Dirt Racing
Rahmer and Fletcher Score Lincoln Wins
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (March 14, 2026): Freddie Rahmer, Jr. snapped Chase Dietz’ daytime win streak at the Fabulous Lincoln Speedway. The defending track champion from Harleysville captured his first 410 Sprint Car victory of the young season. In the 358 Sprint Car ranks, Cody Fletcher of East Berlin went wire-to-wire to win the opener for that division.
Rahmer Jr., who now has forty-six career victories at the track, acknowledged, “we got to start up front, and that helped a lot.” He added, “it takes a lot of pressure off to get a win this early in the season.”
He admitted, “we kind of gave it away last week.” He elaborated, “I didn’t move around enough last week.” Thus, Dietz was able to run him down and to make an unexpected pass for the win.
However this week, Rahmer Jr. benefitted from a late race caution. He noted that he “was trying to pace (himself) off the lapped cars. But, as the laps were winding down, Anthony Macri was closing in on him. A caution with two to go cleared the track for Rahmer Jr., and he got a signal from his father to move to the inside line when the race resumed. That effectively eliminated any chance that Macri may have had to steal the victory in the closing laps.
This event was the final 410 race to use the redraw format, which allowed the first three finishers from each heat race to obtain the preferred starting positions by lot. Tyler Ross was the fortunate one to draw the pole, with Matt Campbell as his running mate. Billy Dietrich and Rahmer Jr. lined up in the second row. Dietz and Troy Wagaman, Jr. staked out row three. Then came Danny Dietrich and Steven Snyder, Jr. Rick Lafferty and Chad Trout were in the fifth row, followed by Justin Whittall and Anthony Macri.
Ross led the opening lap, with Campbell, Rahmer Jr., Wagaman, and Billy Dietrich in tow. Danny Dietrich and Dietz were fighting of sixth, ahead of Snyder, Trout, and Macri.
Whittall, who was making his first outing since returning from Australia, spun in turn four to bring out the first caution just two laps into the event.
Ross resumed the lead when the green lights flashed on again. Rahmer Jr. continued in second, but Campbell briefly moved ahead of Wagaman following the restart. Dietz picked up a couple of positions, displacing the Dietrich brothers. Macri also started to move forward.
The front runners–Ross, Rahmer Jr., and Wagaman–maintained their positions for the next nine laps. During that stretch, Dietz advanced to third, the position that he occupied at the time of the next caution, which came for a spin by Billy Dietrich in turn four. That incident on lap fifteen ended the best run of the season for him.
Following the second half restart, Rahmer Jr. dove under Ross entering turn three to gain the lead. Ross tried to regain the advantage in turn four, but Rahmer Jr. held him off. Rahmer had complete control by the time that the duo reached turn one again.
Meanwhile, Dietz and Wagaman were battling for the third position, and Macri was now running in fifth.
Macri was picking up speed as the race progressed through the final stages. He moved into fourth by lap twenty and he overtook Dietz for third by lap twenty-seven.
Macri climbed into second soon thereafter. As Macri quickly closed in on Rahmer Jr. the excitement was building toward a dramatic finish. Rahmer Jr was hung up behind a couple of lapped cars and Macri was charging.
However, something unexpected happened on lap twenty-eight to ruin the moment. Dietz spun in turn two for the final caution of the race.
Rahmer Jr. got away cleanly on the restart, and he dropped down to the inside groove for the last two laps. Macri could not build up enough momentum to try an outside move on the race leader.
Rahmer Jr. took the checkers 0.439 seconds ahead of Macri. Ross finished a creditable third, followed by Wagaman and Campbell. Dewease had no brake problems this week and he crossed the finish line in the sixth position. Danny Dietrich, Ayden Hare, Snyder, and Logan Rumsey completed the top ten.
Thirty-two cars participated in four heat races, The winners were Dietz, Wagaman, Macri, and Danny Dietrich. Cameron Smith won the B Main for the second race in a row,
Cody Fletcher drew the pole for the final race of the night, The 358 Sprint Car pilot was joined on the front row by Ashley Cappetta. Wyatt Hinkle and Steve Owings were in the row behind. Then came Jayden Wolf and Brayden Mickley. Ageless Steve Wilbur and Matt Findley were in row four.
Fletcher took the early lead, with Hinkle, Owings, Cappetta, and Wolf giving chase. A red flag on lap three for a flip by Ohio invader Brian Razum in turn one stopped the action. He was not hurt.
On the ensuing restart, Hunkle entered turn one with a bit too much speed. The back end of his car came around, and the next three racers were collected in the process.
That moved Cappetta from sixth to second for the next restart. She held that position for the remainder of the twenty lap contest, despite several more cautions.
A pair of the cautions involved Wolf, who replaced a bent left rear wheel following the first of his tribulations.
Fletcher prevailed by more that two and a half seconds over Cappetta. Findlay, Wilbur, and Eli Tuckee rounded out the top five. Wolf recovered to finish sixth. Chase Robinson, Tom Senseny, Jr., and Trevor Stover were the next finishers. Hinkle was credited with tenth based on the laps he completed before retiring from the race.
“Everybody did their jobs tonight, and I just didn’t screw up mine,” Fletcher said. “I knew that I was going to stick to the bottom,” and he worked that plan to perfection.
Fletcher also won his heat race to make it a clean sweep. Wolf won the other qualifier for the class.
Lincoln Speedway will be dark for the next two weeks, as other area speedways will kick off the new PA Possee 410 Series. Action will resume in the Pigeon Hills on April 4 with the 410 and 358 Sprints in competition. There will be an Easter Egg Hunt for the children before the races and Big Wheel races for them at the intermission.
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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