Connect with us

Dirt Racing

Dietrich Doubles, Smith Scores at Lincoln

Published

on

Lincoln Speedway

ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (April 2, 2022): Danny Dietrich became the first 410 Sprint Car driver to register multiple wins at the Fabulous Lincoln Speedway in 2022. But another driver scored a memorable first career 358 Sprint Car win, rookie Cameron Smith.

“They dropped the green, and there was no time to waste. I just ran where the moisture was,” Dietrich observed. Indeed, it took him just four and a half laps to work from tenth to the lead, with all passes using the outside groove. “When it starts to rubber up you need to be careful,” he added. While Dietrich professed to be cautious, he was able to build a substantial lead on a long green flag run that lasted for nineteen laps. And, in the final five laps, he pulled ahead by nearly 1.5 seconds.

Robbie Kendal and Nikki Young brought the twenty-four starters to the green flag. Mark Smith and Tim Wagaman were in the second row, with Jimmy Sieglel and Billy Dietrich in the third. The fourth row had Tim Glatfelter and Aaron Bollinger paired up. The high point men, Freddie Rahmer, Jr. and Danny Dietrich were handicapped to row five. Dylan Norris and Devon Borden were in row six. Alan Krimes (seventeenth), Chase Dietz (eighteenth) Brandon Rahmer (twentieth), and Kyle Moody (Twenty-first) were other notable drivers relegated to the back of the starting order.

Kendal surged ahead at the drop of the green, but Wagaman was into second in no time at all. Smith and Young were third and fourth, but Double D was already in fifth on the opening lap! By lap three Dietrich was third, by lap four, he was second, and he had the lead on lap five.
While Dietrich made it look quite easy after that, the action behind him was intense. Kendall ran second through the halfway mark, but Billy Dietrich was coming, He took over second on lap 18, and it looked as though the brothers would get to celebrate together in victory lane again. When Billy celebrated his win last season, Danny was the runner-up.

However, getting past lap twenty-five took a little doing and it shuffled up the running order. On the first restart on that lap, Kendall got into the fluff in turn one and he slowed dramatically. He came to a stop before the lap was scored, so the racers had to do it over. On the second try, Wagaman got under B. Dietrich for second.

While Danny Dietrich and Wagaman had the first two positions secured for the final five laps, the other top five positions were changing hands. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. came on strong in the stretch run to grab third. Billy Dietrich faded to fourth, one notch ahead of Young, who is making a comeback in 410 Sprint racing after spending a few seasons on the sidelines.

Siegel led the second brigade to the finish line. Borden, Dietz, Smith and Krimes completed the top ten.

Heat winners were Kendall, Glatfelter, Bollinger, Smith, and Danny Dietrich. Moody was the best in the B Main. Thirty-three cars registered for the 410 Sprint action.

Cameron Smith, who made his 358 Sprint car debut in 2021 but had few enough appearances to retain his rookie eligibility, was remarkably calm after the memorable win. “I can’t believe it,” he said as he caught his breath. “I tried to be consistent,” he said. He added that he did not know where to start, but the uncertainty did not hamper his performance. Smith explained that, after his dominant heat win, he knew that he had a car capable of winning, and he knew that he had to keep his car glued to the bottom to protect his lead.

Smith was aided by the luck of the draw, pulling the pole for the twenty lapper. Brett Wanner was positioned beside the young pilot. Steve Owings and Matt Findley were in the second row, with Frankie Herr and Justin Foster in the third. Kody Hartlaub and Chris Frank were the last of the drivers to draw pills for their starting positions. Then came Hayden Miller and Cody Fletcher and Cody Phillips and Jeff Rohrbaugh.

Smith seized control, with Owings, Wanner, Fletcher, and Findley following. The top five ran in formation for the first half of the race. But things were tight in the back half of the top ten. Miller and Foster got together at the start/finish line to bring out the fist yellow.

One lap into the second half of the contest, Fletcher came to a stop in turn one, giving up his fourth place at the time.

Smith got away cleanly on the restart, with Owings staying close. As the laps wound down, Owings began to close in on Smith, but when Smith saw the two lap signal, he began to pull away from the defending champion.

Smith swept to the win, with Owings, Wanner, Rohrbaugh, and Hartlaub completing the top five. Findley, Frank, David Holbrook, Kyle Denmyer, and Brett Strickler were the next five finishers.

Four heats were spun off, with the victories going to Foster, Herr, Owings, and Smith. Kyle Keen topped the B Main. Thirty 358 Sprints were on hand.

Next week will be the nineteenth annual Weldon Sterner Memorial, with $6,900 awaiting the winner in the 410 Sprint ranks. The 358 Sprints will provide the support. The same two divisions will be back in action on April 16. A change-up will occur on April 23, when the 410 Sprints are joined by the Central PA Legends Cars and the 358 Late Models. The 410 and 358 Sprints will close out the month of April with the Penn Mar Vintage Cars.

Dirt Racing

Michael Norris wins his 5th Jook George Steel City Classic

Published

on

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.”

Continue Reading

Dirt Racing

Marks Magnificent in Hodnett Classic at Port Royal

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Dirt Racing

Dietz Finally Scores At Williams Grove

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Discover more from Pittsburgh Racing Now

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading