Dirt Racing
Marks All Tuned Up for National Open; Norris Grabs No. 5
WILLIAMS GROVE, PA (September 26, 2025): Brent Marks took advantage of an open date on the High Limit Racing Series schedule to get tuned up for the National Open, which will take place at Williams Grove Speedway next weekend. Marks earned $6,000 for his twenty-first career victory at the venerable race track.
Also getting to victory lane was Dylan Norris, who scored his fifth win of the season in the 358 Sprint Car division at Williams Grove. He has five additional wins at other area speedways. Sadly, it may be his last appearance at the track in the dominant car owned by former racer Chad McClelland. McClelland, who has been successful as a driver and a car owner, recently announced that he will shut down his operation at the end of this season.
“It is really cool to get the yellow car into victory lane,” Marks said. “We went off the wall with the color on this one,” he added with a laugh. He debuted the brightly colored car for the Knoxville Nationals and it has been raced less than a handful of times since then. Marks explained that he put a familiar set-up in the car, something that he is comfortable with at Williams Grove. The car responded perfectly. He plans to bring it back next week for the biggie, the National Open, with the same set-up. Marks believes that the track may well be different, but he is confident that his team can make whatever adjustments may be needed come race day.
Marks noted that Freddie Rahmer, Jr. “got away from me there, like in the dash. Clean air is so important. I just saved my tires and waited for traffic to get a run on him.” When Marks had the opportunity after clearing some lapped cars, he dove low entering turn three and slid across Rahmer’s nose to grab the lead. “The way the track was, you had to be really aggressive.”
The WoO format was used for this event to enable the racers to become familiar with it. Time trials set the heat race line-ups with the fastest car on the pole. The top two cars from each heat were eligible for the dash. The dash finish determined the first six starters in the A Main.
Thus, Rahmer and Marks were paired on the front row, just as they started and finished in the Dash. In row two, Brock Zearfoss was matched with Daison Pursley. Cameron Smith and Justin Whittall, the Port Royal champion, were seeded in row three. The fourth consisted of Troy Wagaman, Jr., the current points leader at both Williams Grove and Lincoln Speedways, and Chad Trout. Giovanni Scelzi and Danny Dietrich made up row five. Then came Kody Hartlaub and Chase Dietz.
The first lap was quite entertaining, with Marks turning under Rahmer to grab the lead in turn one and Rahmer fighting back at the other end of the speedway. It was all for naught, however, as Pursley rolled to a stop coming off turn four, requiring a caution. Under speedway rules, the lap did not count because the full field did not complete a lap under the green.
So, the field realigned for another go. This time, Rahmer held the lead through turns one and two and Marks tucked in behind him. Zearfoss, Smith, Wagaman, Trout, Whittall, Scelzi, Hartlaub, Dietrich, and Austin Bishop followed.
Rahmer and Marks drove away from Zearfoss and company and the race boiled down to their private contest.
Marks stayed close to Rahmer, but he got considerable help from a pack of slower cars that were racing side-by-side when Rahmer closed in on them to try to put them a lap down. That allowed Marks to drive up to Rahmer’s rear bumper. The two leaders cautiously navigated through the traffic.
After Rahmer and Marks cleared that bunch, Marks made his bid for the lead. He got a good run on Rahmer coming off turn two and carried his momentum into turn three. Marks executed a perfect slide job to take the lead on lap thirteen.
While Marks led the rest of the way in the twenty-five lapper, he did have one close call. Much like Rahmer, Marks encountered a cluster of slower cars and he had to check up. Rahmer drew close, but there was no opening for him to try to pass Marks and the lapped cars. So, he, too, slowed up. Marks was then able to use some of the slower cars as picks to keep Rahmer at bay.
Meanwhile, Zearfoss held off Smith for the third position.
Marks took the checkers almost 1.7 seconds ahead of Rahmer. Zearfoss was third, and he collected a $2,000 bonus from Lobar, Inc., one of his sponsors. Smith and Wagaman were next across the finish line. Whittall, Dietrich, Trout, Scelzi, and Dietz completed the top ten.
Logan Rumsey, the eleventh place finisher, was named the hard charger, at plus nine.
Rahmer’s second place finish shaved forty points off Wagaman’s lead in the championship standings heading into next weekend’s final two races of the year.
