ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (September 5, 2026):  Danny Dietrich scored his second consecutive victory in the Elijah Hawkins Memorial at Lincoln Speedway. The race, the first of two Labor Day Duels, celebrated the life of a young boy who loved Sprint Car racing. He succumbed to burn injuries in July of 2021.

Dietrich’s second Lincoln win of the season and seventh overall netted the Gettysburg driver $7,000.

This one, however, was controversial.

Late in the thirty-five lap contest, Dietrich chased down Freddie Rahmer Jr. in traffic. Rahmer Jr., who led from lap twelve, began driving defensively as Double D explored his options to get by. Rahmer Jr. brushed the wall at the exit of turn four and Dietrich went low to make the pass on lap thirty-three. Rahmer Jr. immediately began plotting for a counterattack.

On the next trip around, it was Dietrich’s turn to get loose coming through turn four. He, too, brushed the wall coming off the corner and heading to the white flag. As Dietrich came down the track, Rahmer Jr. tried to get to his inside. The two racers collided. Rahmer Jr. spun down the track and collected Justin Whittall, who was running a lap down in tenth at the time. Dietrich then held off Logan Rumsey in a one lap shootout for the win.

“There was a monster cushion in (turn) four,” the happy victor said. “I went in hard and got over the cushion.” Dietrich noted that he had two wheels into the fluff. He did not realize that he had made contact with Rahmer Jr. until he saw the mark on his own left rear tire in victory lane.

Dietrich explained that he and crew chief Jake Sprugnoli worked hard all day to get his car ready for this event. “We busted our butts to get this car ready for today. It was just the two of us in the shop.” He explained that the car had not raced since July. They switched machines so that his other ride would be fresh for the upcoming Tuscarora 50.

Rumsey battled with T.J. Stutts on the opening lap. Rumsey’s slider in turn three put the nineteen-year-old out front. They continued to lead in the early laps, with Rahmer Jr. lurking in third. Chase Dietz and Dietrich followed.

The more experienced Rahmer Jr. closed the gap on Rumsey after they got into traffic on lap seven. Rahmer Jr. assumed control five laps later.

The intensity of the race picked up after the halfway sign was displayed to the field. Rahmer Jr. continued to lead over Rumsey. Dietrich was up to third, and Dietz was fourth. Around lap twenty, the top four were racing nose to tail with no lapped cars among them. Stutts still held down fifth, but he was some distance behind the frontrunners.

Dietrich rode the top line to take over second on lap twenty-two. Rumsey stayed close as the duo began to close in on Rahmer Jr. Several laps later, Dietrich got within range to try a slider for the lead in turns three and four, but he could not pull off the pass.

Rahmer Jr. maintained his lead of six-tenths as the race was drawing to a close. After Dietrich began to press him, however, Rahmer Jr. changed his approach. He got over the berm in turn four and lost the lead to Danny Dietrich, who swooped low as they thundered down the front stretch to complete lap thirty-three.

Their battle continued for another lap. It ended when Dietrich swerved left coming off the wall in turn four. Rahmer Jr. tried to turn under him, leading to the collision that literally popped the balloon.

Track officials called for a red flag so that medical attention could be provided to Whittall, who became a victim of the leaders’ tangle.

After the field realigned for the anticlimactic last lap, Rumsey made a desperate attempt to steal the win in the final turn. However, his slider failed and he took the checkers three tenths of a second behind Dietrich.

Dietz, Troy Wagaman, Jr., and Stutts completed the top five. Cameron Smith was sixth, followed by Kyle Moody, Dylan Norris, Chad Trout, and Tyler Ross.

Lance Dewease was the hard charger for the night, coming from twenty-second to thirteenth. Rahmer Jr. received the hard luck award.

Heat wins went to Rumsey, Whittall, and Dietrich. Chris Arnold won the B Main. Stutts was the fastest of thirty cars that tested the clock. His time was 13.189 seconds.

Tim Wagaman took the win in the 358 Sprint Car nightcap. He inherited the lead when Chase Hendershot slowed in turn one and Logan Spahr struck the disabled machine. They were first and second at the time of impact.

Steve Owings was second, followed by the hard charger, Brock Hammaker, who advanced sixteen positions in the twenty lapper. Bryn Gohn and Tylar Rutherford were fourth and fifth.

Ashley Cappetta also passed sixteen cars on her way to sixth. Andy Best, Jayden Wolf, Cody Fletcher and Matt Findley rounded out the top ten.

The race got off to a rocky start. Cameron Merriman struck the turn four wall while six cars tangled further ahead on the track. None of the drivers required medical assistance.

Eli Tuckey, Owings, and Fletcher scored heat race triumphs. Travis Leh tipped over in his heat race before Jansen Strine flipped spectacularly a few laps later. Neither driver was injured in their respective spills. Hammaker took the B Main laurels.

