Dirt Racing
Lee Repeats as UMP Modified Champion at East Bay
GIBSONTON, FL (February 3, 2024): Lucas Lee came back to win the finale for the UMP Modifieds during the WInternationals at East Bay Raceway Park. It was his second consecutive triumph in the winter classic. He won a pair of the preliminaries earlier in the week, and remained competitive in the other events, but he was not racing for the wins. He wasn’t worried, though, for he was confident that he had something special for Saturday night. Indeed, he did.
Lee ran in the top three for almost the entire race. He challenged Cole Czarneski for second on several occasions, but Lee came to life in the final twenty-five laps. Most of that run to the checkers was spent racing side by side with Kyle Strickler. “I thank him for racing me clean,” Lee said. “He could have come down and chopped me off.” Lee recalled a similar duel with Strickler at Florence Speedway, when Strickler came out on top, and he was very satisfied that the finish was reversed this time around.
Lee attributed much of his success to changing track conditions. “It cleaned up enough that I could go in hard.” Lee explained that the harder that he entered the corners, the better the car stuck. He made up a lot of time racing the inside line in turns three and four, but he conceded that Strickler was probably better than he was at the other end of the track. The eye test showed as much. During their struggle for the lead, Strickler was able to gain a slight advantage by rolling the top in turns one and two, but Lee could at least pull even or move ahead in three and four.
Strickler agreed that track conditions were important. He lost the lead in the middle stage of the race. His car began to push through turns three and four and Czarneski was able to drive hard in those corners. “It slicked off in four and I had to find a new line,” Strickler explained. Despite losing the race to his friend, Lee, Strickler was happy. “That was a lot of fun. This is probably the best I have felt finishing second. It doesn’t sting as much as last night.” Strickler thought that he gave away the Friday preliminary. Strickler, who now spends most of the time racing a Late Model, added that he really enjoys racing the Modified and finds it to be much less stressful.
Strickler drew the pole for the seventy-five lapper. Czarneski was by his side. Brad DeYoung and Ryan Gierke occupied row two, the last two cars locked into the A Main were Michael Leach and Lee. Then came the heat winners, led by Devin Dixon and Trey Jacoby. Rodney Wing and Brian Skaggs came next. The final heat winner, Austin Holcombe, was paired with David Pollen in row six.
Strickler led Czarneski, DeYoung, Gierke, Leach, Lee, Jacoby, and Wing in the early going. A caution three laps in re-set the running order, as Gierke was sent to the tail for turning a fellow competitor. On the restart, Lee was able to wrestle second away from Czarneski, but the teen regained the position just before the next caution, which appeared on lap eleven. In that interval, Leach and Wing moved into the top five. In addition, Jason Garver, winner of one of the B Mains, climbed into the top ten from seventeenth on the grid.
Czarneski continued to shadow Strickler when the race resumed. Lee stayed close in third while trying to hold off Leach and Wing. Garver’s dash to the front took a severe blow when he lost the left rear tire. He pitted on the caution and resumed the race, but any chances of a win were gone.
Following the restart, Strickler led Czarneski and Lee into traffic. Strickler had some difficulties working past the slower cars, and that enabled Czarneski to slip by on the inside coming off turn four. Czarneski led up to the fuel stop on lap thirty-five. Lee maintained third but he let the leaders get away in traffic.
At the fuel stop, Czarneski was the leader over Strickler, Lee, Leach, Jacoby, DeYoung, Holcombe, Michael Turner, Austin Sanders, and Pollen. Of note, Turner was the winner of the second B Main and he methodically worked his way ahead.
When the race resumed, Strickler made a bold move to the top of the speedway. He was able to maintain momentum and he pulled alongside Czarneski. Strickler got his nose ahead to lead lap thirty-seven. While the lead duo ran side-by-side, Lee was lurking. Leach and Jacoby were fighting for fourth, with Wing close behind them.
