Dirt Racing
Clanton Clobbers WoO LMS; Buckwalter Bags 410 Loot at Williams Grove
MECHANICSBURG, PA (August 19, 2022): Shane Clanton and Steve Buckwalter both went wire-to-wire to win their respective features at the Williams Grove Speedway. For Clanton, it was career win number 48 with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. And, for Steve Buckwalter, it was his twelfth career 410 Sprint Car victory at the venerable oval.
Clanton noted that his car was “hooked up” and that “there was a big curb in three and four” that he could lean on while building a huge lead in the early part of the main event. Nonetheless, he “had concerns the whole time,” explaining that he “had a lot of tire wear in the heat race.” He concluded that he is “very comfortable” in his car right now and he was hoping to score some more wins this weekend. As teh series will move westward to Sharon Speedway and Tri-City Raceway Park, other facilities where he has had success before.
The WoO Late Models re-drew for the top six positions, with the heat winners and second place cars eligible for the prime starting spots. The luckiest fellow, at least before they dropped the green flag, was Ryan Gustin. Next to him was Clanton. Row two paired up the two top Rookie of the Year contenders, Tanner English and Max Blair. The third row was reserved for former champion, Rick Eckert, and the current points leader, Dennis Erb, Jr. Behind them were Dale Hollidge and Matt Cosner. Row five belonged to Josh Richards and Mason Zeigler. The sixth matched Jason Covert and Justin Weaver.
Although Gustin won the race to the first turn, he was no match for Clanton, who found the top to his liking very early in the race. Clanton rode the rim to a three car length lead coming off turn two and that was, probably, the closest that any competitors got to him except when the field was bunched up for a couple of restarts that occurred along the way.
Gustin, who went on to a third place finish, noted “this place is fast and I just kind of gave it away on the first lap before everybody got in line, and that was it.”
Blair quickly moved into second on the opening lap and he held that position throughout the contest. “There was a stretch there in the middle of the race, I was diamonding off the corners and I was making some time. I thought that if it stayed green, I may have a shot, but, after that caution, he (Clanton) took off.”
Clanton, Blair, and Gustin ran in that order for the entire fourty lap distance. Fourth place changed hands several times, though. English held it through the first half of the race, but Eckert claimed it soon thereafter. However, in the last ten laps, English regained the spot, minimizing his point loss to Blair on the night. As it finished, Blair picked up four on his rookie rival, cutting the margin to sixteen points with seventeen races left in the season.
“That rookie deal was mine to lose, and I gave the lead away,” Blair noted. “We will just take it one race at a time, and if we keep having finishes like this, we may get it back.”
After Clanton, Blair, Gustin, and English was Eckert. Eddie Carrier, Jr. led the next group across the finish line. With him were Erb, Richards, Hollidge, and Covert.
The three heat winners were Erb, Clanton, and Gustin. Taking the B Main was Kyle Hardy. Clanton was also the fastest qualifier on the night, at 19.636 seconds. So, the Georgia Bulldog made a clean sweep at Williams Grove.
Another driver who completed the sweep was Steve Buckwalter. As the winner of teh second heat, he had the outside front row starting position. On the pole was Alan Krimes. In row two, Tyler reeser lined up next to Jordan Givler, whose car carried the livery of the late Billy Kimmel, whose memory was honored this night. Rick Lafferty and Devon Borden launched from row three. In the fourth, it was Kyle Moody and T.J. Stutts. Chase Dietz and Bryn Gohn occupied row five. Row six had Robbie Kendall paired with Jason Schulz. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. and Lance Dewease were mired in row nine after encountering problems in their respective heat races.
Buckwalter stormed into the lead at the drop of the green, with Krimes, Givler, Borden, Reeser, and Dietz following. Buckwalter rode the rim through almost the entire race. However, there was a moment, on lap eleven, when he rolled through the middle in turns one and two to shoot the gap between Borden, who was coming hard on the bottom, and a lapped car.
“I freed the car up to run the top,” Buckwalter noted. “I knew that Borden would be tough with the track so sticky. . . . I saw Borden and then the yellow came out,” he added. “So, on the restarts, I picked up the pace.”
Buckwalter commented that he was driving a new car, built by Russ Mitten. Buckwalter’s team had tried to purchase another Maxim, but none were available, so they placed a call to Mitten, who was able to come through for them. They struggled for a while to get the set-up on the RPM chassis, so they reverted to what they were doing with the old Maxim and they found that to be a good combination.
