Dirt Racing
Mayor Makes it Two in a Row, Stake Scores Also
PORT ROYAL, PA (March 5, 2023): Dylan Cisney, the elected Mayor of the Borough of Port Royal, reigned supreme in the 410 Sprint Car opener for the second consecutive season at the Port Royal Speedway. Cisney bided his time and made a last lap pass to score the $5,000 victory. In the Super Late Model undercard, Dillan Stake went wire to wire to capture his first ever career win and first opening day triumph. Stake, a veteran of the Limited Late Model class and a part-time performer in the top division, announced that he will compete full-time with the Super Late Models in 2023. He took home $4,000. This was the eighty-first opener for the Speed Palace.
“It’s tough in these things,” Cisney said with a sigh. “You see the guys behind you, and you need to be patiently aggressive.” Cisney was referring to heavy hitters Like Anthony Macri and Danny Dietrich, who were behind him most of the way. Cisney added, “we didn’t have a good start, but that’s OK, I’d rather be the chaser.” Cisney explained that he did not want to see Parker Price-Miller get by him late in the race, but “when they (Price-Miller and Macri) got to racing each other, I was able to get in there.”
Cisney drew the pole for the twenty-five lapper. Next to him was Jeff Halligan. Justin Schulz and Lance Dewease were penciled into the second row, but Dewease could not get his motor to fire and he never started the race. That moved Parker Price-Miller into his spot. Danny Dietrich was paired up with Anthony Macri with the outside line moving up. Dylan Norris and Austin Bishop made up row four. The fifth belonged to Devon Borden and Steve Buckwalter.Mike Wagner and Justin Whittal took up row six.
Cisney won the race to turn one, but he played it conservatively, staying on the inside rather than sailing it in on the outside. Cisney noted that he was concerned about the condition of the high line, which was sprinkled with some water by the track crew before the start of the feature. Halligan was more daring, and he came off the second turn with the lead.
Halligan opened several car lengths on Cisney and the two maintained that separation through the first caution, on lap five, for Borden in turn four. Price-Miller held onto third, followed by Macri, Dietrich, Schulz, Bishop, Norris, Rehmer, and Gerard McIntyre.
Price-Miller overtook Cisney entering turn three on lap nine and Macri saw an opportunity to challenge Cisney as well. But, last year’s ten-time winner could not pull off the pass. Mike Wagner was making moves, however, and he reached the top ten by the time that his son, five-time and defending track champ, Logan Wagner, spun in turn four, That was the second and final caution, and it was recorded on lap eleven.
The remaining fourteen laps were run without any interruptions. On the restart, Danny Dietrich made a bold attempt to pick up some positions. He dove low into turn one, making it three-wide for third. Cisney and Macri retained their positions, and Dietrich fell back into fifth once again.
Halligan remained the leader, but Price-Miller was narrowing the gap. They were batting for the lead when the five-lap signal was displayed to the field. Halligan was stuck in traffic, and he went searching for an opportune place to pass a slower car. He tried the inside line in turn one, but he lost momentum, and Price-Miller sailed by to take the lead.
Macri slid by Cisney and Halligan, and he was closing on Price-Miller. Macri started to press Price-Miller, and Cisney rallied. He passed Halligan and Macri was next to fall to his charge. Cisney continued his mission, dropping to the inside of turn one on the final lap to pass Price-Miller. Cisney slid up to block the counterattack through turn two.
Cisney held the advantage through the rest of the lap and emerged with the win. Scott Cowman, his car owner, who made it in from Wisconsin for this race, was enthused by the win. He teased his driver about “waiting so long” to make the winning move.
Price-Miller held on for second, followed by Macri, Dietrich, and Halligan. Mike Wagner, Whittal, Rahmer, Schulz, and Borden completed the top ten.
Three heats were spun off in rapid order, with wins going to Borden, Macri, and Norris. The B Main winner was Chris Windom.
Amanda Robinson pulled the pole for the twenty-five lap Super Late Model night cap. Next to her was Dillan Stake. Her husband, Ross, was behind her. He was flanked by Hayes Mattern. Logan Zarin and Rick Eckert were in row three, followed by Trever Feathers and Austin Berry. Gary Stuhler and Mike Lupfer handled row five. Defending titleholder Colton Flinner and Justin Weaver started in row six.
