Dirt Racing
Rahmer and Howard Take Lincoln Loot
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (March 4, 2023): The final afternoon program at the Fabulous Lincoln Speedway was presented under partly cloudy skies and with strong breezes. These conditions made for a slick track, but the action was hot in both the 410 Sprint Car and 358 Modified divisions. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. scored his second win of the season following a late race battle with Danny Dietrich. Duane Howard chased down and passed Mike Gular, who had clawed his way back to the lead after giving way to Billy Pauch, Jr. in the middle stage of the race.
Rahmer, who collected $4,000 for his twenty-sixth career win in the Pigeon Hills, benefited from the numerous cautions that occurred in the first half of the contest. “There were a lot of yellows, a lot of things happened,” Rahmer said. “With thirteen down, we were in seventh and I decided it was time to go.” And, go he did. Soon after the action resumed, he was up to third. By lap twenty-two, he was second.
But the best action took place over the final five laps. Rahmer Jr. closed in on Danny Dietrich, who led from the start. The two fierce competitors traded the lead several times, Rahmer using the inside of turn one, and Dietrich riding the rim. After clearing a lapped car, Rahmer took the lead again in turn one on lap twenty-eight. He then went to the top to prevent Dietrich from attempting another outside maneuver to regain the lead. Dietrich changed things up at the opposite end of the track, throwing a hard slide job at Rahmer coming through turn four. Rahmer had the momentum, though, and he held off Dietrich’s charge.
“That was good hard racing with Danny there at the end of the race,” Rahmer noted.
Alan Krimes drew the pole, and Danny Dietrich was his running mate. Chad Trout and Aaron Bollinger lined up behind them, Trey Hivner and Tim Wagaman made up row three. Chris Windom, who was aboard Mike Heffner’s machine, started inside Cameron Smith in Row four. Brandon Rahmer drew the worst pill, a nine, and he was matched up with Tim Glatfelter. Devon Borden and Billy Dietrich occupied row six. Anthony Macri departed from row seven, Rahmer Jr. from row eight, and Matt Campbell from row eleven.
Krimes and Danny Dietrich were dead even entering turn one on the opening lap, but Dietrich drove by on the outside of turn two to take the lead. Krimes cruised along in second, with Bollinger, Trout, Tim Wagaman, Hivner, Windom, Smith, Glatfelter, and Brandon Rahmer following.
A caution on lap four and a red two rounds later slowed teh pace, but did not change the running order up front. The red was for a flip by Borden coming off turn four. He was unhurt, but his car was done for the afternoon. Other interruptions occurred on laps eleven and thirteen. The first of those eliminated two racers from the top five, Bollinger and Macri.
The final seventeen laps went off without any hitches. Dietrich continued to lead Krimes, Tim Wagaman, Trout, and Windom. But Freddie Rahmer was the man to watch as he used both the inside line and the outside to move ahead.
Danny Dietrich seemed to have the race in hand until he encountered lapped traffic late in the race. Dietrich may have been too cautious, or maybe he assumed that he had a bigger lead than he actually did. Regardless, Rahmer closed in and it was a memorable battle between two of the most prolific winners of the current generation of Lincoln champions.
Rahmer took the checkers, much to the delight of the hardy crowd. Danny Dietrich led Krimes to the scoring loop on the final lap. Then came Tim Wagaman and Trout. Windom, Brandon Rahmer, Campbell, Troy Wagaman, Jr., and Glatfelter completed the top ten.
Freddie Rahmer, Jr. and Matt Cambell each passed fourteen cars in the race, but Rahmer received the hard charger award due to his higher finishing position.
Trout, Brandon Rahmer, and Danny Dietrich took the checkers in their heat races. Glendon Forsythe won the consolation race.
A small, but impressive field of 358 Modifieds ran in the nightcap. Mike Gular and Loudon Reimert led the field to the green, with Billy Pauch, Jr. and Rick Laubach in row two. Justin Grim and Jeff Strunk occupied row three. Duane Howard and Kyle Weiss were in the fourth row, followed by Mike Lisowski and Joe Funk. Frank Cozze was scheduled for row six, but he was unable to start the event.
