FRANKLIN, PA (May 22, 2026):  The Florida Man, Danny Sams, III, dropped in to Tri-City Raceway Park and emerged victorious in one of the few races completed on the rainy holiday weekend. Sams was supposed to compete at the Port Royal Speedway for the lucrative three-race Bob Weikert Memorial with the High Limit Sprint Car Series. However, that entire event was postponed on Thursday due to the persistent rainfall. While the payoff was quite a bit different than the touring series standards, Sams took advantage of the opportunity to cash a first-place check and to gain some needed confidence before rejoining the tour.

Joining Sams in victory celebrations were Gale Ruth, Jr. (RUSH Sprint Cars), Bobby Whitling (Penn Ohio Pro Stocks), and William Baker (RUSH Stocks).

“I think I like (this place). It’s pretty dang cool,” Sams said emphatically. “I like what the new owners are doing. This was the only 410 race in the country tonight, and I’m glad to be here.”

Michael Bauer and Brandon Spithaler brought the seventeen car field to the green flag for the start of the twenty-five lapper. Last week’s winner, sixty-five year old Bob Felmlee, and Sams were in row two, followed by Brandon Matus and Dusty Larson in the final preferred starting spots. Then came Logan McCandless and Andy Cavanaugh in row four, defending track champion Jeremy Weaver and Jeremy Kornbaugh in row five, and John Jerich and Michael Lutz, Jr. in row six.

Bauer, known as the professor, fought off Spithaler to lead lap one, with Sams, Felmlee, Larson, Brandon Matus, McCandless, Kornbaugh, Weaver, and Peterson in tow. Nathen McDowell brought out a caution on the second lap by stopping at the top of turn two, before the race really got rolling.

Bauer resumed his lead on the restart. However, Spithaler and Sams were fighting for the second position. After trading the spot a couple of times, Sams took control of second. Spithaler continued in third, followed by Felmlee and Larson.

Jazlyn Boyles fell off the pace on lap seven for the second caution, which eliminated Bauer’s slight advantage over Sams.

On the ensuing restart, Sams dove to the inside of Bauer entering turn one. He grabbed the lead racing through the second turn. However, Bauer came charging back at the other end of the speedway. He rolled through the middle of the track to regain the lead coming through turn four.

Sams repeated his strong inside maneuver in turns one and two to take the lead for good on lap nine. Spithaler soon moved into second leaving Bauer to battle with Felmlee and Brandon Matus for the third position.

At the halfway mark, Sams was pulling away from Spithaler. Bauer, Felmlee, and Brandon Matus remained in the top five. McCandless raced into sixth, followed by Larson, Kornbaugh, Peterson, and Jerich.

McDowell spun in turn four on lap seventeen for the final caution of the event.

Sams darted away from Spithaler on the restart, as Spithaler was struggling to retain second despite losing power. As Spithaler’s motor sounded progressively worse, Bauer moved back into the second position. Soon thereafter, Spithaler retired from the race.

With Sams building upon his lead in the closing laps, second was being hotly contested. Bauer held the spot until the final lap, when a hard charge by McCandless paid dividends. Bauer crossed in third, followed by Felmlee and Brandon Matus. Peterson, Kornbaugh, Jerich, Larson, and Weaver rounded out the top ten.

The pair of heat wins went to Spithaler and Sams. No B Main was necessary on this night,

The twenty-lap RUSH Sprint Car feature belonged to veteran Gale Ruth, Jr. It was his first win since sustaining serious injuries that sidelined him for more than a year.

“Things don’t get much better than this,” Ruth said. “The good Lord’s been good to me, he’s brought me back from a lot,” he added. “It’s special to win this one for Kyle (Busch),” he summed.

Ruth took full advantage of his pole starting position, as he took command of the race at the drop of the green. It did not take very long for Blaze Myers to reach second. Ricky Tucker, III held third in the early going, followed by Zach Morrow and Curt Emings.

Morrow moved into third by lap ten.

Myers closed in on Ruth as the leaders raced through traffic. However, he could not get close enough to challenge for the lead during the remainder of the race.

Morrow, Tucker, and Emings followed Ruth and Myers across the scoring loop for the final lap. Joe Buccola, Grayson Bayle, Brayden Blackshear, Cooper Macormac, and Wyatt Long completed the top ten.