The three heat winners were Whittall, Marks, and Pursley, all of whom started on the pole for their respective preliminaries. Ryan “Fig” Newton captured the B Main. Lance Dewease dropped out of his heat and the B Main while in a transfer position in each event. Whittall set the mark in qualifications at 16.665 seconds.
Dylan Norris added an exclamation mark to his championship season in the 358 Sprint Car ranks. He overhauled Chase Guttshall on lap twelve of twenty. “Chase was setting a good pace. I knew that I had to get there fast,” Norris explained.
It took three tries to get the finale started. The first stoppage was innocent enough, Adam Carberry coasting to a halt on the backstretch. The second, however, was complete chaos. When the fourth place starter, Colton Moyer, started swerving down the front stretch, cars behind him wildly scrambled for any open spaces they could find. A massive crash developed involving seven cars, with several of them flipping or hitting the inside wall. One driver, J.T. Ferry, required medical attention for a possible foot injury.
When the race got going, Guttshall seized control, followed by Eli Tuckey, Chad Criswell, Norris, and Hunter Fulton. Norris worked his way into second by lap seven and he took the lead on lap twelve, passing both Guttshall and a lapped car on the outside of turn two.
Norris took the checkers almost six seconds ahead of Guttshall. Tuckey was third, followed by Criswell and Ayden Hare, one of the cars that sustained minor damage in the opening lap melee. Frankie Herr, Cole Young, Scott Fisher, Derek Locke, and Nash Ely completed the top ten.
Tuckey, Guttshall, and Criswell were the heat winners. There was no B main.
MECHANICSBURG, PA (June 5, 2026): Troy Wagaman, Jr. cashed in on the opportunities given to him to win the Lynn Paxton Classic at Williams Grove Speedway. The second win of the season for the defending track champion and current points leader was his first ever with the All Stars Circuit of Champions, which celebrated fifty-five years of competition at the famed oval. Wagaman received $8,000 for his efforts, matching his payday from the Tommy Classic held earlier in the season.
Wagaman benefitted from two miscues by Danny Dietrich, who had led from the start of the non-stop thirty lapper. The first came on lap fifteen, when Dietrich narrowly avoided disaster coming off turn two. The other came ten laps later when Dietrich slid out of the groove between turns three and four.
“I don’t know if I would have gotten him,” Wagaman said modestly.
He was trailing Dietrich by nearly 1.6 seconds in the middle of the race, but Wagaman squeezed between Dietrich, a lapped car, and the backstretch guard rail to take the lead. Preston Lattomus nearly spun at the exit to turn two, Dietrich came up on him quickly, made slight contact, and almost spun as well, but there was just enough room for Wagaman to scoot by. “I thought he missed it, got too close to the lapped car,” Wagaman explained.
Wagaman then built up a slight lead of his own, which evaporated in traffic. Dietrich drove under both Wagaman and the lapped car between turns three and four on lap twenty-four, but Wagaman came storming back on the next lap to regain the lead. Dietrich slid off the bottom in the same area, and Wagaman pounced. “Danny showed me the bottom. I was struggling on the top and I got down to the bottom after that.”
Wagaman, from Hanover, dedicated the win to his ailing grandmother, adding that he will get to see her on Sunday afternoon.
The starting line-up had a last minute shuffle when Lance Dewease got a flat while the cars were getting into formation. Dewease pitted for a fresh tire, but forfeited his second starting position. He rejoined the field for the start, and put in on an impressive drive to fourteenth from the rear of the twenty-six car field.
Dietrich thus moved to the front row, joining the Dash winner, Cale Thomas. Wagaman and Brady Bacon made up the second row, followed by Doug Hammaker and Kasey Kahne. Brock Zearfoss and T.J. Stutts came next. Chase Dietz and Parker Price Miller were in row five, and Austin Bishop was paired with Ryan “Fig” Newton in row six.
Dietrich wasted no time blasting into the early lead up on the cushion in turns one and two. Wagaman used a more conservative line to reach second. Thomas fell into line in third, ahead of Hammaker, Bacon, Stutts, and Kahne.
Dietrich seemed to have the race under control through the first half of the event. However, things changed suddenly on lap fifteen. He avoided a crash, but lost the lead. Dietrich wasn’t done quite yet, though.
Wagaman was still running the top in turns three and four despite having trouble getting past a lapped car. That allowed Dietrich to flash by on the inside to take the lead away. However, Wagaman came back to lead lap twenty-five when Dietrich slid up the track in almost the same place on the track.