Buckwalter also explained that he had some motor work done last week. They replaced the cam shaft, going back to an older piece. Unfortunately, the engine is “lapped out,” so the team will need to put their extra motor in the car while this one gets freshened. Buckwalter was hoping that the engine builder could put this cam shaft into the other motor before next week’s invasion of the All Star Circuit of Champions.
Borden took second on lap three and he remained there through the rest of the race. He did make a couple of runs at Buckwalter on restarts on laps fifteen and seventeen. Then, of course, there was the three-wide maneuver on lap eleven, which would not have counted even if he had pulled it off.
Rahmer raced his way to fifth in the first half of the race. He eventually got as high as third, but the car was sounding sour in the final laps. He lost that position to Lance Dewease, who clearly had the fastest car on the track in the last ten laps of the race.
The finish was Buckwalter, Borden, Dewease, Rahmer, and Dietz. The next five across the line were Moody, Krimes, Stutts, Givler, and Brent Shearer, who carried the number 48 for Danny Dietrich to maintain his points while off competing with the All Stars in the Empire State.
Next week will be the Jack Gunn Memorial. Twin twenty-lap features will be presented under the sanction of the All Stars. The support will be provided by an exhibition for vintage cars in conjunction with the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing. On September 2, The 410 and 358 Sprints will be in action. It will be the Joe Harz Tribute Race. The 358 Sprints will also have an enhanced purse on the line.
PORT ROYAL, PA (April 13, 2024): Defending track champion, Devon Borden, battled Danny Dietrich in the final laps of the 410 Sprint Car race at Port Royal Speedway, bringing fans to their feet. Borden’s first win of the season came by 1.219 seconds over Dietrich, who won the season opener. Borden earned $5,800 for the effort.
“I just knew that I was going to have to go where they weren’t and drive the $h!+ out of it,” Borden said as he struggled to catch his breath. Starting twelfth, Borden knew that he had to make a big push early to get to the front with several heavy hitters starting ahead of him. “I had to make the top work before it went away.” He was able to charge to third in just nine laps and it only took him three more to reach second. Getting that final position was quite a bit harder to accomplish. “The last three laps were pretty hectic, and things had to play out in our favor.”
Borden gave props to his crew chief, Chris Shuttlesworth. “We didn’t start out very good, but now we have it going.”
A modified version of the PA Speedweek format was used for this program. The only deviation was the use of group time trials to set heat race line-ups. In the Speedweek format, each driver times against the whole field; whereas, the group approach only pits the racers against the same cars that will run in the same heat race. The heat race winners and the fastest car to qualify draw for starting positions at the front of the field. The remainder are seeded by their heat race finishes. B Main transfers make up the final rows.
The luck racers were Lucas Wolfe and Steve Buckwalter. Behind them were Dietrich and Logan Wagner. Dylan Cisney, the Mayor of Port Royal was paired up with Jeff Halligan in row three. The fourth row belonged to Gerard McIntyre, Jr. and Jake Karklin. Mike Wagner and Blane Heimbach claimed row five. T.J. Stutts was inside Borden in row six.
Buckwalter sailed into turn one on the outside and began to pull away from his pursuers. Dietrich settled into second, with Logan Wagner a close third. Wolfe fell back to fourth, followed by Karklin, Halligan, Cisney, Heimbach, Borden, and McIntyre. Buckwalter held control for the first six rounds. However, Dietrich closed in on him when Buckwalter encountered lapped traffic.
Dietrich became more aggressive on lap seven, sliding ahead of Buckwalter in turn three. Buckwalter turned back under him in turn four to regain the lead as they thundered down the long front stretch. Dietrich fought back through turns one and two, coming off the bottom of turn two with the lead. This time around, it was Buckwalter’s turn to slide for the lead in turn three. Dietrich crossed over in four to assume command as they completed lap eight. Meanwhile, Borden was making steady progress to the third position, but he was a good distance behind the lead duo.
When Kassidy Kreitz slowed to a stop on the back stretch on lap later, that eliminated the deficit for Borden. He got to start right behind Dietrich and Buckwalter. Borden took advantage of the opportunity, picking up the second spot just three laps after the race resumed.
