Dirt Racing
Dietrich and Duke Declare Victories at Port Royal
PORT ROYAL, PA (April 6, 2024): After several attempts were foiled by wet weather, Port Royal Speedway finally got its first Sprint Car action in the books. Danny Dietrich benefited from a postponement at Lincoln Speedway to get in an extra race at the Speed Palace, and he edged out Devon Borden on a critical late race restart to earn the victory. The Keystone Racesaver Classic was carried over from last Fall due to weather issues, and former IMCA and Port Royal champion Ken Duke chalked up his first win in the prestigious event for the 305 Sprint Cars.
Dietrich chased Borden for most of the contest, but he was able to get to the inside line entering turn one when it mattered most. Borden was caught in no man’s land–the dreaded middle groove–and he could not fight back to regain the lead. Dietrich explained that his winning move was simply a matter of having more experience at the track, especially in day racing.
“We’ve been pretty good here in the daytime,” Dietrich said modestly. “We’ve got a lot of different stuff on this car and we changed a lot after the hot laps.” “He (Borden) did a good job with what he had. His car was set up differently than ours and you could see that.”
Dietrich had tried but failed to make a pass on Borden in turn one on several occasions during the race. He tried to slide him, he tried to run the inside line, he even tried the high side, all to no avail, as Borden was always able to counter whatever moves Dietrich tried. “I could drive up to his bumper, trying to get him to miss the rubber, and I’d miss the rubber,” Dietrich observed.
Jeff Halligan and Lynton Jeffrey were paired up on the front row for the start of the first 410 Sprint Car show of the 2024 season. Billy Dietrich and Borden had row two, with Lucas Wolfe and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. in row three. Corey Day and Chase Dietz claimed row four, with Gerard McIntyre, Jr. and John Karklin behind them Danny Dietrich and Lance Dewease were set to depart from row six.
On the initial start, there was contact between Halligan and Jeffrey, who turned sideways coming off turn four. He headed nose-first toward the inside, and all the other drivers had to scatter. Most made it through with little or no damage. But Jeffrey and McIntyre flipped and several others were collected. Needless to say, the line-up changed considerably for the second try at green.
Take two resembled the first, as there was contact between Halligan and Billy Dietrich in turn four, but there were no chaotic consequences.
Devon Borden surged to the front using the high line in turns one and two on the opening lap. But the remarkable moves were made by Danny Dietrich, who navigated from eighth to second by the time the racers reached the scoring loop for the first time. Halligan checked in at third, followed by Billy D., Wolfe, and Dietz. The field completed only one more round before T.J. Stutts slowed to a stop.
On the ensuing restart, Borden and Danny Dietrich separated themselves from the rest of the field. Halligan and brother Billy continued in third and fourth, but Dietz, Dewease, and Wolfe were fighting for fifth. Dewease took over fifth by lap ten, and fourth five laps later. By then, however, the first three had pulled away.
Dewease was turning the fastest laps of the race trying to cut the margin. Just as he was approaching Halligan, the caution flew on lap twenty-two due to the flat right rear on Rahmer’s car.
Double D took advantage of the restart to get a run on Borden. The tow racers hit turn one simultaneously, but Dietrich had the preferred line. Borden was stuck in the middle, and there was no grip. Dietrich drove the low line perfectly and he scooted away from Borden with ease.
The final caution came on lap twenty-four when Blane Heimbach got a flat right rear too.
The final restart was uneventful. Dietrich led the parade into turn one, and no passes were made in any of the key positions.
Danny Dietrich took the checkers ahead of Borden, Halligan, Dewease, and Billy Dietrich. Dietz took sixth in his first race for the Zemco team. Wolfe, Karklin, Logan Wagner, and Dylan Cisney completed the top ten.
Heat wins went to Dietz, Day, Rahmer, and Wolfe. Dylan Norris prevailed in the B Main.
The held over 305 feature had Drew Young and Jason Roush on the front row, with Roger Irvine and Jeff Weaver, Jr. in row two. Kenny Heffner and Nick Sweigart were in the third row. Doug Dodson and Owen Dimm were next in line. Ken Duke was paired with Kruz Kepner in row five. Zach Rhodes and Kasey Weaver had row six.
Young took the lead on the opening lap, with Roush, Irvine, Sweigart, Jeff Weaver, and Dodson following. Things remained unchanged up front through the first half of the race.
Irvine took over second on lap seventeen, and he began to whittle away at Young’s advantage. The lead was wiped away just one lap later when Landon Price came to a stop entering turn one.
On the restart, Irvine began to apply some pressure to Young, but Young began to pull away. Irvine could not maintain the pace, though, and he came under attack from Dodson and Duke.
