Dirt Racing
Whittall, Hare, and Dodson Winners at Port Royal
PORT ROYAL, PA (July 19, 2025): It was a winged Sprint Car extravaganza at Port Royal Speedway, as the Speed Palace hosted three divisions on the same night. Justin Whittall stretched his point lead with a win in the headline 410 Sprint Car ranks. Ayden Hare rode the rim in the late going to score in the only 358 Sprint Car appearance at the track this season. Doug Dodson claimed the win in the finale for the 305 Sprint Cars.
Whittall Whallops 410s
Justin Whittall made up for last week’s misfortune at Port Royal Speedway by registering a dominant victory in the twenty-five lapper. His margin of victory was more than 4.8 seconds.
“We’ve had a couple taken away from us, especially last week,” Whittall noted. He blew a tire on the final lap with a commanding lead. “I learned something from last week.” He explained, “I just babied it, stayed away from the boards.”
After exploding the tire last week, he hit the outside wall, bending the front of the chassis. “This is a whole new car. Thanks to Mark Smith for fixing a couple of cars for us.”
Mike Thompson had the pole for the event, with Dominic Melair on his right flank. Doug Hammaker was lined up in third, with Blane Heimbach as his dancing partner. Garrett Bard and Nash Ely were next in line. Then came Jeff Halligan and Whittall. Rickey Peterson, Jr. and Mike Walter, Jr. made up row five. Logan Wagner and Lucas Wolfe claimed row six.
Thompson sailed away with the early lead over Melair, Heimbach, Hammaker and Bard. The pace slowed almost immediately after the first lap was scord, as Derek Hauck came to a stop. On the restart, Thompson picked up where he left off. Melair remained in second, followed by Bard, Hammaker, and Heimbach.
Whittall was up to sixth by lap five. He continued his progress to the front. In five more laps he was up to fourth.
As the race neared the halfway point, Melair was closing on Thompson. Melair made a move to the inside of turn three to take the lead briefly. By the time the lead duo reached turn one, though, Thompson was back in command.
Whittall was still on the charge and took over second from Melair. On lap fifteen, Whittall used a slider in turn two to take the lead from Thompson, who was having the race of his life.
Over the final ten laps, Whittal built upon his lead. Thompson remained in second, ahead of Bard. Meanwhile, Heimbach was digging himself out of a hole. He was picking off cars with some regularity.
At the checkers, it was Whittall over Thompson, Heimbach, Bard, and Hammaker. Walter, Logan Rumsey, Logan Wagner, Gerard McIntyre, and Wolfe.
Thompson was ecstatic with his career best finish in a 410 Sprinter. “I’ll tell you what. I didn’t know if Justin finished the race, because I sure as hell wouldn’t deserve being up there,” he said as he gestured up to victory lane.
For Heimbach, third place was a recovery in a couple of ways. First, it represented a recovery from an injury sustained two weeks ago when he was hit in the face by something. He explained that he was fortunate that the object hit him in the nose rather than in either of his eyes. “I got my bell rung. I was just sore for a couple of days.” The second was his drive back to the front in the second half. “We had the back-up lights on early. We just couldn’t keep pace.” He explained that he was able to search around and find some grip while his competitors seemed to be spinning their tire as the race drew to a close.
The trio of heat races went to Melair, Ely, and Hammaker. McIntyre won the B Main.
Hare Raising Finish in 358 Race
Seventeen-year-old Ayden Hare was aggressive in the final laps of the 358 Sprint Car race at Port Royal Speedway. He used the top groove to reach second moments before the final caution, with two laps to go. Then, he drove around the leader on the outside of turn four heading toward the white flag.
With the laps winding down, Hare was racing in third behind veterans Derek Locke and Cody Fletcher. However, while the leaders were slicing through some lapped cars, Hare entered the fray on the top. He reached second just before the final caution came out with two laps remaining. Then, on the restart, he stayed on the outside and followed Locke for three quarters of a lap. When Locke dipped low in turn four heading to the white flag, Hare sailed by to grab the lead.
“They kept running the bottom and I pounded the top,” Hare said. He added, “I thought he (Locke) was going to slide me, but I was committed to the top.” the second-year racer added.
Eli Tuckey and Locke made up the front row forthe twenty lap special at the Speed Palace. Tyler Rutherford and Fletcher were in the second row, followed by Hare and Bryn Gohn. Andy Best and Seth Schnoke. Chase Gutshall and Colton Hendershot occupied row five, with Tyler Ulrich and Frankie Herr in row six.
