Dirt Racing
Dietrich and Fletcher Beat Rain at BAPS
NEWBERRYTOWN, PA (March 30, 2025): Two-time and defending track champion Danny Dietrich, of Gettysburg, picked up his twenty-second career 410 Sprint Car victory at BAPS Motor Speedway. It was his sixth triumph in the last eleven non-sanctioned races held at the venue. In the nightcap. For the 358 Sprint Cars, Cody Fletcher, of East Berlin, held off persistent challenges from Seth Shnoke and, later, Dylan Norris to grab the prestigious win.
Dietrich explained that the key to victory was “being patient, really patient.” That was certainly true in the late stages of the thirty lapper.
However, Dietrich was anything but patient earlier in the contest. In the middle stage of the race, Dietrich and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. waged a spectacular battle, often with the help of Brock Zearfoss, for the third position. That episode lasted for several laps before Dietrich dispatched them both.
Dietrich explained that “Rahmer, Zearfoss, and I ran each other so tight.” Dietrich noted that, during the confrontation with Rahmer, there was a close call in turn three. “We were so tight, we almost drove through Brock and he never knew it.” That was fortunate, as Zearfoss had checked up because a lapped car spun just ahead of him.
Then, in the final laps, Dietrich chased down, and passed, early leader Kyle Moody and his successor, Chase Dietz. To do so, Dietrich switched lanes. “It got dark in the middle, and I figured there was some grip there. I got to it first.”
In conclusion, Dietrich gushed, “Man, that was fun, see you all in two weeks!”
Moody and Dietz had the front row for the feature, which was staged under heavy cloud cover. They were the lucky drivers in the top twelve re-draw. Behind them were Kody Hartlaub, making his first start of the new season, and Jeff Halligan. Dietrich and Zearfoss were in row three. Lucas Wolfe and Rahmer made up the fourth row. A pair of 39s were in row five, with Anthony Macri flanked by Aussie Lynton Jeffrey. Mike Thompson and Austin Bishop were the unfortunate racers when it came to the luck of the draw.
Moody took control at the start of the race and, for several laps, it appeared that he may finally break through for the win. Dietz stayed close as the leaders migrated to the top of the track. They were followed by Halligan, Zearfoss, Rahmer, Hartlaub, Dietrich, Jeffrey, Bishop, and Wolfe.
Bishop spun in turn three on lap five, beginning a disjointed segment of the race. As the officials sorted through additional cautions on the restart lap, and laps seven, eight, and nine, the fans got restless and worried that a downpour could end the day early. While some moisture did begin to fall, it was not enough to stop the race.
Moody led through much of it, but Dietz was able to put together one successful lap, riding the rim to take the lead away from him on lap seven. Moody did try a slider entering turn one on the lap eight restart. Zearfoss continued in third, with the battle for fourth between Dietrich and Rahmer began to heat up.
With Dietz and Moody comfortably ahead, Zearfoss jumped the cushion in turn one, allowing Dietrich and Rahmer to close in on him. Following a lap fourteen restart, the three-cars were swapping positions with great frequency.
The leaders were starting to work through traffic and, soon thereafter, the three contestants for third had to navigate through the slower cars as well. Dietrich was superior to Zearfoss and Rahmer, and he claimed third as the laps were counting down.
The traffic got heavier for Dietz and Moody. Dietrich saw his opportunity when the lapped cars clogged up the bottom groove. He moved up just enough to clear them, and that was where he picked up speed. He closed in on Moody, who was also cutting into Dietz’ advantage.
In the final five rounds, Dietrich maintained his charge. He picked off Moody and Dietz in traffic. In the mad scramble at the end of the race, Zearfoss and Rahmer also worked their way forward. Dietz and Moody remained in the top five.
At the checkers, it was Dietrich over Zearfoss, Dietz, Rahmer, and Moody. Macri, Dylan Norris, Tyler Ross, Cameron Smith, and Wolfe comprised the next five finishers.
The three heat winners were Moody, Halligan, and Dietrich. Gerard McIntyre, Jr. won the B Main.
With a temporary halt to the rain, the 358 Sprints staged for their finale. Fletcher and Shnoke occupied the front row, with Derek Locke and Norris in the Second row. Wyatt Hinkle and Tyler Rutherford put a pair of 19s in the third row. They were followed by Cole Young and Austin Reed, Nash Ely and Jay Galloway took row five as their domain. Adam Carberry and Jacob Galloway completed the redraw for this division.
Fletcher powered into the lead using the low groove, while Shnoke flogged the cushion. Norris, Locke, Hinkle, and Rutherford followed.
Cautions five, ten, and eleven laps into the race bunched te field up again, but there were no changes at the front of the pack despite those opportunities to advance. Carberry did make some forward progress, though, as he reached sixth midway through the twenty-five lapper.
On lap nineteen, the drizzle intensified, requiring a caution to sort things out. The cars continued to circulate, and after several slow laps, the rain relented, allowing the final six laps to be presented.
When the race resumed for the penultimate time, Shnoke increased his pressure on Fletcher. The two ran close, particularly in turns three and four. But Fletcher was good coming off turn four and he was able to maintain his lead.