Young and Dodson were getting ready for a two-car battle to the finish when something unexpected happened. They both lost right rear tires in the same corner on the same lap! The resulting caution set up a two-lap dash for the win, with Duke and Irvine as the front runners.
They got away cleanly and it seemed as though the outcome was determined. However, the third place car of Rhodes sustained a flat right rear as well on lap twenty-four.
So, the 305 race came down to a one-lap run for the money. Duke and Irvine remained out front. Jeff Weaver came up to third, followed by Sweigart and Roush. Dimm, Christian Rumsey, Danny Buccafusca, Nolan Groves, and Erin Statler completed the top ten.
“I didn’t have anything for Doug (Dodson) or Drew (Young),” Duke said. “I don’t know what happened to them, but I was smiling ear to ear,” he added. Duke explained that he was driving an unfamiliar car, which he debuted atthe end of 2023. “This car is different than anything I’ve ever had. I didn’t have any chance to try anything out with it.” Nonetheless, the car performed flawlessly for him and, more importantly, it did not have excessive tire wear over the course of the twenty-five lap affair.
The Founders Cup, a fifteen lap race for the non-qualifiers, closed out the action. Paul Moyer led from the pole, but with one lap remaining, Fred Arnold drove by in turn one to lead the last lap. The most important part of the win was the guaranteed starting position for the 2024 edition of the Keystone Racesaver Challenge, which will be run in the middle of the summer rather than its customary mid-October date.
Taking second was Moyer, followed by Ben Miklos. Donnie Hendershot and Alan Rhodes completed the top five. Dustin Young, Andrew Boyer, Kyle Hart, Bill Sheehan, and Jimmy White were the next five finishers.
The outstanding 45 car field required six heats and two B Mains to cut down to the twenty-six cars for the big race. The heat winners were Duke, Sweigart, Kepner, Rhodes, Jeff Weaver, Jr., and Heffner. Jacob Gomola and Jarred Rosencrance did the Western PA contingent something to cheer about, taking the twin Bs.
Port Royal Speedway will be back in action on Saturday, April 13, with a three-division program featuring the 410 Sprints, the Super Late Models, and the Limited Late Models. April 20 will have the same two headliners, but the PASS 305 Sprints will be back for their second appearance of the season. The weekend of April 27-28 will be a biggie, with the Keith Kauffman Classic going on Saturday. That will consist of the 410 Sprints paying $15,000 to the winner, along with the USAC East Coast Sprints and the Wingless Sportsmen. Then, on Sunday the 28th, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will close out the month along with the Limited Lates.
TULSA, OK (January 15, 2024) – Sye Lynch is planning on competing full-time in the Kubota High Limit Racing Series in 2025 the Apollo, PA native announced Wednesday night at the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa.
“This is all I’ve ever grown up knowing,” Lynch told the FloRacing broadcast in Tulsa. “I’ve gotten some good advice from some good people. A lot of thought has been into what it takes to become a national team.”
Lynch, a third-generation driver, is the son of Ed Lynch Jr and grandson of the late Ed Lynch Sr. and started out on Friday night’s at Lernerville Speedway. The past few years has seen Lynch running events sanctioned by the World of Outlaws and the All Star Circuit of Champions, which has become High Limit.
“For my operation, being a local, homegrown operation with my main partner since I’ve had since day one, we’ve really just looked at our goal from three years ago, which was to become a full time All Star (Circuit of Champions) team,” explained Lynch. “Then with it transitioning into High Limit, it obviously caught out attention”.
Lynch ran 25 High Limit races in 2024, scoring two podium finishes to go along with his 2023 podium in 23-race. All of that running was exactly what Lynch needed to confirm the next step in his plans.
“Running with those guys night-in and night-out was obviously only the top of the iceberg as far as seeing if we could do it.”
Next up for Lynch is trying to qualify for the 2025 Chili Bowl, which he will attempt to do Thursday night at Tulsa Expo Raceway.
TULSA, OK (January 14, 2025): Landon Brooks, a relatively unknown Sprint and Midget racer from California, scored a major upset win on Tuesday night at the Chili Bowl. His victory was the first for car owner Matt Wood, and gave that small team the distinction of having two cars locked into the Saturday A Main. The lead driver for Matt Wood Racing, Shane Golobic, finished second to Kyle Larson on Monday and spent Tuesday acting as crew chief and driver coach to the twenty-one-year old pilot.