At lap fifty, Leach lost the handle and took a visit to the pits. On the ensuing restart, Lee asserted himself. While Strickler led, Lee and Czarneski fought for second. The Tennessee veteran claimed the position by lap fifty-five, and he set out after Strickler. It did not take him very long to mount a serious challenge for the lead.
Lee was on the bottom, and Strickler was up on the cushion. The two ran side-by-side for a number of laps before Strickler got the advantage. The final caution appeared on lap sixty-three. The battle for the lead picked up again when the green light flashed on for the last time. Lee got a strong run coming off turn four to lead lap sixty-seven.
Strickler fought back to regain the lead, but he could not dispose of Lee. Lee’s persistence paid off on lap seventy-two when he went to P1 on the scoreboard. Strickler continued to run the high side and he was able to pull alongside Lee.
The duo took the white flag racing side-by-side. Lee cut two good corners to get a slight advantage heading down the back stretch for the last time. Strickler pulled all the stops in the final corners and came up just a tad short at the checkers. Lee got the win by 0.272 seconds.
Czarneski had a choice seat for the final showdown, but he was too far back to join the fun that unfolded in front of him. Jacoby and Wing completed the top five. Leach came back after his miscue and a trip to the pits to garner sixth. Dixon, Skaggs, Turner, and Alan Weisser rounded out the top ten.
DeYoung and Holcombe were the last two cars on the lead lap.
MECHANICSBURG, PA (May 9, 2026): David Gravel, the two-time World of Outlaws champion and current points leader, dominated the finale in the fifteenth running of the Morgan Cup at Williams Grove Speedway. Gravel’s win, the tenth of his career at the venerable speedway, secured possession of the perpetual trophy for the World of Outlaws for the eighth time. Moreover, the win gave the touring stars a two-to-one edge in the win column for the three-race Pennsylvania swing.
Gravel seized control of the race on the opening lap and he was never challenged during the course of the thirty lapper. The only threat to Gravel during the non-stop affair was a bumping incident when he was lapping Brent Shearer. Shearer’s right rear wheel contacted Gravel’s left rear. Fortunately, the two cars quickly separated and both drivers maintained control as they rocketed toward turn one. Gravel expressed concern that he might have gotten a flat tire from such contact, but he said that the double bead locks on the left rear of his car probably saved the day.
“From the rain this morning, that grip up high was there. They patted it down with the push trucks and water trucks. It just launched really good, and actually my motor was really cold. It didn’t run good for the first five or six laps, but it had enough horsepower to beat him (Kasey Kahne) going into (turn) one. He didn’t try to slide me. It looked like he backpedaled and tried to run the bottom, but that was obviously the winning move of the race.”
Gravel added that it was important for him to control the pace of the race. “You just don’t know, this could’ve been ten cautions or green-to-checkered. Luckily, it went green-to-checkered. Maybe I was getting a little complacent down here in (turns) three and four. Maybe should have moved up. Those guys said the 67 (Justin Whittall) was coming, so. It’s just so hard to lead these races. Lincoln, here, it doesn’t matter where it is. When you’re up front, you know, the track changes and people can judge you, behind you. I feel like I got through the lapped cars pretty good.”
Justin Whittall was making just his second start in his new joint venture with Rod Gross Motorsports. The first outing was a disappointing seventeen in the preliminary night program. He gave props to his crew for working late on Friday night and early on this race day to get more speed in the car. He was able to close in on the leader in the closing laps, but was several car lengths behind him when the checkers waved. “I saw David (Gravel) struggling with the lapped car. He finally got him. That was when I really started to catch him.”
Third place went to defending track champion and current points leader, Troy Wagaman, Jr. Wagaman’s podium finish stretched his points lead over Lance Dewease, who failed to qualify because he was plagued by mechanical problems all night long. Wagaman explained that he put together a complete night. “I felt good. I timed good, I had a good heat race, and a good dash. I had speed in the feature.”