Gular led Pauch, Reimert, Laubach, and Strunk in teh early stages of the thirty lapper. The only caution came eight laps into the race. On the restart, Pauch used teh outside line effectively. He raced side by side with Gular, nosing ahead coming off turn two. By the entry to turn three, Pauch was in command.
Gular fell back to third, as Reimert worked the inside line to move ahead. Howard was challenging Gular for third. Gular was searching for a better line and he found the outside to his liking. He dispatched Howard and closed in on Reimert.
As the race approached the halfway mark, Gular regained second and he was now fighting Pauch for the lead. He surged ahead again on lap fourteen.
Then Howard came to life. He worked into second by lap sixteen and he set his sights on Gular. Howard chased him down and drove by on the inside with twenty-two complete.
Howard went on to the win, with Gular, Laubach, Reimert, and Pauch rounding out the top five. Strunk, Funk, Weiss, Grim, and Lisowski were P6 through ten.
“The track was really racy,” Howard observed. “It’s a shame that we couldn’t have a better turnout. I think that the weather last night had something to do with it.” Howard conceded that he made some mistakes in the heat race, which he attributed to it being the first time that he was in the car this season. “It was a matter of getting me in the car and knocking some rust off.” He added that the team made some small adjustments before the feature event.
The pair of heat races went to Pauch and Reimert, There was no B Main.
Remember that Lincoln Speedway will be dark on March 11 in consideration of the World of Outlaws event at Port Royal Speedway. Racing will resume with Lincoln’s first of two Outlaws programs on March 18. That race will start at 6:00 p.m. March 25 will present the 410 Sprints and Legends cars. No foolin’, the first Sprint Car doubleheader (410 and 358) will take place on April 1.
SELINSGROVE, PA (April 21, 2024): Austin Bishop dominated the second half of the 410 Sprint Car feature at the Selinsgrove Speedway to score his first victory of the 2024 season. It was the first win for his car owner, Charlie Sorokach, since 2012.
Bishop had to overcome a malfunctioning top wing to garner the victory. He explained that the wing was sliding back on its own and he was having trouble keeping the car straight entering the turns. He was able to fiddle with the controls during a caution period on lap eleven and he got the wing to hold in a preferred position for the remainder of the race. It made a drastic improvement in the performance of the machine.
T.J. Stutts and Bishop brought the field to the green flag. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. and Davey Franek were lined up behind them. Cameron Smith and Devon Borden made up row three. Callum Williamson and Justin Whittal were in the fourth row. Mike Walters, II, and Blane Heimbach were in the fifth row. The sixth consisted of Mike Thompson and Lucas Wolfe.
A handful of racers were unable to make the call, including Danny Dietrich who lost a motor while leading his heat race.
Stutts roared into the lead on the opening lap, with Bishop, Franek, Borden, Smith, and Rahmer following closely. While Stutts and Bishop set the pace, Borden was making progress early. He was third by lap five and second by lap seven. He was gaining on Stutts when the first caution was displayed, on lap eight, for Walters. Who came to a halt in turn one.
When the race resumed, Borden was pressing Stutts for the lead. Indeed, coming off turn two on lap ten, Borden pulled up next to Stutts, but he could not complete the pass. It may not have mattered, for on the next trip around the fast half mile, Borden coasted to a stop with an apparent engine failure. It was the second of the night for him, as he also lost an engine in qualifications.
It was during this interlude that Bishop made his critical adjustment to the top wing.
Whatever Bishop did to the car was just what the doctor ordered. On the restart, he was hounding Stutts. On lap fourteen, he moved to the outside coming off turn two. He blew by Stutts midway down the backstretch. Bishop dropped to the inside entering turn three to prevent Stutts from attempting a slider to regain the lead, but the precautionary maneuver was not necessary, and Bishop had several car lengths on his adversary.
Bishop had the superior car for the last ten laps of the race. He was able to build a lead of slightly more than four seconds.
