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Dirt Racing

McCreadie Makes up for Mistake at Port Royal

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PORT ROYAL, PA (August 28, 2021): Tim McCreadie blamed himself for his fifth place finish on the opening night of the Rumble by the River. But, he made up for it by winning the second preliminary feature for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Port Royal Speedway.

He explained that he thought that the checkered flag came out a lap earlier in his heat race on Thursday, so he backed down and lost a position in the finish. That buried him in sixteenth place for the start and, with only thirty laps of racing, it was impossible for him to catch up to the leaders.

McCreadie made sure that he did not repeat the blunder on Friday night. He dominated his heat race to earn the outside front row starting spot for the A Main and then he went on to lead all but one of the fourty laps. The victory padded McCreadie’s series points lead and added $12,000 to his bank account.

Jonathan Davenport did stay within striking distance through the first twenty-five laps, which were all run under the green. But Davenport got a flat right front tire after running over some debris between turns one and two. Fourth place runner Chris Ferguson also got a flat due to the same cause. Ironically, McCreadie also ran over the same material, but his tires were good to go the distance. McCreadie confided that he did not even know that he ran over the same debris that sidelined two of his rivals.

“Man, I am tired,” McCreadie said as he was catching his breath. “When you get to be this old, you never know how many chances you will get to win, so you have to run hard all of the time. I was good throughout the race, I thought that JD might get me in traffic and then he had the flat, and Hudson was good, too, they’ve both been pretty good of late.”

Davenport and McCreadie shared the front row, having won heats one and three, respectively. The other heat winners, Ferguson and Jimmy Owens, lined up behind them. Then came Josh Richards and O’Neal, winner on the opening night. Stormy Scott and Michael Norris were in row four. The fifth verse was sung by Andy Haus and Tyler Erb. The sixth featured Ricky Thornton, Jr. and Shane Clanton.

Davenport took the early lead, lost it briefly to McCreadie, and then powered off turn four to claim the opening lap. McCreadie came down off the top to slide Davenport on lap two to take the lead. Although McCreadie led the rest of the way, Davenport stayed close and tried a slider or two himself without success.

O’Neal joined the fun around lap fifteen when McCreadie and Davenport were hung up behind some lapped traffic. That created a great three-car battle for the lead, but McCreadie managed to get away by a couple of car lengths, leaving the main characters from the opening night to fight for second.

The race took a dramatic turn on lap twenty-five. Thornton slapped the wall between one and two. Although he kept going, his car was badly damaged and parts were strewn in the high groove. The leaders all ran over the stuff, and two of the contestants, Davenport and Ferguson, got flats that would send them pitside soon thereafter.

The race got going again but another shake-up within the top ten was about to occur. The restart produced two three-car battles within the top ten. One was for third and the other was for seventh. The latter resulted in contact in turn three that claimed Richards, Jason Covert, and Scott. While that was being cleaned up, Davenport and Ferguson pitted for fresh rubber.

On the ensuing restart, Erb made his move to the front. The racers only got one lap recorded before Gregg Satterlee, who was running ninth, came to a halt on the back stretch.

Then, on the next restart, Erb blasted into second and Norris threaded the needle to get to fourth. O’Neal got shuffled back on the restart and fell out of the top five. The action was intense through the field, and that led to another caution.

Fortunately, the racers had that spell worked out of their systems and the remaining twelve laps were run off without incident.
McCreadie took the checkers first, followed by Owens, Erb, Clanton, and O’Neal. Earl Pearson, Jr. was sixth. Norris, Spencer Hughes, Ross Robinson, and Trevor Feathers completed the top ten. Robinson’s perseverance paid off as he picked up several positions in the final laps to crack the top ten from last on the grid. He was named the hard charger and got $400 extra as his reward.

Pearson and Satterlee copped the twin B Mains. The night’s top qualifiers were Davenport, at 18.616, and McCreadie at 18.727.
The Mid Atlantic Modifieds were the undercard this night. George Dixon took the lead from his fourth starting spot. His time out front was limited, however, He spun on his own on lap six, handing the lead over to Steve Arpin. That would be the only caution of the event.

Mike Altobelli worked his way forward from eighth at the start to take the lead on lap nine. While he would go the rest of the way unchecked, David Stremme did close in during the final laps to make things interesting.

Third went to Arpin. Then came Keith Jackson, Austin Holcombe, Mitch Thomas, Ron Davies, Carl McKinney, Steve Axtell, and Ryan Ayers.