“It honestly feels unbelievable,” Brooks noted. “I haven’t taken it all in yet. When I passed the checkered flag, I couldn’t believe it. I fell back to seventh there and, you know, I started rolling the bottom and got back to fifth. They all kind of creeped to the bottom, and I was able to rip the top and get to second. Luckily, I was able to reel in Brenham (Crouch) and throw a few sliders on him and pull it off.” He added, “by the end of it I was trying to go where they weren’t. Luckily, when I did go to the bottom I could make up some ground and, when I went to the top, I was able to pass some cars.”
The thirty lapper had Brenham Crouch and Hunter Schuerenberg paired up on the front row. Kevin Thomas, Jr. and Gunnar Setser were in row two, followed by Corbin Rueschenberg and Clinton Boyles. Brooks was inside Billy VanInwegen in row four. Then came Stevie Sussex and Brad Sweet. Derek Hagar and Jake Bubak occupied row six. Further back in the field were former winners Hank Davis and Buddy Kofoid (both in row nine), and notable veterans Jonathan Beason and Thomas Meseraull (both in row ten).
Crouch staked out an early lead, but a quick caution for Thomas nullified the start. Crouch again surged ahead, with Rueschenberg, Schuerenberg, Setser, and Boyles giving chase.
Sweet and Bubak tangled on lap two, and their skirmish was followed by another involving Schuerenberg and Sussex three laps later.
With those early incidents out of the way, the racers finally got into a rhythm. Crouch maintained his advantage for a dozen laps, with Setser holding second. Boyles was third, and coming, but his crash in turn two ended his race soon after the midpoint in the contest.
Meanwhile, Brooks was working his way forward again, having lost several positions in the early going. He was up to fourth, and held his own through a pair of cautions.
The next five laps consisted of Crouch fighting off Setser and Rueschenberg with Brooks searching for an opening. He found the top line and, with five to go, he began to assert himself. He rolled by Crouch with three to go. Crouch came back on the next round, but he could not complete the pass. The duo traded sliders on lap twenty-nine.
While that excitement was happening, Kofoid climbed into contention. He was hovering around seventh and he picked up a couple of spots before the stretch run. He was third and closing when the checkers waved.
Crouch noted that he was able to stay in clean air quite a bit with the cautions. “I kept looking over and they just kept telling me ‘you are doing good, good.’ They didn’t tell me anybody was doing anything I wasn’t. I just stuck to the top. I started stripping the nose and I started getting up on the wall there a couple of times. I figured, you know, somebody’s gotta be coming. I just felt comfortable up there. Landon (Brooks) got by me and he did the same thing, and we kind of got to racing. I kind of thought maybe I slide myself and I wanted to keep my momentum up, I thought I chose the best option. Landon was able to get back by me when I made a mistake, ultimately ran second. As hard as it is to be mad at myself to run second, we are in the show and we accomplished what a lot of people can’t, so just very grateful for that.”
Kofoid explained his run to third thusly. “I needed to pick off some guys and kind of make up most of passes early. I was able to kind of run the bottom a little bit and then get to the top. I was good on restarts and then once we had some of those crashes in front of me that kind of helped me out. I looked up and I was running seventh or eighth. I had a good restart and I was, like, I’ll try the bottom and I think I got to fifth. I think maybe another restart and was almost third and had the yellow and had to go back to fifth. Some of the guys moved to the bottom and I probably showed them the bottom, and some of them got up through there. Landon (Brooks) got up through there, so I was, like, OK, I guess I’ve got to go back to the top. I actually fell back to like sixth or seventh and kind of started hunting them down. I was trying to minimize my mistakes and not use the cushion as mush as maybe some other people were and (I) was able to pick and choose where I was able to pick up the cushion. I was able to pick up the cushion. I was able to not throw the nose and get close to guys and slide them and kind of put them away. When it gets that slick you can’t really cross people over. I was just able to pick them off one by one.”
After Brooks, Crouch, and Kofoid came Rueschenberg and Setser, making for a very unlikely top five. Kameron Key, Davis, Kaylee Bryson, Bubak, and Derek Hagar rounded out the top ten. Ricky Thornton, Jr. came from the shotgun position to reach twelfth.
The nine heat winners were Setser, Bubak, Kofoid, Nathan Crane, Mason Hannagan, Davis, Bryson, Brooks, and Brandt Twitty. Crouch, Brooks, Sussex, and Sweet captured the qualifiers. High Limits race director Mike Hess was a C Main winner, along with Caleb Stelzig. Davis and Kofoid won their respective B Mains.
TULSA, OK (January 13, 2025): Kyle Larson completed the NASCAR sweep on night one of the 2025 Chil Bowl. After finishing seventh to Christopher Bell in the Race of Champions, Larson came back in the nightcap to earn the first qualifying night win. Larson benefited from a lap twenty-nine caution which set up a green-white-checkered finish. His slide job in turn one on the final restart came up a bit short, but he nailed a perfect one at the other end of the speedway. Then he held off desperate counter attacks from Shane Golobic during the final lap.
