Dirt Racing
Rumsey Runs And Hides at Williams Grove; Fletcher Flies Again
MECHANICSBURG, PA (May 15, 2026): Just days after being cleared from the tire grinding scandal at the World of Outlaws race held at Lincoln Speedway, nineteen-year-old Logan Rumsey ran away and hid from the other 410 Sprint Car drivers for most of the race at Williams Grove Speedway. Chase Dietz, the driver with the most wins in the region, cut Rumsey’s lead from more than 5.7 seconds to under one second in the closing laps, but he ran out of time. Thus, Rumsey was never challenged as he scored his first career victory in the division.
Ironically, Rumsey, who has completed thousands of laps at Williams Grove in iRacing, never led a 410 feature race at the historic oval until this night. Moreover, he never even won a 358 Sprint Car race at the track as he was climbing through the ranks. “I felt like I should have done more in 358s. I never got a win here, but we’ll take this one.”
Rumsey has one career 358 Sprint Car win, that coming at the Lincoln Speedway.
The key to his victory was being able to run in clean air. Despite the long green flag run, he did not reach the lapped cars until late in the race.
“I made some mistakes in traffic,” the pilot from Manchester, PA admitted. He explained that he followed one car (James Rosselli) for a considerable period, so he assumed that the lapper must have been making a good pace. After putting Rosselli a lap down, Rumsey was able to pick off one other slower car on the final lap to preserve his shrinking margin of victory.
“I figured somebody would be coming, but nobody passed me,” he said with a grin.
The race was run under the handicapping system employed at Williams Grove. Heat races were fully inverted based upon point averages, and the feature was lined up based entirely on the heat race finishes.
The first three starters were the heat race winners. Chad Trout and Rumsey in row one, and Jude Siegel on the inside of row two. His partner was Preston Lattomus. Then came J.J. Loss and Brock Zearfoss. Chase Dietz and Freddie Rahmer, Jr. were in row four, followed by Danny Dietrich, and T.J. Stutts, in row five, and Cameron Smith and Dylan Norris, in row six.
Further back in the field were Justin Whittall (thirteenth), Lance Dewease (fourteenth), and the point leader Troy Wagaman, Jr. (sixteenth).
Buddy Schweibinz, who was supposed to start in ninth, lost his spot because he stopped on the track during the pace laps.
Trout led the field into turn one on the opening lap, but Rumsey stayed close. He dove under Trout in turn two and powered ahead coming off the corner to grab the lead which he never relinquished. “That’s kinda the same move I made on J.J. (Loss) in the heat,” Rumsey explained.
Lattomus tucked into third on the opening lap, followed by Zearfoss, Loss, Dietz, Siegel, Dietrich, Smith, and Norris.
A skirmish between turns three and four with one lap completed eliminated several cars that were racing just outside the top ten at that time. Only one of the involved drivers, Whittall, was able to continue in the event.
Rumsey had the point for the single file restart, and he was able to get some separation immediately from Trout when the race resumed. Rumsey then proceeded to build his lead over the next fifteen laps or so.
Rahmer was one of the few drivers making forward progress in the first few laps completed under the renewed green. He reached the top five by lap five.
Dietz, who jumped the cushion on the restart, lost a couple of positions, and it took a few laps for him to get going again. He made it back into the top five by lap ten, dropping Rahmer to sixth. Dietz then got into a dogfight with Zearfoss, Trout, and Lattomus for a couple of laps. He dispatched them by the midpoint in the contest.
With fifteen laps completed, Rumsey was ahead of Dietz by more than five and a half seconds. Over the next eight laps, Dietz whittled away at the lead. He trailed Rumsey by just under a second with two to go.
Rumsey took the checkers just 0.3 seconds ahead of Dietz. Zearfoss and Rahmer were fourth and fifth. Wagaman, who was strong in the second half of the race, was fifth. Smith, Dietrich, Trout, Norris, and Dewease rounded out the top ten.
Whittall recovered from his miscue to finish eleventh.
Wagaman was the hard charger, at plus eleven.
Brent Shearer won the B Main.
Cody Fletcher continued his hot streak in the 358 Sprint Cars. Although this win was his first of the year at Williams Grove, it was his sixth overall. The victory moved him into a tie for the points lead with Derek Locke.
“I never expected this,” Fletcher said. “We’ve been lucky. We’ll take the luck as long as it comes.”
Fletcher, who started eighth in the feature event, raced into fourth on the opening lap. He was third by lap five, second on lap six, and the leader on lap fifteen.
Second went to Adam Carberry. Justin Foster, who led the first fourteen laps of the race, held on for third. Austin Reed and Matt Findley completed the top five. Positions six through ten belonged to Derek Locke, Cole Young, Chase Gutshall, Hunter Fulton, and Steve Owings.
The eleventh place finisher, Brayden Mickley, was the hard charger, at plus eight.
Heat wins went to Foster, Chance Hendershot, and Carberry. The twenty-three car field did not require a B Main.
Williams Grove will not race any Sprint Cars next week in consideration of the Weikert Memorial weekend at Port Royal Speedway. However, the AMA Flat Track Motorcycles will perform on Saturday, May 23. The 410 Sprints will be joined by the PASS 305 Sprints on May 29. The All Stars Circuit of Champions will return with the Wingless Sportsmen for the Lynn Paxton EMMR Legends Classic on June 5.
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
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Flick is Speedweek King
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