MECHANICSBURG, PA (September 4, 2026):  Doug Hammaker, a highly successful 358 Sprint Car racer at Williams Grove Speedway earlier in his career, defeated Freddie Rahmer, Jr. in a thriller to notch his first career 410 victory at the historic oval. Hammaker lost the lead to Rahmer twice during the closing laps, but he rallied to pass Rahmer in turn three on the final lap. However, Hammaker did not earn the bonus for a last lap pass because he was electronically scored as the leader on lap twenty-four by only 0.026 seconds.

Hammaker had what appeared to be an insurmountable lead with five laps remaining. But when lapped traffic slowed his pace, Rahmer was able to cut the margin significantly as the race drew to a close. Indeed, Rahmer passed Hammaker twice in the final laps, but Hammaker retained the lead at the scoring loop throughout. Nonetheless, Hammaker trailed Rahmer through turns one and two on the last lap and he made a strong inside move in turn three to regain the lead. Hammaker took the checkers 0.119 seconds ahead of his challenger.

Hammaker explained why his lead shrank in the closing laps thusly. “I hit the lapped cars at the wrong time,” adding that he seemed to reach them at the end of the long straights. “I knew I was just a sitting duck. I was trying to run the bottom and that was not the right move.” He continued, “they (the lapped cars) were too far of a gap where I couldn’t slide them. So, I had to do my best to try and carry my momentum around those corners.”

However, Rahmer first passed Hammaker on the inside coming off turn two when the leader got hung up behind some slower cars.

There were no lapped cars to interfere with Hammaker’s winning move on the final lap. Hammaker used the same strategy to salvage the win. “I ran it in on the bottom (of turn three) and I think that screwed up Freddie’s entry,” he noted. Hammaker then finished off the pass with a short slider.

Despite the frenzied last lap, Hammaker candidly admitted that Chase Dietz was the man to beat this night. Once again, though, Dietz suffered from some bad racing luck. He led Hammaker by more than 1.2 seconds moments before tangling with a lapped car in turn four on lap nine. Dietz spun toward the inside guardrail but avoided contact with the barrier. With no apparent damage, he rejoined the back of the field and raced his way into the top ten by the conclusion of the thirty lapper.

Dietz used the cushion in turn two to drive by Hammaker on the opening lap. Rahmer, Cameron Smith, and Dylan Norris made up the rest of the top five in the early going. Dietz built a substantial lead until the calamity in turn four nine laps into the event.

Hammaker inherited the lead for the restart, with Rahmer, Smith, Norris, Dietrich, Logan Rumsey, Austin Bishop, Troy Wagaman, Jr., T.J. Stutts, and Kody Hartlaub rounding out the top ten at that time. Hartlaub lost his spot in the top ten on lap fourteen, and Norris ended his top five run five laps later.

The caution for Norris was converted into an open red because track officials determined that the racers would not be able to finish the remaining eleven laps without adding fuel.

So, Hammaker had the point for the final restart with eleven laps to go. He was followed by Rahmer, Smith, Dietrich, Rumsey, Wagaman, Bishop, Stutts, Lance Dewease, and Brent Shearer.

Rahmer tried to go under Hammaker entering turn one on the restart. Hammaker had the right rear planted in the cushion, and his momentum carried him past Rahmer.

Three laps after the race resumed, Dietrich took third away from Smith with a slider in turn four. Dietrich then began to close in on Rahmer. Soon, they were both approaching Hammaker.

However, the late race drama began to unfold because Hammaker was struggling with lapped traffic. Rahmer and Dietrich had both cut into his lead. For a moment, It seemed that there would be a three-car battle for the top spot, but Dietrich lost contact with the leaders while they were navigating through the slower cars.

Rahmer made his most significant move taking the lead coming off turn two, but Hammaker was somehow ahead by a nose at the scoring loop as they took the white flag. Rahmer regained the advantage through the first two corners on the final lap. Hammaker came storming back entering turn three. Rahmer tried to turn back under him coming off turn four, but Hammaker was far enough ahead after the final two turns to secure his momentous win.

Dietrich followed Hammaker and Rahmer to the checkers. Smith and Rumsey were fourth and fifth, respectively. Wagaman, Bishop, Stutts, Dewease, and Dietz completed the top ten.

The $8,000 victory was the first for Sandy Kline at Williams Grove as the sole owner of the yellow number 22 with the throwback paint scheme. For several years, she co-owned a similar car with her late husband, Jim. Their last win at the Grove came in 2009 with the late Greg Hodnett at the controls.

Dietz, Rahmer, and Hammaker scored heat wins. There was no B Main needed for the twenty-five car field.