It took Borden a few more laps to close the gap on the leader. Dietrich began picking his way through the slower cars, and Borden closed in. However, he could not make a move for the lead, as he seemed to have poor timing when approaching the lapped cars.
With just a few laps remaining, though, the front two cars broke free of the slower cars. With no traffic separating himself from the leader, Borden was able to press for the lead.
Over the final three laps, Dietrich and Borden swapped the lead several times, much to the delight of the fans. Borden took the lead for good entering turn three on the final lap. Dietrich dove low while Borden kept his momentum up on the cushion. Dietrich scrubbed off some speed coming through turn four, and Borden scooted ahead for the win.
Buckwalter turned in a creditable performance for third. Chase Dietz came on in the final laps to get fourth. Logan Wagner slipped to fifth in the final tally. Wolfe, Halligan, Karklin, Cisney, and Heimbach completed the top ten.
Dietrich, Buckwalter, Wolfe, and Cisney chalked up the heat wins. Justin Whittal prevailed in the B Main. Dietrich was fastest in Group one and overall, with a time of 17.113 seconds.
In the Super Late Models, Dillan Stake and Chad Myers brought the field to the green. Jeff Rine and Ross Robinson were right behind them. Shaun Jones and Colton Flinner were in row three, ahead of Brian Bernheisel and Dylan Yoder. Row five matched Tyler Emory and Chris Casner. Tim Wilson and Matt Cosner completed the top twelve.
Myers grabbed the early lead, with Robinson hot on his heels. Stake, Rine, Flinner, and Yoder followed in close formation. Myers rode along in the middle groove, and Robinson searched high and low for a place to try to make a pass. Robinson finally settled in on the inside, and he began to chip away at Myers’ lead.
Robinson came off the bottom of turn two and powered ahead of Myers just before the halfway point in the contest. Robinson started to draw away from Myers, but a caution on lap fourteen wiped out his advantage. Myers could not get a run on the Delaware racer when the action resumed. Instead, Myers was under attack from Flinner, Eckert, Stake, and Rine.
Flinner worked his way into second, bringing Eckert along into third. Myers continued on fourth with Stake on his tail.
At the checkers, it was Robinson ahead of Flinner by 3.806 seconds. Eckert, Myers, and Stake completed the top five. Next to cross were Rine, Yoder, Cosner, Jones, and Jason Covert.
The four heat winners were Robinson, Rine, Myers, and Stake. Gregg Satterlee won the B Main.
Robinson was relived to capture the win, his first at the Speed Palace. “We got lucky with the pill draws,” he said. Robinson said that he changed his set-up after hot laps, reverting to the combination that brought him a win recently at his hometown track, the Georgetown Speedway.
The top ten racers from the A Main were inverted for an Australian pursuit immediately following the A Main. Covert, who raced hard just to make it to the tenth spot in the A Main, earned the pole for the pursuit, which paid $1,000 to the winner. He was able to stay out front for the entire ten laps. “It just goes to show how even we all are,” he said. “We were inverted and the clean air on my nose made all the difference. I could come off the corners wherever I wanted.” Jones, Cosner, Yoder, and Rine were the balance of the top five. Eckert and Robinson were the other finishers. Flinner, Myers, and Stake were the drivers eliminated in the race.
Devin Hart went wire to wire in the twenty lap Limited Late Model nightcap. Tommy Slanker ran second in the early going before fading to fifth at the finish. Jared Fulkroad, Trent Brenneman and Shawn Shoemaker were the racers who moved ahead of him. Kenny Yoder, Ryan Zook, Casey Steinhoff, Lane Snook, and Jaxton Garman rounded out the top ten.
The pair of heats went to Brenneman and Zook. There was no B Main.
A three division program will be held next weekend, with the 305 Sprints joining the 410 Sprints and Super Late Models. The Keith Kauffman Classic for the 410 Sprints will be on April 27, with support coming from the USAC East Coast Sprints and the Wingless Sportsmen. Then, on Sunday, April 28, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirst Series will invade the speedway. Limited Late Models will also be on the card.
IMPERIAL, PA (April 13, 2024) Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway is pivoting to flood relief instead of racing Saturday night after torrential rains the past few days caused flooding all over Western Pennsylvania. PPMS is working with the UEMS Racing Series to find a suitable date for both parties to make up the event.
The Speedway instead is holding a relief drive from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. to help those affected by the flood.