Stake seized the lead in turn one on the opening lap and he never looked back. Mattern ran second, followed by Ross and Amanda Robinson, Eckert, Berry, Stuhler, Zarin, Flinner, and Feathers in the early going.
As Ross Robinson moved forward, Amanda fell back. She had a spirited battle with Eckert, Berry, and Stuhler for most of the race. Later, Jeff Rine joined in the fun.
At the checkers, it was Stake, Ross Robinson, Eckert, Mattern, and Rine. Amanda Robinson, Flinner, Stuhler, Gregg Satterlee, and Berry completed the top ten.
Weaver, Flinner, Lupfer, and Stuhler captured the heat wins. The B Main went to Nick Dickson.
Before the racing started for the day, track management announced purse increases for both the 410 Sprints and Super Late Models. All regular season events will pay $5,000 to win and $500 to start for the 410s and $4,000 to win and $400 to start for the Super Late Models.
Next weekend, Port Royal Speedway will present the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. The two-day program will carry a Sunday raindate of both ends of the event are lost to weather. The Friday race will start at 7 p.m., and Saturday will have a 6 p.m. start. The wingless Super Sportsmen will provide support on Saturday only. Port Royal will be dark on March 18 in consideration of teh World of Outlaws event at Lincoln SPeedway. Racing will return on March 25. The three-division program will consist of 410 Sprints, Super Late Models (with the ULMS) and Limited Late Models.
MECHANICSBURG, PA (June 5, 2026): Troy Wagaman, Jr. cashed in on the opportunities given to him to win the Lynn Paxton Classic at Williams Grove Speedway. The second win of the season for the defending track champion and current points leader was his first ever with the All Stars Circuit of Champions, which celebrated fifty-five years of competition at the famed oval. Wagaman received $8,000 for his efforts, matching his payday from the Tommy Classic held earlier in the season.
Wagaman benefitted from two miscues by Danny Dietrich, who had led from the start of the non-stop thirty lapper. The first came on lap fifteen, when Dietrich narrowly avoided disaster coming off turn two. The other came ten laps later when Dietrich slid out of the groove between turns three and four.
“I don’t know if I would have gotten him,” Wagaman said modestly.
He was trailing Dietrich by nearly 1.6 seconds in the middle of the race, but Wagaman squeezed between Dietrich, a lapped car, and the backstretch guard rail to take the lead. Preston Lattomus nearly spun at the exit to turn two, Dietrich came up on him quickly, made slight contact, and almost spun as well, but there was just enough room for Wagaman to scoot by. “I thought he missed it, got too close to the lapped car,” Wagaman explained.
Wagaman then built up a slight lead of his own, which evaporated in traffic. Dietrich drove under both Wagaman and the lapped car between turns three and four on lap twenty-four, but Wagaman came storming back on the next lap to regain the lead. Dietrich slid off the bottom in the same area, and Wagaman pounced. “Danny showed me the bottom. I was struggling on the top and I got down to the bottom after that.”
Wagaman, from Hanover, dedicated the win to his ailing grandmother, adding that he will get to see her on Sunday afternoon.
The starting line-up had a last minute shuffle when Lance Dewease got a flat while the cars were getting into formation. Dewease pitted for a fresh tire, but forfeited his second starting position. He rejoined the field for the start, and put in on an impressive drive to fourteenth from the rear of the twenty-six car field.
Dietrich thus moved to the front row, joining the Dash winner, Cale Thomas. Wagaman and Brady Bacon made up the second row, followed by Doug Hammaker and Kasey Kahne. Brock Zearfoss and T.J. Stutts came next. Chase Dietz and Parker Price Miller were in row five, and Austin Bishop was paired with Ryan “Fig” Newton in row six.
Dietrich wasted no time blasting into the early lead up on the cushion in turns one and two. Wagaman used a more conservative line to reach second. Thomas fell into line in third, ahead of Hammaker, Bacon, Stutts, and Kahne.
Dietrich seemed to have the race under control through the first half of the event. However, things changed suddenly on lap fifteen. He avoided a crash, but lost the lead. Dietrich wasn’t done quite yet, though.
Wagaman was still running the top in turns three and four despite having trouble getting past a lapped car. That allowed Dietrich to flash by on the inside to take the lead away. However, Wagaman came back to lead lap twenty-five when Dietrich slid up the track in almost the same place on the track.