Justin Whittal flipped during hot laps and scratched for the night. He was not injured in the crash.

Mike Walls surprisingly passed Kyle Lee in turn two on the final lap of the Limited Late Model race. Kyle Lee took the lead from Dan Zechman on lap nine and it appeared that he would cruise to victory in the twenty lapper. However, Kyle Lee slowed when he jumped the cushion following a lap nineteen restart and Mike Walls was there to capitalize on the error.

D.J. Myers made some nifty moves in the closing laps to get third, finishing ahead of Chase Billet and Brian Booze. Travis Mease, Treyton Lee, Chad Earnst, Colton Friese, and Shannon Slaughter completed the top ten.

Lane Snook, Kyle Lee, John Moser, Jr., and Mike Wells won the heat races in the only appearance of the Limited Late Models at the track for 2026. Travis Horan captured the B Main. Thirty-three cars signed in for the event.

SARVER, PA (September 1, 2026):  In winning the inaugural Yinzer 100 at Lernerville Speedway, Max Blair applied lessons he learned in the Bill Emig Memorial for RUSH Late Models held in conjunction with the Firecracker 100 for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. The three-time winner of the Emig event said, “we tried some stuff with the Crate car during the Firecracker and we used that here, and we were pretty good.”

Blair, of Centerville, PA, explained that his car got better every time that it hit the track during the Yinzer 100. However, the deciding factor in the race turned out to be tire management. “I think I had more tire than Drake (Troutman) did at the end.”

Blair saw a three second lead evaporate with two laps remaining in the century grind. He said that gave him flashbacks to his first full-point Lucas series victory at Muskingum County Speedway earlier this season. In that event, Blair had a commanding lead, but he still had to withstand a green-white-checkered finish.

“I just had to calm myself down. I didn’t know where to go on the restart.” He opted for the high side, which was the preferred line of Michael Norris, who was running second. The choice was a correct one, as Blair drove away to a margin of 1.2 seconds in the final two circuits.

That was not the only time that Blair had to calm himself down during the hundred lapper. He recalled an incident during the first half of the event when Max McLaughlin passed him for third moments before a caution on lap thirty-seven. “That got my blood boiling,” Blair noted. But, he regained his composure and, soon thereafter, he overtook McLaughlin.

Blair inherited second on lap forty when the leader, Dave Hess, Jr., suddenly slowed coming off turn two. Hess’s misfortune returned the lead to Drake Troutman, who led the first thirty-seven circuits. In fact, Troutman led twice in the event for a total of eighty-one laps.

Blair stalked Troutman for more than forty laps. Blair went low in turn three on lap eighty-five and he assumed control with a slider coming through turn four.

As Blair stretched his lead, Troutman came under attack from Norris, Tyler Wyant, and Hess, who slowly worked his way forward after the first half incident.

Troutman yielded second with five laps remaining. That gave Norris the runner-up spot, with young Wyant in third. Hess continued in fourth for several laps before falling back in the running order.

The final caution, with two laps remaining, gave Norris one shot at the win. However, Blair got away cleanly on the restart, and Norris could not get any momentum when stuck on the inside. Wyant was an impressive third, followed by McLaughlin and Ryan Montgomery.

Gregg Satterlee was sixth. Hess held on for seventh. Dan Angelicchio and Boom Briggs were the final two cars still running at the end of the race. Troutman was credited with tenth based on his laps completed.

Drake Troutman, Levi Yetter, Max Blair, and Lincoln Smith prevailed in the heat races. Jon Lee took the B Main.

Max Blair was the fastest overall qualifier. He topped Group B with a time of 15.594 seconds. Drake Troutman was fastest in Group A, with a lap of 15.693 seconds.

Thirty-three Super Late Models checked in for the unsanctioned event.

The Pierogi 30 for the Penn Ohio Pro Stocks closed out the night. The race paid $1,500 to win and, as usual whenever extra money was on the line, Chris Schneider found his way to the head of the line at the pay-window.

Joey Zambotti led the first three laps before Schneider assumed command. Despite two cautions, Schneider led by almost seven-and-a-half seconds during the event.

But, like Blair, Schneider had to survive a two-lap shootout to get the win. “You don’t know what is going on behind you,” Schneider said. “I saw Corey (McPherson’s number) on the board. I thought he’d come ripping around me, but I never saw him, so I must have been OK.”

McPherson was second, followed by Curtis J. Bish, Tyler Dietz, and track champion Jacob Dietz. Tyler Schneider, Zambotti, Cody Koteles, Rocky Kugel, and Jason Fosnaught were sixth through tenth.

The Pro Stocks ran a pair of heat races, with the wins going to Jacob Dietz and Joey Zambotti. There was no B Main needed to set the A Main line-up for the nineteen cars that checked in for action.