Stutts remained in second, with Whittal closing in on him in the final laps. Franek and Rahmer completed the top five. Williamson logged his first top ten since taking over the controls of John Trone’s famed 39. Heimbach, Cameron Smith, Mark Smith, and Wolfe were the balance of the top ten. Thompson was the last car running at the finish.
Heat wins belonged to Borden, Rahmer, and Franek. There was no B Main. Two cars broke the single lap track record in qualifications. Stutts claimed the top honors with a lap of 15.428 seconds. Also breaking the old mark, which belonged to Anthony Macri, was Cameron Smith. His time was 15.509 seconds.
The Limited Late Models and Roadrunners provided support. Their heat races were completed, but the features were postponed to next Saturday due to a broken water main. Scoring heat wins for the Limited Lates were Trent Brenneman and Devin Hart. Scott Dunham, Jr. and Mike Goodwin prevailed in the Roadrunners. The next 410 Sprint Car show on the docket at Selinsgrove Speedway will be the Ray Tilley Classic on May 12. Super Late Models and Roadrunners will also be on the card that evening.
IMPERIAL, PA (April 20, 2024) Aliquippa’s Tim Shaffer started on the pole position and survived several caution flags and restarts to win the Herb Scott Memorial Saturday night at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (PPMS).
“Boy I earned that one huh,” said Shaffer following the race. “These wins just keep getting better and better. Herb Scott won a lot of features and I have a long way to go to catch him, but my career went on the road and it became hard to win races. It’s kind of back home racing now for me and it’s a lot of fun.”
Brock Pinkerous and Dave Hess Jr. staged an epic battle over the last several laps with Pinkerous scoring an emotional runner-up finish.
“Congrats to Tim on the win,” said Pinkerous, who hails from Ellenville, NY. “He’s really good at this track. Him and Dave are legends around this area. It’s really cool to battle with them; they raced me clean and I raced them clean. Even though we didn’t win tonight, this is for my uncle tonight who passed away about a month ago. I hope he’s watching over us tonight, and I really love you uncle Chris.”
“We were really good on those restarts,” said Hess, the 39-year-old Waterford, Pa. driver. “A little tweak to the car and maybe a gear change and we could have had something for the leaders. Once those two (Shaffer and Pinkerous) got rolling, they were a little better than I was.”
Kyle Lukon finished fifth and Logan Roberson rounded out the Top 5.
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 45-Tim Shaffer[1]; 2. 555-Brock Pinkerous[4]; 3. 44-Dave Hess Jr[21]; 4. 184-Kyle Lukon[5]; 5. 17R-Logan Roberson[19]; 6. 10S-Joe Martin[16]; 7. 36-Cody Dawson[7]; 8. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[10]; 9. 42-Daryl Charlier[6]; 10. 184C-Justin Chance[13]; 11. 21J-Jim Rasey[24]; 12. 184P-Cole Petrelle[20]; 13. 77-Tom Klein[23]; 14. 57-Charlie Sandercock[11]; 15. 36B-Colby Beighey[15]; 16. 18-Mike Wonderling[25]; 17. 29-Ryan Hare[17]; 18. 60H-Brian Huchko[22]; 19. 9R-Mike Reft[14]; 20. 25-Zachary Kane[9]; 21. 72B-Kassidy Kamicker[18]; 22. 75-Jared Miley[3]; 23. 60-Brandon Burgoon[2]; 24. 14AJ-AJ Miller[8]; 25. 14G-Jake Gunn[12]
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (April 20, 2024): Anthony Macri made a triumphant return to the Keystone State. After spending a few weeks racing in the Midwest, Macri came back for some top-paying races in his own backyard. Weather claimed the first night of racing, at Williams Grove Speedway, but Macri made up for it by earning $20,000 in the 20th Annual Weldon Sterner Memorial at the Lincoln Speedway. It was his second victory of the season in the Pigeon Hills.
Macri, who was dominant running up near the wall in turns three and four, said “I think running out on the road made me more comfortable running up there, and running at that pace.” He did admit, though, that he did back off a bit in the late stages of the race in order to conserve his tires because this was the longest race he has run this season and he was not sure how the tires would hold up. “I was worried about tire wear. I had to run a good pace to make sure the tires would last.”
