IMPERIAL, PA (April 18, 2026) – Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway is cancelling Saturday night’s Herb Scott Memorial due to inclement weather.

The RUSH Late Model Touring Series event will not be rescheduled.

“We know this isn’t the news anyone wanted,” PPMS said in a statement.  “But with travel costs continuing to rise, we made the call early to give teams and fans the chance to avoid unnecessary expenses and adjust plans accordingly.”

Dirt’s Monster Half Mile will now kick off their season April 25, 2026 will a full slate including the RUSH Late Models, Penn Ohio Pro Stocks, Hobby Stocks, Four Cylinders and Young Guns.

Tickets and more information are available at PPMS.com

MECHANICSBURG, PA (April 17, 2026):  Defending track champion, Troy Wagaman, Jr., led from start to finish to earn $8,000 for his first victory in the prestigious Tommy Classic at the Williams Grove Speedway. He is the twelfth different winner of the annual event, which originated in 2007. The race honored a legendary driver, the late Tommy Hinnershitz, who had the distinction of winning the first race ever held at the speedway. Hinnershitz took the checkers on May 21, 1939.

The race was sanctioned by the PA Possee Series, so the victory was Wagaman’s first with the tour. It was his fifth career win at the track.

The twenty-nine year old pilot from Hanover, PA found a little strip of moisture coming off turn four that enabled him to launch past Danny Dietrich on the opening lap. Wagaman said that it was a delicate process to line the car up properly to take advantage of his discovery. He had to keep the nose in close to the guardrail and not allow the back end to slide out too far. Once he got to turn one ahead of his adversary, though, he was up on the cushion and setting his own pace. Wagaman explained that maintaining his pace was important because the race was five laps longer than normal and he only had a twenty-eight gallon fuel tank on his car.

Wagaman started moving around a bit when he encountered lapped traffic. He migrated to the bottom, particularly in turns three and four. “I was nervous about going to the bottom,” he said. But that strip of moisture that helped him at the start of the race was still there, and he finished out the contest running the inside line at both ends of the speedway. He admitted that he did let his car drift out of turns two and four in the closing laps to make it a little harder for anyone to try an outside move on him for the lead.

Wagaman gave props to the track crew for the racy surface that offered two distinct grooves. He noted that the top came in early and the track got wide coming off turns two and four. The bottom was juicy, but it cleaned up nicely, he added.

Wagaman drew the pole for the thirty-lap event, which was lined up according to speedweek procedures. Dietrich was on his right flank. Behind them were Brett Shearer and Brock Zearfoss. The last of the preferred starting spots went to Chase Dietz and Austin Bishop. Row four belonged to Kody Hartlaub and Cameron Smith. They were followed by Doug Hammaker and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. Lance Dewease and Justin Whittall made up row six.

Wagaman took the early lead. Dietrich got hung up on the outside line in turn one and lost two positions on the opening lap. Getting under him were Zearfoss and Shearer. Bishop held fifth. Then came Rahmer, Hartlaub, Dietz, Smith, and Hammaker.

The top five did not change much in the first few laps, other than Rahmer cracking into the group. However, things were happening in the back half of the top ten. Notably, Hartlaub got crossed up coming off turn four, but he managed to keep his car moving. However, he was cited for the caution on lap five and relegated to the rear of the field for the restart. Dewease advanced into the eighth position, and Whittal into the tenth spot.

After the green lights came on again, Rahmer moved into third. Zearfoss dropped out while running second on lap fourteen, so Rahmer was now in a position to challenge Wagaman.

Wagaman’s lead of almost 1.6 seconds evaporated on lap nineteen, when Dewease coasted to a stop just off turn two. He had just moved into seventh moments before that caution.

Dietz dug himself out of the early race hole midway through the event. He was up to fourth by the time of the caution for Dewease. Dietz snuck by Bishop in turn one after the restart. Soon thereafter, an entertaining three-car battle for the second position developed among Rahmer, Dietz, and Dietrich. By lap twenty-three, Dietz and Dietrich moved ahead of Rahmer. Bishop continued in the top five before slipping back in the running order during the final five laps of the race.

While Wagaman remained alone out front, Dietz did close the gap a bit. He was almost a second behind the leader when the checkers were displayed. Dietrich, Rahmer, and Smith rounded out the top five. Whittall was sixth, followed by Bishop, Hammaker, Matt Campbell, and Shearer.