Wagaman changed lines for the remainder of the race, and he paced himself off of the lapped cars, figuring that Dietrich would have to drive around them all if he were to make another bid for the win. However, Wagaman took the checkers 1.120 seconds ahead of Dietrich, who was driving his back-up car after crashing at Selinsgrove Speedway the night before.
Bacon, Stutts, and Dietz completed the top five. Zearfoss, Hammaker, Kahne, Price Miller, and Newton were the next five finishers.
J.J. Loss was the hard charger, advancing seven spots to finish thirteenth.
Kalib Henry, the current All Stars points leader and defending series champion, was the highest finisher from the tour, at seventeenth.
Hammaker, Dewease, Dietrich, and Kahne were the heat winners. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. won the B Main. Stutts was the fastest qualifier, lapping in 17.112 seconds in Group A. Dietrich was the best in Group B. His lap was 17.290 seconds. Thirty-eight cars checked in, including ten All Stars points chasers.
Ageless Steve Wilbur added another Wingless Sportsman victory to his resume. He led Tony Jackson for all twenty laps. “Tony’s hard to beat wherever we go, and to hold him off all of those laps was something,” Wilbur said. “It just feels so good to beat Jackson. I didn’t come all the way from Mechanicsburg to get my a$$ kicked,” he added with a laugh.
Wilbur claimed to use an old right rear tire dating back to his days at Silver Spring Speedway, which closed in 2005.
Cliff Brian, Jr. was third, one spot ahead of the hard charger, Brett Perigo. Brandon Shearer, Derek Shaffer, Brian Nace, Scott Smith, Curt Stroup, and John Edkin were fifth through tenth in the non-stop affair.
Jackson and Wilbur split the heat race wins. There was no B Main necessary for the nineteen car field.
Next Friday, Williams Grove Speedway will present fan appreciation night. All in attendance will get to mingle with the 410 and 358 Sprint Car racers in the front pit area before the start of the action. There will be free potato chips and candy during the pit party. Fireworks will also be part of the fun.
FRANKLIN, PA (May 31, 2026): A.J. Flick claimed his third championship in the Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. His first two titles came in 2023 and 2024.
“This whole week is so cool,” he said. He added, “I think consistency is important and I think that helped me.”
Flick started the week out very strongly, with wins at Michaels Mercer Raceway and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. He was fourth at Lernerville Speedway and fifth in the finale at Tr-City Raceway Park. His worst finish of the week was ninth at Sharon Speedway on Saturday night.
Flick was especially happy with his fifth place finish in the final round because he was not very comfortable in the car.
Other race winners during Speedweek were: Dale Blaney, at Lernerville, Logan Wagner, at Sharon, and Brandon Spithaler, at Tri-City.
Flick’s total earnings for the week were $14,750, which included the $3,000 championship stipend.
One other driver earned more than $10,000. That was Spithaler, who grossed $10.175.
Flick was one of sixteen drivers to enter all five events comprising Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. A total of sixty-one racers competed in at least one round of Speedweek.
The top ten drivers in the point standings shared the point fund, as follows:
- A.J. Flick, 452 points, $3,000
- Mark Smith, 412 points, $2,500
- Brandon Spithaler, 406 points, $2,000
- Jeremy Weaver, 393 points, $1,500
- Carl Bowser, 371 points, $1,000
- Michael Bauer, 368 points, $900
- Adam Kekich, 344 points, $800
- Brandon Matus, 338 points, $700
- Ricky Peterson, 320 points, $600
- Jacob Begenwald, 302 points, $500
Interestingly, one driver in the top ten in points missed a show along the way. Ricky Peterson was absent from Sharon because he had another commitment. He won the FAST on Dirt Sprint Car Series event at Skyline Speedway instead.
FRANKLIN, PA (May 31, 2026): Brandon Spithaler saved his best Speedweek performance for the final night of the five race series. The victory at Tri-City Raceway Park, his first of the season, netted the driver from Renfrew, PA a cool $6,000. He also finished third in Speedweek points, adding another $2,000 to his stash. Spithaler’s total winnings for the week amounted to $10,175, second only to the Speedweek champion, A.J. Flick.
Spithaler noted that “2026 hasn’t been very kind to us. We lost a motor, we trashed a car, we switched chassis. I think we’ve hit on something now.”
He added, “I felt like I was better than him, Ricky (Peterson, who finished a distant second). I was worried when he got by Logan (McCandless, the early leader), but I kept plugging away and I got by him (Peterson).”
Spithaler was especially good in traffic. He explained, “I am a fan of traffic. If we get a long run, I like picking my way through.”
