Dirt Racing
Dietz Does it Posse Style
ABBOTTSTOWN, PA (April 18, 2026): Chase Dietz became the fifth different winner in as many races in the PA Posse Series by winning the twenty-third annual Weldon Sterner Memorial at Lincoln Speedway. The victory was good for $7,069 for the driver from York, PA. He became the fifteenth driver to score in the classic which honored the famed car owner who also served as an owner of the speedway.
“This is one I’ve wanted to win for a long time,” DIetz said excitedly. “I am very grateful for the opportunity that John and Kelly Stehman have given me.”
Dietz, who now has three wins at Lincoln Speedway in 2026, and fifteen in his career, noted, “this has been a great start to our season. I’m just having a lot of fun with these guys. It’s been a long time coming.”
Dietz chased down the early leader, Troy Wagaman, Jr., and the duo swapped the lead a couple of times before Dietz powered off the inside of turn two to take command midway through the race.
Dietz then went to the top to finish off the event in style. “I wasn’t sure how good the top was going to be,” he said. Because of the lapped cars, Dietz explained, Wagaman started moving around, and he had to follow suit. “That’s the advantage of running second, I guess.”
With a first and a second this weekend in Posse Series racing, Dietz became the new point leader by a slim three point margin over Danny Dietrich. “I am proud to be part of the Posse Series, it’s a great thing for the region,” Dietz concluded.
The event was conducted according to the speedweek format. So, the four heat winners and the fastest qualifiers from each preliminary drew for the first eight starting positions in the main event.
Kyle Moody drew the pole, and last night’s winner, Wagaman, also landed on the front row. Dietz and Brock Zearfoss started from row two, with Kody Hartlaub and Tyler Ross right behind them. Danny Dietrich and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. made up a potent row four. They were followed by T.J. Stutts and Ryan Smith, who was piloting the Denochik number six. Justin Whittall and Brent Shearer claimed row six.
Wagaman jumped out to the early lead, followed by Moody, Zearfoss, Dietz, and Ross. Rahmer, Hartlaub, Danny Dietrich, Ryan Smith, and Justin Whittall battled hard for spots in the top ten.
While Wagaman was cruising out front, Dietz began to work his way forward. He slipped into third by lap five and, with just a few more rounds of the speedway, he was into second. It did not take Dietz very long to close the gap on the leader.
Dietz and Wagaman then battled for the lead as they negotiated heavy traffic. Dietz rode the rim in turn four to take the lead on lap thirteen, but Wagaman came storming back just one lap later. He executed an inside move in turn four to regain the lead.
Wagaman held control for two more laps, but lapped traffic was heavy. Wagaman and Dietz had to slow their pace, allowing Zearfoss to close in on them. The three-car battle for the lead lasted a couple of laps. However, Dietz dropped to the inside of Wagaman coming through turn two on lap seventeen. He shot ahead coming off the corner.
A spin by Doug Hammaker in turn two just one lap later gave Dietz a clear track. Thus, he was able to open up a slight advantage over Wagaman when the race resumed.
Ross also benefitted from the restart on lap eighteen. He picked off Danny Dietrich in turn one and then he moved up another notch on the next lap.
Cautions on laps twenty-two and twenty-five bunched the field up again. But Dietz got away cleanly on both occasions to maintain his lead. Wagaman and Ross remained second and third. Behind them, Danny Dietrich and Freddie Rahmer were swapping fourth and fifth. Their battle continued through the final lap, when Dietrich prevailed.
Dietz took the checkers nearly 1.8 seconds ahead of Wagaman. Ross was third, followed by Danny Dietrich and Rahmer Jr. Whittall was sixth. Zearfoss faded to seventh. Moody, Lance Dewease, and Cameron Smith rounded out the top ten.
The four heat winners for the thirty-three cars on hand were Danny Dietrich, Wagaman, Dietz, and Moody. Brandon Rahmer won the B Main. Hartlaub was the evening’s fastest qualifier. He topped Group A with a lap of 13.807 seconds. Zearfoss was the best of Group B. His time was 13.912 seconds.
Cody Fletcher remains undefeated at Lincoln Speedway in 2026. The 358 Sprint Car racer from East Berlin, PA, has won all three of his heat races as well as all of the features held so far. But, this time, he needed a little help.
Fletcher was running second to Jayden Wolf from the outset of the twenty lapper. He inherited the lead when Wolf’s right rear tire went flat with four laps remaining.
“The track was taking rubber. I was slowly catching him, and I saw his tire going down,” Fletcher explained.
He added, “it’s unreal. It’s a shame for Jayden. He had it rolling. We’ll take the luck when we can get it.”
Wolf and Fletcher brought the field to the green for the finale, but Logan Spahr’s flip on the opening lap wiped the slate clean. Wolf once again dashed out to the lead, with Fletcher falling into second for the first time all season long. Wyatt Hinkle, Kinser Lightner, Steve Owings, Brock Hammaker, and Ashley Cappetta gave chase in the early going.
Four more cautions in the first half gave Fletcher repeated opportunities to press Wolf for the lead, but the younger driver was up to the challenge each time.
After Wolf’s misfortune, Fletcher completed the race without any difficulty. Hammaker was second, followed by Hinkle, Owings, and Cappetta. Matt Findley, Eli Tuckey, Spahr, Tim Wagaman, II, and Tylar Rutherford were sixth through tenth.
Hinkle, Fletcher, and Lightner won the three qualifiers. No B main was needed for the twenty-two car field.
Next week, Lincoln Speedway will present small cars, Limited Stocks, and Classic Cars, as the Posse Series moves on to Port Royal Speedway for the Keith Kauffman Classic. The 410 and 358 Sprints will return on May 2 for the World of Outlaws Tune-up. Then, on May 5, the Outlaws will make their only appearance at the track, with support coming from the Wingless Sportsmen.
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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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
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