and Kovacs were the heat winners. There was no B Main.
Cameron Hollister was the feature victor in the Open Four Cylinders, with Anthony Udderstrom, Mike Kelly, Jacob Wiser, and J.R. Matthess in the top five. Gavin Kokolis, Lucas Weaver, Nathan Olenik, Curtis Mohney, and Ray Tichnor were sixth through tenth. Heat wins belonged to Tyler Hollister and Mohney. There was no B Main.
On June 7, PPMS will present the 14th Annual Ed Laboon Memorial, one of the region’s biggest events for the Penn Ohio Pro Stocks. All of the top competitors are expected for the prestigious race. Joining the Pro Stocks will be the RUSH Late Models, Hobby Stocks, Open Four Cylinders, and Young Guns.
IMPERIAL, PA (May 29, 2025): With the cancellation of Michaels Mercer Raceway’s event on Wednesday, Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway once again played host to the first night of Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. Taking the win in the twenty-five lapper was Brandon Spithaler. It was his career win first at the speedway, and he positioned himself at the top of the points heading into round two to be held at Lernerville Speedway. He cleared $3,500 for the race.
The luck of the draw set the starting line-up for the A Main. The racers eligible for the draw were the top three finishers in the heat races and the fastest car to qualify.
Mark Smith nabbed the pole, but his luck ended when the cars pushed off for the finale. He had a mechanical problem, which required him to stop on the track, relegating him to the final row for the green. Jeremy Weaver slipped to the inside of row one, with Brandon Spithaler taking over P2.
Steven Snyder, Jr. and Michael Bauer were the new occupants of row two. Brandon Matus and A.J. Flick claimed row three. Ryan Smith and Matt Farnham followed. Carmen Perigo, Jr. had row five with Dan Kuriger as his running mate in the realignment. The sixth was populated by Ricky Peterson, Jr. and Carl Bowser.
On the initial green, Flick aggressively rolled around the top in turns one and two, establishing the lead entering upon the back stretch. However, his effort went for naught, as Jimmy Morris came to a stop along the outside of turn one.
Spithaler took note of the dazzling move by A.J. Flick, racing from sixth to the lead on the initial start. However, when that was called back due to the caution for Morris, Spithaler and others moved to the outside. Spithaler was unable to get the immediate advantage, though, because the pole sitter, Weaver, slid up to take command.
Thus, Weaver held the early lead, followed by Spithaler, Bauer, Snyder, and Flick. With the top line unavailable to Flick, his momentum suffered. He did reach fourth in the early going, but he gradually fell back in the running order thereafter.
Several laps into the race, Weaver encountered lapped traffic, and that was his undoing. Spithaler chased him down and rolled around the top to take the lead. Spithaler maintained control through the rest of the non-stop affair, but Weaver began to close in the stretch run.
Farnham showed early speed and followed Spithaler and Weaver across the finish line. Bowser advanced to fourth, earning the hard charger award. Bauer held on for fifth. Flick, Snyder, Ryan Smith, Peterson, and Brandon Matus completed the top ten.
After the aborted start, Spithaler “knew that the top was available, but I knew that Weaver would try to slide me.” Weaver’s move did not affect the ultimate outcome because Spithaler was able to race by him in traffic. Nonetheless, Spithaler became concerned about the slower cars as the race progressed. “I thought that I was wasting time with (Mark) Smith and (Adam) Kekich.” However, Spithaler’s margin was big enough that Weaver could not completely close the gap in the final laps.
“I kinda kicked myself, there,” Weaver said. “That race was won on experience.” He explained, “when I got to the lapped traffic, I had trouble and he (Spithaler) got me.” Nonetheless, it was a strong outing for Weaver and car owner Bob McMillan, as they rolled out an entirely new car for the race.
Farnham, who was third, commented that “pretty much the redraw won that race. Hopefully, I can get a better number for the next race.”
Three heat races were staged for the twenty-seven car field. Wins went to Matt Farnham, Ryan Smith, and Brandon Spithaler. Mike Lutz, Jr. was unhurt in a spill during his heat race.
Jimmy Morris took the B Main.
The evening’s fastest qualifier was Ryan Smith, with a lap of 17.365 around Dirt’s Monster Half Mile.
Timmy Bittner and Jim Pattock paced the field for the fifteen lapper for the Allegheny Sprint Tour for IMCA 305 Sprint Cars. Jake Gomola and Kruz Kepner made up row two, followed by Jeremy Kornbau and Jarrett Cavalet. Robbie Bartchy tagged the tail.
Bittner jumped out to the early lead and completed the non-stop fifteen race without any challenge. Kepner ran second until the midpoint of the contest before surrendering the position to Jim Pattock. After Pattock and Kepner came Kornbau, Gomola, and Cavalet. Bartchy did not finish the race.
Jimmy Pattock and Jake Gomola won the heats for the AST 305s. There was no B Main.
Speedweek Round One Official finish: Brandon Spithaler, Jeremy Weaver, Matt Farnham, Carl Bowser, Michael Bauer, A.J. Flick, Steven Snyder, Jr., Ryan Smith, Ricky Peterson, Brandon Matus, Logan McCandless, Carmen Perigo, Jr., Danny Smith, Cody Bova, Jacob Begenwald, Adam Kekich, Mark Smith, John Mollick, Andrew Cavanaugh, Danny Kuriger, Brent Matus, Jack Sodeman, Jr., Bob Felmlee, Jimmy Morris. DNQ: Michael Lutz, Jr., Louie Mattes, IV, and Davey Jones.
AST Sprints Official Finish: Timmy Bittner, Jim Pattock, Kruz Kepner, Jeremy Kornbau, Jake Gomola, Jarrett Cavalet, Tobbie Bartchy.
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