Ruth and Myers took the checkers in the preliminaries. No B Main was needed for the fourteen cars on hand.

Bobby Whitling survived a pair of late race restarts to get the win in the Penn Ohio Pro Stocks. His son, Jake, had two opportunities to steal the win, but he could not pull it off despite getting an extra lap to try for the win.

A caution on the white flag lap involving several cars that were running in the top ten at the time shuffled up the running order. Several of them were able to race back into the top ten at the finish.

Kurt Bish, Pat Fielding, and William Swaney were third through fifth. Chase Lambert, Jacob Wheeler, Jason Black, Scott Malone, and Brandon Connor were the next five finishers.

Fielding and Wheeler split the heat races. No B Main was required for the fifteen cars that checked in.

The fifteen lap RUSH Stock Car finale belonged to Willam Baker, who wrestled the lead away from Raiden Wilson on lap four. Wilson fought back from a spin to take second, followed by Cole Laskey, Cameron Kramer, and Jim Buchanan. Wilson won the heat race. There was no B Main, as only five cars participated.

Tri-City Raceway Park will race again on Sunday. The BRP Modified Tour will be the headline act. Support will come from the RUSH Late Model Tour and the RUSH Sportsmen Modifieds. The following Sunday, May 31, Tri-City will close out Western PA Sprint Speedweek.

YORK HAVEN, PA (May 17, 2026): Chase Dietz celebrated his birthday in style, claiming his third consecutive win at BAPS Motor Speedway. The win was his second of the weekend, after a close second place finish to young Logan Rumsey on Friday night. Sandwiched in between was Dietz’ most lucrative victory.

To get this win, Dietz had to fight his way to the front after losing several positions on the initial start. When he took over second, he was more than half a second behind the leader, Brent Marks. Soon thereafter, a red eliminated that advantage. Following the restart on lap fourteen, Dietz tried a number of sliders, mostly in turn one, without success. However, he made a slider in turn four stick to grab the lead for good on lap twenty-three. Dietz went on to the win, with the margin of victory being 1.949 seconds.

“I was worried, I dropped back a couple of spots at the start, but I got them back and the car was getting better,” Dietz said. “Logan (Rumsey) showed me the inside,” he added. But after clawing his way to fourth on the inside, Dietz was back to the cushion in turns one and two when he powered past Rumsey and Rahmer, who were battling for second at that time.

During his furious struggle with Marks for the lead, Dietz got out over the cushion, which was razor thin. “I caught the wall in two a couple of times, once before the opening and once after.” Dietz explained that he was trying to keep up his wheel spin. He gave credit to his crew for building and maintaining a sturdy car that gave him confidence to make such risky maneuvers.

“This was an awesome way to finish off the weekend. Man, this was lots of fun.”

As if on que, the assembled crowd in victory lane spontaneously broke into a happy birthday serenade.

By the luck of the draw, Marks shared the front row with J.J. Loss, who was celebrating the return of his car owner, John Trone. Trone was recently released from Temple University Hospital where he underwent critical cardiac care. Dietz lined up inside of fow two, joined by Freddie Rahmer, Jr. The last of the preferred starting spots went to Rumsey and Cameron Smith, who was back in his familiar Lefever-owned mount.

Row four consisted of Dylan Norris and Kyle Moody. Then came Brock Zearfoss and Danny Dietrich. Row six belonged to Ryan Smith and Preston Lattomus.

Marks jumped out to the lead on lap one, followed by Rahmer, Loss, Rumsey, and Dietz. Before the racers could settle into a rhythm, a caution came out for Norris, who was off the pace in turn one.

Marks set sail on the restart and led the next thirteen laps. Rahmer gave chase in the early going, but Rumsey and Dietz closed in on him as they raced through traffic. When the top lane opened up for Dietz on lap fourteen, he was able to rocket past both Rahmer and Rumsey, who were hotly contesting the second position.

A red came out before the halfway mark. Johnny Edkin spun between turns three and four and began to back up the track. Zearfoss, who was running sixth at the time, tried to scoot between Edkin and the wall, but the opening closed, and Zearfoss took a tumble. He was not hurt in the incident, but his relatively new Glenn Styres machine was significantly damaged.