For the second night in a row, Kasey Kahne started on the front row for the A Main. This time, he had the pole as a result of his dash victory. But the difference in lanes may have been his undoing. David Gravel had the outside position, which was clearly superior for the start of the event. Freddy Rahmer lined up third, with Whittall as his running mate. Wagaman and Sheldon Haudenschild were in row three. The last pair of preferred starters were Ashton Torgerson, aboard Kyle Moody’s machine, and Chad Trout. Then came Carson Macedo and Bill Balog, followed by Emerson Axsom and Danny Dietrich.
Gravel and Kahne raced wheel to wheel into turn one, but Gravel had the better line through the corner. He emerged from turn two with the lead and never looked back. Kahne followed closely in the early going, but, with each successive lap, Gravel added to his lead. Whittall, Wagaman, Rahmer, Haudenshild, , Torgerson, Trout, Carson Macedo, and Balog made up the balance of the top ten during the opening laps.
The first five–consisting of Gravel, Kahne, Whittall, Wagaman, and Haudenschild–raced in order through the first half of the event.
Soon after the midway signal, Whittall begal to stalk Kahne. On lap nineteen, Whittall rode the rin in turns three and four to reach second spot. Wagaman and Haudenschild soon followed suit.
Whittall trimmed Gravel’s lead in the closing laps. As he was doing so, Haudenschild was applying some pressure to Wagaman for third. A few spots back in the running order, Rahmer and Carson Macedo were battling for sixth.
At the checkers, it was Gravel over Whittall, Wagaman, Haudenschild, and Kahne. Carson Macedo was sixth, with Rahmer, Torgerson, Dietrich, and Balog completing the top ten.
Carson Macedo was named the hard charger, advancing three positions. Several others also passed as many cars but they were all behind him in the finishing order.
The four heat wins went to Gravel, Kahne, Whittall, and Trout. Daryn Pittman won the B Main. Gravel set the fast time, at 16.431, to top Group A. Whittall was the best in Group B with a time of 16.897.
Williams Grove Speedway will be back in action on Friday, May 15, with a Sprint Car doubleheader. The 410s and 358 Sprints will do battle on York County Racing Club Night. There will be no racing on May 22 , but the American Flat Track Motorcycles will compete on May 23.
MECHANICSBURG, PA (May 8, 2026): After more than 220 career starts with the Greatest Show on Dirt, Kasey Kahne is finally a winner with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. The unexpected victory came at Williams Grove Speedway, where his only triumph came on opening day in the year 2000. Adding to the novelty of it all, Kahne was pinch hitting for Anthony Macri, who was injured earlier this season at the track.
“This is crazy,” Khane said after scoring the upset. “I couldn’t believe this happened this weekend.”
He added, “two weeks ago, I was still building my own cars to get prepared to hopefully race them later this year. Now, I am with this team. I knew this was a good team.” Kahne just didn’t appreciate how good the team truly was until he became part of it.
Kahne was making just his third start for Macri Motorsports. He was eleventh in his debut at nearby Lincoln Speedway on Saturday night. Tuesday night, in the World of Outlaws event held there, he improved to ninth.
Kahne was tabbed to be the substitute driver because of his connection to the crew chief, Joe Mooney. Mooney was the car chief for Brad Sweet at Kasey Kahne Racing before joining Macri Motorsports in November of 2022.
When Mooney approached Kahne to tell him about his opportunity to join Macri Motorsports as the crew chief, Kahne told him that he had to take the job.
Mooney acknowledged that the decision to bring Kahne aboard as a substitute driver while Macri was on the mend “was a little bit of a payback.” He added, “it’s a little bit of repaying the favor of getting to work for him for four years and a lot of good times. When I went to take this job and told him I was probably leaving and where I was going, he was my biggest cheerleader. It’s pretty damn cool.”
Kahne led from start to finish in this one. But, it was not an easy win for the veteran driver. He had to fight off David Gravel and, later, Sheldon Haudenschild.