Wagaman changed lines for the remainder of the race, and he paced himself off of the lapped cars, figuring that Dietrich would have to drive around them all if he were to make another bid for the win. However, Wagaman took the checkers 1.120 seconds ahead of Dietrich, who was driving his back-up car after crashing at Selinsgrove Speedway the night before.
Bacon, Stutts, and Dietz completed the top five. Zearfoss, Hammaker, Kahne, Price Miller, and Newton were the next five finishers.
J.J. Loss was the hard charger, advancing seven spots to finish thirteenth.
Kalib Henry, the current All Stars points leader and defending series champion, was the highest finisher from the tour, at seventeenth.
Hammaker, Dewease, Dietrich, and Kahne were the heat winners. Freddie Rahmer, Jr. won the B Main. Stutts was the fastest qualifier, lapping in 17.112 seconds in Group A. Dietrich was the best in Group B. His lap was 17.290 seconds. Thirty-eight cars checked in, including ten All Stars points chasers.
Ageless Steve Wilbur added another Wingless Sportsman victory to his resume. He led Tony Jackson for all twenty laps. “Tony’s hard to beat wherever we go, and to hold him off all of those laps was something,” Wilbur said. “It just feels so good to beat Jackson. I didn’t come all the way from Mechanicsburg to get my a$$ kicked,” he added with a laugh.
Wilbur claimed to use an old right rear tire dating back to his days at Silver Spring Speedway, which closed in 2005.
Cliff Brian, Jr. was third, one spot ahead of the hard charger, Brett Perigo. Brandon Shearer, Derek Shaffer, Brian Nace, Scott Smith, Curt Stroup, and John Edkin were fifth through tenth in the non-stop affair.
Jackson and Wilbur split the heat race wins. There was no B Main necessary for the nineteen car field.
Next Friday, Williams Grove Speedway will present fan appreciation night. All in attendance will get to mingle with the 410 and 358 Sprint Car racers in the front pit area before the start of the action. There will be free potato chips and candy during the pit party. Fireworks will also be part of the fun.
FRANKLIN, PA (May 31, 2026): A.J. Flick claimed his third championship in the Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. His first two titles came in 2023 and 2024.
“This whole week is so cool,” he said. He added, “I think consistency is important and I think that helped me.”
Flick started the week out very strongly, with wins at Michaels Mercer Raceway and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. He was fourth at Lernerville Speedway and fifth in the finale at Tr-City Raceway Park. His worst finish of the week was ninth at Sharon Speedway on Saturday night.
Flick was especially happy with his fifth place finish in the final round because he was not very comfortable in the car.
Other race winners during Speedweek were: Dale Blaney, at Lernerville, Logan Wagner, at Sharon, and Brandon Spithaler, at Tri-City.
Flick’s total earnings for the week were $14,750, which included the $3,000 championship stipend.
One other driver earned more than $10,000. That was Spithaler, who grossed $10.175.
Flick was one of sixteen drivers to enter all five events comprising Western Pennsylvania Speedweek. A total of sixty-one racers competed in at least one round of Speedweek.
The top ten drivers in the point standings shared the point fund, as follows:
- A.J. Flick, 452 points, $3,000
- Mark Smith, 412 points, $2,500
- Brandon Spithaler, 406 points, $2,000
- Jeremy Weaver, 393 points, $1,500
- Carl Bowser, 371 points, $1,000
- Michael Bauer, 368 points, $900
- Adam Kekich, 344 points, $800
- Brandon Matus, 338 points, $700
- Ricky Peterson, 320 points, $600
- Jacob Begenwald, 302 points, $500
Interestingly, one driver in the top ten in points missed a show along the way. Ricky Peterson was absent from Sharon because he had another commitment. He won the FAST on Dirt Sprint Car Series event at Skyline Speedway instead.
FRANKLIN, PA (May 31, 2026): Brandon Spithaler saved his best Speedweek performance for the final night of the five race series. The victory at Tri-City Raceway Park, his first of the season, netted the driver from Renfrew, PA a cool $6,000. He also finished third in Speedweek points, adding another $2,000 to his stash. Spithaler’s total winnings for the week amounted to $10,175, second only to the Speedweek champion, A.J. Flick.
Spithaler noted that “2026 hasn’t been very kind to us. We lost a motor, we trashed a car, we switched chassis. I think we’ve hit on something now.”
He added, “I felt like I was better than him, Ricky (Peterson, who finished a distant second). I was worried when he got by Logan (McCandless, the early leader), but I kept plugging away and I got by him (Peterson).”
