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.
SARVER, PA (July 17, 2026): Alex Ferree survived a caution-filled late Model feature to score his third feature victory of the season at the Lernerville Speedway, where he leads the seasonal points. In the Big Block Modifieds, Garrett Krummert came on strong in the second half of the race to secure his fourth win of the season, vaulting him into the lead in the championship standings. With his win, A.J. Flick expanded upon his slim two point lead in a quest for a tenth title in the 410 Sprint Car ranks. Corey McPherson became the most successful driver in the rich history of the Pro Stock division at the track.
“Running down on the bottom in (turns) one and two was better for me. I didn’t know where to go in (turns) three and four. I didn’t see (Michael Norris) until he came across my nose down there. I didn’t like it, but that’s how it’s done these days.” Fortunately for Ferree, a caution negated the aggressive pass and, then, on the following restart, Norris jumped the cushion in turn one, forcing his retirement from the race with two to go. Ferree kept Jared Miley at bay for the final trips around the Action Track.
Alex Ferree drew the pole position for the Late Model twenty-five lapper. Tyler Wyant was on his flank. Chris Schneider debuted his new machine in the third spot, and he was paired with former Modified kingpin Del Rougeux. Colton Flinner and Jared Miley were in row three. Josh Ferry and Levi Yetter occupied row four, followed by Clinton Hersh and Michael Norris, in row five, and John Garvin and Mike Miller, in row six.
Ferree took the early lead over Wyant, Flinner, and Ferry. Flinner took second in the early going, but he did not challenge Ferree until a restart five laps into the event.
Things heated up after that restart. Flinner and Ferree swapped the lead on several occasions. Ferree took control again by lap ten and he maintained the lead despite a number of restarts.
Flinner faded from the second position, turning the position over to Norris, who was flying on the outside. Ferree switched up his line in turns one and two, running the bottom and driving up to the top coming off turn two to block a flyer from Norris around the rim of the speedway.
In the closing laps, Norris drew closer to Ferree. He threw caution to the wind in turn four with two laps to go. He slid across into the lead, almost crashing himself and Ferree in the process, but a caution negated the wild pass. On the ensuing restart, Norris took to the high lane in turn one, but he jumped the cushion. Whatever damage he sustained by his excursions sidelined him for the remainder of the race.
Miley inherited the second spot, but he had nothing for Ferree. Ferree cruised to the win, followed by Miley, Schaltenbrand, Wyant, and Ferry. Hersh, Rougeux, Schneider, Will Britsky, and Travis Hayes completed the top ten.
Ferree and Norris were the heat race winners. There was no B Main for the nineteen car field.
Dr. Brad Rapp and Jeremiah Shingledecker drew into the first row for the twenty-five lap Modified go. Mike Kinney and Kyle FInk made up row two, followed by Garrett Krummert and rookie Karston King, who was making his first Modified start ever. Steve Feder and Rick Regalski staked out row four, with Rex King, Jr. and Ayden Cipriano, in row five, and Tyler Dietz and Shawn Kozar, in row six.
Rapp took the early lead but he gave way to Shingledecker on the second trip around the speedway. That duo maintained a comfortable advantage over Kinney, Krummert, and Feder through the first several laps.
King Jr. moved into the top five, along with Cipriano in the middle stage of the race, with Krummert still holding fifth place.
Krummert got rolling soon thereafter. He surged into the lead coming off turn two on the thirteenth lap. Shingledecker remained in second, followed by Rapp, King, and Cipriano.
Shingledecker began slipping back in the field as the race progressed to the third stage. However, he rallied to regain a position in the closing laps.
Krummert took the win over Rapp, Cipriano, Shingledecker, and Dave Murdick. King Jr. was sixth, ahead of Dietz, J.C. Boyer, Feder, and Karston King.
“I wasn’t any good at the start of the race,” Krummert said. “I went to the bottom and got going again.”
The preliminaries went to Rex King, Jr., Fink, and Regalski. Cameron Miller was the B Main winner. Twenty-eight cars registered for the event.
The potent first row consisted of A.J. Flick and Dan Kuriger for the Sprint Car twenty-five lap feature event. Then came Dan Shetler and David Kalb. Carl Bowser and Jared Zimbardi started in row three, with John Jerich and Carmen Perigo next in line. Chris Frank made the long tow from Wellsville, in Central PA, to land in row five with Jacob Begenwald. Vivian Jones started her 305 Sprint inside row six, next to Rayce Jacobs.
Flick and Kuriger, the prime contenders for the point championship in the Sprint Car division, battled side by side for most of the first lap. However, Flick assumed command in turn three and he never looked back.
Kuriger ran a strong second place until the final lap of the race. Jerich slipped past him on the last trip around the speedway. Kuriger was third, followed by Begenwald and Perigo. Bowser, Shetler, Frank, Zimbardi, and Jacobs completed the top ten.
“This was probably the most moisture that stayed in the track all night,” Flick said. “I was able to rip the top for the first time since June,” he added.
Kuriger, and Begenwald took the checkers in their heat races. There was no B Main needed for the nineteen Sprints that checked in.
Corey McPherson achieved a career milestone in the Pro Stock division, breaking the tie with Joe Kelly atop the career win list. McPherson was patient in the early laps of the race. He took the lead on lap nine and led the remaining eleven laps.
Logan Koteles and Jason Fosnaught brought the field to the green for the final race of the night. Cody Koteles and McPheson were in row two, followed by Bill Swaney and Joey Zambotti, in row three, and Brett Hutira and Trevor McCann, in row four.
Logan Koteles grabbed the early lead, followed by Cody Koteles, Fosnaught, McPherson, and Zambotti. McPherson moved up to third on lap three, and second on lap six.
McPherson grabbed the lead on lap nine and held it until the end, while Logan Koteles remained in second, and Cody Koteles in third. Hutira and Fosnaught completed the top five. Zambotti, Tyler Schneider, McCann, Bill Swaney, and Jonathan Koteles rounded out the top ten.
Dietz, and Cody Koteles topped their heat races. No B Main was needed to set the seventeen car field.
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.
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