Shnoke made on last, desperate attempt to drive by Fletcher. He sailed it into turn one in the middle groove, pulling even with Fletcher. But, there was nothing ther for him, and the car began to slide up the track. He made contact with the fence in turn two. He spun at the exit of the corner, a disappointing end to an impressive effort.
On the final restart, Norris attempted the same maneuver. However, he was able to keep his wheels under him. Although he lost a few car lengths to Fletcher, he was able to keep going for second at the finish.
Locke was third, followed by Hinkle and Carberry. Ely, Reed, Rutherford, Young, and Jay Galloway completed the top ten.
Fletcher said in victory lane that he was hoping that track officials would call the race after the rain delay. But, he admitted that it was satisfying that he was able to see the race go the entire distance. “I tried to make the car as wide as possible while racing those guys clean.”
Hinkle, Rutherford, and Carberry took the preliminaries. Andrew Hake won the B Main. Notably, he towed his car to the track on an open trailer behind a U-Haul rental truck!
The next 410 Sprint car event at BAPS Motor Speedway will be held on April 13. Also on the card will be the Limited Late Models and Wingless Sportsmen. The speedway will host the Winged Super Sportsmen on April 5 and 12.
MECHANICSBURG, PA (October 3, 2025) – Chase Dietz, of York, PA, led a Posse sweep of four of the top five positions on night number one of the National Open Weekend at Williams Grove Speedway. Joining Dietz on the front stretch were second place finisher, Lance Dewease, and the third place runner, Danny Dietrich. Justin Whittall was fifth in the race. The only card carrying Outlaw was Carson Macedo, who led the first twenty-one laps before fading to fourth at the finish.
“I just want to soak it in,” Dietz said as he tried to catch his beath following the exhilarating victory, his first ever against the travelling band. Although Dietz noted that he had speed all year at the Grove, his team assembled a new car this week and, in doing so, they made a lot of changes. “The car was very maneuverable.”
Although Dietz ran most of the race in the top groove, he admitted, “I knew that the bottom was going to come in. I knew that I had to get down there before Lance (Dewease) did. I saw his nose.” As it turned out, Dietz barely got to the bottom ahead of Dewease, forcing the cagy veteran to move to the middle in the closing laps.
“We’re just extremely grateful to be here, this sport can be very humbling,” Dietz added. Even last year, when he was running his own cars, Dietz explained that they fought hard to be competitive with the Outlaws. Although they were winless, they showed good speed and had a podium finish against the Outlaws in the 2024 National Open. “I looked back at the nights when we didn’t win, and I tried to figure out what we needed to do to bet better.”
Dewease, who followed Dietz into second on lap twenty-two and wh briefly challenged him for the lead, commented, “the last three or four laps I wasn’t very good. The lapped cars made it interesting.”
Dietrich, who completed the podium for the Posse, felt that he may have had the fastest car in the final laps but, he added, “things didn’t go my way.” He explained that, when he did pass Dewease, he did not get enough of a gap on him, and that let him (Dewease) get back in.”
Macedo drew the pole for the Dash and his win in that event placed him on the pole for the twenty-five lap preliminary, which paid $12,000 to the winner. Dietrich lined up on his right, Dewease and Dietz made up row two, followed by David Gravel and Buddy Kofoid. Diason Pursley and Justin Whittall stacked our row four. Then came Daryn Pittman and Bill Balog. Row six paired Kody Hartlaub with Justin Peck.
The back of the field was almost as impressive as the first six rows. Back there were racers such as Kerry Madsen (fourteenth), Giovanni Scelzi (sixteenth), Brock Zearfoss (seventeenth), Brent Marks (eighteenth), Ryan Timms (nineteenth), Freddie Rahmer, Jr. (twentieth), Sheldon Haudenschild (twenty-first), Logan Schuchart (twenty-first), and Troy Wagaman (twenty-sixth).
Macedo held off Dietrich in turn one to assume control of the race. Dietz ran in third on the opening lap, but he drove under Dietrich in turn four to take over second one lap later. Dewease ran along in fourth, followed by Kofoid, Gravel, Whittall, Pittman, Pursley, and Balog in the early going.
The running order was pretty static through the first five or six laps. The top ten had a major shake-up on lap seven, though. Something broke on Pittman’s car in turn three, and he spun wildly toward the outside wall. In the process, he collected Pursley, Balog, and Hartlaub. Pittman and Pursely retired from the race due to the damage incurred, but Balog and Hartlaub were able to rejoin the field for the restart after pitting for repairs.
That fracas was the only caution of the race.
Macedo and Dietz resumed the battle for the lead on the restart. However, one lap later, Dewease moved into third, ahead of Dietrich, Kofoid, and Gravel. Whittall, Peck, Scelzi, and Rahmer made up the balance of the top ten. At that juncture, Wagaman was about six positions behind Rahmer in their race within the race for the point championship.
Through the middle stage of the race, Dietz began to close in on Macedo. Dewease continued in third, several car lengths behind the leaders. Dietrich was about the same distance back in fourth.
Dietz caught up to Macedo with about five or six laps remaining in the contest. He managed to pass Macedo on the inside of turn three on lap twenty-one, but Macedo countered in turn four to regain the lead.