Larson explained the final two circuits thusly. “Well, I was obviously happy that the caution came out, and it just felt like if I could exit with (Golobic) on the restart I would try and slide him but he did a really good job in one and two. I got a good enough kind of ramp off of the wall down the backstretch, and just going to try the same thing and hope that he didn’t nail that corner. I think that’s what happened, and then (I) didn’t really know what to do after that. I didn’t really want to leave that door open and run the wall. I felt like I could protect myself enough just sliding myself enough for the next lap. Great race, but I need to be a lot better. It was a lot of work to get back to the front. We’ll work on it and hopefully hit on something for Saturday.”
For his part, Golobic was frustrated that he did not win, but he was nonetheless pleased that he again put himself into a good position for Saturday, given that the top two finishers were locked into the grand finale. “Last lap didn’t go our way. I thought maybe if I could just circle him in (turns) one and two when he threw that slider I thought that we were going to be OK. Then I tried to slip it in and get it rotated into three, and I didn’t. (It) pushed real bad and got up on the wall and let him by. I felt like we got a good run off two down the backstretch, and then he slid himself obviously which was the thing to do. I thought that I might try to out-slide him (but) I wasn’t going up and try and destroy the thing in three and four and run the wall like in three and four. Thought about hooking the bumper, honestly, but didn’t abd, heah, we’re in a good spot for Saturday, we’ll take it.”
Golobic was paired with Tanner Carrick in row one for the thirty lap finale. Briggs Danner and Larson lined up behind them. Then came Ashton Torgerson and Zach Wigal. Cannon McIntosh and Trey Marcham made up row four. Justin Peck and Jerry Coons, Jr. were in row five. Gary Taylor and Cap Henry rounded out the first half of the field.
Golobic wrestled the lead from Carrick on the opening lap. Torgerson, McIntosh, and Danner followed. Danner moved forward, reaching second by lap five. Carrick attempted to regain the position but he hit the treacherous berm in turn four, causing the car to bicycle and losing two spots in the process.
On the next trip around the tight oval, Danner made a bid for the lead. Unfortunately, his car tripped over the curb in turn four and Danner crashed out of the race.
McIntosh inherited the second position for the restart, with Torgerson, Carrick, Larson, and Peck in tow.
On lap eight, McIntosh slid by Golobic for the lead. The duo battled for the top spot for the next eight laps. A caution gave them a clear track. With more room to move around, Golobic regained the lead with a slider in turn four on lap twenty-three.
Meanwhile, Larson was working his way toward the front. He had just taken the third position when a caution was displayed on lap twenty-five.
On the restart, McIntosh tried a slider to regain the lead, but Golobic was up to the task. McIntosh’s failed attempt gave Larson the outside line and he built some momentum. Now, McIntosh and Larson were trading sliders for second.
Larson assumed control of second on lap twenty-seven and he began to close in on Golobic as the laps counted down. Golobic was pressing, and his car bounced off the berm in turn one, but he was able to maintain a slim advantage over Larson as they took the white flag.
Before the leaders could complete the final lap, however, the caution came out one, last time. That set up a two lap dash for the cash.
Larson tried to slide Golobic entering turn one when the race resumed. Golobic held him off. But Larson got a good run into three and his slider for the lead was perfectly done. Golobic fought back in the final two lap, but he could not overtake Larson.
At the checkers, it was Larson over Golobic and McIntosh. McIntosh explained that he may have been too conservative in the late stages of the race. “I just slowed the pace down too much trying not to take ourselves out, Obviously, you’ve got to think big picture. As much as winning a prelim night is cool, you definitely want to be there on Saturday. Just slowed the pace down too much and they (Golobic and Larson) were able to capitalize, and (I) just didn’t have enough there at the end. I think we know what to do come Sarurday and hopefully go win that B and put ourselves in a good spot.”
Brent Crews charged through the field to take fourth. Interestingly, he advanced from the C to the B just before this impressive run. Torgerson was fifth. Coons, Joe B. Miller, Peck, Trey Marcham, and Dillon Welch rounded out the top ten.
Heat race wins went to Larson, Peck, Nick Hoffman, Torgerson, Coons, Danner, Golobic, and Gary Taylor. The four qualifiers belonged to Golobic, Danner, Torgerson, and Carrick. Crews and Cade Taylor scored in the C Mains, and Crews and Carson Bolden prevailed in the B Mains.
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