And, although the car was strong throughout the race, Kahne had to compensate for some of its quirks, which he attributed to the differences between his driving style and that of Anthony Macri. “I had my wing so far back, it was lifting the front down the straightaways.” He also noted that the car was leaning over on the right rear, but he needed that to get enough drive off the corners.
Sheldon Haudenschild chased down Kahne in the closing laps, and he made a bold outside move in turn two to challenge for the lead. “Kasey was running a slider line and had it kinda blocked. I thought I had him off of (turn) two, but I got a little push. Sometimes, you just have to let it go,” he explained.
David Gravel held on for third. “I thought I had the best car for the first fifteen laps,” he said. “But Sheldon picked me,” and Gravel had difficulty the rest of the way, especially while working through traffic.
Chase Dietz shared the front row with Kahne for the twenty-five lapper. Gravel and Haudenschild were next in line. They were followed by Troy Wagaman, Jr. and Bill Balog. The final you preferred starting spots went to Daryn Pittman and Kody Hartlaub. The fifth row belonged to T.J. Stutts and Carson Macedo. Buddy Kofoid and Spencer Bayston.
Kahne got the jump on Dietz at the start of the race and he immediately went to the cushion in turn one. He rode the outside line to a lead of several car lengths on the opening lap. Dietz was struggling to hold off Gravel, while Haudenschild was lurking right behind them. Wagaman, Balog, Pittman, Carson Macedo, Kofoid, and Hartlaub followed in the early laps.
Just before the midpoint of the race, Gravel and Haudenschild worked past Dietz. Gravel caught up to Kahne in traffic and briefly challenged for the lead. By lap twenty, though, Haudenschild overtook Gravel for second and he began slicing into Kahne’s advantage. Meanwhile, Dietz was pressing Gravel for third.
In the final five laps of the contest, Haudenschild caught Kahne. Haudenschild got a good run through
turn two and pulled up next to the leader coming off the corner. Before Haudenschild could complete the pass, though, he developed a push, which required him to burp the throttle. Kahne scooted away as they headed toward turn three.
On the last lap of the race, Kahne passed the lapped car of Ashton Torgerson. That gave him some extra breathing room.
The fans gave Kahne a standing ovation as he took the checkers. Haudenschild was second, and Gravel was third. Dietz and Wagaman completed the top five. Kofoid was sixth, followed by Pittman, Carson Macedo, Balog, and Donny Schatz.
The fifteenth place finisher, Cameron Smith, was the hard charger at plus eight.
Kahne, Dietz, Gravel, and Balog scored the heat wins. Kasey Jedrzejek won the C Main. Doug Hammaker topped the B Main. Gravel was the evening’s fastest qualifier, with a lap of 16.379 seconds, in Group B. Kahne was the best of Group A with a lap of 16.446 seconds.
During the heat race action, there was a spectacular crash in turn one involving Cole Macedo and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. Although both cars sustained heavy damage, neither driver was injured. Rahmer confronted Macedo after the incident, swinging his helmet at Macedo while he was still strapped in his car. Rahmer was disqualified for his actions.
IMPERIAL, PA (May 9, 2026) – Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway (PPMS) is cancelling their Saturday night program after heavy overnight rains and cloudy skies throughout the morning forced track officials to make the difficult decision.
“After evaluating conditions throughout the property Saturday morning, speedway officials determined that the amount of water absorbed overnight created conditions that would not allow for a practical or enjoyable event experience for fans, teams, and staff” the Speedway announced in a statement.
Fans who purchased advanced tickets for tonight’s event have already had their refunds processed automatically..
Next Saturday PPMS will host a ‘Night of Champions’, which will honor 2025 track Champions and those who finished in the top 10 in points in the respective divisions.
“We’re ready to get this season rolling in a big way and hopefully Mother Nature starts working with us soon,” said Tyler Harris, PPMS Operations Manager. “We know fans, racers, and teams are anxious to get back to the speedway, and we appreciate everyone continuing to stick with us through a difficult start to the year.”
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