Dirt Racing
Gravel Grabs Wednesday Qualifier
KNOXVILLE, IA (August 10, 2021): David Gravel hopes that history will repeat itself. When the Knoxville Nationals were last contested, in 2019, he hit a hot streak at just the right time, winning the Capitani Classic on Sunday, his qualifier, and then the Saturday A Main. Well, so far, he’s completed the first two steps and he’s well positioned to master the third.
“That was a fast-paced race,” Gravel said. “I was abusing my right rear, so I adjusted the wing, and then the wing kept sliding back on its own and I got tight.” Gravel was chasing Justin Henderson as the laps wound down. “He slid a lapped car and that broke his momentum. I was slipping in four and I knew I had to pull the trigger in one and two. I hope I passed him clean.”
As good as Gravel was, Giovanni Scelzi was a little better overall. Scelzi finished in second place in the race, but he earned the most points on the night, as he had better finishes than Gravel in the time trials and in the heat races. Scelzi, who dominated the 360 Nationals just the week before, claimed that he did not have much to do this night, explaining “this car just about drives itself.” He proclaimed himself “three-quarters of the way there.”
Another driver who was satisfied with his run on qualifier night was Donny Schatz, the third place finisher. “We could have got there,” Schatz commented. “Twenty-five laps is a lot shorter than it’s going to be come Saturday (the A Main will be fifty laps). We got going at the end. Man, you change one thing and you end up changing ten. You try to make a step in a certain direction and you take a step back. We’ll have a couple of days to let the masterminds come up with a plan. We’ll be there.” If anybody knows how to win at Knoxville, it’s Schatz, who has ten Nationals wins in the last fourteen attempts.
Zeb Wise, subbing for the injured Buddy Kofoid aboard the second CJB Motorsports entry, had the pole for the A Main. Next to him was track regular Justin Henderson. Third belonged to Justin Peck in a tribute car honoring Kramer Williamson, the late father of his crew chief Kurt. Next to him was surprising Josh Baughman. The third row consisted of James McFadden and Gravel. Schatz and Scelzi were in row four. Spencer Bayston matched up with Cory Eliason in row five. The sixth row had perennial 360 king Clint Garner and Sheldon Haudenschild. Further back in the field were Jason Sides (eighteenth), Logan Schuchart (twenty-first) and Danny Dietrich (twenty-third).
Wise led the field through the first lap and a half, but then Henderson assumed control. The Knoxville faithful were pulling for him to keep the invaders at bay, and for a long time, it appeared that he just might pull off the win.
Henderson led through lap twenty-one, but Gravel was lurking in his shadow. Gravel took over third on lap two and second on the next round. Wise held third until lap nine when his car gave out, leading to the first caution of the race.
Henderson maintained control over Gravel, but Scelzi moved up a notch when Wise dropped out. Scelzi closed in on Gravel, but could not get close enough to make a bid for the second spot. Schatz was riding along in fourth, with Peck holding down fifth.
Henderson was caught in heavy traffic as the race drew to a close. Gravel drew closer and he was able to execute a slide job in turn one to take the lead with twenty-one complete. Soon thereafter, Scelzi passed Henderson and Schatz was nipping at his heels.
At the finish, it was Gravel over Scelzi, Schatz, Henderson, and Peck. Haudenschild was sixth. Schuchart drove a strong race, coming from twenty-first to seventh with the aid of just one caution to gather up the field. Schuchart was the hard charger for the night. McFadden, Eliason, and Bayston completed the top ten.
Five heats were held, with the wins going to Josh Schneiderman, Kyle Reinhardt, Riley Goodno, Jake Bubak, and Ayrton Gennetten. Tanner Carrick won the C Main, and Schuchart took the B Main. Brooke Tatnell was the night’s fastest qualifier at 15.208 seconds.
The points for the night had Scelzi topping the list with 487, Schatz scoring 477, and Gravel 475. Schuchart came in with 472, followed by Tatnell at 460, McFadden at 459, Henderson and Peck tied at 458, Danny Dietrich at 449, and Baughman at 447.
A Main: David Gravel, Giovanni Scelzi, Donny Schatz, Justin Henderson, Justin Peck, Sheldon Haudenschild, Logan Schuchart, James McFadden, Cory Eliason, Spencer Bayston, Josh Baughman, Brooke Tatnell, Ayrton Gennetten, Davey Heskin, Clint Garner, Danny Dietrich, Josh Schneiderman, Jason Sides, Skylar Gee, Jake Bubak, Kyle Reinhardt, Don Droud, Jr., Riley Goodno, Zeb Wise.
DNQ: Roger Crockett, Anthony Macri, Wayne Johnson, Terry McCarl, Tim Shaffer, Lucas Wolfe, Carson McCarl, Mark Dobmeier, Chad Kemenah, Tasker Phillips, Robbie Kendall, McKenna Haase, Tanner Carrick, A.J. Moeller, Derek Hagar, Ryan Roberts, Austin Miller, John Carney, II, Jordan Goldesberry, Scott Bogucki, Matt Moro, Tori Knutson, Joe Simbro, Ryan Giles, Hunter Schuerenberg.