The luck of the draw put Macri on the pole for this forty lapper. Next to him was Aussie Ryan Newton. Billy Dietrich and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. were in the second row. Danny Dietrich was scheduled to start fifth, but a magneto problem forced him to pit just as the A Main was about to push off. The car could not be repaired in time to allow him to tag the tail of the field. So, Lucas Wolfe slid over to fifth and Troy Wagaman, Jr. became his dance partner. Cameron Smith and Kody Hartlaub were in row four. Behind them were Kyle Moody and Chad Trout, whose car was carrying the Sterner Cement wing to commemorate the event. Kyle Reinhart and Matt Campbell were in the sixth row.
Macri led Newton and Rahmer Jr. in the opening laps. Wagaman, Wolfe, Billy Dietrich, Moody, Smith, Campbell, and Hartlaub were next in line. A caution on lap three for Cory Haas bunched things up again, but the running order remained unchanged after the green lights came on again.
The first significant move occurred on lap twelve, when Rahmer Jr. worked the inside line to take over second. As Rahmer began his pursuit of Macri, Newton was busy keeping Wagaman and Wolfe at bay.
After a caution on lap sixteen for debris, Wagaman moved ahead of Newton, who struggled to stay ahead of Wolfe. In the second half of the race, Wolfe got stronger. He moved ahead of both Newton and Wagaman.
Macri continued out front, of course. Rahmer Jr. still held second, but Wolfe was closing in on him. Wagaman, Newton, and Campbell were battling for positions in the top five.
The final caution was displayed with seven laps remaining. Macri got away cleanly, and Wolfe resumed his attack on Rahmer Jr. As they contested the second spot, Macri began to pull away.
At the checkers, it was Macri ahead of Rahmer Jr. by over 2.4 seconds. Wolfe was a close third, followed by Wagaman and Newton. Billy Dietrich rallied in the closing laps to take sixth. Campbell, Devon Borden, Rinehart, and Brandon Rahmer completed the top ten.
Heat winners were Wolfe, Billy Dietrich, Macri, and Smith. Tyler Ross won the B Main. The evening’s fastest qualifier was Rahmer Jr., with a time of 13.768 seconds. He earned a $300 bonus for that accomplishment. Danny Dietrich received the hard luck award, worth $100. T.J. Stutts was the hard charger at plus eight. He, too, received $100 extra.
Ayden Hare will forever remember his sixteenth birthday, as he celebrated the occasion in victory lane after just his fourth 358 Sprint Car race. The teen drove a flawless race, leading wire to wire. “I am at a loss for words, I am so happy,” he said.
Scott Fisher had the pole, with Hare to his right. Behind them were Doug Hammaker and Frankie Herr. Row three consisted of Adam Carberry and Preston Lattomus. Jayden Wolf and Ashley Cappetta were in the fourth row. The fifth belonged to Mike Bittinger and Tyler Ulrich. Dylan Norris and Cody Fletcher claimed row six.
Hare won the race to turn one and he claimed the middle groove as his own. Fisher and Herr were side by side fighting for second, with Hammaker lurking in fourth. Carberry, Lattomus, Wolf, Bittinger, Cappetta, and Norris strung out behind the leaders.
Hare began to pull away from Fisher and Herr as they continued their struggle for second place.
A red flag on lap eleven for Wolf’s flip between turns three and four brought Hare back to the rest of the racers, but the teen had no trouble building his advantage up again in the final nine laps.
Hare, Fisher, Herr, Hammaker, and Carberry were the top five finishers. Bittinger, Cappetta, Norris, Lattomus, and Logan Rumsey were sixth through tenth. Wolf received the hard luck award and Jude Siegel was the hard charger, at plus seven. They each received $250.
Next week, Lincoln Speedway will present another 410 and 358 Sprint car doubleheader. The same two divisions will return on May 4. The World of Outlaws will be in for the Gettysburg Clash on May 8. There will be no racing on May 11, but the speedway will host the Hot Rod Annual for the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing.
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