Macedo dove to the inside heading into turn one, but he scrubbed off spme speed. Dietz was able to get some momentum coming through turn two and that propelled hin down the backstretch. He slid Macedo for the lead coming through turns three and four, and Dewease followed in his tire tracks to take over second coming off turn four.
Dietz missed the bottom entering turn one, and Dewease poked his nose under him going through the turn, Dietz recovered, and he got a good run off turn two to preserve his lead. Dietz then committed to the low line for the final laps, requiring Dewease to move more toward the middle of the track.
Dietrich dispatched Macedo and he got a run on Dewease near the end of the race. However, Dewease was able to reclaim second soon thereafter.
At the finish, it was Dietz by a tad under eight tenths of a second over Dewease. Dietrich was third, followed by Macedo and Whittall. Kofoid, Gravel, Scelzi,Peck, and Marks completed the top ten.
Rahmer was eleventh, and Wagaman sixteenth. Although Wagaman was the hard charger at plus ten, he lost valuable points to Rahmer. The two racers will be separated by 125 points, unofficially, heading into Saturday’s season finale.
Heat wins were scored by Gravel, Kofoid, Dewease, and Pursley. Ryan Newton won the non-qualifiers race. Kyle Spence recovered from a tipover in his heat race to capture the C Main. The B Main went to Haudenschild. Gravel was the evening’s fastest qualifier, with a lap of 16.409 seconds topping Group A. Dewease timed the best in Group B, with a lap of 16.760 seconds. Fifty-six cars participated in the event.
HARTFORD, OH (September 27, 2025) – Dale Blaney had the hometown crowd on their feet and screaming after winning the World of Outlaws feature Saturday Night at Sharon Speedway, the track owned for years by the Blaney family.
Blaney started fifth and passed Cole Macedo on lap 11 for the lead then held off a furious last lap charge by Buddy Kofoid to win by just 0.136 seconds for the $12,000 payday!
The victory was Blaney’s first World of Outlaws victory in 10-years, becoming the oldest winner in Series history at 61 years 7 months and 28 days. Blaney broke the previous record set by his older brother Dave when he won at 58 years of age in 2021 at Sharon.
“There’re so many good young race car drivers out here, but to win a race at 61 (years old) is awesome,” said Blaney. ““I had the feeling that I was never going to win an Outlaw race ever again. I don’t race much. This is our sixth race this year. I haven’t run in seven weeks. The car was awesome. We just got it back together this week. I don’t know what to say. It’s great and cool to win this at Sharon Speedway- it’s the only place I’ve run this year. This is a special freaking night. I know that.”
“I wanted traffic,” said Kofoid. “My car is usually amazing in traffic. He slipped up, and then I kind of got in his air and got me slipped up. And then I hit the wall coming to the checkered, and it shot me down the track. I tried to send it and was close. I’m just happy for Dale and Dave.”
Sheldon Haudenschild finished third follow by WoO points leader David Gravel in fourth. Logan Schuchart rounded out the Top 5.
The night however belonged to the Blaney family, who fittingly closed out the the first year of the new ownership group of Dave Blaney, Ryan Blaney, and Will Thomas III in Victory Lane.
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (September 27, 2025): A persistent, localized drizzle forced a stoppage of the Fallen Heroes Memorial at the Lincoln Speedway. The event, which was originally dubbed the Fallen Firefighters Memorial, was expanded to give tribute to the three York County police officers recently slain while serving a subpoena.
Brett and Jordan Strickler, policemen in the area, honored the fallen officers on the wings of their 410 Sprint Cars.
The 410 Sprint Cars were ready to take to the track for their feature event when the rain set in for the second time of the night. A brief shower interrupted the heat races for the 358 Sprint Cars. However, after the rain stopped, the track crew and push truck operators quickly prepared the surface so that all qualifications could be completed.
The line-ups for both feature races are set, and the events will be completed on October 18, along with the full program for both divisions in the Final 50. So, fans will be treated to four features that evening.
The point races in both divisions will conclude on October 18.
Dallas Schott, Kyle Moody, and Billy Dietrich won the heat races for the 410 Sprinters. Ryan “Fig” Newton prevailed in the B Main. Troy Wagaman, Jr. was the fastest qualifier of the twenty-nine cars on hand. His time was an astonishing 12.855 seconds. He was one of four racers to turn sub-thirteen second laps.
In the 358 Sprint Car preliminaries, the checkers waved for Cameron Merriman, Logan Spahr, and Cody Fletcher. There were twenty-one 358 Sprints checked in for the contest.
On October 4, Lincoln Speedway will present AMA Flat Track Motorcycles and Quads. There will be no auto races in consideration of the National Open to be held at Williams Grove Speedway. The World of Outlaws will take on the Pennsylvania Posse on October 11. The Lincoln season will conclude with the blockbuster event, the Final 50 plus the held over features.
Dietz Does It, Leads Posse Sweep
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Opportunistic Chase Elliott steals a NASCAR Cup Playoff win at Kansas
Dale Blaney Wins World Of Outlaws At Sharon Speedway
