Dirt Racing
Thorson Gets First Full Point High Limit Win at Lernerville; Weaver Scores in 305 Sprint Car
SARVER, PA (September 12, 2025): Tanner Thorson, of Broken Arrow, OK, earned his first full point win with the High Limit Racing Series. His only previous win came during the 2024 West Coast swing in a split field event. Both wins, of course, came in the Rod and Nancy Gross machine. Only a week before the start of the 2024 season, they tapped Thorson to create a new race team, from scratch to tackle the High Limit series.
This was Thorson’s second career triumph at Lernerville Speedway, the first coming in a weekly show in 2015 while piloting the Rudzik 49x. At that time, Thorson was a relatively unknown driver who hailed from Minden, NV, and he was making his first appearance at the Action Track. In between these wins, Thorson had his share of ups and downs in his career. Highs included a Chili Bowl championship and some success driving the famed 3C of Clyde Lamar in California. The lowest of the lows were the devastating injuries he sustained in a highway accident coming from a race during his stint with Lamar.
Thorson has the distinction of being the only racer on either national tour running a car equipped with coil-over shocks on all four corners. It does put him at a bit of a disadvantage on race nights, for he cannot compare notes or spy on his competitors for any set-up tips. Instead, Thorson maintains cell phone contact with his father-in-law, Stevie Smith, who also ran that unique combination during his days as an independent on the World of Outlaws tour.
“We have a four-coil car, which is in the one percentile of Sprint Cars. I’ve had thousands of people telling me that we need to go to a four-bar (torsion bars) and, hopefully, this just shuts them up. It’s about being a lion and not a sheep.”
Another example of Thorson’s fierce independence is his allegiance to Rob Cappetta powerplants. Thorson noted that he’s had some motor issues lately, but “Rob Cappetta and Mario have been busting their ass(es) on this motor.” Thorson explained that his team spent several hours at Lincoln Speedway earlier in the week testing and tuning their car.
Thorson and his team are also hard workers. “This is awesome. We’ve just been working so hard, (it) comes down to spending hours and hours. My guys are probably sick of me sitting at the dyno for twelve hours the other day, just trying to figure out everything we can about our program and it’s been working.”
Brad Sweet, who lost the lead to Thorson late in the race, was pleased nonetheless for adding a new winner to the High Limit fold. Sweet, of course, is a co-founder of the series and he wants to see others have some success. “It wasn’t surprising to me,” he opened. “I couldn’t get by those lapped cars, they were just putting the bottom. I just couldn’t quite get off the corners and make any speed. Tanner’s been really fast, you know, hat’s off to him and his team. They’ve been busting their butts. He’s been close to winning a few of these.” Sweet also commented, “he’s able to hook that berm a little better than me and stay in that grip.” “We certainly had a shot to win, but couldn’t get the job done,” Sweet concluded.
Diason Pursely matched a career best finish on tour, a third, but he, too, gave props to Thorson. “It was really technical. Tanner’s really good at it and they’ve been working really hard on this race car. And they’ve been really fast lately. Congrats to them, they’ve been making good strides.” Pursely thought that his team, owned by Tom Buch, has also been making progress of late and he thought that this run would give them a needed confidence boost as the season draws to a close.
Sweet and Pursley paced the field for the start of the thirty lap opener for the Commonwealth Clash. Justin Peck and Giovanni Scelzi were in row two, followed by Ashton Torgerson and Ryan Smith. Then came Logan Wagner and Rico Abreu. Brent Marks and Justin Sanders occupied row five, with Jeremy Weaver and Tanner Thorson sitting in row six.
Sweet jumped out to the early lead, with Peck, Pursley, Scelzi, and Smith trailing him. Torgerson, Wagner, Marks, Thorson and Abreu ran among the top ten. Smith picked up a position before the only caution of the race came out, on lap eight, for a three-car tangle involving Danny Sams, III, Michael Bauer, and Weaver.
When the race resumed, Sweet was again racing alone out front, while Peck and Pursley battled for second. Just two laps following the restart, Thorson was into the fourth position. Smith was still holding onto fifth.
At the halfway mark, Sweet led Peck, but Thorson was third and coming forward once again. Within the next five laps, he was second.
Sweet continued to lead as the race progressed into the final stage. However, he was starting to have difficulty dealing with the lapped cars. Meanwhile, Thorson kept chugging along in the bottom groove and Sweet’s lead was shrinking with each successive lap.
Thorson made his move on lap twenty-eight. He drove inside of Sweet entering turn three. They were even coming through the corners, but Thorson powered ahead of Sweet coming off turn four to lead that lap.
“He wasn’t running my line, that was the key,” Thorson explained.
Thorson pulled away in the final two laps. He took the checkers 1.131 seconds ahead of Sweet. Pursley was over two seconds behind, in third. Peck and Sye Lynch rounded out the top five. Smith, Abreu, Scelzi, Marks, and Sanders completed the top ten.
Lynch was the hard charger of the contest, at plus fourteen.
There were three heat races for the twenty-nine car field. The winners were Pursley, Scelzi, and Sweet. Lynch was the B Main victor. Sweet copped the Dash. Ryan Smith set the fastest time in qualifications, 13.174 seconds.
Lynch, Lernerville’s favorite son, dug himself a hole in his heat race. He had contact with Aaron Reutzel, and he spun in turn four. After pushing off again, Lynch drove up to Reutzel and hit his left front wheel. Reutzel pitted to have it checked and was caught in the work area when the race resumed. Lynch, meanwhile, was disqualified from the race, eliminating his from a certain start in the Dash. They started next to one another at the front of the B, and were well behaved, and they also started next to each other in the A Main, also without incident.
In the twenty-lap nightcap for the Allegheny Sprint Tour 305s, Kasey Weaver, from Everett, PA, took the win. Although he started on the pole, and led most of the race, he had to deal with a mid-race challenge from Roman Jones. Jones managed to get his nose ahead to lead one lap, but Kasey Weaver rallied to regain the lead.
“I saw him get inside of me into (turn) three. I was leaving myself too open on entry,” Weaver said. He added that he moved down on the track and that he began to drive a little more defensively. While he said that he hated to block Jones like that, Weaver felt that it was something that he “had to do” to get the win.
Jeremy Kornbau came on strong in the closing laps to take second away from Roman Jones. Jones crossed in third, ahead of Steve Kenawell, Jr. and Jeff Weaver, Jr. Jacob Gomola, Hunter Hite, Jim Pattock, Greg Dobrosky, and George Loux were the next five finishers.
Loux and Weaver, Jr. won the heats for the twenty racers of the Allegheny Sprint Tour. Racers from five states were in the field.
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