UPDATE: PPMS was able to split the total collection up between both Sturgeon Vol. Fire Dept. and Oakdale Hose Company. From there, the fire companies will administer the collected items to other organizations or directly to those in need. We were fortunate enough to collect a large volume of just about every necessity. Any items that are not claimed during this process will be stored and administered as needed in the future.
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (April 7, 2024): Chase Dietz returned to his roots to capture his tenth career win at the Fabulous Lincoln Speedway. With the weather changing up the weekend’s racing plans, Dietz was able to race at Lincoln because the show was postponed a day. Dietz, who has long been a regular at the track, will now be concentrating his efforts on Saturdays at the Port Royal Speedway, where he debuted yesterday as the new driver of the famous Zemco number one. He was back in his own machine for this one, and it was like he never left.
“I plan to be back whenever I can,” Dietz said happily. “This is the track where I got my start and I really enjoy racing here.” But, the offer to drive for John and Pee Wee Zemaitis was one that he could not refuse.
Sunny skies and a slight breeze produced a tricky racing surface. “It definitely was unique,” Dietz observed. “It was kinda patchy. Fred (Putney, the masterful track preparer), sprinkled it and that pushed things up.”
Dietz, who started on the pole and went wire-to wire, noted “it was kinda tough, running out front. I was searching around looking for rubber.” He found enough to maintain his advantage over a fast-closing Matt Campbell.
Campbell, who raced his way into second while fighting through some heavy traffic, surprised all by saying that he liked racing on the daytime surface. “It gave me the chance to move around.” He added that he thought that he learned some things that he can carry over to the normal night time racing.
The race was run according to PA Speedweek procedures. So a re-draw shuffled the top eight racers. Dietz and Aaron Bollinger were the fortunate ones to pick front row starting positions. Beyond them were Tyler Ross and Campbell. Emerson Axsom and Kody Hartlaub made up row three. Cameron Smith and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. were in row four. The fifth belonged to Justin Whittal and Dallas Schott. Chad Trout and Danny Dietrich completed the first half of the field.
The original start was called back because Aussie Greg Newton took a spectacular spill between turns three and four on what would have been the opening lap. He was unhurt, but could not continue in the event.
On the second try, Dietz again blasted to the front and he planted the right rear tire in the moisture that Putney laid down on the outside line during the intermission. Bollinger did likewise, while Cambell, Ross, Hartlaub, Rahmer, Jr., and Axsom fanned out behind them.
The front three remained unchanged through the first seven laps. Campbell picked off Bollinger in traffic on lap weight, and he would hold onto that position for the remainder of the non-stop thirty lapper.
Bollinger and Ross were putting on a good show for the third spot. Ross assumed control of the position by lap ten, but a new player was in the mix. Danny Dietrich reached the top five by the halfway mark and he was looking to advance. He quickly dispatched Bollinger, but it took him several laps to catch and overtake Ross. He was able to do it with less than five laps in the contest.
Dietz completed his tour in eight minutes and nineteen and a quarter seconds. His margin of victory was 0.845 seconds over Cambell, Danny Dietrich was third. Bollinger got Ross in the waning laps. Positions six through ten went to Devon Borden, Whittal, Rahmer, Jr., Axsom, and Smith.
The four heat winners were Bollinger, Campbell, Axsom, and Ross. The B Main victory went to Reese Nowotarski. Dietz set the fastest time of the day, 13.878 seconds. He edged Rahmer, Jr. by a mere one-thousandth of a second.
Lincoln Speedway will return to its usual Saturday night slot on April 13. Joining the 410 Sprints on Golf Cart Services Night will be the USAC East Coast Sprints. April 20 will be the annual Weldon Sterner Memorial paying a whopping twenty thousand dollars to the winner. The 358 Sprints will provide the support for that one. Another 410 and 358 Sprint doubleheader will close out the month of April. Starting time will be 6 p.m. for each of those events.
Borden Thrills at Port Royal; Robinson, Covert, and Hart also Score
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway Cancels Saturday Program; Pivots To Flood Relief Drive
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Dietrich and Duke Declare Victories at Port Royal
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Borden Thrills at Port Royal; Robinson, Covert, and Hart also Score
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Rahmer and Emory Race to Williams Grove Victories
Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway Cancels Saturday Program; Pivots To Flood Relief Drive