Dietz flew into turn one on the restart and tried a slider on Marks for the lead. He came up short, and lost valuable ground on that try. It took Dietz a couple of laps to get close enough for another try. This time, he cleared Marks, but he could not hold the position, as Marks turned back under him in turn two to regain the lead.

Dietz was persistent, but unsuccessful, for a couple more attempts to slide Marks for the lead in turn one.

However, things were better for him at the other end of the track. He was able to pull off the winning move in turn four to grab the lead on lap twenty-three.

Dietz completed the remaining seven laps without incident. Marks was second, followed by Rumsey, Rahmer, and Cameron Smith. Dietrich, Tyler Ross, Kyle Moody, Ryan Smith, and Justin Whittall completed the top ten.

Whittall was named the hard charger for advancing ten positions over the thirty-lap distance.

Dietz, Cameron Smith, and Rumsey scored the heat wins for the thirty-one car field. Mark Smith prevailed in the B Main. Marks was the evening’s fastest qualifier in timed hot laps with a lap of 14.714 seconds.

Derek Locke held off red hot Cody Fletcher to score the win in the 358 Sprint Car nightcap. “Cody’s real good on the slick,” Locke observed. “I saw it (the track) taking rubber in turns three and four in the 410s, so I tried to stay there. If he slid me, I figured I could get to the bottom in three and four.”

“It’s been a long time since we ran three races in the weekend,” Locke observed. He gave credit to his crew, who worked extremely hard to complete the three-race weekend. He explained that all of them have important jobs that often keep them fully occupied for sixty-plus hours during the week.

It took three tries to get the twenty-five lapper going. One of the attempts produced a multi-car incident in turn four, which included a tip-over by Brayden Mickley. None of those involved required medical attention.

On each of the attempts, Locke got stronger. When the race did get going, he rolled through the middle of turns one and two to establish a substantial lead.

It took Fletcher seven laps to work his way into second from ninth on the starting grid. One lap later, tere was a caution for Cole Young, who surrendered his sixth position by stopping on the front stretch. That eliminated Locke’s lead of over five seconds.

When the race resumed, Fletcher went to work on Locke. Fletcher did take the lead off turn two on one occasion, but he slid out too far in turn four to give Locke the advantage once again.

Fletcher regrouped and made another run at the leader on lap fifteen. He drew next to Locke racing down the backstretch. However, a caution thwarted that attempt.

Fletcher continued to stalk Locke through the remaining ten laps. However, he could not make another bid for the lead.

Locke took the win, with Fletcher, Brock Hammaker, Wyatt Hinkle, and Tyler Rutherford competing the top five. Logan Spahr, Chase Robinson, Brian Wolf, Jr., Kinser Lightner, and P.J. Reutimann were the next five finishers.

Reutimann, the grandson of former Modified star, Wayne Reutimann, was making his first start at BAPS Motor Speedway.

The three heat winners were Fletcher, Young, and Locke. No B Main was needed for the twenty-three car field.

The 358 Sprints will join the Winged Sportsmen, PASS 305 Sprints, and Extreme Stocks on May 23. The next show featuring 410 Sprints will be the $5 Keystone Nationals on Sunday, June 7. Extreme Stocks will also be on the card.

PORT ROYAL, PA (May 16, 2026):  Chase Dietz, of York, romped to the biggest win in his career, the $16,000 Keith Kauffman Classic at the Port Royal Speedway. He came up two positions short of scoring the double, though, as he was third in the Empire Super Sprints nightcap. That event was won by Alex Therrien, of Victoriaville, Quebec.

Dietz, who now has seven victories so far this season, noted, “pulling off these wins is so difficult to do. Bringing in these High Limit guys to get ready (for next week’sWeikert Memorial), and that’s what we’retrying to do, too.”

Dietz rode the high line for most of the contest, dropping down only when necessary to put a slower car a lap down. Dietz. explained the strategy thusly. “Tommy (Karl, his crew chief) is working with me to run the wall.”

Dietz concluded that he needs to keep his momentum going, so he can keep the money in Pennsylvania. The finale in the Weikert Memorial will pay a whopping $100,000 to the winner.