Dirt Racing
Marks Magnificent in Hodnett Classic at Port Royal
PORT ROYAL, PA (July 25, 2026): Brent Marks dominated the Greg Hodnett Classic at Port Royal Speedway to score a $15,000 victory on night number one of the Bob Weikert Memorial Weekend. Marks established himself as the odds on favorite to scoop up the $100,000 first prize.
Marks’ lead was almost 4.8 seconds before the only caution of the race. It was called prematurely on lap eighteen by a track official when Daison Pursley got out of shape in turn two. Pursley got his car righted and he was allowed to blend in where he was running after the caution.
Marks sped away from his rivals when the race resumed. Justin Peck moved into second with five laps remaining. Although Chase Dietz took over third on lap twenty-three, he was penalized to positions at the finish for being out of line for the restart. That moved Anthony Macri into third and Ryan Smith into fourth.
“The car was awesome all night,” Marks said. He timed in third in Group B, won his heat race, and ran away with the dash. He led all twenty-five laps of the feature event without any challenges.
“I wanted to make the top work a little more,” Marks noted. “Fortunately, there was a good cushion to help me out. After the caution, Marks came down off the top and ran in the middle for the final seven laps. His margin of victory was 1.035 seconds over Peck.
Peck, who came on strong in the final half of the race, mentioned, “I think we were fast from start to finish.” He was the fastest qualifier of the night, topping Group A with a lap of 15.862 seconds. He was second in his heat race and fourth in the dash. He added, “I haven’t felt this good at Port Royal since 2021.” He thought he could have squeezed a little more speed out of his car for the feature, “but, I was scared to get out of our window.”
Macri also thought that he had a good car. He commented, though, “I have to work on my tires under the yellow. I have to study.”
The dash finish set the first eight positions in the A Main. Marks and Macri occu[ied row one. They were followed by Dietz and Peck. Then came the championship contenders, Rico Abreu and Aaron Reutzel, in row three; and Pursley and Kerry Madsen, in row four. Ryan Smith and Giovanni Scelzi claimed row five based on their heat reace finishes. James McFadden and Danny Dietrich (who was sporting Weikert colors and the iconic number 29 tonight) departed from row six.
Marks jumped out to the early lead and he began to pull away from Macri. Peck and Dietz raced along in fourth and fifth, ahead of Abreu, Reutzel, Madsen, Smith, Scelzi, and Tyler Courtney.
The first five were unchanged through the first half of the race. Abreu and Reutzel battled for sixth, while Smith began to close in on them.
That premature caution on lap eighteen wiped away Marks’ advantage. Macri, Peck, Dietz, Smith, Reutzel, Abreu, Courtney, Madsen, and Scelzi were the announced starting order for the remaining seven laps. However, Dietz managed to position himself ahead of Peck for the restart, giving rise to the penalty imposed at the finish.
Dietz blasted into third on the restart. But Peck rallied and drove up to second by the finish. Macri was under attack from Smith in the closing laps and they were both moved ahead of Dietz in the finishing order.
Positions six through ten went to Logan Wagner, who was designated as the hard charger. He advanced sixteen positions over the course of the race. Most of his passed came after the restart. Abreu was seventh, followed by Reutzel, Courtney, and Madsen.
Madsen, Macri, Marks, and Pursley took the checkers in their respective heat races. Domenic Melair won the C Main. Cameron Smith took the honors in the B Main. Peck was the top qualifier, at 15.862. Abreu topped Group B with a time of 16.682 seconds. Forty-seven cars checked in for the event
Ageless Steve Wilbur went wire to wire to win the Wingless Sportsmen thirty lapper. He took the lead at the start and steadily pulled away to a seven second advantage. Brett Perigo moved into second on lap fifteen and he cut into the margin while Wilbur struggled with lapped traffic.
The lead was down to 1.666 seconds by the time the red came out for a spectacular crash involving Dexter Ehrenzeller and Donnie Farlling on the front stretch. Ehrenzeller’s car came to rest near the victory lane. He required medical attention and was transported to a nearby hospital. No report of his condition was available by the end of the program.
Tony Jackson followed Wilbur and Brett Perigo at the finish. Marty Brian and Sam Leonard, Jr. completed the top five. The nxt five finishers were Eric Wlaker, Curt Stroup, Scott Smith, Lee Kauffman, and Craig Perigo.
Jackson, Brian, and Brad Mellott tallied the heat race wins. There was no B Main needed to align the twenty-one car field.
Dirt Racing
Dietz Finally Scores At Williams Grove
MECHANICSBURG, PA (July 24, 2026): Chase Dietz finally got a win at Williams Grove Speedway. It was his seventeenth overall for the season and sixth in his career at the famous oval. The $6,000 triumph also extended his points lead in the fledgling PA Posse Series.
Dietz executed a perfect slider in turn four on lap thirteen to take the lead from the current Williams Grove points leader and defending track champion, Troy Wagaman, Jr. “You have to take your shot when you get it,” Dietz said.
Dietz commented that he tried to drive under Wagaman in turn one on the opening lap, but he could not pull off the pass. In fact, he lost a position to Anthony Macri in the process. He explained that the temporary setback “probably helped me, it pissed me off.”
He noted that “the track was pretty narrow with a good cushion.” But, he added, ”it was pretty dicey with those lapped cars. They want to run where you are.” Fortunately, Dietz was able to navigate around them efficiently after taking the lead.
He concluded, “it’s a great time to have this (his first win at the track) happen. We have the Outlaws coming in and we want to put it on them.”
Although this was a Posse Series race, the track used a format similar to a World of Outlaws event to help get the race teams ready for next week’s Summer Nationals program. Thus, the heat races started heads-up, with the fastest qualifier on the pole instead of fourth per Posse Series procedures. The first two finishers from each heat advanced to the dash, instead of the heat winners and the fastest qualifiers from beach heat. The dash established the starting order for the first six cars in the feature event, instead of a random draw. All others fell in line based upon their qualifying times, instead of their heat race finishes.
Accordingly, the pole position for the twenty-five lapper went to Wagaman, with Dietz as his wingman. Logan Rumsey and Macri were next in line. The final two dash participants, Brent Shearer and Austin Bishop, manned row three. Then came Danny Dietrich and Preston Lattomus, in row four; Justin Whittall and Dylan Norris, in row five; and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. and Doug Hammaker, in row six.
Wagaman reached turn one ahead of Dietz and established himself on the cushion. Dietz opted for the low side, and that allowed Macri to roll in behind Wagaman on the top. Macri had better momentum coming off turn two, and he gained the second position heading down the back stretch. Rumsey was fourth, followed by Bishop, Shearer, Dietrich, Lattomus, Whittall, and Norris on the opening lap.
The first four began to separate themselves from the other racers in the early going. Meanwhile, Dietrich was pressing Rumsey for the fifth spot.
On lap seven, Macri got a tremendous launch off turn two and he closed very quickly on the leader. However, Wagaman was able to get to a lapped car before Macri could make a bid for the lead. Soon thereafter, Dietz powered past Macri for second. He then closed in on Wagaman in traffic.
The only caution of the event occurred on lap eleven. Rahmer got a flat and struck the outside wall in turn two while running in the top ten.
Wagaman had the point for the single file restart, with Dietz in second, followed by Macri, Rumsey, Dietrich, Bishop, Shearer, Whittall, Lattomus, and Norris.
Dietz pressed Wagaman for the lead when the race resumed. It took him a couple of laps to set up his winning pass in turn four. Meanwhile, Dietrich and Bishop moved ahead of Rumsey.
Dewease was another racer making forward progress after the restart. He was thirteenth in the queue when the green light came on again, and he cracked into the top ten on lap fifteen. He gained two more positions in the final ten laps.
Dietz stretched his lead over Wagaman as the laps clicked off. Wagaman remained in second. Dietrich got under Macri for third with three laps remaining in the contest.
Dietz took the checkers almost four and a half seconds ahead of Wagaman. Then came Dietrich, Macri, and Bishop. Whittall, Rumsey, Dewease, Norris, and Ryan Smith completed the top ten.
Rumsey, Dietz, and Bishop took the heat wins. There was no B Main. Wagaman prevailed in the dash. Rumsey was the evening’s fastest qualifier with a lap of 16.715 seconds. It was his first quick time award.
Eli Tuckey survived an early challenge from Austin Reed to get his first career win at the speedway in the 358 Sprint Car division. “I was diving poorly,” Tuckey conceded. “I figured if I could stay next to him (Reed), I could pull it off.” Tuckey adjusted his wing and did exactly that.
Reed held on for second, followed by Chase Gutshall, Derek Locke, and Adam Carberry. Cody Fletcher, Brock Hammaker, Seth Schnoke, Matt Findley, and Tim Wagaman, II rounded out the top ten.
Tuckey, Gutshall, and Schnoke copped the preliminaries. There was no B Main needed to set the starting field.
Cole Young had a spectacular crash at the start of his heat race. His car flipped several times and the front axle was ripped from the car. He was not hurt in the wreck. Brian Wolf, Jr. tipped his car over at the start of his heat. The car was not extensively damaged, and he was not injured. He was able to start the feature.
Dirt Racing
Sharon Speedway cancels Saturday program
HARTFORD, OH (July 18, 2026) Sharon Speedway is cancelling Saturday night’s “Steel Valley Thunder” program thanks to a near 100% likelihood of thunderstorms in the forecast from late afternoon through the evening hours including the potential for severe weather.
Sharon made the decision in the best interest of safety for fans, racers, and staff members.
“Super Series” action presented by Bala Management will return next Saturday (July 25) featuring the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply “410” Sprint Cars for $4,000 to-win along with the Hovis UMP Mods presented by A&MP Electric, Gibson Insurance Agency RUSH Sprint Cars, and the Gibson Insurance Agency Crown Vics on Alcon Mechanical and Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Night. Kids Club Night presented by Willy’s World with kids bike and big wheel races. It’s also the first of three Menards Giveaway Nights.
Additional information can be found at www.sharonspeedway.com.