Peterson, who held on for second place, had an opposite opinion about the traffic conditions. “I was really good early. I had issues with the lappers. I think I left a lane open for Brandon, and he got away from us.”
Mark Smith put on a strong charge in the second half of the race to grab the third position. He noted that it was a challenging night and that he changed some things around on his car between the heat and the feature. “We got it going, but it was a little too late. Maybe we needed 35 laps.”
The first ten positions in the starting line-up were reserved for the four heat winners and six of the fastest qualifiers.
Logan McCandless drew the pole position. He was joimed on the front row by the professor, Michael Bauer. Matt Farnham and A.J. Flick pulled the second row, followed by Peterson and Spithaler. Smith and Jeremy Weaver landed in row four. Then came Jared Zimbardi and D.J. Christie. Row six belonged to Tim Shaffer and John Jerich.
The initial start was waved off due to a crash between turns one and two, which claimed Jerich and Christie. Both cars tumbled, but neither driver was injured.
When the field was realigned for the start, Shaffer moved to the outside of row five and Bob Felmlee and Cody Bova became the new sixth row.
McCandless surged into the early lead, followed by Farnham, Bauer, Flick, Peterson, Spithaler, Weaver, Smith, Shaffer, Felmlee, and Zimbardi.
McCandless was exceptionally strong through the first half of the race. His lead grew to more than 1.8 seconds over Farnham through the first nine laps. Peterson moved into second position on lap ten. Gradually, he cut into McCandless’ advantage. On lap fifteen, the margin dwindled to just under a half a second.
Moving into the second half of the contest, McCandless began to have difficulty navigating through the traffic. Peterson narrowed the gap even further over the next few laps. On lap eighteen, Peterson drove by McCandless for the lead.
Meanwhile, Spithaler was closing in on both Peterson and McCandless. Spithaler moved ahead of McCandless on lap nineteen. Just one lap later, he passed Peterson in traffic.
In the final ten laps of the race, Spithaler was clearly superior to Peterson. The lead continued to grow with each lap. He was more than four seconds ahead of Peterson by lap twenty-six. The margin reached 5.338 seconds on the final lap.
Smith cracked the top five on lap sixteen. He held fourth from lap sixteen through lap twenty-nine. On the final trip around the big half mile, Smith moved into third.
McCandless held on for fourth, one spot ahead of Flick, who clinched the Speedweek championship with a steady performance. He was in or just outside the top five for the entire race.
Shaffer edged Farnham for sixth. Greg Wilson, Bauer, and Bova completed the top ten.
Flick, Weaver, Zimbardi, and Peterson won the heat races. Tyler Esh copped the B Main.
Brandon Matus was the night’s fastest qualifier. He topped Group A with a lap of 17.622. However, his night went downhill after that. While running in a transfer position on the last lap of his heat race, Matus flipped hard between turns three and four. His crew thrashed to get the car ready for the B Main with assistance from Spithaler and Weaver, among others. However, Matus finished fifth, with only four cars making the A Main.
Spithaler was the fastest member of Group B. His time was 17,796.
Blaze Myers took the lead on lap six of the RUSH Sprint Car feature and he cruised to an easy victory over Luke Mulichak. The early leader, Zach Morrow, finished in third. Brayden Blackshear and Samantha Priest were fourth and fifth. Lucas Roessner, Devon Deeter, Logen Lockhart, Grayson Bayle, and Ricky Tucker, III, rounded out the top ten. Myers and Roessner took the preliminaries.
The nightcap for the Mini Stock division went to Camden Franz. There was a constant three car battle for second throughout the fifteen lapper. Sheriff Tim Callahan prevailed, with Jordan Wheeler and Justin Forsyth following. Fifth went to Andy Thomson. Kevin Dotten, Michael Phillipson, Andrew Thompson, Ben Aley, and Jacob Wheeler were sixth through tenth.
Alex Palou wins fourth straight pole position at World Wide Technology Raceway
Rough day for Wright at Michigan
Opportunistic Wagaman Wins at Williams Grove
Heim holds off Honeycutt to win Truck race at Michigan
Flick is Speedweek King
Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing win the pole position for the 110th Indianapolis 500
Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward and Romain Grosjean involved in multi vehicle crash during Indy 500 practice
New York Dog wins the Wienie 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NASCAR community mourns the loss of champion driver Kyle Busch