Port Royal Speedway will conclude the Rumble by the River on Saturday night. The Juniata Fair will take over the grounds for seven days, but racing will take place on five of them. The action starts with the annual Butch Renninger Memorial on Saturday, September 4, featuring the Super Late Models and the Limited Late Models. The 410 Sprints will also be on the card. The Sprints return on Monday afternoon, September 6 for the 70th Annual Labor Day Classic. Four Cylinders and non-wing Super Sportsmen will add to the fun. Then the big show, the 54th Tuscarora 50 will be held Thursday through Saturday. The All Stars Circuit of Champions will headline all three nights. The 305 Sprints (Thursday), and Super Late Models (Friday) will also be in action. The finale will be all 410 Sprints.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series: Tim, McCreadie, Jimmy Owens, Tyler Erb, Shane Clabton, Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson, Jr., Michael Norris, Spencer Hughes, Ross Robinson, Trevor Feathers, Colton Flinner, Gary Stuhler, Chris Ferguson, Jonathan Davenport, Andy Haus, Kyle Bronson, Ricky Thornton, Jr., Matt Cosner, Gregg Satterlee, Josh Richards, Stormy Scott, Jason Covert, Jeff Rine, Mike Marlar, Kyle Lee. DNQ: Brian Booze, Dylan Yoder, Dillan Stake, Logan Zarin, Tim Smith, Shaun Jones, Mason Miller, Pancho Lawler, Scott Flickinger, Kyle Hardy, Michael Brown, Rick Eckert, Tyler Bare, Mike Lupfer, Dan Stone, Johnny Scott, Dale Hollidge, Brett Schadel, Austin Berry, Chris Casner, Deshawn Gingerich.

Mid Atlantic Modifieds: Michael Altobelli, David Stremme, Steve Arpin, Keith Jackson, Austin Holcombe, Mitch Thomas, Ron Davies, Carl McKinney, Steve Axtell, Ryan Ayers, George Dixon, Jonathan Taylor, T.J. DeHaven, Jerry Foster, Rim Fedder, Alyssa Rowe, Amber Mills, Brad Kling, Brandon Householder, Tom Wakefield, Deron Henry, Michael Pappas, Jacob Marker, Justin Collum.
DNQ: Nick Dibella, Al Brewer, David green, John Lobb, Ray Kable, Jr., Doug Stine, Frank Dibella.

Dirt Racing

Michael Norris wins his 5th Jook George Steel City Classic

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Photo: RUSH Late Model Touring Series

IMPERIAL, PA (July 25, 2026) – Michael Norris is back in Victory Lane at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway after winning Saturday night’s Jook George Steel City Classic.

The win was Norris’ fifth in seven events and the Late Model standout from Sarver, PA dedicated the win to his Grandparents.

“I want to dedicate this win to my grandma and grandpa,” said the 34-year-old Norris.  “We lost them this year and miss them a lot- this one is for them. My pap would always say I want you to go down there and show them how it’s done and I showed them how it’s done for him.”

The victory was a family affair for Norris, who was driving the ND Motorsports #N1.

“I have to think Nico (Dabecco) and Vinny,” said Norris, Nico’s brother-in-law. “We really changed the car a lot from the Firecracker (Lernerville Speedway June 27) and found some things we needed to address.”

Norris and Kyle Lukon led the 26-car field to the green flag with Norris leading lap 1 but Lukon grabbing the lead on lap and holding it through lap 7.

Norris wasn’t done however, pulling a slider in turn three to lead lap 8.  Norris padded his lead the next couple of laps, pulling out over a second over Lukon.

Lukon was slowed when he slid into the wall on lap 15, giving third place Dan Angelicchio the chance to catch up and the battle was on for second.

Lukon slid into the wall a second time on lap 23 and slowed to bring out the caution.

The restart lined Angelicchio up alongside Norris but ‘the crusher kid’ dropped the hammer and was gone. Demetrios Drellos was able to drive around Angelicchio on the outside to take over the runner-up spot, but was never able to get close enough to Norris to challenge in lapped traffic.

“When this track is like this, it’s so much fun and you can race all over it,” Norris explained. “They did a great job on it tonight.”

Norris took home $6,010 for the win and $6,500 for the night to bring his total take home from ‘the Jook’ to $34,000 over his five wins.

“I have to thank Branden (Lockwich),” said Norris. “He does such a great job, puts a lot of effort into this, and tries different things every year to make it better and get more people here. We’ll keep supporting it as long as they keep having it. Thanks to all the fans for coming out and Blair (Cress) for keeping this place open.”

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Dirt Racing

Marks Magnificent in Hodnett Classic at Port Royal

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Photo: Port Royal Speedway

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.

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Dirt Racing

Dietz Finally Scores At Williams Grove

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Photo: Williams Grove Speedway

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.

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