Locke rode the rim in turn one to take control of the race from Tuckey. Fletcher settled into third, followed by Gohn, Schnoke, Rutherford, Hare, Best, Gutshall, and Ulrich.
Best survived a scare on lap three when he spun twice on the backstretch. Although he made contact with the outside wall on one rotation, no other cars struck him.
Locke maintained his advantage over the next four laps while Tuckey and Fletcher were battling for the second position. Gohn remained in fourth, followed by Hare.
While things were orderly among the top five, behind them, the action was intense. A flip by Ethan Greak on lap seven bunched the field up and the action in the middle of the pack intensified on the restart. As the field was passing through turns three and four, chaos broke out. Brett Wanner and Frankie Herr, who were fighting for positions in the top ten, tangled, with both racers flipping. Herr left the ballpark. Wanner remained on the track and a few other racers were collected. Fortunately, no drivers were injured in either incident.
Locke opened up an advantage again on the restart. Fletcher worked past Tuckey. Gohn continued in fourth, followed by Hare. Within a few laps, though, Hare raced past both Tuckey and Gohn.
With five laps remaining, Locke caught the rear of the field, allowing Fletcher and Hare to draw in on him. Locke and Fletcher played cat and mouse as they wove their way through traffic for a couple of laps. Then, the top lane cleared for Hare, and he was mixing it up with the two veterans.
A caution with two to go eliminated the lapped traffic for the leaders. Locke was on the point, but Hare was on his tail for the restart. Fletcher, Gohn, and Ulrich comprised the rest of the top five for the two lap dash.
When the green flashed on again, Locke stayed in the middle of the track, Hare went to the topside once more. Locke had a slight advantage through turns one and two, but Hare had a full head of steam going into turn three and his momentum carried him past Locke coming through turn four.
Hare led the final lap without any counter from Locke. Gohn slipped by Fletcher. Ulrich helf onto fifth. Rutherford, Tuckey, Schnoke, Gutshall and Colton Moyer completed the top ten.
Locke admitted to moving some of the lapped cars during that furious battle with Fletcher and Hare before the caution. “I had to do something, we were basically three wide.” He second guessed himself in the stretch run with Hare, though. “He (Hare) was running the bottom when we were lapping cars. I moved down which may have been a mistake. But, if I went to the top, he probably would slide me.
Gohn, who claimed third late in the contest, said that he was “tickled” with that finish. “We’re a really low budget team. We run maybe five races and then we sit out for two years.”
The three heats belonged to Tuckey, Locke, and Rutherford. There was no B Main, as all twenty-four cars that signed in started the A Main.
Dodson Da Man in 305s
The PASS IMCA 305 Sprints wore the nightcap. Doug Dodson started in his favorite position, fourth, but it took him several laps before he could chase down the early leader, Mike Melair. Dodson then led the final fifteen laps to secure the victory.
“I didn’t take off as good as the 36 (Melair), but when he moved down, I got going,” Dodson said.
Melair had the pole for the twenty lapper, with Ace Pruitt to his right. Braeden Varner and Dodson lined up in their shadows. Then came Kenny Heffner and Jason Roush. Josh Spicer and Kruz Kepner took row four and Croix Beasom paired up with Logan Spahr in row five. They were followed by John Braim and Dylan Shatzer.
Melair surged ahead of Dodson on the opening lap and withstood one caution before surrendering the lead to Dodson’s slider in turn two. Pruitt and Varner wrestled for the third spot before Spicer joined the party.
Spicer was third by the halfway mark, and he continued his forward march in the second half of the race. He was second and closing at the conclusion of the contest.
Melair held on for third at the checkers. Kepner and Varner completed the first five. Then came Heffner, Pruitt, Jim Pattock, John Braim, and Spahr.
Four heats were staged for the 305s, with the wins going to Spicer, Shatzer, Varner, and Roush. Jarrett Cavalet took the honors in the B Main.
Coming Events
Port Royal Speedway will be dark next week in respect to the Summer National World of Outlaws event at Williams Grove Speedway.
Action will resume at the Speed Palace on Saturday, August 2. The 410 and 305 Sprints will race, along with the Limited Late Models.
There will be no racing on August 9 due to the Knoxville Nationals.
The 19th Annual Living Legends Dream Race will be held on August 16. The 410 Sprints and Super Late Models will be in action.
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
Corey Heim parlays overtime restart into record 10th NASCAR Truck Series win
Opportunistic Chase Elliott steals a NASCAR Cup Playoff win at Kansas
Dale Blaney Wins World Of Outlaws At Sharon Speedway
