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Dirt Racing

Brown Breaks Through

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Williams Grove, PA (September 24, 2021): After years of trying, “Blackjack” Brian Brown finally scored a win at Williams Grove Speedway. The driver from Grain Valley, MO has racked up quite a resume throughout the midwest, especially at Knoxville Raceway, where he is a multi-time champion in both the 360 and 410 Sprint Car divisions. With the backing of one of his sponsors, he has relocated to the mid-state area for the months of September and October each of the last few seasons in search of an elusive win at Williams Grove Speedway. Well, now he has added his name to one of the most prestigious winner’s lists in the world of Sprint Car racing.
“I’ll tell you what, when you start racing Sprint Cars, there are three tracks where you want to win. One is Knoxville, Iowa, and we’ve had a lot of success there; one is Eldora, and we’ve been close there; and the other is Williams Grove, and we got it tonight.” For Brown, it did not matter that this was a “just a weekly” show, “we can put this (the commemorative checkered flag) in our shop forever.” Actually, Brown understated his accomplishment, as the race was part of the track’s Diamond Series, which uses time trials to set the line-ups and pays an enhanced purse.
Brown admitted that his car was not best this night, but it certainly was good enough. “I think that I got a little bit lucky with Brent (Marks) falling out. I wasn’t that far behind him when we got to traffic. We took back off and it felt like my left rear tire was flat, so I took it easy.” But, then the “Daredevil,” Devon Borden, slid by an unsuspecting Brown in turn three inside five to go, and Brown said “I knew that I had to get going.”
The Outlaws style format put Dash winner Marks on the front row, with Borden on his flank. Brown and Lucas Wolfe were in the second row, with Giovanni Scelzi paired up with now seven-time track champion Lance Dewease in the third. Anthony Macri and Aaron Bollinger made up row four, followed by Robbie Kendall and Danny Dietrich. Row six had Chase Dietz and Landon Myers.
As anticipated, Marks bolted into the lead, followed by Borden, Brown and Scelzi. Wolfe kept Dewease at bay and Macri and Dietrich were close behind fighting for an advantage.
Marks was separating himself from the pack when Brown moved into second on lap two. Marks had a comfortable lead when he caught the slower cars, but Brown began to close in.
While Marks was working his way through the back markers, something broke and his car suddenly slowed. He coasted to a stop between turns one and two and that gave the lead to Brown for the restart.
Brown got away cleanly on the green, and Macri began to challenge Dewease for fourth. He made the slider work in turn three, one of Dewease’s favorite moves, and Macri took over the position. He then set his sights on Scelzi, who was chasing Borden at the time. The three young drivers did get nose to tail briefly in traffic, but when they got to a clear space, they began to separate from each other.
By lap twenty, Borden caught Brown. On the next round, Borden dove low into turn three and slid up in front of the leader. Borden came off turn four with a slight advantage and was scored as the new leader. His time out front was short, though. Brown charged back at him. With Borden on the cushion, Brown went low into turn one. He drew up beside Borden and they went through turn two dead even. Brown powered off the corner and had a car length on Borden as they entered turn three.
The brief attack by Borden seemed to light a fire under Brown. He began to pull away in the closing laps and had a margin of victory of 0.794 seconds.
Following Brown and Borden were Scelzi, Macri, and Dewease. Dietrich climbed up to sixth, followed by Freddie Rahmer, Jr., Wolfe, Matt Campbell, and Justin Whittal.
“This is a tough track,” Brown noted, “and we’re getting better.” He was worried that he might be wearing out his crew chief, his uncle, Danny Lasoski. He explained that he kept complaining about his car every time that he came off the track, but Lasoski “kept making it better.” Brown also gave props to his engine builder, Charlie Garrett. “This is Charlie Garrett country, and I am glad to get one here for him.”
The heat wins went to Brown, Dewease, and Wolfe, who were the top three qualifiers as well. Brown’s time was 16.417, earning him the bonus money for the second week in a row. There was no B Main.
Derek Locke made some history in the 358 Sprint Car feature. He took his eighth of the season. In fact, including the final 358 race of 2020, Lock has been undefeated in nine consecutive events.
Locke noted that his crew deserved all of the credit. “They worked hard all winter to get ready and they’ve worked hard all season long.” The work has not ended, however. Locke announced that he has already started to build a 410 Sprint Car for a partial season in 2022. Locke plans to defend his 358 title at Williams Grove, but the team will run some programs at the Grove with the 410 and at other area speedways when there will be no conflict.
Colby Womer and Steve Wilbur led the 358 Sprints to the green, with Tyler Brehm and John Stehman in row two. Locke and Rich Eichelberger made up row three.
Womer grabbed the lead but an incident in turn three led to a complete restart. Womer repeated his maneuver and Wilbur settled into second. Then Brehm moved by Wilbur and Locke also moved up to third. Locke took over the second spot on lap two and he chased Brehm for the next ten laps.
Locke moved to the inside in turns three and four and pinned Brehm behind a lapped car. Locke scooted by at the flagstand to take the lead.
Soon thereafter, Womer surrendered his spot in the top five when he limped off the track on just three wheels.
After the checkers flew for Locke, Brehm crossed in second, with Justin Foster, Stehman, and Brett Wanner earning top five finishes. Wilbur, Matt Findley, Cody Fletcher, Eichelberger, and Mark VanVorst completed the top ten.
Heat winners for the 358 Sprints were Womer and Wilbur. There was no B Main.
Williams Grove Speedway will return to action October 1 and 2 for the 59th running of the National Open. This World of Outlaws event will pay $75,000 to the winner, making it the fourth highest paying race of the 2021 season behind the two King’s Royal races and the Knoxville Nationals. The National Open will conclude the season at Williams Grove Speedway.

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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