Spithaler was especially good in traffic. He explained, “I am a fan of traffic. If we get a long run, I like picking my way through.”
Peterson, who held on for second place, had an opposite opinion about the traffic conditions. “I was really good early. I had issues with the lappers. I think I left a lane open for Brandon, and he got away from us.”
Mark Smith put on a strong charge in the second half of the race to grab the third position. He noted that it was a challenging night and that he changed some things around on his car between the heat and the feature. “We got it going, but it was a little too late. Maybe we needed 35 laps.”
The first ten positions in the starting line-up were reserved for the four heat winners and six of the fastest qualifiers.
Logan McCandless drew the pole position. He was joimed on the front row by the professor, Michael Bauer. Matt Farnham and A.J. Flick pulled the second row, followed by Peterson and Spithaler. Smith and Jeremy Weaver landed in row four. Then came Jared Zimbardi and D.J. Christie. Row six belonged to Tim Shaffer and John Jerich.
The initial start was waved off due to a crash between turns one and two, which claimed Jerich and Christie. Both cars tumbled, but neither driver was injured.
When the field was realigned for the start, Shaffer moved to the outside of row five and Bob Felmlee and Cody Bova became the new sixth row.
McCandless surged into the early lead, followed by Farnham, Bauer, Flick, Peterson, Spithaler, Weaver, Smith, Shaffer, Felmlee, and Zimbardi.
McCandless was exceptionally strong through the first half of the race. His lead grew to more than 1.8 seconds over Farnham through the first nine laps. Peterson moved into second position on lap ten. Gradually, he cut into McCandless’ advantage. On lap fifteen, the margin dwindled to just under a half a second.
Moving into the second half of the contest, McCandless began to have difficulty navigating through the traffic. Peterson narrowed the gap even further over the next few laps. On lap eighteen, Peterson drove by McCandless for the lead.
Meanwhile, Spithaler was closing in on both Peterson and McCandless. Spithaler moved ahead of McCandless on lap nineteen. Just one lap later, he passed Peterson in traffic.
In the final ten laps of the race, Spithaler was clearly superior to Peterson. The lead continued to grow with each lap. He was more than four seconds ahead of Peterson by lap twenty-six. The margin reached 5.338 seconds on the final lap.
Smith cracked the top five on lap sixteen. He held fourth from lap sixteen through lap twenty-nine. On the final trip around the big half mile, Smith moved into third.
McCandless held on for fourth, one spot ahead of Flick, who clinched the Speedweek championship with a steady performance. He was in or just outside the top five for the entire race.
Shaffer edged Farnham for sixth. Greg Wilson, Bauer, and Bova completed the top ten.
Flick, Weaver, Zimbardi, and Peterson won the heat races. Tyler Esh copped the B Main.
Brandon Matus was the night’s fastest qualifier. He topped Group A with a lap of 17.622. However, his night went downhill after that. While running in a transfer position on the last lap of his heat race, Matus flipped hard between turns three and four. His crew thrashed to get the car ready for the B Main with assistance from Spithaler and Weaver, among others. However, Matus finished fifth, with only four cars making the A Main.
Spithaler was the fastest member of Group B. His time was 17,796.
Blaze Myers took the lead on lap six of the RUSH Sprint Car feature and he cruised to an easy victory over Luke Mulichak. The early leader, Zach Morrow, finished in third. Brayden Blackshear and Samantha Priest were fourth and fifth. Lucas Roessner, Devon Deeter, Logen Lockhart, Grayson Bayle, and Ricky Tucker, III, rounded out the top ten. Myers and Roessner took the preliminaries.
The nightcap for the Mini Stock division went to Camden Franz. There was a constant three car battle for second throughout the fifteen lapper. Sheriff Tim Callahan prevailed, with Jordan Wheeler and Justin Forsyth following. Fifth went to Andy Thomson. Kevin Dotten, Michael Phillipson, Andrew Thompson, Ben Aley, and Jacob Wheeler were sixth through tenth.
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Opportunistic Wagaman Wins at Williams Grove
Heim holds off Honeycutt to win Truck race at Michigan
Flick is Speedweek King
Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing win the pole position for the 110th Indianapolis 500
Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward and Romain Grosjean involved in multi vehicle crash during Indy 500 practice
New York Dog wins the Wienie 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NASCAR community mourns the loss of champion driver Kyle Busch