Under the PA Posse Series format, the first two finishers in the four heat races drew for the first eight starting positions in the A  Main.

Kasey Kahne drew the pole, with Dietz taking the second slot. Row two belonged to Danny Dietrich and Aaron Reutzel, the current High Limit point leader. Behind them were Troy Wagaman, Jr. and Brent Marks. The final preferred starting spots went to Kerry Madsen and Cameron Smith, who was making his first start in Jacob Allen’s Shark Racing 1a. Daison Pursley and Brock Zearfoss  claimed row five, followed by defending track champion Justin Whittall and Logan Wagner.

Other notables scattered through the field included Giovanni Scelzi (thirteenth), Ryan Smith (seventeenth), Freddy Rahmer, Jr. (nineteenth), Lance Dewease (twenty-first), and A.J. Flick (twenty-third).

Dietz took advantage of his outside starting spot to claim the cushion in turn one. He rode the rim to a lead of several car lengths on the opening lap. Kahne ran second, followed by Reutzel, Wagaman, Marks, Smith, Dietrich, Madsen, Pursley, and Zearfoss.

The leaders got into single file formation. There were no position changes in the first five in the early going. However, there was some movement going on in the second grouping of cars.

The only caution of the race came on lap seven, when Ryan Taylor looped it at the entry to turn four.

Dietz pulled away on the restart. However, Reutzel slid under Kahne in turn one to take over second, Kahne continued in fourth, ahead of Wagaman. A battle for sixth developed between Smith and Marks. Dietrich observed closely, but he could not enter the fray.

Dietz stretched his lead over Reutzel in the second half of the contest. In the final ten laps, Wagaman got rolling using the middle of the track as his preferred line. He moved into the third position and he was closing on Reutzel as the final laps were completed.

Dietz took the checkers more than 2.6 seconds ahead of Reutzel, Wagaman was third, followed by Kahne and Marks. Cameron Smith, Dietrich, Ryan Smith, Madsen, and Pursley rounded out the top ten.

Ryan Smith was the hard charger, making nine passes, mostly in the second half of the race.

The heat winners were Dietz, Madsen, Dietrich, and Cameron Smith. Dewease and Doug Hammaker split the B Mains. Reutzel was the evening’s fastest qualifier. He topped Group A with a lap of 15.163. Wagaman was the best of Group B, with a lap of 15.515.

Retuzel, who entered the event with four straight wins, said “we definitely have a lot of momentum. It was good to see that we still have some speed.” He stamped himself as a favorite to repeat in the Weikert Memorial.

Wagaman also established himself as a contender for that win. “We feel good, we were coming through the middle.” Indeed, he was one of the few racers to use that groove during the event.

The Empire Super Sprints were making their first appearance at the Speed Palace. The touring 360 Sprint club, which is based in New York, pulled an impressive thirty-two cars to go along with the forty-seven 410s.

Their feature event was marred by two reds. The first came on the opening lap, and it involved three cars at the rear of the field, Josh Spicer, Ryan Turner, and Spencer Burley. Turner left the ballpark and Turner also flipped. Later, on lap fifteen, Paulie Colagiovanni backed into the fence between turns three and four before turning over. None of these racers were injured.

Kyle Smith, who started on the pole, led through the red for Colagiovanni. However, he lost the lead to Alex Therrien on the final restart. Dietz charged from fourth to second on that restart, but he could not hold the position.

Therrien scored the win by almost 1.6 seconds over Smith. Dietz was third, followed by Davie Franek and Tyler Ross. Positions six through ten went to Jordan Poirier, Michael Walter, Matt Tanner, Dylan Swiernik, and Zach Sobotka.

In his broken English, Therrien said, “this is unbelievable, I am pretty happy.”

Sobotka was the hard charger, at plus eleven. He was also the winner of the B Main.

Heat wins were scored by Ross, Dietz, Therrien, and Smith. Smith was the evening’s fastest qualifier during timed hot laps. His best round was 16.642 seconds.

Port Royal’s Bob Weikert Memorial extravaganza will take place on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. The High Limit Sprint Car Series will sanction the event. Wingless Sportsman will provide support on Friday, and the Limited Late Models will do so on Saturday. The big show will be Sprint Cars only.