Campbell was named the hard charger for passing eleven cars.

Bishop, Dietz, and Dietrich scored wins in the heat races. Dylan Cisney copped the B Main. Wagaman was the fastest qualifier for the twenty-nine car field. His lap was 16.786 seconds.

The Extreme Stocks closed out the evening’s activities. There was a wild crash at the end of the back stretch on the opening lap. Logan MIller flipped after making contact with Brian Walls. Miller’s car landed upside down atop that of Bob Stough. Blake Decker was also eliminated in the wreck. Fortunately, none of them were injured.

The diminished field completed the fifteen laps without further ado. Evan Foust led until turn four of the final lap. Sam Rial got under him and scooted ahead to the win.

Sam Rial wins Friday night’s Extreme Stocks feature at Williams Grove Speedway

Foust, Michael Goodwin, Ryan Bloom, Daren Rice, and Matt Nye were the other finishers. Tyler Miller was scored in seventh based on laps completed.

Next week, Williams Grove will host the Spring Sprint Special. The PASS 305 Sprints will join the 410s. The Wingless Sportsmen will also be in action. Then, May 1 will be the tune-up for the World of Outlaws. That will be a PA Possee Series race, along with the 358 Sprints. The Outlaws will be in town for the Morgan Cup on May 8-9.

PORT ROYAL, PA (April 11, 2026):  After a poor start to the 2026 season, Ryan Smith seems to be getting hot just in time for some of the bigger events coming up soon. He was second at Williams Grove on Friday to Justin Peck and, less that twenty-four hours later, he was sitting in victory lane at Port Royal Speedway. His first win in the PA Possee Series netted him $6,000, and bigger paydays are in the offing next weekend.

Also reaching victory lane was Max Blair in the Late Model portion of the program.

Smith’s Success

Smith attributed the poor start to the season to rust and old age. But, he looked awfully quick and aggressive this night, catching Chase Dietz in traffic and then taking the lead as he sliced and diced the slower cars.

Dietz had no alternative but to try to run the wall to regain the lead in the closing laps. Despite the treacherous conditions, Dietz was able to draw near, but Smith was able to run the middle groove to perfection to preserve his lead.

“That had to be pretty entertaining, at least it was from my seat,” Smith gushed. After giving props to the track crew, Smith added, “the track was awesome. I knew the top would go away. When the track was like it is, I can’t be beat.”

Dietz explained that he was unable to maintain his pace as the leaders raced through traffic. “I got to him (Smith), but he cleared traffic right.”

Troy Wagaman, Jr. closed in on the leaders in the final laps, but he ran out of time. “I was late moving up. That’s on me.” He admitted that his lack of familiarity with the Speed Palace led to the tactical error.

Wagaman earned the pole by winning his heat race from the fourth position. Dietz drew the second position. Giovanni Scelzi and Ryan Smith selected second row spots, with Justin Peck and Justin Whittall getting the third row. Brock Zearfoss and Jake Karklin get the final two preferred starting positions, Lance  Dewease and Brent Marks were in row five, followed by Freddie Rahmer, Jr. and Danny Dietrich.

Wagaman drove up to the top groove in turn one to take the early lead from Dietz. Smith settled into third, followed by Whittall and Scelzi. Peck, Marks, Zearfoss, Dietrich, and Karklin made up the balance of the top ten in the opening laps.

Dietz got wound up coming through turns three and four to slingshot around Wagaman for the lead. Meanwhile, Whittall was on the charge. He reached second by lap eight.

Unfortunately, just two laps later, Whittall made contact with a lapped car in turn two. Whittall did a 360 and kept going, but track rules called for a caution. Whittall pitted under the yellow and got trapped in the work area because he was not guaranteed any time to make repairs.

So, Dietz led Wagaman for the restart, with Smith, Marks, Peck, Scelzi, Dietrich, Zearfoss, Dewease, and Rahmer next in line. When the race resumed, Smith and Marks moved past Wagaman.

Smith began to cut into Dietz’ advantage over the next five laps or so. On lap eighteen, he drove under Dietz in turn two to take the lead. Smith was able to maintain his lead as he fought through traffic.

With Smith cutting through the slower cars wherever and whenever there was an opening in the lower grooves, Dietz tried to mount a counterattack by riding the wall. He was able to narrow the gap, but he could never get his nose out front again.

Smith took the checkers 2.417 seconds ahead of Dietz. Wagaman held off Marks for third. Dewease was fifth. Peck, Scelzi, Zearfoss, Dietrich, and Logan Wagner were the next five finishers.

Wagner was named the hard charger, advancing eight positions over the twenty-five lap distance.

Heat wins went to Dietz, Wagaman, Whittall, and Peck. Wagner captured the B Main. Karklin was the fastest qualifier in Group A and overall, with a time of 16,434 seconds. Smith topped Group B with a lap of 17.099 seconds.

Blair’s Best

Max Blair visited one of his favorite haunts on a rare weekend off from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, and he won the non-stop affair by more than ten seconds.

“We unloaded with our normal package and it didn’t feel real good.” Blair observed. “We made some changes and it felt real good after that,” he added.

Blair noted that the track is very different when racing in the daylight, but, he said, “I hope its like this when Lucas comes back in August.” He plans to make a return for another test session during a Saturday night show if the schedule permits.

Second place finisher Gregg Satterlee chased down Justin Weaver in the closing laps. He used the middle lane to drive by Weaver in turn two on the final lap. “We had a good race going on,” Satterlee noted about his tussle with Weaver for second. “Max just got away from us there.” Nonetheless, Satterlee was pleased how his car came in late in the race. “The car felt good as the race went on. We have some longer races coming up,” so he felt that he learned some things for those events.

Weaver was disappointed with himself for finishing third. “I caught myself riding the bottom. I guess that’s what allowed Gregg to get to me.”

Weaver and Blair drew the front row for the twenty-five lap finale. Rick Eckert and Satterlee lined up in orw two. Then came Ross Robinson and Lane Snook. Ageless Gary Stuhler and Andrew Yoder started in row four, with Dillan Stake and J.T. Spence behind them. Hayes Mattern and Chad Myers were in row six.

Turn one got very crowded on the opening lap. Weaver left enough of an opening to allow Eckert to get a nose under him. But Blair had the outside groove all to himself, and he was able to power away with the lead. Weaver recovered in turn two to claim second. Eckert fell back to third, ahead of Satterlee, Robinson, Stuhler, and Snook. Andrew Yoder, Stake, and Mattern completed the top ten in the early going.

Blair continued to pull away from Weaver, who maintained a comfortable advantage over Eckert. It did not take Blair long to reach the tail of the field and to start lapping cars.

As the race reached the midpoint, Satterlee drove by Eckert for third. At that time, he was more than a second and a half behind Weaver. However, Satterlee began whittling away at that. Weaver then strung a couple of good laps together to stretch his advantage to almost 1.4 seconds again.

However, Satterlee’s car came to life again with seven laps to go and the separation between second and third began to shrink with each trip around the big half mile.

Weaver was able to keep Satterlee at bay for a couple of laps by using lapped cars as picks. However, he cleared the last of them with two laps to go. Weaver then hugged the inside line, thinking that Satterlee could not gather enough momentum to try an outside pass.

But Satterlee was able to do just that. He entered turn one just off Weaver’s right rear quarter panel. He drove up next to him and got clear of Weaver in turn two. Satterlee dipped to the inside in turn three to shut the door on any counter by Weaver.

Blair took the checkers nearly a half a track ahead of Satterlee, Weaver was third.  Eckert and Stuhler were fourth and fifth. Robinson, Andrew Yoder, Stake, Mattern, and Trever Feathers completed the top ten.

Satterlee, Eckert, and Blair were victorious in the heat races. There was no B Main needed for the twenty-three cars on hand. Satterlee was the quickest in timed hot laps with a round of 20.425 seconds.

Coming Events

Next week, Port Royal Speedway will present a five feature program. The Super Late Models will be the headliners. The Limited Late Models and 305 Sprint Cars will do double duty to make up for the loss of their races to the rain last week.

The 410 Sprint Cars will be off next week in consideration of the Weldon Sterner Memorial to be held at Lincoln Speedway as part of the Possee Series.

The 410s will be back at Port Royal on April 25 for the Keith Kauffman Classic.